Salle | Afternoon | Wednesday | October 20

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

If Percy hadn't talked to Grover yesterday, he probably would have spent the entire day in the salle, swinging Riptide and taking out his mood on the practice dummies. Talking to Grover had calmed him down a little and talking to Bobby had distracted him from his issues.

Today was a different story. One class with both his cousins was enough to make him remember why his mood had been there in the first place. Couple that with feeling like he needed to make sure he could still use a sword after being a girl for two days and Percy was in the salle, already well into a workout.

He didn't know if Luke would show but he'd asked and he wasn't going to admit out loud that he hoped Luke would show. Nope, he wasn't going to do that. Percy didn't even know what he wanted to say.

Percy kept working with Riptide, swinging hard and sharp, glad to see that he hadn't lost this ability despite losing his body for two days. It made him feel a little better.

[Salle's open, yep]

Comments

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

Luke had thought about not showing up, he really had. For some weird ass reason it was just easier for him to be mad at Percy than it was trying to get along with him, which was something he had hadn't really dealt with before. But in the end he decided to go thanks to that part of him that felt like he had to get along with all demigods, no matter how annoying they might be.

He showed up to the salle with his sword in hand, though he didn't really look like he was eager to be there. Luke leaned against the wall and watched Percy for a few moments before clearing his throat to get his attention. "Hey."

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

At the sound of Luke's voice, Percy almost stumbled. Almost. He managed to grab the practice dummy just before tumbling over. Instead, he was left with the knowledge that Luke had seen that.

Of course he had.

Percy coughed a few times and tried to smooth his unruly hair down while recovering from that. "Hey. Wasn't sure you were gonna show."

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"Had less to do than I thought," Luke said, unable to keep from smiling at Percy's idiocy. He had no idea how he managed to live this long. "And I figured you'd track me down at some point if I didn't show."

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

"Well, I live next door," Percy said, eventually getting himself righted enough to lean on Riptide. "I could have just camped outside your door if I was desperate."

Pause.

"Which I'm not."

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"Sure," Luke said, clearly not believing that. "Why did you want me down here then?"

Aside from wanting to ogle Luke holding a sword, obviously.

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

"Because we left our last conversation badly," Percy said, shrugging. Ordinarily, he wouldn't have cared but there was still hope for this Luke and he...didn't want to be the push that Luke needed to finally cross that line he was clearly toeing.

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"Didn't think you'd care about that too much," he said. "You have to admit the last few days have been peaceful."

Okay, Luke had been miserable the entire time for some stupid reason that he was still blaming on girl hormones, but there hadn't been any fighting.

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, it's been quiet but it's been boring," Percy said bluntly. He and Luke fought all the time but Percy found that he was never bored or all that restless.

Now, with both Nico and Luke both pissed at him, he'd felt restless and had been on the verge of just leaving.

"Peaceful sucks. It's like the calm before the storm."

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"So, what? You wanna keep on fighting?" Luke asked, pushing himself away from the wall and walking towards Percy. "A therapist would probably point out that's an unhealthy way of thinking."

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

"What's wrong with fighting?" Percy asked, bringing Riptide up just in case Luke tried to surprise him. "Was it bothering you when we fought?"

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes it does. Why do you think I left the other day?" he asked, looking down at Riptide but not making a move yet. "I'm used to getting along with people for the most part."

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

"Can you really see yourself getting along with me?" Percy wondered, sincerely curious about that. "Think we could manage that?"

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"I want to. I've tried. It's just...I don't know, there's something about you," Luke said. "Something that makes me want to punch you in the face."

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

"So, do it," Percy offered, gesturing Luke to bring it with one hand. "I won't try and stop you. You wanna punch me, do it, and see what you feel like after."

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

Luke shook his head. "I'm not gonna hit you, Percy."

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

"Okay," Percy said and held up a hand, deciding not to force. "What the heck makes you wanna punch me in the face? Me? What I know? What I don't say? Something else?"

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"All of the above?" he tried. "I don't know what it is exactly, Percy, it's not something I can pinpoint. You don't feel the same way?"

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

"I dunno, it depends," Percy admitted, shrugging one shoulder and looking a little uncomfortable. "Not all the time, though. Sometimes, I wanna -- "

Percy shut his mouth and shook his head.

"Not all the time," Percy finished lamely. "You're not a bad guy."

There was just the potential there to be so dangerous, so evil and so uncaring that Percy couldn't help but be wary sometimes.

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

Luke's shoulders slumped, feeling kind of bad for bringing the whole feelings thing up. "You're not bad either. I like you, I do. It's just the whole face punching thing sometimes."

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

"You know, you wouldn't be the first person to punch me in the face," he said lightly, half smiling. "You telling me you've only felt that urge with me? Never with anyone else?"

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"For the most part, yeah," Luke admitted. "Weird, huh?"

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

"No, not really," Percy said, having come to terms that he just rubbed people that way sometimes. "I've got like two other friends at camp. Annabeth and Grover. You think I'm not used to people hating me, Luke?"

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"Well I'm not used to hating other people." Gods were another story, but that was different. "And it's not even hate. I don't hate you."

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

"So, I...confuse you?" If that was the case, Luke could join his club. "Piss you off? Irritate you? All of the above again?"

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"Let's go with confusing for the most part," Luke said. "But pissed and irritated come and go."