Hey peeps! Yeah, I know I've been a little AWOL, but cut me some slack. I had New Year's and Christmas to celebrate for Zeus' sake! Oh and by the way, here's a very very late MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope you all enjoyed your vacations, because I know I did! So anyways, I have a story to make up for it and I think you'll like it : ) Oh and Frazel lovers, you can come out of the shadows and actually fully enjoy this one-shot because it is Frazel and no Lazel involved at all. Your welcome by the way. Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HOO or any characters from the book or anything AT ALL from the books, I'm not Ricky! So anyways, peace and enjoy ; )
Turn on the Charm
Percy and the guys of the Argo II (excluding Coach Hedge)
Percy was alone on the deck of the Argo II, practicing with Riptide. The others were down below deck somewhere, doing their own thing, so Percy had taken the opportunity to practice and keep his skills sharp without having to deal with criticisms from the other members of the ship (not that they had much to criticize anyways). Since they didn't have an dummies on board, he was just practicing maneuverability—keeping his swings fast and fluid.
Also, it was a distraction from the quest, and having yet another Great Prophecy resting on his shoulders like dead weight. He started getting into it, letting everything else slip away and his full concentration go into practicing. He didn't have time to think about anything else—and that was the way he liked it. It cleared his mind of anything except slice, dodge, stab, repeat. It was kind of therapeutic.
He was getting so far into his focus that he didn't hear the footsteps come up behind him. "Hey, Percy!"
He jumped, loosing his grip on his sword, and sending it across the deck. He nearly tripped over himself when he turned around, only to see the rest of the male population (minus Coach) of the ship looking at him expectantly.
His first thought? Oh gods, what did they ruin now?
He walked over and grabbed Riptide off the ground. "What's up?"
They all looked at the ground and blushed in unison, so Percy knew something was going on. Of course, he blurted his first comment. "Please don't tell me you're coming out of the closet to me."
All of their heads snapped up at once, eyes wide. "No!" they yelped.
"Dude, why would you think that?" Leo asked, and then waved it off. "Never mind. I don't want to know."
"So, then what is it?" he asked. "Because I was kind of doing something..."
Frank elbowed Jason a little. Jason cleared his throat. "We need some... um, advice."
"About what?"
"Girls," Frank added.
Percy groaned internally. "So you ask me?"
"Well, unless you expect us to ask Coach Hedge, you are the only one on the ship with a girlfriend," Jason said.
"And," Leo added, "she's Annabeth."
Percy glared at him a little. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Uh, um..." Leo stuttered. "She's harder to get?"
Percy blew his hair out of his eyes. "What do you guys want?"
"Help," Frank said. "Jason and I don't know how to ask... and Leo... well, I don't know what's up with him."
"He probably needs help getting a girl to give him a different reaction then a slap to the face," Jason muttered. Leo stuck his tongue out.
"Quite honestly, I'm not the best person to ask for this," Percy said.
"Nonsense!" Leo said. "Chicks at Camp Half-Blood were all over you when you went missing and Annabeth wasn't around. They wouldn't shut up about you! You just need to show me how to turn on the charm, man!"
Percy stared at him blankly. "Turn on... the charm."
Leo nodded eagerly. Percy burst out laughing. "What?" Leo demanded. "What's so funny?"
"Leo," he choked in between laughs, "I don't 'turn on the charm.' I don't do anything to girls."
Leo frowned. "Then how the heck do so many girls like you?"
Percy shrugged. "Beats me. Ever since I turned fourteen..."
He stared. "You're meaning to tell me that you chased after Annabeth for two years when you had loads of hot chicks practically wrapped around your little finger?"
"What's wrong with that?" he asked.
"There's nothing wrong with that," Jason cut in. "Leo doesn't understand love."
"Apparently," Frank muttered.
"I do understand love!" Leo protested, studying Percy. "How do you get chicks..." he muttered to himself. After a minute of awkward staring, Leo snapped his fingers. "I've got it!"
"Oh gods," Jason mumbled.
"Your father was the charmer in the old stories, wasn't he?" Leo mused, stroking an imaginary beard. "I mean, he, like, got with everything that breathed."
"Excuse me?"
"So it must be in your genes!" Leo concluded. "But Hephaestus-"
"Is the ugliest Olympian and has an unfaithful wife," Jason cut in. "Not to mention, his wife is the goddess of love. She might be messing with you because you're her husband's... infidelity."
"But if she doesn't love Vulcan in the first place," Frank asked, "then why would she care?"
"Good questions..." Leo said. "But no answers bringing me closer to a lovely lady..."
Percy sighed. "Whatever, Leo. So what's up with you and Frank, Jason?"
"We have our... uh, 'lovely ladies,' as Leo put it, but we don't know how to tell them that we have feelings for them," Jason said. He and Frank blushed.
"Alright," Percy said, about fed up with this 'girl' business. "Then let's fix that."
Percy hefted Riptide and began to walk towards the hatch that went below deck, the others following him, looking confused. "Hey," Frank asked. "Where are we going? What are you going to do?"
"You'll see," he said as they descended the steps and went down onto the floor with the bedrooms. Four doors were closed—one to Coach Hedge's room, one to Annabeth's, one to Hazel's, and one to Piper's. "You both say you don't know how to start the conversation, right?"
Jason and Frank nodded. "Yeah," Jason agreed.
"Then let's start it," Percy said, and marched up to Piper's door. Jason's eyes got wide when he realized what he was about to do, but it was too late. Percy knocked on Piper's door—three strong raps that would've woken anyone or startled them from what they were doing.
Piper answered and looked confused. "Percy? What are—"
"JASON HAS STRONG FEELINGS FOR YOU BUT DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO TELL YOU," he stated, and then marched over to Hazel's door, leaving Piper looked dumbstruck and Jason bright red.
"Percy—" Frank pleaded as Percy knocked on the door. Annabeth heard all of the commotion, and decided poked her head outside her door as Hazel opened hers.
"Hey, Percy," she said. "What's up?"
"FRANK HAS STRONG FEELINGS FOR YOU BUT DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO TELL YOU," he recited again, and walked over to Leo.
He grabbed his shoulders and shook him a little. "STOP USING TERRIBLE PICK-UP LINES AND CRUSHING ON JASON'S OLDER SISTER."
He let Leo go, and turned to look at everyone. They were standing in the hallway, looking completely confused and embarrassed—all except for Annabeth. She was trying to hold in a laugh.
Percy swung Riptide's blade up so that it rested on his shoulder. He promptly turned and walked away, calling over his shoulder, "You're welcome."
