MIRELA ➪ PERCABETH

Blue Lily Tattoo

He wonders what she owes him, but she's calling out a goodbye and heading back across the street before he can ask.

___ ♪___

He makes Annabeth's bouquet out of white lilies with a touch of lilac. It's accented with a shade of lavender, and Percy's really proud of it even though he's not one for purple flowers.

Because he has already filled all of the orders for the day, he walks it across the street to her, and when he enters the shop, there's a woman with light brown hair sitting at the front desk, flipping through a magazine. She has a feather braided into her hair, and she looks up at Percy with kaleidoscope eyes that are stunning.

"Hey, you must be Percy," she says. "I'm Piper, one of the artists. Hold on a second. Annabeth is with a client right now, but she can probably take a break."

"It's no big deal if she's busy," he says. "I figured I would drop this off for her."

"I can get her," Piper argues, a weird glint in her eyes. "Just a second."

She scampers off deeper into the shop before Percy can say anything.

Annabeth comes out a few minutes later, hair pulled back into a high ponytail. She has a face mask hanging around her neck, and she's stripping off a pair of gloves that she throws in the trash. She grins when she sees him, and then her eyes shift to the flowers on the counter and she rushes toward them.

"Percy, they look great!" she exclaims. "Thank you so much."

"I'm glad you like them," he grins, reaching forward to straighten the ribbon on the vase.

"How much do I owe you?"

Percy rattles off the price, and Annabeth steps behind the counter to write him a check. "And I have your other vase from the last one."

"Thanks," he says, taking the empty vase from her. "Well, I'll let you get back to work then."

"Do you want to see the design I'm working on?"

She blurts out the question just as he's turning away, but she doesn't look embarrassed like Percy expects her to. Instead, her eyes are bright, and she's already turning slightly away like she knows that he's going to follow her.

"Uh. Sure," he says, smiling lightly as he follows her back into the shop.

There's a younger guy leaning back in a chair, face up and bare chested. His eyes are closed, and there's a million different tattoos drawn up his arm and across his shoulders. Percy is slightly amazed because did Annabeth do all of those?

She leads him back to a desk and a drawing board, where there is a design of a wolf. It's a close up on the creature's face, and it's more detailed than anything Percy has ever seen. It's really awesome, and he's speechless at seeing how talented Annabeth is. Like, he can't comprehend how anyone could do that. It's amazing.

"Did you draw this?" he asks, stepping closer to get a better look.

"Yeah, the client brought a different image to me, but I redesigned it. Do you like it?"

"It's amazing," he says.

"Thanks. Do you have any tattoos?"

He shakes his head, "I've never been brave enough."

She grins at him, and her smile is as beautiful as her design. "Well, when you do decide you are enough, you know where to find me."

Percy nods, too mesmerized by the design and her to say anything.