Working Class Hero [Percy Jackson and the Olympians Fanfic]

You Can't Follow Their Rules

Luke had a hard time going to sleep that night.

Early in the morning, he got up before everyone else because he couldn’t sleep anymore. Or he thought he did. Looking over to Percy’s sleeping bag, the boy was missing and the area was already tidy. He heard the Hermes cabin’s showers working and he silently walked to the bathroom, seeing Percy in one of the stalls, hands shaking as he tried to wash his hair.

Frowning, Luke walked right up into Percy’s personal space and began rubbing the shampoo more into Percy’s hair for him, uncaring of the water splashing and drenching all over him.

“I can wash my own hair,” Percy whined, almost pouting.

How adorable.

Luke’s lips twitched upward, but he just shook his head.

“I bet you can,” he murmured. “But right now, let me baby you.”

Percy stayed quiet, but let him do as he wanted.

“Wanna have breakfast again?” he asked.

Percy shrugged, “I’m…not really hungry.”

“You should eat. I don’t think you ate a lot last night.”

Percy grumbled, “I don’t have a big appetite sometimes. Comes with the leukemia.”

Luke paused, but then continued as if he hadn’t ‘stumbled’.

“Maybe if you eat something you like, it’ll help. What do you like to eat, Percy?”

The younger hesitated before answering, “I like strawberries. Chocolate strawberries.”

Luke lightly dunked his head into the water under the showerhead.

“Chocolate strawberries it is.”

Directing Percy to wait for him after he took his own shower, he then told Percy to go wait at the strawberry fields for him. He went ahead and melted some chocolate, going to the fields after and seeing Percy reluctantly waiting by a tree and scuffing his shoes on the dirt.

“Are we going to get in trouble?” Percy looked at him with wide eyes.

“No, don’t worry about it. I got chocolate,” Luke held up the bowl full of chocolate he’d managed to make.

Percy’s face lit up and Luke put down the bowl near the tree, and the two of them began gathering some strawberries using their shirts.

“Don’t you have to round up the rest of Cabin Eleven?” Percy asked him, starting to dip the strawberries into the melted chocolate. “Mm, it’s still warm…”

Luke watched in amusement, but remembered the question.

“They can live without me for one day,” the blond decided.

“I have a bucket list,” Percy admitted after a moment of silence. “There isn’t much, but most of it has to do with Greek things. ‘Cause I like Greek history and stuff, and I guess I know why now, huh?”

Luke snickered at the kid, but nodded.

“What’s on the list?” he asked in curiosity.

Percy turned red, “Well…most of it has to do with visiting places that were in the Greek myths. Mostly to do with the main Olympian gods.”

“I’ll take you to all of those places,” Luke declared, and inwardly he wondered why he was letting himself get attached to Percy and why was he bothering so much. “My dad’s the god of traveling and all the on-road stuff. I’ll take you anywhere. I promise. We can even go this school year. You can skip school.”