Confused by Storm

Chapter 13 - Restraints

Since Percy had first become a Titan, he'd woken up in weird positions or in weird places, some of which he'd not tell anyone and others of which Kronos had taken great amusement out of.

But waking up to find that his wrists were bound above his head to the headboard of the bed and his ankles were tied together was a new one.

Percy blinked, stunned as he stared at the celestial bronze fibres. Then he turned to glare accusingly at the smirking Titan beside him.

"I did say I would teach you what to do when you're restrained, right?" Kronos said with a wicked smile.

The younger Titan made a sound that he would completely refuse to call a squeak. "Yeah, but I didn't think it would be a practical lesson."

"Well with these sorts of things," Kronos murmured, shifting towards Percy so he could press his lips against his. "I find learning through experience is the best method." The golden eyes gleamed as he moved back out of Percy's reach.

"This is cruel and unnecessary," Percy insisted as he tugged against the bonds.

"Some people like it," Kronos suggested lightly. "But that's not what we're doing."

"It sort of seems like it," Percy informed Kronos, but he stopped struggling.

Kronos sat near Percy's feet, his expression oddly serious. "It's not," he repeated. "Obviously this has never happened to you before, considering how you reacted in the Pit. Firstly, never use your divine powers in this sort of situation. It hurts – a lot."

"I sort of figured that out," Percy told him.

Kronos shushed him. "The reason for that is because our divine energy comes from our heart," he paused briefly to prod Percy's chest over where his heart is, just in case Percy wasn't aware. "Here. And the reason why our ichor is gold is because within our ichor there is a golden pigment that's actually called ichor – hence the name of our blood – which is a mass store of energy. When we use our powers, those pigments split and are rebuilt in our heart. Get it so far?"

Percy blinked. "Uh, yeah. Golden pigments, store energy."

Kronos nodded slightly, trailing a hand over Percy's chest before he continued. "Now, consider our ichor to be like... like a river. It needs to be able to flow to be able to work effectively." He waited until Percy nodded slightly. "Good, so if you put a dam or something in the river, it stops flowing. This causes it to back up the river. Putting this analogy to us, it causes the ichor to start backing up our veins, or at least stops it from passing the dam. Stopping the flow."

Realisation dawned in Percy's eyes. "Oh, so when you bind an immortal it's like placing a dam in that river. So when we then try to use our divinity the energy that we release backs up?"

"Exactly," Kronos agreed. "So, that energy that has already been released has to go somewhere. It disperses out of the veins at the heart, causing the pain that we feel."

"Huh, that actually makes sense," Percy murmured.

"Try it," Kronos suggested.

"Ah, yeah, not gonna happen," Percy said flatly. "I tried in Tartarus and I'm not gonna try again. Like ever."

"Just quickly," Kronos told him. "You should be able to feel it happening."

Percy eyed him warily, but Kronos looked nothing but honest as he stared back. Percy sighed. "Honestly," he murmured, "I feel like I trust you far too much."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Kronos smirked. "Go on."

Now aware of what would happen, and why it would happen, Percy didn't try to release a massive blast of energy at once. He tried to summon a small tornado above his fingers, but gasped when he actually felt his divine powers lashing back at him.

Percy grunted, blinking through the pain that hit his chest. "Okay," he groaned. "Ouch."

Kronos smiled faintly. "Baby," he chided, leaning over Percy to press their lips together. Percy smiled slightly against him.

"Hey, Kronos," Iapetus said as he opened the door, "do you think you could – Holy – Sweet Mother of-" The door to their room slammed shut with enough force to shake the room. "Please," the Titan bemoaned from outside. "At least put up a sign or something if you're not going to lock the door. We're doing kinky stuff – stay out. Chaos, you two – it was sunrise hours ago."

"It's not what it looks like!" Percy yelped, fully aware that he was probably blushing furiously. Kronos was chuckling to himself as he reached over and untied Percy, only pausing briefly to gasp in slight pain as Percy punched him in the gut. "Idiot," Percy grumbled at him. "I swear, Iapetus," he said, throwing his voice so the Titan outside would know it was safe. "It's not what it looked like."

Since Kronos was still making noises of amusement about the situation, Percy fiercely prodded him in the side. "Shush," he chided. "You're an asshole."

Kronos smirked as he pressed his lips to Percy's one final time – drawing out the moment slightly longer than the last few – before he turned to his flustered brother whom had decided to peek around the doorway. "Yes?"

Iapetus huffed, but upon seeing that it was safe he took a few steps into the room. "I was going to ask if you were ready to discuss the movement of our army, but obviously you and Percy would like a few more hours alone together."

"We weren't doing anything-" Percy said fiercely, only for Kronos to cut over him – loudly.

"Move them forwards," Kronos said flatly, shooting his brother the driest look known to immortal kind.

Iapetus scowled at him in response. "You know as well as I that it's far more complicated than that."

Kronos frowned slightly, before he grabbed hold of Percy and held him close, completely ignoring his spluttered protests. "Well, we would like a few more hours together actually," Kronos told his brother. "So if you could wait-"

"You're just trying to get out of a war meeting," Iapetus accused in exasperation.

Percy was finally able to wriggle somewhat free and took the opportunity to jerk away. "You know what? Iapetus, take him off me. My babysitting duty's done today."

"Hey-"

"I need to have some time alone where I don't have to worry about waking up tied to the bed," Percy continued fiercely, utterly ignoring Kronos' affronted protests.

Iapetus grinned at Kronos. "Sure. I can do that." He stepped out the door. "Five minutes, Kronos. Then I'm coming in to get you, no matter what you're doing."

Percy smiled faintly at Kronos, pressing their foreheads together. "You alright?" He murmured. The look in Kronos' eyes... he looked like a puppy who'd been kicked.

A flicker of deep-rooted sorrow flicked across Kronos' eyes, and he suddenly looked like he'd aged a decade. But he shifted to press his lips against Percy's forehead. "Fine," he promised Percy, though both of them knew it was a lie. But Percy let the lie pass unquestioned – Kronos didn't look like he wanted to answer to an interrogation and Percy didn't want to push, not after Kronos had literally died for Percy.

"Get going then," he said with a soft smile. "Before Iapetus actually does decide to drag you out."

Percy could wait to find out what Kronos had done to Nico.