05- The reason why
||Artemis' P.O.V.||
After our talk and Nancy going home, Percy suggested a movie, because none of us could probably sleep.
"Percy, do you have that dough thing you put in this box food heater?" I asked from the kitchen, looking for our snacks while watching a movie.
"Yeah, it's in the lower box of the fridge, not the freezer." He said, turning around from the couch.
"Thanks." I said, finding the red and yellow dough thing that tastes good, though not as good as ambrosia, but still good.
"Artemis, tell me, are you getting bored? Staying here in my apartment all alone and no one to talk to." He asked, continuing the movie.
"Not yet." Ahh, the perks of immortality.
"If you want, I can introduce you to my mom, so if you get bored in here just ask her to drive you around or just talk to her."
"It's too much of a bother, I'm okay here, Perseus. But thank you for your hospitality."
Silence, complete utter silence for the next few minutes, save the noise from the television, none of us knew what to say.
"You know, five days ago you would have castrated me for being this close to you." He said absentmindedly.
That was when I noticed our position on the couch, our torsos on opposite sides and our legs tangled together as we watched a movie about a father finding his son that was kidnapped and brought thousands of miles away as he asked help from a mentally disabled woman.
"Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming." The character from the TV chanted.
"Yeah, I don't care, I don't see you for your gender, Perseus, you showed me enough kindness for me to see you through my principles... call yourself an exception."
Through the light emitted by the television screen, I can see the corners of his mouth lift up in a genuinely happy gesture.
"It's not everyday I hear that from a person who hated men for millennia." He said, turning to look at me.
"I don't hate men, I hate what they do to women, it's kind of sad that even though the times have changed, my stereotypes of men never did. They make the same mistakes over and over again." I ranted.
"Not all men, apparently." I continued, maintaining eye contact with Perseus.
Silence stood between the two of us as we stared into each other's eyes, the music of Finding Nemo becoming white noise as nothing else mattered to me.
His eyes.
A dark shade of sea green perfectly contrasting with the dim light of the room, his eyes sparkled with emotions indecipherable by my weak understanding of human emotion. (Yes, not feeling romantic feelings makes you numb)
And for the first time in millenia, since Orion, I felt something warm blooming in my chest. I won't say it out loud but I have been craving this since the day I became a goddess, something I didn't want to be, I wanted to feel safe, somehow, I wanted to feel... human.
Human... I like that.
"Artemis?" He asked, breaking from my trance.
"Have you ever... loved someone?" He continued.
"Tell me, Perseus. What defines love?"
"I'm not Aphrodite but being in love is one of the best feelings in the world. You feel safe and not safe at the same time, you crave their presence, you want them to be safe... you don't want to lose them."
"I've never felt anything like that."
"Not even with your mother?"
"I've only met her the week I was born."
"Hunters?"
"They're too formal, our relationship is professional but I care for them and I don't want to lose them."
"You're numb."
"What?"
"You're numb, you've never felt love, or being loved. I know how the olympian family works, Artemis. I know why most gods have so many demigod children. They yearn to feel loved, to feel something, to stop the numbness from entering. They just want to feel every moment of their immortal lives. I was wrong in my initial statement that immortals feel, no... they yearn and keep trying to feel. Everyone has a facade they try to keep." He said.
"I never even thought of it that way. Maybe we're numb, Perseus, but becoming a mortal made me realize how you guys feel too. Being overwhelmed by things happening around you, yearning for more time, for things that an immortal couldn't be bothered to appreciate. In a way I'm happy that this happened to me."
Yawning, he stood up and offered a hand to me.
"I'm getting kinda sleepy, and I'm guessing you are too."
"Yeah, goodnight." I said, yawning too and starting to walk to my room.
"Goodnight." He said as he also trekked to his room.
799 words
Hey guys! Sorry for the late update, I got pretty distracted with my art thing going on and I hope you like the chapter even though it's short. Please comment what you think. Thanks for reading!
~slummons
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||Stuck with Me|| a Pertemis Fanfiction
Fanfiction"This is stupid" "No it's not! Just because you're a resident in this area or something doesn't mean I get to follow these mortals' laws!" "With all due repect my lady, you're not a goddess anymore, he sent you here on purpose. I'm trying to protect...
