The pictures that I put up there ⬆ aren't drawn by me I can't draw that good. I just really had to share this amazing art!
Percy knocked on the door for the third time in the same minute, excitement oozing out of him. This time it was opened by none other than Sally Jackson herself. Her sea colored eyes flashed excitedly as she saw her son but before she could pounce on him, and drown him with her motherly love, Percy gave her a cheeky smile and held out a long velvet box. Although no words were exchanged, Sally's smile fell slightly and tears began to fill with tears as she held out her hands to take it.
"Percy you didn't-" Percy held up a hand, signaling that he would hear none of it.
"Nonsense mom. You deserve this and more" He said wringing his hands together, a sheepish smile appeared on his face, "I'm really sorry for not visiting sooner. I should have at least called."
Sally only smiled sadly and nodded, wiping stray tears from her eyes.
"Don't worry about it Percy. I know you're busy saving the world and stuff from damnation."
"That's no excuse mom." He looked up at her and put his hands up in a continue motion. With a small chuckle Sally opened the box in her hands. Inside was a golden necklace with a swirling blue pendant in the middle. Her smile fell completely and the tears began to pour freely, her willpower to keep them locked in having died.
"Percy...I- I don't know what to say." She gently placed her fingertips on the pendant and caressed it. "Its absolutely beautiful." She whispered, pulling Percy into a strong and long hug. He hugged her back and smiled, letting his mother hold strongly onto him. Three months he had spent at Camp helping with the reparations after the war. For three months he'd been away from his mother, without her smiles or her hugs; of course this time didn't include that of the war itself. No matter how old Percy got this was all he would ever need to live happy, not a pile of riches or even immortality, but a hug from his mother; after all he was still a kid, and would always be so in his mothers eyes.
"Thank you Percy but you didn't have to get me anything." She said pulling away. "How did you even afford this?" She asked holding out the necklace towards him but rather than taking the box he took the piece of jewelry and asked her to pull her hair up.
"Don't worry about it mom." She looked at him warily, "Nothing like that! I just had some savings and it helps being friends with a gifted metal worker. And I know I didn't have to get you anything, but I wanted to." He shrugged and wrapped it gently around her neck, pinning the back lightly as to not catch any of her hair. Sally smiled, shaking her head in happiness.
"How does it look?" She finally asked. Percy smiled and kissed her cheek.
"You look beautiful mom. How's little Laura?" He said.
"Growing. She has my eyes." She responded lovingly. Her smile fell and her eyes widened as if remembering something important.
"Oh! Percy your uncle is inside!" She said turning towards the door. Percy cocked his head to the side in confusion.
"Uncle? I thought you were an only child." He said. Sally entered the house and motioned for him to follow her. As he did he couldn't help but notice that nothing had changed, except for the superfluous amount of toys that lay scattered on the floor.
"Yea well about that it turns out that I have a half brother from my dads side of the family." She said putting her hands up in mock excitement, "Surprise!"
Percy, albeit very confused, gave a light and made his way towards the living room only to be stopped by a strict looking Sally. She placed her hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes; her face contorting with anxiety.
"Percy, please try to be nice. He's the only family you've got. Well, from my side. So you understand why you have to make a good impression?" She asked, a gleam of hope in her eyes. "If not for the sake of maintaining a relationship could you do it for me?"
Percy nodded innocently and mumbled, 'Of course mom' before he continued walking towards the living room. The smell of cookies filled the air as Sally took out yet another batch of her famous blue cookies. This was more like home; not being on a stuffy ship waiting for mass destruction to happen. The war had left everyone was a little changed; innocence was lost and even Hazel didn't seem to have the soft glow of youth in her eyes. They'd aged well beyond their actual age. The war had scarred them all, lives were lost, but it goes on for those who stay. So with Leo's contagious laughter and jokes, along with a couple of pranks from Connor and Travis Stoll, life was good. Well, as good as it gets when you're a demigod.
Percy stopped and glanced around the hall that led to the living room, taking in every detail as if it were his last time visiting. Nothing had changed in this house. The same pictures were hung on the wall from when he was 2 and when he was 6. Even the carpet was the same, whether that be for sentimental value or due to the lack of resources. The stain of blue Gatorade from when he was four was still intact, faded but otherwise intact. Funny how when he was four the loss of a little Gatorade had him sobbing on the floor, yet now that he lost more friends than he could count on one hand, he couldn't muster the strength to even shed a tear.
"Percy?" He snapped back into reality at the sound of his name. Sally was standing a step away from him staring at him with worry clear in her eyes. He smiled. His first genuine smile in the time after the war and motioned for her to come. A new hope settled into him, maybe life did get better; maybe it wasn't all lost.
"Lets meet my so called uncle."
With a sad smile she nodded and wrapped her arm around his, leading him into the living room.
Sitting on the couch was a finely dressed man, looking much like a typical rich person, snotty and mean. Dressed in a black suit with Ray-Ban sunglasses he looked like he was worth a million bucks, at least. He probably was if his styled goatee and clean hair cut were as expensive as they looked. When he saw Percy he immediately stood and smiled, and even though it seemed completely fake Percy couldn't help but appreciate the effort.
"Hiya Percy!" The man said cheerfully and Percy has to stop himself from cringing at how false it sounded. Percy gave him an awkward wave and walked over to sit next to him. His mom came back into the room with a plate full of blue cookies, and Percy was extremely close to taking one when Sally cleared her throat and nodded towards the man. Percy sighed but reluctantly stood up and held out his hand.
"Hey. As you already know I'm Percy. Im uh seventeen." He said with a small smile. He didn't really know how much this man knew about his Demigod life so he decided to spare any details. "I have a girlfriend, her names Annabeth, and I attend a summer camp which is much similar to college Greek life." the man shook his hand and Percy found it hard to continue talking, "That's about it. I'm not really an interesting person."
The mans smiled again and took off his glasses revealing chocolate brown eyes. Without the glasses Percy had to admit he looked much softer than he had with them on. He definitely looked more sleep deprived than before, bags lay beneath his eyes and there was a slight twitch to his left one. This made Percy immediately wonder what his day job was, perhaps he was a teacher. What if he worked at Yancy? In that case we was immediately sorry, as he knew first hand how troubled the children at those schools were. Himself being a prime example.
"Nice to meet you Percy. I'm Tony Stark AKA Ironman but you can call me uncle or just Tony if you'd prefer." He said all in one breath, clearly nervous.
Percy really had no idea what Tony was blabbering about. He seemed like a pretty laid back man but he had a wild look in his eyes, sorta like the look Leo had. Something told him this man had been through some shit, war veteran probably? He'd have to ask his mom later on about that. Tony just stared at him as if expecting him to freak out or something. Percy, not really knowing what to do, smiled and nodded. The room was in awkward silence for about a full minute before Percy puffed his cheeks and sat down, taking a cookie and offering it to Tony.
"So uncle, you want a cookie? I promise it'll be the best cookie you've ever tasted." Percy stated trying to clear the silence.
Tony looked over at Sally, who nodded for him to go on. With a nod he took one but Percy couldn't help but notice there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes. The room was then filled with Tony talking about him being an engineer, meaning he made machines and stuff which would probably explain the look. Here's the tea, Percy would've listened and paid attention, he really would have loved to, but he droned off almost immediately after he started talking, only thinking about how much Leo would love to meet him. Maybe now that he had a stable future he'd be able to bond more with his family and introduce Leo to his mother. He knew for a fact that Leo, along with the rest of the seven, could use some maternal love. A housewarming party would be a wonderful event, he could get Annabeth's dad and step family to come over from California. Maybe even Pipers dad could come over, or his own dad! With these happy thoughts he interrupted Tony.
"Hey mom, Tony?" Sally, immediately recognizing the tone in his voice looked over at him with a terrified smile.
"Yes sweety?"
"I was wondering if I could have a small get-together with some friends sometime. You know, Annabeth, Nico, and I've been dying for you to meet Leo. Do you think I could?"
The hope in his eyes was undeniable and Sally didn't have the heart to tell him no.
"I'm sorry Percy but I really don't think we can afford-"
"Sal I think that's a wonderful idea!" Tony interrupted patting him on the back. "And don't worry about the cost I'll cover it." He looked pointedly at his mom, "All of it."
The smile on both Tony's and Percy's face made Sally agree, although begrudgingly. She was more mesmerized (actually terrified was the better word) by how similar the two were, smiles and all. After some more talk about the small party, and Tony putting even more money on the table by offering for the party to be at his own place, Percy announced that he had better get going. Chiron had given him a cure few and he still had to visit Paul. So after packing a tub of cookies for Paul, and another for his friends (although honestly they'd probably be gone by the time he got to camp), he hugged each of them goodbye.
"I'll make sure to visit soon." He hugged his mom tightly. She only nodded, not really trusting herself to speak without crying again.
"I'll hold you to that promise."
Percy waved at Tony, who after a while had toned down his excitement and instead replaced it with sod smiles.
"You can visit me too anytime you want Perce. I've got a video game room that is to die for."
Percy couldn't help but chuckle, "Maybe I will take you up on that offer."
********
Percy knocked on the door to Paul's office twice before he heard a soft 'come in'. Not long after Percy's first visit Paul had quit his job as a teacher and began working in a small extension of Stark industries, or his newly discovered uncles company. Although it wasn't as close to home the income was much better than that of his previous job, which was what really mattered to his growing family. The door creaked open and Percy's eyes widened when he took in the scene. Papers were scattered all over the desk and ground, stacks of files and loose sheets were on tables and in corners. In short it looked like a mess. But what surprised Percy more was the sheer appearance of his step father. His hair was completely disheveled, his clothes were dirty, and it looked like he hadn't shaved in months. From behind his desk Paul looked up, an enormous smile appearing on his lips once he saw who it was.
"Uh hi." Percy said setting down the tub of cookies on one of the less crowded parts of his desk. Without responding, Paul stood up and engulfed him in a bone crushing hug, and Percy hugged back without a second thought. Although the embrace lasted less than the one with his mom had, it was still a while before Paul decided to let go.
"How are you my boy." He asked, placing his hands on Percy's shoulders.
It was slightly awkward considering the fact that Percy was about 2 inches taller than him now and about twice as big as he had been when Paul met him but he still smiled. He placed his own hands on Paul's shoulders in a teasing manner.
"I'm doing alright I guess." He didn't really want to share unnecessary details with Paul, details that would surely get to his mom and cause her to worry; instead he was brief — "How've you been?"— and deflected the question. Seeing the chaos in which his office was Percy assumes Paul's mind was in a very similar state at the moment. Rather than getting a real answer, Paul only shrugged and side-eyed the cookies before pointing at them.
"Are those for me?"
With a chuckle Percy grabbed them and handed them to him.
"To answer your question I could honestly be better. I just have and extreme amount of work and a very short amount of time to do said work." When Paul opened the tub, his eyes widened and he breathed a sigh of relief. "But at least there's some relaxation going on in my life now."
Percy couldn't help but smile when Paul took his first bite and had to close his eyes at the euphoria coursing through his body.
"They're good huh?" Percy said laughing again. Paul nodded and held out the tub for Percy to take one. He, albeit against his own will, denied any and instead pointed towards the door.
"I actually have to head out soon Paul." — Paul frowned — "-sorry camp rules. But it was really great to see you after so long."
Paul gave a slight shrug and took another cookie before setting down the Tupperware. He embraced Percy again and made sure to make something very clear.
"Please take care my boy, you're like a son to me and I want you safe, alright? You really don't realize how much we miss you at home." He shook his head as tears began to form in the corners of his eyes. "Your mom went through a really rough patch while you were missing so please make sure to visit more often. Also, little Laura really needs to see her amazing brother once in a while."
Percy couldn't stop the moisture from building up in his eyes but he nodded. Paul really was such a perfect and amazing father, because that's what he considered him. Paul was his dad. With a nod, Paul hugged him once more and Percy exited the office with a smile, a symbol of happiness and hope.