925Song Rec: "Cherry-Cola Abyss" by Soft Blue Shimmer. These guys tick a lot of boxes for me! I just recently found them, but their album Heaven Inches Away is awesome and definitely worth a listen if you're into the soft sort of dream pop/soft rock style. I've been listening to a lot of stuff like this the past few days so I haven't given the songs the usual amount of thought that I do before recommending them and therefore this will be a pretty short note. Let me know if you like!
Oh. Joking parental warning! No sex or anything but they're not just holding hands either.
Percy easily sipped on his drink as they watched the band perform one of their favorite songs. Now, he hadn't exactly been expecting a box seat when they had entered the venue, but Percy did have to imagine it was fitting given that it was Apollo who had gotten them the tickets. Still, while he wouldn't have minded being on the floor in the slightest, their seating was rather nice.
Artemis agreed well enough, as she was currently sitting next to him with her head on his shoulder and a drink in her hand. They'd been at the concert for just over an hour and a half and the main band had just recently started playing after all of the openers had finished. It was quite enjoyable. Percy thought it was actually quite nice to have the little enclosed space to themselves, as it meant neither of them had needed to change when they'd arrived.
Both of them had been somewhat interested to note the look they'd gotten when they'd arrived and handed the usher their tickets. Artemis was the first to mention something about it, but they'd just laughed about it and moved on quickly. Instead, their - but more accurately Artemis's - primary concern had been what to drink. Percy hadn't particularly cared but had still been quite happy to find that little blue drink that she made so well being placed into his hand. The goddess herself had gone through several glasses of them on her own in the time that they'd sat there watching the concert.
There were small signs that she wasn't as clear-headed as she usually was, but Percy just thought it was cute. It was nice to see the goddess unburdened and relaxed. And, he especially didn't mind the way that she'd occasionally press little kisses into his neck at seemingly random times. He wouldn't admit that it had him feeling a little hot under the collar, but who could blame him?
"They've gotten a lot better since I last saw them."
"Yeah?" he sounded a little breathless, but the goddess either didn't notice or didn't care.
"Absolutely," Artemis took another sip from her drink, "The production is very different from when I first went a few years ago."
"How so?"
"Well," Artemis let her fingers drum against his thigh as she leaned against him, "the last time I saw them, they were playing tiny underground venues. Now it seems that they're filling stadiums."
Percy smiled, "They deserve the attention for sure."
"Oh absolutely," Artemis agreed easily, "I'm glad I have someone to share this with."
"That's not Apollo you mean?"
"For one," Artemis shifted a little so that she was looking at him, "Their music is rather hedonistic."
"Horny, you mean?" Percy's laugh was somewhat drowned out by the drone of the crowd.
"Well," she blushed a little, "something like that."
"It's true," Percy turned to look at her, "But I get what you mean. It's nice being here with you."
The goddess shifted a little so that she was sitting up more, though she was careful to keep herself close to him, "Sharing this with one's partner is very different, I think."
"Agreed," Percy grinned at her before they nestled back into each other. She laid another soft kiss onto his skin moments after, "You're doing this on purpose."
"No."
"Yes."
"Maybe."
Percy took a sip of his drink before responding, "Definitely."
"Oh one hundred percent, yes," Artemis agreed before doing it again, "Are you complaining?"
"Not at all, no."
"Good.
Percy moved again so that he could wrap an arm around the goddess. She didn't mind this at all and, in fact, actively moved so that he might have an easier time. It was easy to fall back into companionable silence. Or, as close to it as they could get given that they were at a concert. The son of the sea thought that the goddess looked absolutely adorable as she moved around to the music. She couldn't quite dance, but the goddess was doing her best as she bobbed her head along to it.
It was cute to watch. He himself was doing much the same, enjoying the heavy beat of the drums and the soaring vocals. It was, he thought, one of the best concerts he'd been to - partly because of the company and partly because they were just excellent performers. The whole thing was a treat to watch, and Percy quite enjoyed the way that it felt like he could hear the bass thumping along in his chest. He'd always liked heavy music, and it seemed that Artemis did as well. That didn't really surprise him.
Speaking of the goddess, she'd just finished another drink and had summoned another. For both of them. He'd just laughed before downing his and taking the next one. Technically, they'd already informed the Hunt that they wouldn't be back tonight and it seemed that they were going to be making the most of it. He didn't mind the thought of that one bit. And really, who would?
After another hour or so, they noticed that they were getting towards the end of the concert. Not only was everything slowing down a little, but Artemis had informed him that they'd probably end with some of the first songs they'd ever made. She had, of course, been right. Lucky that she was too as both he and the Moon goddess considered those ones to be some of their favorites.
There was something about the heavy riffs and crashing drums that really clicked with them. And, he supposed it made practical sense as well since these songs had less singing and were a little more focused on the instrumentals. Still, what little vocals there were still had every bit of the power and breadth that they usually did.
It was, he thought, an amazing end to a great concert. Artemis seemed to agree as the band wrapped up their last song.
"What'd you think?" she asked curiously, looking at her partner as they both stood up so that they could leave.
"I think," Percy smiled as he looked down at her, "That we should see them more often."
"They have, without a doubt, gotten better since the last time I saw them," Artemis agreed, "Do you want to stop before we go home?"
Percy shook his head as they started to navigate towards the exits. The goddess took the lead and had a firm grip on his hand as she pulled them along through the throngs of people, "I think I'm fine. I wouldn't mind a few less people."
"Agreed," the goddess nodded.
After another minute or so, they finally reached the exits. Thankfully, people began to thin out rapidly as they moved away from the doors.
"It feels good out here," Percy sighed in relief, tugging at his collar a little as they made their way towards where they had parked.
"The cold air does feel very nice," Artemis agreed, bumping into his shoulder as they walked, "It was a little hot for my taste."
Percy agreed, "Yeah but what can you do?"
The goddess smiled happily as they walked along the street, "Not much. Too many people I suppose."
"Something like that. I won't mind the peace when we get back."
"I wouldn't mind getting you alone for the night."
"I'm sure," Percy looked at the goddess, "Do you want my jacket?"
She laughed serenely, "Sometimes I think you forget that I'm a goddess."
"You were literally just talking about how hot it was," Percy shook his head with a smile, "Besides, you're far too pretty to be anything else. And, I just like seeing you in my clothes."
"Well then," she laughed, "I cannot argue that."
He stripped the article off and draped it around her shoulders as they walked, "It's kinda unfair that you look better in them than I do."
"I like this jacket on you. You fill it out really well," Artemis looked at her partner with a small smile, "And, you act like you can't make just about anything work."
Percy laughed, "Not like you can."
"You're not going to convince me of that," Artemis said easily, "We're parked right here, by the way."
Percy, who had not been paying attention, had nearly walked right by the car, "I was kind of looking for my truck honestly."
The Huntress laughed sweetly, "Of course you were."
"Besides, you're going to have to drive again."
"We're not doing any driving," Artemis laughed, "If you recall, we did park this far away for a reason."
"Good point," Percy grinned as they both reappeared in his garage with a flash, "I'm glad I got a little more used to you doing that."
"Me too," Artemis agreed as they stepped into the house, "I hated seeing the way you'd look sick after we flashed anywhere."
"I can't imagine it was pretty," he laughed, "I remember one of the first times we did it, I nearly knocked my head against the door frame."
"You still managed to hit your head on the table after you tripped over your rug."
"Not a proud moment for me, no."
"In your defense," Artemis smirked at him, "I had just worked you for an entire day."
"True," He laughed as he pulled his sweater off, "Should we change?"
"We could."
"You seem like you've got something else you want to do."
"Maybe. Let's do something fun," Artemis dragged him over towards the door. Percy could only laugh happily as he followed along dutifully.
"You've got a lot of energy tonight."
"It's not my fault you look hot when you dress up. Do you know how hard it was to not stare at you all night?"
"You did stare at me all night," Percy laughed.
"Exactly," Artemis looked back at him with a smile, "And I want some us time."
"On the beach? Or in the water?"
"Both?"
"Sounds amazing to me."
"Do I get to change you again?" Artemis asked curiously as they strolled out into the sand.
"Don't you always?" Percy cocked his head at her, shooting her an amused look as she turned around to him again.
"Yes, but I was thinking," Artemis tilted her head from one side to another, "Maybe we could take a more hands on approach tonight."
"Oh okay," Percy blinked.
"Do you not want to?" It was odd to see the Huntress almost pout.
"No," he shook his head, "I just wasn't expecting that. Contrary to popular belief, I do know when to keep my mouth shut and agree."
"You're still doing an awful lot of talking," She pulled him down into a kiss.
Well. He supposed she wasn't wrong.
He didn't, in the slightest, mind the way that the goddess had pulled him towards her and started to unbutton his shirt. She was - likely intentionally - going rather slowly. The goddess took her time with the first few buttons, starting up near his neck and pulling him down so that he had to bend a little. It was pleasant torture, especially as she let the tips of her fingers drag down his skin as her hand trailed towards each of the remaining buttons.
She kissed him again most of the way through, apparently deciding that leaving two of them still gave her plenty of room for her hands to roam across his skin. Then again, he considered as he felt her hands move towards his back, she did need to untuck his shirt to get to the last one. She did that with one hand while the other spent its time tangling itself in the hair above his neck.
"You're unfairly good at that," Percy said breathily as she pulled away from him.
The Huntress just smiled as, "I think it's your turn."
Percy let out a breath and the goddess was sure that his pupils had dilated a little, "You sure?"
"It's just a top and you've seen me in less," she answered with a blush, "Though I think I'll draw the line at the pants."
"Not quite there yet I think," he smiled down at a moment before kissing her, "I feel like I haven't said it enough, but you really are beautiful."
Percy noted the way the goddess's cheeks flushed a deeper golden, "You haven't taken anything off yet."
He smiled as he let his hands drop towards the hem of her top, "Still true. You can still stop me."
The goddess let her hand come to rest on his cheek, "Don't. I like the way you look at me."
"Okay," Percy said quietly. It took him a moment to get it off and another moment to pull back from her. He let his hands stay above her hips as he did. She looked a little embarrassed.
"Do you like?"
He spoke slowly, "Very much yes."
She seemed a little more confident at that, smiling softly as she looked back at him, "That's good. I don't know why I feel embarrassed."
"It is new for you," Percy said comfortingly, "Even if I have seen you in smaller swim tops, the context is a little different. And, I don't think either of us are quite used to me outright looking at you like this - much less touching you."
"Maybe," Artemis nodded slowly. Percy smiled, then poked her gently in the stomach which caused her to jump a little, "hey!"
He laughed quietly, turning away slightly, "Sorry. Just thought it might make you relax a little."
The goddess seemed to smile despite her nerves, "Then I guess it worked rather well."
Percy grinned down at her, "I'm really glad. And, for the record, if you're worried about feeling awkward, believe me there are going to be plenty of times like this."
"I'm understanding that," she smiled softly, "Doesn't make it easy though either."
"No," he kissed her forehead, "It doesn't."
"Could be worse," Artemis smiled before pulling away. She snapped her fingers so that both of their clothes would change into swimwear, "At least one of us has a little experience."
"True," Percy agreed, watching as the goddess started to move towards the water.
She, after realizing that she was not next to him, looked back over her shoulder. He could see the soft golden flush again, "Good to see you meant what you said earlier."
Percy laughed and rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry. You really are pretty."
"I suppose the figure helps," she teased easily, "Come on now. You can look later."
They took their time getting all the way into the water, instead making the trip in small bursts as they talked. Sometimes, they'd wait for a few minutes before venturing a little deeper, but they did eventually make it. Then, they found themselves floating on their backs, bobbing up and down in the waves. The goddess seemed to have grown steadily more comfortable as they'd stayed in the water. Gradual at first, but then, she'd started teasing him again - even going as far as to move his hands towards her after a little while.
"Someone's warmed up quick," Percy commented easily as she pulled his hand towards her.
"It was a little strange at first," Artemis admitted, "But it is you. I trust you. Seems a little silly to get hung up on something, you know?"
"It makes me happy to hear that," Percy had shifted a little in the water, letting himself sink a little lower, "But promise you'll tell me."
"Promise," the goddess agreed, "So long as you aren't shy about speaking your thoughts either."
"I won't be," he said easily, "I came to realize that it does nobody any good to keep quiet about things like that."
"While I don't have much to base that off of, I could certainly agree."
He glanced at her before looking back towards the sky, "Not much of a reason to you know? Healthy people don't do that, right?"
"I'd like to think so," Artemis agreed, looking at him fully, "You know I don't mind you looking, right?"
"I know," Percy nodded, "But I think I still have to convince myself that I can sometimes. It comes in little waves if that makes sense."
"I think so. Like I said earlier though, I don't mind because it's you. It's nice to hear it from someone who actually cares."
"Yeah. I get what you mean," Percy laughed quietly, "I know it makes me uncomfortable when some random person says something unsavory."
Artemis moved so that she was treading water instead of floating, "But you wouldn't mind if I said that I'm keeping you in bed till we couldn't move anymore."
Percy laughed at that, "No. I wouldn't."
"Because I care," Artemis grinned at him as he moved, "and because you think I'm hot."
"I do," Percy agreed as he swam right up to her, "You're very easy on the eyes, and I suspect you might know that."
"But," she hummed, "I want to hear it from you."
"Oh?"
"You heard me."
"I did," he confirmed, grinning at her, "I just wasn't expecting it."
"Well?"
Percy laughed again, "Perhaps I can just show you."
"Or," Artemis challenged, "You could do both."
"Okay," he agreed quite happily, "Though we should go back to the beach I think. The logistics are a little better on solid ground."
"Should I ask?"
"Probably not," he grinned at her. This time, he was the one to take her hand as they made their way back towards the beach, "Want to watch something later?"
"What did you have in mind?"
"Not sure yet. I'm sure it'll come to me when we're actually there trying to figure that out."
"As do most of your wonderful ideas," Artemis laughed, "You do have a rather good track record when it comes to playing things by ear."
"You mean to say that I have absurdly dumb luck," Percy grinned back at her as they stepped through the ripplets and onto the beach, "Which I can't argue with seeing as we ended up together by no small amount of dumb luck."
"How so?"
"I let my mouth work a little faster than my brain," he chuckled, "Which I often find to be the case."
"That's fair," Artemis laughed, "But good things usually come of that."
"Sometimes," he let his head tilt off to one side, "Did you enjoy our date?"
"Very much, yes."
"Let's skip the fancy bullshit beforehand though."
"Again," the Moon goddess smiled to herself, "Yes. At least the food was good."
"True," he agreed before flopping down on the beach. The goddess looked down at him with a rather amused look, "Care to join me?"
"On the floor?" she grinned, "Of course."
"It's not so bad," Percy smiled as he watched her sit down next to him, "It'll be annoying trying to get all the sand off though."
"Nothing a quick shower couldn't fix," Artemis had yet to fully lay down, and was instead sitting up next to him, "Does having sand in your hair not bother you?"
Percy, not thinking about it, almost ran his hand through said hair. He managed to stop himself half-way through bringing his arm up, "It does. Still worth it for the view."
"It is a pretty night."
"I meant you, but that too," Percy said easily, "The Moon is always pretty, you know?"
The goddess smiled softly before poking him in the side. She had to stop herself from laughing as he shot her an indignant look, "What?"
"You absolutely love doing that."
"I do."
"Why?"
The goddess looked away for a moment, "Initially, because I wanted any reason to touch you, but now mostly because it's funny."
"Really?"
"To which one answer?"
"The touching one," Percy cocked his head at her, "Did you do that a lot?"
The goddess tapped a finger against his chest a few times before answering, "As much as I could convince myself to, yes."
"What do you mean?"
"I thought that it was a little too self-indulgent to let myself touch you as I pleased."
Percy laughed and the goddess stared at him. He put his hands up as he continued, "Sorry sorry. It's just funny thinking about it."
Artemis rolled her eyes but it was very clear that she was both amused, if slightly embarrassed, "You make it sound so much worse than it was."
She looked away again before laying down next to him. She did, however, let her head rest on his chest. He appreciated the way her hair fanned out over his skin, "Hindsight says that you are correct."
"Hindsight says a lot of things," Percy chuckled, "You're very warm."
"You are too," The goddess murmured, "What did you think of me when we first met?"
Percy sat thoughtfully for a moment, "I think I was mostly confused at first. You calmed me down pretty well though after that."
"Did I?"
"You were always good at that. Even back then."
"Back then wasn't all that long ago."
"But it feels a little like it is," Percy said, "I think that I'm a very different person than I was this time last year."
The Huntress pushed herself so that she could lay down next to him and look up at the sky, "I think we were both rather different a year ago today."
"How so?"
"For one," Artemis started, "I had never even for a moment considered that we might become partners."
"Thanks," Percy said, his tone jokingly dry.
"Oh be quiet," The goddess laughed quietly next to him, "You know you weren't either."
"True," he agreed, "I know that's one of the reasons we became friends so quickly. There was never any question of romance or anything like that. Just us being us."
"You make it sound like it would have been a bad thing."
"Well," he turned to look at her, "I know we ended up there after everything, but think about it, right? I was, for lack of a better phrase, damaged goods. Probably still am, even if that's only what I consider myself to be. You wouldn't have liked me nearly as much if I had just been trying to sleep with you. I'd say my complete disinterest in it was sort of what made you keep talking to me. Made me feel safe, I suppose."
"That, and because I could see many similarities in you. And you are not damaged goods or whatever you called it."
"Eh."
The goddess frowned, "You're not. Your past doesn't make you worth any less."
Percy made a face as he laid there, but he didn't continue that line of thought any longer, "Thanks."
"You would have certainly argued that when we first met," Artemis sat up and smiled softly at him, "And I know for a fact that you just stopped yourself from disagreeing with me."
"True," Percy looked away with a small smile, "Lucky me that I have a good partner."
"We both have good partners."
He didn't say anything in response, but he did stare at her for a moment before eventually closing his eyes and smiling. She understood that to mean that he had been convinced for the moment, especially given the way that he had seemed to relax a little more.
The goddess did have to admit that his disinterest had been something that drew to him. For that matter, any romantic feelings may have scared her off in the beginning. In a way, her being the one to have feelings was a little funny if only because it was the complete opposite of what usually occurred. If she were being entirely honest, his devotion to his previous partner had been somewhat comforting at first - even if it later inspired some less than ideal feelings about the girl.
She could still distinctly recall how she'd felt after seeing the architect sitting with her head on his shoulder in that garden on the edge of Olympus. It had been less than pleasant. So was seeing the girl, but she tried not to let that bother her too much. She had, after all, won out in the end. Instead, she let herself lay down and relax. It was a little while before either of them said anything, but Percy was the first to break the silence.
"I really love the sky when it looks like this," Percy said as they stared up into the night, "Like when there are lots of small clouds together with all the little cracks. It's like they're little pebbles and the moonlight is the water trickling softly over them."
"Oh I'm getting poetry Percy tonight," Artemis laughed softly, "I like it too. It's very pretty."
"I feel like I should be somewhat offended about that first comment," Percy smiled as the goddess snuggled into him a little more.
"You know I'm just teasing you," The goddess rolled onto her stomach and placed her head on his chest so that she could look at him, "It's cute when you talk."
"You just think I'm hot."
"Without a doubt yes," the goddess nodded, "I mean, look at you."
Percy felt a little blood rush to his face as the goddess stared at him, "You're hot too."
"Oh thank you," she purred, "I'm glad you think so."
"I have no idea what to say right now.
"Well," the goddess cocked her head, "You could just kiss me instead."
"What, didn't get enough of me earlier?"
"No amount of you will ever be enough," Artemis answered firmly, "And suddenly, I'm realizing that we both might be cheesy romantics."
"So long as you recognize it," Percy laughed as he sat up a bit, pulling the goddess towards his chest, "I think it becomes a problem when we start trying to show it off."
"I could see that," Artemis laughed, "I really couldn't care less about other people knowing, I think."
"Seconded," Percy agreed, "No reason to show out, right?"
"Less unwanted attention," the Huntress shook her head, "And gods know that as soon as Olympus finds out, we'll never hear the end of it."
"Pretty sure the only people I'm excited for are going to be our moms, the girls, and Nico."
"Speaking of Nico," Artemis looked at Percy, "I'm fairly certain he's just won a good amount of drachma."
"How?"
"Would it interest you to know that there were bets on how long it would take for us to get together?"
"Maybe a little," Percy groaned, "Really. How did everyone but me know?"
"Truly, I could not tell you, my Love."
"Ah whatever," Percy sighed, "We got there."
"You got there."
"Alright alright," he laughed, "No need for that."
Really, she wouldn't have had it any other way, "You never did show me what you meant."
So! Interesting. We're getting the first little bit of physicality between the two. I wanted to take a moment to talk about that here. That's not because I didn't like it. It was fun to write. But I do want to take a moment and talk about what my stance on all of this is. These are, after all, characters that I respect a lot. It doesn't feel quite right to me to treat Artemis like I'd treat Percy in that regard. She's not delicate, but she's demanding of a certain respect and I like to think that Percy thinks that as well. It's something important to him, and it's important to me. I, both because I am a man and because I feel a little more comfortable writing Percy the same way I'd write myself, am okay with treating Percy a little more casually.
He's been in a relationship before. He's been physical with someone before. He's got more to work with, you know? Artemis, on the other hand, does not. I don't care about the whole chastity-purity argument that a lot of people make because I think my iteration is different, but that doesn't mean that I'm okay with just having her have this reckless abandon. She's confident, yes - but she's going to take a little bit to get all the way there, you know? Once she's there, she's more than comfortable I think, but you're not already doing 100 when you start a car.
Actions are different than words obviously so while I'm perfectly okay and happy to write her being forward and completely forthcoming, I also want some of the newness to reflect in both of them. She's not used to letting anyone do those things. Percy, likewise, isn't used to not being wholly respectful so it's hard for him to maybe describe things that he likes about her physically in the same way that she maybe is embarrassed by his attention, you know?
I'll even go as far as to say that I'm kind of okay with treating Percy like a bit more of an object. He's comfortable with this sort of stuff because of familiarity. He doesn't mind her touching him or doing things to him that she might necessarily feel quite comfortable with. You'll notice that I'm probably a little more descriptive or forward about what she does to him as compared to the other way around.
For that matter, I'm okay with writing him that way because that's how I would write myself. What I describe myself as is very different from what I might make another character. I want that to be something important because I think respect is where a lot of stories can go wrong in that regard. I don't mean that in the "oh you have to be completely proper" because fuck that, but I think you can tell when someone really cares about the character and I think that's part of what makes this story work.
You'll probably notice that I try to avoid overtly mentioning Artemis's inherently sexual qualities. I mention what her outfits are, but I do avoid some of the more specific topics like oh yeah her bikini looks fucking amazing because she's hot, you know? It's just one of those lines that I've drawn because I think it was unnecessary at the time. Now, that's not to detract from the fact that she will have overtly sexual encounters with Percy, but it has to fit properly. I want the focus to be the character, and while her being extremely attractive is part of that, I didn't want that to be the focus until the right time. It takes from the character and the writing, I think. Those are things that I think are better left unsaid.
Anyway, all of that is to say, let me know if you guys think I'm not showing these guys the requisite amount of care even down the line. It's important to me. Hope you guys enjoy it and let me know. Also just a funny thing, I literally just got done writing a paper on primate altruism and decided it seemed like an opportune time to get this chapter out as well. Enjoy!