In An Ordinary World

 

“It’s getting late,” Percy noted.

 

Hermes sighed. “Yeah, it is…”

 

But neither made a move to get up from where they were.

 

“How are you able to get off your work, Hermes?” Percy asked out of nowhere. “I mean, since you are the Messenger of the Gods, that means you’re really busy all the time, right?”

 

The god made a face, “Yeah. But Iris said she’d take care of it. So, here I am.”

 

Percy’s lips twitched upwards, and Hermes grinned.

 

“You should make it like an actual mail service,” Percy murmured. “Hire some workers, get some sick days and vacation hours. Holidays…get paid. Have the others pay to get things sent. Charon gets paid,” Percy pointed out.

 

Hermes looked thoughtful, “You know, those are some good ideas. I think I’ll need to try some of those out when I go back to work.”

 

He reached over and cupped Percy’s face, moving him closer and lightly kissing his lips. Percy blushed horribly, but Hermes just smirked.

 

“What are you thinking about after graduation?”

 

Percy blinked, “Huh?”

 

He rolled his eyes, “After graduation, you said you planned to go to NYU. What else?”

 

“Oh…um, it’ll be kind of awkward staying with my mom after she’s married to Paul, and I’m not sure there’s going to be space in our apartment for all of us. Plus, I think she’s going to move into Paul’s house, which has a bigger space. Obviously, I’m welcome and they kind of expect me to move in with them too…but I think I should find a place to stay. Probably after high school though.”

 

“Do you want to go apartment/house hopping soon then?”

 

Percy blushed, “It’s a little too early, isn’t it? I mean, especially since I’m going to finish high school first, and we’re only in the first quarter.”

 

Hermes shrugged, “We could always just go open house hopping just because. It’ll be fun. We get to see nice houses and goof around in them…and get free food.”

 

The other sighed fondly, “Why do I get the feeling you want to mess around in them?”

 

“…You know, I didn’t even think about that until you mentioned it. Ohh, what a dirty mind you have, Percy!” Hermes chortled.

 

The younger of the two groaned and hid his face, “Oh gods, you’ve corrupted me. What am I going to do?”

 

Hermes smiled mischievously, “Well, it’s a good idea. I’ll have to keep it in mind when we go.”

 

Percy picked up a clump of grass and threw it at the god, huffing in mock-irritation and semi-exasperation. Afterwards, he plopped back onto the ground, lying on his back as he started to stare up at the stars.

 

“Hermes, you gotta take me home. Mom and Paul are going to be worried,” he murmured.

 

The god pouted, “Can’t I keep you forever?”

 

Percy rolled his eyes, “Even if you did, I would still have to go home to them at least.”

 

Sighing, Hermes nodded. But then his mischievous smile returned.

 

“Speaking about asking you things…can I take you on top of my desk?”

 

“No.”

 

“Aw, but you can call me Mister Hermes, and I’ll get to discipline you. In a very winsome way,” Percy swore the grin on Hermes’ face couldn’t get any bigger.

 

Rolling his eyes again, he answered back dryly.

 

“And have someone catch us? You’re delusional, much less that you actually think I would ever agree to it.”

 

Percy was wrong. Hermes’ grin had just gotten even bigger.

 

“We’ll see about that,” Hermes purred. “By which, can I drop you off to school tomorrow?” the god immediately changed subjects.

 

Percy was suspicious, but he shrugged it off.

 

“I guess,” he reluctantly conceded. “But we’ll have to park my car around the block, and then walk the rest of the way to school so we can go our separate ways before we reach it.”
 

“Oh alright,” Hermes said in disappointment. “So can we do it on my desk?”

 

Percy blinked at the abrupt change.

 

“Hey! I said no! Like you could confuse me and make me accidentally say yes,” he huffed.

 

Hermes shrugged, “Worth a try. Are you sure though? You don’t want to do a little role play?”

 

The perverted grin and the waggling of eyebrows wasn’t anywhere near persuasive.

 

Percy twitched.

 

“No. Besides which, it isn’t really role play if we actually are teacher and student.”

 

“It is if we add dirty talk.”

 

Percy felt the oncoming headache even before it slammed into his head.

 

“Hermes…have I told you that your mouth could get you into trouble one of these days?”

 

Hermes’ renewed grin boded trouble.

 

“I haven’t heard you complaining about my mouth lately,” Hermes said suggestively.

 

Percy hit his shoulder.

 

“Ouch! Okay, okay!” Hermes held up his hands in surrender. “Aw, come on. My witty wittiness is my only true weapon, dearest. I don’t get a fancy sword like everyone else,” he pouted.

 

The younger of the two grimaced, “One, don’t call me dearest. I’ll immediately refuse to let you touch me again. Ever. Two, you’re a god. You get powers. And you could probably use a sword if you wanted to.”

 

“But the only pointy thing I want to use is my –”

 

“Okay!” Percy cut him off, blushing a bright red. He had a feeling he knew what Hermes was going to say next. “Back to the matter at hand. Home, Hermes. Now. Before I get into trouble.”

 

Hermes pouted even more worse than he did earlier.

 

“Like really, Percy? Where’s all the fun in that?”

 

“It’s called being responsible,” Percy answered back dryly.

 

“Responsible, impossible. Come on, Percy,” the god prodded. “All work and no play makes Percy a dull boy.”

 

“Maybe if I’m dull enough, you’ll leave me alone,” Percy said straight-faced.

 

“Never!” Hermes declared, draping himself loosely around Percy. “Oh, alright. I’ll take you home now.”

 

“Finally,” Percy finally let out a small smile, exasperated but admittedly enjoying the time.

 

“You sure you don’t want to just make out some more –?”

 

“Hermes!” Percy warned.

 

“Okay, okay! Let’s go.”

 

Soon enough, Hermes got Percy home and both realized it was midnight.

 

“Ugh, I’m going to get grounded because of you,” Percy muttered, making a face at the clock on his dashboard.

 

Hermes winced, “Hey. I’m sorry. You’re right. I should’ve gotten you home earlier –”

 

He was cut off when Percy threw himself towards him, landing an open-mouthed kiss on his lips. Hermes grinned at that, placing his arms around Percy’s waist before hefting him up and lifting him from the passenger seat to sit on his lap. Percy’s own arms wound around his neck, one hand drifting down behind him and grasping tightly at his shirt at the small of his back, while the other moved to curl into Hermes’ hair.

 

Hermes tilted Percy’s head a bit, before lightly touching his tongue to Percy’s upper lip, warning him that he was about to thrust his tongue inside so Percy wouldn’t panic and close his teeth on it. Percy answered by thrusting his tongue forwards, meeting Hermes tit for tat. The messenger god grinned into his mouth, happily pushing closer and enjoying Percy taking charge for once. He knew it wouldn’t last. But he could enjoy it for now.

 

When Percy leaned back and he pushed even closer, Percy accidentally touched the horn and it honked loudly. Both of them winced, and Hermes conceded that that meant the end to their little rendezvous.

 

“I have to go,” Percy murmured.

 

Hermes refrained from pouting, lightly taking Percy’s face and kissing him several quick times, before he opened the driver’s door and slipped out. Percy groaned and hit his head against the seat, straddling it now that Hermes was gone from under him.

 

“Stupid, stupid,” Percy muttered to himself.

 

Frowning, he got out of his car and went up to the apartment, Hermes nowhere to be seen.

 

He entered the apartment and was surprised to see Paul nodding off near the lit fireplace.

 

“Paul? What are you doing up?”

 

The man shot up straight, blinking the sleep from his eyes.

 

“Oh! You’re back! Your mom said you’d be alright, but I was worried and didn’t know if you’d be okay and –” Paul kept babbling and a small smile started growing on Percy’s face.

 

“I’m alright, Paul. Thanks for worrying,” he assured his soon to be stepfather.

 

Paul turned bright red, “Sorry, Percy. It’s just…I’m new to the parenting stuff and I don’t want to mess up.”

 

Percy’s smile grew bigger.

 

“Nah! You’re doing just fine. How about some hot chocolate before we go to bed?”

 

He saw Paul visibly relax, hiding his sigh of relief from Percy, and grinned back at the demigod with a burst of enthusiasm. They moved to the kitchen and Percy helped show Paul how Sally made the hot chocolate.

 

“You’ll get the hang of it eventually,” Percy assured him.

 

“Thanks. Um, Percy, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” Paul fidgeted slightly.

 

Percy became a little nervous, but nodded an okay.

 

Paul exhaled loudly before trembling putting his hands clasped in front of him on the table.

 

“Um…okay. So, for the wedding, I was hoping you’d be my best man,” Paul muttered, turning red again.

 

“Me?”

 

“Yeah,” Paul smiled in embarrassment. “I don’t really have anyone else to ask, or care to ask. ‘Cept my brother and I hate him,” he confided.

 

“Oh. Can I ask why or is too personal?” Percy hesitantly asked.

 

Paul sighed, “I just don’t like talking about him. To anyone. He’s just a real bastard.” By the dark look that crossed his almost stepdad’s face, Percy didn’t have any trouble believing it. Especially since Paul was usually a really nice and kind of laid-back kind of guy.

 

“Okay. That’s fine. And I think I know of a groomsman if you’re in need of one,” Percy offered.

 

“Really? That’d be great!” Paul looked even more relieved at that.

 

They chatted a bit more about miscellaneous things, catching up on school, some more on the wedding, and plans for a family picnic to Montauk soon. Then the two of them went their separate ways to go to sleep, Percy immediately plopping onto his bed. But as he closed his eyes, he found he couldn’t go to sleep. He tossed and turned on his bed, trying to get comfortable and hoping his mind would settle down and he’d go to sleep. Instead, he was just wide awake.

 

Frustrated, Percy turned again and faced his clock. It read 1:14. Sighing, he stared at it and time just seemed to pass. He blinked and the next thing he knew, it was 1:25. Biting his lip, he hesitantly reached for his cell phone.

 

Hey, you awake?

 

A reply immediately came back.

 

Yeah. Couldn’t sleep. You too?

 

Percy stared and wondered what could he say. Why was he having so much trouble sleeping? Why…why was part of the reason because he couldn’t stop thinking about Hermes?

 

Can you stay with me tonight?

 

He really hoped the god wouldn’t ask any questions and leave him alone about it. Percy wasn’t ready yet to answer himself.

 

“All you had to do was ask,” Hermes’ voice murmured into his ear as the god slipped in behind him and wound his arm around Percy’s waist, bringing the smaller teen closer to his body. Percy had tensed briefly before relaxing into his hold.

 

“I didn’t expect you to come so quickly,” Percy sighed.

 

“Disappointed?”

 

“…No.”

 

Hermes considered it a step forward, but didn’t push his luck in questioning Percy about it. Instead, he just held onto Percy until the boy fell asleep in his arms not too long after he’d gotten there.

 

It was like that in the coming nights. Around the same time, Percy would give in and shyly ask for Hermes to stay with him. Soon enough, Hermes didn’t even bother waiting for the text and came close enough to the time. It became a regular routine that comforted the both of them.

 

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“I forgot to ask you this awhile ago, but Paul needs a groomsman and I was hoping you’d agree,” Percy brought up.

 

Hermes hmmed, “I guess it wouldn’t be a bad idea. What about you?”

 

Percy shrugged, “He asked me to be his best man.”

 

Hermes grinned, “Hey, we get to stand next to each other! Do you think your stepdad would mind if I snuck in a grope here and there from you?”

 

“…” he stared at the god before shaking his head in disbelief. “One, almost stepdad. Two, it’s his wedding, Hermes. Thirdly, I doubt he would be fine, much less happy, with you groping his soon to be stepson. Especially on his wedding.”

 

The messenger god snickered, “But it sure would be one hell of a memorable wedding.”

 

“Memorable enough for me to want to forget.”

 

Hermes pouted.

 

“Oh, quit your pouting!” Percy smiled reluctantly, leaning forward and grazing his lips against the man’s cheek. Hermes was a lot happier that Percy was willing to show some affection every once in a while, though he would prefer if it were more frequent. Even if chaste, frequency would be very welcomed. Though he would love some more heavy make outs too. But he wouldn’t push that, considering Percy was still skittish about the whole thing, particularly on that front, so there was no way Hermes would jeopardize what little progress they had.

 

“Hey, I was thinking… Paul, Mom and me are going to Montauk soon. You know, family picnic…outing kind of thing. You wanna come with?” Percy asked awkwardly.

 

Hermes blinked in surprise, “You want to take me?”

 

Percy nibbled his lower lip. “It’s just that we’re going to be there as family, but it’ll be the first real family outing thing we do. It might be a little easier for me to, um, have someone there. You know, for me. So it won’t be so awkward. And, they’ll probably need some alone time too and I don’t want to be alone and I’d much rather have you there to keep me company –” he started babbling near the end.

 

“Just say you’re going to miss me,” Hermes cut in teasingly.

 

Percy rolled his eyes and hit his shoulder, “Forget it! I change my mind.”

 

“No, no, no! I take it back! Let me come with you,” the god started pouting again, tugging at Percy’s shirt.

 

“Oh, if I must,” Percy sighed dramatically.

 

“Lunch is almost over,” Hermes noted with a frown. “Damn. I guess I have to wait an hour to see you again. Two hours until I get to touch you again,” he switched to a perverted grin, hand sneaking out to grope Percy’s arse.

 

“Bastard,” the teen griped after the grope, blushing as he darted away from Hermes’ reach, watching the god to make sure he didn’t try anything else.

 

“It was just one touch,” Hermes whined. “And it was just my hand. To your arse. Could’ve been my mouth on your –!”

 

Hermes ducked to avoid the empty lunch tray that sailed over his head, chuckling as Percy stomped away from their little hideaway on the math building’s roof to join the hustle and bustle of school life once more.

 

And he’d contentedly waited out that hour, thinking that things were going perfect –and that it was going to stay that way.

 

That is until he met the new student Maria Estefan. She had beautiful doe brown eyes, plump lips only covered by clear lip gloss, and trendy clothes that fit her slim body perfectly.

 

And he hated her.

 

He didn’t think much of her when she first entered his class as a new student transferring in, other than that she was pretty. He was only mildly disgruntled to see Percy perk up in interest at the sight of her, but brushed it off as interest in a new student like everyone else. Annoyed again that he’d had to sit her in the only empty seat in the class next to Percy, but he was still pretty calm.

 

That entire class was hell.

 

Hermes would rather spend a day in Tartarus than watch the two of them talk in low tones to each other, ignoring the rest of the class as they held a private conversation that took all of their attention and none on the lecture Hermes was giving. Her mocha colored skin melded with the beautiful pale snowy tones he’d come to love on Percy, her hand gently touching his. He hated seeing the smile on Percy’s face as she said something, and he hated the shy return smile she gave back. He was not happy at all, and he wanted to express that.

 

“Detention, Mr. Jackson,” Hermes snapped coldly, eyes narrowed at Percy, who looked surprised and confused.

 

The rest of the class went on with an aggravated teacher, and no one was stupid enough to act out or call attention to themselves.

 

“Detention? Really?” Percy grinned in exasperated amusement. “Because I’m still not going to sleep with you on your desk.”

 

Hermes didn’t smile.

 

The grin slowly died on Percy’s lips.

 

“What’s wrong with you?” Percy questioned. “You were pissed off the entire class, and everyone was basically on eggshells trying to please you.”

 

“You certainly weren’t. Busy talking up the new girl?”

 

Percy frowned, “One, Maria isn’t new. She’s been to this school since Freshman year. She was just late in coming this year because she just came back from overseas. Two…are you jealous?”

 

Hermes’ jaw visibly clenched, “She was hanging all over you.”

 

“You’re delusional,” Percy spat out.

 

“Am I?” a sneer formed on Hermes’ lips.

 

Percy’s blood was boiling and he felt so angry at Hermes right then.

 

“Why should it matter?” he hissed. “It’s not like you’re my boyfriend or something!”

 

He tried, he really did. To keep his voice down. But it was so hard when all he wanted to do was just yell and scream at the god.

 

Immediately, Hermes’ face became stoic and his lips formed a firm line, hiding any emotion from Percy. Percy didn’t budge. At that point, it was a clear stalemate.

 

Then Hermes exhaled noisily and looked at Percy angrily.

 

“Fine. Whatever. You can do whatever you want. You’re right. I’m not your boyfriend so there’s nothing holding us together like that. You can go date her for all I care.”

 

Percy glared back, feeling slightly hurt. But he didn’t show it and instead pursed his lips just as angrily.

 

“Maybe I will. I told you I liked girls. Maria’s pretty. I think she’s pretty. Maybe I just want a normal relationship with a normal person.”

 

They stared each other down.

 

Hermes snorted, “And you think I’m delusional.”

 

Percy stormed out. Hermes slammed the door after him before teleporting somewhere else. Detention was left forgotten.

 

When he got home, he was glad that Paul was still at school and his mom was still at work. That left him to pace in his room and wonder who could he talk to. He really needed to talk to someone right then.

 

Annabeth was out. She didn’t know about him and Hermes, or even about Luke. Or even if she could handle knowing the truth, especially since she had feelings for him and Percy didn’t know if he could fit in that talk as well.

 

Clarisse was on vacation with Chris with her mom in Dubai, and while he didn’t want to bother her…at the same time, they haven’t become that close just yet. Not enough and too soon to be seeking each other out for intimate talks.

 

Grover was settling into his new duties as Lord of the Wild, and he didn’t want to load even more problems and stress on his friend so he was out.

 

Tyson was a great brother, but he wouldn’t understand.

 

Poseidon was his dad. Enough said.

 

He could talk to either Paul or his mom, but they weren’t there and he wasn’t sure they’d understand. They didn’t even know about Percy and Luke, much less Hermes’ involvement in his life now.

 

Damn…even without any of those reasons, he couldn’t talk to any of his friends or family.

 

It was because most of them didn’t even know about Luke.

 

The blond had been, still is, the root of all of Percy’s problems. It all starts with Luke, and in a way ends with Luke. Besides which, how could he explain Hermes without explaining Luke? And even if he saved Luke for another time, how could he explain Hermes at all? No one knew about the god.

 

Except for…

 

He strode to his bathroom and filled the tub with water, locking the door behind him as he sat on the edge of the tub and stared down on the water. He fingered the drachma in his pocket, hesitating about his plan but deciding it was worth trying. Glad he couldn’t get wet, he tossed in the drachma into the filled tub and called on Iris so he could message someone.

 

The mahogany locks were pulled into a loose bun and intelligent gray eyes stared at him in confusion, and yet the Goddess of Wisdom still managed to look elegant.

 

“Perseus –”

 

“Percy,” he interrupted, before shaking his head. “Sorry, Lady Athena. Just call me Percy. There was something I needed to talk about, but I don’t know who I could talk to about it. I figure you’d be the perfect choice,” Percy muttered.

 

“It depends on what it is,” Athena held back her cringe. “There are others who can be more suited depending.”

 

Percy grimaced, “Y-you talked about Dr. Chase the other time…to me. I’m not ready to talk about Luke…but I kind of need to talk about Hermes.”

 

The goddess was quiet before sighing and a chair appeared behind her, sitting herself and getting comfortable for the talk.

 

“I understand, Percy. I had no idea Hermes had told you about our confrontation…it wasn’t very pleasant, but I don’t really think it was too bad an incident. Can you tell me what he had told you about it?”

 

He cleared his throat uncomfortably, but forced himself to continue.

 

“He told me that he had gone to your house to visit you, not long after the final battle,” he started.

 

She laughed lightly in dark amusement. He almost raised an eyebrow in question.

 

“Visit, indeed,” Athena actually had a small smirk briefly toying across her lips. “More like an altercation. Go on, Percy. Continue.”

 

Confused and hesitant, Percy went on.

 

“Well…Hermes said he’d visited you…um, talked about some things, mostly about Luke…he said he told you about us sleeping together and asked for some advice…” he trailed off, seeing the incredulous look on her face.

 

“Slept together? Indeed again. Don’t sugarcoat it, Percy,” Athena actually snorted. “I know what he did and I know what really happened. As for advice…” Here, it looked like she didn’t know whether to laugh or scowl. “Of course Hermes would want to paint himself in a better light. Us gods and appearances,” she muttered, but he caught it anyway.

 

“Lady Athena?” Percy asked questioningly.

 

The goddess sighed, “He didn’t come ‘visit’ me just because. And it wasn’t some time after the final battle. It was more like quickly after the final battle, like the morning after he raped you –”

 

“He didn’t rape me,” Percy blurted out, unintentionally interrupting her.

 

Why was he defending him?

 

She looked sharply at him, watching him calculating…almost shrewdly. He didn’t know what she was thinking, but he didn’t think he’d want to.

 

“As I was saying,” she continued softly. “He was feeling upset after you’d just left him in bed, I could tell just for a few guesses. I think his mood became worse as he walked out and heard some minor gods gossiping…about us,” Athena had an uncharacteristic blush on her face, but he didn’t notice as he was still busy running that last sentence through his head and was gaping badly about it.

 

“A-about us? Y-you mean like that?”

 

She winced, “Yes. I believe everyone was under the impression that the two of us were together. The rumors aggravated Hermes to the point that he stormed over to my house and accused me of having a relationship with you. Then I proceeded to accuse him of his indiscretions concerning you, particularly of what happened the night before. I asked honestly if the two of you had sex since the smell of it and each other was heavily clinging to the both of you. He tried to deny that as much as he could before giving in. Then I asked if it was consensual.”

 

Percy swallowed harshly. The look she was giving him now was an unreadable but serious look, and he realized that she wasn’t just recounting the events but also grilling him in the same way she probably had Hermes.

 

“He tried to pass it off as it was, but I don’t think so. And I told him that,” she continued, words seeming to just stab into Percy.

 

He wanted to deny the accusation again, but he bit his lip and stayed quiet.

 

“Alcohol and grief do not mix,” Athena said softly.

 

His mouth went dry and he averted his gaze away from the goddess.

 

“There are many reasons why what Hermes did was wrong,” she briefly pursed her lips. “Your inebriated state…your age…the emotional turmoil you were in and obviously still are. Percy, he took advantage of you and had no business being with you in such an intimate manner –”

 

“We’re still sort of going out!” Percy, once again, blurted out. He could hit himself for the outburst and for the stupid way he’d just revealed that. Not to mention he’d interrupted Athena for the second time!

 

The goddess stopped short, eyes widening as she stared at him.

 

Percy licked his lips and nervously continued.

 

“That’s why I wanted to talk to you,” he mumbled, eyes darting everywhere but at her. “We sort of…agreed to…um, I’m not really sure. We’re like together…but not…”

 

‘Oh yeah, that made a lot of sense. That was just stupid. Idiot,’ Percy reprimanded himself in his head.

 

“Well, at least we were,” he grimaced.

 

“E-elaborate please, Percy,” Athena finally spoke up hesitantly, breaking from her shock.

 

He took a deep breath, “Okay. So today, things were going well for the two of us. Until his class, ‘cause he’s actually been the Economy teacher for awhile now. Anyway, there’s this new girl who came into his class, and she and I got along great and were talking the entire class time. Hermes was angry and everyone noticed, and he actually gave me detention and was actually cold about it. He was upset and I think…jealous of her. We got into a big fight about it, I yelled at him that he wasn’t exactly my boyfriend, he basically told me he didn’t care and said I could date her if I really wanted to, and then we kind of stormed out on each other. It’s just a huge blowout and I don’t know why I feel so lost. I’m sorry! You’re the only one I could think of that I could really talk to about this and I don’t know what to do or who to talk to. I just really had to talk to someone about this –”

 

“You can stop rambling, Percy,” Athena murmured. “It’s okay. Calm down. I understand. Basically, Hermes overreacted and got jealous because you got along with a girl…more precisely, you were showering someone other than him with attention and he didn’t like that. You have to understand, Percy, that when you get into something like this with a god…you need to know how we are. We tend to be…very possessive, prideful to the point of conceitedness…and most of all selfish.”

 

“Of course. You gods are all self-centered and domineering,” Percy grumbled bitterly.

 

She smiled sadly at him, “It is something you will have to keep in mind…and put up with if you wish to continue whatever it is you have with Hermes.”

 

He stayed quiet.

 

“Nevertheless, this is something I have to think more on to give you better advice of it. I’m sorry I haven’t been much help, but I will try to get back to you with more helpful words, Perseus –uh, Percy. But I will advise you to seriously consider dating this girl you spoke of.”

 

He nodded reluctantly.

 

“I will speak to you soon,” she spoke quietly before cutting the connection.

 

Unhappily, he slowly moved out of the tub and walked moodily into his room, closing his door and locking it behind him. Then he trudged over to his bed and plopped down face forward onto it, burrowing his face into his pillow and tried to block out the world. He tried to blank out his mind, but he was even less successful with that.

 

Time passed by, but he didn’t notice. That’s why, when he looked at the clock, he was surprised to see it was 1:10 in the morning already. He lay there, curled up, breathing unevenly.

 

1:25

 

Percy felt really cold and lonely.