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FIC: Stereotypical Uplifting Crap (Rescue Mission IV/Curse of Lethe 17.5)
Title: Rescue Mission
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Reyna Ramírez-Arellano/Thalia Grace, Frank Zhang/Hazel Levesque, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Leo Valdez/Calypso, Tyson, Grover Underwood, Percy Jackson
Fandom: Percy Jackson
Summary: While Annabeth, Percy, Nico, Will, and Thalia travel through Tartarus, their friends embark on a quest to find Thanatos and bring the Doors to Death to them. A companion piece to The Curse of Lethe.
In this chapter
Chapter Title: Stereotypical Uplifting Crap (Or, Curse of Lethe, chapter 17.5)
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Leo Valdez, Percy Jackson
Word Count: 2,423
Chapter Summary: Leo and Percy have a heart-to-heart.
Notes: This chapter takes place right after chapter 17. It was inspired by supernaturally-percyjackson, who thought we should get to see Percy dealing with the aftermath of Tartarus and suggested that one of the guys could help him with that. Well, who better to deal with some tough shit than Leo?
Back to fic content page | The Curse of Lethe
Festus didn't really need a tune-up, but Leo rarely passed up an opportunity to fiddle with engines. Especially when they were combined with versatile bronze automaton dragons. Besides, he'd never tried limousinifying Festus before. You never knew what might go wrong with a new experiment, especially one that had been put together under intense time pressure.
He'd done a pretty fine job, though, if he dared say so himself. (Okay, so Festus had done half the job when they'd been chasing down Thanatos.) The Festusmobile had surpassed all expectations for their flight to Hawaii. Tyson had been a great help in making the sea-land transitions smooth-you couldn't beat Cyclops workmanship for speed and hardiness. It probably helped as well that they'd started with excellent raw material. Say what you like about the Romans, they kept their cars in real good shape. And dang, that interior was fine. He was gonna miss it when they returned the limo portion of their ride to the Romans.
Satisfied that everything was running fine, Leo gave the purring engine a pat and popped back out onto the open upper deck. To his surprise, Percy was sitting cross-legged at the bow next to the bronze dragon figurehead. He had his chin in his hand, giving him a deep, brooding look.
Leo meant to let him be-if Percy was out here alone, he probably wasn't looking for company-but when he tiptoed past, meaning to join the others below deck, he accidentally dropped the wrench in his hand.
Percy looked up at the clatter.
'Hey bro,' Leo said casually.
Percy just nodded. There was a tightness around his jaw, like he was clenching his teeth.
Leo picked up the wrench and turned it over awkwardly. 'You, uh-you okay?'
'Yeah, fine,' Percy said, in a voice that didn't sound fine at all.
For a second, Leo considered just moving on and letting Percy be. Instead, he stuffed the wrench in his pocket and took a seat next to Percy.
Percy didn't tell Leo to get lost. Leo guessed that was a good sign. They both watched the ocean roll by under the cloudless sky. There was a thin streak of pink just over the horizon like the goddess of dawn was slowly turning the page of a new day.
Leo wondered what was on Percy's mind. Was it Tartarus? He'd seemed okay when they were telling the tale earlier, even joking around about it. Though now that Leo thought about it, Percy hadn't actually related any part of the journey himself. He'd mostly left it to Annabeth, Thalia, Nico, and Will, chiming in only to crack a joke or two.
Jokes aside, Leo had to admit the story had been pretty horrifying. And he guessed his friends had already made it tamer in the telling, glossing over the worst stuff. Not that he blamed them. If he'd gone through Tartarus, he didn't think he'd be keen to relive it in vivid detail.
And Percy, Annabeth, and Nico had been through Tartarus twice now.
How Percy could even joke about it after all that…well, actually Leo could understand. The crappier the situation, the more humour you needed to deal with it. No one got that better than Leo.
'You know,' Percy said, breaking the silence at last, 'as a kid, I got kicked out of a lot of schools.'
Leo stared at him, blinking stupidly. Of all the things he'd imagined to be on Percy's mind, this wasn't it.
'My mom always tried to tell me it wasn't my fault. I always knew it was, but she believed I wasn't a bad kid anyway.'
Leo shifted uncomfortably, unsure where Percy was going with this. The story was painfully familiar to Leo, but why Percy would choose to share his personal history out of the blue…and with Leo of all people… It wasn't like they were the closest among their little group. To begin with, the whole Calypso thing had always made things a bit awkward between them. And then Leo was probably the last person anyone would choose to bare their soul to, especially when Hazel or Piper were available. Hell, even Jason and Frank dealt better with feelings.
Leo repaired machines. People, not so much.
'Hey man,' he said, 'I don't know if I'm the best person-um, not that I'm not here if you need me, but do you want me to get Annabeth, or-'
'No, don't. Sorry.' Percy ran a hand through his hair, making it stand on end. 'I guess I do have some stuff to work through, but-she kinda knows already. She saw it all in Tartarus.' He sighed. 'I don't want to remind her about it now. And the others-yeah, I'd rather not have them picking everything apart right now.' He met Leo's eyes and shrugged. 'You know them. Jason would do the whole serious dad thing. Frank would get all worried and try to suggest solutions. Tyson-well, he'd probably cry. He gets sad when I do. And Grover-we've got an empathy link. I think that's…'
'Too much intimacy?' suggested Leo.
'Yeah.'
'Mm. You're right.' He remembered the way Hazel had insisted on lending her sympathetic ear to his heartache over Calypso when he'd first left Ogygia. It had been good for him, but there were times as well when he'd rather just bury the pain. 'The girls would start psychoanalysing all your feelings and emotions.' He imitated Piper's voice: 'Tell us what's wrong, Percy. It'll help!'
Percy laughed. 'They're-well, they're not wrong.' He crossed and uncrossed his arms, looking undecided about something-probably wondering whether he did want to talk to Leo after all.
What if he did want to? Leo squirmed a little. He meant what he'd said-if Percy wanted him to listen, he would; whatever awkwardness there'd been in the past, they were friends. But seriously, what did Leo know about feelings and shit?
Then he realised that ironically, his awkwardness about emotions might actually make him the best person to talk to Percy right now.
Percy wasn't looking for someone to empathise and make him feel better. He didn't want platitudes or assurances. He just needed someone to act as a foil so he could work things out on his own.
'You don't have to listen, seriously-' Percy said at last.
'No-look, you don't want the serious, psychoanalytical crap, right?' Leo spread his arms. 'Well, that's me. Not an inch of psychoanalytically bullshit in this body. Hit me with it.'
A faint smile flickered across Percy's face. He uncrossed his legs and hugged his knees to his chest. Leo pulled his wrench back out of his pocket along with a couple of bolts and screws and fiddled with them while waiting for Percy to begin.
'I got into a fight once I was-oh, I dunno, I think it was third grade, maybe? There was this kid who sneered at my mom 'cause she worked at Sweet On America. So I pushed him into a ditch. He needed stitches and everything. I got in trouble for pushing him, of course, but the thing is, the ditch wasn't there before I pushed him. It just opened up in the ground. No one blamed me for that part. I mean, how could a kid make the ground split apart?'
Leo was starting to see where this was going. He nodded to let Percy know he was listening.
'Except I could.' Percy looked down. His fingers were making little wavy patterns on his shins. 'All the stuff that I thought were freak accidents-'
'Were really you,' Leo finished. In his head, he wasn't picturing a young Percy and a mysteriously opened-up ditch, but himself standing outside a burning warehouse. His hands clenched tightly around his wrench. 'Yeah, I get it.'
Percy gave him a shrewd, sideways look. 'I guess you do.' He took a deep breath and continued, 'Even after I got claimed, a lot of stuff I did was still accidental. I mean, all the exploding toilets and flooding rivers and even the first time I summoned a hurricane-I didn't even know I could do that shit. I thought it was insane that the gods could be scared of me, this screw-up who didn't have a clue how to control his powers. And even when I learned how to use them, I never really thought they were bad. I mean, I was fighting monsters. It was all pretty black and white-we were on the right side, that made me the good guy, right?
'Annabeth tried to tell me once. She said I'd scared her when I choked Akhlys in Tartarus-er, the first time in Tartarus, that is. That threw me a bit, but I thought, well, I'm only ever gonna use my powers for good. And if I was dangerous to our enemies, that was a good thing, right? I mean, we had giants to take down and all.'
'Uh, yeah,' Leo said, since Percy was looking at him expectantly. 'The gods mess with people you love, you just wanna hit them back where it hurts. And I'm not just saying that. Didn't I take down old queen dirt-face herself? To be honest, I don't lose much sleep over it.'
'Well, we knew Gaia was evil. But it's like-what happens if we go too far? I mean, the whole memory loss thing was completely messed up this time. I thought Annabeth was the bad guy. I could've killed her. I-I almost did.'
So that was what had Percy's head all twisted up. Leo felt a wave of sympathy for his friend. That sort of thing could totally mess you up. He tried to remember what the others had said about their encounters with the arai and Eris in Tartarus.
'That was monsters messing with your head, right?' When Percy didn't reply, Leo gestured to the dragon figurehead. 'Take Festus here. He was created to protect Camp Half-Blood. Then he went rogue for a bit-I heard he nearly fried a bunch of demigods when they found him.'
Percy raised his eyebrows. 'Yeah, I was one of them.'
Leo whistled under his breath. 'I never knew that. But you don't really hold it against him, do you? I mean, it wasn't his fault.' Leo patted Festus's head. 'Short-circuit in the brain, right, buddy? Look at you now-great friend to all demigods, aren't you?' He turned back to Percy. 'My point is, I guess we aren't all that different from machines. Sometimes we go a bit crazy in the head, too, do some crazy shit. But once you sort out whatever's malfunctioning, Bob's your uncle.' Leo scratched his head. 'Hm, that phrase takes on a new meaning when you actually know a god-er, Titan-called Bob.'
'I'm not sure I've really straightened everything out,' Percy admitted. 'Sure, I've got my memories back now, but after everything that happened…' He sighed. 'I guess I just always thought I'd know who my enemies were. I used to be so sure, but it's not so simple any more. I'm kinda scared now that I know how much damage I could do-how many people I could hurt if I get it wrong.'
Leo started fidgeting with the tools in his hands again. There was a ring of truth to Percy's words. Although Percy had never actually hurt him, Leo had been scared of the dude's crazy powers before.
But Leo also knew what it felt like to have supernatural powers you didn't know how to control, and to be terrified that you'd done something unspeakable with them.
'Did I ever tell you how my mom died?'
Percy shook his head. 'It was-er, it was a fire, wasn't it?'
'Yeah.' A shiver ran over him as it always did when he thought of that awful night. The same way his friends had skipped the gory details of Tartarus, Leo didn't want to linger on the specifics of the old accident. He described in quick, brief strokes the circumstances of the workshop fire that had killed his mom. Even after a decade, the memory was still painfully clear-Gaia's soft, creepy voice threatening his mom; the intensity of the flames that burst from his hands when he tried to push her back; the bright red smokescreen across his vision before he passed out.
Leo didn't share these details with Percy, but they burned in his brain all the same. He'd had ten years to deal with it and he'd learned to accept his powers, but the guilt had never really left him. It probably never would.
'I knew it was Gaia-and even if I hadn't started the fire, she would have killed my mom anyway. But it was also me, you know?'
Percy's hands clenched into fists. 'Gods, Leo, I'm sorry.'
Leo waved it away. 'I'm just trying to say, I get it. You got water, I got fire. Jason's got the lightning, Hazel's got the Hecate-damned Mist. Annabeth and Reyna scare the crap outta me without any supernatural help, and let's not get started on the spooky shit Nico can do. Point is, you're not the only one who could lose it and do a lotta damage.'
'So you're saying we're all ticking time bombs.'
Leo smacked him lightly against the shin with his wrench. 'No, stupid. I'm saying you got us. We all know what it's like, even those of us who didn't fall through the Tartarus looking glass.'
Percy uncurled his fingers and scratched his leg. 'How do we ever figure out if we're doing the right thing?'
'Hey man, I got no answers. Maybe you can tell me when you figure it out.'
Percy let out a long, slow breath. 'Growing up sucks.'
'Tell me about it.'
They sat in companionable silence for a while. Leo fiddled a bit more with the spare parts in his pocket, absently forming a miniature chariot. He rolled it over to Percy.
'So,' Leo said, watching Percy roll the chariot up and down his legs, 'can we pretend I totally said some wise and uplifting stereotypical crap?'
Percy laughed. 'Sure. Better than actually listening to the uplifting stereotypical crap.' He reached out and touched Leo's shoulder. 'But seriously, man. I appreciate it.'
They looked at each other and grinned. In the horizon, the sun climbed over the coastline. The Festusmobile continued to sail steadily north, taking them homeward.
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Reyna Ramírez-Arellano/Thalia Grace, Frank Zhang/Hazel Levesque, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Leo Valdez/Calypso, Tyson, Grover Underwood, Percy Jackson
Fandom: Percy Jackson
Summary: While Annabeth, Percy, Nico, Will, and Thalia travel through Tartarus, their friends embark on a quest to find Thanatos and bring the Doors to Death to them. A companion piece to The Curse of Lethe.
In this chapter
Chapter Title: Stereotypical Uplifting Crap (Or, Curse of Lethe, chapter 17.5)
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Leo Valdez, Percy Jackson
Word Count: 2,423
Chapter Summary: Leo and Percy have a heart-to-heart.
Notes: This chapter takes place right after chapter 17. It was inspired by supernaturally-percyjackson, who thought we should get to see Percy dealing with the aftermath of Tartarus and suggested that one of the guys could help him with that. Well, who better to deal with some tough shit than Leo?
Back to fic content page | The Curse of Lethe
Festus didn't really need a tune-up, but Leo rarely passed up an opportunity to fiddle with engines. Especially when they were combined with versatile bronze automaton dragons. Besides, he'd never tried limousinifying Festus before. You never knew what might go wrong with a new experiment, especially one that had been put together under intense time pressure.
He'd done a pretty fine job, though, if he dared say so himself. (Okay, so Festus had done half the job when they'd been chasing down Thanatos.) The Festusmobile had surpassed all expectations for their flight to Hawaii. Tyson had been a great help in making the sea-land transitions smooth-you couldn't beat Cyclops workmanship for speed and hardiness. It probably helped as well that they'd started with excellent raw material. Say what you like about the Romans, they kept their cars in real good shape. And dang, that interior was fine. He was gonna miss it when they returned the limo portion of their ride to the Romans.
Satisfied that everything was running fine, Leo gave the purring engine a pat and popped back out onto the open upper deck. To his surprise, Percy was sitting cross-legged at the bow next to the bronze dragon figurehead. He had his chin in his hand, giving him a deep, brooding look.
Leo meant to let him be-if Percy was out here alone, he probably wasn't looking for company-but when he tiptoed past, meaning to join the others below deck, he accidentally dropped the wrench in his hand.
Percy looked up at the clatter.
'Hey bro,' Leo said casually.
Percy just nodded. There was a tightness around his jaw, like he was clenching his teeth.
Leo picked up the wrench and turned it over awkwardly. 'You, uh-you okay?'
'Yeah, fine,' Percy said, in a voice that didn't sound fine at all.
For a second, Leo considered just moving on and letting Percy be. Instead, he stuffed the wrench in his pocket and took a seat next to Percy.
Percy didn't tell Leo to get lost. Leo guessed that was a good sign. They both watched the ocean roll by under the cloudless sky. There was a thin streak of pink just over the horizon like the goddess of dawn was slowly turning the page of a new day.
Leo wondered what was on Percy's mind. Was it Tartarus? He'd seemed okay when they were telling the tale earlier, even joking around about it. Though now that Leo thought about it, Percy hadn't actually related any part of the journey himself. He'd mostly left it to Annabeth, Thalia, Nico, and Will, chiming in only to crack a joke or two.
Jokes aside, Leo had to admit the story had been pretty horrifying. And he guessed his friends had already made it tamer in the telling, glossing over the worst stuff. Not that he blamed them. If he'd gone through Tartarus, he didn't think he'd be keen to relive it in vivid detail.
And Percy, Annabeth, and Nico had been through Tartarus twice now.
How Percy could even joke about it after all that…well, actually Leo could understand. The crappier the situation, the more humour you needed to deal with it. No one got that better than Leo.
'You know,' Percy said, breaking the silence at last, 'as a kid, I got kicked out of a lot of schools.'
Leo stared at him, blinking stupidly. Of all the things he'd imagined to be on Percy's mind, this wasn't it.
'My mom always tried to tell me it wasn't my fault. I always knew it was, but she believed I wasn't a bad kid anyway.'
Leo shifted uncomfortably, unsure where Percy was going with this. The story was painfully familiar to Leo, but why Percy would choose to share his personal history out of the blue…and with Leo of all people… It wasn't like they were the closest among their little group. To begin with, the whole Calypso thing had always made things a bit awkward between them. And then Leo was probably the last person anyone would choose to bare their soul to, especially when Hazel or Piper were available. Hell, even Jason and Frank dealt better with feelings.
Leo repaired machines. People, not so much.
'Hey man,' he said, 'I don't know if I'm the best person-um, not that I'm not here if you need me, but do you want me to get Annabeth, or-'
'No, don't. Sorry.' Percy ran a hand through his hair, making it stand on end. 'I guess I do have some stuff to work through, but-she kinda knows already. She saw it all in Tartarus.' He sighed. 'I don't want to remind her about it now. And the others-yeah, I'd rather not have them picking everything apart right now.' He met Leo's eyes and shrugged. 'You know them. Jason would do the whole serious dad thing. Frank would get all worried and try to suggest solutions. Tyson-well, he'd probably cry. He gets sad when I do. And Grover-we've got an empathy link. I think that's…'
'Too much intimacy?' suggested Leo.
'Yeah.'
'Mm. You're right.' He remembered the way Hazel had insisted on lending her sympathetic ear to his heartache over Calypso when he'd first left Ogygia. It had been good for him, but there were times as well when he'd rather just bury the pain. 'The girls would start psychoanalysing all your feelings and emotions.' He imitated Piper's voice: 'Tell us what's wrong, Percy. It'll help!'
Percy laughed. 'They're-well, they're not wrong.' He crossed and uncrossed his arms, looking undecided about something-probably wondering whether he did want to talk to Leo after all.
What if he did want to? Leo squirmed a little. He meant what he'd said-if Percy wanted him to listen, he would; whatever awkwardness there'd been in the past, they were friends. But seriously, what did Leo know about feelings and shit?
Then he realised that ironically, his awkwardness about emotions might actually make him the best person to talk to Percy right now.
Percy wasn't looking for someone to empathise and make him feel better. He didn't want platitudes or assurances. He just needed someone to act as a foil so he could work things out on his own.
'You don't have to listen, seriously-' Percy said at last.
'No-look, you don't want the serious, psychoanalytical crap, right?' Leo spread his arms. 'Well, that's me. Not an inch of psychoanalytically bullshit in this body. Hit me with it.'
A faint smile flickered across Percy's face. He uncrossed his legs and hugged his knees to his chest. Leo pulled his wrench back out of his pocket along with a couple of bolts and screws and fiddled with them while waiting for Percy to begin.
'I got into a fight once I was-oh, I dunno, I think it was third grade, maybe? There was this kid who sneered at my mom 'cause she worked at Sweet On America. So I pushed him into a ditch. He needed stitches and everything. I got in trouble for pushing him, of course, but the thing is, the ditch wasn't there before I pushed him. It just opened up in the ground. No one blamed me for that part. I mean, how could a kid make the ground split apart?'
Leo was starting to see where this was going. He nodded to let Percy know he was listening.
'Except I could.' Percy looked down. His fingers were making little wavy patterns on his shins. 'All the stuff that I thought were freak accidents-'
'Were really you,' Leo finished. In his head, he wasn't picturing a young Percy and a mysteriously opened-up ditch, but himself standing outside a burning warehouse. His hands clenched tightly around his wrench. 'Yeah, I get it.'
Percy gave him a shrewd, sideways look. 'I guess you do.' He took a deep breath and continued, 'Even after I got claimed, a lot of stuff I did was still accidental. I mean, all the exploding toilets and flooding rivers and even the first time I summoned a hurricane-I didn't even know I could do that shit. I thought it was insane that the gods could be scared of me, this screw-up who didn't have a clue how to control his powers. And even when I learned how to use them, I never really thought they were bad. I mean, I was fighting monsters. It was all pretty black and white-we were on the right side, that made me the good guy, right?
'Annabeth tried to tell me once. She said I'd scared her when I choked Akhlys in Tartarus-er, the first time in Tartarus, that is. That threw me a bit, but I thought, well, I'm only ever gonna use my powers for good. And if I was dangerous to our enemies, that was a good thing, right? I mean, we had giants to take down and all.'
'Uh, yeah,' Leo said, since Percy was looking at him expectantly. 'The gods mess with people you love, you just wanna hit them back where it hurts. And I'm not just saying that. Didn't I take down old queen dirt-face herself? To be honest, I don't lose much sleep over it.'
'Well, we knew Gaia was evil. But it's like-what happens if we go too far? I mean, the whole memory loss thing was completely messed up this time. I thought Annabeth was the bad guy. I could've killed her. I-I almost did.'
So that was what had Percy's head all twisted up. Leo felt a wave of sympathy for his friend. That sort of thing could totally mess you up. He tried to remember what the others had said about their encounters with the arai and Eris in Tartarus.
'That was monsters messing with your head, right?' When Percy didn't reply, Leo gestured to the dragon figurehead. 'Take Festus here. He was created to protect Camp Half-Blood. Then he went rogue for a bit-I heard he nearly fried a bunch of demigods when they found him.'
Percy raised his eyebrows. 'Yeah, I was one of them.'
Leo whistled under his breath. 'I never knew that. But you don't really hold it against him, do you? I mean, it wasn't his fault.' Leo patted Festus's head. 'Short-circuit in the brain, right, buddy? Look at you now-great friend to all demigods, aren't you?' He turned back to Percy. 'My point is, I guess we aren't all that different from machines. Sometimes we go a bit crazy in the head, too, do some crazy shit. But once you sort out whatever's malfunctioning, Bob's your uncle.' Leo scratched his head. 'Hm, that phrase takes on a new meaning when you actually know a god-er, Titan-called Bob.'
'I'm not sure I've really straightened everything out,' Percy admitted. 'Sure, I've got my memories back now, but after everything that happened…' He sighed. 'I guess I just always thought I'd know who my enemies were. I used to be so sure, but it's not so simple any more. I'm kinda scared now that I know how much damage I could do-how many people I could hurt if I get it wrong.'
Leo started fidgeting with the tools in his hands again. There was a ring of truth to Percy's words. Although Percy had never actually hurt him, Leo had been scared of the dude's crazy powers before.
But Leo also knew what it felt like to have supernatural powers you didn't know how to control, and to be terrified that you'd done something unspeakable with them.
'Did I ever tell you how my mom died?'
Percy shook his head. 'It was-er, it was a fire, wasn't it?'
'Yeah.' A shiver ran over him as it always did when he thought of that awful night. The same way his friends had skipped the gory details of Tartarus, Leo didn't want to linger on the specifics of the old accident. He described in quick, brief strokes the circumstances of the workshop fire that had killed his mom. Even after a decade, the memory was still painfully clear-Gaia's soft, creepy voice threatening his mom; the intensity of the flames that burst from his hands when he tried to push her back; the bright red smokescreen across his vision before he passed out.
Leo didn't share these details with Percy, but they burned in his brain all the same. He'd had ten years to deal with it and he'd learned to accept his powers, but the guilt had never really left him. It probably never would.
'I knew it was Gaia-and even if I hadn't started the fire, she would have killed my mom anyway. But it was also me, you know?'
Percy's hands clenched into fists. 'Gods, Leo, I'm sorry.'
Leo waved it away. 'I'm just trying to say, I get it. You got water, I got fire. Jason's got the lightning, Hazel's got the Hecate-damned Mist. Annabeth and Reyna scare the crap outta me without any supernatural help, and let's not get started on the spooky shit Nico can do. Point is, you're not the only one who could lose it and do a lotta damage.'
'So you're saying we're all ticking time bombs.'
Leo smacked him lightly against the shin with his wrench. 'No, stupid. I'm saying you got us. We all know what it's like, even those of us who didn't fall through the Tartarus looking glass.'
Percy uncurled his fingers and scratched his leg. 'How do we ever figure out if we're doing the right thing?'
'Hey man, I got no answers. Maybe you can tell me when you figure it out.'
Percy let out a long, slow breath. 'Growing up sucks.'
'Tell me about it.'
They sat in companionable silence for a while. Leo fiddled a bit more with the spare parts in his pocket, absently forming a miniature chariot. He rolled it over to Percy.
'So,' Leo said, watching Percy roll the chariot up and down his legs, 'can we pretend I totally said some wise and uplifting stereotypical crap?'
Percy laughed. 'Sure. Better than actually listening to the uplifting stereotypical crap.' He reached out and touched Leo's shoulder. 'But seriously, man. I appreciate it.'
They looked at each other and grinned. In the horizon, the sun climbed over the coastline. The Festusmobile continued to sail steadily north, taking them homeward.