TBC since tumblr’s posting methods changed
puck it chapter eight
by @bipercabeth and @jasonsmclean
Percy wakes up to the sound of rustling sheets and Annabeth’s ringtone.
//
Jason could lie and say everything is fine, but everyone knows at this point nothing is fine. What good would he be doing if he lies again?
Telling the truth impinges dangerously close to unearthing a labyrinth of secrets, a chest full of lies and betrayals that would surely make the team fall apart.
PULLING YOU IN FOR A KISS WITH A SCARF
The night is warm. Annabeth’s cheeks heat with the flush of wine—by now they likely match the red of her Christmas sweater, a thick turtleneck that tickles her jaw. Charles stokes the flames at the fireplace for the first time in the new house, filling the room with the smell of oak and cedar and replacing the smell of dinner lingering in the air. An earnest Rachel chirps over Charles’ shoulder about how to interpret and “read” the flame, which he indulges with the silent amusement only he possesses. Katie and Travis are in a playful argument that will culminate in a kiss any minute, Grover is passing out hot cocoa (with extra marshmallows for Annabeth), and the others are screeching an off-key rendition of “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, which is particularly remarkable when you consider Clarisse singing along with her spiked cider raised high.
Most importantly, warmth emanates from under her where Percy sits with his arm around her waist and a soft smile on his face. He looks so serene, taken out of the moment the way one does in a flash of sudden clarity that they are currently creating a memory they will long to come back to, looking through the lens of nostalgia for a moment they are still in. Somehow Annabeth is in that moment with him, watching their friends through grainy film and hearing them as though the audio plays in the next room over. Everything is muted, glossy, and so so warm.
Percy comes back to himself and presses his lips to Annabeth’s cheek, smiling against the heat of her skin. His hand lifts from her hip to point at the reckless carolers supporting each other with firm embraces and shaky harmonies. “They’re idiots,” he says, but he says it with that smile and it sounds an awful lot like I love them.
“Yeah,” she sighs. “They really are.”
Later in the night once the idiots have been rounded up and herded out the door, Annabeth pauses in the foyer to watch them stumble gleefully, fighting over who gets shotgun in Juniper’s car (Grover) and who gets stuck in the middle seat (Connor). Snow falls softly and settles on Rachel’s curls as she tugs Clarisse’s beanie over her buzz cut and past her eyes, cackling alongside Castor and Pollux and the rest of the gang. Laughter and clinking glass echo from the kitchen where Silena and Beckendorf stayed behind.
The city is cold but the world is warm and full of people Annabeth loves, and therefore it is full of meaning. She turns to Percy, her coat rustling with the movement, and tries to hang on to this warmth, to the man who brought so much of it into her life.
She says, “Thank you,” and it sounds like I love you. It sounds like I love you and it means I love you but there is wine in her system and she’s two seconds away from crying after drinking on an ordinary day with less emotions. If he asks her, she’ll blame the wine and the holidays.
But Percy doesn’t ask her. He finishes pulling on his scarf and coat and looks at her, just looks at her, patient and understanding and in love, the way he has looked at her for the past ten years of their life. Annabeth marvels at her ability to bask in the familiarity of this love. She knows the details of him better than anything; he is the one portrait she can sketch from memory, a monument to permanence in her heart, and still her gaze catches on his freckles even in the winter months when there is no sun to change them. Just in case she misses one.
So she knows he will respond, “Of course,” in that soft tone of his, and she’s ready when his arms wrap around her bundled body. This man, her life partner who drives her crazy in the most maddening and romantic of ways, has given her more than she could ever hope to repay, and he loves her anyway. When her mind plays tricks and plants seeds of doubt, he reassures her. He shows up. Every single time, he shows up.
Their friends are long since corralled by their designated drivers, leaving Percy and Annabeth in the headlights. She pulls him in by the scarf, and they don’t say anything, but it sounds like I love you. Thank you for bringing me in from the cold. Thank you for bringing me home.
Hi everybody! I’ve recently found myself out of work and unsupported, so I’m opening writing commissions to compensate. (You can also buy me a coffee if you’re feeling particularly generous, everything counts.)
Prices (approx. $8 an hour, includes editing + revision):
$2 per 100 words, so
500 words = $10
1000 words = $20
1500 = $30
Maximum 4000 words
I’m willing to write for most fandoms, or even OCs if you can provide me with character and plot detail. However, if I’m being asked to do extensive research (watch a show, read a book, study a wiki about your obscure fav, learn the nuance of your OC), I will need to be compensated for time
Smut is extra and will be calculated after discussion
I will not write:
Character x reader
Rape/non-con
Incest
Pedophilia
I reserve the right to decline any commission
How to commission:
Prices in USD, payment via PayPal
Email me at bipercabeth@gmail.com (which is also my PayPal) with your request
I’ll send a confirmation email and ask for clarification on any details
Commission price will be paid in full before I start
General info:
For examples of my work, browse here or on my AO3
I’ll write any genre (angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, etc.) and nearly any trope (only one bed, friends to lovers, you know the works), just be sure to specify what you have in mind
I’ll write for most fandoms, pairings, and characters, but my strengths are with PJO/HOO and The 100. Feel free to browse my tags page to see what other content I’m familiar with!
If you have any questions, feel free to send them to me either here or via email
28, gimmie your hand
sequel to this photographer percy au
When Percy took pictures of Annabeth before they started dating, she could never tell if he was looking at her through the lens of artist or lover. Now, she’s beginning to think it’s the same thing. There’s a delicacy to his gaze, as though his smile is meant both for Annabeth and the light shining on her. His taking a picture so often looks like gratitude, like the fear of forgetting his luck in a moment so blissful. And he immortalizes her on film, takes his care to capture and develop her image. It is no small thing, being a muse.
She envies it, sometimes. Percy gets to show Annabeth and the world exactly how he sees her, while she is left with her words, which can only ever fall short. He captures time and frames her suspended in the golden glow of sunlight, he makes her laugh moments before the flash, and he does not believe in bad photos. He photographs her bedhead, her soft stomach, her bent posture, and her chewed fingernails. He photographs her genuine laugh, her pouted lips, her pensive expression, her golden curls. Annabeth has never liked the sharp upturn of her nose, but Percy photographs her profile with such care that she can’t help but soften to it.
They’re at the beach for what feels like the last warm day of September. The Atlantic ocean is too vast to be swayed by the local weather, so they stay on the sand until they need to cool off. Percy’s camera is buried in their beach bag as they soak up the day—not every moment needs to be captured. Sometimes happiness demands to be fleeting. Nostalgia wouldn’t be as powerful if Annabeth could remember exactly how many freckles the sun kissed into Percy’s cheeks today. The longing comes from the fear of forgetting.
Sunset brings a gentle chill and sends Annabeth into Percy’s side. He pulls her bare legs into his lap and rubs his hands up and down them. It only works for a few seconds, but she’ll take any excuse to keep his hands on her. (She thinks he will too.)
One of the best parts about being in a relationship, she thinks, is not needing an excuse. There is an agreement between them that says you can touch me. I am trusting you to handle me at my best and my worst. I think that’s love. Please touch me.
Annabeth shifts her weight and straddles her boyfriend in a way that’s a bit indecent for a public beach, but the closest people are specs on the horizon and Percy is leaning back on his palms, his face to the orange sky and throat exposed. His skin looks golden, dripping in sunlight like honey, and Annabeth watches his Adam’s apple bob as she tastes. Even his smile is sweet. Annabeth is not an artist, but sometimes loving him makes her rethink that.
“Baby,” he whispers, and Annabeth opens her eyes to him chewing his lip. “You know the last thing I ever want to do is stop making out with my beautiful girlfriend on the beach, but...” He juts his chin to the sun, then to her general face. “I‘ll kick myself if I don’t get this.”
Annabeth pretends to roll her eyes as he lays back on the beach blanket with his camera in hand, but the way he looks at her is too profound for her to do much else. She’s always loved the way he looks at the world, though it wasn’t until recently that she discovered she likes the way he looks at her more. All that wonder, all that love, plus a surety that is so rare on him. There is the boyish boldness that makes her want to strangle and kiss him, plus the sly cockiness that has her leaning toward the former, but that gleam in his eyes cannot compare to this glimmer. His fingers slide along her chin, angling her kindly from the harsh angle he captures her at.
She chuckles, gestures to his hand. “We wouldn’t get anywhere without this. Piper says I can’t pose for any camera you’re not behind.”
Percy pokes her in the side quickly, snapping a photo when she laughs. “That’s because Piper is a terrible photographer.”
“I’m sure she’d love to hear that.”
“I’m just saying, it’s more than landscapes and lighting. If you’re taking pictures of people, you should try to capture something real. Something human.”
“Her Instagram feed is very focused on humanity.”
She said it to rile him up—passionate Percy is one of her favorite versions of the boy she loves. She’s snuck more than a few photos of her own during a long-winded rant about camera lenses and color editing.
But this passion is quieter than what Annabeth is used to. Honest. Soft. Percy rests the camera on his chest and trails his fingers from Annabeth’s wrist to her elbow, his eyes following the slow migration.
“I don’t always know why you’re looking at me the way you do. I think that’s why I picked up a camera in the first place—my mom looked at me like I was the best thing that ever happened to her, and I was scared that one day she’d come to her senses. I wanted to remember that face before it disappeared.” He doesn’t look at her. Can’t, maybe. “It’s been over a decade, and that look is still there. I guess now I take pictures to try and understand it. Because I don’t— I want—“
Annabeth takes hold of his wrist. It’s then that he looks at her, propped up on an elbow. He breathes.
“You look at me like I’m a good thing.” And he’s opening his mouth like there are more words he wants to say, but they won’t come.
Annabeth kisses him, sweet and soft and a bit desperate. The lens of the camera presses into her chest, and she slides it out of Percy’s grip as she presses a kiss to his nose, his forehead.
“Lay down for me,” she says. And, at his hesitation. “C’mon, Jackson. It’s hardly the first time I’ve had you on your back.”
That earns a laugh, which earns the first picture. The camera may be out of Annabeth’s league, but she’s seen Percy use this thing enough to know that the big black button is all she really needs for what she’s trying to do.
She says, “I love you,” says, “You’re everything to me,” and, “You are so beautiful,” for the sake of his smile. She sits a little lower in his lap and photographs the way his eyes darken, and his hands, still itching for the camera, busy themselves with her thighs. The sun is disappearing quickly, but Percy is glowing with the last of the New York summer. His skin is still damp from the kiss of the Atlantic, and Annabeth thinks that he was born to look like this. Love and light, gentle and summer-warm by the seaside. Percy Jackson summed up in a time, a place, a feeling.
And Annabeth isn’t great with words, but he needs to hear them.
“The sun is gonna set,” she leans in, throwing her shadow over his face, and sets the camera down, “and it’s gonna rise, again and again and again, and I am never gonna stop looking at you like this. Even if you never take my picture again.” She plants her hand over his shoulder to lean down. “You’re gonna spend your entire life by my side waiting for it to go away, and one day you’re going to forget to worry. Just like you help me forget to worry.”
And then he smiles a bit sideways, a dimple pressing into his cheek. “You proposing to me, Chase?”
She rolls her eyes, but smiles back. “As if you won’t know when I propose.”
Percy’s hands skim up her back, where the last of the light stretches over the horizon of her skin. “Not if I beat you to it.”
He pulls her down for a long kiss. When Annabeth comes up, it’s nearly dark out.
“I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to photograph your own wedding.”
“Yeah, well.” And he’s arching up for one last kiss before they have to leave, a comma on the page of this long day turned night. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
If grandmothers around the world had a rallying cry, it would probably sound something like “You need to eat!”
Photographer Gabriele Galimberti’s grandmother said something similar to him before one of his many globetrotting work trips. To ensure he had at least one good meal, she prepared for him a dish of ravioli before he departed on one of his adventures.
“In that occasion I said to my grandma ‘You know, Grandma, there are many other grandmas around the world and most of them are really good cooks,” Galimberti wrote via email. “I’m going to meet them and ask them to cook for me so I can show you that you don’t have to be worried for me and the food that I will eat!’ This is the way my project was born!”
The project, “Delicatessen With Love”, took Galimberti to 58 countries where he photographed grandmothers with both the ingredients and finished signature dishes.
He acted as photographer and stylist during each shoot with the grandmothers, taking a portrait of both the women and the food they made for him.
From top to bottom:
Inara Runtule, 68, Kekava, Latvia. Silke (herring with potatoes and cottage cheese). Grace Estibero, 82, Mumbai, India. Chicken vindaloo.
Susann Soresen, 81, Homer, Alaska. Moose steak.
Serette Charles, 63, Saint-Jean du Sud, Haiti. Lambi in creole sauce.
The photographer’s grandmother Marisa Batini, 80, Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy. Swiss chard and ricotta Ravioli with meat sauce.
Normita Sambu Arap, 65, Oltepessi (Masaai Mara), Kenya. Mboga and orgali (white corn polenta with vegetables and goat).
Julia Enaigua, 71, La Paz, Bolivia. Queso Humacha (vegetables and fresh cheese soup).
Fifi Makhmer, 62, Cairo, Egypt. Kuoshry (pasta, rice and legumes pie).
Isolina Perez De Vargas, 83, Mendoza, Argentina. Asado criollo (mixed meats barbecue).
Bisrat Melake, 60, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Enjera with curry and vegetables.
I like my men how I like my women
At the core of conservatism is a hatred for democracy and the will of the people. They think only the elite should have a say because they are deserving, and then only certain elite.