A/N: Well, I'm baaaack! I'm sure you PJO fans are getting tired of all the FMA stories I've been doing, but luckily for you, I just watched the movie (it hardly stuck to the storyline at all...but not comparing to the books, it was pretty awesome) yesterday and had a sudden inspiration! So here you are...this takes place after The Last Olympian. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, unfortunately. Such an awesome idea is not worthy of my little mind...
"Oh gods…you suck at archery," Annabeth laughed as Percy's arrow missed the target for the umpteenth time.
"I'm the son of the sea god," he defended. "Archery is Apollo's thing."
"Hm." Annabeth aimed and fired, hitting the ring immediately surrounding the bull's-eye. "I suppose it's Athena's thing, too, then."
Percy grinned. "Took the words right out of my mouth."
"Fine, let's take a break, then," she sighed, heading to a shed nearby to put away their equipment. He followed and sat down by the doorway, leaning against the wall.
Moments later, Annabeth plopped down beside him. Percy looked at her for a second, then suddenly had a thought. "Annabeth…would you ever change your hair?"
"Change it?" She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Like…you know…dying it, or straightening it."
"Why—you don't like my hair?" Her voice was serious, but her smile told another story.
"N—n—no," Percy stammered, even though he knew she was joking, "It's just that a lot of girls at my school like to do that kind of stuff, so I was wondering if you ever thought about it."
"Well, of course I've thought about it," Annabeth shrugged. "I mean, what girl hasn't considered getting a different hairstyle before?" she chuckled. "But I don't think I'd actually do it. I like my hair color for sure. It's going against the stereotype of dumb blondes, you know?"
"Oh, so you're saying you're smart?" Percy teased.
"Are you saying I'm not?" She shot back. After Percy held up his hands in defeat, she continued. "And I suppose the curliness gets annoying sometimes, but it's not like I can't live with it."
"You with straight hair is…scary…" Percy shivered.
"That's only because you're used to the way I am now," she laughed. "If you'd met me with straight hair, I bet you would've thought differently. But now it's my turn to ask—would you ever dye your hair or…well, it's already pretty straight, so would you curl it?"
"Nah," he replied. "I don't really care about hair color or anything, and…well…curling means I have to use all those tube things, right? So no."
Annabeth stifled a giggle as an image of Percy with a hair full of pink rollers appeared in her mind. "If you ever do that, make sure to call me so I can come over and get a picture of it. And one of your mom's and Paul's reactions when they see you."
"Ha ha, very funny." He stuck his tongue out at her.
"Oh, what a mature comeback, Seaweed Brain," she grinned.
"Don't call me that!" Percy complained good-naturedly. "Or I'll start calling you…Beak Nose."
"Beak Nose?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow.
"Not like your nose is shaped funny, or anything," he amended quickly. "It's just the whole owl thing, you know?"
"I know," she answered. "But do you have any other better nickname ideas?"
"Well, I don't know about better, but I've got a few," he tapped the side of his head. "I've been thinking about it for a while now, but I've never tried any of them out. Besides Wise Girl, which isn't really catching on, if you know what I mean."
"So…tell me."
"Um, okay…Gylfie?"
Annabeth made a choking sound in an attempt to smother her laughter. "I didn't know you actually read books, Percy!"
"Shut up. I guess it doesn't really fit you, anyway, since you're not small. How about…oh, no, that one sounds really stupid."
"What was it?" She prodded. "I promise I won't laugh."
He looked away and mumbled out of the side of his mouth, "…Hooty." Annabeth maintained her oath and didn't even let out one snicker, though her eyes were tearing up and she had to hold her hurting stomach.
"I've got one more," he added quickly, eager to forget the last idea. "How about Demigod of the Pellets?"
"Demigod of the…what?" Annabeth snorted, sinking down till she was lying on her back, her head still against the wall. Her entire body shook with the laughter she was struggling to hold in.
"Because owls barf up those pellet things after they're done eating, right?" Percy wished he hadn't started the whole nickname conversation, but it was too late now and he couldn't help smiling just a little—Annabeth's feeling of hilarity was contagious.
"Pellet Brain might be better," she offered after she was calm once more. "Oh crap. What am I doing giving you ideas?"
Percy laughed. "Don't worry, I won't use it. Just you wait, though—one day I will come up with the perfect nickname for you."
"Preferably before we enter the Underworld as spirits, please."
"…Shut up."
"Hey, love birds!" A familiar figure approached them. "Stop snogging it up and say hello to your favorite Hunter!"
Percy stood up and helped Annabeth to her feet, commenting, "We had a favorite Hunter? No one immediately comes to mind…"
"Good to see you too," Thalia grinned and slapped him heartily on the back.
"Is that even the right way to use 'snogging?'" Annabeth asked, hugging Thalia—it seemed like ages since Artemis' lieutenant had last stopped at camp.
"Well, you know what I mean, yeah?" Thalia grinned.
"How'd you even learn that word, anyway?" Percy grumbled, withholding a smile.
"You get to go places when you're a Hunter," she winked at him and then got a thoughtful expression. "Hm…that might be a good slogan for the next recruiting pamphlet."
"Hey Thalia," Annabeth smirked. "Why don't you show Percy a thing or two about archery? He's failing with a capital 'F.'"
"Sure." Thalia started off towards the range, leaving the two behind. "But I'm not going to teach him everything—can't have you guys winning Capture the Flag today, yeah?"
"Hey, with you on our team, Wise Girl, we'll kick some Hunter butt for sure," Percy punched Annabeth lightly on the shoulder.
"I thought 'Wise Girl' was getting old?" She returned the gesture.
"Eh…I guess it'll have to do until I think of something else," Percy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
Annabeth chuckled. "Oh gods…you're such a Seaweed Brain."
A/N: So, yeah...do any of you know where the "Gylfie" reference is from? Ambrosia points to whoever does (hint: a movie based on these books is coming out in September)! I haven't written PJO for a long time, so sorry if I'm a little rusty ^^` Thanks for reading!