~ * Art of Observation ~ *

"—and I want a picture with her dog, Snowball, he's a very important part of her life you see—"

"Uh-huh," Percy said, barely listening. His phone was jammed between his ear and shoulder, three grocery bags in each hand as he desperately tried to pull his apartment key from his pocket without putting any of the bags down. It wasn't going well and he ended up walking rather diagonally down the hall, not unlike the permanently drunk landlord of his old apartment building.

"—and a few in a cornfield, she has the perfect complexion for it, the colors will—"

Percy wrinkled his nose, faltering in his vain quest for the elusive keys. A cornfield? Where the hell was he going to find a cornfield in New York City? God, he hated senior pictures.

"I only do pictures within city limits," Percy firmly repeated, weary as his shoulder bashed into the hall when he careening unceremoniously to the side. "It's on the website."

As if he could afford a car, and as if the meager wages these senior picture gigs gave him could even cover an Uber to the middle of nowhere. Percy hummed noncommittally as the irate mother on the other end of the phone turned frosty—"don't you know my husband rubs elbow with the mayor, my family is of the utmost importance to this city, you should be grateful that I'm even considering your mediocre photography for my daughter"—thinking longingly of deepwater caves and the gentle curve of an angelfish's back. Percy sighed, his heart panging painfully at the image.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Hm? Oh yes ma'am," Percy said, not listening at all.

"Oh, this website is set up terribly, all these pictures of seaweed and fish, what ridiculousness—as if you could ever afford such expeditions."

Percy decided he hated this woman, embarrassment mingling with outrage as he continued to fumble for his keys, muttering under his breath as if the foul words might chase away the ache in his chest.

"Where are the criteria for senior pictures at? How do you spell that wretched name again?"

The bag containing his orange juice split. Percy cursed, barely catching the torn bag on his knee as he hiked it up in the nick of time. Percy swore some more, swaying dangerously as the blasted woman kept blathering in his ear. Percy opened his mouth, the words 'go jump in a lake' on the tip of his tongue, only to see a well-dressed couple watching him from down the hall, their eyes bright with a sickening pity.

Percy swallowed the insult back. He needed the money. His rent was due in four days and his account barely contained enough to cover it—and his landlord threatened to cut off his electricity next time he was late. He couldn't go slinking back to his mother to ask for help, even if she would happily and unjudgmentally give it. His mother was finally back on her feet after a hellish twenty odd years of raising him; Percy couldn't do that to her. And he would rather eat his shoes than ask his father for help. Turning away from the judgmental eyes of the couple down the hall, Percy cleared his throat and said:

"Percy Jackson, ma'am, P-E-R-C-Y—"

"I know how to spell the rest!"

Of course, she did.

"So it is the right website hm—oh I see it, tucked away under in the corner here, forcing me to play detective like a child. This is ridiculous. I'm going to call Sweetemotions Photography down the street and see what they quote me—they're professionals you know and they don't make me hunt through their website for prices. If they offer me a better deal, I'll go with them."

Percy hummed, losing his balance and stumbling, the orange juice finally crashing to the floor as gravity took its unforgiving toll. It didn't burst open—Percy thanked whatever deity took pity on him—but rolled until it hit his apartment door. The mother on the other line waited impatiently for him to object, to grovel or plead or in some way acknowledge the power she held over him. But Percy was too tired to care and let the silence stretch on. He couldn't afford to charge less anyway so what did it matter?

"Well?" The woman finally demanded.

"Well ma'am you better ask them and get back with me," Percy said and let the phone fall from his ear.

He meant to dramatically disconnect the call but, temporarily forgetting his hands were tied up in the multitude of groceries in his arms, he could only watch with a wince as the phone collided with the floor, the screen flashing dark.

"Idiot," Percy cursed himself, flustered and feeling the gaze of the haughty couple down the hall as brightly as though under a spotlight. Worse, he realized he heard footsteps as the dreaded couple drew nearer, undoubtedly moved by pity to offer assistance.

Percy desperately leaned down, dropping half of his bags as he scrambled for the phone—screen wasn't broken, damn thing looked like it just turned itself off, thank God—and clawing at his pocket for his keys. He managed to free them from the confines of his jeans and was just straightening up to plunge them into the lock and hide himself away from this humiliation when—

The couple inserted themselves between Percy and his apartment.

"Percy? Percy Jackson?" The man asked, grinning broadly.

"Ah," Percy stalled, his brain helpfully flatlining. Did he know this guy?

"It is you, she didn't mention you lived in the same apartment building," he exclaimed, still grinning ridiculously like a weird announcer for some late night game show. He seized Percy's hand, shaking it firmly as he turned to his partner, who was smiling at Percy as though he had won a brand new car from her (presumably) husband's game show.

"Why you're more handsome than she told us!" The woman laughed.

"Huh?"

Percy stared at the pair, not comprehending but they paid him little mind, looking extraordinarily pleased with themselves. Then the guy started spewing crazy nonsense like "hi, I'm Frederick Chase, Annabeth's father. I'm so glad to finally meet my daughter's boyfriend." Which was insane because Percy didn't have a girlfriend and he was ninety percent certain that Annabeth was the name of his angry neighbor who found Percy's very existence an affront against nature.

"I'm sorry," Percy loudly interrupted as Frederick Chase bracingly clasped him on the shoulder and his wife (call me Helena dear) laughed. "I think—it's just—"

"Calm down some, Fredrick dear, we did just jump the poor boy," Helena said, eyes sparkling.

"Oh right," Frederick said, laughing slightly as he removed his hand from Percy's shoulder. "Sorry about that, it's just, well, I'm so happy Annabeth's finally found someone! She's been alone for so long you know, she's not a loner but she's not the greatest at making friends—not that she's not great! She's just so selective, which is good but you know. A father worries. And when she moved all the way out here, well, a father worries you know. But to hear she had a boyfriend! Oh, to hear her talk about you was just—"

"Hold up," Percy interrupted again. Did he hit his head this morning? Had all these senior pictures finally driven him insane? "There seems to be a mis—"

"Oh we're being rude," Frederick realized, his expression turning sheepish. "You're trying to put your groceries away and here we are, making you hold everything. Here, let us help you– "

He stooped down, sweeping up the orange juice and the two bags Percy put down to fish out his keys, talking all the while about 'how wonderful' and 'finally in person.'

"Let me get the door then," Helena said and suddenly the key was gone from Percy's fingers and he was being ushered into his own apartment.

"Oh," Helena breathed, walking into the tiny apartment.

Percy had the insane urge to apologize for the clutter before he remembered he didn't even know these people who had just invited themselves into his apartment.

"Listen I don't know—"

"Orange juice in the fridge then?" Fredrick asked, seemingly not hearing Percy as he squeezed his way around the diminutive kitchenette.

"Of course it goes in the fridge," Helena scolded, coming to her husband's side and taking a six-pack of shrimp flavored ramen noodles out of one of the bags and opening cupboards to find its proper place.

"What are you—?" Percy stood frozen in bewilderment, his brain sputtering like a broken down car. A bright yellow check engine light was flashing behind his eyes, unable to reconcile this invasion with any other experience in his entire life. He dropped the rest of his groceries, stepping angrily forward.

"Okay, guys, you had your laugh, but it's—"

"Is that a shark?" Helena gasped, her hand flying over her mouth as she noticed the photograph on his fridge.

"Um, yeah, but listen—"

Helena whirled, seemingly realizing for the first time that Percy's entire apartment (all, you know, like five feet of it) was covered in splendid deep sea candids.

"You're a photographer!" she exclaimed, seeing the camera bag perched proudly and safely in the middle of Percy's sad excuse for a table. "These are marvelous, are they all yours?"

It had been so long since anyone other than his own mother praised his work that Percy could only blink. Then said, "Ah, yeah, yeah they're all mine."

"Annabeth didn't tell us you were a photographer—oh my and a good one at that!"

Percy couldn't quell the grin that spread across his face. "Yeah, I'm an underwater photographer. The Pondicherry on the fridge actually won an award."

"An award-winning photographer!" Fredrick exclaimed, delight clear on his face as he excitedly examined the shark before him. "What kind of shark did you say this was?"

"A Pondicherry shark." Percy, grinning from ear to ear, stepped up next to the man to explain, reaching out to trace the lines of the photograph. "See the black tips on its pectoral, caudal and second dorsal fins? That's one of their identifying marks—but the big one is their teeth, their upper teeth actually, which are like little serrated steak knives around this area but smooth out back here." He ran his finger along the marks as he explained. "They also have that nice long, pointed snout and that unique curve around their nose. They're critically endangered and were almost considered extinct. I actually captured the first live picture of one in nearly forty years. It hadn't been seen alive since 1979."

His audience gasped in appropriate horror at the news and Percy felt the familiar swell of pride in his chest. He leaned forward, staring fondly at his most prized photograph. He captured the rare shark in the estuary of the Menik River along the coast of Sri Lanka. The beautiful creature curved in the dark water, sunlight barely penetrating through the deep blue to illuminate the gentle slope of the shark's back, its teeth on sparkling display. It really was the perfect photograph for the perfect moment. He had about a dozen copies of every magazine the photo ever ran in, and about three dozen of the TIMES magazine it graced the cover of.

"That's amazing," Helena gasped, hand over her heart as she crowded in on Percy's other side, leaning over to get a better look at the shark. "How many are left in the wild?"

"No one knows for sure, but not a lot. It's hard to measure a population when not even so much as a single member of the species has been seen in forty years."

"Until now," Fredrick said, looking at Percy with more pride than his own father ever had.

Percy didn't even try to beat back his pleased answering smile, going a little red around the ears when Fredrick shook him by the shoulder.

"Here, son, show us some of these other pictures, what's this over here?"

"Oh, that's the Chinese mitten crab, they're an invasive species in the Hudson River. See how it's—"

Percy wasn't sure when (or even if) he had made the conscious decision to go from the weird confused neighbor to entertaining, award-winning boyfriend but Fredrick and Helena were sitting on his couch (it was a tight fit) as he lounged across from them, laughing and joking as they ran through his portfolio. It was a surreal situation, this couple he had never met before sitting comfortably and happily in his miniscule New York apartment, looking at him as though he were the greatest thing since sliced bread. He'd never been the cool boyfriend before. His last girlfriend's father thought he was more cockroach than man, not that Rachel cared.

"I'm sorry I don't really have anything to offer you," Percy sheepishly apologized, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced ruefully at his kitchenette all of three feet away. "I mean, I have orange juice?"

"You're fine dear," Helena assured him, reaching out to pat his knee. "We dropped in rather suddenly. Annabeth doesn't even know we're coming." Percy chuckled nervously at the name. "And we accosted you rather quickly too. You'll have to forgive us for that."

"It's just Annabeth isn't much of a sharer you know?" Fredrick sighed as he put Percy's portfolio down with care. "She's always been a tough nut to crack and when she finally started opening up, well, we just got a little over excited. It's always the same whenever I call. How are you doing? Fine. How's the new apartment? Small. How's the job coming along? Well. It's enough to make you want to pull out your hair sometimes."

Fredrick ran a hand over his face. Helena picked up on her husband's stress like Percy's sonar picked up invertebrates; she reached out instinctively and took her husband's hand, rubbing her thumb in soothing circles over the back of it.

"We just want her to be happy," Helena said gently.

"Yes," Fredrick agreed, squeezing his wife's hand. "I was so happy when one day I asked her if she had met anyone and she said she'd meet you."

"Oh?" Percy asked, gingering feeling out uncharted territory. It was kind of like when he went cave diving, except a thousand times worse because he could handle sharks or grabby octopuses or even a punctuated air tank but this was on an entirely different level.

"She didn't say much," Fredrick admitted dryly, a fond smile curving up his face. "But the fact that she said anything at all gave us hope. So, of course, we had to come out and meet the man that actually broke past my Annabeth's defenses."

Percy wasn't sure how to respond to that so he settled on an awkward bobbing of his head.

"And we didn't mean to eavesdrop but when you said your name to whoever was on the phone, we just couldn't help ourselves. Couldn't have come at a better time too—since we're dropping in rather unexpectedly, Annabeth didn't know we were coming and she rightly locks her door. We very well might have been waiting out there for a while if you hadn't come along."

"I believe she normally gets out of work around this time," Helena said, checking her watch.

"Yes, I believe you're right," Fredrick agreed, checking his own. "Here, let me just pop out real quick and see—"

Percy wasn't sure how to respond to that so he settled on an awkward bobbing of his head all the while panic bubbled inside him. What the hell was he going to do when Annabeth got back? Why the hell did she tell her parents he was her boyfriend? Did she mean a different Percy Jackson? How many Percy Jacksons could she even know? There couldn't be that many in New York City, could there? Like, what were the odds she was dating somebody else named Percy Jackson and Percy was making a right ass of himself?

Percy couldn't help jumping slightly when Fredrick's voice cried: "Oh Annabeth! What wonderful timing!"

Well . . . this was going to be interesting.

"Dad?"

Percy wondered if anyone would notice if he jumped out the tiny apartment window. He could probably fit through it. Even as he contemplated the jump (a four-story drop was survivable right?), his feet automatically propelled him out of his seat and to the doorway behind Fredrick, Helena only half a step behind him.

Standing like a deer in the headlights in the middle of the hallway was Percy's silently judgmental neighbor. As beautiful as marble and half as warm, Annabeth Chase's gray eyes were wide, her keys in one hand, a portfolio in the other. Her eyes moved from her father to Percy and the look in her eyes wasn't unlike a marlin before a tiger shark.

"You won't believe who we just meet!" Fredrick continued, throwing an arm out to gesture at Percy, who he nearly whacked in the nose.

Percy had never really wondered too much about his elusive neighbor—aside from the observation during her first day that wow she was gorgeous and so out of his league, and the dozen or so times she caught him doing something embarrassing (it might have been more like a hundred times)—but he knew the look of someone caught in a lie.

"Jackso—I mean, Percy," she said, slightly breathlessly. "Oh god, what, I mean—?"

"You weren't home," Percy blurted out, fumbling to throw her a lifeline. "So I ah, invited your parents over? Doing my . . . ah, boyfriendly duties?"

He wasn't sure if that helped any. Annabeth looked vaguely ill.

"Are you okay honey, you look pale?" Fredrick asked, stepping forward to lay a hand across her forehead.

"Fine," Annabeth said, shaking her head and stepping out of reach. She shook her head again and when her eyes resurfaced, they were collected and Annabeth looked more like the unmovable stone Percy was used to.

"Do you mind if I talk to my . . . boyfriend alone for a moment?"

"Why? We just spent an hour with the guy, honey," Fredrick chuckled. "You can't prep him for anything, he's already been exposed."

He gave a laugh at that, reaching out to ruffle Annabeth's hair like a child, but Annabeth neatly stepped out from under the childish display of affection.

"Come on, honey," Helena soothed, slipping out from behind Percy. "You remember what it's like to be young and in love, let them have their moment."

Annabeth's lips pressed tightly together and if Percy didn't know better (which he really didn't know better) he would say her mother's helpful suggestion actually angered her.

"Let's go inside Annabeth's apartment and let the two chat."

"Alright, alright," Fredrick allowed with a dramatic sigh, winking at Percy over his shoulder. "It was wonderful to corner you—I mean meet you! I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of each other this week!"

"Yeah, no problem! Have a nice visit!" Percy called happily, one hand shoved in his pocket, the other waving goodbye as Annabeth passed off her keys and the couple disappeared into the blonde's apartment.

"Nice folks," Percy said casually, turning to Annabeth.

"Come on," Annabeth snarled, grabbing him by the collar and forcefully shoving him into his apartment instead of answering.

"Whoa! Oh, c'mon," Percy whined as he was unceremoniously ushered into his own apartment for the second time that day.

Annabeth slammed the door shut behind them, letting go of Percy's shirt to press her back against the door, eyes closed. Percy wondered if she was having a panic attack. She was doing this weird breathing thing, in through her nose, holding it, and exhaling slowly.

"So . . ." Percy said because he couldn't stand the silence, even for a couple of seconds, and he didn't know what else to say. "Are we honey or dear people?"

"What?"

"You know," Percy flapped his hand around. "Is it Annabeth dear or Annabeth honey? Or Annabeth darling? Hm, that's kind of southern. Annabeth darling. Weird. But you know, kind of catchy. I could probably do it."

Annabeth stared at him.

"Annabeth baby?" he tried and her gray eyes flashed. As someone hoping to make a living around dangerous creatures, Percy knew when he'd made a mistake. "Or just Annabeth. Just Annabeth is good too, intimate, I guess, bit long and formal, but you know maybe that's us."

Annabeth did that weird breathing thing again. She opened her mouth as if to say something, closed it, opened it again. Finally, she said, "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" Percy repeated in confusion.

"Want, yes, what do you want?" Annabeth snapped.

Percy rocked back and forth on his heels, not understanding. "A permanent job?"

"From me, you idiot, what do you want from me?" Annabeth snarled, pushing herself off his door and getting right up in his face. "What do you want for not ratting me out?

"Oh," Percy said, still not understanding. "Um . . . to not get yelled at?"

Annabeth gave a wordless snarl, pushing past him to pace restlessly back and forth through the apartment.

"They weren't supposed to drop by," she groaned, raking a hand through her normally perfect blonde curls.

"Yeah, they said they wanted to surprise you."

"They weren't supposed to find out about you."

"Yeah that's the part I'm still confused on," Percy admitted. "Do you have a boyfriend whose name is Percy Jackson too?"

She stopped her pacing long enough to stare at him incredulously. "No! No, I made it all up. I was—he just kept nagging and asking, do you have a boyfriend? Have you met someone? Have you tried one of those dating websites? A friend of a friend lives in the city and they have this son, why don't you go out for drinks with him? God, it never ended and I just, I just got sick of it and you were coming out of your apartment and I just blurted your name out and god this wasn't supposed to happen."

Annabeth sank onto his couch, her last words practically a despairing moan, her golden head bowed between her knees. Percy approached cautiously, edging around the couch to sit across from her like he had her parents a few moments before.

"There, there?" he offered stupidly.

Annabeth sighed, pulling her head up with what looked like a herculean effort. She propped her elbows on her knees, head resting in her palms. "Sorry. I'm just—ugh sorry. This wasn't supposed to happen."

"Yeah, I figured." Percy awkwardly stared at his neighbor. "No problem."

"Ugh, yes it is a problem. You don't even know me and I went told my dad you were my boyfriend and he actually forced his way into your apartment."

"It was more a self-invitation," Percy offered as though that made it better. "I was bringing groceries in."

That started half a smile from her.

"How . . . why . . . ? I just don't understand, why did you even go along with it?"

"I didn't mean to," Percy admitted. "Your dad didn't let me get a word in edgewise at first but, I don't know, he just seemed so excited to meet me, I mean your boyfriend. Then they started looking at my pictures and they got me talking about that and I guess I just kind of forgot about it? I mean, not forgot forgot about it but like I weirdly didn't want to let them down? Does that even make sense?"

"No," Annabeth confirmed but a smile lurked around the edge of her mouth.

"Yeah, I didn't think so." Percy gave a shrug, his face hot. "But I did. So." Somewhere in the distance, a siren grew closer, car horns blaring through the walls.

"So what now?" Percy asked.

"I don't know. Let me think."

Percy wasn't very good at 'letting people think.' He balled his hands into fists, willing his feet not to tap as Annabeth thought, turning her head to survey Percy's apartment.

"You're a photographer." It wasn't a question.

"Yep."

If he was expecting the same glowing reviews from her as her parents, he would've been disappointed; praise never came. Instead, they sat in terrible silence, Annabeth lost in thought and Percy trying desperately not to squirm.

Just when he thought he might explode, she said, "They will expect me back soon."

"Yeah it's been a while," Percy agreed, his voice coming out too loud to be considered normal and he winced.

Annabeth's eyebrows raised but she didn't comment. Instead, she said, "They will expect you to come to."

"Oh," Percy said, blinking. The long-term ramifications of not turning Annabeth's parents away hadn't occurred to him (hindsight was not one of his few strengths). "I could . . . be somewhere else?"

Annabeth snorted, straightening up to sit properly, folding her arms as she surveyed him. "Like where?"

"Work," Percy said, a half-formed idea taking shape. "An emergency."

Annabeth cast a glance at the man o war over Percy's shoulder, decidedly unimpressed. "An ocean emergency?"

Percy winced, reaching back to scratch at his neck (a nervous tick nobody had ever been able to cure him of). "Ah, no? I, ah, can't always afford jobs out at sea and I, ah, sometimes have to take on local photography jobs."

His face felt hotter than the Sahara Desert. Here he was, dressed in sweatpants and a shirt that hadn't been washed in probably a good two weeks, struggling to pay rent and land a decent gig, an underwater photographer doing senior pics, while the perfectly immaculate woman across from him, judging by the thick portfolio tucked under her leg and the important phone calls she was always on, was undoubtedly successful and thriving. Lord, how did her parents ever think she was dating him?

He gave an awkward cough, that dreaded ache back in his chest. He scratched at it absently. "Tell them one of my client's beloved dog is dying and they want last minute pictures with him."

Annabeth blinked. "Does that actually happen?"

"Yeah, more than you'd think," Percy couldn't help but laugh and to his immense surprise, Annabeth gave a huff of laughter too.

"Okay, but where will you go? I can't just jump back and announce you're gone, they'll want to see you off."

"My mother lives two floors below us," Percy explained, forking his thumb over his shoulder. "I'll go chill there for a few hours."

Annabeth nodded businesslike, standing up. Percy scrambled to follow her, bashing his knees in the process and looking quite the fool. Blessedly, Annabeth gave no comment.

"Okay, okay, that will work," she said, the gears in her head obviously turning as she nodded. "It should be safe to come back around seven, I'll plead exhaustion and have them in a hotel by then."

"Sounds good," Percy agreed, walking her to the door.

"Come by my apartment then," she instructed.

"What, why?"

"So we can talk about this," Annabeth huffed, rolling her eyes. "And what we're going to do."

"Oh, right," Percy said, opening the door and letting his not-girlfriend through.

"Seven o'clock, don't be late."

"Sure, sure, just one more thing?"

Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously, is it honey or dear?"

A/n The Pondicherry is a critically endangered species of river shark. It had not been formally sighted in 40 years until some lucky boaters caught a snap of it back in 2014. But we can pretend like that didn't happen and Percy instead was the lucky guy with the camera. Not so fun fact, all species of river sharks are critically endangered and it's depressing because they're seriously cool animals, even if they're kinda ugly (ily babies don't be mad at me). Anyway, yes, a fake dating au because I haven't done one before. Blame my beta, rhig122, for egging me on (thank you!). This will be shorter, only about ten chapters or so.

Kindly drop a note telling me what you thought and, as always, I hope you enjoyed ~ *