Percy loved his friends, he really did. But sometimes, he just had to be alone. So, he had locked himself in his cabin and basked in the comforting silence of the empty Poseidon cabin. He always liked to sit on the wooden floor and listen to the quiet sounds of the fountain trickling in the corner.

However, his moments of peace were few and far between and one day Percy was too overloaded with new campers arriving, organisation of capture the flag when Artemis' Hunters showed up and dealing with Jason and Leo being their usual selves. He locked himself in the Poseidon cabin as usual and vowed silently to himself to not leave until he was sure he wouldn't end up yelling at someone and/or flooding the camp (it only happened one time, he swears).

That vow kept him in the cabin for a week. At least, Percy's pretty sure it was a week. The curtains on the cabin windows had been drawn and his sleeping schedule messed up enough that he wasn't sure what the time was when he woke up, nor if it was the same day entirely. A couple days in, he began to get knocks on the cabin door. Most of the time, it was Annabeth asking him to join everyone for food or to ask if she could go inside. As much as it pained Percy to say, he refused to go out or let anybody in. Sometimes it was Jason, Piper, even Nico showed up one time, but he gave them all the same answers to their questions: 'I'm not leaving.'

Percy awoke one day to the faint smell of salty beach air and the presence of somebody in the cabin with him. He jumped out of bed and uncapped Riptide – which had been sitting on his bedside table – and pointed the bronze sword at the intruder. At first, in the haze of sleep, Percy couldn't figure out who he was threatening, but he dropped Riptide in shock when his vision cleared.

"D-Dad?" Percy choked out, unsure why his throat felt like he swallowed a chip wrong. "What… what are you doing here?"

Poseidon regarded him with a stare, not saying anything. Percy shifted uncomfortably, capping Riptide and trying to ignore the feeling that his father was disappointed in some way. "Perseus," Poseidon finally said, making Percy jump.

"Yes?" Percy's voice was small, nearly the same volume as the fountain which stood beside his father.

Poseidon sighed, the overpowering aura the god was producing fading away. "You have not left here for a week, my son," the god stated. Percy felt like it was an accusation rather than a statement of fact. "What is ailing you?"

Percy opened his mouth, but saying 'I'm stressed' didn't seem like the right reason to be locked indoors for a week, so he closed his mouth soon after. Instead of answering verbally, Percy looked up at his father and hoped whatever emotion was on his face would communicate how he felt.

To be completely honest with himself, Percy didn't think it would work, but, surprisingly, it did. Poseidon sighed once more and stepped towards Percy, stopping close enough that Percy could smell the faint comfort of seawater radiating off his father. "Percy, you cannot simply ignore your friends – your family – for any reason. Stress, anger, annoyance, nothing."

Part of Percy wanted to respond with 'and yet you ignored me for years?', but didn't want to upset his father more. "I'm sorry," he said instead, not knowing what else to respond with.

Poseidon seemed to hesitate and shocked Percy when a rough hand found its way to Percy's cheek. "It is not me you need to apologise to, my son," Poseidon murmured. Percy found himself leaning into his father's hand, the slight touch starvation being satiated yet wanting more.

Thunder rumbled outside the cabin, making Percy flinch away from his father. "S-shouldn't you… not be here?" he asked, rubbing his arm awkwardly.

"I'm sure Zeus can forgive me trying to comfort my son, given what he has done for his own children many times," Poseidon replied, eyes raised to the roof of the cabin. "If you would allow it, I believe I have some years to catch up on."

Percy wasn't sure what overtook him, but he wrapped his arms around his father and squeezed as if the god would disappear if he let go. Poseidon didn't respond for a short instant but returned Percy's hug so that the two were standing in the cabin silently, ignoring the thunder outside voice its displeasure in the contact.

= ψ =

"Please don't go," Percy asked, catching the God of the Sea off-guard. His voice was muffled from Poseidon's shirt, but the god clearly heard his son's plea. It made Poseidon want to bring his son back to Atlantis and wrap him up and never let him leave.

Instead, Poseidon settled for nodding and pressing his head to Percy's shoulder. "Of course not, Percy," he promised. "I'll be here for you." His son pulled away and wiped at tears in his eyes, which reflected the small amount of light in the cabin. Poseidon offered a smile, which

Percy responded to with a smile of his own. "Come now, we have a lot to discuss."

They talked for a long time on Percy's bed until the sun went down and Camp Half-Blood quieted as the demigods went to sleep. Including Percy, who was clearly trying not to fall asleep on Poseidon. "Sleep if you are tired," Poseidon tried to persuade his son.

"But I wanna stay with you," Percy replied, already half asleep with droopy eyelids. "I missed you." Poseidon wrapped an arm around his son and pulled Percy closer to himself.

"Sleep, Perseus," Poseidon said. "I will be here when you wake, I assure you."

Percy hummed, and Poseidon could tell he was on the verge of unconsciousness. "Pinkie promise?" he asked the god, holding out his pinkie without opening his eyes.

"Pinkie promise." Poseidon wrapped his own finger around his son's, and, with that, Percy fell into sleep. Poseidon debated moving him to lie down, but selfishly liked the weight of the demigod against his side. "You're my son, Percy," he said to the air. "Nothing could stop me from being here." As if on cue, a crack of lightning sounded in the sky, the bright light illuminating the cabin through the thick curtains on the windows. Percy flinched in his sleep and Poseidon tightened his hold on the boy. "Nothing," he repeated. "Nothing, and nobody."

There was no answer to that statement, except the sound of Percy's quiet snores. The sea god adjusted himself and his son so that he was lying on the couch, his legs hanging over the armrest and his son sleeping on his chest. Poseidon may have broken his oath on the River Styx by siring Percy, yes, but he was not about to break a pinkie promise.