Day Seventeen: Tourist Trap

So...I originally was just gonna cut this off at the line break...but I really wanted to make this longer. So it's longer now. Suffer.

Next prompt is at the bottom!

"Nice costume."

Percy looked up from where he was lounging in his pond, lowering his Switch and giving the tall, blonde girl in front of him a grin. He glanced behind her, eyeing the children standing there, and chuckled. "Not a costume, but thank you."

The girl crossed her arms over her chest, cocking a hip. Her gray eyes glittered in the sunlight. "Oh come on, you're wearing a belt around your waist to cover up the gap between the tail and the skin."

Percy scoffed and set his game safely on the towel behind him. "Maybe I just like this belt," he argued. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, letting his tail splash into the water and get on the girl's shorts. He gave a cheerful wave to the children behind her. "You have an audience," he told her through gritted teeth.

She turned, startled, and smiled sheepishly at the kids. "Sorry," she said, turning back. She ducked under the rope lining the edges and sat down, cross-legged, on the ground next to the pond, glancing back over her shoulder to make sure the kids were leaving. "I'm not kidding, it's a good costume. Where'd you get it?"

Percy gave her a smile and leaned an elbow on his tail, putting his chin in his hand. Water trickled down his wrist. "I'm Percy. You?"

She blinked. "Annabeth."

"Here for the tours?" he asked, nodding back to the tourist trap that he'd been roped into working for that summer. "Have you seen the satyr exhibit yet?"

"Yeah, my family's on vacation," Annabeth confirmed. She picked at a shoelace. "My dad and stepmom thought my brothers would like this. And no, not yet."

Percy tilted his head, shifting his tail. It glinted a vibrant green in the sunlight. "What about you?"

Annabeth looked up at him. Her hair was a wild mess, half-tamed in a set of braids that Percy found endearing. "What?"

"Do you like this?" Percy clarified, gesturing to the grounds. "Is it interesting to you?"

Annabeth's nose wrinkled and she looked back at the grounds. The cabin was massive, and she hadn't seen most of it yet, but it was cozy looking. The pond she'd seen Percy floating in was shockingly deep up close, with a rope lining the edges to keep people from falling in. It was the main reason she'd wandered over – she'd seen the sign that said "Merman Exhibit" and been intrigued, if only to get away from her family for a while.

His tail was remarkably detailed. Annabeth had seen professional mermaids before, and their tails always looked pretty good, but his was on another level. She could see every individual scale down to the edges of his flippers. There were silky, delicate fins trailing from his hips, and the scales shifted between a vibrant sea foam green and a lighter blue shade, both of which complimented his dark hair, skin, and bright green eyes perfectly.

She'd come over for the intrigue, but she wasn't gonna lie – Percy was kind of hot. If she could spend her time at a tourist trap hanging out with a guy who was not only cute but also seemed incredibly sweet, she would.

"Not my thing," she finally said. "I like that a lot of it is based on Greek Myth – I think that's cool. And it's factual, so that's a bonus. But that bear with a unicorn horn out front…do people actually fall for that?"

Percy's grin was wide and his laugh made Annabeth feel like she was being surrounded by bubbles: delightful, and a little bit tickly. "You'd be surprised."

He edged closer, pushing his elbows onto the grassy bank of the pond, and pushed up on them. He twisted his lower body, letting his tail flop over and float on the surface, the fluke bobbing gently on the surface. Annabeth was a little shocked that she couldn't see his knees through the material. "A lot of people believe a lot of things," he told her, and she dragged her eyes back to his.

Percy's smile was gentler now, his gaze kind and a little mischievous. "My boss wouldn't make money if they didn't. Mr. D…"

"Is a scam artist?" Annabeth finished with a raised eyebrow.

"Knows how to reel people in."

Annabeth felt her lips twitch. "Is that a pun?"

Percy settled his chin in a hand, and she didn't fail this time to notice the scales that decorated his wrists. "Maybe. He puts in a bunch of definitely not real stuff, I'll admit that. That bear out there literally has a Halloween unicorn horn in it's head."

"Poor thing."

Percy tisked, and took a second to wave cheerfully to a couple more kids as they passed, lifting his tail from the water. The shrieks of delight made him chuckle, but Annabeth was left staring at his tail again. Still no indication of knees in the fabric. Or feet, for that matter. "Your tail is really well made," she found herself breathing. "Can I feel it?"

Percy's eyes shot to her, wary, and she backpedaled. "Sorry. That was weird."

He tilted his head and, in one swift move, dragged himself up the bank and twisted so that he was sitting next to her, hands planted behind him. "Not at all. No one's ever asked. No one's ever gotten this comfortable accusing me of wearing a costume."

His smile made Annabeth's heart pound, and she hesitated, hand hovering over where his kneecaps should be. "You said your boss-"

"Mr. D."

"Right. You said he puts…a bunch of not real stuff in the house. To get people in the door."

Percy hummed and reached out, gently taking her wrist. Annabeth let him, her brain working double time. "He does."

"Does he put real stuff in, then? Like…fossils and stuff?"

"Definitely some fossils," Percy confirmed, settling her fingers on his tail. Her breath hitched and he let go, let her fingertips trail across the scales. "Some other stuff too, for sure. Most people don't believe the stuff that is actually real, because it seems too impossible. Kids are the only ones who argue. And no one ever believes little kids."

His eyes were sparkling when she looked up, his cheeks pinked. The logical part of her was beating down the door. The fantastical side of her was holding it up. Her hand flattened on the scales and she took a deep breath.

Percy's smile widened and he glanced back, sliding off the belt he'd been wearing. The scales at the edge of his tail did not gap, and instead melded seamlessly into his skin. "Unfortunate," he said, fastening it just as quickly as he'd unfastened it, leaving Annabeth to wonder if she'd even really seen it. "I think it's more fun to believe in the impossible."

He slid back into the pond like he hadn't just completely melted Annabeth's brain and edged over to where he'd left his game. He looked back at her, giving a crooked smile. "Shift's over at three. Do you want to go for pizza tonight? Get away from your family? I know a good place in town."

Annabeth's mouth was dry, and her eyes flickered back to Percy's tail. "I…can you?"

His smile was wry, and a little teasing. He glanced back over her shoulder, finding no one, and winked. "Come on, wise girl. It's just a costume."

He was tall, out of the water. His legs were long and lean, and his arms were definitely not lean, if the way the fabric of his button down hugged at them was any indicator. Annabeth hadn't really been paying attention to his arms earlier. He wore dark jeans and Converse, which Annabeth found almost too normal, and he looked up from his phone with an impish smile when she approached him.

"Hmm. Your hair is much less all over the place," he declared, offering an arm. Annabeth put a hand up to her curls self-consciously, wondering if the ponytail had been a good choice. Percy reassured her immediately. "I'm teasing. It's cute."

She swallowed. She wasn't crazy dressed up – dark jeans herself and a soft, leather jacket layered over a tank top – but next to Percy, she felt underdressed. Maybe that was just his presence.

"You want to get the pizza on the lakefront?" Percy asked.

She shook herself out of her internal monologue and looked up at the pizza place. "Um. Sure? How'd you find this place?"

"Only non-chain pizza place in town," Percy laughed, holding the door open for her. His eyes – a darker green than they had been before - twinkled and he tugged down his sleeves as they continued inside. "Plus my friend Leo works in the back. Sous-chef. He's good with pizza ovens. Any ovens, really. But pizza ovens and grills specifically."

Annabeth wasn't quite sure what that meant, but she ignored it and picked up a menu, flipping through the pages to find the single slice category. She got two – both pepperoni and sausage – and Percy got Hawaiian.

"Pineapple on pizza?" she asked as they ventured to the outside tables. No one was there, given that it was a little chilly for a June day, so they had their fair share of tables.

Percy chose one closer to the water. She wasn't surprised. "Oh, don't tell me you're a hater."

"No!" Annabeth said quickly, sitting with her own pizza and fiddling with a napkin. "No, I've just never tried it."

"Trade a slice?" Percy asked, lifting an eyebrow. His smile was boyish, and Annabeth barely hesitated before sliding one of her slices across the table to him, taking one of his in return.

"If I don't like it, I get my piece back," she warned.

"Deal."

It was…pretty much exactly what she'd expected. A little odd, different, but the salty and the sweet flavors were nothing to be mad about, so she relaxed and gave a tiny smile. "Not bad."

They fell into a silence, and it wasn't comfortable. At least, not on Annabeth's end. She put the Hawaiian down about halfway through it and took a long drag of water from her straw. "I don't like looking stupid," she blurted after a moment.

Percy paused before settling his pizza down on the plate and wiping greasy fingers on his napkin. "I don't think anyone does," he said.

"I really don't," Annabeth muttered, picking at her cuticles. "Like, I hate it. So I…"

Percy's hands reached out, gentle, and took her hands, forcing her to stop picking at her nails. "I get it," he said, and his voice was so smooth and sincere that she felt herself relaxing. "I do. Trust me, I wouldn't do that to you, Annabeth."

She huffed. "You barely know me."

Percy's eyes glittered. "True. But I feel like I know enough."

He took his hands away, and while Annabeth was missing the contact, he unbuttoned the edges of his sleeves and rolled them up to his elbows. She was so focused on the action (seriously, how was that so hot?) that she nearly missed the glittering scales until he was taking her hands again. Her lips parted and she turned his hands over, letting go of one to grip the other in both of hers.

She lifted a hand, hovered them over his wrists. "I swear to the Greek gods, if you're fucking with me-"

"I wouldn't."

She had zero reason to believe him, and yet she did, so Annabeth settled her fingers down against his wrist and drifted them across the scales on his skin. Gentle nudges did nothing more than move them around like they would skin, and they were jagged and rough and a little dry. "Does this hurt?" she murmured, dragging her thumb across one of them.

Percy's lips twitched. "No. A little uncomfortable, maybe."

Annabeth stopped quickly and pulled back, finally looking up at him, really looking at him. "I don't…" she faltered, put her hands in her lap, stared down at her pizza. "I'm…"

"Yes?"

"Why me? Is this like…some kind of test, o-or a joke, or-"

"I promise you," Percy said, reaching out again and flattening his hands on the table. "I promise you this is not a joke. Okay? I'm not that kind of person. And you…"

He chuckled, moving a hand and rubbing it across his jaw. He looked out over the lake, watched it for a moment. "I don't know. I don't know if it's how confident you were that you were right, or if it's how easily you believed…definitely a little bit because you're cute."

Annabeth blushed to her ears, looking down. Her napkin was in pieces in her lap. "So you told me you're a supposedly mythical creature because I'm cute. Hmm."

"Only partially."

Percy stood up, ignoring their now cold pizza, and held out a hand to Annabeth. She took it with little hesitation, letting him tug her to her feet and –

"If you're…how do you…?"

Percy snorted, sliding an arm around her waist hesitantly. She let him, unconcerned, and walked with him to the edge of the dining area. The railing came up to their hips. "My mom's human," he informed her, and hearing the word "human," hearing it so casually, like he wasn't, solidified the idea in Annabeth's head. "So…half human. Half…"

He eyed her, gaze flickering across her face. "Merman."

She just stared at him, mostly because she couldn't process. It was one thing, when she could pretend it was a costume and a good actor and gentle flirting. It was entirely another when the logical part of her brain finally gave up it's fight and sided with the fantasy side. Percy hesitated, started to pull away, and she stopped him with a quick hand to his wrist, caressing the scales there.

"Don't," she said quickly. He relaxed a little, shoulders slumping, and she twisted to face him, hand still clinging to his wrist. "I'm just processing."

"That might take a while," Percy joked, a little feebly.

"I'm pretty smart," Annabeth protested.

His smile was so soft, and lips parted. "Sometimes that makes it worse."

"What happens if I kiss you?"

His eyes widened a little and he blinked a couple times, spluttering, like he hadn't expected that. And truthfully, Annabeth hadn't either. She was a little mortified to have asked so bluntly. But she stood firm, held his gaze, ignored the desert that was her mouth. Percy eyed her, a gentle laugh spilling from his lips.

He moved his other hand from the railing to her hip, holding it there cautiously. "I'd say go for it."

"I won't kill you, or turn into a mermaid, or be drowned or anything?"

Percy snorted, bumping their foreheads together and tugging her just a little bit closer. "No. Promise."

She took him at his word and kissed him, sliding her hands against his hips and dipping her thumbs under his shirt. She blinked, pulled back just a little at the scales there, and Percy's smile was sheepish. "Um."

"Should learn to take your costume off better," she murmured, pushing back in for another kiss. Percy laughed against her lips, breathy.

"Noted."

Tomorrow's fic: Spa Day, Voltron