"Can I go home?"
Poseidon sighed for what felt like the hundredth time in five minutes as he and his son walked through his palace, "You just got here, Percy."
"Yeah," The teen nodded like it was obvious, putting his hands in his leather jacket. The god didn't even know he owned one. "And I'm done. I'm ready to leave. It was nice seeing you, padre, but I have things to take care of in Mystic Falls."
The god stopped, his shoulders dropping slightly for a moment, and turned towards the teen, "Why do you insist on being like this, Perseus? When do you plan on letting it go?"
"Careful, Poseidon," Percy's eyes darkened and his voice took on a cold tone. "I'd tread lightly if I were you."
Poseidon hummed before continuing on his way, "Do you at least plan on visiting Camp Half Blood?"
"No," Percy rolled his shoulders, ignoring some of his father's subject that tried to get his attention. "Not yet. Look, was there a reason you wanted me to visit? Like I said, I have things to take care of. I don't have time to entertain whatever you have planned for me."
"Not even me?"
Percy froze at the voice, body immediately tensing. He plastered a smile on his face as he turned even as his body hummed with something akin to rage, "Hello, Athena." He tilted his head as he took in the goddess, "Why are you here? This is not your place."
"Yes, as much as it pains me to be here," The goddess looked at one of the columns in the room with disdain. "This was the only way for me to speak with you."
The teen gritted his teeth and looked over at his father, "What is this? Did you even want to see me?"
"I did- I do, Perseus, but you can't keep running away from this. Perseus-"
"For the last time, it's Percy," Percy growled, hands clenching into fists inside his jacket pockets. "And I refuse to speak to her, so kindly fuck off!" He walked past Athena, forcefully shaking off her hand when she tried to grab his arm. "I guess I could visit some people since I'm in New York already."
--
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Elena started quietly from where she was with her boyfriend on the couch. "But is Damon sulking?"
"Yeah," Stefan nodded, ignoring his brother's glare. "Percy's still in New York with his dad so now Damon's lonely."
Damon scoffed and rolled his eyes, downing the rest of his bourbon in his glass, "I'm not lonely. You all just suck."
The youngest Salvatore rolled his eyes, "Very mature. Isn't Percy coming back tomorrow?"
The blue-eyed vampire shrugged, "Probably. He might come back early though, he doesn't seem to be on good terms with his father."
"Why?" Elena wondered, looking at Damon as he poured more alcohol into his glass.
"None of your business," Damon said coldly, barely sparing her a glance as he walked to his room. "Man, has Mystic Falls always been this boring?"
--
"And that's how I befriended a vampire," Percy told his mother as he sat upside down on her couch.
"Sit correctly," Sally said, swatting at her son's legs with a dish towel. "Is he nice?"
The demigod swung his legs down, adjusting his body so he was upright, "Yeah, he's pretty. And nice. Pretty nice."
The woman shook her head, rolling her eyes, "Tell me about him?"
Percy followed her into the kitchen, grinning widely. He waved at Paul, who was typing something on his laptop, before starting, "Well, his name's Damon Salvatore and, like I said, he and his brother are vampires. I think Elena, Stefan's girlfriend or whatever, is something too but I don't think she's a vampire. I dunno, I just get a weird vibe from her. Anyways, Damon's actually a lot like me, which is amazing."
"Morally ambiguous with a flair for dramatics?" Paul drawled, not even glancing up from his work.
The teen snapped his fingers, "Yes! Exactly that. Oh, and we have movie nights, like, every night and go to cafes and diners. It's so cool."
"Sounds like you two are dating," Sally chuckled, putting a plate of blue cookies on the counter by her son.
Percy sighed and grabbed a cookie, biting into it, "I wish. For someone who's lived a really long time, he's really oblivious. I mean, I've been very obvious. I've outright flirted with him and everything! What am I doing wrong?"
"This sounds like one of my books," Sally hummed, breaking off a piece of a cookie for herself. She left the kitchen for a moment only to come back with a novel in hand called Peter. There was no mistaking the fact that the background was the pansexual flag.
(A/N: Sorry for the interruption but the book Peter is an actual idea of mine for a book I plan on publishing, so... Yeah. Also, anything described about Peter is not definite. It could change over time so don't get excited or anything. Carry on)
"Mom, did you make a book about the LGBTQ community?" Percy asked, staring at the book while reaching for another cookie with awe.
The woman shrugged, a smile on her face, "When you came out to me, it occurred to me that there are so many people that are scared about coming out or even just their sexuality. I thought I'd write something for them. Anyways, Peter is a teenager that is struggling with the idea of being a pansexual and coming out to his parents. He falls in love with a classmate of his who seems to be oblivious to his flirting. Here," She handed him the book. "Read page 119 and look at what he does about it."
Percy held onto the novel for a second, running his fingers slowly over the cover. He had to swallow back a build up of emotions when he saw that it was dedicated to him. He carefully turned the pages until he got to the right one, concentrating on the words. He grinned widely when he finally finished the paragraph, closing the book softly, "This is perfect!"
Sally shook her head when he tried to hand the book back to her, "Keep it. I meant to send it to you earlier when you got to Mystic Falls. I've just been so busy, I guess I forgot."
"Thank you," Percy said quietly, feeling tears line his eyes as he clutched the book close to his chest.
"Oh, honey," Sally walked over to her son and pulled him into a hug. "I love you no matter who you choose to date, even if they're a vampire. You're my little boy, I wouldn't change you for anything. Well, you could be taller..."
The demigod gave a watery laugh, wiping at his eyes, "I'm a perfect height, thanks. This- This is so cool," He looked down at the book once again, tracing over the large letters.
"If you couldn't tell, you're Peter," Paul said, sipping from a cup of tea, warmth in his eyes.
"Wait-" Percy focused on the name before he rolled his eyes, "Really? Peter Johnson?"
Sally chuckled, packaging up some blue cookies, "I thought it was funny. Here, give these to Damon and tell him to visit some time. I'd really like to get to know him."
"You got it," Percy winked before giving Paul a hug and kissing his mother on the cheek. "I'll visit again for Christmas."
"Thanksgiving and I'll finally get you a customized stocking," Paul countered, a grin on his face.
The demigod gave him finger guns, "Deal!"
--
Damon was only half heartedly listening as Stefan, Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie talked about some upcoming dance happening at their school. He didn't care, seeing as he didn't feel like crashing the dance if Percy wasn't going to be there to terrorize Stefan with him.
"Are you even listening?" Caroline asked the vampire, raising an eyebrow.
"No," Damon answered honestly, leaning back on the couch in the Boarding House.
She huffed, putting her hands on her hips, "Come on, you have to remember this stuff for Percy."
The vampire rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to answer when he got a text message.
PJ: i'm back. come get me b4 i kill someone
"You can tell him about the dance yourself," Damon stood up, grabbing his keys. "He just got back. I gotta go get him before he does the bad part of the Jackson Effect."
"Wait, there's two parts of the Jackson Effect?" Stefan asked, eyes widened a bit.
"Yeah," Damon shrugged. "There's the one where he brings someone to another room without you knowing," He gestures towards his brother to show that it was the one he experienced. "And then there's, well," He tilted his head, trying to find a way to explain the bad part. "It's essentially murder. I guess."
"Murder?" Bonnie's eyebrows shot up in shock, "Are you saying that Percy murdered someone before?"
The vampire tilted his head, "...No. I actually have no idea if he's murdered anyone or not. I'm just saying that the bad part of the Jackson Effect could be murder. People just go... Missing."
"Why don't we let Damon go get Percy, yeah?" Stefan laughed nervously, shuddering internally at the thought of the Jackson Effect. "We wouldn't want to annoy Percy."
The women looked at each other before nodding. Annoying Percy would not be ideal.
—
"About time," Percy rolled his eyes, sliding into the passenger seat of Damon's vehicle. "I thought I'd have to steal a car or something."
"Whatever," Damon grinned at the teen before handing him a cup of coffee. "How was your trip?"
Percy took a sip of the drink before sighing, "Ugh, terrible. I got to see my mom though, so that was nice. Oh, yeah, she told me to give you these cookies and to have you visit her so she can meet you."
The vampire glanced over at him in surprise before actually putting the key in the ignition, "When should I go?"
The human fiddled with his seatbelt for a minute before he looked over at him, "Would you- Would you come with me on Thanksgiving? I mean, it's okay if you don't want to but-"
"Sure," Damon grinned a little at how nervous the teen sounded. "I have no plans for Thanksgiving."
Percy smiled brightly at the vampire before leaning across the seat to kiss his cheek, "You're the best, Day."