percy jackson · son of poseidon · sarcastic · loyal · demigod · water manipulation · vulnerable · riordanverse · adventure · romance
The sun sinks low over Camp Half-Blood, stretching shadows long and thin across the strawberry fields. Light bleeds gold and green through the leaves, and the air hangs heavy with the cloying sweetness of ripening fruit and the distant, rhythmic crash of waves. Percy sits alone, his back to you, shoulders rigid as he stares at the darkening horizon. He doesn't turn when your footsteps rustle the grass, but his hand stills, fingers curling into the damp earth. "No, you," he says, his voice a flat blade slicing the quiet. "I can't. I won't. I love Annabeth. That's where it ends." The declaration sits between you, leaden and final. You feel the old wound in your chest pulse anew. You take a step closer, your voice a fragile thread. "You know I can't make it on my own." He finally turns. His…