TANKA TO THE AMAZEBALLS @_Opheliac WHO LET ME HAVE THIS THANKS BITCH.

Sooooo just pretend that all the bad stuff never happened. Okay? Okay. Yeah. So just...fun times at Camp Half-Blood! :D Also, I warped Luke's age, but forgive me?

~~~

A scream resonated throughout the camp. Instantaneously, campers were gathered, running at the sound. Katie Gardner stood at the beach shore, staring wide eyed at a still figure in the sand.

"No way..." Leo breathed.

"Is that..." Nico couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. He felt foolish just thinking it. There was nothing about this in his mythomagic game. Therefore, this wasn't a real thing...right? He was imagining things? But no, Leo was jumping up and down excitedly.

"It's a mermaid!"

"It's obviously a merman, Leo." Travis scoffed. "Look at the hair. And no seashell bra. No curves. Male."

"You can't even see his face! What if it's a girl with short hair?" Leo argued. Half the campers were still in shocked silence, the others were staring at Nico, Leo, Conner and Travis in amusement.

"You must be desperate to see boobs for the first time." Conner teased.

"I can't see his face cause he's lying face down in the sand. But he's a guy, it's obvious and you know it." Travis said before Leo could make a jab at Conner.

"Guys." Nico tried to get their attention.

Leo and Travis continued to argue. He tried once more before giving up. "Will!" Nico shouted. "Make sure he isn't dead!" Suddenly, the camp realized that the merman very well could be dead. He was lying so still.

Will rushed forward, and flipped the merman over. Black hair flopped onto his face, which was dotted with scales that were a mixture of blues and purples (that matched his tail) and sand. Hoping he wasn't wrong, Will checked for a pulse. To his relief, a steady rhythm met his fingers.

"He's alive. Some get me a stretcher so we can take him to infirmary." Will called out, looking behind himself at Austin and Kayla. Austin immediately left, but Kayla shuffled.

"Will, what if he needs the water? He's still in it." Kayla said worriedly. Will blinked. She was right. The mans tail was still in the water.

"Well...let's take him out now, so if he does, we can toss him back in easily." Will hated to be so reckless, but there really wasn't much else he could do. "Luke, help me out." Will called over his shoulder, looking back after a second. "Castellan! Why in Hades name are you stripping?"

Nico crinkled his nose.

"Cause I'm sexy." Luke said sarcastically, casting his shirt over his shoulder as he walked forward. Will rolled his eyes.

"Just help me, you air head." Will muttered. Together, the two blond boys dragged the merman up shore, Will holding him under the shoulders and Luke wrapping his arms around the area where skin met tail to heave the man's (?) lower body up. They took him about a foot away from where the tide was coming up, and waited. Will kept a finger to his neck to track his pulse.

"Nothings changing." Will murmured. Austin was just returning with the stretcher. Just as the campers were clearing a path, a bright glow enveloped the merman, making Will and Luke stumble back.

Suddenly, there lay a very muscled, naked man. Luke quickly grabbed his shirt and laid it over the man's (for it certainly was a man) bits.

"And here I was thinking Luke really did just think himself sexy." Leo broke the heavy, stunned silence.

Snorting, Luke shook his head. "How'd you know that would happen?" Will raised an eyebrow in question, staring at Luke with a ludicrous expression.

"Always happens in movies and mythology. I thought it had to have some basis, right?" Shrugging, Luke smiled a crooked little smile, looking down at the man.

Will shook his head in wonder. "Alright, whatever. Let's get him onto the stretcher. Make sure your shirt doesn't come off him. Austin, get over yourself and bring the stretcher over." Will called out to the still stunned son of Apollo. Quickly, the man was brought to the infirmary.

Luke watched from the background as Will, Kayla and Austin did what they could, which wasn't much. Even then, Will got bothered by Luke's presence and sent him off to get some proper clothes for the man. Luke wasn't sure why he was so relieved he hadn't woken up yet when he returned. He wanted the man to wake up...he just wanted it to happen whilst he was there. He couldn't explain it, nor could he explain his odd protectiveness concerning the man he had never met.

He shook his head, and set the clothes down on the bedside table, giving a nod to acknowledgement to Will who thanked him. "Do you want me to change him while you prepare other stuff or something?" Luke offered. Will raised an eyebrow.

"I got it. I have nothing else to do. Besides, it's a bit unprofessional if someone who doesn't work in the infirmary changes a patient if I'm available." Luke nodded. "Anyways, I wasn't planning to change him myself. I figured I'd save him his dignity, let him change himself once he woke up." Luke nodded again, relaxing. Will snorted.

"What?"

"You're stupidly easy to read." Will murmured, walking away from the bed.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"You are easy to read and are also stupidly childish for your age. You're almost, what, twenty-four? Child." Luke stuck his tongue out at Will. Snorting, Will walked away.

Luke watched him go, then looked back at the infirmary bed, biting his lip. After a moments deliberation, he sat down in the chair next to the boy, touching the sheet covering him softly. He didn't want him to wake up alone. So he sat back, and studied him.

The transformation had included more than just the loss of tail. The scales that had decorated the mans face softly had vanished too, as well as the fins and scales that had been on his elbows. Instead, smooth, unmarred skin was in its place. Luke was also pretty sure that there had been some sort of gills somewhere on him, but they were gone now.

Luke looked back to the clothes he had brought. They were his own, since he didn't know what else to grab. Looking back, he figured that they'd be too big for the man. He was smaller than Luke, leaner and less broad. But they were something, until he could get something of his own. Luke would grab more clothes later, once he woke up.

Luke stretched, vaguely wondering what the man's name would be. He was very good looking, handsome, certainly, but he also had rather delicate features. If Luke had to guess his age, he'd say his age was most likely a bit younger than Luke himself. But still, late teens, early twenties.

The man shifted, and yawned. He felt the blanket tiredly, then shot awake. He sat up, looking around himself, panicked. Luke stood up, holding his hands up in surrender. "Hey, you're okay. You washed up on shore, we took you here so that you were safe. My name is Luke." He said calmly, doing his best to relax the other person

"Where a-am I?" He stuttered. His voice warbled for a moment, and Luke figured he wasn't used to speaking above water.

"Camp Half-Blood infirmary."

The man blinked, showing no recognition. He looked down at himself. Then, startled, he lifted the blanket up.

"Where's my tail? And what the seashell are those things?" The man gave a strangled shout, but then calmed a fraction. "At least the peeper fish is still there, but why's it out in the open? Mama didn't tell me about this..." the man dropped the blanket, looking at a blushing Luke.

"You have the weird things too! What's going on?"

"Peeper f-fish?" Luke would never admit to the giggle that left him. It was a completely manly laugh. Certainly. The man raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Is that not what you call it?" His eyes widened. His voice dropped to a whisper. "Do you not have one?"

A strangled laugh left Luke. "No-no, I do. I do...why do you call it a p-peeper fish?" He struggled to say the name with a straight face, the ends of his lips curling in vain.

"Cause it peeps out when it wants attention. Duh." The man looked at Luke like he was stupid. Choking on his spit, Luke coughed. "You didn't answer my questions. I would like to know what in the Great Barrier Reef is going on."

"Ah, how bout you tell me your name and age? Then I'll explain." Luke said, blush lowering. You think he'd be used to dicks by now.

The man looked at him wearily. "Why?"

"So I can get to know who I'm explaining this whole world about. I'll go first. Hello, I'm Luke Castellan. I'm twenty three. You are?" The man gave in a deadpan stare.

"I'm not completely clueless about your world...mama tells me stories. I'm Percy. Percy Jackson." Luke smiled. He liked that name. It fit him. Percy. Nice. "I'm about four." Luke blinked.

"How do you measure age?"

"By the life cycle of the octopus that's native to us. Which I guess is about...I think mama said five years to you humans..." Percy's eyebrows crinkled.

"So...twenty?"

"I think so."

"Okay...now, Percy. You washed up onto shore of Camp. We hauled you out of the water, and your tail turned into what are called legs. So, you are now a human. I assume you'll go back to being a fish-"

"I'm a merman!"

"-when you touch water, so I'd recommend taking only baths. To a human, you are perfectly normal." You're very nice-looking, actually. More so than most, I think. "So, after we got you out of the water, and you transformed but seemed okay, we took you back here, to the infirmary, where we could help you if we needed to, but you seem perfectly fine."

Percy laid against the pillows which were holding him up, blowing a strand of hair out of his face. "Oh."

"If you'd like, I'm sure we can arrange for you to get back to your hom-"

"No, no I'm fine, thank you. I'd like to stay here for awhile, if that's okay?" Percy cut Luke off, a panicked glint in his eye for half a second.

Luke smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure that's fine. You might want to get some clothes on, though."

Percy tilted his head. "Clothes?"

Luke gestured to the pile of clothes that were on the beside table.

"The things we wear, to cover our bodies."

Again, Percy tilted his head. "Why would you do that?"

"Because...people get uncomfortable if they see something they don't want to see, like our chests or our...peeper fish." Percy snorted.

"That's weird. How do I...wear them?" Percy tilted his head, poking the stack, oblivious to Luke who had once again choked on his own spit.

"Uh..." I'm going to have to help him change after all...Oh mighty Chaos, help me... "So, this is a shirt." Luke grabbed the article of clothing on top. "It goes over your head and covers your torso."

"You aren't wearing one."

Luke looked down at himself, and fought a blush again. Damnit, he wasn't some school girl!

"Ah...I used mine to cover you so the campers wouldn't see your di-peeper fish when you first changed on the beach." Though that wasn't really an excuse now, since his shirt was laying off to the side on a wrinkled heap on the floor in the corner.

"I don't want to wear one if you don't have to wear one." Percy said stubbornly.

"Fine." Luke walked over, grabbed his own shirt and put it on, looking back at a pouting Percy.

"How do you put it on?"

Smiling smugly, Luke helped Percy get his arms and head through. Like he thought it would be, it was much too big for the smaller person. "Is it suppose to be this...large?"

"Not really. It was all I could find, for now. But hey, large things aren't always bad."

"Did you just make a cock joke?"

Luke choked on his own spit again. For some reason he didn't think Percy would know the word. It sounded so...dirty coming from his mouth. And now Luke's own peeper fish was starting to want attention.

"Maybe."

"Hm. What's next?"

Luke froze. Fuck. He'd have to help Percy with his boxers. Maybe he didn't have to, he could just instruct him out to do it "Uhh...So, you see the piece of paper? That's the tag. That goes in the back. So you put your left leg through the left hole, your right leg through the right hole, and you pull them up until they come to your waste.

"Mmkay." Luke handed them to Percy and turned away as he heard the sheets ruffle. He heard several..odd noises which confused and scared him, but he didn't dare look over his shoulders. "Uh...Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"How do you work these...legs?"

Fates...fuck. Luke turned around, hardly looking. The boxers were tangled around Percy's feet. Of course he wouldn't be able to work his legs, he's never used them before. He shuffled forward and helped him get his feet in there, and then moved away, telling Percy to pull them up the rest of the way.

From there, it was pretty easy to get his shorts on. Luke's face was still flaming when the clanking noise of hooves alerted them to Chiron's presence.

Percy's eyes widened, and he scooted back, fear evident on his face. Seeing the panic, Luke stepped forward, protectively keeping Percy out of the direct line of Chiron. Only to make the merman-human-man-person-fish feel better, of course.

"Hello. I am Chiron, camp director. You are?" Chiron said kindly.

"Percy."

"Nice to meet you, Percy. How do you feel?"

"I'm fine." Percy said softly, as he scratched his shoulder. Luke could tell the clothes were bothering him, but he figured that was to be expected, since he had never worn them before.

"I'm glad to hear that. I'm not sure if Mr. Castellan explained, but this is a Camp for Demigods. Hence, each Greek God and Goddess has their own cabin that their children sleep in. You will be resting in the Poseidon cabin, naturally. I will trust Mr. Castellan to show you around camp and to your sleeping quarters. If you need anything, come to me. I should always be available in the Big House. I hope you adjust well for however long you stay here, you are welcome as long as you like." Chiron smiled, and backed up carefully, since there wasn't enough room to turn around.

"What was he?"

"A centaur. Perfectly normal. He's really cool. You'll like him."

"Oh...okay."

"You know about Greek mythology?"

"Yeah, my mama told be about it." Luke smiled.

"Good. I'll show you around camp now, if you're up to it."

Percy nodded eagerly, but then he looked at his legs. "Um..."

Luke felt like an idiot. "You don't know how to walk. Of course. Right. Well, I'll help you. C'mon." Sitting down next to the younger boy, Luke wrapped his arm around Percy's waist and hoisted him up. Percy scrambled for something to latch onto as he struggled to stand and stay balanced.

Luke couldn't keep himself from laughing as Percy struggled, then glared at him. "It's not funny." He murmured.

"Yes it is. It's okay, I got you, don't worry." Luke said as he encouraged Percy to try and gain his balance.

And if Percy wanted to keep his arms around Luke, that was fine.

They stumbled their way throughout camp. Luke watched Percy simultaneously try to stare at his legs and make them obey him, and look around the camp in wonder. Luke explained about where Percy would be sleeping, how he would be alone, why, and where Luke was if Percy ever needed him.

He showed him the Big House, the arena, the dining area, the table he would sit at whilst he ate, and walked him along the edge of the woods. By the time they circled back to the Poseidon cabin, Percy was doing much better at walking, but still clung to Luke. Which Luke was still fine with. He dropped Percy off at his cabin door. It was beginning to be curfew.

"You go inside, get some rest. I'll come get you tomorrow morning with some more clothes for breakfast, okay? There should be a bed and things in there, I'd be surprised if Chiron sent you to sleep in there if it wasn't. Otherwise, you'd be in my cabin."

"Oh." Percy didn't know what to say to that. He was slightly out of breath from all the laughing he and Luke had been doing, as well as trying to keep himself upright. He didn't want Luke to leave him. What if he fell and couldn't get back up? What if he hurt himself? I haven't laughed like that in...who knows how long. It's so...nice.

"Hey, you'll be okay. I promise. Try and get some sleep, Percy." Luke said, smiling softly, before walking off slowly. Percy stared at him for a moment, before turning away sharply with a blush. He lost his balance but leaned on the door to keep himself upright. He missed Luke's warmth.

Legs wobbling, Percy went inside the cabin.

The next morning, Luke excitedly trotted to Percy's cabin about ten minutes until breakfast. He knocked on the door. "Percy? It's Luke." He called out.

"Come in-Ah!" A loud crash was heard. Snorting, Luke walked in. Percy lay on the ground in his boxers, next to the fountain.

"It attacked me." Percy accused, pointing to the white porcelain.

"I'm sure. Here, you want to try and get your clothes on yourself this time?" Luke raised an eyebrow, offering the bundle in his arms to the man on the floor.

Percy sighed. "Do I have to? I'm tired."

Well, I would be happy to help you change again, but honestly I don't think that would be good for my own body. "If you're gonna stay up here, you'll need to learn how to change yourself, Percy." Luke tossed the clothes to him.

"No I wont." Percy said, even as he slipped the shirt over his head with difficulty. "I'll just keep you with me to help!" He called out, voice muffled. With a growl, the cotton terror released him.

"Really now?"

"Yes." Percy panted as he attempted to shimmy into his jeans. "Ah-ha! Got it!" Percy beamed.

"I'm very proud of you. Are you hungry?"

"Famished."

"Good, let's go get some food, it's breakfast time." Luke started to walk away, but Percy stopped him.

"Help please?"

Snorting, Luke walked back, and helped the newly-turned human get off the floor. They walked to the eating area, Percy still holding on tightly to Luke. He still wasn't very good at walking, but could you blame him?

Luke sat Percy down at his table. "What do you want?"

"Uh..."

"Right, you're new to human stuff. I'll get you something, then."

"Can I trust the food? Is it edible?"

"It should be."

"Okay..." Percy trailed off. Luke rolled his eyes. He was too adorable, really.

Luke wasn't completely sure what to get. So, he made something up, and then placed in in front of Percy. Percy blinked.

"What's that?"

"Blue waffles and syrup. And this liquid here, that's in the cup, that would be orange juice. Try it out, I think you'll like it."

"What're you eating?"

"Pancakes."

"Oh."

"Why's my food blue? No one else's is."

"Thought you'd like it."

"Oh. Thank you."

"Try it." Luke encouraged. Slowly, Percy took a bite. His face lit up, making Luke laugh. Percy ignored him and continued to eat. After a few minutes, he stopped, and looked at Luke suspiciously.

"Aren't you supposed to be eating at your own table?"

"Do you want to be left alone?" Luke raised an eyebrow. He hoped Percy didn't. He didn't want to leave the man. Besides, Luke couldn't help the protective feeling slowly consuming him as he looked at Percy wearing his clothes. It was his gay nature. Rainbows and all that shit

"No...but isn't it the rules? I don't want you to get in trouble." Percy tilted his head. Luke smiled.

"Don't worry. It's fine." Luke waved it off. Percy didn't seem exactly satisfied with that answer, but shrugged and continued to eat the amazingness that was blue-wafflers. Luke just sat there for the rest of the meal with a faint smile on his face, that Percy couldn't help but stare at on occasion.

Over the next week, Luke at all his meals with Percy. In between meals, on days Luke wasn't training the new campers, Luke would help Percy learn how to wield a sword, as was his weapon of choice. But that came after Percy had better control of his legs, which Luke would help with my making him climb the rock wall, and other such activities.

Or, they would just walk around the forest, Luke making sure they stayed inside the camp boarder. All in all, they had spent much time together, Percy no longer stumbled very often, and Luke found himself becoming quite enchanted with the younger man. Percy just...made him happy. He enjoyed being around him, genuinely.

He just couldn't tell if Percy felt the same. If that blinding smile was just for him, or if others received that same look that made Luke weak-kneed so easily. He wondered if Luke had been the only one to make Percy laugh like that, to make him smile in such a way. He wondered if there was another meaning behind Percy's beautiful, striking eyes that he absolutely adored, as much as he adored the messy black hair on Percy's head.

Luke felt his heart ache.

But then moments like now would happen. He and Percy would be together, sitting side-by-side, and Percy would lean on him, so casually. Currently, they were at the camp bonfire. The flames were high and full of bright, wonderful colors as the campers around him sang their hearts out, unconcerned with their singing quality in that moment as countless laughs and cheery conversations were exchanged.

It was his favorite time, and it was only made better by Percy, who had tucked himself to neatly into Luke.

Everything had been going well for Percy. He could feel Percy giggling, he could see a small smile creeping across Percy's face, making Luke smile in turn. But then the fire roared to an all-time high, and suddenly the smile left Percy's face. He stumbled back, almost falling off the log, if Luke hadn't caught him in time.

"Percy? Percy, what's wrong?" Luke whispered, worry clouding his voice.

"Fire." Was all Percy could whisper, flinching away from the flames. Luke suddenly understood, and wanted I smack himself for not thinking of it sooner.

"C'mon, let's get you out of here." Even though Percy no longer needed help walking, he still held onto Luke and leaned on him heavily as they walked away quickly. Eventually, they came to a hill. They climbed it, sitting at the peak. They could see a bonfire from a distance. Percy was calming down, but only marginally, and refused to lift his head from Luke's shirt.

Luke wrapped his arms around Percy shushing him quietly. "It's okay, Percy. I got you. It's fine." Luke whispered softly into Percy's ear. Percy whimpered, shaking his head.

"No, no no no...not good, not good." Percy murmured, managing to tuck himself closer into Luke.

"Hey, it's fine. It makes sense. You're a creature of water, fire is your exact opposite. It's fine, you're okay." Luke murmured, kissing the top of Percy's head absentmindedly, only afterwards realizing what he'd done.

Percy went still, and Luke winced. Percy pulled away slightly, and Luke felt his heart start to tear, until Percy backed up just enough so that he could see Luke's face. He tilted his head up. "Is that all I get?" Percy questioned, tilting his head.

Luke couldn't help the blinding smile on his face as he gently lowered his head to kiss Percy, heart leaping in his throat and his whole body thrumming from the soft, sweet kiss. Percy pulled away, a serene smile on his face, tucking himself back into Luke, who was only more than happy to let Percy snuggle all he wanted.

"You know, I washed up shore for a reason." Percy whispered after a moment, voice an odd mixture between bitter, sorrow and contentment. Luke frowned, running his hand through Percy's hair. He didn't like those bad emotions.

"Why?"

"I had given up. Mama, she'd always wanted to best for me. But Father...we didn't get along very well. They had chosen a nice girl for me, to get together with a bare children with, but...I didn't want to. I told my Mama I very much preferred peeper fish to blubber fish, and Father...wasn't pleased.

"He banished me. Mama couldn't do anything. So I left. I couldn't return to my home, my city. I didn't have a reason to live anymore, Mama was everything to me. So...I decided let myself go up to the surface, where I thought I would die. I was exhausted, I lived very far down and it was a long swim to get to the surface. But I made it about half the distance I wanted to, and collapsed. I couldn't crawl any father. I thought I was dead.

"I had given up. Completely. But then...I woke up, and you were there. You saved me." Percy whispered, clutching onto Luke's hand tightly.

Luke brought the hand up to his lips, kissing it softly.

"As horrible as it sounds...I'm glad you washed up to shore. If you hadn't I wouldn't have met you. You wouldn't have been where I needed you. Where I wanted you." Luke confessed in an equally quiet voice, hardly more than a breath of air.

Percy tilted his head up once more. "I am too." Luke tightened his hold around Percy, and slowly lowered his head.

The two kissed until long after the bonfire had started to diminish.

~~~

Don't know about you guys BUT I REALLY ENJOYED WRITING THIS, I HOPED YOU LIKED IT.