Annabeth and Nico spent The entirety of the next few hours researching it. Calypso had been right- It was a coping mechanism.

Demigods and those who suffered from a lot of stress often had a 'wound up' side, one that make them uneasy and unnecessarily violent because of past trauma and stress. This resulted in them being overly happy and carefree on one personality and overly violent and stressed on the other. Bottling it up often made it volatile and more likely for the second personally to burst out in fits of rage or complete mental breakdowns. This is why most criminals end up killing themselves- They let the second part hide away when they're not hurting people, and end up so driven by guilt they end up ending their own lives.

"I can't believe we never knew..." Annabeth stared down at the book she was holding. "That I never noticed- I've known him for six years. When do you think it developed?"

Nico frowned. He was sitting across from Annabeth on her bed, flipping through a book about Janus' Curse, clearly looking for remedies that might help in Percy's case. He sighed, shaking his head.

"I really don't know. Probably around the battle with Kronos? Maybe even sooner. I wasn't there for a lot of it, but I know that it hurt him to fight Luke. That's when he had the start of trauma- He looked up to him, and he was depressed for a few months before suddenly getting happy and bubbly. So I'm guessing in that time he developed the coping mechanism. It would also explain why he mumbled to himself on the Argo II so much."

Annabeth blinked. "You remember that a bit too well."

Nico cringed. "I was in love with him, remember? Even though I wasn't around, I hovered. Before Gaea, while I was at Camp Jupiter, I still watched over him. Made sure he was okay." He let out a shuddering breath. "Clearly, I didn't do a very good job."

"Nico, you can't blame yourself." Annabeth shifted forward, taking the book from his hands and carefully putting it to the side. His ebony hair hung in front of his eyes as he stared down at the covers. "None of us knew, and I've been dating him for years. There was no way to tell- Not until Tartarus anyways."

Nico remained silent, so Annabeth sighed and moved to tilt Nico's head up so that he would look at her. Charcoal eyes, flickering with embers of what reminded her of steel wool when touched with a battery, their color deepened with sadness. "I could have known, if I weren't too busy being jealous and hating you. I never did apologize for that."

"Love makes us do crazy things, Nico. I don't expect an apology, nor do I need one. I know you didn't mean it. C'mere, give me a hug."

Nico sniffled slightly but obliged, wrapping his arms around her neck while she squeezed him gently around the waist- One that was a few sizes too small for his height. For being so small and the son of the god of the dead, he gave off a surprising amount of warmth.

"Before you ask, I am eating," Nico mumbled into her shoulder. "I'm just naturally skeletal."

Annabeth pulled away, smiling slightly despite the events on hand. "Will would never let you not eat, he's like a mother to-" She paused, blinking. "Mother..." she pulled away further, her thoughts running at a million miles an hour. "It was before the war."

Nico frowned, tilting his head. "What was?"

"Percy developed it before the war- When his mother disappeared, before he even knew gods were real, he switched. He killed the Minotaur with his bare hands and- His eyes- They got darker." Images of the Son of Poseidon jumping onto the Minotaur's back, pulling at his horn with unbelievable strength until it broke off, leaving the monster bleeding ichor as he stabbed the creature to death with it's own horn- That happened before that. Was there something traumatic in his childhood that caused him to develop it? "I- I'm going to go see Percy," she stuttered, pushing herself to her feet, pulling the bud out of her pocket and carefully positioning it in her ear. No noise.

"Annabeth, are you alright? Why? What are you talking about?" Nico stood up, meeting her eyes with a frantic confusion.

"Relax Nico, I'm just going to go talk with him, alright?" Annabeth smiled promisingly, despite her stomach fluttering with anxiety. "Tell the others where I'm at."

Nico frowned but nodded. "Alright. Be safe."

The fact that he said 'Be Safe' about going to talk to Percy made them both cringe, but neither of them said anything about it. She just kissed his cheek and moved to the Poseidon cabin.

Her feet carried her to the Poseidon cabin faster than she would have liked. She stood on the porch for several moments, considering. Percy's thoughts were quiet- Perhaps he was sleeping?

She knocked quietly.

Shit- Oh gods that jumped me.

"Annabeth? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me." She pushed the door open, immediately noticing Percy. He was sitting on his bed, shoulders slouched and relaxed and his expression carefully blank, but his eyes still showed he was happy. "What are you doing?" She asked, raising a brow at him sitting cross-legged on his bed with nothing around him.

"Oh. Erm," Percy flushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Will suggested meditating, so I was giving that a try. It sounds dumb but-"

"It doesn't sound dumb, Seaweed brain," Annabeth huffed with a soft smile, stepping inside and shutting the door behind her. "I'm glad you're trying it out. Is it working at all?"

Percy shrugged, moving so that she could sit next to him on the bed. "Helps me clear my mind, so yeah, it's doing what it's supposed to. I'm just not sure if it's actually helping me in the long run."

"Well I say you keep trying. For now, I missed you."

"Oh did you?" Percy grinned, a soft light coming on behind his eyes. "I'm almost certain I missed you more."

Annabeth rolled her eyes with a soft chuckle, collapsing down so that she was laying on Percy's bed. "Doubtful."

Percy laid down next to her, grinning as he gently placed a hand on her waist, leaning forward to give her a gentle kiss.

Beautiful. Everything about you...

"I love everything about you," Percy mumbled, gently caressing her waist in small circles with his thumb.

"I love everything about you, too," Annabeth hummed softly. She hesitated before looking at him curiously. "Do you want to continue what we did earlier?"

Percy's eyes widened. "Y-You want to continue?"

"If you want to," Annabeth said with a soft smile. "We don't have to do anything for real, but if you want to touch me you can. I liked it- Earlier, I mean."

Ensure that he knows I love him back, Annabeth thought. She wasn't lying- She did enjoy it earlier. He was so gentle with her, as if she might break- It was a refreshing break from the wrestling and fighting she did all the time. She didn't take enough time to just enjoy herself, so she relished it when Percy did things for her.

He loved brushing and braiding her hair, rubbing her back, giving her massages whenever she gets stressed, bringing her food when she's sick and making sure she doesn't stay up to late while she's studying- Everything she could possibly want, he catered to her and made sure that she got it.

Of course I want to. You're incredible, I love everything about you.

Her guilt for eavesdropping heightened, but she sat up with a grin, pulling Percy into a sitting position with her. "I want to see you," she hummed softly, fiddling with the hem of Percy's hoodie. "Can I?"

Mist, hide some of the scars. Not too many or it'll be suspicious.

Annabeth did her best to not frown at his thoughts as Percy's breath hitched slightly, his eyes wide and almost delirious. He swallowed before nodding, letting Annabeth tug it upwards, helping him take it off until he was in a soft blue t-shirt that clung to his chest slightly. Annabeth leaned forward to kiss him, smoothing her hands around his waist. "Take this off," she mumbled, tugging at the shirt, "and I'll take off mine. Only if you want to," she added, smiling gently.

Shit, she's perfect. Amazing.

Percy pulled his own shirt up over his head while Annabeth did the same.

She's so beautiful. Everything about her is flawless. I look awful, why does she like me?

Annabeth stared. She didn't see why he could think anything about him was awful. He was lean but muscled- The faint lines of a strong abdomen which got more defined as they moved up to toned shoulder and arm muscles, and then down towards a v-line that disappeared between jutting hips and under his jean denims. His entire body had a natural tan, a rugged jaw which had a bit of stubble that accentuated his features, messy hair and beautiful sea-green eyes, lined with a deep blue that faded to a soft foam color near his pupils.

Why is she staring like that? Do I look that bad?

"Gods you're... Holy hell," Annabeth mumbled, "you're so attractive Percy- You look like a statue."

Oh.

"You look like a goddess," Percy reflected, swallowing so thickly his adams apple bobbed.

"Stop," Annabeth pouted slightly, a soft flush coming across her cheeks. "I do not."

Percy took her waist and picked her up, flipping her so that she was on her back and he was straddling the air above her hips. She gasped, clearly surprised by the movement. Her eyes widened and the room seemed to get brighter. "You're so fucking beautiful, Annabeth," he mumbled softly, lowering his lips to her throat to leave a gentle kiss. "You don't even understand-" Annabeth wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, tilting her head back to let him kiss down her throat, closing her eyes as she succumbed to the feeling of him.

From there on everything was relatively normal. He was anxious about going down on her, worried he was going to orgasm too soon, scared he wouldn't be able to bring her to finish, all relatively normal stuff for someone who'd never done that sort of stuff before.

He collapsed down on his back next to her, both of them panting softly, cheeks flushed and bodies damp from exertion. The entire cabin smelled like sex but neither of them seemed to care, pulling on their undergarments. Annabeth didn't bother putting her bra or pants back on, and Percy didn't bother with anything except boxer briefs.

"How are you so good at that if you've never done it before?" Annabeth asked breathlessly, looking into Percy's half-lidded eyes, slowly switching from lust to exhaustion.

"Was I alright?" Percy bit his bottom lip, blushing with a slight shrug. "I don't know. I just... Yeah."

"It was amazing," Annabeth promised, kissing his cheek gently.

Well at least I did that right.

Percy brought a hand up to cup her jaw, tilting her head into a kiss before hugging her. "Sleep?"

"Mm, sleep," Annabeth agreed, burying her face in his chest.

Even if Percy did have a twisted side, Annabeth knew for certain he was an angel in bed.

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