a/n

for the people like me, who would die for estelle even tho she's characterized completely by fanon, this is for you.

i would also die for big brother percy :)

///\

"This is her boyfriend," Estelle said.

Percy squinted to make out the male doll his younger sister was shoving into his face. She sat in his lap (noticeably disregarding the enormous bed and the extra space it offered) facing him, her favorite dolls grasped in her pudgy hands. There were various pink shoes and tie-dye dresses scattered around them, none of them bigger than the tip of his thumb. Estelle's fascination with changing the wardrobe of inanimate objects was proving to be unrivaled and neverending. Percy dutifully distracted her, sure his mother was passed out in her own bed after a long night of doing the same.

"Her boyfriend," he repeated, amused. He was happy to watch her as she played, delighted to offer his opinion on what shoes Barbie should wear to the ball, intrigued by Estelle's strict dresscode for her dolls. He liked holding her, too. There were very few things left in Percy Jackson's life that were wholly and truly pure down to their core, and Estelle was living in her own little corner of the world; learning to read with her father and eating too much raw cookie dough and laughing as loud as she pleased whenever she pleased. She absolutely adored him, and it was the easiest thing he'd ever done to love her back.

Estelle hummed as if to say, Well, duh. "He's going to the ball, too."

"Hm." Percy brushed the frizzy ends of Estelle's caramel hair over her shoulder. "What will they be doing at this ball?"

Estelle's hands stalled, halfway through strapping on a velcro shirt to Barbie's boyfriend. The shirt was blindingly violet. She looked up at him. "Don't you dance at a ball?"

Percy's face twisted in thought. "Huh. I wouldn't know. I've never been to one."

"You dance," Estelle said, picking at the velcro back of the shirt. "And explore. And you pick a date!"

"Will they kiss?"

Estelle's eyes went wide. "Kiss?"

Percy couldn't stop the smile fighting for dominance over his serious contemplation face. He reached for both dolls and held them up for her to see before tapping their faces together. "Like this," he said, and it was hard not to laugh when she watched curiously, as if he were teaching her a sacred art.

Estelle took the dolls from his hands and repeated the action. She dropped them and scooted so their faces were level. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do they kiss?"

Percy barely had to lean inches to touch his nose to hers. "Because they love each other."

Estelle giggled at his touch. She put her hands to either side of his face. "Like you and Annabeth?"

Percy laughed. "Like me and Annabeth," he agreed. Estelle reached down for her dolls and made them kiss again. Briefly, Percy wondered if he shouldn't have taught her that. Her innocence felt fragile and fleeting and there was always the urge to protect it, even from things as silly as kisses.

"Percy?"

"Hm?"

"Why do you love Annabeth?"

He paused. Estelle was looking at him again, dolls limp in her palms. "Why?" he found himself repeating. Percy couldn't place the reason he found it an odd question.

Estelle nodded.

"For lots of things," he said.

"Lots of things?"

"For everything." 

Annabeth chuckled from the doorway.

"Even when she eavesdrops," Percy said to Estelle, "I love her."

Estelle giggled. Percy grinned. Annabeth sauntered into the room with an eye roll. Then she kissed him. He didn't know why he hadn't been expecting it (after all, she had made it a habit to kiss him when he said anything stupid), but it didn't take long for the surprise to melt, his brows easing as he leaned into it. Estelle copied them in his lap with her dolls as he'd shown her earlier.

Percy's grin was lopsided when Annabeth pulled away. "I think I said the right thing," he stage-whispered to his sister.

Annabeth huffed a single laugh on her way out.