Note: Hands down my most popular fic request is for a jealous Percy. And I agree; it shouldn't be so uncommon! So I'm finally playing out a headcanon I've had for ages. This first chapter is actually devoid of jealousy, but I'm posting it now for accountability to continue. It's a slower fic that is mainly serving my personal headcanons about their day-to-day life and conversations.

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"I'll see you at three, then?"

Percy's voice came through the phone sounding both distant – because of the bad reception – and solid, because, Percy. Annabeth was rummaging through her bag – had she remembered her textbook? It was the second week of this class, and she'd forgotten the textbook?!

"Uh – oh my gods – uh, yeah. Yes." She pried open a binder. Definitely missing.

"Well don't sound too excited."

"What?" A cluster of old receipts and gum wrappers blew out of her reach on the breeze; a tampon fell at her feet. Flustered, Annabeth bent quickly and snatched it up. "What the hell! What time is it? This is –"

The sound of Percy blowing a gust of air out of his mouth sounded down the line. "You should go," he said. "I know you have class. Good luck with the professor you hate."

"Wait!" Annabeth had finally got hold of all her things and stuffed them together, snapping the bag closed. The textbook was not there, and that was that. "You have that interview, right? With the Oceanography professor? It's going to go great, I know it –"

"Maybe. I dunno."

"What? Percy, it is! Do you want to -? Oh fuck!" She'd seen the time on a wall. "I—"

"Yeah, yeah I know. I'll see you at three!" Percy hung up the phone. Annabeth barely registered it as she dropped her own into her bag. They rarely said I love you or other lingering, lovey things over the phone. They were a very in-person couple.

She swept into class a minute after the hour. Today was the day they were being issued the seating chart – yes, in college. As if she needed another reason to dislike this professor, after he'd made a degrading comment about the number of women joining the field. She paused to check the wall chart, and – oh. Oh. Him.

They'd already had a week of class. She recognized him instantly. He'd sat in the back, and she'd sat in the front, but he'd raised his hand a few times and offered such well-thought, and also crafty answers, that he'd not only shown up the class but also subtly mocked their misogynistic teacher all in one. And she seemed to be among the few who'd recognized it, snorting quietly and turning to look over her shoulder at him, at the time. His eyes had met hers, and she was surprised to see nothing cocky there at all, just clever and…well, kind.

And now he was her seat partner.

The professor called for attention as she sat down, rummaging for a notebook and pencil. Fruitlessly, she checked for her book one last time. She looked up and found him watching her. "I forgot…" she whispered, gesturing to her empty desk space. They needed the text for this class. She was useless without it.

Without saying a word, he pushed his own textbook toward her, over the shared table space. She blinked, then shot him a grateful glance. The two hours passed, taking notes, flipping pages, squinting at lecture slides. He was generous in the pages he let her flip back to. And it was strange, leaning close to a stranger, heads bent together, but not that strange, obviously. Annabeth was just used to her own space.

Near the end of the class, they were assigned to discuss a new architectural method with their partner. He looked at her, flipping the book closed.

"Guess you're my partner."

Annabeth snorted. "I guess he realized we were the ones who had a clue what was going on."

He laughed. Then stuck out his hand – a formal, somewhat endearing gesture. "I'm Callum."

She shook. "Annabeth."

Callum had sweet hazel eyes, freckles, and a chip in his lower front tooth. He also had a very steady handshake.

They discussed the discussion. "I thought it was weird no one brought up that new structure they did in Tokyo…" Callum said at one point, and Annabeth tripped over his words to get her own out. "I know! Wait, you've read about that–?"

They talked until everyone else filtered out, and then they kept talking, wandering out into the hall. She had never met anyone who shared her architectural passion on such an equal level, with such similar opinions. It was that feeling of relief, like, I'm not the only freak here. You would also talk about this till 3am if you could. You also research blueprints for fun. Why are we only just meeting now?

"Hey." Callum said, nodding at the coffee bar they'd come upon. "If you wanna sit for a sec, I can show you that weird design I was talking about –" He was already shouldering off his backpack. It was clear he was hanging out here either way.

Annabeth glanced at the clock on the wall out of habit. 2:36. "Sure," she said, dropping into a seat. "I also had a question for this other class that not even the professor could answer…"

The time ticked away as they drank coffee and got lost in a rabbit hole of architecture. Annabeth had plenty of friends, but she didn't have any other nerd friends, obsessed and eager about the exact subject that set her on fire and everyone else tuned out. And even in her second year of college, she'd failed to really click with anyone on the same playing field.

Until now, maybe. It was a good, happy feeling.

"Oh shit!"

Annabeth had looked at her phone for the first time since before class; it was dead. She'd remembered though, all in a rush, exactly where she was supposed to be. The wall clock said 3:32. She jumped up and started grabbing her things, flustered. How had she been so absentminded?

"Are you okay? What –?"

"Yes, sorry to run off, I just forgot I was meeting – where's my – I'll see you later!"

She didn't look back.

...

"I said I was sorry!"

The wind kicked up and blew Annabeth's hair across her face; she swiped it impatiently out of her mouth as she and Percy made their way to the bus stop.

"I know, I heard you. I'm not mad."

Annabeth stopped. "Well, you seem mad. My phone was dead, and I just blanked – I've been so scattered lately, I don't know."

"Yeah." He put his hands in his pockets and looked somewhere over her head, not at her. She could tell he'd been in a bad mood before this, that her being late was just an added thing. Then – "Oh my gods! How'd your interview go?!"

Percy shook his head. "It was shit."

"What? No – you're literally the only son of Poseidon he's had in class! How?"

Percy started walking again. "He was just a dick. I think it was a Greek thing. He kept talking over me and was just this superior asshole. I could tell he didn't like me."

"Percy, that's ridiculous! You could be of so much value to his research. You should go back and talk to him! Or, I'm sure he'll still call you to come back –"

"I'm not working for him."

"But, this opportunity! You need this –"

"I'm not doing it, Annabeth. Will you drop it?"

Silence fell between them. Annabeth bit her lip, feeling the sting of his snapping at her. She knew she'd badgered too far, but she wanted to help. She still felt guilty for forgetting everything.

They walked in silence for a good few minutes. Finally, biting her thumbnail, Annabeth said, "Look, I didn't mean to lose track of time and I didn't mean to nag you, just now. We can –"

Percy stopped suddenly, putting a finger over her lips and letting out a heavy sigh. "No," he said in a low voice. "I'm the one who's sorry." He pressed his lips to her forehead. "I'm sorry," he said again into her skin. Annabeth's heart skipped. She nodded.

He stepped back. "Can we just talk about something else? What were you doing after class, anyway?"

They started walking again; Annabeth felt her eyes light up. "Well actually, I was talking to a new classmate. It's crazy – he's the only other person I've met who has strong opinions about Corinthian Order versus Composite Order…which has serious implications about Greek versus Roman architectural preferences, of course, but he's only a mortal, so there's no need to get him mixed up in those politics…still, it really says something about technique…"

Percy made a sound that he blew off as a light cough. "Very vital stuff. Sorry to interrupt that." He drew closer to her as they walked and draped his arm around her shoulders; she leaned into his neck, smelling his delicious boyfriend-smell.

She smiled. "Good, you should be. It was very educational."

"Nothing better than more class after class is over."

"That's pretty much how I feel, yes."

And the rest of the evening was good.

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Author's Note: Please please tell me what you think and bug me to continue if you're interested in more!