Winter in Manhattan was hectic, really, when it snowed softly and people suddenly forgot how to drive. It was pretty, though, picturesque, as she travelled the Upper East Side in the direction of Rockafellar Center. 

Her boots made soft tapping sounds against the wet pavement that were muffled by the downtown shoppers that were out en masse full of Christmas spirit. 

Winter was a beautiful season, sure, perfect for heartwarming poetry or sad songs, but it was nothing if not dark and exhausting at times. The days were shorter, the hours of sun sparse, and Kassandra always found herself slightly more on edge when she couldn't feel the heat directly on her skin. 

(But she still loved to see her air puffing out before her, see the snow melt before it could ever dream of touching her skin. She loved the hats with faux fur pompoms, loved her winter coat that had a red belt around the middle that her mother had gifted her two winters ago. There were so many things that she loved about the winter...

Even if she hated being so long away from camp. There had only been two years that she had spent year-round, but she missed them at times, moments where she would want to spend time with friends or her family in a way that she normally could never dare to.) 

Her flute case bumped against her leg as she moved through the steadily growing crowds. Normally, Kassandra didn't walk anywhere after school, but it was a half-day and the last before winter break, and while she was supposed to be going to rehearsal, the orchestra director had fallen terribly ill over the last few days and had been forced to cancel -- luckily, the winter performances had come and gone at the beginning of the month so that they didn't interfere with exams, which, as a dyslexic with ADHD, Kassandra found herself incredibly thankful for. 

RNYAPA was incredibly understanding and accommodating to talented children with learning impediments, but that didn't mean that there wasn't struggle and a degree of embarrassment whenever she needed extra time or help with tests or exams. 

She was between the Diamond District and Midtown, having already walked at least ten blocks by now, ten blocks at a fast pace that was nothing for the fifteen-year-old track star and demigod, but apparently was still enough for Pauline and Kevin to follow her even as she tried to very subtly and clearly tell them to get lost.  

Since last summer when she had a sort of typical conversation with Pauline after their performance in the park, the violinist had been determined to become her friend despite the many hints that she wasn't very interested. 

Because Kassandra wouldn't admit that she was worried about what could happen when she trusted people, but she would admit that she was sort of worried about letting a couple of mortals get too close when she was having a sort of a rough start of the year. 

There wasn't normally so many monsters that came for her, only one every now and then, but they were much more numerous now and while she wouldn't make the claim aloud, she would suspect that it had something to do with the traitor Luke. 

Where Pauline was easy to come up with conversation, Kevin was all the willing to let her speak. The boy was very quiet, the silent type, and she was sure that he hated everything aside from science, oboe, and Pauline (somewhere along the way she had come to be included as well, which made no sense and was rightfully ridiculous). 

"-- and so Daddy is taking us on a ski trip come Monday," Pauline goes on, Kassandra missing the entire first half of the story or how they had even gotten to this point. She could have sworn that she had already heard all of this already, however. "Have you ever gone skiing, Kass? I think you would be really good at cross-country." 

"I haven't been before," she notes dryly. "You'll have to tell me all about it when you get back." 

"Yeah! Maybe I could call you sometime." 

She winced, weighing her words on her tongue. "I don't really use the phone very often," she says, unable to voice that using phones, particularly cellphones, attracted monsters that want her dead. "You can tell me when we get back to school." 

Pauline's expression falls for a moment, marring with sadness, but she bounces back with a disgusting amount of cheerfulness. "Definitely!" she chirps. "Hey, Kassie, you never told us what you were going to do over break." 

She shrugs noncommittally. "I'm not doing anything too interesting. Nothing worth mentioning, anyway." 

"You'll have to tell us all about it, though," Pauline says. "You never share much of your stories." 

Down the street from her, she spots ever recognizable messy jet black hair and dark blue winter jacket. Almost forgetting her followers, she darts off down the street toward him. It had been a month since she had last seen him, school forcing them to spend more time apart than she had first imagined necessary, and she would admit to herself that she missed him enough that it was almost embarrassing. 

"Percy!" Kassandra called, giving him the smallest of warnings before she crashed into him with her arms thrown around his neck in excitement. 

He grunts from the sudden weight in his arms and flute case hitting his back. She grins into his shoulder at the sound. "Hey, Kass." 

She holds him for a minute longer before she pulls away. "Have you been waiting here long?" 

He shakes his head. "I just got here. My mom went to pick up a few things but she said that we could eat here if you wanted instead of getting take out," he says, looking to the building beside them with an expression that screams 'are you sure you want to eat food from a place like this?' 

To which Kass would always inform him that 'yes, I do. I always get out takeout from here but you never notice.' It was a place that Carter had told her about once, offhandedly mentioning the mist hidden restaurant chain fit for the gods that Aphrodite had made years ago when the goddess couldn't find a place suitable for her to go while on dates. She never had to eat anything from these places, but sometimes she wanted to, especially if there was a mortal that she was particularly fond of, and with the help of both Demeter and Hestia, the food was honestly to die for. 

"We can get take out again. We can get something for Sally, too, as long as we make sure that it's safe for her to eat," she offers, motioning to the building that looked slightly dirty on the outside -- like it had been splashed too many times with slush or other questionable liquids, but she knew that it was simply the strength of the mist that covered it. The inside was very nice, and when you passed over the section for mortals, it was like stepping into ancient Greek architecture. She knew that if she ever had the chance, then she would drag Annabeth to see the place -- to see all the little niches and caches that she had found in New York since living here. 

"We can get take out. I know how you hate to stay in your uniform for longer than you think necessary," he tells her, hand finding its way into his pocket as he gifts her that crooked, trouble-maker smirk. 

Rolling her eyes, she glanced down to her open jacket that displayed her clothes outright. Her uniform consisted of a pleated plaid quilt, a white button-up with the school's crest on the tiny chest pocket and an annoying bowtie, and the black school blazer. She was wearing tights underneath, fishnet because she was allowed to wear whatever kind of tights that she wanted, with a pair of comfortable hiking boots that she had gotten for the sole purpose of them being solid shoes for her to kick monster ass in. 

"You're right. Do you know if your mom already got my stuff from your parents or do we still have to get it from them?" 

"Your dad dropped it off on the way to work this morning," he says, looking over her shoulder at something. 

She breathes deeply through her nose, trying to dismiss the irritation that she felt knowing that they were still there and had yet to take a hint. Pauline was nothing if not persistent, though, as the girl continued to follow her no matter what she had said on their way there. 

"This is Percy," she introduces simply. "Perce, these are Pauline and Kevin. I know them from school." 

"Oh?" Pauline says in a tight voice. "You must be one of those friends she's so secretive about." 

Percy chuckles good-naturedly, shooting one of those godly smiles of his. "Oh yeah, Kass can be pretty intense about keeping people all to herself," he says. 

"You're enjoying yourself way too much, Jackson," she mutters, elbowing him in the side. "I'm not afraid to kick your ass here and now." 

"In front of your school friends?" he teases, putting way too much emphasis on the friends part. 

"You love the embarrassment, don't pretend that you don't."

He laughs, snickering to himself and completely uncaring about the two other teens that were watching them. 

"We'll leave guys to your plans," Kevin says suddenly, the first time she heard him speak in six blocks. "We'll see you back at the start of term." 

"Oh, yeah, bye," Kassandra answers, silent as she watches him link arms with Pauline and start to drag the girl further down the street. Once they're gone, she says, "I don't understand why they're trying so had to be my friend." 

Percy nudges her, leading her into the restaurant. There was no line and so they just went to the register in the corner of the sit-down establishment to order to go. She rolls her eyes at him when he grabs one of the menus and tries to read it. 

"It's not that surprising. You're cool sometimes, so it's no wonder people want to be your friend," he says, squinting at the jumbled words. 

"It is a little bit. I'm not very friendly at school because I don't want to make friends," she explains, taking the menu from him and flipping to the back, pointing to the top few lines where it's written clearly in Ancient Greek that demigods and other non-human beings could order whatever they wanted and that ambrosia and nectar would cost extra. "Just get what you want. It's on me." 

"It's always on you," he mutters, putting down the menu with a pout. He orders himself the usual burger that she gets for him and a Mediterranean pasta salad for his mom. 

"It's only on me when I invite you to lunch," she argues, ordering a plate of mixed sushi from the satyr that was stationed to work here to watch for young half-bloods that wondered in. "If you want to pay, you can invite me instead." 

She pays quickly, pleased to have had such a hefty supply of drachma as she just handed over the coins instead of using US dollars. 

Percy gapes at the sheer amount of money in her coin purse. "How do you always have so many drachmae?" 

"I play in the park Sometimes I'll get a satyr, half-blood, or even god, that wanders by and just--" she mines tossing coins. "It's the best when gods pass by. I can never tell that's it's them until they toss in a couple at a time." 

"You play flute in the park?"

"Sometimes I play guitar or the violin, but normally the flute, yeah." 

He shakes his head at her. Not having the time to say anything else as their food comes in brown paper bags with tweed handles. She thanks them, leaving a tip, and they leave together like no time at all has passed. 

They decide to take the bus to his house, neither fond of the thought of going underground, instead of bothering his mom as she goes about her business. 

Kassandra had met Sally Jackson twice since the end of summer. The first being, of course, when the woman came to pick up her son at the same time as her parents. She had the chance to introduce herself as one of her son's new friends that he had gone to the Sea of Monsters with. Percy, of course, told his mother much more by the time it came to the second meeting so by the night of the sleepover, Sally had much more to say as she thanked the girl for saving her son from a sea monster, a cyclops, and a for protecting Annabeth as well. 

(It was a moment that had her terribly flustered, cheeks burning warm as if she could suddenly get sunburns on cool November evenings. The praise made her glow like the sun, however, warm and appreciated, as her parents would never truly understand what they couldn't really see, and she didn't blame them for a moment, but it was so nice, so maternal a touch, that she couldn't help but to love Sally Jackson the woman that had managed to bewitch the ruler of the seas.) 

The ride was nice, calm as he shared his earbuds to listen to music with. He let her have the window seat at the back as he kept the aisle, a hand near his pocket as he closed his eyes and let his head fall back in a state of relaxation. 

So she kept watch, perfectly content in observing the other passengers until they had to get off. Only once had her hand shifted toward the hem of her quilt, twitching to grab the new dagger she was given by Clarisse at her side, when someone had watched the pair of them for a moment too long, but when she was preparing to warn Percy, the boy already with his hand fully in his pocket, the guy got off. 

It was a 10-minute walk from the bus stop to Percy's house near the Queensboro Bridge, one that they made quickly. 

Later, when she was wearing something much more comfortable, and they were eating at his table, joking about something playing in the background on tv and catching up on the things that have happened since they had last seen one another, Kassandra got the chance to look closer at Percy for the first time in what seems like forward.

With a Mediterranean complexion, sea-green eyes that were greener than any sea that she had ever seen, wicked smile and jet black hair, she could easily see the comparisons that were often drawn with that of Poseidon. There were always claims of how alike they looked, of how much he took after his father. He was godly in appearance, sure, but the only gods that she had technically seen were Dionysus, Artemis and Apollo. 

It only brought her to wonder where her comparison to her father laid, how looked like him, what she had gained, but she couldn't think of anything other than hair that was slowly turning more and more blonde over the years. 

(And had she been grasping at straws desperately, she would claim to have the same smile as her siblings, the same nose structure and brightness of liquid sunshine beneath her skin that warmed her veins.

But she no longer grasped at straws to find that resemblance, no longer longed to know that she took after her father, that she was his and couldn't be denied, as she felt more whole knowing that she wasn't beautiful because of him, but because she was just simply beautiful.) 

It made her wonder if Percy ever found himself staring too long in the mirror for a glimpse of his father or if he went out searching for water to reach him in just so that he could feel close. 

(She had the sun that followed her everywhere, the sun that she couldn't escape and always made her feel like he could be there watching her, judging her.) 

Sally came home eventually, taking her pasta salad with a happy smile and a grateful thank you, giving them the go-ahead to get ready to head out so that they could pick up the others. 

With an overnight bag already packed, she secured her dagger to the inside of her running jacket -- because she wasn't going to wear the pretty dress jacket that she wore with her uniform to school -- and took her bow and quiver in hand making sure to place her flute into the quiver among her arrows. 

Percy paused to look at her, taking in the bow. "That's not the same one that you were using last time."

She shakes her head. "It belongs to every Apollo kid. Apparently, one of my past half-siblings was gifted it by our dad and he gave it to cabin 7 for anyone to use if they needed it," she explains. "I don't feel right using it all the time. They should have it what them in case they need it." 

"That makes sense, I guess." 

She smiles. "Lee used it before me and he didn't keep it. It's only fair that I don't hog it." 

"I don't know what I would do if I had to share Riptide." 

"Well, luckily for you, you don't. Besides, you keep the gifts given to you. If a god was to give me a weapon, I wouldn't share them just because. That would be my weapon." 

Sally shouted for them to hurry down to the car, citing that the others were going to be stuck waiting on the side of the road if they didn't hurry.

At first, she had been slightly disappointed that they wouldn't be picking up Annabeth and Thalia at camp, but she eventually got over it when she figured she could just see the year-rounders when they got back with the half-bloods. 

It had started to snow along the way, a blizzard that whipped around them heavily and marred her view of the sky. Still, she squints upward, hoping for a peer of light behind all the clouds for a brief moment, hopeful. 

"Is this your first extraction, Kassandra?" Sally asks kindly.

"No, I'm typically assigned to extractions that need immediate help in New York, or sometimes Chiron will have me hed out a little further when one of the satyrs send a message for backup and he thinks I'm best suited for the task," she answers easily compelled to honestly share more with the woman. "I had been helped when I was younger by a half-blood assisting with an extraction and it's sort of stuck with me ever since. I love being one of those people that can safely deliver others to camp." 

"Did you have much difficulty getting to camp yourself, dear?"

She bites the tip of her tongue and gives a jerky nod before she answers. "It took me about two, maybe two and a half months to get to camp from Washington state. I was nine at the time and had spent the first month just wandering around blindly until I ran into an ongoing extraction. I was with them for a month before we were separated and I was eventually found by lady Artemis. She took me to camp after I told her I wanted the chance to meet my potential siblings and learn of my godly parent." 

"Artemis is your aunt, right?" Percy asks. 

"She's the only one other than my father that I would consider family, otherwise it would just get too messy." 

"Annabeth might have mentioned something about the gods having no real DNA or something," he says. 

She grinned, swallowing past the dryness in her throat. Annabeth was blessedly smart like that, intelligent enough for the both of them, and while normally an Athena kid would get on her nerves, the blonde's intelligence was more endearing instead of condescending. 

Kassandra had never thought she would get along with such people -- a self-proclaimed wise girl full of pride and a young hero son of Poseidon that was a little dense at times but full of considerably intelligence -- when she was always so used to being the angry sunshine girl that hung out with other angry kids and her sunshine siblings. 

(That is, that was what she thought of herself, in the end, as being angry and sunshine, but that doesn't mean much if she couldn't know what people thought of her unless she asked, unless they said, and Kassandra would never subject herself to hearing the full-on opinions of others when she simply didn't need them.)

"She's the kind of person to make that distinction," she says. "It's easier to mention that than try to explain why it's alright for campers to date." 

"People date at camp?" he blurts, looking at her with wide eyes. 

She rolls her eyes. "Of course they do," she says. "Have you seriously not noticed or did you just want to assume that the rules came from nothing and that all those flirting girls were just being friendly?" 

"People flirt with my Percy?" Sally exclaims, gaping at the pair of them in the rearview mirror. 

The boy glowers at her and she has the decency to duck her chin to hide her flush. 

"Way to go," he hissed. 

Kassandra sniffs at him, tilting her head up and giving him a haughty look. "I assumed that she knew. Besides, you're a mommy's boy. You tell Sally everything." 

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unedited

written: 2021-02-01

posted: 2021-03-27