"You ready for this?" Will asks when they pull into the parking lot.

Annabeth swore to him earlier that she did lots of research and found just the right artist who even specializes in cover-ups, but it's a tattoo for crying out loud! It's permanent! Will has every right to be nervous.

He shouldn't be so jittery. They each have a tattoo; he knows exactly what Annabeth's getting into, and so does she. Right after the war against Gaea and the giants, a bunch of the older demigods invited him to tag along to a little outing. Will had expected something mundane, like pizza and maybe some screwing around in Central Park. He was a little more than taken aback when the others led him into a tattoo parlor.

"Live a little!" they told him. It wasn't the most sound argument, but not even Will is immune to peer pressure.

He didn't want to look uncool the first time the older campers invited him out. He'd spent all year as the new head counselor, not really in the same 'in crowd' as the more experienced ones like the Stolls and Katie Gardner and Clarisse LaRue.

So little sixteen-year-old Will Solace gave in, even offering to go first. He hesitantly picked out an ornate sun for his chest, while the others cheered him on. It was one of the smartest choices he's ever made, choosing Apollo's symbol. Even though it was impulsive, he doesn't regret the design he chose.

And Will was so proud of himself when he got out of that chair and Annabeth Chase- Annabeth Chase- high-fived him.

It was all a blur from there. He's pretty sure Travis Stoll went next. Will doesn't exactly remember what he or most of the others got; he was so shell-shocked by his sudden boldness.

He does remember Annabeth getting the trident on her thigh, Percy holding her hand the whole time. Everyone thought that was the romantic gesture to end all romantic gestures. It had been, at the moment, but now that they're all grown up and Percy isn't in the picture anymore...

Annabeth picks at a band-aid on her finger and finally responds, "I think so. Yeah, I'm ready. I should've done this a long time ago."

"Can't argue with that logic." The SUV makes a dinging sound when Will unlocks it and gets out. He has to walk the whole way around the car and open the passenger side door for Annabeth since somehow the child lock got stuck on.

The tattoo shop is this place that doesn't have a real name; the sign out front just says "TATTOO" in fiery red lettering. Next door is a Little Caesar's pizza place, and on the other side is a Verizon store. Will wishes he were picking up some Crazy Bread or looking for some cell phone accessories. If something goes wrong, it's all his fault for suggesting she get her tattoo covered up in the first place.

Will opens the door for Annabeth. "After you, M'lady," he says. She rolls her eyes and steps inside. It's every bit as creepy as Will anticipated. It's dark and the ceiling is trimmed with red LED lights. There are skulls and all sorts of creepy designs on the walls. This resembles Sid's bedroom in Toy Story.

He can't believe he's playing hooky for this. What if they need his help at the hospital?

"Hi, how can I help you, folks?" says a woman. She's gorgeous. Her hair is dyed dark purple, and she wears thick-rimmed glasses. The beginning of a sleeve of tattoos peeks out from under her sweater. Will notices the gages in her earlobes and subconsciously reaches for his own ears. That must have hurt. Then again, everything they do here likely hurts, he supposes.

Will likes this first impression, so he decides to set the tone. "My, uh, twin sister made an appointment for a cover-up."

This is what Will and Annabeth do. They never introduce themselves as roommates. It has too many implications. If one of them is getting hit on and they're uncomfortable, they're dating. Too many times has Will had to throw an arm around Annabeth's waist and said, "There you are babe! I was looking all over for you!"

But in situations like this, where one of them wants to mingle, they're twins. Not only does it signal to Annabeth that this one's Will's, but it also makes them more interesting. Who doesn't want to hook up with someone with a twin? That's cool, right?

"Oh, that's me! I mean, your appointment is with me. My name's Monique." She pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

Will likes Monique.

"Cool," Annabeth says. "I'm Annabeth, and this is my... brother, Will." Nice job, Annabeth. Lay it on thick.

"Can I see what we're covering?" Monique asks.

Will chokes on some saliva. Annabeth's wearing jeans. Neither of them considered that she'll have to take her pants off to have this tattoo done. It's not a problem for them; Will and Annabeth share a bathroom. The problem is that they're smarter than this. They're the kind of people that never leave the house without hand sanitizer and bandages. They should have considered this.

"It's on my thigh," Annabeth says.

"Oh, well then." Monique seems to be feeling just as awkward as they are. "Why don't you come on back and I'll take a look there. Is your brother here as a support person?"

Annabeth's blonde bun shakes as she nods. "Yeah. This was his idea." Annabeth Chase is the best wing-woman a guy could possibly ask for.

They get to the back room and Annabeth takes her jeans off. She playfully throws them at Will.

"That is pretty faded," notes Monique. "Did you want another trident?"

"No way," Annabeth says. "I got it when I was still dating my first boyfriend."

"Yikes," says Monique.

Will interjects, "We were thinking something a lot bigger."

"It's a little cliche, but we could do a snake wrapped around a dagger," Monique says. "The shape of the trident would hide perfectly." She traces Annabeth's tattoo with her fingers.

Oh no. Is that a pass?

"Alright let's do it."

Will is surprised at how agreeable Annabeth's being. He thought she'd be a total control freak, but here she is, proving him wrong.

Monique begins to draw on an iPad, tilting it so Annabeth can see every once in a while.

"I like that, but do you think the dagger could be a little bit thicker?" Annabeth asks.

Monique scribbles away while Annabeth gives orders. "Yeah, like that," she approves. "That's so awesome."

"What about color? I like to do color on tattoos this big, but it'll take two sessions. Are you free tomorrow?" asks Monique.

"Absolutely. That would be so badass. Can we do the dagger in a bronze kind of color?" Annabeth's wheels are turning. It doesn't happen much anymore, but when she gets into a project, she gets some ideas, and when she gets ideas, something really really crazy is about to happen.

"Yes!" Monique high-fives Annabeth. She draws for a few more minutes until she has it just right. Will can't see the design from where he's at, but he can tell it's going to be really cool.

"Will, come look at this." Annabeth waves him over. Will's seen the dagger before.

That's Luke's dagger, the one Annabeth lost in Tartarus. He wonders why she would want a reminder of a man who did some, er, questionable things, on her body forever, but she seems pretty deadset, so Will gives Monique a thumbs-up.

Now Monique's face is just inches away from Annabeth's thigh, new ink covering what was once a tribute to Percy Jackson. They're an hour into the design, and it doesn't really look like a dagger and a snake yet, but the trident is completely gone, camouflaged in the beginnings of something new.

"So do you have any other big tattoos?" Monique asks.

"Nope. I don't even have any other little ones." The needle comes a little higher on Annabeth's thigh as the outline of the snake's scales is drawn. She squeezes Will's hand a little tighter.

"Well then. You're taking this pain like a motherfucking beast, girlfriend! Do you need a break or anything?" Monique looks up towards Annabeth.

Annabeth takes the opportunity to shake out her foot. Will supposes it might have fallen asleep. "I'm okay. I've had worse. Will packed snacks and water bottles, so I'm good to go. He's sweet like that."

He silently thanks Annabeth for throwing him a bone any chance she can get.

They sit like that, Annabeth in the chair holding Will's hand, squeezing every so often when the pain gets to her. After another two hours, Monique announces that she's finished the outline.

"That's fucking awesome," Annabeth says as Monique wipes away the excess ink.

"You'll want to cover that in saran wrap; I wouldn't try to shower tonight or you might get soap in it and mess it up while it's still healing. I usually just do drop-ins tomorrow, but I can make an exception for you."

Will sees that wink. Annabeth's been trying so hard to help him out, but he isn't so sure this is going to work out anymore.

***

"Will! Come here!" Will goes into the bathroom to find Annabeth sitting on the toilet lid, in her underwear, wrapping her leg in plastic wrap.

Will facepalms. "Gods, Annabeth, put some pants on. I swear if I have to see your Ironman underwear ever again-"

"Ahahaha, but you love me for it." Annabeth blows a kiss. "I'm so hyped for tomorrow. Bring extra snacks; Monique said it might take a while."

"Annabeth, I have the internship tomorrow. I really can't skip again." Will feels bad for not being there for her, but he has to make a responsible choice. Two days in a row without a doctor's excuse would be bad. If he keeps using his excused absences on Annabeth, he might not get course credit for the internship.

Annabeth looks up from her plastic-wrapped thigh and makes eye contact with Will. "I kind of feel weird going without you. Who's to say I won't snatch your girl?"

"I know, I just really can't miss." And he really can't see Monique again, not when he can tell she's more into Annabeth than him.

"I hope you know that I'll be taking an Uber tomorrow because of you."

Will sighs. He feels bad. He hates the idea of Annabeth using rideshare. They've been attacked by too many monsters posing as Uber drivers. "Call me if anything's off, okay? And maybe wear shorts tomorrow. It's July, I don't know why you wore jeans in the first place," he says.

"You got it, Boss. Now help me wrap up my thigh- the plastic keeps clinging."

End of Part I