[Friend of a Friend] PJO x Marvel

[7. Nightmare at the Parker Apartment]

"Still gonna fail this class."

"Don't give up yet, you just got here!" Peter sighed, he sat on the couch of his living room. Percy had decided it'd be a change of environment that would help him get through this assignment, so he had come to Peter's apartment. Aunt May ordered them takeout, seeing as her cooking was a gamble.

Percy stared at the first question for a moment, and then looked back at Peter, "Ok, I've thought long and hard about this..."

Peter raised his brows, ready for whatever Percy would say.

"This is just too difficult, I can't do it. I'm gonna flunk out of high school and live on the streets for the rest of my poor, miserable life."

"Your mother would probably die before she let that happen, y'know?"

Percy chuckled, "Eh, you got me. But still, I wish I could just translate this all into Greek."

"You could, there's apps that can do that." Peter pulled out his phone, "I can show you some-"

"I don't have a phone."

A pause. Peter furrowed just brows, "You don't?"

Well, that was yet another detail to add to the list of reasons Percy was strange.

"No, can't really afford one right now, so..." Percy cleared his throat, "Anyways, I used to have my Girlfriend translate everything for me, I could do it too if I tried really hard. But my dyslexia makes it way too complicated, when my girlfriend did it for me it was just way easier."

"Where is she now?"

"Virginia, with her dad. It's harder to keep in touch now, so I've just been trying to manage on my own." Percy looked over at the window before looking back at the worksheet. Peter couldn't tell what he was thinking, but he didn't seem very happy. It was like a storm cloud had rolled in over his head.

"Is everything okay?"

  Percy blinked and looked over at Peter, "Yeah, sorry. I just have a lot on my mind."

  "If you ever wanna talk, I'm here," Peter frowned. Something wasn't right, something bad. He couldn't figure out what, he didn't think he'd ever understand or know, but he knew Percy was hiding something.

  "Thanks, I appreciate it," Percy almost whispered, he shook his head and grabbed the pencil that was sitting atop the worksheet. "So, physics..."

  "Right, yeah. Physics." Peter watched as Percy rolled up his sleeves, it was a bit warm in the apartment, warmer than it usually was in October. On Percy's arm was a tattoo of a trident, the letters SPQR underneath. Percy glanced over at Peter and noticed his eyes staring at it. "You don't have anything against tattoos, do you?"

"Oh, no not at all. I think it looks super cool." Peter furrowed just brows, he didn't understand it, he'd have to research it later to see if it meant anything. Or he could ask, which he decided was a better idea. "Does it mean anything?"

Percy paused for a moment, then shrugged, "It's a tribute for my dad, I guess. He was a big fan of the ocean."

Was. Percy's father sounded pretty dead. Well, Peter wasn't one to talk at all. Dead father, dead mother, dead uncle... yeah, he definitely wasn't one to talk.

"What about the SPQR?"

"It's a Greek thing, I dunno."

Peter decided not to share the knowledge that SPQR was a roman abbreviation, he had a feeling Percy already knew that.