Percy Jackson: 31 Days: Mightier Than the Sword

Feb 02, 2011 19:39

Title: Mightier Than the Sword
Rating: K
Day/Theme: February 2nd: Found the dark in you
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Character/Pairing: Sally and Paul, background Percy.
Summary: There has to be more to her than he's seen so far.
A/N: Written for 31_days. Set during Titan's Curse, when they meet.

He really enjoys spending time with Sally - it kind of blows his mind that here is a sweet and funny and smart woman, paying any attention to him and listening to him and being interested in what he has to say, when the majority of the women he meets are really only interested in knowing why he gave Junior a “D” on their English midterm.

But here is Sally, and she smiles at him, and wants his opinion on her work and considers what he has to say as she writes and revises, and there’s a weird kind of flutter when she smiles at him that’s making him consider something he hadn’t given weight to since the girl he’d been thinking of proposing to had decided that two months of his salary didn’t buy a nice enough ring. It’s so uplifting that there’s a pit in his heart counseling prudence, reminding him that he doesn’t know her that well yet, that there has to be more to her than he’s seen so far.

Sally wants him to read over the first draft of a story she’s been working on; it only comes in chunks, she says, it won’t smooth itself out and she wants to know what he thinks. She’s flipping through her notebook, searching for the section she wants him to read when her phone rings, and immediately she steps away to take the call, explaining it’s the director of the camp where Percy spends his school breaks.

While he’s waiting for her to return, he looks down at her notebook, spread across the table. Sally writes in small, neat letters, and he scans the words on the page; the first thing he makes out is Percy’s name and he feels a smile tug at his face. Her son and his special needs don’t bother him that much, especially because he believes Sally when she swears Percy’s a good kid, is charmed by the way her entire face lights up at the mention of him.

But then a few more words catch his eye, and Paul realizes he’s reading about concepts he hasn’t heard of since he took a course in Classical Literature in college. Why, he can’t help wondering, is Sally Jackson inserting her son into the Trojan War?

It must be an ego boost, he finally decides, a way to soothe her concern for Percy’s future. When he hears Sally ending her conversation he frowns and quickly flips the page, pretending he hasn’t seen a thing.

sallyxpaul, percy jackson and the olympians

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