"I'm sorry … I just," she sniffled but he gently shushed her as he tightened his hold.
"Don't apologize," he chided softly, feeling her shift a bit against him as he continued. "… I know what it's like. How much it hurts."
...
He could only imagine what it had been like with Cloelia for the last week. He had snippets from Hestia, but the primordial purposely limited her own view into her mindscape when not present to give Athena and Cloelia the closest semblance of privacy she could. Both goddesses were doing better, but that was far from done and there were bound to be flair ups. And Percy felt he could be a sympathetic ear for the former Olympian.
They stayed like that for several minutes, holding each other until Percy felt she'd calmed enough.
Pulling back a little, he gently tilted her head up to look at him. Her eyes were puffy from crying and her cheeks glowed with the flush of her platinum ichor, but he didn't point any of that out. Instead he slowly used his thumb to rub away the last of the tears until her cheeks were mostly clear.
"Thank you," she murmured again, this time letting her head rest against his chest as he kept rubbing her back.
"Any time," he returned, letting his chin rest on her head.
The silence lasted for a little longer this time, until he couldn't feel her hiccup or anything of the sort. Then glancing at the cabin right behind them, he got an idea. "Hey, how about we walk for a bit?" he offered.
She brought her head up and looked at him curiously at that, then looking over her shoulder at the rolling hills illuminated by the gentle glow of stars overhead. Looking back to him, she nodded. Smiling, he took one step back and then offered his arm out of reflex. Taking walks had been one of his favorite ways to just calm down, and he'd often do it with Nyx back in their garden in Tartarus.
Athena looked at the offered arm for a moment before a slight curving up of her lips appeared as she took it much like Zoe had earlier. With her in toe, he started leading them away from the cabin and off towards the tree line in the distance. Now that it was dark, the sound of crickets and such started to pop up, much to his own mild surprise. 'Really nice touch Hestia,' he mused as he glanced at Athena.
He could tell the simple walk was already doing wonders as the goddess let her eyes drift about. After just minutes of walking, he even started to catch a slight hum coming from her. He wasn't sure if she noticed she was doing it or not, but he didn't call attention to it, simply listening. By the time they crested one of the larger hills, they were a fair distance from the cabin, so they stopped.
Percy let his gaze wander for a bit, especially as he looked at the large, far off mountain that Hestia used as her center. Surrounded in deep and lush forest that looked more fit to be in Rhea's mindscape. There were also hot springs and geysers all around it, along with numerus deep caves that Hestia steadily denied had any sort of treasures or hoard hidden within. He, Rhea, and Andy were still trying to explore without Hestia waylaying them to try and prove it.
And he knew laying deep in the center was a volcano the likes of which could make Vesuvius look like a little firecracker.
He was about to wonder whether Hestia would be in the mood for soaking in one of the lava pools dotting the mountain, some of which glowed with hot reds and oranges even from here. But his attention returned to Athena as he felt the goddess lean against him again. Looking at her, he was met with those warm amber eyes as she gave him a small smile.
"You know … that was the first time Cloelia has called me mom," she said softly, her smile getting a little wobbly.
"Really?" he asked lightly, not having known that.
Athena nodded. "After … after telling her how we adopted her, she kind of closed off for a while. She'd still talk to me, but it felt, off I guess."
"It's a big change so I'm not surprised about that. She probably just needs some time to settle with all the change," he commented, getting a slight hum of thought from her.
They lapsed into silence for a while, both simply taking in the surroundings. Then, he got her attention as he decided to settle down and sat himself in the soft grass. He glanced up at her before looking at the spot beside him. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but he just smiled. A good five seconds passed before the goddess gave in with a sigh as she sat down beside him.
"So … what has she been calling you for the last few days then?" he asked curiously as he leaned back on his hands.
"My name," she answered with a bit of a shrug. "Not too different form before, only, sometimes she used to call me momma."
"Really? How'd that happened?" he asked.
"Well, when she wasn't with Annabeth or Calypso, she'd spend most of the time with me. One night she called me momma out of the blue. I made the mistake of telling Annabeth and then she made a little gag out of it," she explained, her eyes falling to the swaying grass around them, a tiny, bittersweet smile on her face.
He chuckled lowly at that, just picturing the scenario.
A flustered Athena all confused and such as she told her daughter about what her granddaughter had called her. Then Annabeth turning it into a running gag to tease the normally unflappable goddess.
He knew Athena, much like the other gods, had never really gotten close to any of their kids, mortal or not, for millennia. Annabeth was the closest and, in many ways, the first to get that close to the goddess. Cloelia being her first divine grandchild gave the goddess a chance to be there from the start with no laws of any sort or real reason to stay distant.
Given how similar Athena and Annabeth had been, it was no surprise the divine toddler had gone and practically named Athena as a second mother even if technically, that would be Calypso's job should anything happen to Annabeth. Looking at the goddess now, he could see that warmth she'd hidden for so long, finally given the chance to express itself not only for Cloelia, but all her children.
"And she didn't ever call you grandma?" he asked, a light tease in his voice.
It took her a moment to register that question before she tried glaring at him for that. Given the sudden blush on her cheeks, it wasn't really working. She gave it up in a huff and looking away, but he caught the amusement in her eyes.
"Just because I'm old doesn't mean I want to be reminded about it," she grumbled.
"You, old? Nah, I can't see it," he retorted, getting her to look at him. "I prefer ageless to be honest," he continued, a crooked grin making its way onto his face.
Athena actually swatted at him for that one, making him chuckle as he leaned out of reach. She tried to get closer, but he kept scooching back until the goddess gave up with a huff. He shot her triumphant look before relaxing, looking up to stare at the countless stars Hestia had taken the time to paint into the skies of her personal canvas.
"I wonder when she'll get around to calling me dad?" he mused out loud.
He'd loved it the moment Raven called him that and knew it'd be the same once Cloelia got comfortable enough for it. He wouldn't push though.
"With the way she was today, I don't think you'll have to wait long," Athena answered as she joined him in his stargazing.
A more comfortable silence descended from there, the pair simply enjoying the atmosphere. Still, after a while he felt a light pull from both Rhea and Hestia, so he assumed they'd been gone long enough.
"Ready to head back?" he asked, getting the goddess' attention as he stood up and then offered a hand.
"Yes," she replied, taking his hand and letting him help her up.
Again he offered his arm, a more playful grin on his face this time. That got a roll of the eyes, but she smiled all the same as she took his arm. With that, the pair set to walking back and soon enough, Athena was humming along again. This time though, he couldn't keep his curiosity as he asked, "Mind telling me what you're humming?"
"Hmm? Oh, not really anything in particular. Sometimes Cloelia would get a little fussy so I started doing little bits of humming like that to settle her," the goddess answered.
"Sounded almost like there'd be a song or rhythm to it honestly," he commented.
"Maybe you could think of something then?" she suggested, getting a curious look from him.
"… Maybe," he answered.
...
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