LoSP Side Story Ch.15: A Romantic Evening

Prenote: This is an extension to the side-story, A Venison Date. So, if you haven’t read it, please do before moving onto this. 

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Sunlight streamed through the kitchen’s high windows, gleaming across the copper pans on the walls and against the edge of the silver knives that stood on a stand to the side. Below the Nordic Black Granite countertops, crystal glass cabinets studded with silver handles glinted beautifully.

The faint aroma of honey hung in the air as Artemis tugged Percy in, a little grin on her face. “What do you think of my kitchen?”

“Bigger than half my house and really stunning,” Percy said, glancing around. “Also, a lot less silver than I expected. It is almost like you found the rest of the color spectrum.”

“Hey!” she slapped his chest lightly. “I really like silver because it goes with my domain. It is my color.” She pulled him closer, her warm breath tickling his ear and Percy shivered slightly. “But another color is catching up quite fast these days.” She smiled against his ear. “Sea green.”

Percy burst into laughter, wrapping his arms around her waist and staring into her sparkling silver eyes. “Cheesy one-liners, Artemis? Who would’ve imagined?”

She gave him an impish grin and pressed her lips against his, before spinning around and snapping her fingers. 

A silver breeze ruffled through the kitchen, and cabinets opened. Utensils and a pasta machine floated out, neatly arranging themselves on the counters to a side. A small compartment shot out from a corner, and a piece of paper burst from it, which Artemis pinched from the air.

“What all do you need to cook?” A silver pen materialized in her hand. “I’ll need to order the vegetables from Demeter’s garden.”

“With this?” Percy peered into the compartment which had opened. “Seems handy.” 

“And they’ll come directly from Demeter. Believe me, you’ve not lived till you’ve had food from her garden. Mortal farmers have nothing on her. The only one, god or mortal, that comes anywhere near her is Dionysus, that too, only with his grapes.”

“Fair,” Percy said, taking the pen and paper from Artemis. “Let’s see. I don’t think we really need a lot of vegetables and you would probably have other things like flour and eggs. So, tomatoes, basil, onion…”

He scribbled a small list and showed it to Artemis, who nodded, dropping it in the compartment and pushing it close. A moment later, a basket of the required ingredients— looking picture-perfect in a way most stores and farming companies would kill to have on their ads, popped into the kitchen.

“Wow,” Percy murmured, picking a juicy cherry tomato. “Not going to lie but I never thought a simple produce could look so good.”

“It is.” Artemis plopped herself on the counter, swinging her legs. “You’ll find everything else you need in the pantry.”

“Nice,” Percy said, looking around. “Artemis, deer?”

Artemis blink, smiling innocently. “Yes, dear?”

“No, the deer. You sent it to the kitchen, but I cannot see it here.”

“Oh,” she twitched, snapping her fingers again and the deer appeared on the far counter, Artemis’ silver arrow still stuck in its side, straight through its heart. Artemis leaned forward, her eyes swirling like a molten pool of silver. “Now you can get to cooking for me. I’ll even help if you ask nicely.”

Percy grinned, sliding toward her, putting his hands around her waist while Artemis hooked her arms around his neck.  “Can you please mince the meat for me?” 

Percy gave her a wide-eyed, pleading look, and Artemis looked away, her cheeks a faint golden. “That look is unfair,” she muttered. “That shouldn’t be allowed.”

“Is it working?” Percy asked, pulling her closer. “If not, I can be more convincing, Lady Artemis.”

Artemis leaned forward, her warm breath brushing against his lips. “And how do you intend to do that?”

“Like this.” Percy captured her lips with his own, pulling her into a kiss, and Artemis sunk into it, her grasp around his neck tightening. 

As they broke apart, Artemis snapped her fingers and the deer turned to mince meat, the rest of it disappearing.

“That’s cheating.” Percy poked her. “We’re supposed to cook properly.”

“You’re supposed to cook, not me.” She shrugged, grinning impishly. “And it saves a lot of time this way. Time, we can spend doing other things.” She placed a kiss on his cheek. “Chop, chop, Percy. I will be hungry soon and you don’t want to disappoint me on the first date. That’d make you a terrible boyfriend.”

Percy rolled his eyes, but his smile betrayed him. Placing a kiss on Artemis’ lips, he grabbed the bowl and began seasoning the minced venison while Artemis lounged on the counter, watching him quietly, her smile not vanishing.

“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?” Percy muttered as he mixed salt, pepper, and a blend of spices into the meat.

“I think it’s quite good to just see you like this,” Artemis admitted, tilting her head. “You know? Practically carefree, out of armor, and the constant sense of caution that you have about you.”

Percy raised an eyebrow. “Sense of caution?”

“You keep aware of your surroundings, always on guard like something will attack you,” Artemis said. “Not something most people would notice, but I am not most people. It is not a bad thing. But it also means you don’t relax.”

“I suppose,” Percy sighed. “Most of the time, I am in danger. I am a beacon to monsters and a constant pain in the Titans’ ass. I think it is the survival instinct that has built up. Here, it is different.”

“How?”

“Here, I feel safer. I’m in Olympus, that too with you. I know that you’ve my back and I don’t need to worry a lot about you when you are in a fight.”

Artemis beamed, hopping off the counter and wrapping her arms around him from behind. “I think I understand. Somehow, since the moment I saw you on Othrys, I felt safer around you. You saved me. You battled two titans for me, including Atlas. And then, you saved my lieutenant.” She let out a breath. “I am not one to rely on others, Percy. Never have been. But when you showed up that day— the day we fought Nemesis and the Titan army… I was so relieved.”

“I’m glad I could be there. Honestly? I’d hate to see anything happen to you. Or the hunt. Or you if something happened to your hunt.”

Artemis winced slightly, nodding against his shoulder. “I never said thank you.”

“You don’t need to. You probably did, but you never need to thank me,” Percy said before looking over his shoulder. “We decided we were friends long ago. And in friendship, there are no sorrys and no thank yous.”

“I thought we were more than friends,” Artemis whispered, sliding around him, coming face to face with him and Percy held her swirling silver gaze. “I wouldn’t do this for any friend except you, after all.”

Saying so, she captured his lips in a long kiss, and Percy sunk into it, everything else vanishing away for him.

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AND… DONE! Hope you all liked the chapter!

This was a quick side-story I wrote, in the past few hours after a rather hectic few weeks. It is a Valentine-special, so sending you all my love and adoration. 

The next story to be updated will be Black Dawn, followed by a main chapter of LoSP. 

I may or may not do the short-story this month. It depends on my schedule, which is goddamn hectic and frankly, this is a short month. Also, I’d like to concentrate on my main stories more as they’re main for a reason, lol. I would try my best to write a short-story though, if I get the time.

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Stay Happy! Stay Safe! Keep Smiling! Keep Reading!

HPfanfictioner66