Head-cold (Trials of Apollo - Percy Jackson) SPOILERS

[heckyeahsneezes]

Okay so fair warning this has spoilers so yeah, uh...you're warned.

 

I just started reading The Hidden Oracle and guys IT HAPPENED. IT FREAKING HAPPENED. PERCY JACKSON GOT A HEAD COLD. And in response I am dead. I’m writing this from my grave, okay? If you put your face near the ground I'm sure you can hear me screaming. So, since I have no self-control, here is a continuation of what I would’ve liked to see in the book.

 

I'll probably write more but here's a start 

 

Disclaimer: Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan (who is a freaking saint oh my god)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Percy’s eyes teared up as he tried to suppress yet another sneeze. He hadn’t been able to stop since the run in with the zombie looking spirits that had given him a nasty head cold. He couldn’t seem to rack up the will to be grateful it wasn’t something worse than an instant head cold. Pressing the back of his hand against his nose, he fought to keep his eyes open. Don’t sneeze, don’t sneeze, do-

 

“-Hekshh’uh!” He sniffled liquidly, mumbling a curse under his breath.

 

He began digging through the pocket on the side of the door for the hopeful possibility of napkins, trying to keep his nose from dripping. Part of him wished Annabeth were here because she’d either have tissues or know where to find them, but the other part was glad she wasn’t here to watch him fumble around all germy and gross. Gods, do we really not have any napkins? He thought bitterly to himself before sacrificing his sleeve to hold his nose at bay. Just another 10 minutes and he’d be home, but 1 minute felt like 20 with how fast his patience was wearing away. Speaking of wearing away patience he wondering briefly how Apollo and Meg were doing. Though the former God did get on his nerves, he did hope that at least the little girl made it to camp safely. He flicked on the radio, hoping to distract himself from his current predicament.

 

Made my decision to test my limits

‘Cause it’s my business, God as my witness

Start what I-

 

On a normal day (well, normal for Percy) he wouldn’t mind listening to Ariana Grande (don't tell Annabeth), but today was not one of those days, and her high voice brought his attention to the beginnings of a throbbing headache in the front of his skull. He flipped off the radio, deciding he could suffer the rest of the way with no music.

~

By the time he had parked the car and staggered up to the apartment he was ready for a nap, or possibly a 2 week coma, the specifics weren’t important. Percy had a feeling his mom would want to fuss over him, but at least he had come back in one piece. No broken bones and he wasn’t bleeding so that was good enough. What he hadn’t planned on was nearly face planting in the doorway.

 

“Percy!” Sally yelled shrilly, rushing over (as fast as an extremely pregnant woman could) to keep him from falling over. “What happened?” She demanded, tilting his face so she could see his feverish eyes. She felt his forehead next and then went into complete mom mode. “You’re burning up!”

 

“I’b fide,” He choked out, though he couldn’t even understand himself so he his mom probably didn’t fare any better.

[Artemis]

This is amazing!!!!!!! Rick Roidian is amazing!!!! I need a copy of this book!!! Please continue, I can't wait!!!!!!!

[Daughter_of_Apollo]

Omigods this is amazing! I finished the books yesterday, and I couldn't get over all of the sneezing in it. Thank you so much for writing this. I hope there will be more parts!

[Melody]

I LOVE YOU FOR DOING THIS.

PLEASE WRITE MORE.

THAT IS ALL. 

Edited May 8, 2016 by Melody

[Sneezy123]

This.

This...this is what I live for. 

[VividBubbles!]

As soon as I read this scene I knew this needed to be written. Thank you so much for being the one to do it. I really hope there's a continuation.

[heckyeahsneezes]

I come bearing a second part :")  I kinda improvised here cause I have a hard time believing Percy and Annabeth would be completely out of contact for however long she's in Boston (or anywhere really, who has that kind of will power??) so I'm just gonna headcanon they use skype  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Percy’s mom wouldn’t hear it. She pushed him to his room, grabbing every blanket that wasn’t already in his room on the way and nearly buried him on his bed (suddenly he understood the word deathbed too well). Then she shut the shades, dimming his room quite a bit, lessening the pounding behind his eyes, which he was grateful for.

 

“Shout if you need anything,” she said before disappearing down the hallway muttering about making chicken noodle soup.

 

Percy was too tired to fight his mom about him being old enough to take care of himself, so he simply laid back in his cocoon of blankets and tried to ignore how disgusting he felt. It wasn’t an easy task but eventually he found a loophole: sleep. It was a fitful nap at best, and when he finally fully regained consciousness he wished he would’ve drifted off into a coma instead of waking up. His nose was blocked solid, every breath from his mouth more of a wheeze than anything. The sound of someone calling him on skype pulled him out of his hazy stupor. A hoarse groan escaped his throat when he realized the laptop was across the room on his desk.

 

The sound seemed to catch in his throat, and suddenly a sharp tickle went through his sinuses, triggering an immediate inhale. “Hhh..EKSHOO!.. nhh… hRKSHUH!” He heard a creak from the floor below shortly followed by a shriek. Shit, he thought sighing in defeat. Percy was either going to have to start stifling his sneezes or risk flooding their apartment.

 

Percy rubbed his nose roughly, struggling to get de-tangled from his nest of fuzzy layers. By the time he stumbled over to the laptop, he’d missed the call. Missed call from Annabeth Chase it read. Oh gods. The laptop started ringing again, nearly making Percy jump out of his skin. He fumbled with the touch pad accidentally pressing video. Annabeth’s blonde head popped up, and Percy knew what a mistake he’d just made.

 

“Percy? Gods, what happened to you?” It was probably an accident she sounded accusing. At least that’s what Percy told himself. “You were fine this morning, how did-”

 

“I’b good.” Okay, so maybe next time he should start off with something that was less of a blatant lie. And maybe skyping with her twice a day wasn’t a good idea when at any given moment an ex-god would show up at his door, ask for help, and end up getting him chewed out by his girlfriend because of a few diseased spirits. “’S jusd a headcode.”

 

“How are you going to study for your SAT like this?” Annabeth demanded.

 

“Your codcerd is overwhelbi’g,” Percy sniffled.

 

Annabeth’s face softened a little. “You know I would be there taking care of you if I could…”

 

“Yeah, ad you’d be baking be dridk sobe nastdy codcoctiods,” Percy pulled a face, before laughing which led to a coughing fit.

 

When he raised his head from his elbow, looking back blurrily at the pixelated Annabeth, he could see the worry on her face- or as much of her face as he could see.

 

“-ke –tsssss- of – self-” Was the garbled reply he heard.

 

               This happened nearly every time they skyped, but they persisted anyways. It wasn’t the safest idea, but in the spirit of young love no monster could stand in their way. Well, they could, but that was a bridge they’d have to cross when they came to it. On top of skyping being a dangerous idea, the fact that technology had been screwy lately did not help matters. Percy let out a defeated sigh as the call failed. There was no point in trying to call her back, it never worked. Another- thankfully, sole- cough rattled Percy’s chest like his body was pleading him to go back to bed. He obeyed.

[VividBubbles!]

This was perfect! Even just the small interactions between Percy and Annabeth were so in character! And I love how Percy loses control of his powers when he sneezes, and the fact that it's canon now makes me so happy. I'm really enjoying this and I hope we get to see more soon!

[heckyeahsneezes]

1 hour ago, VividBubbles! said:

This was perfect! Even just the small interactions between Percy and Annabeth were so in character! And I love how Percy loses control of his powers when he sneezes, and the fact that it's canon now makes me so happy. I'm really enjoying this and I hope we get to see more soon!

Okay, first: omg thank you xD I was hoping I wasn't making them too occ, and second: *scree* y e s it's canon our dreams have come true :"))) 

[Sneezy123]

Can yOU HEAR ME SCREAMING BECAUSE I DONT THINK YOU UNDERSTAND THAT I'M SCREAMING I'M DONE I CANT 

[Melody]

YESS A THOUSAND TIMES OVER YESSS YESS YESS YESSS.  

[truth]

okAY I'm not going to lie - I wasn't planning on buying Trials of Apollo... until i saw this post last night and today i bought it and started reading it ... IM SO DONE ... THIS IS AMAZING IT'S ACTUALLY FOLLOWING CANON AHHH YOU ARE THE BEST

[Daughter_of_Apollo]

The second part was perfect, I also love how he loses control of his powers when he sneezes. Yes! Stifling! I can't wait for more.

[tinymouse]

I can't tell you how much I was about to do this myself, and I'm so glad you did it before me. Great fic! Keep it up!

[MoonDuck]

THIS CANNOT BE THE END I NEED MORE CAREBEAR PLEASE. I love this so much. I fully agree with everyone that has said you kept them in character, it's amazing. Percy being too weak to do anything and mention of his not being able to control his powers are wonderful.