It looked like the weight of the world was crushing him. He was a right mess, clothes crinkled and a little torn, hair ruffled into an untameable birds nest. Now he sported a bright red mark on his cheek and probably a mild concussion.

And he was carrying a random shoe.

Tony couldn't figure out which part was more concerning. Each bombshell had been dropped one after another, and Percy who had already cracked, shattered. He'd been gone all day, leaving them to worry, and came back in this state. Tony was still trying to comprehend the whole superpowers thing that Percy had hidden from them all for nearly four years. So he took a deep breath, released it, and decided to mention nothing at all.

"Let's get you fixed up," was all he said.

Percy opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it, deciding that right now, this was okay. Tony was giving him space to breathe and to think, and he needed it. It was enough to show him that even though he'd kept something so big from them, they were still there. Of course he'd have to explain, but Tony was reigning in his wild curiosity and letting Percy come to him in his own time, so he shut his mouth and nodded dully.

Tony pulled out a fresh pair of clothes for him and handed them off to Percy, who disappeared to put them on. When he came back Tony tossed him a hairbrush. Gingerly he combed it through his hair in a mild attempt to flatten it. 

"You look like you got jumped," said Tony pointing to the flushed side of Percy's face where he got slapped. 

"Maybe because I did." 

An eyebrow rose. "By who?"

"Ah," Percy waved a hand. "Not a who, but a what." 

Confusion fell over Tony's expression. "A 'what'?"

"I don't know, I tried to drag them back here but they got away and now all I have is this stupid useless shoe." He tossed the shoe onto the bed and it seemed to glare back at him mockingly. A sign of his failure. "Unless aliens all wear the same kind of shoe."

"Hold on, rewind. You got jumped by an alien?" It wasn't the strangest thing he'd heard. In fact, Tony had dealt with stranger. But aliens jumping humans? Since when had that been happening under their noses? "What for? Where?"

"They killed Loki. They wanted to know why it was so easy." Percy dropped onto the bed and dipped his head in his hands, smoothing then over his face as he released an aggravated groan. "If he hadn't become mortal for me-"

"Stop it," Tony stated. "We're not playing the blame game again. You couldn't have known, it's not your fault. Loki's decision was his own, and his enemies were his own. You have no influence on the Norse world. Stop blaming yourself for it."

"But-"

"Stop it."

"Tony-"

"No. I'm not listening." 

Percy huffed and stopped protesting. Tony was right, and he knew that, but he couldn't accept it. However, continuing the argument here was going to get him nowhere. 

When Tony sat beside him on the bed with a lonely shoe in between them, silence reigned for several minutes while the two sorted their thoughts. Tony was the first to break it.

"So... water?"

"No, I'm good," Percy declined.

"Actually I meant your... superpower."

Percy blinked a couple of times to process and slapped himself mentally for his former response. "Oh," Percy replied. "Well, yes, I guess. Did Thor tell you that?"

"I think the blown pipes in your bedroom were enough of a hint. Unless your power is blowing stuff up..."

He snorted. "I'm pretty good at that too, but no, you're right. I manipulate water."

"That's pretty cool, you know." 

Percy stared down as his hands. "Sometimes."

Finally, Tony burst. "I don't get it. You're friends with a science boosted super-soldier, a giant raging green guy, a dude who flings an impossibly heavy hammer around and summons lightning, a kid who literally shoots spider-webs, and you felt you had to hide that you also have a few magic tricks up your sleeve?"

"It's... complicated." And oh boy wasn't it just. 

"Then uncomplicate it, Percy. How come Thor knew?"

"Because he just does. It's not my secret to tell-"

"I call bullshit. It's your power."

"Well- fine. How about this. Thor knows because he's a Norse god and I'm a Greek demigod who happens to be kind of well known in my world because I'm still alive, except people aren't supposed to know that we demigods are real because we have a hard enough time existing day to day without the human world knowing about us and endangering our existence even further. My power comes from my dad who happens to be the god of the sea and I'm not even supposed to exist because my father and his brothers made a pact to not have children but here I am anyway, much to my uncle's hypocritical disgust. How's that? Think I could slip that into the morning coffee catch-up?"

"Percy what the fu-"

~~~~

My brain: Hey look, we're in quarantine and haven't updated this in like a year and it's almost 1am, let's update!

Me: Sounds like a plan 👍

On that note though, sorry it's been so long, I hope everybody is doing okay. Hopefully an update here can brighten up your day!

100% irrelevant but when I went to New York we visited Central Park and I actually went looking for a place that resembled my vision of Percy and Loki's date spot. Found it, I'll find the photo.  

It's funny how I initially had some touching scene in my head for the reveal and then I just do that last paragraph. 

Peace,

BTSWD
Borntosingwithdrama