Yeah, and think of how I feel, I'm stuck right in the middle of it!
[ He's laughing though. She might feel the edges of humour with his message, even. ]
But my mom ... well, she's mortal. That's why I'm only half-god.
[ How does he even begin to describe Sally Jackson? ]
Her name is Sally, and she did the actual hard work of raising me, especially knowing what I was and how dangerous it could be just existing. I didn't always make it easy for her either, I know that. But she's the best person I know, and everything good about me came from her.
( all this makes her wonder what tommy and billy would say about her, if they ever had the chance to be raised by her and if they could have been a family properly. if they'd think that everything good about them came from her, if they would speak about her to other people with all this love and care. )
Sally sounds really lucky to be your mom. I'm sorry you can't actually be with her now.
( ah, he turns this on her, and— well, it feels a little silly, to be elated at the fact that someone asks for her sons in such an earnest and easy manner. everyone's always walking on eggshells around her when it comes to her time as a mother, in one way or another, and as much as she'd like to not remember how painful it is... she does wish she could talk about it more. )
Tommy and Billy. I wanted all-American names for them, though I only picked out Tommy. My husband picked out Billy.
Those are definitely all-American names, so I'd say that was a success.
[ Not that he personally knows a whole lot of demigods with all-American names — his own name doesn't exactly that sentiment — but he'd gone to school with a fair number of Tommys and Billys and Henrys and Bens. ]
Were they very much alike? I knew a few sets of twins at Camp and it seemed to vary.
Do you mean physically, or personality-wise? They weren't exactly identical, but you could tell they were brothers. Tommy was a little rougher around the edges than Billy, but they were both — happy and brave.
( oh, man. suddenly shifting into walking on a minefield, feels like, but wanda knows that percy means nothing mean or spiteful when he asks these oh-so-innocent questions.
and because it's percy, perhaps wanda isn't so quick to pull away from answering them. )
Matt isn't their father. I had someone who was like a husband to me back home. He didn't survive after — a war in my world happened. It's a really long story to get into if you ever wanted to know what that war was about.
As for Tommy and Billy, I ... had to let them go. My magic malfunctioned, and I needed to make a choice. Either to keep them, to keep my family, or to stop hurting others with it. Neither their father nor our kids would have wanted that.
[ Well — crap. There he goes, putting his foot right into his mouth. Not that he could have predicted such a thing, but he doesn’t want Wanda to think he’s some kind of insensitive, prying brat or anything either.
Like, he can be one, depending on the god who wants to cream him into the ground that week, but he means well. And Wanda … he doesn’t want her to hurt, being reminded of such things. ]
Oh, wow, Wanda, I’m really sorry. I feel like I just stepped into some real deep waters, and like, we can totally stop if you don’t feel like telling me anything else. And feel free to ask me anything, I feel like I owe you that much at least.
But yeah, I do want to hear about the war on your world. I might know a thing or two about wars.
( she starts, at his blatant panic and wanting to fill her head up with apologies for taking a misstep in the conversation. none of what happened is anyone's fault. )
It has been about three years since. I want to remember the good things about my sons.
( —but, perhaps unsurprisingly, this kind of conversation wears her out emotionally. )
We can probably talk about all that some other time. The person who helped me with tending the animals in the barn is not here anymore. I've got to go feed them now.
Well, any time you wanna tell me good things about your kids, I’d like to hear about them.
[ Obviously it’s up to her when and if she even does, and he’d be happy to hear about it. He wonders if maybe his mom goes around talking about him the same way too sometimes. Good things, happy things — the stuff that don’t involve monsters and gods and how many times Percy had come close to dying. ]
We can talk later, I hope.
[ You know, if this conversation didn’t like ... totally weird her out and change her mind about him in the end. ]
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( greek mythos really is messed up and confusing. she was never particularly into it, outside of what little schooling she got about it. )
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[ He's laughing though. She might feel the edges of humour with his message, even. ]
But my mom ... well, she's mortal. That's why I'm only half-god.
[ How does he even begin to describe Sally Jackson? ]
Her name is Sally, and she did the actual hard work of raising me, especially knowing what I was and how dangerous it could be just existing. I didn't always make it easy for her either, I know that. But she's the best person I know, and everything good about me came from her.
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[ He's the one who lucked out in the mom lottery. ]
Yeah, it sucks. Even before I got here I hadn't seen her in so long.
But tell me about your kids. What are their names? I mean, if you want to.
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[ Not that he personally knows a whole lot of demigods with all-American names — his own name doesn't exactly that sentiment — but he'd gone to school with a fair number of Tommys and Billys and Henrys and Bens. ]
Were they very much alike? I knew a few sets of twins at Camp and it seemed to vary.
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Well, they sound really cool. And because they had you for a mom, I can see them being both of those things. Happy and brave, I mean.
Are they back home? And your husband ... that's Matt?
[ Aka his fake dad in those godly memories? ]
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and because it's percy, perhaps wanda isn't so quick to pull away from answering them. )
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Like, he can be one, depending on the god who wants to cream him into the ground that week, but he means well. And Wanda … he doesn’t want her to hurt, being reminded of such things. ]
Oh, wow, Wanda, I’m really sorry. I feel like I just stepped into some real deep waters, and like, we can totally stop if you don’t feel like telling me anything else. And feel free to ask me anything, I feel like I owe you that much at least.
But yeah, I do want to hear about the war on your world. I might know a thing or two about wars.
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( she starts, at his blatant panic and wanting to fill her head up with apologies for taking a misstep in the conversation. none of what happened is anyone's fault. )
( —but, perhaps unsurprisingly, this kind of conversation wears her out emotionally. )
wrapped! 🎀
Well, any time you wanna tell me good things about your kids, I’d like to hear about them.
[ Obviously it’s up to her when and if she even does, and he’d be happy to hear about it. He wonders if maybe his mom goes around talking about him the same way too sometimes. Good things, happy things — the stuff that don’t involve monsters and gods and how many times Percy had come close to dying. ]
We can talk later, I hope.
[ You know, if this conversation didn’t like ... totally weird her out and change her mind about him in the end. ]
🎀