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"But why are monsters hunting us?" Percy asked. "What did we do to them?" He couldn't imagine what he'd done to the Minotaur to incur that kind of wrath.
Grover looked more uncomfortable than usual when he said, "Well, you know about Cake?"
Percy stared blankly at his best friend. "You mean, like, wedding cake? Birthday cake?"
"N-no. I mean like, capital C Cake." Grover shuffled his feet. He looked like he'd rather be anywhere but here, explaining this to Percy. "Most people are Plates but some are Forks and some are Cakes?"
Percy suddenly understood but a part of him rejected this so vehemently that it felt like a physical reaction. He couldn't keep it out of his voice. "You're telling me I'm Cake?"
Grover shook his head. "No, no. I'm telling you that to monsters, all demigods are like Cake regardless of whether you actually are or not. You could be a Plate or a Fork to everyone else but to a monster, you'll always smell and taste like Cake."
Percy couldn't believe what he was hearing. It both terrified him and made him angry. The bite scar the Minotaur left on Percy's shoulder ached keenly and Percy's whole body broke out in cold sweats. "Grover, what do I do?"
Grover gave him a pitying look. "Try not to get eaten."
With a twist of the wrist, Luke disarmed Percy and sent his sword clattering to the forest floor. "Alright, let's take a break," Luke said.
Was that disappointment Percy heard in Luke's voice? Luke was the one person here that Percy didn't want to disappoint. Luke was so cool and he had so much faith in Percy's swordfighting abilities that every time Percy failed, it felt catastrophic even though Luke never blew up at him for it and just ran through the lesson again, correcting Percy's mistakes with saint-like patience. That's not to say Percy wasn't covered in cuts and bruises, because he was, but it was from his own dumb mistakes, not because Luke was punishing him for being a bad student.
Percy sat next to Luke on their favorite boulder. When he sat next to Luke they were the same height. He normally liked that. It made him feel older and closer to being on Luke's level. But today Percy just felt…bad. "Luke, why are you even bothering with me?"
Luke didn't hesitate. "It's important for you to be able to defend yourself from the things that want to eat you."
Percy noticed that Luke didn't say monsters but things. Was he including Forks when he said things? Well, it wasn't like Luke was wrong if Percy turned out to be a Cake. He chewed on that for a while, and wondered which Luke was.
Statistically, Luke was likely to be a Plate. 99% of the world's population was. But there were 6.6 billion people in the world, which meant there were 60 million Forks and Cakes. Which was a whole city's worth of people. Multiple cities, even. But the thing was, you couldn't tell who was a Fork and who was a Cake until puberty; and that went both ways. Children didn't present as a Cake, a Fork, or a Plate until puberty and they couldn't identify a Cake from a Fork from a Plate.
Am I old enough to tell yet?
Percy breathed in through his nose. He cocked his head. Luke smelled really good, like hot candle wax and leather. Percy didn't think that had anything to do with whether Luke was a Cake or a Fork.
"That's my demigod scent," Luke explained because of course he noticed right away. Was Percy really that transparent? "All demigods have a unique one. It's how we identify each other."
Percy chewed on his cheek while he talked himself out of suicide. When he was fairly sure he wouldn't kill himself later, he thought about what Luke said. In the mortal world scents didn't matter so much; except people tended to stay away from and mock those who smelled really bad and tended to like those who smelled really good. Then there were the Cakes, but apparently only Forks could smell them and they smelled like, well, cake. The thought made Percy's mouth water. He's always liked cake. Like the dessert.
"Your demigod scent is saltwater and candy," Luke said when Percy didn't reply. He always did that, filled in Percy's silences. This made it as easy to be around Luke as it was embarrassing.
Percy cocked his head. "Candy?" He wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. It was too close to cake. Did this mean that when he reached puberty, he was going to present as Cake? Something inside of Percy snarled at the thought.
Luke nodded. He smiled and rubbed Percy's head. "Don't worry, kid. Your demigod scent doesn't have anything to do with how you're going to present. Winding up as Cake is rare."
"Being a demigod is rare too, isn't it?" Percy said, and it wasn't quite a question. There were hundreds of campers at Camp Half-Blood, all of them demigods. And to monsters, all of them were Cake just waiting to be eaten. The only difference between being a demigod and being Cake was that it increased the number of monsters by adding in Forks to the equation of things that wanted to eat you. It didn't matter what Percy presented as, did it?
Luke slid an arm around Percy's shoulders. "There's enough to worry about right now without borrowing trouble from the future, Percy."
Percy leaned against Luke and tried to put it from his mind. He breathed in Luke's demigod scent, rolled it around on his tongue, broke it down, and asked, "Do you know what kind of wax is in your scent?"
"No," Luke sounded wary. "Why do you ask?"
"It smells kind of sweet."
Percy felt Luke's heart skip a beat and then beat faster.
"Luke?"
"Time to get back to work," Luke said, getting up and picking up his sword. "Let's see what you can do."
Luke said something accidentally sexy to Percy that made Percy want to bite him.
Percy wanted to bite Luke so bad his teeth ached and Percy felt his heartbeat throbbing in the roots of his teeth. His mouth watered, his heart beat hard against his chest. He licked his lips and tasted Luke's demigod scent on the roof of his mouth.
It was a hot summer night, especially with the fireworks, and Luke was sweating. His demigod scent was strong. Percy told himself that's why it felt like he was scenting Luke for the first time that night. The hot candle wax was beeswax sweet and the leather scent held faint vanilla notes.
Percy licked his lips again. He liked how Luke smelled, even though it made his stomach feel like it was growing fangs with hunger. What a weird feeling. Percy didn't realize that he was moving toward Luke until he walked into Luke's chest.
Luke abruptly stopped talking. "Um, Percy?"
Percy blinked, not sure how he wound up here. He wanted to bury his face against Luke's chest. His teeth ached. His stomach gnawed with hunger. Luke smelled so nice. "S-sorry." Percy looked up at Luke.
Luke's eyes were cerulean blue. They practically glowed when his face turned red as a tomato. "It's alright. Does this mean you want to come with me?"
Oh, maybe I should have been listening to what else he was saying, Percy thought. He'd been so caught up in the fantasy of biting and the thoughts that came after the thought of biting Luke, that Percy had completely tuned Luke out. "Where are we going?"
"Anywhere away from Camp Half-Blood," Luke said, a slow smile lighting up his face. He rested his hands on Percy's shoulders.
Percy wasn't so sure he wanted to leave Camp Half-Blood, but his desire to be close to Luke was stronger than his reservations about leaving. Luke was touching him and Percy very much wanted to touch Luke too. He didn't know where he was allowed to touch though, and placed his hands on Luke's sides. Percy felt Luke's ribs beneath the thin material of Luke's Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and flexed his fingers reflexively.
Luke looked intently at Percy. "Percy," he said voice low and serious. "What do you want?"
Percy got trapped in Luke's mesmerizing blue eyes. Cerulean was one of those pretty colors that looked like it would taste sweet as frosting on a cupcake . "I just want to b-b- " - he almost said bite - " -be with you, Luke."
Luke's hands slid up either side of Percy's neck. He was so strong and being so deliberately careful with how he handled Percy, that all Percy could think was that Luke could snap Percy's neck easy as breathing. "Is that true?"
It didn't occur to Percy that Luke might not believe him. He blinked, confused, and curled his fingers into Luke's shirt in case Luke decided to try to leave without him. Percy wouldn't be able to handle it if Luke left without him. It would destroy him. "Yes."
When Luke tilted his head it gave the impression of a bird. His gaze slid off of Percy, and his hands went limp. Luke suddenly looked bored.
A jolt of alarm shot through Percy. Luke was testing him somehow, and Percy was failing. He put his hands over Luke's, turned his head to nuzzle Luke's palm. Luke's skin smelled good, like a burst of sweetness over Percy's tongue. It made Percy's mouth fill with saliva and his fanged stomach clench.
"I don't know if I can trust you," Luke said, looking at Percy through his lashes.
"You can," Percy said, lips against Luke's palm. His heart pounded so hard Percy felt it in his entire body. He felt warm and almost dizzy. Distantly Percy was aware of his mouth moving and himself saying, "I won't bite you, Luke."
"Percy -" Luke's voice was sharp. He never took that kind of tone with Percy.
Percy's tongue was already pressed to Luke's palm. He tasted the sweat on Luke's skin and was reminded of vanilla cake soaked in honey. Luke tasted so good that Percy's whole face went burning hot with a flush of pleasure. "I just wanna taste," Percy said, and didn't recognize his own voice.
Luke cursed under his breath, "oh fuck" and repeated it until the words sounded less like a curse and more like a prayer. He watched Percy lick his palm, unblinking and stiff with tension, until finally Luke said, "We need to leave now." He pulled his hand away.
Percy was more upset by this than he wanted to admit. He had the taste of Luke's skin in his mouth now - perfect sweet honey vanilla cake of it - and Percy wanted more so bad it made his stomach growl. But he sensed Luke was in a better mood and that somehow Percy had passed the test, so he didn't complain.
And when Luke opened up a portal leading to somewhere outside of Camp Half-Blood, Percy obediently went through it.
"Luke, I'm losing my sense of taste." Percy licked a long stripe up Luke's leg. He loved how Luke's skin and sweat tasted sweet as honey vanilla cake. His teeth throbbed with the desire to bite and Percy very gently took a mouthful of Luke's thigh between his teeth.
"What do I taste like to you?" Luke asked.
Percy didn't want to answer. He resisted the urge to begin chewing Luke's flesh and instead made himself let go entirely. He crawled up between Luke's legs, trailing kisses up Luke's abdomen and chest. "Vanilla cake soaked in honey," Percy answered with his lips pressed to the throbbing vein in Luke's neck.
"Then you're not losing your sense of taste," Luke said stubbornly. He cupped Percy's face in both hands, pulling him up for a kiss. Luke coaxed Percy's tongue into his mouth.
To be fair, it didn't take a lot of coaxing. Percy was always happy to dip into Luke's cake sweet mouth. Tasting Luke was the only time Percy got to taste any flavor at all anymore, except for the spiciest of spices. And even now Percy could tell those were beginning to lose their flavor. But the worst part, the part no one ever talked about, was how Percy was also losing parts of his sense of smell with his sense of taste.
Luke was a beacon in an increasingly dark world.
Percy never had trouble tasting and smelling Luke. In fact, Luke's scent was so strong that Percy was often shocked that no one else noticed, that no one else felt the need to get close to Luke and bury their face in him like Percy did. And Luke's taste? So incredible, so delicious that he made everything else taste like paper. Percy was always so sad when he went from tasting sweet Luke to eating another bland meal.
Percy didn't let himself think about what this meant and Luke danced around the topic himself. It was like if they avoided it, they could pretend like they weren't both waiting for the worst to happen.
Alright, who was Percy kidding? They weren't really pretending. After all, Luke wouldn't put his tongue in Percy's mouth.
Percy's teeth scraped Luke's lip and he tasted the bitter cherry flavor of Luke's blood. He whined, tongue pressing against the scrape to squeeze out more blood. His hips thrust forward, cock rubbing against Luke's firm thigh. Luke had such sexy, delectable legs. Percy wanted to pound them until the muscles were tender. He pushed his tongue back into Luke's mouth, tasted cake and cherries together and moaned. So good.
Luke echoed Percy's moan. He took Percy by the hips, repositioning him so that Percy's butt was flush to Luke's hips. Luke's cock was hard and hot against Percy's skin. He pressed the head of his cock against Percy's rim and eased inside of him.
Percy loved the feeling of being full of Luke's cock. He was getting all of his favorite parts of Luke all at the same time and it was a divine experience every time. And yet…Percy still fantasied about tearing pieces off of Luke. He ground his teeth together, trying to ease the throbbing need to bite Luke.
Luke peppered kisses all over Percy's cheeks. "Good boy, Percy," Luke said softly.
Luke's breath smelled so sweet it made Percy's stomach growl. His appetites kept getting twisted up. He licked his lips as Luke kissed Percy's mouth, swiping his tongue over Luke's plump lips. Luke tasted like the vanilla frosting on a cake. Percy grazed his front teeth over Luke's soft bottom lip and decided to bite him. Percy turned his head and clamped his jaws shut so hard his teeth audibly clacked.
Gods.
"You've got this," Luke said, voice quiet but full of misplaced conviction. His lips were misplaced too, pressed against the corner of Percy's mouth.
Did he?
As they walked past a mortal on the Princess Andromeda, Percy smelled strawberry cake with strawberry icing. He stopped, turning towards the person, taking deep breaths through his nose and mouth to be certain.
Yes! That person smelled like cake! Delicious, mouthwatering cake.
"Percy?" Luke called.
The entire party halted, waiting on Percy. Luke was watching him. His cerulean blue eyes gave away nothing but Percy sensed that there was a test here.
Percy forced himself to keep walking. But he took note of the passenger's appearance…and he had their scent memorized. He joined Luke at the head of the party, slipping an arm around Luke so that he could breathe in Luke's heavenly scent of honey soaked vanilla cake. His stomach seemed to grow teeth but for the first time Percy found himself craving strawberry cake.
Before Percy could satisfy his cravings, there were meetings. The Titan Army took its plans very seriously and held so many boring strategy meetings. Percy didn't care about any of it and surprisingly they let him not care about it. All Percy had to do was train with Luke and go into battle when they told him to; and battle hadn't happened more than once.
Camp Half-Blood had made it extremely clear what they thought about Percy when they tried to kill him for real. Percy should have expected it, but somehow it had caught him off guard because he'd been trying to spare them. Non-lethal hits. The hit Percy took had nearly decapitated him.
Thankfully Luke had been there to get Percy into the water, and it saved Percy's life.
Luke was a good person. It really highlighted what a bad person Percy was. No matter how hard Percy tried, he couldn't be as good as Luke. Luke got along with everyone, even monsters. Luke was kind and thoughtful. Luke loved Percy even though Percy…was Percy.
And hated meetings.
Percy hated meals too. After meetings they went to dinner. Percy let Luke fix his plate because it made Luke happy and Luke knew what Percy tolerated the best.
Now that everything tasted like paper, Percy enjoyed foods only for their texture. He liked crunchy foods, like uncooked carrots, peppers, nuts, and potato chips. Soft foods were mostly misses like mashed potatoes, jello, and pasta, but ice cream was alright. Meat was a hard no. Luke often struggled to keep Percy healthy, especially since even though Percy enjoyed crunchy foods more than soft foods, he didn't actually enjoy eating at all. It was a terrible chore every time he had to do it because, again, paper did not taste good.
And there was no spice, sauce, or broth that could be put on it that could give Percy's food flavor. Even beverages were tasteless to Percy. He couldn't tell wine from water. Although, unfortunately, he could still get drunk off alcohol whether he could taste it or not. Some people would say that's a good thing, but to Percy it just meant he could be roofied easier than your average person. Not that anyone's tried so far, but Percy wouldn't put it past Luke if Luke ever felt…threatened.
But after dinner came dessert, and that was significantly better. Not that Percy would ever refer to having sex with Luke as dessert out loud. But in his mind that's what it was, and not just because Percy got to lick Luke from head to toe.
Well, alright, that was mostly the reason why. Luke was Percy's sweet, delicious dessert. He was the one flavor that Percy got to enjoy over and over. Every part of him tasted so good it made Percy drool, made Percy go crazy with the desire to consume Luke. He wanted to bite Luke. He wanted to eat his Cake and finally know just how sweet his beloved's flesh tasted.
Luke was so trusting. He let Percy kiss him, let Percy lick him, let Percy taste him. Percy's tasted Luke's vanilla cake sweat and sugar tears. He knew the sour cherry of Luke's blood and the sweet honey of Luke's cum. Luke's been close to death hundreds of times and Percy's held himself back by the thinnest of threads. One day the thread was going to snap and Percy was going to…
Luke was too trusting.
How could he sleep beside Percy every night? How could he have Percy's mouth all over his body, watch Percy tremble with the effort to control himself, and then trust Percy enough to sleep next to him?
Percy ran his hands over his face. He was so hungry. He wanted flavors so bad. He wanted Cake so bad. Percy looked at his beloved Luke and his stomach growled painfully. He reached out, brushed his knuckles against Luke's cheek. Luke's scent overwhelmed him as always, filled Percy's senses with honey soaked vanilla cake.
But Percy's mind brought forth another scent, another memory; he tasted a burst of strawberry cake over his tongue. Percy climbed out of bed, careful and slow, trying not to wake Luke. He thought he succeeded and tiptoed to get his boots, but heard a voice behind him.
"Where are you going, baby?"
Percy didn't turn around. He didn't say anything for a long time, unsure of what to say. Finally he swallowed and said, "Just getting something to eat."
The silence was heavy.
Just when Percy thought Luke wasn't going to respond, Luke said, "Come back to bed when you're done."
Percy's throat threatened to close with emotion. "Alright."
Percy found the strawberry Cake by scent. It was strangely easy to track them through the Princess Andromeda, like a hunting dog following its prey. Percy broke the lock on the door and went into the room. He closed the door behind him so that no one would disturb him. He was so fucking hungry.
The strawberry Cake tasted like strawberries all the way through. Percy tore its throat out with his teeth and began to eat. It tasted so good. He tore its wrapper off to get to the meatier parts and ate until he was full.
Percy sat on the floor, his back to the bed. His arms were red up to the elbow and there was red from his knees to his neck. A peek at the bed showed that he really made a mess. Percy touched his hair and there were stiff parts in it from dried viscera. So Percy went a little overboard. Was it really a surprise? He'd been holding this in for years.
Percy sighed and rubbed his aching belly. He really ate too much. He sat on the floor for a while longer before deciding that he needed to take a shower before returning to Luke.
Percy hauled himself up and went into the en suite bathroom. It wasn't very big and the shower was even tinier, but it would work. Percy washed himself and his clothes off. He was still a son of Poseidon so when he was clean, he willed himself and his clothes dry. Percy walked out into the bedroom.
There was someone else in the room.
Percy and the newcomer stared at each other.
"I'll take care of this. You should go back to Luke," the newcomer said. He flashed Percy a charming smile. His demigod scent said he was a son of Aphrodite.
Percy shrugged and went back to Luke. The closer he got to their room the more nervous Percy became. If Aiden was there, it meant that Luke knew what Percy did. How was Luke going to react? What if he didn't want Percy anymore? What if he finally realized that Percy was dangerous?
Percy slipped into their room and took off his boots. He climbed into bed and over Luke to take his place between Luke and the wall. Percy laid with his back to Luke, facing the wall, and waited, trying not to be nervous.
Luke rolled over and wrapped his arms around Percy. This was normal. He was always the big spoon. "I put your Cake on ice," Luke said, and kissed the shell of Percy's ear.
Percy blinked. Did that mean what he thought it did? It would make sense with what he saw as he was leaving. "Thank you?" Percy whispered. "Is that something I should say thank you for?"
Luke sighed. "Yes."
"Luke?"
"What, Percy?" Luke asked, sounding tired.
Percy hesitated. He didn't want to upset Luke but he thought maybe they needed to have this conversation, that this conversation was actually way overdue. "I think we need to talk about it."
"Talk about what?"
Percy tried to roll over and found that he couldn't. Luke was stopping him from moving, holding him Percy place. He just wanted to see Luke's face…at least that's what Percy told himself. "I'm a Fork. But more importantly, you're a Cake."
Luke said nothing.
Percy waited.
And still Luke said nothing.
"We have to talk about it sometime, Luke."
"Do we?" Luke asked very quietly.
"Yes!" Percy exclaimed.
"Why?"
Percy couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was Luke drunk? Luke's breath didn't smell like alcohol but that didn't necessarily mean anything. "Because I'll hurt you!"
"But you haven't," Luke said calmly. As if that meant anything at all.
"But I want to!" Percy confessed for the first time. The words tasted bitter on his tongue, and tainted the air.
Luke rubbed his cheek against the back of Percy's head. "I don't think you want to as much as you think you do. Otherwise you would have."
"Luke, you have no idea how hard it is to control myself. You're…you're always on the knife's edge of being hurt. Or worse," Percy said desperately, trying to make Luke understand. He wanted very much to devour Luke like he'd devoured the strawberry Cake; it was just that if he did that then there would be no more Luke. That was all that was holding Percy back and what if one day the scales stopped and Percy decided that he could live in a world without Luke if it meant getting to eat Luke?
Luke put his hand over Percy's mouth. "I do know, Percy," he said and slid two fingers into Percy's mouth. "I watch you constantly. I see how hard it is for you to go against your nature."
Luke's fingers tasted absolutely delicious, a familiar sweetness that Percy honestly missed after all the new strawberry cake. Percy wasn't at all hungry, but he sucked on Luke's fingers, enjoying the taste of Luke's skin. He ran his tongue along Luke's fingers, tracing the lines and scars. Scars had a unique taste, tart and sweet like candied lemon.
Luke watched Percy through half-lided eyes. He whispered in Percy's ear, "See what a good boy you're being, Percy?"
A jolt of surprise went through Percy. He suddenly realized that Luke's fingers were in his mouth. Luke never put any part of his anatomy in Percy's mouth; he was too cautious. And Percy never pushed the issue because Percy didn't trust himself not to bite. As mentioned, Percy couldn't bite Luke because there was only one Luke and Percy loved him too much to eat him.
Percy pulled Luke's fingers from his mouth. "You can't do that whenever you feel like it," he warned.
Luke popped his wet fingers into his mouth.
Percy rolled over quick as a crocodile to stare at Luke.
Luke hummed. "I just wanted to see," he said, taking his fingers from his mouth. He pressed them to Percy's lips.
Percy opened his mouth. He couldn't say no to tasting Luke, especially not to this rare opportunity to have Luke's anatomy in his mouth. He ran his tongue over Luke's two fingers, licking the flavor off and memorizing how they felt in his mouth.
"What do I taste like?" Luke whispered.
Percy's face warmed with a blush. "Haven't I told you before?"
"We weren't talking about it before," Luke replied.
Percy's ears began to burn with the heat of his blush. "Vanilla cake soaked in honey." Percy felt like he was going to die confessing that much and yet felt like there was still more to say. "It reminds me of spring and…weddings. Even though I've never been to a wedding." Then he ducked his head and went back to sucking on Luke's fingers so that he wouldn't have to look at Luke after that confession.
Their room was dark but Percy's night vision saw Luke's cheeks color red with a blush. Luke stroked the back of Percy's head with his free hand, fingers moving over Percy's curls. He said, "We should change that."
Percy shot Luke a curious look but Luke didn't elaborate…and Percy was so comfortable that he fell asleep.
Percy stocked the freezer with more Cakes. They were all different flavors and Percy enjoyed each of their flavors…although none were as good as Luke. He made sure to tell Luke this each time he killed another Cake. "Caramel and chocolate cake with hints of coconut. It didn't taste as good as you, Luke," Percy reported with his mouth on Luke's neck. He'd just eaten so he was allowed to have his teeth touching Luke's neck in a light mockery of a bite.
Percy's favorite method of killing Cakes was still going for the throat, ripping it out with his teeth - and Luke knew it too - so this was particularly foolish of Luke to do. More misplaced trust. It made Percy shake and his mouth water…even though he wasn't even hungry. He licked the sweetest, familiar flavor of honey soaked vanilla cake from Luke's skin. Percy's been enjoying the taste of Luke for so many years now that he thought if he had to give Luke up - because he accidentally killed Luke or someone else killed Luke - then Percy would kill himself. If he never got to taste Luke again, then Percy didn't want to live in the world anymore. This was surprisingly strong demotivation when it came to biting Luke.
Percy still thought Luke was taking a stupid risk.
Luke had both hands on Percy's neck, rubbing along the length of it with both thumbs. Even though Percy's grown so much since they left Camp Half-Blood years ago, he's still not as strong as Luke or as fast. Luke could still snap Percy's neck in a heartbeat if he wanted to…probably before Percy could even fully tear Luke's throat out. He was really that fast.
Luke hummed in his throat and said, "I want to marry you."
Percy felt the vibrations of it in his teeth. He released Luke and propped himself up on his elbows. "You can't marry me because I said you taste like wedding cake." Even if it was true.
Luke looked affronted. "I wouldn't marry you because of a pun."
Percy wasn't sure if he believed that. Luke wasn't right in the head.
Now that he was older, Percy knew more about the world and about Forks and Cakes. Most Cakes didn't want to be eaten. All of the Cakes Percy killed who realized what was happening to them had panicked and tried to fight him off. Some were even prepared for a fight.
It turned out that not all Cakes knew that they were Cake, because they couldn't smell themselves. Only a Fork could smell a Cake. Which explained why Percy was able to sneak up on so many and kill them so easily; they didn't know they had anything to be afraid of until his teeth were already buried in their flesh. But Luke knew, not only because all demigods were Cake to monsters but because he's run into Forks before. What they didn't know was that Luke killed monsters all the time…and what were mere mortal Forks to a monster slayer?
No Cake who knew they were Cake should be willingly spending this much time with a Fork.
Percy had asked, once, when he was young if there were any demigods who were Forks at Camp Half-Blood. It had to be harder when it was demigods who turned out to be Forks. Luke had made an expression that Percy couldn't name, only knew was terrible, and said in a voice void of emotion, "No. Sometimes Forks pop up, but they don't stay long." Nothing about Luke's voice or body language invited more questions, so Percy never asked any more questions.
Percy had the feeling that Luke was what happened to the Forks who showed up at Camp Half-Blood.
And Luke especially shouldn't have wanted to spend time with Percy. It went against everything that Luke's ever done. But for some reason, that was the case. Out of everyone, Luke chose Percy. Even though Percy was damaged beyond repair, even though Percy was like this.
Luke could happen to him too. If Percy ever lost control of himself, it wouldn't matter how much Luke loved him; Luke would put him down. To his surprise, Percy found the thought comforting.
"I'll marry you," Percy decided.
"Oh, good," Luke said, smiling. He pulled Percy down for a kiss. When they parted, Luke said, "I've already decided on what kind of wedding cake to have."
Percy had a sneaking suspicion he knew what Luke was going to say. "What kind?"
Luke's smile turned wicked. He looked downright evil. That look was kind of doing it for Percy. "Honey soaked vanilla."
"You're going to eat yourself…in cake form?" Percy asked, feeling both repulsed and delighted by the idea. It was almost like auto-cannibalism. The thought of Luke tasting himself - and doing it in front of a crowd of their closest friends and family - was so sexy that Percy shivered with it.
"I want to know what you're tasting," Luke admitted. His cheeks were pink with a blush. He was only a little embarrassed then. Cute. "And it feels, I don't know, symbolic or something." The pink blush darkened into red.
Percy leaned down and kissed Luke's cheek. His skin was warm against Percy's lips. "I don't know about symbolic, but it is sexy."
Luke laughed. "Close enough."