Rising Shadows

Percy watched as Emily jumped up and down, trying to reach a small box of gears on the top shelf. He knew that no amount of jumping would get her what she wanted, but he had to admit that it was adorable watching her try. She always got so excited when she was working in her lab, and Percy felt that the place he saw her most alive was in her lab, working on her inventions. Eventually, Percy started to feel a little bad for her, stepping forward. She gasped softly in surprise when he suddenly picked her up like she weighed nothing and perched her up on his shoulder, just at the right height to get what she wanted. She looked down at him and grinned as she picked the box up off the shelf, giving him a quick peck on the nose as he put her down.

"It's getting late, don't you think?" he asked, as she hurried off to take the gears to the table she was working at.

Tools and parts surrounded the machine Emily had created, though it was impossible to tell what the bronze contraption was yet. She liked to tell Percy that it was going to be a "brilliant surprise". Until Percy found out what was so "brilliant" about it, it just looked like a piece of junk to him, though he knew better than to doubt Emily's abilities.

"I'm just going to finish this one last- OW!"

Percy frowned as she jumped, having had her finger pinched between two parts of the machine. She pouted and looked at the finger, then at Percy as he laughed. He took her hand and held it between his own, leaning over to press a kiss to her forehead.

"See? You've been working since before the sun came up," he said. "You're tired. Don't worry, it will all still be here tomorrow."

"You'll guard it for me?" she asked with a grin.

"With my life," he chuckled.

Emily laughed softly and reached up to pull herself up slightly, running her fingers back through Percy's thick, black hair. Ever since he'd been working with Emily and making a steady living for himself, he'd also made a point of looking like someone a person of Emily's social status wanted to be seen with, rather than a gutter rat. Besides, those beggar days were long behind him. They died with his father.

"I like it when you comb your hair back like that," she told him softly. "I normally don't like the grease and slime, but your hair isn't greasy at all. And it's out of your face, so I can see it better. That handsome face."

"Then I'll remember to wear it like this every day," Percy said, bending down to pull her into a deep kiss.

She giggled softly as his hands moved down on her waist slightly, putting one arm around his neck and using her free arm to move his hand up when it got a little too low, back on the small of her back.

"Stop that," she chided softly. "You know we're not the only ones who use this lab. Anyone could walk in."

As if to make her point, they both jumped as a box was dropped on a table, turning to see that Emily's older brother, Teddy, was standing there with an incredibly annoyed look on his face. Percy and Emily sprang apart and Percy awkwardly looked down at his feet, always having had trouble with Emily's two older brothers. They seemed to look at him like he was a bug that needed to be stepped on.

"Hello," Emily said softly, blushing. "I thought you'd gone home for the night."

"I had to drop something off," he muttered slowly, his gaze not once leaving Percy. "Do you have any idea what time it is, Em?"

Emily just stared at him, blinking a few times before glancing out the window and noticing it was dark outside.

"Oh!" she squeaked. "I'd completely forgotten about Georgina's party. Well, I guess it's quite a shame that I can't go. I wouldn't want to show up late, after all. It's much better if I just don't go at all."

She ducked behind Percy, and he shrunk back a bit, stepping to the side. She gave him a look as if to call him a traitor, sighing and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Fine, I'll go," she said. "But don't think you're getting off easy, Everett. You can polish 'The Greats' while I'm gone."

Percy wrinkled his nose as she pointed to the case where all of her greatest work, including the electrocution device, was put on display.

"Finn can help you," she added.

Now, she really knew how to get to Percy. He hadn't even noticed the meek young man with the glasses until Emily pointed him out. He'd been quietly standing there with a goofy smile on his face. Percy didn't particularly dislike Finnigan, but he couldn't really say he liked him either. To be frank, he always thought Finnigan looked up to him a little too much. They'd been working in this lab for a little over a year, and everyone had noticed a few things changing about Finn over time. He’d attempted to grow his hair out a little longer, though since it wasn’t nearly as thick or dark as Percy’s hair it just looked limp and thin. His choice of dress was a little more casual now, and he found that Finn never rolled his sleeves up to his elbows until he saw Percy doing it. On top of it all, he’d once come into the lab wearing a ridiculously large hat, which Emily forced him to remove. When he did so, they found that his right earlobe was swollen and red, because he’d supposedly tried to pierce it himself. While he never admitted to it, everyone knew by then that it was just Finn trying to copy the thin gold hoop Percy always wore in his right ear.

He sighed and looked at Emily, who had a smug grin on her face as she turned on her heel and left to go home and get ready for Georgina’s dinner party. Teddy left with her, eyeing Percy once more and nodding to Finn on his way out. Percy didn’t bother to acknowledge Finn until they were gone, but when he turned, he found that Finn was already unnecessarily close and grinning up at him like a small child. It almost felt that way, considering Percy was about a foot and a half taller than he was.

“Well, you heard her,” Percy said, handing him a cleaning rag. “Go on, then.”

“Didn’t she say it was a job for both of us?” Finnigan frowned.

“I’ll help you in just a minute, I just have some other things I need to do,” Percy lied. “Very important things.”

Finnigan blinked a couple times, then nodded, happily going off to do the work meant for both of them by himself. If there was one good thing that came from his obsession with Percy, it was that he believed Percy was some kind of deity and did everything he asked without question. Percy waited until his back was turned before slipping away and going up the stairs to the second floor of the lab, which had been converted into a cozy little place for Percy to live after he failed to find a house he truly felt comfortable in. They’d visited homes all over the place that all felt empty and eerie to Percy, and it had been Emily’s idea to convert the empty upstairs space into a place to live. Percy was a man who was always used to small spaces, so the small, but comfortable upstairs area was perfect.

His cat, Caesar, mewed softly and rubbed up against his leg when he came up, following him around in hopes of being given something to eat. The scruffy cat certainly wasn’t the tiny kitten Percy had first taken in, but he didn’t seem to know that. He playfully rolled around on the floor and pawed at Percy’s ankles in hopes of getting attention. Percy smirked and bent down to pet Caesar.

“Oh, grow up already,” he muttered.

He stood again and looked around, finding that the place was an absolute mess. Percy had never been the most organized or clean person. The bed was rarely ever made and his clothes were all over the floor and furniture, with random books lying around in odd places. Percy had been ashamed to admit he never received a proper education and didn’t learn to read until Emily taught him at twenty-years old, and over the last few years she was constantly teaching him more about reading and writing, bringing a massive stack of books to him once a month that she expected him to finish by the end of the month. While he was still a slow reader, there was no doubt that Emily had done a fantastic job in teaching him, especially since he couldn’t read a single word before she started and tended to be easily distracted while she taught him, which often led to him getting a smack to the back of the head to snap him back into reality. He was about halfway through Gulliver’s Travels, with some book about Aristotle’s teachings coming up next. He picked the book up off the floor and set it on the table, glancing around.

“Well, that’s enough cleaning for today, I think,” he muttered to himself.

He cringed when he suddenly heard a crash, running down the stairs two at a time to find that Finn had accidentally knocked over a large box of spare parts while cleaning, which probably could have been avoided if Percy had been helping. He sighed and got down on his hands and knees with a small wrench to fix and tighten broken parts as Finn put them away.

“That was an accident,” Finn said as they worked. “Normally, I don’t have a problem with carrying heavy things. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but, well…”

He pushed up his sleeve a little more and flexed proudly as if Percy was supposed to see something there. He chuckled and shook his head as he turned back to his work. Finn seemed to think Percy was laughing with him, rather than at him, and he beamed. Percy had been taller and overall bigger than most other people since he was fourteen, like his older brother and father. Like them, he’d always made sure to keep in shape, and his bicep alone was bigger in width than Finn’s entire head. Percy simply couldn’t imagine the man with any figure other than the short and stout one he sported, let alone Percy’s large frame.

A little while later, Emily returned to check on them, all dolled up in an elegant blue dress and pearls. She leaned down to kiss the top of Percy’s head where he was sitting on the floor, nodding to Finn.

“You look wonderful,” Percy told her.

“I’d rather be here with you,” she sighed, kneeling down next to him and looking at what they were working on. “What happened here?”

“I dropped it,” Percy lied, taking the hit for Finn. It was better to take that one than the one he would have gotten if he admitted to trying to leave Finn with all the work. Emily, however, saw right through his lie and gave him a look.

“What am I going to do with you?” she muttered, standing up again. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Finn, you can go home.”

Percy gave her a grateful half-smile, which she returned with a quick wink.

“As for you,” she said quietly to him, “We can discuss this when I return. Will you be waiting for me when I get back?”

“Always,” he promised her.

She grinned and bent down to kiss him again, waving to Finnigan before leaving. Percy watched her go, a little lost in thought with the smell of her perfume until Finn spoke again.

“So, when will you be marrying her?” Finn asked as he cleaned up the last of the parts and stood up.

“That’s stepping a little out of place, don’t you think?” Percy snapped, glaring at him.

Finn shrunk back, raising his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry. I will go now. Good evening, Percy.”

Percy let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding after Finn left, standing up and leaning against the table. Marriage. That really was something to think about.