Chapter Text
Sam watched as Percy strode out from their hiding spot, and struggled with the urge to pull the teen back by the scruff of his blue hoodie.
It was an established part of the plan, of course- but that didn't make him feel any better about sending a teen out into the lions den. Those things— the 'Cyclopes', aparently, looked nasty as all hell. They were fleshy, and the biggest one was at least 10 feet tall. They were clothed, thank god. Lord knows that most of the monsters he and Dean dealt with didn't usually give them the grace of covering up their bits.
It had been hard to look at them, at first. Sam almost could have mistaken them for run of the mill tall, really ugly people, but looking at them gave him that same staticky sensation that he'd felt back in the diner. He knew there was something off about what he was looking at, but it was giving him a headache.
So he had let Percy handle the actual recon, and instead focused on the things he could observe without worrying about his brain dripping out of his ears.
His gaze followed the distant shadows of Annabeth and Dean as they made their way up to the catwalks, and then looked down the children as they were hoisted up. He listened to the conversation, though, eyebrows raising as he cataloged a few strange things. He'd ask about what he could after the rescue, but now really wasn't the time.
Dean must have been having the same staticky issue as he was, because after a moment, he saw his brother poke Annabeth and whisper a complaint, grimacing. Her shoulders hiked briefly in apology, and then she did something with her hands that made the static go away.
Sam had sighed softly in relief, but the moment was short lived.
When he turned back to see the monsters, he saw them in all of their ugly, fleshy, chainmail and fiberglass insulation-clothed glory.
And now, he watched as Percy sidled up to one of the smaller cyclopes with utter nonchalance, his hands in his hoodie pockets and his dark hair just as windswept as it had been all day.
Sam couldn't remember ever approaching a monster like that before. Dad would have torn him a new one, if he had. Or Dean would have. But Dean was also probably lamenting that he couldn't get away with the kind of smartassery that Percy was probably about to pull.
"Sucks to hear about the grill rub, Sump." Percy said, feigning a commiserating tone. Sam had the distinct feeling that if it weren't dangerous (and ridiculously gross), Percy would also be patting the monster's back to sell it.
Sump, for his part, sighed deeply, eybrow furrowed over his singular, bloodshot eye while he watched the other two cyclopes finish loading up the fire-to-be with wooden boards and broken pallets. Sam openly gaped as the monster spared Percy half a glance, looked away, and then nodded sadly to itself.
"Thank you, Perseus Jackson. I will have to get some more."
Sam's brows furrowed at the familiar name. Hadn't the monsters mentioned it just a few minutes ago? Percy nodded along, and his eyebrows rose with mischief as the two fell into an oddly companionable silence. The teen even shot Sam a look, as if to ask him 'can you fucking believe this?'
And no, Sam could not believe it.
"You know, I didn't know they sold that kind of thing. How'd that start, with Geryon still being in Tartarus and all?" Percy commented idly, like it was perfectly normal to be making small talk with 'Sump' about grill rubs instead of just killing him already.
"Eurytion said they aren't allowed to sell the sun cows anymore." Sump shrugged, obviously still put out. "He said something about branching out to make a profit. I wanted one of those sun cows… but at least the rub still goes good on demigods."
"But the products still have Geryon's name on them?" Percy questioned, actually looking a bit interested.
"Bah! Everyone knows branding is everything, little demigod!" The biggest Cyclops cackled after a moment, before freezing in realization from where she had been about to throw another pallet onto the pile.
Sam paled as all three monsters turned to the teen. He did not feel any better when Percy's grin became sharklike and sharp, like he'd gotten exactly what he wanted.