Beer Run

This story is Fan Fiction even though I have used none of the characters and only one God from Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" Universe. There is at least one barely veiled reference to Camp Half-Blood and it's Director Dionysus. Enjoy the thrill of the Gods once more! And though it is only incidental and of no bearing to the story, the Protagonist is Non-Binary.

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Robin sat, balanced on the top of the bus stop bench, and watched the water slowly ooze out of and around the concrete sidewalk. They smiled a little as it flowed around the feet of their perch and tried to pile up around the iron to reach up to where they sat. One of the worst things about being a mortal demigod was when you genetically picked up traits from the divine half of your DNA.

As a child of the Greek God Poseidon, water loved Robin! It followed them everywhere. Slowly, inexorbitantly it would creep, flow, seep, ooze, or otherwise follow their very footsteps along the ground, loving every contact!

"This wouldn't be so bad," they thought, "If it ever stopped for five minutes." Robin took advantage of the distraction the iron bench legs were giving the rising water and jumped onto the seats, ran a step, and launched themselves up to the brick retaining wall running beside the street. They had become an expert at parkour long before it had gotten a name and publicity! A few blocks spent leaping from stone to stone and quickly across the streets got them much closer to Tibbit's Grocery.

As always happened when they got too near the ocean, the humidity increased as the droplets congealed right out of the air around them. Rain was bearable but there were no barriers against condensation! That was why it had been such a disaster the time they had tried to go visit kin and seek their help. Poseidon had told Robin of a half brother living at a special camp for demigod youth in New York. When they arrived, the Atlantic Ocean was so overjoyed to have them close that it rained, and seeped up, and waves rolled in till the camp was flooded by Suppertime and Dionysus had made Robin leave.

Robin finally slowed their erratic sprint a half a block from the front of their favorite Mom and Pop general store. The Tibbits had run a store of some sort here for generations and they were very fond of the family. Even when Robin was traveling abroad they managed to make it here every year on Father's Day. Yes, Robin had a good relationship with their father. Robin was aware that Poseidon had many children he rarely if ever even acknowledged and it made a warm, comforting feeling in their heart despite the rain.

Sure of at least five minutes before the water started gathering up out front of the store, Robin sauntered through the glass front door and gave a wide smile to the old man behind the counter.

"Happy Father's Day, Mr. Tibbit. Fine weather we seem to be having today!"

"It surely is," the old man responded. "It hasn't rained here in weeks and we were all getting a little parched. How you swimming along?"

"Oh, about the usual; staying one step ahead of all my troubles! Can you get me a case of your best Belgian lager, please?"

"So you and your Pa still keeping the tradition up, huh?" He smiled fondly at Robin to show it was affection and not nosiness that made him ask. Robin smiled back and winked. "Well that was too interesting a day to forget. It's always worth it to come down and spend an evening with the Old Man!" They dropped a generous handful of bills on the counter and hoisted the case of brown-glassed bottles to their shoulder. "I may be hanging around a while, Mr. Tibbit. See you again real soon!" and they were out the door and sloshing through no more than a few millimeters of water beginning to flow across the street.

Encumbered a bit by the weight and bulk of the box they carried, it would be more difficult to keep ahead of the water as they made their way, of all places, down to an old ramshackle beach house on the coast a half mile out of town! Sitting their load on another retaining wall Robin jumped up on it themselves and slipped out of the backpack. Pulling a thin nearly meter long board out of the pack, they then put the case of beer back in and zipped it shut. They stood, placing the pack once more on their back and smiled at yet another memory of the year's journeys they were eager to tell their Father about tonight!

Robin had been part of an expedition climbing Everest and K2 to clean up trash and recover the bodies of a couple of unfortunate mountaineers. At first they were delighted with how the water had often frozen solid long before it got anywhere near them. The snow around Robin was solid and could not move. Even what condensed from the breath of the folks in the climbing party froze and fell before reaching where they stood. At this altitude and temperature there was so little humidity they had been enjoying the sight of clear skies immensely!

As the flow of water building up grew, Robin lept off the wall and dropped the board under their feet to hit the water surfer style. Their balance was good and it was with practiced ease Robin used the forward push of the water chasing from behind to surf the leading edge of the wave! These were good moments when the adrenaline was high and the game was afoot!

The little town itself sat at the top of a rise of land which is why it had managed to survive on the coast for so long. This made it very easy for gravity to help Robin beat their pursuit and they pulled a wide right turn onto the beginning of the coast highway. Robin laughed as they picked up speed at someone in a lorry cursing them out for being so reckless in the intersection!

In the lowering light Robin could see the waves out in the ocean to their left were beginning to increase in size already. It was going to be a close thing to get to the safety of Poseidon's beach house before the road was completely flooded over! They squatted a little lower on their mini surf board more as wishful thinking than actually decreasing the wind resistance by an erg.

Just as they got to the place where the path cut off up to the house Robin flipped sideways and shoved the board into the mounting wave ahead and shot up and over its crest to land with practiced grace on the open veranda floor! Placing their short board in its wall rack, Robin slipped their backpack off and sat it on the small table beside an antique bottled drinks dispenser. Taking the case out of the pack, they quickly loaded the metal racks inside the cooler with twenty-two of the clinking brown bottles.

Robin then packed the remaining beers over to a side table with two chairs and put them in an ice bowl conveniently and freshly set out. They turned and leaned against the rail looking out over the ocean. The view always amazed Robin. Here the waves were commanded to stay in their place and the rain had been ordered to fall only at night. Robin always wondered what power went into this one little house where the water could not seep freely in. Though the illusion made it seem old and unkempt, they saw through that glamour to the plain but sturdy construction. It had been a gift to Robin from their father after the fiasco at the demigod camp. Here they could stop. Here they could relax for a good night's sleep without worry that the water would overcome them and literally love them to death.

It was but the matter of moments before Robin saw a disturbance in the waves and a gigantic pillar of water began to rise behind the breakers. It always took Robin's breath away in amazement as the huge humanoid figure emerged from the roiling waters and began to shrink, morphing as it came, until there was finally the figure of an old man, dressed in well-worn and slightly grubby rain gear, stepping foot on the land and striding up the beach to the house.

Shaking off the rain gear and hanging it on a convenient hook by the door, Poseidon gathered Robin up in a firm and loving hug. "Oh, welcome home child, welcome home!"

It always fascinated Robin that Poseidon manifested to them as several inches shorter than they were. "Happy Father's Day, Dad!" Breaking off the embrace with an extra tight hug Robin offered one of the brown bottles to their Divine parent.

"Here's to Beer!" Robin gave the familiar traditional toast as they flicked off the bottle caps and chinked the necks together. "Here's to Beer!" the old man replied and they threw back their heads and each took a hearty swig!