open!

[sophos]

Characters: Annabeth + open!
Date: end of may
Location: could be mostly any sector, tbh
Situation: various! two scenarios under the cut
Warnings/Rating: n/a will edit as/if necessary

i. {hellhounds and architecture}
[She doesn't mean to doze. It's kind of the opposite of her intentions. But last night was fitful sleep, and Mrs. O'Leary is comfortable. When the tiredness catches up with her, Annabeth's pencil slips from her hands to the ground, but the sketchbook stays in her lap, opened to a page of structural designs for some kind of building - arches, windows, pillars. The notes are scrawled in Ancient Greek, but there's clear influence from Keeliai, a mix from both the Water and Metal sectors. There's a stack of papers beside her weighed down by a knife, the top of which has a sketch of a domed ceiling.]

[Her head tilts back against the hellhound behind her; it wouldn't happen if she didn't feel safe, but the dog is wide awake and content to be used as a pillow, watching passersby silently. She's about the size of a rhino, big and black and intimidating, except for the way the teenager sleeps so easily against her.]

[One of the papers comes loose from under the knife, sliding partway across the ground with a light breeze. It shouldn't stray too far, but it doesn't look like Annabeth'll wake up for it.]

ii. {turtle baby}
[When Annabeth realized Captain Bobby Tennyson had chosen her as a new turtle parent, she was both thrilled and sad. The turtle could tell, of course, and she tried to explain as best she could, as much as she wanted to. It meant another of his parents were gone, and she missed seeing the turtle so much, but it's kind of depressing, to keep losing people like that.]

[She perches herself on his shell as he meanders through and away from the Metal sector, but she's pretty content to just spend time with the turtle for now, having known him technically since he was just an egg. Only he catches sight of some shiny statue and darts forward, quickly enough to leave her unprepared, and Annabeth slides off his shell. She catches her balance with a bit of a stumble, then jogs after him.]

Captain Bobby! [She's trying to be chastising, really. But it's hard to fault him for his curiosity.]

[He may just knock over that statue though, if he headbutts it like Annabeth thinks he will.]

Comments

ii

[strategisch]

[Armin had been spending a lot of time at Eshai Memorial recently, helping out a little by doing translation work between the workers and the Kedan. He yawned widely as he meandered in the general direction of home, having stayed at the hospital for a couple of days now and in need of a bath and fresh change of clothes.]

[However, his attention is diverted for a moment as he senses something... which is always a somewhat chilling event, as he is unused to any sort of preternatural feeling. But after he gets over the initial shock, it melts into something much happier, and he knows what's nearby. This has happened before after all.]

Captain? [He calls, turning around in a circle, to see if he can find his turtle-charge. Normally one of his other parents kept him safe, but it didn't stop Armin from having a link to him as well.]

[sophos]

[The turtle recognizes Armin there and hesitates for a second, if only to let his other parent know he's all right, but then he skids to a halt in front of the statue.]

[Annabeth jogs in right after, shaking her head at him, when she too finally notices Armin. She lifts a hand up to awkwardly wave at him - she knows he's one of the parents, but this might be the first time they've spoken since Captain Bobby chose her, too.]

He seems to be a bit distracted right now.

[strategisch]

Hello, Annabeth. [He offers her a little wave back. He remembers her from when they captured the Gha'nal, pleasantly of course.] He just did that... You know, thing in my head. I thought I'd stop by.

[Bobby still seems enraptured with the statue, stretching his neck out this way and that to look at it better.]

[sophos]

Hey. [And she nods, knowing what that's like, even more so now.] At least it's not the most invasive thing.

[The turtle touches his nose to the statue, trying for gentle, but the whole thing shakes a bit. Far from being discouraging, Captain Bobby just pushes again, a little harder, like he's testing to see what the limit is.]

[strategisch]

Woah there, I think that's quite enough! [Armin cuts past Annabeth with a quick nod, heading for Bobby, who was about to destroy a lovely piece of Keeliai history. He puts his arm's around the turtle's neck, but pulling him back proves impossible now that he's so gargantuan.] What would you do if you broke that, hmm? I don't think there's enough glue on Tu Vishan!

[sophos]

[She makes a bit of a face, if only because she can tell what Armin's intention is before he even tries, and she's about 99% sure it's not going to work.]

I applaud your attempts but - [Almost as if on cue, Captain Bobby pushes a little too hard, and the statue topples over. Fortunately, it doesn't shatter into pieces so much as just dislodge from the stand, but the turtle looks surprised by the result nonetheless.]

[Annabeth sighs.] Can't say I didn't expect that. [But she's already wondering about ways to fix it.]

[strategisch]

[Armin winces, expecting the worse, but... thankfully, it doesn't shatter. He lets out a sigh of relief and raps on Bobby's shell in reprimand.]

See, what did I tell you? [He stands, and walks around the mess.] It could be put back up, but would it stay...?

i

[ruinsprofessor]

[Ordinarily the smart move would be to simply move on past the intimidating dog and the snoozing teenager, but the movement of the paper attracts Raine's attention as she's passing by. She really means just to retrieve it and secure it for its owner, but then she catches sight of the sketches on the page in her hand. A language she can't read, and pieces of buildings? The evident imprudence of approaching a dog that's (probably) guarding someone aside, she's definitely intrigued.]

[Slowly, Raine closes the distance, trying for nonthreatening as she moves to return the page to the stack. And possibly catch a glimpse of some of the other pages, if they happen to be loose. Waking the other would be rude, probably, but so would going through her things. The dilemma might wind up entirely academic, however; she keeps a cautious eye on the dog.]

[sophos]

[Mrs. O'Leary is watching the woman carefully, though she doesn't perceive any sort of threat, so the dog keeps still as the stranger approaches.]

[But the movement doesn't quite go unnoticed by Annabeth. With the rustling paper, it takes her all of two seconds to startle herself awake, and on instinct, her hand wraps around the handle of her knife jerkily, like she's about to be attacked. She lifts the weapon close, then blinks at the woman standing practically right beside her. There's no sign of hostility from Mrs. O'Leary, so Annabeth just stares for a second, gets her bearings as she becomes fully alert, lowers the knife into something less outright defensive.]

Can I help you?

[ruinsprofessor]

[Raine startles back a little at the sudden movement, but it's no less than she should have expected, and she settles quickly enough. She does keep a slightly more respectful distance, though.]

One of your papers had slipped free. It looked like it might get lost.

[One of these days she's going to get out of the habit of accosting strangers in the street for knowledge, but that might not be this day.] And I was curious. What language is that?

[sophos]

[Annabeth visibly relaxes further with the explanation. She glances over at the pile of papers, adjust them into a perfectly aligned stack, then looks over at the woman to nod.] Thanks.

[She sets the knife down right next to her on the ground, keeping it close to her leg.] Ancient Greek. Though I'm guessing that doesn't mean anything to you? Or look familiar at all? [She's getting that impression, at least.]

[ruinsprofessor]

[Raine leans a little to get another look at the language, just to be sure, then shakes her head.] Neither. I've encountered a fair number of ancient languages, but none that look quite like that. [Greek isn't a familiar word either, but she figures that much is a given. No one she's met seems to have any point of familiarity, save one, and that was tenuous at best.]

Do you mind if I ask what you're working on? [She only caught a glimpse, but she's genuinely interested.]

[sophos]

It's mostly a dead language where I'm from anyway, so it's not like there are a lot of people familiar with it. [She straightens the paper stack again, even though it's as near to perfect already.]

[Then she flips the first few page corners, somewhat absently.] I study architecture. It's just stuff of my own design.

ii :3

[hisbabygirl]

[Things have been kind of crazy as of late, but Sarah still makes an effort to hang out with Bobby every day. She knows the turtle has other parents, but seeing him in the company of Annabeth catches the girl a little off guard. She can't help but feel excited, even if she knows deep down that this means something has changed, and someone is gone.

Skip in her step, Sarah heads straight for them, just in time to see the big green baby heading for the statue.]

Oh no! Bobby, slow down!

[sophos]

[The turtle hears Sarah, but he only stumbles over his own feet rather than actually slowing down. He sends warm thoughts in Sarah's direction, but he still wants nothing more than to investigate the statue. It's new!! It's shiny!!]

[Annabeth looks over at the girl and smiles a little softly. She must be one of the other parents, both from knowing his name and the way the turtle reacted.] Apparently he doesn't want to listen to either of us.

[Captain Bobby has started staring down the statue, though he isn't touching it. Annabeth herself shakes her head, though she maneuvers herself within easier talking distance to the younger girl.]

But between you and me, I'm pretty new to the whole turtle parent thing.

[hisbabygirl]

[The turtles antics bring a grin to her face, no matter how potentially dangerous they are. Captain Bobby has always been a curious, adventurous creature right since the day she met him.]

He's like that sometimes. [She shrugs] I can't really blame him though. I mean, there is some pretty cool stuff around here.

[There's a pause from the girl at the mention of parenting, and then she steps forward to offer a hand for Annabeth to shake. It's what you do when you meet someone you get to work with, right? Right. She's so mature right now.]

I'm Sarah. I'm uh, another one of his parents.

[sophos]

He's been like that from day one. [Annabeth sighs, but it's affectionate.] I'd never fault him either, or anyone really, for being curious. They just want to know as much as they can, and that's admirable in anyone.

[She tries not to grin too much at the motion to shake - but she can easily respect it, and she easily takes the girl's hand, shaking it firmly but gently; her hands are pretty calloused though.] Nice to meet you Sarah. I'm Annabeth.

[hisbabygirl]

Day one?

[That brings a question to mind. A few questions, really. Sarah runs with the one she dubs most important.]

Wait, how long have you been his parent for? Did you know him when he was real little?

[So one question turns to two. Really though, who's counting?]

[sophos]

[Annabeth shakes her head, not bothered by the impromptu interview.] No, not me - I did know him when he first hatched, but only because my boyfriend was one of his first parents.

He only chose me super recently. [After Clara disappeared.]

II | Pretend this isn't super late

[iguanasolution]

[Except Captain Bobby suddenly meets an elephant on his way! Frank's kinda gotten the hang of using shape shifting to keep the turtle's destruction to a minimum.

And he raises his trunk once the turtle hits him, looking at Annabeth as if going 'sup'.]

shhh late what late

[sophos]

[She might have been more surprised to see the elephant, if said elephant didn't raise up his trunk in a very Frank-esque manner that gets a laugh out of Annabeth.]

[Captain Bobby, however, is most definitely surprised, though at least his attention has shifted from the statue to the new giant animal right in front of him. He sends a lot of excited thoughts Annabeth's way, and she's still smiling when she catches up, feeling rather small between the two of them.] What a hero. Thanks, Frank.

[iguanasolution]

[It takes Frank only a few seconds to turn back into a human, which is an improvement from when he got to the turtle. He's been pushing himself, particularly after his talks with Milyn.

Once he's himself again he reaches to pet his shell. His own turtle likes that.]

Don't mention it, they can be kind of a handful. I didn't know you were a caretaker though.

[sophos]

[She's grinning when he changes back, because honestly, it never stops being impressive on some level. Especially with how much better he's gotten at it.]

[The turtle reacts well, though, sending happy pleased thoughts towards Frank at the pat, seemingly also excited and curious over the transformation. Is that normal? Do all humans do that?]

[Annabeth follows suit, only she keeps her hand resting on his shell.] It only just happened. It's, um, Captain Bobby. [You know. Percy's turtle.] So I've had a little experience, I guess. They're definitely a handful though.

[iguanasolution]

[He simply lets out an 'ah' at first. Part of him is glad Captain Bobby decided to seek someone familiar as a caretaker... and part of him wishes Annabeth didn't have to have yet another thing that reminds him of Percy around. But she's a big girl, so he'll leave it up to her to choose how much she can handle.

He's so focused on her he doesn't pay attention to Bobby, at first, and when he does he forces himself to smile at the big guy and send him happy and calm vibes his way. He'd never have gotten good at this mind-contact thing if it hadn't been for Arthur.]

How's it going so far? They can be a bit overwhelming, at first.

[sophos]

[She knows what the 'ah' is for, but she doesn't really react to it. In all honesty, she's glad Captain Bobby chose her. He might have been Percy's turtle first, but she's missed him around, and she's happy to take up the parent helm. It helps more than it hinders. She was already pretty attached. Annabeth keeps smiling, and genuinely so.]

Clara's the one who disappeared this time, I think. [She'd liked the older girl, but she's not going to dwell on that now.]

It's taking some getting used to, but it helps that I've been around him so much before. He never stops asking me questions. [But she can't even pretend to be annoyed by that. An inquisitive turtle! This is the best thing!]