tushanshu_logs | 'Cause I found what I was missing

Characters: Frank Zhang and OPEN
Date: A day or two after his intro
Location: On the way to the turtle's head
Situation: Frank practicing archery and shapeshifting a bit (with different threads), because it's been a while and it's a good way to get his head to stop spinning after so much information dumped on him.
Warnings/Rating: None, will add if needed

Frank Zhang didn't consider himself useless, despite what others might say about his self esteem. He simply knew what he was good at, and the things he... wasn't. There was nothing bad in being realistic about your own abilities, or so he kept telling himself.

And he was aware that this was way beyond him. Being somehow 'teleported' into this world- if not outright cloned- when everything was in chaos, the war that they were supposed to be fighting against an enemy so powerful they couldn't even pronounce their name, the way his friends had reacted to the arrival of a demigod he hadn't even heard about, the fact that he could maybe never get back home...

'Beyond him' was putting it lightly. He had never felt more like a burden to his friends, more unable to do anything to help them out. So he did what he did best in this kind of situations.

Train his abilities until he could become useful. He was the son of Mars, and as much as that had made him feel awkward it was who he was. And a son of Mars never ran from a battle.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Well. Better's at least something, right? I mean, it could be worse." Percy Jackson, ever the optimist. "I mean, a couple of months ago we ended up in the sewers, at least you missed out on that."

He grins, but the expression fades quickly when Frank mentions home. Percy thinks that the worst thing about being stuck here is the hyper awareness of just how much he doesn't want to go back. "Yeah, it - it's weird. I don't remember, did the clone thing come up?"

"Sewers. Why would you go down the sewers?" He wrinkles his nose when he mentions the sewers. He will do whatever it takes for a mission but he was raised in a mansion with a rich family. Some things are still a little beyond him.

"Leo told me, yeah. Do you believe it?"

Percy echoes Frank's expression. "There was a zombie invasion just before I arrived, and Asti got hurt. The Emperor didn't want us in the tunnels, so we...went in the tunnels anyway." He grins a little, but there's a shadow behind his eyes. Leo had nearly died because of that little stunt, at least to Percy's mind.

"That we have clones? Definitely. I saw one of Annabeth before the whole facility blew up. If we're clones ourselves? I don't think anyone knows the answer to that, except the Emperor.

Frank nods, his 'eww' expression still on but to be honest he would have done the same. "I'm really not surprised you did anyway.

So why don't we ask her?"

Percy sniffs, mock-snobbish. "This is the part where I say something really important sounding about being a demigod and our duty to protect people and pretend like we didn't also really want to know what was down there."

He shoves his hands into his pockets, turning his face up to the sky. "She only has an audience once a month. Annabeth usually goes, but...things have been hard the last couple of months." There's a pause, and then the next bit just kind of rushes out before he can stop himself. Percy doesn't want to burden Frank, but Frank is also the person on the turtle that he trusts the most, aside from Annabeth. "The audience with the Emperor is where you can ask to see your future. When I first showed up here, Annabeth wasn't at the same...point, as the rest of us. She's caught up now, but going back to chat with the Emperor again hasn't really been a priority for either of us."

Percy squeezes his eyes shut for a second, chastising himself inwardly for turning the conversation in that direction. He rummages around his thoughts for a different angle. "Oh, uh - and I haven't been yet. Mostly because I'm pretty sure I'd just start yelling at her, and I think she already doesn't like me. I've kind of...caused a bit of trouble."

Frank bites his lower lip, any humor at the situation long gone. He listens, making a mental note to check on Annabeth as soon as possible. Going through what she did must have been hard but having it shown to you and not being able to really do anything about it as you watched must be even worse.

He really can't blame Percy for not wanting to go himself. "Was Annabeth alright, after she knew? I'm sorry I wasn't here."

And then a pause. "Percy did you just say you would yell at the head overlord in char- no nevermind, of course you would. You yelled at my father."

He looks away, lost in memories. That night had been awful, to say the least. Riding back from the palace in silence, the total breakdown once they got to the suite, the both of them curled up on the couch together, clinging and crying. He's not about to burden Frank that that, though, so he just clears his throat. "We're dealing. It is what it is."

It's 'we', not 'her'. Because whatever Annabeth is dealing with in this situation, Percy's right there next to her.

And then he manages a grin, swinging right back into the irrepressible son of the ocean god. "Hey, if you'd had the same experiences with Ares that I did, you'd totally yell at him too." Not that he could remember them at the time. "Sometimes people with power need reminders that not everyone's gonna kneel for them, you know?"

Edited 2013-07-10 11:13 (UTC)

He shrugs, pretty sure people like his father hate to be reminded of things like that and that's why Percy is on Mars' list. But the day he met his father he sent him into a quest that everyone thought impossible and he didn't want to be a son of the war anyway... so it's not like his father is his favorite person anyway.

He's more worried about his friends.

"If you'd rather talk about something else- something else than the future, I mean? I'm sure there's still a lot of things to see around."

Percy tenses, because he doesn't want Frank to think he's - weak, or something. And then he almost immediately chastises himself, because he knows Frank. He would pretty much never think that. "Come meet my fish," he decides. And if he skips over the fact that yes, he's totally changing the subject because he can't really deal with it, he trusts Frank not to bring that up.

"You have fishes in your apartment?" Change of subject, what change of subject? Frank might not be the smartest crayon in the box when it comes to human emotions, but he gets what Percy is doing.

Percy laughs at the reaction, nodding. "We live in the Metal Sector now, but I've got that suite in the Water Sector too. When the turtle first got sick, we tried saving the canals by swapping the water over for melted snow. It didn't really work, so I saved as many of the fish as I could. They stay in that suite with Mrs O'Leary, now."

"Let's go see them!" He grins, mostly for Percy's sake. He loves animals and is actually excited to see the fish and Mrs O'Leary, but Percy is the one who would do anything for sealife. He can't imagine what seeing most of it die has been for him.

The loss of the fish and other aquatic life in the canals had been especially devastating to Percy, but he took what comfort he could in the fact that he'd managed to save this much. "Okay, awesome! I can give you a tour of the sector on the way."

And he does exactly that. It's kind of ADHD, very Percy-like tour, leaping from one thought and location to the next seemingly without a pattern. And yet it still, somehow, manages to make sense. Frank hopefully won't find himself getting too lost in this area in the future, and he knows not to eat the sea prunes.

'Cause I found what I was missing

sob sorry this took so long!!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject