tushanshu_logs | the world's a beast of a burden//you've been holding up a long time

He points at her with the trident. "That was seriously unnecessary." His face screws up. "Man, can I just say that's really depressing? The one awesome shot I made, and Hera of all people gets to take the credit."

Percy shifts his grip a little on the trident, getting used to its weight. It's kind of a compromise between where Annabeth placed his hands, when where he'd started off. It feels sort of okay. "...Maybe step back another foot or twelve," he cautions as he starts to move through an old spear-training drill. Things he is not confident about: this.

[Temeraire's ruff flares in surprise when Percy begins to laugh. It is not funny--it is not funny at all, when Percy could have died--and instinct keeps his ruff flared as he stares down the hellhound. It is very large, he thinks, warily: the largest creature he has seen since Drogon, and although he is still a little larger, he cannot help but feel a little threatened by its presence.

But he thaws a little, when Percy explains, and he hovers closer, still staying carefully out of reach.]

Well, that is all right, I suppose, if she has been trained: a great many people will call creatures they do not understand monsters, when it is simply that the creatures in question do not know any better. Where has your sword gone, Percy?

Edited 2013-10-27 04:09 (UTC)

She throws one arm up in a shrug. "I'm just saying." But then she makes a face to match. "I'd say we could pretend otherwise, but something tells me not even you could get away with that." Because ha ha ha Annabeth certainly couldn't. She's pretty sure she has a permanent high spot on Hera's shitlist.

At the warning, though, she does take a few steps back, a little more than a foot but definitely not twelve. She's seen him throw a spear before; she has a general sense of where it might end up should he throw it, though not exact because the shape and weight of the trident is different. And she can tell as easily as the difference between Doric and Ionic (well it's easy for her) that Percy's not feeling confident about this. "It doesn't have to be perfect, remember. You're just seeing what you can do right now, how it feels."

[He lets out a laugh] Yes, I know how that is.

[Kal isn't stupid, far from it- but when you have a ratio of 1:3 super geniuses on the team and you're married to Lois Lane you learn to sit back, punch whatever you're told to punch and enjoy the ride.] Do you mind if I share what you've told me about the sword and the Kedan with a friend? I trust him with his life, he won't tell anyone if you don't want him to- but he's incredibly smart.

Scarily so. He might come up with some theories.

[He's so lost trying to catch every and all implications on 'we're going to be okay' that he almost misses what Percy says next.]

Uh, what? I- [He frowns.] Well, you have been- you have been tense. But that's understandable after what you will have to go through.

[ she just nods, mostly because maybe she expected him to decline her offer, but maybe that's not all it was ]

Well... Maybe I should go so I can start trying to think of a deal of my own. [ which makes her squint, because she's perfectly aware that it's not exactly easy work, making that deal. ] What if we all went together-? [ different memories, sure, but same world. like a group discount! ]

Well, I mean - most hellhounds are monsters. Mrs O'Leary is kind of the exception to the rule, and even that took a really long time. But you're right about making assumptions. [A beat] Oh, uh - you can come down if you want. The worst she'll do is lick you.

[He blinks at that last question, because obviously his sword is right - oh, it's a pen. Right. People don't generally expect that] It's right here. [He holds out the pen, and uncaps it again. Sure enough, a bronze sword springs to life in his hands again] It's basically so I can carry it around without people looking at me like I'm crazy.

His tone is laced with bitterness, almost unconsciously. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure they're all going lord of everything we've done as actually being their idea for the rest of our lives."

Her last comment just gets a nod; his focus is shifting, becoming hyperaware of the weapon in his hand, how it feels. Sometimes it's just easier to get lost in the physical than to be constantly apologising, or stopping himself from feeling things that are totally legitimate just because they're not positive.

It's not exactly like a spear. The trident requires more stabbing motions than something tha just has one point, and he fleetingly wonders how a weapon like this even evolved before it demands his attention again. Slowly, he begins o pick up speed, moving with more confidence, altering the drill to better fit the weapon.

"How's it looking?"

Um. [He pauses for a second] I don't mind if you tell someone you trust but try...not to spread it around? I don't really want people knowing that our weapons might not be effective against them. [Of course, it's only now that he thinks of that]

[It's not Frank's fault. Percy knows his friend is just looking out for him, being understanding. But it sill grates on him, like someone stepping on his foot when it's already broken. It might have been an accident, but it still sets him of]

look, I really don't want to alk about it, okay? I get that you're concerned but just - let it go. [His jaw clenches, and he can already feel the guilt and shame clawing a him. He shouldn't have snapped.]

Please.

[He shifts, a little awkward. Uncomfortable] I don't...

{He's hurt her and everyone else enough lately that he really has to stop here and force himself to think about his words. He screws his eyes shut for a second, rubbing a hand over his face] I really just - it's not you. But we really just need it to be us. [His expression is vaguely helpless here] I'm sorry. But - if you do make a deal, be careful about what you offer.

[ oh. she expected that, maybe, expected it but hoped for something different. so she nods, licks her lips and nods again just to waste some time. she'd look around at somewhere that wasn't Percy's face, but she's sure she'd accidentally look right at Annabeth and that'd probably come off all wrong ( or all right ) so, nope, just nodding and- ]

I will. You too. [ and she's just going to push right along- ] Ah, I should get out of here. Let you get back to your dummy destruction. Just wanted to talk to you, and- we did that, so. [ she'll even start taking a few steps backwards, yep, totally leaving ] I'll see you around, yeah?

[Temeraire is still inclined to be a little cautious, as much out of a general dislike for dogs as out of wariness at something so close to his size, but Percy's words are more effective than he perhaps intended. Temeraire's ruff flares a little in mild indignation, and he lands at once with a thump:]

I am not worried about her, at all; it is only that I do not wish to start a fight, if she is your friend.

[And, oblivious to his blatant hypocrisy, he turns his attention to Percy's pen instead, pointedly ignoring Mrs O'Leary.] Why, that is very clever, and convenient besides: is it some sort of magic which does it?

"Good thing they can't take everything," she mumbles, but there's not exactly disagreement in her voice over it either.

But he starts on it, and Annabeth watches studiously. It's not like she really knows how to work a trident either, but she does know how Percy works a weapon in general, and she can pinpoint the moments he feels more and more comfortable with it. It's such a small thing, but the faintest hint of a smile ghosts on her face, because it's a sign of them. The normal them, that she can still easily do that.

"All things considered, not bad," she says. "Though I've never actually seen someone use a trident before."

Edited 2013-10-31 18:49 (UTC)

[He raises a hand] I can keep it a secret if you would rather, son. I was simply curious.

[Frank flinches, but it's almost unnoticeable unless you know what to look for. He might be the worst son of Mars that's ever been, but he still is a son of Mars and they don't get intimidated by someone snapping. Specially when that someone is a friend they know would never hurt them willingly.]

I won't bring it up again if you want... but snapping like that isn't going to change what happens.

No, wait--

[He moves fast, the kind of speed that comes from having had to run for your life too many time. He reaches out, grabs her wrist so she won't go just yet.

Honestly, he would prefer to be alone right now, but it's not because of her. It's because he's reached a point where he's scared of what he'll say to his friends, what his frustration and hurt and no small amount of terror will force out of his mouth. He doesn't want to put them through that.

But the way Rachel looks right now, the awkwardness in the air, he doesn't want to put her through that, either.] Have you been training at all? Back at Camp, I mean. Or here, I guess. Because I could teach you. Not with Riptide, obviously, but we've got a few extra weapons that Leo threw together.

[Percy's lips twitch slightly] Uh huh. Right, obviously. [And Mrs O'Leary is going to take that as an invitation, bounding over to Temeraire with a happy bark now that it's clear (to her mind) that he's a Friend. She doesn't lick just yet, but her tail wags furiously]

I guess you could call it that. I never really questioned it too closely, you know? But it does this too. [And he throws the pen away from him as hard as he can. A beat or two passes, before he reaches into his back pocket. Tada, pen!]

It's only when she replies that he realises the dark edge his thoughts have taken; his jaw clenches for a second, and he has to take a moment to just sort of force past it.

"I have," he says after a moment, still moving. "Finnick used one. I only saw him use it on fish, though."

No, I don't - I mean, if you trust the guy, go ahead. Just don't shout it from the rooftops, or anything.

I know it's not going to change what happens. Nothing I do can change that. Nothing I could have done would have changed that. [And things maybe come a little clearer. There's anger in his tone,sure, but also a kind of helplessness.

Percy hates being helpless. But there's nothing he can do about this situation, and nothing he would have done differently in the first place. And there's maybe some guilt in his tone, too. For snapping at Frank, sure, but something else as well. Something that's crushing him]

[Temeraire most certainly does not flare his ruff a little more. He very definitely does not tense up. Instead he says, in the politest tones possible,] Hullo, Mrs O'Leary. [Beat.] Percy, why is she called that? Is there a Mr O'Leary?

[He watches intently as Percy hurls the pen away, and his pupils widen significantly when it appears again in his pocket.]

Why, that is a very neat trick; I suppose there is no question of transferring that spell to anything else? [Things like his small pile of treasure, and his favourite books, and certain members of his crew.]

Her smile fades when she catches his jaw clench, but she tries not to dwell on it. To maybe keep his attention from drifting elsewhere, for the worse. If he wasn't still moving around, she might've reached to touch his arm.

"You could try mimicking what he did, a little bit." She keeps watching his movements, with carefully trained eyes. "Alter it from fish to monsters. Invisible ones. It just - needs to work for you, even if it's not entirely proper."

He doesn't do proper most of the time anyway.

[A twitch of his lips] I promise you I won't, and trust me when I say my friend knows how to keep a secret.

It wasn't your fault.

[He says so automatically, barely a whisper and while he winces when he realizes what he just said... he doesn't take it back. It might be obvious, it might be even stupid to say it out loud.

But he still gets the feeling it needed to be said.]

the world's a beast of a burden//you've been holding up a long time

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