one ﴾ text ﴿ seelie, unlocked

[ex_bronze361]

( she wakes up in the morning and her bedside is icy, uninhabited. she expected to open her eyes and see percy at the window, plagued by nightmares and being thoughtful enough to not wake her -- but when annabeth sits up and looks around, she's met only with the soft sounds of her dog yawning as it warms her feet.

she fears, automatically. but she still waits to make a post on the lockets. she waits, she spams percy's phone, she hushes her dog's cries at missing its dad. it's when she get up out of bed, and sees his shard resting on their bedside table, a note written telling of a goodbye that makes her heart weight down deep into her stomach, that she's confident enough that percy isn't returning to the room. she opens up her locket. )

If you knew him, Percy Jackson has left Drabwurld.
- Annabeth.

( short, sweet, simple. text, because it's easier than getting choked up in communication. )

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[marred]

[ with amusement: ] I could probably learn a thing or two from her. [ given he's tricky and also is of the winged species variety, perhaps athee had been given to the two most boring and serious people within the drabwurld in hopes of sprucing up their lives with some laughter. but the joke doesn't quite sit on his tongue, nor does the comment she takes after him, either. the latter will never really have a place, just as the former will only invite even more grief into the room as he reminds her she's lost him, too. ]

[ luke remains where he is, gaze flittering toward the dog with wings, the fox that buries herself into the sheets, and the girl who refuses to even look at him. perhaps she knows she can only hide from him so long before he unlocks that particular, tricky lock most people struggle with. athena children hardly feel, too logical and intellectual to become emotional, but he's seen and witnessed and heard the manner in which athena is overprotective of at least one of her children. it's all he's ever wanted from his father. ]

You too, actually. [ he keeps his gaze on her back, hands in the pockets of his jeans as he takes a few steps forward to stop. he's seen it before, in his mirror as he had taken to covering that up before he fled caer glaem the first time. avoiding the serious things, fleeing from them — it's a trait she's unfortunately picked up from him. it does more damage than good, running away from the monster you know you can't slay, but it's one you can at least tangle with and put to rest for a few years. his voice is soft, if firm, ] You can't trick me into thinking you're rainbows and sunshine, so how about we just cut the crap.

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[ex_bronze361]

( annabeth tries very hard, sometimes, not to let people know how she's feeling -- it's difficult for a girl who feels so much so often, but it's better than facing her hard emotions dead on. putting sadness and confusion and loss into a small box with satin ribbons tied at the ends, it's easier than admitting i don't know what to do without him. she's been here, before. she's tasted the loss of friends and loved ones -- even percy. she knows what the heavy stone of loneliness feels like when it sits in the back of her throat, but it doesn't make it any easier to lock away where the light of day can't reach. it's easier to keep it from luke, to keep him out, at least in this fashion.

of course, she's always transparent to him, and it's not like she's doing a particularly good job at it right now. when he speaks up, she stops what she's doing -- attempting once, to smile, to continuing faking her okayness with the world and the deceptive ways it gives her what she wants only to snatch it right back out of her hands. it doesn't work, and annabeth feels like a stilted dam about to burst -- she glances up and luke, hands resting in her lap, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. in remorse. )

What do I say? ( she has a thousand different cries sitting on her tongue, but none come to mind that she wants to elaborate on -- not to luke, at least, not to the man who will always own some part of her heart. annabeth bites her lip and glances down, eyes watering before spilling into her hands, but she makes no movement to catch them or stop them. this is what luke wanted, after all. a dam cracked, leaking, under pressure. )

You know we fell into Tartarus together? And what did we tell each other before we fell -- as long as we're together. Like -- as long as we're together, everything's going to be okay. ( she sniffs, loudly, bowing her head far enough to be parallel with the ground. ) But -- we're not together! And it isn't okay, and I don't know what to do. It's not okay, it's not.