Percy Jackson {Περσεύς} Does Not Gawk (sonof_) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-05-15 01:13:00 |
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Percy Jackson wasn’t exactly a beach person; at least he hadn’t been since he’d almost drowned a few years earlier. When Percy was younger, he and his mother had spent at least one week every summer in Montauk, but after he’d almost drowned at summer camp, they had had to modify their summer plans from that point on.
However, living in California, Percy was much closer to beaches than he’d been in New York so on occasion Percy would find himself wandering along the sidewalk across from the beach. He would be lying if he said that he didn’t miss spending time at the beach, but it was the water that kept him at bay. He knew it was unlikely that he’d ever have another incident like the one he’d had at camp four years earlier, but he couldn’t help it.
Today he’d been attempting to study for finals, but kept getting distracted, which wasn’t uncommon with his ADD, so he’d decided to go for a ride and had found himself at the beach.
Getting caught up on projects was exhausting. But it was necessary. But it also meant that sometimes she started to feel overwhelmed. And when Annie felt overwhelmed, she went to the beach. Sometimes to just sit and watch the waves. Other times to swim. Today was a swimming day as she finally felt that she had enough strength regained to do so.
Deciding to take a break from the waves, Annie returned to shore and her towel, getting settled and watching the waves. She had her own issues, the scars that would remain as a physical reminder of what she’d gone through. She’d even gone through a month of being unable to swim thanks to the Dreams. But that had passed, for which she was thankful.
Absently, the so called Disney Princess of Panem started to trace designs in the sand. It was nice. Relatively quiet for Orange County standards and not too many people out at the moment, though with the weather warming up, more and more people were heading to the beach.
After walking along the sidewalk and more or less staring at the ocean, Percy had decided to cross over to the beach side of the street. He knew that being on the beach didn’t automatically mean he would drown, but it was difficult for him to be near large bodies of water that had the capability to push him under. Sure, at camp, he’d been stuck under a raft so that had contributed to his almost drowning, but he still had that irrational fear. He knew he needed to get over it eventually and so he crossed over, took off his shoes and socks and stepped onto the sand. The feel of the sand under his feet felt good and familiar and for a moment he almost forgot why he avoided the beach.
He stood there for a moment or two before taking a few steps further down the beach. Percy’s mother and stepfather would be coming out to see him and do some house hunting soon and Percy knew how much his mother liked the beach so he decided to attempt to get over a little of his fear so that they could spend some time there. This train of thought was what led Percy down to the shoreline, stopping only a foot or so from where the waves were currently coming in.
Annie wasn’t the type of person to go up to strangers. She kept to herself and that was it. But it was hard to ignore that there was something…. Well, she wouldn’t say off, but hesitant about the person who was making their way to the waves, but then stopping. A hesitancy. The question was to approach or not. Because that was always uncomfortable for her. But she also wasn’t the type to just… ignore the possibility of someone needing an ear to listen.
She might not be the most social of people, and she was fairly busy at the moment, but she couldn’t turn it off.
Letting out a breath, Annie pushed herself up and slowly went to where the person was staring at the waves. Yeah. There was definitely some sort of fear coming off of him, that much was clear to her.
“Are you okay?”
Percy hadn’t expected anyone to approach him so when he heard the voice behind him, he jumped slightly then turned in the direction of the soft voice, surprised to see the girl standing near him, “Uh...yeah. I guess.” Percy wasn’t exactly sure why this girl had come up to him, but in a way it was comforting. “Maybe.”
Annie was usually pretty good at knowing when people weren’t being completely truthful with her, so she just quirked a brow. It didn’t matter, not really. She didn’t know him, it wouldn’t be like one of the people she trusted lying to her which would have a much different reaction. Still though. She gave a small nod at the comment before looking back at the waves then back at the comment of maybe.
“Maybe?” Really, Annie wasn’t quite sure why she had approached him in the first place beyond the fact that she tended to gravitate towards people who might need someone to listen. “Want to talk about it?”
If not, she would go back to her towel and leave it be. But sometimes people needed to talk to someone uninvolved and were able to be more open minded. In theory. Annie kept plenty to herself because finding words could be complicated or what she had to say was only for those she trusted, assuming they didn’t know her story from New York. But the least she could do was offer an unbiased ear, just in case.
Percy laughed nervously and ran a hand through his hair, “It’s nothing too big, really. Just….” He glanced out at the ocean for a moment before looking back at the woman in front of him, “I’ve got this fear of water actually. I know, you’re probably asking yourself, if I have a fear of water, why am I at the beach? Right? I’m asking myself the same thing.” He didn’t know why he was telling this stranger all of this, but there was just something about her that caused him to speak without even thinking about it.
Well. That was something she wasn’t expecting, but she supposed it made sense. Especially given how she had been picking up on the feeling of discomfort or fear. And that was something she was a bit more able to help with as opposed to some sort of assailant or worry there.
“Exposure therapy then?” Because it really wasn’t so odd to her. “I went through something similar. It was strange because the ocean and swimming had always been a comfort to me but then…” Well, she thought he looked like someone from the network but she wasn’t sure, so she shrugged. “I’m going to guess it’s not something that has always been there before?”
Because usually if it were a lifelong fear, there was less of an inclination to go towards the water and try to face it. It was when it was something you enjoyed or that helped and then became a threat that you wanted to reclaim it.
Percy was surprised to hear that she could relate and relieved at the same time. Some people didn’t understand his fear, but this woman did and that was comforting, “Yeah, I used to go to the beach all the time with my mom during the summer. But then I almost drowned at summer camp a few years ago and I guess ever since then, I have this fear of deep water.” He ran a hand through his hair again, “What happened to you?” He was curious because she’d said that it hadn’t always been that way for her too.
So she was right. Which didn’t really surprise her. Annie was observant, and she knew what it had been like for her, that desire to get back in the water yet the overwhelming fear, as well as all the memories. The screams that slowly died away as one by one the other tributes drowned. How she never should have survived in the first place. But a desperate need for the calming sensation of swimming, albeit in her clothing because she’d been so upset, had eventually overridden the fear.
“Similar. A little over a year ago…” The trick was to decide if she should reveal that she was a dreamer, but she definitely could place Percy as someone on the network even if she didn’t have time to post or reply too much as of late. Though being vague right now would suffice. “I was in a situation, nearly drowned, others did…. So even though I’ve always found swimming to be calming, I couldn’t go in the water. It lasted a month for me and it was only extreme circumstances that overrode that fear and inability to get back in….”
Even though she’d dreamt of slowly coming around to it, of Finnick helping her and trusting him in the dreams, it had taken her own subconscious need for the comfort the waves brought her to get over it.
“It was rather sudden, but I always hated how much of the water I was afraid after it had always been like a second skin for me. It makes sense though, the trauma of nearly drowning can have lasting effects.”
Percy’s brows rose slightly as she mentioned that others had drowned when it had almost happened to her, “Shit. Were you friends with the others? I was at summer camp and we were river rafting. Got thrown from the raft, which happens a lot, ya know, but then I got trapped under the raft. Since then, rivers, oceans, pools, lakes….I can’t do it. I know it was a freak thing, but I just can’t get over it.”
He wished he could get over his fear like she had. He’d tried on various occasions, but he’d never been able to get past putting his feet in. “So you just pushed yourself to get in again? Weren’t you scared?”
“No… we weren’t friends.” Her friend had already died. But that was the way the Hunger Games went. They would have tried to kill her had they gotten the chance. Well, that hadn’t happened. Still, hearing the screams die away would be one of the things that haunted her dreams. The PTSD remained and she just had to deal with it. Instead she listened as Percy spoke, nodding some. “It may have been a freak accident, but it was still terrifying. It still left an impression.”
“I was acting on instinct. I didn’t even realise I was in the water again until I got to the docks.” It was hard to explain, especially to someone she didn’t know or trust about the complexities and absolute panic she’d been in when she overcame the fear of water.
“Maybe someday I’ll get over my fear too.” Percy certainly hoped that he would cause he did miss swimming. Swimming was one thing that he’d done as often as was possible when one lived in New York. “Thanks for the talk. I’m sure you have better things to do than talk to some random kid,” He realized then that they hadn’t introduced each other yet, “I’m Percy, by the way.”
“I’m sure you will. It just takes time. Plus, things can be very unexpected here that it’s better to assume anything is possible.” So really, she wasn’t about to write off anything. Because the way Orange County was? It was rather foolish to assume anything to be impossible. She did smile some as he thanked her, “It’s fine, I don’t mind. I’m Annie. It’s nice to meet you.”