Luke Castellan (anineiron) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-02-21 19:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, annabeth chase |
Who: Luke Castellan & Annabeth Chase
What: Talking about things
Where: Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke's place
When: Recently
Rating: Low
Status: Complete when posted
Today was one of the few days that Luke had off. If he wasn’t working one place, he was usually working at another. It was a lot of time spent working, but he didn’t really mind. He had to put money away somehow and he was determined not to let Thalia pay for all of his things. He really, really didn’t want to feel that he wasn’t pulling his weight in the house. Considering his Valentine’s Day plans were made and everything was already in place, there wasn’t that much to do besides cleaning dishes, which was what he decided to do that day.
There weren’t a lot of dishes, but there were enough that he figured it was probably a good idea to get it over with. It also gave him some time to think through the dreams he’d had. When Annabeth had told him about them, he hadn’t actually believed her. He hadn’t wanted to believe her. He hadn’t exactly been the easiest person to deal with on that. One day he’d get around to apologizing to her about it. One day. For now, he was busy trying to figure out how to deal with what he knew. He really hoped that he’d never become the person he was in the dreams. It was difficult to believe that, though, when he woke up from the dreams with all the same emotions that he’d had in them. But it was a matter of just taking the time to let them wash over him and leave. He couldn’t allow himself to hold onto them.
--
For the majority of her days, Annabeth was holed up in her room. She was either studying in her room or studying at school. Life had suddenly become even more awkward for her. While part of her had missed being away from school over break, she hadn't wanted to come back and deal with the whole Percy incident. In fact, she was doing what she could to ignore it. It never happened. Nope.
Every so often, Annabeth knew that she had to come out of her room. She needed to eat. Mostly she needed a drink. Annabeth didn't think anyone was home when she came out. It was part of why she so freely opened her door and came out. She had been avoiding people since she had been back. Sort of hard to do when living with two other people. Coming into the kitchen, she stopped suddenly when she saw Luke. Right, there were still issues there, too. Annabeth smiled a little. “Oh, I didn't realize you were home.”
--
Luke glanced up when he heard someone enter the kitchen. He paused, glass still half in the water. “I guess I've been a little quiet.” He shrugged. He was sure that it was going to be a little weird, all things considered. He just hoped it wouldn't be the most awkward thing he'd ever dealt with. Though, the first time he met Thalia was much more o and awkward than anything else he'd encountered thus far. Sort of.
“I was just cleaning the dishes. I figured it was about time I got them all cleaned up. Not that we had a pile, but you know.” A pause. “If you need the kitchen, I can come back.”
--
It wasn't that Annabeth didn't want to see him. Logically, she knew that dream Luke wasn't real Luke. The hardest part was separating those feelings right when she woke up. Dream Luke meant everything to dream Annabeth and it was hard to let go of that straight out of the dreams. But this Luke was her friend, too, and she didn't want things to be awkward. She had enough of that with Percy.
She sighed a little and shook her head. “You don't have to leave.” Annabeth walked closer to him and leaned back against the counter. “I knew having you living here would come in handy,” she joked, motioning to the dishes. “Thanks for doing that.” She smiled a little and crossed her arms loosely over her stomach. “I only wanted some water.”
--
Luke smiled a little as he continued to clean. He was never sure how either Thalia or Annabeth would be around him when they first showed up. The dreams made things complicated. More so than they needed to be. He just tried to keep himself together and keep moving. If they needed space, he gave it to them. If Thalia needed him closer, he’d give her that, too. He tried to be understanding...even if it made him frustrated.
“Well, I’ve got to be useful or you’ll kick me out, I’m sure.” He shrugged when she thanked him for cleaning the dishes. “You’re welcome, though.” He paused, stepping to the side. “You can get water if you want. Unless you had some hiding in the fridge.” A pause. “So what are you doing home? No class?”
--
The dreams made so many different aspects of her life difficult. It seemed to touch so much of her real, and it was starting to bleed into her waking hours in ways she never imagined.
“Good thing you're earning your keep, then,” she said with a little nudge. “Oh yeah. I'm always hoarding water in the fridge. You know my secret now.” Getting herself a glass she filled it with water and then resumed her spot leaning against the counter. “No. No class today. I have tons of work to do, though. It's why I've been in my room so much.” At least, that was what she was telling herself.
--
“It’s what I do,” he said, wishing he could ignore the obvious lie that was when it came to his dreams. Maybe he did put in his share, but it wasn’t really something he could feel proud of, but he didn’t bring it up. “Well, you looked like a water hoarder.” He shrugged slightly, getting back to cleaning once she was done. It didn’t take him all that long and he put them in the strainer and looked back at Annabeth. “No classes, huh?”
He didn’t question the part about her having a lot of work. He’d never managed to go to college, but he’d heard that there was a lot of work and Annabeth was sort of the brainiac of the group from what he remembered. Daughter of Athena. “You can probably come out every so often if you want to. And not just for water. I’m told that study breaks are good when you’re doing a lot of homework to keep from burning out or something.”
--
Annabeth just smiled at him. It really was nice to have him around. She didn't think twice about the things Luke worried about. Rather, she didn't think he needed to worry about those things. At least not where she and Thalia were concerned. She appreciated him for who he was. “Yeah. It's the one day this week I don't have class. I'm glad that I'm in my actual major classes, but it's a lot of work.” And if really did take up a lot of her time.
“Are you sure?” She asked, raising her eyebrows. “Maybe there's something wrong with me. I actually like all of that work.” Annabeth shrugged. “I don't know. Maybe that's part of my problem.”
--
Luke arched an eyebrow at the mention of her liking all of the work that came with college. “Well, you might be a little odd, but then we’re all a little odd.” And she was a daughter of Athena, so there was that, too. It wasn’t really that surprising all things considered. “I think that even people that enjoy all the work probably need a break here and there. Are you hungry? Have you eaten yet today?” Because he didn’t really know. He tried to make simple things every so often to avoid having to pay for food all the time.
“But I wouldn’t go thinking there’s something wrong with you. I mean, you’re a daughter of Athena, so I think that you’re pretty normal in that aspect.” He studied her for a moment. “And if anyone says anything else, they’re idiots, so don’t listen to them.”
--
Being a daughter of Athena explained a lot for her, but sometimes she didn't know how to feel about it. Breaks, though, meant that she had to stop and think about things and she didn't want that. “I had an apple earlier. Food is probably a good thing soon.” Not that she had to eat that second.
“Being a daughter of Athena makes for a great excuse.” After that, Annabeth went quiet for a few minutes, mulling over what he said. Did she say something? Or did she just leave it as it was? She wasn't used to having these sorts of conversations. “It's not that,” she said finally. “It's not about my school work.”
--
Then he’d have to make something later. But he decided not to mention that in lieu of focusing on what she’d just said. “So you’re not spending all your time in your room because you have a lot of school work?” He didn’t really know what else there was. Unless it was about him. He supposed that it could always be about him. His expression shifted just a little bit and he said, “So...what, if not school work, is it that’s keeping you in your room all day?”
--
Annabeth noticed the slight change in his expression. While dream Luke was causing her issues, she didn't have any with this Luke. “It's not that I'm not working in school work. To be fair, I do have a lot of work.” Talking about this was hard for her. She had already texted Nico about this, but she hadn't actually talked to him about anything yet.
“Percy and I had a moment. It didn't end well,” she said with a shrug.
--
Luke stared at Annabeth for a long moment before the realization of it all set in. “You and Percy…” He almost smiled, but he felt like that might make things worse. “What exactly do you call a moment? Did one of those weird OC things happen?” Unless she liked him more than he’d realized in the dreams. Luke considered that for a moment before studying her a little more closely.
“And why didn’t it end well?”
--
Annabeth groaned and put her face in her hands. This was embarrassing. She couldn't believe she was about to tell someone about this. Lifting her head up, she glanced at Luke and sighed. “We kissed, but that’s not the problem. The problem is that he said he didn't mean to.” Annabeth knew that the “weird OC” thing was behind the whole thing, but it didn't change what Percy said. “That would be why it didn't end well.”
She shrugged. “We haven’t spoken since. One minute things are fine. He gave me an owl charm for Christmas, and now we aren't speaking. And we are mostly not speaking because who kisses a girl and then tells her he didn't mean it?”
--
Luke wasn't sure how kissing was the bad part, but the moment that she told him what Percy said after, he winced. Thalia definitely would have punched him if he ever said that. Then again, they weren't exactly great about the ‘everything is fine and then we're not talking’ stuff. It had been a long time between the time where they were considering running away together and now.
“Not to generalize, but he might need you to explain that to him. Boys aren't often known for being sensible about these things. He might not even realize that was a bad thing to say.” He frowned slightly. “I mean, if you like him and kissing him, it might be beneficial. Of course, you could probably also get Thalia to beat him up if that was more the route you wanted to go.”
--
Annabeth gave him a blank stare. “I'm pretty sure even seaweed brain isn't that dense. Plus, I assume that he knew it wasn't that great since he hasn't spoken to me since.” She couldn't help but roll her eyes. Percy wasn't that dense and she knew it. “Thalia can be my backup. If he doesn't say something soon then I’m going to beat him up.”
Annabeth threw her hands up. “Whether I like him or not isn't even an issue since he regrets kissing me.
--
Luke gave her a look back. “I’d offer to yell at him for you, but I’m pretty sure we don’t know each other that well. I’d still talk to him. He probably wasn’t expecting to kiss you if it was the OC messing with you guys. So…”
But he really doubted that there wasn’t a part of him that wasn’t aware that he needed to say something or at least wasn’t sure how to say something. “Do you have anyone you know that can nudge him in the right direction? I mean...I really want to doubt that he regrets kissing you, but if he does, I’m pretty sure Thalia and I can be your tag team.”
--
“I'm not sure that matters.” In some ways, they knew each other very well. “Even if someone wasn't expecting to do something like that they shouldn't make the other person feel terrible!” Annabeth was exasperated. This whole situation was stupid.
Annabeth shook her head. “I don't want to nudge him. I want him to do it on his own. I want it to be genuine if he apologizes.” She smiled at Luke. “But, if worse comes to worse I'll take you up on that offer. It's always good to have backup for these things.” She knew nothing would really happen, but it was nice to know that they had her back.
--
Luke was beginning to think maybe he needed to nudge Percy. Maybe it would help things. Maybe it wouldn’t. He wasn’t entirely certain. He guessed he could always try to poke around without making it overly obvious what he was doing. Or he could get someone else to do it who wasn’t as obvious about poking at things.
“I’ll make sure that I’m here should you need me. Until then...what do you want to eat? It seems I’ve got time and groceries, so I think we might be able to figure out some sort of snack.”
--
“You're the best,” she said with a smile. She was quiet for a second before glancing over at him. “It really does mean a lot to me, you know?” She felt weird saying that to him, but she figured telling him would be good for him. All of these dreams made things complicated and she wanted him to know she appreciated his friendship.
Annabeth pushed herself off the counter and moved towards the fridge. “You're the chef, what do you suggest?”
--
Luke shrugged slightly. He felt a hint of doubt about it, but there wasn’t really a lot that one could do about the dreams, really. If Thalia and Annabeth didn’t hate him after the dreams, maybe he was okay. “I’m glad...and you’re welcome.”
He followed her toward the fridge, looking at it quietly for a moment. “You want to go for something simple? We have good cheese and bread if you like grilled cheese.” He turned to look at her. “Yes?”
--
Everything in their dreams was a mess. There was no denying that. And yet, Annabeth looked at this as a second chance for Luke and everyone. In the dreams he meant the world to her, and this was their chance to continue this friendship without all of the extra terrible stuff.
Annabeth stood with her arms crossed and tapped her toe as they stared into the fridge. “I like simple,” she said with a nod. “Gourmet grilled cheese. I like it.” She knew it wasn't that fancy. “Let's do it.”