Thalia Grace (wasatree) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-06-16 16:44:00 |
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AlthoughThings in the dreams had gotten even crazier. They’d trapped Artemis under the weight of the sky. Then he’d convinced the people he needed to that it would be a bad idea to kill Annabeth. She was worth more alive. None of this really helped him. Except he could feel the desperation, the fear, the pride. He wasn’t in a place to ask for help anymore. He’d tried to stop things before and Kronos had done his worst. There wasn’t a way to go back. If Thalia didn’t do what he needed her to do, then he would be forced to host Kronos. But Thalia turned him down and they started to fight. He hadn’t really expected her to kick him off the cliff, but he woke up to the sensation that he was falling, which was quickly replaced by the feeling of pain across his chest. He clenched his jaw, moving his hands to touch his chest...only to find them covered in blood. “Shit,” was the first thing that came to his mind before he tried to move, which only resulted in more pain. “Thalia!” Because really...if anyone was going to help him out of this, it would be her...even if she was technically the one that cut his chest open and kicked him off a cliff. It wasn’t like he didn’t know about it already anyway. It was best not to think about it. *** Although Thalia hadn't had demigod-related dreams in a while, she'd been sleeping uneasily - as if she was still on the streets and could be waken by cops or monsters at any minute. So when Luke gasped her name, she started awake - and saw the blood spreading across his chest and staining the blankets. “Oh gods,” she gasped, and sprung into action. She pressed her hands against the wound to try to stem the flow before doing anything else. “Ambrosia; you said you had some,” she said, too scared and anxious for niceties. The way he was losing blood, every second counted. “Where is it?” *** Parts of his mind were thinking about how to apologize for making a mess of the sheets and the bed, but really, he was trying to remember that Thalia wouldn’t care too much about that. He felt woozy because he was bleeding. But he was glad that only the gash on his chest had transferred over and not the rest of it. Ambrosia. Right. Where...He had to think through the pain and the general fog. “The backpack on the floor. By the dresser.” He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that it would help with anything, but it didn’t. He was still bleeding and still in pain. He was lucky that ambrosia and nectar had come over and that he only used it in serious situations. Like this one. *** Thalia hated the idea of leaving him, even for a few seconds. His face was so white and he was so obviously in pain, and she was half afraid that if she removed her hands from him, he'd dissolve in a pool of blood, or simply disappear, as her brother had. But she couldn't not go find the nectar, so she took in a deep, bracing breath. “Press here,” she ordered, even though she had a feeling he was too weak to do so. She had to at least try. Then she was scrambling over the bed, trying not to get tangled in the seats, and half-fell, half-ran to the backpack by the door. A backpack, she note with a pang, that held everything they needed for a speedy getaway. Memories of their life on the streets in the dreams still haunted them here. She tore through the bag, uncaring of the mess she made, until she found the bottle of nectar and brought it over to Luke. “Here,” she said, gently tipping it to his lips. She needed him to drink fast, but she couldn't afford to lose any. There was no telling when they'd get more. *** Luke did try to lift his hands up and press down enough to make it count, but it wasn’t really working. He was glad that there was someone else here and that he hadn’t had to crawl across the floor to get there. He would have, but he really didn’t want to. He could hear Thalia’s frantic searching and he wanted to call out some sort of calming words, but he didn’t have any to give her. Really he just didn’t want to put forth the effort to speak when he knew it would just hurt. He’d be fine soon, though, and then he could comfort her. Opening his mouth, Luke drank enough that it would heal but not kill. It was a balance they always had to be careful of. Too much nectar or ambrosia and even the strongest demigod would burn from the inside out. It was not worth the trouble. He felt warmth spreading over his body and the slow process of healing. He knew better than to expect it to work fast, but at least he could feel it working. The pain had decreased some and he didn’t feel nearly as woozy as he had. “For the record, I don’t like it when we fight.” A pause. “I was going to say you kick like a girl, but it doesn’t seem appropriate and I don’t want to get punched on top of this.” *** That was when Thalia, her heart in her throat, knew he was going to be okay. So she swatted him. Lightly - because he was still injured - but still a swat, because a remark like that couldn't go unanswered. Then she threw herself onto the bed beside him, uncaring that there was still blood everywhere, and buried her face in the crook of his neck. “Don't scare me like that.” She had a sense, from what he'd said, what had happened to make him wake up bleeding. But for now she just wanted to be relieved that he was going to be ok. *** “I’ll do my best, but I don’t think I can honestly promise it.” He stayed still as he tried to recover from the panic that had built up from waking up bleeding and falling off a cliff. But he moved to rest an arm on Thalia’s back. Neither of their clothes were probably coming back from this. Well, maybe not without a lot of peroxide. “For the other record, waking up bleeding is not as much fun as it’s cracked up to be. I need about five naps, but I don’t even think I could nap right now.” But that could be due to the adrenaline coursing through his body at the moment. *** “I don’t know of anyone who’d think waking up bleeding would be fun.” Thalia’s words were muffled against his skin. She forced herself to look up, because while she might want to just lie there and reassure herself of his heartbeat and his breathing, she had to check on him and make sure he was okay. He looked wan, but the bleeding had stopped, and his face was regaining a little bit of colour. Just a little. “What happened?” *** “If they do, I don’t want to meet them.” He tried for a laugh, but it the action made him wince. Okay. Still too much pain to go around laughing at things just yet. He would keep that in mind. “Don’t say anything funny because laughing still hurts.” Her question made him frown a little. It wasn’t like they didn’t know what was happening. “We trapped Artemis and I tried to convince you to kill the Ophiotaurus and join our side, but you wouldn’t. So we started to fight and you kicked me off a cliff. After cutting my chest open.” He frowned. “I think...he said if you didn’t do it, he was going to take over my body.” He didn’t want that. He was worried about what that would mean here. Would Kronos crossover? Would he hurt the people he cared about here? He really didn’t want to do any of that, so it felt like a legitimate concern. *** Saying funny things was the furthest thing from Thalia's mind as she realized what had happened. She’d already gone through their big fight in their dreams, and she come through it shaken but whole. Luke, though… Luke was hurt, and it made Thalia's stomach roil to know that she was the one who'd put that gash on his chest, that she was the reason why they were lying on sheets that were soaked in blood. Never mind that in the dreams he was the one who'd forced her into a fight she didn't want. What mattered was that she'd just nearly killed the man she loved. “I'm sorry,” she whispered. “I didn't want to, but…” But dream him had been half-unhinged by that time. And so much had been at stake. *** He gave her a small smile. “You don’t have to apologize. I’m not really…” He wasn’t sure how to explain his dream self or the things motivating him at the time. “It’s...well, he’s not really thinking clearly.” Not that he’d wanted to go through with it, but then Kronos had punished him for it and he’d changed his tune. Sanity wasn’t really part of the equation. “It’s okay. I mean, it’s not, but it is.” He wanted to wave it off, but he just didn’t feel like moving his arm to do it. “I’m fine. The bed sheets aren’t fine, but I’m fine.” It could have ended differently, though. He could have had injuries that were worse than this. Things could have been worse. “I’m glad you didn’t. He’d have taken you over and you wouldn’t have been Thalia anymore.” *** Getting taken over wasn't even on the cards for Thalia. She'd always had too strong a sense of self for that. But she had regretted having to fight Luke because of it. And if he was there in the dreams… She squeezed his uninjured side lightly. “I think we need a contingency plan. In case he comes and takes you over here.” *** “Probably,” he agreed. “I’m not sure what any of it’s going to entail. I don’t know what to expect.” He didn’t have anything that would give him a hint as to what might happen or what might not. He honestly wasn’t sure that he wasn’t dead at the moment. He woke up while falling. “But maybe we’ll get lucky and I’m dead after the fall off the cliff and...well, I guess that’s not really lucky, but it’ll keep me from being...possessed or whatever it is.” He really didn’t want to have to worry about Kronos. He wanted to be done and if dying got him out of it...well, he guessed he’d have to sacrifice himself. *** Thalia didn't think that was a viable option, though, because she wanted him not dead, thank you very much. Because if she turned into a tree in the dreams and she turned into a tree here, what would happen if he died in the dreams? She pushed herself up on her elbow and glared at him. “You're not allowed to die. I think Annabeth and Percy are further ahead in their dreams. We’ll check and then...I don't know, find a way so you don't die or turn into a Titan here.” *** Luke’s gaze averted once she started to glare at him. He had a feeling that he wouldn’t be the person that he was before. He had a feeling he wasn’t that person already. This would only tip him more. This would make him...well, he wasn’t sure exactly, but he wouldn’t be him. He wouldn’t be the man that he was now and he didn’t know if he wanted that to come around. Only he didn’t have any guidance on what should be done if it happened here. “We can ask them. If something happens, though…” He didn’t want to say that it would be better to kill him, but it was probably better. “Well, we’ll figure that out. Maybe Percy and Annabeth can tell us something we don’t know yet.” Like how to get a Titan out of your body. *** “Yeah.” Thalia leaned down to kiss him, but the smell of blood was too strong. She settled for smoothing away some hair that was matted to his forehead. “Listen,” she said, looking more serious than she ever had. “I love you. And I'll do whatever it takes to keep you with me. As you.” *** Luke smiled at her a little. “I love you, too.” He just wasn’t feeling very optimistic. “And my shirt feels sticky.” Really, everything felt sticky and uncomfortable now that he wasn’t immediately dying or in danger of it. “I should probably shower and get out of these bloody clothes. We can figure out how not to let me get possessed by a Titan after that.” *** “Are you okay to move?” Thalia looked over him worriedly. He’d drunk the nectar, and there was no longer any blood gushing out, but the adrenaline was still pumping in her system, and she still wasn’t over the shock of waking up to see him bleeding out beside her. She might be just a little over-protective for a while. “Maybe you should just keep lying down for a while.” *** Luke almost laughed, but he stopped himself. “It’s just going to get worse if I stay here. You’re free to sit in the bathroom if you’re worried.” He just wanted to get clean and stop being...covered in blood. “And then I’ll stay on the couch all day. Okay?” *** “I might get in there with you.” For once, she wasn't suggesting anything lascivious. She just couldn't shake the fact that they'd had horrible luck being together, and while they'd had a nice respite for a while, this seemed more like a return to the norm. She eased off the bed, wincing as the congealing blood stuck to her, and moved around to his side of the bed. “They're going to think I murdered you or something.” *** He arched an eyebrow before slowly sitting up. Not that he was going to argue with her. If she wanted to be in the shower, he wasn’t going to tell her no. Even if he was pretty sure that he could handle it. Looking at her, though, he figured she probably needed to get the blood off herself, too. “Sorry about the sheets and the clothes.” Luke breathed a laugh through his nose, shaking his head slightly. “Don’t worry. I got better.” He carefully pushed off the bed, nose wrinkling slightly at the sensation of the blood on the sheets and the act of getting up. “You can tell them it’s cornstarch and food coloring.” *** “Let’s see how far they get in trying to arrest me before they’ll believe it,” Thalia said drily. “Or maybe we call Killian and see what he can do about getting rid of a bunch of bloody sheets.” She might’ve been a juvenile delinquent, but disposing of blood was beyond her. She offered him her shoulders for support as he eased his way to the bathroom. “You know, taking a shower together used to be sexy.” *** “Guess we can’t have a trashcan fire and dispose of them that way. Suspicious.” But he still thought about it. Burying was out because someone might find them. He was alive, though, and he’d deny anything they said. “Killian’s probably a good choice.” Both of them trusted him, but he’d feel a little weird about asking him to take care of his bloody sheets. Still...maybe it was a good idea. Glancing over at Thalia, Luke had to laugh a little. “Don’t worry. I promise to make it sexy again. You just have to give me a day or two.” |