amanda campbell 🦉 annabeth chase (wisdomsdaughter) wrote in welcomethreads, @ 2014-08-25 17:51:00 |
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Entry tags: | annabeth chase, thalia grace |
WHO: Thalia Grace and Annabeth Chase
WHERE: At the diner
WHEN: Aug 18
WHAT: Bestie reunion
RATING: PG
Having been in Storybrooke a whole week longer than Annabeth, Thalia knew it well enough to be able to get to Granny’s diner first. There, she slid into a booth and waited for her. She’d rather be out punching Luke Castellan’s face, but Annabeth had told her to back off Luke and meet her for burgers, and Thalia wasn’t going to deny Annabeth that. And that was another thing to hold against Luke: what should’ve been a happy reunion with her best friend was now overshadowed by his stupid face coming back from stupid Elysium. She wasn’t going to let him ruin it completely, though, because Annabeth was here, and Thalia was going to have a great time with her friend, dammit. Luke had already taken too much from her. She wasn’t going to let him take this, too. So when she spotted Annabeth entering, she managed a smile with her wave. “Bethy!” Annabeth’s head was pounding by the time she’d navigated her way through Storybrooke to Granny’s Diner. Though the daughter of Athena was well used to the complicated and unexpected, she thought this was a bit much, even by her standards. She and Percy had narrowly escaped Tartarus through the Doors of Death when she’d found herself in the little town in Maine. Alone. That had been enough to make her scream in frustration right there. After everything they’d been through, she and Percy had been separated AGAIN. If that hadn’t been enough to get to her, she’d tried to make sense of the hows and whys of her arrival, but found no sensible explanation. Upon navigating the network, she’d been relieved to see Thalia, but nothing could have prepared her for Luke. It had been far worse than any punch to the gut Annabeth had ever taken, and she’d struggled with remembering to breathe at first. She’d been snapped out of her daze, however, by Thalia’s anger. Sensing that if she didn’t step in, Thalia might go after Luke right there, Annabeth piped up and all but pleaded with her best friend to leave Luke alone and meet her for cheeseburgers instead. If he was here, she knew that the three of them would have a tricky road to navigate. Her mind was full to bursting with thoughts and memories and worries when she pushed open the door to the diner and found Thalia waving to her. She was still heartsore and confused from everything that had happened, not to mention she still looked a mess from her previous adventures, but that didn’t stop the smile that appeared when she heard Thalia call her name. No one but Thalia could get away with calling her Bethy, and no one else would dare try anyway. She waved back and moved over to the table. Once the initial burst of excitement of seeing Annabeth again had faded, Thalia realized that the other girl looked like she’d just gotten out of several rounds with a harpy. She stood up quickly, happiness turning to concern as she looked Annabeth over. All thoughts of Luke were shoved to the back of her mind now; there was a more immediate issue to deal with. “My gods, Annabeth, what happened to you?” Annabeth wasn’t prepared to deal with explaining the Tartarus situation to Thalia just yet. It was still too fresh and painful, and she wanted to keep her mind focused on their current situation, so she could decide what they were going to do, and how they would handle the Luke situation. If she thought too much about Tartarus and Percy being missing, she’d lose it in the middle of the diner. And she wasn’t going to let that happen. So with that in mind, she decided to skim past certain events. She’d tell Thalia everything later, and if the daughter of Zeus got angry at her for withholding the truth, then so be it. She made her choice. “Just another day in the life of a demigod,” she said lightly as she gave Thalia a hug. “Chaos, mayhem, near-death experiences. The usual.” Given that Thalia had just been acting as tetherball to a bunch of giants just before she’d gotten here, she really couldn’t take issue with Annabeth getting a bit banged up as well - except that she still felt protective of Annabeth. Nevermind that Annabeth had grown into an incredible, kickass demigod who’d helped saved the world and rebuild Olympus to boot. Part of Thalia would always remember her as the little seven year old girl who’d struggled so fiercely when she and Luke had found her. ...and again Luke. He’d been such a huge part of their lives back then that it was impossible to think of Annabeth without him. It had been...if not easy, at least not too bad when he’d been dead. Now, with him showing up, it made things that much more difficult. Right. Not letting Luke ruin this reunion. Thalia hugged Annabeth back, tightly, before releasing her and settling back into the booth. “Tell me you guys are making some headway in fighting off Gaea and her giants. We’ve been running from camp to camp just trying to slow them down.” Annabeth slid into the other side of the booth gratefully. She was beyond exhausted at this point. Even the worn vinyl cushions in a small town diner seemed like a relief. And she had to admit that everything smelled amazing. A thought occurred to her at that moment. She wondered if this was some trick or illusion to lull her into revealing something, or even to trap her. It wouldn’t be the first time something like this had happened. Her brow wrinkled in thought as she went over everything. Showing up here after just having escaped the horror of Tartarus was suspicious. Her guard would be lowered from exhaustion and emotion. As far as battle tactics went, it was a good strategy. Luke’s arrival also made her skeptical. There were so many people that Annabeth carried regret over not being able to save, but no one more than Luke Castellan. And now here he was, alive again. He and Thalia, and herself all together again in a small town without the dangers of monsters breathing down their necks. A chance to have a peaceful life? Her gray eyes became stormy but she carefully kept her expression neutral. The only thing that didn’t fit was the fact that Percy wasn’t with her. If this was a set-up of some kind, whoever was behind it had to know that she’d never be truly happy or at peace if Percy Jackson wasn’t with her. She’d spent nearly a year searching for him, after all. That one detail did put a hole in her theory, but she decided to test it, just to be sure. “Can we order food first? I’m starving. I’m going to order the biggest plate of onion rings you’ve ever seen.” Thalia retook her seat when Annabeth sat down and picked up the menu, but as soon as Annabeth mentioned onion rings, she stopped and stared at the other girl in disbelief. Annabeth loathed onion rings. She thought they were the most vile things to be ever invented. Once, in Atlantic City, an onion ring had slipped into her order of cheese fries, and memory of the look on her face when she’d bitten down on it was something that still made Thalia laugh. Why was she craving onion rings now? “Uh...who are you and what have you done with Annabeth?” Thalia asked, confused. “When did this craving for onion rings start? Gods, don’t tell me you’re pregnant.” Annabeth let out a long whoosh of air. “No, I’m not pregnant, and onion rings are still disgusting. I was making sure you were really you. I don’t know, this place...everything….I started to worry that maybe it was a trick of some kind. I just wanted to double check.” She gave Thalia a slightly embarrassed half-smile. “Sorry.” She picked up her own menu and glanced over it. “But now that you’re you, and I’m me, I’m going to order enough cheesy fries to feed an army. Aaaand,” she pressed her lips together as she read the menu items. “A bacon cheeseburger.” “Oh, thank the gods,” Thalia said, releasing a sigh of relief. She wasn’t sure what had made her jump to the pregnancy possibility - perhaps her childhood in Hollywood still influenced her thoughts more than she’d like. “But why would you even think it’s a trick?” She set her menu down, having decided on her order as well. “Have you been anywhere lately that’s been playing with your mind?” Oh no. Annabeth wasn’t going there. At least not willingly. She raised an arm to flag down their waitress. She needed water. “I’m just being cautious,” she said, purposely not answering Thalia’s question. “I’m running low on energy reserves right now, it would be the perfect time to strike if one of Gaea’s allies wanted to get rid of me. I turn up in a town that shouldn’t exist, and the first person I speak to is my best friend who tells me there are no monsters or Titans trying to take over? That I might get the chance to relax for two minutes before another crisis pops up.” She paused for a moment, then continued on with the rest of her thought. “And Luke being here, alive. It maybe seemed like something designed to keep me here and out of the fight.” It made sense to Thalia, who didn’t have any reason to question Annabeth’s answer. This kind of trickery was exactly what Gaea and her monster goons would get up to, and of course Annabeth would be suspicious. “Well, if you’ve been taken out of the fight, so have I,” she said, not addressing the comment about Luke. She wanted to talk about him even less than Annabeth wanted to talk about Tartarus. “But as far as I can tell, this place is legit - as crazy as it seems.” Annabeth paused their conversation when the waitress came over with waters for them and took their orders. She waited until the girl had moved away from the table again before continuing the conversation. She realized belatedly that everyone in the town was probably used to strangers turning up and holding conversations about fantastical things, but old habits died hard. And besides, she didn’t want anyone listening in on their conversation anyway. “What have you found out about this place so far?” “Whatever’s been happening here has been happening for over a year,” Thalia said, sipping her water. “And get this - it’s not just dead people coming back. There are a lot of fictional people running around too. I work for Charlie Weasley, for one thing.” As minor a character as he was in the Harry Potter books, Thalia knew Annabeth would instantly recognize the name. Harry Potter was their thing when they were kids, and Annabeth had loved those books. Annabeth liked to think she was rarely shocked by things at this point in her life. In her seventeen years she’d seen things that would make grown adults lose their minds. But at Thalia’s words, her mouth actually flopped open. She’d have laughed at herself if she wasn’t so stunned. She scrambled for the phone in her pocket and navigated her way to the network. She found the post she’d made and pulled it up on the screen. Shortly afterward, her phone had been shoved directly into Thalia’s face. “Are you telling me that I am actually talking to the real Fred Weasley right there? And that you work for his brother Charlie?” Thalia made a brief attempt to read the screen, cross-eyed, before giving up and plucking it from Annabeth's hand. "Is it me or does he sound flirty here? 'Helloooo, Annabeth Chase.'" She dropped her voice an octave. "But yeah," she added as she handed he phone back. "I think that's him. Isn't that trippy?" Annabeth’s face flushed a brilliant shade of fluorescent pink at Thalia’s teasing. “No he does not,” she said firmly as she snatched the offered phone back from the other girl’s hand. “Harry Potter characters are real. If Hermione shows up, I’m going to have a heart attack.” "Relax, I won't tell Percy," Thalia said, still teasing. "And if Hermione shows up, you're going to be best friends and forget all about me." She let out a sigh of mock sorrow. "But seriously. If she shows up and you guys get together, you probably have the best chance of anyone here to get us home." Annabeth let herself slide into fantasy-land for a moment where not only was her childhood hero a real person, but someone she could talk to and even work alongside. A grin slid over her face. “Oh yeah, absolutely. Sorry. But Hermione will always win out in the best friend category.” She stuck her tongue out at Thalia. As if anyone could ever come close to replacing the hunter as her best friend. “So,” she said, snapping back into serious mode. “We’re in a town full of fairy tale characters, we were brought here by magic that no one can seem to control, characters from fictional works are here, and there’s no surefire way to get us home yet. You said there aren’t any monsters here, but any other concerns?” Thalia scowled. “Luke Castellan,” she said flatly, because he was definitely a subject for concern for her. Annabeth might have forgiven him for what he’d done, but Thalia hadn’t. She hadn’t been there when he’d finally torn himself away from Kronos’s influence to set right what he’d done wrong. She’d never gotten that closure. No, the last time she’d looked upon his face was when he hadn’t been himself at all. He’d been Kronos with an army of monsters behind him, and that was hard to get over. Annabeth’s expression sombered. “We need to talk about him, Thal. I know you don’t want to, but we can’t just ignore it. Or him. We have to figure out a way to deal with this.” “What way is there to deal with it? The way I-” Thalia broke off when the waitress arrived with their food. Like Annabeth, she was used to keep their affairs away from mortals. Only after the waitress had left did she lean forward to continue. She didn’t even take a bite of her cheeseburger yet, so intent was she on this conversation. “The way I see it, there are only two ways to deal with it. He stays away from me, or I put my spear through his eye.” Annabeth thanked the waitress quietly when they’re food arrived and fiddled with her plate and silverware while she waited for her to leave again. Thankfully the girl seemed to understand that they were in the midst of something important and didn’t linger. “This is a tiny town, Thalia. From what I saw of your conversation with him, he’s not going to actively try and bother you. But you’re kidding yourself if you think you’re never going to run into him. And you can’t keep fuming and threatening him every time you do.” Thalia couldn’t see why not, except that Annabeth would probably get upset with her. And given that Luke had already ruined so many things, she wasn’t going to let him ruin her friendship with Annabeth too. “Can I at least punch him?” she asked hopefully, although she already knew the answer. It just felt good to imagine. “You can do whatever you want, Thal. You know I can’t stop you. But, I don’t think it’ll do either of you any good.” “I’ll make me feel better,” Thalia said wistfully. Annabeth had fantasies about being best friends with Hermione Granger. Thalia had fantasies of punching Luke Castellan in the face. Annabeth gave her best friend a sad sort of smile. She loved Thalia, and she loved Luke. Having the three of them together again had been one of her deepest desires for ten years. But this wasn’t what she had wanted. She picked up her burger and took a bite. When she’d finished chewing and swallowing, she said, “I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve to be punched in the face. He did awful things, there’s no denying that. But holding onto past grudges isn’t going to get any of us anywhere.” The thing was, Annabeth was right. No amount of the hurt and anger Thalia carried could change that. And even if Thalia did punch Luke, or stab him, or whatever, where did that leave her and Annabeth? It wouldn’t change anything, really. She took several bites of her cheeseburger as she mulled it over. Thalia was still a fast eater by habit. Even when there were no monsters lurking around the corner, Thalia tried to eat as fast as she could in case she had to drop everything and run. “But where do we go from here?” she asked, because she had no idea. It had been so much easier when Luke had been dead. Annabeth ate her cheese fries while Thalia took a few minutes to think about things. When Annabeth was with her, her own eating habits reverted too. She definitely ate faster when she was around Thalia. A good portion of her fries were missing by the time they spoke again. “I think you need some time to adjust to the fact that he’s alive again. And then I think we should talk to each other. Seperately and together. Because we’re all in this together. It’s not just you and Luke, and it’s not just me and Luke. It’s all three of us. We were a family. And yes, that got really messed up along the way, but it doesn’t make that disappear. It doesn’t make him disappear. And I think we owe it to ourselves to at least talk. Do you think you can do that? I know how hard this is for you, and I wouldn’t ask you to do it, if I didn’t honestly believe it was the best thing for us.” As far as Thalia was concerned, however, their family unit disappeared the second Luke put a sword to Annabeth’s throat. Up until then, she would’ve forgiven him everything, even poisoning her. But threatening Annabeth had crossed a line that Thalia didn’t think he could come back from. Still, if Annabeth were determined to give it a try, she would do it. She’d rather be part of it and be there to pick up the pieces when he disappointed Annabeth than to let this get between them. “Fine,” she muttered. “I’ll talk. But if he tries anything again, I will poke holes in him.” Annabeth smiled. “Deal. Let’s finish these burgers and get some ice cream to go, and then you can show me around this place.” |