o5 ♆ video

[kelpful]

[Percy is firmly established in Annabeth's suite again. He's frowning absently at the screen, almost like he's totally forgotten what he was going to say. Instead of words, you get the steady pop pop pop of him messing around with a sheet of bubblewrap in front of him. From the right angle, he appears to be popping it in the shape of a sword. Or a stick. Or maybe just a line.

All of a sudden, his hands stop. He glances at the camera like he's just remembered that it's on, and opens his mouth. Shuts it. Open it again] Hey, I think...I'm seventeen now.

[There's a brief moment of silence before a wide grin breaks out across his face. He laughs, and there's a certain relief in the sound.] Not bad for someone who wasn't supposed to make it past sixteen, huh? Oh man, how did I miss this?

[He leans in towards the screen intently, a certain determination stealing his features. Percy's ADHD brain has caught onto an idea, and it is Extremely Important that it be addressed Right Now] Okay, I know that things are really tight and tense right now for everyone, but this is...well, it's important. Or at least, it'd mean a lot to me. Does anyone know where I could get my hands on some blue food dye? Or like, something that dyes...food...blue.

[That's the same thing, Percy.] I can pay. Or, I don't know, blast you with salt water. I guess no one really wants to swim in the canals right now. [Briefly his expression falls, reminded of what he sees as his failure in trying to save the Water Sector] But yeah, if anyone knows where I could get some, that'd be great.

Comments

[video]

[kelpful]

[That gets another grin from him] I didn't believe it either, when they first told me. And that was after I had to kill the Minotaur.

[You and Percy both, bro]

Really? You think so? [Because he has been feeling woefully inadequate lately] Uh, I control water. Swim without getting wet, breathe under it, walk on it, punch people with it. Move it around. I've summoned a few storms before. Ice is harder [heh] but I can work with it a little bit. Oh, and I can talk to sea animals. And horses. [And also summon water from his body and explode volcanoes but he's going to keep those to himself for now]

[video]

[angermanaging]

So Greek myths, not so much a myth for you. If there's... the Minotaur. [This is one area Bruce does not know much about, but even he knows what the Minotaur is, and it gets Percy a newly evaluating glance through the transmission.]

Yeah. If you can do all that, absolutely. [He understands needing to feel useful, and can sympathize with that, but there's no trace of exaggeration here.] I don't know what you know about hydroponics, but we're going to be moving a lot of water around, and we'll have to set up an extensive filtration system. The whole point is that there won't be any exposure to the illness affecting the rest of the, the turtle. [He still hesitates over saying turtle.]

You'd make things go a lot faster.

[video]

[kelpful]

Trust me, I could do with them being a little less real.

When the problems with the turtle first started, I moved all of the dirty water out of the canals so we could replace it with melted snow. I mean like, unless whatever you're doing's going to cover the whole turtle or something, I should be able to move whatever you need.

[video]

[angermanaging]

I know how you feel, [he says dryly, with some real emphasis behind it.]

Wow, yeah, then you should-- your help would be great. I'm not sure how large scale we'll be going, it depends on how many people are interested, but I'll let you know. Or I guess Annabeth will let you know. She's more than welcome to take all the organizing she wants off my hands.

[video]

[kelpful]

[Percy grins a little, but his words are sincere] Sorry to hear that.

[And that grin widens] Trust me, you're going to have a hard time stopping her. The only thing Annabeth's better at than organising is kicking butt. They're usually related.

[video]

[angermanaging]

That's alright. I'm... adjusting. [The world doesn't exactly wait for him to catch up.]

[The grin is a little infectious, and Bruce looks lightly amused as he responds.] Then I'm lucky I ran into her. I'm more of a, sit in the lab kind of guy, if I had my way.