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[kelpful]

[Contary to his usual public presence on the network, Percy is look drained and tired, like he hasn't been sleeping well. He only adds to this impression with the way he drags a hand down his face before clearing his throat and speaking. Those who have seen him post before might recognise that he's in his suite in the Water Sector rather than the one he shares with Annabeth.]

Uh. Hi guys, long time no post, and all. I was just wondering if - has anyone seen Hazel Levesque, or Nico di Angelo? [A brief pause] Or Luke Castellan, I guess. I'm pretty sure they're gone, but - I thought I'd check.

[A sigh] It would be a lot easier if we knew for sure what happened to people when they disappeared, you know?

[encrypted 100% to castmates]
Hey. Can you guys all check in? I just want to make sure that everyone I think is still around is...actually still around, and okay. And if you need help with anything for whatever reason, just let the group know. We should - we need to stick together.

Thanks.

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[sophos]

[She opens her mouth to reply, but closes it. Tilts her head to look more closely at him.] Mayor? What do you mean?

[kelpful]

[More silence, his thumb absently sliding back and forth against her skin] When this is over, when this is done, I don't want Camp to just be a camp anymore. Camp Jupiter isn't perfect but - they have adult demigods. And legacies. Whole generations of demigods that've survived. I want that for us too. Not 'here's your training, good luck'. Somewhere that people can move if they want to. No one should have to choose between being with their family and being safe.

[sophos]

[And suddenly, so many more things make sense. She'd been worried over Percy's experiences with Camp Jupiter from the moment she'd found out that's where he'd be. That it would take him and keep him. It hadn't ever quite disappeared. Even after his small confession that night in the stables, about the future with her he was thinking about -]

[A place to be safe, to live safely. A place at home, not on the other side of the country. Annabeth can't deny being a little jealous over that aspect of the Roman camp, something so few Greek demigods ever got the chance at. Something she never got the chance at.]

[On top of everything else, it's a relief. A relief that he doesn't want to go back to New Rome. He wants to take what he saw there to Camp Half-Blood. It's such a Percy thing to take away from it all, to apply in thinking about the future, but for everyone, as much as he's including himself in it. She's surprised at herself for not really picking up on his thought process going there before now.]

[She laughs, chokes a little, pressing her forehead to his. It seems far off, with Tartarus looming, but she's just suddenly ridiculously emotional over the idea of it. A town, at Camp Half-Blood. It had to be possible. Hasn't all she ever really wanted in her life to be some kind of stability? And she definitely wasn't alone in that feeling.] I think Mayor Chiron has a nice ring to it.

[kelpful]

[He holds his breath, waiting for her response. Annabeth has lived at Camp Half-Blood longer than anyone, after all. Even if she wasn't the person whose opinion he valued most, he'd want to know what she thinks about his idea for that reason.

And then she's laughing, but it's that choked kind of sound that means somewhere in that thought process there was something he wasn't privy to, something she feels she needs to be relieved about. He moves into her own movement on automatic, pressing his forehead to hers as she does the same] Yeah? [He sounds a little bewildered] You're okay with the idea?

[sophos]

[She smiles, something a little soft, a little hopeful.] Yeah. I mean, Camp Half-Blood - it's home, for so many people. But it's limited in some ways. [She closes her eyes for a moment, weaving her fingers through his and squeezing his hand. She keeps her forehead against his when she opens them to look at him again.] Why not make it - a bigger home?

[Of course. Of course he'd come back to Camp Half-Blood. How could she even think he wouldn't?]

[kelpful]

[His expression is caught somewhere between being pleased, and being confused.] Right. That's exactly what I was thinking. [He squeezes her hand back.] And I figure that after redesigning Olympus, designing a town should be no problem.

[He doesn't even ask her. There's no one else he would accept as the architect of a home for demigods. Even if it's not...really his place to be making this kind of decision. He feels bad for that, but it's so important to him that he's not going to back down.]

[sophos]

[She can absolutely tell he's confused, but she can't bring herself to explain. Especially after he straight up tells her he wants her to design it. It hadn't really occurred to her, but she's not surprised he's not considering any other option. She's not even opposed.]

[She just doesn't really know what her feelings are doing at the moment, between the notion of a town at all and designing it. How permanent would that be? How strong of an impact on lives would it make? Not just for herself, but demigods with and after her. She feels more allegiance towards them than the gods right now, at any rate.]

[Instead of responding right away, she just kisses him. It's soft and not very long but still full of how much she's just feeling right now.] You have no idea how ridiculously picky the gods have been over blueprints. A town - that's cake.

[kelpful]

[The way she kisses him takes him be surprise, but he doesn't protest at all. The opposite, actually, his lips easing over hers soft and slow. It takes him a couple of seconds for his brain to kick into gear again when she pulls away, taking his breath with her.]

Um. [A beat] Okay, good. Awesome. [Wait] can we have our house on the water? Like-- [He shifts a little, his arm still around her as he gestures with his hands trying to illustrate. It's the kind of thing that would probably only make sense to her] Mostly on the land, but you could just jump over the deck into the sea? Or the lake, I guess, if it didn't work along the beach.

[sophos]

[Our house.]

[Our house.. It's such a dumb thing to get stuck on, because they're already living together in her suite. But it's an entirely different connotation than coming together here because they needed to. Our house because they want to. Nothing about their current situation is normal, and maybe a house in a town of demigods isn't exactly normal either - but it's close. It's close and it's a choice she wants to make and think about because she can. Because it's a possibility. But she's already overwhelmed by everything else before hand that she doesn't really know what to say to that. Not when it's so far off and she's still sorting through a bunch of other emotions.]

[So Annabeth just starts deferring into logic without actually answering.] It would - depend, you know, on the layout of the town, the nature of the housing and the roads, where it falls in connectivity to the Camp itself - inside it, outside it, who else gets to come there -

[She'll just keep rambling nervously until he interrupts tbh.]

[The gesture does make sense, though.]

[kelpful]

[She starts to ramble, and she only does that when she's nervous or avoiding something. Percy does a quick review of the conversation so far, and starts to kind of realise where he might have taken a sharp turn into something really emotional.

It's just - he's been thinking about it for so long, wanting it for so long. It's really easy for him to get caught up in the dream without slowing to consider the details.

He cuts her off with another kiss.] It's okay. We don't have to figure it all out right now. And I mean - I don't want to assume that you'll just jump right into a house with me or anything. [Oh no, now he's rambling. But he can't seem to stop] But at some point in the future...I want to make a home with you, Annabeth. [His voice cracks a little bit] Somewhere that's ours, that we made together. Where we can - where we can be safe and not have to worry about monsters, and build a future. Honestly, it could be in the middle of the desert if I could have that with you.

[sophos]

[She relaxes a little, when he kisses her, but not completely. Especially when he starts to ramble himself, and she can feel her gut stirring, every word churning over her emotions even more. Not necessarily in a bad way - just a way she's not sure she's equipped to really grapple with right now. She can feel her cheeks turning red, feel her nerves flaring up, but at the same time it's all so stupidly hopeful and promising but terrifying, because Percy Jackson loves her so much. And she loves him, too. He's home, and it doesn't matter where they are either for that to hold true, so why does it keep feeling like so much? Making a home, for themselves. To just - live.]

[She kisses him again, this time a little harder, and unexpectedly, she can feel her eyes welling, though it doesn't spill over and it's not bad. It's just overwhelming and she can't really think straight.]

[kelpful]

[He feels her relax and honestly? That's all he needed. She when she kisses him like that, hard and out of nowhere, it kind of hits him with a wave of heat that he definitely wasn't expecting. He tugs her closer, and if it weren't for the wetness that he can tell is there, he'd probably take that further. But he's happy with this, with her, with them. One of his hands moves, sliding back into her hair and tangling there - but gently practically cradling her head]

So that - um. You like that idea, then? [He laughs a little, some mixture of hope and happiness escaping him even after the afternoon he's had. Annabeth had that effect on him]

[sophos]

[Annabeth pulls away after a few moments, but she keeps her face close, keeps her whole self close after he'd tugged her in. As almost panic inducing as it's all threatening to be, it's a kind of hopefulness she hasn't really had lately. She can cling to that much.]

Whatever happens - [and she's not talking about Tartarus, for once. Just the abstract them of the future] - I just. I don't know what I want. [She has to admit that. Even if she's not entirely opposed, and that comes out in her tone, too. But she can't know exactly what she wants, not now, not yet. That's how she works.] But I do know I want it to be with you.

[kelpful]

[Maybe in the past, that would have worried him. Made him wonder about whether or not he and Annabeth were on the same page, if she wanted the same thing out of the future as he did.

Now? Now, he doesn't really care. He's completely confident in his relationship with her, in the fact that their future is going to be together. However that happens, whatever happens in it, so long as that part holds true? He'll take whatever else comes with it.] That's lucky. [He kisses the corner of her mouth, teasing a little] This could have gotten awkward, otherwise.

[sophos]

[Her lips curl into a smile when he kisses her, and she steals a kiss back. She laughs a little, both out of nerves and genuine happiness. No matter how terrifying it all is, she can still hold on to just how much Percy makes her feel loved and wanted, and she'll let herself go with it right now.]

A little more than awkward, I think. [Another kiss.] I love you, Percy. [It's full of an emotional honesty, but it's not nearly as desperate as saying it has been for them lately. It's maybe kind of promising.]

[kelpful]

I love you, Annabeth. [He means it just as much, but his tone is more a simple happiness. He's enjoying the fact that they're just saying it right now, that there's no 'and that's why we'll get through this' behind the words in this moment.

Right now, at least, they're allowed to just love each other. Percy hadn't realised how much he needed this until it happened]

[sophos]

[Her smile deepens over it. They're saying it right now because it's them and because they do, they love each other and that's all.]

[She shifts herself to wrap her arms around him in a hug, and it's the first one in a while that's not clingy. It's a just a hug, because she wants to hold him because she loves him. Because they've been friends for years and she trusts him more than anybody. And one day, Camp Half-Blood will have a Town Half-Blood. This is them, a part of them they haven't been able to tap into in some time.]