Thalia awoke in a bathtub filled to the brim with steaming water. For a split second renewed panic set in, as her instinctual mind theorized that some hungry giant had caught them and was trying to make demigod soup. However, it only took a moment for her to remember the recent events, and her heartbeat began to steady. She sank back down in the tub, savoring its warmth. A nice hot bath, just as Luke had promised.

She was startled again when a head of blonde curls popped up beside her and grasped her face between two tiny hands. "You're awake!" she exclaimed.

Thalia removed the hands and exhaled, trying to stifle her spurred defenses once again. "Geez Annabeth, were you sleeping on the floor?" she asked, observing the standard hotel pillows strewn over the tile.

The seven-year-old nodded. "We've been waiting for you to 'regain consciousness'. That's what they say when someone passes out, like you did." Thalia raises her eyebrows, always impressed by Annabeth's expanding vocabulary.

She looked around, still taking in her surroundings. "Where's Luke?" she asked, her eyes landing on the empty chair in the corner, and the stout cup of coffee on the counter next to it.

Annabeth folded her arms on the tub's edge and rested her chin on top. "He said he was going to get some snacks."

As if on cue, the main door clicked open and footsteps could be heard, along with the muffled sound of wrappers. "Annabeth, I know you wanted Cheetos but I got granola bars in-" Luke's voice trailed off as soon as he opened the bathroom door and saw Thalia sitting upright, eyes wide open, and smiling. His armful of goodies fell to the floor, suddenly unimportant, and in a second he too was kneeling next to the tub.

"Bend your fingers." he demanded, lifting her hand out of the water. "Toes too...can you feel this? How about this-"

After a minute or so of his rambling, she cut him off. "Luke."

He paused. "Thalia, we have to check your circulation-"

Thalia placed a hand on top of his and smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine Luke. Really."

He stared at her for a moment ready to argue, but then decided against it. He was no match for Thalia's stubbornness. "I'll get you some clothes," he said, standing. "Annabeth grabbed your bag, but everything's still pretty wet. You can wear some of my stuff in the meantime."

As soon as he had gone, Annabeth looked at Thalia seriously. "You really are fine, right?" she asked, her gray eyes brimming with concern. "You didn't just say that so he'd stop worrying?"

Thalia was also always impressed by how much Annabeth observed. Both she and Luke were guilty of brushing off injuries to avoid worrying Annabeth as well as each other, but apparently the child-genius hadn't been fooled.

"Not this time," Thalia chuckled, tucking a rogue curl behind the little girl's ear. "I promise, I really am okay." Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief and sat back on her heels.

Moments later, Luke returned with some sweats and a t-shirt that Thalia knew would be too large. He set them on the countertop and helped Annabeth to her feet. "We'll let Thals change," he said, ruffling her hair. "You need to get to bed anyway." He gave Thalia one last knowing glance, before shutting door and disappearing into the bedroom.

She didn't realize how stiff her joints were until she found herself grasping the hand rail like an elderly woman, simply trying to get to her feet. After stumbling out of the tub, she removed the rest of her soaked undergarments and dried herself off with a fluffy white towel. It was the first time she'd been dry in awhile, she realized. For a moment she recalled the cracking ice, dark water, and biting air, but quickly blinked the memory away.

Just as she'd anticipated, Luke's clothes hung on her very loosely, but she didn't mind. They were warm and comfortable, and smelled faintly of him. She supposed that was something she liked about him too.

Thalia shut off the light and tip-toed into the bedroom, in an effort not to disturb her companions. Annabeth was nestled under the covers of the closest bed, fast asleep, but Luke sat on the edge of the other, studying a map under the light of the lamp.

"You didn't have to wait up, you know." Thalia said, sitting down beside him. She didn't bother with whispering; Annabeth was a heavy sleeper.

Luke hadn't heard her come in. "Hey," he breathed, his focused expression melting into a surprised smile. "You still feeling okay?"

She nodded, flexing her fingers to prove it. "They all still work." Luke chuckled, but she saw a hint of sadness in his eyes. Maybe he was remembering the cracking ice and the dark water too.

A wave of guilt flooded over her and she reached up and gently pushed his hair off of his forehead, trailing her fingers over his scalp. He closed his eyes and sighed, leaning into her slightly. "You're exhausted," she acknowledged. "Let's get some sleep." Luke knew she was right; he'd been thwarting off sleep since the accident, as somebody had to be on guard and alert while Thalia was healing. Now, however, he could finally succumb to Sleep's relentless pull, since they'd thrown the monsters off for awhile and Thalia was back here, beside him, where he wished she'd never left.

He fell into the soft bed almost involuntarily, and swore he heard Thalia chuckle as she flipped off the lamp. She laid down next to him, but it was one of those nights when mere proximity wasn't enough. He rolled over and draped an arm over her waist, allowed her hair to tickle his face, found her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers-the very fingers that just hours earlier had been so cold and lifeless that he'd literally had to massage the blood back into them.

They are warm now, he thought, relieved.

Thalia relaxed into him, and gently he placed a kiss behind her ear, another just below on her neck, and then another at the nape. "You really scared me today, Thals." he whispered into her hair.

She squeezed his hand, another wave of guilt rushing over her. "I'm sorry." she whispered back.

He scoffed. "Would've been a stupid way to die."

She smiled, kicked him under the covers. He laughed against her neck. They lay in comfortable silence for some time, before Thalia spoke up.

"Luke, I know I don't always make it uhm, easy, but when you asked me to name what I liked about you, it seemed like you were trying to challenge me, as if you thought it would be hard for me to come up with any." She paused, sighing. "But you know that's not true, right? You know that the only reason it was difficult, was because there were too many?" She waited, but Luke was silent.

"Luke?"

He did not answer, and she realized that he must have fallen asleep.

She sighed again, nestling back into him and closing her eyes. "I just wanted to make sure you knew." she whispered into the dark.

And of course he knew.

He knew Thalia better than anyone.