Author's note: No plot, just fluff as I continue to yearn for human contact during a panini. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Based on the character, world, and works of Uncle Rick, long may he troll us.

Warnings: NA

Past The Need For Subtilty

Usually, Annabeth let herself into his cabin and made herself at home. He'd gotten used to the door creaking open by some invisible hand and his mattress dipping soon after. She liked seeing him scramble and pat around to try and pluck the Yankee's cap from her head, and she'd usually be smiling or grinning when she appeared. He'd gotten pretty good at tossing the cap like a frisbee so it would land on the bunk across from his, out of the way but always at the same spot so she could grab it and sneak back to her own cabin before the other children of Athena woke up for breakfast-not that they didn't know where their head counsellor spent most of her time.

But today she just knocked twice and let herself in, fully visible, with a flashlight in hand. She had a book Malcolm had been bugging her to read for ages tucked under her arm, and she was wearing a pair of flannel pajama shorts and an oversized souvenir t-shirt he'd gotten her at the Empire State Building as a joke. Her hair was twisted into the messy bun she always slept in and she'd dragged her favourite blanket over as well, wrapped around her shoulders like a cape.

"Wise Girl?" he asked, sitting up in bed. He hadn't been sleeping either; one of the things he'd brought back from home after visiting his Mom was his old Nintendo DS. He hadn't played video games in over eight months because of Hera and he had seriously missed the wonderful world of Stardew Valley, where nothing ever went wrong probably because there were no Greek gods. Connor Stoll had offered Percy a pouch of drachmas for ten minutes of game time, but he was not sharing.

"Yup," she said, closing the door behind her. It slammed in the night and Percy shut the console.

"Umm… Subtle, much?" he asked with a frown.

"Don't you think we're past subtle at this point?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't think we're past the harpies," Percy said. "And I also don't think the rest of camp has suddenly become less gossipy, even if I've been gone a while."

She looked at him and arched an eyebrow, crossing her arms.

"Perseus James Jackson," she said. "You have been the hero of two major prophecies and gods know how many minor ones. You and I have literally been to hell and back together. I have safely shepherded you through two apocalypses, and a truly insane amount of quests and miscellaneous monster attacks. Do you think I care what the rest of camp has to say about anything I do anymore? Do I look like I have a single fuck left to give somewhere deep in my soul, even if I wanted to?"

Percy opened his mouth and then closed it.

"Are you going to sound so tough in the morning when Coach Hedge hears about this?" Percy asked.

"Are you going to keep being sassy or do you want me to get into bed so you can update me on how your digital chickens are doing?"

"The… latter," Percy said. Annabeth smiled.

"Good answer," she said before kicking off her flip-flops and easing herself into his bunk, spreading her blanket over him too before settling down on his pillow. He got comfortable too and tilted the screen of the DS so that she could see too, and wiggled around so that she could lean her head on his chest. And he decided that if what he was up to was this nice, he didn't mind all of camp knowing.

WC: 612