I kept whispering affirming things while stroking Annabeth's hair until her breathing slowed down, indicating that she was asleep.
"How can the same person be so threatening and so cute?" Piper said as she sat down next to me. "I don't know. She does that. By the way, Annabeth's out now" "Still cute" "Isn't that something we wanted to talk about?" "About her being cute?" "About her being attractive. Specifically to you" "Well, she is" "She is. Can't deny that" "As a child of Aphrodite, the question would be what attraction we're talking about" "Usually Annabeth is the one talking about different types of attraction, but sure. Let's overanalyze in what ways we are attracted to my girlfriend" "Okay" "So, would you say she's hot?" "Yep. She doesn't reciprocate" "That's what happens when you have a demisexual with severe trust issues. I don't care how close you are, you're still miles from the point we were at when she started finding me hot" "Right, she explained it to me. No attraction until some specific curse is cast and then lifted" "Wrong. She didn't tell you that. She tried to tell you but the idea of me leaving her was too much to handle, so I had to explain it" "Right, that's what happened. I feel like being abandoned by you is kind of a touchy subject" "A tiny bit. If we're not careful, just mentioning it will throw off her mental stability entirely" "So, she's not attracted to me sexually. That's what we were talking about"
"If I'm being honest, cuteness is way more important than hotness" I said. "You could be right about that. I mean just look at her" She got out her phone and snapped another picture before continuing. "She looks so innocent. I want to hug her" "That would probably wake her up, but I think she won't mind this" "Hopefully not" Piper responded as she joined me in stroking Annabeth's hair. "Her hair is also something I like" Piper said. "That was like the first thing that I noticed about her. I saw her and thought princess curls" "You call those princess curls?" Piper asked. "Yeah, why not?" "Remember when Rachel threw her hairbrush past Annabeth's head?" "Of course, why?" "I strongly believe that, apart from when we kidnapped her about ten days ago, her hair has not gotten this close to a hairbrush since. That is the messiest, least cared for and least princess like hair I've ever seen. Homeless people not included" "Why are you being so mean?" "That wasn't meant to be mean. I appreciate the bravery to go out like that" "Aren't you the one who doesn't care about beauty standards?" "I don't care as much as my siblings, but it isn't completely irrelevant to me either. To Annabeth it apparently is. I wonder how much time she dedicates to her looks" "I actually know her hair care routine. It's bar soap, rinse, tie back" "Then it's not surprising they look like this" "I like what they look like" "Me too, just in a different way than you" "It makes them bouncy" I tugged at a loose strand and it bounced up and down a few times. I started laughing as quietly as I could so as to not wake Annabeth.
Piper
"Percy, how old are you again" "Older than you, why?" "Because people your age usually don't laugh about bouncy hair" "Hey, let me be a child. I didn't get a lot of chances for that. I was kind of busy with not… doesn't matter" I knew this type of reaction. A complete shutdown to prevent oversharing. Annabeth was very good at that, but I had never seen it in Percy. Annabeth had mentioned something like that once though. Apparently, Percy had had an abusive family member whom he really didn't like talking about. I didn't pressure him to continue. As far as I knew, not even Annabeth did. "So, her hair is bouncy. That makes her attractive I guess. Okay, what other types of attraction exist?" "Sexual, romantic, platonic, alterous, sensual" Annabeth mumbled in her sleep. "Why are you dating the embodiment of Wikipedia again" "That's what we're here to discuss, right?" "Right. You just want an excuse to talk about how much you love her, right?" "Possibly. But where's the harm in that? She's not just cute and hot but also scary. It's the perfect rare combination. What else do I like?" "Her eyes maybe?" "Oh, sure. They're pretty and scary at the same time. And she can do this death glare…" "She's really good at that. I wish she'd stop doing it to me" "I've become somewhat immune to it over time, also she stopped doing it for the most part. Maybe that's because she's starting to understand that I'm generally being nice to her, so she can just get me to do things that way and she doesn't have to force me. The thing is that she's much better at intentionally looking scary than looking cute, and that difference keeps getting bigger as more trauma accumulates. On the other hand, it makes her better at unintentionally looking cute" "Why is that?" "I think cuteness is just the way my brain processes the urge to support someone" "Makes sense. Annabeth is really good at making me want to support her. It's probably just my instinct telling me 'No one should have to suffer this much' so as soon as I see how bad she's feeling, I immediately want to comfort her" "Same. But sometimes, she's just cute without feeling particularly bad" I added. "Yeah. Okay what else do we like?" "What about her alters?" "Annie and Luisa are the cutest schist" "Agreed" "It's fascinating how each one of them has their own distinct personality" "You mean like how Luisa likes to be called cute but Annie usually doesn't?" "Exactly. They've had different struggles so they're different. But they have the same body. That kind of blows my mind" "Wise girl is pretty good at blowing minds if you ask me" "Yeah, especially when said minds consist of seaweed" "Only Annabeth gets to call me that. Didn't she show you the contact?" "She actually did. I thought it was a joke" "A joke. From the girl who has an unhealthy obsession with doing everything in the most perfect way possible? Annabeth Chase doesn't have time for jokes and sometimes she doesn't have the necessary knowledge of social interaction stuff either. Probably a consequence from growing up with little human connection" "I grew up under similarly unsocial circumstances and I don't have those problems"
"Weird. Wait, you had a lot of interactions with the people you stole from. Sorry, borrowed from" "True. So yes, Annabeth did show me that contract. It's a bit ridiculous if you ask me. She said she needed to 'defend her right to insult you'" "Who knows. Maybe it gives her some security to know that there's a rule for that. And, like, security isn't something she has a lot of. That's why I agreed to sign it" He told me the story.
Percy
Annabeth came up to me one day, shortly after Mount Tam and gave me a document. "So, you know how I don't like when other people call you seaweed brain?" "Uh, sure. Though I'm not sure what you have against it" "That doesn't matter. I have this contract that allows me and no one else to call you that. You just have to sign it" "I don't think that's how contracts work. Me signing something can't change the behavior of others" "I think it does work that way because technically, seaweed brain could be seen as an insult and insulting people without their consent is a bit not okay, so by signing this contract, you're essentially withdrawing your consent to being called seaweed brain by anyone but me" "Annabeth, that's a bit ridiculous. Though it's probably not the weirdest thing you've done" "If you won't do it because it makes sense, will you do it for me?" "I'm not getting out of this, am I?" "Nope" "Fine. If it makes you feel better about… whatever this is about" After searching for a pen for at least ten minutes, I signed Annabeth's contract. I still thought the whole thing was a bit ridiculous, but it seemed to make Annabeth happy, so it was fine.
"And that's where that contract comes from" I finished. "You really do a lot for Annabeth" "Possibly. But like we're in a relationship so it's all about give and take" "Sounds like for you the give outweighs the take" "Maybe" "Shouldn't a healthy relationship be 50/50?" "That's probably a neurotypical standard and neurotypicals don't know schist. The problem with the 50/50 is that it assumes that both partners have the same needs, which is rarely the case. And I know that if I wanted her to, Annabeth would do just as much for me as I do for her, which is what really counts. I do for her what she needs, she does for me what I need. The fact that the former happens to be more than the latter shouldn't mean that our relationship is unhealthy" "Makes sense. It's almost like simple rules cannot fully define what a healthy relationship is" "Exactly. For example, she's never provided herself as a human pillow for me, but that's because, in contrast to her, I have a healthy relationship with sleep and don't usually operate at the edge of collapse. And sure, sometimes she can get annoying. Like sometimes I'll be doing my homework and all of a sudden Annabeth shouts for my help and I have to comfort her through the third panic attack that week, but once she's in my arms, it's alright. As long as we're together, I don't care" Upon hearing those last few words, Annabeth moved around in her sleep. I had completely forgotten it, but that sentence was of course quite traumatic, for me as well. I reached for her hand and lightly squeezed it a few times.
"Where was I?" "Annoying panic attacks" "Right. It can be annoying at the moment, but once I am supporting her, which usually happens in the form of intense cuddling, I really don't care she interrupted my homework. By the way, don't tell her I said that" "So, you're hiding things from Annabeth now?" "It's just because her abandonment issues will make her think I'll change my mind about only the second thing, get fed up with her high support needs and abandon her. That's how it usually goes for her" "Okay, that's acceptable" "Good. Because if you didn't think it was acceptable, I'd have to convince you and for that I'd need arguments and to get arguments I'd have to wake up Annabeth and she's so cute when she's sleeping" "Agreed" "You know, you're probably the first girl to make me jealous rather than Annabeth" "Come on, I'm doing my best to not steal your girlfriend" "Speaking of our relationships, how's it going with Jason?" "It's alright. Okay, it's alright if compared to Percabeth, but that's an insane standard. By regular standards it's going pretty well. Ever since Annabeth taught me 'How to judoflip your annoying boyfriend 101', he's cut down significantly on the every time we touch thing. Like, the first few times it was funny but then it started to get very annoying very quickly. And what he does isn't regular electrical shocks. He's a child of lightning" "Thalia and I used to argue all the time, so I know exactly what you're talking about"
"That looks uncomfortable" Piper said. "Her head in your lap. And with all that knowledge, it's probably quite heavy" "Now that you say it, it is a bit uncomfortable" "Want me to take her" "She probably won't kill you for that, so why not" I grabbed a pillow, then slowly shifted away, putting the pillow where my lap had been. Annabeth turned towards me, her eyes barely open. "Everything alright?" She mumbled. "Yeah, Piper and I were just switching places. If that's okay with you" "Sure" I got up and Piper moved to where I had been before, Annabeth's head in her lap. "You can sleep again" I whispered. Annabeth slowly closed her eyes and turned away from us again. "She's so cute" Piper whispered. "That's why I'm dating her" "Not because she's hot? Or because she saved your life multiple times?" "Well, that too. But don't underestimate the significance of her cuteness. I'm not sure I've ever actually said to her that she's cute. I wonder how she'd react to that" "I don't think she'd be particularly surprised. You frequently tell her how much you have the need to support her, which again sounds quite overprotective but she doesn't mind so whatever, and just a few hours ago you said that to you, someone being cute is equivalent to wanting to support that person, so you indirectly told her many times" "That's true. And if there's anyone who can make that connection, it's Annabeth" We spent the next thirty minutes talking about all the little things we liked about Annabeth. There was a lot. Eventually, the signal for dinner sounded. Annabeth opened her eyes again and got up. "Okay, time to not miss an opportunity to eat" Piper and I silently agreed not to criticize her for it. "How are you feeling?" "A lot better actually. The little nap really helped. Wait, didn't I fall asleep in Percy's lap?" "We switched places a while ago. Don't you remember, you woke up from it" "In order for memories to be saved permanently, you have to be awake for more than three minutes" "It was more like thirty seconds in your case" "Oh, okay. So, your school might not have cared about me eating with you, but here, it might get more difficult because our school actually has and follows rules" "So I can't join you regularly? I could join you invisibly then" "That might work. I'm agreeing to a seaweed brain plan. What am I doing?" "Are you implying that I can't make good plans?" "Not really" "Are you saying that because you believe it or because you think that saying mean things to me will make me hate and abandon you?" "It's a combination of the two"
Annabeth gave me her Yankees cap ("I don't want to see a single tear" "Then you better check in the mirror while wearing it") and the three of us made our way to the cafeteria. Both girls took a bit more food than what I assumed was usual so they'd be able to give something to me. Seeing chunks of food float through the air and disappear must have been a strange sight, but the mist seemed to take care of it. Once we were finished and out of the cafeteria, I took the cap off again. Once she saw me again, Annabeth couldn't help but smile a little bit. "Happy to see me?" I asked. "You were always there" "I was. Never forget that. But you didn't answer my question?" "Okay, I am happy"
And there goes chapter 100!
By the way, if I'd had my current average word count from chapter one on, the fic would now be 1000 pages long (or as long as Order of the Phoenix)