"Hey," Annabeth uttered quietly, carefully bookmarking her book and setting it to the side as Percy hesitantly stood in the doorway. It was his room in his cabin, she had no idea why he was hesitating.
"Hey," He responded, voice scratchy. He swallowed as he cleared his throat, and Annabeth softened. She reached out towards him, and there was something akin to relief in his eyes as he moved forward. He'd hesitated because of her and that stung a little. It wasn't his fault though, anxiety was a very real thing and she knew Percy struggled with it.
"There you are," Annabeth sighed as Percy crawled into bed next to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and hiding his face against her side. She let a hand fall into his hair, and she smiled as he relaxed against her. "Want to talk about it?" Annabeth asked, her voice the only sound in the otherwise quiet room.
"No." Percy responded, his voice muffled. Which was fair, Annabeth probably wouldn't want to talk about ascending suddenly either. The only idea she had about accidental ascension was that it was painful.
"Okay." Annabeth continued to play with his hair. He sighed as Annabeth used one hand to return to her book. Playing with Percy's hair had always been a way of helping him relax, especially in a situation that he didn't know how to proceed; at least when it didn't come to monsters.
They laid there for several hours, with Percy calmly breathing while Annabeth read. At some point, Annabeth had begun to hum. She didn't know when, but she was almost sure that it had helped ease Percy into some semblance of sleep. Could gods even sleep?
"Hey," Annabeth glanced up, finding Leo peeking in the doorway, a hesitant look on his face. "Can I come in?" Percy moved before Annabeth could respond, reaching an arm out for Leo. Leo darted forward, moving to join the two of them on Percy's bed, half laying on top of Percy.
"Are the others going to join too?" Percy asked quietly, pushing himself up enough to turn to laying on his back, wrapping his arms around Leo.
"Yeah, probably," Leo responded. "At least, throughout the night at the very least." He added, sighing against Percy's chest. Annabeth hummed, wondering if they should move to, what Annabeth had called the, Nest room. There was a giant bed built into the floor, with blankets that were incredibly soft and pillows that were so comfortable to lay on. Even the mattress was soft and it often made all their friends never want to leave.
"Should we move? The other room perhaps?" Annabeth asked, moving her hands and instead bookmarking her book once more and setting it on Percy's nightstand. "Set up some movies?" She added, moving to lay on her side to face the two of them. Leo moved so that Annabeth could wrap her arms around both of them and not just Percy, whose head was half laying on her chest.
"Yeah…" Percy sighed, but not at all making an attempt to move. Annabeth hummed, pressing a kiss to his head as Leo settled on Percy. Had Leo joining their relationship been an adjustment? Absolutely, but now Annabeth nearly couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to the Son of Hephaestus.
That and Percy adored Leo. There was a joke that Percy had 'stolen' Leo from Jason and Piper, or from Hazel and Frank; although Frank had been a little uncomfortable with those jokes. They'd stopped soon after starting.
"What sort of movies would we line up?" Leo asked, closing his eyes as he completely settled.
"Maybe the Fast and Furious movies? Or the X-Men ones?" Annabeth tilted her head. They weren't her favorites, but she knew the boys liked them.
"Princess Diaries." Percy uttered, and Annabeth snorted as Leo's head snapped up to stare at Percy in confusion and mock offense. Percy was already fighting off a smile, and his chest and shoulders were already shaking.
"Princess Diaries." Leo's voice sounded offended, and Annabeth snickered as she pulled Leo to lay back down. "Princess Diaries! Annabeth, do you hear him?" Leo was starting to laugh too, and Annabeth smiled brightly as Percy's eyes opened. They looked brighter than they had that morning, which was good. Great even!
"What's wrong with Princess Diaries?" Annabeth laughed lightly as she sorta turned towards the doorway, finding Hazel and Piper in the doorway. "By the way, Will's about to go on a nurturing kick." Piper added.
"Oh gods." Percy groaned, turning and half trapping Leo between himself and Annabeth. Leo yelped, laughing slightly as he wrapped his arms around Percy's arm. Annabeth chuckled again as she nuzzled against both of her boys.
"Sorry Perce," Hazel winced as the two girls moved into the room, since Percy hadn't kicked them out yet. The two of them sat on the bed next to the one Percy, Leo, and Annabeth were laying on. "But he's worried about you. We all are." Percy hid his face in Leo's hair, and Annabeth knew that Percy struggled facing Hazel when she sounded as worried as she did.
"Can we not talk about or bring up… anything that's happened in the last week?" Percy asked, and already his voice sounded scratchy again. Annabeth rubbed his side comfortingly as Leo held Percy's arm slightly tighter.
"We'll inform him, but Annabeth and Leo missed lunch, and dinner's coming up." Piper told him. Percy sighed, moving as if to release Annabeth and Leo, but the both of them moved to trap him instead.
"The two of you-"
"Will eat later. We have enough snacks and food items in the nesting room." Annabeth responded.
"Chips don't count." Percy huffed, something that Piper repeated the sentiment of.
"There's pretzels in there, and candy, and chips, and I think the fridge that appeared in there had stuff to make sandwiches." Annabeth responded. "A night of junk food isn't going to kill us."
"Who are you and what have you done with Annabeth?" Percy joked, Hazel and Piper laughing slightly.
"We'll bring some dinner back for you guys, and we'll try to convince Will to contain the nurturing kick while doing so." Piper assured. "Jason's pretty worried too, but he'll just be relieved you're not by yourself anymore." Percy hid his face against Annabeth's shoulder as the two girls got up to move.
"Also, I suggest we watch Pirates of the Caribbean!" Hazel called back before the two had left. Annabeth laughed as Leo groaned lightly, though when he peeked out, there was a smile on his face.
"You two really aren't bothered by… everything?" Percy asked once they'd settled down once more.
"What would we be bothered by?" Leo asked. "You're a god now, so what. You're still Percy." Leo added. Annabeth hummed, moving to press a kiss to Percy's cheek.
"You're still you, Percy. And we'll still be here." Percy's shoulders started to shake, and Annabeth knew that he was most definitely going to cry again. She was thankful that Percy wasn't trying to run off; she knew he knew how to escape without flashing away, the mist or vapor thing that he could do that almost mimicked Shadow travel.
"Even if it takes forever?" Percy asked, his voice nearly unhearable.
"Even if it takes forever." Leo moved up to press a kiss to Percy's lips, which Percy responded in kind for a moment. When they pulled away, Annabeth pulled Percy into her own kiss with him.
"Take all the time you need." Annabeth added onto Leo's response when she pulled away, a smile on her face. Percy had a few tears running down his cheeks, but his eyes were bright and a lot of the self-loathing that he no doubt had felt all week.