Don't think you're more than this, or above all this [W6, Monday Afternoon]

[hydrokinetics]

[He manages to catch her after the fiasco that is the corpse pile and he jogs up to her with Mrs. O'Leary in his wake, easily falling into step with her and dropping his voice to a lower tone.]

Hey, can I talk to you for a minute? I think most of the town's busy dealing with our corpse pile.

Comments

[robitussin]

[There's a light frown on her face, but in the end, it comes down to this:]

...Okay. I do trust you, so - I'll trust him, too, if you do. Fingers crossed he doesn't prove us both wrong.

[hydrokinetics]

If he proves both of us wrong, I'll take the fall for it. [A little grin.] Annabeth usually gets on my case for being too trusting, but I don't know if I'm that far off this time. You, me, the rest of our group? I trust.

[The hotel's close now, at least.] What're you going to do now?

[robitussin]

[A nod, and then a small smile and shrug.]

Overthink everything you just told me for hours, probably. That's kind of my thing. You?

[hydrokinetics]

See if I can stomach something besides water and fruit, attempt to take a nap, try to figure out a plan, give up, have a couple of nightmares...[An echoing shrug.] The usual.

[But he stops walking for a moment, looking at her before a fit of spontaneity hits him and he moves to trap her in a hug. It's very brief, but also fairly tight because...well. Nobody knows the other half of what he's doing. Natalie does now, and she doesn't hate him for it. It's more of a relief than he can imagine. He's also not expecting her to return the gesture and that's completely fine with him.]

Thank you. For...well. You know. I'd say "don't overthink too much" but that's a pretty big thing to ask at this point.

[robitussin]

[She didn't see it coming, and she freezes in place for a moment in surprise and hesitation as his arms wrap around her.

It's another long moment before she reaches up with her remaining arm and wraps it around him in turn, but... She does.]

...Nothing to thank me for. You would've done the same.

[hydrokinetics]

[Yeah, it's unfortunate that he's come to like her so much. Percy tends to be a little tactile with his closer friends. The fact that she responds helps, too.]

Would I? [It's more of a joke because they both know he would.] Given the fact that the only other person who knows is Will, it's definitely worth a thanks. [With that, he lingers for only a few beats longer before he pulls back.]

We'll figure everything out before Thursday. And if not, then we'll figure it out with everyone else. I can believe that much. Catch up with you later?