Blond and slender was the young woman who entered his vision. Her grey eyes sparkled with anticipation as soon as they set eyes on him. She stood from where she had been crouched down on the cave floor, her slightly bulky equipment clanging with the motion. "Percy," she greeted, "you're back."
Percy's green irises trained on her for only a moment. His raven hair danced on his forehead as he whipped his head to take in the bland scenery of the cave. "Hi, Annabeth. Y-yeah, it didn't take as long as I thought it would to cut the wood."
"You, ah, you didn't run into any trouble?"
"Pft, trouble runs into me, not the other way around, Wise Girl."
"Don't pretend like you don't go looking for it, Fish Breath."
"Hey! I haven't had sushi in months!"
"So?" she giggled. The male finally let his gaze fall on her once more, forcing the snow in his cheeks not to go to flame. She sobered up slightly under his glare. "So, we've finally done it, huh?"
"Almost," he confirmed, fingering the scavenged sword that was perched at his side. "I can't wait to go home." There was lingering 'but...'
"I'm not," Annabeth snorted. "I mean, you've heard plenty about Helen. That woman-" The blond cut herself off, shuddering. "I'm not sure I'm ready to, y'know, to go back yet."
"Oh? I was wondering why you've been sabotaging our quest."
"You knew?!" she gaped
"Of course, I'm not that stupid," he chuckled, refusing to be the first to break eye contact. It was a power move that stood in stark juxtaposition with the way he had ducked into the alcove, and it completely caught her off guard.
"Says the guy who snarked off at a troll-thing!"
"Okay that was only one- three times! That's not too bad!"
"One should have been enough!"
"You're trying to distract me!" Percy whined. "Don't take advantage of my ADHD, Annabeth!"
"Can it really be called taking advantage of if I have it, too?"
"Annabeth!"
She threw her hands up, her open jacket shifting to reveal the sheathed dagger she had possessed for as long as Percy had known her. Vaguely, he recalled that she had acquired it when she was exploring with her first set of questmates. "Okay, okay! Fine! Go ahead! Rip me a new one! Goodness knows I deserve it!"
"Annabeth."
"What?"
"I'm not mad."
She paused. This was... unexpected. The young man in front of her had been trapped with her for six months. He was away from his family and friends and anyone he'd ever loved. Here she had been dragging out the torturous separation for as long as she could and he wasn't even annoyed.
"Wh-what? Why? I-"
"Annabeth."
"Percy?"
"It's not been so bad, y'know? I love my family, I really do. Mom and Paul and... Did I ever mention Mom's pregnant with my little sister?"
A knot formed in the young woman's throat. Her hands went chilled. Heat simmered over her brow. "Look, I-I'm so-"
"Annabeth, listen to me," Percy chided, carefully striding forward to cut the awkward distance between them in half. "You told me that you didn't think you'd ever see the day where I'm actually serious. Look, I'm dead serious right now."
