Work Text:
Percy’s hiding something.
Percy’s hiding something, and Annabeth is terrified out of her mind.
In the years they’ve known each other, they’ve built a considerable amount of trust over the years. She thought they had no secrets between them, which was why she told him about her regressing in the first place.
She wants to think the best of him—she knows Percy would never cheat—but she can’t help but worry. After all, what if he’s in trouble? What if he’s hiding something big, like wrath of the gods or secret prophecies big? She can’t help but be worried.
She decides to start off with the direct approach. Percy’s bound to crack under direct confrontation, or at the very least laugh her off for worrying over nothing. It’s probably something unrelated, like he’s trying to find the perfect birthday gift for his mom or something, but she won’t know until she asks.
Much to her luck, she catches him on the way back to his cabin in the early afternoon.
“Hi, Percy!”
Percy physically starts when she walks up, all but confirming that he’s hiding something. He’s toting a laundry basket full of blankets. She didn’t even know he had that many blankets. Just from the ones hanging on top, she can see at least three different blankets.
He blinks. “Uh, hi, Annabeth.”
He’s already nervous. He’s definitely hiding something. “Where have you been all day? It feels like I haven’t seen you once. You didn’t even meet me for breakfast.”
“Yeah, well, you know, I’ve been busy.”
“With what?”
“Uh…laundry!” Percy gestures with his laundry basket, like that proves his point. “Yeah, uh, when Tyson dropped by he ended up puking on everything. The travel made him really sick.”
“Uh-huh.” Annabeth doesn’t point out that Tyson hasn’t visited anytime within the last week, letting her raised eyebrow and folded arms say that for her.
And of course, Percy backs down. “Uh, I should really get going. These blankets aren’t going to fold themselves!”
“What aren’t you telling me, Percy?”
“Well, I’ve got this weird rash on the back of my leg. I think it might be eczema, but I’m still holding out hope it’ll clear up on its own?”
Annabeth’s eyes narrow. “Percy,” she warns.
“You’re right. That was kind of TMI, wasn’t it? Sorry, I understand if you don’t wanna talk. See you later!” He speeds off before she can say anything else, making a beeline for his cabin and disappearing inside.
Annabeth sighs, the loudest, more disappointed sigh she can manage. A passing flock of camp newbies happen to overhear and scurry in the opposite direction, murmuring to themselves as they go.
Whatever. Let them go. And let Percy do whatever secretive thing she wants to do.
Forget that she’s been half-small already, and that the rejection is just another blow to her fragile adult headspace, she’ll entertain herself just fine. And yeah, she knows Leo has invited her with open arms to spend time with him, and that he’s only grown more protective of her after finding out she regresses like him, but she can’t quite bring herself to tell anyone how she’s feeling yet.
Shoving her hands in her pockets, she skulks back to the Athena cabin. She didn’t even want Mrs. Waterson anyway.
The final straw is when he’s absent at dinner.
Not specifically because of his absence, but because of what his absence entails. Gone is her barrier between tiny Annabeth and the rest of camp. Gone is a focal point, someone to focus her attention on without snagging on every passing phrase she overhears. Percy is always so good at thinking up games to get her brain on track.
She was already feeling small, but being surrounded by a bunch of chattering campers without Percy almost sends her into a complete and total meltdown.
It must be obvious, because Leo silently pushes her his newest project, a multi-layered squishy ball with interchangeable textures. It’s just about the only thing that gets her through dinner, which she’s grateful for. She’d rather not go to bed hungry.
It’s somewhere in between picking up a splitting headache and nearly collapsing into tears that she resolves to find out exactly what’s going on before the night is up.
It’s with a new sense of purpose that she marches up to Percy’s cabin and pounds on his door, beating the side of her fist against the hard wood until he answers.
“Oh.” Percy blinks, like it’s a surprise to even see her here. He steps outside, almost shutting the door behind him. “Hey, Annabeth. What’s up?”
“What’s up?” she echoes. “What’s up is that you’ve been ignoring me all day and I wanna know why!”
A brief look of shock crosses his face, his eyes going from the night sky to his watch. “Have I really been doing this all day?” he asks himself.
“Doing what?”
With that goofy, mischievous grin, Percy steps aside, allowing her to finally see inside of his cabin.
Blankets. Blankets everywhere.
Blankets hanging from the ceiling, secured in place by an intricate series of hooks, ropes, and clothespins. Blankets spread out at her feet, covering every hard surface until the room looks soft and warm and unbearably inviting. And blankets everywhere in between, forming tunnels and pathways and doors. She’s spent so much time in Percy’s cabin that she knows every inch, but it’s like the cabin has bee completely reformed, new and begging to be explored.
“Where did you even get all these blankets?” she asks.
Percy shrugs. “I pulled in a couple favors. The ones from the Hermes cabin just need to be washed before I give them back. I have to take bathroom duty for the Aphrodite cabin, though.” He reaches out and absently fingers the frayed edges of a crocheted blanket. “I get to keep this one, though.”
The fight goes draining out of her, leaving her a goopy mess of tears. “I was so scared you were in trouble,” she whispers.
“Oh, shoot, no.” Percy is beside her in seconds, gently pulling her into a hug. The door clicks shut behind them. “Hey, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Too late, Seaweed Brain.” She sniffles and wipes at her nose, a decidedly teeny move on her part that Percy definitely notices.
“I was gonna save this for tomorrow, but since you’re already here…Prepare to enter…” Percy trails off, dramatically waggling his fingers. “…the Labyrinth!”
She snorts. “Really, Cee?”
He grins. “I can understand if you’re too scared. There are some pretty spooky monsters inside.”
“In your dreams.” She ducks inside, turning into the first little tunnel on her right. She barely offers a glance behind her. “Catch me if you can!”