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Bedtime was Luke Castellan’s favorite time of day. He looked forward to when the exhaustion finally won out and they could stop to set up a tent for the evening. This was not because he particularly enjoyed being tired or because he wanted to go to sleep. The best part of bedtime was laying down beside Thalia Grace in their pup tent.
“Find us a camp, Luke,” Thalia said. She never outright said that she was tired and wanted to stop but Luke knew what the order meant.
He was only too happy to follow it. Luke scouted the woods until he found a spot big enough for their tent but still sheltered enough that they wouldn't immediately be spotted. The next order of business was clearing out the rocks and anything that would be uncomfortable to sleep on.
Thalia helped Luke with this.
They worked in comfortable silence, having been together long enough that they didn't have to talk to know what to do. It was nice to be with someone who didn't have to constantly fill the air with words. When the ground was clear, they set up the tent. It was camouflage patterned and, if Luke was being honest, pretty dusty on the outside. The tent was low to the ground and just barely big enough for the two of them and their gear. As a team they wove a mat of grasses and branches and leaves and mud over the tent, trying to hide it from view. Their camouflage skills got better and better, if Luke did say so himself.
By the time it was done the sun was nearly set and a chill hung in the air. This early in spring it was still very cold at night.
“It's going to be cold tonight,” Thalia said, her green eyes fixed on the sky. She was so pretty with her sharp cheekbones and her spiky black hair.
Luke zipped together their sleeping bags. “No problem,” he said. After taking his boots off, Luke crawled into the tent. The ceiling brushed his shoulders. He arranged the sleeping bag in the tent then turned around to poke his head out. “Do you want to eat before bed?”
Thalia gazed at the sky for a few moments more. Then she tore her gaze away and looked at Luke. “Sure,” she said. She crawled into the tent and took off her boots, setting them beside Luke's. Thalia opened her backpack and pulled out a bag of beef jerky, three protein bars, and a bottle of Gatorade.
They split the jerky as evenly as they could. It was the spicy kind and it made Luke's mouth burn. They each got one and a half protein bars.
They took turns with the Gatorade. Even though they both had water, it was nice to drink something sweet once in a while. Especially since the protein bars they shared tasted like cardboard. Luke forced it down because food was food no matter how bland it may have tasted.
The world got darker and darker. Night birds called out and crickets chirped. In the distance was the quiet roar of the freeway like a raging river. The chill in the air grew nippy.
Luke cleaned up their trash, storing it back in their backpacks. “Well, I'm going to go to sleep,” Luke announced. Then he climbed into the sleeping bag. They never wore pajamas in case they had to get up and run. Besides, their day clothes were warmer.
It wasn't long before Thalia joined him. She laid with her back to Luke's. He felt every rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. With Thalia's body heat, the sleeping bag gradually warmed. “Luke?” Thalia whispered.
Luke's heart skipped a beat. He wondered if she felt it. “Yeah, Thalia?”
“If you met your dad, what would you say to him?” This was a question they frequently asked each other.
Luke considered how to answer tonight. What did he want to say to the god that sired him? A sharp longing cut through Luke's heart like a knife, sudden and swift. He clutched at his heart and blinked back the sudden emotion. “I guess I'd ask him why he hates me so much,” Luke admitted very quietly.
Thalia didn't try to comfort Luke with platitudes. She pressed her spine more firmly against Luke's and said nothing.
When Luke felt like he could talk without crying, he asked, “You?”
“Same,” Thalia said softly. “I'd ask him why he hates us so much.”
Not for the first time he wondered what kind of relationship Thalia's mom had with Zeus. Unless of course Thalia meant us as in her and Luke. “Us?” Luke asked.
For some reason the question made Thalia stiffen. “Me and my mom,” she said, a hard edge to her voice. It was rare for Thalia to talk about her family or her life before she and Luke met.
Luke wished she trusted him enough to tell him the details, but he didn't want to push her.
After that the conversation died pretty quickly.
Luke stayed awake, staring at the tent wall. He breathed very carefully in a practiced way, trying to give the impression of having drifted off to sleep. Deception was in Luke's nature and the trick came easily, and was believed even easier.
About half an hour after Luke pretended to fall asleep, Thalia rolled over so that she was facing Luke. She pressed herself to his back, body molding perfectly against Luke's. Thalia pressed her cheek between Luke's shoulder blades, nuzzling until she was comfortable. She put an arm over his waist, hugging him to her.
Luke was very careful to hide his reactions. He continued his slow, even breathing. He made sure his muscles were loose and still. On the inside, Luke was so happy that it threatened to bubble out of him. Thalia wasn't the warmest person ever, but when she was it was heaven. Luke loved this secret, cuddly side of Thalia. One day he wanted to snuggle while they both knew they were both awake…but he hadn't yet worked up the nerve to try it or bring it up.
Thalia liked to be the big spoon. She also liked to burrow her cold toes beneath Luke's legs. Somehow she always had toes like ice and only contact with Luke's skin could warm them.
That was the trickiest part of the illusion because Luke's skin always broke out into goosebumps and sometimes the cold made his breath catch. He was still working on making that shivery exhale sound natural…maybe he wasn't doing too bad a job because Thalia never asked if Luke was awake.
Then again, maybe she knew and was pretending not to know. Maybe Thalia was also afraid of ruining whatever they had. Love was so dangerous and it was better to pretend to be above it and unaffected by it.
When she was comfortable, Thalia heaved a contented sigh.
It was time to go to sleep for real. For both of them.