[3] 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐒 ― p.jackson, l.valdez

012.

「012. kenji: parent of the year 」

CHERRY THOUGHT they should at least be allowed one normal day on the argo ii. though that whole idea really went down in flames very quickly. just two days after leaving venice (to which val seemed very glad for. he kept muttering how fucked up it was that they had no privacy- something about collectable lunchboxes? she honestly had no idea) they were out to reach the doors of death once more. with their book returned to the god of farming (and frank getting one big-boy growth spurt), cherry probably shouldn't have wished for something so optimistic. it was naively foolish of her, but most of her thoughts were.

she avoided leo like the plague (more like... they stared at each other awkwardly and just glanced away when the other caught them looking at them. which piper and val found too amusing. cherry thinks jason is still trying to figure out what the fuck was going on), and generally just tried to stay afloat and okay. her mind hadn't been meddled with in a while (mostly because she hadn't used any of her natural powers).

on the other side of things, her powers brought from gaea were getting stronger. she could lift medium sized rocks now, even lift them from a moderate depth. not like hazel with her gems- just normal dirt and rocks. everybody joked that it was like earthbending- but the thing is, it really was like that.

of course, with the overwhelming amount of optimism shown- cherry failed to mention hecate's little pet gale. gale, what she assumed to be a polecat, was only properly polite to kenji- the whole hecate thing, cherry guesses. and though her and kenji were in an awkward spot (see as: cherry's mind is divided. on one hand- he killed her. on the other, he really has repented, and... just by looking at them you can tell they regret what they did. still- her mind was at war. ironic, since the world of monsters and demigods were too).

but as said, gale the polecat was... something to be aware of. passing gas like it was their main function (maybe it was, cherry wasn't familiar with polecats) and just sort of acting like a possessed child (or... toddler polecat?).... it was something to behold... that much could be said.

she sighed, standing and resting her elbow on the side of the ship near the steering wheel where leo was. though she had said she avoided him like the plague- that term was sort of meant to be used loosely. she ran a hand through her hair as she frowned. sometimes, if she had a chance to think (a dangerous thing now that gaea tended to plague her thoughts and just about everything did), she'd think of barbie, percy or annabeth. everytime she thought about something barbie would have laughed at, she'd have to remind herself barbie wasn't here. every blue sort of food she saw, she'd think of percy. every obscure fact she'd usually go to annabeth to share with... she couldn't do it anymore.

she'd taken to outletting her emotions on a punching bag, but even then that wasn't enough sometimes. sometimes nothing but them is enough.

it's why, even now when she gets embarrassed every time she's near leo, she sits near him. he isn't them, but he's somebody who makes her feel safe- and it's nice to look at the pink sails sometimes. the ones that remind her so much of barbie.

"i hope they're okay," she said to leo, but mostly to herself- more of a reassurance than anything. she stared off at the deck. val was holding bobby pins in his mouth as he tried to give piper space buns. kenji was besides them, probably pointing out how much pain piper looked to be in- to which val glared and held a bobby pin up, as if to hurtle the small thing towards kenji. jason was floating around, which strangely- cherry had gotten used to. frank and hazel were talking, and just being them- looking all coupley and whatnot. and nico was being nico, frowning in the corner. something which cherry wished she could change- she just didn't know exactly how she could.