[3] 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐒 ― p.jackson, l.valdez

007.

「007. accidental arson in portugal」

VAL DIDN'T remember how, but he felt himself slip into a demigod dream.

this was a rarity for val usually, but after his shared dream with reyna which hadn't been the brightest or happiest of demigod dreams... val came to the conclusion most demigods do after a while: the gods where gunning for him. which was to say, val was about two steps away from barbie's humble (and figurative) abode across the 'giving no fucks' line.

he was like a spectator in this dream which he had yet to decide if he liked or hated. he stared down at a floorboard before his eyes wandered. posters scattered the walls that curved in places a building wouldn't. after a few more brief seconds, it was clear this was the argo ii.

"is this annabeth's room?" he wondered, his voice echoing through his dreamscape. and, as per usual, nobody could hear him. he moved around, floating like a ghost as he stared at an open sketchbook with meticulously drawn buildings and furious scribbles. it didn't take a genius to confirm where he was.

the door slammed open, and val jumped.

"stupid currents," muttered annabeth. "stupid hull and stupid walls!"

she huffed, slamming her door shut before face-planting onto her bed.

out of context, which was exactly what val was experiencing, the scene was a terrifying mixture of funny and worrying. usually, annabeth wasn't like this- and val could count on his left hand how many times he'd seen her face-plant onto her bed.

safe to say, this wasn't a regular annabeth occurrence.

val floated over, looking down at a mass of blonde curls covering the daughter of athena's tanned face.

"i wish i could talk to you," he grumbled. an translucent hand came down, hovering just over annabeth's hair. he tried to stroke it, only for his hand to go right through the pile of curls. "not cool," he said. "not cool at all."

and so, he watched for a few moments as annabeth stayed in the same place- ever annoyed and looking completely drained.

there was a knock on the door.

"what is it?" groaned annabeth.

"food." replied the voice of leo from the other side (and, just to check- val poked his head through to see the one and only son of hephaestus outside with a plate of food). "you haven't eaten yet."

"yes i have."

"annabeth- coffee is not food."

"yeah, i know."

"i'm coming in now."

annabeth let out a sigh."okay."

seconds later, and the door swung open causing annabeth to roll and sit up. now that val could actually see her face, it was clear she wasn't getting enough sleep. dressed in a t-shirt he was pretty sure was his (which he was sure had been missing, by the way) and shorts that val was quite sure were once jeans that had been jaggedly cut.

"are you doing good?" leo asked, placing the plate down on annabeth's bed as he leaned against her desk. "those eyebags look like they might start answering for me."

"fuck off, leo."

"if you say so," shrugged leo, pausing for a moment before he cleared his throat and asked, "so- are you homesick?"

"i don't know?"

"val-sick?"

"what in the world did you just say?"