thickskinned,˚⟡˖ perseus jackson.

four, treat your mind.

THICKSKINNED.
' treat your mind. '
CHAPTER FOUR.

LUKE HAD MADE it his mission to spend as much time as possible with Percy. He felt overly sympathetic for him and I felt the same way, but I noticed that Chris didn't feel that way at all.

It became apparent to me that he avoided conversation with Percy, began spending less time with Luke because he was always with Percy, and always tried his hardest to separate me from Percy.

It was some sick obsession with Percy Jackson, except he wasn't obsessed. He was disgusted, or afraid, or confused. Or everything at once.

I never mentioned it to him, because he'd feel ashamed. My brother would never do something like that purposefully, but he kept everything to himself. Trying to pry something out of him would only end in failure.

However, on the other hand, Luke did seem like he was obsessed with Percy. Not in a weird manner, just that he had this urge to figure him out, more than any of us.

I couldn't tell if he wanted to help him find his father, or if he wanted to know who his father was himself. For whatever reason he had, it seemed unusual in comparison to his usual behaviour.

In the past few years he hadn't took a strong interest in any new member, maybe it was the talk of Percy defeating a minotaur without any experience at all, or maybe he felt especially bad for this newly-orphaned boy.

The morning arrived, and Luke was nowhere to be seen. But I had an idea on where he was, anyways. On the other hand, Chris was chasing me around and begging me to play 'Hearts' with him.

"Just one game, Jadey!" He yelled, clutching a pack of cards in his hand. I turned around for a split second to glance behind me, and he was gaining speed.

"Chris, you're terrifying!" I declared, trying to put up my ponytail at the same time whilst running away from him. "Go ask Luke!"

He was already in his armour for the 'Capture the flag' game later on in the day, so that intimidated me even more. He groaned. "Luke's busy, as always!"

He gradually slowed down, giving up." Fine, don't play the stupid game with me." He sighed, stopping in his tracks. I turned around and watched him throw the pack of cards across the Hermes cabin.

"Chris?" I chuckled humourlessly, confused at his sudden change in behaviour. He took off his helmet and carried it loosely in his hands. I idly watched as he slumped himself down on a random chair.

"Come on, Moody. What's wrong?" I crouched down on the floor in front of him, leaning against someone's bunkbed.

"Who said something's wrong?" He snapped back, looking over at me. He looked tired, like he hadn't slept. His eyes traversed to the mattress near us where Percy was sleeping.

I put my hand on his arm, squeezing it lightly. And he shrugged it off, moving his gaze away from the cabin and looking down into his lap.

"Luke is going to ruin everything if he brings him into it." He finally confided in me, and I didn't have to pry him for it. It confused me a little though, I didn't know what he meant by that.

What was Luke going to ruin? And was he talking about Percy?

Before I could ask him to elaborate on his confession, he got up and walked off without any announcement. Leaving his lone helmet on the chair in front of me.