Cards were flying around through the cabin as Travis shuffled them wildly. It was all he was doing these days, really. Christmas had passed and since then, Annabeth seemed awfully busy with her newfound girlfriend and the search for Percy, so talking with her was a rare occasion. Since Jake was very occupied helping Leo with the building of the Argo II, Travis' favorite tinkerer had no time for him either and Travis' favorite healer was too sexually frustrated to not shoot anyone at sight. Never mess with a horny and denied archer. Jason was another topic entirely, Travis still didn't really like the blonde. Clarisse was kind of still angry because Travis had painted the Ares Cabin pink, so they weren't bffs at the moment either. There were actually only three people whose company Travis would enjoy about right now. One was his kidnapped and still missing boyfriend, the other was his brother who was still on a quest to be looking for their shared missing boyfriend and the third being the boy both Stolls would love to call their boyfriend.
But Nico di Angelo was thoroughly dedicating his whole life to this search. Travis frowned worried and flopped down onto the bed with a heavy sigh. He saw Nico slowly fading away and he didn't know how to help. The stupid brat was barely sleeping, barely eating, shadow-traveling too much to be healthy for anyone. If he continued like that, he'd be collapsing soon enough.
"Still pouting about your missing Disney princess?"
"You came to take your revenge on me?", mumbled Travis uninterested and turned around.
The daughter of Ares rolled her eyes as she entered the room, her boyfriend in tow. Chris gave his big brother a half grin and a shrug, as if to say 'What can I do?', before sitting down on his own bed.
"You okay, Travis?", asked Chris worried.
"Sure", shrugged Travis. "As long as you two aren't going to start making out now..."
A smug smirk spread over Clarisse's lips as she tipped her boyfriend's head back and dove right in for a very messy and very passionate kiss. Travis wrinkled his nose and pushed himself off the bed, shuddering slightly. The very last thing he needed at this moment was to watch his baby brother making out with his arch nemesis. Shuddering again, he left the Hermes Cabin. With his hands deep in his pockets, he passed the Poseidon Cabin, staring at it with hollow eyes. He could hear voices inside, knew that it was like the central station for their search for Percy. Nothing he wanted to drop in right now. He wasn't feeling like hearing the same phrases of 'We have no new lead' once again... Instead, Travis decided to drop by and rest a little in Cabin Thirteen. It was cool, which was a blessing considering the rather warm spring they were having. It was empty and silent, something he came to appreciate too these days. And it smelled like Nico. Something he really wouldn't have thought he'd ever start appreciating. But somehow the stupid son of Hades had grown to him and to his brother. Nico was handsome, stubborn, arrogant. But he was also hurt, deep within. Travis and Connor knew that the Ghost Prince was afraid. Afraid to be left alone. He had been abandoned by Hades, left alone in the Lotus Hotel. Had been abandoned by his mother as she had died. Had been abandoned by his big sister as she too had died. Now loosing Percy, who was the one person the closest to the son of Hades, was like experiencing all those all over again. Travis knew that Nico was afraid that Percy would turn up dead, just like Bianca had. Balling a fist, the son of Hermes entered the cabin and made his way over to Nico's bed. All he wanted to do was hold the stupid Ghost Prince close and tell him that everything would be alright, that they would find their Sea Prince and that they would all get to be happy. But Nico was making it his personal mission to avoid camp. In fact, Travis hadn't seen the idiot since Christmas, which had been three months ago.
Groaning in frustration, he buried his head in his pillow. He couldn't wait for Connor to return, his brother had said the last time they had talked that they would be returning soon. On the one hand, Travis was glad to get his brother back. On the other, it felt like lead was settling in his stomach. Even though no one said it, everyone knew it. Connor, Malcolm and Katie returning from the quest was nothing else but giving up. Giving up on finding Percy. Not that he could blame them really. Three months had been their limit. There was something so very unsettling about it though. What if this would throw Nico into a complete frenzy? He would work himself to death searching for Percy if he heard about camp 'giving up'. Travis sighed darkly and curled together on the bed, closing his eyes tightly. Hopefully Connor knew how to deal with their stubborn Ghost Prince until they would finally be holding their Sea Prince in their arms again...
