Before It Dies | Tratie

xvi. death and all his friends

     "I can't believe I believed you guys when you said it wasn't necessary to think this quest through,"

     "Well—that's how it usually works, Peggy,"

     "I don't have a lot of "usuallies", Stoll, this is my first quest and right now we don't have any leads other than the prophecy. August, you're the most experienced, don't you think we should have thought it out?"

     "I haven't done a quest in a while, don't look at me. Besides, the last time I did a quest I was sixteen and we didn't think a lot. We were not very mature for our age. I can tell you that half the time Sherman and Miranda were oogling each other with their "I wanna bang you right here and right now eyes". Let's be real here, nothing has changed. Including the eyes. Gods, it's such a pain third-wheeling them. Even worse third-wheeling you and Tra—wait, shit, sorry Katie. I keep forgetting."

     "Don't worry about it,"

     "Back on topic. What the hell are we doing? What can we do?"

     "Oh! We can just ask a bunch of people if they know any wild ape or whatever."

     "How—that's a horrible idea! We literally don't know what we're doing!"

     "All your favourite demigods have no idea what they are doing. Most of the time, even Annabeth. I'm sure our eldest conscious person can agree. Right, Katie?"

     "Yea, I guess."

     "We're all going to die,"

     I sighed and cracked open my eye, glad that the pain in my leg wasn't as agonizing before. The dim yellow light of a cheap lamp illuminated the ceiling above me, the sounds of my friends drifting into my ears. Slowly, a recollection of everything drifted into my mind, from the swan to the way Katie dressed my wound without any painkillers. 

     A groan drifted from my lips and I turned my head to the side. August was sitting on the suitcase stand, pants and shoes kicked off, furry legs crossed. Katie was curled up on an armchair, looking into emptiness, barely participating in the argument. Conner sat on the matching ottoman, a bored look on his face. Lastly, Peggy was standing, distress and fear evident on her face compared to the others. It was clear that she was the only one who hadn't got over the fear of dying yet.

     I focused my gaze on Katie again. She looked tired. Her gaze was cloudy and I wondered if any of them had slept yet. When her green eyes slowly turned and met mine, wide awake and alert, she jumped up and rushed to my side.

     "You're awake," she breathed as the others came as well.

     I cracked a small smile. "Didn't think you'd ever be happy to see me alive, Katie-Kat,"

     When the nickname slipped off my tongue, I quickly gauged her reaction. Thankfully she didn't seem to care much compared to my physical state. She took a glance at my leg then grabbed a watch, my watch, from the nightstand, pressing two fingers to my throat.

     My breath caught in my throat as she counted my pulse, which was kind of rocketing with her being so close. Katie frowned and put the back of her hand to my forehead, making my face heat up. I quickly turned away and let out a breath. She had to stop before I said something I regretted.

     And now, it wasn't because I thought I'd say something stupidly rude or to hurt her, but the opposite. I was much too close to letting words slip that would make me vulnerable, open a new wound that she might not decide to heal. If I looked at her any longer, I could break. 

     "You're a little hot and your pulse is high," she told me. Worry was evident in her tone. "I might—"

     "I'm fine," I said, sitting up and swinging my legs off the bed. A throbbing pain shot through my leg and I winced, looking around to see if there was anything I could borrow. August handed me a pair of his old crutches and I thanked him, stalking towards the door. I grabbed a spare room key from off of the counter and shoved it into my pocket, hand on the doorknob.