I'm coming by after school. I got something in the mail I need to show you.
[ ??? not vague at all.
whether he replies or not annabeth will indeed come by the bar after school, a bookbag over one shoulder. she'll eye whoever's about, if anyone is, in a rather cagey manner and sit at the bar near where thalia usually sits with her bag on the seat next to her. ]
[He doesn't respond. There's no need to respond beyond the little notification to show that he's read the message, but that doesn't mean he's not worrying about it. On the bright side Mondays are also pretty quiet days especially after school, so when Annabeth finally gets there she'll find Luke leaning on the bar with his phone in his hand and intently concentrating on the screen. He seems to be playing pac-man. Stop this.
The few patrons in the bar don't seem to pay her any attention, though one or two will eye her right back before Luke sends them a Look. He drops the game almost immediately as soon as Annabeth sits down and he moves closer.]
Is whatever this is from who I think it's from? [Please say no.]
she pulls a large mail envelope out of her bag, setting it on the table before opening it and pulling out what's inside. a bronze knife, which she sets atop the mailing label that shows it is, indeed, from those shitbags. ]
I guess it's... decorative? [ why else would someone need a bronze knife??? what is she supposed to do with it. save her. ]
[There's a very, very long pause. He recognizes that knife, and she'll be able to tell that he definitely recognizes it. That's the horrifying part of it all and he looks up suddenly. With his mouth pressed into a thin line he glances around to make sure no one else is paying attention before he stares at the knife again.]
That's it. [That's all he says, but he knows Annabeth. He knows Annabeth will be smart enough to figure out what he means, that "that's it" means it's the knife he gave her in that memory. So...it's real? That's what he doesn't get.] Dunno about decorative though.
[ this is the main reason she wanted to show him in person. considering that luke casually omitted that he gave her a knife in that memory, annabeth is going to make sure he can't bullshit her about any of this. just in case he wants to, whatever the reason. ]
I thought it might be. [ otherwise her hallucinatory self has too many knives?? but also. real sure is a question. relativity in general is a question. what is real anymore. ] Well, I wouldn't use it for cooking.
[He's taking a look at the knife for a while before he's reaching forward to pick it up.]
It was never meant for cooking. I don't know why, but I remember I gave this to you to defend yourself. Must've had a different weapon or something but...you were a kid. Mom wouldn't even let you into the kitchen until you were about ten, so why a knife? [He shakes his head again.] But it feels right, doesn't it?
Yeah, it does. [ said softly, frowning. then she wrinkles her nose. ] I suppose it's not that strange, considering you have memories of hanging around dragon caves? Maybe we were a team of... adventurers. Child adventurers, I guess.
[ who would let a seven year old have a knife and go adventuring, LUKE, ]
Child adventurers without parents? [He raises an eyebrow. That sounds about right but at the same time...] If that's true, then where's Jason in all of these memories? Then again, I've been having a few of them without you but Thalia's in them. Maybe at one time we split up into teams of two and that's why I gave you the knife?
[Sincere apologies for giving a child a knife and keeping himself unarmed, probably.]
Happens all the time in movies. Maybe our parents were busy on their own adventures. [ that doesn't sound quite right?? ] Maybe? I've seen a dark-haired boy a few times. It didn't look like Jason, but maybe I just couldn't see him clearly enough.
[ that also doesn't sound right. whereisjasongrace.jpg ]
I saw him too. The dark-haired boy...the age different was bigger between me and him, but maybe you're right. Maybe we just didn't get the full picture. I talked to Kashuu the other day and he was mentioning how he's been getting memories with Yamato but the other people in those memories have been really fuzzy, too. Could be what's happening to us.
Jason hasn't told you anything on his own, has he?
Of course it would. What better way to frustrate all of us? [But he shakes his head in response to her shaking her head.] Thalia mentioned seeing two guys with dark hair in one of her memories but unless we can get a clear picture of the guy we're pretty out of luck knowing if it's the same one. She did mention magical flowers though, so there's that.
We can ask Jason later, maybe. I haven't any idea what kind of stuff he's been getting. We need to survey our friends better. Magical flowers? [ flOWER GLEAM AND GLOW ] What, like healing flowers?
Maybe nothing. I was thinking of doing a poll of everybody we know and paying them off since that seems to work half the time. [He shakes his head.] She said they were like...disappearing flowers? I dunno, you'd have to really ask her. Maybe she'd explain it better but it wasn't normal. None of the memories are.
That might work. What would we pay them off with? Free drinks? [ can everyone be bought off with free drinks?? ] Dis...appearing flowers? Maybe I will ask her, so we can have it detailed on the board. Thought we may need a bigger board. Mine are normal. [ pause. ] Except for the one with the sphinx, that, that wasn't normal.
Money, obviously. Free drinks might work but it's not going to be enough for anybody who doesn't actually drink. I have enough in my savings from when I moved out and started renovating the bar. It'll be fine. [But there's a nod.] Ask her, she might explain it better than I can.
How will we stop people from making stuff up just for money? [ but ok not a bad idea. she can contribute, too? don't spend all your money luke. ] All right, I will.
The other day, on the network Thalia and I were talking about hairless animals and I had a hallucination or memory, whatever, of a sphinx. With her hair in a bun, asking me trivia questions. And I was mad about it, because the sphinx is supposed to ask riddles not trivia. [ shrugs? it was. stupid. ]
Well I never said it'd be a lot of money, did I? Also you know me, I'm good at spotting liars. I'm not going to let people show up just for the incentive without paying the price.
[He's just going to pause because a.) why and b.) double-why.] Of course you would challenge a sphinx. Of course. Aren't riddles and trivia sort of the same thing?
[ that's a reasonable pause. ] No, they're not. Riddles are supposed to make you think, trivia is random facts. [ a pause, herself. ] Which is exactly what I told the sphinx, I guess.
Trivia makes you think about if you know the answer so it's still the same thing. [...he settles on a flat look.] I'm going to regret asking, but what did the sphinx say after that?
She said, "How am I supposed to test whether you can think?" and I told her that the test was an insult to my intelligence and refused to continue. [ because she's the worst. ] I think the boys that were there weren't thrilled about that, either. Don't know how it turned out after that, I'm guessing badly.
[He's going to drag a hand over his face and mumble something like "incredible."] Do me a favor and tell past-you not to mouth off to fake creatures that may destroy you. And why are you always with boys in these things?
Yeah, it does. [ she frowns, trying to remember that poor other guy who is not a handsome black-haired protag. ] Actually there were... two other guys besides Rome boy? [ because I forgot tyson existed ] One had curly hair, the other was tall, that's about it.
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[ ??? not vague at all.
whether he replies or not annabeth will indeed come by the bar after school, a bookbag over one shoulder. she'll eye whoever's about, if anyone is, in a rather cagey manner and sit at the bar near where thalia usually sits with her bag on the seat next to her. ]
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The few patrons in the bar don't seem to pay her any attention, though one or two will eye her right back before Luke sends them a Look. He drops the game almost immediately as soon as Annabeth sits down and he moves closer.]
Is whatever this is from who I think it's from? [Please say no.]
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she pulls a large mail envelope out of her bag, setting it on the table before opening it and pulling out what's inside. a bronze knife, which she sets atop the mailing label that shows it is, indeed, from those shitbags. ]
I guess it's... decorative? [ why else would someone need a bronze knife??? what is she supposed to do with it. save her. ]
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That's it. [That's all he says, but he knows Annabeth. He knows Annabeth will be smart enough to figure out what he means, that "that's it" means it's the knife he gave her in that memory. So...it's real? That's what he doesn't get.] Dunno about decorative though.
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I thought it might be. [ otherwise her hallucinatory self has too many knives?? but also. real sure is a question. relativity in general is a question. what is real anymore. ] Well, I wouldn't use it for cooking.
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It was never meant for cooking. I don't know why, but I remember I gave this to you to defend yourself. Must've had a different weapon or something but...you were a kid. Mom wouldn't even let you into the kitchen until you were about ten, so why a knife? [He shakes his head again.] But it feels right, doesn't it?
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[ who would let a seven year old have a knife and go adventuring, LUKE, ]
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[Sincere apologies for giving a child a knife and keeping himself unarmed, probably.]
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[ that also doesn't sound right. whereisjasongrace.jpg ]
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Jason hasn't told you anything on his own, has he?
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[ she shakes her head. ] He hasn't, no. Has Thalia said anything about seeing him?
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[Wait.] Time out. What's this about a sphinx?
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The other day, on the network Thalia and I were talking about hairless animals and I had a hallucination or memory, whatever, of a sphinx. With her hair in a bun, asking me trivia questions. And I was mad about it, because the sphinx is supposed to ask riddles not trivia. [ shrugs? it was. stupid. ]
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[He's just going to pause because a.) why and b.) double-why.] Of course you would challenge a sphinx. Of course. Aren't riddles and trivia sort of the same thing?
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[ that's a reasonable pause. ] No, they're not. Riddles are supposed to make you think, trivia is random facts. [ a pause, herself. ] Which is exactly what I told the sphinx, I guess.
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[...] The same guy as before?
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[ a nod. ] One of them was, though he was younger than in Rome-- so was I, I think? There was another guy I haven't seen before, too.
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So he's your age, whoever he is. That sounds...right. What'd the other guy look like, do you remember?
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Yeah, it does. [ she frowns, trying to remember that poor other guy who is not a handsome black-haired protag. ] Actually there were... two other guys besides Rome boy? [
because I forgot tyson existed] One had curly hair, the other was tall, that's about it.(no subject)
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