Tumbling down darkness

Chapter 1

Something had changed..... After coming back from Tartarus Percy's been acting weird and......distant. She will find him pacing along the corridors at night , not making a sound , and sometimes she will find him curled up in the stables. enquiring him about this behaviour but getting nothing , she concluded her thoughts that he seemed to have changed a bit after Tartarus and 'distant' seemed a nice word to put it in. She would find him zoning out at random times and his lack of response in the meeting on the Argo-II did nothing to help.

A meeting was going on in Argo II , around afternoon . The head of the table was occupied by Annabeth (obviously after Percy and Jason both proposed to sit at that particular seat , Annabeth negotiated the terms) while the rest of the crew sat around , surrounding the oval table.

The ship was sailing on the seas , causing a gentle rocking sensation which was pleasant for the crew except for hazel who would turn green on even the slightest rocking sensation.

Percy's mind was huddled with so many thoughts , each were trying its hardest to claw their way for attention but one particular stood out the most ... .the raw power he had felt when Misery was trying to choke him on poison......the faltering laughter of Misery ringing in his ear when he pushed the poison towards her in a tidal wave....Annabeth desperate call lingering in the air... .

", maybe, I don't really know , what do you say Percy?", asked Jason across the table
Percy shook out of his trance he seemed to have gotten into and starred around the table..... . He really should stop zoning out at these meetings . It did nothing but left him with the feeling of embarrassment creeping up his neck , trying not to look as if he had zoned out. He tried to stop going red from embarrassment and made an attempt at an answer.

",yeah whatever you say", he said

"Percy ?", Annabeth asked , who as always saw right through him and gave him a 'we're talking about this later' glance , to which Percy shrugged off ,almost with practise
He hummed across to Annabeth who questioned him , putting all her concern for him in her eyes . Percy held her gaze for a few seconds before averting his eyes away . He tried a feeble attempt to make his eyes hold the answer ' I'm fine' but apparently he's not as good as Annabeth in that area and it was quite clear that his attempt at the eye answer did nothing to satisfy her.

'All right then', said Jason
'Woah-woah ! Since when did Percy agree to stay onboard while we all have fun-
'More like 'go on suicide'-
'Yeah whatever' perplexed Leo waving his hand dismissively

'What!" Percy's eyes seemed to have snapped back to attention at the word 'stay on board'
"I'm going to come with you guys!'
"BUT YOU JUST SAID YES!'
' nah-huh , I'm coming with y'all'
And with that he leaned back into his chair and stubbornly folded his arms , gazing across the table daring anyone to say anything else.
...................

The meeting winded up a few minutes later which brought percy to his cabin , laying down on his bed....seriously he should really fold the sheet and maybe show some efforts in taking care of his cabin but at the moment he felt the particular need to do nothing. The sunlight streams through the window and illuminates the whole cabin, Percy puffs out a sigh and ruffles his wavy black hair....really he needed a haircut soon ....considering he finds a hair parlour on the sea, maybe he can ask Annabeth to do it for him. He untangles his hands from the mass spread of sheets and reaches his pocket for his trusty pen riptide , opening the pen and feeling the familiar hilt ,the sense of home inching to his skin makes him fill with nostalgia. It wasn't like his sword wasn't there with him in Tartarus ,but now wielding it here at a safe place ( as safe as it can be) it feels good ...almost at home. He knew he had closed off and shutting his emotions had never worked for him but it was ultimately the only option he would approach. It wasn't fair for any of the crew members , especially to Annabeth who went through the same shit he went through, but he just couldn't bring himself to approach her and dump his worry on her too. It wasn't like she wasn't affected by all of this , she was , but she didn't show it and you would miss it if you didn't have her every move memorised like Percy .

She wanted to help him, but not wanting to make her more worried than she already was , was something he couldn't bring himself to do.

.........
Annabeth stood at Percy's door to his cabin , well to be honest she's been standing here for 15 minutes , she wanted to see him and get him to talk to her , ruffling his hair while she's at it. But she was afraid that if she prodded him he would shut himself out .....afraid he would retreat further into the cocoon he had made.

Comeon you can do it Annabeth , it's just a door you have to knock at..

Gathering all the courage and collecting her scattered thoughts , she raised her fist and rapped the door three times...

Knock..
Knock..
Knock..
Each matching with her own heartbeat
Thump..
Thump..
Thump ..

A very muffled 'come in' came through the door and with that she slowly turned the door open. The whole room was a mess and she knew percy could get very messy but he did make an attempt to clean up .....but right now the room was screaming for a nice tidy clean up which its owner was reluctant to give it. Percy was lying on his stomach at his bed , his arms were stretched over and folded near his head leaving a portion of uncovered skin at sight. Really it was maddening ....the effect he had on her just by showing a bit of skin.

"Annabeth?", he called out , breaking her from whatever not PG thoughts she had been dreaming about , he was now facing her , his green eyes grazing her's and god she felt the urge to ruffle his hair again plunge through her , shoving it down she went ahead and placed herself near him

"Missed me?", he said mockingly , his lips stretching into a kissable grin and wow did he look hot right now but that sensation was buried when she saw how tired his eyes looked and a wave of concern for him washed over her.

"Can we talk?",