𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙆𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙄𝙄: 𝘿𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖•𝙻𝚞𝚔𝚎 𝙲𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚗

My girlfriend starts a fight online.

Annabeth sat beside me, cramped up between me and Luke, while Grover sat by the window to get some fresh air while the car drove down the road. The day was fresh, nothing out of the ordinary as the sun peeked through the clouds. My hand was wrapped around Annabeth's, who was working on her tablet to figure something out regarding a modification Asael, son of Hephaestus who had been our team's Bob the builder of sorts, had asked her to help him with. No one said a word, the tension in the car making my ears pop.
Or maybe it was the fact that the pressure around us was fluctuating due to my own mood. Who knew?

Luke was the one who concerned me the most. The son of Hermes wasn't the most bubbly person, but he was usually pretty talkative with us. Ever since we came back from the quest he had been pretty distant, keeping to himself and barely speaking to any of us regarding anything other than discoveries he had made while surfing the godly internet in Hunter's separate work area.

Yeah, the gods had a separate internet. It's the kind of internet Thea(y/n) would definitely not show up on, hence the mortal internet was what we needed.

Right now he was fidgeting with something in his hand that I thought looked like some kind of box, but before I could see what it was he tucked it away and leaned back against the car seat, his arms crossed over his chest with his eyes closed.
Luke had been weird for a while now and it was seriously concerning me.

Grover and I had guessed his attitude to be simply because he had been quite close to y/n and had been the one to confront Thea before she up and vanished from the AV, letting him explain what had happened while he was still in a very confused daze himself. Though it felt strange, it also made sense given Luke had been pretty sensitive ever since he had been told about the prophecy. Who wouldn't be upset if someone they had spent a lot of time away and alone with turned out to be the traitor in disguise?

"Hey Argus?" I said, trying to ease the tension in the car. One of the baby blue eyes behind Argus's neck looked at me, indicating he was listening.

See Argus was..special. He had an eye, everywhere on his body. That's why he was the head of security, blud was a walking CCTV camera and he could make the 'I have an eye on you' joke while meaning it.

"How long until we reach the café?"

As I waited for Argus's response, I let my gaze wander around the cramped car interior. Luke's distant demeanor gnawed at me like a persistent mosquito on a hot summer night. His usual chatter had been replaced by an eerie silence, and the mystery box he kept fiddling with only added to the enigma. Grover, bless his soul, looked like he could use some fresh air, but he was probably too polite to ask Argus to roll down the window.

I caught a glimpse of Annabeth's tablet out of the corner of my eye, and despite my best efforts to not be nosy, I couldn't resist sneaking a peek. She was deep in thought, her brows furrowed in concentration as she sketched out designs for weapon attachments on the AV. The thought of adding more firepower to our vehicle brought a flicker of excitement amidst the tension. If we were going to dive headfirst into enemy territory, we'd need all the firepower we could get, even if our ultimate goal was to offer them therapy sessions instead of a fight.

Argus finally broke the silence, his gravelly voice rumbling through the car like distant thunder. "About five minutes," he said, before deftly maneuvering the wheel to change lanes. I leaned back in my seat, relieved that we were making progress, albeit slowly.

Turning my attention back to Annabeth, I nudged her gently. "Whatcha workin' on, Wise Girl?" I asked, using my favorite nickname for her. She looked up from her tablet, a hint of a smile playing on her lips despite the seriousness of our mission.

"Just brainstorming some ideas for weapon modifications," she replied, her eyes sparkling with determination. "We need to be prepared for anything."

I nodded, impressed by her unwavering focus. Annabeth always had a knack for strategy, and I was grateful to have her by my side.
As the minutes ticked by, I found myself growing increasingly restless. My ADHD was kicking into overdrive, making it nearly impossible to sit still for more than a few seconds at a time. I shifted in my seat, drumming my fingers against my thigh as I tried to suppress the urge to bounce around like a hyperactive jackrabbit.