dear_mun | Mun might be considering a game....

[waves a hand dismissively]

I'm fine. I'll be fine.

[Yeah okay, he's not fine. But he may seem less haggard than she remembers him to be. By the way he carries himself, and especially his eyes . . . There's a dark spark, a life in his eyes that was there before Tartarus, and is there now]

[She knows better to accept that statement at face value. I'm fine was practically demigod code for I'm not actually fine but I'm dealing and just don't want to talk about it. She was fluent in that particular code.]

You know...I'm here to talk if you ever need, right?

I know. I know, Hazel. Thanks.

[He appreciates it, really. On this particular thing, he just doesn't know where to begin. Or if it's even worth mentioning. He doesn't want to worry her if she's not completely caught up on the Demigod Tragedy Express]

Just wanted to make sure you remembered.

So...you know where I might be going. What about you?

I'm in Camp F-You Die. It's a zombie summer camp with a side of murder mystery. A few other half-bloods are there, too.

[It took several moments before Hazel realized that wasn't some charming little nickname Nico had given the place.]

...and I thought Camp Jupiter was rough.

Who else is there?

Percy Jackson, Jason Grace, and Clarisse la Rue. Leo Valdez was there for a while, but he recently left.

[...even now, as a picture of Leo flashed in her mind, she sat up that much straighter. He still garnered a reaction out of her. Not as much as before, but still...]

Annabeth and Piper aren't there?

[The boys must hate that.]

[he raises a brow slightly at that, but lets it go. they can get into boy trouble later. or never]

No. Percy doesn't talk about Annabeth much, and Jason only recently gained back his memories from back home. But I'm sure they miss them.

[Boy Trouble...yeah, "never" sounded like a good option on that one.]

He doesn't?

Are you sure he's alright? That doesn't seem like Percy.

[yeah, agreed. he shrugs]

He mentioned her once when we were solving a riddle. [or rather, Nico was] Other than that, he doesn't talk about her to me. And we're not exactly on "Let's talk about our problems" terms.

[To be fair, not talking about her with Nico did make a lot more sense than not talking about her at all.]

For some reason, I'd assumed you two were...I don't know...maybe a little closer than that.

I guess I was wrong.

[especially when Nico doesn't exactly want to hear about her anyway]

Yeah, well. We have gotten a little closer. I think. He likes dragging me around to do stupid stuff now. We just don't talk about our "feelings."

[of course, a large part of that is Nico avoiding his own feelings altogether and changing the subject any time conversation hits too close to home, but that's beside the point, right? right]

[~~Team Frank much?~~]

Good. I'm glad.

Percy's always been pretty good for that sort of thing. From what I've known of him, and from stories I've heard from other people.