004 ♌ [video]

[fundemetal]

So. Woke up this morning to a couple of things. Good news, I'm back in my own body.

[As is probably obvious to everyone when they see his face, which looks too sad for this post to be about the curse being over.]

Bad news, Percy and Annabeth are both gone. Checked the list and everything.

[He pauses to sigh and looks away from the camera for a moment.]

Gotta remind myself that at least they've got each other this time.

[He reaches his hand out to turn off the SFC, his hand blocking the camera as he says one last thing.]

I just wish them being gone didn't mean they're free-falling into Tartarus.

Comments

pretty sure these two have spoken before

[onlyasign]

I'm so sorry, Leo. Do you want a hug?

[video]

[fundemetal]

[He recognizes the guy from during the cuddle curse.]

Sufferer, right?

[He considered the offer for a moment.]

I wouldn't mind some company.

[If a hug happens, it happens, but he's not gonna say "Sure! I'd love a hug!"]

[video]

[onlyasign]

Yes, that's right. Where are you?

[video]

[fundemetal]

At home. Coral Corral 8.

[video] to [action]

[onlyasign]

I'll be there soon.

[Sufferer hangs up his SFC and hurries over to Leo's house. He knocks, but doesn't wait very long before opening the door and poking his head in.]

Leo?

[action]

[fundemetal]

[He hears Sufferer open the door and lifts his arm up from over the edge of the couch.]

In here.

[action]

[onlyasign]

[Most people wouldn't come right over and hug someone they only met once. Fortunately, Sufferer is not most people. He strolls right in, beelining to Leo, and wraps his arms around him. He doesn't say anything. Sometimes words just aren't necessary.]

[action]

[fundemetal]

[If Sufferer hadn't offered the hug in his initial comment, Leo might have been taken off guard by the hug. Instead he just leaned into it kind of awkwardly.]

[action]

[onlyasign]

[Sufferer gives a lot of hugs where the initial response is kind of awkward, so he just shifts himself around a little to make them both more comfortable. One hand rises up to gently comb through Leo's hair.]

[action]

[fundemetal]

[Leo doesn't feel any less awkward about this. He didn't even get hugged this intensely during the cuddle curse. In fact the last time he had been cuddled like this was the last day his mom was alive, back when he was 8.]

[action]

[onlyasign]

[Let's just say there's a reason so many youngsters around the bubble call Sufferer "Dad."]

[He lets up a little, though, sensing Leo's discomfort.]

I'm sorry.

[action]

[fundemetal]

[He's not entirely sure if the apology is for the intensity of the hug or if it's about the fact that his friends have returned to their world.]

Thanks.

[It's an answer that works for either possibility.]

[action]

[onlyasign]

[Maybe both!]

Where is Tartarus?

[Sometimes talking about these things helps.]

[action]

[fundemetal]

It's the deepest pit of hell where all the monsters are sent when they're defeated. They regenerate there and eventually make it back topside. But it can take a really long time for that to happen.

[At least it was an easy enough question to answer, even if it does make him worry more for his friends.]

[action]

[onlyasign]

Oh.

[That sounds... rather unpleasant.]

I thought the human world didn’t have monsters.

[action]

[fundemetal]

[Leo snorts.]

Nope. We've got a lot of them. The mortals don't know about them, but they exist.

[action]

[onlyasign]

Are you an immortal, Leo?

[action]

[fundemetal]

[He laughs]

I wish man. My mom was mortal and my dad's a god. So that makes me a demigod.

[action]

[onlyasign]

[At least he's laughing. It's a definite improvement over the doom and gloom.]

So... if your father is a god, then... have you seen the Neverending Light?