[ annabeth can tell that he doesn't believe her, and she has to push down that urge to argue further. to prove it to him. she'd seen the way percy had looked when he explained what happened, she could tell what it meant. and maybe she doesn't understand it, maybe she can't quite wrap her head around it, but she knows. the combative part of her almost says as much, again, just to make him believe, but she holds her tongue.

but he'll always pick you first.

she doesn't know how to respond to that, so in turn she feels herself start to frown. ]

Being first doesn't really have anything to do with it. [ because, okay, he's not wrong and they both know it. annabeth won't admit it either, but that fact is part of the only reason she's not as freaked out as she otherwise should be. percy loves her, and that isn't what they've come to discuss.

he just also happens to have feelings for nico. on top of that.

but then he laughs - short and soft - and annabeth relaxes just a bit. ]

You aren't very subtle, honestly. I'm surprised no one else figured it out. [ she shrugs, a little curious at the slight shift in tone of their conversation. wondering what nico means to bring all that up.

but then it returns again, and annabeth's eyes follow nico down to his feet. watching to see his reaction, to try and gauge how in control he really is in that moment. she has a feeling, but she isn't sure, and the lack of dead grass is...what, a good sign? or just that he's better at hiding his tells? ]

I don't know. [ she nearly cringes as she admits it, hating the way the words taste. ] I'm not...good at this. This is for Piper, or Sil- [ she bites back on silena's name, still uneasy and unsure how she feels about it all. she still hasn't spoken to the other camper, despite hearing from percy that she was here and alive again. that was another can of worms she'd have to deal with at another time. ]

In the end, it's not up to me. [ the words come out easily, despite how much she hates it. she wants it to be up to her. she wants to make an easy decision so that this could be buttoned up and pushed away.

but it's not that easy, and with the expression percy had shown her, she knows she can't just fix this. not as easily as she wants to. ] Or you, for that matter.

[ annabeth turns to look back further into the park, the lightly winding trail. she still wasn't sure how she felt about eudio, especially considering all of this, but she could appreciate the thought put into the layout. the elegantly sweeping architecture of the small croppings of stone scattered throughout. it calms her enough to keep going. ]

Percy cares about us both and apparently has feelings for us both. The nature of the agreement we made to come here- unless your's was different from mine- kind of changes traditional ways of looking at relationships. [ she pauses, suddenly not sure if that was where she should have gone with it, before she sighs and shakes her head a bit - reaching around to rub at the back of her neck. ] If I had an easy answer for you, I would have offered it up already. But I don't. I don't know if there is one.

[ after a moment annabeth drops her hand and slides it back into the pocket of percy's sweatshirt, looking back to nico with what is probably her most genuine face she's worn through the course of all of this. ]

I love him, Nico. I am always going to love him. And if you make him happy I'm not... [ an exhale, short and a bit forced - it could be a laugh, but it sounds a little too lost, a little too desperate for that. ] I'm not going to get in the way of that.