[ it's hard not to pick up on every little thing he does. the tension in his shoulders, the pinching of his arms. she watches, maybe too closely, as he checks his pulse and winces by his own hands and marvels at how he's still trying to convince himself this is all real. she's the one who just got here, the one trying to sort through what she sees in front of her, and yet he's the one who has to double check. it hits her almost a little too hard, then, how real that is. honest. he's not sure if he's dreaming, which must mean he can't be a figment of her imagination either. ]

The River Styx dropped you off here? [ her eyebrows furrow a little with her question, like annabeth actually considers taking the comment seriously. it's not too farfetched, if she thinks about it. he went down to the underworld, ended up here. she went down to tartarus, ended up... annabeth shakes her head, trying to dislodge the thought, because as much logic as she might want to connect the dots to, it's not. it's not possible. so rather than letting her mind continue to wander, to pull potentials and possibilities from every corner of her brain, she watches.

guess we sort of got lost and annabeth can't help it. she tries, forces her face to remain steady, calm, but the breath of air that comes out through her nostrils breaks it all. she smirks, softly, the huff coming off more of a laugh than anything else. her grey eyes follow his around the party, the people gathering and shifting and talking. enjoying themselves. this was some kind of underworld, that's for sure. ]

Considering where I should be, it's not a bad place to get lost in. [ she shouldn't be talking to him. she shouldn't be still standing here when she could be looking for percy, looking for anyone. but then a word of his catches her attention and she turns back. we? ] Are you here alone?