annabeth chase

Gina walked inside after Annabeth. She didn’t know how to answer her question, if Pepper would be okay with them knowing the full truth. She didn’t want to lie to this woman though, she was quite intimidating. “We met as patients. Did you know she went away?”

Annabeth’s cheery facade falters as the word ‘patients’ comes from Gina’s mouth. She had hoped that perhaps her younger cousin had avoided the worst of their family’s copious mental illnesses. Now she realizes how terribly unrealistic that was.

Instead of answering the question directly, she just nods and says, “Our family has a really shitty gene pool when it comes to mental health. I have seen my fair share of treatment centers, too.”

“You got a fuckin’ point, I guess. Some people drink for leisure and the atmosphere, how would I fuckin’ know?” Smirking devilishly in her direction, he lifted the glass to his lips again and took a sip. Seconds later, her words had him spitting the drink all over the bartop. The comment wasn’t enough to make him blush as his brother would have; his eyes widened regardless, glancing at his engagement ring and wedding band. “You were– uh– gonna try to pick me up? Wow, bold… I don’t think I would’ve taken myself for your type.” Chuckling and wiping up the counter with a napkin, he lifted his glass again, finding it amusing now. “Sorry to say, even if you were, my girl is a pretty hot piece of ass. I don’t think I’d give her up for a one-night stand. I’m extremely flattered to know I still have the good looks goin’ on, though. You’re not gonna give me your number now and tell me to call you if my marriage goes down the shitter like Janice on Friends, are you?” Might as well crack a joke since she seemed embarrassed, take the edge off.

Annabeth can’t help from laughing as she watches his reaction to her bluntness about being attracted to him, and subsequent disappointment to see he was married. She finishes off her glass of water, leaving it on the bar before turning to raise a brow at him.

“Oh, and what do you think my type is?” She asks curiously, eyeing him up and down to decipher if he even was her type after all. It then dawned on her that her ‘type’ was anyone attractive and consenting.

She grins as he describes his wife, clearly intrigued. “Well, shit. If she’s so hot I should be trying to get into bed with her instead. Or at the very least volunteer to participate in your loving marital bliss.”

The woman’s reply surprised her but not at all in a bad way. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry. Good for you, though, for taking care of yourself.” She suddenly felt a little guilty that she had her own drink in her hand, though she knew she had nothing to feel bad about. She didn’t judge the brunette for her admission–honestly, it was incredibly brave and she admired her for it. She chuckled when she commented on the view and figured she should introduce herself. “I’m Eleanor. And you are?”

“Yeah, thanks. It’s uh... weird. Having to be sober all the time, I mean.” She shrugs her shoulders at the congratulation for her sobriety, turning her bar stool to face her then extending her hand.

“Annabeth.” She smiles as she says, “Now that I already shed light on my inner demons, it’s only fair you do the same, Eleanor.”

Honestly, I’m that girl that crushes on literally any attractive person that looks at me for longer than 2 whole seconds.

Elle had decided to stop to grab a drink on her way to the art show. As she was sipping on cinnamule, a brunette a few seats down caught her eye. They locked eyes and when she got a smile, Eleanor asked “Hey there.. This might be a bit forward, but.. Can I buy you a drink?” Why not? The worst that could happen was that she wasn’t interested. Besides, it was high time she make an effort to get back out there.

Annabeth’s smile grew as the woman asked to buy her a drink. Then, it slowly dawned on her that she had no idea how to respond. She didn’t particularly want to show all her cards right away by admitting to not being able to drink, but she also didn’t want to reject her offer either.

She chews on her lower lip before she decides to just be honest. “This is water. I promise I’m not a stick in the mud, I’m just very mentally ill with an inclination towards addiction.” She pauses after explaining. “I’m really just here for the atmosphere, or really, the view.” She says with her eyes locked on Eleanor’s, blatantly flirting.

Not much of a bar-goer these days, especially alone, he merely wanted a quick drink before he made the rest of the walk from the recording studio back to the fairgrounds for the art exhibition. Thanking the bartender for his Coquito, the preferred drink of choice for him, he tried to shake the feeling of eyes lingering on him, taking a sip from his drink. It was going to be a long, busy week and he was ready for life to slow down for a week before he was thrown straight back into chaos with a trip to Seoul. Looking over when he couldn’t shake that feeling of someone’s gaze on him anymore, he noticed the woman across the bar was gazing at him, raising his pierced eyebrows and giving her a slight wave with tattooed fingers, taking another sip from the glass. After working a bar off and on for a couple years, he tried to brush off such gestures as friendly barflies. “Havin’ a nice night?”

“Mmm, if I was would I be here alone?” She laughs a bit as she returns his question with a question of her own. It was true. A sober alcoholic hanging around a bar to pick up someone was pretty pathetic. This quite possibly could be her most-recent rock bottom. It would only be worse if she actually had something to drink.

As she watches him take a sip of his drink, she notices the ring on his finger and immediately sighs. Of course he wasn’t single. “Ah, shit. Nevermind. I’m here to get laid. I gave up homewrecking, like, at least 10 years ago.”

Karen usually preferred to drink at home. She wasn’t the most social individual at there and would rather be stuck in a cubicle of her own apartment instead of going outside and actually interacting with others. Alas. She had run out of booze back home and she wouldn’t be getting paid enough for a whole bottle until at least the end of the beach bash.

Sighing she walked over to the barkeep and handed some cash. He shot her a dirty look but Karen was already used to it. She only shook her then sat down. As she looked over she noticed a woman was giving her a smile. She didn’t smile back thoug she did raise her glass to greet her. “Here by yourself?” She asked gruffly.

Annabeth watched her interaction with the bartender curiously. She wondered if the woman was a regular and that’s why the man behind the bar was already exhausted with her even though she had just sat down. She had certainly been there.

She nods her head in response to the question. ”Unfortunately. You?” She asked, though she already knew the answer. She was definitely here alone.

As she saw her down the drink it dawned her that pursuing a drunk person while she was sober was somewhat predatory, and she silently hoped the woman wouldn’t get too shit-faced, otherwise she’d surely just end up carrying her home. 

She took a seat on a stool and ordered herself a water, glancing around the bar to see if there were any contenders. Usually she preferred being with men, but tonight she didn’t really care much about that. As long as they were attractive and not bigots she was interested.

She notices someone at the end of the bar and smiles over at them as she sips on her water like it’s an actual alcoholic beverage. 

Pepper was a little surprised at how– comfortable this already felt. She’d taken forever just to have this kind of casual, easy conversation with her brother. She hadn’t expected some cousin to show up out of nowhere, much less to feel so connected to her. It was nice to know she was related to someone who wasn’t tainted by resentment.

“I’ve had to quit some other shit, guess I figured this was the least of the vices. Mmm, yes, we love self-destruction. Hashtag-just-Chase-things.” It was also nice to poke fun at her family– but in a less angry way, a way that included herself. Like she belonged in the conversation. “Ooh, yeah, Seattle is super depressing. Portland seems fun, though– the artsy types and hipsters have a different kind of moody flair than us miserable New Yorkers.”

She tried not to look too alarmed by her gesture to the menu and the sudden pressure to– choose. It usually took her longer than she liked to order food. “Oh– uh, you don’t have to do that. What’s your favorite thing here?”

Annabeth scans the menu herself to see what their specials were that day, then shrugs her shoulders as she hears Pepper’s question. “Everything is really good. I usually get, like, a bucket of coffee and one of the chocolate croissants. But there’s lots of savory stuff too. Depends on what your mood is.” 

She then returns her gaze to her cousin, a smile still on her face. “And don’t worry about it, it’s literally the least I could do. Plus I’ve got my fancy medical job now. I basically have more money than I know what to do with.” She jokes. Certainly she was more than comfortable, but she wouldn’t really consider herself to be rich.

“Oh, California is really cool. Pepper and I went there for my birthday, but it’s a huge state so probably not the same place..” Gina trailed off. She thought she was beginning to sound like a child, she was just trying to be nice and get along with Pepper’s family member. She decided to be good to Annabeth for now, and to double check with Pepper later if Annabeth truly was one of the good people. She didn’t really hear about any good people. “Yeah? That’s good.” Gina gestured to the lobby doors. “Do you want to come up to our place?”

Annabeth smiles at the invitation and nods her head, pushing open the door and holding it for Gina. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

As she leans back against the door to keep it open, she asks, “So, how did you and Pepper meet?” She assumed hearing the story of their meeting would at least give some insight on their relationship. Plus, it was a good starter question to lead into some more unpleasant ones.

Pepper had been easing into the habit of referring to her girlfriend as her wife since they agreed on it over a year prior– she was a little worried Gina would never want to make it official, considering her less-than-optimistic outlook on marriage, but she could stick with this for at least a while. She wanted to marry her for real, but she could wait. And she definitely didn’t want to scare her off, considering how distant she’d been recently. This was someone she saw herself with until she died, whether it was a week or eighty years from now.

“Nice. Vape life. Gina doesn’t do any of it, though. I’m just– too lazy to quit, or something. I like to hold onto pieces of unhealthy lifestyles for as long as possible,” She said it jokingly, but knew there was at least a bit of truth there.

“Jesus,” She made a face at her comment on Karl and Brett, despite the fact that they were all adults. Maybe they’d been apart for so long that she hadn’t been able to reach the point of acknowledging her brother’s sex life without cringing. “Thanks for that.” She stepped inside, ducking her head slightly with another quiet thanks as she held the door. “Oh, is that it? California’s just too optimistic? Too many good vibes? I’m sure it’s hard to get everyone feeling like shit when it’s 60 and sunny in January.”

Annabeth laughs at Pepper’s reaction to the thought of Karl and Brett constantly going at it. She would be grossed out seeing her cousin that way too, if she hadn’t already been painfully desensitized, considering it happened all the time in their teenage years. 

“Yeah, I get the whole too lazy to quit thing. Also the liking what’s not good for you thing. Those are just two examples of the closely held Chase-family-traditions.” She grins. “Something like that. I don’t know. I should’ve tried somewhere more moody on the West coast like Seattle or Portland.”

She walks into the cafe and towards a small table next to a window, putting her bag down to save the spot. She then turns to Pepper. “Alright, what do you want?” She motions towards the menu posted up on the wall. “On me.”

“Oh, Annabeth. I thought something was wrong with Pepper. I got a little paranoid.” Gina cracked a smile. “How are you liking it here? Did you come from out of state?” She couldn’t remember if Annabeth was one of the people in Pepper’s family she liked. She’d been so scatterbrained lately. “Nice to meet you too, always good to get to know someone from her family.” Especially since Gina’s family was so small, just her dad, they both didn’t really have anyone to count on outside of each other.

“No worries, I understand.” She assures her with a smile. “Yes and no. I’m from here, but moved to California for college, and I recently moved back.” 

She pauses as it dawns on her how reasonable it would be for Gina to be worried about Annabeth’s character based solely on the stories of the Chase family Pepper must have shared. As usual, she decides to address the potential discomfort dead on.

“I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of crazy shit about our family, and all of it is true, but I promise I’m not one of the bad ones.” 

so here are some characters i’ve been quietly cooking up in the back of my head

pls let me know if any of them interest you/you’d like to make connections with them/plot with them cause if so i will apply for them to be in our group :)

Pepper flashed a thumbs-up at that– she didn’t mind taking people she knew well to her favorite places, but it’d be awkward to introduce a long-lost family member to a restaurant only for her to hate it, or something. “Cool. Yeah– I hear pretty much everything else is off limits. I’m actually switching to JUULing over smoking so my wife– my girlfriend, legally– doesn’t have to smell it.” Was that too much information? Did Gina want this surprise cousin knowing that? Shit. Well, she didn’t have to give any details.

“Oh, nice– I’m surprised Karl and Brett haven’t tracked you down by now. –I actually ended up in California, for a couple months. Not for any– good or fun reason. I think I would’ve liked it if I’d– experienced it differently. But maybe not,” She shrugged, not wanting to press her on why she’d moved back across the country– she didn’t need a complete history now.

Annabeth continues down the sidewalk as she listened to Pepper speak. When the word ‘wife’ was brought up she nearly had a heart attack, but was quickly calmed by the correction to ‘girlfriend’. Finding out her baby cousin was married sounded like the start of one of her recurring nightmares. Beyond her own personal fears of commitment, there was the fact that their whole family had a real bad habit of marrying garbage people. She recognized she was probably projecting her own fears onto the situation, but she also knew that at Pepper’s age she was still an absolute dumbass who would’ve married an asshole if they proposed.

“Yeah, pretty much everyone I know in AA vapes now. I never really got into nicotine, to be honest.” She shrugs her shoulders, then turns a corner and approaches a the cafe. 

She laughs at the comment about Brett and Karl. “I think they’re probably just too busy on top of each other all day long.” She grins, pushing the door open and holding it for Pepper. “California was alright. I think I just missed everyone being a strung up and miserable as me.” She half-jokes.