READER-ROMANTIC

but see, most people - anyone with a brain, really - are way too scared to challenge annabeth. because 99% of the time, she’s right. she’s always the most intelligent person in the room. shes not only logical and strategic, but she’s sharp, cunning, and even manipulative if she has to be. (as we’ve seen when she’s faced monsters). no one goes against her. one wants to, no one dares.

expect percy. if there’s one thing he knows how to do, it’s argue with annabeth. it’s like breathing. but unlike when they were kids, they don’t truly fight over stupid things. sure, they bicker and squabble over little things, because that’s who they are as a couple. but percy is the only person who will actually challenge her on something real. something big. he doesn’t do it lightly, because he knows how smart she is. but if he truly believes there’s another angle to something, or that she’s wrong because maybe she doesn’t have all the information, or maybe his heart is just in a different place - he’ll go against her. we see it in mark of athena a couple times. (their face-off kinda puts hazel in a trance). in BotL, there’s an argument between them, and i remember it’s stated that watching them argue is like watching an intense tennis match. its heated and fast paced. people make fun of percy for being dumb, and yet percy is the only one that can keep up with annabeth. he knows her better than anyone. he doesn’t think the same as her, but he knows how she thinks. so yeah, he will call her out. he’ll tell her he disgrees. he’ll even tell her that she’s wrong. and people think he’s crazy when he does it.

but annabeth respects the hell out of him for it. and while she might dismiss anyone else immediately, she won’t with him. because she respects him tremendously, and knows if he’s challenging her, there’s something to it. it doesn’t mean she’s gonna let him win, or that she’s gonna back down, because they are both ridiculously stubborn and determined. but he’ll go head to head with her. he’ll have a screaming match with her. and she loves him for it. she respects him for it. and she finds it ridiculously attractive.

luke tells percy that they burn what they’ll miss most so that gods will know that what they’re saying is important so they’re really listen.

but sally burns ice cream. ice cream that she has no attachment to. it’s not even baby percy’s ice cream. it’s just random leftover ice cream that she grabbed from a pile of dirty dishes.

the ice cream could not be more unimportant to sally. in the grand scheme of things, the ice cream is nothing.

but poseidon comes to her anyway. he shows up immediately after probably the most lackluster offering sally could give. he shows up anyway.