#thalia fluff

"Well, it looks pretty bad, you won't be able to take enough nectar or ambrosia to heal it properly."

"That's fine, it's basically just a graze.

He rolled his eyes, but guided us to sit on one of the camp beds before disappearing. I hopped up, leaning solely on my non-injured arm. Thalia sat next to me.

"Hey, you okay?" She gently nudged me with her shoulder.

"Yeah, I've dealt with worse," I hummed, shooting her a smile through gritted teeth and nudging her back.

The sound of a tray rattling drew our attention and Will came back into view. He placed the tray by my side and I glanced over the contents.

A square of ambrosia, gauze, cotton pads, a syringe, a needle, thread-

A syringe. A needle. Two of them.

Two tiny sharp stabby things that weren't getting anywhere fucking near me.

"Uh, Will?" My eyes fixed on the metal, trying desperately to keep the shake out of my voice.

"Yeah?" He grabbed a rolling chair and picked up the fucking syringe.

I swallowed. "Um, uh, what- what's the needles for?"

He blinked. "Well," he showed me the syringe. "This one is a local anasthetic, it numbs the area in pain so this one-" He picked up the other, curved needle and I visibly flinched. "-can stitch the wound closed without you feeling it."

Thalia's hand startled me as it closed around mine. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I-it's nothing, I've been stabbed by myself, i-it just hurts, that's all." I swallowed nervously, trying to pretend everything was fine in front of my tough girlfriend who, damn her, wouldn't be scared of needles.

She rolled her eyes fondly. "Apart from that, idiot." Her gaze followed mine as I glanced back to the tray, and she made a noise of comprehension.

I stared at Will's hands as he flicked the syringe, and the whimper I made as he went to hold my arm was frankly undignified from a damn demigod.

"Will, get out of here for a moment," Thalia demanded, thumb smoothing over my knuckles. Will coughed slightly and I glared at her. "Ugh, I mean, please give us a minute, Will."

Said doctor nodded and scooted away in his rolling chair. Thalia shifted so she was kneeling in front of me, and pushed the tray with the offending implements away. Her hands held mine, surprisingly delicately as not to agitate my shoulder.

"Babe, are you scared of needles?"

My head hung down, shoulders raised slightly in embarrassment. "...no."

A soft smile danced on Thalia's lips. "Y'know, it's okay to be scared of things."

I sighed. "I know, it's just... we fight monsters on a semi-regular basis, I have several blade injuries, just last week I scaled the climbing wall in thirty seconds without a harness." My eyes were once again focused on the needles and I felt my breathing become faster, shallower, my hands fisting in Thalia's hold. "It's stupid that tiny pieces of fucking metal terrify me more than any of that, the idea of them piercing my skin and getting stuck or having the wrong liquid or being in the wrong place and I get paralysed or-"

Thalia's hands made contact with my cheeks and I didn't even realise that tears had made their way down my cheeks, traitors.

"Shh, it's okay, don't look at them, look at me." Thalia's voice was low and soothing, her fingers gentle and careful as she brushed away my tears. I allowed my gaze to focus on her instead. "That's it, it's just me, I've got you."

I took a couple shuddering breaths in, and out, in, and out.

"Good, just keep breathing. Don't talk, just nod or shake your head, okay?"

Slightly confused, I nodded my head.

"You know I'm scared of heights, right?"

I nodded.

She smiled slightly. "You know I'm also a daughter of Zeus, lord of the sky, heights, wind, all that jazz?"

Nodding again, I returned her smile, snuffling a little.

"So, logically, I shouldn't be scared of heights, right?"

I paused, but slowly nodded when she looked at me pointedly.

"But I am. It scares the shit out of me," she laughed lightly, and I felt my fists loosening, holding her hands properly. "And you know what? Unless absolutely necessary, I stay firmly on the ground, no hills or mountains or anything." Her head tilted to one side, eyes still fixed on mine. "Not even up the damn climbing wall. I hate it. Would you make me climb that thing?"

My eyes widened and I shook my head firmly. I knew she hated heights, I would never make her do something like that- oh, I think she had a point here.

"Exactly," she pressed a kiss to my knuckles. "So, we are gonna talk to Will and see if we can avoid the stupid metal spikes, okay?"

I could have started crying all over again. I pulled her up with my good arm and hugged her as tight as I could. Her head rested on mine, and she pressed a kiss to my hair.

"I love you," I mumbled into her tshirt. "So much."

"Love ya too, kid."

i very much hope you enjoyed, i hope i made trypanophobia semi-realistic at least.