[ annabeth looks down at the handkerchief, staring for a moment before she takes it with some delay and wipes her face with it. there are a lot of puzzling things about interacting with claire, but the longer she sits with her, the less terrifying it feels - even if it is because of the lingering false memories, she decides to let herself be okay with it in this moment. maybe one day she'll share why she's like this too. ]

I have ADHD. [ it doesn't occur to her that claire might not know what it is, that it might be a weird connection to make to what the older woman's just said. ] So sometimes my concentration is - [ she stops herself briefly, but can't think of another word, and ultimately decides that just because claire is being kind she doesn't have to censor herself. ] - shit. The messages were tricky for me at first too - it just sends whatever you think, right? So I had to figure out how to rein it in once the idea was in my head before it started automatically spamming.

I have a friend in Thorne - Jinora. She's been helping me with the meditation too. It's hard to stay focused sometimes. I want to learn about the Horizon, as much as I can about it.

[ somehow talking about these challenges is less intimidating than falling apart over her parental struggles. and she's... looking forward to maybe getting a little help from claire. ]

The beds are nice. [ she pauses. ] I mean, I know it's all sort of a ruse, and the politics are a mess, but they really are nice beds.

[ and considering she had just spent gods know how long in literal hell, she can be grateful for a mattress while acknowledging how shady the castle is. ] Thorne doesn't... really scare me, despite everything. I think we'll be okay.