[ sometimes she goes for a black coffee, when she really needs that caffeinated boost. ]

[ she's always known claire was certainly old enough to be a (mortal) mother, but she spins her life story and annabeth can feel the longevity it in, even if it's not objectively long. it's almost silly to think so after the stupid illusion, but she hears it and she wants that too. she wants to get older and not feel like even just eighteen remains a challenge to reach. ]

[ and she has a real daughter out there. ]

That's really impressive. [ she does not mean it lightly. ] My dad went to Harvard, so. [ gonna zoom past that quickly. ] I know how hard you must have worked, especially if you were the first woman in that program.

[ annabeth has never taken the advantages of her current era as a young woman lightly, especially when she sometimes still feels like she has to work extra hard to prove herself. ]

[ she's also very much been on the battlefield, though not in a medical capacity. she absently touches her arm, where a scar from a dagger wound peeks out from under her orange t-shirt sleeve. ]

Is that why you told me not to get married so young? [ it's half a joke, but it leaves the segue open to whichever direction claire wants to take it. ] It can't have been easy to be a surgeon at that time.