The window of time between Athena calling his name and Athena barreling into him is juuuust large enough for Jeff to process her voice before all five feet and three inches of her crash into him. He stumbles back a few steps, nearly losing his balance, because he's, like, 90% legs and those legs are feeling pretty wobbly after his spooky window experience.

"Athena! Fuck! That is way more swearing than usu-- ow!" She may have little fists, but that punch hurt! Kind of. Okay, it was more startling than painful, and maybe Jeff's just being dramatic when he whines.

He knew she was here. He saw her name on the bulletin board. But knowing and seeing are two totally different things, and as he looks down at her, he's relieved, sure. Happy, on some level. But god... He doesn't know where they are, beyond a town name that means fucking nothing to him, but he knows Athena shouldn't be here. She should be back home, with her aunt and her friends and her normal, stable life.

She's so young. She's a kid, and she deserves her chance to just be one.

"Hey, kid..." He wraps his arms around Athena, pulling her into a tight hug. "Sorry I'm late."