*Sorry it's been so long to those who have been expecting stories from me. And I had lost inspiration, until I watched my Rottweiler sneakily crawl on his belly back into my living room after he was banned for . . . something. Hmm, don't remember.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, because I am not Rick.*

(Percy)

I was bored until Blackjack and Mrs. O'Leary started competing over me.

It seemed like we have been riding on the Argo II for days, being attacked within hour after hour by different monsters. Right now it was the calm before the storm.

Leo was behind the wheel, humming a song under his breath. I didn't think much of it, but I noticed he was tapping on his leg, like some weird code. Jason was practicing his sword fighting, which made me think of a blonde Superman with a sword. Poor Hazel was leaning over the side of the ship, seasick. Frank was by her side, occasionally patting her back and muttering soothing words.

"Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, coming to sit down beside me, "You've been sitting here for over an hour. Come walk around with me."

"Can't," I mumbled, noticing the way the sun gleamed on Annabeth's hair and made it a pretty golden color.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "And why is that?" she asked.

"I lost feeling in my legs thirty minutes ago." Fighting off monsters hour after hour can do that to you. At some point it gets exhausting.

Annabeth laughed and punched my shoulder.

"Annabeth," Piper called. "Can you help me fix Gleeson's TV?"

"Don't tell me he kicked it again," Annabeth grumbled, but went anyway, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "Crazy old goat," under her breath.

I just lay there, watching the clouds in the sky. The steady rocking of the boat from the sea was soothing. For some reason it reminded me of my mom. I hoped she was okay, her and Paul, and that she at least got my phone message and knew I was alive.

Suddenly, Blackjack appeared and landed in the middle of the ship, his hooves making a soft clunking noise on the deck.

"What's up, man?" I asked. Blackjack snorted and trotted over to me, laying beside me and nuzzling my face.

There's a huge black furball comin' this way, Blackjack said.

"Furball?" I asked, already mentally preparing for another monster attack just as Mrs. O' Leary materialized out of the shadows. She barked, wagged her tail, and bounded forward, straight for me. Blackjack whinned and leaped out of the way as Mrs. O' Leary licked my face, soaking me with dog saliva.

"Ew, gross!" I said. It took a few pushes and a promise of extra doggie treats to get her off. She lay by my side and put her giant head in my lap, which was kind of uncomfortable. Blackjack tried to lay beside me too, but Mrs. O' Leary growled at him, and he lay where he was, a couple of feet away, his ears flattening against his head. She's mean, Boss.

I was about to respond, when a huge flock of birds passed by. Mrs. O' Leary raised her head, jumped to her feet and ran after them, barking so loud it made Leo jump, who suddenly straightened up, drool on his face.

"I wasn't sleeping, I swear!" he exclaimed. Then he touched his drool covered cheek and groaned. "Eww. I got it all over the steering wheel!"

I grinned. At least I wasn't the only one that drooled in my sleep, if I drooled. Annabeth swears up and down that I do.

Blackjack took advantage of Mrs. O' Leary's absence by taking her place at my side.

So, when can I have donuts? he asked.

"Is that all you ever eat, is donuts?" I asked him. Mrs. O' Leary gave up when the birds were too far away and turned around to find Blackjack in her spot. She growled, and Blackjack's wings quivered.

"Lay down, girl," I told her. "Quit trying to scare him."

This time it was her ears that flattened. She lay down, her head between her paws. I didn't notice, but later when Jason tells me it was hysterical. He'd seen the whole thing.

Mrs. O' Leary watched me. When my attention was on Leo trying to clean the wheel of his drool, or on Hazel throwing up over the side of the ship, Mrs. O' Leary would inch forward, stop, then put her head down again. Watch, inch foward, then put her head down again. She continued to do this, until she was right beside Blackjack. Then she barked so loud, it made me jump and fall on my face. Blackjack took off into the sky, somewhere up in the clouds.

"What the . . ." I groaned, feeling a knot forming on my forhead. "Mrs. O' Leary, what was that for?" She just barked and wagged her tail.

That was when Annabeth finally came back.

"Hey," she said. "Finally got Hedge's TV fixed. Crazy goat kicked it right off the TV stand practicing his 'karate.' Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" Then she saw my forehead, and she added, "I'm gone for like twenty minutes and you get hurt. What happened?"

"Dogs and horses get way too jealous," was all I said.

*Not my best work, but I wanted to write it down and share it.*