Second OS...sorry for the long break! Enjoy!
It was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining, seabirds were calling, the breeze was blowing-perfect weather for a day in the engine room. That's right, the engine room. Leo decided the moment he woke up that fine morning that he was going to spend the whole day within the interiors of the Argo II, giving his ship a well-needed revamp. Tightening loose bolts, organizing the dozens of papers haphazardly strewn across his desk and the floor, polishing tarnished metal-the works.
He wasn't sure what the others were doing today, but so long as no large, poisonous, scaled, feathered, slimy, or sticky creatures made their way onto the ship, Leo was sure that they could handle themselves and leave him in peace. Because of this, he did not anticipate being unable to concentrate.
...
It was quiet when Leo entered the engine room a little before eight that morning. Everyone else was still asleep, so the ship was relatively peaceful. The only noises he could hear was the soft creaking of Festus, and the sound of something-perhaps the pen cap he'd lost last week-rolling back and forth on the wooden floor as the ship gently swayed. He sighed in content. This was the kind of tranquility he had been desperate for-just him, his tools, and his ship. Leo set to work immediately, first gathering all of the papers into a large stack, and then stationing himself at his desk to sort them into smaller piles.
However, as Leo continued with the mundane task, his mind started to wander towards a certain, almond-eyed girl with warm caramel hair and a feisty temper. He paused in his work to quickly shake his head. Can't think about her, Leo thought desperately. Not now. The demigod continued to work, but his productivity level slowly dropped until he simply stared at the mess on his desk, his mind miles away. He ran a hand through his unruly hair with a loud sigh as memories he had been trying so hard to push down resurfaced with a fresh burst of pain.
She pushed in next to him on the bench and began to work, her hands braiding the bronze wiring faster than he could have. "Just like weaving," she said. "This isn't so hard."
"Huh," Leo said. "Well, if you ever get off this island and want a job, let me know. You're not a total klutz."
She smirked. "A job, eh? Making things in your forge?"
"Nah, we could start our own shop," Leo said, surprising himself. Starting a machine shop had always been one of his dreams, but he'd never told anyone about it. "Leo and Calypso's Garage: Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters."
"Hey, Leo?"
"Fresh fruits and vegetables," Calypso offered.
"Cider and stew." Leo added. "We could even provide entertainment. You could sing and I could, like, randomly burst into flames."
"Leo?"
Calypso laughed-a clear, happy sound that make Leo's heart go ka-bump.
"See," he said. "I'm funny"
She managed to kill her smile. "You are not funny. Now, get back to work, or no cider and stew."
"Earth to fire-boy!" Leo suddenly snapped out of his stupor and blinked. Piper's face was mere inches away from his.
"Ah!" he yelped, falling sideways and onto the floor with a thump.
"Leo!" Piper cried in surprise, quickly bending down to help him up. "Are you okay? Um, you're nose is on fire." Leo crossed his eyes to see that his nose was indeed alight, and he blew air onto his face to extinguish it.
"Uh, yeah. I'm good. Sorry about that-what's up?" Piper stared at him curiously, a frown on his face.
"Are you sure?" she asked, her expression doubtful. Leo sighed. He knew it was pointless to try and keep his secrets from Piper, daughter of Aphrodite and all, so he decided to at least be partially honest.
"No, not really," he answered truthfully. "But I will be." Piper nodded, and Leo knew she understood what he was talking about. They lapsed into a comfortable silence.
"So?" Leo questioned after a few moments. Piper stared at him, confused. "You wanted something?"
"Oh!" she exclaimed, suddenly smirking. "Right! Well, everyone else is laying around on deck, not doing anything, and I thought-"
"Water guns?" Leo interjected eagerly. "Wait, wait, that wouldn't bother Percy-what about a food figh-"
"Whatever it is, it needs to be vegetarian!" Piper said, rolling her eyes with a fake huff of annoyance.
"But Pipes, you wouldn't be eating it-you'd be throwing it!"
"That's true." she agreed, simpering. "But I was thinking more along the lines of…" As Piper explained her plan to Leo, a wicked smile slowly spread across his face until he was grinning like a Cheshire cat. When she finished, he bent over in a mock bow.
"The student becomes the master." Leo said, snickering. The two immediately began preparing for what was certainly to be their best plank yet.
...
"King me," Frank stated proudly, moving to capture the last two red checker pieces on the board.
"What!" Annabeth exclaimed, staring in utter disbelief. Am I loosing my touch?
"Come on Annabeth, you won the last four," Jason called from across the deck. "It's only fair for Frank to win at least once."
"I guess," she said with a dramatic sigh, moving to clean up the loose wafers.
"Yeah!" Frank declared. "Wait. Hey! I can win more!"
"Oh really?" Annabeth inquired. "Wanna bet?"
"Bring it on!"
"I've never seen two people get so worked up over checkers." Hazel said with a smile as she watched a gull pass by overhead from her seat beside the mast. "Annabeth just might make him cry."
"You should see her play capture the flag." Percy commented, shaking his head. "I'm pretty sure she could win against the entire camp single-handedly. And together with Frank? Unstoppable."
"Now that," Jason said with a smirk, "would be a game I would pay to see." The three friends laughed.
"Did I ever tell you about the time that-"
SPLAT!
Jason sat stunned, momentarily dumbfounded and story forgotten, as a neon-pink liquid dripped its way through his hair and down the sides of his face. Percy and Hazel simply blinked in surprise, and from across the deck Annabeth and Frank starred in shock.
"You uh, have a little…" Percy said with a smirk, gesturing to the top half of Jason as the paint continued to makes it way down him and onto his new purple SPQR shirt. "Gee, thanks," Jason deadpanned as he wiped some of the paint away from his eyes. "I hadn't noticed."
"There's a balloon, it's…" Hazel said as she reached forward to pluck the small plastic object from his hair. However, at that moment, a round blob spun through the air where Hazel was previously sitting and smacked into Percy's side, quickly drenching him in bright blue goo. Hazel snorted, and then quickly covered her face to mask her laughter as she watched her friends attempt to compose themselves.
"BOMBS AWAY!" Two familiar voices shouted gleefully. There was a whizzing noise, followed by a particularly large balloon landing with a WHUMP in the middle of Annabeth and Frank's checkerboard, effectively covering them both in yellow paint.
"Oh, come on!" Frank groaned."I'm already short on clothes!"
"It's hardly fair that Hazel doesn't have any paint on her." Jason remarked dryly, backing up slowly.
"Yeah," Percy agreed, following Jason's lead and moving away from her. "Think you guys can fix that?"
"Ha ha, very funny," Hazel said nervously, glancing around. "But I don't think-" No sooner than the words had left her mouth did another balloon drop out of the sky. It landed on her head, covering her hair with vivid orange paint and splattering all across the deck. She gasped as the cool liquid dropped onto her face, and scowled when the rest of the demigods laughed. "Do we at least get something to defend ourselves with?" Annabeth called out with a smirk, standing with the rest of the colorful teens.
"You'll find what you're looking for under the main mast!" Leo called. "I suggest you move quickly thought, these things are pretty slippery-whoops!" A small balloon bounced down from the crow's nest, and was quickly followed by many more flying through the air on the deck.
"Run!" Jason shouted with a laugh. The five demigods scrambled forward, desperately trying to dodge the messy bombs, but to no avail. By the time they made it to the main mast they all resembled a spotted rainbow. There, they found a basket brimming with balloons filled with paint. The small group looked at each other, grinning. Frank bent and picked up the first ballon, tossing it experimentally from one hand to another.
"Let's do this."
...
Jason and Frank were in charge of taking Leo down from the crow's nest. The two quietly made their towards the seemingly empty basket, Jason flying, while Frank traveled as a large falcon. They were both loaded with multiple balloons. However, as they neared the nest, a small shriek was heard, and then balloons were flying at them.
"Leo!" Jason growled as a particularly large blob of paint smacked into his face. "Where did you even get all of this paint?" A small head peaked out from the basket.
"No clue-this was all Piper's idea!" Of course, Jason thought with a smile. That's my girlfriend.
"An amazing idea!" Leo continued, standing up a bit taller. That was his mistake. With a screech, Frank suddenly materialized behind Leo, his wings pumping hard as he hefted a giant balloon up in his claws.
"Wha-?" Leo questioned, spinning around. Unfortunately for him, that allowed Frank to chuck the large balloon right at his face. Purple exploded all over Leo, and he simply grinned, holding up another balloon.
"You're going down, feathers."
...
Down below on the deck, Hazel, Annabeth, and Percy weren't having nearly as much luck. It wasn't that they had run out of balloons-oh no, they had plenty of those. The problem was finding Piper. The demigod was sneaking around the rigging, making it impossible to actually throw balloons at her. She, however, had no trouble finding them, and the three teens were covered in paint to prove it.
"I'll be right back," Annabeth whispered to her friends. She quickly dashed off towards the door leading below to their cabins, staying low to the deck, leaving Hazel and Percy even less defended than before.
"We're so dead." Percy muttered. They were currently crouched alongside the ship's railing, hiding. It gave them a clear view of their surroundings, but also left them very open to attack. Festus stared at them curiously from the bow, smoke puffing from his nostrils.
"Maybe not!" Hazel said hopefully. "Could she have run out of balloons?" That question was quickly answered when another onslaught of paint blobs was thrown at them from somewhere on the other side of the deck.
"I guess that's a no." she grumbled as she stood with Percy, searching for better cover.
"Quick, over here!" Percy breathed, dragging Hazel off to the side of the quarterdeck. There, they leaned on one of its walls, resting.
"Do you see her?" Hazel asked, peering around Percy. She caught a glimpse of Frank lugging a huge balloon up towards the crow's nest. Leo's in for a nasty surprise, she thought happily.
"No, he answered dejectedly, "but I don't think that's a good thing."
"Definitely not." Someone called in a sing-song voice from above them. Hazel and Percy looked up in horror to find Piper perched above them on the quarterdeck, poised with a full basket of balloons.
"Ha!" She shouted tipping the basket forward. Thinking fast, Percy summoned a wave to cover them, and the balloons plopped harmlessly into it, suspended in midair.
"Aw, come on!" Piper groaned.
"Nice one." Hazel said with a smirk, giving Percy a high-five. A sudden yelp from above startled the two, and as Percy gently dropped his wave onto the deck, they turned to see Piper covered in paint, lying sprawled out on her back. They quickly hauled themselves on top of the quarterdeck as the air shimmered, revealing Annabeth holding her magical Yankees hat.
"Nice one, Chase." Piper groaned, letting her head thump onto the wood.
"Not so bad yourself, McLean," Annabeth laughed, helping her up.
"My hero." Percy announced, grinning, as he leaned over to hug Annabeth. She smiled and reached to accept his affection, but at the last second he changed tactics, stealing a kiss instead.
"So clever, seaweed brain," Annabeth said with a smile, smacking her boyfriend's arm lightly. "But not nearly as clever Piper's tactics-she totally almost had you guys with the basket."
"That was so good!" Hazel said, fanning her face to rid it of the blush that had sprung up.
"Definitely your best prank yet, Pipes," Percy agreed as he wrapped his arm around Annabeth's waist, letting her lean against his side. At that moment, a shadow passed overhead, and the group looked up to see falcon Frank carrying a snickering Leo down to the deck.
"That was awesome!" Leo shouted as Frank dropped him and morphed back into his regular self. There wasn't a single inch of them not doused with paint. "Way to go, Piper!"
"Aw come on, Leo," Piper said, smiling shyly. "I wouldn't have been able to pull it off without you. The magical refilling baskets? Perfect, really-eek!" They all watched, grinning, as Jason grabbed Piper from behind and spun the two of them into the air.
"MY GIRLFRIEND'S A PRANK MASTER!" shouted Jason gleefully. "AND LEO'S COVERED IN PAINT!"
"We're all covered in paint," Hazel reminded him as they landed.
"I don't know…Leo looks like he could use some more." Annabeth commented dryly, plucking two balloons from the basket.
"He does, doesn't he?" Piper agreed, following suit.
"What-oh come on, not you too, Pipes!" Leo protested, backing away from the two girls. "We were a team!"
"We were, but now…" Piper didn't even get to finish her sentence before Leo had taken off in a dead-sprint.
"Come on!" Annabeth laughed, and the two ran after him, leaving the rest of the group on the quarterdeck.
"Well that was fun," Jason said with a smile, watching as Leo dove off the side of the ship to avoid getting pelted by balloons.
"Should you go get him?" Hazel asked Percy, her voice tinged with worry.
"On it," he replied easily, and at that moment Leo was dropped back onto the ship with a crashing wave. They all walked over to him as he stood, grinning, perfectly dry and mostly paint-free.
"Woohoo! Lemme go again!" Leo whooped, pumping his fist in the air. His friends laughed, smacking him on the back and ruffling his hair, and Leo couldn't help but grin wider. He may not have been able to spend his day working on the Argo II, but he wouldn't trade this moment for the world.
Would love reviews! :)