Percy was having a hard time beating Annabeth. Of course, her competitive side had a lot to play in that. She'd been practising every day just so she could finally get one win back against him. Their games were always close, but it was always Percy who managed to just break the tie.

"Having a hard time, Seaweed Brain?" She shouted, laughing as she raised her blade.

Percy deflected it, rolling to one side. "Ask your face!" He replied as he swung his leg at hers. Unfortunately for him, Annabeth jumped over the obstacle, and therefore not falling on her face.

Percy groaned in frustration, "Stay to your books, Wise Girl." He muttered, reluctantly wiping sweat off his forehead again. Not a moment later, Annabeth had swung the flat side of her sword at Percy's legs, tripping him over. Planting her foot on Percy's chest, Annabeth literally glowed from her victory.

But she was seeming to glow, Percy smiled at the thought, and noticed that the sun was behind her, shattering rays of light off her hair. "Lost for words?" Annabeth helped Percy up, even though he didn't need it.

"Something like that. Good win," His arm found it's place on her shoulders, Riptide returning to a pen in his pocket. He was seriously glad Calypso had moderated Leo's designs for his sword. He happened to like it in one piece.

"Thank you. Get used to it," Annabeth nudged him. Percy's thoughts turned back to Leo, when everyone had just wanted to go home to their respective camps after beating Gaia. Not Leo, Leo had one final quest: Find Ogygia, find Calypso. The thought turned bitter as he remembered that he had failed to return to Calypso, he himself had forgotten about her.

"Hey Annabeth, did you notice that Calypso was wearing Leo's jacket when they came to steal paints?" Percy noticed the two Stoll brothers walking over to them. They had the highest bids on Leo and Calypso, and also running their own betting circle with the wannabe newbies that looked at anyone who was in the last two Great Prophecies as if they were gods themselves.

Annabeth smirked, "Did you notice that Leo grabbed her hand when they ran out?" Annabeth herself wasn't involved in the betting, especially when Travis and Connor were playing a part in it. That didn't mean she wasn't interested in the two. She had seen Leo working enough sleepless nights onboard the Argo II to know that his feelings for her went way beyond platonic.

Travis and Connor's devious grins widened as Percy just repeated what he and Annabeth had just told each other. "Well," Connor said, "We dropped off a fake snake to get fixed up by him. We could..." Here he gave a conspirative glance at Travis.

"Stir up some trouble?" Although they were asking it as a question, Percy knew that they would still go ahead regardless of his verdict.

An hour later, the two brothers walked into Leo's shop. Leo was glad to see them, these guys were great fun. Just not when they were targeting you. Leo glanced at the clock, they were half an hour early and Leo was not finished on their mechanical snake.

Leo appointed times for pick up, which was Calypso's idea.

"Leo, how's our snake going?" Travis walked over to him. Connor gave a wave and started walking around the store, picking up an odd hammer.

"Good. Just gotta give it some Leo-lovin'. What's it for?" Leo asked.

Connor joined his brother's side, resting his elbows on the counter. "Okay, so we're going to place the snake near the Aphrodite cabin, and when it's breakfast time, we're going to get it to start moving around Drew. You know Drew? Good."

Then," Travis continued, "We're going to dump a bucket of water on her, and you know that mechanical bird you gave us? Good. We're going-"

"to have it attack her-"

"and then the bird is going to drop a little note on her-"

"and it'll say 'LOOK OUT IT'S A SNAKE' and-"

"The whole of the Demeter cabin will be holding up mirrors!" Travis finished. Leo blinked in surprise. This was a lot... meaner than any of their other pranks. "Katie helped us with the plan. Drew is causing trouble." Travis blushed at Katie's name.

"This sounds less of a prank and more of a revenge plan." Leo noted. Calypso walked in from the back of the shop, a basket of vegetables in her hand. Connor's face lit up when he saw Calypso, in a way that made Leo's stomach churn in repressed angst.

"You must be Calypso," Connor smiled at her. Calypso put down the basket of tomatoes next to Leo, looking at the twins.

"Are these the two thieves you told me about?" She whispered, though Travis and Connor heard her, and started laughing.

"Yeah," Leo smiled, "Stay away from them." He laughed as he adjusted a screw.

"Aw now, aren't you being a bit harsh?" Connor smiled at Calypso. "We're all friends here."

Dang, Leo thought. That was the smoothest voice Leo had ever heard. He would have to ask Connor how he does that so he can use it on Calypso. Which was what Connor was doing.

!

WAIT

!

!

Leo's fingers twitched at his realisation. The oil from the hinge spilt, slipping onto his fingers. Leo let out a short groan of frustration, "I'll go get something to clean up," and started to head out the back door.

When he came back, Calypso was blushing, Travis was stiffling a laugh as he fiddled with the snake, and Connor was looking pretty victorious.

"So?" Connor had asked, as Leo came back with a sponge and clean hands.

"Leo!" Calypso quickly turned to Leo, her cheeks nearing the colour of the tomatoes in her basket. "Did you.. find the sponge?" She asked awkwardly, changing the topic from whatever it was.

"Um, yes? This is my house you know." Leo teased.

"Your house? Last time I checked, it was mine." Calypso poked Leo's arm. Leo picked the snake off from Travis, inspecting it.

"Oh, now I'm going to be ten minutes longer than expected." Leo said, looking at the accidental damage from Travis.

"That's okay." Travis smiled mischievously, putting Leo on edge. Calypso's blush was retreating, and she left the room after a while.

"Where you going?" Connor asked, not getting an answer. Calypso left, leaving Leo to work on the snake. Connor and Travis sat around the shop, bored. Calypso was gone, so they couldn't toy with her. Travis' gleam snaked it's way to Leo, working hard on their little pet.

Getting an idea, Travis winked conspiratively at Connor, before saying super-casually "So Leo, do you prefer here or Camp Half-Blood?"

Not looking up from his project, Leo answered. "Uh, here."

Connor caught on, a grin forming on his face. "Why's that? Don't you miss us wonderful people?"

"No, I like the people here better than you two demons" Leo smiled good-naturedly at the twins, oblivious to the lead he'd just provided to the two demons.

"Oh yeah, you and Calypso are here alone, yeah?" Travis asked.

"Just us. And Festus. Currently you two."

"That must be nice, Calypso seems pretty cool." Connor played his part, putting a spark of jealousy in Leo.

"She is." He said shortly. His jaw clenched momentarily. "I mean, cool. And pretty, as well. Pretty cool. She's a lot of other things as well. All pretty cool." He rambled, his voice as quick as his fingers.

Jackpot. Connor and Travis had Leo pinned down, he just didn't know it.

"You think she's pretty?" Travis snickered.

"No!" Leo looked up, his cheeks feeling fiery. "I mean, yes! Yes-"

"And a lot of other things?" Travis questioned.

"Yes! Yeah, you know, funny and smart and she loves watching movies with me and-"

"Is that a date I hear?"

"No!" Leo couldn't believe he'd just jumbled everything out. His brain was turning to mush under the twins' sharp wit.

Opening his mouth to say something, Leo decided that that was stupid. Whatever he said would be turned against him, every good memory flipped on it's head. Leo resumed his work on the snake, Wishing it could come alive and swallow him whole. The twins had continued firing questions at him, like prods at the sides and jabs right in the heart. One question got him talking.

"So it would be okay if I dated your totally platonic friend?" Connor grinned when he saw the sudden stop in Leo's work. Internal conflict was obvious, as arguments bounced around Leo's bouncy curls.

"No" Leo answered, a very badly done casual.

"That's a bit harsh." Connor frowned, teasing, "Why's that?"

"Here," Leo held out the finished snake, which was busy curling around his arm. "All done."

Travis and Connor frowned, they were just getting through to Leo. Hesitantly, Travis took the snake, which slithered into a ball on his palm. After a 'thanks Leo' and 'you the man' the twins left, slightly disappointed that they couldn't get anything more out of Leo.

Leo breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the door swung shut behind the twins. He picked up his screwdriver and placed it back into his belt. His hands tapped the counter in a pattern he didn't recognise. Maybe this one meant what-just-happened-what-did-i-do-what-is-going-on. The questions Connor and Travis had thrown at him echoed inside his head, as well as their implied meanings.

The basket of tomatoes caught Leo's eye, and his thoughts wandered back to Calypso. Could he stand for her to end up with a guy like Connor, someone taller and war-free and weird-free. Leo imagined it, but the faces were always changing. First Calypso was laughing with Connor, then it was Jason, then Frank, then someone from the Aphrodite cabin giving her a rose and sliding in a smooth comment. It made Leo's blood burn, coursing through him.

Jason. In The Wilderness School, back when Leo's biggest troubles were not behaving for Coach Hedge, Jason had just come out of nowhere and stolen his best friend from him. Leo still didn't remember anything real from before Piper and Jason were holding hands while Leo was third-wheeled, but sometimes he wondered what happened.

Was it Leo there holding hands with Piper? Or was Leo third-wheeled again as another tall and handsome guy sat beside Piper?

Only one person knew and that was Coach Hedge. Leo still hadn't asked him about that, mainly because he was content with how things were at the moment.

Leo also remembered Frank, and how he'd been third-wheeled by them two as well. He didn't think he could manage it anymore if for a third time Leo was third-wheeled. He'd die if that happened to Calypso.

Well then hot shot, A voice in his head asked, what's left to do?

The impossible. There were only so many ways you could go about dating a thousand year old Titan Goddess whose dining table you trashed in the first three seconds you met her.

No, going up to her and asking if she wanted to go out for a pizza and a movie was not an option. So Leo was stuck in no-mans land, a romantic limbo.

"They gone?" Calypso was standing in the doorway to their quarters.

"Yeah, sunshine. What happened when I went to get the sponge?" Leo asked nonchalantly.

Calypso's casual attitude stiffened with awkwardness. "Uh.. nothing. Not important. It's all fine." She tucked a lock behind her ear.

Leo frowned, said something "Oh. Okay." and left it at that.

It was late at night, and Leo was still awake. They'd watched the next Harry Potter movie, and Leo couldn't help but put himself in Hermione's position the whole way through the Lavender Brown fiasco. He hoped that, like in the movies, he ended up with Calypso. So there he was, leaning up against Festus, looking at the stars, burning his finger into a candle.

"Festus, I know you are named Happy and everything, but just be glad you have an engine and not a bleeding human heart," Leo said.

"Sorry Festus, yeah I do remember when Piper charm spoke you alive. Well, I don't remember. I was too busy falling on an island. A very very beautiful island. It had trees like I'd never seen, and the ocean, and..." Leo closed his eyes, throwing himself back into the past. Standing or sitting or building or leaving Ogygia.

There was the infamous Dining Table Crash, when Leo saved his own life from a very painful death by facing the wrath of Calypso. Her face was red and her insults pounded him, and all he could think of was some lame joke? The two of them hadn't warmed up to each other yet, although hating each other's guts was a better term.

Then there was when Calypso came to Leo. A few days after the last incident (Leo still wasn't sure how long because time was weird on Ogygia) Calypso tried to make peace. Then she walked out, and there she was with her face and her hair and her lips and her eyes and her.

And Leo didn't even realise he was falling in love.

Not even when they were working together, side by side, did he realise. Not when he offered her a place off Ogygia to work with him. No, he only realised once he left Ogygia, once he was on the raft, shouting back his promise to return to her. Only then did he realise.

Leo opened his eyes, stars shining in the sky when they didn't before.

Calypso wasn't staring at the stars with Leo. She was in her room, staring up at the ceiling. There was an electrical light in her room, which Leo had had some difficulty explaining to her. There was a fan in case she got too hot, and a heater in case she got too cold. Life was so different from Ogygia, where heartbreak was as endless as the days.

Here she wasn't alone. She was very connected, and she didn't fall in love with every man she saw. Some men were quite ugly, she had realised, or rude and obnoxious. That was quite good, she concluded, as heartbreak induced so much stress. It wasn't in her fate to fall in love with anyone.

And yet her heart wandered to the boy she saw every day, who watched movies with her, who ran their shop. This wasn't fate, Calypso realised, this was real and her own heart was doing the talking.

She wished it would shut up.

From past experiences, love always meant heartbreak. Here she could not escape from Leo, he would not go away. So what was there to do? Continue to watch movies on their couch making hot chocolates from their kitchen and run their shop? Calypso sat up, walking over to her loom. If only she could sort out her life like the threads in her loom.

The next morning started quietly, it was Sunday, the shop was shut. Leo woke up to an aching back, probably with small metal indents. The roller door was still open, and bright sunlight hit Leo in the eye. Lazily he tried to reach for the switch from his position, which was three meters away.

Calypso sat up, her sheets still cold from the lack of sleep. She'd finished working at her loom and fallen into bed, spotting pinks in the lightening sky. After that she just sat on her bed watching the sunrise through the window. The house was quiet as she made breakfast, and ate by herself.

She was just washing up when Leo came in, the term 'bed hair' not quite covering it. A wrinkled t-shirt had an oil stain on the shoulder, Calypso noticed.

"Hey, morning. I was thinking of going over to camp. Something about an awesome prank with the help of a mechanical snake I fixed up. Would you like to come?" Leo asked awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot.

"Sure." Calypso answered quickly, "Just let me finish washing up. Have you had breakfast?"

"No, I'm good." Leo rubbed his eyes. "You ready?"

They arrived an hour after Calypso had finished washing up. Festus landed away from the camp, so as to not wake everyone up. Leo and Calypso walked towards the camp grounds, and walking over to the Stoll brothers, who were silently shipping some helpers out of their cabins.

"Leo?" Travis spotted the two walking over.

"Hi. Thought we'd check out the grand master plan." Leo said.

"Hi Calypso," Connor said, "Ready to watch some total domination?"

"Um, sure?" The lack of sleep made Calypso a little disorientated. The sunlight was too bright and the air was too thick and the ground was too hard and her clothes were too itchy and a pillow was too far away.

"We'll just keep a look out from that hill." Leo started walking, and Calypso eagerly followed.

"You okay?" Leo asked awkwardly, as they sat down on the grass. Calypso flopped down, staring blankly at the sky. "Hello?"

"Sorry? Oh right, yes I'm fine." Calypso answered. "I didn't sleep well last night."

"If you say so, Captain O." Leo said. "We need to find a good vantage point to see everything, I think this is pretty good-"

"You do know that we're only watching the prank, right?" Calypso smirked.

"You do know that that's irrelevant, right?" Leo retorted.

"You do know that you're just repeating everything I say, right?" Calypso giggled.

"You do know this is stupid, right?" Leo shot back.

"You do know that Drew has already walked out of her cabin, right?"

"You-WAIT WHAT? Ooh lets see how this goes." Leo shut up and Calypso closed her eyes.

Percy and Annabeth were rounding the hill, when they heard a shriek.

"Probably work from one of the Stolls," Percy said.

"Probably," Annabeth stopped at the foot of the hill. "Do you want to watch it?"

Percy looked up, spotting two silhouettes. "I think we'd be trespassing." Annabeth turned around and saw Leo and Calypso on the hill. "Did Travis tell you about yesterday?"

"No, Connor did." Annabeth said. "He said he was trying to make Leo jealous. I think his pretence might not be so pretend though."

"You think?" Percy asked.

"I'm not sure. I'm a thinker, not a feeler." Annabeth said.

Percy put his arm around Annabeth, smiling at her. "Well I can show you how..."