Oceana: It's a shorty, but-
Nico: Short like Leo?
Leo: Hey man, I'm 5ft 6"!
Pearl: So... Napoleon height?
Oceana: ... Tall enough for me. I'm 5'4". Like Morgan.
Nico: Don't... do that. It's creepy.
Pearl: Nico, one, I don't think you're allowed to judge "creepy", and two, do we even know how tall you are?
Oceana: Percy's 17, and he's 6'0". Leo's 15 and he's 5'6". So two years equals 6 inches.
Pearl: So logically, Nico should be shorter than Leo as he's 14. He should be 5'3".
Leo: ... But he did live in a time loop for seventy years. Besides, the American 14 year old is between 5'3" and 5'6.
Nico: I'm Italian. And you're just trying to justify your being an elf. Piper's taller than you.
Leo: Only in heels, man, only in heels.
Leo Valdez, Son of Hephaestus
'Holy Hephaestus!' Leo panted as Nico and Morgan watched him with guarded expressions. 'Nico, man, what are you doing up here?'
'Walking. Collecting my thoughts,'
'Uh, you've met Morgan?' The smoke was still tickling his nose.
'We've been… Acquainted in the past,'
'O-Kay…' Morgan cleared her throat. 'Leo, there's something you need to know-'
'S'kay, I'm sorry about that, I swear, I was…' Leo wrung his hands. It was really awkward. Leo wished the ground would swallow him up. At least, he could be below deck, instead of on a moonlit deck with a shadowy son of Hades. Nico sighed for the umpteenth time.
'The letter was laced with something. I doubt it was from who it said it was, or at least, had passed through one set of hands too many. Aphrodite wants to bring the two of you together. Reasons are still uncertain.' Nico looked at Leo rather coldly.
Leo blinked at this business-like report and sneezed. 'Sorry,'
Morgan said nothing.
A small white speck fluttered towards them from the distance. Morgan squinted and groaned. 'What is it?' Leo whipped a pair of binoculars from his belt and peered at the growing white smudge, relieved for a break in the silence.
'A letter.' Morgan put her thumb and forefinger in her mouth and gave one hell of a cab whistle. Leo wasn't worried about his shipmates. Their rooms were soundproof, and they slept like coma patients. It wasn't obvious, but Leo swore the letter changed course and headed to the ship. After tense minutes in silence watching the approaching letter, Morgan reached out her hand and a winged envelope landed in her palm, shedding its feathers as it did so.
Leo tried to think straight, as he was attempting to do in the engine room when Morgan arrived. Manual labour calmed down his hyperactive brain, a little bit, at least. He fiddled with the binoculars and shoved them back into his toolbelt, waiting for the verdict.
Nico stood motionlessly by her side. Almost protective…
Oh man. Leo may not have been good with living organisms, but he'd been around his friends long enough to know a couple when he saw one. He just hoped he was wrong. Heck, he did not want to get on the wrong side of di Angelo. Morgan tore open the letter and scanned it before clearing her throat. Nico read over her shoulder.
"Morgan,
Stay aboard the Argo II. Be alert for messages and updates. I'm sorry I can't help more. The Caduceus will protect you.
Keep yourself safe.
Hermes"
She passed it to Leo. He saw the shaky and rushed writing, ink splashes where the the quill was pressed too hard. Hermes was suffering from the Greek/Roman persona split, big time. He'd even given his staff, his symbol of power, to Morgan, to protect her. And it weakened him immensely. Leo couldn't think of anything to say. I'm sorry didn't seem to cut it.
He handed it back to Morgan, who put it back in its envelope and stowed it in her bag. She took a deep breath and grinned.
'Don't suppose there's a spare bunk?'
Oceana: -
Pearl: I suppose you're going to say this was vital to the plot as well?
Oceana: ...Yes.
Nico: So wait, who ends up with Morgan, me or Valdez?
Leo: I call dibs.
Oceana: *appalled* Jeez Leo, you can't call dibs on a person! That's- that's-
Pearl: A joke, Ana. Crikey.
Nico: Answer the dam question.
OceanaPearl: *United by the inside joke* Teehee. Dam.