Cabin 13

61| Setting Sail

Will frowned, lips pursed, as his hands clasped around the back of his head. He let out a puff. 

Piper's head cocked with a dangerous, pursed smile. Indeed that was her boyfriend  there, right in front of her eyes.  

Leo stood wide eyed, his thoughts chaotic and intrigued. It looked oddly comfortable. He wondered what a guy was like... then again Calypso could almost definitely hold him like that. Leo nodded to himself, he'd have to bring that up to her when he got back. 

 Nico just shook his head. Did these two idiots have to make it so obvious? Piper was going to kill them. 

Hazel held a tight smile on her face, worryingly glancing at her friends. This was getting stranger and stranger. Should she just wait in the other room? It felt intruding to keep staring. Her eyes wandered to the ceiling. She grimaced, there was no way this hotel passed health inspections. 

...

Percy shifted, immediately becoming aware of the heavy weight wrapped around his mid section. Gods, he thought, who turned on the heat? Its summer for fucks sake.  Again he attempted to stretch, this time his brain actually recognized there was someone anchored around his bare waist. His eyes snapped open. 

Glancing down, there was a set of muscular white arms, one depicting an eagle above the Roman SPQR acronym. I'm too tired for this, he thought trying to settle back into his pillow. 

At that there was a distinct clearing of someone's throat, concerningly close. 

Percy groaned, opening one eye. Groggily he smirked, "Piper~ Good morning. Looking to join?"

She snarled, "You're lucky I don't kill you."

"Someone's not a morning person," he muttered. 

Flipping up the sheets, Jason was instantly at the forefront of the bed, nose to nose with Piper. "Attempt to hurt him and I assure you, you'll be the one dead," he seethed. 

Leo swallowed, taking a subtle step back. This lover's tango was getting complicated and incredibly hazardous. He was starting to wish he'd taken his chance and left with Hazel and Nico, it was truly a curse that he was so addicted to the drama. 

Jason blinked, backing away. "Sorry, I—I don't know why I said that."

Percy made an attempt, in vain, to suppress his amusement with a small chuckle. 

Throwing her hands up, Piper huffed, "I thought you were over this? You said you were fine! And now you're sneaking off to Percy's bed in the middle of the night?!"

Again Percy's muffled laughter was clearly heard. 

He shook his head, "That's not what happened." Jason ran his fingers through his hair anxiously. "I needed some air last night and I ended up locked out of the room."

She raised her brow expectantly. "So you decided to sleep with Percy?"

Involuntarily, a low guttural sound reverberated from his throat. "And if I did?" he snapped. 

Leo whined, his hands flying up to cover his eyes. He really should have left with Hazel and Nico. If he moved now, would they turn on him? Maybe he could slip out unnoticed...

Will rubbed the back of his neck. Nope, nope, nope. He ushered Leo out into the hall as quickly as possible. He could certainly no longer offer any more mediation. 

Percy gave a little mock wave to the pair before leaning back to watch. 

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't want to talk about this."

She laughed, "I'm sure you don't. Much rather crawl back under the blankets with Percy, right?"

"It's not my fault I was drugged!" He roughly rubbed at his temples, "It's hard enough as it is without you constantly blaming me for the effects."

In the hall, Will and Leo proceeded into the next room. 

Hazel stood by the window. She bit her lip. "Well?"

Will shook his head. 

"How long is this going to take? We need to leave," Nico grumbled, his form slouched over the hotel's desk, head propped on his fist. 

Leo hopped up on the desk with an impish grin, shrugging. "It'll either be over very  quickly, or we're going to be here a while. Bets anyone?"

"Definitely short." Will said, rubbing his forehead. He swore he was developing wrinkles. 

"Is Percy still in there?" Hazel asked. 

"Mhmm."

"Ah, short then."

The was sharp crash from the other room followed promptly by the door slamming. Piper stormed in. Her face red and eyes wild. "Let's go."

Nico stood. "Perfect."

Approaching softly to lay a hand on her shoulder, Hazel frowned. "Are you alright?"

"The faster we find Annabeth the better."

Will nodded. "Agreed." 

"Can I at least get some coffee first?" Percy's distant drawl came from the hallway. Ambling into the room with just his boxers on, he threw a shirt over his head. 

"Pants first." Jason joined him from behind, shoving a pair of jeans to his chest. He had a new distinct blemish bruising his cheekbone. 

The group glanced around at each other, with very mixed feelings. Waiting for Percy to slide on the jeans, they all had a minute too long to think about what was about to happen. They were going to venture into cursed water, relying on this unpredictable amnesiac. Tensions were ridiculously high to be about to put their team to the test. 

Will was stressed to say the least. He took a breath, "Okay. Let's go."

The group grabbed their bags and crowded into the halls. 

Nico watched Will closely, before subtly bumping his shoulder. "You're really looking like a quest virgin now."

Will frowned. "Yeah, this will be the first and the last quest I'll be on."

"Oh, don't be dramatic. I'm sure you'll live."

Will froze. "What? I meant I'm never going to join another quest!"

Nico eyes widened. "Oh. Right." He shrugged. "Just joking."

Leo clapped him on the shoulder, "Definitely not. Speaking from experience as a dead man."

Nico rolled his eyes, saying, "You came back."

Swallowing hard, Will groaned.

Piper and Hazel had secured a boat, which they were graciously 'borrowing.' Percy would get them through the waters with Nico steering the ship.  

Heading down to the docks, the walk was tense and utterly silent. On arrival Percy boarded first, taking a moment to connect to the waters. The boat wasn't anything special, certainly no Argo II. At Percy's go ahead everyone filed on and quickly below deck. Nico straight to the helm. 

Looking over the railing at the water beginning to churn beneath him, Percy grimaced. It knew who they were. "It's going to be a long day."

Nico had estimated the journey would take at least 16 hours. Taking a breath, Percy estimated he could last 15. He smirked, things might get a little dicey in that last hour.