On Board {A Solangelo Pirate AU}

7: No Seduction Involved

WPOV

The week's trip to Rontmion went by surprisingly quickly. Still, I rarely caught sight of Nico. Even when I specifically sought him out, I didn't usually find him. So he was probably avoiding me again. We'd had one conversation since that day in his cabin, and it was just quick small talk until he made an excuse to leave. He kept his expression carefully guarded, just like in the cabin.

He was hiding things. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised; I'd only been here a week. Still, though. He was hiding things.

I suppose I was, too. I hadn't told him I used to be his friend. I'd tried hinting at it as I left his cabin, but I suppose it was too vague to mean anything to him.

Why does it matter, anyway? Why do I care so much that he remembers me?

Frank took over Annabeth's shift of guarding and training me on the ship. I don't know why they bothered to train me—I'd be gone in a week, and it probably took more work to stand around making sure I was doing it all right than to do it themselves. A voice in the back of my head wondered if they were hoping I would decide to stay.

Which I definitely wouldn't, by the way. I couldn't stay. I wanted to be a doctor so I could help people, and they were keeping me away from all the people who needed help. And besides, I would miss my family too much. I don't know how all of these people live here knowing they'll never see their families again, and that they're stealing from their hometowns.

So, no. I wasn't going to stay. I wasn't even considering it.

In another week, I would be back home. I'd imagine my family was worrying themselves sick over me. And I would have to try to explain all of this to my boss at the fish stand. Hopefully he hadn't already replaced me.

We pulled up into Rontmion Harbor. Annabeth says the Guard here only protects the people who have the money to pay for it, so the middle class food stands they stole from would be relatively safe, and our boat wouldn't be attacked unless we tried to hurt someone wealthy.

The crew prepared the ship to dock. I finally spotted Nico, pulling back the sails. His sleeves were rolled up.

My heart thumped hard. He was very muscular, but of course I didn't notice that. I also did not notice that, actually, his big brown eyes crinkled as he looked up into the sun, or how his hair moved with the wind. It looked soft. I didn't notice any of this, of course, because I specifically promised myself I would only love women from now on. I'm not quite sure what was wrong with my heart—it couldn't seem to discern the difference between men and women in order to keep male relationships platonic and nothing more—but I adamantly refused to let it cause issues for me again.

Well, maybe I 'didn't notice' his arm muscles a little too much, because he looked over and tilted his head at me. I swiveled instantly, heart thundering at rates I couldn't believe. I'd been caught. Shit, I've heard some people kill men for this. And they were pirates after all, they knew how to kill more than anyone. They could definitely execute me for having desires like these.

A hand on my shoulder. "You alright?"

It was Hazel.

I tried to hide the warmth in my cheeks. "I, um. I'm fine. Thank you. D-Do you need help with anything?"

She put her arms over the side of the ship and looked at the city. "No, we're pretty much done. Frank, Leo, and I are staying behind with you. Percy and Piper are going to try to find out if there's any storms coming from the south, and the rest are getting supplies."

"How will they be able to know if there's any storms coming from the south? Knowledge isn't something you can just steal from a stand," I said.

Leo appeared behind me and slung his arm over my shoulders. "No, but it is something that you can seduce out of people, and that's exactly what those two are going to be doing."