ONE LAST TIME . . . heroes of olympus

84

WHAT COULD'VE BEEN hours or days later, they washed ashore.

Kat vaguely recognized the place they were in, but her mind was too scrambled to think outside of her immediate surroundings. But she did see a cafe above them, overlooking the sea.

"Let's go," she said, dragging Leo along with her. "I need coffee."

"Do you even drink coffee? And we don't have any money."

He'd slowly become more subdued since leaving Ogygia. Kat had, too, but she wasn't the one who had fallen in love with an immortal that no one had ever seen twice. Which was why she was the functioning one as of current.

She glanced around at all of the mortals around them, which wasn't that many, but it was a decent amount. As they walked closer to the cafe, she reached out with her free hand and swiftly pickpocketed someone, walking away and sifting through their wallet.

"That's enough money for coffee," she decided.

Leo raised his eyebrows at her.

"I have never claimed to be the most moral person on the planet, Luchik," Kat pointed out.

"I never said you were."

They made it to the cafe, and sat down at a table. Kat was going to sit across from Leo when he gave her a be so for real look. She rolled her eyes, but sat next to him, pulling her chair so close to his they were essentially sitting in the same spot.

A waitress went up to them and placed some menus in front of them.

Kat looked over at Leo. "Want anything?"

"Coffee," he answered. "Black."

Kat furrowed her eyebrows at him, considering he never drank coffee, but they both never really have coffee and here they were now. "Alright. And I'll have this." She pointed at something on the menu that looked big and sugary. She didn't care what it was.

The waitress nodded, taking the menus. "I like your headband," she told her. "It's pretty."

Kat felt Leo freeze up next to her, and she smiled tightly at the waitress. "Thanks."

The waitress left, and they were silent for a few moments before he told her, "tell me about her."

Kat frowned. "Who?"

He reached up to tap the circlet. "The Hunter. Wasn't she one?"

"Yeah, she was," she said wistfully. "You sure you wanna hear me yap?"

"You love hearing yourself talk."

She rolled her eyes, but she knew it was an attempt to distract himself, so she told him. The adventures she'd gotten up to while going with the Hunters, the skills she learned, the friends she made. Especially Zoë. The freedom she'd felt.

The waitress had dropped off their drinks, and Kat's head fell on his shoulder as she kept talking, occasionally sipping at her coffee. Even when they saw the Argo II getting closer they stayed in that position.

At least, until Piper nearly knocked Kat out of her chair with a hug. "Kat! Leo! Gods, where have you been?"

She kissed Kat, and it felt really good, but Kat couldn't really put her all in it. She just wasn't feeling it at the moment.

"Mikhailova! Valdez!" Hedge grinned. Then he seemed to remember he had a reputation to protect and he forced a scowl. "You ever disappear like that again, you punks, I'll knock you into next month!"

Frank hugged Kat's upper body with one arm, and patted Leo on the back with his other hand so hard it made him wince. Even Nico shook his and Kat's hands.