All Aboard!

Chapter 7

"Captain Valdez?"
'Please call me Leo.'
"I could scarcely call you that, it would not be appropriate!"
'You're the captain now, you could call me whatever you want' Leo said with a wink. Nico blushed before replying 'L-Leo, why is it that your sleeping quarter has no bed?'
"Oh right! There's a Murphy bed built into the wall, I don't really take it out much cos I don't sleep in here often." 'Where do you sleep then?' Nico asked with slight concern. Something about his tone of voice made Leo nervous, he'd never really had anybody that worried over him.
"I don't really sleep much but if I do I usually sleep on deck under the stars. I'm not too keen on small spaces and under the open sky is as big a space as there ever was. Anyway let me get the bed out for you."
He walked across the room and pulled down a neatly made bed from the wall.

Dinner was a strange affair for the crew of the SS Nyx. They had never seen so much colourful food before. The girls, heeding Annabeth's warning, had gathered up their crew mates and headed to dinner early. "Hey guys, so you've met Frank but here's the rest of the crew: Jason, Percy, Piper and Clarisse." Jason, Percy and Frank were all shovelling forkfulls of food into their mouths but they smiled briefly at the newcomers.
'Pleasure to meet you all, this is Reyna, Lavinia, Michael and I am Hazel.'
Annabeth then pointed at the long food table saying "don't be shy guys, help yourselves!"
Never having seen so much food the crew stood around eyeing the table but making no move towards it. Leo walked into the room, followed by Nico, and said "if I could have everybody's attention? I have decided to hand the reins of the ship over to a much more capable person. Yup you guessed it, its Nico!"
'Finally!'
Frank and Jason yelled in unison.
'Uh no offence man but you kept calling the stern of the boat the butt, it will be nice to have an actual sailor in charge' Jason replied, slightly chagrined.
"None taken, I agree. So you will follow Nico's orders from now on. Everybody eat up and get to bed, we have an early start tomorrow!" Grabbing a plate from the table he looked back at Nico and his crew and raised an eyebrow. "The food isn't poisoned you know. Everybody grab a plate and dig in!"
Nico stepped forward hesitantly but he took the plate from Leo and piled it with some of the exotic food he saw before him. His crew followed soon after, careful not to try too many different things.

Once everybody had picked their rooms, Hazel and Reyna sharing while Lavinia bunked with Clarise a and Michael with Frank, it was time to rest up. Leo walked with Nico back to his former room and was about to walk away when Nico asked 'this treasure hunt of yours, do you know what we're looking for?'
Leo looked at Nico, taking in his slight but strong form, his almond-shaped mahogany eyes and his soft but strong features before replying.
"I have an idea, but I'll only know for sure once I've found it. Goodnight Captain, big day ahead."
With a tip of his cowboy hat Leo was off to his usual deck chair for the night.