AUTHORS NOTE: this is my first story ever. I don't plan on getting far just getting somewhere. all of your comments are welcome and there will be more to come later in life. thanks for your time people.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters or the books, and have never met Rick, but Gods do I want to-- a girl can dream x)
Leo yawned and rubbed his eyes as he steered the Argo 2 through the crisp night air. The stars above him, billions, twinkled beautifully. He and Nico had the night shift on deck while the others slept. He had convinced Hazel and Frank to take a nap in their rooms as they wanted to stay up and help. But Leo had to promise to wake them when three A.M. rolled around.
Yeah, sure. That'll happen. Leo shook his head. He could see right through all their acts. He was like, the king of faking feelings. So when Hazel had tried to deny her exhaustion, Leo simply pushed her to her room and went back on deck. Although, he wondered where the son of Hades had wandered off to.
It seemed he came into Leo's thoughts more and more lately. Probably because he was all Hazel talked about. The boy was as thin as a toothpick, eyes were sunken into his head and were underlined with shadows, and the aviator jacket he always wore only emphasized how small he was. Leo shook his head. Gods, I'm turning into Hazel. He chided himself, chuckling quietly. He leaned back in his chair and threw one arm lazily behind his head. It was when he looked up at the night sky, when all of a sudden things got darker, and when he realized his eyes were closing that he was going to fall asleep, whether Leo wanted to or not.
~
Nico had been up on the mast, looking over the sea and deck. His eyes always made their way to the light coming from the front control room below him. That's where Leo is. He'd tell himself, for no reason really at all. The son of Hephaestus was the most annoying of the demigods on the ship and no matter how much he tried to use his creepy air to his advantage, Nico couldn't get Leo to leave him alone. His eyes started to loose focus, the result of not sleeping for more than 5 hours a week and getting lost in the memories of all the pranks and teasing and...flirting....Leo always pulled while Nico was in the room. Nico sat on the mast and watched the sky for many hours, noting the slow disapearence of the stars. I wish I could disapear like that, he thought. I mean, he could, of course. Shadowtravel. But not right now, when he wanted to most. This isn't the time to think about that. He shook his head and squinted as the light from the deck got more intense. Wait, that light doesn't get brighter, he thought to himself as he got up from his spot on the mast and looked over at the sea again. The water was turning a bright orange as it reflected the light of the rising sun.
"End of the job, starts a new day..."
Nico mumbled to himself as he went to the latter, grabbed hold of the railing, and slid down the mast, hitting the deck with a soft thud. Looking up at the control room, he noticed a certain Leo missing from his post. With a sigh, the son of Hades walked to the room and pushed the door open, but stopped at the thresh hold as he saw the ship's captain asleep in his chair, feet propped up on the control panel and snoring lightly. This was probably the first time he had ever seen Leo so still. So quiet. So calm. Nico sighed and walked over to the other, lightly shaking his shoulder. "Hey...Leo, wake up...shift's over..." He felt Leo stir under him and pulled his hand back, shoving both of them in his jacket pockets just as the other turned to look up at him with a tired smile.
"Mmmm...good morning, sweetheart..." The son of Hephaestus teased as he stretched his arms and legs, eyes still half closed.
"What time is it?" Leo asked, looking over the sea to the freshly raised sun. "Time to wake up everybody." Nico explained flatly. Ah, so it was 7:00. "Wait." Leo said, finally clicking his thoughts together as his droopy eyes opened fully. "You let me sleep that long? What about you? Wh- do you even sleep dude?" Nico, shocked at first at the others worry, just sighed in annoyance. "Yes, Valdez, I do sleep." Occasionally. He reasoned with himself. Looking up, Nico was met with a doubting look from the other. He groaned and walked back to the door. "C'mon, lets get the others up." Leo nodded, but mentally told himself to bring that up later. As the two demigods walked down the hallway and to the sleeping quarters of the ship, they both took turns banging their fist a few times on the doors and calling out the names of those who rested inside the rooms.
