Word Count: 1637

RECAP: Alex flew up, Magnus used Jack and Nico and Adri did their holding-each-other-and-flying thing again. They finally got out of the musty underground caverns and found themselves back on the sun-lit roads of Seville.

     "Soo... It's still 4:15. What should we do, while we wait??" Magnus asked, as they all sat at a cafeteria, awaiting their tacos. 

     "Let's discuss shower thoughts. It's much better than contemplating life and giving ourselves a mid-life crisis." Adri expressed joyously, bouncing in her seat.

     Nico looked as if wanted to do anything but. Adri's joy, however, compelled him to agree. "If olive oil is made of olives and sunflower oil is made of sunflower seeds... What is baby oil made of??" he asked, giving an ominous pause that was broken by Adri.

     "Ground babies, duh." she said matter-of-factly.

     Nico stared at Adri, horrified. "Why are you like this??"

     "It's a gift." Adri answered, flipping her hair. Nico groaned and buried his head in his hands. Adri laughed along with Magnus and Alex and pet Nico's head. Under the curtain of shaggy hair, she heard Nico mutter, "Ground babies." before scoffing.

     Taking a look at the straw on the table, Magnus mused out loud. "Does a straw have one hole or two??" Adri looked introspective.

     "My turn!! Someone's mom probably used you as a bad example for her kids." Adri snorted at what Alex said and Magnus looked as if he just realized something. "Wonder how many mothers did that for me??" he said. Adri chuckled some more.

     "Why aren't iPhone chargers called Apple juice?" Adri asked, after taking a look at some woman's iPhone.

     They all talked about more weird thoughts before the tacos came. "Yum yum." Adri reached out, but ended up burning her fingers. "Schist!!" Alex snorted at Adri's pain and handed over a cold glass of Cola.

     "It'll help it." Alex said, reaching out to a taco, paper napkin in hand. They all continued to laugh and eat until they realized it was getting quite cold. 

     "Please excuse me." Adri said and found the washroom. She summoned her bag and put on a hoodie on top of her shirt. She checked herself out in the mirror. Her hoodie, formerly Nico's, looked quite nice and went well with her jeans. "Ciao bella. (Hi Beautiful)" she chuckled as she pointed finger-guns at her reflection.

     She walked back at sat down. "Good, you're here. We were wondering if we should head out??" Magnus said. Adri glanced at Nico and saw that his eyes were slightly wide. She tilted her head at him, silently questioning him. He shook his head and looked back at his Cola, avoiding her gaze.

     She shrugged it off and focused on Magnus who was saying something about a nice walk around town. "Ice cream's good here. There's this stand a few minutes away. Plus the weather's nice." 

     Adri contemplated this. "Sure. Where's your boyfriend??" She looked around and didn't find Alex anywhere.

     "Girlfriend, currently. I was out paying the bill and finding out places we can visit. Since, y'know, we've got time to kill." Alex's voice popped from behind her. Adri smiled and nodded. she picked up her soda and followed the pair. 

     "Guys!! Wait for me!!" Nico said from behind, catching up with her. "Seville's nice, isn't it??" Adrienne said, taking in the sun, slowly nearing the horizon every second. "Uh huh!!" Nico agreed. Adri got confused. The thing was, Nico wasn't facing the sun.

     Her cheeks burnt as she looked at Nico. "I-I was talking 'bout those flowers." he stammered out, turning Adri around, pointing to said flowers. Amidst the the flowers, Adri spotted a butterfly that looked familiar.

     She beckoned the butterfly and it landed on her outstretched finger. M'Lady, I've called out to my brethren. But there is nothing that matches your description, anywhere in Spain. The butterfly acquainted her, his tone apologetic. "That's quite alright. Thanks anyway." Adri told the creature as he flew off.

     "I'm guessing you got no leads from the butterfly??" Nico asked, his cheeks and necks still lightly dusted with pink. Adri gave a dejected sigh.

     "Nope, no- Wait, I think you've got an IM." Adri said, pointing behind Nico. He turned and saw that, shimmering in all its iridescence glory, was an Iris Message from Percy Jackson. "Hey man!!" Percy greeted, unusually excited. "What's up, Percy??" Nico asked, a slight smile playing on his face. "Nothing much... But, Mrs. O'Leary popped up today. And you won't believe it, but she's a mom now!!" By now, Percy was beaming.

     Nico let out a squeal. "Hades!! Actually!! Are the puppies born yet??" Nico asked, trying hard to contain his own growing excitement. "They're born. Six of 'em!!" Nico noticed Adri's confused expression. "She's my hellhound!! And she's got puppies!!" By now, he took both of Adri's hands in his own and was bouncing on the balls of his feet.

     Adri laughed out loud. "Congrats Percy!!" she said with a kind smile. Percy seemed to want to say something but his smile faltered. "Oh man!! Look Nico, I really have to go. All hell's breaking loose with the puppies in my cabin." he hurriedly said and swiped his hand across the call, effectively ending it.

     The pair were still holding hands when Alex came to them. "Guys, why ar- Am I disturbing something??" Alex said with a wiggle of her eyebrows. They immediately detached their hands and shook their heads vigorously. "Oh well.. Anyway, we found perfect ice cream. C'mon." 

     As Alex led them to the ice cream, Adrienne and Nico determinedly avoided each other's eyes. "Hey!! Come get your ice creams!! These are really good!" Magnus told them. Alex and Nico got theirs and moved to a free bench so no one takes it. Adrienne went last, not minding waiting.

     "Un helado de chocolate, por favor (One chocolate ice cream, please.)" she told the ice cream man. As he made it, Adri rifled through her wallet for some change. She then realized she didn't have enough change.

     She turned to the ice cream, hoping he'd understand. But the man was already handing her the cone. "Lo siento, pero no tengo suficiente cambio. (I'm sorry, but I don't have enough change.)" But the man's answer shocked her. "No te preocupes. Tu novio pagó por ello. (Don't worry. Your boyfriend paid for it.)"

     "Wha-" Just then, a young handsome man popped up beside her. "Es un placer señorita. (It's my pleasure, miss.)" "Uh- Gracias..." she said, confused. He chuckled and gave her a small paper. 

6xx xxx xxx

Carlos

     "llámame. (Call me.)" he said, tucking a little of Adri's hair behind her ear. She must've looked cute, because he chuckled, said, "Linda. (Cute)" and wished her goodbye. She walked back the others, still in a daze that a cute boy gave her his number.

     "Someone's got a crush on you~" Alex teased as Adri sat down beside her. She noted that Magnus was too busy choking from laughter and Nico- Oh gods. Nico was eating his ice cream with as much much aggressiveness as he could muster.

     "No one's got a crush on me." Adri defiantly told, but she knew nobody bought it. "Uh huh. I see they gave you their number. Call them." Alex said, fishing out her phone. She dialled in the number and heard it ring.

     "Hola. Carlos hablando. (Hello. Carlos speaking.)"

"Hola, Carlos. Es Adrienne, la chica del puesto de helados. (Hi, Carlos. It's Adrienne, the girl from the ice cream stand.)"

     "Hola señorita. Sabía que llamarías. Además, ¿de dónde eres? Sé que no eres español pero tu español es impecable. (Hi, miss. I knew you would call. Also, where are you from? I know you're not Spanish but you're spanish is impeccable)"

"Gracias. Soy italiana. pero puedo hablar español. (Thank you. I'm Italian. But I can speak Spanish.)"

     Adri's Spanish is good, Nico thought. her voice sounds really musical. In the moment that Nico let his thoughts wonder, Adri had cut the call and was being teased by Alex and Magnus. The latter didn't know what they spoke about, but he joined in anyway.

     "Shut up!!" Adri said meekly and shooed them away. She moved from in between Magnus and Alex and sat at the edge, beside Nico. She folded her arms and looked away. After guffawing for a minute or two, the Norse pair of demigods calmed down and they all ate their ice creams in peace.

     "I found a hotel nearby. We should going." Magnus told them. The time was nearing six o'clock and the sun began setting completely. Adri got up and stretched. She was about to walk away when Nico stopped her. 

     "You've got ice cream on your nose." It seemed so out of context, Adri got confused. "Scusa?? (Sorry?)" "On your nose. Ice cream." Nico tried again. She seemed to understand this time. "Thanks." she said before wiping her nose with a tissue. "Did I get it??" she asked, still with a very prominent blotch of ice cream on her face. "No, here. Let me get it." Nico offered, gently prying the tissue from her hands and wiping it off, his other hand softly holding jaw. "Much better." Adri was caught so off-guard, she slipped into Italian again. "Grazie. (Thanks.)" she whispered flusteredly and walked away briskly.

     He threw the tissue in the trash and caught up with the others. "Man, you broke her!!" Magnus whispered. The pair of them hung back. "What do you mean??" "Look at her. She seriously looks like she's broken." he said again. Nico observed and noted that nothing was off with Adri, except for the fact that she looked as if her mind was elsewhere.

     He was about to point that out to Magnus, but Alex interrupted him, saying, "Ugh!! The boys are such slowpokes!!" loudly to Adri. Adrienne laughed and Alex joined in after seeing their expressions. 

     After finally catching up with the girls, they all walked to the hotel Magnus booked, went into their rooms and crashed for the night.