Hey everyone!  Sorry it’s taken so long to update!  I don’t know if I told you before but school’s started and although I have all A’s (don’t know how I’m pulling that off), it’s still kicking my butt.  If you want to know, normally on weekends, I go to bed at two-ish, I’ve crashed around eleven.  That’s how exhausted school is making me…

First snowfall of the year!  It wasn’t much but it was still pretty :)  Now if only it could give me a snow day soon…  Anyhow, updates will be sporadic so please forgive me!  I would rather write these chapters than do schoolwork but unfortunately, school takes top priority.

Quote of the Chapter:

“The great question... which I have not been able to answer... is, "What... does a woman want?”

~Freud 

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Chapter 14: I Fail at Flirting

Bryn

When she woke up, her stomach was the calmest it had been since the start of the horrid voyage.  Bryn found it odd but didn’t want to question it.  If her stomach decided to not feel like it had been a washing machine for two centuries, then that was fine with her. 

She narrowed her eyes in on Luke who was snoring softly on the couch.  He was on lying on his stomach; his face was smashed against the arm of the couch and his hand extended over the edge; he was also slightly drooling.

With an amused smirk, Bryn forced herself to get up so she could put a blanket on him.  Luke was only in a plain blue tee and khaki shorts.  She wanted to make sure he wasn’t cold because the ship wasn’t the warmest thing on the planet, and after what he did for her last night, covering him up to make sure he didn’t freeze to death was the least she could do.  Bryn rolled out of bed, grabbed the blanket that was draped on the back of the couch, and covered Luke up.  He didn’t stir at all.  She grabbed a pair of white denim shorts and a tee shirt before heading to the bathroom.  She locked the door so that she could get dressed in peace.

Her mind whirled with the fact that technically, she had slept with Luke.  He was supposed to be her enemy.  They were supposed to hate each other and try to kill the other at every opportunity… and they had shared the same bed…

Hell, she had been curled up next to him and his arm had been wrapped around her, almost protectively. 

How was it that they were acting, by some crazy force, pleasantly decent to each other?  Bryn shook her head as she grabbed her brush.  The absurdity that a child of Zeus and a grandchild of Poseidon were getting along (for the most part) was rather shocking.  Bryn knew that Mr. Jackson and Thalia had been friends but she had heard a fair deal of stories where the two of them were quite intent on hurting the other one.  Bryn wondered when a situation like that one would arouse between her and Luke.  To be honest, she hoped it would never happen.

After brushing her teeth, Bryn applied makeup, using liquid foundation, powder, mascara, and some neutral eye shadow to hide the dark circles under her eyes despite the good night’s rest she had had last night.

“Bryn?” Luke’s voice called as she finished putting on the last layer of mascara.  She put her makeup away and stuck her head out the door.

“Yeah?” she queried.

“I was wondering where you were.  I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he replied with a yawn.  Bryn tried not to smile.

“Don’t worry, I don’t feel like I’m about to black out.” He gave her a small smile.

“Did you put this blanket on me?”

“Yeah, I didn’t know if you were cold or not so I covered you up just in case.” Bryn walked out of the bathroom and leaned against the wall, facing Luke. “I guess we should go see if the others are awake.”

He nodded and languidly stretched. “I’m tired.”

“Well you were sleeping in one of the most awkward positions I’ve ever witnessed.  I’m amazed you slept at all,” Bryn mused.  Luke grinned at her. “What?”

“You speak so proper.  It’s fascinating,” He replied.

“You drool when you sleep, just for your information,” she pointed out before turning around and walking out the door.

“I do not!” Luke protested indignantly as he followed her out.

“Do too, or else there would not be a wet spot right where your mouth was!” she argued before adding, “And don’t you dare try and make that sentence perverted!”

“I wasn’t going to!”

“You’re an adolescent boy, of course you were,” she retorted.  Luke nudged her playfully, which she returned with a one-handed shove.  He only laughed.

When the two of them reached the cafeteria, no one was there.

“They’re not here,” he observed.

“No, really?  I thought that perhaps they’ve all just gone invisible,” Bryn said sarcastically. “Honestly, that was one of the most airheaded statements I’ve ever heard!”

“Are we counting the statements you’ve said or no?” Luke countered.  She smacked him upside the head. “You have issues.  Serious issues, Sharkboy.”

“So do you Cat Woman.”

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Derek

Derek woke up after tossing and turning repeatedly through the night.  The waves had gotten rough sometime around five in the morning and although he didn’t get seasick easily, the waves still made his stomach queasy.  With a yawn, he got up because he knew he wasn’t going to be able to fall back asleep. 

Reading the alarm clock, he was told it was nine in the morning.  Instantly Derek wondered how Bryn had held up through the night.  It had worried him when she left the table so suddenly last night but he dismissed it as her being fed up with them not being able to figure out a plan.  That was just Bryn’s way.  If she thought something was taking too long, she would take it in her own hands or drop the subject entirely.  Usually, it was the former.

He went to the bathroom and was attempting to make his hair look less like a wet, shaggy dog, when someone knocked on his door.  With one disgruntled look at his hair, he left the bathroom and opened the door.  Silena was there, in a dark blue tee shirt with a white camisole underneath, denim shorts, and a dark brown purse rested on her hip.

“Hey, Derek, did I wake you?” She asked politely.  He wanted to tell her he’d wake up for her any day but decided against it.  It would probably ruin the already slim chance he had with her.

“Nah, you didn’t.  I woke up a few minutes ago.  What’s up?” Derek inquired, leaning against the door frame and trying to act cool.  However, knowing his luck, he looked like an idiot.

“Do you know where Luke is?  I knocked on his door but he didn’t answer and I know my brother is a heavy sleeper but even with my persistent knocking he would’ve gotten up sooner or later,” she rambled.  He thought it was adorable.

“No, I don’t, but let me put on some new clothes and I’ll come help.  Hang on.  You’re welcome to come in and wait, by the way,” he offered.

Silena blushed. “Thank you but I’ll wait out here.”

Derek grinned. “Yeah, that might be a little awkward.  Not for me, you know, having a beautiful girl like yourself in my room; but the awkward fact would be that we’re two near complete strangers.”

“Do you always call girls you just meet beautiful, or are you merely trying to flatter me to come inside your room?” Silena queried with a smirk.

He laughed. “I guess it’s hard to get something by a relative of Athena.  I’ll be out in a couple minutes.”

Derek shut the door and shook his head.  His chances with her were probably completely shot now.  Silena probably thought that he was just another perverted teenage boy who only had one thing on his mind.  He failed at flirting…

Pushing the thoughts out of his mind, although Silena still lingered in them, he put on a white shirt with the Oakley name written across the chest.  He slipped into some black cargo shorts and then made his hair spike up a little before going out to meet Silena.  She was reading a piece of paper.

“What are you reading?” Derek questioned, kneeling down in front of her.

“The prophecy given to us.  I’m trying to figure out what it means but I’m not having much luck,” Silena confessed, pushing her back up against the wall to help her stand up.  He stood up along with her and together, the two of them walked to the elevators.

As the elevator came and after they got on and pressed the button that would bring them to the tenth floor and while they were waiting for the doors to shut, Derek’s stomach decided to make the sound of about one hundred dying whales.  Silena jumped from the suddenness of the sound but when she realized it was his stomach, nearly fell on the floor laughing.

“I’m hungry!  I haven’t eaten since last night!” Derek defended.

“Neither have I and you don’t hear my stomach making spooky noises and scaring people,” she pointed out.  Derek pouted and she playfully patted his cheek.

The elevator opened at the tenth floor and the two of them walked to the cafeteria.  Luke, Bryn, and Hannah were all there.  Hannah was wearing a blindingly orange shirt with Hurley written across the chest.  She also had on some denim Capri shorts.  Bryn was wearing a purple shirt with an eagle on it.  The eagle was nearly the same color as the shirt and was purposefully faded but the shirt still struck Derek as somewhat ironic.

“Derek, you’re staring at me.  It’s creeping me out.  Please stop,” Bryn requested.  He smiled at her.

“Sorry, I was just thinking the shirt you’re wearing is sort of ironic,” he told her.

“What do you mean?” she looked down at it.

“I think I know what he means,” Silena said. “Your shirt has an eagle on it and it’s your father’s symbol.”

Bryn looked amused. “You would detect that connection, Derek.”

Derek looked sheepish as he and Silena sat down and he decided to change the subject. “So when do we dock?”

“I went up to the bridge today.  We should be docking in an hour in Heraklion port in Crete.  We’ll stock up on any supplies we need and then we’ll head on over to Milos and get my parents,” Luke explained.

“When we get to Milos, we’ll need to figure out exactly where your parents are being held,” Bryn said.  Luke nodded.

“So what do we all need?” Silena queried.

“I say we stock up on small snacks in case we end up spending the night for some reason.  If so, then I saw we take some blankets too and some small pillows,” Bryn suggested.

“Pillow pets!” Silena exclaimed.  They all gave her strange looks.  Blushing, Silena said, “They have miniature pillow pets and they can easily be squished into backpacks.  It was just an idea.”

“I don’t think they sell those on Crete but if we come across some, we’ll buy five,” Bryn said with a smile.

“We will also need water bottles.  It’s the summer time in Greece.  It’s going to be hot,” Derek pointed out. “Anything else?”

“What about matches or a lighter in case we need to light something on fire?” Hannah queried.

“You have a daughter of Zeus on your team.  All I am required to do is snap my fingers and voila, you have your spark to start a fire,” Bryn said.

“Um… well then I’m out of ideas,” Hannah admitted.

“When we dock, I say we peruse the city for a good two or three hours and then meet up at the ship. We should also all take backpacks so we can fit everything inside.  Silena, Hannah, and I will take on the food and pillows.  Luke, Derek, you two find the water and blankets,” Bryn ordered.  No one disagreed and so they decided upon the plan.  The five filled up their plates with food that somehow magically appeared every morning.  Bryn mainly ate bacon and sausage, Hannah and Silena each had a waffle with a sausage link, and Derek and Luke filled their plates up with everything they could find.  The girls stared at them in awe as they gobbled down food.

“It’s absolutely astounding how much you two can eat and still stay fit.  It is aberrant,” Bryn commented.

“Aberrant?” Luke looked at her curiously.

“Unnatural,” Derek informed.

“I still do not understand your use of vocabulary,” Luke mumbled.  Bryn merely smiled.

“Listen, I’m going to go get some more sleep.  Come wake me up when we’ve docked,” Bryn said, standing up.

“Are you okay?” Luke asked.  She looked at him and a sort of understanding seemed to pass through them.

“I’m fine, just tired,” she assured.  Luke looked dubious but didn’t enquire further.

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Luke 

Half an hour after Bryn left, everyone went off and did their own thing.  Silena and Derek went to get ice cream.  Luke and Hannah both decided to go to their rooms.  They shared an elevator and on the ride down, Hannah said hesitantly, “Luke, can I say something?”

“Uh, sure,” Luke said. “What about?”

“It’s about Bryn.”

“What about her?”

Hannah bit her lip. “I don’t know how to say this because you both seem kind of close… but I feel she’s hiding something.”

“What do you mean?” Luke inquired, sharper than he intended.

She flinched slightly. “You know how demigods get those gut feelings when something is off?  Well, my gut is acting up whenever she’s around and I feel like we need to be careful around her.  Listen, I don’t want to upset you… just be careful around her.  I don’t want to see you get hurt by her.  She’s a loose cannon and always has been.  Please be careful, okay?” Hannah pleaded.

“I will,” Luke said sincerely.  She smiled at him before getting off the elevator.  He got off as well and was about to go to his room when he heard Bryn talking to someone.  Knowing he shouldn’t really eavesdrop but ignoring his sensibility anyway, Luke pressed his ear against Bryn’s door.

“… I’m fine; the boat rocking twenty-four seven is making me sick but I’m dealing with it… they’re both doing fine… he is actually quite sweet… possibly… I think Luke would be a great addition to any army… you saw how he fought; with enough training, he could beat me… I know, I can’t believe I just said that… he doesn’t know his own potential, nor does Silena know hers… if they are, then we need them on our side… yes, I’m keeping a close eye on both of them, I promise you… I’ll let you know if anything else significant comes up, sir… yes, sir.” Bryn spoke no more after that.  Luke, disturbed by what he just heard, then went into his room and fell on the bed to ponder what he had just heard.  Who on earth had she just been talking to?  And what was the part about him and Silena being added to an army about?  There was no way in hell he was going to fight a war unless he thought it absolutely necessary.

Maybe Hannah was right; maybe he would have to keep a closer eye on Bryn.  It was apparent she had been keeping an eye on him.  He wanted to ask her what the conversation had been about but then she would know that he had been eavesdropping and Luke did not, under any circumstances, want to piss Bryn off.

Oblivious to the time that was passing, Luke was only brought out of his thoughts by someone knocking on his door.  He grunted as he got up.  Bryn was there when he opened the door, her hazel eyes shining.

Attempting to put on an air of indifference so he would seem tired, he asked, “What’s up?”

“We’re at Heraklion.”

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 Okay, so just FYI, the next chapter is going to be full of action!  I hope y’all enjoyed!  I know I don’t deserve the reviews since it took me so long to update but seriously, they make me happy, and when I’m happy, I update the story more, so REVIEW!  And, another motive to make y’all review, I will kill Bryn if I have to because so many of you seem to like her.  I can completely change the course of this story and have it still work without her in it so if you want to see Bryn in future chapters, y’all better review!  On that happy note,  I’ll leave you to review! ~Love, Wisegirl502 :)