Chef Valdez settled beside you on the picnic bench. As he began to dish up servings of Mac & Cheese onto paper plates, you couldn't help but notice how he smelled. He no longer smelled like burnt oil. He smelled like barbecue on the 4th of July. (And for all you non-Americans that don't know what that smells like, it smells like freedom).

After everyone had a plate of Mac & Cheese in front of them, Percy immediately began to dig into his heaping. Wondering if his indulgence was normal, you glanced at Annabeth. She seemed too distracted to notice. She poked her food with her spork as if trying to think about a paradox. Nico sat silently, staring at the food on his plate as if it were a chicken head.

"So, Leo--"

"Chef," Leo corrected you, winking.

You rolled your eyes, deciding to play along with the joke. "Okay, chef. I'm curious. What exactly is your job?"

Annabeth's eyes lit and she lifted her head to observe you. She was impressed and scared by your observation, hoping you wouldn't uncover too much. Percy continued eating, too absorbed by the cheesiness of the dinner to notice anything else.

"Well, I'm a man of many talents," he bragged as he ran fingers through his curly locks. "I keep the ship in shape and make additions to it. I'll be working on the security a bit more since apparently people can just appear without any detection." He shifted his eyebrows in a questioning way. "Do you have anything you'd like to explain?"

You shrugged. "I would love to explain how I got here. Unfortunately, I do not know. But, I still don't understand why you are cooking. Do you guys take turns?"

Annabeth interjected, likely wanting to avoid having Leo say something wrong. "Leo is more gifted with mechanics. We usually just eat some cereal or protein bars, but Leo wanted to do something special since we had a guest."

"Oh," you softly blushed. You turned to Leo, "Thanks, but don't worry about me. It isn't like I gave you guys a heads up. I kinda dropped in, so I don't expect you guys to make any accommodations." You felt weird having people doing something extra just for you. It was bad enough you were lying. But for them to be so nice...

You turned to Annabeth, whom you considered to be the captain. "I never quite figured out what's going on...where are you guys going?"

"Ah, that's a surprise," Annabeth smiled. "We don't quite know. Leo is taking us somewhere as a surprise. He said we needed a break from all our..." She looked over to Percy as though asking for help. He was too busy sporking every last macaroni off his plate to notice.

"Our business trips," she finished. "We usually never have a vacation to simply chill--but we are still glad you're here."

You got a hint she would've preferred you hadn't interrupted her vacation. You would've felt sorry if you had any control over the situation.

"It's okay, (Y/N). It's nothing personal: Annabeth just wanted a week to not have anything to stress about," Leo explained. 

"Yeah, I get it. My showing up without any explanation and expecting acceptance...I understand," you said, smiling forgiveness to Annabeth.

"But," Leo continued. "My vacation just got a lot better. I was worried I'd be the third wheel the entire week."

You smiled uncomfortable, unsure of how to take the compliment. "I'm happy to be the fourth wheel, but doesn't Nico count?" you asked. Looking over to Nico, you realized he had left. His plate of Mac & Cheese was untouched. Percy leaned over, dragging it in front of him and beginning to chow down on the cheesy goodness.

~*3*~

As you lied in bed, you stared at the ceiling. As you thought about the day and whether or not Hunter was someone you should trust, a thought crossed your mind. You considered sneaking around the ship and get some fresh air. But, you weren't sure if sneaking about would help you with your mission of earning the trust of the crew members.

VOTE PLEASE

Chapter 40: Stay in the room

Chapter 41: Sneak out (might look sketchy idk)