Leo stood in front of the door
and took a deep breath. In and out, in and out.Okay Leo, just walk in and be
yourself.He opened the door
and walked inside, not knowing what to hope for.

Calypso was in
living room, watching a show on the TV and taking notes. Turns out, it's a
cooking show and the chef was making a really yummy looking salmon dish. Leo
sat down on the couch next to her and glanced back and forth from the
television to Calypso.

She took her eyes
away from the show and caught Leo looking at her. Blushing, she averted her
eyes and fidgeted.

Trying to make
things less uncomfortable, Leo said, "Are you planning on trying out the
recipe?" It sounded as lame as if he were talking about the weather.

Calypso shrugged.
"Maybe."

"Well, it'd
be great if you did. I bet you my magic tool belt that yours will taste better
than his."

Calypso blushed
some more, turning a strawberry red. "Thanks," she squeaked.

They sat next to
each other for a while, not saying anything as they continued watching the
cooking show. Leo's mind was swarming with thoughts.

Should I say
something else?

Should I scoot
closer?

Should I put
my arm around her like they do in the movies?

Leo decided to try
out the last two. It always worked for the guys in the movie. The girl will
scoot closer and snuggle with the guy…

Leo blushed and
shook his head. No time for thoughts right now, just actions. Right.

He scooted closer
to Calypso a little at a time until he was about five inches away from her. He
took his right arm and slowly moved it upward towards her shoulder.

Then, Calypso
glanced over at Leo. She saw his arm in midair almost around her shoulders. Leo
stopped and panicked, staring her in the eye awkwardly for a moment. The two
blushed furiously and Leo put his arm down. Okay, he thought. Not a good idea
right now…

Hazel and Frank
came back carrying a tray of coffees. "We're back," Hazel announced
in a sing-song voice. "Who wants some coffee?"

Frank took two and
gave them to Leo and Calypso.

"Thanks,"
They said.

Frank noticed the
two sitting close together and gave Leo a look that said,Things going out okay?

Leo replied with a
look that said,I guess.

Frank shrugged and
took a cup from Hazel and kissed her on the cheek. Hazel gushed and took a sip
from her cup as Frank put his arm around her shoulder and leaned on her.

They stayed there,
drinking coffee when Hazel suggested they play a game.

Leo nodded.
"Okay, what game?"

Hazel thought for
a moment. "We have some Mythomagic Nico gave us. They were his old toys
before he went to camp and his sister Bianca…" She coughed. "Well
anyways we have that and some regular mortal games."

Calypso raised an
eyebrow. "Regular mortal games? Like what?" She had lived alone on
her island so the only way she's seen what kind of games mortals play was by
looking into the past.

"Monopoly,
but I don't recommend that unless you want to get in a big argument with the
other players." Frank and Hazel looked pointedly at each other. "We
have Sorry, another not so friendly game. We have twister, but Frank tends to
cheat and turn into something like an octopus." Hazel glared at him this
time and Frank pretended to look innocent.

"Wow,"
Leo said. "You guys really like competitive games. Let's play Twister, the
least maddening game you guys have."

"There's
Mythomagic," Calypso pointed out.

"That's
lame."

Calypso looked
embarrassed. "Oh, okay."

Leo instantly felt
guilty. She must have wanted to play it. But if he backed out of his word now,
that'll look weird. He mentally shook himself.Just be yourself. Don't think
about Calypso, like you did the first few days on Ogygia.

Hazel nodded.
"I'll go get the game mat."

"I think I
know where the spinner is," Frank said as he dug around in some drawers.

As the two hosts
gathered the game pieces, Leo got up from the couch and stretched. "Let's
get as flexible as we can—without turning into another animal."

Calypso got up and
wiggled her arms. "Like a monkey," She said.

Leo grinned.
"Oo-oo-ah-ah!" He jumped around like a chimpanzee and knocked over a
picture on the coffee table. Luckily, he caught it before it fell on the floor.

It was a picture
of Hazel, Frank, and Percy during a Roman lunch. In the background, Camp Jupiter
was in near ruins. Percy had a purple praetor cape on. It must have been after
the battle with the Giant. It seems so long ago they were just beginning their
quest to defeat Gaea.

He was snapped out
of his thoughts when Hazel came back with the mat and asked, "Frank, do
you have the spinner?"

Frank held it up.
"Yep."

"Good."
She spread the mat on the floor and placed the spinner on the table. "Boy
versus boy and girl versus girl. Ladies first?"

Frank and Leo
shrugged. "Sure."

Calypso and Hazel
stood by the mat while Frank and Leo sat on the floor and watched.

"You can go
first." Hazel offered.

Calypso nodded and
flicked the spinner. When it stopped, she read out loud: "Right hand,
yellow."

She bent down and
placed her right hand on a yellow dot. "Leo," she said. "Can you
do my spins for me? I'll be needing my hands."

"Okay,"
Leo said.

Hazel flicked the
spinner. "Right foot, green." She set her right foot down on a green
dot.

Leo took the spinner
and spun the arrow. It landed on: "right foot, blue." Calypso
stretched her body and put her foot on a blue space.

The two girls took
turn after turn until their bodies were helplessly tangled together.

"I can't hold
it any longer!" Calypso complained, her body shaking with effort.

Hazel grimaced.
"Ack!"

In a matter of
seconds, the two collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"Ouch,"
Calypso and Hazel groaned.

Leo winced.
"And does Hazel get flattened under Frank every time you two play?"

"Basically,
yeah," Hazel said. Frank let out a laugh.

"Our
turn," He said.

Calypso and Hazel
switched places with the two guys.

"I'll spin
for Frank." Hazel said.

"I guess that
leaved me spinning for Leo." Calypso agreed. "Thanks Leo, by the
way."

Leo smiled.
"You're welcome." He prepped himself for his turn. "Am I going
first?"

"Yeah."
Frank said as he bent side to side, stretching. "And I promise no
octopi."

As the turns spun
by, Leo found it harder and harder to stay up on his arms and feet, especially
when Frank was almost twice his size and nearly crushing him.

He grunted.
"How did you two do this?" he directed at the two girls giggling at
them on the sidelines.

They didn't answer
but continued laughing. Ugh,girls.

Calypso spun the
spinner and told Leo, "Left hand, red." Oh no.

Leo struggled to
move his hand to a red dot where he could be more or less comfortable. He was
too busy to notice he had erupted in flames until Hazel and Calypso shrieked
and Frank turned into a small bird and fluttered away to safety.

He quickly extinguished
himself, but the mat was already singed where his hands and feet were. He
groaned and dropped to the floor, closing his eyes. "Sorry. I'll get you a
new one."

He opened his eyes
again. Frank was back in human form with parts of his clothes burned away. The
three all stared at Leo and started laughing.

"What?"
He asked. He really didn't like it when people laughed at him, especially
Calypso.

She snorted and
said, "Leo… your pants burned away!"

Frank and Hazel
laughed even louder and Calypso smiled at Leo apologetically.

Leo sat up and
looked down at his legs. Indeed, his pants had burned off and his boxers with
little pictures of wrenches and screws were revealed.

"Oops,"
He blushed. "Can you make me a new set of fire-proof clothes?"