ARUNA

~•♡•~

"leo, did you have to smack my ass in front of her like that?"

"of course i did."

"why?"

"i like your ass, and it's awesome to let people know i'm allowed to grab your ass." leo grinned. aruna rolled her eyes at him and continued to walk, helena just behind her.

"where are you from?" helena asked softly as they walked the streets of rhodes, greece. it was a disgustingly hot day that made aruna want to break free of her own skin. the sight of the orange and yellow stones all over the place seemed to bounce more light off the sun than the sun itself did.

"america." leo replied as he held aruna's hand.

helena smiled. "i mean which state?"

"texas." aruna replied.

"i hear texas is nice."

"not really." leo muttered. helena gave him a sideways glance, and her gaze turned to aruna's hand clasped with his. she frowned, and quickly looked back up. aruna frowned, and gave leo's hand a nervous squeeze. he breathed deeply and held her hand tighter as they walked.

"can you rent boats here?" aruna asked.

"for very much money." helena replied. "you can rent a windsurfer for a simple price. or a ferry to other islands."

aruna frowned. that wouldn't serve them very well. not only would it be too slow for them, but it would put too many mortals in danger. and aruna was trying to keep as far away from the public as she could, because if she was arrested...

she frowned. she technically was legal here. leo was not. she turned to him, her eyes wide with realization. he gave her a worried glance and aruna looked out to the city.

"is there a hospital here?"

helena froze in her tracks and stared at aruna. "are you ill?"

aruna didn't know how to answer. if she lied and said she was sick, then helena might give her an answer quicker. however, it also meant that helena might linger longer- not that she was a nuisance, but aruna didn't want to put her in danger.

however, if she didn't lie, it might mean that helena wouldn't take her to the hospital. it would also raise questions, and it would be bad if helena's suspicions rose high enough for her to start questioning more stuff, or involve authorities.

"just in case something happens." aruna decided. helena's eyes flickered to aruna and leo's interlocked hands once again, and aruna saw leo's mood shift from nervous to guarded.

"there is one." helena said. "on the other side of the island. is everything okay? do you need to see a doctor?"

"fine." aruna nodded. "but, you never know... gotta be prepared, y'know?"

helena blinked and aruna turned to leo. he, too, looked immensely confused and aruna just glared at him, bullying him into submission.

"we americans care a lot about healthcare." he said.

helena didn't look like she bought it, but she didn't say anything. "well, i can buy you a one-night hotel. a hostel would be cheaper, but i assume you... want some privacy."

she said it spitefully. aruna felt her body tense up and leo's hand gripped hers so hard, it almost broke. aruna tried to keep her emotions in check at the jealousy coming from helena.

"actually, we'd rather just get a meal, and go on our own."

helena stared like she was hurt. "are you sure? it's a tricky place to work... to navigate, i mean. it can be dangerous."

more so for you.

"we'll be okay." aruna nodded. "but, thank you."

helena frowned. she stared at leo a second too long, her hazel eyes swarming. she turned to aruna then, her eyes lingering, her gears turning. aruna frowned and helena handed her a simple wad of money.

leo frowned "helena, you don't need to-"

helena waved him off. "no. i want to." she said, her smile soft. the sun glowed behind her, giving her a beautiful golden hue. "i wish you luck on your trip. and i hope... i hope you can return to your friends or family safely."

she gave them each a small hug. leo managed to return it, but aruna went stiff at the unexpected feeling. as she left, helena gave a small wave. she calmly made her way back to her family, her eyes set out on the open ocean.

aruna frowned. "something feels off about her."

"yeah, because she was attracted to you."

aruna's eyes went wide and her cheeks burned as she stared at leo in shock. he raised an eyebrow at her and frowned.

"no, she wasn't!"

"gods, you're so dense." leo grumbled. he broke his hand away from hers and grabbed the money. he quickly flipped through it, and his expression softened.

"she gave us 75 euros."

aruna frowned. "no. no, that's way too much."

leo flipped through the money again, carefully counting. "yeah, i agree." he looked down the walkway, but helena was already far from sight. "but, she did it anyway."

aruna shook her head and turned away. "best not to think about it. let's go get a meal, a map, and a plan."

~•♡•~

aruna and leo sat behind a little glass sculpture shop, crouching in the alleyway. a red awning covered them, shielding aruna's dainty skin from the cruel sun. they ate simple ham sandwiches and bottles of water (which were hot, sadly) as they squished together behind a dumpster, looking at a map.

"okay, we're here." she pointed at the little harbor. "in rhodes. and we need to get..." leo grabbed the other map and spread it out. this map was less detailed, but showed the entirety of the mediterranean.

aruna pointed a region in northwestern greece. "here."

leo grumbled. "dammit, khione blew us way off course." he muttered as he circled rhodes on the map with a pen. "we're over a thousand kilometers away!"

"how much is a kilometer?"

"i dunno, but it's a lot!" leo complained. he held his archimedes sphere close by. a screwdriver was still partially in it, but he had stopped working on it to look at the map. his chest pressed into aruna's shoulder as he showed her the map, and aruna pulled her limbs close in to her body as she ate slowly.

"i don't think we should get a hotel." aruna shook her head. "we can't waste a whole day here."

"we already did." leo grumbled as he pointed to the setting sun.

aruna frowned. "okay. i suggest we steal a boat after dark."

leo peeked across aruna to the harbor. "i dunno. those look like they won't hold up very well."

"we have to try." aruna said hopelessly. "what if- what if we don't go straight to epirus? what if we..." aruna pointed at the map. "what if we send an iris message, and tell them to meet us in athens? it's halfway between here and epirus."

"halfway for us." leo pointed out as he pointed slightly southeast of split, croatia. "but they were here when we blew off. going to athens will be around epirus for them. it'll be best if we can just get to epirus, and stay in epirus until they come back."

aruna shook her head. "but the doors of death are open there. a bunch of monsters are pooling into the world from epirus. it'll be too dangerous for us to stay there indefinitely while we wait for them. monsters plague the argo II all the time. we could be there for another week before they're able to successfully get to epirus."

"and they can't meet us here." leo muttered. "rhodes is damn near in turkey."

"so the short answer is there's no good plan." aruna muttered as she looked away from her map. she grabbed her hot water bottle and forced it down before giving it to leo, who chugged the rest. she stared at the bracelets on her wrists that had returned to her a few minutes ago, which only made her more mad.

"do you have anything shiny?" leo asked. "other than your bracelets?"

aruna looked her body up and down, and shook her head. "no. not unless iris wants a plastic pant button."

leo looked himself up and down and cursed. "does she take paper currency?"

"i don't think so."

leo looked around the alley. it smelled terrible, and there were a bunch of stray cats. it mostly smelled like rotting food, so aruna doubted there was really anything shiny lying in the waste.

"why were you asking about the hospital?"

aruna sighed. "well, i was born here. i was just kind of curious."

leo paused. aruna could see the light behind his eyes turn on. she stared at him as he stared blankly at the map, not really analyzing it.

"we don't have anything else to do." leo said. "except steal a boat when it gets dark. what if we..." he paused. "what if we were sent here for your prophecy?"

aruna paused. she hadn't even thought about that. she realized that it made sense- promise of peace, or evening embers.

leo was here with her. he was the evening embers of the prophecy. and she remembered how the giants had tried to promise her eternal peace if she came to join their side. they promised to let her live contently, happily, if she betrayed her friends.

"should we?" aruna asked softly.

leo shrugged. "i think it's worth a shot. it would make sense if... if this had to do with you getting in touch with your roots. this is where you were born, aruna. and even if it doesn't mean anything, it'll give us a good reason to waste time until we can steal a boat."

aruna figured at least that was true. she sighed heavily and leo knew he had an answer. he started wrapping up the maps, and slipped them into his tool belt. they simply disappeared. like a madman, he shoved the last half of his ham sandwich completely into his mouth, which puffed his cheek out like a chipmunk. once he swallowed, he chugged half a water bottle and handed it to aruna to finish.

she stared at him.

"what? you need to stay hydrated mamacita."

aruna grinned. "but you already drank from it. how nasty."

leo rolled his eyes. "okay, one; you just did that to me. two; we've literally done it before and you're worried about drinking after me?"

aruna snatched the water bottle as she blushed. she stood up, killed it, and tossed it in the trash. she wiped her mouth and started leaving the alleyway.

"what would be the quickest way to get there?" aruna pondered as she looked to the open street. leo grabbed her waist and steered her body to a nearby moped, colored mint green, with a little basket in the back. it was parked simple by the edge of the street which faced the coast, unchained, with nothing to keep someone from stealing it.

aruna envied europeans and their faith in society. then, she pitied them for having faith in society as she and leo marched over to it.

"cover me?" leo asked.

aruna, as always, stood conspicuously in front of the moped, once again pretending to care for her nails. she heard leo muttering to himself in english and spanish, and the moped whirred to life.

"haha! i-"

"DIBS!" aruna hopped in the front and ushered leo. he yelled at her angrily in spanish as he had to sit behind her, and he looked around for a helmet.

"seriously? you care about protection?" aruna scoffed as leo wrapped his arms around her waist.

"okay, well we know from the hyundai incident that you suck at driving." leo retorted.

"i at least got us out of new york safely." aruna retorted.

"yeah, while violating several traffic laws and then subsequently driving us into a tree!" leo snapped, spraying spit on aruna. in a fit of anger, she revved the gas, and sped away at a very slow speed- a moped speed. it reminded her all too much of the hyundai.

"to be fair, i only crashed because you broke my nose with that thick skull of yours and my eyes were tearing up!" aruna retorted over the sound of the wind in her ears. in retaliation, leo tickled her.

aruna laughed and swerved. "leo, stop it!"

"say sorry!"

"no, i-" he tickled her again and aruna almost drove into a lamp post. even at the danger of it, aruna felt herself and leo laughing over the wind. "fine! fine, i-i'm sorry!"

leo stopped it, but held aruna's waist comfortably with both arms. he leaned onto her, his chin resting on aruna's shoulder.

"and say i'm the hottest man you know."

aruna rolled her eyes with a smile. "you're the hottest man i know."

"attagirl!" he kissed her jawline and aruna grinned. the wind roared in her ears as she made her way towards the setting sun. the city was aglow with a golden and orange tint, and when she looked down, she saw calloused, caramel hands gripping her softly.

~•♡•~

i know i know im a terrible human being

@SolaceInMyDream i am specifically saying this to YOU bc i feel bad, ESPECIALLY bc you've been supporting me so much on this story

again, very very sorry. i have no excuse other than my adhd is making my heavily hyperfixate on Freak, not safe. i love you all and hope you are doing well <3