LEO

~•♡•~

everyone grabbed a quick breakfast before meeting above deck. leo ate a simple piece of toast with jelly on it, while aruna held a mini waffle-maker (where she had even gotten one, he didn't know), and was eating mini-waffles as they came out of the machine. she wore clean clothes- a baggy shirt black that had a blue whale on the front, black sweats, and her adidas. her hair was done in a low bun held with a silver chopstick, though it didn't seem to do much because her hair was wild and sticking out all over the place. she looked like she'd just rolled out of bed, which mustn't much of a stretch. her cheeks and eyes were sunken, and her lips looked unnaturally pale- anemia, as leo recalled. her arm still had the massive stitches in it because annabeth claimed the insides were repairing first, not so much the outside, but aruna made no effort to cover it up. peeking from behind her silver bracelet was yet another scar from when she'd had her hand reattached in february.

even as she shoveled a waffle in her mouth, leo had trouble not staring at her.

the air smelled the way kansas air does; like fresh soil, crops, and sweat. it reminded leo of some of the places he'd been to in east texas. mixed with the smell was aruna's waffles, which she offered to share with leo. he opened his mouth, and in she popped a single waffle.

"how is that practical?" annabeth asked as aruna poured some more batter into the machine. from behind aruna, percy popped up, and took the waffle as it came out. annabeth deadpanned as percy took a large bite out of the waffle.

"see?" aruna pointed to percy. "i am feeding the homeless."

"i am not homeless." percy said. "i have camp half-blood, camp jupiter, and my mom and step-dad in new york."

"imagine still having a mortal parent."

"sally jackson is a goddess in herself." percy replied. "she's the safe place for demigods."

"then where was she when i was getting caught in riots?"

leo stared at aruna. "mamas, you started the riot."

"no- the church started the riot. i simply caused the most bodily harm."

percy looked at aruna. "that wasn't very smart of you."

"percy," annabeth groaned. "you challenged the god of war when you were twelve."

"he was disrespecting me!"

aruna pointed at annabeth with a waffle. "if it's stupid, and it works, then it's not stupid." next to her, leo bit the waffle out of her hand.

"no." annabeth shook her head. "stupid doesn't mean wrong, or not-working. it just means stupid." she explained.

"then i think you are stupid." aruna replied. "your mommy may be the goddess of wisdom, and you may have an itinerary for sleepovers-"

"what?" jason snorted.

"-but that doesn't make you any less of a nut-fuck whack-job in my eyes."

"didn't you literally get your hand severed off because you ran away from camp?"

"what?!" frank gaped.

"didn't you try to tell me that biggie was better than tupac?"

"WHAT?!" piper gasped.

"LISTEN, I GOT THEM CONFUSED-"

"YEAH, 'CAUSE YOU'RE-"

"let's get back on track." jason groaned. annabeth nodded, and plucked the bagel out of piper's hand. it had been a running joke between the two to steal each other's food, and they tried to get aruna in on it, but it didn't go very well.

"so!" annabeth nodded. "here we are. what's the plan?"

"i want to check out the highway." piper replied. "find the sign that says topeka 32."

leo spun his wii controller in a circle- a special little invention to operate the ship. the sails lowered themselves as he pun the controller. "we shouldn't be far. festus and i calculated the landing as best we could. what do you expect to find at the mile marker?"

piper explained what she'd seen in her knife; visions of a man in purple with a goblet, and vines in his hair. as aruna ate another waffle, she suddenly perked up.

"vines?" she questioned.

"purple shirt? goblet? sounds like bacchus." jason murmured.

"dionysus." percy muttered like the name mattered. leo figured a god of wine wouldn't change much across the board, because wine is wine. "if we came all the way to kansas to see mr. D-"

"bacchus isn't so bad." jason said. "i don't like his followers much..."

piper, jason, leo, and aruna collectively shuddered. they'd had a run-in with the maenads a few months ago and it didn't go very well for much of anyone.

"but the god himself is okay." jason admitted. "i did him a favor once up in the wine country."

percy looked appalled. "whatever, man. maybe he's better on the roman side. but why would he be hanging around in kansas? didn't zeus order the gods to cease all contact with mortals?"

"weren't 'big three' gods told not to have children?" aruna pointed out. "aren't greeks and romans never supposed to encounter each other? since when do the gods actually listen to the orders?"

frank nodded. "good point.besides, if the gods have gone schizophrenic like hazel said-"

"and leo said." leo interjected. he was damned if he was going to be left out. "and aru said."

instead, frank scowled at him. leo's expression hardened as the two boys stared at each other for a second too long, and leo watched out of the corner of his eye as aruna stopped eating, and joined the staring contest.

"then who knows what's going on with the olympians? could be some pretty bad stuff out there." frank continued. he finally looked away, and leo immediately looked to aruna, having a silent conversation with only his eyes.

did you see that, babe?

shut up, i'm not babe. yes, i saw.

what's his problem?

i want waffle fries.

and that was the end of that.

"sounds dangerous!" leo hopped back into the conversation like nothing had happened. "well... you guys have fun. space girl and i have to finish repairs on the hull."

aruna scowled. "um, no? i'm going with them."

leo snorted. "yeah, okay, and i'm a long-lost prince." he turned back to the crowd. "coach hedge will have to work on the broken crossbows, and mi amor-"

"i'm not you-"

"-will be doing some lounging around and admiring how hot i look and falling in love with me." leo finished. "and um, annabeth, i could really use your help. you're the only other person who even sort of understands engineering."

annabeth looked apologetically at percy. "he's right. i should stay and help."

"i'll come back to you." he kissed her on the cheek. "promise."

leo gritted his teeth and looked away. his foot tapped rapidly as he tried to distract himself, especially from looking at aruna. why couldn't he do that to her?

"no, i want to go." aruna jumped in.

frank looked at aruna. "you... your arm isn't healed enough."

"it's healed enough for me to shove it so far up your ass, you know what color nail polish i'm wearin-"

leo threw an arm over aruna's shoulder, pulled her close, and grinned. "no need to get aggressive, sweetums! besides, francis here-"

"frank." the boy growled.

"-is right. your arm isn't healed enough, you're exhausted, and you're pissy. what you will be doing is having some good old alone-time in your cabin and watching- i dunno, star trek or golden girls or something." leo went on.

"i want to help-"

"so, that's settled." leo nodded.

frank slung his bow off his shoulder and propped it against the rail. "i think i should turn into a crow or something and fly around, keep an eye out for roman eagles."

"why a crow?" leo asked. "man, if you can turn into a dragon, why don't you just turn into a dragon every time? that's the coolest."

frank's face looked like it was being infused with cranberry juice. now, he reminded leo of the girl in willy-wonka that turned into a blueberry. "that's like asking why you don't bench-press your maximum weight every time you lift. because it's hard, and you'd hurt yourself. turning into a dragon isn't easy."

"oh." leo nodded. "i wouldn't know. i don't lift weights."

"yeah, well, maybe you should consider it mr.-"

hazel stepped between them. leo continued to grin as he held aruna, refusing to show how much the comment actually hurt. now, he felt like aruna did regarding canadians. they can not take jokes.

"i'll help you fra-"

"finish the sentence."

everyone looked at aruna. the waffle maker was now on the ground, and her arms were crossed over her chest. despite looking like a day-old burrito, leo found her hot in that moment. but, part of him was also scared, because if she killed frank or threw him overboard, it'd be pretty much over after that. now, she'd interrupted the evil look hazel had sent leo (like he'd done something wrong), and had a hard look on her face mostly directed to frank.

"aruna," annabeth held up a hand. "let's just take it easy."

"i don't take people insulting my best friend very easy, annabeth."

leo felt like wincing. ah, to be the best friend.

"everything is fine." piper said, her charmspeak washing over the crew like honey. "frank, leo didn't mean it. his jokes tend to be insensitive. leo, frank didn't mean what he said. aruna, nobody is trying to insult the other."

"frank literally just said-"

"shut up for five seconds and pretend my charmspeak works on you."

"fine."

piper smiled warmly. "now, let's just-"

"it's been five seconds-"

"PLEASE SHUT UP!" piper screamed, though she was still smiling and seemed amused. aruna cracked a little smile, and everyone's moods seemed to pick up. aruna and piper fist-bumped and aruna seemed a little calmer now.

"as i was saying," hazel sighed. "i can summon arion and scout around below."

"sure." frank said, his eyes trained on his feet. leo began to smirk, almost feeling triumphant, until aruna smacked the back of her hand into his nose.

"hey!" she shot him a dirty glare, and leo decided to put a pin in it.

hazel then turned to percy. "just be careful when you go out there. lots of fields, lots of crops. could be karpoi on the loose."

"karpoi?" piper asked.

"grain spirits." hazel said. "you don't want to meet them."

leo didn't see how a field of corn could hold a malicious spirit, but he chose not to question it.

"that leaves three of us to check on the mile marker." percy said. "me, piper, jason. i'm not psyched about seeing mr. D again. that guy is a pain in the ass. but, jason, if you're on better terms with him-"

"yeah." jason said. "if we find him, i'll talk to him. piper, it's your vision. you should take the lead."

piper shivered. leo ignored it, and aruna placed a comforting hand on piper's shoulder. he watched as piper suddenly eased up, her expression warmer all of a sudden.

"of course." she nodded as aruna's hand dropped. "let's find the highway."

~•♡•~

leo would much rather be eating a live cockroach than listening to aruna watch 'That 70s Show' on full blast. she wasn't even laughing, or seeming amused in the slightest- she was frowning at the sketchbook in her lap, occasionally running her hands through her hair, or muttering something angry in one of the many languages she spoke.

"how's it going, cutie?" leo called as he aggressively twisted a wrench. he thought building the ship was hard, and had hoped he wouldn't have to do repairs for a while.

evidently, he was wrong. maybe his arms would look like he had been lifting weights once he was done with this. then, he would properly be able to smack frank instead of looking like a toddler when their mom says 'no'.

he cursed. he didn't really want to smack frank. frank was being a dick, and leo didn't know why, but he wasn't too mad about it.

leo paused. aruna had yet to reply.

"aru?"

"hm?"

leo wiped the sweat off his brow and looked at aruna. her gaze was distracted, her pencil twisting at the corner of her mouth as she furrowed her eyesbrows at the sketchbook. her eyes were faraway, her lips turned down. next to her was the cup of nectar annabeth had given her ten minutes ago, with only half of it actually drank.

"drink your nectar, dummy."

aruna seemed to snap out of her world. she muttered to herself, grabbed the cup, and threw her neck back. in one run, the drink was down and the cup was slammed onto the table. leo's eyes widened as aruna went back to frowning at her paper.

"what the hades are you so mad about?" leo asked as he went back to working with the wrench. he needed annabeth back quickly. this could be much faster with one person on either side.

"nothin'."

leo rolled his eyes. clearly, it was not 'nothin''. she was mad about something. on the TV screen, leo watched as donna made out with eric for the 900th time, and leo could only roll his eyes and work faster.

"okay." annabeth ran back in, her hair freshly tied up. she was now dressed in an older shirt ready to get greasy. "what do you need me to do?"

"help me twist this wrench." leo grunted as he stopped. he panted, and wiped his forehead again with the back of his arm. he looked at annabeth, who had her gaze settled on aruna. now, aruna was rapidly scribbling in the sketchbook.

"is she okay?" annabeth asked softly.

"she's never okay." leo replied with a grunt. "let's just leave her alone. she's just been around too many people for too long. now, please help me with the wrench."

annabeth joined in. with her help, leo was able to finish his work at a record pace. he sighed and pointed to a spot on the wall about five feet down.

"again."

"oh shi-" leo heard a thud. he and annabeth looked over at aruna, watching as she picked herself up from the floor. she stormed off angrily, holding her sketchbook and pencil as she scratched her eyebrow. her posture was quite horrid and her face disgruntled as she hid in the hallway. three seconds later, a cabin door slammed shut.

"shouldn't we check on her?"

"give it ten minutes." leo said. "i'll go in there then."

"so, you know what's wrong?"

leo shook his head as he positioned the wrench again. he and annabeth quickly set to work.

"i never know what's wrong." leo admitted. "sometimes, she's upset because her nail broke. sometimes, she had a bad dream. sometimes, her friends accidentally slit her entire forearm open, and don't bring her on the danger part of the quest, and she feels useless- oh, i figured it out." leo murmured. annabeth snorted as she tugged on the wrench.

"that was easy."

leo shrugged as he tugged. "she's not actually too different from me."

annabeth raised an eyebrow, and leo rolled his eyes.

"emotionally. sometimes, i think she doesn't really know what she's upset about, and gets upset when the little things go wrong. and, well, she's got some self-esteem issues. that's never very good for the equation."

annabeth nodded. "i suppose you're right." she frowned. "does... that mean you have self-esteem issues?"

"i prefer pretending i'm a narcissist to mask my self-hatred. how did it take you a solid six months to realize that?"

"wow, maybe she's right. i am stupid."

~•♡•~

leo knocked on aruna's bedroom door ten minutes later just like he said he would. he still had heavy-duty gloves on, and a white wife-beater (why do they have to be called that?) that looked like it'd seen some pretty terrible things, and he smelled a lot like a week-old tub of machine grease and boy sweat after only fifteen minutes of work, but didn't exactly have time to care about that. aruna was the current priority.

the door opened a second later. aruna turned around almost seconds after opening it, her shoulders slumped as she went to the back wall. leo closed the door behind her, and leaned against it, paralleling aruna as she looked down at the floor from the other side of the room.

"why are you upset?" leo asked.

"is that all you're here for?"

she was standoffish, which wasn't new for leo. instead, he slipped his hands into the pockets of his beige cargo pants.

"well, i was also hoping for a hot 'n heavy makeout session, but i'll settle."

aruna looked up, her eyes dead and an eyebrow raised. "a hot 'n heavy makeout session? really, leo?"

"hey, a man can hope." he shrugged in response.

"leo, do you even know how to french kiss?"

"i do not know how to hold hands correctly, so that was a dumb question."

aruna snickered. "whatever." she looked over to her bed, staring at it with sad eyes. leo bit the inside of his cheek and calmly waited for an answer. really, he didn't even think he needed the answer.

he knew it was aruna that needed the answer.

"i just..." she huffed. "i don't like talking about this. why do you make me do this?"

"i didn't make you do anythi-"

"shut up."

"wha- I DIDN'T EVEN-"

aruna snickered again. leo paused, and realized she was once again trying to lighten the mood by being an idiot. he cracked a small smile and rolled his eyes.

"ha-ha. very funny."

"i know. i'm hilarious. and hot."

"and smart."

"and cool."

"and a badass."

aruna sat on the bed. she looked at leo expectantly, and patted the spot next to her. despite being disgusting, leo did so, and immediately felt bad. she smelled like a lovely shampoo of mint, and he smelled like a boys lockerroom.

"i'm quite stressed, to be honest." aruna admitted. "there's some new people, and i'm not a fan of that. and like- i just have to work as a team with them immediately. and even though frank doesn't seem like he's malicious or evil, it bothers me how he treats you. and hazel seems nice but she's being weird about you, too. and i don't like pretty much any of this. it's been not even twenty-four hours since the quest technically started, and already, i've knocked you out, met nemesis, dealed with narcissus and his fanclub, had a breakdown in the shower, talked about nico di angelo literally dying, had a second breakdown, had jason slit my arm, been excluded from the side-quest, and watched as you and annabeth do cool stuff and coach hedge makes repairs and i am condemned to doodling and watched a TV show with the last like, four seasons being total shit."

leo nodded. "yeah, that about sums it up."

aruna stared down at her hands. leo looked over at her, watched as she ran her thumb along the lines of her palm. she breathed in deeply, and sighed before leaning her head on leo's shoulder.

his heart went a million miles a minute. "um, i don't think i smell very go-"

"just shut up." she said quietly. "please."

leo froze. "yeah, i- yeah."

he liked it when aruna was touchy. she was kind of weird about it, though. sometimes, if jason came to close to her, she'd back off. if piper played with her hair, she'd jerk before she realized who it was. she tensed if leo got too close, but upon realizing who it was, she'd relax. leo knew why; he figured it would never really go away.

but still, it made him happy. he felt like he got to know her a little bit every time she did something simply, like tap his shoulder, or poke his cheek. he realized she wasn't very vocal about her opinions on people, but he could recognize one thing; the closer you were, the more she touched you. it was what leo supposed her love language was. she seemed to find some sort of comfort in it, and leo would glady take it. even if it meant they weren't together the way he wanted them to be, they were together. one way or another, he would always be by her side.

she wrapped her arms around his waist, which was new. aruna's eyes seemed to be closed, her body limp. leo's eyes were wide and, truthfully, he felt somewhat terrified. he awkwardly wrapped an arm around aruna's shoulder, and once again, remained frozen. in his mind, movement would ruin everything and aruna would hate him and never look at him the same.

~•♡•~

OH MY GODS THANK YALL FOR SO MUCH COMMENTS IT SUPPORTS ME SO MUCH AND MAKES ME SO HAPPY!

ALSO, WE ARE SO CLOSE TO 500 READS!!!

i think i will write a bonus chapter for it that's NOT canon to the storyline. is there any specific AU yall might want?