LEO

~•♡•~

leo layed his head on aruna's stomach as she slept, and one of his hands grasping hers. a thin white sheet covered her up, and under her white bandages on her right arm, thick black stitches lie. she faintly smelled of blood and nectar. her breaths were shallow and occasionally shuddering. her eyes were closed and her lips slightly parted. leo watched unhappily as her head occasionally lobbed over to the side.

in the corner of the room, piper sat. her eyes were bloodshot and puffy from crying, her hair a wild mess. she rested her head against one hand as she stared at aruna, waiting for her to wake up just as leo was.

annabeth put away her medical gauze. she cleared her throat, and put the package back on a shelf.

"it'll be a while before she wakes up." she said. "she lost... a lot of blood."

leo will never forget how horrified he was. he had to watch as jason's sword literally slit aruna's arm open. leo could see her bones, it was that deep. it was like a seen out of a horror movie. it looked like she'd been ripped apart.

leo will never forget the golden glow in her eyes. just a few hours before, she was joking around with leo, hugging him, opening up ever so slightly. leo had to watch in terror as she attacked him blindly, her face completely blank like she'd never met leo in her life, and he was some sort of inconvience she needed to eliminate. he knew that hadn't been her; in fact, he knew that she must have felt the same way when he attacked her above new rome. but still, he couldn't shake the true feeling.

jason came back into the room. his face was even paler than usual, his icy blue eyes distant and grey. he held blood-stained rags and faintly smelled like cleaner and bleach. he wiped his sweaty brow with the back of his arm and took a shuddering breath.

"i um... i cleaned everything up." he mumbled. his gaze settled on aruna ans he quickly looked down, his hands shaking. leo stared at him coldly, which seemed to send jason a message.

like a dog, jason moved away.

"don't stare at him like that."

leo looked at annabeth. he hadn't even realized he was scowling, but he quickly resorted to a neutral face.

"he didn't mean it." annabeth pointed out. "nobody did. it was nobody's fault. we just have to figure out what the problem is, and work from there."

"be nice if she was awake to tell us." leo frowned. aruna's body was so unusually cold, like it always was. it was one of those things he kind of adored about her, a thing that made him feel like she was perfect. leo was always so warm all the time. her coldness almost seemed to ground him to the earth. she was a perfect contrast for him, he felt. he felt like they should be together.

but he knew they couldn't.

"alright, i guess i'll try to catch half an hour." annabeth groaned. "see you guys. give her some more nectar soon."

"'kay." leo grunted. piper waved goodbye and annabeth made her way off.

"leo, you should try to sleep too."

"yeah, i did, piper." leo snapped. "i did, and that's why i wasn't able to stop her."

piper frowned. "listen, i know you're upset-" leo scoffed. "but, being snappy isn't okay. listen, just try to catch a few z's before we get to kansas. you need it to the most."

"she said that, too." leo huffed. "clearly, that didn't work out."

"leo-"

"can we just forget it, piper?" leo sighed heavily. "i'm not going to sleep. i'm staying right here, whether you like it or not."

"fine. i guess i'll try to go to bed."

"yeah, you do that, piper."

piper huffed. as she leaved the room, she flipped leo off. he didn't bother watching as she marched back to her cabin.

leo felt bad almost immediately. he knew that piper was just looking out for him. he knew that it wasn't jason's fault. leo sighed to himself and let his eyes drift closed, but not in sleep. instead, he just tried to tell himself over and over again that it was not aruna's fault, or jason's or piper's, or his. he felt useless, despite knowing that he had done nothing wrong. part of him wondered if he'd made a mistake in even going in aruna's room in the first place.

he had only done it to make her feel better. he'd known she was having a hard time ever since they encountered nemesis. really, he knew she'd been having a hard time since she had to fight leo in the morning.

crazy how much one day can bring.

leo felt horrible knowing that aruna had to see something that still haunted her. her nightmares were some of the worst ones. despite not remembering them when she woke up, they haunted aruna. leo and other demigods already had regular bad dreams. but aruna's were from PTSD. she confessed that she didn't exactly remember what had happened in them. it was more like a feeling of terror, and remembering what had happened to her. she'd said it was more like sounds and smells that took her back to those times and made her remember exactly how she'd felt during those moments. they weren't exactly concrete visions.

and leo hated to see how distraught she was. it was one of the many reasons she never slept. she claimed she needed less sleep than most, or at least, she needed to sleep during the day rather than the night due to being a daughter of selene. still, leo had a feeling that wasn't the only reason. after she slept, she always looked so distant and distraught for at least an hour. then, she was back to being her usual self.

leo hated being in love. he absolutely hated it. he felt like it was ripping him apart from the inside, chewing him up, grinding him into little pieces and then eventually, spitting him back out. that was how it felt when something happened to aruna. when she was feeling bad. or was being treated bad.

then, it felt like it was piecing him back together. it felt like a peppermint tea flowing over his body, cooling him to the touch while piecing him back together with trickles of nectar. he experienced that feeling everytime aruna reminded him that he mattered. that he wasn't any less important than anyone else. or when she went out of her way to give him cool rocks. leo still had every single one in his toolbelt. he loved them. he cherished them.

then, he was a chew toy once more when he remembered aruna didn't feel the same way about him. she never would, he remembered. she was way out of his league. she was gorgeous, for instance. her silver eyes were unlike anything leo had ever seen. sometimes, if the light captured just right, aruna's eyes were like diamonds.

she was also way braver than leo ever had been. she threw herself in front of her friends on a limb if it meant protecting them. so many times now, leo had watched as aruna fought off hoards of monsters for her friends. she talked down those mangy boreads when they accused leo of having fire powers. she always stepped up for him when somebody made fun of him.

leo remembered capture the flag very well. rarely did he actually do anything important. usually, he just set traps with his sister lauren (not harley. harley was the most trigger-happy demon spawn leo had ever met.), and hung back and waited for the traps to go off.

aruna rarely even participated. the system for capture the flag was alliances between cabins. for the most part, people didn't really want to align with cabin 21. which was kind of ironic, considering aruna was sneakier than most, and a great fighter.

then, of course, leo won an arm wrestling match (this was before aruna had total guns and legs the size of tree trunks) and convinced her to ally with him. she mostly hung back with him, because she didn't feel like working with anyone else.

he remembered when hisashi from the tyche cabin called him ugly. he remembered feeling a small pang- who wouldn't be offended? leo already had insecurities. but he didn't let it show. before he could even laugh it off, aruna jumped in, and started completely lighting hisashi up. leo could only stare as she drove the poor kid away.

leo wanted to love her the right way. he wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be okay, and that she was safe. he wanted to cuddle with her in front of the campfire like all the other kids did. he wanted to take her on special little dates and hold her hand and call her cute.

yet, he couldn't. for all he knew, they would be dead within a month.

aruna woke with a small gasp. leo shot up immediately, and tried to retract his hand from hers. he felt bad instantly, doing that against her will. his mind raced a million miles a minute.

instead, aruna clamped his hand down. her eyes were blank as she gazed up at the ceiling, and slowly, she drifted to look at him.

"you're warm." she mumbled.

leo grabbed for the nectar. quickly, he pressed a small bottle to aruna's lips, and she dranked it down. he set the bottle aside and looked at aruna nervously. she finally let go of his hand, and sat up. leo adjusted the pillows for her, and edged his chair closer to her face.

aruna held up her damaged arm. she undid the gauze, staring at the stitches carefully. already, they'd healed up pretty well, but the stitches were still needed. aruna stared at them before finally looking at leo. her eyes were red and teary, an unusual look for her.

leo shut the door quietly. he knew aruna wouldn't want other people seeing her like that. he stared at her, and contemplated reaching for her hand again.

she did it instead. she extended her non-wounded arm, and leo gently took her hand, trying to control his fire and his shaking.

"i'm sorry, leo." she whispered.

"sorry?" leo murmured. "there's nothing to be sorry for. "

"i- i couldn't control it. it was... it was a whistling sound."

leo shook his head. "i know it wasn't you. i think- i think that whatever happened to me also happened to you." he wiped one of his eyes, refusing to let the tears fall.

aruna nodded. she looked back at her stitched up arm, staring at it with offset eyes.

"it's so big."

leo, with tears in his eyes, replied, "that's what she said."

aruna and leo both managed to laugh at that. aruna sat up fully, staring at the white sheet over her body. as she looked down, she saw she was still in her blood-soaked clothes from last night.

"nobody changed me?"

leo shook his head. "annabeth and piper didn't wanna be weird."

"then, could you get me some fresh clothes?" aruna asked.

leo nodded and stood up. "you got some in your closet?"

"everybody's clothes are my clothes, leo."

leo rolled his eyes and left the room. quietly, he closed the door and stalked down the hallway, up the stairs, into aruna's cabin. he made sure not to wake anyone else in doing so, and slowly made his way to aruna's closet. he grabbed a pair of black sweats that he was fairly sure belonged to lou ellen from hecate, and a memphis tigers shirt that he was absolutely confident belonded to duke moore from nike.

as he made his way back, he paused.

did he need to grab underwear?

oh dear. his eyes scanned around as if reading invisible math equations as he thought of what to do. what if we went back to aruna without any bras or something, and aruna felt weird? what if he did bring them, and she thought he was weird?

it couldn't be weird, right? it was just clothes.

leo ventured back into the room, muttering to himself in spanish as he threw the drawers open. in an effort not to be weird, he blindly grabbed a bra and a pair of underwear, and marched back to the med-bay. he threw the door open, and tossed everything to aruna.

she held up the grey bra, and stared at leo.

"listen- i didn't know if you needed another one, or-"

"leo, this isn't my bra."

leo and aruna stared at each other, then the bra, then each other again. aruna continued to hold up the bra, even letting it spin for a minute. leo scratched his head, and looked down the hallway.

"then... um... why was it in your room?" leo asked as he cleared his throat. "you uh- you got a secret girlfriend?"

"no, i don't." aruna looked just as puzzled as leo did. they both stared at the bra for a minute before aruna finally looked at the tag.

"why are you doing that?" leo asked as he sat on the bed.

"because maybe if i know the size, i can determine whose it is. i will now be the bra detective." aruna said. "i'm reading 34C."

"i do not know what that means."

"it means the band is thirty-four inches, and the cup size is a C, which is the average." aruna explained. "so... i think this is piper's, but i could be wrong. i think she's the right band size, because annabeth is a little bigger... ugh! whose goddamn bra is this? how is it in my room?"

"so, speculation; do girls have those panty pillow-fights like you see on TV?"

aruna deadpanned. "leo, what kind of TV are you watching?"

"pay-per-view, except i don't pay." leo blurted, and immediately turned red. "um-"

"same. but, i have never had one of those. and i don't see an instance where piper or annabeth could have left one in my cabin, and i accidentally packed it..."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'SAME'?"

"i have a solution." aruna nodded. "i will simply steal another bra from each girl, and compare sizes. then, i will return them all, and nobody will know a thing."

"wait."

"it is time to go undercover. operation 34C is on."

~•♡•~

leo really wanted to know how he got suckered into this. he heard the term, 'love makes you do crazy things', but he didn't know that it meant trying to sneak the love of his life into another girl's room to steal a bra.

aruna was crawling on the ceiling like some little spider. leo watched from the floor. his job was to be a distraction in case piper woke up. he shook as aruna silently dropped onto the dresser, and began trying to root through the drawers.

she held up another bra, and leo hid his face. naturally, he peaked through his fingers as aruna compared bra sizes carefully. she looked at leo, shook her head, and crawled on the ceiling to escape.

"who's there?"

aruna froze. she was directly above piper's bed. leo shot out of nowhere and did a really awkward cheer.

"hiya, pipes!"

piper groaned and wiped her eyes. "leo? why- why are you sneaking in here?"

"coooooooongratulations, piper mclean!" leo said in a game-show host voice. "it's your lucky day! you have won a twenty-five cent coupon for select dairy produc-" piper threw a pillow at leo.

"get out."

"yeah, okay."

piper laid back down as leo opened the door and sped out. aruna dropped to the floor and slid out of the room just as leo closed the door, and he breathed deeply.

"'select dairy products'? that was your best distraction?" aruna raised an eyebrow.

"okay, first of all, fuck you." leo said as he pointed at aruna. "second, if piper was able to wake up, there is literally no way we can get annabeth's bra-" leo went red and smacked his forehead. "i do not want annabeth's bra."

"yes." aruna nodded.

"good, so let's-"

"we need annabeth's bra."

"no, we do not!"

~•♡•~

leo couldn't say no. now, he was in annabeth's doorway, shaking and pleading for dear life that annabeth wouldn't immediately throw a knife in his direction. aruna crawled over to the dresser, and started rooting through it. she smiled in triumph and suddenly froze.

the lamp turned on. aruna and leo snapped their necks as percy, now in the corner with the lamp, stared at them. annabeth stood next to him, shaking her head and crossing her arms. aruna held up the mysterious gray bra, and pointed to it.

"listen." she said. leo started trembling miserably and praying that percy jackson didn't feed him to a shark or something. "i can explain."

"you have ten seconds." percy glowered.

"leo found a mysterious bra in my room and it didn't belong to me so i had to figure out if it was annabeth's or piper's." aruna said quickly.

percy then sent an accusatory glare. "why is your bra in someone else's room?"

"that isn't mine." annabeth countered. aruna and leo looked at each other as percy and annabeth looked at each other. confusion was the new elephant in the room, and everybody them turned their eyes to the bra.

"then... whose is it?" aruna asked.

"well, it has to be piper, right?" percy suggested.

"no, we already checked her bras." leo said.

"why were you-"

aruna cut percy off. "percy, do you wear a 34C bra?"

"i don't know anybody that wears that size." percy replied.

leo tilted his head. "hang on. do you just know off-hand the bra sizes of your peers?"

"you don't?"

annabeth stared at percy. "you do?"

"duh." percy snorted. "if they aren't wearing a baggy shirt, anyone can tell."

"uh, no." leo gaped. "not just anyone."

"dude, it is so easy." percy said. "in fact-"

"why do you know how to do that?" annabeth questioned. the door swung open, and everyone turned to jason.

he stared at the bra, then at everyone individually, then back at the bra.

"whose-"

"not piper's, not annabeth's, not aru's." leo said as he held his hand up in defeat. "also, percy knows a girl's bra size just by looking at them."

jason stared at percy. "wha-"

"whose bra is it?" aruna reiterated. "i haven't had any other girls near my stuff!"

"lemme sniff it and find ou-"

"jason, no." leo groaned.

frank stumbled into the doorway behind jason. he stared at the bra and his cheeks went pink as everyone waved at him.

"yo, is this hazel's?" aruna said as she gently shook it.

"how would i know?!" frank yelped.

"dude, she's your girlfriend." leo said.

"yeah, from the 1940s!" frank blurted.

"did they even have bras in the '40s?" aruna pondered.

"yes, the bra was invented in 1914." annabeth answered.

"interesting..."

"then whose bra is it?" jason asked. "it isn't piper's?"

"wouldn't you know?" aruna shot back.

"i-"

"i'm so confused!" leo yelled i frustration as he stomped his foot.

"it isn't yours?" frank gulped at aruna.

"nope."

"then whose?"

"THAT'S WHAT WE'RE ASKING!" leo yelled. on that cue, piper walked by, and frowned.

"i- whose is that?"

everyone let out a collective groan. aruna continued to examine the bra, almost like it would suddenly have the name of the own written on it.

"well." percy remarked. "does anybody know anybody that wears a 34C?"

"how do you know the size?" aruna asked. "we didn't tell you."

"i am a man of many abilities."

"i don't know how bra sizes work." jason admitted.

"i am so close to making festus announce it and ask." leo grumbled.

"wait-" piper stared. "aru, you never changed?"

"that is how we got here." aruna explained. "i asked leo to get my a change of clothes, and he brought back the bra-"

"why did you bring back a bra?" jason asked.

"WHAT IF HER CURRENT ONE IS BLOODY?!"

"-but it wasn't mine." aruna said. "so, we snuck into your room and compared-"

piper gasped and stared at leo. "I KNEW I DIDN'T HAVE A TWENTY-FIVE CENT COUPON FOR SELECT DAIRY!"

aruna gaped. "WHY THE FUCK WOULD LEO GIVE YOU A TWENTY-FIVE CENT COUPON?!"

"BECAUSE LEO IS WEIRD!"

"WHOSE BRA IS IT?!" annabeth yelled.

"WE DON'T KNOW!" percy yelled back.

"BRO, CAN YOU TEACH ME THE BRA SIZE THING?!" jason yelled.

"CAN YOU STOP WAVING IT LIKE A WEAPON?!" frank pleaded aruna.

"I'M SO FUCKING CONFUSED!" leo wailed.

finally, hazel barged in. her eyes were bleary, and sleepy, but also angry. she marched up to aruna, snatched the bra up, and left the room. as a hive mind, everyone followed her, and watched as she went above deck. she marched right in front of festus, threw the bra up, and watched as the dragon blew flames until it was nothing but ash in the wind.

she angrily stared at everyone.

"enough..." she panted. "about... the bra."

~•♡•~