LEO

~•♡•~

"ew, what the fuck?"

aruna fished a piece of kelp out of the back of her pants. piper cringed and leo watched in amazement as the three-foot piece plopped onto the floor, splattering water on leo.

"how did that go unnoticed?" piper asked in amazement.

"baggy pants, shitty mood." aruna offered. she did a few jumping jacks, which made a bunch of sloshing noises. leo snickered as aruna went still again.

"i need to shower..." she grumbled. "but i don't wanna be naked again when important things happen."

leo bit his tongue and turned away at the memory of chrysaor and his dolphin crew completely humiliating aruna.

"we'll be okay if you shower." frank said. "piper, nico, and i are more than capable."

"not me!" nico called down.

leo frowned at frank. "um, hello?"

frank looked at him. "oh, sorry. were you not going to join her?"

aruna and leo's faces went red as piper cackled loudly. she gave frank a high five, which made him blush slightly and give a sheepish smile. up in the mast, nico just shook his head and continued gazing out at sea.

"wow. now you choose to have a sense of humor." leo grunted as he crossed his arms. aruna only shook her head and looked up the face of the cliff.

"i dunno. i think i'll stay out here..." she sounded like she was almost desperate for a shower. leo hadn't wanted to say anything, but she literally smelled like rotting kelp now.

"just go." piper insisted. "leo, how about you guide he-" she cut herself off with her own inhuman giggling.

"ha-ha, very funny, piper."

aruna shook her head. "fine. i'll just be quick. give me five minutes or so."

aruna disappeared below deck, with the receding sound of soggy sneakers. a door finally slammed shut, and the silence overtook the remaining crew.

leo, piper, and frank all sat on their bottoms, all bored out of their minds. piper had taken to braiding and unbraiding her hair. frank was tracing his bow with his finger. nico was hidden up in the mast, doing literally nothing. leo was laying on his back, staring at his now-soaked foot, and wondering why aruna had to be such a bitch literally all the time (re: leo is literally in love with her and wants her to be a bitch to him literally all the time).

"so, what's going on with you two?"

leo snapped out of his thoughts. he sat up slightly, using his elbows to prop himself up as he looked at piper, who's eyes were swirling with curiosity. frank perked up too, suddenly interested in the conversation.

nico showed no interest.

"what?"

"well," piper snorted. "you guys were screaming at each other, and cuddling like, two seconds later."

"that's different." leo shook his head. "i didn't want her to get shot and whatever."

"which is why she hugged you back?" frank reasoned.

"water make cold. leo warm."

"ah, a man of many words." frank rolled his eyes as he started tracing shapes in the floor of the ship. leo still couldn't believe that frank's face was no longer paired with chubby cheeks, and a chubby body. frank now looked like he could bench press four hundred pounds without breaking a sweat.

damned son of mars.

"okay, so now i'm confused." piper pointed out. "you admitted to having a crush on her- well, really, to being in love with her- but now you deny anything?"

"ah, different question!" leo grinned. "there's nothing going on between us. she's not into me. like... like at all. am i into her? yes, totally. these are two different questions, beauty queen."

"don't call me that."

"ugh."

"there has to be something going on." frank said. leo glared at him, but frank didn't back down. "she's been different ever since the thing with the skolopendra and-"

"the huh?"

frank deadpanned. "i believe you called it shrimpzilla."

"oh. that."

"anyways... she's been weird after that and the arguing after." frank explained.

"maybe because she thought we all died...?" leo reasoned.

"you guys have also been arguing way more lately." piper pointed out.

"i want you to take a look at all the shit that has gone down in the past two weeks, and tell me you and jason haven't been arguing more."

"AHA!" piper screamed. "key sentence! you compared you and aruna to jason and i! and jason and i are dating! which means you and aruna are! i've solved it! i-" she started whacking the floor aggressively. "I AM THE SMARTEST WOMAN ALIVE!"

leo deadpanned until piper finally looked ta him, her face red and breaths heavy. she smiled, and leo tilted his head in a condescending way.

"why are you the way that you are?"

"are you and aruna dating?" she said, her voice suddenly silky. frank's eyes widened as leo forcibly glued his mouth shut. frank turned his head, his eyes wide as an owl's as leo struggled and almost began to choke.

aruna emerged from below deck suddenly, a towel over her head. she wore black skinny jeans and her silver cloak styled as a hoodie. she groaned as she ripped the towel from her hair.

"hey." leo waved nervously, his neck twitching from the trickle of sweat from it. "good shower? it's a shame you didn't invite me."

"in your dreams, valdez." aruna groaned as she whipped her messy hair out of her face. "they're still not back?"

piper ripped her eyes from leo and shook her head, her own messy hair flopping around. leo rolled his eyes, which prompted piper to shoot him a side-eye, but she quickly turned back to aruna. "feeling better?"

"no, not really."

"okay, well-"

piper cut herself off with her own scream. she shot up and tried to run to the edge of the boat, with aruna following her. aruna caught piper before she went overboard completely, and leo stood up.

as he looked to the open sea, he could see jason midair, screaming. aruna screamed, too, with leo and frank staring in horror. above, nico shot up, his eyes wide with panic.

"jason!" piper wailed, her eyes brimmed with tears. when the turtle emerged, leo and frank ran too, both screaming in outrage as their feet hit the deck. leo nearly collided into piper when he saw the turtle swallow jason whole, its beak clamping with a shattering sound, almost like wood splintering. piper sobbed violently and her body crashed to the ground, with aruna holding her, her tears silent as she whispered soothingly.

frank was the first to move. he ran to the helm, pressing the emergency alarm button. leo shot over to the ballista, quickly powering them up. coach hedge ran out and nico jumped down, with hedge screaming and waving his cudgel, and nico brandishing a stygian iron sword. when hedge saw the girls crying, he froze, his face softening.

"coach, get to the catapults!" leo ordered.

"valdez? what the hera is going on?!" hedge yelled as he gestured to the girls. nico gazed up the cliffs, trying to make out what had happened.

"coach, just do it!" leo yelled as he aimed the ballista up. but, the cliff was so steep, leo wasn't sure what it would accomplish.

"what-"

"GET ON THE CATAPULTS, NOW!" frank boomed, his voice vibrating the ship. coach stood up straight and ran to his position. even leo was stunned, his eyes lingering on frank's infuriated face. suddenly, frank's eyes trained on leo, like beads of obsidian. leo felt chills run up his spine as frank pointed.

"MOVE YOUR BUTT, VALDEZ!"

leo almost wanted to snicker at how frank still couldn't curse, but he was so terrified and angry, he simply yelled, "SIR, YES, SIR!" and powered up the catapult.

"FI-"

"NO, WAIT!" aruna wailed, her voice broken. leo turned to her, watching as she and piper gazed in shock. jason swooped out of the sky suddenly, his hair twinkling like pixie dust. leo envisioned jason in a mini-dress like tinkerbell, and in just a few seconds, jason had bodied slammed the bandit and dropped his body off the cliff. the turtle surged up, and in a single snap, ate him.

it was silent for a moment. nobody breathed. in the distance, leo could barely make out the shape of jason looking at hazel, and catching her as she swooned.

then, everyone cheered. even piper, who was still snotty and stupid looking, was jumping in joy. a few seconds later, jason flew him and hazel back.

hazel looked a little woozy, but she insisted she was fine. as piper and nico fed hazel some nectar, jason relayed the story of how she'd fooled sciron, a son of poseidon, using the mist, and about his stinky feet.

"ewwwwww." leo gagged.

"yeah, it was pretty ew." jason agreed. "but, we should be able to do some repairs now, right?"

leo grinned. "fuck, yeah!"

piper let out a loud cheer.

"so, you all have chores-"

piper dropped to her knees in despair.

~•♡•~

the last time leo had assigned chores, he'd ended up having a really nasty fight with aruna, and then- bam! she became his girlfriend.

such was not the case, this time.

"oh, well i'm sorry if i'm not okay with you being a reckless idiot!" leo yelled as he waved his wrench at her. "it was entirely pointless! you would have been fine with just not getting on the turtle at all!"

"jason did it!" aruna yelled as leo held out his hand. she smacked a screwdriver into it so hard, leo almost thought his hand broke.

he didn't care. he screwed in some screws while shaking his head aggressively. "yeah, well jason flew away, and got back on my boat-"

"OUR BOAT!"

"-and brought hedge back, too! all you did was hook the stupid bastard!" leo continued.

"and then diverted him away from our ship-"

"MY SHIP!"

"-with the help of hazel and piper! you didn't yell at them when they got out of the ship, now did you!"

"yeah, that's different, aru! that's different because they got out to save your stupid ass! gods, do you really have to be so fucking stupid all the time?! i thought you were a daughter of selene, not koalemos!" leo yelled in response before throwing the screwdriver aside, listening as it clattered somewhere at the other end of the engine room.

aruna groaned and clawed at her face as she began pacing. she kicked a bronze paneling and leo just shook his head at the dent it formed. with a tug of her hand, aruna pulled the gravity and fixed the dent, leaving leo only slightly stunned before she opened her mouth again.

"why the hell do you care sooooo much when i actually try to take care of issues? okay, like every time i fight someone or something or some shit like that, it just drives you fucking insane!" aruna laughed as she gestured to leo. "i can make my own decisions, leo! i don't need you hovering over me and telling me not to do something for every issue that arrives!"

"oh, don't give me that shit!" leo kicked at the panel he'd just screwed in, and listened as an oar whirred to life. only three more, now, in order to get the ship moving again. "you act like i'm out to get you or something! all i'm trying to do is vocalize that you gotta stop being more reckless! you have more scars that half the people on board, and they've been at this as long as you have! jason was raised by wolves," leo hissed. "and he has ten less scars than you do!"

"i fail to see your point."

"don't you always?" leo mumbled as he walked past aruna to the next panel. his shoulder brushed her, knocking her askew. she scoffed, her back to leo as he got on with the next oar.

"maybe you're the stupid one, here." aruna said. "fighting equals scars! how many times do i put my ass on the line to protect you? not piper. not jason. you. i have gotten in the way of immortal demon ice angels that try to hook up with me, i have beat the shit out of campers and been put in time out, i have knocked away laistrygonians, i have taken maenads head on because your mouth is bigger than your head and they attacked you, i advocated for you when everyone thought you blew up new rome, i attacked a roman demigod for you, i fought a shrimpzilla, a giant turtle- all for you!"

leo looked at aruna, his breathing heavy. aruna mostly looked pissed off.

"why are you so dense?" aruna grunted as she looked away. "i do everything for you, and you call me reckless and stupid?"

leo shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.

"no? no? are you disagreeing, now?"

"no, i'm not." leo groaned loudly. "all i'm saying is that you need to be careful, okay?" he looked at her. her gaze had softened slightly, but she still refused to look at him. instead, she silently kicked a random bolt away.

"you just get hurt way too much." leo went on as he started working on the oar. "and it sucks to see all those scars and scabs and how much you're always bruised. i..." leo froze and hung his head. "i'm just tired of seeing you hurt, okay?"

aruna didn't move.

"so, next time a monster attacks, delegate." leo said as he resumed working. "let jason be tinkerbell, or hazel do the arion thing again, or let frank turn into a deadly poison dart frog and bounce around."

aruna fought off a smile, and leo knew he had won. she shrugged, and leo felt the mood lighten. his shoulders seemed to move a little more freely, even as aruna walked away. he listened to her footsteps recede softly, and go up the stairs. leo repaired the oar by the time she returned.

he removed the paneling on the second to last oar he had to replace. aruna brought a chair close by, sitting calmly with her legs crossed. leo ignored her for a bit, his head being enveloped in the machine. he mindlessly removed the broken pieces and started replacing them, wrenching them in softly.

he froze when he felt her hand on his cheek. his breath hitched and he turned to her as she gently used her thumb to wipe something off his face. she pulled away carelessly, wiping her hand on her thigh. next to her, she had a sandwich.

"i don't like dirty faces."

leo stared at her as she broke off a small piece of the sandwich. she pressed it to his lips, nudging him softly, and leo slowly ate it.

"thanks." he muttered as he turned away. his cheeks flamed red, burning him alive, even though he couldn't be burned. as she fed him the sandwich, he felt like flames were igniting from within, tearing him apart, ebbing at his life force. but, in a way, it felt good. her presence was calming, even though he felt like his heart was about to explode.

this must have been what love is. what it truly felt like. it was nice, sometimes. he liked doing things for her, showing her random stuff he was working on, hanging out with her. it was a bubbling feeling that started at the bottom. that was love, too. but love was also painful, despairing, infuriating. every time he saw her get hurt, he wanted to burn everyone alive, and then himself. every time he watched her cry, he felt like he was drowning in her own tears.

but the mix of those sensations was kind of nice. electrifying. invigorating. he felt like he was falling in love with her more and more every time she touched him. even though it was the second feeling- the burning sensation- it was coupled with the first one- the bubbling. it was like hot tea dribbling down his throat; scorching, but delightful.

he didn't know when the right time was. would there be a right time? he didn't want to scare her off, make her think he was weird, even though she had expressed she thought he was the weirdest one on board. but, if he said he loved her too soon, she'd think he was truly weird.

but he wanted to tell her so badly. he felt like she needed to know. like she'd understand that the basis for all of his concerns was the fact that he couldn't bear if something happened to her. he felt like he was never going to be able to express how truly in love with her he was.

he wondered how long he'd been in love with her. he knew he hadn't woken up one day and said oh, i'm in love. he was dumb, but he wasn't that dumb. he knew it'd been gradual, slowly boiling to the point that he was whistling at the time now.

he'd had a little crush on her for several months, of course. but that wasn't love. you can't fall in love until you know who a person is inside. love isn't superficial.

he had started to crush on her very hard when they'd gone on the quest. he'd thought she was amazing. she was fearless, liked talking to him, made things seem comfortable and like he could do it. looking at her fighting off wolves gave him the energy he needed to fight khione.

but when had he fallen in love? he was almost there on her birthday, he knew that much. but he felt like it wasn't quite love at that point.

it was hard to pinpoint. he didn't think he could. he felt like it had just been a gradual thing.

he did remember when he had admitted it to piper and jason, however.

~•♡•~

"a milkshake, please." piper asked the demeter cabin stand. they had started up a little stand- lemonade-esque- to get some more drachmas. "two straws."

leo rolled his eyes. jason blushed, and slung an arm around piper as she handed the drachmas to miranda gardener. "aw, you didn't-"

piper stuck both straws in the drink and grinned. "watch how fucking fast i can drink this milkshake."

leo laughed loudly at jason's stunned face as piper started slurping down the milkshake. leo started chanting "chug, chug, chug!" but piper had to stop halfway through because of a brain freeze. jason rolled his eyes and took the milkshake, sipping from one straw as he guided piper and leo under a nearby tree.

jason turned to leo. "did you not want one?"

leo shrugged it off. "nah, i had a tic-tac earlier, so i'm cool."

jason squinted. "leo, if you can't afford it, i'll buy one for you. no biggie."

"appreciate it, but i'm cool." leo said sincerely. jason nodded and took another sip of his milkshake as piper began coming down from her brain freeze.

leo found his gaze wandering. the tree smelled like spring sap. birds chirped all around, singing their morning sound. campers ran around, playing with each other, cursing each other, and training each other.

leo's eyes settled on cabin 21. the ghastly torches were still lit, the front door unmoving. he hadn't seen aruna since she left bunker 9 last night, around 5A.M. through the tiny windows of the cabin, he couldn't see any sign of her.

"think she's okay?" he asked as he began to worry.

jason nodded as piper snatched the milkshake away and started aggressively slurping again. "yeah, she's probably okay. she'll probably come out later today."

"she isn't gay." leo frowned.

jason glared. "not that come out-"

"no, she totally likes girls." piper admitted. leo panicked.

"w-w-what? did she tell you this? when? what girls? does she have a type?"

piper and jason stared at leo weirdly.

"um, she likes boys, too." piper said. "just because you have a crush on her-"

jason plopped his massive hand on leo's shoulder and stepped closer, which only made leo feel worse. he refused to crane his neck to look up at jason, and instead his eyes were trained on jason's chest.

"listen, man," ew, that made leo feel like his dad was scolding him. then, he fought back a laugh because he imagined hephaestus doing literally anything parental. "i know you like her, but jus take it easy! maybe she'll want to date around."

"but i don't want her to date around." leo grunted.

piper poked out from behind jason, slurping the remnants of the milkshake. jason glared at her as she smacked her lips and sighed loudly. "leo, why does it bother you so much? if she wants to date a guy or a girl or two, then it's okay! it'll make her realize what kind of person she wants, and she'll realize you have all the qualities she needs!"

"because i'm in love with her."

piper dropped the milkshake. luckily, the glass was sturdy enough not to break. jason's jaw dropped as leo fumed red and knocked his hand away.

he turned to leave.

"WAIT A DAMN MINUTE!"

"LEONIDAS, GET BACK HERE!"

"DON'T MAKE ME CALL CHIRON!"

"WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS, YOUNG MAN!"

the door to the selene cabin opened. everyone froze, looking towards aruna. one of her eyes was squinted shut and she wore a hot pink unicorn onezie.

"shut thefUCKUP!" she yelled quickly. everyone nodded in fear, and watched as the door slammed shut.

~•♡•~

leo stared a little too long, and then the questions started again.

"leo, you good?"

leo zoned back into the present. aruna was kneeling by him, her face contorted in worry. "you okay? you kinda... froze."

leo smiled and nodded. aruna's silver eyes softened, her nose and cheeks bright pink. she looked super cute as she brushed her hair aside and raised an eyebrow at leo, waiting for him to explain himself.

"just... remembering stuff." leo shrugged off. he went back to his work. he hadn't even realized he had almost finished the final oar.

"oh." aruna sat fully on her knees, comfortable in her spot. "like what?"

leo bit the inside of his cheek.

"good stuff." he said. "really good stuff."

~•♡•~

hi sorry for not updating my cousin was over this weekend