LEO

~•♡•~

leo wasn't lying about aruna's sunburn. she did have a minor one, but it really wasn't that bad. he actually wanted her gone. his shame couldn't take her presence.

from what he could feel in his conked-out slumber, it was aruna taking care of him. he could recognize the coldness of her thin fingers anywhere, and the way she tenderly touched him.

that only made him feel worse. because he was the one that had fought her. he didn't even know what had happened, but he'd never felt more horrified as he had as he tried to punch her, as he tackled her, as he kicked her with all his force. he'll never forget how betrayed she had looked.

he completely deserved that beating. he deserved more than that, really. he didn't want to tell aruna that he was still dizzy, and that his leg hurt. he needed to stay like that for a while, almost as a reminder of what he'd done.

frank cleared his throat. "so, your name isn't sammy?"

leo scowled. "what kind of question is that?"

"nothing." frank said quickly. "i just- nothing. about the firing on camp... octavian could be behind it, like magically or something. he didn't want the romans getting along with you guys."

leo wanted to believe that. he was grateful to this kid for not hating him. but he knew it hadn't been octavian. leo had walked to the ballista and started firing. part of him had known it was wrong. he'd asked himself; what the heck am i doing? but he'd done it anyway. and the entire time he was fighting aruna, he'd been trying so hard to stop it.

maybe he was going crazy. maybe the stress of all those months working on the argo II had finally gotten to him.

he frowned. the stress was the whole reason aruna brought him along on her nighttime adventures. almost every night, she would steal him from bunker 9, and they would do something new; listen to a late-night street band, dance together in times square, get childish face paint.

and now, leo felt like he was ruining it all.

but he couldn't think about that. he needed to do something productive. his hands needed to be busy, and if they couldn't hold aruna, they would have to do the next best thing.

"look," he said. "i should talk to festus and get a damage report. you mind...?"

frank helped him up. "who is festus?"

"my friend. his name isn't sammy either, in case you're wondering. come on. i'll introduce you."

~•♡•~

leo had been given the damage report, which was not very good. then, he talked to frank about limes. he also maintained his distance, because frank was built like a tank, and was like, a foot taller than leo. and leo already felt small, with the only people smaller than him being about 10 years old.

"hazel?" leo asked festus. "that's the girl with the curly hair, right?"

frank gulped. "is she okay?"

"yeah, she's fine. according to festus, her horse is racing along below. she's following us."

"we've got to land then." frank said.

leo studied him. "she's your girlfriend?"

frank chewed his lip. "yes."

"you don't sound sure."

"yes. yes, definitely. i'm sure."

great. now there would be a third couple on board. first, piper and jason making out left and right, and now percy and annabeth had reunited, so gods know what that will bring. now, frank and hazel would be together.

which left leo pining over aruna as he worked on repairs, 'cause that was his job. repair boy.

he always wondered what aruna thought of him. occasionally, he'd catch her staring while he was working, but she always ended up pointing out how dirty he was.

was that all she thought? that he was the grimy, scrawny repair boy that tried to kill her and the people of new rome?

"so, aruna seems interesting."

leo scowled. "your point...?" for the most part, leo did not like it when aruna's name was in someone else's mouth. really, when it was in a boy's mouth.

"it's just- a child of luna... unheard of." frank said. leo breathed out.

"yeah, but don't bring it up." leo warned. "she's real sensitive about it."

frank frowned. "why?"

"because it makes her different." leo answered. "when she was claimed, everyone was scared of her. they threw her things out, gave her weird looks. even now, months later, some people still act like she's a bomb. she doesn't let it show, but it upsets her. so, don't be a dick."

frank smiled softly. "you um... you seem to really care about her."

"because i'm in love with her."

frank broke into a coughing fit. leo didn't bother looking as he surveyed the land below. once frank had calmed down, he stared at leo in disbelief.

"i- that was-"

"blunt? sudden? caught you off guard?" leo supplied.

frank nodded. leo smiled softly and twisted one of his curly locks of hair.

"yeah, people usually react that way when i say it." leo explained. "except for her. she doesn't seem to get it."

"wait- you've told her?" frank asked in disbelief.

"i tell her all the time, man." leo groaned. "she always thinks it's a joke, because i guess that's all i do. but it isn't. i am super in love with her, but she's so fucking dense, it pains me."

"maybe if someone else told her?"

"tried that."

"...romantic scenery?"

"she ended up falling into the lake."

"sincere letter?"

"it is literally hanging up on her wall at camp, and she laughs when i mention it."

"did you try-"

"i tried it all." leo said exasperatedly. "i've done the apple-proposal thing, but it scared her and she smacked it into a son of nike, and they got in a huge fight. i have tried romantic dinners in new york, but we got caught up in a riot and her hand was chopped off."

"WHAT-"

"i hired a barbershop quartet, but they came at 5a.m. instead of 5p.m., so she ended up watching the entire thing in confusion while i was conked out a mile away."

"um-"

"and i did the romantic scene thing, but she wanted to recreate titanic, and she fell in the lake. it was like, fifty feet deep and the dumbass just sunk."

"how did-"

"i have gotten on one knee and told her how beautiful and wonderful she was, and that almost worked, but then a giant scorpion came in and ruined things by killing her."

"SHE WHAT?!"

"that was when thanatos was kidnapped. it was weird at the time, though." leo sighed. "point is- it doesn't matter what i do. she just won't buy it."

leo stopped there. he was almost a thousand percent certain that it was just because aruna didn't feel the same way, and was trying not to be a dick.

she probably didn't mean to bleed out and die the last time, but the other times were pretty certain.

well, she didn't mean to lose her hand. or hit a son of nike. and the barbershop quartet thing was a miscommunication thing.

"but, it doesn't matter." leo huffed. "priorities. the problem is we can only manage one landing. the way the hull and the oars are, we won't be able to lift off again until we repair, so we'll have to make sure we land somewhere with all the right supplies."

frank scratched his head. "where do you get celestial bronze? you can't just stock up at home depot."

"festus, do a scan."

"he can scan for magical bronze?" frank marveled. "is there anything he can't do?"

you should've seen him when he had a body.

he didn't say that, though. remembering the way festus used to be was too painful.

the stairs creaked behind him. leo and frank whipped around, which made leo's head spin. aruna emerged, her face slick with sunscreen. festus tilted his head as he looked at her, then snorted a bit of steam. aruna waved at him and turned back to the boys.

"so. did you have some nice bonding time?"

"about as much as you probably had with hazel." frank shrugged.

aruna nodded. leo could tell she was feeling a bit awkward. typically, if other people besides jason, piper, leo, and annabeth were present, she was a bit weird.

okay, a lot weird.

the stairs creaked again. annabeth and percy emerged, their faces grim. leo's heart stumbled.

"is jason-"

"he's resting." annabeth said. "piper's keeping an eye on him, but he should be fine."

percy gave leo a hard look. "annabeth says you did fire the ballista?"

leo felt squirmy. "man, i-i don't understand what happened. i'm so sorry-"

"sorry?" percy growled.

"hey." aruna stepped forward. "watch it."

annabeth put a hand on percy's chest. "we'll figure it out later. right now, we have to regroup and make a plan."

"ah, you and your plans." aruna sighed wistfully.

"not all of us enjoy 'going for it'." annabeth smiled. "leo, what's the situation with the ship?"

leo's legs trembled. his entire body felt tingly as percy glared at him. it was the same feeling as when jason was about to summon lightning, or leo made the mistake of eating off aruna's plate. ever muscle in his body screamed, duck!

"uh, the hull's fucked. the oars are fucked. we can make one landing." leo summed up. "we're fucked."

"i think runa is rubbing off on you too much." annabeth groaned.

"we need tar and lime." leo explained. "and celestial bronze, but gods know where that might be."

"how much do you need?" aruna asked.

"uh, like seven pizzas worth."

frank scoffed and aruna nodded, like this was a normal measurement system.

"americans will use anything but the metric system." frank grumbled.

"you're not american?" aruna asked.

"chinese-canadian."

"ugh. canadians." aruna moaned. "with their free healthcare and politeness."

festus whirred and squeaked. leo smiled brightly.

"perfect!"

"what's perfect?" annabeth asked. "i could use some perfect right about now."

"everything we need in one place." leo grinned. "frank, why don't you turn into a bird or something, and tell your girlfriend to meet as at the great salt lake in utah."

"UGH, I HATE UTAH!"

"ARU, YOU HATE EVERYTHING!" leo retorted.

"not wisconsin. they got cheese."

percy looked on in bewilderment. "you are... so weird."

"PERCY, SHE'S JUST LIKE YOU!" annabeth gasped. frank finally had enough and turned into a little swallow, and flew down to hazel.

"oh baby, i am way cooler." aruna boasted.

"honey, nobody is cooler than me." percy smirked.

"sweetie, i-"

"enough with the pet names." annabeth cut in. "leo, get us to the great salt lake."

"on it."

~•♡•~

frank, annabeth, and percy went downstairs shortly after that, leaving leo alone with aruna. he felt disgusting to be in such close proximity with her, but he was mostly disturbed at the feat that aruna had nothing to show.

instead, she rested her arms on the edge of the warship. the wind ruffled her raven hair and silver cloak. her silver eyes gazed aimlessly at the world around them. her index finger mindlessly tapped on the wood in a rythmic way- the same rythym for the song leo heard her hum all the time.

"so." leo awkwardly cleared his throat as he shifted. suddenly, his skin felt too tight, almost like his skeleton was trying to break free and run off. "you uh... find that nico guy?"

"i wasn't able to try." aruna answered. "couldn't get calm enough, so i just ate a bag of fritos."

typical.

"listen, about... about what happened-"

"it doesn't matter."

leo stared at aruna. her cheeks were rosy and glistening, the product of a sunburn and sunscreen applied too late. leo had told her time and again to apply some if she was going to be outside longer than thirty minutes- which was all it took for her milky skin to burn.

leo found it kind of ironic. she was literally part mexican. it was her culture, her blood. yet, her porcelain skin quite literally cracked in the daylight.

leo started to smile a bit. he also remembered how he had literal fire powers, yet aruna burnt because of a little natural light.

"i'm over it." aruna said. "it wasn't your fault, and i know that. in the meantime; where the fuck did you stash my pickles?" aruna said with an accusatory glare.

leo felt his legs crumbling. "listen- it took up too much room for my ammo-"

"PICKLES ARE TOO MUCH?!"

"ARU, WE HAVE A MAGICAL DINING ROOM! YOU CAN SUMMON PICKLES AT ANYTIME!"

"I DON'T WANT THOSE PICKLES! I WANT THE BEST MAID BRAND!"

"AND YOU CAN SUMMON THE BEST MAID BRAND!"

"NO! I LIKE THE JAR!"

"WHY DOES THE GODDAMN JAR MATTER?!"

and, so, that went on for another twenty minutes before percy finally clambered upstairs with his sword, and told them to shut up.

"yeah, yeah, okay big man." aruna snorted. percy flipped her off as he disappeared belowdeck once more.

leo had a terrible feeling that percy and aruna would either fight to no end, or be like two evil gremlins that relish in ruining things.

"here." aruna suddenly shoved a square of ambrosis at leo's lips, making the male leap back.

"wha-"

"i know you're still dizzy, jackass."

leo blushed and took the square in his hand. without another word, aruna slung an arm around his shoulder, and sighed. her black hair looked so beautiful under the sun, and her mouth was turned into a neutral sort of frown. her silver eyes pooled with the sadness leo had seen so often, a sadness he felt would never truly go away.

he didn't speak on it. he knew what it was. aruna was remembering again- remembering everything that had ever transpired in her life. even when she remembered the good, like happy memories with her father, she was sad. leo never knew why.

but, he understood it. the feeling aruna seemed to experience when she remembered was the same feeling leo had. but leo fully believed aruna's was worse. more bad had happened to her than good. it had always been like that. she had never been safe.

even now, leo couldn't provide any sort of safety for her. the quest of the eight had begun, and leo truly did not know if they would survive to nightfall, much less into the next day.

thus, in the sorrowful silence of memory, leo ate the square of ambrosia.

~•♡•~

HOLAAAAAA

i feel like dispensing this fun fact:

aruna was inspired by three characters pretty heavily.

pieck finger- attack on titan
power- chainsaw man
mikasa ackerman- attack on titan

ALSO- i am a HUGE astrology nut so i decided to input aruna BIRTHCHART! would yall wanna see it or not ik its kinda stupid but omg i wrote her really in line with the chart i think its so cool how i did that