The Mechanic and the Witch- Leo x Calypso

In Which Leo Philosophizes

Six months passed quickly on the island.

Leo didn't know where the time went-- when he was at the workbench all other thoughts flew out of his head. Well, except for Calypso. He always thought about her.

The rhythm of pounding hammers contrasted with excruciatingly detailed clockwork and complicated electrical wiring. Leo found himself pulled into project after project, relishing in the work after so long without it. Every couple of hours or so (or whenever his shirt burned off), Calypso would make him take a break. They would have a picnic or go on a walk together, talk by the loom or garden for a while. Leo was learning how to knit.

Leo loved the callouses on Calypso's hands and the lightness of her feet. She could climb up several stories in an oak tree, and then take the time to watch a flower bloom. Literally. Sitting there for hours, watching the petals open- one by one. Crazy, that girl. She made him take tonics every night, yuck. At least the elderberry one was good.

Calypso's nature was slower than Leo's, more relaxed. She had a sharp tongue but she didn't use it much, which had surprised Leo in the beginning. The first time he came to her island, she had been pretty aggressive, but over time he learned that that wasn't her usual style. Leo was just really good at infuriating people.

Leo had stayed up late one night working, and when he'd come back to the cave, the moon was high in the sky. Everything looked strange, like someone had flattened the wold into two dimensions and then painted it with blue watercolors.

He'd caught sight of Calypso in the garden, shining white chiton patterned with dirt stains. Leo loved her so much.

She was hunched over a flowerbed, sniffling. Leo tensed and hurried over to her.

"Hey, sunshine, hey. Don't cry..." Calypso sobbed into his smoky shirt. Leo looked at the bed. Just as he thought: moonlace. He rubbed her back gently and rocked her back and forth, until the tears turned into hiccups.

"Want to talk about it?" He asked. She nodded, a little bob of her head before she tucked herself back into Leo's chest. A warm feeling spread through all his limbs.

Her voice was shaky when she began, "The moonlace... this plant's sister is out there, in the world somewhere. Leo," she looked into his eyes, "I want to be out in the world somewhere."

"Ok." Calypso looked startled. Leo continued, "I knew you wouldn't want to stay on this island forever, but I think we both needed time to get to know each other before leaving."

Tears glinted like pearls on her face when she smiled.

"Why did you come back to me, the first time? You didn't know me."

Leo rubbed his thumb over her cheek, smudging a tear.

"I wanted to know you, and that made all the difference."