The two doors

Side B, part 3.

Me *in the most dramatic way you can imagine*: Welcome, to the Valdangelo multiverse.

Seeing Leo interacting with the kinds, once they finally call it a day, reminds him of time on the Argo II in an inexact sort of way.

And yet at the same time, this Leo is an alien creature, one that piques his curiosity.

The dissonance between those two ideas keeps him focused on the sight before him. Reyna seems to interpret his silent staring differently.

"I'm guessing the two of you haven't figured it out yet in your world"

It catches him off-guard, and he has to say something about it because he feels like maybe something's not passing through correctly.

"You just said he was insane, and I literally told you about the break up!"

Reyna smiles at him, like he's a particularly dumb kid.

"When I met you on the Argo II, the two of you were already close"

Then she faces forwards, back at the group chatting just a ways away.

"When I asked you told me it was because you understood each other"

Then she turns back, and he feels as though slapped in the face because of how truly stupid it is.

The reason Leo had known to make him armor, that he would run at all, even if he mistook the timing, wasn't just because he knew him. But because it was what Leo himself would've done.

"Besides," says Reyna pulling him back, "it was my connection to Elisha and hers to me that saved me"

He wonders, as Leo tries to keep the kids in line, if this is what Leo felt when he organized the punching line upon his return. There must have been an explanation, because they all look far too eager to be saying hello to someone they probably see daily.

And isn't that an odd thing to think about, that the other him could be so similar yet so different from him even though they were one and the same? That there's a version of him who's connected with this many people?

The first to approach looks the oldest, they have oddly pale-pink skin for the kind of features that make their face, their hair is an off-set white, and they wear bright colors under their neon-colored work-vest. They smile in a manner that's charmingly reminiscent of Leo, pinkish red eyes crinkling at the corners.

"Hi, I'm Ollie, they/them"

"Child of Aphrodite" Reyna adds when they fail to.

Ollie smiles sheepishly at this, looking far younger than they probably are, and steps aside to let the next person through. The next kid's on the shorter side, brown hair in a buzzcut and skin and clothes covered in grass-stains, they look nervous as they approach.

"Uhm, my name's Michael, and ern, my mom's Demeter, and uh, I use he/him"

He gives him what he hopes is a reassuring nod, and watches the boy rush to where Ollie is and noticeably sigh. He feels a little bad about it.

There's not much time to think about it because someone claps loudly in front of him, when he turns startled at a kid that looks like they saw a picture for the definition of Punk and dressed themselves accordingly, altered version of the work-vest in neon violet instead of the normal orange included.

The little punk-wannabe smirks at him, like they find all of this amusing.

"Name's Kim, but you can call me the girl of your dreams"

"I'm gay" he deadpans

The ensuing grin tells him that's exactly the answer she was looking for.

"Kim's a daughter of Hermes," Leo comments, "so keep close watch on your belongings"

"Hey!" Kim gasps, "I take offense to that!"

Leo rolls his eyes.

"Sure, and that isn't the site's only golden wrench in your pocket"

Kim grumbles loudly but put the shiny tool into Leo's outstretched hand. He's distracted again by a soft 'woah!' and turns to see one of the remaining kids holding another one that looks like they'll fall asleep on their feet any second.

The non-fainting kid shoots a sheepish grin his way, and moves them both closer.

"Sorry, I'm Asher, Roman Apollo son, and I should probably take DJ back to his bed so he can recharge"

"Yeah, Hypnos, right?"

Asher blinks at him but smiles again, nodding quickly before moving them both away, another of the kids jumps upfront.

"I'm Crystal, daughter of Nike, I'm gonna help them, bye!"

And then she's running away, catching up to the pair with ease and taking DJ's right arm.

The last two step forwards in tandem, and Nico realizes they're identical, even when confronted with how much they've done to be identifiable from one another. The one on the right has an undercut dyed bright purple, the other one has short blonde hair shoddily cut to a little under the ears.

"I'm Skipper, they/them" says the one on the left

"I'm Lace, xil/xirm" says the one on the right

"We're children of Trivia" they finish in tandem

He looks at Leo, who just shakes his head, closing his eyes, as though he knows exactly what he's thinking. So he turns back around.

"What about the other pronoun?"

Lace smiles at this.

"Xirs"

There's two more kids, one is a boy named Josh who's a son of Hecate, but doesn't do creepy horror-house numbers like his siblings, the other is a girl named Nash who's a daughter of Ares. They're both banned from the construction site for different reasons.

Nash is banned because, as the youngest of the group, she isn't allowed around power tools just yet. Josh is banned because he has terrible luck and would get badly injured at best, according to the rest of them anyways.

Hanging with the group is actually kind of nice, in that it allows him to be a little childish, and that the kids already like him. The twins actually match him in dark humor, and soon he's laughing just as much as everyone else.

It's kind of surreal, dream like even, and that's exactly why he indulges in it.

His eyes stray and find Leo, and the world screeches to a furious stop.

Leo's laughing, entire posture open, voice all messed up with lack of air and loud, eyes all but glowing. And he's hit with a tidal wave of understanding for how the other him got here.

Leo turns to him mid thought, laugh-laced grin directed right at him.

Yeah.

He gets it.