Daughter of Olympus - [Leo Valdez xF!Oc]

I Handle It Like a Champ

Walter is so nervous when he asks me out that I don't have the heart to say no. It's a big deal for an Aphrodite to be someone's crush, like a milestone. Even if you don't like the person. Considering how out of place I've been feeling, this has me over the moon.

"Do you even know this guy?"

"We wouldn't be going on a date if I did," I shrug.

"That's not..." Percy looks at his mom. "That's not how it works, right?"

Sally chuckles. "Do you like him, Ara?"

"He's nice."

"Where is he taking you?"

"The mall that's five minutes away from the coffee shop where we got those raisin muffins," I'm not good with street names, so I always give directions like that.

Percy frowns. "You don't know the city."

"I never leave this place?"

"We always go out together!"

"We're always cutting things short because we run into monsters."

"Tell you what," Sally intervenes. "I'll drop her off on my way to work, and you pick her up, we can get burgers after."

Percy and I look at each other, I pout and he gives in. "I'll pick you up at five."

***

Someone's dragging her away from the factory, she inhales sharply and tries to regain her footing. "I'm up! I'm alive!" Ara coughs out. "Where's Jason?"

"Here," Piper grunts.

Ara moves out of Leo's grip, and since she's stronger than Piper, she grabs Jason and carries him as best as she can. "Can someone tell me why are we running?" She pants.

"The Cyclops are regenerating!"

Ara swears in ancient Greek. "I don't even get to kill a stupid Cyclops?"

They reach Festus and Ara pushes Jason up with Piper's help. She asks Leo for a plastic bag, grabs two fistfuls of snow, and puts them inside it. Ara climbs the dragon and faces Jason while Piper hugs the unconscious boy by the waist. Leo is wiring Festus as quickly as possible while Ara works on Jason's head injury. 

"Hang tight!" Leo yells.

Ara's back is pressed against Leo's, but she hooks her feet under Piper's legs just in case. The girl grabs her dino bag and seizes the bottle of nectar and a clean cloth, pouring the liquid on it and cleaning Jason's forehead, once again chanting under her breath.

The boy stirs in his sleep, but he doesn't wake up. Ara wraps his head in bandages, keeping the cloth pressed over the wound. Once that's done, she dries her hands on her own cloak and gives Piper the bag with ice. 

"Keep it on the bump, don't press too hard..." Ara leans on Leo and lets her head fall on his shoulder. "Thank the gods the children of Zeus have thick heads..."

***

I wait a whole hour before I conclude that this boy won't come. I wanna give him the benefit of the doubt, but then I see him with Karen and her friends at the arcade. I go away and call Percy—two hours earlier than he'd expected me to call—and he gets there in less than twenty minutes. 

"Where is he?" Is the first thing he asks. His face is kind of scary.

I shrug. "No idea. Can we leave now?"