embers (leo valdez x reader)

2. toy aisle

You looked at Leo as everyone else walked off. "So... where do you wanna go first?"

Leo shrugged. "I dunno. Electronics is packed, I'm sure we'd get caught there."

You nodded. "Yeah, makes sense. People with kids leave the store after, what, seven?"

"I don't know, do I look like a person with a kid?" he asked.

"You look like you could be a kid," you narrowed your eyes at him.

"You're literally shorter than me," he replied.

You groaned. "I'm shorter than everyone."

"We could try the toy aisle," Leo said. "I think it'd be fine."

"Let't go check it out then."

You started walking towards the toy aisle.

"Hey," he said. "Aren't you nervous about staying the night in the same place as a bunch of demigods? I mean, monsters and stuff."

You shrugged. "I guess. But with Percy, Jason, and Annabeth, I know I'd be protected. No offense, I don't even know what you do yet."

Leo looked around and then stuck his hand out.

"Watch," he said, and set it on fire for a second.

"Woah," you said. "Yeah, I'm super protected. Plus, you think I'd go anywhere without some kind of weapon? After the two wars my brother's been through?"

You pulled out your celestial bronze pocket knife. "Comes in handy."

You stuck it back in your pocket.

"You ever been attacked?" Leo asked.

You shook your head. "No, it's just a precaution. Percy's stories scare me."

Leo smirked. "Don't worry. If monsters attack, I'll protect you."

He added a wink. You rolled your eyes.

"Yeah, right, my pocket knife will do all the protecting here," you said, but couldn't help but smile. You stopped in front of the toy aisle.

"It's a ghost town," Leo said.

You nodded. "That's good, in this case."

He looked over at you, grinning softly. You looked back at him and smiled awkwardly.

His head whipped back around. "So, have you, uh, always been, what is it, clear-sighted?"

You shook your head. "No. It only started when Percy started telling me stuff. Even now, sometimes, I can't see things."

Leo nodded. "Cool, cool."

"So, who's your godly parent?" you asked him.

"Hephaestus," Leo said, walking around the toy aisle.

"So the fire thing," you started. "Is that a regular Hephaestus thing, or?"

Leo shook his head. "No. Just me."

"Well, I think it's cool," you replied. "So, what've you been doing since you got back to camp?"

Leo stopped for a second, then started walking again.

You winced. Right. Ex-girlfriend.

"I've been in the forge, mostly," Leo said, pulling a couple gears and things out of his pocket and playing with them.

"Mind if I stop by sometime?" you asked, watching his hands.

He raised an eyebrow and turned to you. He stopped playing with the gears and smiled, just a little. "Sure."

You looked at your phone. "It's almost three. Wanna head back to the doors?"

"Alright," Leo said, turning on his heel. You followed him.

When you got to the front, Jason was waiting with a shopping cart full of pillows and blankets.

"Yo, that shopping cart's huge," Leo mentioned.

Jason smiled as he got a thought. "Big enough for a small person to fit inside."

Both he and Leo turned to look at you.

You smiled. "Please."

Jason nodded towards the cart.

You put your hands on the edge of it and hopped in.

You gasped dramatically. "It's so comfy! Can I sleep in it?"

"No!" Percy said, running towards you, holding Annabeth's hand. "You sleep on the floor with the rest of us."

You tilted your head. "Is it because you wanna sleep in it?"

He scoffed. "No."

You noticed that Annabeth and Percy both looked disheveled and messy. They didn't forget the snacks, though.

"Jason," you said. "Wheel me towards the toy aisle."

Jason nodded and started wheeling you towards the aisle. Leo hopped on the edge of it.

"Hey," he said.

You smiled. "Hi."

He looked like a little kid. Jason was going fast enough that a nice breeze was going through Leo's dark hair, and he had a wild look in his brown eyes.

His eyes, you noticed, were that shade of brown with the russet undertones. They were pretty. He was pretty.

Soon enough, you stopped at the toy aisle.

"This," Leo announced, hopping off the cart. "Is where we're staying."