orenda [leo valdez]

lxxviii. Hush, Woman

❝i look into the future, as far as i can see, and see you.❞

⤷mark anthony

△△△

Leo shrieked as Festus took a sharp turn.

"You scream like a girl!" Kira teased.

"I do not!"

"Well you sure did a high pitched scream."

"I did not scream!" Leo protested.

"Oh yeah?" Kira shot back. "What did you do then?"

"That was just me making a noise with my mouth."

Kira flicked her boyfriend lovingly.

They had been flying for four days now, with only one more day left before the attack on Camp Jupiter. They only stopped to get food from McDonalds. Leo was sporting a McDonald's t-shirt. Kira didn't remember that McDonalds had apparel, but she didn't ask.

She probably wouldn't admit it, but she enjoyed it. They nearly were never allowed somewhere alone, or there was some sort deadly quest looming over them. Of course, they were technically sending a message of impending doom, but don't get caught up on the details.

They spent last four days catching up with sleep, letting their injuries heal from the battle, and chatting.

Kira wrapped her arms around the back of Leo, who was steering Festus, She couldn't see his face, but she felt his skin warm up, and she smiled.

"You know, Valdez," She whispered into his ear. She inched closer, and she could feel him shiver. "After this, we can do whatever we want."

Leo turned to look at her. "What?" He asked, surprised. "You'd really give up camp?"

Kira thought about it. She'd miss the three-legged death races, Capture the Flag, and all her friends, but the thought of living with Leo in a secluded cottage on a cliff somewhere was enough to make her drop everything and tell Leo to change courses.

"I...I don't know. Maybe we could finish senior year at camp, and then we could go off and do our own thing. We could go to college and settle down in New Rome, or we could go somewhere else." She looked into his chocolate eyes. "We could do anything we wanted."

Leo didn't respond at first. For a few horrifying seconds, Kira thought that she had overreached and that maybe they weren't as close as she thought. Maybe Leo wanted something more carefree, and he maybe he was about to break up with her. That would be an awkward day of secluded flying.

"Kira," He stuttered. "I'd love to. I don't care what we do, I just want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Kira had never had a boyfriend before Leo. She had come close, a few boys had asked her out back at her private school back in Seattle, but she never clicked with them long enough for them to formally ask her to be their girlfriend. She had never felt what she felt with Leo before, a type of pure love that she had never been exposed to. They had only been together for over a year, but they had known each other for years, and it felt like they had been together forever.