orenda [leo valdez]

lxxxiii. Flour War and Naked Cupcakes

Leo laughed. "No. I'm tired."

Kira just rolled her eyes, laughing.

"Okay, okay, I've got it," Leo said, waving his arms around again. "I'll be back in fifteen, got it? You've got that much time to work on your homework. After that, you're all mine."

Kira smirked, glancing up at her boyfriend. "All yours, huh?"

"All mine."

△△△

Kira was on her last question when Leo burst in the door with a bag of groceries.

"The Bay Boy, Leo Valdez has returned!" He called, pushing the door shut and slamming the bag on the counter.

Kira dropped her work on the coffee table, eager to see what he had gotten.

Leo set out everything he had bought. Eggs, flour, sugar, baking soda...

"Leo," Kira said, laughing. "Are we baking a cake?"

"Nope!" Leo said excitedly, bouncing up and down. "Cupcakes!"

He looked as goofy and free as he did when he was fifteen. They were twenty-one now, and thing seemed, well, good. Leo was still the same goofball Kira had lent her homework to in Wilderness School and the same kid that had taken down Gaea two years later. He had the same crooked grin, the smear of soot on his cheek that seemed glued to his face unless Kira wiped it off.

One of the only differences was a tattoo he had gotten. They had gotten matching ones that said HOT STUFF with a skull and crossbones. Kira managed to get Leo to argue to get it smaller, so that they didn't look like some weird biker gang. All of their college friends thought it was dumb looking, but neither of them told them the story behind it. It was a story that remained between them, which was the best kind.

Kira kissed him.

When they broke apart, Leo was blushing. "What was that for?"

"What, I can't kiss my boyfriend?" Kira asked, smirking. Leo bit his lip, kissing her again, harder. He lifted her up onto the countertop, his hands wrapped up in her hair.

They had kissed before. Hell, they kissed all the time. But no matter how many times, butterflies still rose in her stomach. His frame leaned against hers, and Kira knew there was no one else she'd rather be with right now, in this moment.

"hey, nena," Leo purred against the kiss. "We should make some cake now."

"I would love that."

As Leo pulled out an old recipe, one that he told Kira he had learned from his mom, Kira gathered all the right ingredients.

"Uh, Leo?" Kira asked, holding up a bottle of Easy Cheese. "This isn't going on the cake, right?"

Leo took it, squirting a bunch in his mouth. "Nope!" He said happily. "I just like it."

Kira grimaced, taking it and putting it in the fridge.

"Hazel was right, you know," Kira said, shutting the fridge. "That stuff will kill you."

"It would be an honor to die by Easy Cheese," Leo said, trying to read the recipe.

Leo handed the recipe to Kira, and she squinted, trying to read it. "Okay, first we have to pretend-"

"Preheat," Leo corrected patiently.

Kira assumed he had forgotten she was dyslexic. She squinted harder. "To 530 degrees-"

"350."

Kira huffed. "Why are you letting the dyslexic girl read the directions?" She said, throwing her arms up.