Leo is waiting for them at the top of the gangplank, he grins and waves at the group, then his eyes focus on Frank and her. The moment she reaches his side and Leo has to look up to meet her gaze, he flushes to a cherry tone Ara has never seen on his face.
He speaks in a strangled voice. "Ares?"
"Mars. I don't know, I doubt it matters," Ara says, self-conscious about their height difference. "How does it look?"
"You could crash my skull with your thighs," he blurts out.
Hazel gasps, fanning her face scandalized at his comment. "Gods, I hate you," Nico groans, guiding his flustered sister away from them.
Ara hurries past Leo and goes to her cabin to check her reflection, her breath hitches at the sight: she looks exactly like Arachne's tapestry minus the cape and hair. Yesterday she had baby fat around her face, her abs were a soft belly, and now she looks like a high school senior who never misses a workout. Arms toned and longer legs—she barely fits in the mirror, since it was designed for a girl that was 5'3.
"Holy crap," she breathes. Someone knocks on her door, and she finds Nico standing there, waiting to be let in. "I'm tall," she states in shock.
"Congrats. What was the fight about? The one you had with Lily?"
Ara knows this will bring an argument, but if it doesn't happen today, it'll happen at an even worse time. "I told her we couldn't trust you."
Nico visibly tenses. "I'm not surprised."
Ara turns to face him properly. "I had a good reason, you know what I'm talking about."
Nico's eyes darken. "My dad forbade me to talk about it. One of your patrons—your main patron, or did you forget?"
"How can I? Ever since that day, I've been the babysitter of his little prince."
"I told you I wanted no part of your stupid camp, but it was you who promised—"
"You needed a place to live—"
"You expected everyone to act like I don't creep them out."
"Oh, cry me a river," Ara walks past him. "I've got more important things to do than to listen to the same complaints on repeat."
***
"Crap!" Ara struggles with the damaged oar, she hisses when it scratches her palm. "Leo, I forgot my gloves, can you toss them over?"
Leo seizes her Octopi bag and rummages through its contents. "You didn't grab them? That's basic gear, Ara."
"I don't do basic," she responds.
Leo looks over the railing. "Say what?"
"It's like maths," Ara squints when she looks up. "Unnecessary."
The boy holds onto the handrail as he leans in dramatically. "You think is what?"
"Oh no..." She mumbles and tilts her head. "My scolding senses are tingling..."
Leo scowls. "Get your ass back here—and be careful."
He doesn't reprimand her like, ever, not even tries to, but his job is the one thing he takes seriously, so Ara climbs back on deck and dusts off her hands expecting the berating of the week.
Leo spots the scrape on her hand and searches for his tool belt. "You almost lost an arm last December and you think being careful is unnecessary?"
"Oh, that was different," Ara watches Leo heal her. "Silly things—"
"Silly?" Leo looks up and his eye twitches. "Fixing the oars and giving Festus an upgrade ain't like changing the batteries of a TV remote, sweetheart. And maths? You need maths!"
She laughs nervously. "You okay?"
"Arae Jackson, that's negligence!" He exclaims. "Is this why they call you Dr Frankenstein back in camp?"
"Oh, you know about that?" She asks unbothered.
"That's it, you're not allowed to work on the repairs."
Her mouth opens in shock. "Leo, you know I'm a good repairperson, don't do this!"
"You heard me," he tries to take the harness off her, muttering grumpily. "Don't do maths, seriously..."
"Hey! Stand back!" Ara keeps him away. Leo is smaller than her now and he was never strong to begin with. "I'll finish the task whether I'm wearing the harness or not!"
"You're not helping yourself!" Nico speaks out of nowhere, both teens looking up to see him at the top mast.
"Stay out of this!" Ara seizes Leo's wrist. "Stop!"
It's kind of cute, seeing him angry over this. Reminds her of Mike a bit, which makes her feel kind of guilty. "Promise you'll be careful in the right way, not yours!"
Ara rolls her eyes. "Can I have my gloves, then?"
"Put them on before you go back," Leo crosses his arms. "I don't understand why Beckendorf made you Cabin Nine's right-hand girl if you ignore safety procedures."
"Beck had the knowledge, I had the spirit," she puts the gloves on with an amused expression. "Anyway... I need insulation stuff—the spongy one? And Industrial glue, and the..." She makes a gesture as if holding something and puffs some air out of her lips. "To fuse the bronze to the hull..."
"Insulation foam, industrial glue, metal welding kit—and bronze-welding rods to reattach the frame to the hull," the boy turns to get the goods.
Ara beams. "And welding goggles."
"'Course," Leo grabs stuff from his toolbox, the rest are from his magic belt. Ara stands there waiting. "Anything else?"
"Your hand in marriage?"
"Dang it, woman! You can't make me forget how irresponsible you are by love-bombing me!" Leo exclaims, handing the tools to her.
Ara puts the goggles on. "Seriously, Cabin Nine kids can tell what I'm talking about after a few tries, but you don't even think about it, that's awesome."
Leo looks away to hide his blush. "Your brain works similarly to mine, that's all. It's why we're attracted to each other in the first place."
It's nice to hear that's what Leo thinks about their situation. "We're soulmates." She says it so matter-of-factly that it makes Leo light up as much as the sun. Ara clears her throat and steps back. "Well, I'm going..."
"Yeah," Leo mumbles, a little smile playing on his face. "I'll be watching, my soon-to-be fiancé."
Above them, Nico groans again, but they both ignore him.
***
Leo has long forgotten he's supposed to be checking Ara's work while installing Festus's upgrade. Instead, he's just eyeing her, trying not to be obvious, but doing a terrible job.
He can't even hate the fact that she's taller than him by a lot. She's the only demigod that looks god-like in his eyes, Ara's beauty grows with every blessing, no smudge of dirt she gets from her hard work can take it away. When she moves, her body gets framed by the dying sunlight in a way that makes Leo lightheaded.
She's wearing the hair tie he made for her, holding her shiny brown locks in a loose braid, and the way she scrunches up her nose in concentration, the tip of her tongue poking out... The more he looks, the more his heart races.
She was once out of his league, now she's out of everyone's orbit. She's skillful and experienced, and Leo has a hard time understanding why she would love someone as inconsequential as him.
"You should be careful."
Nico's voice comes to remind him not everything is perfect. Leo jumps out of his skin and swears in Spanish, he glares at the tall boy standing behind him. "Dude, can you not do that?"
Nico doesn't apologize before adding to his comment. "Ara's fool's gold."
Leo frowns. "What?"
Nico glances at the girl, he's angry at her for trying to convince Lily, his only friend, to stop trusting him. Two can play the same game. "She looks good, then you get closer and realize it's all pretend. You call her a doll, right?" He laughs shortly. "That's accurate. Ara likes playing with boys like you."
Leo's fists start to smoke. "Don't you mean boys like us?"
Nico's taken by surprise, a creepy smile forms on his face when he understands what Leo is insinuating. He won't clear up the misunderstanding, Leo has the same arrogant air Ara has when challenged, and is always far more entertaining to watch those kinds of people trip over their feet.
Nico steps closer. "I can get under her skin like no one else. Have you ever asked her why she loathes having me around? You should. She doesn't like to be questioned, so you'll get to see the real Arae."
"She's the General," Leo replies tensely. "You're not supposed to question her, smartass."
Nico's smirk grows. "I see why she likes you." The boy turns to leave. "Ask her."
"I know why she hates you," Leo says confidently, which causes Nico to laugh again.
"No, you don't," he reaches the stairs. "Ask her about the curse."
***
Ara takes a look at the finished product. "Good as new, right?"
Festus blows out steam and Ara recoils, feeling the air around her get hotter when he does that. She takes off the goggles and dries the sweat off her brow.
"I'll take that as a yes."
The moon is high above but very thin, so Ara has a bit of trouble finding her way back to the deck, she doesn't notice Leo until she's right under the handrail. The boy's watching in silence with a scowl on his face.
She jumps over the railing landing on both feet, then dusts off her hands, and nods at Leo. "Hey."
He walks over to the control board. "Hey."
"I'm done," she announces proudly. "I was very safe the whole time."
"Good job," he checks the monitor. "Festus's stable, so are the oars."
Leo looks at her doing a quick scan. Ara is covered in sweat and grime, her cheeks are flushed... he can't think of any girl who would look better than she does like this, but Nico succeeded in his attempt to plant a seed of doubt, and Leo can't shake off the feeling that Ara has been lying to him about something.
Besides, he once overheard Percy and Ara talking, and her brother mentioned an old crush she used to have on Nico... Leo panicked and sneaked back to his cabin after hearing that, but the words stuck in his brain and he couldn't take them out.
Ara sighs. "I promise to be careful from now on, I'll use a calculator and everything..."
Leo's seen the way she looks at him lately, like it hurts to be near him. At first, he thought it was guilt because she'd decided to leave her camp, but now... What if the love's fading out between them?
"I..." he starts quietly, swallowing the lump in his throat. "How do you feel?"
"Great!" She smiles. "I'd missed it, getting my hands dirty reminded me of home, it made me feel useful."
"You're always useful," he replies. "But you definitely have a natural aptitude for mechanics."
"I was fated to," Ara replies casually. "Thank you for letting me do this."
"You don't have to thank me. You're the General."
"Yeah, well..." she continues, now trying to ignore his weird vibes. "I'll go take a shower before dinner."
Leo blurts out the first thought in his mind. "I didn't know someone could make me this stupid."
Leo would rather jump into Tartarus than tinker with something that doesn't need fixing... but what if it does? Sometimes a machine doesn't look broken, but it malfunctions anyway. He can't deny that their relationship feels... unbalanced. A creation jumpstarted without all the necessary precautions, and there's a buzzing coming from it that Leo can't identify, but it's making his skin crawl.
Ara is unsure of where this is going. "What's wrong?"
He can't think when her eyes are on him like this, he has this urge to make her smile, and he doesn't know where that comes from. Sure, he loves making people laugh, but with Ara... it almost feels like an obligation.
He struggles to form a proper sentence. "I think you're lying to me."
Ara pales, which is not a good sign. "What?"
"You wanted to jump off the cliff," he continues. "And you tried to leave us when Reyna cornered us at the Fort—"
"Leo—"
"Let me finish," he presses anxiously. "You weren't surprised when Nemesis gave you that weird warning, and you've been acting even weirder since we rescued di Angelo—"
"I—"
"Don't lie to me," he demands. "Your prophecy mentions a curse—The curse of love. Does that mean—"
"This is Nico talking," Ara's eyes darken. "I thought he was ending his shift, but he came to taunt you, didn't he?"
Leo feels like throwing up, but more than that, he feels insulted. "So what if he did?"
"He wants us to get into an argument," Ara steps forward. "Don't let him do this!"
Leo steps back. "Then answer my question."
Unexpectedly, her eyes brim with tears. "I can't."
Some part of him that he's not even aware of triggers, Leo is too distraught to think, his heart is breaking. "You said promises were important to you, but you're not keeping yours."
"There are things that I need to keep under control," she speaks with a trembling voice.
"What things?" He asks bitterly. "Me?"
"Don't say that!" She squeezes the gloves in her hands. "We've failed too many times, Leo. I can't risk it. As your General, I'm telling you to stay out of it."
Leo doesn't like how she says that, her voice weighs like it carries centuries of painful memories, and it sounds like Ara thinks Leo will ruin her plans, and that stings.
"Chiron was right," he says aghast. "Your ambition blinds you. No matter what the outcome is, it's never enough, is it?"
Ara can't stand another second of that conversation, so she abandons it, and Leo doesn't stop her.