Leo Valdez x reader (oneshots and the Fire Elementalist series)

Fire Elementalist: 19

Will's POV

We were on the F-train on our way to the Empire State, as Zeus had irrationally requested. Thankfully, we had a car all to ourselves. (Y/n) preferred to distance herself in a bench as she did schoolwork on her laptop. She sat cross-legged on one of the benches, earphones in. Leo looked at her warily.

"Hey," I told him. Now that we were having a conversation, I realized we hadn't really talked much. "You want me to go talk to her?"

He must have realized he was staring at his girlfriend. A look of both worry and relief washed over his face when I offered to talk to her. "Yeah," he replied. "Yeah, thanks man."

I knew (y/n) needed space, but something just felt off. I don't know how I knew, it just felt that way. I gave Nico a peck on the cheek before I headed over to the bench (y/n) was sitting at. Nico tried to scowl at me for the PDA but he couldn't hide the faint blush on his cheeks.

"Hey," I told (y/n) as I sat beside her. I glanced at her laptop to see sheet music, probably for a music class. "Should you really be doing this now?"

She sighed and gave a soft smile. "I know, I know. No using gadgets in moving vehicles because it can damage your eyesight. But really, I need to get this done for my music theory class tomorrow."

"Not that," I said. "I mean, bringing us to the Empire State, exposing the Egyptian side of your family, balancing your schoolwork. You're physically and emotionally exhausted, (y/n)! Maybe you should head home and we'll deal with the gods for now."

She looked at me skeptically. "Is it that obvious? Do I really look exhausted?"

I shook my head. "No, I... I don't know how to explain it, but lately I've been feeling tired for the past month, but happy. Nico noticed it, too. But now, I just get this feeling of being really exhausted, but it's not from me—it's from you."

She opened her mouth and closed it again, at a loss for words. She then spoke up a few moments later. "Have you been craving Texas barbeque within the past two weeks?"

Now it was my turn to look at my best friend skeptically. "I—how did you know?"

She shrugged. "Because I've been craving the same thing for the past two weeks. We even got to a point where I dragged Austin and Matt out of the hotel in search for American barbeque, which, believe it or not, is hard to find in London. The weird thing is I never really gave Texas barbeque a second thought before, not even after Leo made it for us on a date once. So I don't know why I got that sudden craving, but now I guess it makes sense. You're from Texas, right?"

I nodded. "My mom used to make it for me when I was little, before I had to move to camp for good."

She shut her laptop and put it in her backpack. "It is possible..."

I sat upright. "What? What's possible?"

"Before Percy and I were brought to camp," she started, "we were being watched over by Grover, our satyr and guide. He and Percy developed a special friendship that grew over the years as they did quests together. A few years back, they developed an empathy link, which allowed them to feel what the other was feeling, or communicate through dreams. It has been helpful for quests where they were separated, like when Percy went missing, or on our quest at the Sea of Monsters."

A slight pause. "So what you're saying is that... We have an empathy link?" I asked in bewilderment.

She nodded. "But I have a feeling it only formed more recently, most likely when we defeated Gaea. But why it happened on that exact moment, I have no idea."