𝕱𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖑𝖞 𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖊 - a Leo Valdez slowburn

Chapter five

Chapter five.

[The poetry bitch]

"Many lives are lost in wars,

and yet many fight in them.

The reason wars are there is control,

and yet we always lose it."

Leah had convinced the guy – Aiden – to come into her uncle's apartment to talk. Of course, she had to first explain to him that she wasn't going to kill him and that she wasn't some monster that was going to suck his blood, because that was a thing for some reason.

They were now both settled in the living room; Aiden on the couch, careful not to be pricked and Leah was sitting on an armchair opposite of the boy. She had her legs hanging over one side of the chair and her arms folded over each other. "So," she started," what do you mean your city?"

Aiden sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I'm the only monster-killer, half-blood, whatever you call us here. Everyone who otherwise is here is either a monster themselves or is a mortal who can see through the weird magic we've got going on here. An example is Matthew, your uncle. He's cool," he said. Leah nodded in agreement. "Yeah, this is his apartment. You can probably take a weapon, he won't mind. My dagger is from here." Aiden had a tight-lipped smile on his face.

"Yeah, I will," he answered. He continued fidgeting with his sword, which made Leah slightly uncomfortable. Now she knew how Thalia felt when she cocked her gun mid-conversation.

"But I answered your question, so who are you?" Aiden asked. Leah scratched the back of her neck as she sipped on the tea she'd made. Even if she didn't have coffee, at least she had black tea, which also had caffeine in it. "I'm Leah Kovach," she said. "Uh, daughter of Demeter. I've never heard of Nemain. Who's she?" she asked.

Aiden rolled his eyes. "Of course you don't know Nemain. You're a Greek demigod, unless there are two Demeters out there." Leah nodded, signaling that Aiden should continue. "Nemain is the Celtic goddess of war. The more chaotic state, I guess," he said.

Leah let out a small 'ooh' in understanding. "Well, what do you... do? Like, do you uh, have an enhanced vision? Dyslexia? ADHD?" Aiden chuckled. "Actually do not have two of those, you guess," he started. "Uh, I have ADHD. No dyslexia, surprisingly. I can make vibrations in the air, so say goodbye to your eardrums. What do you do?" he retorted.

Leah was surprised at the question (although she really shouldn't have been), but answered nonetheless. "I control plants, as you saw," she said. Aiden nodded in acknowledgement. "And sometimes I also control rocks, but I have less control over that part of my..." she trailed off. She still didn't quite know what to call them. Powers? Gifts? Both sounded too heroic, something Leah definitely wasn't. "Tea?" she asked. Aiden nodded, which caused Leah to stand up. 

"I would ask you what type you want, but as I've already made black tea, that's what you're gonna get," she called out from the kitchen. She heard a muffled laugh from the living room.

Once she poured the tea in a mug she'd found on a way too high shelf that she for some reason could reach, she turned on her heel to bring the tea to her new friend. 

She gave it to him and then sat down in the arm chair again, careful not to cut herself on the knife she'd just realized was there. Aiden thanked her and sipped from his tea. Leah's eyes widened. "How are you not burning yourself?" she asked incredulously. Aiden chuckled. "It's something about me, I guess." Leah concluded that he just had an amazingly high pain tolerance.