𝕱𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖑𝖞 𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖊 - a Leo Valdez slowburn

Chapter fourteen

Chapter fourteen. 

[Aphrodite the immortal supremacist]

"And the sky goes from blue to grey to pink to black, 

and yet you stay still in my arms, 

and when the moon set and the sun shines on us together, 

you'll be here still, away from all harm."

"So we went to Italy." 

Leah hummed in agreement. "We sure did," she responded. "And then instead of going to our destination," Lin deadpanned, "we went to Venice." Aiden hit them. "Our last break in Venice was very, very short," they explained again.

"And also mainly consisted of Aiden sleeping because he'd stayed up for like two days two make sure I was alright after the Paris incident," Leah filled in. Lin raised an amused eyebrow. 

"The 'Paris incident'?" they echoed. "What was that?" Aiden shrugged. "She was comatosed and I had to go to Ireland to get a rock so a goddess would wake her up." They blinked. "Oh, and Hermes also was my transport and I threw up twice." 

"I have the feeling you've told me this before," Lin said, narrowing their eyes at nothing. They shrugged. "Oh, whatever. Where do you wanna go?" 

Leah unfolded the map in her hand of the city. "Well, we could swim in one of the canals, I guess." Lin recoiled. "Ew. Water." 

"Isn't that illegal too?" Aiden asked, looking over Leah's shoulder. She hummed. 

"I mean, it is, but we've done worse before." They eyed Lin suspiciously. "Like tax evasion." 

Lin turned angrily to them. "I don'T hAVE TO PAY TAXES!" they shouted, which caused a few heads to turn. Leah rolled her eyes. "Ah yes, because the one adult in the group doesn't pay taxes, of course." Aiden narrowed their eyes. "I'm sure Chris pays his taxes," he said. "Why would he?" 

"BECAUSE IT'S THE LAW!" Leha exclaimed. "Why wouldn't you follow the law?" Aiden whispered dramatically. Lin blinked. 

"I've broken the law before," they said simply. "You have?" Aiden asked. "Wait. I have too." "You haVE?" Leah exclaimed, and she blinked. "Wait," she realized. Second degree murder was probably also not incredibly legal, and she'd definitely broken into various buildings before. And also gotten two guns without a permit. Whatever. 

"Well, seeing as we're the crime group," Lin said, "you don't get to make fun of me for tax evasion." Aiden pointed excitedly at them. "So you DO AGREE!" he shouted. His voice dropped to a whisper and they stared at Lin with wide eyes. "You are a tax evader." 

Lin rolled their eyes amusedly. "Who isn't, honestly?" They shrugged. Leah hummed. "You're a bad influence, Lin," she teased. "Between the three of us?" Lin asked. They narrowed their eyes, then leaned back, a grin adorning their face. 

"Yeah, you're right," they said. "I am a horrible, horrible influence."

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So sure, once or twice before Annabeth had had a picnic/hightea-esque experience with a deity that maybe just wanted to make her (and Percy's) life harder. Well, once. With that ungrateful cow of a goddess who had, funnily enough, taken Percy away from her for six months. Haha, very funny, Hera. But Aphrodite was on a whole other level. 

The goddess had led her, Hazel and Piper to the central pavilion in the gardens of Charleston where they had docked, the gazebo was help up with white marble pillars, four dainty matching chairs set up surrounding an equally dainty garden table that had silverware, china cups, and a teapot arranged on it.