Anti-Hero || Leo Valdez

6 - Nobody Died! :D

Leo walked into the kitchen the next morning to find that Calypso, Apollo, and Pat had already left. Via, Emmie, and Jo were working on breakfast, and as soon as they saw Leo, Jo pointed at the table, which had a small buffet of bright-red-buttered toast, fresh fruit, and cereal.

Via was loading coffee grounds into a coffee machine. She smiled tiredly at Leo as a greeting, and Leo could tell that despite the extra melatonin gummy, she hadn't slept well. Her eyes were rimmed with dark circles.

"How'd you sleep?" She asked, pressing the rich brew button on the machine.

"Pretty well," Leo said truthfully. "Thanks for the melatonin."

"No problem."

"How about you?"

"Exhausted," Via replied in a very chipper tone. She patted the coffee machine. "Emmie and Jo nearly panicked when I turned this thing on, because I only drink coffee when it's an absolute emergency. As in, I'm so sleep-deprived, I'm likely to pass out before breakfast is over." She yawned. "Frankly, I'm surprised I didn't pass out on my way down the hall."

"I thought Apollo kids had no problem getting up with the sun."

"That's because our dad plays the ukulele at a frequency only we can hear so we'll be up in time to see him rising in the east in all his sunlit glory."

Leo stared at her. He found himself in a situation not unlike Pat explaining why he played the banjo. He wasn't sure if Via was serious, but he didn't want to laugh in case she was. "Oh. That... makes sense, I guess."

"I'm kidding."

"Oh." Leo laughed. "For a second there I thought — Jeez."

"And you can consider that payback for teasing me about my dancing last night, sir." Via grinned. "But if you think we all get up at the butt-crack of dawn, that means you know Will. He has no problem getting up that early and making everyone else get up with him. I have no idea where he gets all his energy, but I can promise you most Apollo kids are not like that. You should've seen Pat —" she cut herself off and shook her head. She turned back to the machine and grabbed the now-full coffee pot, pouring some into a mug that read I HAVE SELECTIVE HEARING. I'M SORRY YOU WERE NOT SELECETED in a cute curly cursive font.

"So what's the plan for today?" Leo asked as Via added bright red homemade creamer.

"Breakfast," she replied shortly. Her mood seemed to have taken a sharp left turn. "Then morning chores. Then we work on defenses between meals."

That was exactly what they did. After inhaling several pieces of toast and even more fruit, (and way too much coffee on Via's part) they got started on chores. Via hooked up an old iPod to a pair of bluetooth earbuds and started a playlist Leo noticed had been named "why does the universe hate me >:(" and seemed to consist mostly of angry songs.

Definitely not in a good mood this morning.

Their morning chores consisted of sweeping and mopping the Waystation floors, which meant that Leo spent the next few hours trailing after Via with a mop while she listened to her "mad" playlist and aggressively swept to the beat of her songs. Leo asked if listening to the music that loudly would damage her ears and she replied moodily with something along the lines of "Bold of you to assume I want working ears."

Leo didn't try to talk to her much after that.

He tried not to stare at her while they worked, because that would probably be creepy. But despite being in a (sort-of) magical house, there wasn't much else to look at. So he watched as Via mumbled lyrics under her breath, brushing her hair out of her face every now and then, and occasionally giving the broom a dramatic and extra-aggressive sweep.