DAYLIGHT ↬ leo valdez x reader

13. CINNAMON GIRL

The healer whose heart was kind and pure. If that was my destiny, I was determined to live it. I would not forget Echo's face, or the favor she did for me and my friends. As I turned back to see the mob one last time, the memory of her smile was already fading.

I wanted to check on Jason and Piper (unfortunately, mostly Piper). So we stumbled to a stop in Jason's cabin doorway, holding up the bronze between us.
"Gods of Olympus." Piper stared at Leo. "What happened to you?"
I knew why she was asking. His hair was greased back. He had welding goggles on his forehead, a lipstick mark on his cheek, 'tattoos' all over his arms, and a T-shirt that read HOT STUFF, BAD BOY, and TEAM LEO.
"Long story," he said.
"I'm telling you later." I promised.
"Others back?" Leo asked.
"Not yet," Piper said.

Leo cursed. Then he noticed Jason sitting up, and his face brightened. "Hey, man! Glad you're better. I'll be in the engine room."
He ran off with the sheet of bronze, leaving Hazel and I in the doorway. Piper raised an eyebrow at her.
"Team Leo?"
"We met Narcissus," Hazel said, which didn't really explain much. "Also Nemesis, the revenge goddess."
Jason sighed. "I miss all the fun."

"The fun?" I began, widening my eyes. "The fun part about that mission was the ride back." The couple gave me quizzical head nods. A heavy thump shortened our conversation, as Annabeth Percy and Frank descend covered in black goo.
"Ran into some tar monsters," Annabeth said. "Hey, Jason, glad you're awake. Y/N, where's Leo?"
"Engine room."

Suddenly the entire ship listed to port. We all stumbled into walls and furniture. Percy almost spilled his bucket of tar. "Uh, what was that?" he demanded.
"Oh..." Hazel looked embarrassed. "We may have angered the nymphs who live in this lake. Like...all of them."
"They are definitely not Team Leo." I grunted, trying to stay up.

"Great." Percy handed the bucket of tar to Frank and Annabeth. "You guys help Leo. I'll hold off the water spirits as long as I can."
"On it!" Frank promised.
The three of them ran off, leaving Hazel and I still at the cabin door. The ship listed again, and Hazel hugged her stomach like she was going to be sick.
"I'll just..." She swallowed, pointed weakly down the passageway, and ran off. I cleared my throat awkwardly and pursed my lips.

"We can do a check up later." I said, closing his door and heading for Leo and my room. We hadn't had the situation of sharing a bed, however I had a feeling it was coming. Waves crashed against the hull as angry voices came from above deck—Percy shouting, Coach Hedge yelling at the lake. Festus the figurehead breathed fire several times. 

Across the hall, Hazel moaned miserably in her cabin. In the engine room below, it sounded like Leo and the others were doing an Irish line dance with anvils tied to their feet. After what seemed like hours, the engine began to hum. The oars creaked and groaned, and I felt the ship lift into the air. The rocking and shaking stopped. The ship became quiet except for the drone of machinery. Finally Leo emerged from the engine room. He was caked in sweat, lime dust, and tar. 

His T-shirt looked like it had been caught in an escalator and chewed to shreds. The TEAM LEO on his chest now read: AM LEO. But he grinned like a madman and announced that we were safely under way.

"Coming in to change," he said. "Crazy day, huh?"
I nodded uncomfortably. He seriously had the face of someone insane. I backed out of the room and left him there, before forgetting I left my healer's book in my bag. Really, if I had waited a few more seconds or convinced myself I didn't need it at that very moment, maybe I could have prevented walking back into our cabin and–

Seeing Leo Valdez, shirtless. Glistening in sweat, touselling his greased curls around. His face turned to me in shock and he squealed like a girl. I stood there, my feet planted in the threshold. My mouth was probably open, gaping and taking in the sight. Why am I not moving?
"Y/N!" his face burned bright red and the tips of his hair ignited with embers. I unfroze and covered my eyes automatically.