Anti-Hero || Leo Valdez

34 - Pat and Nyssa Lament Over Being Cockblocks

"So he was literally about to ask you out when Nyssa and I appeared?" Pat asked.

Via sighed, giving her twin brother an annoyed look from across the table. He seemed to be pretty insensitive about everything that had happened, even though he'd been the one to break the news to Leo that his best friend had been killed.

"Yeah," Via replied. "Look, Pat, can we have the full discussion after Leo gets to the —

"Damn," Pat said. "I've been a lot of things, but I've never been a cockblock —"

"Oh honey, that's not —"

"Pat-rick!" Via punched her brother, her face on fire, whilst Cecil and Lou Ellen burst out laughing and Will shook his head in disbelief. This only annoyed her even more, as none of them seemed to be taking Jason's death seriously. Sure, none of them had been super close to the guy — except Nico, who'd apparently come out to him first — but he was still a big figure around camp. Via doubted they'd be reacting the same way if Percy had been the one who'd died.

She was still worried about Leo. After Pat had described what had happened to Jason, Leo had holed himself up in Cabin Nine and hadn't left for the past couple of days.

Via glanced over at Nico, who seemed to have shrunk into himself. Will had an arm around him and was gently rubbing circles into his back. Despite everything, Via smiled a bit at the couple. At least this time around, Nico had Will.

The warm feeling Via got from watching Will comfort his boyfriend didn't last long, however, as Pat continued his rant.

"Look, I've told you a million times," He said, pointing his half-eaten sandwich at Cecil. "I don't know what the process is for you people who are attracted to other people!"

"Most people don't go from 'I like you' straight to 'let's fuck,' " Cecil said. "Dude, you need to do some research."

"I've done research! I read the fanfics Via saved on Wattpad," Pat said. "Including that very inappropriate and uncomfortable one with Rainbow Dash and Sonic the Hedgehog —"

Cecil slammed the table. "WHAT."

Lou Ellen frowned. "That's not research."

"RAINBOW DASH AND WHO????"

"Wait, how would that even work, though? Because isn't she like a horse and he's a hedgehog —"

"OLIVIA ALTAGRACIA —"

"That was a crack fic!" Via protested, trying to defend herself. She wanted to kick herself, and then all of them. Jason Grace had been run through and they were arguing about Rainbow Dash and Sonic the Hedgehog smut.

Pat shrugged. "It was still smut —"

"Can we not talk about that at the table?" Will asked, looking slightly annoyed. "Some of us are trying to eat. And there are little ears."

Cecil frowned and looked around at the campers milling around the dining pavilion and eating at the picnic tables strewn about the place. Some got up to scrape some food into the bronze braziers as an offering to the gods. Clearly he didn't find anyone young enough to fit his criteria for "little ears," because he looked back at Will and said, "There are no little ears. The youngest person here is Violet from Iris Cabin. She's a freshman. You remember what Via was like when she was a freshman?"

"Via had the nastiest potty mouth ever," Lou said, snickering. "Because your mom finally allowed you to start swearing around the house."

"Please never bring up freshman year, please and thank you," Via grumbled.