Plexure (leo Valdez x male reader)

2) Tour with Leo

IN MY OPINION THE TOUR WENT GREAT. Leo seemed to love literally everything I showed him, like everything. Well, mostly things for crafts.

      He loved the Arts & crafts sessions where you could make sculptures with chain saws and blowtorches, very Hephaestus. When we walked pasted the Aphrodite cabin, many waved at me, but I just smiled and continued talking with Leo and showing him around.

      I showed him the cabins, the dining pavilion, and the sword arena.

      "Do I get a sword?" Leo asked.

      I glanced at him, Leo with a sword maybe is a no go."You'll probably make your own, seeing as how you're in Cabin Nine."

    "Yeah, what's up with that? Vulcan?"

    "Usually we don't call the gods by their Roman names," I said. "The original names are Greek. Your dad is Hephaestus."

     "Festus?" Leo frowned. "Sounds like the god of cowboys."

    "He-phaestus," I corrected. "God of blacksmiths and fire."

    "So the flaming hammer over my head," Leo said. "Good thing, or bad thing?"

     I took a while to answer, not knowing if I should say everything. "You were claimed almost immediately. That's usually good."

    "But that Rainbow Pony dude, Butch—he mentioned a curse."

    "Ah ... look, it's nothing. Since Cabin Nine's last head counselor died—"

    "Died? Like, painfully?"

     "I ought to let your bunkmates tell you about it."

     "Yeah, where are my home dawgs? Shouldn't their counselor be giving me the VIP tour?"

     "He, um, can't. You'll see why." I forged ahead before Leo could ask anything else.

      Leo whispered to himself something I didn't hear, but I also kinda didn't want to know.

       I saw Leo froze in his tracks.

      "What's wrong?" I asked.

      "That old lady ..." Leo said. "What's she doing here?"

      I tried to follow his gaze. "What old lady?"

     "Dude, the old lady. The one in black. How many old ladies do you see over there?"

       I frowned. "I think you've had a long day, Leo. The Mist could still be playing tricks on your mind. How about we head straight to your cabin now?"

      "Just messing with you, man." Leo pulled some gears and levers from his pockets and started fiddling with them to calm his nerves.

      "Let's go see Cabin Nine," he said. "I'm in the mood for a good curse."

      From the outside, the Hephaestus cabin looked like an oversize RV with shiny metal walls and metal-slatted windows. The entrance was like a bank vault door, circular and several feet thick. It opened with lots of brass gears turning and hydraulic pistons blowing smoke.

      Leo whistled. "They got a steampunk theme going on, huh?"

      Inside, the cabin seemed deserted. Steel bunks were folded against the walls like high-tech Murphy beds. Each had a digital control panel, blinking LED lights, glowing gems, and interlocking gears. I figured each camper had his own combination lock to release his bed, and there was probably an alcove behind it with storage, maybe some traps to keep out unwanted visitors. A fire pole came down from the second floor, even though the cabin didn't appear to have a second floor from the outside. A circular staircase led down into some kind of basement. The walls were lined with every kind of power tool, I did not know any of them, plus a huge assortment of knives, swords, and other implements of destruction. A large workbench overflowed with scrap metal—screws, bolts, washers, nails, rivets, and a million other machine parts.