Please Say Sike Right Now

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Everyone knew about Leo's curse by the next morning. Jason told Piper, Nico told Hazel because Hazel already knew half of it, and then Hazel told Frank because Leo knew about his curse anyway, so it was fair. At least they all had the decency to pretend not to know and treated Leo and her like usual, though they'd started to look at Leo like he'd predicted. 

Ara's recovery is tough throughout the day. If she does things that take a lot of effort she feels something like a heart attack and has to sit down for a moment. Next time she runs into Eros, she'll snap his bow in half.

Things are changing, Nico isn't a sweetheart, but now they've been able to train together without any major fights. More so, they can sit and have a civil conversation without having to be half a mile from each other. Nico is polite when Ara asks what to expect from the House of Hades, and he makes a few suggestions for the best way to tackle the mission. Ara listens and together with Hazel, they make a solid plan.

Leo trains hard, but by the third day the weather gets too unpredictable to stay on the upper deck for long periods and he gets worried about Festus malfunctioning like he did during their first quest, so he takes the day to do a full check-up of the ship.

"So much for the big team meeting," he glares at the gray sky, they were supposed to be holding up a session to talk about their new plan, but there was much to be done. "Looks like it's just us again."

Ara can't help but stare while he works, removing the Archimedes sphere and turning off Festus. He gestures at her to get closer and she does, now he's ready to teach her how to use it, the problem is that she isn't paying attention at all.  She is so in love there might as well be little 3D hearts floating around over her head while Leo points at the symbols around the sphere and talks nonstop about their functions.

All her life she'd been stressing over being the nice, adjustable girl so people wouldn't leave her, all to find out she'd never been the problem, she just had to find her people. Percy, Annabeth, Lily, Leo—heck, even Nico has proved to her that she's valued. Hercules's words don't sting as much now. 

All these kids that are used to moving on and never staying in one place, keep coming back to her. Especially Leo Valdez, and man, she's crazy about him. She can now admit that with a smile on her face. "You're so cute," Ara blurts out, leaning against the control board with a smile on her face.

Leo looks back up at her, eyes slightly out of focus after being interrupted mid-sentence. To Ara's surprise, he frowns at her compliment. "You didn't hear a word of what I just said, did you?"

"I'm sorry," she grins and blushes, feeling like her old Aphrodite self for a moment. "I think I'm sick."

"Sick?" Leo touches her forehead. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm lovesick, Admiral," she continues with a silly smirk. "It has no cure."

The boy looks at her in amused defeat. "Who are you? My girlfriend doesn't flirt like this—she rolls her eyes and pretends to be annoyed at my bold moves until she gets tired and kisses me."

"I flirt!"

"No, you don't."

"I flirt all the time."

"This is genuinely the first time in seven months I hear you say something so wack," he laughs. "Sunshine, Eros did a number on you."

"I literally proposed to you like what, a week ago?"

"I proposed first! You can't flirt by reusing my moves!"

"Guys," Jason interrupts their banter. "Hate to interrupt your argument on who's the smoothest, but we want to know how long 'til we reach Epirus."

The Curse of Oenone (Daughter of Olympus II) - [Leo Valdez xF!Oc]Where stories live. Discover now