Caleo One-shots • Leo & Calypso

1 • Ice Skating

"Sunshine!"

She turned at the sound of his cheerful voice. He was grinning mischievously at her from his spot in the middle of the rink. It looked like he'd already gotten the hang of his skates and had learned to move on them again. People swirled around him, either by themselves or with their loved ones and children. She wished they could skate like that too. But she could barely take a step.

"Come on, Cal!" he shouted to her, waving. She closed her eyes tightly, hesitating whether to let go or not. Why had she never learned to skate during her long, divine life? Why had it never occurred to her? She cursed herself for it, but now she had no choice but to learn. Calypso held onto the barrier with one hand, placing one foot in front of the other. She didn't have the courage to move more yet and wanted to get used to the surface under her feet like this.

"You're doing great, sweetheart!" She heard her boyfriend's voice as he skated over to her. He looked so natural. And she felt a bit annoyed with him. "You told me you didn't know how to skate."

"No, no," he argued. "I said I hadn't done it in a long time," he smirked.

"What's the difference?"

"Running out of arguments?"

"You're an idiot," that was the only thing he understood because, in the next moment, Calypso started cursing in Minoan, and Leo couldn't understand a word.

He smiled. She always did that when she felt cornered. He gently took her hand. "Let go," he advised, and to his surprise, she listened. He took her other hand and tried to guide her. "You have to do it like this." He moved his feet in a way that made it clear what he wanted her to do. "Kind of push off," he explained. She tried to mimic the movement. "You push off with one foot, glide, and push off with the other. It's nothing."

"I'd say it's a lot," she mumbled sulkily, but she did exactly what Leo wanted her to do. "See?" praised Hephaestus's son as soon as he noticed. It always brought him immense joy when Cal learned something new, whether it was from him or someone else. "Now try it on your own."

As soon as he said it, she looked at him desperately, uncertain if she could manage it alone.

He offered her a reassuring smile and skated backward almost to the center of the rink so he could still see her. Don't be afraid, he mouthed to her. She hated it when he did that. She had just found her balance, and he was already pushing her like this. She inhaled through her nose and then exhaled. Alright, she told herself. There's definitely nothing hard about this-just push, glide, push.

She took a better position and moved her push-off foot back, which shifted her slightly forward. It wasn't much, but it was definitely some progress. She did the same with the other foot and smiled. She lifted her head and found her boyfriend with her eyes. "Leo! I'm skating!" she screamed at him, ecstatic.

"Good job!" Leo praised her, his heart nearly skipping a beat as he watched her. He was so proud of her. But then, suddenly, he lost his balance and flopped onto the ice. Damn gravity, he cursed inwardly.

Calypso miraculously managed to skate over to him and plopped down beside him, grinning like the sun.

"Hey, looks like you did it," he said.

"Seems like it," she replied.

The girl leaned in and gently kissed him on the lips. In that moment, Leo realized he was warming up. He could slowly feel the ice beneath him starting to melt, but right now, he didn't care if he ended up with a wet backside because it was totally worth it.