Flame On! (PJO/Leo Valdez One-Shot)

I WALK THROUGH THE WOODS of Camp Half-Blood.

Ever since I was nine, I'd been reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Heroes of Olympus series. Four years, almost five, since I'm fourteen. They've been an obsession of mine for a long time. I always dreamed of going to Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter.

And now, here I am. A demigod, living at Camp Half-Blood. A daughter of Apollo.

I accepted the news less-than-calmly (okay, okay, so I didn't believe Grover, the satyr, at first, and laughed in his face . . . Until he took his pants and rasta cap off. Then I threw up in the toilet), I have to say. I'm kind of embarrassed by

that . . .

Leo walks up to join me. "So how was training today?"

I grin at him. "Annabeth kicked my arse, as usual."

Leo's two years older than me, but I'm used to hanging out with older kids from different activities I've done over the years, mostly for acting. I want to be a professional actor someday. ASAP, in fact.

"You'll get better eventually," Leo says, slinging his arm around my shoulders.

"How long is eventually?" I ask, mock-pouting.

"It'll be soon enough," he replies. "I still can't really fight, though. All I'm good for is building things."

"I'm sure you're good at lots of things," I tell him.

"Give me an example," he says.

"Umm . . ."

"Exactly." He smiles. "I don't really care, though. There are more important things to worry about."

"Like what?" I ask.

"Eh, I dunno. Whatever."

"Ha, there's someone with strong beliefs," I tease.

He squeezes my shoulders, and I smile. I'd always loved Leo when I'd read the books. And then, when I found out that Rick Riordan was a demigod and his books were real, I'd secretly thought that Leo and I would have some sort of friendship. Or at least, hoped that we would.

Okay, I admit it. I have a crush on him. I try to keep it hidden. I dunno if he suspects or not.

"So what did you want to show me?" I ask him.

"Bunker 9. I've never had a chance to before."

"Cool! I can't wait to see it!"

Leo grins at me. "That's the response I wanted."

We come to a big wall of rock. "This is it."

Then a door opens. We walk inside.

"Wow!" I exclaim, craning my neck in order to see everything.

Leo smiles and points to something. "This is a chariot I've been working on for the race next week."

I walk closer and inspect it. It's really cool. It's red and made of metal."It's awesome."

"Thanks," he grins at my enthusiasm. It's not a mean, or teasing laugh, but a genuinely nice one. I guess he finds me amusing. Great. "And look what it does if you press this button." He taps a black button and fire shoots out the back. "Flame on!"

I giggle, a bad habit of mine. I laugh like an idiot at the least funny and most immature jokes. I hope people find it endearing.

Leo and I grin at one another, and then Leo's head leans into mine. I lean in as well, and then our lips meet. He strokes my cheekbone, his fingers mingling in my hair. I put my arms around his neck, and kiss him back.

When we pull away, and not very quickly, he looks straight at me, one of his hands at my waist. "I've wanted to do that for a while."

"Really?" I ask. Smooth, I know. I try to be flirty . . . but I don't have that much experience with that sort of thing. I'm kind of . . . socially awkward.

"Yeah, really." Leo grins at me.

"Aelita . . . will you, uh . . . go out with me? I feel so cliché." He sighs.

I kiss his cheek. "Of course I will, Leo."

He smiles at me, and I grin back, leaning my forehead against his.

If this was what being a demigod was like, I could definitely live with it.

THE END

Author's Note:

This is my entry for the PJO Writing Challenge by @HazelBiancaHazel. Aelita was based on myself.

Hope you liked!!!

Laters, Cupcakes,

AelitaCalypsoZazpi