Hide The Pain

One

Far From Home (The Raven) by Sam Tinnesz

Leo was...quieter than usual. It wasn't apparent at first, but it was an underlying fact. They all felt it, just failed to acknowledge it.

There were times when Leo would just be staring off into the distance. Everyone daydreams once in awhile, but he seemed to be doing it more often than not.

But he still butted in to tell a joke and make people laugh like usual, so no one thought anything of it. But looking back on it, the 'like usual' is even more concerning.

The actual incident happened on a day that was a little more tense than usual. The Seven were in the middle of a war counsel and Leo was simply trying to lighten the mood.

Little did everyone else know, was that he'd been having a pretty horrible day so far already. To start it off, he'd stubbed his toe getting out of bed. Then, when he'd gone to check the engine room, it'd spit oil all in his face.

When he'd gone to wipe it off, he realized he'd used the shirt Calypso gave him. The white fireproof shirt. Tears had sprung to his eyes. Flames licked his ears. He was so tired of everything going wrong.

He took a deep breath and left the engine room. He remembered what his therapist told him: leave the environment.

So he carefully made his way to the mess hall. When he sat down beside Percy at the table, said demigod was drawing a horrid scene on his blue pancakes with syrup. With a frown he finished it off.

Leo raised an eyebrow, a smile already on his lips. "Didn't know you could draw," he joked. Percy glanced up, eyes warming upon seeing Leo there. That made Leo feel a little better.

"Just a dream I had," Percy said, using his fork to spread the syrup, destroying his picture. Leo turned to his plate and on it was Huevos Rancheros, a breakfast dish his mom always used to make for him. He got a lump in his throat and excused himself to the deck, leaving his food on the table.

They were small things, really. But they add up. And they continue to add up until it's just too much. Leo was tired. Of everything. About an hour of moping around later, Hazel came up on the deck and told him to report to the war counsel the rest of the Seven were holding in the mess hall.

"Sure thing," Leo responded with the biggest smile he could muster. He jogged down the stairs and into the mess hall.

They were already arguing when he got there. "But the Romans are advancing!" Piper yelled at Jason. "What do you propose we do?"

From the doorway, he suggested, "I mean, we could ask nicely." Everyone simply ignored him. "I could try talk to Reyna again," Frank suggested meekly. "It'll probably work as well as it did the last three times," Annabeth argued.

"You know, I try very hard to be this funny, and what do I get for it?" He waited. "I will literally slit Octavian's throat!" Piper gushed.

"Silence," Leo finished, finding his seat at the table. He realized that someone had moved his plate from before. He caught Hazel's eye and she smiled wryly at him, rolling her eyes at the others' antics.

Leo found himself having to look away. Leo sat for awhile, quietly listening to his friends argue. Finally Hazel piped up. "Nico, Reyna, and Hedge are handling it! We need to focus on getting to Athens and killing giants!"

"All in a day's work, am I right?" He asked. Frank snapped. "It's not funny Leo!" He looked hurt for a second before shaking it off. He expected as much from Frank.

But he didn't expect it from Jason. "Yeah, come on, man. Now is not the time for jokes." Jason shook his head in disappointment and annoyance before turning back to his previous statement.