Kerosine Dreams (Leo Valdez x Reader)

The Manic Taxi

 It was now fall, the leaves were a mix of orange and yellow and people were heading in different directions at the start of the school year. Leo had always considered September the 'New year' because that's when change always happened. It wasn't in January that people moved across the country to attend college or meet new friends. It was always September that felt like a New Year. This time of year, life usually changed for the worse for Leo. His friends, or lack thereof, would leave camp dumping him all alone. It came closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas to which he didn't have a family to share it with. Those kind of things truly weighed on his heart.

Today, he was ambling the streets of Y/H/C. (Your home city) The air was cold, but it never bothered him in the slightest, being able to warm himself whenever needed. He just had to be carful and make sure he didn't torch his clothes in the middle of the street and have someone call an exorcism for him. It had happened once before and he swore to never let it happen again. Regardless of how interesting the place was, he was bored out of his mind. Chiron had sent him here on a small quest of sorts to pick up a package from Hermes which had somehow ended up here instead of at Camp Half-Blood. The Centaur expected it would take all day, but Leo had everything done before noon. The boy looked to a large clock down the street which read 11:56 am. Only two hours to go until the Gray sisters were set to arrive with the madhouse of a taxi to take him back to camp.

Though he loved camp and felt safe, Leo knew it was about to be another long year. Endless hours in bunker nine alone, not speaking to another person for days on end and numerous skipped meals. He'd be lonely, yet again, but at least he had a place he could call home. He lost track of time as he stumbled around in his defeated delirium, just wishing he was a little bit more like the other kids at camp. He wished he could go to school and not worry about burning it down or be seen as an awkward, unwanted outcast. The last thing he needed was having to explain to a teacher about how he managed to burn all of his homework and then fail all of his classes. It was a waste of time, and at least at camp, he could do what he was good at. Making things.

"ARE YOU JUST GONNA STAND THERE OR ARE YOU GOING TO RUN?!" A shrill voice nearly made Leo jump out of his own skin as it just about blew out his ear drums. His attention turned from the rather peaceful looking street ahead to behind himself, where a dark mist was flooding the street. A wind colder than what would have been considered normal whipped against his face sending grains of dust and debris crashing into his skin. It stung, but he never closed his eyes, latching onto the figure which the screams had come from.

It was a girl, one no older than himself who looked completely frantic, and frankly, afraid for her life. Her Y/H/L Y/H/C was a tangled mess, her clothes were soiled with dirt and she truly looked as if she had been out on her own for at least a few days. He stood sort of paralyzed between a girl who he found himself completely stunned by, despite her appearance of a stray dog, and between a monster stepping out of that ebony could of smoke.

"I SAID ARE YOU GOING TO RUN OR NOT?!" She screamed once again, rattling Leo's skull. Wait. Never mind. Her voice hadn't rattled his skull. She was literally shaking his shoulders. It had been a long time since Leo had anyone touch or hold him. All he wanted was a hug from somebody and this was the closest he'd gotten in a long time. It felt kinda weird.

"Well, no. I mean we could, but that's a bad idea." Leo cringed a little, all while squinting his eyes to get a better look at the monster approaching. It wasn't easy on the eyes to say the least.

The girl turned to see how close it was getting. "Are you kidding?! We need to go!"

"Psssh, nah." Leo flicked his hand in the air nonchalantly and laughed a little. "We can take it down right here."