Broken Silence

One-Shot

It felt like they had been walking for hours. They needed supplies, but the only place they could get it was this small village too tiny to land in. So, they were forced to land a little ways off and make the journey between the ship and village. They were already on their way back with the supplies.

Jason was in the back, Piper in front of him with Leo behind them. Said Latino wasn't carrying anything, and neither was Jason (Plot convenience). There wasn't enough to distribute to all of the seven so only five had to carry a bit. Jason and Leo were chosen to go without carrying anything. Jason had agreed Leo had just shrugged. Not that anyone expected anything else from the mute demigod.

No one really knew why he didn't talk, and when they asked he would avoid giving any kind of answer. Piper had said he'd just always been like that. Sometimes he made weird noises, or grunts. However, thus far, no one has heard him speak. Jason just assumed he couldn't.

The walkway narrowed as they continued on. There was a rock wall on one side and a cliff on the other. Jason thanked the gods he wasn't afraid of heights. He glanced ahead at everyone. Percy smiles, "You know Jase, Thalia would've died just about now." A few of them snickered.

Suddenly, he heard a scuffle behind him, and a panicked voice calling out, "Jason!" A shiver ran down his spine. Did Leo just- Everyone including him turned. Leo was falling over the edge as their eyes met, his arm outstretched towards Jason. Without thinking he sprung out after Leo. He grabbed his hand a few feet down from the cliff.

He pulled Leo up into his arms, like an awkward hug in the middle of the sky. Leo's face had a surprised expression, his breathing uneasy. Jason studied his face for a moment. His eyes were soft and inviting, Jason never wanted to look away. Was he always this adorable? Then he felt a sink in his stomach as he remembered what he forgot about in the rush to save Leo. He slowly flew Leo back up, next to the other five who had made their way to where the path was wider.

Leo pulled himself away from Jason as soon as they landed, keeping himself a foot away from him. He usually made sure he was a foot away from people, Jason never understood why. Just another thing Leo did. Speaking of which (Hah, speaking, I'm hilarious), he looked up at Leo, ready to question the boy, when Annabeth came up and stole the words straight out of his mouth. "You can speak?"

A beat of silence passed. Leo stood in front of the seven, looking smaller than ever. Jason looked at everyone standing around him. They seemed either mad or surprised. "Guys, we should probably hurry back before we attract any monsters." The rest of the seven turned their attention to him.

"Fine..." mumbled Annabeth, leading the way back towards the ship. "We'll talk about this later."

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POV CHANGE

Leo wasn't sure how to feel. A huge chunk of him was freaking out, he had just spoke in front of his friends after all. They weren't meant to know he could talk. At the same time, though, part of him was relieved.

That didn't make him feel any less shooketh.

He just wasn't thinking. He hadn't been paying attention to where he stepped, his foot slid, and suddenly he was falling. Usually, Leo fought the urge to talk, but he guessed in that case his natural human instincts took over. It was true that if he hadn't yelled, the others might not have noticed in time. The problem was now they knew he could talk.

Leo didn't exactly remembered when he had stopped talking, it had been so long. His friends had thought he couldn't, then he just had to go and mess it up. They probably hated him now. He was sure Annabeth did at least, as she couldn't even look at him. So, he began to spend most of his time away from the rest of the seven. The solitude of the engine room became his best friend. The only times he interacted with people were when Jason and Piper would come in, just to sit with him or have a one way conversation. Hell, even Frank did once.