safe || leo valdez x oc

twelve: chicago sewers with my buddies

~•♡•~

we all climbed off of festus just after he landed. snow covered the vast hills, a blinding sheet of white. as i stared, i squinted, somewhat blinded, and i realized how exhausted i was feeling.

festus stomped his feet. i looked at him, and one of his ruby eyes flickered.

i tapped leo's shoulder and he spun around.

"is that normal?" jason asked.

leo summoned a rubber mallet from his tool bag, and whacked festus's eye back to normal.

"yes." leo answered. "but festus can't hang around here. they'll arrest him for loitering maybe if i had a dog whistle..."

he rummaged his tool belt, but no such luck.

"try a safety whistle." i suggested.

"ha! smart lady!" leo smirked as he summoned a safety whistle. i rolled my eyes at the boy.

"coach hedge would be jealous!" leo said. "okay, festus, listen." leo blew the whistle, and i clamped my hands over my ears. the noise was louder than girls in a classroom when the lights go off.

"you hear that, come find me, okay? until then, fly wherever you want. just try not to barbecue any pedestrians."

at the word barbecue, my stomach rumbled. festus snorted in agreement, and flew into the air.

leo stared at me wide eyed.

i began thinking back, and i realized that i hadn't eaten since piper gave me a granola bar yesterday, so my last full meal was the night before last at camp half-blood.

i shook my head, waving him off. piper took a step forward, and grimaced.

"your ankle?" jason said, his heart heavy as he supported piper. "that nectar we gave you must have worn off."

"it's fine." piper shivered, and i frowned. jason looked crestfallen too, and i sighed.

"here." i removed my cloak, revealing my orange camp half-blood shirt. i hated doing this- not because of piper, but because i prefer to show as little of my body as possible. now, my boney arms were revealed, as well as the weird bumps on them.

i threw it around piper, and stared at me. "runa-"

i shook my head. "no. you're the one with the broken ankle." i insisted.

"let's get out of the wind." jason suggested as piper pulled the cloak tighter around herself.

"into a drain? sounds cozy."

~•♡•~

jason went first, then piper (who was caught by jason), then leo (who insisted he did not need a man), and then me (who accidentally slipped and fell on top of jason when he tried to get me).

"are all sewers this nice?" piper asked. i looked around, realizing it wasn't as dirty as most.

"no." leo said. "trust me."