- An old oneshot of mine (back from late 2020)
Percy had always been afraid of fire. It wasn't that often that he showed it however, too anxious about the reactions he'd receive.
And so he'd just grit his teeth, clench his fists.
The Demigod Life just made his fear so much worse, so much harder to deal with.
There was fire-breathing monsters to your left, large explosions to your right.
By now, he'd grown pretty good at hiding the rapid rise and falls of his chest. His laboured breathing.
But that just made his heart beat a little faster, his head thump a little harder.
Just the name had Percy's skin itching, his legs shaking.
It was torture, the way his brain seemed to split into two around the boy.
On the one hand, Leo was his friend, one of the constants in Percy's life that he needed in order to survive.
On the other hand, Leo controlled fire. If you could even call it that. Percy would admit, sometimes he could control it. Others, well, the amount of people sent to the infirmary because of that boy was starting to get ridiculous.
Leo had always been afraid of water. He just didn't show it often, too scared of how people would react.
And so he just did his best to put out the fear. Put out the fire instead of fueling the flames.
It was why it had taken him a while to warm up to Percy, to stop acting so funny around him.
Sure, he liked Percy, as a person. But the... vibes Percy gave off set Leo on edge, waiting for the water to peer out. To engulf him, suffocate him, drown him.
Even Percy's eyes reminded him of water. A mixture of blue and green that swirled together like an ocean storm.
He had this aura around him, strong and... Leo wanted to say developed. Like it had taken years for him to build something seemingly so simple.
Leo didn't understand how Percy could control the water the way he did. Completely bend it to his will. Now, Leo knew he could control fire just the same, but it was different. It really was.
Leo dealt with fire, familiar and safe. Warm.
Percy dealt with water, stange and dangerous. Cold.
Leo would try to put it into more words but all that came to mind was water being like that one toxic friend whereas fire was the awesome best friend who'd put up with all of your shit for years and yet still loved you.
Fire was like Leo's safety blanket.
Although at first, fire too had been strange and dangerous. Cold.
Leo hadn't yet connected the dots between the two, too busy hiding within his safety blanket.
Percy huffed out a breath as he arrived at the infirmary, slightly out of breath from running.
On a bed, surrounded by Will Solace and Kayla Knowles - ooh, wait, Austin Lake was there too - lay Jake Mason, his head wrapped in bandages and his face red.
A guilty looking Leo stood slightly out of the way, his hands entwined behind his back as his eyes flickered between Jake and the floor.
Just as Percy went to speak, find out what was going on, Leo spoke up.
"Hey, I mean, at least it'll grow back? That's a plus right?"
Percy's eyebrows furrowed, catching Will's eyes briefly as he looked on in confusion.
Will just shook his head, repressing a sigh.
"At least what will grow back?"
Leo jumped slightly, returning his gaze back down to the floor.
It was Kayla who answered, breaking the few seconds of silence that had followed Percy's question.
Percy swore for a second that her voice held more disappointment than Annabeth's did whenever she found him stuck in his clothes. Scratch that, more disappointment than when Annabeth spoke to him in general.
And that was pretty fucking hard to do.
"And his hair needs to grow back, why?"
Percy knew that just an hour ago Jake had a full head of hair. Why would he need to grow back the hair he'd already got?
"Because somebody burnt it off."
And if the pointed look she threw at Leo wasn't a tell-tale sign that somebody was Leo, Percy didn't know what was.
Leo just shrugged, scooting away from Percy slightly. The action both made Percy's heart clench and his stomach flutter.
Jake groaned, jolting Percy into the realisation of why he'd been sent there.
Percy ran over to Jake's side quickly, placing the palm of his hand on the injured boy's forehead gently.
The sharp intake of breath he took upon contact with Jake's skin went unnoticed by everyone but Leo, who only furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
Percy's bottom lip took place between his teeth, providing him with a different pain to focus on instead of the blinding heat connecting with his palm.
Slowly, Jake's face lost the bright red colour it was when Percy first arrived at the infirmary.
Instead, all of Percy right hand and lower forearm were a dark pink.
Percy briefly flicked the collar of his shirt forward once, hoping to relieve his body of some of the heat it had just absorbed.
It was a new, weird power of his that he had discovered recently and he wasn't really sure where he stood with it.
"Right, imma go take a nap now."
Percy didn't get a chance to see any of their responses because he was already stumbling his way back to his cabin.
He probably should have stayed longer, found out if there was anything else wrong, or asked for the full story.
But his head was lightly pounding now and he wanted to blame it on his hand but he knew it was because he'd been so close to Leo for so long.
It had been happening a lot recently, either that or he felt like he was going to be sick.
As soon as he entered his cabin, he let out a long sigh of relief, thankful for the cool air his cabin always seemed to have.
He flopped down onto his bed instantly, letting his head sink into the pillow. He'd barely had enough time to kick off his shoes first.
Leo didn't know what he was doing, why he was doing it.
He gulped, raising a shaky fist for what felt like the tenth time but was really only the third.
With a final deep exhale, he let his fist come down on the door three times.
Percy groaned, feeling so, so tempted to just let the person leave on ther own eventually.
At the sound of a fourth, slightly shy knock, Percy got up to check reluctantly.
Leo's breath stopped as the door opened, revealing Percy with his mussed up hair, tired eyes and red hand.
Percy tilted his head to the side, looking bewildered.
Percy really hoped that Leo couldn't see how close to tears he felt.
Leo didn't understand how Percy could look so calm and collected all of the time when he himself felt seconds from breaking.
They stood in a weird, kind of awkward silence for a few minutes, both fighting the urge to step back.
Eventually, Percy stepped aside, gesturing for Leo to come in.
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply as Leo walked past him slowly, feeling his aura surround him.
His hand came up to stroke through his hair as he shut the door, nervously gripping at the hem of his t-shirt instead.
He continued to fiddle with the hem of his shirt so he didn't have to look at Leo, squashing down his rising guilt.
Leo refused to sit down on any of the beds, choosing to stand stiffly in the middle of the room instead.
He liked this alternative much more. He felt more at ease.
He just felt so... out of his element whenever he was inside Percy's cabin and it always sent his heart racing with unease.
Leo looked up briefly, catching sight of Percy's still-red skin, his head jolting back, puzzled.
Leo didn't really feel heat but he knew others still did, especially Percy. Percy seemed particularly sensitive to heat, something Leo assumed was due to his heritage.
"What?" Percy's mouth formed a small 'o' shape as he saw Leo gesture towards his arm. "Oh, yeah, I guess."
Leo had known Percy long enough to understand that that was code for really fucking bad.
Leo was still debating in his head as he held out his hand, pretending he'd reached a decision towards his mind's questions.
Reluctantly, Percy reached out a hand - the burnt one of course. Why the fuck would he hold out the other one? Just to hold Leo's hand? - and allowed Leo to take it in both of his.
Percy let his eyes drift closed as all of the pain started to melt away, missing the way Leo's eyes seemed to examine his features.
Percy didn't notice when his hand returned to its normal tan colour, too busy focusing on the odd pleasure thrumming through his veins.
Leo on the other hand was too busy staring at Percy, not realising he was leaning in until Percy's eyes opened with a sigh.
Luckily, he hadn't managed to move far enough for it to be considered weird.
Percy looked down at his hand in awe, stretching his fingers and clenching his fist, unaware of the fact that his hand was still in Leo's.
Percy looked up at Leo, amazed.
"Well, after you first did it when you were healing that one kid during Capture the Flag, my dad visited me in my dreams a couple times and taught me how to do it too."
Percy smiled subconsciously, the admiration Leo held for his father warming his heart.
What he didn't realise was that some of that admiration was aimed towards him, too.
"Anyway, thank you. I mean it wasn't that bad but it's nice that the pain is finally gone."
Leo couldn't help but snort, not believing a word Percy said except 'thank you'.
It was the only part of what Percy had just said that sounded even the slightest bit sincere.
"I don't believe you. You were probably crying on the inside."
No I wasn't, Percy shot back in his head.
"That was a bit defensive, wasn't it?"
"You do know thoughts are supposed to stay inside your head, right?"
"Well of course I know that."
Leo raised an eyebrow, not looking at all convinced.
Percy pouted, trying to look angry.
"Okay, okay. I believe you."
Percy cheered, making Leo laugh instantly.
Percy smirked, feeling accomplished as he moved onto some sort of... victory dance, Leo laughing along all the while.
Neither one seemed to realise that they'd slowly gravitated towards each other, something they usually tried to avoid.
Neither complained as their faces inched closer, as their lips met.
Neither seemed to remember that they were supposed to be scared of the other.
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