#not to mention the pink hair dye stains on the collar!

[kissmefriendly]

Have you ever seen anything as atrocious as a young trans masc’s wardrobe?

[fbfh]

Light Up the Dark - Leo x reader [II]

genre: romance + action + enemies to lovers kinda

word count: 1.3k

au: none

pairing: Leo x gothy!child of eros!fem reader

requested: nah

warnings: more brief mentions of anthrax, mentions of robbing a dentist and crafting w human teeth, living in an abandoned warehouse, i think that’s it??

summary: Leo and Jason finally find the demigod they’re looking for, but it’s going to take a lot of persuading for Leo to win her over to come to camp with them. 

listen to: karma - ajr

a/n: finally have a reliable laptop so i can hopefully post more?? don’t quote me lmao

Jason barely parks the car before Leo and Calypso are out the door. Leo thinks out loud while tweaking his tracking device, and Calypso starts listing the places she’d found in her travel magazines. 

“First I’m going to go to the Portland Observatory, then there’s this cute little ice cream shop not too far from there, and gods, there’s jewelry boutiques and coffee shops…” She lets out a noise of excitement and heads down the street before disappearing around a corner. Leo had wanted to say something to her, but now he just stared at where she had been a moment ago. 

He brushes it off, and turns back to his tracker. Jason takes in a breath to say something before Leo walks by him and says to come on, he got a signal. They walk for a couple blocks and Leo is doing everything he can not to focus on what just happened. I mean, I should have expected it at this point, he thinks, she’s practically been ignoring me since we left the island, why would now be any different? Then, as usual, the voice of overjustification enters the chat. He tries to silence the conflicting inner dialogues with no luck. 

Beepbeepbeep.

He looks down at the tracker.

BEEPBEEPBEEP.

He looks over at Jason.

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEE-

They take off running. 

They run for a few blocks, zigzagging around, before Leo sprints forward. 

"She should be up that way," he pants, not realizing Jason had fallen behind. He barrels forward, eyes glued to the tracker, when he slams into something and a cold liquid seeps into his hoodie. His eyes flit up to apologize, but the words get caught in his throat. 

He's looking down at the hottest girl he's ever seen. 

Just the fact that you're standing so close to him makes his heart race, and he can't tear his eyes away from you. Heat rises to his cheeks as he studies you. He's fixated on your eyes; there's makeup smudged at the corners, and they're a rosy pink at the bottom. Something about them makes him want to create things. Is this how artists feel when they see their muse? His breath catches when he realizes they're staring at him, through him. He snaps out of his trance when he realizes you’re waiting for him to say something. You look pissed. He tries for an apology, but nothing comes out. He'd heard of people looking 'hot when they're mad', now he really got the expression. Your glare intensifies. 

"I WILL MAKE YOU SNORT ANTHRAX!" 

His heart is pounding - maybe from the running, definitely from you - as you crush the cup in your hands. You grab his collar and his heart stops for a second as you shove the cup down his shirt. You scream and storm off. He watches you stomp off until you turn a corner. Jason finally catches up to him. He takes in the coffee stains all over Leo’s clothes, the redness of his face, and the cup sticking out of his collar. 

“... You know what? I’m not even gonna ask.”

Leo barely hears him, still staring at the spot where you were a moment ago. You were like nothing he’d ever experienced before, the closest comparison he could make was an intense summer storm; loud and powerful, shaking everything up, then gone before you can blink. He never thought the words ‘I will make you snort anthrax’ could be a turn on. 

“Did you find the demigod?” 

Jason’s voice cut through his thoughts. 

“...Yeah,” he points to the corner you had just disappeared around, “over there.” His instincts win, and he takes off running after you. He catches up to you a second later. He grabs your shoulder, and you spin around yelling, “WHAT?!” He fumbles for what he was about to say, but he’s still stuck on your eyes and how loud his heartbeat sounds. He chokes out the usual monologue about how surprise! The greek gods are real and you’re their kid and you need to get to camp right now. Or at least he tries to. What came out was more like, “Uh, this is hard to believe and everything, but one of your parents is a… a greek god-” 

 “Wow, thanks for the compliment!” You cut him off incredulously. 

“Wha- no, I didn’t mean-”

“Because it’s so hard to imagine me as the child of a god,” you continue. 

“Not hard to believe like that-”

“I mean, look at me! I’m a hideous, coffee covered monster!”

He looks down at you, lost for words. How can he say that's not true, you're incredible and make his heart go boom boom! What words are stronger than beautiful? You cock an eyebrow at him expectantly. He pushes past this feeling that makes him want to master poetry just to write sonnets about you, squeezes his eyes shut, and chokes out the important parts of the rest of the speech. 

“We need to get you to camp.” The words come out in a rush, then there’s silence. He stares down at the pavement. He knows if he looks at you he’ll get all flustered again. After a minute, your voice cuts through the silence like drizzling honey. 

“You want to take me to a summer camp?”

“U-uh, yeah…?”

He hears you blow a quick breath of air out of your nose. Was that a scoff or an almost laugh?

“Well, that’s new.” After a moment of consideration, you respond, “I’ll tell you what. I’ll go to your summer camp - if you get me coffee whenever I want on the way there.” He takes in a breath to reply when you continue, “I also want free access to bleach and hair dye. And I get to choose the music in the car.” 

He’s like, yeah, that’s fair.  He calls Jason over. 

“Jason, this is, uh…” You introduce yourself with a curt smile. “Right,” Leo continues, “I’m Leo, and this is Jason.” You look up at him. He seems nervous. 

“Yup,” he raises a hand in greeting, “Jason here.” 

You blink.

“Okay? What do you want, a medal?”

Leo turns to Jason and says he has to grab something real quick, and they’ll all meet up at the car. You start walking beside him down the sidewalk. You revel in the uncomfortable silence. After a minute he tries to make conversation. 

“I, uh… I like your purse.” He says. 

“Thanks, I added the studs myself.” you reply, smiling slightly. 

“Oh, that’s-”

“They’re made of human teeth.” You continue. He’s quiet again, trying to tell if you’re joking.

“I had to rob a dentist.” 

He doesn’t talk much after that. Leo arrives at the car a few minutes after you do. Jason gets into the driver's seat, and Leo hands you a milky iced coffee and some paper towels. 

“What are these for?” you ask, looking at the paper towels in your hand. 

“So you can dry off.” He replies, “Sorry about before. Americano looks good on you though, it brings out your eyes,” and you smile a little in spite of yourself. You dry off and take a sip of your coffee. Your eyebrows rise in surprise. It’s perfect. 

“How… did you know my order?” you ask, a little amazed. He holds up the crumpled, and now somewhat straightened, cup you had shoved down his shirt and points to the description on the side. 

“I have my ways.” He smiles playfully and you both get in the back. 

“Hey,” you say, buckling your seatbelt, “can we swing by my apartment to pick up a few things before we leave? It’s not far from here.”

“Yeah, that’s perfect,” Leo replies, “I can help you out while Jason picks up Calypso.”

You tell them the address and give occasional directions, and a few minutes later you pull up to an abandoned warehouse. Jason is about to ask if this is the right address when you hop out of the car and just… walk inside. 

Jason and Leo share a look. This is going to be interesting.