Chapter Text
When the meal ended, Leo made his way to the infirmary.
He knocked on the door, and a few seconds later, it swung open.
Standing on the other side doorway was Will Solace, the head medic and head counselor of the Apollo cabin.
“Oh, hey, Leo!” Will said with a smile on his face. He looked tired, but happy. He must be really busy in the infirmary after the war, Leo realized.
“I finished your arm thingy.” Leo said, holding up the prosthetic in front of him for Will to see.
Will bent over slightly to get a closer look at the arm, looking at every detail with fascination, but not touching it.
“Wow, already? This looks incredible,” Will said. There was something in his voice that made Leo feel proud. True to his nature, Will said exactly what he thought, not just what people wanted to hear.
Still, it wasn’t perfect. There were flaws that Leo couldn’t fix, and however small they may be, they still existed. Plus, it was nothing compared to the things that he had built before, like the Argo II.
Then again, Jason thought it was good enough (the thought of which made him smile), but that guy's standards were low as hell.
“It was really nothing,” Leo said, tucking the prosthetic back under his arm.
Hmm, Will hummed, and raised one eyebrow slightly, and studied Leo’s face for half a second, before turning around and walking back through the door.
“Come inside,” he said.
Leo followed Will into the infirmary.
Will sat down at a small table in the back of the room, and Leo sat across from him, placing the machine between them.
“I guess you’ll need to know how it works, huh?” Leo said, gesturing to the object in front of him. As he talked, he subconsciously fiddled with some scrap metal in his hands, building some sort of small contraption. Even he didn’t quite know what he was making, his hands just did the work while he didn’t even think about it. He felt strangely nervous, showing his work like this. He really respected Will, and he felt like he needed to prove himself, even though Will definitely wasn’t one to judge. Still, he appeared confident as he explained how the patient can learn to use the prosthetic, all the special features, etc.
“Thank you, Leo,” Will said with a smile, “I’ll give this to her next time she’s here.”
“Yeah, I’m happy to-“ Leo heard the sound of the front door slamming, and he flinched, dropping the machine in his hands on the table with a loud thunk. He quickly picked it up, his hands trembling ever so slightly.
“Sorry!” He recognized the voice of Will’s sister, Kayla, calling from the hallway.
When Leo looked back up at Will, he was met with a concerned expression.
“You okay?” He asked.
“What? Never been better!” Leo said with a grin, a slight question in his voice.
Will studied him for a moment, and Leo raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m fine!” He insisted, standing up from his chair. “Um, anyways, I’ve got to go, Jason is waiting for me.” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder towards the door.
Will looked at him for a second longer, before looking back down at the prosthetic with a small sigh. “Alright, have fun on your date. Tell Jason I said hi.”
Leo froze. “I- um- what?”
Will squinted at Leo. “Oh are you guys not- my bad. I could’ve sworn you two were together.”
“What? No! We’re just-“ Leo’s voice caught on the next word. “friends.”
He looked defensively back at Will, who was raising one eyebrow, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned.
“Uh-huh,” Will said, unconvinced.
“We’re not! We’ve always been friends, that’s it!” Leo could feel the blush creeping up his neck, and his face starting to feel warm. He rubbed his cheek, discouraging any flames from appearing. “Why would you think that?” Maybe there was a rumor going around? “Did someone tell you something?”
“No. I just thought- nevermind.” Will looked up at Leo, raising his eyebrows in surprise when he noticed the pink flush on his face and the way he stared at his feet, and grinned. “Oh my gods, I knew it.”
Leo slid his hand down his face and groaned.
“I’ve seen the way you look at him. Don’t even try to deny it.” Will mused.
Leo plopped down into the chair next to him, his hand covering his ever warming face. “How do you know everything?” He whined.
“Please, have you met my boyfriend?” Will joked, “The dude is pretty much unreadable. I have experience.”
“You can say that again,” Leo chuckled. “I guess it’s that underworld element of mystery. You can clearly see it in Hazel, too,” He said with a smile.
Will grinned. A moment of silence passed. “You should tell him.”
Leo was pretty good at telling when people were joking. Will did not seem to be joking. “What?”
“What’s the worst that could happen?” Will shrugged, “it would get the weight off your chest. And, I don’t mean to speak for others here, but he is clearly not straight.”
“He’s literally dating Piper! If I told him, I could ruin my friendship with both of my best friends at the same time!” Leo rambled, exasperated, “and what do you mean ‘he’s clearly not straight’? Have you even met Jason?”
“I have, and that’s why I say it,” Will replied with a knowing smile. “Listen, Leo. Do whatever you want, but I promise you, you’re going to feel a lot better once you tell him, even if it doesn’t turn out perfectly. And maybe it will! Who knows?”
Will reminded Leo of Jason in a lot of ways. Besides the fact that they looked sort of alike, both tall with blonde hair and blue eyes, they had a similar temperament, too. They were both caring, looked out for others, and somehow always had some wise piece of wisdom or advice that they could pull out of nowhere. Leo also knew that Jason often put others before himself, making sure his friends felt okay, but never really looking out for his own feelings. He wondered if Will was the same way.
Despite their similarities, Leo felt no attraction to Will, of course. He and Jason were still two very different people, and no one could beat the son of Jupiter in Leo’s eyes.
“Anyways, you should probably get going. I bet Jason is waiting for you,” Will said with a sly smile.
Leo got up and turned toward the door, just in case his face decided to betray him again and blush. He looked over his shoulder before walking out the door. “Bye, Will. Thank you.”
“Nice seeing you. I’m always here if you need me,” He said with a smile. “I’m serious, Leo.”
As Leo left the infirmary, he thought about what Will had said. ‘You're going to feel a lot better once you tell him, even if it doesn’t turn out perfectly’? What did that even mean? If things didn’t go fine, which he knew they wouldn’t, how would he feel better? His friendship with Jason would be ruined. Leo would much rather spend his whole life being ‘best buds’ with Jason then never seeing him again, even as agonizing as it would be.
Honestly, he didn’t know how he was going to deal with either.