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Lit stared down at the city below him, a contemplative look on his face. It had stopped snowing hours ago but the bitter winds continued raging around him, stinging his eyes and cheeks but he found that he couldn’t care less. Someone poor Indianapolis citizen must’ve really pissed off Khione. Behind him, he could hear Abelard cooing softly accompanied by the rustling of hay. Most likely tucking his chick in.
Overhead the sun shined weakly, barely penetrating the thick blankets of grey clouds that threatened to engulf it completely from view. The sun...
No . He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Not right now.
He got to his feet, heading back inside. What he didn’t expect was to see a group circled around something. Or someone. Pushing through the crowd wasn’t hard. People tend to get out of your way when you’re a scary looking 6’2 person with a wicked sharp sword and facial scars that make you look like you are forever in a bad mood.
Despite himself, he felt kind of bad. Ever since he joined the Waystation, he had started becoming more and more considerate of how other people felt. He missed being an asshole who didn’t care about anything but surviving and proving himself to the world that he was more than just Midas’ pet killer. Things were simultaneously easier and hard as hell.
Ugh.
He decided he would get Calypso to help him bake some cookies to make up for this later. There. That will do. He had learned that many people love sweet things from his observations.
But for now…
VALDEZ?!
“...it was the third emperor. Stabbed him in the back with his spear. Lester, Meg, Pipes. They were all there to see it firsthand.”
In all his (relatively) short time spent around the son of Hephaestus, he had never thought there would come a day where he would see him this worn out. His shoulders slumped and his eyes, usually bright with a mischievous twinkle in time, were dull and as emotionless as those of his Uncle Hades. They didn’t look right.
Calypso looked up from rubbing her boyfriend’s back comfortingly and saw his questioning look. She shook her head, mouthing the word “later”. He nodded, bringing his gaze back to the haggard looking demigod.
Who could it have been to make Leo this worked up? He mentioned a name Lit didn’t recognize. “Pipes”. A nickname, most likely. He tried to think back to when he first met Leo, back in his father’s mansion in Omaha. He was travelling with an Aphrodite girl. Piper! So that was who “Pipes” was. And there was the other one, the Son of Zeus. No Jupiter. One of the first few people who managed to beat him in combat in centuries.
Despite that defeat, he still held grudging respect for the Roman. It was rare for an opponent to go against him and leave alive, and with all limbs attached too, at that.
So he must’ve been the one dead.
While lost in his thoughts, he didn’t realize that the others had moved on, whispering among themselves. He walked up to Leo, a silent offer in his eyes. The demigod caught on fast, nodding and turning to whisper something to Calypso before walking towards Lit.
“Let’s go Stabby,”
“I told you not to call me that,” he sighed.
“When have I ever listened to anything you told me to?”
“That time we had to do chores together for an entire day and-”
“Ok that doesn’t count because abuelita told me I’d get ice cream if I cooperated so I wasn’t really doing what you said, I was just listening to what she told me beforehand!” Leo interrupted, a cheeky smile on his face.
“I hate you,”
“Love you too bro,”
The silence around them started to become too long for Lit’s liking.
“I hope Elysium treats Jason well,” he said quietly at last.
Leo’s look of surprise disappeared quickly, replaced by one of grief. “I do too.”
“I’m sorry. I know it’s not much, but I really am. He is, er, was a good warrior.”
“There’s more. Lester stabbed himself in the heart trying to get the third emperor to let them go.”
Lit didn’t remember much of what happened next after that, just the sensation of spinning, Leo’s voice fading away into something soft, blending in with the falling snow outside, and worst of all, a raging voice inside of him yelling that that would’ve never happened if he wasn’t an idiot and went with them. He could’ve helped them, he could’ve, no should’ve been there to fight.
Don’t flatter yourself. You could barely defend yourself against your last boss, and he was the weakest of the three. What real use could you have been?
“Hey. HEY. Yo man you there?” Leo’s look of concern made him want to cry.
He blinked, trying to control his voice like he used to do so often in his father’s halls all those centuries ago. “Yeah. Yeah I’m fine gotta go just remembered something I,” he pushed past Leo, not even bothering to finish his sentence.
It was many days later. About a week, when he heard a shout from the kitchen and someone yelling the names of two people he knew. He almost dropped his canister of coffee racing down the stairs.
It’s really them.
The rest of the day passed by in a flurry of emotions, coupled with many hugs, tears, and good food, courtesy of Emmie and of course, everyone’s favorite asshole.
While everyone else quieted down, Meg and Apollo finished telling the rest of their story, which was mainly Apollo being dramatic and Meg interrupting to bring his flair down a few notches. If that wasn’t their entire dynamic summed up, Lit didn’t know what was.
Soon everyone went their separate ways and he found himself next to Apollo, a tired but comfortable silence between them after hours of talking.
“Go to sleep. You need to save your energy for the rest of your journey.” He whispered
“I hate it when you’re right.”
Lit tried, and failed, to hide his laughter, and before long, Apollo joined in too. It felt good to laugh freely like this. He should do it more often.
“Ok that’s enough clownery from us both. I’m going to go. You try and have a good night. Call for me if you need anything,” He said, standing up to leave.
“Wait,” Apollo said, reaching out and pulling on Lit’s sleeve. “Do you really have to go now? Can’t you stay for like, another hour or two? Or three or four or-”
“I’M- ok ok fine. I’ll stay with you for a little while longer, but that’s it.”
“BET,”
“You clingy little shit,”
“You forgot to add ‘lovable’ in front of ‘clingy’ by the way,”
“... No I didn’t,”
“Nevermind,”
“Heh,”
Before long, Apollo’s rhythmic breathing filled the air, his expression finally at peace.
Good . Lit thought. Rest while you can.
The ex god turned, throwing his arm around the Cornhusker.
Shit. He was so close. Almost too close. Lit could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears and he silently prayed that Apollo wouldn’t be able to hear it. Almost as if he heard his thoughts, the corners of his mouth quirked up in a little smile.
Lit felt like he was on fire. Why do you have to be so fucking cute dammit you charming bastard.
He closed his eyes, shoving his thoughts away. They were a problem for another day. Right now, he had more important things to worry about. Apollo would be leaving tomorrow to continue his trials, and Lit would remain here at the Waystation, away from the action, away from.
Say it coward.
“Away from him,” his voice slipped out before he could stop, a whisper that was more like a shout, carried through the air by some invisible force.
Now he knew how Leo felt whenever he had his mic unmuted during one of his online classes. It was humiliating and now Lit wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and never come out ever again.
“Wha,” His companion blinked sleepilly, his usually bright and gleaming sapphire eyes faded into a soft periwinkle.
“Uh it’s nothing. Go back to sleep. Sorry for waking you,” he responded quickly, tearing his gaze away. What was it about them that intrigued him so much? Was it the secrets swirling in those waves, the way the shade subtly changed to match his current mood?
“Hmkay,” he yawned, closing his eyes once again.
And just like that, Lit was alone with nothing but his thoughts once again. Almost on impulse, he placed his hands around the Apollo, shifting into a more comfortable position. He was so damn warm. It had been so long since he felt this way.
He didn’t know what to expect the next morning, if they’ll even see each other again, but h can hope. For now, this was enough.