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It was warm. And light. And it smelt like freshly dug dirt. And metal. In a good way? He pulled the covers closer to his face, with immediate disappointment. The sun was still shining on his face.
An arm wrapped around his waist, and a face snuggled closer into his neck, slow breaths warming him. It was comfortable. Wait. Whose breath was that?
Leo shuffled to his side, trying to get a look at whoever was beside him. He tried to roll over without disturbing his companion (unsuccessfully), and found himself staring in Hazel's face. He smiled. He didn't usually get dreams this nice.
He closed his eyes contently. The morning air smelt of cinnamon, and he could hear a slight crackle of something being fried. Pancakes? He could go for some pancakes with maple syrup and those figs they sold in New Rome. But he'd finished all the ones he had brought over from his last visit. No, but he was at Frank and Hazel's place, he was in New Rome. He could just go out and get them from the fruit stand. How convenient. He was at Frank and Hazel's place.
He was at Frank and Hazel's place, in their bed. He was at Frank and Hazel's place, in their bed, with Hazel.
Pushing himself up on his elbows, he forced his eyes to open, and to adjust to the bright morning light coming from the window. Hazel stirred next to him, half-lucidly rubbing her cheek. She managed to peek an eye open, and noticed Leo. She gave him a content smile, and closed her eye right back.
"Hazel?" came a voice from the kitchen, "what do you want on your pancakes?"
"Do we have any of that strawberry jam from Percy left?"
"I'll check," replied Frank. "What about Leo?"
Hazel turned to him.
"..I'll have some maple syrup if that's okay," he replied, unsurely.
"Totally."
"And, um, do you guys have those figs they sell by the Circus Maximus?" Leo looked back at Hazel, who was smiling at him like she was trying outshine the sun.
"Yeah, I think we should have some of them left over. I'll check for you."
All that he heard was the crackling pan from the kitchen, birdsong, and the faint sounds of New Rome coming in through the window.
If this was a dream, it was pretty realistic.
Slowly, yesterday started coming back to him. He looked at Hazel, who had sat up, and was wrapping a knitted shawl around her bare shoulders.
He had visited Frank and Hazel, they had him for dinner, then they played a game of Catan. They opened a bottle of wine, along with some elderflower syrup that Hazel's friend had made. They talked about what had happened to them in the last few weeks, and Frank ranted about what new bill the senate was trying to pass. Hazel talked about the book she was reading for her book club, and Leo shared with them his latest project – they helped him test if it worked, while he shielded himself with it "still being in beta" (which, to be fair, was the truth).
The rest of the evening was slightly hazy. He could remember Frank, in the form of a cat, purring on his stomach, while Hazel stroked his hair in her lap.
He gently touched Hazel's shoulder. "Did I... fall asleep here?"
Hazel giggled. "Yes."
She kissed his forehead, with a gentleness that had to be deliberate. He had gotten physically affectionate with the couple through the time they knew each other, but he still couldn't help himself from blushing just a little bit at the gesture.
"Had to carry you from the couch. You slept like a baby," commented Frank from the bedroom doorway. He held a tray with a heap of pancakes and some sides for them.
"Slept like a baby. Or, well, not like a baby – they don't sleep very calmly. Like a really tired baby. Like one that spent the whole day running around," Frank tried to fish himself out of his own trap, unsuccessfully. He set the tray on the bed.
"You should've just woken me up, man!" Leo's shoulders shot up.
Frank pouted.
"You could've just told us if you wanted to go earlier. We wouldn't have kept you here."
Leo's eyes widened.
"Nonono it's not that!" he retorted quickly, "it's just... I didn't wanna cause you any inconveniences," said he, playing with the sleeve of his t-shirt.
Hazel helped herself to some pancakes, putting a spoonful of strawberry jam on her plate.
"Leo," she looked him in the eyes. His name. It sounded like honey when Hazel said it.
"You're our friend! You're not an inconvenience," Frank placed a hand on Leo's arm.
"No, really. You could've just left me on the sofa or something..." he stared into the covers.
Frank stroked his arm. It reminded Leo of a cat brushing up against their human. He could almost hear Frank purring. "We want you here. We wouldn't have invited you if we didn't enjoy your company."
If he weren't so hungry, he might've felt a lump in his throat.
Hazel cocked her head. "Was the cuddling too much? I told Frank that we ought to ask you, but he didn't want to wake you."
"No, no," Leo tried really hard to keep his voice level.
"Are you sure?" Hazel touched his hand gently, an expression of concern on her face. "You know we'd rather hear the truth than whatever you think we might want to hear."
"No, really, it's totally fine," Leo stared into the wall, blinking intensely.
Hazel studied his face.
She returned Frank's gaze.
"I just..." Leo wiped his face with his forearm, "This is really hard for me to say, but, uh, I care about you guys. I-" his voice broke, "I'm really glad you're my friends."
They both looked at him a bit baffled.
"Leo," Frank said his name as if he were comforting a small animal. Hazel placed her head on Leo's shoulder, rubbing his hand. He let his own head fall on top of hers.
The lump in Leo's throat seemed almost impossible to ignore now.
He looked at Frank. An encouraging smile. Being praetor was really starting to rub off on him.
And he buried his face in Frank's t-shirt.
His chest fell and rose arrhythmically, and he could feel Frank's arms around him. He squeezed him tightly.
He felt Hazel's hand on his back, hardly even touching him while coursing up and down.
He pressed his hand into Frank's back. Frank reciprocated.
Leo parted from Frank's t-shirt, sniffled, and gave his friends a smile. "I'm just really glad you guys care about me. I know it sounds silly."
"Come on, man," he could hear Frank's smile without even looking at him, "we really do care about you."
"Yeah, you don't have to feel silly about that," Hazel's hand grazed the top of Leo's head.
"Yeah, okay," Leo took a tissue from the box Frank offered him. "I'm just so used to third-wheeling my friends," he wiped his eyes, "but with you guys, I- I feel so... it just feels so nice, y'know? Like I'm not far away, I'm right here with you, even though I'm not with you. I don't know if I'm making any sense," he laughed, fizzily.
Hazel hugged him. "You'll always be special to us, Leo," she whispered into his neck. She looked him in the eyes with a grin. "We've talked about this, actually, and I think it's the same for us. You're our closest friend. You're kind of family at this point."
"We, um," Frank looked at him, "we wanted to ask if you felt the same way. We really care about you, Leo." The praetor picked up his hand, with a practiced gentleness.
"I... I was just afraid you guys were gonna be jealous or angry or something," he admitted. Frank planted a kiss on top of Leo's knuckles.
"I'm pretty sure we're old enough to admit it to ourselves when we do get like that," Frank laughed. Leo grinned.
Leo's chest might as well had a bunch of helium-filled balloons attached. It suddenly felt light in a way that he hardly remembered.
"So... no hard feelings?" Leo asked.
Frank smiled, his dimples getting more pronounced than they already were, as if that were even possible.
"No hard feelings," Hazel said, and Frank nodded.
Leo laughed. A genuine one, from his belly, that he hadn't laughed in a long time.
"Ooooo-kay! Then let's dig into these pancakes!"