Chapter Text
Leo had survived monster attacks, shipwrecks, explosions, and more gods than anyone should have to deal with breakfast.
But none of that prepared him for waking up in cabin nine with a tail wrapped around his leg.
He didn't notice it right away. At first, he just felt… weird. Like someone had stuffed warm cotton under his skin and amplified every noise around him. He could hear birds outside. He could hear someone arguing two cabins away. He could hear someone breathing in cabin twelve.
Then he heard a sound he definitely didn’t want to hear
a purr
His eyes flew open.
“What the… “
The purring stopped instantly.
Leo sat up so quickly the world blurred. His hair was sticking up in fifty directions. His vision sharpened unnaturally quick, catching every tiny spark of sunlight bouncing off the metal scraps on the floor.
Everything felt wrong.
He rubbed his head…
And touched something soft.
Triangular.
Attached.
Leo froze.
“Ok, okay, okay, no need to panic”
He tugged lightly.
It twitched.
“OH HADES NO!!”
He scrambled out of bed, tripping over something that rolled with him, he looked down.
A tail…
A real, long, brown furry tail curled around his ankle like it had been there his whole life.
Leo screamed!!
It wasn’t a manly scream. It was the kind of sound a small kitten made when you surprised it with a cucumber.
“NOPE!” “NO THANK YOU! REJECTING THIS QUEST!”
He grabbed his tool belt, still yelling incoherently, and bolted out the cabin door.
Which is, of course, when Jason Grace walked in.
Jason had come to find him for early training, or breakfast, or some other responsible thing that Leo normally needed bribing to show up for. Jason looked unfairly perfect for someone awake before the sun had fully decided to show up. Hair messy in a way Leo hated that he liked, hoodie sleeves shoved up, warm steam rising from the coffee he held.
“Morning”
Jason’s greeting choked to a halt.
Leo skidded to a stop in front of him, ears flat, tail bristling, eyes wide with fear like someone had turned him into prey.
Jason blinked.
Leo blinked back.
Jason set his coffee down very slowly. “Leo.”
Leo grabbed Jason by the hoodie strings. “Bro. I’m having a crisis.”
Jason looked at the ears. Then at the tail. Then at Leo’s panicked face.
His jaw dropped. “You… Is that?”
“I HAVE ANATOMY I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR!”
Jason covered his mouth like he was holding back a laugh or a scream. “Leo… you have ears.”
“I KNOW I HAVE EARS, JASON, WE’VE BEEN OVER THIS, I ALSO HAVE TWO EXTRA ONES NOW-”
“Okay, okay.” Jason stepped closer, hands raised like Leo was a startled animal. Which, honestly, was accurate. “Did you ask Piper for anything? Did you offend a god? Did you experiment on yourself again?”
Leo pushed his hair back to display the ears in all their twitchy, traitorous glory. “Do these look like the results of a science experiment?!”
Jason nodded slowly. “I mean… yes.”
Leo’s tail lashed. “You’re not helping!”
Jason inhaled, calm and steady. “Let me look.”
“No.”
“It could be dangerous.”
“Still no.”
Jason sighed and gently reached out-
Leo flinched violently, tail snapping around his own waist like a seatbelt.
“Don’t touch them!” Leo yelped. “They’re really.. uh.. nevermind. Just don’t.”
Jason paused. “Sensitive?”
Leo glared. “If you say that word again, I am going to dunk you in the lake.”
Jason’s lips twitched. “Noted.”
Chiron listened politely as Leo paced around the Big House porch, tail swishing, ears flicking, ranting about curses and sabotage.
“So,” Chiron said, folding his hands. “You have no memory of the transformation?”
“No,” Leo said.
“No dreams? No strange encounters?”
“No!”
Jason coughed. “Leo, what about that weird glowing thing you told me you stepped on yesterday?”
Leo froze.
Jason raised an eyebrow. “The one you said was probably fine?”
Leo covered his face. “Oh gods.”
Chiron sighed. “Describe the object.”
Leo peeked through his fingers. “It was small. Shiny. Glowy. Kinda looked like a marble but also like a-uh-miniature sun?”
Chiron stared at him. “Leo… you stepped on a solar-blessed charm stone.”
Leo blinked. “In English?”
Jason rubbed his forehead. “Leo activated a magic artifact with unknown properties.”
“In cat,” Leo muttered. “It translated as: ‘YOU’RE A MORON.’”
Chiron chuckled. “The good news is that it will wear off.”
Leo sighed with relief.
“In a week.”
Leo slumped. “I hate everything.”
Jason placed a steady hand on his shoulder. “Hey, it’ll be fine.”
Leo’s tail lifted and wrapped around Jason’s wrist again, curling tight like a reflex.
Jason’s voice softened. “Leo…”
“Shut up,” Leo muttered.
Jason insisted on staying with him “just in case.” Leo claimed he didn’t need babysitting, but five minutes alone had proven otherwise.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when:
a bird chirped
a hammer fell in the forge
someone dropped a spoon
Jason found him crouched on top of a workbench like a feral raccoon.
“Leo…”
“DON’T JUDGE ME.”
Jason climbed up next to him. “Sensory overload?”
“No,” Leo lied. “I just like the view from up here.”
Jason gently placed a hand on his back.
Leo’s spine arched.
He immediately slapped his own tail. “STOP THAT.”
Jason tried not to laugh. “Your instincts are kicking in.”
“I don’t have instincts! I am 100% feral chaos by choice!”
Jason gave him a soft, fond look.
Leo’s ears angled toward him.
Traitors.
Leo messed with a small motor to distract himself. His fingers moved fast, too fast, even for him. He could feel every vibration, every shift in the metal.
Jason watched, leaning against the workbench, arms crossed.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Want help?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
Leo sighed and dropped his face into his hands. “I’m… overwhelmed. Everything is too loud and too sharp and too much and I don’t know how to turn it off.”
Jason came closer. “Tell me what helps.”
Leo’s voice was small. “You being here. That’s it.”
Jason blinked like Leo had hit him with lightning. “Okay,” he whispered. “Then I’ll stay.”
Jason sat next to him. Their knees touched.
Leo hated [loved] how instantly calm his body went. The tension melted off him like someone had flipped a switch.
A low vibration rose in his chest.
Leo froze.
Jason looked at him.
“No,” Leo whispered. “No, no, NO-
Jason smiled. “Leo… you’re purring.”
“I AM NOT.”
“You very much are.”
Leo covered his mouth. The purring got louder.
“Oh gods,” he groaned. “Just bury me. Put me in the ground.”
“Hey,” Jason murmured, gently placing a hand on Leo’s back again. “It’s fine. You’re fine.”
Leo inhaled sharply. The purring turned embarrassingly loud.
Jason’s cheeks turned pink. “It’s… actually kind of cute.”
“DON’T SAY THAT.”
Jason’s voice softened. “Leo, it’s just instinct.”
“No, Jason. Instinct is like ‘run from danger.’ Instinct is not ‘purr because the hot blond guy touched your back.’”
Jason blinked.
Leo froze.
Jason blinked again.
Leo wanted to jump into the nearest volcano.
But then Jason touched his back again, slowly, reassuringly.
Leo tipped sideways against him without meaning to.
Jason caught him.
“Do you want me to stay awhile?” Jason asked quietly.
Leo nodded, mortified.
Jason guided him down from the workbench, sitting on the floor with him, letting Leo lean against his chest. Leo curled instinctively, tail looping around Jason’s waist like a seatbelt.
“Comfortable?” Jason whispered.
Leo mumbled, “I’m never speaking of this again.”
Jason stroked his hair gently, avoiding the ears unless Leo leaned into it [he did].
The purring grew steady.
Jason’s voice dropped. “You know… this isn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened.”
Leo peeked up at him. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Jason’s ears turned pink. “Maybe a little.”
Leo groaned and hid his face.
Jason held him tighter.
Leo eventually fell asleep curled on Jason's chest, tail wrapped tight, ears twitching faintly, purring like a broken engine.
Jason didn't move for hours.
He just held him, tracing circles on Leo's back, whispering things Leo would pretend not to when he woke up.
The last thing Jason said before leo fully drifted off was-
"You're still you, Leo. Cat ears or not… I’ve got you.”
Leo’s purring deepened, even in his sleep.
Jason smiled.
With Leo now being part cat
And Jason was already way deeper than either of them realized.