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Leo Valdez runs hot. Not metaphorically— though, yeah, that too! You know what I mean, physically. The son of Hephaestus is basically a walking space heater with brown curls.
Summer at half-blood is brutal. Sometimes you doubt that the camp really maintains an ideal climate all year round because what on earth is this heat?
The heat is thick and humid, the kind that sticks to your skin even after midnight and makes you want to sleep without any clothes on and the window open.
And Leo? Your lovely boyfriend Leo radiates warmth like he’s offended by the concept of air conditioning.
The first time you try to cuddle in July, it lasts a solid minute.
“Okay,” you gasp, peeling yourself off his chest, “are you actively trying to kill me?”
“I'm a comfortable seventy-eight degrees of boyfriend perfection,” he says defensively, but he’s grinning. His skin is warm under your palm— too warm for this weather so you push totally off making a uncomfy face.
You love your boyfriend, but for your poor brain trying to rest, it's too much stimulation.
So you think that’s the end of it. That summer will just mean sleeping an inch apart, hands barely touching, tragically deprived of proper snuggles with him.
It seems you forget who you’re dating.
The next night, there’s a contraption spread across his bunk. It looks like a cross between a quilt and a duvet.
“I made you something,” he says, his eyes proud.
It’s a cooling blanket. Not just cold fabric, but softly chilled, temperature-regulating, humming faintly with celestial-bronze wiring so fine you barely notice it. When you slide under it and he pushes you to his chest the heat that clogged to your skin last night just… disappears. The air around you feels crisp, like being under the shade of a tree.
You blink up at him. “You built air conditioning into a cuddle?”
He shrugs, his cheeks going the faintest red. “I refuse to be the reason my favorite person suffers heatstroke.”
And then you curl into him.
His warmth doesn’t smother you anymore. It seeps in slowly, balanced by the blanket’s cool touch. Your cheek rests against his chest, and for the first time all summer, you can actually breathe while still being wrapped around him.
He sighs like this—this—is what he’s been waiting for.
It's not a secret that Leo loves physical affection, but he loves fixing things more. And if the “thing” is the unfair fact that his body temperature makes July unbearable for you? Consider it handled.
By August, the cooling blanket has upgrades. Like adjustable settings, a low hum that syncs to your breathing when you're anxious. Once, it even smells like peppermint because he was “experimenting.”
Anyway, the boy is counting down the days until winter arrives; it's not that he doesn't like the cooling blanket, but being able to cuddle with you at that time of year is a gift from Mount Olympus itself.
Winter at camp is every child's Christmas dream, or at least that's how winter is portrayed in movies and advertisements. There's snow on the rooftops and it's cold, but not terribly cold.
This moment Leo is perfect.
You don’t need the blanket or any other invention your boyfriend comes up with. You just need him.
You crawl under the covers and press yourself into him, and he wraps his arms around you without waiting for you to completely settle up. His body heat is so nice, it's warm and the perfect contrast to your cold hands, nose and feet.
“You’re smug about this, aren’t you?” you murmur against his collarbone.
“Maybe,” he says, voice thick with sleep. “I’m basically premium heating.”
Your cold toes tuck against his calves and he yelps— but he doesn’t move away, just gives you a little pout.
Whether it’s building something to keep you cool in July or just holding you close in December, Leo will always make sure you’re comfortable.
Even if it means inventing climate-controlled cuddling.
Especially if it means he gets to keep you right in his arms.