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Leo's return to the living is stressful. He's alive and can ignite himself on fire on a whim, making people glance over when he starts smoking, but it's still pretty weird to be back. Since everyone thought he was dead.
He gets punched and slapped plenty of times—did Nico really have to make everyone form an orderly queue? But, they're usually followed with tight, crushing hugs that hurt even more.
There's this whole thing with Percy and Apollo and whatever other chaos Leo has missed in the months he's been gone with Calypso. He's usually part of the chaos, so it's weird to be an outsider to all the new drama. Leo stumbles through excuses about communications not working and difficulties with Festus—only supported when Festus randomly starts to breathe out fire—while everyone watches on with some mixture of relief and hatred.
Well, not hatred. They all love Leo, obviously. Hopefully.
Leo takes special care with hugging his siblings tight and speaking in Spanish to anyone who pauses long enough to listen.
Percy leaves before dinner and the rest of the day has Leo buzzing with excitement. He used to burn the worry off by lighting himself in flames, but he's sure that enough of the campers have seen him go up in a similar manner and don't want to do so again.
He hugs all of his friends and siblings and decidedly does not think about his friends in Camp Jupiter—specifically Piper and Jason. He needs to head out West to find everyone and talk to them. Flaunt the fact that he's back from the dead with Calypso and hopefully not get beaten up across the country.
Luckily, Apollo has some weird mission for Leo and Calypso to trail along with. Well, not really luckily. Quite unfortunately, Leo is unable to contact anyone using any kind of communication.
He tells Apollo they'll be ready to go the next morning, once he helps Festus get ready for another adventure and doesn't feel like the ache in his body is going to make him collapse.
Calypso lost her powers after leaving Ogygia. Leo saved her from the island, just like he promised. But, the cost is still to be decided. He's also very tired.
Calypso sleeps in a spare room in the Big House, small mercies. Leo sleeps back in his old bed in the Hephaestus cabin, trying to pretend that it doesn't feel like a shrine. Sure, demigods float between suspected death all the time, but Leo knows that everyone was fully convinced of his own.
He goes into an uneasy sleep thinking about his best friends and all the work he'll have to perform on Festus to be ready to fly tomorrow.
He apparently doesn't have to wait long to see his friend, because Leo is waken up early to someone shaking his shoulder and whispering Leo.
Leo, for his part, immediately screams and bursts out in flames, causing the other person to jolt backwards and start muttering to themselves.
"Knew I shouldn't have done that," the mysterious figure says.
Even if a monster somehow got into the camp and into his cabin, Leo doubts they would be talking like that. So, he uses the flame in his hands to squint forward and realize that the figure is Jason Grace, standing in his cabin at an unknown, very early time in the day.
"What?" Leo says dumbly, sitting up in his bed and quickly brushing his curls out of his face after extinguishing his hands. "Jason?"
Leo can't really see Jason's facial expressions, but he can tell that he's walking out of the cabin. Leo quickly gets up and follows after him, assuming that they don't want to wake the remaining campers in the cabin.
Leo can see him better under the early sun. Gentle smile and a somewhat awestruck face.
"Leo," Jason says, somehow smiling wider like he can't believe it. "You're alive."
Well, that explains why Jason looked so confused, albeit happy.
Jason nods, ready to have to explain the plan that he kept hidden from Jason, the failed communications, Calypso. He's ready for the slap or demands for explanations, but Jason does neither. Instead, he crashes forward and hugs Leo when they're far away enough from the cabins to talk without risk of waking anyone up or getting eaten by harpies for disturbing the peace.
"I missed you so much," Jason says into Leo's shoulder.
Leo hugs him a bit closer and hope it explains how he missed Jason, too. Even if he can't find the words just yet.
"Do you sleep with your tool belt on?" Jason murmurs.
That was an accident, so Leo just shakes his head. Even if most of the nights traveling with Calypso meant that he was even sleeping with his goggles around his neck.
"You're being strangely emotionally-regulated about this," Leo replies.
Jason just pulls Leo closer, arms wrapping around his waist as he says, "I flew into the sky and screamed for ten minutes when someone told me."
Leo laughs, strained. Jason is usually pretty cool. Or at least, outwardly collected. He tries his best not to lose his temper, but Leo has seen it happen a few times on his adventures with him and Piper. He can't imagine the out lash when Jason thought he was dead. They were best friends, for one.
"Right," Leo says awkwardly. "How did you know? All communications are down. And I really don't get how you got here so fast. Did you take a plane?"
Jason's hair is windswept, but that its permanent state of being, so. To be fair, Leo's hair has never seen rest either. Nor have his clothes. Singes give it character, really.
Jason lets go and steps back; Leo sways a little in its absence.
"I was already on my way here. Series of me flying. Just wanted to check up on things, but— but Nico was up for some reason. And he told me when I landed. And I really didn't want to wait until the morning, so."
The sun is rising, but Jason is nervously shifting his hands. The hesitance that he never would have shown before Leo was presumed dead.
"Can I…" Jason trails off after a moment, looking out towards the Sound without further explanation.
Leo raises his eyebrows, glad they're not burned anymore. He missed the important aspects of his facial expressions.
"Can you…" he prompts.
Jason closes his eyes, "We can go to the beach.'
Leo looks behind Jason, too, where he just barely see the edges of water and the sand. The sun is rising just a bit more. Leo's usually not a morning person, barely able to drag himself out of bed, but the last few months have taught him that any bits of sleep he can catch are valuable. As well as the time he spends on quests. And looking at Jason—specifically his too-blue, wide eyes—he knows that he wouldn't mind if he hadn't slept a wink.
They're fine standing near the trees, illuminated poorly by the nearby climbing wall. The lava never ends. Leo is endlessly entranced. The sun, too, is bright. But what Jason is suggesting sounds a lot like watching the sunrise together. Which Leo would obviously never say no to.
The fall with Calypso had been awkward. But her life on the island had so long been confined by men who never came back. Who gladly forgot about her. Leo's not going to forget about her, but he doesn't exactly think that they're meant to be in a relationship. He'll do whatever he can to make sure she never feels alone, though.
"Leo?" Jason asks, making Leo realize he hasn't responded past the limit of timely responses.
Jason never gets mad though, just quietly prods until Leo realigns his thoughts into coherence.
"Yeah. Let's go."
Leo walks too close to Jason during the walk, but Jason bumps right back into him and laughs openly. Leo has missed him way too much.
It's quiet as they watch the water, propped up against the sand.
They talk and talk about Leo since he got back from Ogygia and Jason in the past months.
Leo is counting crickets when Jason says, "Piper and I broke up."
First, Leo thinks Piper and I, because Jason has always somehow had better grammar than him. Well, not somehow. There's a pretty obvious explanation.
Then, he thinks, oh. Huh.
Piper, Jason, and Leo. That's how it's been since Wilderness School— or maybe just since the Grand Canyon when Jason actually showed up. Leo really thought that Piper and Jason were meant to be something. Hera must be furious. Which, well— that's a good thing.
"I didn't know that," he says cautiously, diplomatically.
Did Leo just never realize anything between them? Was this a long time coming? Or just a little argument?
"It was me," Jason sighs. "We were in different places. I wasn't the person she thought I was. We thought that we could get through all of that— learn each other again, but I couldn't."
They're sitting side by side, giving Leo a good view of Jason bowing his head and folding it into his knees. It only lasts a second, because Jason seems to shock himself out of it, sitting up and sighing aggressively again.
"We never really got to know each other," he continues. "Only thought we did."
Leo nods carefully.
"She kept calling me her boyfriend, and we kept going for dates and playing along with everything everyone was saying. But, she'd mention a book she thought I loved that I never even heard of. Or a food she thought I liked that I hated. It's not her fault, obviously I still love Piper, but— but. Yeah."
Jason finishes sadly and fiddles with his hands again, picking up grains of sand and gritting them between his fingers. Leo makes the decision to look away, scanning over the water and the numerous clouds throughout the sky. Bright, fluffy.
"Hera," Leo curses, letting the tips of his fingers ignite just to watch the flames flicker and blow with the occasional gust of wind.
"Yeah," Jason says softly. "Piper would reach for my hand instinctively, and remember this first kiss that we never had."
Leo thinks, aren't we like that? Or rather: do you think we're like that? Leo knows Jason now, his values and dumb expressions, and the things he'd rather not say. But Piper did too. They were all good friends after all of their adventures together. Saving the world and all that.
He didn't think of Wilderness-Jason as Jason. Because that roommate wasn't real. The weeks of friendship meaning nothing because they had to start over again. Starting over with trust and getting Jason not to think he's annoying. Even though Leo had done that in Hera's fantasy version, too. Snuck him carrots and made weird contraptions that had Jason laughing. Leo never tried any of that in real life.
Maybe that's the difference between him and Piper. Leo doesn't talk about Wilderness School like Piper does. Or did. He doesn't talk about it at all. He's moved on. What Leo's already accomplished, Piper is trying to move past.
But Leo knew Piper; he knows Piper. He knew Piper—for real—at the Wilderness School and on the Argo II and everything in-between. How she only ate jellybeans by biting them in half first and knew how to braid tight knots for Leo to use in whatever new invention he was working on. And he guesses that he never really knew Jason that way.
Piper is the one who had romantic encounters with him. Falling in love in a horribly manufactured way.
"Well, she's in love with you," Leo defends. "That's gotta be tougher to overcome, dealing with everything."
Leo can't wait to see Piper again, even given this rough conversation. He misses his other best friend like a stone in his stomach.
Jason hums, "I think she'll be okay. I think I am. It was a few months ago, honestly. She's been spending time with her dad. I mean, we both thought the relationship was sudden. It was amicable. It's weird though."
Leo mouths amicable to himself but looks back over to Jason.
"You're both good, right?" he asks.
Jason nods, "Yeah. I mean, we'll always be friends, right?"
"Yeah," Leo agrees easily. "Definitely."
They both look out towards the water, before at the shifting clouds overhead.
"What about Calypso?" Jason asks.
"What about her?" Leo replies, laughing.
He hopes she's sleeping soundly in her room. It's been difficult the last few months outside of the island, but Calypso has never been happier to be anywhere.
"You guys are together, no? You rescued her from the island and everything."
Leo shakes his head; why do you want to know?
"Not like that. We're really good friends, though. I'd love for you to meet her."
Jason nods, humming to himself. They're content like that until he dramatically flops backwards onto the sand, leaving grains flittering up and hitting Leo.
Leo gasps, faux scandalized, but soon follows once Jason gestures for him to do so.
"Why are we getting all sandy?" he asks.
Jason extends his hands into the air, "I'm gonna try something."
Leo goes to ask what he meant, but he sees swirls in the sky and forgets what he was about to say.
The clouds seem to be changing shape, Jason's hands clearly in the air for dramatic purposes. He makes them sway and deform themselves, and shift into basic shapes before they form a very clumsy, artistic rendition of Festus. Leo laughs so loudly that Jason hushes him, but they're both smiling wide enough that it starts to hurt.
"I wanna stay here forever," Leo says absentmindedly, thinking about the quest he's going on tomorrow—well, today— with Calypso and Apollo, heading West.
Leo can see Jason's face tilt over and look at him, saying, "It's pretty, isn't it?"
His voice is simple, content. Not caring of the fact that he thought Leo was dead for how many months. Not caring that he was clearly grieving. Leo grasps for Jason's hand and is comforted by the fact that Jason just as easily latches on and squeezes.
"Yeah," Leo replies easily.
There's a lot more things they have to say. Maybe a few more apologies or explanations, but they don't say anything else relating to their lives. They stare up at the clouds as Jason uses the wind to shift them into different shapes as Leo guesses what he's trying to do.
"Wait— there's no way that's a cat! Have you ever even seen one? Wait, I know Frank has changed into one near you, so that's not an excuse."
Leo looks at the strange creature that Jason is forming in the sky, weirdly defigured and barely even resembling an animal. Jason starts to defend himself, but Leo is a little bit distracted by how the clouds are still moving, trying to force themselves into a real cat.
"Are those supposed to be whiskers?" Leo asks, squinting at the way the straggly lines immediately push themselves together and disappear.
Jason laughs, "Maybe."
Leo sits up after a few unsuccessful guesses—bear, bird, is that supposed to be Chiron—and shakes out his hair, grimacing at the grains of sand rolling down his clothes. He'll have to shower again before they go out West, but he also needs to take care of Festus and make sure that Calypso is ready. Along with Apollo, he supposes.
Jason is in no better state, laughing awkwardly when he has to dig his fingers through his hair to get the sand out. He looks over to Leo, long enough that Leo turns his body in the sand to face him, waiting until Jason does the same.
"You have to leave today, right?" Jason asks carefully.
Leo looks out back towards the Sound. The sun has well risen now, and Leo can hear the chattering from other campers back near the cabins as the camp starts to wake up. They'll be in the air in a few hours, maybe even before lunch, given that Festus doesn't have any unexpected complications.
"Yup," he confirms. "Probably going to be heading West, though. Break off and head to Camp Jupiter when I get the chance."
Jason nods slowly.
"Do you… wanna come with?" Leo asks.
"No," Jason shakes his head. "I should probably head back and tell everyone you're alive before you just show up."
"Give them their screaming time, yeah?" Leo laughs.
Jason doesn't, nodding seriously and looking away.
"Piper's gonna freak out," he says.
Leo sighs, "I really don't think I can apologize anymore, man. I knew everyone was gonna stop me if—"
Jason waves him off, "You've said. I just— I don't know, Leo. I missed you a lot. I thought you were dead."
Leo bites his lip, hanging his head. Really, the plan wouldn't have worked if everyone and their mom knew what he was planning. And really, he wasn't even sure if he was going to return from the dead, anyhow. Well, he had to fulfill his oath like the prophecy said, so maybe a little bit.
"No, don't do that," Jason says, reaching out and nudging Leo's shoulder.
Leo looks up, "But we're good?"
"Definitely."
"I missed you too," Leo says after another moment.
Jason looks at him softly, unfairly illuminated by the sunrise as Leo probably looks evil under the shadows. But Jason doesn't look at him like that. Jason's looking at Leo like his hair is on fire, but he's curious instead of concerned. Or something like that.
Leo really does have to get up soon. He needs to change Festus' oil and make sure he won't burp up fire while they're riding on him for Apollo's quest. But Jason isn't budging. He's just looking at Leo. Carefully and peacefully.
"Can I just…" Jason looks at him—deeper this time, if that was even possible.
Leo doesn't ask for what, because Jason starts leaning in, painfully slow. Leo, on the other hand, is the opposite. His mind runs in a million different directions a minute, and his brain's on a full blown marathon at the minute.
Jason's an inch away when Leo's train of thought reaches the right station and decides to back away. He pushes at Jason's chest, leaning away awkwardly.
Leo knows his eyes are wider than they've ever been when he says, "Wait. What?"
Jason shakes off Leo's hand and immediately backtracks, "I am so sorry, Leo. I shouldn't have…"
"No," Leo agrees. "You just broke up with Piper and you thought I was dead for months. This can't be what you want."
"We broke up—mutually—a while ago. And— what do you mean what I want?" Jason's brow furrows and Leo swears he can see thunderstorms in his eyes.
Leo just hopes the weather overhead doesn't reflect that.
"Like… me," Leo clarifies.
Jason doesn't seem to understand what Leo means, because he only tilts his head.
"I'm possibly the least likely person for you to want to be with," Leo says. "I mean, I think my hair is permanently dyed with oil. And I do actually wear my tool belt to bed most days. And I can light myself on fire, that's pretty dangerous. And you're Jason Grace, like, you're him."
Jason is a leader, and Leo is the weird kid who got dragged around as a third wheel while saving the world. The one left out of the three of them. The one left out of the seven of them. The one who disappeared and was thought to be dead by everyone, with only a sliver of hope of survival.
Leo isn't made for a relationship like that. He's always on a different frequency. Using a different kind of metal while everyone else is debating what kind of caulk looks best. Using weird metaphors that have people squinting at him and pushing him aside. Jason's never done that, Leo thinks absently.
"I'm not… not the Jason Grace I'm supposed to be. I get that I'm supposed to be the leader all the time, but, I kind of hate it, Leo. I— I spent you were dead—supposedly dead—thinking about what I would have said to you. What we could have done. School, or tofu tacos, or whatever," Jason says.
Leo laughs.
Jason smiles too, relieved, "And I think we could try something. I mean, if you don't want to that's fine. We'll always be friends, but, do you think we could? Try?"
Leo wants to try, really. They've been friends forever. Since after all those fake memories and months of gossip. He doesn't even know how it would work, though.
"I'm leaving for a quest later today," Leo says instead.
Jason nods, "I'll head back to Camp Jupiter after I catch up with everyone here. And I'll tell everyone about you and everything going on with the quest and when you're ready, you come to Cali."
"That's gonna take a while," Leo laughs. "Opposite sides of the country, and all that."
Jason shrugs, "What can you do?"
Leo bites his lip briefly, exhaling sharply as he debates the two sides. Multiple sides. Jason isn't wavering over the obvious difficulties between them. And Leo wants to try, really.
"We can try," he says openly.
"Like… now?" Jason asks sheepishly.
Leo nods, already smiling when he props himself up by his hands in the gritty sand to lean forward into Jason and kiss him. He horribly overbalances and tips over, dragging them both down and over into the sand.
"Leo!" Jason gasps, wiping his eyes behind his glasses, which Leo has still not gotten used to. "Come on!"
Jason pretends to be serious, but only lasts a few seconds before they both are laughing and hugging each other again.
"So, a date when we're in New Rome?" Leo asks with a smile.
Jason nods, "As long as you make it there in one piece."
"If you're there, that is."
"Obviously I will be," Jason laughs. "Wouldn't miss it."
Jason obviously has obligations. And Leo has no idea how long it will take him to make it across the country, but he doesn't know how long it took Jason either. Leo just hopes that there isn't another quest to interrupt them or war that stops the world. He just wants to keep hugging Jason and keeping the past behind them.
"Leo?" he eventually hears, screamed loudly enough that Jason and him shock apart.
It's Apollo, waiting at the top of the beach, tapping his feet impatiently.
"Sorry, is that Apollo?" Jason asks once Leo clarifies his name, screaming that he'll be up in a minute.
Leo laughs, looking at the teenage form of Apollo in all its glory. Jason laughs too, and they climb up the shore with linked hands.
When Leo's ready to depart, Jason hugs him one last time, whispering, "I'll see you there."
Jason waves him off, too, hovering a few feet above the ground as they board Festus and fly off. He's closer to Camp Jupiter already.