When Jason comes to him with a bent sword, Leo finds it only a tiny bit strange. It's not the first time nor does he suspect it to be the last. However, they're on a flying ship and there haven't been any attacks recently, so how could he have bent it?
Over the past couple of days Leo hasn't seen a single golden hair on Jason's head, so he figures why not? and lets him into the boiler room on the Argo (and they do this weird dance again like they did last time and the time before that and the time before that).
Normally Leo works in silence, but Jason has a tendency to talk when he finds a situation awkward, despite Leo reassuring him that it most definitely isn't awkward. Except for those times when Leo turns back and Jason's staring intently, and Leo's cheeks grow warmer and his hands start to fumble- then yes, those times are a bit more awkward.
He talks about little things, first. How his day is going, what Annabeth has planned for tomorrow, what Percy failed to make for lunch. Little things that provide background noise as he hammers away at metal.
Then Jason dives into things Leo really wish he didn't: his sister's lack of communication, the entire idea of whether they should get Nico, Piper's need for distance because of Reyna. It's not that Leo doesn't care- he'd just rather not have those thoughts playing in his head. All he wants to do is get rid of the Gaea chick and then get on with his life. If he was a normal 15 yr old, then his biggest worries would've been college or grades, but he has to focus on saving the world. With Jason unloading on him, saving the world becomes a teensy bit smaller.
By the time Leo starts using his flame-covered hands to melt the metals together, Jason's asked him about himself. Leo replies with simple answers, more concentrating on his work than Jason who seemed to enjoy staring holes into Leo's back. Jason's polite enough to speak and nod at all the right places, before he changes his seating to move closer to Leo
Then Jason talks about staying at Camp Jupiter, and Leo bites his tongue. Leo's stupid enough to follow Jason wherever (like a lap dog, his mind supplies) but he's not going to Camp Military.
After Leo's first time at SPQR, Leo doubt they would want him back. Piper didn't seem much into either, taking delight in the camp activities offered on the East Coast. So the fact that Jason would go there shows that he doesn't seem to care much about Piper and Leo in the first place.
Of course, there are other reasons, but wouldn't Jason at least consider staying with them (with Leo) at Camp Half-Blood?
When Jason begins to talk about all his praetor duties he's missed out on, and the friends he had there, Leo's had enough. He plunges the hot sword in a bucket of ice water and shoves Jason to the door. He ignores Jason's protests and ushers him away, claiming something about unfinished projects and he'll call Jason when his sword is fixed.
Before he leaves, Jason smiles at Leo (he should've been the son of Apollo with that beautiful smile) and says, "Thanks for helping me, Leo. You're the best."
Leo weakly goes, "Yep, yep, anything for you, man," and slams the boiler room door. He slides down the door until he's on the ground breathing hard. Jason hesitates before walking away, his footsteps resounding through the halls until Leo can no longer hear them.
He doesn't know which is worse: the fact that this exchange happens at least once a week, or the fact that Leo's slowly convincing himself that maybe Jason staying at SPQR might be better- but only to help stop Leo from feeling this way everytime they meet.
He stands up and gets back to work, warily eyeing the sword in water, while thoughts of Jason surface back up. That boy is a pain, Leo thinks. But with the way he talks of the other camp, he won't be a pain for very long.
have a good day! :)
