Author's Note: this was written mostly so I could purge this pairing out of my system. But this isn't even remotely romantic. I know I'm setting up myself for heartbreak by shipping these two together.
The Art of Wasting Time
Leo surveyed the cramped classroom and its occupants, deliberated the merits of the few empty seats available, and made a decision. He took the seat at the mostly deserted front row next to a girl about his age.
The reason he chose to sit next to her was due to the fact that not only was she stunning—because she was. Even in ripped jeans and a faded shirt anyone could see that she was seriously pretty—but also because she was about the only person in the room who didn't look like they could break his bones with one hand.
Normally, he might have tried to flirt with her. But alas, experience has taught Leo that flirting with pretty girls only leads to haughty dismissals.
And normally, Leo wouldn't have minded the rejection. Rejection was one of the few constants in his life. But it's been a staggeringly long day and he's not sure he has any self control left anymore. He feared he was going to snap when the cute stranger inevitably turned him down.
To cap off Leo's fantastic first day in Wilderness School he had to suffer through three hours of detention for almost setting a trash can on fire (see above: lack of self control). He would like to emphasize and underscore that it was an accident but of course nobody believed him.
Sitting still for three hours was one of the most heinous tortures he could ever imagine and that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that they confiscated his bag with all his stuff and they had him empty his pockets. He might have survived by entertaining himself and building something. However, all he had on his person was a small booklet with the school's rules and regulations that some teacher had patronizingly suggested that he read.
He tapped his fingers restlessly against his thighs and glared up at the wall clock mounted at the front of the class willing time to go faster. What to do? What to do? Whattodowhattodo—
His eyes landed on the booklet on his desk.
Leo didn't hesitate in tearing out the first page.
Then he started to folding, tearing, and smoothing out the paper and life didn't suck so much when he had something to do with his hands.
His first creation was a velociraptor. The second was a pterodactyl. These were soon followed by a Mommy brontosaurus and its baby, a tyrannosaurus rex and finally an iguanadon.
When he ran out of paper Leo looked up at the clock hopefully. Barely fifteen minutes have passed. He sighed noisily in frustration and eyed the dinosaurs frolicking at his desk.
He twisted the neck of the Mommy brontosaurus around his right index finger and toyed with the idea of tearing up the dinosaurs into pieces. If he did it slowly enough it might buy him another five minutes. Well, okay, maybe two minutes tops.
He was about to tear off the neck of Mommy brontosaurus when someone placed a brand new spiral notebook on his desk.
He looked up to see the cute girl frowning at the dinosaur awaiting its fate in his hands before she leveled a long, hard stare at him.
Leo met her gaze.
Green. Blue. Brown. He couldn't exactly place the color of her eyes but her message was clear.
He nodded at her briefly, reunited Mommy brontosaurus with its baby and opened the spiral notebook.
He tore off a page and started making a dimetrodon.
.
Three hours and one spiral notebook later Leo had a menagerie of origami animals on his desk. He grabbed a handful of the paper-folded animals, made sure to include Mommy brontosaurus and its baby, and placed them on the girl's desk.
"Leo Valdez. Thanks for the notebook."
She grinned at him and fondly smoothed out the head of Mommy brontosaurus.
"Piper McLean. Thanks for the dinosaurs."
.
"I ran away from another foster home. That was my sixth time."
Leo grinned at her manically trying to channel a mad genius.
She smiled at him.
It was a small smile, the edges of her lips barely curling upwards but the amusement was clear in her eyes.
"I stole a BMW M6 convertible."
Leo was suitably impressed.
"Piper, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
.