Vintage Snapshots

The seven heroes of the prophecy are a pretty mixed batch, as far as Leo is concerned. They are all powerful, definitely, and he's more or less sure that they're all trustworthy too. Still, it's a bit rushed, going to save the world on his beautiful ship with six demigods he barely knows. Well, he does know Jason and Piper, and kind-of-maybe Annabeth, but even then the acquaintance hadn't been that long.

Here's how he sees them:

i. Percy

Even before meeting the famed Hero Of Olympus, Leo had already built up an image of him from stolen tidbits and gossip around camp. From what he hears, if Percy Jackson really is all they say about him, then well, Gaia is in for some trouble. Meeting him for the first time, Leo decides on this:

Perseus Jackson may just be the most badass, kick ass demigod this side of Hades. The older guy is just so powerful, and charming, and dare-he-say-it good looking that it's really quite unfair.

Leo consoles himself by saying that for all of Percy's natural hero qualities, he makes up for it by being horribly dense and sarcastic. The world is round after all.

But, still, he can't help but admire the son of Poseidon. Besides, it's nice to have someone to talk video games with aboard the Argo II.

And feel inferior to too, when it comes to that.

ii. Annabeth

His first thought when he first met Annabeth Chase: wow that girl's a knockout.

His second thought: holy hell her eyes are scary.

His third thought: who the heck came up with that dumb blonde stereotype?

And after knowing her for several months, nothing about his first impression has changed. But he does like her, the crazy girl with a bronze dagger that could gut him up, down and sideways all the way to Sunday.

Cause, well, it's great that someone onboard appreciates the fine mechanics of his ship; really, did they think it was easy building this spanking hot war machine in six months, son of Hephaestus or no?

Really, organic life forms.

iii. Jason

Well, what is there to say about blond, perfect Jason Grace? He's his best friend, and they've saved each other's lives more than once. Of course he knows Jason, and he trusts him, and if there's anyone aboard his glorious ship who he thinks he can talk to, it's Jason.

It's pretty simple.

Yet, underneath it all, there's the nagging feeling that Jason isn't part of his life, was never meant to be, and everything between them is just this stupid farce made up by a goddess with too much time on her hands.

And, of course, there's that annoying niggling jealousy that burns in him whenever he looks at the perfect model of a Roman warrior.

Jason is everything he wants to be, and he hates and loves (not in that way) him for it.

iv. Piper

Sometimes, he wants to shake Piper Mclean by the shoulders and scream.

She's the other half of their trio; his other best friend. He loves her and cares for her absolutely. Strangely, she's the one girl he's never fallen for; after all, she is his type: badass, snarky, totally out of his league. Yet he's always looked at her and saw a friend, not a girlfriend.

But she still infuriates him sometimes. He wants to shout at her that of course Jason likes her and if she would just get a move on it, she'd see it. He wants to tell her to find a way to spend some time with her dad for once, because if you pushed for it, he'd meet it, somehow someway.

Most of all, he wants to remind her: I know you love Jason, and I'm like your number one supporter – heh, shipper on a ship - , but could you remember that you have other friends too?

It makes his heart hurt.

v. Frank

He gets the feeling that the big guy is wary of him. Which is ridiculous, because hel-lo Frank Zhang can turn into a freaking dragon!

If that's not terrifyingly awesome, he doesn't know what is.

Still, he can't help but pick on the guy. He takes everything so seriously, and is so defensive that it automatically gets Leo's guard up too. For all that Leo's a fun loving, easy going guy, you gotta remember that he grew up in six varied foster homes – not all of them good. So yeah, when he's treated with hostility by someone he has to coexist with, he raises his heckles.

It's almost a pity, because Frank seems like a nice enough guy, and if Hazel likes him, he can't be too bad. But Leo won't extend a hand to someone who will slap it back down.

No way.

He isn't big enough for that; not now, not ever. Who wants to be hurt again?

vi. Hazel

The thirteen year old girl with the golden eyes is striking from the moment he lays eyes on her. She looks so young, but so old in her gaze that it makes his heart do a double beat.

There's something off about Hazel Levesque. But there's something off about everyone aboard the Argo II, so it shouldn't strike him as weird.

Well, no, it's not really weird, more… intriguing, yeah, that's the word.

Then he finds out she's dead, brought back to life, and the ADHD part of him wonders: hey, am I holding hands with a zombie? Like technically?

But he feels the warmth of her hand, and sees the flame in her eyes - both so much brighter than whatever he has - and instead he smiles, and wishes her the best.

Because the book between her and Sammy Valdez needs to be closed, and her life should be new and sparkling, not clinging to the past. So she needs to let him go, and he will walk away. He will.

If it weren't for the fact of timelines, he would wonder if he had Sammy's soul in himself, for feeling this way about a girl he's just met.

Still, he has to walk away; no use hurting someone else who never deserved it.

vii. Leo

He leaned against the mast; Festus' clicks a comforting rhythm in the background. They were almost there, almost to Rome, and he's got some kind of sacrifice lying in wait. Just peachy.

Still, he feels the thrum of his ship beneath his feet, listening idly to the bustle as Piper wakes up. She's usually the first one awake. She'll be followed soon by Annabeth, and then Jason. It's a toss up between Hazel, Frank and Percy for the laziest demigod on board in the mornings. He'd be part of that selection too, if it weren't for the fact that he's gotten so used to being wired to a coffee IV that he wakes up at the crack of dawn nowadays.

And listening to that, the quiet noise of a day in the making, with the sun shining brilliantly in front of him, he can't help but think:

It's going to be worth it.

-0-0-0-

A/N:

Hey, I swear I'm still working on Of Fire and Flame. Really! It's just that life has been getting in the way, big time.

Anyway, this is just something I wrote under sleep deprivation. I wanted to try writing it very conversationally, and informally. Did it turn out okay? Or should I never do this again.

If you guys like it, I might try doing these from each of the seven's PoV.

Thanks,

~FO