Okay, I've always wanted to know what Leo was thinking right after Ogygia in HoH. Now, a great author called shadoefax did this, too, which inspired me to write my own version. So, you can thank the One-Shot story by said author, Oaths Sworn on the River Styx. You can find it in my Favorite Stories section on my pro, published on Oct 14, 2013. It's beautiful, and I hope mine turns out as good :)
Enjoy.
I own nothing you recognize as canon.
9: Hopeless
"You Look Better With a Smile."
It actually took a while for Leo to fall asleep. Sure, it was still dark when he'd left Ogygia, and that alone was sometimes able to make Leo sleepy. But now…
After that kiss and swearing to come back…Leo couldn't do anything but look at the sky. The stars in the Milky Way were bright and clear, and the ocean was silvery-blue because of their light. He kept tracing the stars with his finger, mapping out a fake constellation that looked just like Calypso.
He was hopeless.
Leo finally succumbed to sleep after a few hours of sitting in the gentle waves. He dreamed of Calypso. Of her cider and stew. Of how great they worked together and how easy it felt to talk with her. Of her kiss. He dreamed he'd never left; that him leaving was the dream and that he still had all the time in the world with her.
He was hopeless.
The rising sun was what pulled Leo out of his sleep. It was in his eyes and he scrunched up his face in annoyance when it interrupted his dreams of Ogygia.
"Go away, sun," he grumbled, curling into himself tightly.
The waves were still gentle as Leo's raft drifted across the sea. He supposed Poseidon was being kind for once since Leo was in such a state.
Leo's navigation device was working like a charm. A tiny motor propelled his raft slowly, and the sail caught a decent wind.
Even though he had food enough to last him a week, Leo didn't eat. He wasn't hungry. He didn't want to move, either. All of his usual hyperactive energy was completely gone. The moment Calypso kissed him was the moment he couldn't function.
Because he was hopeless.
The day went by, and before Leo knew it, night showed up. The stars came back and he found himself tracing Calypso's face in them again. The sea was still gentle as he propelled along. Leo rolled a couple oranges into the water and prayed Poseidon would keep up the good mood.
Eventually Leo found sleep again, and, surprise, surprise, he began to dream of Calypso. Even in his dream, he hoped he could just wake up back on that beach, under the lean-to, and smile at the Titaness as she brought him breakfast. He wanted to stay in that state so much.
Because he was hopeless.
Something prodded his cheek. Leo opened his eyes.
He was drifting against a dock, bumping against a wooden pillar. On the dock was a fisherman, poking at Leo with a pole and speaking in rapid Greek. Leo lifted his head and rubbed his eyes.
"Que?" he asked, not realizing he was speaking Spanish. "No entiendo. Por favor, hable Inglés ..."
The man kept poking him and speaking in Greek. Leo sat up and stretched, finally registering where he was. He pulled a rope from the sail and tied his raft against the dock. When he hopped off the raft and onto the solid wood, he wobbled.
Geeze, he thought. Land legs, much?
The fisherman helped steady him, saying things he didn't understand.
"Por favor—" Leo smacked himself and switched to English. "Sorry…Do you speak English?"
The man nodded. "You are alright?"
Leo nodded and patted his pockets. "Uh…how much to dock here?"
The man looked at the makeshift raft and shrugged. "Too small. Free for one time."
Leo smiled. "Thanks."
He walked off the dock. It was early morning, so not many people were out and about.
Of course his mind wandered back to Ogygia again, but he tried to focus on what he was doing. He needed a high vantage point—somewhere he could see the Argo II if it came by.
He knew he should be worried for his ship and his friends, like he had been right after he'd fallen out of the sky…but he couldn't find the energy. He felt out of sync with the world, still reeling and confused.
Because he was so hopeless.
Finally, Leo found a small outdoor café on top of a hill overseeing the harbor. It would be the perfect look-out spot, and there was a little hotel nearby in case this was an overnight stay. Though, he didn't have enough money for more than a decent meal…good thing he wasn't above sleeping in an alley—just for emergency, of course.
He picked a table and looked at the menu. Everything looked weird to him. He wasn't particularly great in Greek—ironic, considering his occupation—but that was probably because he already switched between two other languages regularly, plus Morse Code! There wasn't enough room for Greek in his head!
A waiter came over and asked him something in Greek and Leo resisted a groan. He tried to decipher the written Greek, since his brain might click faster in that instance. He saw something that looked suspiciously like coffee.
He tried not to grimace. Coffee was not something he liked for various reasons. It didn't smell good (like he did on a normal basis?), it tasted terrible, and it made him more hyper than usual—
"I'll take a coffee?" he said, hoping the guy understood.
The waiter noticed the English and asked, "How would you like it?"
"Black."
The waiter wrote that down. "Anything else?"
"Just the coffee, please."
"Of course."
He left Leo alone for a few minutes. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair once. He needed a spark to get his fire going again. He was still out of sync, still reeling, still confused, and still feeling sad. All of those years building up the perfect walls to hide his pain, ripped away with a single good-bye kiss that 'didn't happen'. He'd used his hyperactivity to mask his hurt. Now…he couldn't find the energy to keep everything up.
Because he was so hopeless.
Moments later, Leo had a coffee in his hand, sipping on it quietly. Obviously it didn't do anything right away. He figured it worked like sugar; give it a few minutes to really kick in.
It never did.
Leo just kept drinking it, getting refills, and drinking again. None of his old energy came back. It was because his mind wandered to Calypso on Ogygia. He wanted so much to rescue her. He wouldn't stop until he knew she was safely off that stupid, terrible, beautiful island. He touched his lips gently, wishing that he could kiss Calypso again.
Because he was oh, so hopeless.
A couple hours and about five cups of coffee later, the Argo II came into view and docked near Leo's makeshift raft. Soon, his friends would find him. And he was still melancholic. He'd pretty much resigned himself to not getting his groove back today. Maybe once he got back on the ship the coffee would kick in. Maybe…
He sighed and looked at his reflection in the murky brown liquid. His eyes were drifting and sad. Within seconds his reflection changed. Calypso was staring back at him, scrunching up her nose in annoyance. He could just hear her scolding him; "Stop being so sad, you idiot! You're not funny, but you look better with a smile!"
Leo smirked a little at the thought. She would say something like that.
Then he frowned, because he wanted her to say that in real life. He drank away her image and looked at the clouds, also seeing her there. He wanted so much to return to her, it hurt his heart. He felt a tear run down his face, missing Ogygia and its single inhabitant.
Because he was oh, so hopeless.
"Leo!"
Leo heard Jason's voice and scrubbed away the tear. Just in time, for just as he set his arm down, Jason and Piper came running up the hill, smiles on their faces.
Leo tried to grin. He really did. But, his heart wasn't in it. Even when everyone was surrounding him, all he could manage was a tiny smile for Piper and Hazel. The tiny amount of energy he got from hearing of Festus's permanent activation didn't last too long, but it was enough to make him put up the barriers again.
Then they started probing him about where he'd gone, and he got nervous. When he tried to convince them he was back, he knew no one believed him. But he had to try. He was glad Jason picked up and, like the best friend that he was, shifted the focus off of Leo.
When they returned to the Argo II, Leo immediately went to the engine room, shutting himself inside. While fixing the engine, his mind, what a surprise, wandered. Leo's mind was now miles away. He kept thinking about how great he and Calypso worked together, how perfectly in-sync they were when making the navigation device, how awesome her kiss was, and how much he wanted—no, needed to return to set her free.
Because he was oh, so hopeless…
Hopelessly in love with an immortal girl named Calypso.
A/N: Hope that turned out as great as it was in my head. That one was a little tougher to write for some reason. Oh well...
