"What is that?" Piper asked, pointing to the red mark on Leo's neck.
Leo almost lost his cool for a moment, 'I mean, how should I react to this? Do I tell Piper or do I try to squirm out of it? Wait, charm speak, she really could get a lot done with that talent'. Leo considered the options and decided it best to just tell her.
"Piper, I need you to promise not to tell, but... I think Nico may be experienced, if you know what I mean"
Piper rolled her eyes, "Leo, are you saying that Nico gave you a hickey?"
"And more beauty queen, trust me, he gets into it," Leo remarked, "He must have been making money somehow."
Piper blushed at the thought of Nico selling himself out, "Are you sure? Hazel would freak out if she knew; she cares for him so much."
Leo looked away, slowly tracing the places Nico touched him as if remembering the pale boy's touch on his body, re creating the feeling.
"If he touched you the way he touched me, well, first I'd kill him if he so much as thought of touching you like that, but back to the point, you would know he's done it before."
"Did you like it?" Piper asked, shocking Leo from his disorderly thoughts.
"What?" Leo asked confusing, turning back to face her.
"Did you like his touch? His attention? You know... did you like it? Do you think you might like him?"
Leo made a distorted face, "Why do girls always got to ask that?"
"Because, we want to know. I promise not to tell if you do Leo, we're best friends, you can trust me on that." Piper smiled at him with a strange reassurance.
"Honestly Pipes, I don't know. It's too early for me to really understand how I feel about it. I mean, I might have suspected I was Bi, but... Nico? That's pushing it, I mean there has to be a new type of sexuality for someone to be into him." Leo tried joking, but it only sounded cruel when he said it out loud. Even he didn't laugh at his joke.
"Alright Leo, but, just be careful. If you play with matches, you might get burned."
Leo only cringed at the translation he made in his mind. 'Burned. She had to use that word?' Leo looked down at his hands, a frown slowly crossing his features. 'Maybe in the end everyone I care about will only get burned.' Leo closed his fist in a tight ball.
"Leo?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you ok?"
"Yep, I feel ready to take on another titan or two." Leo replied, quickly plastering a smirk upon his face.
"Oh don't even kid about that one! I never want to go through that again! I was stuck in that ship with you for way too long!" Piper laughed.
Leo laughed, "but you love me!" He then raised an eye brow to exaggerate the point.
"Yeah Valdez, but good things in moderation!" Piper continued, now hunched over laughing.
It just felt like one of those moments, the kind you only get when you're with your best friend.