King of Spice

"Here, try this one next."

Leo shoved a small, ugly, orange pepper in Pyrra's face, and she sniffed it like a hungry puppy. He laughed as her nostrils flared a little at the spicy smell, just like she did for all the previous snacks.

Peering over the pepper, she asked, "What is it?"

"Just eat it."

"Leo, you have to tell me what it is!"

"Oh c'mon, just put it in your mouth." He winked and pushed it closer. "You know you want to."

The pair was sitting outside of the dining pavilion on the edge of the woods, basking in the afternoon sunlight. It was slightly chilly today, as it was the middle of winter in New York, but the fire in their blood was keeping them warm. And so were all these hot peppers.

Pyrra rolled her eyes as she snapped at the pepper in one bite. She chewed slowly while making a funny face. Leo knew habañero peppers tasted disgusting, but he would bet a drachma or twelve that Pyrra didn't know that.

After a few seconds of chewing, her face contorted into one of pure disgust as she spit out the bits of orange mush.

"That was disgusting! Are you trying to kill me?" She scowled at him and continued to spit on the ground. Every piece that landed would begin to smoke and almost set the grass on fire. Drama queen.

Leo was cackling with an impish grin on his face. "How would that kill you? You can't melt; you're not made of sugar."

She smacked him in the arm. "Don't tempt me, Valdez. I could smoke you in a second," she growled while fanning her face.

Her cheeks were bright red and sweat was starting to glisten on her brow. Leo thought it was a very nice look for the stubborn nymph who challenged him to a spicy food contest. Clearly, she didn't understand that Leo was the king of spice.

"You can't burn me, sweetheart. I am Leo, master of the flame and devilishly good looks!" He held his hand up in a gun shape and pulled the imaginary trigger. When his index finger caught fire, he cheekily blew it out and left a smoking finger pointing into the air.

As she rolled her eyes, she leaned forward and picked a green pepper off the napkin in front of them. Her bright auburn hair looked alive and licked by flames as it fell around her shoulders. It was such a contrast to the dark green skin of the pepper, and he thought the color suited her well.

"You have to eat this one now." She smiled and held the pepper out to him.

It was a jalapeño, and Leo was almost embarrassed for her picking such a weak one. He kept that thought to himself, though.

"Bring it on. I eat this shit for breakfast." He smiled and rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

He sat up straight and opened his mouth wide like a baby bird. She tossed it up in the air and he caught it in his mouth with a satisfying crunch. As he chewed, he could feel the heat build in his mouth and make his face grow warmer, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

Pyrra stared patiently, waiting for him to have a fit and spit it out. When he swallowed, she finally realized that it wasn't going to happen. Leo wanted to congratulate her for her effort because she totally lost.

"Well?" she asked, a serious look on her face. "Are you hot yet?"

He playfully winked. "I don't know, you tell me."

"You're an ass."

"Blah blah blah. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but I'm still pretty bad ass," he sang. "So, Pyrra, I think it's safe to say I won this little showdown?" He stood and brushed his pants off while offering her a hand.

She grudgingly took it and he hoisted her up. She stood a few inches from his face, and he could feel the intense heat radiate off of her. What was it with this girl? It must be a nymph thing.

He held her hand for an awkward moment before dropping it like an oozing pizza roll. He could feel his cheeks grow warmer, which was a big deal for a fire user. He cursed under his breath for staring too long.

He looked away and said to himself, "Dumbass."

"Excuse me?" she asked, with her eyebrows raised.

So maybe he didn't say that to himself.

"Nothing. Wanna head back to the bunker? I have a lot of work –"

"Ahh, Leo. Nice to see you out in the daylight." Chiron trotted over to him with his bow slung across his broad shoulders. "I hope you haven't forgotten about your armory duty?"

"Chiron! No, no no of course I haven't forgotten. Actually, I was – "

The massive centaur chuckled and shook his head. "Relax. There's only a small amount of work to do. The sooner you finish there, the sooner you can return to the Bunker."

The way he said it, it left Leo little choice. Chiron had an uncanny ability to make seemingly harmless suggestions that were really demands and orders. The demigod sighed in defeat.

"Alright, I'll head over now. Thanks, Chiron."

"Thank you, Leo. I will see you tonight at dinner." And with that, the mighty centaur turned and loped away to the archery fields.

Leo was zoning out as he thought about how much horsepower a centaur had, because technically he was more than just a horse. And he heard somewhere, probably from Ms. Know-It-All, that a regular horse can exert up to fourteen horsepower for a few seconds.

"I wonder what the conversion factor is from Leo-power to horsepower…" he pondered and stroked his chin.

"Leo?"

"Hmm?"

"Weave a tapestry. It will last longer."

"Huh?"

"You're staring at a centaur's ass," the nymph stated dryly.

That snapped him out of it quicker than Festus being bribed with a jumbo bottle of Tabasco. He awkwardly laughed and looked to his side, where Pyrra was standing with her hands on her hips and trying not to laugh at him.

"Ah shut it. You're just jealous."

She rolled her eyes. "And you are delusional."

"Thank you, darling. Now, off to the armory!" He clapped like a giddy child and turned to march away.

He could almost hear her dramatically shake her head before she decided to follow him. Of course she would, he thought. Her day would be so boring without a little Leo-spice.

Another funny-ish and light-hearted chapter! I love writing Leo, he's so much fun. I hope everyone else is still enjoying him.

Shout out to ObsessedwReading and paprikaniknaks3 as the newest fans! I appreciate your support and I hope you, as well as everyone else, still gets a kick outta this story.

I'm still thinking about changing the title - any suggestions? Also, if there's a scene you'd like to see with Leo and whoever, please message me! I'm looking for prompts and ideas to keep it interesting.

Au revoir