Thank you so much for all the follows and faves. I am sorry for the delay, but here is the next chapter.
Leo's fingers splayed across the glass-top table of the cafe as Reyna made a coffee, he tapped his fingers in a strange sort of rhythm. Reyna dismissed the idea of it being a Morse code.
He was nervous, she deduced.
Reyna had applied for a job in the very cafe, she was so used to working that she struggled with an empty hour, the bloodshed and the loss of the war made their way back to her conscious and she was a fidgety nervous mess after that.
"What are you doing here, Valdez?" She asked.
She had a strange sort of notion that Jason sent him, but she knew that it was wishful thinking.
She knew too well that she wasn't even in Jason's mind anymore.
"I didn't knew if you were here," Leo said, scratching the back of her neck, she handed him the coffee she had made for him. He paid her and she stood in front of him, the counter separating them, "If you are referring to that."
He didn't seem much surprised to see her in class, so Reyna doubted this but didn't voice her opinions as he chose to continue.
"I couldn't be at the camp," He said, waving his hand dismissively, "Too many memories, too much pain and it was really weird to stay sandwiched between two couples."
"You went in the search of...?" Reyna trailed off her question meaningfully.
"No man finds Ogygia twice," He snapped at her harshly and Reyna was taken aback, she realized that he wasn't going to talk about it.
"So how's Greek camp?" She asked changing the topic.
"It's fine," He snapped again.
"Fine," Reyna said, and turned to leave and attend to other customer it was not really a rush hour and therefore they didn't have any customers, so she chose to clean the spoons because he was not really in the mood to talk and that much was obvious from his attitude.
Leo begrudgingly took a sip of his coffee, and the taste was unexpected, admittedly, he hadn't placed an order to Reyna.
She had made his favorite Choco Latte, with extra chocolate. Strange, he didn't remember telling her or anyone that.
He had been staring at the cup too long, so Reyna asked, "Something wrong with the coffee, you didn't order anything so I made my usual."
"No, no," Leo shook his head, "It's, it's nice."
"Good," She said, and turned again.
He took a deep breath and stared at the brown liquid, exhaling the breath from his mouth he looked at the ex-Praetor.
"I am sorry," He said, "Shouldn't have snapped at you."
"It's alright," Reyna said, with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"I just, just," He stuttered, "Don't want to talk about it."
"Okay," She nodded.
"Camp is fine," He repeated after a long pause.
Reyna hummed indicating that she had heard him.
"They are trying to make a set up like New Rome," He explained, "A safe place for all the half-bloods,"
"Interesting," She said, mildly interested, she would have pegged Leo to stay at the site of construction but maybe the memories were haunting him a lot.
"Jason, Hazel and Frank are advising on how it would run," Leo added. Her face and thoughts darkened at the mention of Jason but she didn't say anything.
"Of course, Greeks are not easily disciplined," He said, and Reyna's lips quirked.
"You know, a tough organization is not really their type," He continued, and she gave him a small amused smile. Which seemed to be a success for Leo.
"Do you ever laugh?" He asked with a confused expression, his brows furrowed.
Reyna would have been offended under normal circumstances but his expression was so genuinely curious that she began to laugh in earnest.
Leo laughed along with her.
"Oh so you do laugh, tough praetor," He observed as she continued to laugh.
College was hectic, something Leo and Reyna realized with a start, time flew by quite quickly. Two months later, it was the time of Halloween.
"Do gods celebrate Halloween?" Leo asked, working beside her in the cafe, his presence had been constant and so the owner decided to just hire him and empty the one seat.
"I think, it is a tradition that Pluto celebrates the death and invites other gods to his realm," She said matter-of-factly, wiping the glasses with a rag, "It is like Halloween."
"You are going to the party?" He asked after a pregnant pause.
"You think?" Reyna asked sarcastically and Leo shook his head.
Over the course of two months Reyna and Leo believed that they knew each other, and had developed a sort of understanding to each other's emotions and attitudes, they were fine until Leo mentioned Jason or Reyna mentioned Calypso or Ogygia.
Peace was maintained.
Reyna found herself laughing more than usual and Leo enjoyed her dry humor. Of course, Leo didn't completely drop his flirt and player attitude but it was toned down in front of Reyna. Reyna was not as uptight around Leo as he had seen her before or Percy described.
"It's on weekend," He said.
Reyna raised her eyebrows and gave him a sideways glance, he was washing the cups beside her, clearly avoiding eye-contact.
"Tell me where you're taking this Valdez," She asked.
"You know," He began, tentatively. Reyna was again surprised at the way she could easily read her emotions, she was not one to dwell on emotions much. "Camp Half-Blood is holding the inauguration party for the new city."
"New Greece?" Reyna asked dryly.
Leo chuckled and said, "They are working on the name, don't pester,"
"Okay," She said, "Where is this going?"
"They have asked me to attend as the member of seven and all," Reyna nodded. So he was telling her, he was leaving for the weekend.
"When will you be back?" She asked, "You can easily take couple of weeks off, the course is all but complete and the semesters are in December..."
He cut her off by asking, "I was thinking will you come with me?"
"What?" Reyna sputtered, she was not ready to face anyone, yet. "I don't know... It would be..."
"You know I hate being the seventh wheel," He prodded. Reyna understood.
One evening when they had been cramming for the test on Fin De Siecle Movement, while talking he had revealed Gaia's words and his insecurities. They still hadn't touched the topic of Ogygia, but Reyna knew that he had found the island but something didn't go well. But she gave him his space.
Reyna knew the answer to his question, the moment he asked. Every bit of logic screamed against the decision, but the daughter of Bellona found herself trusting her heart.
"Okay," She said, "But you owe me, big time."
Leo looked visibly relaxed and smiled, "Sure Your Highness, I might make you some hot chocolate."
Reyna laughed, "I think this would require something more than hot chocolate."
Okay, I can't possibly write a PJO fanfic without including Camp Half Blood, I am sorry for the short length, I had fractured my hand and couldn't type, so, here I am. I will upload the next chapter on wednesday, featuring CHB!