2-watching a sunset

Leo let his gaze wander around the Senate Hall, bored out of his mind. There weren't any nachos.

Of course, it was really important to listen because he was one of the Seven, blah, blah, blah, but c'mon! He was ADHD!

Instead, he composed a list of the people in the hall:

Reyna: scary

Octavian: insane and gutting a Teddy bear

Hylla (was that her name?): terrifying

Dakota: drunk off red Kool-Aid

Jason: looking embarrassed at being gone so long

Piper: interested

Annabeth: saying something about Roman architecture that made Leo's brain hurt

Percy: annoyed because of his toga

Frank: listening carefully

Hazel: tired-looking

"Leo Valdez?" The icy voice cut into his thoughts.

"Hmm?" He jerked his head upright. "Yeah, I'm awake."

Octavian rolled his eyes. Reyna just sighed and told him to pay attention.

But his ADHD seemed to be acting up because he just couldn't focus on anything. This was taking so long...

"I'm going outside." He muttered to Jason, who nodded absently as he listened to Percy speak about Alaska or something; Leo doubted he'd heard him.

He went outside and settled on a bench outside, probably meant for people like him who couldn't pay attention in the meeting.

Leo sighed as he watched the sun sink down, streaking the clouds. The bench gave him a clear view of the illuminated hills.

Of course, maybe the second he walked into camp, he noticed her.

Hazel Levesque, a daughter of Pluto, a Roman, and one of the prettiest girls he'd ever met.

Why did everything happen to him? Was he just too handsome? Too charming? Too gifted?

Nah.

And naturally, the moment he'd seen her, she'd turned whiter than a sheet, as if she'd seen a ghost, and ran off. And then he'd followed her after he'd gotten introduced to everyone and gotten a death-glare from the Chinese kid, who he later learned was named Frank.

Oh, and he'd had to make a smart-ass remark about his ugliness, and Hazel had cried and strangled/hugged him, depending on your point of view. Yeah, that about summed it up.

The funny thing was, he didn't love her. Not like he had with Khione or Thalia or that girl named Jessica or the others.

He wanted to see her again, but it wasn't the usual obsessive infatuation where he couldn't think about anything but them and their looks. He felt like he knew her, like a half-forgotten memory of a friend when you were a toddler. He wanted to talk to her.

She had golden eyes.

Leo heaved a heavy sigh. Those eyes were unforgettable, just by the color, but why did he still think that he knew her when he clearly hadn't seen her before? He didn't know anyone with golden eyes.

"Dude, you look like Hades." Jason said, sitting down next to him.

Leo didn't answer. Instead, he watched the sun lower more, almost half-hidden now by the hills.

"Leo? You in there?" Jason poked his arm curiously, though his voice was layered with concern.

"Yeah." Leo tore his gaze away from the sky to give his friend a reassuring smile that, from the look on Jason's face, failed epically.

"Are you okay?" Jason sounded really worried now.

"Yeah. Really, I'm fine." He added when Jason gave him a doubtful look. "Where's Piper?" He asked to take Jason's mind off him.

"She's talking to Reyna and Hylla." The Roman answered, pointing back toward the Senate House.

"The Amazon queen?" Leo frowned, trying to remember. Right, she was the one he'd labeled "terrifying". It was probably an apt description.

Jason nodded. "Percy wasn't like I expected." He observed.

"Don't look at me; I don't know him." Leo shrugged. "But you're right. I thought he'd be a lot more…I don't know, muscular."

"Yeah, but I bet he's stronger than he looks." Jason said thoughtfully. "He wouldn't have been able to defeat Kronos if he wasn't."

Leo shuddered. "Annabeth is scary enough as it is."

His friend nodded and tipped his head so that he could hear inside the Senate Hall better. "Sounds like they're dismissing."

He was right; a crowd of people exited the house, giving them both funny looks. Octavian gave Leo a dirty look. Jason got up and walked with Piper, which Leo figured wouldn't make Reyna too happy.

The last person out was the one on his mind. She smiled at him and said, "No nachos."

Leo couldn't help but smile back at her. Her eyes widened as if she were nervous.

Just when he was about to ask her about it:

"Leo? Want me to show you the forges before we have to go to bed?" Jason yelled, ruining the mood.

"Hell yeah!" Leo shouted back and hurried to catch up, distracted from the Roman girl behind him, who, if he'd looked, seemed relieved.

Just as Leo got to Jason, he remembered Hazel. When he turned around, she was sitting on the bench and doodling on something in her lap, her eyes fixed on the sunset.

Leo felt his lips turn up into a grin, but he just shook his head when Piper asked why he was so happy.

Romans watched the sunset too.

Okay, I'm going to try to update every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. I posted this one because it's short. The first three chapters are going to just set the plot up, so they might be shorter than the rest.

I don't own PJO or Heroes of Olympus, because if i did, The Mark of Athena would be coming out a lot quicker.

Good? Bad? Review?