safe || leo valdez x oc

forty-eight: venus-dite

ARUNA

~•♡•~

aruna knew that she liked leo. that little moment before dinner had her wondering, though. what was the extent of that attraction?

she knew leo was not considered conventionally attractive, what with his short, scrawny stature, elvish features, crack-fiend eyes, psychotic grin, manic energy, and hair even aphrodite couldn't fix. but, to aruna, he was absolutely adorable and it was increasingly difficult with every passing day not to be insanely attracted to him. which, despite it being a normal thing for someone her age to experience, sounded kind of ridiculous.

but, of course, she could not be stopped as she snuck into his room.

it was well past midnight. hedge was done making his rounds on the ship, now asleep in his cabin, most likely dreaming of killing nature's creations with his bat. aruna knew everyone else on board was asleep as well.

aruna noticed the lantern was dimly lit as she closed the door. but, she heard no noise. her face wrinkled in confusion, she looked towards the bed, where leo slept calmly. she gazed at him, and suddenly, it began to dawn on her that leo never slept without some sort of light. she'd always brushed it off as more often than not, leo was sleeping in between projects in bunker 9.

now, she was starting to think it went a little deeper than that.

he stirred before aruna could take a chance to leave. she froze on the spot, her body still lurched in a stalk and one hand on the doorknob. leo blinked a few times as he sat up, his head picking up from the mattress (why he didn't sleep with his head on a pillow, aruna didn't know) as he focused his eyes.

"a-aru?"

she smiled awkwardly. "heyyyy... buddy." she gave a thumbs-up like an alien would say 'we come in peace'. she tried to smile, but it was more of an awkward showcasing of her teeth.

"why are you here?" he yawned as he began to sit up, his looser football jersey falling off his shoulder slightly, which aruna found odd. leo didn't partake in football, much less in the 49ers.

"um." aruna licked her lips and heaved in a breath. "i was... just..."

leo raised an eyebrow.

"i wanted... i..." she scratched the top of her eyebrow. "i listened to all of my CDs and wanted to see if you had more." she finally spat out, exasperated and embarrassed of her own actions.

"you came in here," leo said slowly. "at..." he looked at the desk and squinted. "2:37A.M., because you wanted CDs?"

"yes, that is- that is accurate. or- or perhaps a mixtape. i also have a cassette player." aruna said confidently, almost like she was trying to convince herself the lie was real. leo deadpanned, not buying it for a second.

"okay, i was lonely!"

"uh-huh." leo nodded as aruna crossed her arms. sure, she was lonely, but that wasn't the whole reason.

it was more of a longing for her favorite person because she was beginning to fall in love with him.

"and i'm assuming you wanted to sleep in here instead?"