safe || leo valdez x oc

fifty-eight: hes fucking WHIPPED

LEO

~•♡•~

sometimes, leo wished he wasn't so good. really, it was just plain embarrassing sometimes. it he hadn't had such an eye for mechanical stuff while simultaneously being distracted by his girlfriend (technically nobody knew about that, but leo was going to ride that high horse until he died), they might never have found the secret chute, gotten lost in the underground, and been attacked by metal dudes. but he just couldn't help himself.

part of it was hazel's fault. for a girl with super underground skills, she wasn't much good in rome. she kept leading them around and around the city, getting dizzy, and doubling back.

"sorry." she said. "it's just... there's so much underground here, so many layers, it's overwhelming. like standing in the middle of an orchestra and trying to concentrate on a single instrument. i'm going deaf."

another part of it was aruna's fault. she kept randomly thinking she found a lead, and would bring them to a bagle shop. once, she found someone who she'd claimed had the same level of pain as nico di angelo did, and they all chased after the person. it turned out to be a business worker, who then yelled very angrily in italian.

"i'm so confused." aruna complained. she hated being confused. "how do you have three different left turns on one street? it doesn't make any sense! this shoddy place is a bunch of fuckery, is what it is. i have been in corn mazes easier to solve than this. and why is everyone here so damn sad? isn't this a city of romance?! you think they'd be gettin' it on or something! i've seen a prostitute on every other corner!"

"let's think about the kind of people who turn to prostitutes." leo pointed out. aruna pulled at her hair and groaned loudly.

"when we find him, i'm gonna microchip him."

"you do that, moon child."

as a result, they got a tour of rome. frank seemed happy to plod along like a big sheepdog (hmm, leo wondered if he could turn into one of those, or even better; a horse that leo could ride). but leo got impatient. his feet were sore, the day was sunny and hot, and she streets were choked with tourists.

he looked over to aruna for support, but she didn't seem to be doing much better. her breaths were heavy and her face was full of irritation. her face was already beginning to sunburn, with her cheeks a hint of red entirely the wrong shade to be appealing (not that she was unattractive in this state, but leo thought she looked especially cute when blushing). her arms were raised over her head as she tied her hair into a ponytail with a black hairband, and then she formed a small hairpin that looked like a simple, rectangular comb to pin her bangs back.

"fucking hate this."

"lighten up!" leo tried to sound enthusiastic, but he was just plain exhausted. "maybe... maybe we'll get to dive in the river... and cool off or something..."

"it's actually been polluted for centuries." hazel remarked. "the romans funneled their sewer systems into it, and not much has really changed today."

"i do not care about the fecal matter of emperor caligula being in there." aruna said. "it is hot as a witch's coochie out here."

at that, hazel choked and leo laughed loudly.

the forum was okay, but it was mostly ruins overgrown with bushes and trees. it took a lot of imagination to see it as the bustling center of ancient rome. leo could only imagine because he had seen new rome in california.