Leo Valdez; a charming, funny, Hephaestus boy that was a lovesick fool half the time. the other half, he was an engineering genius. Figures.

Leo was your best friend. You shared many friends, like Piper, Jason, Annabeth, Percy, Frank, Hazel, etc. But Leo was always your best friend.

so, naturally, you couldn't stand when people talked shit about him. Which was more common than you'd think. How could someone hate him?

some girl, Drew, head of the Aphrodite Cabin, had been trying to get under your skin. Her sweet voice was so irritating and when she shifted her insults to Leo, you couldn't NOT attack her, right?

you ended up having to fight her cronies too since she was only scary for her charmspeak, and needed friends to help fight for her.

but you won. You'd been training a while, you were good at what you did, and very protective of those you cared for. Not that you'd admit that.

a couple bruised ribs, a bloody nose, black eye, bruised jaw, and some busted up knuckles wasn't too bad for a 1 versus 4. though, the idea of mortality was fear-inducing, and you were back at the training yard shortly after - half-assed bandages wrapped around your knuckles to avoid infection.

as you practiced throwing daggers, you were startled by a sudden voice behind you; chipper and light. You almost elbowed Leo in the nose, but caught yourself, scolding him for sneaking up on you.

but the crooked grin and curious eyes on Leo's face only faltered when he noticed you were hurt, brow furrowed in concern. A rare sight of sincerity.

Leo's calloused, grease-stained hand instinctively reached for your wrist, eyes worried as he saw the bloody bandages, eyes darting back up to you with a look of disapproval.

his curly brown hair framed his soot-smeared face, goggles dangling around his neck, making him seem less serious.

"What in Hades happened?" Leo spoke, his hand instantly pulling antiseptic and bandages from his toolbelt. You'd learned you couldn't stop him from wearing you down to let him help you.