CHAPTER SEVEN:
JEALOUSY, JEALOUSY

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“WHAT’S HER NAME?” LEO demanded from Cal the moment the others followed the girl upstairs. Cal frowned at him in confusion, oblivious to his lovesick stare, whilst Kit just rolled his eyes. He knew a girl like that would never go for any demigod let alone one like Leo, but clearly Leo was a man ruled by hope and too much self-confidence. He asked Cal again and again until the brawny boy finally told him.

“Khione,” he said. “She’s my sister.”

Khione. It sounded awfully familiar. Kit was almost certain that Annabeth had spoken about her at some point, but like with the giants, it was safe to say he hadn’t paid attention. In the end, the name was nothing to him, and yet it was everything to Leo, who heaved a breathy sigh and repeated it under his breath like a sailor being lured in by a siren. 

“Cal, my good friend,” he smirked, ambling over to the frowning Boread. “Do you happen to know if Khione is single?”

“Single?” he repeated, like he didn’t know what the word meant. 

Leo’s face dropped into a glower as Kit started to snicker. Cal was still confused, so he reached out to pat him on his beefy shoulder. “Nevermind, dude. Forget I asked.”

“You’ve reached a new low if you’re asking Cal the Boread for relationship advice,” Kit said to him once he’d left the boy in the corner and joined him in sitting beside Festus. 

“I wasn’t asking him for relationship advice,” he huffed. “I just… wanted to know if she’s single. Maybe, she can be my prom date.”

Kit rolled his eyes. “The day Khione agrees to date you is the day my father tells me he loves me.”

Leo frowned at him, chuckling nervously at the serious edge to his voice. “I’m sensing daddy issues.”

“You know what? I take back calling you a genius.”

For a while, they just sat in silence, Leo picking through his tool belt while Kit eyed Cal pacing around the room. It would be so easy to just take him out now. His back was to them, nobody else but Leo was around and he couldn’t do much, really, if it came down to it. But almost like he could read Kit’s mind, the son of Hephaestus stood up and blocked his view of the Boread with a pointed glare. Kit sighed and reluctantly let Leo pull him up and over to where Cal had stopped to gawp at them.

“Cal, my man, is there a bathroom in this joint?” he asked. “I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m not looking my best.”

Cal just blinked before pointing at a door on the opposite side of the foyer. “There.”

“Alright,” Leo drawled. “We’ll just be… yeah.”

Then, before Kit could protest, Leo latched onto his wrist again and dragged him away. The door they opened lead them into a winding frosty hallway. The walls were made out of solid ice bricks, the carpet being that same watery blue as the foyer. Leo whistled to himself as he swung open random doors, finally finding the bathroom at the very end on the right. 

“This place is sick,” he exclaimed as he marvelled at the tall ceiling flooded by brightness from a skylight. The bathroom seemed to be the only place in Boreas’ mansion that contained proper warmth. The walls were still frozen, but the tiles beneath Kit’s feat buzzed with boiling heat, and steam still fogged the gilded mirrors above the twin sinks. “Check this out.” 

Leo approached the marble bench with an eager smile, switching on both the hot and cold tap and splashing lukewarm water against his grimy face. Oil flaked away to reveal smooth tanned skin that crinkled around his eyes and mouth from smiling too much. He focused on his hair next, scrubbing his wet hands through the brown curls and parting them so they weren’t as wind-swept as before. Kit just watched impassively as Leo managed to resemble a human being again, probably as a last resort to impress the wicked Ice Princess. Eventually, he also crossed the room to run water over his own face, some of his ice cold exterior slowly chipping away as warmth flooded his features.

“What is it that you like about Khione?” he asked before he could stop to ponder the question himself. He glanced away from his reflection, surprised to find Leo discarding his army jacket to replace his ruined graphic tee with a fresh one he had somehow magicked out of his belt. “Gods, Valdez, have you no shame?”

Leo just shrugged, a smirk tugging at his lips as he wriggled his brows at him. “You like what you see, Kit?”

Kit just sighed and shook his head. “At least you stopped calling me Christopher.”

“Hey, you didn’t deny it,” he said smugly, pulling the black t-shirt down his torso. 

“Consider this me denying it,” he grumbled. “Now, answer my question.”

“About Khione? Why do you want to know so badly?” he asked as he shrugged on his jacket and stepped away to admire himself. When Kit didn’t respond, he turned his gaze to him, only to find the older boy frowning to himself. “Are you jealous, Christopher? I promise me having a prom date won’t get in the way of our friendship.”

“I’m not jealous,” he scoffed incredulously. He wasn’t. He just couldn’t comprehend Leo’s attraction to the girl. She was stone cold (pun not intended), stubborn, and had a sense of danger about her that Kit despised. To a degree, Khione reminded him of the boy he once was, and not in a good way. 

“She’s hot, I guess,” he said before humming to himself. “Okay, maybe hot isn’t the right word to use…” Upon seeing Kit’s confused look, he shrugged again. “I don’t know, dude, there’s just something about her. Girls, you know?”

“No,” Kit laughed. “I’d have to actually like girls to know what you mean.”

Kit Dempsey had figured out he was gay when he was fourteen-years-old. Not long before he left to join Luke. His first kiss was a boy in the Athena cabin, who freaked out right after and made Kit promise to never tell anybody. He did, though it was only his sister. Dominique was the first of two people Kit ever came out to. For a while, he thought she was the only one who could understand him as someone who liked the same gender herself. But apart from her, the only other person he had wanted to tell was Luke. None of his siblings in the Ares cabin had ever been able to comprehend it, but even now, Kit Dempsey still viewed Luke Castellan as a brother he left behind. 

He had been there, in Olympus’ throne room, when Luke sacrificed himself to defeat Kronos. Blinded by his own anger, of a promise for revenge that was never truly his, Kit hadn’t seen Luke’s doubts arise as his moral compass got the better of him. The first signs of regret that he really noticed were in his dying breaths as he bled out in Annabeth’s arms. Kit never got to ask him, well, a lot of things. He didn’t know if Luke had ever cared about him, in any shape or form, like Kit had cared. Gods, he had trusted the older boy with a part of himself that he refused to ever let anyone else see, and the whole time Luke had been using him.

“Kit?” Hesitantly, Leo dropped his hand onto Kit’s shoulder. He flinched, eyes averting from his reflection to glower at him, though there was no real anger present. Kit Dempsey was often described as a brash, furious boy, but he hadn’t felt true rage since he pledged his allegiance to the Titan King. “Hey... I didn’t mean to make you come out or anything.”

“You didn’t,” Kit brushed him off dismissively. “Nobody makes me do anything I don’t want to.”

It was clear that Leo didn’t know what to say. Instead, he just giggled nervously, thanking Kit for trusting him (to which Kit rolled his eyes with a ‘whatever, Valdez’) and lead the way back out to the foyer. Cal was snoozing in a wooden chair at the foot of the stairs, not even noticing their return, or the fact that Leo was changing Festus back to a dragon again. 

“How did you realise you were gay?” he asked after a minute or two of silence. 

He glanced over at Kit, who was pacing along the opening of the roof with speculating eyes. He watched as the boy paused for a moment, head tilted in contemplation. It was odd to see him at ease -- no, ease wasn’t the right word. Kit was something, not quite comfortable, but no longer as… prickly as he had been when forced to Leo around camp. How strange it was that he’d only been introduced to Camp Half-Blood just two days ago. He felt like he’d known Kit and this world for so much longer than that. And yet, there were people in his own cabin who Kit barely recognised.

“I kind of always knew, Valdez,” he shrugged slowly. “It’s not something you can just decide out of nowhere.”

Leo hummed to himself, eventually admitting, “I don’t think I’m straight either. But who needs labels, am I right?”

Kit didn’t openly react. He simply nodded and went back to analysing their exit route. Leo was so girl-crazy that Kit hadn’t given it any thought at all. Still, he valued his trust in him, taking it and tucking it away for safe-keeping.

But don’t get it twisted. Leo Valdez was still the bane of his existence.

Not long after that, Jason and Piper finally returned, both pale-faced but alive nonetheless. By then, Festus had completely returned to his full height, and he was snorting fire over his scales to keep himself defrosted as Khione lead their friends down the stairs. From the corner of his eye, Kit spied Leo standing up straight and combing his hair behind his ears with a nervous smile. He scoffed. How could he have forgotten about his weird little obsession with the goddess?

At the bottom step, she spun around to glower to Piper. From his new spot on Festus’ back, Kit could only just make out what she was saying. “You may have fooled my father, girl, but you have not fooled me. And you, Jason Grace--” She turned to the blonde boy next, lips pursed into a grim sneer. “I will see you as a statue in the throne room soon enough.”

“Boreas is right,” Jason simply scoffed at her. “You’re a spoiled kid. See you around, Ice Princess.”

Kit was unable to contain his laughter as Khione’s eyes flared pure white with rage. She spluttered for a second, at a loss for words, before sniffing and storming up the stairs like a toddler who’d been scolded by their parents. Halfway up, she turned into a blizzard and disappeared into the mist. Only a promise for revenge that Kit knew well lingered.

“Be careful,” Zethes warned them as he too joined the group. “She never forgets an insult.”

“Bad sister,” Cal grunted in agreement. At some point, he had woken up and was now circling around Festus with a fascinated smile. 

“She’s the Goddess of snow. What’s she going to do, throw snowballs at us?” Jason rolled his eyes.

Leo, on the other hand, looked positively devastated. His lower lip stuck out in an exaggerated pout as he took up his spot in front of Kit, head angled forward to glower at Jason and Piper. “What happened up there? You made her mad?” he huffed. “Is she mad at me too? Guys, that was my prom date!”

“You didn’t even ask her out,” Kit said.
 
“I don’t have to,” he grumbled. “All the ladies love Leo.”

“Sure they do.”

“Don’t worry about it right now. We’ll explain later,” Piper assured him before glancing at Jason with an uncertain glint in her eyes. Whatever had happened with Boreas had unnerved the both of them. An uneasy feeling settled in Kit’s stomach.

“Yeah,” Jason agreed grimly. “We’ll explain later.”

The two moved to join Kit and Leo on Festus’ back, but Piper was quickly stopped by a frowning Zethes. “Be careful, pretty girl,” he said. “The winds between here and Chicago are bad-tempered. Many other evil things are stirring. I am sorry you won’t be staying. You would make a lovely ice statue, in which I could check my reflection.”

“Thanks,” she grumbled, then glared at Kit as he let out another mocking laugh. “But I’d sooner play hockey with Cal.”

“Hockey?” Cal’s eyes lit up as he bounded over to her.

“Joking,” she sighed. “The storm winds aren’t our worst problems, are they, Zethes?”

“Oh, no,” he shook his head forlornly. “Something else. Something worse.”

“Worse,” Cal echoed enthusiastically. It was a pity Kit had to leave him alive.

“Well, can you tell me?” Piper smiled hopefully, but this time, the charm didn’t work. Both brothers shook their heads fiercely, stepping away from her. They had said what they needed to say, and now it was time for her to go.

Regretfully, Piper and Jason mounted Festus’ back, holding on tight as Leo slowly lead the dragon over to the edge of the hangar door. At the last second, Zethes stopped them again, meeting Piper’s eyes as the early sunlight casted golden shadows across his face. He looked as ugly as ever to Kit, but Kit supposed Zethes thought of himself as the main love interest in a cheesy romantic movie bidding his girlfriend farewell. It was amusing, watching him push his mullet out of his eyes so dramatically.

“Ask Aeolus what is worse,” he warned. “He knows. Good luck.”

“Come on, guys,” Jason cut in as Festus slowly began to bat his wings. “Let’s go to Chicago and try not to get destroyed.”

Nothing else was said until they were well away from the prying ears of Quebec City. The first one to break the silence was Jason. His face was harrowed in the daylight, and yet he mustered a genuine smile for Piper.

“You were amazing,” he told her, much to Kit and Leo’s confusion.

Piper, despite her obvious crush on the boy (yeah, Kit noticed that kind of stuff) simply let out a sigh and said something to him in French.

“Since when can you speak the language of love, Beauty Queen?” Leo shot her a puzzled look, but he went ignored as Jason asked, “What’d you say?”

“I said I only talked to Boreas,” she mumbled, refusing to meet their curious stares head-on. “It wasn’t so amazing.”

“Hey,” he chided her gently. “You saved me from joining Khione’s sub-zero hero collection. I owe you one.”

“Speaking of Leo’s little girlfriend,” Kit smirked. “What happened with her and Boreas?”

Jason and Piper shared a wary glance before beginning to explain the confrontation the best they could. From how Piper had managed to discover her knowledge of the French language in order to converse with Boreas, to how he’d been given orders to kill them by his lord, Aeolus, only to change his mind when he heard the details of their quest and put two-and-two together with the tattoo on Jason’s wrist. The whole exchange left Kit feeling eerie, like something was missing. Why had Boreas changed forms upon recognising Jason’s mark? What did the symbol mean? And why was he so sure they’d kill each other for him? He sat in silence as they finished up their recount with a detailed explanation of Khione’s rotten attitude. Kit knew it was more for Leo than himself, as the boy sat with a disappointed frown on his face.

“I still can’t believe Khione,” he said when they were done. Ignoring their pointed stares on the side of his face, he searched around in his pack for a moment before pulling out four sandwiches, three ham and one vegan for Piper. Kit accepted his, still in silence, just watching as the mortals went about their days below. “She looked so nice.”

“Trust me, man,” Jason sighed. “Snow may be pretty, but up close, it’s cold and nasty. We’ll find you a better prom date.”

“Nice metaphor, Grace,” Kit scoffed, catching the blonde boy’s attention with the emphasis of his newly discovered last name. 

“You know, Boreas mentioned you,” he said, earning a warning look from Piper that went ignored. 

“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow. “What did he say, huh?”

“That you joined Kronos’ side in the Titan War,” he exclaimed with an indignant tone to his voice, almost like he expected Kit to bow his head in embarrassment and express his darkest regrets to them. “He thinks you’ll get us killed before we even get to Chicago.”

“Jason,” Piper murmured pointedly.

“What, Piper?” he huffed. “He can’t seriously expect us to stay quiet about this.”

“What did you expect from the word traitor, Grace?” Well, so much for being in agreement with each other. “I already said it last night, I don’t owe you anything. So mind your business.”

Jason’s jaw clenched. For a second, he stayed quiet, as if it was taking all his strength not to snap at him. “Tell me something, Kit. Do you even regret whatever it is you did?”

“No.”

Kit Dempsey had gotten so good at lying to himself, he couldn’t tell what was and wasn’t the truth anymore. He found sick satisfaction in the way that Jason’s face dropped, at the way Piper’s brows furrowed in faint disappointment. Even Leo looked a little put off by his reply, but he said nothing as he observed the exchange with obvious confusion.

Eventually, Piper and Jason fell asleep again, and Kit closed his own eyes to escape the questions he could feel coming. Leo just sighed at the sight and guided the group on his own, though both he and Kit knew that Kit wasn’t really asleep.

It was just easier this way, to avoid their suicide mission for a little while longer.

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A/N: it's canon, at least in this fic, that leo valdez is bisexual but at the moment, he's unlabelled and figuring out his sexuality!! i just wanted to preface that now so there won't be any confusion as the story goes. and another little insight into the ares kids! i love them so much and i'm really excited to expand on them for you guys :)