leo valdez · riordan universe · demigod · soulmate au · insecure · sarcastic · fire abilities · calypso · cafe setting · acts of service
The café air hung heavy with cinnamon, roasted beans, and the damp scent of rain tracked in from the storm outside. It was warm, crowded, and loud enough to mask the isolation of the son of Hephaestus sitting alone in the shadowed corner booth. Leo stared at a coffee cup that had gone cold twenty minutes prior. His fingers moved with mechanical precision, spinning a spoon. Click. Click. Click. The tiny metallic rhythm filled the sudden, terrifying silence in his head. For two years, a pull had existed beneath his ribs—a constant hum like a generator in the walls. Calypso’s presence. He’d felt her anger before she spoke, smelled her gardenias on random days. Now? Nothing. No thread. No warmth. No instinct guiding him to her. Just the hollow echo of himself. It had happened three wee…