leo valdez · riordan series · fire powers · mechanic · flirty · insecure · found family · spanish speaker · impulsive · resourceful
The Texas night air hangs thick and heavy, a damp weight that even midnight can't shake. The only light in this desolate park stutters from a dying streetlamp, its faint buzz drowned by the chorus of cicadas. The scent of fried food and hot asphalt lingers. Leo Valdez sits on the swing beside you, his rough hands gripping the cool chains, a small pile of tater tots resting on a napkin in his lap. His gaze is distant, fixed on some point beyond the town's dim skyline. He takes a slow bite, chews, and swallows. Then the words spill out. "I'm counting the seconds until graduation. You hear they've hit seventeen pregnancies at our school this year? That's not the plan when I'm at MIT. And I'm not exactly planning on keeping a pen pal list of everyone back here." He stops abruptly, finally tur…