Lazel: The Crayon Masterpiece

~ Plot: Leo and Hazel spend a lovely afternoon together sharing their artistic talent by painting pictures and making crayon drawings. 1,200 words. One-shot. Lazel. ~

This moment was the calmest Hazel has ever felt in her entire life, she realized as she dabbed blue paint in the canvas with a paintbrush. It was a warm Sunday afternoon, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It's been a long time since she ever had time for herself, and it's been a long time since she painted a picture. She loved doing art – there was something about the subject that made her lips twitch into a smile. She tucked a loose strand of her curly hair behind her ear, and dipped her brush in mud brown paint as she began to paint a horse.

She was humming a song to herself when she heard a voice say right behind her, “That's a nice painting, Hazel,” the daughter of Pluto looked back and smiled when she saw Leo right behind her, hands in his pockets. “The colors are really pretty and it looks really, really nice.” he added, his smile growing bigger.

She smiled as her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. “Thanks, Leo, but it's not finished yet.” she said, returning her attention to the half-finished canvas in front of her. “It's going up my wall when I finish it.” she said, dipping her paintbrush in golden brown paint to work on the horse's mane and tail. She sighed happily. “It's been a long time since I've held a paintbrush, you know?”

“I know,” he said, standing right next to her to observe her work of art closer. “I can remember the good old days when I was a kid. Mom would sit beside me and watch me make crayon drawings and sing her lullabies to me,” he smiled fondly at the memory, but it also made his heat ache. “I miss those days.” Hazel sighed, and she had to admit, she missed the olden days with her mother too. Before she was possessed with Gaea, anyway.

Leo shook the thought away from his head. He noticed empty sheets of paper and a familiar yellow and green box of Crayola crayons on the table beside her paints. He took a seat on a chair nearby and asked, “Do you mind if I join you?” he asked. “It's been a long time since I ever relaxed, and I'm on lunch break. So...?” he looked at her, as if waiting for her approval

She smiled and shook her head, returning back to the half-finished canvas. “It's nice to spend quiet time with a friend too, you know, Leo.” She dipped her brush on a the plastic cup of water beside her set of paints. She looked at Leo as he grabbed a piece of paper and picked up the a blue crayon. He glanced at her painting, and started coloring the upper part of the page with different shades and hues of blue. She smiled and picked up a thinner brush, dipping it in light green paint to paint the blades of grass on the bottom half of the canvas.

“Hazel...” he began to say, but bit his lip before he could say another word. The golden-eyed daughter of Pluto realized that he was supposed to tell her something, but he was unable to put it in words. She wondered what he was about to tell her. Leo was very talkative – and he always found a way to put his thoughts into words. She was confused beyond all measure.

“So,” Hazel said and cleared her throat. “Aren't you supposed to be fixing the ship? We need major improvements with the canons if we want to destroy Gaea's army. I mean, weren't they broken in the encounter with the earth spirits, the guys who were throwing boulders at us?” she said, trying to make the moment less awkward. Lately, their conversations and small talks and the moment where they'd bump into each other had been nothing but awkward. “I still have bruises from that battle...”

“Oh yeah, Nico and Frank are working on it. They insisted, really,” Leo replied as he colored the skies in his crayon drawing. “I've been working from a lot lately, and I really haven't had much time for sleep.” he said and yawned. “But sleeping is boring, so I decided to join you to make pieces of art worthy of a museum gallery.” he grinned, and decided whether to use a lighter or darker shade of blue for the clouds.

“Ah, thank you, Leo,” she said as she began to paint the trunk of a tree behind the horse with a shade of reddish-brown. “It's nice to have the comforting company of a good friend.” she said, smiling as she glanced at him, intently coloring his crayon masterpiece. Knowing him, he was probably going to hang it up his wall along with his other crayon drawings.

“Yep, pretty much. Everyone deserves alone time, but I think time with friends is the best!” he said cheerfully, placing his finished crayon drawing face-down to show the blank side of the paper. Hazel smiled as he took out another sheet of paper and picked up a crayon. He sure does love crayon drawings, Hazel thought and smiled. Hades, he had them all framed or taped up his room.

She placed her brush down and stepped back. “This has got to be one of the best paintings I have ever made.” she smiled to herself, extremely proud. The painting featured a brown stallion eating gems in a field of grass, a tree looming over the magnificent horse, and the sky a cool color of light blue. The horse, of course, was Arion.

“That's really cool, Hazel!” Leo said, beaming. “You're a good painter. You should make more of these when you have the time. I mean, when we're not fighting monsters, I guess.” he said, his smile growing bigger. A loud noise of metal clanking against metal, and an “Oh gods! Nico,  help me with this thing!” from Frank and a few curses from Nico echoed in the entire ship, and Leo's smile faded.

He picked up his crayon masterpiece and put it in his pocket. “Sorry, Hazel, but I gotta go.” he said. “I've gotta go check up on Nico and Frank. Something might have happened in the engine room.” he said, walking out of the room. “I'll see you later, alright?”

She smiled at him and waved goodbye, then began to collect her art supplies to store them away. Noticing a piece of paper on the table, she realized that it was Leo's other crayon drawing. She picked it up and checked it out. It was a crayon version of her painting. There was a horse munching on a red gem in a field of grass, and there were dark blue puffy clouds in the sky. She looked at the back of the page to see if he drew anything at the back, but a note written in red crayon was all there was. The note said: “I really really like you!” with a smiley face in the end. Hazel smiled to herself and clutched the drawing close to her chest. She couldn't help but stop and think.

It was something that Sammy would do.