NEVER Let Your Mom Meet Your Crush!

This whole visit to Leo’s home was planned to last 3 days, with us leaving about a day or two before Leo is due back to the palace. During that time, everything followed a similar flow as the first day. Leo would show Val around, handing off lists and doing what maintenance he could while he was there. Everyday, Leo would start with a fresh look and end all dirtied up. He boy really had no fears of getting dirt and mud everywhere. Val would offer assistance here and there, using what magic he could to pitch in. Simple things, really, like levitating things too heavy to move by hand. But for the most part, Leo was working on his own– occasionally his mother pitching in.

She’s a sweet lady. Was a bit starstruck when she met Vallie.

Those dang cats would follow us around from time to time as well. So annoying. Mr. Snappy hated anyone getting too close, that calico would get too friendly, and that orange cat… just stared at me with big ol’ bug eyes. It was a little creepy, I won’t lie. I would happily hide out of sight if I was able to, but Val took Leo’s advice and kept me close. Hiding was not an option, unfortunately.

I can feel that orange cat’s gaze on my back from around a corner. Ugh… I’m doing my best to ignore it for Val! Without warning, I leap up towards Val, who naturally catches me despite the surprise.

“Ah!” He exclaims, adjusting me to a more comfortable position. “Perhaps it’s time for a break.”

“Sounds good!” Leo responds. The metal pipes he was carrying clang on the ground as he tosses them aside, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his arm. Val does his best to steal a look without staring, to which I laugh.

Leo’s shorter than Val. Val by no means is short for his age, probably around average height, but Leo is a lot stronger than you would expect! His appearance is extremely deceptive, a lot softer. But he’s shown a surprising amount of strength when it comes to moving large and heavy objects– hidden muscles pop out, surprisingly defined. Even Val was surprised, trying, and failing, not to stare at the shorter man these past couple of days. Both of us are impressed, honestly.

“Let’s go inside.” Leo suggests. “We can cool off a bit before starting back up, maybe eat some lunch.”

“Sounds good.” Val nods, following Leo’s lead back inside.

The walk back to Leo’s house is quick and sweet, both of the boys chattering away. When the door swings open, Leo’s mom is waiting in the front room. Her head snaps up, a sweet smile practically glowing on her face. She walks over and ushers the two inside.

“Oh, good! You’re back just in time, I’ve prepared some dinner for the two of you.”

In the other room, a table has been set; two plates set out, both containing what looks like chicken meat, some sort of salad mix, and fruits on the side. A pitcher of lemonade sits on the table as well, Leo’s mom gestures towards it.

“Just made some lemonade for you boys.” She chirps. “Help yourself, let me know if there’s anything else you want!”

“Sure, thank you, ma’am.” Val says, giving her a nod.

“Of course! I can’t do enough to thank you for looking out for not just our family, but Leo while he’s so far away from home.”

“Mom–”

“He’s the baby, after all. We appreciate knowing he’s in such good hands!” She reaches out to pinch Leo’s cheek, much to his chagrin. Val snorts, sitting me on the floor and taking a seat.

“It’s my pleasure, Leo’s a good person.”

“Oh!” Leo’s mom stops, before grabbing something off the table and sitting it on the ground beside me; FOOD. “Can’t forget little Princess! Here you go, miss kitty~”

Bon appetite! I waste no time digging into the meal presented to me. One fact I’ve learned during our visit; Leo’s mom is a GOOD COOK. No complaints, 10 out of 10, would recommend trying her cooking. It reminds me of home, in the best possible way~

“How’s the progress coming along?” She asks, taking a seat across from Leo.

“Really good, actually!” Leo beams. “We’ve got the infrastructure nearly finished. The budget has been planned out, with wiggle room in case something else pops up we discover we need. Prince Val’s taken a list of everything needed and has ordered it for us. He also called a construction crew to take over when I have to return to work! They’ll be here at the end of the week.”

“That’s wonderful.” Leo’s mom says. “We can’t thank you enough, your Highness.”

“No need for thanks.” Val says in between bites. “It’s just the right thing to do, help out when you hear someone needs helping.”

A sweet chuckle carries across the table. “I’m glad that’s your mind set. I hope you don’t lose it.”

“I’ll do my best.” Val smiles back to her.

“Don’t let this guy fool you, though, mom! He’s been helping me organize and move things around out there too. Have you seen him use magic? It’s crazy!” Leo brags, much to Val’s embarrassment. Val rubs the back of his neck.

“Ah, that’s really nothing impressive. Just some simple levitation magic.” He says. “That’s honestly the most I can do with magic. The royal family isn’t the most magically inclined… It's mostly just for show at this point.”

“Really?” Leo looks at Val baffled, and Val laughs in response.

“Yeah, otherwise we’d have no use for a Royal Mage. Honestly, I might be the least magically inclined person in the family right now.”

“Well… it’s still impressive. I can’t use magic at all, it’s so confusing.” Leo pouts. “Something about having to ‘feel the mana inside your veins’... how am I supposed to feel that? They say it like just ‘feeling’ it will make you like, I don’t know, make a giant fireball out of thin air!”

“There’s more to it than just feeling, yes. But I suppose there’s some people who are just more inclined to understand it than others. There’s a lot I don’t know or understand about magic, too. Not for a lack of trying.”

“Leo certainly went through a magic phase when he was in elementary school.” Leo’s mom chimes in. “He was fascinated by those mages that would do performance magic on TV. When his school was trying to teach kids how to use magic, he would run around the house saying things like ‘dragon fire breath!’ and ‘thunder tornado!’ like he was trying to destroy the house. I’m pretty sure he got those ideas from that one mage he liked, what was his name again?”

“M-MOM!” Leo exclaims, flailing his arms trying to either get her to stop or draw Val’s attention away from her. His face was as red as a tomato. “That’s not– I, I mean, what kid didn’t think that kind of thing was cool, huh?! Hahaha a lot of celebrities and fictional characters used cool magic! Haha it’s not like I ever actually was able to use those kinds of spells!”

“He nearly set fire to the living room once.” She continues. “Leo was so proud he managed to use magic that it didn’t register how dangerous it was until it started to spread. We were able to put it out before it grew too much, though. His sister still makes fun of him for that~”

“That was one time!! And the only time I actually managed to use magic at all!!! C’mon, don’t talk like I was destroying the house all the time…”

“Pfftt… PWAHAHAHA–” Val suddenly busts out laughing, causing Leo to nearly jump out of his seat, hair going every which way. When Val’s laughter dies down, he goes to wipe a tear from his eye. “Hahah, s-sorry, I just– I couldn’t help but imagine a little Leo who managed to set his head on fire. You really have no idea how you did that?”

“No, I don’t…” Leo’s voice comes out small, Leo’s mom taking her turn to laugh at her son’s expense.

“Leo was quite the menace as a kid, as his sister likes to say. Would you like to see some of the photo albums we have? His father liked taking pictures and documented a lot of his misadventures.”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” Leo shoots up out of his chair. “You– You can’t show him that!! That’s– that’s so– old school!”

“I don’t know, I’m curious to see what kind of menace you were when you were a kid.” Val smiles up at Leo innocently, fully knowing he could tease him for it later if he wanted to.

“I– Ah…” Leo falters just long enough for his mom to sweep Val away from the table, leading him into the living room. Leo snaps out of his daze and runs after them, begging them to wait a minute.

Licking the plate in front of me clean, I nudge it to the side and trot into the living room. It’s a pleasant little room. Leo’s mom wasn’t kidding when she said his father liked taking pictures, there were tons of photos dotting the walls of the living room, each in its own unique frame. You can hardly tell if the wall is painted or if there’s wall paper, that’s how many photos there are. When I leap up onto the back of the couch, Leo’s mom is pulling out a few albums and Leo’s practically hanging off Val’s arm trying to distract him.

“Leo, if you really don’t want me to see the photos, it’s ok.” Val tells him. “You and I can just go do something else. If it really bothers you this much…”

Leo presses his lips together into a thin line, looking around the room. He grumbles a bit before sighing.

“Just– Just none of the really embarrassing photos, please mom? Seriously…”

“Ok, ok.” She relents, putting away one of the albums. “That can be saved for a different day.”

“That’s barely a mercy…” Leo mumbles, but relents.

They come to join me on the couch, and Leo’s mom starts rambling about different stories attached to the colorful pictures on each page. She’s very passionate while reliving memories and bragging about her husband’s photography. I think Leo has some of that passion too. They both get that little sparkle in their eye when a topic they love comes up. Val sits there, patiently listening to each of Leo’s mother’s stories, chiming in with his own compliments that fluster Leo.

It’s fun watching them interact like this; Leo’s easily flustered and Val seems to think it’s cute. Heck, I think it’s cute! This boy, I like him. He gets my seal of approval!

When they reach the end of the album, Leo’s mom closes it.

“Well, that’s only one of many. Maybe I’ll get to show you the others some different time.” She smiles sweetly at Val, who nods.

“Perhaps. I’d love to stop by again sometime, should my schedule permit it.” He nods, reaching up to the back of the couch and pulls me down onto his lap. I allow it, I’m way too lazy to get up now anyways and they seem to be winding down a bit.

“We’d be honored to have you back!” She exclaims, getting up off the couch. The photo album gets returned to its spot and she looks back at us. “I need to clean up after our dinner. Feel free to hang around as long as you’d like!”

With that, Leo’s mom takes her leave. The boy beside Val still has a prominent blush across his face, Val chuckles at the sight of him.

“I like how many pictures you guys have.” Val says. “I guess, I never had pictures taken just cause. It’s charming.”

“Hnngg…” Leo groans, taking a deep breath. “We always took photos like that, I guess. My grandfather was a professional, and my dad picked it up as a hobby because of him. The two of them together could be kind of a lot, especially around holidays. As a kid, I was definitely too impatient for this kind of stuff.”

“I’m glad they still got those kinds of candid photos of you and your sister.” Val offers him a smile, pausing for a beat before asking “How is your dad doing, anyway? Didn’t you mention something about his health…?”

“Oh… yeah. He…” Leo sighs. “Hahh, he’s as ok as he can be, I guess. Resting right now, last I checked on him, he was about to take a nap. We… ended up deciding not to tell him you were coming to help with the green house. The last thing he needs is to feel like he has to work, he would definitely want to be there.”

“Ah, I see… maybe I can visit again when he’s doing a bit better.”

“I hope so. I’d like for you to be here when we can show him the rebuilt green house.” Leo smiles. “Right now, though… I don’t know, I guess it’s scary for everyone, not knowing when he’ll get better. Doctors always give good updates whenever he goes in to check, but then a couple weeks later something happens and it’s like we’re back to square one. Well, at least he’s in good spirits.”

“I understand.” Val’s stare wanders off to the distance, hand idly petting the fur on my back. I blink up at him. “It was similar with my mother, though her health declined much faster. Never stabilized. I assume your dad is at least stable enough? Considering he is not hospitalized.”

“Yeah, he is at least able to operate at home.” Leo flinches, frown deepening. “Sorry, I forgot about your mother. Should we change the subject…?”

For a moment, Val remains silent, stare still locked on something not quite in focus. It’s about time for me to intervene, I suppose. Giving him a sweet little “meow”, I turn in his lap and paw at his arm, now staring straight into his face. He flinches, looking down at me. He fell right into my little trap! I lightly bonk my head against his cheek, purring all the while. Finally, it seems Val is back on the ground, giving a soft huff that could easily be mistaken for a laugh.

“Sorry, sorry.” He tells me, wrestling with me a bit as I refuse to sit still in his lap anymore. “Just got lost in my head for a bit… It’s ok. I’m not really too upset.”

“...”

Leo stares at Val, seemingly trying to find any words to say, but ultimately shakes his head.

“Then, why don’t we go and make sure everything is wrapped up for the day? I think it’s time to call it a day.”

Val nods. “Sure. Let’s do that.”

The pair gather their belongings and head back outside, me deciding to perch on Val’s shoulders. It doesn’t take them long to secure everything down and pack up, then they’re parting ways for the night.

Val’s been off since we left, and I know why. There’s just nothing I can do about it…