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It was a bright and sunny day. The Seven had decided to go for a week on one of those vacation cruises after defeating Gaea, and invited (though more like dragged) Nico along.
It wasn't that Leo didn't like the guy, but he did find him creepy; the guy looked like he could kill an innocent puppy or kitten if he was cranky enough, even if Hazel said Nico wouldn't harm more than a monster. Plus, he completely isolated himself from the group and locked himself up in his suite. The suite was originally supposed to be shared with Leo, since the gang had this thing called a "budget", but Nico kept it locked during the day and unlocked during the night for Leo, as he had found out.
The cruise wasn't bad, actually. There was plenty to do, plenty of attractive passangers, and Leo didn't always feel like he was alone. Everyone clung to their respected lover, though, making Leo feel forever single. Don't get him wrong: Leo had managed to find Calypso's island again, thanks to the gods, but when he got there, he accidentally found a good-looking demigod making love to her. It was awkward, so he left before they could notice him. Technically, he had not betrayed the River Styx, if you know what he means.
He still kept his guard up at night, though, when he suspected Nico to throw him overboard in his sleep.
On the third day of the cruise out of the whole week they had there, Nico actually came out of their suite, when he found out the boat had an arcade. Leo had decided to tag along with him, since 1. the guy was always alone, 2. the others were acting all couple-y and were split up, and 3. he had nothing better to do. When Nico asked, though, he said it was because he didn't want Nico to kill another passenger, or be killed by a monster. Nico had snorted and said nothing. Leo got the feeling he wasn't very talkative.
"You don't have to follow me around the whole place, you know," Nico said as he inserted a coin in one of the Street Fighter machines.
"I know. But I still want to challenge you to Dance Dance Revolution," Leo replied.
"What's 'Dance Dance Revolution'?"
Leo's jaw dropped. "You don't know Dance Dance Revolution?"
Nico averted his stare and grumbled something that sounded like a no under his breath.
"Oh, gods, I seriously need you to introduce you to some dance games," Leo chuckled. He waited until Nico finished the round of fighting (and winning) before dragging him off to the arcade machines that had the dance floors.
"I've seen these machines before," Nico muttered, "but never played any."
"You, sir, are missing out." Leo inserted two coins into one of the slots in the machine and started looking through the songs. After looking through five songs, he picked a random Lady Gaga song. Nico watched as Leo aggressively stomped on the dancing blocks, later explaining that the machines don't always register your steps.
When the song finished, Leo looked back at Nico. "And that--" he hopped off the stage with a pause for effect, "--is how it's done, di Angelo."
Nico blinked. "...No tickets?"
"Well, it was a game for fun, you know," Leo said.
Nico nodded. "I'll make a mental note to never play dancing games."
Leo shook his head. "No, no. I will make you play a dancing game if that is the last thing I do."
"You must have a death wish, then."
Leo chuckled nervously, because, to be honest, he didn't doubt the son of Hades when he said that. "Fine, but we're playing that horror-shooting game over there."
"Games have changed a lot since I was little," Nico murmured under his breath, and Leo pretended he didn't hear. Instead, Leo dragged Nico to the booth and ducked into the little space. Inside, there was a two-or-three-person seat standing in front of an arcade shooting game. Sure, the outside of the booth looked pretty damn creepy and tempting, but the inside, with no light whatsoever because there was a roof, didn't look as exciting. Leo just hoped that the game was as good as the outside of the booth seemed.
Apparently, it was a 3D game, so Leo and Nico took the pair of 3D glasses situated between the pair of controllers on the platform of the game machine and adjusted them to their faces.
The start of the game wasn't so bad--the two characters started at a homey cabin in the split screen--but it took a good two minutes of looking around in trunks, inside of lampshades, under couch cushions, and in every nook and cranny of the small cabin to find an AK-47 (which Leo took before Nico could grab it) and a pistol. Once the weapons were found, there was a very loud crash coming from the surrounding speakers and both boys jumped. When they looked around in-game, they saw zombies invading the cabin through the windows. Typical, really, but the graphics still looked good enough. Leo and Nico had to fight off a few zombies before they could proceed to walk out the front door. The cabin seemed to be placed in the middle of nowhere, being surrounded by nothing but prairie. After seconds of walking, the boys were ambushed by what Leo was sure were spawns of Satan and died, ending their turn of the game.
"Aw, come on, that was too quick," Leo complained.
Nico shrugged. "It could've been worse: we could've been left with nothing but flashlights, or something."
Leo nodded in agreement, though still not satisfied with the creators' choice of getting more plays.
"Well," Leo said, looking at his watch, "it's time for dinner. You coming?"
Nico shook his head. "Not hungry," he said quietly.
"Come on, it's a buffet. You can eat as much as you want and as little as you want," Leo pointed out. He really didn't want to have to be the seventh wheel again and watch as the couples fed each other again.
Nico sighed. "No, I'm good, really."
"Then I'm inviting you," Leo declared. "And by that, I mean you must come."
Nico grumbled a small "fine," and made his way out of the booth with Leo on his heels. They made their way to the dining hall and met up with the rest of their gang there.
"Oh, thank goodness." Piper visibly relaxed. "I was going to start sending a search team for you." It was obvious she was talking to Leo, and he started wondering two things: was he really noticed by the couples, and could they not see Nico standing right beside him for the first time in three days?
"Nico!" Hazel exclaimed as she ran up to Nico and hugged him. "Why haven't you come out? I was worried."
Leo felt relieved. The guy really deserved some love sometimes, he was always distrusted by some of the Seven. Okay, maybe that was a bit hypocritical, considering Leo had, too, distrusted him.
As they got a table of eight, Leo physically dragged Nico to the buffet.
"I haven't seen you eat in three days, so I will make your plate for you," he said.
"Gee, thanks, Mom," Nico grumbled.
"You're welcome, sweetie," Leo joked as he held out a couple of napkins to Nico. "And don't forget to wipe your mouth with the napkins. We know how much of a messy eater you are."
Nico dropped his head and covered his mouth lightly to hide his smile, but Leo knew it was there. So, the Ghost King had genuine, non-creepy smiles? His new life goal was now to get the son of Hades to genuinely smile because of him. He'd probably be recognized at not only the camps, but also on Olympus for performing that miracle.
"You're a doofus," Nico said after a second, when his poker face was plastered on again. All in time, Leo thought.
Leo went through the buffet once before going around again and putting food on Nico's plate. By the time they both came back to their reserved table with both plates, Nico's plate had been filled to the brim with pasta that contained vegetables on one side, salad with fruit on another third, and a chicken leg.
"There's no way I can eat this all," Nico said as they sat down.
"Eat it all or no dessert for you," Leo scolded playfully. His motherly side, though, wanted meat on Nico's much too skinny arms. The boy needed food in his system.
Nico snorted and started eating. Leo turned back to his food, but paused when he saw Jason staring at him.
"Don't make me go all motherly on you, too," Leo warned him.
Jason shook his head and smiled. "It's good you're making more friends."
"I wouldn't call us friends," Nico said.
"Harsh. I thought we had something special, Nico." Leo rested a hand over his heart and feigned hurt.
Nico rolled his eyes and Jason smiled again before turning back to eating while having small talk with Frank.
"Seriously, though. It wouldn't hurt to make some friends here and there," Leo said to Nico.
"It would, actually," the son of Hades muttered. "The more friends, the more soft spots, the more pain."
Oh. Leo had forgotten how much the boy had gone through. He wasn't like Leo, who always covered up his feelings with fake optimism, but in an other way, he was.
Leo chuckled, though he didn't know how he could still joke after the depressing influence the Ghost King just had on him. "You can still have happy memories."
At that, Nico stood up from the table, muttering a quick "I'm full," and walking out of the diner with speed that wouldn't quite be considered running, but still quicker than walking. Suddenly, all eyes at the table were on Leo.
Leo flinched. "What?"
"He finally walks outside of his room, and you send him right back?" Annabeth asked.
For some reason, Leo felt something flare up in him. Something along the lines of anger and disgust, or maybe just acid reflex.
"Right, because you guys all acknowledged the fact he left," Leo retorted. "Am I the only one who knew he visited the arcade?"
The table went silent, and Leo sighed before standing up and walking back to his shared room, hoping to apologize to the Ghost King. On the walk there, he wondered why he got so defensive of the boy. Maybe it was because he gained a new friend, one who didn't have a girlfriend or boyfriend to shamelessly flirt around while he was in their presence. Once you got to know the guy, he wasn't that bad.
When he arrived at his and Nico's suite, he knocked before entering. There was no reply, so he figured to just use his card. He opened the door to find Nico sitting on one of the queen beds and watching the Are We There Yet? movie.
"Oooh, shiiit!" he exclaimed as he ran up to the bed Nico was sitting on and kicking off his shoes the moment he jumped onto the bed. "This movie's a classic! I haven't seen it in gods know how long."
"I found it by the TV," Nico explained. "There are more there, if you want to change the movie."
Leo chose this moment to apologize. "Listen, Nico, I'm sorry for the shit I said back there. I know why you'd get mad about that, and I won't argue with your opinions. But, as your friend, I will change your opinion one way or an other. Pleeeeeeaasse forgive me?"
Nico looked at him, confused for a moment before snorting. "Well, maybe if you beg."
Leo grinned. "You gotta be kidding."
Nico shook his head. "I am, though it would've been satisfying to see. And I apologize for overreacting. I guess...friends are nice to have around."
"They are. I'm sorry for saying that bull shit about the memories, though," Leo said.
Nico just nodded, and Leo continued.
"I mean, as an other who lost a loved one, I know what it's like to think about the happy memories I had with them and think about how they're not here anymore and how I can't have any more happy memories with them, and--and--" he made a sobbing sound at the back of his throat and pretended to cry into Nico's shoulder. Don't get him wrong, he did seriously feel depressed when he thought about those things, but he had to joke to reassure himself that he wouldn't cry.
Nico patted his back. "You're missing the movie."
"Oh, crap." Leo's head shot up and he glued his eyes to the TV. He noticed the shake of Nico's head and sigh, but he didn't catch the small smile on the demigod's lips.
The next morning, Leo woke up quite soundly. He was still half asleep when he realized he wasn't sleeping in the bed he usually slept in on the cruise, and that he was in Nico's bed, rather. He was laying on his stomach, his head centimetres from his pillow, and the other pillow missing. He pulled himself up just to rest his head on the pillow and breathed in the smell of...oddly, smoke. Not cigarette smoke, and not heavy, harmful fire smoke, but the kind of faint smoke you smell at bonfires and barbecues. He was half asleep and his imagination wasn't very active at the moment. Leo found himself curling up into a small ball and bringing the pillow down to cuddle it while laying his head on the pillow, breathing in more of the comforting scent, and dozing off.
When he heard a sudden door click, his demigod reflexes took over his need to fall back asleep and he turned over to find Nico exiting the bathroom in his usual attire consisting of a skull t-shirt and skinny jeans, a towel around his neck as he scrubbed absentmindedly at his dark hair with it.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" Nico asked.
Leo made an unintelligible sound and waved his hand while shaking his head lightly. "Naw... What time is it?" he drawled out.
"9:45. You can go back to sleep; breakfast courses at the restaurants don't end until twelve."
Leo yawned before sitting himself up and rubbing at his eyes. "I'm awake now, sleep won't come back to me for a while." He realized that he hasn't gotten that well of a sleep since he first arrived at Camp Half-Blood--or since his mother passed, for that matter.
"Okay." Nico dismissed the conversation and slipped on his running shoes.
"Where you going?" Leo asked, now more awake since he thought about his mother.
"To the Denny's onboard for breakfast," Nico answered.
"'M coming with you." Leo rushed to get to the door, where Nico was waiting, but was trafficked by the tangled blanket around his legs.
"You move a lot in your sleep," Nico stated as he walked over to the tangle of blanket and Leo Valdez. "I had to switch to your bed in the middle of the night to avoid manslaughter by your limbs." He grabbed a corner of the blanket and swiftly yanked it away from Leo, causing the Latino to tumble across the bed before falling off the edge. Something small and hard broke his fall, but he didn’t bother checking what it was, assuming it was just the TV remote.
"Well, the floor feels like a fluffy cloud," Leo quipped, rubbing the back between his shoulders as he stood up.
"I would know."
"Heh, sorry about that," the son of Hephaestus apologized as he scratched the back of his neck.
They made their way to the Denny's after about an hour of Leo dragging Nico around to explore the halls of the hotel part of the cruise, saving the upper deck part for after breakfast because he got rather hungry. The cruise ship didn't have as many floors as a fancy hotel would usually have, but each floor had more square feet than most hotels would have, making Leo excited as he ran around the maze of hallways. When he found a vending machine on each floor, he'd buy one different snack from each before moving onto the next floor. He was sure Nico enjoyed it as he played ding-dong-ditch and got caught twice. He escaped with the excuse that he mistook it for his own door. When he challenged Nico to see if he could do any better at ding-dong-ditch, the guy totally cheated by shadow-travelling.
By the time they reached Denny's they were both extremely hungry and giggly, remembering the comedic parts of that morning.
"What are you two laughing about?" Percy asked after about a minute of watching them (mostly Nico) hide smiles and laughter. Everyone else around the table watched, wondering as well.
"I'm not laughing," Nico argued quietly.
"You so are." Leo shoved his shoulder gently. "Stop acting like you have no soul."
Nico snorted and steered his vision back to his pancakes.
"You two have been acting very friendly lately," Piper observed.
Leo looked at Nico and when he said nothing, Leo said in a surprised voice, "Do my ears deceive me? Is the great Nico di Angelo allowing himself to be called friends with a commoner such as Leo Valdez?"
Nico rolled his eyes "The privilege will be taken away from you if you push it, Valdez."
Hazel smiled at them before announcing, "We're planning on going to the water park they have here today. Do you guys wanna join?"
"Depends. Can we play a game of Marco Polo that doesn't always involve the cheesy 'catching and hugging your lover purposely'?" Leo asked with a knowing tone to his voice, secretly saying, You know who you are.
"I'll pass," Nico said as he shook his head.
"Aww, why? You could probably dominate in Marco Polo, with all that shadow-travelling and stuff." Leo pouted.
"Err... Shadow-travelling in pools gets you in awkward shadows," Nico explained, blushing a little.
"Come on, Neeks. I know you can swim, so don't use that as an excuse," Percy said.
"Doesn't mean I want to," Nico retaliated, glaring at the son of Poseidon.
"I think it'll be funner with you there, Nico," Jason said, sending Nico a reassuring glance. "We wouldn't have invited you along with us on the cruise if we didn't want to hang out with you." Everyone but Nico nodded in agreement.
The son of Hades looked down at his empty plate awkwardly before sighing in exasperation. "Fine, I'll go."
"Atta boy," Leo cheered, clasping Nico's shoulder with a hand. "I say we have a good old chicken fight in the wave pool when we get there."
"Chicken fight?" Hazel and Nico asked in unison, tilting their heads slightly.
"This will be interesting," Annabeth commented.
Fortunately, Nico had brought swim trunks because Hazel advised him to, so Leo didn't have to go on a wild goose chase with him to find a pair, before seeing that there was a swim suit shop near the pool. Being a demigod really did slow you down on the events happening in modern day. Nico still preferred to wear a white towel-sweater, though.
Upon arriving at the indoor-and-outdoor water park, Leo noticed that the first thing that caught Nico's attention was the people screaming on the gigantic water slide, where pairs of two were sitting in large tubes and sliding down, landing on the water's surface with a loud splash and bringing the tubes back to a conveyer belt that sent the tubes back up. It seemed to be so tall, the top reached past the floor separating the indoor part and outdoor part of the water park, and had concrete stairs to get back up to the outdoor water park.
"Oh, we so need to try that out." Leo grabbed Nico's arm and pointed to the large water slide.
"Um, I'll pass," Nico said, looking up at the slide.
"Dude, I can't ride that alone," Leo explained. "Besides, the girls look too scared of it and Percy will probably manipulate the water to go faster 'cause he's a douche like that, and I fear that Jason and Frank will get us stuck in the slide."
"Fair points," Nico said sarcastically. "Fine, but you owe me."
"And what do I owe thee, milord?" Leo asked as they started walking towards the water slide.
"A game of golf at that glow in the dark mini golf place," Nico replied.
"Oooh, mini golf," Leo said, nodding. "Very badass."
Nico rolled his eyes. "Take it or leave it, Valdez."
"Well, you drive a hard bargain, di Angelo." Leo stroked an imaginary beard on his chin. "Deal." They shook on it.
On the way to the stairs, Leo noticed that the Ghost King was actually taller than him--not exactly by an inch, but more like a few centimetres. Damn those long legs.
The two boys climbed the concrete stairs leading to the outdoor park before climbing more stairs, leading to the top of the ride. The line waiting at the slide wasn't too long, but it still tested Leo's patience.
"How much longer?" Leo complained.
Nico counted the pairs of two ahead of them with his index finger. "Eleven more pairs."
Leo made an unpleasant sound of distaste. "Playing Bejewelled would be more exciting than this."
Nico shrugged. The guy could probably go hours on end doing nothing.
"Wanna play MFK?" Leo suggested.
"MFK?" Nico looked confused.
"It's a game where you point to random strangers and say which one you'd marry, which one you'd fuck, and which one you'd kill, and explain why," Leo described.
Nico looked uncomfortable. "I'd rather not..."
"Why not?"
Nico glared daggers at him and Leo decided not to push it.
"All right, let's try this instead: one points to a random stranger and the other guesses their name. Totally harmless," Leo said.
Nico sighed. "Fine." He pointed to a man in his mid-twenties lounging around with dark hair, wearing sunglasses, a plain t-shirt, and swim trunks. He seemed to be relaxing with his wife.
"David." Leo pointed to a teenage girl with straight brown hair.
"Jenn." Nico pointed to a woman who looked like she was in her late twenties with short, curly blonde hair and a rich tan.
"Hmm...Paula." Leo pointed to a teenage boy with brown hair and lighter highlights, the kind of hair that boys had to either brush to the side or flip.
"Noah." Nico pointed to a teenage girl with pitch-black hair and was shamelessly showing off her cleavage.
"Annie." Leo pointed to a middle-aged obese man with blond hair and glasses.
"Henry." Nico pointed to a dark-skinned girl with wild black curls.
"Rebecca." Leo paused his search when he found a clown in the fenced-off daycare area and snickered. He pointed to the clown.
"Babies?" Nico asked.
"No, the clown," Leo said.
"Oh." Nico thought for a moment. "Pennywise."
Leo's jaw dropped in shock and he stared at Nico. Nico sent a confused look back.
"Dude, no. You can't just do that." Leo shook his head. "There goes my sleep."
"Sorry... Can I change my answer to Bozo the Clown?" Nico asked genuinely.
Leo chuckled and shook his head. "Relax, I didn't want to sleep, anyway. Oh, look, we're next in line."
It was true, they were next in line. Time passed by fast, Leo guessed. The couple in front of Nico and Leo held hands and looked at each other.
"Promise you'll hold me the whole way down?" the girl asked, looking at the guy with a dreamy expression on her face.
"Promise, love," the guy said with a thick, and probably fake, British accent.
Leo stuck his index finger in his open mouth and made a little choking sound at the couple, though they didn't know that. Nico smirked at Leo and let out a small huff of laughter.
A few moments later and it was the couple's turn to go down the slide. While the employee standing near the slide was waiting for the right time to send Leo and Nico down, he struck up a conversation with them.
"So, since you guys were trying it earlier, can you guess what my name is?" he asked. He had sandy blond hair that was cut short and a California tan.
"Bob. Always go with Bob." Leo nodded his head, agreeing with himself.
Nico thought for a moment. "Alex..?"
The guy chuckled and pointed to Nico. "He's closer. And it's you guys' turn in five seconds."
"I call back," Leo declared.
Nico nodded. "Okay."
"Okay, your turn," the sandy-haired employee said, and handed the two boys a black tube with a yellow trim. Nico sat down on the front of the tube while Leo sat himself behind him.
"Nico, I want you to know that, if we don't make it out alive," Leo began, looking nervous, "that I accidentally broke your iPod back at the hotel."
"What--" Nico's flabbergasted question was interrupted by the employee behind them, shouting "go, go, go," and pushing them down the slide. The whole way down the slide, Nico yelled "Valdez" so loud, Leo was sure the whole park, inside and out, had heard it.
As they hit the surface of the pool, Leo had the dawning realization that Nico might kill him, and Nico might build up walls again. He hoped that his suspicions were proved wrong. After a silent moment of floating, Nico slunk off the tube and deep into the water, and when Leo looked over the edge, he could no longer see the Ghost King. Strangely, he felt like he was in the movie Jaws, and could just hear the theme song playing in his head menacingly.
Just as the music in Leo's head reached its climax, the tube he was in flipped over and Leo was flipped into the water. When he regained knowledge of which way was up and which way was down, he swam to the surface to find Nico returning their tube to the conveyer belt. Leo quickly caught up to the son of Hades.
"Hey, I'm sorry I busted up your iPod. It was an accident, I swear," Leo apologized.
Just then, the rest of the Seven rushed up to the two boys.
"Is everything all right?" Frank asked, concerned.
"We heard your name shouted somewhere in the park and thought you were in trouble," Piper said, looking at Leo.
"I am," the son of Hephaestus responded. "And I might die from first degree murder."
"Why? There a monster?" Percy looked around warily.
"Don't think so, but..." Leo glanced at Nico, who was glaring daggers at him. Very, very sharp daggers. "I might've angered something worse, heh, heh..."
Nico blinked slowly at the Latino, clearly displeased. "How?"
"When I fell off the bed. It broke my fall," Leo explained nervously. He had found the broken iPod there while Nico was rummaging through the nightstand standing between the two beds for his access card and had quickly hid it under his own bed. "I'm sorry."
"Fuck," Nico swore, throwing his hands up in frustration.
"Language," Hazel murmured. At times, even she was afraid of her half-brother.
"So, uh, how about we play that chicken fight game?" Percy suggested.
They suggested to pair up by couples, the girls sitting on their boyfriends' shoulders. When it came to Leo and Nico, however, the two had to have an arm-wrestling match to decide who would sit on whose shoulders. Turns out Nico was stronger than he looked, and won the match. He ended up with Leo sitting on his shoulders. Leo didn't mind chicken fighting with the girls, though.
The difficulty of the game was the fact that they were in the wave pool, which made the ones holding their teammates up lose some balance in their step, and that Percy was manipulating the waves like the dick he was (which was pointed out by Leo) to be stronger and faster. Nico used his powers to their team's advantage, too. The guy mended the concrete to hold his feet in place, so he wouldn't lose his footing like Jason did. Leo was, for once, grateful to have the son of Hades on his team in a chicken fight. Percy and Nico plus their partners were the last ones standing after ten minutes into the game, the competition growing serious.
Annabeth was a tough girl, and to be honest, Leo was a little scared of her. The fact that Percy and Nico agreed to stop using their powers didn't really help as he and Annabeth tried to push each other off their teammate.
Leo managed to slip from Nico's shoulders, his weight shifting from his thighs to his knees, the only thing holding him up, and Nico lost balance from the unstable weight. So Percy and Annabeth ended up winning.
After the chicken fight, the eight demigods moved to the large pool that contained a shallow and deep end. The deep end wasn't as crowded as they had worried, so there was enough space to play a game of Marco Polo.
"Marco," Nico called out, his eyes closed and his voice sounding bored.
The Seven called out "Polo" back and Nico swam closer to where Piper was. She used Jason as a human shield and was giggling in delight as Nico kept swimming closer.
Nico gave up with Piper and called out Marco again, receiving the same Polo and this time following the voice of Leo. Leo wasn't very fast in water, so he was caught quite easily.
"Marco?" a woman's voice called, probably looking for her son.
On instinct, seven half-bloods (Nico was confused by the humour in it, so he missed the chance) called out, "Polo!" loud enough for the woman to hear, and they saw her laughing a little before resuming her search for her son Marco.
Leo felt a hand poking his back and he turned around to find a trio of little girls around the age of eight behind him.
"Can we play with you guys?" one of them asked.
"Of course!" most of the group said in unison.
The game of Marco Polo lasted longer than any of them expected, but it was fun. By the time they all went back to their suites, Leo was exhausted and ready to pass out. He plopped down on his bed after changing into pyjamas and burrowed into the blankets. Quickly, he fell asleep.
Around what Leo's mental clock thought was 1 AM, he was awoken by a strangled screaming--not loud screaming, but the type of hushed screaming that someone with no voice might sound like. He turned around in his bed to see Nico still asleep, but with a pained expression on his face, curled up, and his blankets kicked to the end of the bed. Leo heard the strangled screaming coming from Nico again, and realized that Nico was having a nightmare.
Quietly, Leo slipped out of his bed and slipped into Nico's. He did what his mother would do when he had a nightmare and hugged Nico, whispering into his hair that he was okay now. That he was safe. It was a little awkward when Nico continued to hyperventilate, but Leo kept comforting him. Nico's shallow breathing slowly calmed after a while, and he returned into a peaceful sleep.
While hugging Nico close and petting his hair, Leo noticed that Nico smelled like that bonfire/barbecue smoke he smelled in the pillow that morning. Leo decided that he liked the scent of Nico as he brought up the blankets and fell asleep with Nico in his arms.
Leo awoke later that morning, around 6-7 AM or so, as his mental clock told him, to something shuffling beside him. It took a second for him to realize he was clinging to Nico's abdomen with his head resting on Nico's chest. And another second for him to realize Nico was awake.
He felt more shuffling come from Nico and he let go of the Ghost King.
"Sorry about that," Leo said uncomfortably. It must've been weird for Nico to wake up and find an elf like Leo clinging to him.
"It's all right," Nico said as he looked away. "I was awake for a while. Sorry about waking you."
Leo chuckled. "Don't worry 'bout it. Did I hurt you in my sleep?"
Nico shook his head. "But, um, why were you in my bed?" He looked back at Leo.
"Oh, well." Leo scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "You were having a nightmare, so... I kind of did what would always chase my nightmares away, you know?"
Nico nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."
Leo grinned and patted Nico on the back. "Anytime, man. Breakfast?"
"You can go without me," Nico said. "Not hungry."
"Well, we didn't explore the upper deck yesterday," Leo pointed out. "How about it?"
Leo caught a hint of a smile on the younger boy's face and his grinned widened when the son of Hades said, "Fine."
As they wandered the upper deck, Leo wondered why he thought Nico di Angelo was creepy. Sure, he's got the 'I hate you, I hate the world, I hate life' demeanour, but it's no wonder why Hazel likes him so much after you get to know him. He knew when a simple smile would encourage Leo to keep talking and not feel like he's annoying in the worst way, and when his small laugh could make Leo feel a little lighter, like the weight of what's happened in his life was being reduced. Leo liked the effect his newfound friend had on him.
"A claw machine..." Leo heard Nico mutter as they passed the game in the little movie theatre's smaller arcade on deck.
"Wanna try it out?" Leo asked, smiling at Nico with a hint of a challenge.
Nico shook his head. "They're a waste of money."
"Not always," Leo said. "This one's a 'play until you win.' Watch." He inserted a quarter into the machine and guided the claw carefully over a pink dragon plush. He stuck his tongue out the side in concentration and tried to align the claw precisely over the target. The claw caught the toy, but while it was making its journey up, it dropped the pink dragon.
"It's still moving," Nico observed as Leo guided the claw back to the pink dragon after it dropped nothing at the toy drop-off.
"Yep." The pink dragon took two more struggles before Leo finally managed to drag it to the drop-off hole. He grabbed the toy and held it out to Nico while he bowed.
"For you, milord," he said with a courteous voice and bow.
Nico took the toy and inspected it briefly before offering a small smile. "Thank you, brave knight."
Leo grinned a massive grin. His insides went all fuzzy, like he had a sunny cotton field inside of him. It felt nice, and Leo liked it. It was a nice change from feeling like the extra, unneeded wheel.
They ended up wandering around the upper deck for two hours with Fiona the pink dragon (the name choosing had took up a good five minutes, before Fiona was suggested and agreed upon, named after the Fiona from Shrek). The two demigods returned to their hotel room to watch some of the movies by the TV.
"So, there's a Mickey Mouse movie, Cool Runnings, The Jungle Book, Red Dawn, and Brother Bear," Leo said as he looked through the movies. He couldn't read the titles well, due to his dyslexia, but he had watched all the movies available at the moment and knew them by cover. "Which sounds most interesting to you?" He looked over his shoulder and found Nico crawling over to him.
Nico looked over Leo's shoulder, his face a little close, and Leo was all too aware of it. "That one," he said, pointing to the Brother Bear case. For some reason, Nico being so close made Leo's heart race. It felt like his personal space bubble (which he thought he didn't have) was popped and a dangerous weapon was held near his vital points. Leo felt like his heart would crawl out from his throat, but at the same time he didn't want Nico to leave from where he was.
Sadly, Nico did leave, and Leo hid his disappointment by turning his back to Nico to pop the movie in. He moved to Nico's bed and lay beside him while he ignored the Disney's Fast Play or Main Menu selection.
During the scene where Koda was singing On My Way, Leo sang along, even though he didn't know the lyrics by heart. Of course, he stopped singing by the time the artist of the song came in, and he grinned at the funny look Nico gave him. Nico shook his head and smiled after three seconds of staring. There was the fuzzy feeling again. Leo could get used to it.
After the movie finished, which was around 5 PM, there was a knock on their door. Leo volunteered to get it and opened the door to find their friends behind it.
"You guys didn't join us for breakfast, so we were wondering where you were," Jason said.
"We were exploring," Leo replied, wearing his signature grin. "We were just watching Brother Bear. Sorry for not inviting you guys to watch, but you'd probably talk too much during the movie."
"Shame. It's nice to see you two get along." Percy smiled. "We're heading to dinner now. You guys coming?"
Both boys nodded and grabbed their things before joining the other six demigods standing outside their door.
"I need to grab some money from the ATM," Piper informed. "Leo, come with me?"
"Okay," Leo said and followed the daughter of Aphrodite, though not sure why he was being dragged along.
Once at the ATM and out of earshot of the gang, Piper asked a very unexpected question:
"Are you and Nico dating?"
Leo dropped the piece of lint he was trying to sculpt and stared wide-eyed at the girl. "What?"
"Are you and Nico together?" Piper repeated, slower this time.
"No--no, why would you think that?" Leo absently cursed at his wavering voice.
"Ever since Nico stopped hiding in his room you've been the only one he's hung out with," Piper pointed out. "And don't think I haven't noticed, Repair Boy; I see the way you look at him."
"Look at him?"
"Yeah. You look at Nico like you two are the only things that matter in that moment and the whole world's disappeared." Piper grabbed her change and stuffed it into her wallet.
Leo felt guilty, mostly because that was what he felt like around the Ghost King, but also because it had been that noticeable.
"Well, we're not dating," he said, trying to come off nonchalant. "We're like best bros."
"But you like him, right?"
Leo shrugged. Did he? It wasn't like he wanted to show off Nico to the rest of the group and all that “public displays of affection” stuff, like he wanted to do with previous love interests. "I don't know."
"Come on, give me a hint," Piper begged. "What do you feel around him?"
Leo had to think about that one. "Well... His smile makes my insides all funny, if that's any clue."
Piper's eyes gleamed with a knowing glimmer. "And?"
"And..." The son of Hephaestus hesitated, his head lowering as he continued speaking. "I really like it when he laughs at my jokes, and I feel like I deserved a gold star and job well done. And sometimes I wanna run up and hug the shit out of the little dork because he looks so huggable, and he actually smells really nice--like, not perfume nice, but homey and comfortable nice--and I love having fun with him, and I get nervous when he gets too close--and--and--don't tell me."
"I will tell you." Leo looked up to see Piper smirking.
"Please don't."
"Leo Valdez, you are the lucky victim of love!" Piper congratulated him. "So, you're really in love with Nico, huh?"
Leo's head dropped. "I'll probably just be rejected and forgotten again," he muttered.
"Rejection is a maybe, but it'll be worth it, and forgetting is unlikely--trust me." The two half-bloods started making their way back to the direction of their friends.
Leo sighed. "If I strike out, I expect you to open up your hotel room and have tissues and ice cream on standby."
The six teenagers decided to go to the only East Side Mario's on the cruise, Piper and Leo joining them soon after they arrived.
So, Leo was technically gay? He'd never really shown an interest for males before, and he was certainly attracted to females, so maybe he was just bi. He wasn't very surprised, though, since he was labelled 'gay' and ‘faggot’ at a lot of schools. But was he really in love? Maybe it was just a crush, and he'd get over it after a while. Yeah, all he had to do for now was ignore it.
"What do you think of the food, Nico?" Percy asked. Some Italians were very sensitive about their traditional food.
"I don't know, Percy," Nico said. "Why don't you try eating McDonald's in Italy?"
Leo nodded while looking at the son of Poseidon. "He's got a point," he said.
"All right, all right," Percy sighed, holding his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry. Just wanted to hear it from an Italian's point of view."
"It's the same in Italy," Nico said, picking at his barely full plate. "Doesn't really depend where it's made, it depends on the chefs and recipes."
"Young man, if you don't eat that food, I will take away your TV privileges when we get back to the hotel room," Leo scolded. "And cut your bedtime down an hour."
"Stop acting like you're my mom," Nico grumbled, but ate his tortellini anyway.
Leo caught Piper smiling at them, but pretended he didn't see. The last thing he needed was to confess his feelings for the son of Hades and be rejected in front of all their friends. Not like he'd confess, anyway. Even if the younger boy agreed to go out with him, he'd probably break up with Leo after a while, saying the whole 'it's not you, it's me' excuse. Or he could be homophobic and avoid Leo. It was a hopeless crush, really.
"Can I have a cucumber slice?" Nico shyly asked Leo, pointing to the salad on the side of his plate.
"Depends. Can I feed it to you?" Just because it was hopeless didn't mean he couldn't flirt. Leo could just see Piper smiling, even if it wasn't in his peripheral.
Nico looked confused. "Why would you do that?"
Leo shrugged. "'Cause I feel like it... I'm in a motherly mood, okay?"
"It's embarrassing," Nico muttered, a blush fading in on his face.
"It's not as embarrassing as watching those four make-out in public," Leo whispered close to Nico, waving his hand at Percy, Annabeth, Piper and Jason.
Nico grumbled something Leo couldn't understand before speaking up a little. "Fine, but you owe me two more cucumbers without you feeding them to me."
Leo hadn't expected that. "Deal," he said, and stuck a cucumber slice on his fork. He held out the fork for the Ghost King, who was resting his cheek on his hand, clearly displeased with the situation and clearly wanting his damn cucumbers. Leo brought the cucumber slice close to Nico's mouth, and when the boy opened his mouth and leaned forward to capture the vegetable, Leo quickly moved the fork away.
Nico looked at Leo, confused about his motives. Leo looked back at him with his crocodile grin before pretending the fork was an airplane and flew it back to Nico, like a parent does with their infant, except it was more awkward.
Their mouth-hand coordination wasn't exactly spot-on at that moment, so Leo ended up bumping the cucumber against Nico's nose (to which Nico scrunched up his nose at, and Leo found it adorable) before Nico finally caught the cucumber and ate it.
Leo laughed as Nico stole two cucumbers from his salad. He looked back to the rest at the table to join in whatever conversations were going on, only to find six pairs of eyes on him and Nico.
"What, never seen someone feed another a vegetable?" Leo nervously drank his soda.
"Is it weird that I found that cute?" Jason asked.
Nico flung a tortellini at Jason with his fork.
After everyone left back to their hotel rooms, Leo brought out a bag of Mini Oreos and sat himself on Nico's bed, the latter following suit.
"We're watching Cool Runnings, right?" Leo asked, switching the television's input.
"I thought we were going to watch The Jungle Book," Nico replied.
"Have you seen The Jungle Book before?"
"...Maybe," Nico said, looking anywhere but Leo.
Leo snickered fondly. "You dork."
"Hey, the relationship between man and beast is inspirational," Nico said with a smile. Leo was glad that Nico's walls were coming down--even if Nico was removing one layer of bricks slowly and the walls were becoming shorter, Leo would climb over them and join Nico in his comfort zone, then, after a while, bring him outside those now short walls and show him the world.
"You're such a Disney person," Leo commented.
Nico shrugged. "I'm not a fan of their new works."
Leo thought for a moment. "Once we get back to camp, you're joining me in Bunker 9 and we're going to play Just Dance and have a Disney marathon." The Stolls were pretty good with smuggling things into camp, but they weren't cheap.
The Italian sighed. "I don't think I'm going back to camp."
Leo's heart cracked a little, like thin ice. "Why not?" he asked, disappointment loud and clear.
"I just..." Nico shrugged. "Don't belong at either camps."
"Don't belong, or don't feel welcomed?"
Nico looked at the Latino in confusion. "What do you care?"
Leo looked down. Oh, no. Not yet. He wasn't ready to confess yet. He needed to write a confession down on paper, including a brainstorm, rough draft, and good copy, then re-read it over and over and memorize it. He wasn't prepared.
"You... I don't know, I just feel like you're...fragile..?" Leo said around the lump in his throat.
"Fragile?" Nico asked, caution in his voice and eyes guarded. Glaring.
"Well, I mean..." Leo hesitated. He screwed up, didn't he? Just like he always did.
"Just watch the damn movie, Valdez," Nico commanded harshly, and Leo internally (and a little physically) cringed. "I'll be back in a bit."
Leo was unable to speak as Nico took off and closed the door behind him. He forgot his access card, Leo thought.
It took Leo quite a long time to find Nico--and hour, actually, so he found the younger boy around 8 PM--and when he did, he found the Ghost King hiding in Hazel and Piper's room (Nico had requested that Hazel roomed with another female, because, not that he didn't trust Frank, he was paranoid).
The boy had not been easy to talk to, though. His walls were built back up, this time taller and stronger.
And, once again, Leo came in and broke down those walls, as he'd like to think. He still knew the Ghost King was hiding things from him.
"Come on, Nico. I didn't mean to call you fragile," Leo tried, but the son of Hades still wasn't looking at him. Hazel and Piper had left the room not too long ago and promised privacy for the two boys to work things out. "If anything, you're my role model--you survived Tartarus /alone/, lost loved ones, entered the demigod life young, I heard..." He trailed off, lost in thought about how much Nico had gone through, and what it did to him.
"Relax, Wrenchman," Nico said, shaking his head. "I'm not that affected by being called 'fragile', but I must admit, you've damaged my pride, there."
Leo grinned, knowing the last part was Nico's sense of humour. "So, best bros again?" If Leo thought friend-zoning hurt, bro-zoning felt worse.
Nico nodded. "Yeah."
"We have yet to play that glow in the dark mini golf, Your Majesty," Leo reminded. "They close at eleven, if I remember correctly, and it's currently--" he checked his watch "--8:27. Still up for some mini golf?"
Nico grinned. "Definitely."
Oh, Leo's insides. It was difficult to get over the son of Hades, and Leo didn't think he'd be able to jump over that obstacle anytime soon. Had he ever fallen this hard before? Probably, probably not. He had no clue how to get over the fuzzy feelings he got in his stomach and the way his face warmed up embarrassingly. Maybe he wouldn't get over it--wouldn't have to. What if Nico returned his feelings? Or at least agreed to dating. Leo realized how much he wants that, to be happy with Nico. He couldn't be optimistic for long, though, because 1. it hasn't been decided yet, and 2. Nico really wants to play golf right now.
When they got to the glow in the dark mini golf thing, the change of lighting was blindingly confusing for Leo, but apparently not for Nico. Children of the Underworld, Leo thought.
At the front counter, the two boys paid for their two hour stay and received a bright neon stamp on the back of their hands, two golf clubs, and a cylinder of pink and green golf balls. Looking around, the golf place didn't have many visitors, and there weren't any lines at the courses. Their timing seemed to be perfect. In the background there was instrumental music playing, to which Leo realized was dubstep.
As the two demigods walked to the beginners' course, the son of Hephaestus had the urge to dance along with the music's rhythm. It was catchy. At the beginners' course, the two teenage boys split the golf balls in half: green for Nico, pink for Leo. Pink was a very manly colour. Nico settled quite easily for Leo being first--didn't even argue, really--and once the preparations were agreed upon, the competitively friendly game of mini golf began.
It wasn't all that competitive, since insults like 'you swing like your mom' and 'yo' mama' jokes would make them (really just Leo) cry on the spot. Plus, Leo didn't like the idea of saying bad things about Nico, and vise-versa. So, really, their whole time at the beginners' course was spent mocking the plastic props.
"So, any current love interests, di Angelo? Or are you loveless?" Leo asked as the two demigods climbed the couple of steps to the second level course. Truth be told, the son of Hephaestus was afraid of the possible answer, but curiosity got the better of him.
Nico glared at him. Leo could tell the younger boy didn't want to lie, but also didn't want to tell the truth, either. "That's none of your business," the Ghost King said.
"C'mon, there's gotta be someone."
Nico sighed and stared at Leo for what seemed like an eternity, making the Latino feel uncomfortable.
"Who's the lucky girl?" Leo prodded, inching closer to the Italian and trying to keep his smile from faltering. His happy mask was starting to become more and more breakable around the son of Hades, and Leo would be lying if he said that didn't make him nervous.
"It..." Nico looked away, his eyes darting from one view to another. Leo could tell he was putting a lot of trust in him right now. "It's not a girl."
Leo didn't know if he should feel ecstatic that Nico was gay, or sad over the fact that Nico was crushing on someone who wasn't him. He felt a mix of both.
"Really?" Leo asked, with the happy mask back on, but his voice cracking just a bit with nervousness. "Who is the lucky man, then?"
Nico stared at the older boy again, as if contemplating his ability to keep a secret. Sure, Leo was the hyper type, but he usually forgot all about the secret within a day, and so there was nothing to tell anymore. He was more loyal than he looked, too; he never gave up looking for Calypso, after all.
After a while, Nico finally said in a soft, almost inaudible voice, "I...had a crush on Percy."
"Had?" Leo was majorly hoping that Nico was way over the crush, because, damn, he didn't stand a chance over Percy.
"Well, accepted the fact that he'll never return the feelings." He shrugged. "You won't, uh, tell anyone, right?"
Leo shook his head. "Never," he promised.
"And you're not disgusted?"
"Why would I be disgusted?" Leo was a little hurt. Nico really should have more self-esteem. "I have a crush on a guy, too."
"Really?" Nico looked surprised. "I never expected you to..."
Leo nodded and laughed. He hoped Nico wouldn't ask a lot of questions like Piper usually did.
Nico stared at him, looking like he was arguing with himself about asking that one question. Leo knew which question, of course, but he didn't know how he was going to answer it. It felt all too early to confess, but he didn't want to lie to Nico.
"What's he like?" Nico asked hesitatingly.
"Well, uh..." Leo decided to suck it up like a man and say the truth, but not the whole truth. "He looks really stern on the outside and he doesn't have the easiest life, but despite all that he's really caring and considerate on the inside. He's a fellow demigod, and a really strong one, too. He doesn't have a lot of self-confidence, but at times I really wanna tell him how amazing he is. Sometimes, I kind of want to be held by him, which is weird because I always imagined myself being the bigger spoon, but he's kind of taller than me, so I guess it makes sense..." Leo drifted off, his mouth not moving but his train of thought still marching ahead.
The son of Hades nodded, probably thinking about his own crush. Leo felt a twang of envy for Percy, but it soon turned into jealousy because Leo realized that the son of Poseidon barely paid mind to Nico, and was always painfully oblivious when he publicly displayed his affections for Annabeth. Leo couldn't help but think that he could treat Nico better.
"How can you cope with it? Your feelings for Percy, I mean," Leo blurted out before he knew what he was saying.
Nico shrugged and sighed. "I just ignored it, I guess. Kind of easy, with all the wars and stuff going on."
The two boys settled on the silent agreement about not pushing the subject any further and returning to the game. When it was Nico's turn at the level 4 course, Leo checked his watch (which he designed himself--very fashionable and in-style, mind you) and saw that it was 9:56. In his mind, he thought that maybe, even if he wasn't ready, he could confess at the golf course and the two could go back to the hotel room for less innocent behaviour. The thought of being dominated by Nico made his lower regions feel warm. He willed himself not to get an awkward boner.
Then he started to panic about all the negative possibilities and gave up on confessing early.
"Leo?" Nico asked, looking nervous. "When we get back to the hotel room, can you..." Make-out with you? Yes. "Sleep, uh, in my bed? With me?"
Leo blinked. "Oh. Yeah, sure. Why, though?"
Nico looked away. "Nightmares," he muttered softly. Leo saw the pink glare of a blush on the Ghost King's ears. "You don't have to, if you're not comfortable or don't want to."
The son of Hephaestus smiled reassuringly. "Trust me, I'd be more than happy to sleep--comfort you and chase the nightmares away."
Nico smiled back. "Thanks. You're a...really good friend."
The two demigods got through the eight courses pretty smoothly, Nico coming out victorious with his 'analysis of the amount of force', and managed to finish a whole game within their two hour time limit.
When they arrived back at their hotel room, Leo walked over to Nico's bed and immediately collapsed on it, snuggling Fiona the pink dragon.
"Can Fiona join us?" he asked. "She's a part of the family, after all."
Nico smiled fondly at him. "Yeah, all right. But I bet she'll be kicked off once you fall asleep."
"Right--aren't you worried I'll kill you in your sleep?"
The younger male shrugged. "I didn't find any bruises this morning, so I guess it's worth the risk."
"Do you get nightmares often?" Leo asked.
Nico nodded. "Before Tartarus, I couldn't remember half of what happened in my nightmares. Ever since Tartarus, though..."
Leo nodded, understanding what the other boy was talking about. "Don't worry: if you stay at camp, or visit often, I'll always be there to be your snuggle buddy at night."
Nico ducked his head. "Thanks."
"No need to thank me--it's my pleasure."
"How come you're so nice?" Nico asked, throwing Leo off guard. "I mean, you understand me more than a lot of people do, and you didn't judge me when I said I was...you know. And you're fun, and funny, and..." he said softly.
Leo blushed massively at the praise and sat up on the bed. "If you ask me, you're not appreciated enough. Like, you don't smile a lot in front of a crowd, but when you do--God, it's like it should be the Eighth Wonder of the World. And I see the way you are with Hazel, Mr. Affection. It's really sweet, and..." He got nervous. Was this where he finally confessed? Was it too early? Would Nico block him out of his little walls? The negative possibilities were endless! He looked at Nico to find that he, too, was blushing.
"I'm not all that great," Nico muttered.
"You are in my eyes," Leo blurted out. He mentally scolded himself for sounding like a hopeless romantic. He couldn't help it, though; he felt that way around Nico. "You know when I said I had a crush on a guy, and how great he was?"
Nico nodded slowly, his dark eyes glinting with what seemed like anticipation, curiosity, and maybe some fear.
"That guy..." No more backing out, Valdez, he told himself. It was now or forever hold your peace. "Is, uh, you." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, avoiding looking at Nico's face. He was afraid of what he'd see--shock, disgust, anger, maybe sympathy--but couldn't stand not knowing, so he risked a glance.
Nico's expression was of utter shock and surprise, his eyes wide and his mouth left a little open.
"Don't worry, though," Leo quickly said, trying to cover up possible mistakes. "You're more than free to reject me, and we can go back to being best bros like nothing happened, if you want..."
"I, um--I'll think about it." Before Leo could get a word in, the Ghost King shadow-traveled away.
He felt like a complete idiot. He most likely just ruined a beautiful friendship, because he was selfish and wanted more than friendship from Nico. He should have ignored it like Nico did all those years with his crush on Percy. He wasn't as strong as Nico, though.
Leo sulked in his room for about half an hour before finally getting up and walking to Jason and Frank's room down the hall. Jason would know what to do; he'd gotten to be friends with Nico since the war with Gaea.
He knocked on the door and waited a good minute before Jason opened the door.
"Leo? What are you doing at 11 PM?" Jason asked. "You really should be going to sleep. Don't want you on caffeine in the morning."
"Haha, Superman," Leo said, his face serious. "I am freaking out right now."
"When are you not?" Jason ushered the shorter boy into his hotel room, where Frank was already lying in bed, but only half-asleep. "What's wrong?"
"Romance."
"I think you should be seeing Piper about this."
"I did, but I think her advice just made everything worse." Leo started to sound panicked as he sat down on the couch in the hotel room (lucky guys). "I need a fellow male's advice, I think."
"How come? I'm not a child of Venus, Leo."
"I know, I know," Leo stressed. "But I'm dealing with a guy, and I don't think there are enough gay people on this ship for me to find advice in."
"Wait, you're gay?" Jason asked, looking surprised.
"Well, I fell for a guy, so yeah, I guess."
"Who?"
Leo sucked in a deep breath. "Nico."
Jason blinked a couple of times, registering what Leo meant. "So...you like Nico?"
"Head over heels, man." Leo buried his face in a pillow on the couch. "I don't know what to do," he whined.
"Did you tell him yet?" Frank asked, sitting up in his bed.
"Yeah, that's why I'm here. I confessed, and then he shadow-traveled to gods-know-where." Leo groaned in frustration and kept his face in the pillow.
"Well, he was expecting to grow up with one-sided love interests and years alone in the Underworld," Jason pointed out.
Leo groaned again. "He doesn't have enough self-confidence," he mumbled into the pillow, causing his words to come out muffled.
"So, how did this happen, anyway?" Frank asked. "I thought you cared for him in a 'motherly way.'"
"I thought I did, too," the son of Hephaestus whined. "But, gods, have you seen his smile?"
Both of the bigger boys nodded.
"Seriously?" Leo asked disbelieving. "That is so unfair. Screw you guys, Piper has ice cream with my name on it."
Jason chuckled. "Seriously, though. I think you should wait, give Nico time to think, and when he's ready to answer, then that's the answer--not automatic rejection."
"Wise words, Jason," Leo said sarcastically. "But what if he doesn't come back?"
"You guys are friends," the son of Jupiter replied. "Nico wouldn't abandon a friend like you."
That night Nico didn't come back. Leo laid awake in bed for hours until his eyes felt droopy. He thought about all the possibilities, both positive and negative, and day-dreamed until he fell asleep. He wasn't entirely optimistic, though, and kept reminding himself that fantasy would never become reality, because misery loves clinging to him.
When Leo woke up that morning, Nico still wasn't back. The son of Hephaestus was doubting his crush's return more and more throughout the morning. While making his way to the McDonald's for breakfast with the rest of the Seven, Hazel asked him, "Where's Nico?"
"He just needs some alone time right now," Leo replied, not wanting to worry the dark-skinned girl.
She nodded. "All right. But please make sure he eats some food today."
Leo promised, reassuring both Hazel and himself that Nico would be with them by around dinner. Hopefully.
Leo realized that he was attaching himself too much to his little crush--he'd missed the boy like one would miss their toasty warm bed in the morning, and couldn't sleep a wink last night, missing the feeling of holding the Ghost King--and that wasn't a good sign; permanent rejection would lock him in Bunker 9 for several months. Maybe if he hasn't blurted out the truth so quickly, he'd have the time to make the son of Hades fall for him back, through a long bromance and his undeniable sex appeal. But Leo wasn't that patient; he had to find out his curiosities right away, not with years of persuading. And now he probably creeped the guy out, making him avoid him for gods know how long.
In short, Leo was miserable all throughout breakfast.
He still shot smiles and tried his best not to pick at his food during breakfast; he had a reputation to maintain. He was supposed to be like hiccups: annoying, but funny, especially when they had convenient timing.
That did nothing to stop Jason and Piper from noticing, though. Jason knew the reason, so he didn't say much, but casted worried glances to the Latino. Piper, however, plucked Leo from his chair and dragged him to the PlayPlace in the McDonald's.
"What's wrong?" she demanded quietly, but loud enough for Leo to hear over the screaming kids in the playground. Her kaleidoscope eyes portrayed worry.
"I want that promised ice cream," Leo responded. He might as well spill his guts to his best lady-friend in an unsanitary McDonald's.
"Oh, Leo, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. He didn't reject me," Leo said with an elfish grin.
"You guys are together?" Piper asked, her eyes gleaming and the corners of her mouth twitching upwards noticeably.
"I wish."
"Leo, you're confusing me."
"So my evil genius master plan is working?"
Piper glared at him, silently saying that he'd better explain.
Leo sighed as he leaned against the PlayPlace's wall. "When I confessed, he said he'd 'think about it,' then disappeared like turkey on Thanksgiving. I probably scared him off."
"Leo, he's the Ghost King," Piper pointed out, "nothing can scare him."
Leo thought back to the time when Nico had a nightmare, the strained screaming hard to bear hearing, and when Nico confessed he was gay, looking like he'd be stabbed right away for admitting who he liked. He wanted to tell Piper all of what he knew about Nico, but he bit his tongue to hold back.
"So did you buy your dad a souvenir?" Leo asked with half a mind.
"Yeah, actually. It's this really pretty and original-looking dream catcher..." Leo zoned out, not listening, but nodding occasionally.
When Leo returned to his hotel room after dinner (Jason and Piper dragged him /everywhere/ to take his mind off his worries), he found a dark figure sitting on Nico's bed. He hasn't turned on the lights, and didn't want to, expecting the figure to be a monster. The figure turned around to look at him, and he braced himself for the thing to launch itself at him at eighty miles per hour.
"Leo?" it called. Instantly, Leo was hit by a cold wave of recognition and relief. He turned the lights on to see Nico now standing, same clothes as when he left.
"Nico," Leo said, staring at the boy ahead of him. The dark circles under the boy's eyes seemed to be a shade darker, and Leo couldn't help but think that they complemented his pale skin.
"I thought about it," Nico said, looking down at the floor.
Please don't reject me, Leo thought over and over in his head as he closed the hotel room's door and went to sit by Nico.
Nico sat back down beside Leo and stared him straight in the eyes with those dark orbs. Suddenly, Leo felt uncomfortable with the space between them, not knowing if he wanted the distance to close or expand.
Leo smiled nonetheless. "It must be hard to reject Bad Boy Supreme..." Leo sighed. "Who am I kidding? If every girl in the world rejects me, why wouldn't the guys?" Leo had to stop. He was being a pessimist in front of someone else again. His reputation was breaking in front of the Ghost King, and he feared that he may want to be himself around the boy.
"Not every boy," Nico said, still staring intensely into Leo's brown eyes. "I want to give it a shot."
Leo processed what Nico just said for a moment. "Wait...really?"
Nico nodded and added a nervous smile for effect. "I'm pretty sure I've...been bordering those kinds of feelings for you."
Leo swore he never experienced such happiness and disbelief. Without realizing it, he reached over and hugged the son of Hades.
A long moment of awkwardness passed between them.
"If I kiss you right now, will you hit me?" Leo asked, breaking the awkward silence.
In response to the question, Nico pulled away slightly just to dive in for a kiss. Leo happily reciprocated.
The kiss was inexperienced and chaste, but Leo loved it anyway. When they finally pulled away, not daring to deepen the kiss right then, they stared at each other before Leo grinned widely and Nico followed suit.
"Are you gonna come back with me to camp?" Leo asked after a brief moment of silence. "Come on, you can't resist this face."
Nico chuckled. "Yeah. But maybe just to kick your ass in the arena."
Leo pouted playfully and they both went for another heart-pleasing kiss.
Later that night, they fell asleep on Nico's bed together, Leo never moving from the Ghost King's embrace that night and Nico sleeping dreamlessly.
••• ••• •••
Not long after the two boys and their friends arrived back at their respective camps, Leo dragged his newly-claimed boyfriend to Bunker 9, where he kept his valuables, to spend the whole day with the Ghost King, playing Just Dance and watching every Disney classic that came to mind. It was a fun day, in all. Both boys had skipped dinner without realizing it, so they snuck out to the mess hall and quietly pigged out in the kitchen, telling jokes, the other's face with food, and basically just having fun.
It was the start to a good and valuable relationship.
La Fin