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Being convinced to stay at Camp Halfblood was…
Well, it wasn’t nearly as horrible as Nico had been expecting it to be.
The whole thing with Will hadn’t worked out as he’d expected it to―they’d started flirting at some point after the war ended, and Nico had really liked him! But Will had gone with Annabeth and Percy to New Rome to get some real medical training a few months ago and… Put simply, neither he nor Will wanted to start anything long distance.
He’d just been here, bored, ever since. He visited New Rome from time to time as an Ambassador for his father, still, and he took short trips to random foreign countries, but for the most part he remained at Camp Halfblood. It was probably the most boring thing he’d ever done.
There was, however, one good source of entertainment in his life.
Now, he’d never admit it, but he did find Leo Valdez to be pretty funny at times, and his excitement over his powers and the things he could create was pretty refreshing on days when he was feeling particularly pessimistic. Leo was one of the only good things about Camp Halfblood, admittedly, because Nico didn’t give much of a shit about any of the activities, and he still didn’t like most of the other Halfbloods who resided there. And since Jason was off galavanting around keeping his promises… Still… There was really only Leo that he liked in any capacity.
Again, he’d never admit to that.
But, the thing was, it was winter now. It was getting cold even though if Nico remembered correctly it shouldn’t have been. Like, he was pretty sure there was weather control here. One would think the permanent residents of the camp would want to not have winter since it was cold as fuck.
But here they were. Having winter.
It sort of went without saying that Nico was not the biggest fan of winter, if not because of how fucking cold it was, then because Bianca had died in the winter. One of those things he was starting to come to terms with. The other was a rather more pressing issue at the current moment in time.
Currently, he was, by force, outside in the cold. He’d lined up his schedule for the most part with that of the Hephaestus cabin to be around Leo more often because if nothing else he knew the kids could tolerate him and his creepy aura. In fact, a few of them seemed to like him… Leo included. But the thing was that the Hephaestus kids were currently having one of their few outdoor activities, and that meant he was too.
He was freezing. His jacket may have provided more than enough warmth the rest of the year, but during winter it wasn’t exactly the warmest thing to be wearing, and it wasn’t like he had any other jackets available aside from his bomber jacket, which he was… Starting to grow out of. It probably didn’t help that he didn’t really produce a whole lot of body heat, himself, either. He was naturally rather cool to the touch and, contrary to popular belief, that just made him more susceptible to the cold.
“―and all you gotta do is attach that spring right here,” Leo was speaking, rapid as usual, walking one of the other Hephaestus kids through how to make a small automaton, “Then attach this here, and you’ve got it!”
Nico rolled his eyes a little. This wasn’t even the activity they were meant to be doing, but far be it from him to push Leo back on track when everyone else was still doing what they were supposed to be. As someone who could relate to the constant shifts in topic by obscure relation of topics, he could understand, at least vaguely, how Leo came to be on this one.
Leo observed the younger kid for a minute, congratulating them when their creation worked, and stepping back toward Nico with a proud smile on his face.
Nico ignored the way he wanted to stare at him, instead puffing out a mildly annoyed breath that wasn’t even warm enough to produce a cloud. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Leo’s breath fogging up the air around him like some kind of ADHD powered locomotive. Unconsciously, he shifted closer.
Hands limp at his sides, he nearly jerked away when his shifting caused his hand and Leo’s to brush together.
Leo jumped a little, eyes flicking to Nico’s face, “Dude, was that your hand?”
Nico frowned, prepared to be told he’d scared Leo, that Leo hadn’t realized he was still standing there. “Yes.”
“You- Holy mother, dude, you’re freezing.” Leo looked… Mildly horrified, to say the least, “Why are you out here? You’re going to freeze to death!”
Though a little surprised by the direction the conversation had gone, Nico couldn’t help his lips quirking up at the mention of freezing to death. It was an unintentional joke, he was sure, because unlike everyone else Leo tended to forget who his father was, but it was going to make him smile a little nonetheless. He hated that about Leo―that he could make him want to laugh so easily.
“I’m sure Father wouldn’t mind me moving into the castle permanently,” He joked off-handedly.
Just as he expected the joke to fall flat and make Leo uncomfortable, the latino covered his mouth and snorted, trying and failing to contain his laughter. “That’s morbid,” He informed him through small bursts of chuckles, “And so not what I meant.”
“Morbid is what I do,” Nico reminded him, trying very hard not to smile, “And I know that.”
“Are you going to answer my question?” Leo asked after a moment of quiet.
Nico hummed, quirking a brow. “Which question?”
Leo gave him a mildly unamused glare, followed by, “You already answered the first one, so let’s try the one where I asked why you’re out here when your skin feels like an icecube.”
Nico had to bite the inside of his lip to avoid laughing outright. He so rarely got to see Leo annoyed. It was almost like a little treat, especially when it would only be shortlived and wouldn’t have a lasting effect on their… Friendship? Were they friends?
“Well, see, there’s this thing called ‘my schedule matches yours right now’, which means I kinda have to be out here, Valdez.”
Leo frowned a little, then nodded to himself. “Alright, that’s fair.”
Before Nico could really process that response, or what Leo was doing, Leo had pulled off his own coat and was draping it around Nico’s thin shoulders.
“Wh-” Was about all Nico managed to say.
“Just take it, I’ll live without it for now.” Leo waved his hand dismissively, “You need the warmth more than I do.”
You’re so warm, Nico wanted to say. He wanted desperately to say it. I want to touch you. If your jacket is this warm then I want to touch you. You’re so warm.
But he didn’t say any of it. He just stared at Leo for a second before managing a slow nod. “Okay.” He agreed softly, “Okay, fine.”
If Leo noticed the way his voice shook, he didn’t say anything. He probably just chalked it up to Nico being cold.
Nico was glad for that.