Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Chapter 1- 

Will's P.O.V.

-Wednesday-

Today is the best day of the summer, and my favorite holiday. It's May 4th, Star Wars day. I've convinced Chiron to let me play all the movies back to back in the rec center today, and anyone can come and go as we please. He sadly would not let me play all the episodes of Star Wars: Clone Wars. Which was devastating to say the least, but he said it's Star Wars Day , not S tar Wars Week .

I wish it was Star Wars week.

Luckily, I convinced Nico to hang out with me today. He couldn't care less about Star Wars, but he does care about hanging out with me, for some reason .

I watch as episode four begins, one of my favorites. Who am I kidding ? I love all of them. 

We've taken fifteen-minute breaks between each movie, and Nico and I just got back from a walk around the Big House, stretching our legs while I just rambled on and on about the prequels. What they did right, what they did wrong ... What they should have included. I don't think Nico cares at all, but he’s listening. 

" This is a good one ." I tell him, as I have told him before every movie. "The next movie is my personal favorite."

"You've said that way too many times to believe you." Nico laughs.

"Well, these ones are actually the best ones. Like, everyone says they like these ones , not just me." I chuckle.

"I don't trust you, not even a little." He says, but he's still smiling a bit.

I smile back at him. "This is the first one, technically? Like, this came out in the 70s. The scoring for this movie is so well done, too… Like, the music! I know four of the songs on the piano." 

Cantina Band , Imperial March , Star Wars’ Main Theme , and Yoda’s Theme .

It's about all of them that I know for the piano, too. I just learned what I wanted to, and have never learned anything else. If my father cared about my existence, he would be disappointed in me.

"Now that , I want to hear."

I can’t tell if he’s joking or not. He might just be making fun of me, but honestly? Any excuse to get to do that is fine with me.

" Really ? I'd need to practice, but we could play on the porch sometime soon." I tell him, leaning back and putting an arm along the back of the couch, behind his shoulders.

He stiffens up. “That sounds fun. Then we could go hang out in my cabin.”

Maybe by hang out , he means something similar to what happened last time. When I was leading bonfire the other day, I sang a love song so well that he took me right back to his cabin and we made out for the first time. We only have done that once since then, but it's been amazing .

"I like the idea of that." I agree with him. "Give me a day or two to practice, but I'm sure they'll come right back to me."

Child of Apollo perks, even if music isn’t my thing, it comes naturally to me.

“I want to see that part too.”

"The practice? Why? That part will be a lot less fun." I tell him, looking at the screen. Luke Skywalker is on his farm on the planet Tatooine , complaining to his uncle... that won't last long.

“I think it’ll be fun. I like watching you be confused.” He says.

"Why? I just get frustrated and mad." I chuckle.

“It’s cute.”

"Me glaring at an instrument while smacking the keys? How's that cute." I grin, keeping my eyes on my movie, but only half paying attention to it. I have seen it a million times.

“You are cute. And stupid.”

I'll take it . I hear the door open and look over. Kayla just got here, so I'm hoping Austin is on his way.

Instead, it's some short guy and a gorgeous girl with a long, golden brown braid. I look at the guy again and my eyes widen in recognition. "... Leo ?"

Leo Valdez, one of the Seven. The one who died fighting Gaia. Or so everyone thought . He's supposed to be dead, but he's standing here with a girl…? Why is he here? What happened? 

“ I’m back, ladies !” Leo cheers.

" Who and why ?!" I complain, more shocked than anything. I met him once, right...? Did I ever actually meet him?

“ Leo Valdez, lady !”

"Who?!" Is what I end up saying, staring at him. How is this man alive ?

“You don’t remember me? That really sucks. Aww man ! I remember you ! And- hey , it’s Hazel’s brother ! Hi, Nico!”

“H…Hi!?” Nico says, blinking at him. 

“What are you doing here?” I ask instead. “How are you here?”

“I’ll ask you the same thing. I… I was right? You’re alive?” He gets up, going over to him. 

“I am! I mean, I am now. I was dead, I did die. But I’m back and I came here as soon as I could.”

"Hi?! What happened, who is this?" I almost demand, getting up and following after Nico to the entrance. 

"I am Calypso ." She tells me, like it means something.

“This is my new smoking hot girlfriend. I got her from an island.” Leo explains. 

“ Calypso, island …” Nico muses, again, like it means something. It must, or he wouldn’t be thinking about it.

Leo winces. “Yeah, yeah . Aren’t you guys excited to see me? Why do you just look scared?”

"You're not supposed to be here...? What the hell happened?" I ask, messing with my skull necklace that matches Nico’s Rod of Asclepius necklace. I fiddle with mine constantly.

“I died on purpose!” He says, “I had a plan to come back, and now here I am. Back .”

"Why exactly ?! Did you die I mean, not why are you back?"

“To get my girl .”

"Your... girl ? You've got one right here." I point at Calypso.

“Will, it’s Calypso ,” Nico says exasperatedly, like I’m supposed to know what that means.

"I don't know what that means." I shake my head. "Am I supposed to?"

“You’re supposed to, yes! Have you heard of Odysseus ?”

"Um... Kind of? There's a lot of stories, Nico. I don't know all of them." I chuckle. He knows so much more than I ever will. All things considered, it's not an interest of mine.

“ Maybe you should !?”

Maybe I should! But I haven’t read anything that doesn’t interest me, so if it’s not a medical textbook, it’s not happening. 

"...Look, I don't know what it is, but I'm really glad you're alive, Leo...? Do you want to explain that ?" I look at him again, instead of at Nico.

“No. I just want to celebrate with you guys. I actually have a present for you, Nico!” Leo tells him.

“You…do?” He asks cautiously. 

“Yeah, I just dropped it off at my cabin. But I’ll get it to you ASAP!”

"I mean, it's Star Wars day, otherwise Chiron might make an announcement at dinner." I tell him.

“An announcement?”

"And say Leo is alive and brought a smoking hot girlfriend ." I suggest. Because he probably will... I'm paraphrasing, of course. I hope he doesn’t say it exactly like that.

“Chiron will say that?! Man, that would be hilarious!” He says, “No, I’m going to each place and greeting everyone. Since I’m a hero and stuff.”

"That makes sense... you need to go to Camp Jupiter and let Jason know you're alright." I tell him quickly. He's going to be so excited...? That guy always looks so sad, it would be nice for him to be happy for a minute.

“I do?! Yes ! You’re right! I should do that as soon as I’m done here…I could Iris message him. He doesn’t know a lot about Iris messaging though, Not that I do .”

"If you need help, let me know." I nod. He was only at camp for like... gods, two or three weeks? Was it for longer than that? If it wasn't for his heroic sacrifice and Nico knowing him, I'd have no clue who he was.

“Actually… Can I borrow your teleporting friend?” Leo asks me.

I cross my arms. That’s out of the question, him transporting Leo and Calypso to camp. "No. He's not for hire." 

That will take Nico out for a few days, probably. It’s a long trip and it’s a lot of people.

“Me? I guess I can.” Nico says. 

“Great! If we could do that later today…that would be great. If I wait too long to see Jason, he’ll be mad.” Leo says. 

“Yeah. Have you talked to Piper yet? She missed you so much.” He asks. 

“First place I went! Don’t worry.”

I glance at Nico, frowning a bit. We were supposed to hang out today... but I have the self awareness ( shocking, I know) to try and not be jealous. Gods, his friend came back from the dead, I need to be better about this. 

"Are you just dropping him off, or would you be staying there?" I ask. If he's just doing a drop-off, he'll have to transport Leo and Calypso (who I will be asking someone about later), but that's way too many people for him to take a fast trip back. 

“I couldn’t go there without saying hi to Jason, at least.” Nico shakes his head. 

“Ooh! So fun!” Leo says, “You’ll have to wait until I get everything settled here, but I’ll come back for you. Okay?!”

“Okay!” He responds, “I’m so glad you’re back… I knew you couldn’t be dead. I sensed your death, but after that, I could tell you weren’t in the Underworld.”

“Really? Creepy~”

Nico needs to stay for a while if he's going, at least long enough to get some rest. I'll bring it up later though. I don’t care if he stays, I guess, that’s just a lot on him.

"What all do you need to settle ?" Calypso asks him.

“I need a nap! And a lot of food!” He tells her honestly, “Here.” He says, before holding a hand out to Nico. Nico looks confused, but takes it. Leo immediately pulls him into a hug, making him cringe, but he hugs him back anyway.

"Glad to have you back." I tell him as he clings onto my boyfriend.

“Uh-huh! Yup! Glad to be back.” He still doesn’t move away from him. Nico is starting to look uncomfortable.

"Okay, let go of my boyfriend, go get your nap and meal, doctor's orders ." I decide, putting my hands on my hips.

“ Your what ?!” He pulls away, holding Nico’s shoulders. Nico is staring at him with wide eyes. 

“ William !” Nico growls, glaring at me.

" Sorry ! I'm sorry." I say quickly, realizing I just outed him to his friend. Shit … Everyone else knows, I forgot Leo didn’t. "I didn't mean... I didn't want to say it, but you wanted him to let go."

“You’re gay?!” Leo asks. 

Nico looks scared. “Yeah, well…pretty much.”

“That’s great! I love that for you guys. You’re such a funny-looking couple. Nico’s so dark and scary and threatening, and Will is so…white bread.” He tells Calypso.

"What does white bread mean in this context?" Calypso asks him before I can. I'm assuming he means I'm boring and uninteresting compared to Nico, which... alright. Fair .

I can hardly find it in me to care about that, though. I just watch Nico, worried now. I’m in so much trouble.

“He’s just kinda boring!”

I shake my head, trying to play it cool. "Thanks, Leo! I appreciate it."

"He does look rather normal ." Calypso agrees.

It's one thing from Leo, it's another from her, this random girl I do not know. 

Leo lets go of Nico and wraps an arm around Calypso instead. “That’s the best part! Your boyfriend is kinda freaky and drives people away, but you’re nice enough that people want to talk to you.” He tells me.

"Opposites attract." I suggest to him.

I look at Nico again. If I could kick my own butt, I'd do it. I suck .

“Sometimes! Okay, I’ll be back in a bit then. Bye guys!”

"...Bye." I say as he leads Calypso out. As soon as the door shuts I turn to Nico. "I am so sorry, I didn't even think about saying that. If I could kick my own butt, I'd do it."

“Why did you do that?” He asks me.

"I just... said it. I don't know." I facepalm. "I kinda forgot not everyone knows that about us. I was just trying to get him off you because you looked uncomfortable."

At this point, we're out to camp, and to his friends at Camp Jupiter.

“Yeah, of course you forgot . He’s been dead , Will!”

I shake my head. "I know! That's why I said I was sorry. I don't get how he's alive . It's great that he is... and that you're helping him today, you just have to stay there long enough that transporting him and his girlfriend isn't going to knock you out for a week."

“That would knock me out for a day, not a week. Don’t worry.”

"Okay, good. Can you let me know when you leave?" I ask him worriedly.

"Uhh, what? Why would I do that? You'll know, you'll still be with me." He huffs.

I relax a bit. " Oh . I didn't think I was invited." I admit to him. One , because he's mad, two , because this isn't my business, and three , he doesn’t need the extra weight of another person.

“Dude, I need you. Why wouldn’t I bring you with me?” He asks, and I almost think he’s being really sweet for a second, “You’re my doctor.”

I chuckle at that. "I don't know, I assumed you wouldn't want to have to carry another person along, I guess."

“Why not?”

"I'd assume you get tired the more people you bring, no?" I blink at him.

“Well, yeah, but when have I ever cared about that?”

"Not once. That's why I was trying to care about it for you." I explain, "I'll go with you if you want me to."

For doctor reasons , of course.

“I can’t go anywhere without you, I need you .”

"I need you too." I tell him honestly. "...Do we just go back to what we were doing? Do we wait on them to come get us?"

“You probably want to go back to the movie, right?”

I nod. "I really do, if that's alright...? Do you want to talk about that ?"

“I’m so glad he’s back, even if he’s always been an asshole.” He sighs softly.

I nod. "I am, too. Jason is probably going to cry, right? Weren't he and Leo close?" I do want to see that...

“They were. He talked about him a lot.”

"Then it'll be nice to see that, won't it?"

“It will be. Sorry, I know you don’t want me to talk about him. Or apparently Leo, either.” He says.

"...? I want you to, you just never do." I tell him. "They're your friends, I want to know them." I don't want to be jealous, but that just happens sometimes.

“I don’t like talking.”

I nod. "You don't have to, but anytime you want, we can, okay?"

“…Not about this, not until I figure it out.”

Figure it out ? Leo coming back, or himself, or how he feels about being my boyfriend….? I wish I knew exactly what he meant with that.

"Okay, I'll be here when you do. Can we... try to watch as much as we can ?" I ask him, gesturing to the TV.

“…Yes, sorry.” He waves a hand in front of his face, “Of course we can.”

I lead him back to the couch and drop onto it. I'll... come watch what I miss tomorrow during my free time. I always watch all of them on Star Wars Day, but... I'll be okay. I need to be with Nico now. He needs me for this, so I'll be there.
I’d say he’s forty percent more important than Star Wars Day.

…

"...?! What the fuck?" Jason jumps, looking terrified.

I stumble when we make it to Camp Jupiter, where Jason (and now all of us) are standing in his office, looking really confused since Nico, Leo, Calypso and I are. Leo and Calypso let go of Nico, who sways and sort of falls against me. I catch him quickly, shifting to sit down with him on the floor.

Jason gets up from his desk, now ignoring the model on his desk, some sort of boat that he was working on before we arrived.

"Hi Jason." I say calmly, starting to dig through my bag for Gatorade and a snack for Nico. I have oatmeal bars in here somewhere...

I pull out a few Gatorades, one for everyone. The process of shadow-travel really decreases your electrolytes and drains you. Nico the most, of course, but even his passengers.

“Wow. Cool bag?” Leo says, watching me.

“Thanks, I got it from my dad, it’s infinite, as long as the item can fit through the top…” I start explaining it to him.
“Wait, wait . Stop it. What is going on?! Leo ?!” Jason yelps. He looks like he might pass out, or throw up, or both. I really hope it’s not both, that would be unfortunate for all of us. 

I keep Nico resting back against my chest, sitting on the floor with him. He’ll come to sooner than later… I hope . I know he will, he’s not dying, but the feeling of darkness on him will never not terrify me. I hold a bottle out to Leo, and he takes it, so I give one to Calypso.

“Hey, man! I’m back!” Leo says to Jason.

Jason practically runs around the desk before picking Leo up into a tight hug. “ Why ?!”

“Because I missed you? So I came to you?” He says, hugging him back, “Don’t cry, big guy…damn, you got even bigger. Shrink !”

“No way. To all of that. I want to know how you’re not dead ?” Jason demands as he squeezes the life out of Leo, dooming him to die again. 

Not actually, but he might if he’s not careful, Leo is a lot smaller than him.

Maybe Leo is going to explain how he got back to Jason, so I’ll get to know.
“I went to Ogy-orgy? No, haha, Ogygia ?” He looks at Calypso.

“ O-gy-gia .” Calypso corrects him. “Yes. He came back to get me. I’m Calypso.”
“ Calypso …? Nice to meet you?” He blinks at her, still clinging onto Leo. Maybe he’ll just carry him all day, who knows ? I don’t know what they do.

On the bright side, it doesn’t seem like Jason knows who she is either..

“This is my new smokin’ hot girlfriend, believe it or not.” Leo tells him. 

“I think you’re lying.” Jason decides. 

“I wouldn’t believe me either. This idiot fell in love with me~ Because I was so charming and cool and fixed stuff all the time…” He tries to pull away from him, but Jason doesn’t let him move. 

It’s funny, considering that’s what Leo was doing to Nico earlier today.

“Right, right. You do have a few good qualities.” Jason muses. “Well, you’re back then. Like… actually? Are you going to stay in Camp Half-Blood, or stay here…?”

I can’t imagine someone as… for lack of better words, goofy as Leo staying in a strict camp like this.

“I’m going back to Camp Half-Blood! But I’m going to spend tonight here. My ride back is kind of…inoperative.”

I push Nico’s hair back from his face, looking down at him when Leo mentions it. He’s out cold.

“Yeah, it’s going to be a while.” I say.
“Should we move him…? We could take him back to the bunker.” Jason offers, realizing we’re over here.
“I think that’s a good idea.” I say, getting up, before picking Nico up and slinging him over my shoulder in a fireman's carry.
Jason finally frees Leo. “I can carry him if you want.”

I’d let him do it, but Nico would probably be mad if he woke up and Jason was carrying him instead of me. I should be fine since I’m holding him like this.
“No. I’ve got it.” I insist, shifting him a bit. “We do this all the time, he’s fine.”

“You can carry me.” Leo tells Jason.

“You were just struggling to get down two seconds ago .” Jason reminds him. 

“I don’t remember that.”

“Fine. Climb on my back or something. Drink your Gatorade.” Jason instructs.

“Yep, you too, Calypso, it’s good for after you shadow-travel.” I tell her.

She opens the bottle, looking at it curiously like she’s never seen one before. “What is this , Leo?” 

“ Gatorade .” He says, climbing on Jason.

"I heard that much, what is Gatorade ?" She asks.

"It's flavored water that also has nutrients and electrolytes added to it. It helps when you get exhausted by shadow-travel." I explain. "It's new, the seal wasn't broken, so you know it wasn't tampered with." I assure her.

She drinks it slowly. "This is delicious."

“It’s like juice! You like it?” Leo asks her.

"I think so! It does taste a little like juice. It's odd that it's blue." She says as Jason leads us out of the office and into a hallway. I go to explain that it's just the food dye, but I stop when Calypso does in front of me, almost hitting her.

It's because Jason stopped, making all of us quit moving so we don’t run one another over. I keep a hand on Nico, not wanting to jostle him too much. 

I realize now, that we all almost ran over Reyna.

She takes us all in suspiciously, her eyes narrowing. 

"Reyna. I'm just taking them back to the bunker." Jason tells her.

“ Hello , person I do not know .” Leo says to her.

I assumed they should have met, but maybe not? I really don’t know as much about this group as I think I do.

"...Who is this?" Calypso asks, watching her warily.

"Reyna." Jason says, as if that explains anything.

“She works here.” Leo says.

" I do . What is going on. I thought you were dead...?" Reyna crosses her arms over her chest, eyeing Calypso, then Leo.

“I’m not dead!” He cheers.

" How ?" She asks.

“I was smart! I had to do it to get back to Calypso’s island. I promised I would be back, I said I’d save her.”

"You let Jason cry over you for months so you could go get a girl ?" Reyna asks.

"...Look, as fun as this conversation is, can I get Mr. Ghost King to a bed?" I interrupt them, adjusting Nico on my shoulder again.

Jason looks back at me, then to Reyna. "Right, sorry. Can we discuss this later? You don't need to hold this against Leo."

“She’s not a girl, silly, she’s a goddess .” Leo tells her.

"I am. You shall treat me as such." Calypso says, standing up straighter. 

She's a what ?!

Reyna actually laughs . “ You brought a goddess here?”

“I did! Or a nymph, to be more exact.” Leo says. 

“Right, we’ll discuss that later, I need to go to ...” Reyna stops and looks at me. “Oh. Need help?”

I pause, before shaking my head and adjusting Nico. "He's... specific about who he lets help him. If we can just go lay him down, that would be great?"

“We’ll head there now. See you later then, Reyna?” Jason starts leading the group again. 

“Yes, let me know if you need anything. Or especially if Nico needs anything.” She tells us, “Bye.”
We watch her walk out of the building, and Leo does a little wave at her that she doesn’t even see.

“Goodbye~ What do you want to do now that I’m back?” Leo asks, patting Jason’s head.

"Together? Anything you want, dude. Probably something cool?" He says.

“I don’t know, what do you like to do around here?”

" Umm . You could be on my team for War Games! Or we could go to New Rome and get some fancy grilled cheese." Jason says.

“ Can we ? Both of those things sound mad epic .”

"Uh, yes! We can do both while you're here, War Games is tonight!" 

Oh shit, I don't want to know what that is, it sounds terrifying. " Perfect . You can do that and I can keep an eye on Nico." I make my excuse immediately. 

“ Hmm ?” Nico stirs.

"Don't worry about it, we're going back to the bunker to rest." I tell him as the uniform buildings come into view. "Stay put."

“Ugh, hurts.”

"If you can hold onto me we can shift." I offer.

“Sure can, doc.” He mumbles. 

“I hate it when he shadow-travels.” Leo says even though he’s the one who made him do it.

He should have just found another way to get here.

"You could have brought your boat or dragon here or something." I say before I crouch down and unload Nico off my shoulder. I keep a hold of him to steady him, before picking him up under his thighs, in a reverse piggyback ride position. This isn't a good way for me to carry him long-term, but when he's semi-conscious, it works. "Hold on, honey." I tell him softly as he clings onto me, his head on my shoulder.

“Punch Leo for me?” He murmurs, hugging me.

I keep a tight hold on Nico, getting closer to Jason and Leo before lightly punching Leo's back. " Wham ! Be better to Nico, or I'll hit you for real next time." I warn him. He needs to not use Nico like this again.

“Hey! I’ve always been nice to Nico.” He says. 

"No, but you better be now. He didn't need to bring you." Jason warns him, scowling like it’s not true. "I am very glad he did, though."

I am too. Is Leo a problem for Nico...? Do I need to have a conversation with him about this later?

“I’m glad too! grateful , even!” Leo says.

"Good. Will is going to have some serious beef with you if not." Jason says.

" Serious beef ." I agree. Something about how I say it makes it a lot less threatening than when Jason said it.
I think that’s probably because he’s terrifying and I’m not, even if Jason is the most approachable of the big three kids (Nico excluded).

“Yum.” Nico says.

" Yum ? Should we get some burgers?" I suggest to him. I’m sure I could have someone point me in the right direction to find him something like that.

"That's not the kind of beef I meant, but that does sound good." Jason muses.

“Good idea; I need a cheeseburger.” Nico tells us. 

“That does sound good.” Leo agrees with us.

"What if you guys go get some and bring them back to us? Nico can get a minute to rest that way." I tell them as we approach the 5th Cohort’s bunker. I guess this is where Nico stays when he comes, and it’s where we stayed when we came for the weekend on our first date. That feels like a lifetime ago, but it was still this summer.

"That's fine with me. Are you two up for it?" Jason asks Leo and Calypso.

“Yeah! Whatever you guys think works best.” Leo says.

“I’ll come with you, I want to see New Rome anyway.” Calypso tells them.

"The last bed on the end is reserved for him. We'll head off to get burgers, then." Jason tells me, stopping at the steps. I take Nico up them. "Thanks. See you in a bit."

"See you." Jason says, backing up and leading Calypso and Leo away.

I take Nico inside and luckily, there’s no one else in sight. I carry Nico through the bunker (not cabin, even if that’s what I keep trying to say) and I stop in front of the bed I was directed to.

"Think you can sip some Gatorade while you're semi-awake?" I ask Nico, trying to see if he’s awake or not.

“No. Nap with me?” He asks.

"I can, but you need to have some with dinner, then." I sigh, sitting down on the bed with him. I won't go to sleep, I'll just watch over him.

“Ugh, don’t start being weird today,” He says, “…Sorry for this.”

"I'm glad I came. You missed the cutest reunion between Jason and Leo." I say as I push my flip-flops off my feet, before shifting to lay back and down with him. 

He's just laying on top of me now, and will probably stay that way. I use my powers to gauge how he’s doing, and as I suspected, he’s exhausted, hungry and thirsty. I still like knowing, though.

“I don’t care to see something like that.” He mutters.

"Really?" I ask, keeping my arms around him as his grip relaxes. "It was just sweet as all get out ."

“What?”

"What?" I question. "Jason cried, he was really excited."

“Yeah, Leo’s his best friend.”

"Exactly. That's why I said it was just sweet as all get out. "

Are we talking about the same thing? I think it’s nice how much they care about one another. I’m glad that Leo’s back, if Jason’s really been crying the whole time he’s been gone .

“It’s disgusting.”

"Mhm. Why do you think that?" I ask softly. 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He decides.

" Alright . Do you want to try to sleep before the others get here?" I suggest instead.

He sighs quietly, relaxing against me. “I’m already asleep.”

"Good." I say, sinking into the cot more. I guess I can't move even if I wanted to. Not that I'd ever want to do that. I'll just stay awake and keep a close eye on him, just in case something happens…

...

“ Wake up lovebirds ~ We have food for you!” Leo says loudly, leaning over me and Nico.

My eyes shoot open and I shift Nico to my side like I could protect him in some way. Then I blink and realize it's Leo, Jason and Calypso with a bag of delicious smelling food.

"You scared the... gods ." I mutter, looking at Nico.

He scared me half to death, is what he did! I have half a mind to punch him for real this time. It’s a shame he’s way more powerful than me.

Nico curls his fingers into my shirt. “ Valdez .” He growls, half awake again. He’s still propped up against me, so I move an arm around his back, supporting him.

“…!” Leo jumps and shakes his head, “Sorry, sorry ! I come bearing gifts of food ! Are you feeling any better?”

“No, I wasn’t… No.”

"Come on, let's sit up and have some." I say, slowly sitting up all the way with him, groaning a bit.

Jason is standing watching us, holding a drinks tray. "Did you get some rest at least?"

"We did. I didn't mean to." I chuckle.

“Hi Jason.” Nico says.

Jason smiles at him. "Hi Nico. We brought you a cheeseburger and fries."

"Thanks, I can pay you back." I tell him. 

"Don't worry about it." Jason says.

I shake my head. "I insist, here..." I dig into my bag and pull my wallet out, before getting a twenty out and just holding it out to him.

Luckily, he doesn’t protest and just takes it, so I shove my wallet back into my bag.
“I’ll get you your change before you go.” Jason tells me, so I nod.

Leo holds the bag out to me, so I take it, Nico still just sitting in my lap.

“Is your wallet infinite too?” Leo asks me.

I laugh. "No. I wish , that would be awesome. My dad wasn't that nice."

“Your dad is so nice.” Nico mumbles, “And he’s-“

"Don't say it!" I complain. 

" Hot ." Jason nods. 

I facepalm. "Not you too."

“You idiot, he looks like both of you, so you can’t complain.” Nico tells me. 

“That makes sense,” Leo muses, “Jason, Apollo is your brother.”

Jason waves a hand dismissively. "Godly side doesn't count."

I blink at Jason. " Uncle Jason ?"

He laughs at that, but doesn’t tell me no, so I guess he’s Uncle Jason now. 

“Ew, gross.” Nico decides.

I dig through the bag and hold a cheeseburger out to Nico. "I think you're right. I'm not saying that again."

"That's probably for the best. Do you guys want to go out onto the porch to eat?" Jason asks.

I guess we can. Whatever they want to do works, it doesn't really matter.

“No.” Nico mutters, taking his burger.

“Okay, we’ll just get comfortable in here.” Jason says, before he just sits on the floor across from us. Leo moves and sits on the cot he’s leaning on, and so does Calypso.

We all get settled in and start eating. I don't know where they got these from, but the burger is delicious. It's good that Nico suggested this, even if it wasn’t really intentional in the first place.

I look over at Leo, who seems like such a weird guy. It'll be interesting to see more of him if he's staying at Camp Half-Blood. 

Who knows? Maybe we could be friends.

End