Chapter Text
Nico and Will were walking back to the baracks. They had just had swordfighting practise with Asterion. His whole body felt like a fresh bruise.
Will walked slower too. His shoulder bumped into Nico's. "Home." He said.
"Home. I'll miss Hazel."
"Me too. But we have lots of stuff to do when we get back. We need to talk to Chiron about the Mythics. Maybe some of them want to come to Camp Half-Blood too."
" And if they do, we need to figure out how to integrate them without freaking out the new campers."
"It isn't the new campers I'm worried about. " Will glanced at him. "Younger children are surprisingly flexible. But some of the older children might be settt in their ways. They have years of training and experience that taught them to kill monsters."
"True, but we will figure something out."
Nico kissed Will. Soft. Tired. "Goodnight, Sunshine."
Will went pink all the way to his ears. "Sweet dreams, Babe"
Nico's head hit the Pillow. He fell asleep within minutes. He dreamed he was in Camp Half-Blood, in the Strawberry fields. Summer air. Warm grass under his boots.
Sitting in the grass was Jason.
"... Jason?"
"Nico! "Jason jumped up. Nico didn't think. He just rushed in and gave him a hug. Surprised, Jason hugged him back. "This is new." He chuckled.
Nico let go. His throat felt thick. "I've missed you. Is this... real?"
Jason considered the question. "You are dreaming. But it is really me. I wanted to talk to you. I heard that Hades let you talk to your mom and Bianca. I wanted to talk to you too. Your dad said yes." He sat down in the grass. "Sitt, let's talk."
Nico sat down. The strawberries smelled like summer. "How is the afterlife treating you?"
"Pretty good. Elysium is sweet. I miss my friends of course, but I have also made some new friends here."
"I'm happy for you."
Jason sighed. His smile faded. "I wanted to apologise."
"For what?"
"for not warning you about... you know, my death."
Nico blinked. "You couldn't have known-"
"I did." Jason wouldn't look at him. "There was a prophesy. I had made peace with it. The thing is..." his eyes finally met Nico's. "I wasn't thinking about you."
The words landed like a hit. "Oh"
Jason flinched. "Yeah... I know."
"Your mind was ocupied. Knowing you're going to die does that."
Jason let out a shaky laugh. "True enough. But I still feel bad about it."
"Hey, don't worry. It's fine." He shook his head. "Your death did shake me up pretty badly... But I'm doing better now."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. A lot has happened. I'm going to therapy. I'm learning to get better at dealing with my emotions."
Jason nodded. "That's good to hear. I'm proud of you."
"Also... I came out to camp. And I have a boyfriend now."
Jason's whole face lit up. He squeeled. He tackled Nico into the grass and crushed him in a hug. "Sorry, I let myself get away." Jason took a hasty step back.
Nico laughed, breathlesly. "Is okay. Should've expected that."
"Who is he? What is he like? Tell me everything!"
"It's Will Solace, son of Apollo. I think you have met him."
Jason considered it for a while. "That's unexpected... Yeah, I can see it now. I get it. " Jason smiled "You compliment eachother."
"We do. It's amazing. I mean, our relationship isn't perfect. I still have trust issues. But I'm working on it. And Will is so sweet and patient. He makes me happy."
"That's great." His expression sharpened. "But you should warn him that if he ever hurts you I will come to haunt him."
"I'm not telling him that."
Jason shrugged. "Whatever."
"And I have made a bunch of new friends. Some of them quite unexpected."
Jason's face turned serious. "Speaking of friends, there was another reason I wanted to talk to you. You can summon the dead, right?"
"Sure. Though I haven't done that in a while. Why?"
"Can you go find Leo for me, and summon me? I want to talk to him."
"I can do that. Will and I will be travelling to Camp tomorrow anyway. We can stop by the waystation. It's a small detour."
"Thanks Nico. I owe you." His relief was almost physical. He pulled Nico in for one last hug. Held on a few seconds too long."
The strawberry field started to thin at the edges. The color bled out.
"Jason-" His voice broke.
"I'm proud of you Nico."
He woke up.