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He’ll admit, hearing about Zeus’s champion supposedly making wine did tempt him to visit the man. The company wouldn’t have been the best but he's been dying (quite literally) for a night of drinking worries away and forgetting relieving himself.
For two days, there was debate he held in his mind every couple hours, one he refused to continue when the internal dialogue started approaching his own thoughts on Nikos. And so, he remained in a unending state of limbo.
So for the past two days, he paused to stare at the hillside he knew Nikos would be at, probably dining on some wine and cow. And it felt like all those possible scenarios he (did not) made up in the night (not about him, not him and his—) were at his fingertips and waiting for him to curl his fingers into them.
Then he would drag his feet with the first five steps, before falling back into a consistent pace of lengthy strides.
And then for the rest of the day he would avoid all thoughts of a warm fuzz and echoing laughter. Better this way for everyone involved, better to have no feelings attached if— when, they face each other in the arena.
When they have to kill each other. He reminded himself. (He couldn't ever forget)
But it was getting harder to keep his conviction up when Nikos seemed to be everywhere he went. The caves, forest, near the shipwrecks— it didn’t matter, he’d always be there at some point.
Nobody felt haunted by somebody not quite dead nor gone.
It was a familiar rhythm when they cross paths, they talked which turned into half-hearted arguing, then he stormed off and searched for the forest to clear his mind in.
That brief moment of quiet they had shared nights before always lingered in his memory, but it practically screamed at him each time he had the man right in front of him. It told him to not let this chance slip through his fingers
And he could tell it was a similar experience for Nikos, (or maybe not, most likely was that it wasn't too similar of an experience as it was to him. He didn't ((and Nobody also didn't, most definitely)) replay it over and over in his mind ((he doesn't, Nobody doesn't do so, without a doubt)) when everything was too quiet ((it's never too quiet, it's just quiet, never too—))) so he could always feel a subtle anticipation in the air for every conversation he held with Nikos.
While he was sure if he kept avoiding him Nikos would force him to talk to him and force him to confront everything he didn't want to know about, he continued to keep him at arms lenght.
He just needed time to make a choice, a moment to clear his mind.
But he felt as what seemed as plenty of time dwindled down to hours to minutes to nothing.
—
Today had been his lucky day, having found no swarm of monsters in the night nor spend too much time following and hunting a pig.
Walking back home, he couldn’t help how his gaze drifted to the night sky. It was as beautiful as always, the only thing he felt would still be waiting there for him when all of this is over. Or not, after all he’d be going back to the underworld if he lost. 90 more years of walking. Alone with his thoughts. 90 years of unbroken silence and lament, years of letting his voice go to waste and forgetting the touch of another.
He shoved the thought into the back of his mind for the moment, adjusting the pig thrown over his shoulder.
He could still see Nikos’ home out of the corner of his eyes, ignoring it altogether this time. He could feel already feel the impending headache if he went down the rabbit hole of feelings he held for the man. Anyways.
Home, the closest he had to one anyway, came into view soon enough. What made the hair on his arms rise was the smoke of a campfire rising into the nightsky, right on the top of the cliff. Someone was waiting for him.
He didn't want to guess who.
Nobody took unhurried steps towards his home, checking how many arrows he had (more than enough), if the pig he had been carrying was looking any more dead than before, or wheter his hair was out of place. At some point already half-way through the path, he contemplated making camp elsewhere for just tonight. He couldn't turn himself around, or make his feet around by then.
He's not sure what he expected once he had properly arrived at his home. Nikos was drawing lazy circles in the grass, watching the fire quiet and bored. The champion's demeanor turned from 0 to a 100 the second he noticed Nobody.
His mouth lifted into a grin, shoulders rising. He got to his feet and strode right in front of Nobodies face all within a couple seconds.
"PRETTY ONE!" He outstretched his arms, as if to invite him into a hug. Startled, Nobody stepped back several steps, nearly losing his grip on the pig.
It took Nobody several seconds for him to regain his composure, more to answer, embarrassingly enough. "Try warning me beforehand when you'll visit, Nikos." He responded with an annoyed grumble.
"No fun in that, my friend!" Thankfully, Nikos took the 'don't touch me' memo, resting his hands on his hips. And yet he was all up on his face within a second yet again.
This was the most distance he'd get with Nikos, so he resigned himself to his fate and quietly sighed. "Of course."
He walked past the man, laying down his dinner down on the grass. Nikos eyed it curiously, but clearly holding more interest for the hunter than the meal. It sent a shiver down his spine, as much as he hated to admit it.
Nobody tried ignoring Nikos' gaze while he worked, impaling the pig and setting it to roast over the already lit fire. It didn't last long before he turned an annoyed glare Nikos' way, and it felt like a battle lost.
"Fine, what do you want?"
Nikos' smile somehow widened, as he produced an amphorae of wine in one hand and two goblets on the other. Nobodies eyes widened, his lips feeling suddenly all too dry. Then they narrowed down on Nikos.
"What- why me? Why not Scott, or anyone else?"
"Mhm…" Nikos seemed to contemplate it for a second. "I just wanted to, you can't tell me there's something wrong with that." He shrugged dismissively.
Nobody gaped at this man, expecting such a response, and yet it still managing to baffle him. This man must have lost his head long before being brought back to life, to want him of all people as an ally, and most importantly to go for such lenghts to have him.
As an ally. He sharply reminded himself. An ally. He couldn't trust his mind with his very own words, what had that decade of silent walking done to him? Or was it Nikos?
He exhaled shakily, shaking his head with great exasperation just like last time they were in a moment as this. "Alright, I'm not complaining about free wine." And interesting company, to say the least.
Nikos just smiled and said nothing as he handed him a goblet and sat down from across him.
Nobody forced his trembling hands to still around the goblet, watching Nikos pour himself wine. Then he passed the amphorae to him, and it took stupidly long for Nobody to raised his hand to grab it.
He poured a generous amount onto his, laying the amphorae down and downing it in one go. The wine might as well be ambrosia, as it sure felt like it, tarty and sweet, with that intoxication he suspected he needed long before dying. He heard Nikos' bousterous laughter over his gulping, it was welcome on his ears. "Been thirsty since long, haven't you?"
"I mean, kind of expected after a decade of walking and then five days of death games." It came out slightly breathless, speaking before properly catching his breath yet. He doesn't usually hurry himself like this. The wine was starting to talk for him, surely.
"Oh ho! I couldn't agree more friend." He watched Nikos mimic his action, drinking it all in one swift gulp. Nobody had half a mind to be impressed, he might have clapped any other time.
He could see more than hear Nikos' sigh of relief, how the tension in his shoulders he hadn't realized was there vanished, how his chest deflated as the air left him. "I've missed this."
"…Me too." He reached for the amphorae, pouring himself another full goblet, eyes never leaving Nikos.
From then on, they didn't consume the wine quite so hastily, instead only sips and occasional big gulps.
"—I mean, what are the chances? Drift and Cleo? Either Tyche's champion casted a curse or the gods were having a laugh that day." He was rambling now, the wine having lowered his defences. He layed down on the grass, hair having gotten free from his loose braid at some point, and head resting on his arm.
"I'm just dissapointed the bird got away, she will be next, I'll make sure of it." Nikos grumbled, looking still bitter over it. He still sat upright, crosslegged.
Their goblets were scattered somewhere, nearly empty. Nobody wasn't sure of how much wine was left in the amphorae.
It felt strange to Nobody, that someone like Nikos held such a deep grudge against Apo. Sure, she could try impersonating him, he even heard he was changed into… Scott, he believed?
"Why the bloodlust for Apo? Did she wrong you in particular?" His words slurred, coming out more gentle than he meant it to do so. He doesn't speak softly, at least, the ones he would do so for are not here.
That seemed to genuinely catch Nikos off guard, stunning him silent for a few seconds, before his gaze darkened with anger. "She took me from me, you don't take me from me."
With that, Nobody decided he'd let the topic rest, moving on with what first came to mind. "Do you recognize the constellations in the sky?"
Nikos sagged with silent relief, looking up at the sky. "No, I didn't usually stare at the stars."
That made Nobody smile for no reason. "Well they're all in the wrong place, but—"
He pointed out a few that were easy to spot, like Orion or Cygnus, before moving onto the ones more trickier to spot. He's not sure for how long he talked, or the specifics of what he was saying, but he knew he was comfortable enough to keep going for long enough he noticed.
Nobody turned his head towards Nikos, forgetting what he was about to say as he caught his gaze on him. Gods forbid, he looked… fond. Not like he usually does, friendly. Right now he looked amused but fond. He might have said endeared, in any other circumstance.
His treacherous heart started pounding against his chest, as he just… stared. Like an idiot. He had half a mind to be embarrassed right now, but he couldn't bring himself to properly think. To think, in general.
"Your smile—" Nikos' voice startled him out of whatever trance he had been in. "I don't think I've ever seen it before, it's pretty. You're pretty."
Nobody didn't know how to answer that. He was pretty sure his face was flushing. Was it? He buried his face in between his arms, groaning loudly. "Don't say that."
Nikos exploded in laughter right next to him. Nobody would have let the earth reclaim him right there and now if he could.
—
The night was a blur from then on, more wine was poured along with what seemed a never ending conversation.
Nobody woke up to an early sky, while even the birds slept. A habit instilled into him from his time in the trojan war. He turned his head to the side, pleasantly surprised to see Nikos still on the other side of the fire.
Nikos woke up in the late morning, with Nobody curled up on the grass, snoring softly.