Chapter Text
Nico carefully looked up from Amira’s corpse to see how Yan had taken the terrible news. She hadn’t. She refused to hear it and knelt down next to Amira, getting to work regardless.
Nico snapped to look at the group of mercenaries, still barely in earshot. They, in turn, seemed to take the news very well. Clearly happy with their results. They laughed among each other, then turned to leave. One cast a last look at the bodies in the lake before getting pulled along.
Nico tore his eyes off of them to temper the rage taking over his entire being, settling them back on Amira’s remains. All the rage turned to sadness.
Despite the gravity of the situation it was hard not to admire Yan’s work. Her well manicured hands almost moved at an unnatural speed. They actually looked sped up. His eyes had trouble keeping track.
In what felt like a single second she’d checked Amira’s pulse, torn her blouse open and started chest compressions. She alternated the compressions with short and efficient mouth to mouth.
Amira’s usually umber skin was unsettlingly pale. Her face like a mask.
Nico looked over when he noticed Logan shift. He saw the angriest, darkest scowl he’d seen yet. Without a warning Logan gripped his sword and sprinted off in the direction their enemies had just disappeared in.
Damn it!
“ Logan, no!” Yan yelled desperately.
Nico tried to get up. Tried… “ Sorry ” he wheezed, falling back down. Fuck. He was completely useless right now.
Yan groaned loudly, then turned back to Amira. With one hand, she wiped down Amira’s chest with a rag, with the other, she grabbed something out of the side pocket of her bag and punched it onto Amira’s body.
Nico watched her mournfully.
It was too late…
He took a deep, careful breath, ready to tell Yan there was nothing she could-!
With a shock from the device, everything he thought he knew about life and death shattered right in front of him. Amira’s life force came back. Faintly, but undeniably.
The breath stuck in his chest, the seconds dragging by like hours. Nico’s eyes locked onto Amira’s face as her life force faded in and out with every shock. He gripped the grass, killing it around them without even realizing.
With a burst, Amira’s life force reignited. She coughed loudly, heaving up surprising amounts of water with each hack. She drew a few painful sounding, deep breaths.
Yan and Nico gasped in unintended solidarity.
Nico looked up to stare at Yan in awe. She’d performed an actual miracle just now, wielding a power over death he could only dream of. She met his eyes with an unbreakable smile, two tears ran down her cheeks when she blinked.
Amira stirred, catching their attention. Her usually sharp, cold grey gaze was unfocussed. She took in the sight of Yan and stared for a while. “You’re wet” Amira rasped, her eyebrow arched weakly, but accusatorily.
“So are you, dummy” Yan cooed.
Amira’s eyebrow made its way down into a furrow. She ran her hands over herself in a few shaky, messy movements. After seemingly confirming Yan’s observation she slowly dragged herself up.
Nico smiled at her when she noticed him, still mostly in disbelief. She nodded weakly in response and let out some more coughs.
“I’ll get you something for your throat” Yan offered.
Amira slowly pulled at her torn blouse, discovering the lack of buttons with a shaky hand. Not a single one of them seemed to have survived.
Yan started sifting through her med kit, occasionally tossing something on the ground.
Nico perked up a bit at the sound of footsteps. Logan strolled back into view, his hands in his pockets, an arrow sticking out-!
Nico tensed up.
An arrow stuck all the way through his upper arm at an angle. Its bloodied point poked up, out of the front of his arm, looking down at Nico haughtily.
Nico's stomach churned at the sight of it, tightly squeezing out most of the relief he felt.
He should have been there…
A small cut up on Logan’s neck warned of what just as easily could have been.
Nico hid his frown behind folded hands as Logan made his way past. Logan himself seemed unbothered, clearly preoccupied with Amira being awake and alive . He swiped his coat off of the ground along the way over to her.
Amira looked up at him as he squatted down at her side, dropping his coat over her shivering shoulders.
“I really missed your slightly less lifeless expression. Not a big difference, but still” he joked.
She gave him a small nod in agreement, the hint of a smile in the corner of her lips.
“Thank you” she said quietly.
He smiled as he zipped up his coat for her.
Amira laid back down to focus on her breathing.
Yan hummed and glanced over, then did a double take.
“ Lo!” she screeched, smacking her hand on her med kit.
“ Tis but a scratch" he chimed, getting back up.
Yan huffed angrily. “Stop quoting the Black Knight every time you get hurt! It’s not funny! I’m really mad at you!” she shouted.
“C’mon, it’s my right arm! I barely use that thing” he said a little desperately, holding up his good hand.
Yan got up and gave Nico an exasperated look. Nico returned one in solidarity. “By that logic they should have shot you in the head, you moron…” he quipped, with just a little more venom than he intended.
Logan deserved it though. He’d been exceptionally stupid.
Logan’s expression soured a little, but his smile didn’t let up. “That's exactly what they thought too. Luckily for me this was one of the rare occasions my right arm was actually useful” he mused.
Yan got up close to it and carefully inspected the arrow. She moved the shaft a little, earning a slight jolt and a grunt that quickly got swallowed back.
“Hm… Doesn’t look like it hit bone…” she muttered. She swiftly broke off its feathery backside, causing another small jolt. “Don't move. I'm going to pull it through. I'll give you some-!”.
Logan didn’t wait for her to finish.
“I thought so. Don’t bother” he said, gritting his teeth and grabbing the arrow as close to his skin as possible.
All three of them grimaced as he ripped it out with one hard tug. Even Amira's lips formed a slightly longer straight line than usual. Nico tried very hard not to make a mental note of the tearing sound his flesh made.
“ Careful! ” Yan yelled. She ran back to her med kit, raking in several things from it.
“Real smooth” Nico said sarcastically.
Logan pointed the bloody arrow at him. “Nothing elegant about war, Spooky” he replied, his voice clearly still a little affected. “It’s violent, disgusting and brutal. You might even know that better than me…”. He grinned and snapped the blood red arrow in half with his thumb, dropping it in front of Nico’s feet.
“I was talking about your brain ” Nico quipped, earning another sour look.
Logan’s smile actually almost turned into a scowl this time.
Good!
Logan dug into his pocket with his good arm and pulled out an energy bar. He tossed it in Nico’s face. “Here. Eat. You sound hungry …”.
Nico glared at him, but unwrapped it anyway. He watched the blood run down Logan’s arm as Yan quickly stitched him up. He was too tired to pretend not to care. “Just… Try a little harder not to die, you smartass” he muttered, taking an angry bite.
“Sure, pal. Anything for you” Logan replied with a wink.
Nico's energy level had sunk to the point he couldn't even be annoyed anymore either. That, and apparently he had been a little hungry. He let the smile creeping up come out.
Logan held his upper arm out while Yan wrapped bandages around it, quickly and effectively. “What's in these, they smell like ass” he complained.
“You're so much prettier when you're quiet” Yan complained back at him.
“Sexist” Logan responded, flexing his upper arm, proving nothing other than his stupidity.
Yan looked at him with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. “Seriously, Lo. I'm trying to help here”.
Logan relaxed his arm. “Yes ma'am”. She finished up and pulled on his cheek.
Shane came running in from the distance, armed to the teeth with knick knacks. He spotted Amira laying on the ground and tossed the two small objects he had in his hands behind him.
Nico winced as two huge explosions burst out from behind Shane's back, just barely missing all of them with their blast. Amira shot up at the sound of it right as Shane got flung down face first into her lap. He quickly sat up and tried to reach for her, starting a dramatic wail.
She interrupted him. “ No. Don't you dare push your affection on me while I'm clearly weakened ” she demanded sternly.
He nodded through the tears and turned to look around. The first person he found was Yan. He embraced her knees trying to finally let out his wail.
She patted him on the head a little roughly, almost like she was trying to push him off. “Oh, it was nothing! Besides, Nico's the one who got her out of the water” she rambled off quickly.
He stopped and turned to him.
Oh, Gods. Those were some big emotions. Nico instinctively jumped up and took a step back when Shane almost leapt onto him.
Logan stopped Shane with his good arm before he could. “Hold up, bud. Look at him. You’ll kill him” he warned, probably only half jokingly.
Shane whimpered in disappointment, then let Logan pat him on the head. He looked at the bandage on his arm, tears still running down his face. He gestured at it, whimpering inquisitively.
Logan held up his arm a little. “That? That'll heal in no time. I’ll be fine” he reassured.
Shane fully broke down now, sobbing loudly.
Logan grabbed the back of his head and guided him against his shoulder. “Yeah, okay ” he chuckled as Shane lifted him off the ground a bit, sobbing even louder.
Nico met his eyes with a grateful look. This was the second time Logan had taken a hit for him… He might even appreciate it more than the first time. Logan didn’t seem to mind nearly as much this time around either, giving him a warm smile back.
Amira tried to keep it in, but couldn't. She coughed again. Shane stopped crying instantly. He dropped Logan back on his feet and moved over to give her a few smacks on various spots on her back.
Yan hastily bent down over an array of colourful powders and bottles in various sizes. She was comparing them feverishly.
“You've saved us plenty, beautiful. You look like you're going to pass out. How about a little break, huh?” Logan asked, nudging her leg with his boot.
Yan almost fell over. She barely glanced at him, dazed. She didn't even stop working. “Yeah, soon. There's just one more bottle I need to find…. And some medicine I need to make. Maybe some bottles I need to replace…” she muttered, seemingly more to herself than to them.
Nico and Logan gave each other a worried look. Nico bent down and started gathering her things in her med kit.
“Hey!” Yan screeched in outrage. She started swiping at it.
He got back up to keep it out of reach. “How are you feeling?”.
Yan shot him a defiant glare and tried to get up on her feet. “I told you, just a few more. I'll take a break after”. It would have sounded more convincing if one of her legs hadn't given out…
Logan offered her a hand. She huffed, grasping it. Right before she got to her feet he hooked her arm behind his back and lifted her over his shoulder.
“Wait!” Yan pleaded, the surprise and betrayal obvious in her voice.
“Nope, sorry sweetheart” Logan returned.
Yan seemed to have given up. Letting up her elbows and dropping her arms.
“You're going to give yourself a-!”.
Logan interrupted himself with a loud yelp.
They'd underestimated her. Behind Logan's back Yan had a tight grip on the hem of his underwear. Nico met Yan's eyes. She gave him a devilish grin, paired with the exhaustion it made her look completely insane. Nico couldn't help but laugh, quickly covering his mouth.
“Take a nap Yan, you're grumpy…” Logan warned.
Yan chuckled. “Fine, you win. Hope it was worth it~! ” she chimed.
“You're lucky I didn't suplex you” Logan grumbled. He turned to Shane. “Can you help Amira, bud?”.
Shane smiled brightly and dropped to his knees, ready to scoop her up.
Amira expertly jumped to her feet in one quick motion, away from his reach. She eyed him sternly, murdering his bright smile. “You can draw me a bath” she half offered, half ordered.
The bright smile burst right back out. Shane ran off like he’d found his one true goal in life.
Amira stood up straight and shook a small rainstorm from her hair.
“You sure you want to get right back into the water?” Nico asked, only barely joking.
Amira looked at him. “Yes” she declared. Her eyes were very uncharacteristically… Soft. “It's been a rough day… One I would very much like to wash off… ” she explained, almost quietly.
She… Smiled…!
Actually!
Genuinely !
Nico quickly turned his shocked expression into a smile.
“Thank you so much for your help. For risking everything… Truly” she continued. She looked from one to the other. “All of you. Without you, I wouldn’t have-”.
She paused.
“I didn’t make it… I saw Charon…”. Her soft expression carried some very well hidden hurt and shame.
Nico still managed to pick them out pretty well, he was kinda familiar with those. “I know you didn’t want us to… But, I'm really grateful we got to help. So, thank you… For letting us. Even just a little. I know how hard that is”.
She looked at him with surprise, then smiled again. Probably brighter than before. She turned to him like she was going to say something. Then seemingly couldn't. She just nodded. “Always a pleasure to work with you” she stated, suddenly even more serious than usual. If Nico didn’t know any better, he'd have thought she was emotional. She carefully glanced around Logan’s shoulder. “Yan, I should have-”.
She got cut off by a loud snore. Nico sucked in his lips. He heard Logan choke back a laugh.
Amira just nodded in understanding, turning to them one last time. “Thanks again. Until next time”. She turned around and strode off. The spikes on Logan's coat draped over her tall, straight frame helped her regain her usual imposing demeanor.
He felt a boot nudge his leg. “I'm going to put Yan to bed real quick. Don't run off without saying goodbye, yeah?”. Logan didn't wait for an answer and went off in the same direction as Amira.
Nico watched them for a while, then turned to the lake. He stuck out a hand and tidied up after himself. Well, he made the mess tidy itself up. Wouldn’t be very responsible to have them floating around in a couple of hours… This was a summer camp for kids, after all…
The water in the lake bubbled and burled at the three spots that would become their final resting place.
He shuddered as he finished, tired. Very tired. Empty. He tried not to think of everyone’s reaction earlier. It’s funny how he never got used to putting people off when sometimes that was all he ever seemed to do… He grinned humourlessly to himself. He sat down and watched the water. Time lost track of him after a while.
A familiar voice ruined his very productive brooding session. “Still hiding?” Logan asked, walking up. Judging by the fact he'd gotten his coat back, Yan and Amira were probably taken care of by now.
“Just getting rid of the evidence... Don't wanna make the kids cry… About that, actually. Did you get any more of them?” he asked.
Logan looked over the lake. “Nope… Got shot immediately. Didn't even catch up with them” he shrugged.
Nico was about to rip into him again about how stupid that was. He decided not to.
Logan looked at him intently, narrowing his eyes a little. “When you used those dead Nemesis guys earlier… I didn't see that coming. I bet none of us did…”.
Yep.
Should have figured… Nico's muscles complained loudly as he got up. It was worth it. This way he could avoid his eyes… And prepare himself for a quick, inevitable, escape from wherever this was heading.
“Sometimes I forget how fucking smart you are…” Logan concluded seriously.
Nico stared at him in disbelief. He glanced at the trees further off to check if he'd heard right. They stuck up their arms, equally dumbfounded. He narrowed his eyes and quickly fixed them back on Logan's face. “You…? Don't you think that was fucked up?” he wondered out loud.
Logan huffed in response. “ Course I do! Forcing people's dead buddies to help the enemy? Right in their faces? Straight up horror movie shit” he chuckled. “But why would I complain about that anyway? It’s war. I stabbed someone to death today…” he added casually. The dried blood still on his face emphasized his point. “Besides, what else were you supposed to do? Just let them kill Amira? Out of what? Politeness? No! Fuck that! You did great, man!” he said happily. His eyes glowed so warm it burned Nico's face.
He was too flustered to respond.
Logan stuck out a bloodied hand, offering… Something?
Uh… Nico reached out and shook it.
“ No~!” Logan whined. He tightened his grip and pulled him against him, only letting go to pat him on the back.
Right, only one good arm.
He moved it up to ruffle the back of Nico's hair, now laughing. “ My guy, c'mon . You know we're better than that… ” he pleaded.
Well. Guess not. But, he probably should have... Nico grinned and put his arms around him, patting him back. Man, everything about him was warm. Nico’s muscles tensed up, making him swallow hard. He had trouble breathing normally through the sudden nerves. Why? Why the sudden nerves?
Logan pulled away a little. “Hey, are you okay?”. He looked deeply into Nico's eyes as he asked it. So deeply Nico almost completely missed the question. Despite the worry the smouldering orange glow was still so… Pleasant. Like the sunset on a summer evening. It was hard to look away. Too hard. They shone even brighter and warmer as Logan let out a low chuckle. “Don't get lost in there” he teased.
Huh?!
Fuck!
Logan narrowed his eyes and tapped Nico on the forehead. “In your head, you ditz” he explained through another laugh.
Oh, right. Thank the Gods…
Worry took the upper hand in his tone again. “What's with the panic attack all of a sudden?”.
Nico shook his head. He didn't get it either. Nor did he feel like finding out. “No… I mean, uh. I'm just tired” he conjured up. That sounded like it made sense. It definitely wasn't a lie, at least.
“Yeah, I can tell! You should probably sit back down”.
Nico didn't fight it, relieved he found an easy way out. He pretty much just dropped himself back on the ground. It hurt a little, but that was fine. Logan did the same. Very close by. It was freaking freezing this evening. Logan's shoulder felt warm against his. Nico almost gave in to the urge to lean on it.
He didn't.
He couldn't...
Nico hugged his knees and put his chin on them, for support and for some warmth. “You know what? You're actually really nice” he started in a rare attempt at being open and honest. “Besides, being a huge dick, of course” he quickly added to soften the blow a little.
Logan smirked at him, two little flames burst to life. “Yeah, I've been told” he started warmly. “Well, not exactly . But, ‘really nice’ and ‘huge dick’ I've heard before”.
Nico dug his hands into his face. He considered just letting his heart stop and dying on the spot. He waited. Nope. Turns out it didn't work like that.. . He dropped his hands and deflated with a drawn out sigh. At least he could still pretend he was dead anyway. He smiled faintly to himself. Eh. This was his own fault. He knew one way or another either of them would have to ruin it.
Logan nudged his upper arm. “Sorry” he offered.
Nico side-eyed him. “Seriously? You just fucking kill me and ‘sorry’ is all you've got?”.
Logan cocked his head a little. “In my defense. I've been way less polite about killing people before”.
Nico pursed his lips and glanced down, still catching him red handed. “True… Why'd you rip a hole in that guy…?” he asked out of morbid curiosity, not sure if he even wanted to hear the answer.
“I stabbed him a bit too hard. I needed my sword back…” Logan offered up a little apologetically, sounding more regretful about the fumble with his sword, than the actual murder...
“Yeah, that seems right” Nico decided about all aspects of that explanation. He smiled.
The lake was exceptionally pretty in this light. Small flecks of bright orange danced on the surface in a silent symphony, conducted by the setting sun far away in the distance.
He startled when Logan put an arm around his back.
“Didn’t mean to scare you. You looked cold” Logan excused.
“Yeah, a bit…” Nico admitted, gratefully. He settled back down, against the warmth. Come to think of it, his own face was pretty warm too. He buried it in his knees and just… Fell asleep.
He got woken up by a tap on the cheek. He was a lot less cold, and a lot less… Vertical . He jolted, pulling his face as far away from Logan’s lap as he could, almost tumbling over the other way.
Logan pulled him back upright by his arm and got up. “Calm down!” he laughed. “Just wanted to let you know Yan said food’s ready”.
Nico took a sharp breath. “Yeah… Alright” he exhaled, looking at Logan’s offered hand. Forcing himself to react, he took it and let himself be pulled to his feet. He tugged on his collar after Logan turned away. Man, it was hot outside this evening.
He followed after him to a small table, a little bit away from the campers. Yan and Shane were already waiting for them. Four plates of something very suspicious looking let off long trails of steam. Yan quickly switched his plate around with Logan’s as they sat down. Nico shot her a surprised look, but decided not to pry when she stuck up a hand gesturing it wasn’t worth it.
“It was the Hephaestus cabin's turn to cook today…” Yan mentioned intently before carefully dissecting her food.
Should be good… Nico decided the less chance he had to form expectations, the better. He took a bite. “ Santo cielo…” he muttered in amazement. Awful, awful amazement.
“Right?” Shane asked proudly. “It's got all the most fun ingredients they could find! Look at all the colours!” he added, looking at Nico expectantly.
Nico covered his mouth with his fist, forcing it to keep it in. “Yeah… So exciting ” he muttered painfully, swallowing it down.
Shane looked pleased and happily chomped down more food. Nico put down his fork as quietly as he could.
Logan side-eyed him, smirking through a stern look. “I know it's fucking horrible , but you barely ate today. You don't get to be picky” he said accusatorily.
Shane gasped in betrayal, looking from one to the other in angry disbelief.
Nico turned to Logan defiantly. “Careful, making an Italian eat garbage is a hate crime”.
Shane gasped louder, slapping both hands onto his cheeks.
Logan huffed in amusement. “I've never given a single shit about any law! I'll force feed you if you want me to prove it!” he threatened with a wink.
Ugh! Nico bared his teeth in contempt, grabbing a hold of his fork. “Eat shit” he offered in return. He stole a bite from his food and shoved it into his mouth triumphantically. Shit! That was murderously spicy.
“You good?” Logan asked, genuinely worried.
“ Yeah” Nico croaked. He sniffed with a wet sound.
Logan raised an eyebrow and took another bite, completely unbothered.
Nico glanced at him in mild awe, earning a smug little smile. “Shut up” he demanded weakly. The pain added to his annoyance. “Why would you do that to yourself?!” he asked, swallowing away the self inflicted torture in his mouth.
Logan grinned and shot Yan a look. “Her fault. She loves spicy food. She's been daring me for a decade. I guess I sort of got a taste for it” he explained.
Yan gave Nico an apologetic look and shrugged. The hint of a devilish smile on her lips as she continued eating showed just how sorry she actually was.
Shane smacked the table in amusement. “Oh, you Italians… It's time someone took you down a peg. You always go on about food, but you can't even handle a little bit of flavour … Guess you don't know how to eat properly after all!”. He chuckled smugly, his beard filled with an impressive amount of crumbs and stains…
Nico pointed his fork at him in a warning. He opened his mouth ready to set the record straight, then closed it again. Nope. Not worth the effort. Shane didn't deserve it.
No, he deserved something far better… Nico shot him a creepy smile instead. He raised a finger, making a chicken’s foot burst out of its gastronomic grave right under Shane’s nose. Shane’s chair responded by almost toppling over with a high pitched scrape, ready to take Shane down with it.
“Ha! Gross” Logan declared, noticeably impressed.
“Guys, don’t play with your food …” Yan muttered.
Nico ignored her disapproving pout and smiled proudly. One look at his dinner put him back in his place. He stabbed his food to death and took another bite, making sure to chew it as little as possible. In the back of his mind, the Italian flag waved desperately, slowly burning to cinders.
Yan sighed and shook her head a little. “Shane. Get over here ”.
Shane looked surprised, but complied. He scooted over, loudly scraping his chair the entire way. She wasted no time wiping his face vigorously with a napkin. Shane let her, looking down in shame.
They forced down the rest of the food in silence, too taken in by the flavour explosion to talk. The soft whimpers and sobs from the Aphrodite table played like background music, complementing the meal perfectly.
Shane got up with another loud scrape of his chair. “I’m going to bring some to Amira!” he declared happily, strutting off.
Before Nico could, Logan got up and gathered the dishes, all of them, in a messy stack, way too high. Hearing the ceramics shift when Logan turned to bring them away, Nico was sure everything was going to fall, at least something . Nothing did instead. Ha…
Nico turned to Yan, only to be met with an intense, inquisitive look. He waited for her to spill her mind, trying not to seem too nervous.
“Hey, just between us…” she started. She narrowed her eyes a little. “You asked me before if Logan and I were… Was that because…?” she built up, clearly a little nervous for what she was about to ask.
Not nearly as nervous as Nico.
“Are you- ?” she almost managed.
Enough! Of course not! “No! No way!” Nico almost yelled, he threw in some dramatic hand gestures to really drive home his point. The absurdity and embarrassment made him feel too hot and too cold at the same time. How could she even think that!?
Yan nodded, a little taken aback. “Yeah…! No…! Okay! It’s just, the way… Nevermind!” she stammered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable” she added, serious and concerned.
Nico waved her words away. “Don’t worry. You didn’t” he blatantly lied.
Yan smiled anyway. Nico thought hard of a way to change the subject. He didn’t need to.
Shane came running up, seemingly on a new mission. Seemingly involving him. “Amira wants to talk to you!” he passed on excitedly.
Great! Nico instantly forgave Shane for his insolence earlier. He shot up. “Alright, I’ll go right now” he replied, probably a little too ambitiously.
Shane didn’t seem to notice.
“I’ll be right back” he tossed over his shoulder, deliberately not checking Yan’s reaction.
The nerves were mostly gone by the time he reached the Athena cabin and gave the door three polite knocks.
Amira opened the door. In nothing but a towel… Well, two towels, to her credit. One wrapped tightly around her head to tame her usually wild, lush forest of curls. Nico quickly locked onto her eyes. In an even more brazen statement, she didn’t invite him in, but rather opted to step outside. She eyed his nervous expression, her gaze now back to its usual frosty sharpness. The bath must have been exceptionally relaxing.
“Why are you nervous? Is it because I’m not dressed? I thought you were gay” she stated.
“Uh…”. Was that a good point? He wasn’t sure. He tried to relax his shoulders anyway.
She took note and continued. “I’m sorry to bother you again so soon” she started, adjusting her firm grip on her towel.
He waved her words away. “Don’t say that”.
She nodded. “In the bath, I thought it over. The riddle makes no sense to me”.
That didn’t surprise Nico. It was about love after all.
“So I figured I’d ask you for help figuring it out”.
That did surprise Nico. It was about love after all… He narrowed his eyes.
She put up a hand before he could protest and continued further. “The enemy spoke of ‘ Old ones ’. I’m assuming we’re dealing with a God. An ancient one. That would explain the interference of Nemesis. But. ‘ Bringing death to love itself ’’. Why would Thanatos involve himself with lady Aphrodite? Or even Nemesis” she asked.
Oh. The reason she asked for him made sense to him now. “I think you’re taking this way too literally” he countered.
She narrowed her eyes in stern confusion.
He continued. “I doubt she meant death as in killing. I think she means what makes people fall out of love”.
Amira seemed displeased. “Yes… You’re probably right…” she muttered in defeat.
He held up his hands in solidarity. “I’m easily as bad at this as you are…I know nothing about love”. He mulled it over. Will popped into his head. “I do have some experience killing it though…”.
She raised an eyebrow. “How?”.
Crap… He sighed. “It’s complicated. Basically, I’m an asshole. We got into a massive fight… ”.
They stared at each other intently.
“Eris” Nico concluded.
Amira grabbed his shoulders. “Yes!” she affirmed loudly.
Nico smiled widely. Amira’s towel fell down. She seemed unfazed. Nico tried to be too.
“I will write to Lady Aphrodite immediately!” she declared. She held out a hand for a handshake.
Nico shook it, staring at her eyes. Nothing but her eyes.
“Thank you” she squeezed into his hand.
Nico opened his mouth. He didn’t get a chance to say anything. She spun around and paced inside, shutting the door behind her. Nico took a second to gather himself. A second too long.
Amira threw the door open again, clearly still too rushed to bother covering herself. “Could you give this to Yan for me?”. She held out a neatly folded piece of paper.
Nico’s eyes gratefully accepted the distraction. He swiped it out of her hand. “ Yes ”.
Amira nodded, he nodded back. The door closed in his face. The towel on the grass gave him one last apologetic look before he turned. He sped off, just in case she burst back out the door again.
He made his way back to Yan. Logan had apparently found her first.
"Thought you left!" he greeted him.
"Went to see Amira" Nico greeted back. “All of her…” he complained.
Yan gave him a pitiful look. “She was naked, wasn’t she? Sorry, I should have warned you. She does that…”. She obviously spoke from experience.
“Prudes” Logan shrugged. “Neither of you are even into women” he concluded with a mild shake of his head.
Nico held out the piece of paper for Yan. “From Amira”.
After a few surprised blinks, she carefully folded it open. Nico tried not to look, but it was hard to miss. Four starts of sentences, longer and longer. All crossed out with a single straight line. Underneath just two words, larger than the ones before. ‘ Thank you ’ . Yan stared at the words for a while. She carefully folded it back up and put it in her pocket. Nico thought he saw the hints of tears above her smile.
“Is that why she sent Shane?” she asked.
“No, not just that, at least. She had trouble with the Sphinx’ riddle”.
Logan cocked his head. “She asked for help?! Hah…”.
Nico felt the corner of his mouth curl up a bit at the sight of his faint proud smile. “Yep. Believe it or not, we actually seem to have figured it out too. It's probably Eris, Goddess of strife” he revealed undramatically.
Yan and Logan hummed in wonder.
“Nice! How'd you know?” Yan asked.
Crap…! Again?! “Bad breakup…” Nico threw at her, declining to go into any further depth.
She slapped herself against the forehead and dug into her bag. “ Wow! I almost forgot!”. She held out something for him.
His heart almost stopped as he took in the little Apollo figurine.
“Will wanted me to give this back to you” she explained happily. She looked a little confused when he didn’t react. At all. “You don’t recognize it? Weren't you, like, super into Mythomagic?” she asked, even more confused.
Nico felt Logan's eyes scorch the side of his head like two red hot pokers. He ignored him. “No, not really. Not for a very long time, at least” he lied. “I forgot pretty much all about it” he lied even more.
“Oh… Well, it seemed pretty sentimental to him… Do you want me to give it back…?” she asked.
Fuck no! That would be painful as hell. Still, how was he going to get out of this mess?! He considered stabbing the evil little figurine into his heart to put him out of his misery. Yeah, no… It would take ages to bleed out. “Uh… No…” He stammered, grabbing it out of her hand.
Yan recovered a lot quicker than he did. “Cool! Hey, I need to go. Thank you so much! For everything!”. She opened her arms, then hesitated.
Poor thing. He moved closer, compromising on one arm. “It’s fine, Yan. See you next time”.
She gave him a careful squeeze, then went on to take out the rest of her affection on Logan. “Good night!” she left behind.
Nico’s grip tightened around the figurine. He gave it one quick glare and buried it into his pocket, six feet deep. He looked over at the cabins in the distance, mostly to avoid Logan’s inevitable judgement. Daringly, he glanced at him. His smirk did not disappoint.
“Stop it” Nico commanded.
Logan smirked wider.
“ Stop” Nico almost shouted.
“I'm not doing anything!” Logan laughed.
Nico sighed and rolled his eyes, turning away slightly.
“ Nerd ” Logan muttered quietly.
Nico jabbed him in the arm. “I was like twelve” he groaned, skillfully chopping off a few years in his favor.
Logan nudged him in the chest with a fist . “Don't take yourself so seriously”.
Nico gave him a cold scowl.
“Look, it's not a big deal. I was a boy scout for four years” Logan added.
Nico instantly warmed back up. “No way” he practically gasped.
“ Oh, yeah. Boy Scouts is huge where I'm from. It's part of the whole Mormon cult thing. My stepdad thought it would teach me some discipline. He didn't let me get out until middle school. It got very annoying, very fast”.
Nico tried not to smile too wide. “How many badges did you get?” he asked.
Logan folded his arms. “How many cards did you have? Did you carry them around in a binder?” he asked in return, squashing Nico's sneak attack effortlessly.
Nico pursed his lips.
Logan let up, smiling genuinely. “Way too many, by the way. I was actually pretty good at it”.
Nico gave him a guilty smile. “Yeah, same… And yes, I did have a binder”. They grinned at each other.
Logan took a deep breath. "I should probably get going. It's pretty late…".
Nico looked at the horizon. No more sunset. He looked back to Logan. No, still a hint of it. “Yeah. Me too” he agreed.
“The drive home is going to be interesting”. Logan held up his right arm a bit. “Really wish I didn't drive a stick shift right now” he complained cheerfully, laughing at his own misery.
Nico smiled, but couldn't really get himself to laugh at the idea of how painful that was probably going to be, let alone dangerous… “Want me to drop you off?” he offered.
Logan looked surprised. He smiled and shook his head. “Nah, I really need to get my car home, but thanks”.
Nico held up a hand in an offering gesture. “I can take the car, It's no big deal”.
Logan seemed even more surprised.
Nico smiled a little smugly at that. “Seriously. I've dragged a statue like five times the size over here all the way from Rome”.
Logan grinned in awe. “Are you trying to impress me?” he asked smugly.
Nico let out a mocking laugh. “ Trying? Barely!” he lied… He lied?! Some nerves hit him.
Logan smiled wider, then stopped. “I don’t know… You only just got some life back in you…”.
Nico shrugged. “It’s fine. It’s on my way anyway” he made up on the spot.
“It’s no use trying to change your mind, is it?” Logan asked accusatorily.
Nico gave him a lopsided smile in a silent admission of guilt.
“Okay… Thanks” Logan sighed, returning a lopsided smile of his own. “It’s close by, at the edge of camp” he explained, beckoning for him to follow.
Nico did, noticing some nerves creep up again. He pushed them down. No need to worry. This really was no big deal. He really had done much more. When he was only fifteen no less. So, no point in being nervous.
Right? ...
So why was he?
The most beat up, rusty red truck Nico had ever seen crept into sight. It was ancient. Even the small golden cross, still proudly presented in the middle of the grill, had lost its shine somewhere along the years. Logan slapped the hood and grinned at him over his shoulder.
“I see you’ve been practicing your necromancy?” Nico jabbed.
Logan snorted. “Hey watch it, this was my grandpa’s car”.
Nico couldn’t help it. “His first?”. He scored a point.
Logan turned around, arms crossed. He was still grinning, but he could tell he was getting under his skin. “Shut up… This old lady is younger than you are, anyway. You old fart” .
Nico grinned. He got him down to playground insults. That had to be another point. “You got me there, but…”. He slowly ran a scrutinizing finger over a particularly rusty patch. “I'd like to think I've aged a little more gracefully . Sorry, but your old lady's skincare routine kinda sucks”. He feigned an apologetic look.
Logan closed his eyes and let out a defeated sigh. He rapped his fingers against the hood for a bit and gave him an amused, but clearly agitated, grin.
Nico smirked. He’d managed to annoy the ‘clever’ out of him. Winning that hard was rare.
“Okay , pretty boy … You win this time” Logan concluded with a wink, and a genuine smile.
A burning flash of heat immediately turned up on Nico's face to dispute his victory.
Logan laughed at him. “On second thought, you two look way more alike than I thought”. He gave the bright red paint a firm tap.
Nico's turn to close his eyes and sigh in defeat. He leaned on the hood, grabbed the grill with one hand and offered his other to Logan. Logan took it and mirrored him. Nico pulled on the car as he drew the shadows in to meet them. It was fine, a little heavier than usual, but nothing he hadn’t dealt with before. If anything, the car was the least difficult thing about this, he realized as Logan slightly adjusted his grip, accidentally running his thumb over his. He swallowed dryly, willing himself not to get distracted.
As soon as the car burst out of the shadows and settled in the grass Nico slipped down a good amount. With impressive speed, Logan turned and shot out his arms to catch him. He quickly hoisted him back up, hissing in pain while doing so. In his wince, he bent Nico backwards a bit, under him. Nico subconsciously pressed a hand on Logan's upper arm, where the wound should be, leaving his other on the hood of the car to steady himself.
“ Are you-? ” they both started to ask.
Logan chuckled. “Yeah. You?” he asked, looking down into his eyes with warm concern.
Nico quickly pulled his hand back, only now realizing their accidental intimate position . “Yeah! Fine!” he croaked out, facing away.
Logan didn't sound entirely convinced by his eagerness, probably because of his eagerness... “Are you sure…? No offense, but… You're sort of a shivering mess. Maybe you should stay here for the night…?”. His hand moved down Nico’s waist a little. A finger grazed against bare skin, searing it.
Nico met his eyes in surprise. What were words again? The intensity of the orange almost made him agree on impulse. “Y-”. Almost. “ No , uh… No thanks… I can't. I gotta go… Somewhere! ”.
Logan narrowed his eyes as Nico panicked internally, then carefully smiled down at him. “Let me guess, no way to convince you otherwise?”.
Nico couldn't take his eyes off his lips as they formed the question. He didn't want to think of an answer to it. He felt his hands start to tremble even more.
Get out of this!
Now!
“ Nope! ” he tossed out loudly in Logan’s face, making him back up just far enough to create an opening. Nico quickly squirmed out from under him, to safety. As far away from his very warm hands as he could in one or two steps. This only seemed to deepen Logan’s concern, his eyes burning into him as they followed. “Don't worry! I'm just a little… Cold ” he stammered.
Logan eyed him warily, but didn't try to stop him. He stood up straight and stared at him, puzzled. “Okay, man of mystery... Be safe out there” he pleaded.
“Stop worrying already! I'm going somewhere warm” Nico decided then and there, earning a faint smile. He set out to score the match point and stuck up two fingers. “Scout’s honor” he added with a devilish smirk.
Logan laughed loudly. “Fine. But, that's a big deal. So, it better be true” he warned with exaggerated heaviness, sticking up two fingers in return. He smiled warmly. “Thanks a lot. I really owe you… Again”.
Nico shook his head before he escaped into the shadows. “You don't. It's nothing. Just fix your arm”. He took two steps backwards.
Two doves startled in the trees behind him and flew out overhead. Their snow white feather coats stuck out against the dark night sky.
He turned around and let the cold, eerie whispers wash over his face. They helped him clear his head. It was nice. Maybe a little too nice. He just kept moving. Stepping in and out. From place to place. Getting as much distance in as he could.
He stopped when he fell backwards out of the shadows and onto a very hard floor, making someone scream out in horror.
A few people he assumed to be tourists quickly made their way down a large stone stairway, desperate to get away from him.
The weather here seemed warm enough…
He dropped his head back down and caught his breath, staring up at a humongous face. It was partially obscured by shade. The sun hiding behind it gave it a divine looking halo. The face stared back at him peacefully. Harmoniously, in fact.
He finally recognized the massive Tian Tan Buddha.
Hong Kong… Yeah. Good enough… Pretty much the other side of the world. With a little bit of luck the physical distance would overcome the emotional closeness he'd somehow gotten trapped in.
He rolled over and got to his knees, trying to get a better look at the enormous God's face. The Buddha seemed to welcome him politely. He returned the Buddha's faint, pleasant smile in gratitude.
He replayed the day in his mind. Maybe he'd never see any of them again after tonight. Relief and disappointment wrestled each other, giving it their all. Relief took disappointment in a chokehold and slowly but surely snuffed it out. It was probably for the best. He sighed one of the longest sighs in his life.
Right after, his phone buzzed. It almost never did that. He pulled it out and opened it. A message. He almost never got those.
Hazel? No… if only .
Logan had apparently not been done with him.
Nico opened it, only to make his stomach jump. It was a picture… Of Nico... It took him a little while to process, seeing it on the small screen. He was clearly sleeping, his head on Logan's lap. Based on the angle, Logan was obviously the culprit behind the photo. Nico’s cheek in the palm of his hand, tilted a bit to face the camera.
Oh, Gods, no... Nico was ashamed to see how peaceful he looked. He started to smile before he caught himself, quickly managing to steer it into an angry pout.
[creep] he sent back. He snapped his phone shut. When it buzzed again a few seconds later, he didn’t look again. Not immediately , anyway.
[you started it <3] he got back.
Nico clicked his tongue. Was there a middle finger emoji? Yes there was. Good . He pressed send and snapped his phone back shut. For good this time. No more messages, relief reassured him.
Probably never again after today… Disappointment quietly rose back up behind relief and hit it in the back with a folding chair. Frustration called the match.
Why? Why did he keep thinking about him? Why couldn’t he just let it go? He’d done this so many times before. You meet people, then you let them go. Sure, it hurt a little sometimes. But, If you didn't, it hurt infinitely more when they inevitably let you go… So, no choice, really… He knew that. So, why did it never get any easier? In fact, it only seemed to be getting harder!
Yan’s inquisitive look popped back into his mind, the obvious glint of doubt in her eyes behind the surprise, even after he’d cleared up what was going on. What wasn’t going on!
He gripped his knees tightly and ground his teeth, grinding up all his feelings, then looked up in exasperation. What the fuck am I supposed to do?! The Buddha smiled all-knowingly at him, all the way from Nirvana. Nico scoffed loudly. Well, what the fuck do you know anyway?! With a fittingly dramatic flutter of his coat, he turned heel, down the seemingly infinite stairs.