Chapter Text
He tore some pieces off of his muffuletta and cast them to the pigeons. The feathery piranha’s frenzied around the bread. Fighting beak and talon to be the first to get to-!
Something rustled on his shoulder. He turned in disbelief to the large white dove perched onto him. The dove cocked its head and side eyed him with a vapid, yet somehow pleasant look. It cooed quietly. Why did it sound encouraging…?
He hesitantly lifted a finger. It hopped on and sat tight as he lowered his hand. He noticed the small scroll neatly tied to its leg with a flowy pink ribbon. It lifted its dainty ankle for him to reach. Nico gingerly freed the dove from its apparent quest.
He unrolled the message and tried to decipher the flowery handwriting.
Ma Chérie,
One million kisses to you. I have read and reread your friend's report with full devotion. Though I am most grateful for your work, the revelation plunged into my heart like a flaming sword.
Eris.
My shadow, some might say, I even used to say not long ago. I truly cannot believe it. Tell me it cannot be true. I beg of you. My Rage burns with the passion of a thousand suns. Such betrayal. Such heartbreak. Sorrow fills my soul. As women, Nay, as Goddesses, Nay, even as advesar-
An inevitable eyeroll stopped him from reading. He unrolled the scroll to its full length. Yeah… No… He skipped to the end.
I yearn to see you. Please come to me at dawn. I will be waiting for you at the location of our latest rendez-vous. We will discuss the affair more intimately. Your partner will meet you there.
Forever yours,
Aphrodite
Partner? Who? Yan or Amira? He pursed his lips. That would be fine. Shane? He snorted. That would be a disaster… Logan? He tensed up. His chest hurt a little. He grasped at it.
The dove cooed pressingly, putting a stop to his inner turmoil. He looked at it, almost about to ask what was wrong. It wouldn’t have been any use, the dove only had eyes for his breakfast. Nico smiled and ripped a piece off. He held out his hand. The little postman happily took to his well deserved meal.
As soon as it finished it immediately took off, back into the air. He watched as it soared away. It looked like a small angel ascending back to heaven.
Dawn broke quicker than he’d liked, leaving the haze of the last day somewhere far away. He hadn’t had enough time to prepare. Then again, no amount of time would have been able to prepare him for this.
A dark clad figure stood out against the morning sun. A straight, confident posture he’d probably recognize from miles away by now. Delight and dread took turns pinching his heart as he made his way towards him.
Get a grip. Come on… A few forced deep breaths calmed his nerves a little, but it was hardly enough to keep them at bay. Despite an onslaught of thoughts he managed to register the minefield of rotten apples on the ground and step around them.
He couldn’t be reckless about this.
He shouldn’t let this get any worse.
The closer he got to him, the more this was going to hurt. There was no way any of this was going to last. Getting used to this would be unfair to himself. He’d learned that the hard way many, many times over.
Life was fickle and cruel. Exactly like the two Goddesses that were the only reason they were seeing each other right now…
It was time to get more serious, to set some tight boundaries… The same way he always did, of course… He took a deep breath and pulled out his best resting bitch face. He prepared to greet him, cold and collected.
Before he could, Logan turned around and met his eyes. Logan’s scowl instantly let up, small fires dancing with excitement above his wide grin. “Hey, Spooky! I was hoping it'd be you. I missed you!” he greeted with an unmatched warmth.
Nico almost tripped over an apple. Fuck.
Logan laughed and stuck out a hand to steady him.
Nico quickly straightened up and pulled back, just out of reach. “... Hi…” he managed, painfully awkward. Good start, awkward was great at keeping people away. Still… His face burned a little.
Logan looked happy enough, apart from the dark circles under his eyes.
Nico pursed his lips. “How are you doing?” slipped out. That was fine, it had sounded formal enough. Something you’d ask any colleague, right?
Logan gave him a half smile, suddenly looking a lot more tired. “Bad most of the time. So, pretty much still the same” he shrugged.
Nico returned a half smile. “Sucks. Hope you feel better soon” he offered, strictly professionally.
Logan’s smile brightened. “Well, it’s nice to see you, at least”. He nudged Nico’s stomach with his fist, making his breath pause.
To his horror, Logan didn’t back down. He moved his hand up and ran the back of his finger past Nico’s jaw line. It was a quick, almost clinical movement. Nothing to read into in the slightest. Nico knew that… It burned so bad he froze solid.
“See you haven’t shaved in a while!” Logan mocked. His grin wasn’t like his usual. It tried to be, but the jest was clearly forced.
Nico tried his best to pretend it wasn’t. “Yeah… I’m trying to go for a slightly more casual vibe… Don’t wanna come across so stuck-up all the time…”. Oof. He needed to force his own grin through that sneer. That wasn’t a particularly fond memory...
Logan let out a short, barely viable laugh. “Right…”. He narrowed his eyes, seemingly close to done with playing games.
Nico crossed his arms defensively and tried to think of a way out. Any way out.
Too late.
“So… how have you been?” Logan asked intently.
Shit… Nico’s stomach churned.
An apple from the tree above them broke the silence, hitting the ground with a dull thud. It was inspiring, honestly.
“Yeah, great…”. He tossed the words at his feet, with an equally dull thud.
Logan took a small step closer and cocked his head, maintaining eye contact. It made Nico nervous when he looked at him like that. It felt like he was trying to stare right through all the walls he'd carefully rebuilt over the past few years. Sometimes it even felt like he actually did…
“Why do you always do that?” Logan asked warily. “You don't even think about it… You know I'm not just asking for the hell of it, right? I'm really not that polite”. The disappointment and concern in his tone were louder than anything he'd actually said. It was times like this Nico reminisced about when Logan had punched him… That had been a lot less painful than this.
Nico tried his hardest to sound more annoyed than embarrassed. “I don't… I mean, probably because I don't want to think about it” he finally offered. He couldn't look him in the eye.
Logan let out a low hum. “So, it's going that bad, huh?” he concluded.
Nico swallowed. All emotions he'd kept locked away rattled their cage at once. “Alright” he muttered angrily. “I'm doing really fucking bad. You win…”. He glanced right in time to see two angry little flames flare up.
“Yeah? You think I enjoy this?” Logan growled.
Nico averted himself, almost fully turning away. He tensed up as Logan put an arm around his chest, stopping him before he could make his escape.
“I'm sorry…” Logan started to his surprise. “I know I'm being annoying… I'm just worried, man” he pleaded.
Nico swallowed harder. How could he have let this happen? So quickly…? Again…? Shame and sadness burst free. He reigned them back in with a drawn out, shaky sigh. “Yeah, I know. That's kinda the problem” he sort of accused, sort of confessed. He added a half assed attempt at a shrug.
Logan added his other arm.
Fuck.
Logan pressed himself against his back.
Stop!
Nico braced himself.
“I'll let go if you want me to…” Logan offered, loosening his grip a little.
Nico's mind was making hundreds of calculations at the same time, all of them wrong… He just slumped the back of his head onto Logan's shoulder in defeat, and closed his eyes.
Logan responded by re-tightening his grip. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
Nico shook his head a little. “Everything…” he breathed out heavily.
Logan paused for a second. “What… Does that mean?” he asked, more carefully.
Nico shook his head harder. “Nothing!” he almost hissed. Fuck! He was so bad at this! Of all people, how was he supposed to know what was going on in his head? It was a fucking mess in there! It had been for years! Sure, sometimes worse than other times… Like the last few weeks… But, that wasn’t out of the-!
Logan straightened up a bit against him. “Right… Okay, so… It's a little complicated. I get that… Is there any way I can help?”.
You already do. Way more than you know. Way more than you should, probably… There was no way Nico could actually say those words out loud. He opened his mouth to try anyway. All that came out was a shaky breath.
Logan gave him a few hard, reassuring pats on the chest. He knocked two tears loose. Nico quickly covered his eyes with his hands, trying to hold the rest back by force. He felt Logan lean in and his cheek rub against the back of his hand.
“I mean it! I'll do anything. No matter how dumb”.
I believe you… But. “No…”. Nico straightened up and rolled his shoulders to shake him off.
Logan thankfully got the hint and pulled away.
Nico cleared his throat. “Thanks… I, uh…”. He took a deep breath and turned around, not quite ready to face the shame, but not having much choice either way.
Logan looked back at him with a serious, still mildly concerned expression.
Nico tried not to look away. “I’m- I’ll be fine… I’m so-”.
He got interrupted by another, much less dull, thud. An apple hit Logan square on the head and made him wince. The bitter fruit took its time to roll off, and finally fell to the ground. They stared at each other for a second, their expressions now only a bad impression of what they’d been before.
Nico slowly put his fist in front of his mouth to hide his smile. “... Sorry” he finally finished, his voice a little strained.
Logan regained his composure, smirking and cocking his head. “Well, as long as you feel better…” he grumbled, a bit accusatorily. “And I did say ‘no matter how dumb’, I guess”. His smirk warmed up a few degrees.
Dawn hadn’t just come by quicker than expected, it also left in a hurry. The rest of the morning was much more patient than they were, slowly making room for the afternoon.
Clarisse paced up to them out of the trees for the third or even fourth time that day, increasingly agitated. “Our ‘lady’ still hasn’t shown up yet… Sorry guys. Just… Stand by, okay?”.
No. Not really… “Of course…” Nico reassured her.
Logan crossed his arms and rapped his fingers on them, letting out an annoyed hum. “No” he finally concluded. “Fuck this. Fuck her” he added with a glare to Clarisse. He threw his coat at her and shot Nico a mildly apologetic look. “I’m going for a walk. If she decides to show up she can wait a while”.
Clarisse was clearly about to shout at him when he turned around and walked away. She let out a low growl in frustration instead. She met Nico’s eyes.
He held up his hands in an awkward gesture.
“You go too” she offered in defeat. “Don’t worry, I’ll explain to her when… If she gets here”.
Walking quickly, he finally caught up with Logan near the lake. Logan noticed and turned around in mild surprise, then waited for him with a grin.
“Don’t just fucking leave me to die…” Nico complained.
“Sorry, I thought you were too polite to leave” Logan half accused, half explained. He leaned in and nudged Nico’s shoulder with his own.
Nico looked at Logan's right arm next to his. He remembered the last evening together at the lake. Their arms were even closer than this… Much closer. Touching, even. Logan had barely been able to move it back then. And tomorrow was going to be dangerous. Nico wondered, worried, actually… Had it healed enough?
His hand decided to investigate before his mind could step in. He quickly slid it over Logan's upper arm, dragging his sleeve up and revealing a large, roughly cross-shaped scar in the middle of the otherwise smooth skin. He squeezed down a little right above it on impulse. Firm. He gasped quietly at his own audacity.
“No~! C'mon! It's not that bad” Logan insisted. He held up his arm to show it off better and flexed it with a proud smirk.
Really firm!
“See? Works just fine”.
Nico quickly pulled his hand away. “Ugh! Why do you have to be such a douche about it?” he asked, pretending his hardest to hate it.
Logan's proud smirk grew, happy with his results. “Cause it's so much fun!”.
Nico sucked in his lips to prevent from smiling. “That cockiness is going to get you killed one day… Maybe it's a good thing you got that scar. Serves as a nice reminder of how stupid you are…” he complained.
Proving the perfect functionality of his arm further, Logan reached out his hand. “Well, if we're going to be like that… Let's compare…”. He gently ran his fingers through one side of Nico's hair moving it aside, letting his hand linger.
The scar on his forehead felt extra sensitive as the warmth of Logan's thumb carefully traced it. Nico held in his breath to not let another gasp escape. Logan dragged his eyes down from the scar to search for his, Nico forced his eyes up from Logan's pleased smile to meet them.
“Okay, yeah… Yours does look a lot nicer… But, I bet it was probably from something just as stupid”. Logan's half lidded eyes glowed into his. He winked and gave the scar a light little tap before pulling his hand away completely.
He knocked the sense right out of Nico’s head, the words just fell out with it. “I walked off a cliff…” he muttered breathlessly.
Logan's eyes brightened together with his smile. The edges of Nico's mouth curled up at the sound of his laugh. Embarrassment smacked him to put a stop to that.
“No! I mean… Yeah, I did… But, Oyzis, the Goddess of… whatever, tried to kill me. I think she tricked me…”.
Logan's expression turned surprised, then slightly impressed. “Damn… That is cooler than getting shot like a clay pigeon…” he admitted.
“Well… Not much…” Nico admitted on his turn, running the horrid, weepy memory back in his mind. “You had to be there…” he answered Logan's raised eyebrow.
Logan nudged his shoulder. “Glad you still managed to drag yourself over to Gwen's” he muttered, walking along.
Right… to Gwen…? Nico glanced away and smiled. “Yeah, me too I'm still really grateful for all of that”. He looked back. “Not just to her…” he added carefully.
Logan smiled mischievously. “Oh, believe me. I know. Gwen made that very clear. In great detail. For days after. I couldn't get her to shut up about it… You know? I think she might have exaggerated a little…”.
Nico grinned. “Pff. Gwen? No way. She was probably spot on”.
They walked along the bank of the lake, all the way up to a large tree trunk. Based on the wear and tear, it had to have been cut down years ago.
Logan stared out onto the lake for a bit. Then he gave the ancient looking tree trunk a firm kick. “Had my first kiss here…” he shared, obviously reminiscing.
Gross. Nico rolled his eyes at Logan's fond smile.
“And it was fucking awful… She cut her tongue on my braces. Badly… Blood everywhere…” Logan went on. The fondness in his tone didn't waver even a bit.
Nico tried not to laugh. “Sounds about right. Somehow all your stories end in bloodshed” he replied.
Logan smiled in agreement. “I wonder how she's doing…” he mumbled quietly.
Something about that bothered Nico a little. Why? Wasn't it perfectly normal to care about people? Miss people? He sure did… Still, he couldn't bring himself to ask about her. “You had braces?” Nico asked instead.
Logan turned to look at him. “We can't all have naturally perfect teeth, Spooky. Some people need a little work…”.
Nico demonstrated his indeed naturally perfect teeth with a toothy grin, trying to get on his nerves a little. Surprise hit him when it didn't work out as intended at all. He got a much more sincere, unnaturally perfect, toothy grin in return.
Fuck. Nico dimmed down instantly.
Logan toned down to a warm smile and looked away. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head slowly. “I've had tons of braces, actually... I kept breaking them somehow…” he said with genuine puzzlement.
The puzzle didn't seem that complicated to Nico. This time he did laugh.
“Wish my mom had your sense of humour about it…” Logan muttered.
Nico moved over and sat down on the stump. To his surprise, Logan did the same. That was fine. This was fine. There wasn’t even really a ‘this’ anyway, nothing was happening.
A particularly elegant swan couple swam past, nudging each other lovingly with their beaks. That was fine too… He shook off the nerves. They turned to look at each other at the same time. Their noses almost touched.
Nico's heart dropped. Logan scowled at him with an intensity he hadn't seen in a very long time. He looked almost… Murderous.
What…?! Why?! Nico hadn't done anything! He wasn’t even going to do anything! He cracked through the ice and jerked back. As far as his hands, still clamped tight onto the tree stump, would allow. Dread and shame stabbed him in the chest.
Logan didn't move. That's when Nico realized he wasn’t looking at him, but past him. He followed his gaze and quickly got up. He took a few steps to the side and stood to attention for the imposing figure approaching them.
Logan made a point not to follow suit. He ignored the intruder to a degree of true performance art.
“You weren’t at the Ares cabin…” Ares noted. “I’ve been looking for you”.
Logan didn’t turn to look at him. “Hm…” he almost dignified a response. It sounded indifferent, but the rapping of his fingers against his arm gave him away.
“Heard you two are going after Eris… She's like a sister to me, so I know her better than most… It's not going to be easy. I wanted to give you something to help you on your way” Ares continued calmly. He rummaged in the pocket of his jacket, then held out his hand. A roughly textured, bronze ring covered in patches of blueish green patina laid on his palm.
Logan still didn’t look. “No thanks. Not interested” he replied flatly.
“Don’t be so stubborn. You don’t even know what it is yet. Believe me, it suits you and I promise it’ll be useful” Ares tried.
“Don’t need it” Logan reiterated. His tone was starting to become less and less cool.
Ares seemed to notice too. He closed his hand, dropping his arm a little. “... How have you been?” he asked reluctantly.
“Do you mean since the last time we spoke ten years ago? Or since Curt killed mom and himself right in front of me? Not great, either way” Logan shrugged. “You could have asked a little sooner” he added with a bitter tone.
This seemed to ignite Ares a little, his awkwardness making way for frustration. He lowered his sunglasses to glare more effectively, revealing two pits of bright fire, trailing embers off into the air. “Listen here, you brat, It’s not like I wasn’t interested before! But your mother-” he cut himself off, seemingly thinking of what to say.
Logan did turn now, clearly pissed off. “What about mom?! Are you seriously going to make this her fault?!” he asked, bitterness quickly turning into anger.
“I’m not saying anything is her fault! But she was pretty clear about what she wanted from me. Nothing! So I backed off as soon as she married that loony” Ares spat.
Logan snapped, blowing up like a bomb. He got up close, despite the height difference it still managed to give off a threatening aura. The fire in his eyes did most of the work. Despite not being made of literal fire, they didn’t burn any less bright than his father’s. “Don't you fucking dare! You're the only fucking person who’s got no right talking about Curt that way! You have no idea who he even was! You’ve never even met him! Sure, Curt lost his mind and he fucked up in the worst way, but that was never who he was. He's never said one bad word about your jealous, petty ass. But forget that, at least he was there all those years! What have you ever done for us? You didn't even show up for mom's funeral!”.
Ares snapped right back at him. “Shut your mouth! Who do you think you’re talking to?! You have no idea-!” he cut himself off again. “She was very clear about what she thought of me the last time we spoke! She would not have wanted me there, and I was big enough to respect her wishes!” he continued, struggling to regain control.
Logan turned icy cold. “She’s dead. Who cares what she would have wanted?! I wanted you there!”.
Nico thought he saw Ares’ burning eyes smoke for a second.
“You’re a fucking coward, you know that?”.
Ares clenched his jaw and shook his head. “I can’t undo-!”. He huffed and stuck out his hand one last time. “Just take it…” he said uncharacteristically quietly. It almost sounded like a plea.
Logan didn't budge. The standoff lasted only a few seconds, some very long seconds. A menacing grin swept across Logan’s face, and Nico instantly lost all hope this was going to end well.
Logan swiped the ring out of Ares’ hand and held it up to his face between two fingers. “Surprisingly thoughtful of you. You really shouldn’t have” he spat. He turned and flung the ring as far into the lake as he could.
Crap. Nico hissed. That took a turn. Not one he didn’t expect, but still… A pretty sharp turn. He eyed both nervously.
Logan turned to glare at Ares. “Stay the hell out of my life. You’ve been pretty good at that till now”. By the sound of it, his voice almost wasn't able to carry the amount of disdain he put into it. He stormed off, quickly disappearing in the crowd of trees.
Ares stood there, obviously furious, more obviously defeated.
“I don't think he really means that…” Nico tried. Did he even believe that himself?
Ares turned to look at him but didn't respond right away. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. “You're that Hades spawn, right? Then you should know that boy has never once said anything that he didn't mean” he gruffed. He took a long drag from his cigarette.
Nico took in the familiar scene.
“You better strap in, cousin. He's exactly like his mother…” Ares exhaled with a long stream of smoke.
“Forgive me, but I think you're more alike than you realize” Nico said, willing to risk offending him a little. Logan better not find out he said that, though...
“Strap in extra tight then” Ares warned coldly.
Nico didn’t really know how to end this forced conversation, that neither of them seemed very keen on continuing. “I, uh… I should probably…” he started, gesturing awkwardly and dropping his arm back down.
The swan couple ran up and took off, flying over. As they did, one of them dropped a very unelegant wet bomb onto Ares’ shoulder. They both stared at it as it ran down his arm.
Yep… Nope… There was no saving this situation anymore. Nico just straightened his shoulders and nodded. “My lord” he said, turning and pacing off after Logan.
Slowing down, he wondered if he should… This would be a pretty good opportunity to create some distance. Logan seemed pretty upset though… Couldn’t he just create some distance after checking up? That sounded fair, right?
He caught up quicker than he expected, finding Logan smoking his own moody, post-fight cigarette. The relief evaporated when Logan glanced over, a lot more upset than he’d anticipated.
He wasn’t crying, but not that far off… Logan pulled the cigarette butt from his mouth, knuckles noticeably bruised and a little bloody, and pressed it out against a suspiciously bark-lacking spot on the unlucky tree next to him. It sizzled out with an angry hiss. He gave him a painful look and opened his mouth.
Nico cut him off before he could even begin. “You're hogging all the daddy issues. Save some for the rest of us” he complained, trying to lift his spirit a little.
It worked. Logan gave him an annoyed smile, then cocked his head and visibly thought it over. He reluctantly shrugged in agreement.
They chuckled quietly.
As Nico was about to ask how he was doing, he thought he caught a glimpse of a tall, blonde young man walking past at a distance. A very familiar looking tall, blonde young man… One he hadn't seen in... Years! He moved on impulse, grabbed two handfuls of Logan’s shirt, shoved him against the tree, and leaned in after him in a desperate attempt to hide.
Logan didn’t seem to realize the life and death level of seriousness to the situation. “What the-!?”.
Nico shoved his hand over his mouth trying to get him to shut up. A little more rough than he wished he had… But it worked. He held him tightly in place.
With an equal amount of panic and care, he scanned the area around them. Already out of sight…
Logan let out an annoyed huff against his hand. Sure. He'd earned that right. Nico would apologize later. He had some panicking to finish up first.
Gods, this was bad. What if Will heard them…? What if he'd seen him? Doesn’t matter, he’s gone. He allowed his heart to unfold itself, barely even registering Logan opening his mouth under the palm of his hand until-!
Ow! Nico suppressed a yelp and turned to stare at Logan in angry disbelief. He was met with a wide, impish, very toothy smirk, the edge of his hand firmly trapped in it. He glared at the evil little fires twinkling above it. “Rude!” he scolded as he tugged his hand free.
Logan took over some of his angry disbelief. “Me?!” he practically shouted. “You know? There are way nicer ways to get someone to shut up, Spooky…” he complained. The devious wink he added immediately scorched Nico's face.
He couldn't mean…?!
Thankfully, Logan didn't let him suffer long. “Next time just tell me… You don’t have to choke me”.
Nico pursed his lips. That was a relief. Something deeply rooted in him decided to sabotage himself. He narrowed his eyes and hummed in feigned consideration. “I thought you'd be into that…”. He should have known better.
The grin returned instantly, as did a small flash of evil fire. “You bet! But, there's a little more finesse to it. If you want, I can show you” he threatened suggestively.
The scorch on Nico's face erupted into bright red flames.
Clarisse showed up just in time to save him. “Where have you guys been all this time?! I've been looking all over!” she barked, marching up closer. “Why are you hiding-!?” she stopped mid bark.
She stared at them in sudden realization.
Huh?! What realization? He felt Logan's chest snicker against the palm of his hand. Nico snapped to look at him, still pushed against the tree. He pulled back his hand, throwing both of them up in the air in surrender.
“Just…! Come with me! Right now!” Clarisse yipped like a much smaller, much angrier dog.
Nico slapped his forehead with both hands and left them there for a while. They were nice and cold. They were trembling… He felt someone else’s, much warmer hand on his shoulder. When he went to check he was met with Logan's now concerned look.
“Dude, what was all this about? You're still really freaked out”.
Nico sighed. He looked at Clarisse's back, quickly getting in more distance between them. “I'll explain later... Let's just get this over with…”. He followed after her, then heard Logan do the same.
Clarisse stopped and gestured to the middle of the clearing. They walked past her and up to someone else’s back.
A tall beautiful woman stood with her arms crossed, tapping her needle thin heel impatiently. She kicked a rotten apple, hitting the tree in front of her with a wet sound. As soon as she noticed their arrival, she twirled around and swayed her hips over to them. “Aaah! Mes vrais amours!” she cooed, sticking her arms out as widely as possible. She reached out and sensually ran her fingers down their chins. “You kept me waiting!” she growled suddenly. She stopped her fingers and left them at their throats in a clear threat.
Nico gave her an apologetic smile. Logan a much more menacing one.
Her glare softened anyway. “Well, you’re here now. That’s all that matters” she declared. She leaned back and draped the back of her hand over her eyes. “Thank you for coming to me in my time of desperate need!” she wailed. “The past weeks… I’ve been devastated! Eris! How could she!?”. She moved her hand just an inch, giving them a very serious look out from under her hand. “I need you to defend my honor” she demanded through clenched teeth.
They all stared at each other for a few seconds.
“Yes. My lady. Uhh… How? What do you want us to do?” Nico asked.
Aphrodite let up a bit and giggled. “Jacques merde, my sweet boy! Almost nothing!” she reassured. She wafted a hand at them. “Just go to her and prove that love will always overcome strife, no matter what!”.
Uhhh… He glanced over at Logan. Another wary, questioning look met his.
She gave them an adoring smile. “Don’t fret. I’m sure you’ll figure it out along the way” she said dismissively.
Alright… No pressure, I guess…
Logan spoke up. “And if we refuse to play along?” he asked, clearly heavily leaning towards that option.
Aphrodite giggled humourlessly. “Why, silly you! I would rip your crétin little hearts out, of course!” she vowed, eagerly crushing something invisible in her fist. The way her pupils dilated showed she wasn’t speaking figuratively…
See? No pressure at all...
Neither of them made a sound, staring straight ahead.
Satisfied with their enthusiastic agreement, she moved along quickly. “Last I’ve heard she was staying under Ms. Robinson’s office. Far under. In the executive office all the way in Hades. There is a secret entrance. You can take the elevator down”.
Nico tried to take in the information.
As soon as he did, Aphrodite continued further. She pursed her perfectly applied lipstick. ”It’s past office hours… It will be useless trying to get in now. You will enter in the morning. Don’t wander off, stay here for the night!” she demanded, wafting her hand at them once more.
Seriously? She was the one who showed up late! And why couldn’t they leave? Nico bit his tongue, literally this time. Aphrodite was so… grating!
“What the fuck?! You’re the one who kept us waiting for hours!” Logan shouted.
Aphrodite raised her hand threateningly, about to strike. Logan backed up, seemingly on instinct. She smiled to herself, obviously very pleased with the returns of her earlier investment.
She folded her hands, looking at Nico. “Mon guerrier angélique… S'il vous plait… Pour moi?” she pleaded, pouting at him.
“Of course… My lady…” he muttered through gritted teeth.
Aphrodite smiled so brightly it was almost blinding. She cupped his face and kissed him on both cheeks. She moved over to Logan, and stopped with a contemplative look. She took hold of his chin, turning him towards her and staring deeply into his eyes. “You're exactly like your father” she stated in equal amusement and disdain.
Crap!
Amber detonated in a violent explosion. Logan opened his mouth and took a threatening step forward.
Nico flung his arms around him to restrain him, wrapping himself tightly around his back. Aphrodite, you stupid cow! You’ve doomed us all! The impending doom stayed pending for a while, hanging in the bloodlust filled air. He felt Logan settle down with a frustrated sigh.
Logan faced away with a jerk of his chin, avoiding her as best he could from his confinement.
Nico slowly, reluctantly, let go of him.
Aphrodite caressed her own chin, her lipstick in an absolutely villainous little smile. “Oui, oui… very good” she taunted in conclusion.
Logan jerked his face back to her.
Nope.
Enough of this.
Enough of her.
Nico grabbed hold on his upper arm, hooking both his own arms around it. He needed to throw in all his body weight to get Logan into gear. “Excuse us” Nico quickly tossed out as he pulled him along.
Aphrodite smiled even more evilly, playfully blowing them a kiss goodbye.
Nico let go as soon as they were out of earshot.
“Gods!” Logan spat. He gave Nico a frustrated look. “If I ever get offered immortality, remind me to turn it down! I can't deal with these fucking sociopaths a second longer! Let alone an eternity!”.
Nico stifled a laugh and shook his head. “Don't worry. Fat chance they'll offer us something like that over cleaning up this mess…”.
Logan shot him an amused but pensive look. “On second thought… If they ever do… I'll do it, if you do”.
He jabbed Nico in the shoulder. Nico forgot to bounce back from it.
“Can't let you get even more powerful than me!” Logan joked.
Nico felt a smile take over. “Pff…” he breathed out in disbelief. He waved his hand with feigned humility, making sure to grin extra smug while doing so. “Right!” he said loudly, walking the line between biting sarcasm and wholehearted agreement perfectly.
Logan chuckled. “Besides, there'd be much worse ways to spend eternity” he concluded. Luckily, he looked away before Nico's smug expression shattered into a million pieces.
Nico quickly gathered the countless shards and threw them back together. “Are you ready for this? To follow me to Hades and back, I mean?” he asked, steering the conversation back to business.
All distractions aside, this was a big deal. Hades wasn't exactly a cakewalk… Not even that close to the surface.
Logan grinned. “Sure, that sounds fun” he shrugged.
Fun… “Glad you’re taking this so seriously" Nico muttered in fluent sarcasm.
“I’m just trying to lighten the mood, I guess. You seem really stressed out” Logan countered, in his native sincerity.
Nico opened his mouth, ready to demonstrate another, more rough sounding dialect of sarcasm. Logan’s genuine friendly concern made him code-switch. “Yeah… Sorry… I’ll try to relax” he offered in broken sincerity. He’d meant it, but ‘relaxing’ was damn near impossible around Logan. He didn’t even dare to look, afraid to see even more friendliness.
A reassuring hand ran over his shoulder, his coat didn’t protect against its heat whatsoever...
“I, uh… I think I’ll go to my cabin” Nico quickly stammered.
“Sounds smart” Logan agreed. “Do you mind if I walk along? It’s on the way to ours anyway”.
That seemed fair. He couldn’t come up with any reasons to say ‘no’ that weren’t unfair at least. “Uh, sure…”.
They walked in silence. Not an awkward one, as far as Nico could read from the smile on Logan’s face, but somehow definitely not one he was comfortable with. It didn’t help that they were heading for the busiest part of camp… He needed to watch out. At any moment Will could-!
An electric spark stunned him in place when his hand brushed against Logan’s. He quickly shoved his hands in his pockets and kept moving. Not as smoothly as he’d hoped, it seemed.
“Are you okay?” Logan asked carefully.
“Just tired” Nico pushed out, avoiding his eyes. No more unnecessary contact. He just needed to make his way behind the door of the cabin, and he’d be free from both of them. From all their jitters. Luckily, the Hades cabin would be the closest, furthest away from the centre. In fact, he could already see it.
He swung the door open and stepped inside, only turning around for the last hurdle he had to face. “See you tomorrow" he threw out the door, almost about to close it on Logan’s prying eyes.
The bright orange looked just a shade darker than usual, hidden a bit in a subtle squint. “Aren’t you going to come eat something later?” Logan asked a little pressingly.
Getting out of the cabin? After he’d just made it to safety? Right onto Will’s turf? “No, I’m good” Nico replied firmly.
“Okay…” Logan shrugged, not sounding very convinced. “Well, I guess I can’t force you... See you tomorrow then?”. He put on a wide smile and turned away. He looked back over his shoulder. “Take a last good look at this” he added, gesturing at his face. “Before it gets covered in shittily drawn dicks”. He cocked his head a little “I mean, if they’re even going to let me sleep at all…” he snickered.
Nico thought about it. The Ares cabin seemed… Lively…? He wondered how Logan was going to get through his nightly issues… “You can stay here, if you want” he shrugged. What?! He could?!
Logan seemed equally surprised, turning back to him. “Yeah?”. He leaned against the doorframe, cocking his head. “You wanna sleep with me again?” he asked with a mischievous grin.
Nico groaned, closing his eyes in annoyance. Can you just take anything even slightly seriously? Just once? I’m trying to help you out here… “Changed my mind. Get out” he moved to close the door.
“Sorry, sorry” Logan said quickly, his grin nowhere near gone. “But, yeah. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine” he added, putting up his hands.
Nico sighed. “I mean… We’ve got like eight empty beds here. Chiron is a lot more ambitious than my father” he said, trying desperately to sound casual.
Logan grinned like a demon. “I mean, if you insist…”.
Nico almost slammed the door in his face.
Logan stopped it with his hand. “Wait!… I’m being a dick, I know that… It’s just… I don’t want to intrude on your evil plotting… I know you have a hard time saying no”.
Nico didn’t even get the chance to say no. In all of his annoyance he hadn’t kept an eye out well enough. A figure much taller than the children crowding around it, turned to look at them. Two blue eyes he knew very well, almost found his. Before they could, Nico’s body reacted. The way it seemed to prefer when his mind took a break. Which is to say, stupidly.
He grabbed Logan by his coat with one hand and swung him inside, closing the door with his other. His grip on the doorhandle was so tight, he couldn’t let go. His legs shook so bad, he could barely stand. He had to lean against the door for support.
Will had seen him. He was sure this time… The nerves were numbing, deafening. They trickled down his whole body. How was he supposed to-?
Logan huffed. A huff that could be annoyance, amusement or amazement. Didn’t matter. Whatever it was, Nico couldn’t really deal with it right now.
“Okay! You’ve made your point! Guess you really meant it!” Logan laughed awkwardly.
Nico couldn’t deal with any of Logan right now, actually! He leaned in threateningly and gave Logan’s shirt, apparently still trapped in his fist, a hard tug. He was about to tell him to shut up, when he realized he still didn’t have his breathing under control…
They seemed to realize that at the same time.
Logan put his hands on Nico’s shoulders and gently pulled him forward, bending him a little. Well, as gently as Logan did anything. “Slow down. Try to breathe from your stomach”.
Nico scoffed through the hyperventilation. Like you know any-!
Oh… Yeah, that is better… He looked away from Logan's shoulder and glared at the wall next to them trying to catch his breath.
Logan’s stomach moved slowly against his fist, following his breath. Nico tried to mimic it. Slowly, they both calmed down.
He straightened up and side-eyed Logan carefully. He shouldn’t have. The concern from this morning was nothing compared to what he faced now… With a sigh, he faced him. He knew he couldn’t play this off… But, he could try?… As soon as the most careful of smiles made its way onto his face, Logan let loose.
“What is up with you today, dude?! You’re starting to scare me!” he yelled, gripping onto his shoulders much tighter.
Nico closed his eyes and slumped the back of his head against the door in frustration. “I know! I know… I’m sorry” he offered weakly. He held up his hands, just as much to underline his apology, as to hold him off.
Logan didn’t budge at first, not until Nico shrugged himself loose. Logan huffed out another mix of emotions, all of them negative this time. “You weren’t kidding when you said you were doing really fucking bad…” he muttered.
Nico shook his head. “No, it’s not that… I mean, I don’t think so…”. This was all Will. Wait, no it wasn’t. None of this was Will’s fault. Or Logan’s. Or anyone else’s, actually. This was all himself! Wasn’t it? What the hell was all of this? Man, he was tired.
“So what is it?” Logan asked impatiently.
“I don’t know!” Nico tossed out with a laugh.
Logan didn’t seem to get the joke. At all. “C’mon! At least try to-!”.
Nico straightened up. “No!” he interrupted loudly, earning a fiery scowl. He stuck up his hands one more time. “I can’t! I’ll explain later, alright?” he offered desperately trying to buy himself some more time to deal with his sudden existential crisis.
Logan’s mouth drew a straight, sharp line. The fire still burning above it vowed to make him keep that promise. “I’m going to tell Steph where I’m at. After that, I’m going to get you something to eat” he declared with barely restrained anger.
Nico drew his mouth in a similar straight line, debating if he dared to fight him on this. Could he even eat right now? He nodded reluctantly. Sure, whatever. He’d just force it down and be done with it.
The fire simmered down immediately. “Okay” Logan sighed as he nodded back at him.
Relief on both sides made the air feel lighter.
He watched as Logan finally took in the room around them. An amused spark went through his eyes. Crap…
“You sleep in a tomb… In a coffin shaped bed?”.
Nico groaned. Why had Chiron given him so much creative freedom in this? He punched his teenage self in the face. “It’s not like I’m into this either!”. Anymore…
“Hey, I’m not saying I don’t like it” Logan shrugged. “I mean… This is probably every fourteen year old emo kid's dream bedroom…”.
Ouch, but kinda spot on.
“But, it suits you” he taunted.
Double ouch, probably just as spot on... Nico clicked his tongue.
Logan chuckled and jabbed him in the arm. “Hey, you’ve seen the Ares cabin. We’ve got nothing on you”.
Nico let up a little, smiling faintly. “The barb wire really ties it together” he shrugged.
With that, the last bit of tension left the air.
Logan stepped closer again, looking expectantly. Nico took a second, trying to read his eyes. Yep. Still the same sunny orange. Wait, no. That’s not what-!
Logan smirked, shaking his head a little. He put his hands in Nico’s sides, gently but firmly moving him aside. His fingers settled in the small of his waist, melting the muscles into their shape. Nico’s soul tried to escape out his mouth in a careful exhale, he lost even more solidity when the hands sank in deeper.
Once he'd gotten Nico out of his way, Logan finally let go of the mess he was making. He gave Nico one last mildly concerned glance. “Take it easy for a bit, okay?” he pleaded as he stepped through the door.
“Yeah…” Nico promised the door.
He threw his coat into a corner and sat down on the first bed that found him. With a dramatic sigh, he dug the palms of his hands into his eyes.
Throwing himself down on his back even more dramatically, he tried to make sense of his mind. His mind screamed hysterically at him for a while, then quieted down just enough to keep him from crying.
After some well deserved self-pity, his mind stopped completely.
Nico hadn’t even realized someone had come in until he got flicked against the forehead. He shot up, almost into Logan’s face. He dropped back down on the bed not to. Not that he’d had much choice, his knees had given out.
“My bad” Logan snickered at him. “Food” he stated. The force with which he’d handed him the plate showed it was an order, not an offer.
Nico looked down. He was grateful Logan had taken the time to explain it, because food sure wasn’t what it looked like. “Are you sure?” he quipped.
Logan snorted and dropped down next to him. “Yeah, I haven’t missed camp food either. Even worse than last time… It was the Athena cabin’s turn. So, as you can probably taste, nutritionally it's the perfect meal” he replied apologetically. “And before you ask, because I sure did… It's supposed to be cold, apparently”.
Nico took a bite and stopped mid chew. He almost laughed at his own misfortune. Now he was absolutely certain this wasn’t food. He turned to Logan, his endless list of complaints in hand. The very pleased looking orange hue shining back onto him knocked him off track. “Thanks” his mouth betrayed itself. “Not that bad, actually” it doubled down.
The orange hue brightened, no longer pleased, but very spirited. “You’re so full of shit!” Logan laughed. “I finished an entire plate of that. Did you actually think I would believe that? Or is this one of those extra smart, dry sarcasms of yours?” he asked.
Nico avoided his eyes for a bit, not entirely sure himself. He chewed on it. His head responded with a single, jerky shake at the instant reminder of what he had to endure. A barely suppressed shudder rolled over him as he swallowed.
They laughed at the same time.
Logan held onto his amusement a bit longer than Nico did, observing him with mild interest.
“What?” Nico asked, before taking another disgustingly flavourless bite.
Logan smiled wider. “You always put your hand in front of your mouth when you eat. Just looks funny” he explained behind his own hand, mimicking him.
Nico stopped chewing for a second and quickly pulled his own hand down. Damn, he didn’t even realize he did that. He turned to Logan in a futile attempt to deny the accusations, then quickly pulled his hand back down again… He exhaled deeply, then slowly hid his mouth behind an angry fist. “It’s cause I’ve got my mouth full. And you keep talking to me... Basic manners” he muttered.
“Sure, bud. Don’t get all self-conscious. I’ll leave you alone… Just soldier your way through, yeah? You owe me” Logan squeezed into Nico’s shoulder. He pushed himself up by it, leaving a charred handprint.
“Yeah, yeah…” Nico half whined, half promised.
“I’m going outside for a bit. No offense, but the whole no windows thing is getting on my nerves a little” Logan tossed back on his way out.
Nico nodded in understanding and reluctantly got back to his task. In the back of his mind, the Italian flag slowly and shamefully rolled itself up further with every bite.
He grimaced his way through the entire meal as fast as possible and got up. What time was it even? This ‘no windows’ thing was starting to get on his own nerves a little too… He threw his teenage self another, slightly softer punch.
Not having many other options, he went outside too. He was greeted by near pitch black darkness, only kept at bay by the flickers of the eerie green torches lit around the front of the cabin.
He checked around carefully, only to remember he didn’t need to. Will was an early bird. Probably in bed for hours at this point. He found Logan leaning against the wall next to the entrance. Would it be weird if he stayed here and joined him?
Too late… Logan found him, looking him over expectantly. Nico panicked, the only option that flashed through his mind to run off into the woods like a spooked deer.
Logan grinned, seemingly catching on to his panic. “Am I in your spot or something?”.
Only some of his panic, thankfully… "Uhh…”. The bright orange caught Nico like headlights, freezing him in place.
“I guess you’ll have to learn to share” Logan teased with a shrug.
Nico sucked in his lips, crossing his arms and settling against the wall next to him. What was he going to say? He looked to the sky for inspiration. The moon was full and present that night. Looming over them from surprisingly nearby, with a cool but gentle gaze.
“The moon is crazy big tonight” Logan huffed with a sense of awe.
“Yeah…” Nico agreed, a little awkwardly.
“Pretty dope” Logan concluded with mild, but genuine sounding excitement.
“Sure… But, it’s got nothing on a good sunset” Nico accidentally admitted. He held his breath. Why? Why should he not have said that? What was the big deal? He quickly exhaled.
“Really?” Logan seemed genuinely taken aback. “Hah…”. He looked up at the moon intently. “Can’t agree. I spent a lot of time staring at the moon the last few months… I’m really starting to dig that stone cold, pretty fucker. Far away, but always around. Interesting too. Lots of different faces”. He glanced over, eyes narrowed with a hint of judgement. “Funny, I really figured you of all people would get that”.
Nico shrugged apologetically. I used to. He caught himself before he said it out loud, not sure again why. “Guess I’m still an enigma…”.
Logan grinned in agreement. He put a cigarette in his mouth and felt around his lack of coat pocket. He pursed his lips. His eyes found Nico. “You got a light?”.
He did, actually. Nico took out one of his emergency matches and struck it.
“Ha! Still full of surprises too” Logan mused.
Nico watched the small flame flare up proudly and held it out to give it to him. Logan didn't take it. He put his hand around Nico's to steady it and leaned in. Nico held his breath as he did. Damn, he was close!
Logan looked up from the flame, into his eyes. He smiled gratefully around his cigarette. The flame made the orange in his eyes look like actual fire.
Nico could still feel his hand even after he let go. It was warmer than the flame…
No it wasn't, he realized as the match burned out in his fingers… Fucking ow! He tried not to grimace as the light went out. He couldn't hold back a hiss.
Logan snickered at him. “Very edgy…” he declared.
It wasn’t on purpose, you dick… Stop being so… Distracting?
“Thanks” Logan exhaled. Another warm look made Nico melt a little.
“Sure” he replied weakly.
The musical ensemble of crickets playing all around them harped on the long silence.
“So… are you going to explain the whole “throwing me around in a panic” thing yet?” Logan asked suddenly.
Nico pursed his lips. He did say he would… So how was he going to do that? The moon wasn’t nearly as inspirational to him as it seemed to be to Logan, just shining back at him straight forward... Nico took a deep breath. “I thought I saw my ex boyfriend… The second time I’m pretty sure he saw me too…”.
Logan mulled it over, clearly not getting it. “And… you couldn’t just say hello…?” he asked, looking at him like he was crazy.
Nico looked back at him, like the idiot he clearly was. “Wow, I’d never even considered that. What a wasted opportunity…” he said sarcastically.
Logan cocked his head, his cigarette changed direction in his scowl.
Nico groaned. “It's just… It’s not that easy!”.
Logan pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and pointed it at him dramatically. “Course it's not easy! It's hard as fuck!” he waved at him, drawing a jagged line of light in the dark. “But, it's worth it!”. He took a long drag from his cigarette, slowly lowering his shoulders again.
Nico tried to do the same with his. “Alright… You're right… But I’m too much of a coward, yeah?... So, please”.
They looked ahead in a silent truce. It cued the crickets to start the second half of their performance, ending the short intermission.
Nico finally worked up the nerve to speak after a while. “So… How was your sister?” he asked. Steph and him hadn’t exactly gotten along till now, her being a little psychopath and all, but she made for a good excuse to steer the conversation somewhere else, away from him at least.
Logan let out a groan. “Also tying herself in knots for no good reason... The others keep picking on her, calling her a lesbian… Well, not with that word…”.
Nico felt a little stab in the heart at the sudden kinship. Being a gay teenager was bad enough… Add the Ares cabin in that mix… “Oof. You think she might be…?”.
Logan cocked his head a little. “Well, she keeps telling me she isn't, even though I never ask… And she does have some polaroids of her and a girl she seems very close with that I don't think anyone was supposed to find… And those pictures seem really important to her. They look like she's chewed on them” he almost laughed. “Poor little shit…” he ended pitifully.
Nico hummed in agreement. “Hope she’ll accept herself soon. People suck…”.
Logan looked at him, puzzled and mildly frustrated. “Fuck people” he shrugged with an exasperated shake of the head.
Nico looked at him. Logan wasn't just your average idiot, he was a profound idiot.
“It just… doesn't make any sense to me... Why would you be ashamed of that?” Logan muttered, mostly to himself.
“You don't do complicated, do you?” Nico asked. It was meant to be a jab, but there was some sincerity in it.
Logan smiled and gestured at his face. “Damn right, Spooky. I'm simple. Nothing complicated about me. But that doesn’t mean I’m stupid. And even if I am, I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, as far as I’m concerned”.
Nico had no problem believing any of that. It just didn't make any sense to him. That's not how his world worked. He was about to clear that up when Logan smiled extra brightly at him. It turned Nico a little stupid, shutting him up immediately. Much to his own annoyance. Okay, so he looks good in this light… Who cares?! Not him. Not even a little! He willed himself to get it together, putting a firm stop to the stupid grin about to ruin his perfectly indifferent expression.
“The simple things can be the most beautiful, you know?” Logan offered. His eyes glowed a warm orange when he smiled. He nudged Nico's shoulder affectionately with his own.
Nico tried his best to be annoyed but he just couldn't get himself to. “I think I see it, yeah…” he replied. The stupid grin came back with a vengeance. Fuck! Was that supposed to be a jab? Because, if so… He had sounded a lot more sincere than he meant to just now! He almost punched his current self in the face too.
Logan smiled wider. “Oh?”.
Nico quickly looked away and folded his arms. “Yeah! I mean… you make it sound kinda nice, being dumb as a brick. You're really selling it”.
Logan snorted. “Yep, there it is… Are you even able to express yourself in any way other than sarcasm?” he asked.
“No, of course not” Nico doubled down. “But I mean, I could give mime a try”. He smirked at Logan’s laugh.
In the chilly air, the steam of his exhale mingled with the smoke from Logan’s, both slowly dissipating. Their shoulders were still touching. Nico hadn’t even realized he was leaning into him before Logan moved his arm to put his cigarette back in his mouth.
“I always thought you’d be more of a dark, dramatic poetry sort of guy” he wondered out loud. The fact he probably actually meant that made that comment go right under the belt.
“Ha! fuck right off with that emo shit!” Nico laughed.
“Oh c'mon, Guyliner! You've given me nothing but emo shit these past months. Honestly, your internalized emophobia is starting to get a little sad… Just come out already, dude” Logan laughed back at him.
They turned to grin at each other at the same time.
Yep, even in the dead of night, the moon had nothing on the sun…
Nico held his breath as soon as he realized. They were close. Way too close. He could feel the heat from the cigarette on his lips. If he moved in closer he’d get burned. What? Why would he want to come closer? Then what?!
“Back at it again with those piercing eyes of yours? If you keep looking at me like that, I’ll start thinking you’re gonna do something to me” Logan joked.
Gods! Me too…! This was starting to get messier and messier! Panic flooded in.
Logan squeezed him at the back of his neck, probably trying to get on his nerves. Somehow, it seemed to get on his own more. “Fuck, you’re tense!” he worried loudly.
Crap…! Nico didn’t know what to say for a second. He wouldn’t have had a chance anyway.
“Are you okay?” Logan asked.
No. “Yeah”.
“Am I bothering you?” Logan tried.
Yes. “No”.
“I can leave if you want me to. Really. It’s no big deal” Logan offered.
No... “No!” Nico admitted, loud and flustered. “I told you. It’s fine!” he reiterated, even more flustered. “It’s just… Stressful day" he pulled out of thin air. It’s not like it wasn’t true. “I’m gonna go to bed” he threw out after, just trying to get away.
Logan took a drag from his cigarette. “Sure…” he said, not sounding all that sure.
Nico leaned against the door after shutting it behind him, waiting for his heart to slow down. It didn’t.
Well, fuck you too then…, he angrily told it, slamming his fist against it for good measure.
He tried not to let his pounding heartbeat distract him too much as he forced himself through an acceptable bedtime routine. He gave up after brushing his teeth and kicking off most of his clothes. His heartbeat still knocked on the inside of his chest as he curled up and pulled the covers over himself, clearly wanting more attention. He tried to think of the steady rhythm as soothing. Tried very hard…
Nico startled awake at the sound of someone choking on their breath. Wha-? Right! He knew this would happen. Quickly kicking off the covers, he got to his feet. He needed a second to figure out where he was. Where everything else was.
The sound of Logan stirring and whimpering pointed him in the right direction. Nico staggered over. A green flame lit up on one of the torches between them as he did.
Logan was laying on his back, fighting for breath. The scene instantly reminded Nico of when he'd taken watch over him when he was poisoned. Logan seemed incredibly tense… His own hand firmly grasped on the base of his neck. That wasn’t helping, Nico assumed.
He sat down next to him and put his hand over Logan's, but couldn't get it to budge. No problem, he figured as much. He ignored the, by now almost familiar, wall of feelings as best he could. Calm down. He sent out. You're safe. He added.
The tension in Logan's hand let up a little. Nico tried to move it, carefully. He lifted it off his neck and put it on his chest. Logan squirmed. His other hand shot up, on top of Nico's. He grasped it and sat up. Nico quickly ran out of arm as Logan pulled on his hand, knocking him against his back.
Logan bent over, panting shakily.
Nico propped out an arm behind him to regain some balance. Heat brushed against his arm with every wheeze. Man, Logan was uncomfortably warm… Nico gently pulled his other hand free and put it up against Logan's forehead.
Logan winced a little. “Hah! that's cold!” he panted.
Crap. His hands were always cold… Why did everything about him always need to be-?
“Nice” Logan mumbled, leaning into his touch before Nico could pull away.
Oh. Uh… Alright. He waited for him to settle down a little. Before he realized what he was doing he ran his other hand over Logan's back. He almost winced himself this time.
His shirt was soaked.
Logan seemed to realize that too. He freed himself from Nico's hands and hastily pulled his shirt off. With a deep breath, he got up and staggered over to the bathroom.
Nico watched him fling the door open, turn the tap, grab the sink with both hands and run his head under the water for a while. When he was done, he didn't even bother drying off. He just leaned against the doorframe, still shivering, giving Nico a puzzled look. Water trickled down over him.
“You alright?" Nico asked.
He tried not to pay attention to the fact that Logan was practically naked, in just his boxers. His skintight boxers... He just focussed on his face.
Logan smiled weakly. “Not yet” he said breathlessly. “I'm pretty sure I actually saw you this time…?” he added, pointing at him with the clumped up fabric in his fist.
“Yeah, that's how it usually works”. Nico shrugged and got up. “Sorry I didn't notice sooner…” he added.
Logan looked more puzzled than before, then he huffed. “Don't fucking apologize, man…” he said with equal frustration and amusement. He tossed his shirt aside and stared at Nico intently. The usual fire in his eyes burned unusually joyfully. Not abundantly so. No. In a more subtle way. The flames were low, but pleasant and intense...
He looked so warm… Warmer than warm. Hot... No! Not hot! Completely wrong word! Nico screamed internally. This day couldn't get any worse! So of course it did…
Logan walked over and pulled Nico into an embrace. It was really hard to not pay attention to the fact he was practically naked now. Nico leaned back, trying to touch as little as possible.
Logan didn't let up, squeezing him harder and patting him on the back amicably. “Thank you! So much! I really appreciate it” he said cheerfully. “I mean it! I could kiss you” he laughed, nudging Nico's cheek with his.
“Ha!” Nico let out. Crap. It was supposed to be a scoff, but the panic in his voice twisted it into something else. Gods! This was torture. A swarm of bugs erupted in his stomach. He took a deep breath, drawing in the faint smell of warm pinewood from Logan. It made it impossible to gather his thoughts. He didn't know what to do with his hands. Subconsciously, he moved them down. Logan was only covered in one place…
No! Stop! Terrible idea! He quickly moved them back up and gingerly patted him on the back. It felt like tapping out in a fight. “Don't worry about it” he croaked out. He was more out of breath than Logan at this point. Right before he was about to pass out from lack of oxygen, Logan thankfully let go of him.
Nico was still frozen in place for a bit, then hastily sat back down on Logan's bed and just as hastily crossed his legs.
“I'm going to smoke real quick” Logan said, gesturing to the door.
“Uhuh” was all Nico could manage.
Logan rummaged through his coat pocket and walked out the door.
Oh. You mean just like that… In your underwear…
Nico slowly dropped down onto his back. Just for a bit. Just to straighten out his thoughts for a second. What will the neighbours think, you idiot? He hoped furiously that nobody was out at this time…
The ceiling glared at him until the torch slowly dimmed and eventually died down. Pitch darkness did nothing to hide any of what had just happened. The wet fabric of his t-shirt served as a perfect reminder of exactly where their chests had just pressed together. Nico pulled it over his head and tossed it to the side angrily.
No use… He could still feel everything somehow. It felt like there was a chalk outline drawn over his body, like a crime scene… That freaking delinquent had no idea what he did to him!
The mattress and pillow were still moist. He didn't mind that. They also had a very familiar smell, a faint but distinct hint of warm pinewood. He very much did mind that. To fight it, he covered his face with both hands. The fact that he no longer needed to face the world now was a nice bonus.
What a weird fucking day. A terrible fucking day!
No. He willed himself to calm down. None of this was a big deal. Everything that happened was normal, friendly behaviour. They were friends. Good friends. So, it was fine.
Logan had done nothing wrong. Nico hadn't either. So what if he was gay? That wasn't a crime anymore. Just a gay friend, and his hot straight friend, being friendly.
No! Not hot! He almost cried.
To hide his shame and misery, he pulled up his knees and buried his face in them. He rolled onto his side pathetically. It was fine… He'd move soon…
As soon as he was sure he wasn’t going to scream. There was no way he'd still be able to fall asleep after all this anyway. Or so he thought.
His thoughts slowly started drifting off randomly. It was hard to process everything.
He could still feel Logan's arms around him. Why did he have to be in his underwear…?
Wait. Why were they both in their underwear?
Logan's eyes were glowing. He'd seen this look before. Yeah, this at least made some sense.
Nico felt his own arms move around Logan. He was so warm. He was always so warm. They leaned into each other, foreheads gently touching. There was that devious grin again, a flash of excitement went through the orange flames.
So close by… Nico felt his breath against his lips.
A warm hand pressed against the back of his neck, holding him close. It tightened its grip as the other pressed onto his chest, slowly bending him backwards over the mattress.
He wrapped his arms around Logan’s neck and pulled him in. Logan’s breath felt heavy against his ear making him shudder.
He gripped the sheets, losing grip of himself. Warm fingers trailed down agonizingly slowly over his chest, his stomach, waist, past the hem of his underwear… and finally against-
“Wait!” he choked.
He startled awake, grasping at himself. Everything hurt. It was like he'd gotten stabbed in the stomach.
No. No time to recover.
He willed his shaking hands to move! For fuck's sake! Do your fucking job!
He hastily looked under the covers.
Fuck! No! His head snapped to the side. Wait… Wasn’t that his bed…? Didn’t matter right now! He looked around, actually making sure to look this time. Logan was gone. Thank the Gods...