Chapter Text
Despite the cramp in his neck, Nico tried to keep it as still as possible, afraid Logan might pull his arm out from under it if he didn’t. He stared at his own fingers tracing a long faded scar on the palm of Logan's hand, light as a feather. It was nearly invisible in the dim early morning light, but he remembered every detail of it since the first time he’d taken the time to notice it. For safekeeping. He kept going when he ran out of scar, tracing all the curves and edges around it, careful not to miss a single detail.
Logan's hands always knew how to draw his attention. Not too big, nor too small, but just right. Sturdy. Strong. A little rough. The type of hands that got work done. At any cost, as the many scars on them underlined. Perfectly imperfect. None of that even came close to his favourite part about them, though. He slowly locked their fingers together, savoring the warmth.
Logan curled up his fingers and gently ran his thumb over the back of Nico's hand, probably still asleep. He’d slept through the entire night. That hadn’t happened even a single time so far.
Nico had been surprised about it. All night long. He couldn’t sleep. Too much to process, so he hadn’t even bothered to start. Worries littered over the relief he felt. How was he going to fix all this? Could he even fix this? Not for himself, he found out. He was never going to trust himself again… Then again, had he ever? Not that important. Logan had… Had… Nico needed to push the air out of his lungs by force. His chest almost trembled under the pressure.
Logan tightened his grip on his hand. Nico felt Logan’s nose trail up from the crook of his neck, stopping right behind his ear. “You’re going to break my fingers” he mumbled right into it. Underneath the drowsiness, his tone was almost impressed.
Nico fidgeted his hand free and turned over to face him. “Sor-” he started.
Logan’s disapproving groan crashed against his lips. “Shut up” he ordered, pulling barely an inch away. He wrapped his arms around his back. “Stop brooding. Just go to sleep” he added more softly, almost a whisper. He rubbed their noses together before settling back down.
Nico carefully slid his arms under Logan’s. He felt his heart beat against his chest, calm and steady. He slowly lost count.
All the brooding picked right back up hours later, as they stood on the porch, staring out at nothing in particular. Nico had countless memories of scenes exactly like this one. He never expected to be lucky enough to get to stand here again, shoulder to shoulder, in comfortable silence, hearing the flicks of a lighter for the second time that day… It was painfully familiar.
Nico decided to ask what he hadn't dared to yesterday night. “So you got back into smoking to spite me?”. He wished he was even remotely as bitter as he'd managed to sound. The guilt hiding underneath his words was much harder to deal with than just being a selfish asshole.
Each time he watched Logan light a cigarette, every voice in his head reminded him that he had no right to be angry at him for breaking his promise. After all, Nico had been the one who'd practically done it for him, with the amount of bullshit he'd putten him through…
Logan didn’t buy his cold attitude either, ripping his whole façade down with a single reassuring smile. “Nah, Spooky. Not everything I do s’about you, you know?” he said, clearly trying to sound sly. He tucked his lighter away and took a drag. “Trauma therapy is hitting hard. Probably would have fallen off the wagon regardless…” he said a lot more quietly.
Trauma therapy…? Nico suppressed a smile.
“Anyway, there are perks. I get to do drugs now” Logan went on.
“Ha! That's great!” Nico said with genuine excitement.
Logan stifled a laugh. Well he tried to. For a bit…
“About therapy” Nico muttered. “Obviously…!”. He nudged him with his hip.
Logan nudged him back. “Yep, Gods bless the University of Utah, I guess? I thought it would have taken ages, but they've got a whole system for this type of stuff” Logan explained in mild awe.
“So, is it as bad as you expected?” Nico asked.
“It's been… Interesting” Logan started, visibly mulling it over. “EMDR is the fucking worst. The medication is hit or miss. Sometimes I feel pretty great, other times…” Logan clenched his teeth and cocked his head. “But that's going to be the dean and counselors’ problem when I go back to college in a few weeks”.
Nico blinked at him. He blinked even more, suddenly a little affected. “I'm really happy for you”. His tone was much more strained than he wanted it to be. The sniff his body forced on him made sure he wouldn’t come off the wrong way.
Logan exhaled. “Yeah, well, it was about time. Still gotta do pretty much all the work…”. He crossed his arms.
Nico hummed in agreement. “You'll be fine though. I really think so. You're a crazy strong person”. He felt his face heat up a little.
“Thanks”. Logan slapped him on his back then gave him a devious look. “So, when are you going to therapy?”.
Nico's face fell. He tried to move away.
Logan put his arm around his shoulder and pulled them against each other, foiling his plans. “What's your excuse, huh?” he snickered, putting out his cigarette on the bottom of his shoe.
Nico knew he was right.
Annoyingly, Logan obviously knew he was right too. Luckily he let up, letting go of Nico's shoulders. “Hypocrite” he said with a smirk.
The tension left Nico's back. “I'll think about it” he said. He meant it. “You first, though. Show me some results” he added.
“Wow! That’s way too much pressure!” Logan complained in exaggerated exasperation. He turned to face Nico, hands in his pockets, eyes narrowed and staring closely into his. “What happened to being so sure I'm going to be fine, hm?”.
Nico realized he'd talked himself into a corner. He sighed in defeat, then quickly shoved his hands in Logan's back pockets and squeezed.
“Using sex as a weapon? That's low even for you”. Logan shook his head and sighed dramatically.
Nico laughed. “We both know you're right. So stop making me squirm already, you sadist. And yes, you are going to be fine”. He squeezed again for dramatic effect.
Logan smiled faintly, then looked back across Gwen’s backyard. He took a deep, pensive breath.
Nico carefully slid his hands out of his pockets, not daring to leave them. There was a lot to be ‘pensive’ about since last night. Nico had made sure of that… “What’s on your mind?” he dreaded out loud.
“I don't understand the hype around skateboards” Logan said deadpan. “Getting all excited over some wheels” he shook his head slowly. “Bunch of cavemen…”.
Nico cracked up. “That's what you were thinking about?” he asked in disbelief. “Sometimes I forget how deep and poetic you are. It's hard to keep up with you…” he added sarcastically.
Logan smiled. “C'mon, everybody has something they hate for no good reason. Especially you, I bet. You already hate everything anyway”.
Nico leaned back and drew a deep breath. He took a minute. “I don't like pugs” he said finally.
“Pugs?” Logan asked “Like, those chubby, wrinkly, gremlin dogs?”
Nico drew his lips in a long straight line. “Yeah, the way they look and sound kinda freaks me out. Plus, they've got tons of health issues. They just shouldn't exist”.
Logan seemed to be thinking. “That's not really the dogs’ fault though. Seems pretty harsh”.
Nico sighed dramatically. “I'm not going out of my way to be a jerk to pugs! I'm just saying”. He looked at Logan. “Doesn't seem more harsh than hating on people on skateboards”.
Logan shook his head. “You see, that's just not true. That dog can't help it. It was born that way. Skateboards are a choice. A very, very stupid choice”.
Nico chuckled quietly and turned away. “Whatever”. He shoved his hands in his coat pockets. He grazed something. Right. “You should probably have this back” he muttered. He held the cigarette butt up between his fingers.
Logan looked at it with disbelief. “I can't believe you kept that…”. His tone was hard to read. Somewhere between hurt, surprise and tenderness? He took it. “Why didn't you throw it away?” he asked, almost accusatorily.
Nico shrugged. It's not that he didn't know exactly why, it just hurt.
“I'll get rid of it…”. Logan scowled at it before shoving it into his pocket.
Nico pursed his lips. Made sense, but still…
“Sorry, but I don't want you getting all sentimental over literal garbage… It doesn't suit you” Logan said a little sternly. He nudged him with his shoulder. “I'll get you something nicer” he mused, running his hand through Nico's hair.
Dumbass. You really shouldn’t… “Like what? A Scream Two shirt?” Nico quipped.
Logan let out a short laugh. “I said I don't want you to get sentimental over trash”.
Nico raised an eyebrow. “You said those movies are good!”.
Logan huffed. “Yeah, because they are. But, you said they're dumb and even though you're wrong, that means it's not good enough!” he argued.
Nico leaned the side of his head against his.
“I'll think of something” Logan added.
“Don't think too hard” Nico warned. He could almost hear Logan ignoring his advice through his temple. He cupped Logan’s cheek and turned his lips onto his own. The bittersweet taste of cigarettes still lingered on his breath.
Logan broke away first. Based on his serious expression, Nico’s distraction hadn’t worked. “You don’t mind the taste?” he asked, no hint of teasing.
Crap. He shrugged, trying to look sly. “Never licked an ashtray before? It's not that bad”.
Logan narrowed his eyes, flames twinkling. “Is that a dare?”.
Right… Should have seen that coming. “I dare you not to…” Nico groaned.
A smirk crept over Logan’s lips. He sighed it away, looking over his shoulder at the trees behind them. “I think I'm going to try to quit smoking again” he muttered, maybe more to himself than Nico.
They turned their faces to look at each other.
Nico smiled. “Good for-!”.
He cut himself off as Logan took out yet another cigarette. “Last one…” he promised with a guilty smile, putting his hands up.
Nico threw the least impressed look he could muster at him.
“I know, I know… But, I'm really stressed out”. Logan clenched the cigarette between his teeth and searched his pocket for a lighter.
Nico got up close, giving him a stern look. He put his fingers around the cigarette and firmly pulled it out of his mouth. Logan frowned. He opened his mouth to complain when Nico shut him up with a kiss. He listened as the annoyed groan Logan let out changed tune. He loved that he could make him do that.
A smug smile spread on his lips as he pulled away. “There's other distractions than smoking” he said with feigned annoyance.
Logan’s eyes glowed threateningly. “Yeah? You wanna be my next habit?” he asked, slowly moving closer.
Nico backed up as he did, all the way until he hit the window.
Logan closed in even further and rested his forehead against his. “Think you can handle it?” he dared him, narrowing his eyes in a threatening, deep stare.
He ran his hands down Nico’s waist. The fire burned hot, quickly spreading all over. Nico let out a huff, not managing to sound unimpressed at all.
Logan pushed his knee between Nico's, gripped his upper legs dangerously high, and hoisted him up on the window sill. Nico almost gasped as his back pressed against the window. He was about to scold him when Logan made quick use of the opening in his defense.
Fuck.
Nico shoved his hands against Logan's chest to get him to slow down a little. His arms shuddered as he felt Logan slowly run his tongue between his teeth. He let his elbows fold, slowly allowing Logan even closer. His hand slid up Logan’s chest and traced his collarbone absentmindedly. He ran his other past his waist, gripping onto his back.
Yeah… Alright... I think I can handle it…
Nico winced as someone tapped on the window, hard and impatiently. They broke apart. Logan scowled at whoever was behind the window. It was the ‘Gwen’ scowl. Nico didn't dare turn to look to make sure.
Logan grinned and flipped her off. He immediately went back to his attack on Nico's mouth, even more aggressively than before. Probably trying to put on a show.
Nico prepared himself to protest. He found it increasingly hard to mind when Logan moved down, biting his neck.
No! Focus! He scolded himself, gritting his teeth. He was going to protest so hard! His body ignored him, pulling Logan against him as close as he could. Fine… He’d protest later… Promise… He barely even registered the angry sound of curtains being ripped shut. Sorry, Gwen.
Over the course of a few hours Gwen slowly forgave them. Well, half of them. She glared at the handprint on her otherwise pristine window, then at Logan. Nico smiled apologetically at her from the other side of the table, dousing the large blue flames just a little.
A very loud bang against wood instantly pulled all eyes towards the door. Mark quickly wiped the coffee off of his face and got up.
Gwen was faster. Without hesitation, she opened the door just far enough to investigate, carefully peering around it. Her eyes went wide, her mouth in a silent gasp. She almost pulled the door back shut, then opened it further and pulled something out of it with a hard crack.
She slowly revealed an arrow, with two clearly dead doves around it. The dark, dripping blood stain between their chests stood out in grotesque contrast to the rest of their pure white coats. The arrow had joined them together in death, right through their tiny hearts. She held them up by both ends of the arrow with a slight tremble in her fingers, seemingly hoping anyone could explain the meaning behind the meaningless violence.
For what could have been minutes, nobody made a sound. Logan pointed at one of the lifeless little talons. Right above it was a small, tightly wrapped scroll.
Gwen quickly laid the doves down on the counter and untied it with surgical precision. “It says ‘To the happy couple’... Mark, I think it’s for you…?” she relayed, tense and hesitant.
Mark didn’t move at first, not until Gwen practically forced the small scroll into his hand. He didn’t make a sound as he unrolled it and read it, then read it again. “This… I have no clue what this is about… Eris…?!” he mumbled in exasperation.
“That’s for us…” Nico said before the realization even fully dawned on him. He held out his hand. The papyrus felt coarse in the palm of his hand, ancient. The words looked carefully written, dark red ink… Or…? He decided not to dwell on that.
My favourite ill fated lovers,
First and foremost, I would like to congratulate you from the very deepest bottom of my Heart.
If only that was my reason for reaching out to you. Regretfully, no. That cannot be the case. It has come to my attention that our much beloved lady decided to have mercy on you. How very typical of her. How very convenient. Bowing out right before having to kneel down. No. I will not accept that. You see, if I were to simply let you be after all of this, that would send the wrong message. I have a right to satisfaction and Demand you provide. However, I am not nearly as cowardly as our angelfaced succubus. Despite what you might believe, I am not nearly as ruthless either. As proof of my faith in you, I will allow you ample time to come present yourself to me. Precisely two months. Not a single day more. I trust you know where to find me. Do not make me come find you.
I am truly overjoyed to share this special moment with you soon.
Eris
Logan let out a quiet huff over his shoulder. “Guess we’re not as lucky as we hoped…”.
Of course they weren’t, when had they ever? Nico sucked in his lips. He let Gwen take the thinly veiled deaththreat from him.
She read it wordlessly. Her face paled a shade when she got to the end. She looked up, eyes darting to each of them, and opened her mouth. She closed it back up, almost as firmly as she did the scroll.
They all looked on as she threw it onto the counter, next to the doves. Anger gave way for tenderness as she picked them up. She walked out the door and stared at the flowerbed next to the porch.
Nico hurried after her, catching on to her plan. He gestured for her to leave it when she reached for the soil, using his other hand to will a small crevice. The ground sunk down under his palm, nowhere near Hades, two feet was more than enough.
Determined to finally free the poor creatures from their leading role in the macabre display, Gwen quietly broke off the arrow head and slid the doves off onto her lap. One next to the other, she carefully placed them in the small, freshly dug grave. She slowly draped the surrounding dirt over them, tucking them into their final resting place.
She took the remains of the arrow back inside. Nico watched her break them into small chunks and dump them into the trashcan with quick, disdainful flicks of her hand
Everyone had stayed silent after the uninvited funeral. Both Mark and Gwen opted to start their mourning period elsewhere, giving them some privacy to deal with the sudden bereavement. Uncharacteristically, neither Nico nor Logan had said a word since either.
Nico looked across the table, for any signs that anything was wrong. He couldn’t find any in Logan’s content smile. Nor in his hands, perfectly still. He narrowed his eyes and clicked his tongue in frustration. That dumbass… Everything was wrong! “How can you be so calm about this?!” he hissed. “I come back and the day after we’re already in deep shit again!”. Aren’t you angry?! Sorry you let me back in…?
“Calm down, Spooky!” Logan groaned through his grin. “Course it sucks! But, hey. At least you did come back, right? We’ll figure it out together. And it’s not like it’s new shit. She even gave us more time than we had”. His tone was disturbingly reassuring. “Besides, it’s not even the worst ‘summons’ we got this week, right?” he joked. He cocked his head at Nico’s confused blinks. “You know…? The invitation for the reunion…? For all surviving campers…?”.
Nico cocked his head the opposite way. “The reunion-?” he started, then shook his head. “Wait, for all ‘surviving’ campers?! That’s what it says?!”.
Logan laughed. “I mean, yeah. Pretty much”. He reached behind him and pulled a paper from Gwen’s corkboard. “I should have guessed you’d missed it… The goat delivering them was shitfaced drunk. No way it could’ve tracked you down”.
Nico looked at the frumpled piece of paper when Logan shoved it in his hand. A large red wine stain bled out over half the text, making it almost unreadable. He held it a bit closer.
Dear insert name,
It is I, Dionysus,
God of wine, ecstasy and madness, in other words, fun!
You're welcome.
It is your honor to be informed by me of the upcoming reunion for all former campers of Camp Half Blood.
Those still alive, that is.
To be honest, it might just be four or five of you.
Chiron is not good at his job.
Be sure to remind him of this fact at the party.
It's going to be sick bro!
Be there, or be square!
The mighty Mr. D
Nico looked at the date. Tomorrow's date… “No fucking way…” he sighed.
“Yeah, that’s what I figured” Logan chuckled. He pulled out his phone. “I should let Yan know, though. She asked about you…”.
Yan… Nico gently pushed his phone down, stopping him from typing. “I’ll go…” he muttered. “Just for a little while!” he made clear when he saw the size of Logan’s grin grow dangerously fast.
He had to go, he owed it to Yan. With all the new old developments, this might be the last chance he’d get to see her. It had been ages since last time. A lot had happened these past months… He swallowed dryly.