Leo Valdez- Learning to Live

Chapter 23

Don't mind me, just blatantly failing to update this within a reasonable time. :)

Enjoy!

Frank walked back toward the Ares cabin as slowly as possible.

It made sense, sticking him in with the children of Ares. They were his siblings, in a sense. But they were so... different. Far more aggressive. He had seen his fair share of battles, so he wasn't scared of them, not as he would have been a few years prior, but he definitely didn't enjoy their company, either. Seriously, who planted live mines outside of their cabin?

Frank missed New Rome. He missed the familiarity of it, he missed his friends, and he missed order. He missed leading the legion with Reyna. He knew, of course, that she could handle it by herself, especially in this time of relative peace, but that didn't mean she should have to.

Frank wanted to go home.

But he couldn't. Not with Leo like this, not as things were. He and Leo had just started mending their friendship, he couldn't leave now. 

Frank sighed, and continued walking toward that dreaded cabin.

"Hey! Wait up!"

Frank turned, grateful for any excuse to slow his trip further. But who wouldn't be in their cabin by now? It was almost lights out. 

The person jogged to catch up to him, and Frank was surprised to see none other than Nico.

"Oh," he said. "Hey, Nico. What's going on?"

Nico gave him a small, awkward wave. "I could ask you the same thing," he said. "Shouldn't you be back in your cabin?"

"I'm getting there," Frank said sheepishly. 

Nico chuckled. "Ha. I don't blame you for delaying a bit. The Ares kids are a piece of work."

"You're telling me," Frank grumbled. "They're so competitive about everything, it's so stupid!"

Nico snorted. "Yeah. Trust me, I know."

"Yeah."

They fell into an awkward silence. Frank looked down at his feet. He liked Nico. He was a good guy. But neither of them were what you'd call a conversationalist. 

"Well, it really is getting late, so I'd better–"

"Wait!" Nico interrupted suddenly. "I actually– I actually had a question."

"Sure, ask me anything," Frank said, wondering what Nico could possibly need to ask him, especially at this time of night.

"Could I– I mean, do you think that maybe– can I have a hug?" Nico said, forcing the words out in a rush.

Oh. Frank blinked at Nico in surprise. Nico, for his part, had his shoulders practically hunched up to his ears in embarrassment. 

"Uh... sure," Frank said. He tentatively opened up his arms. Nico narrowed his eyes at him warily, but cautiously went in for a hug. He squeezed his arms around Frank for two quick seconds before quickly pulling back, his face burning with embarrassment. 

"Awesome, thanks," he muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets and avoiding eye contact.

"Anytime," Frank said automatically, still in shock from the situation.

"Yeah, well, I should go," Nico said, already on the move.

"We're walking in the same direction," Frank reminded him.

"Well, walk then," Nico said shortly, hunching over on himself even further.

The two walked in silence for a few minutes as Frank pondered over the unusual events that had just occurred. He couldn't help but wonder what would cause Nico to make such a request, especially since he clearly didn't enjoy it.