𝕱𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖑𝖞 𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖊 - a Leo Valdez slowburn

Chapter twelve

[Making coffee with Nico vlog]

" "

Nico arrived about twenty minutes after Annabeth called him. 

He'd showed up with a coffee in his hands in the darkest corner of the room (Aiden had made sure to close the curtains to get less light), wearing his iconic skull T-shirt, and heavy bags under his eyes. 

Aiden swore Nico could've been Leah's little brother. 

"So, what am I doing here?" he asked Aiden, gesturing to the bed with Leah on it. "She seems like she's fine." Aiden almost had to laugh. Leah definitely did not look fine. Her eye bags had somehow gotten worse over the timespan of half an hour, and her distressed murmurs definitely did not reassure him. Blood trickled down from a cut on her forehead. 

He shot Nico a pointed glare. "Well, she's on the verge of death. Airmed should come back in like, an hour, after she's collected her necessary herbs, but I'll be travelling to the river Drowes." He stopped to take a breath. "And," he continued, "I can't have either Airmed breaking her promise or anyone else attacking her while I'm gone, so you're here to-" 

"Babysit?" Nico raised an eyebrow, cutting Aiden off. The son of Nemain huffed and crossed his arms, annoyed that he hadn't been able to finish his sentence, but perked up when he remembered. "Oh!" he said a bit too enthusiastically, a stark contrast to what his mood had been like just a minute ago. "What're your pronouns?" The little question reminded him of Leah. Then before Nico could answer, Aiden pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. As he gave it to Nico, the other demigod answered. "Uh-he/him, thanks." He stopped, then added (purely out of politeness) while he unfolded the paper, "Yours?" 

Aiden chuckled a bit, seeing the confusion in Nico's eyes. He nodded towards the paper. "That's just a list of information you'll need. Leah and I put it together a few days ago. Hope you can read my handwriting." He laughed nervously, scratching his neck. "Oh, and he/him or they/them, please." Nico scanned over the list of necessities; he had no doubt he'd be able to read the neat penmanship, although some things just seemed straight up weird to have in a hotel room. 

"Why does it say that the throwing knives are in the top left cabinet?" he asked skeptically, squinting to see if he'd misread it. Although he was quite sure that he'd read it correctly. All he got was a shrug from Aiden. "It's nothing, really. Just a few things we packed and we had left, for like, self-defense. Just try them out, pick whatever you want." He put on his coat hurriedly, heading to the room's door, one of the keys jangling from his finger. "And don't worry! I'll be back before sunset!" 

And before Nico could protest, he was alone in the room with a half-dead girl and a coffee that had grown cold. At least he could make a new one. 

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Leah laughed hysterically, the one dagger that she'd kept at her side dripping with blood. Her clothes were coated with a golden layer of dust. Around her were the remains of monsters; trophies for her to take home, if she survived. She could only guess how bewildered Aiden would be to see them, but she wasn't quite sure whether the remainders of the fight would be transported out of the Dream, or if they'd just stay in this hellhole. 

She raised her arms menacingly, daring Khione to step forward. "I killed your lackeys, goddess!" she practically screamed with glee. "You think I can't take you on? I'll pulverize you." A maniacal grin had appeared on her face.