This is a Heroes of Olympus fanfic. If you haven't read the Mark of Athena yet, please don't read. There are spoilers in here. Also, most of the story is made up. Anything that has to do with the characters are just headcanons or ideas that I thought up while writing. I do not own any of the characters. They all belong to Rick Riordan.
Possible LeoxNico fluff/bromance.
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I usually don't get much sleep, but today was different. I actually slept through the night without having nightmares. I turned my head to look at my window. It was misty from the morning fog. I laid in bed a little more before deciding to take a walk around the ship. Walking helped me think. Working on engines; even better. Besides, I wanted to make sure Festus was getting the right coordinates. I knew he did, but I was curious about our new passenger. Nico seemed a little shady to me. Not because darkness seemed to love his company, but the fact he knew about both camps and kept it to himself. But if Hazel, Percy, and Annabeth trusted him, I thought I might give the guy a chance before saying more. I changed into comfortable clothes, remembering to put on my handy dandy tool belt of awesomeness. There was no use in combing my hair because it was always a mess, but I nervously ran my hand through my hair. I stared at my reflection as I fixed my shirt and spenders. It seemed like forever. The image stared back with distaste. Sighing, I grabbed my boots and slipped them on my feet. I thought about Percy and Annabeth. I thought about how they fell together and that I could've done something, but I couldn't. A guilty pang struck my chest hard. I closed my eyes and focused on tying the laces of my boots right. I undid them and tied them again until I felt better.
As I walked down the hall, I tapped one of the straps of my tool belt and pulled out a watch. "5 am." I mumbled then slipped the watch on my wrist. I walked around the ship, making sure that everything was in its place. Just as I reached the door of the engine room, I felt someone tap my shoulder. I didn't want to face whoever it was, so shrugged the hand off and walked into engine room, closing the door behind me. It was probably Hazel or Piper trying to cheer me up. There was no one who could convince me that it wasn't my fault. I locked the door shut and walked over to my planning table, in the corner of the room. Blueprints of the Argo2 and modifications of the spheres I obtained sat on the table, luring me in. I studied my notes a bit more before I heard the lock of the door click open. I cringed. "Look, I don't want to talk to anyone right now. Please leave me alone. I'm bu-" I said turning around to see the very person I suspected staring at me with cold, dark eyes. "Nico..." I muttered. I couldn't tell if he was mad or just plain tired. The circles under his eyes were a deeper shade than usual. I often wondered if he ever slept. Of course he had to. Everyone does, I thought. He said nothing and walked in. He closed the door shut and locked it. I'm glad someone got a hint I didn't want to be disturbed, yet he was probably here to ask me questions. I turned back and tried to ignore him. He took a seat adjacent to me and stared at me. I occasionally looked up to see his stern face trying to read my thoughts. Finally, I sighed and rested my chin on my hand. "Can I help you, Mr. di Angelo?" I asked.
He stared at me hard. "Tell me; why you're avoiding us, Leo?"
"You know the answer to that." I argued.
"Do I?"
I sucked my teeth and looked down to my notes. "Look, man, I've had enough of talking about this. If you thinking letting my feelings out will help me, you're wrong. How about you just leave me alone and tell the rest of the crew that I'm fine. I don't...need your pity."
Nico scoffed. "Pity. Is that what you think I'm doing? Giving you pity? Poor Leo?" He leaned forward and rested an elbow on the table. "This crew needs their captain, but their captain is too busy sulking over something he didn't do. There's no use in crying over spilled milk, Leo. What was done, was done. They're gone, but not for long. Now, Annabeth and Percy are counting on you, on me, and the rest of ship."
