Terms and Conditions (valdangelo)

Difference

Despite being the same age as Nico, Leo was held back a year and ended up in the same grade as Hazel, friendship blossomed.

I left the first half as was, because 'Results May Vary' has Nico's POV of the same scene; so now you can play spot the difference ;)

It's late in the afternoon, Leo is working on Thalia's motorbike for a much lower price than normal because Jason pulled a favor on him; and also because he's low-key terrified of her, but in a different way to how he's terrified of Reyna. He feels more than he sees Nico there with him, somehow attuned to the other's presence, most likely due to how silent the Italian generally is; it isn't until he moves to the next part that he realizes this is a dream because no other does the chromed metal lack his reflection, he can't seem to name it.

"He's overwhelming"

There's something to be said about Leo here, because he creates the illusion of Nico's voice with perfect accuracy; even if this is also a memory, because Leo knows what happened before and what'll happen next.

"Or maybe it's me"

"What, you're not 'whelming' enough?"

It's his voice, but he isn't the one speaking, as he's now seeing this from a third person point of view, which is odd; but it's a dream, so he doesn't question it. Dream Nico doesn't call him out on the joke, because Leo realizes it wasn't one, not really; because at some point Leo stopped pretending around Nico, but he can't remember what caused that.

"Generally you're more neutral in this"

Leo watches dream him shrug with his entire body, hands never abandoning their task.

"I'm just honest, and I really believe this one's on him"

Dreams are weird because he can see the way Nico's face softens as his shoulders lose tension, despite the fact that he couldn't have seen that back when it happened.

"Right"

Dream Leo finally stops what he's doing turning to look at dream Nico with a resolute expression.

"You can home with me if you need more time, but I have to close soon"

And dream Nico nods as expected, only now Leo gets to see how relieved he looks at his words. He wakes up with a difficult feeling in his throat to see Nico at his side.

The difference between this Nico and the one from his memory-dream is jarring, in the way that it makes Leo realize how bad the Italian had been back then. He remembers Will had tried to get Nico healthier, and to anyone who didn't know better he succeeded, but Leo did know better, and despite the gained weight and more fitting tan, there had been something wrong; a sort of heaviness to Nico.

Leo had felt an odd combination of relief and something akin to longing, when Nico started visiting the shop less and less, until the whole fake relationship thing happened, and now here they were.

-.-. --- -. - . -..- - / -.-. .... .- -. --. . ... / - .... .. -. --. ...

Persephone couldn't help but compare Leo to Will now, though she was perhaps a bit biased about it; after all, she had always thought Will and Nico's relationship wouldn't last. She had to admit though, that they did last longer than expected; but the point still stood.

It wasn't that she disliked Will, he seemed like a good boy, with an artistic soul, he'd even been charming sometimes, and clearly very into Nico; and she was beyond grateful for his help getting Nico healthy again. But she got this bad feeling every time she saw him interacting with her boy, and now, she could finally put a name to it.

Because the way Nico looked now spoke volumes, he clearly trusted Leo, enough that he nearly didn't hesitate to lean closer, and there was that word. It was a little worrying, knowing what the problem really was, because it raised a whole line of possibilities she would rather not think about; but it made all the sense in the world, Persephone hadn't trusted Will, not one bit, because Nico hadn't either.

She was beyond glad, that Nico had managed to get himself away from that, even if it meant not seeing him for nearly two years; and she was glad there had been someone there for him. She could see it in the way Leo looked at Nico, the kind of look she'd seen on Pyra and Styx, when they broke the news of their engagement, and on her own husband.

And when Leo looked away, it was Nico's turn, and Persephone realized a few things; the trust they had on the other went both ways, the ease with which they fell into place was carefully outlined, and despite seeming so sure of their relationship, they had yet to talk about how much they really felt. To her, it was obvious that they felt something much stronger than simple attraction; but it wasn't her place to hurry things up, just like it hadn't been her place to meddle before.

She did hope things would work out for them, because it was clear they cared plenty for each other, and she would hate to see that break.