#Calypso and Leo being friends could have been really cool and interesting

[demigod-shenanigans]

I will never understand the writing choice that was the weird mean 180 Calypso does from pjo to HoO. Also we’re pretending Calypso is in fact sixteen because I absolutely cannot deal with the implications of their canon age difference. But.

The thing is I think some of the ideas Rick had for Calypso’s character in ToA were genuinely interesting. I liked her having conflicting feelings about leaving the island and losing her immortality and most of her powers in the process. That makes sense! (And also the “feeling conflicted about losing immortality”-aspect is one joining the Hunters could resolve.) But the execution of that and the way she takes it out on Leo and how that’s never said to be a bad thing is really frustrating. Her having valid conflicting feelings doesn’t give her the right to make Leo feel like shit and she absolutely should have been called out on that. The way a lot of the problems in their relationship were explicitly connected to Calypso not being able to deal with Leo’s nd traits (specifically her disliking his fixation on machines and getting frustrated with the way he communicates) and how that was handled not by her making more of an effort to understand him but by making it seem like every issue in their relationship was in fact Leo’s fault and he had to completely change as a person to stay in that relationship is just. Extremely not okay on a lot of levels imo.

The way it’s portrayed is also absolutely not helped by the fact that Apollo, who is narrating, doesn’t really care about Leo, Calypso or their relationship that much. He’s just kind of like “eh, they’re arguing, this happens a lot for reasons that I don’t care to find out more about, moving on to thinking about all of my problems”. Iirc the conversation where Leo and Calypso sort of make up and decide to stay at the Waystation together doesn’t even happen on screen. This off-screen “resolution” is then followed directly by Leo leaving Calypso to go help his friends, which—while completely understandable—feeds directly into Calypso always being left behind, but that is also not properly addressed.

Their relationship had a whole host of problems and was just not built to last. They’re both traumatized teenagers but their traumas are so at odds with each other that they end up making things worse for each other. All their issues come together to make an explosive mix that was bound to blow up in their faces sooner rather than later.

Calypso and Leo are actually sort of fascinating to me in a toxic wreck kind of way. The girl who no one ever stays for and the boy who has been running away for his entire life. The girl cursed to fall in love with every person who lands on her island and the boy who chronically only ever falls in love with people who are completely unattainable.

They’re both so desperate to finally be loved and for it to be different this time that they’re ignoring all the ways in which they just don’t fit. They want this to work, but even when they’re trying to be gentle with each other all they can do is press down on each other’s bruises.

Calypso wants to love Leo by showing emotional sincerity and asking him to do the same thing, but emotional sincerity is something Leo has always struggled with, and he can’t give her that. That’s just not who he is. Leo isn’t big on words but he is big on gestures and showing that he cares in other ways, which isn’t a thing Calypso really does or knows what to do with. They’re both trying to show they care, but in a way that the other person doesn’t really understand or want and just hurt themselves and each other in the process.

They cannot break the pattern with each other because them meeting and “falling in love” is just a repeat of how they always act. Calypso doesn’t realize it at the time, but she only falls for Leo because he lands on her island and her usual curse gets her again. And Leo may come back for her, but he only does that because he’s running away! He’s running away from the friends that love him because he’s so afraid of not fitting in and not being wanted by them (and not being wanted by Jason) that the pipe dream of a girl on an island no one has ever managed to return to seems far more reasonable and far less scary.

Leo needed to realize he is loved and deserves that love before entering any kind of romantic relationship (there’s a reason that him learning to see himself as a person worth loving is such a huge part of my Orpheus Eurydice fic). Just throwing a girlfriend at the problem, especially one who then proceeds to trample all over his coping mechanisms, is sure as hell not going to resolve it.

The lesson here should have been “you cannot do the same thing over and over expecting different results”

I’m also genuinely not sure why Rick doesn’t just commit to breaking them up. They’re on a break anyway and the last thing we got was a blog post of Calypso bailing on seeing Leo for Thanksgiving at the last second. Like, at this point just commit to breaking them up, this is just miserable to witness. God.

As much as I dislike caleo, calypso herself is not an inherently bad character (only talking about pjo, if we're talking about the accurate calypso from Greek myths then I'm tying up my hair and putting my hands up she's awful there)

but the thing is that TOA caleo ruined any development that she could have had

You had a boy who never felt loved and a girl who always fell in love with people that couldn't stay and threw them together? It's a good ship in concept

but then you get to the plot holes and stuff

like calypso being 6000+ years old and Leo being 16

and calypso being insanely rude and demeaning to Leo throughout TOA

it's just not a good ship and I'm sorry because it could've been cute it really could've but it's not

i really really hope that rick realizes that caleo isn't a good or healthy relationship bc it would be better for both calypso and Leo to break up

imagine calypso, someone who has been cursed to never find true love (JUST LIKE REYNA!) finally getting in the mindset that she doesn't need a guy to be happy that she can live her own life without relying on romance

imagine calypso joining the hunters of artemis. would that not be the most perfect thing for her character?

and Leo, who has never found someone who stays with him and loves him for who he is, going on a mission (similar to Orpheus and Eurydice) and bringing Jason back to life and them living together

it's my silly valgrace obsessed brain but seriously??? THIS WOULD BE SO GOOD

And the fanfic writers that I know have written "sequels" like this and did it so perfectly prove that this COULD be done

please Rick I am begging you make my tragic gays happen PLEASEEE

[deithe]

leo should have been canonly gay because;

his "arc" (if you even want to call it that) revolves around him not feeling like he can ever truly be apart of something and that he's constantly going to be an outsider, while also looking for validation that he can be more than what he is through flirting with women who are completely untouchable, including goddesses and eternal maidens who would never actually show interest in him. basically he's trying to overcompensate his own percived 'failings' by flirting with girls who cannot and will not reciprocate those feelings. he's trying to establish that he can be like every other cool guy, strong and brooding and mysterious while he knows internally that he's kind of none of those things.

leo is someone who's desperately trying to put up an image that he can deal with the weirdness of his own life and that he's unaffected, he's constantly living behind a mask of his own creation because he feels completely inadequate compared to most people, even before he meets literal gods and heroes. leo's story of feeling like the odd one out for his entire life, of feeling completely different and strange and unlike other kids is a pretty lgbt story. his own feelings of inferiority are there because 1) he feels like he failed his mom when gaia attacked and 2) he is unable to fit into the mold he's expected to as a hero, or a guy, or a demigod. he wants that percieved normality and/or stability he sees in the relationships that surround him on his quests but he can't really get that because he's forcing himself into a mold that will not fit and his arc should have culminated in him figuring out that it's okay if he doesn't fit into that mold. of course that's not what really pans out post-MOA, with what could have been an excellent arc about leo not trying to force himself into a relationship because he misses the feeling of being wanted, which came about due to his constant moving around in the foster system and that it's okay if you're not like every other kid your age, instead turned into leo actually just getting with an immortal titaness for absolutely fuck all reason. calypso's character is reduced to a love interest and a reason for leo to make an oath that the prophecy needed, despite the fact that leo could have made an oath due to anything or anyone at any point in hoh, like maybe an oath to keep his friends safe, or maybe a chance to bring nemisis back and have leo make an oath to bring justice to his mom! literally anything would have been better! calypso could have still made an appearance in hoh as a minor character who helped the argo crew at some point while living free, showing that the gods did keep their oaths at the end of tlo instead of some hand-wavy bull as to why calypso was still on the island and needed some 15 year olds help to get off it.

of course, rr in all his infinite wisdom and frankly incredibly racist writing throughout all of the pjo/hoo series, just made leo into a pretty one dimensional character during and post-MOA. any depth leo had jumped out the window to it's death post tlh because rr forgot how to write good characters post the og pjo series. and it's disappointing to see what leo was in tlh and what he would eventually be written into. leo was a secretive, incredibly smart but impulsive demigod who struggled with his own identity and past, who had interesting powers he wanted nothing to do with and eventually all that character went nowhere.

[shippy-pjo-shipper]

what are some of your favourite ships and why?

Oh thanks for the ask! I wanted to wait to see if my top had changed since this ask, but I don't think it really has actually (weird, my tops usually don't remain the same for more than a week😂). But I feel like talking about my faves so let's see for those ten and one or two others 😁 :

Perachel : Do I...need to develop ? It's Perachel. Come on, we're in 2021, every person with a little common sense recognizes how good they are for each other. They help each other through their personal problems, they can confide in each other, the have fun together, trust the other with their life and the fate of the world! They have such a good chemistry! (Let's be honest, without Annabeth in the picture, Rick would have put them together, to a point where it's "almost" ooc to not have done it).

Thaloe : Ennemis to lovers but with two of the most badass girls there ever was ? Yes!! I wanted more of them, I needed more of them!!

Percalypso : To quote myself : "Percalypso has at the same time the most interesting/mature/morally ambiguous potential and most adorable and fluffy potential for an au/fic" I just have so many ideas coming into my head at the same time when I think about them. They're a neverending source of inspiration.

Jeyna : most powerful couple ever, that's why Rick didn't make them canon, he was scared. But in all honesty, I'm kinda glad he didn't, this way Jeyna will forever belong to its shippers who make SUCH good works with them. Rick could never reach the level of perfection of some jeyna fics I read.

Ethalypso : The one that could stay. I wouldn't have mind a little epilogue to TLO about Ethan reaching Ogygia's beach... Him finding peace, Calypso finding someone who needs her as much as she needs him, both sharing the same hatred for the gods but healing together! Just thinking about them brings me inner peace.

Perzoe : Just...read Altered Destinies. Trust me, it's one of the best things ever made.

Ethachel : Again, they both deserve the other. Someone who sees the world with a clear and different sight, able to open new horizons to them. I love imagining them leading CHB after the departure of the Seven, trying to hold the camp together. A human and a traitor, two people who naturally feel excluded from those around them but who fight for them nonetheless. (Here's my HCs for them and their meeting, pretty old but I like them ❤)

Preyna : The ship that made of me a multi-shipper! It was reading about an AU where Percy forgot Annabeth and fell in love with Reyna which made me think "hey, that's interesting! I want to read more of that!" (Then I discovered that people had insulted this AU's author for ruining percabeth, as if a fanfic could change your viewing of the main canon pairing but ANYWAY). Reyna would bring stability to Percy while he would bring light and support to her, being the first person to ever make of her his number one priority.

Litpollo : It has a more mature vibe to it. I don't know. They both deserve happiness and have a similar experience with their fathers and the emperors they could bond other by healing together. Lityerses is a traumatized and exploited child and having him going with Apollo and Meg and trying to make amend by saving the world with them would have been so cool! (I mean...Lityerses is Meg's half brother...come on that would have been the funniest thing ever!)

Valdangelo : My boys who never interacted and should have because it was just so EVIDENT that they had to be friends but noooo Rick had to let Nico suffer in his own corner to make the ending more "satisfying" even if it means making it unrealistic and (a little) hurtful! They could have brought so much to each other. And yes I do believe Nico would love Leo from the get go, he just wouldn't admit it because he'd be jealous of the easiness with which he goes through life and its troubles even if he would see the pain he is trying to hide.

Percethan : Give it a little more development and they could have been the perfect ennemis to friends to lovers ! I love them both and I can see how good they could be to each other, especially on their view on the world and how it would help them grow up and be more at ease with themselves! (and...don't mind me...just giving the link to a post where I talk about my AU for them...it took me time!)

Racheleo : ...Could a funnier couple ever exist !?!? No, let me rephrase it : does a better couple about two people hiding their pain, insecurities and traumas behind humor and selflessness exist ?!?! Of course not ! Rachel and Leo aren't really similar, but I can see them work so easily! Rachel needs someone goofy to help her carry her burden but who always knows how to find the words to help in serious situations! Leo needs someone who knows where to put limits to fun and how to read him, so he can let his walls fall. I love them (how many times have I written that in this post again ? Probably not enough. I love them!)

That's it! I'm letting you go, the ranting is over ^^ Thanks for the ask!

[dyklopces]

*pays u attention* hiiii I only go here(here being pjo) for the valzhang . Feel free 2 use this ask as a hc dump :}

lee i owe you my first born

it doesn't take leo long to say he's in love . if he makes eye contact with someone and then they smile at him ?? game over . he tells everyone he knows that he's found The One

this being said . when he sees Frank for the first time . he doesn't feel any romantic attraction

mostly cause Frank thinks he's annoying and talks 2 much . also yknow Fire Powers and franks life force being dependent on a piece of firewood

frank is seemingly the exact opposite . he falls in like a lot slower (demi Frank rights) so when he meets Leo his first thought is "why is this tiny person screaming "

don't get me wrong . Leo thinks frank is Beautiful but like , not anything to ride home about . so what if he can nail a bullseye from 100 yards and turn into a lion . Leo doesn't think he's cool or scientifically interesting or kind of funny in that weird dry way grandmas are at all, shut up

I cant remember the books plots exactly cause i haven't read them in years but like , over time as they almost die together for the millionth time , they start to trust each other instinctually. they talk to each other now , and joke around

side note, when leo makes frank laugh for the first time , he has to almost immediately run away to piper to talk thru how he APPARENTLY has a crush !! how . when did this happen . piper why are u laughing

(she tells him that she's the daughter of love and she knew from the start and leo almost lights her room completely on fire from how embarrassed he gets )

the more leo talks it thru the more he's like. oh he thinks im annoying huh . im in way too deep now ! shit !!! he hates me and im in love with him !!!!!! why do the gods hate me piper . im too sexy for this help

she comforts him cause like , she knows frank genuinely doesn't like him rn . she has Vibes but romantically speaking she knows that atm it's one sided

frank , having been Abandoned , talks 2 Hazel for a bit (they are best friends ) and is like . is this what having friends My Age is ? laughing and leaving and nearly dying ?? huh . wild.

leo decides to be himself about the whole situation and Ignore It . it is fine he is fine he's just in love with someone who hates him . he is Okay and Stable and Normal and Not Upset About Anything , Hazel , Why Do You Keep Asking .

this goes on for a few weeks and franks confused cause whenever he makes a joke leo laughs really hard and then says he has "Very important and Shipley duties to attend to . not crashing and such . bye"

and then . Leo gets sucked up or whatever and is on calypsos island for a week .

in my world they're found family and LOVE EACH OTHER , thank you very much , so they all are desperately searching for him everywhere they can think, and Jason says "he's nowhere .. " cause Jason is a repressed emo and percys like hm . Well

frank, being Distinctly upset, immediately sees when percy puts the pieces together, demands he explains . so he does , and as upset as everyone is, they decide to try and help stop the end of the world or whatever.

leo has been having a Week on calypso Island . no one's looking for him, the only human company he has hates his fucjking guts , he has no way out . its literally His Personal Hell and he spends it damning every god he can think of cause like . what are they gonna do . put him on an island where he's functionally alone and can never get off and none of his friends even care ?

as is in canon, he and calypso reluctantly bond over lost loves and dead moms or whatever I can't remember .

eventually, he tells her about Frank, and how Frank could never like him like that, let alone love him.

calypso laughs in his face .

"first of all, I bet 100 drachmas he's in love with you too . second of all . so what . I would kill to have friends like that."

this time, when he promises to find a way off the island for her, she says "Good luck with your boy, boy. May the gods be on your side"

when leo shows back up on argo II everyone's like :-D !!!! LEO !!!!!!! and piper has to Hold frank back from tackling leo in excitement . they just hug rly hard :-) (BTW at this point she knows it's requited and if she weren't so thankful leo was back safe she'd pull his ear and call him stupid)

in the final battle , yes I am skipping ahead my hands hurt , Frank gives leo his firewood and says "don't be stupid, leo . people love you . " Which is as good as a confession you're gonna get before you almost certainly die

when leo Does die, frank goes fucking insane .

he doesn't leave his cabin at the roman camp for a week and when he does, he spends all his time at the archery range . he doesn't talk to anyone but Hazel.

he and annabeth have a conversation about losing someone before you can say you love them , but he barely responds cause like . percy came back . Leo won't.

about a month passes like this , and eventually he goes to chb to pray to hades / Pluto whatever who cares, ans be like . treat him well.

leo then shows up out of the sky, on a Dragon, carrying a Random Girl who immediately hugs leo, punches percy on the arm then hugs him too, and frank faints like the KING he is

when he wakes up in the infirmary, leo is at his bedside, still w the random girl, holding a cup of nectar . he hands it to frank and starts rambling nervously, explaining where he was for the past month and apologising

frank just . grabs his hand . says "I told you to not be stupid."

leo then reaches into his belt and pulls out the firewood

they confess and kiss :-)

[thebigqueer]

I'll Come Back to You - Valgrace

hologram_3: Honest

Read on AO3

[image of LEO VALDEZ grinning]

guess where i am! [LEO VALDEZ gestures to the scene around him; he is in an empty room of BUNKER 9] i'm back at camp!

it's been a while since i've last made one of these. i guess things have just been a little intense, what with all the monsters and stuff. plus... well, me and calypso haven't been doing so great.

[heavy sigh] i mean, i don't even like her that much. i'm forcing myself into this just so i don't feel alone. our fights shouldn't hurt, but they do. i hate that we're fighting, even if i'm not that interested in her.

it just feels like maybe we're pulling apart. and i don't really want that. i don't love her the way i do you, but... i'm afraid that if we keep fighting, we'll get to a point where we won't even be friends. and i want to be friends with her, jason. she's such a cool person.

i just don't want her as a girlfriend.

i really need to break it off. i know i do. but i just... i don't want to, either. i know i don't need a partner to make myself feel whole, and i shouldn't be using a partner to "heal" myself. [image of LEO VALDEZ making air quotes] but i'm scared that at this point, with the way our relationship is going... what if she leaves me? what if i really am truly left alone?

i don't want to lose her. she's one of the first people that truly took the time to know me, you know? i can't just... forget about that.

[heavy sigh] i think i really just should break it off with her. if i do it sooner than later, maybe the damage won't be so bad.

[image of LEO VALDEZ running his hands over his face]

in other news! [LEO VALDEZ grins widely] it's been pretty eventful being back at camp. i met a few of the old argo crew. did you know nico was gay? i had no clue. his boyfriend's kinda cute...

[empty laughter] not that it matters, though. i can't really think about anyone but you.

...

you know, when i found out nico was gay... man, that felt like a slap to the face. i mean, honestly, i think i knew it internally. but my shock wasn't so much about him being gay. it's more like... he was on the ship with us. maybe he knew the way i felt. maybe he understood this pain that i dealt with.

i don't know... i wish i was nicer to him on the ship. maybe we were more alike than we thought. maybe he could have helped me understand all this.

maybe i could have helped him understand, too.

[LEO VALDEZ shrugs] but he looks happier now. i like that. he deserves it.

he looks at home here.

i kind of wish i was him. i want a home, too.

[soft laughter] man, i can't wait to see you and piper. i think being back at camp half-blood just made me realize that i'm closer to you guys than i have been in months. seeing you again... it's such a possible idea. i'm tingling just thinking about it.

because maybe... maybe i'll have the courage to give these to you. maybe you'll finally know.

[heavy sigh]

maybe i'll finally feel honest with myself.

[end hologram]

[seattlesea]

Why Solangelo Isn’t A Good Ship (Sorry)

The amount of love I see for Solangelo is honestly kind of surprising???

1. It was only for publicity. The House of Hades- which is when Nico came out as gay- came out late 2013, and the spike for LGBTQ+ supporters and allies was mid-2013, and there was absolutely no foreshadowing or even hints to Nico being gay beforehand. Riordan only confirmed Nico gay to avoid backlash. And in The Blood of Olympus, Nico is openly gay to the readers, Reyna, and Jason, then comes out to Percy and Annabeth afterwards. Then he’s introduced to Will and- in the very next book they’re seen in- they’re in a loving relationship. It’s as if Riordan didn’t believe that having Nico come out as gay was good enough but had to give him a boyfriend to ‘validate’ or ‘confirm’ his sexuality like so many assholes ask LGBTQ+ people to do. 

2. It happened way too fast. Will and Nico meet for the very first time and start dating within only five months. What? Not only is that too fast for normal people to actually get into a legit, real relationship that isn’t something out of a cliche high school movie, but Nico came out as gay after being scared to for years, just started slipping out of his isolated and depressive state, literally had to learn how to socialize after being alone for 3+ years, just came out of a war and even Tartarus with truck loads of PTSD that would take years to fully recover from, and just started gaining a family and friends and had to learn how to accept help and comfort from others. Tell me- how many soldiers who just came back from war are concerned about getting a boyfriend/girlfriend/datefriend? Nico’s story in BoO should’ve been about his recovery, not getting a boyfriend. I mean, he met Will for the first time and immediately started liking him, and they didn’t have any meaningful conversations whatsoever. All they did was bicker. Even in The Tower of Nero, they didn’t show any actual mutual understanding of or true affection towards each other. They didn’t talk about anything deeper than the shallow end of a pool, about each other, or even how they got to be in a relationship. They were just kind of there, reminding the readers that ‘Hey, I’m Rick Riordan and I added a gay couple to the main cast! I’m great!’

3. It was too fast for the readers. People often forget that the speed of relationships in books aren’t only about canon, but what the readers see as well, cause what good is a relationship if the fans didn’t see any of it? That’s not going to help us like it, it’s just going to confuse and annoy us. We want to see how the relationship formed, grew, and developed from a platonic friendship, acquaintance, or ally into a mutual romantic liking. If we don’t see that, the relationship is just boring and dull. Seeing the development of the relationship is what helps the readers gain a true connection and emotional bond to it. If we don’t get that, the relationship is as good as a blank page. And it’s not only that, but it’s also flat-out bad and lazy writing. Will and Nico met for the first time in BoO, talked like twice and only bickered and argued (as if that’s the start of a super healthy relationship), then in The Hidden Oracle, they’re suddenly a loving couple? What?

4. The mental illness problem. I’m sure most of you know of the disgusting and ableist stereotype that the struggle and trauma of people with mental illnesses (especially depression, anxiety, and PTSD) magically wash away after they meet their romantic partner, right? Like the teenage girl who’s having a panic attack in school, gets noticed by her crush, and is all of a sudden fine cause he touches her hand and they make eye contact? Or the girl who’s super insecure about herself but gains confidence after her boyfriend compliments her? Or the person with depression magically gets happy again after getting a partner? The same thing happened with Solangelo. At the end of The Blood of Olympus, Nico isn’t yet fully happy, but has gained the things that can make him so- a family, friends, acceptance, support, love, etc. But, after talking to Will (who’s a doctor, may I add) for the first time, all of Nico’s negative thoughts, anxiety, sadness, depression, etc. vanished and all his thoughts were replaced with ‘Will this’ and ‘Will that’. And in ToA- only five months after the war with Gaea- Nico is perfectly fine? As if all that pain and trauma could wash away in only five months? And this isn’t the first time this has happened in HoO. The same thing happened with Leo- he struggled with anxiety, depression, PTSD, etc. but after he met Calypso all those internal struggles magically washed away and he was happy only after getting a girlfriend, so it’s obvious Riordan isn’t exactly avoiding this hurtful stereotype. 

5. It ruined their characters. Before meeting Will, Nico had a lot going for his character, a development that didn’t need to be completed with a love interest. He was realistic, relatable, and overall one of the best written characters in HoO, and his trauma and struggles were actually really well-written. But, after he met Will, the entirety of his character was ‘Will Solace’s boyfriend’. That’s all Riordan wrote about after he and Will communicated for the first time. Nico didn’t even talk to Reyna, Hazel, Percy (besides telling him he had a crush on him, which- again- is just another part of his love life), etc., and the only time he did talk to someone else (Jason), all he thought about was Will and how he was ‘disappointed’ that it wasn’t him. All of Nico’s character arc, struggles, relatability, and everything else Riordan worked up to his character was destroyed to make room for his love life. As for Will, he was actually quite a cool character- driving around Manhattan on a motorcycle, fighting in the Battle of Manhattan, protecting Camp Half-Blood, sewing Paolo’s severed leg back together, healing Annabeth’s poison knife wound, etc., plus all the cool powers he must’ve had as a son of Apollo. Even his personality was interesting- extremely caring, too dedicated, intelligent, calm, patient, etc., and I was really hoping to see him at his full potential in HoO. But Riordan ditched all the potential Will had for ‘Nico di Angelo’s boyfriend’. Even their personalities were washed away for cute pet names and teasing.

6. The fandom ruined their characters. This was really annoying. At first I mildly disliked Solangelo, but after the fandom’s take on it, I couldn’t stand it. The fans completely destroyed Will and Nico. I mean- is there any post about Will that doesn’t involve Nico in it at one point or another? And there are barely any posts about Nico that doesn’t involve Will or some other male character like Jason or Percy or that doesn’t mention his sexuality. I get that they’re dating, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely dependent on each other now. Another problem is their personalities. The fandom portrays them extremely inaccurately. Will isn’t a super upbeat, cheerful, bright, outgoing, happy-go-lucky guy. He’s actually a serious and determined hard-worker who just cares a lot about people. Just because he’s the son of the sun god and has blond hair and blue eyes doesn’t mean he’s the definition of ‘happiness’. As for Nico, the fandom just gave him a whole new personality as well. I mean- Nico swooning or blushing cause Will called him ‘Sweetheart’ or some other cliche pet name? What? Since when? Solangelo was bad on its own, but the fandom just ruined it completely. 

7. Y’all only like it cause it’s gay. Sorry to be the one to say this, but if the majority of you hate Jiper after reading a whole series on them where they actually talked to each other besides about their physical health because it happened ‘too fast’ (which, I agree, it did) but love Solangelo after barely two paragraphs? Why aren’t any of you guys complaining that that went too fast? The reason is pretty obvious. This is a problem most fandoms have- they only like ships (especially canon ships) no matter how unrealistic, unhealthy, or toxic it is because it’s gay. If Nico was straight and Will was a girl but everything else went exactly the same, y’all would’ve hated on it in a heartbeat, but because it’s two guys... yay Solangelo???

I’m gonna get cancelled- 

[winryofresembool]

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 18

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: Leo's life is hard (but maybe there's some hope left).

A/N: Yay, time for a new chapter! I decided to make Friday my new posting day so that’s when the future updates will (hopefully) happen.

It's not time to resolve the previous drama quite yet but dw, that's coming! Meanwhile, I hope you'll enjoy this Leo centered chapter. It’s also time to bring Frank in!

Don't forget to let me know what you think! :)

Characters in this ch: Leo, Frank, Georgina, Jo, Emmie

Words: 1700+

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

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...

“Maldita sea!” Leo yelled at himself as his wrench flew at the wall, thankfully not causing damage to it. Nothing he tried to fix or build that day seemed to go right. He hadn’t been able to figure out a pretty basic seeming issue in someone’s phone, one of his own inventions had broken and even solving a physics problem that would usually have managed to distract him only felt frustrating.

There was a lot going on in Leo’s head. Well, he’d argue that he always had a lot going on there due to his ADHD, but this time his usual methods to calm himself down didn’t seem to work. He would probably have to quit studying the only field he was truly interested in. He couldn’t do his work. His flatmate for whom he may or may not have started slowly developing some very not flatmate appropriate feelings had apparently had a thing for his friend, which not only complicated Leo’s situation with Calypso but also with Percy. And his mother’s death anniversary was coming, which was always a hard time for him. Leo imagined she’d probably be so disappointed if she saw him now. ‘My son, a failure in every aspect of life’. No, Leo’s real mother had been way too nice to actually say something like that out loud, but he just knew she’d at least think that. And Jo, Emmie and Georgina were counting on him too.

After throwing the wrench, Leo decided to take a break because his hands had started shaking too much to continue working. Taking a deep breath, he leaned against his worktable, closed his eyes and started tapping a rhythm that he had memorized years ago. His mother had taught him Morse code when he was a kid, and this particular phrase was one she had used a lot when he had needed calming down. Written down, the code looked like this:

.. .-.. --- ...- . -.-- --- ..-

I l o v e y o u

He whispered it very quietly a couple of times before looking out from the window and saying aloud:

“Mom. I’m trying to be strong. I really am. But sometimes it just gets too fucking hard. Everything seemed to be fine. Really. My other family is great. I was studying something I actually cared about. My new flatmate… uh, she’s an interesting force of nature. But if she likes someone like Percy… I’d never have a chance. And all my career plans are about to run down to the sewers because I can’t use fire, in any way. Not because of what happened to you. Because of what I... I just feel lost.”

He took a deep breath and rubbed the corner of his eye dry quickly. Saying his thoughts aloud seemed to make him feel a little bit better, and he decided that maybe getting out of the flat and getting some exercise would help with the shakiness. To his relief Calypso wasn’t home either so he didn’t have to answer any awkward questions about why he looked like such a mess. Leo found himself jogging all the way to Waystation, which was several miles from his flat. As he reached the yard, he noticed Georgina with Festus, but even with her back to him he could sense something was wrong. Of course. There was always some way the day could get even worse.

“Hi, hermanita!” he started, trying to sound cheerful even though he didn’t think he was a very good actor. Georgie could probably see right through him. His suspicions were confirmed when Festus didn’t even run to greet him as he usually did. “What’s going on?”

“I tried to call you,” she said, hiding her worry badly. “Moms went to run some errands and something… something happened to him…”

“What do you mean? What exactly happened?” Leo insisted on knowing.

Georgina seemed to grow more and more upset each moment. “I… I gave him a bully stick… but I forgot to put it in a holder even though moms always say you should do that when you give him one because he always tries to swallow them so fast… And then he started feeling sick...”

To prove her point, Festus, who was laying on the ground, made a loud gagging sound. After that he tried to whine but even that didn’t sound like it usually did.

Leo’s ADHD kicked immediately in, in the form of him wanting to act fast.

“We’ll discuss this later, I need to borrow Jo’s car now that I can take him to the vet,” he exclaimed and ran inside the house to get the keys to the car from the spot Jo usually kept them. He picked them and Festus’ leash and ran back, telling Georgina to stay home to tell Jo and Emmie what happened when they’d return.

At least one thing went right that day: the emergency vet clinic was fairly quiet when Leo arrived there. Not long after that, the vet took Festus in. He had an intern with him; a young man who Leo suspected had his roots somewhere in East Asia. He had black, short hair, a bulky body and kind of child like face even though the intern was probably older than Leo. As the vet asked Leo some questions about what exactly had happened to Festus, the student wrote down some notes and occasionally added a short comment as well. When Leo was about to explain why exactly Festus had gotten issues with the bully stick, he heard the intern mutter something to himself.

“What was that?” Leo asked a bit more aggressively than he had planned, having already been stressed even before the issue with Festus had come up. He had to admit, though, that it had distracted him from the other issues.

“Nothing,” the intern quickly said, pretending to focus on his papers again.

Leo didn’t give up that easily. “I heard you, though. You were implying that I had somehow caused this.”

“Well, you did give him the bully stick, didn’t you?” the young man asked.

“I wasn’t even there when he got one!” Leo growled, starting to feel the frustrations from earlier that day flooding out of his system. “My… uh, little sister gave him one when our parents left to run some errands and he kept whining and wanted something to chew! It wasn’t her fault either, she’s a child and she didn’t know that could happen!”

“Mister Valdez, please calm down a bit,” the vet interrupted him, and Leo immediately shut up. “There’s no need to yell. Festus is going to be just fine; I’m going to give him some medicine and fluids to help with digesting the stick and we can watch how he’s doing overnight. And Frank, please don’t make assumptions like that about clients.”

“Yes, sir,” Frank said, to Leo’s surprise actually looking regretful. Then he turned to Leo. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“Nah, I kinda lost my cool there too…” Leo said, the frustration leaving when he saw Frank’s face.

“Kinda,” the intern said, attempting to joke about the situation.

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that;” Leo rubbed the back of his neck.

After that the vet asked Leo a couple of more questions and did some more examinations on Festus while Frank helped him.

“Other than this stick issue, he seems like a healthy dog,” the vet complimented after the check up. “His fur and teeth look good. I think you’ve been taking good care of him.”

“Well, to be honest he lives more with my parents than me because they have a lot more space…” Leo said, “But yeah, we all try our best. Even Georgina, my sister.”

“I’m glad to hear that. It’s a good thing you got him here that fast so he’ll get the best possible treatment,” The vet said.

After that he wrote some notes on the computer and then dismissed Leo who scratched Festus from behind his ear and promised to come back soon to get him. As he was putting his jean jacket on in the lobby, the intern, Frank, approached him.

“About what happened earlier, I really am sorry. It isn’t like me to attack clients; you can even ask my boss about that. I just…”

“Chill, man,” Leo said. “I’ve heard this story before. People assume things about me because I look like a problem teenager. Truth to be told? You’re not entirely wrong. But things have changed. And trust me, Festus is my best friend and I’d do anything for him. I’m sure Georgie has learned her lesson too now.”

“Good to hear that,” Frank said and extended his arm to Leo. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow when you’re coming to get Festus.”

Leo nodded. “Yep, I have a feeling my whole family will want to join me. Anyway, I’m off now. Thanks for the help!”

“I’m glad we could help!” Frank told him before he started walking towards his car.

...

Jo and Emmie had already returned to Waystation when Leo got there.

“Is everything OK?” Emmie asked immediately. “We didn’t really get much out of Georgina… Just that something had happened to Festus and you took him to the vet.”

“Nah, it’s gonna be fine!” Leo reassured her. “He got some digestion issues because he gobbled a bully stick too fast but that’s being taken care of now. Georgie sure remembers to be more careful from now on, won’t ya, hermanita?” he addressed the young girl then.

“I will…” she promised, not even protesting about the nickname this time.

Once Leo had explained with more details what had happened at the vet and it became clear that Festus would be fine soon, the family moved to other matters. Unlike usually, Leo was happy with mostly listening to the others. The incident had reminded him that there were bigger matters than girl issues or his studies and he realized that those things didn’t feel quite as hard to overcome now as a few hours ago. Yes, he still needed to deal with them, and yes, his past would probably never stop entirely haunting him, but when he had people like this around him? It wouldn’t be impossible.

[happyk44]

#THE TAGS YES YES YES THIS IS SOOO SMART#I AM SO INTO THIS #I’m planning a rewrite and i have piper as a daughter of eros! #and in my head she’s given the option of either staying with the ares cabin or the aphrodite cabin (while the eros cabin gets built ig) #and i kinda forget that pluto/hades borders the minor and major gods since hades is one of the big three but not rly on the olympian council #but also i feel like bc hazel is also favored by hecate or whatever #she’s also on the border between minor and major gods in that way?

#leo and frank i havent considered as much #for frank im fsr SOOOOO attached to the fun little dynamic of having mars and ares warring in his head in SoN #but i also feel like bellona or honos or nerio or victoria or virtus would be fun options!!!! #and like. generally i ignore the whole ‘kidnapping nike’ thing bc yeah i ignore a lot of things in HoO including much of BoO #but imagine frank kidnapping his own mom. im sorry im just. JSBSKSBSJS dying of laughter over here in the corner

#however leo. ohmygod ive never even really considered another idea for a godly parent for leo but PROMETHEUS. YEAH!!! #we’d have our first demititan!!! and since tlh is only a few months after tlo it would show how affected the demigods at chb are by the war #bc rather than the love and acceptance and family that leo is shown in canon when he’s claimed by hephaestus

#he’s going to be met with distrust and hostility (and possibly people saying he was in the titan army or that he doesn’t belong at chb) #and i think not only would that be a really cool thing for his character with prometheus’s role as the creator of humankind #but also over the months between tlh and moa. as he learns to trust himself and his fire powers chb begins to trust him more and more

#wait sorry im back again i have more thoughts #ignoring my idea of the ares and aphrodite cabins sharing custody of piper #i feel like it could also be vv fun if they were both forced to stay in the hermes cabin #the hermes cabin was probably the most affected by luke’s betrayal and it would be interesting to see how they’d react to demititan leo

#idk even if piper still stays in the ares cabin or the aphrodite cabin we’d still end up getting two very different looks at how chb #has been affected by the titan war. bc the aphrodite cabin is still probably dealing with silena’s betrayal. clarisse is probably #still dealing with losing silena and possibly thinking it’s her fault. the ares kids might have beef about the war in general and the fact #that silena pretended to be clarisse to get them to help and then died a ‘hero’ despite being the spy

#i feel like seeing the difference between ares and aphrodite cabins in their reaction to silena and the battle of manhattan would be vv fun #also just. imagine piper having to deal with reporters and stuff trying to pry and figure out who her mom was #and it turns out she’s got two dads. i wonder how tristan remembers/justifies it???

#also LEO LEO LEO DEMITITAN LEO#i have soooo much beef with caleo but. i do like the idea of them becoming friends ok #and i do like the idea of leo promising he’d come back for calypso bc he recognizes the lack of autonomy she has in her situation on ogygia #and it reminds him of the lack of autonomy he had in foster care and wants to help her the same way he wishes someone had done for him #and i feel like there’s even more of a connection there when you consider that they both have a titan for a parent #and that makes people think they’re untrustworthy. that’s why calypso is trapped on the island. i feel like drawing that parallel between

#calypso and leo and their situations would be sooo compelling #also there are other roman gods related to prophecy and if it weren’t for octavian’s actions somewhat being a catalyst for toa #then i would say he should be a descendant of carmenta or something instead of apollo via @heartsick-stranger

I love the idea of Jason being mistaken for a child of Jupiter because of his relationship to Thalia (if they're still related) and his lightning powers, being trained by wolves and sent to camp where they realize somehow, oh, wait, he’s just some other god’s kid, nevermind, and that blow off pushes him even further to prove himself and that he is capable of leading a cohort, and later camp, and the pressure of being the best becomes a self-inflicted thing rather than something that was foisted on him. It would also create a parallel with Luke, and give greater agency to his rivalry with Percy because he worked hard to prove himself a child of a minor god but Percy just walked in and had leadership handed to him. It also can still maintain Jason's arc of shedding leadership responsibilities and becoming his own person, even if it's something he chose because Jason's core value is not wanting to let people down and that doesn't change whether the charge of being leader was a decision he made for himself or something he was pushed into it.

But also! HoO would've made much more sense if Piper and Leo and Frank were not children of Olympians. We know that 1) the big three have the tastiest scents to monsters which is why many of them don't live very long, 2) the other Olympian kids have very noticeable scents as well which makes living on the outside difficult and 3) children of minor gods are implied (if not outright stated) to have some trouble living outside of camp but they don't attract monsters as much. There's no way that monsters would’ve left Leo, Piper and Frank alone for so long, especially with the extra powers that they have, unless they were the children of minor gods (or a Titan).

You could make an argument about Frank living in Canada, or something about how his scent is confusing to monsters because he has so much tacked onto him from other pantheons. But I mean even Percy was talking about wrestling snakes to death as a toddler and other weird “mishaps” that had happened to him in childhood. We get zero implication of the same for the three stated above. I mean arguably Piper/Frank should’ve run into a bunch of monsters because they never moved around and so it was like a smoke signal to monsters vs Leo’s constantly moving tracking pad (but even he should’ve run into something, right?)

PJO: we need to recognize the value of the minor gods. The Olympians are important, sure, but the minor gods do a lot of work in maintaining and assisting the pantheon, have their own kids and deserve to be seen and valued just as much

HoO: Back at it again with Olympian-only nonsense!

[hellswolfie]

House of Hades review

From the Heroes of Olympus. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE : 

- Jiper. I never liked this relationship, I don’t even understand their dynamic or why they like eachother so much, sometimes it just feels like it’s because they find eachother pretty and that’s it. Also they tend to bring the worst out of eachother, which could actually be interesting if it was done on purpose but since it’s not it’s just bad. By that mean I mean Piper charming up Jason when he so much as thinks about another girl who happens to have a crush on him. Her tendency to use her charm speak is really worrying at times, how she uses it on her friends and even boyfriend so casually like that’s mind control !!! And he thinks it’s “fair game” which NO it’s not it’s extremely messed up to be that insecure that you feel that you have to brainwash your boyfriend to make sure he doesn’t leave you. Ask Voldemort. Also there is the fact that Jason actually KNEW about Reyna’s feelings for him. I don’t blame him for not outright rejecting her because come on that’s an extremely awkward conversation to have, especially with someone you’re supposed to work with everyday to lead people. But like, I already thought he was an asshole because the first thing he said to Reyna when he came back after months of dissapearing was that he wanted to make his girlfriend visit New Rome. Now it just makes it worse. 

Frank’s physical change. It was just so unnecessary and...kind of send bad messages. What was so interesting about Frank was that he was NOT a stereotypical Ares kid, he even hated the idea of being one at first. Him being all chubby added a lot to his character and it’s really disappointing that now he’s super athletic and I’m so tired of the “he has to physically change and become more of a stereotypical hot dude to complete his arc” . 

Hazel’s magical powers. Look i wouldn’t say I HATE it but I just don’t see the point of it? It doesn’t add anything to her character, only powering up more even tho she was already far enough powered up already imo. I think maybe it would have been more interesting to give this arc to Piper since it’s in line with her Charm Speak. 

The lack of Nico x Leo. Yeah yeah I know it will never happen but at least one conversation between them could have been so interesting? Like this two are so alike in so many ways! They both have extreme self worth issues and see themselves at the outcasts. They both have a tendency to run away (Leo mentionned that in his first chapter in the lost hero) and hiding their feelings. They both lost their only family and have a lot of trauma. Also they both are real sweet boys inside even though they don’t like to show it too much (let’s not forget Nico was the only one who was nice to Hestia and Bob, and Leo really did something so kind for Frank there). So they could understand eachother like no one else could, but also bring eachother something because they have both different ways of coping with that : Leo is desperate to belong, being the joker and doing everything he can to be useful to the point he doesn’t think anyone would like him for him if he wasn’t all that so he kind of has to play a role in his mind, while Nico just withdrawns himself and rejects everyone around him. They could really balance eachother out. Like imagine their relationship development, going from dislike, Leo being creeped out by Nico and Nico finding his jokes annoying, but then they get to talk and realize they’re not so different and...I’m so frustrated we didn’t get that!!! (PS : if you know a fic where that happens during HoH please give me the link!!)

- It was too short to have 7 POV. Well actually, this is more of a compliment because that means I love the characters so much and I wanted to see more of them. But that almost means that each character didn’t have that much screen time in they POV which made their developemnt in there pretty rush. 

Coach Hedge. Look, I really liked him getting more depth with his girlfriend being pregnant and his dead mother but all along the book i couldn’t help but wonder...What is he good for? Why is he even here? I mean he’s supposed to be the protector right? But like, it’s always the kids (the KIDS) who have to take care of him and handle him so he doesn’t do anything stupid. So he’s supposed to be the protector but he never does anything useful, in fact he always finds a way to make the situation worse like when he makes Jason lose his sword because he wanted to beat up a giant turtle so bad. He never helps when it comes to plan because the only thing he says is that he wants to fight even though honestly he’s the weakest of them all. I mean maybe he’ll finally do something useful in the final book, who knows? I still liked knowing he’s the one who brough Clarisse to camp, though, makes so muchs sense...

THINGS I LIKED : 

- The POV characters. I loved seeing more of Frank, finally, when he was in the background in the last book, and I loved seeing his development and him being more and more of a leader. Of course I loved Percy, Annabeth and Leo that’s a given. Even though her new powers annoyed me, I still enjoyed Hazel’s POV because she’s still very interesting to follow and I love the way she thinks, she’s very clever. I also liked Piper’s chapter yeeeeaaaaahh !!! And same for Jason, FINALLY AFTER FOUR BOOKS I ACTUALLY LIKE HIM (because he finally has a personality) !!! This two can become very interesting once they stop being so wrapped up around eachother. Like Jason’s struggle between his Roman side and Greek side was really cool to follow, and Piper showing how badass she can be but always wanting to be more? Yes I like that ^^

- Friendships !!! Friendships !!! Finally !! Yeah I was glad this book focused a bit more on friendships than the last one. I loved the Jason x leo stuff, how Jason really seems to admire Leo and how he was the only who realized how sad Leo were after Calypse. Leo x Hazel finally became a friendship instead of the weird thing they had going on thanks god. Leo confectioning something to protect Frank’s staff was so adorable and kind of him like that’s my sweet boi !! I LOVE the potential of Jason x Nico and also maybe Frank x Nico. Piper crying and hugging Annabeth when they are reunited awwww !! And Piper and Hazel bonding over Hazel learning Piper how to fight and Piper helping her with her magic I really liked that  (even though I would have like it better if Rick would have showed it instead of just telling us about it). Even Frank and Hedge were pretty heartwarming. 

- The Tartarus plot. WOW. It was just...WOW. It was so well written from start to finish, i could feel the horror of this place and how it changed Annabeth and Percy (especially Percy) which was so interesting. Of course the Percabeth moments gave me life. And like...the monsters that give them curses when they die, Nyx, The Nice Titan and The Nice Giant, Tartarus himself...It was just all so good and hurt in the best of way. The “Bob says hello” went straight to my heart. Favorite part of the book. 

Caleo : Do i think they should have had more time to develop if Leo is supposed to be THAT in love? Yes. Do i think Nico x Leo would have been so much better and interesting and had so much more potential especially at a slow burn romance where they both become best friends and fall in love in this book but are to afraid to admit yet (again, please give me a link if you know a fic that does that)? Also yes. But I have to admit, they were hella cute. I liked their dynamic (we’re all sluts for ennemies to lovers, no?), and i get how Calypso can be good for Leo : she also has abandonment issues and they work very well together, she’s not afraid to tell him off and he really seems to have grown up after meeting her (and getting his first kiss, which again : hella cute). And I also see how he can be good for her : he’s not like the other Stereotypical Hero she met on her Island, she actually had to get to know him instead of falling in love instantly, and got more in touch into her more mischevious side which I liked to see. Also if he does come back to her (and I better hope he does because he deserves it), that could be an adorable scene and they could have their shop they talked about and...Yeah I like them. 

NICCOOOOOO : my baby death boy finally got more screen time and damn it was so good. Of course there was the Cupid Scene. I didn’t like how he was basically forced to come out but I still loved the intensity of this scene, and the revelation that he was in love with Percy and he hated himself because of that? My baby needs a hug (and while it hurt, it was also pretty funny in the end how Percy was so confused about Nico’s aptitude towards him, always and forever oblivious to when someone has a crush on him). But also that makes so much sense. His relationship with Jason? Loved it, loved how Jason gave him advice about opening up more to people (and I totally relate to Nico, I’d much rather raise the dead and hide in hell than doing that) while still being kind of scared of him but wanting to be supportive and seeing how this child fucking needs therapy !! I can’t wait for Nico to finally feel like he belongs (which he would have with Leo!!!!). Nico x Hazel has my heart, their dynamic is just so fucking sweet, like even though she doesn’t totally understands him because he still keeps her at arm lenghts, you can see she loves her brother so much and it’s clear it is mutual. Like forehead kiss my heart (forehead kisses are a weakness of mine) !!!! The scene of him and Frank sharing their interest about Mythomagic was so pure and broke my heart at the same time, I mean like Percy said he’s not that little kid insouciant kid anymore :(  (also props to Percy for not being an ass to him which doesn’t really happen often). Anyway I LOVED seeing more of him. He’s such a great and interesting character and i love him so much. Also of course, like always, he was a total badass and I have to asmit, even though I want him to belong, it was kind of amusing how this scrowny, pale and needy of sleep 14 years old terrified the all powerful demi gods on the ship (well ok he is the most powerful of them all but still). His vibe is just that good. But I really want him to have this someone who manages to make him slow down his walls, you know? (even if it’s not Leo snif). 

So that was it. I don’t know it that’s ineresting for anyone but I like to vent so ^^

My reviews for : 

The Lost Hero; Son of Neptune; the Mark of Athena

[greatneedtotakeanap]

i binge read

episode 9 - the house of hades

i don’t care what anybody says, hazel levesque was the main character in this book.

of course, all of the seven are the main characters, and all of them underwent a life changing journey in this book - Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus of course, Frank in Venice with all of the katoblepones and again in the House of Hades summoning the dead, Jason with his whole Cupid-Nico escapade, Leo meeting Calypso, and Piper fighting Khione. But Hazel’s journey was the most central to the plot. She actively chose the crossroads that would lead to the events of the whole book - Leo falling, Percy and Annabeth unconscious in front of the Doors, Frank wounded. Those were all events that she chose and events that came to pass. She, personally, led to pretty much everything that happened. She’s the most powerful of the seven imo, with all of the Mist manipulation and gem summoning - she easily possesses the most raw power.

Anyways. I’d have to talk about all of the Seven individually for this post to work. We’ve already covered Hazel so let’s start with Jason, because nobody ever does. I really wish this guy had more character, even just in his own chapters. I understand that he’s hella blunt and how helpful that is, and most of the time I appreciate it. But his main conflict in this book was belonging, in the Greek versus the Roman camps (which is something that Nico was also struggling with in a different way). I wish he’d explored that, the blending of Greek and Roman, within himself more. I think it’s a very important plot point that I as a biracial kid can relate to specifically - the feeling of coming from two different places, loving two different cultures, wondering to which you truly belong.

Next, Piper. We really didn’t see as much as I’d like to see of her in this book. She kind of just popped up whenever anybody needed a charmspeaking side character. Her big climax moment was fighting Khione, which was a pretty cool scene I must admit. I admired not only her quick thinking but her ability to accept that she was unable to think like Annabeth and her willingness to embrace her own way of thinking. That’s something that I don’t see as much as I’d like. Also I loved the little detail of her swordfighting lessons with Hazel. The girl power and camaraderie was strong and I appreciated that. It almost seems to me like she’s learning that she is like other girls--the narrative in her chapters was very different from in TLT.

Leo. If nobody ever shut me up, I could talk for days about Leo Valdez. Admittedly he pissed me off a bit sometimes - sometimes his jokes took things too far, especially when he picked on Frank. But this fifteen year old child built a HELICOPTER in MIDAIR. He just makes it so hard not to love him. The high point for him this book was, obviously, when he crashlanded on Calypso’s island. It was one of my favorite parts of the book, too, partially because it was one of those scenes I could just see in my head, every second. It made a pretty beautiful picture too. You could see both of them slowly falling in love - Jason says later that he was only in exile for five days, but Leo, on Ogygia, clearly experienced at least two weeks - one of them building a looking glass, the other building a boat with Calypso. It was interesting to see, through the other people’s eyes, how it changed him. And how he refused to talk about it. I love how his instinct, whenever he sees Gaea, is to just chuck the nearest object at her. In TLT, he sees her in face in the porta-potty sludge, and he chucks a toilet seat at her. In Calypso’s island, when she reappears, he just throws a pair of pliers at her. It’s just so hilarious to imagine--see Gaea, throw object. I have never felt prouder of him than I did when he chucked that screwdriver from across the room to press the button to let Percy and Annabeth out of that elevator. It was just a cinematic move.

Frank!! If Hazel wasn’t the main character, it definitely would have been him. His journey in this book was also quite cinematic. It was amazing to see how he’d changed, growing into his identity as a child of Mars. There were so many times I loved him so much--destroying every katobleps in venice, leading the team through the House of Hades. All while the two different sides of his dad were yapping away in his head. Takes some serious steel. I just feel like everyone always underestimates Frank Zhang. This dude, despite being the biggest pacifist of the Seven (besides possibly Piper), is just so freaking metal. I’m so incredibly proud of him and of his journey.

I intentionally left Percy and Annabeth for last because it’s gonna be hard to explain. Because I’d have to group them together mostly. I loved the way they were always working for each other, always looking out for each other. They saved each other’s lives dozens of times over. I know I’ve said it a thousand times but that’s my favorite thing about Percabeth. They’re best friends above all. From the very beginning, with the river, to Arachne, to the aria curses and so much more - they always, always had each other’s backs. I loved Bob the titan immediately. I can’t say I remember him, like, at all--despite the binge reading I did, I literally cannot remember Iapetus. Which book was he in? I’m assuming The Last Olympian. I knew Small Bob would be important in the end, and I knew the giant would come back - though it was quite sad, the ending. Especially Percy at the end telling Zoe that bob says hello. A lot of the scenes in Tartarus were difficult to imagine, though some were easier - for example, the defeat of Misery. I cheered when Percy took her down, I immediately hated her. Other Tartarus escapades were sad and painful, but I’m glad they got out.

Fourteen days until Gaea awakens and two demigods’ blood will water her soil. Tower of Nero is released today. I was hoping to finish all three series, short of the final book, by Friday. Can our heroes battle Gaea, fix things with the Romans, and save the world? Can I read the Blood of Olympus and the entirety of the Trials of Apollo within three and a half days? Probably not. Stay tuned for more.

[alextriestowritestuff]

Blood Of Olympus Read W/ Me

This was the worst book of the series by far. I almost didn’t finish it. I think my thoughts are going to be rather short but they’ll still be below the cut for spoiler reasons. There will also be Trials of Apollo spoilers so I highly suggest not reading this if you haven’t caught up with those books! Let’s get into it.

I’d like the start by saying what I like: Nico/Reyna POV. I loved their relationship (which I didn’t see coming at all) it was very big sis-little bro vibes. I love that Nico finally found a place and his budding relationship with Will. What’s funny is though I knew Will would be his love interest (You can’t avoid them in fanfic at all) I thought he’d be more like super sunshine/super happy and that would contrast with Nico’s emo nature. But he was just chill and was like Nico, stop being a dumbass, we’re friends. I think fanfic gave me a different impression of what he’d be like (Granted I never read the fics, just summaries) and I was surprised that he was not like that. It’s not bad or good, just pointing it out. 

Oh and Nico telling Percy he liked him and Percy just being like ‘say what?’ I didn’t expect Nico to actually fess up to that one but Percy’s reaction was gold. 

The best moment in this book is Reyna taking down Orion by herself. She was that BITCH. Correct me if I’m wrong but the only other person who defeated a giant by themselves was Percy right? In the Battle of Labyrinth when he fights Antaeus? I think Antaeus was a half-giant though because Percy, a demigod, managed to kill him without the help of a god. Anyway, Reyna was everything in that scene. Oh I lied, he took down Polybotes too. They’d be unstoppable together (though I love Percabeth). She was about to sacrifice herself too!! What a queen. I respect the crap out of her. UM Jason you really picked the wrong girl lmao. 

I appreciated the Thalia cameo (because again, I didn’t re-read the Lost Hero so I haven’t seen her since the last time I read the PJO series) and the mention of Zoe. I hope Kenzie didn’t really die though, I liked her. 

And that’s all the good I have to say about it. Now for the bad...so much bad.

So after thinking about it, I realize that what makes HoO so different from its predecessor series is that there’s no consequences. The closest we got to consequences was Annabeth and Percy falling into Tartarus because they weren’t saved in time. No one important (protagonist/good guys side) died. Leo was resurrected (And I looked it up and found out that he came to Camp in the Trials of Apollo series so everyone knows he’s alive). Even for the Tartarus one, we didn’t even get a PTSD arc. It would’ve been helpful to have Percy or Annabeth’s POV in this book to wrap up that subplot. Instead we get two lines about their time in Tartarus and when Percy brings it up, Annabeth tells him not to mention it. So no PTSD arc. Got it. But we can just casually mention that Octavian committed suicide (which I don’t care for that ending at all).  Right.

The HoO books are boring because there’s no consequences. I never felt true fear apart from Percy/Annabeth being in Tartarus. In the Last Olympian, mortals were put to sleep, Annabeth was gravely injured, Silena and Beckendorf died. Luke and Ethan died. There was no magical save for them. Blood of Olympus had NO stakes, coupled with a weak, slightly developed new characters made it a bad series imo. It also doesn’t deliver on the questions posed in the book.

Hazel’s curse is still active, no descendant of Neptune has taken it away. I read the wiki summary for every book of the Trials of Apollo (The last one isn’t out yet) and there’s no mention of her curse being lifted. I think Frank’s stick is resolved imo being that it’s safe in the fireproof pouch but for some readers, they don’t think that’s resolved. Kym told Percy he’d have to face his fatal flaw. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t feel as though he did. Percy also never helped Leo find Calypso but Ig that’s null because he never got the chance to. Also is Black Jack, Frank’s grandmother, Hylla okay? Orion said Hylla got away but I was hoping for another cameo. 

Let’s talk about the villains/the entire quest of the Seven. The quest was boring, Nico/Reyna/Hedge’s quest was 100x more interesting and they were transporting a freaking statue. The quest of the Seven was fight this minor god/villain who is working for Gaea who promised them something (Even Jason has a line where he makes fun of this), outsmart/fight them, get to Athens where all the monsters are. Percy and Annabeth’s blood awakens Gaea. The gods come down which makes me angry because most of them weren’t helpful throughout the series. Poseidon wasn’t in this series at all. He didn’t even send a symbol or talk to his son who went missing. I’m pissed that the battle against Gaea wasn’t even in Athens! I’m pissed that they got slapped to New York, like what? The gods really couldn’t poof them back there, they gave some excuse but it was still bs. But I guess Rick needed Argo II to get back to NY so Leo can turn festus back into a dragon. But anyway, the gods come down, the demigods work with to defeat the giants in less than two pages. The giants that were poised as a massive threat for four books straight. Defeated in mere minutes. We don’t even get a cool battle description, they just hack and slash at them and they’re dead. Huh? 

Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, and Frank were reduced to background characters and I understand they don’t have a POV but I never felt that characters who didn’t have a POV in a certain book were ever forgotten/not utilized. They didn’t really get to do anything. 

We also don’t really see the Roman and Greek gods all that much. I know they’re the same people, different Greek and Roman personalities. But like I thought their Roman side could be seen a bit more but they were having difficulty maintain one persona throughout the whole series. I can tell you what the Greek gods are like and how they interact w/ each other based on the throne room scenes/anytime they help demigods in PJO/HoO. But Roman gods as whole? I can’t tell you how they even interact with each other. 

But wait, it gets worse. There’s not even a formal recognition thing like there was at the end of the Last Olympian (where Percy is offered godhood and Annabeth is given position of architect) there’s a little meeting with the gods and the Seven in which Jason is like give minor gods shrine and the gods aren’t really all that interested in what he has to say. There’s no thank you demigods. No, thanks Annabeth and Percy for literally going through Tartarus and Hazel for sacrificing yourself at 13 back in the 1940s. And the rest of them sacrificed something too. Like damn, no wonder why Luke was always like the gods don’t care about their kids. 

Gaea was built up to be a big bad (honestly not really, she talked trash the entire time/sent people to do her work) and the woman is easily overpowered by the three demigods. She’s not even awake for 20 minutes and she goes down. WHAT?? 

Overall, it was anti-climatic and totally did a 180 on everything else established in this series-the fact that Gaea was such a major foe and turned out not to be (that SEVEN demigods had to take her down, not just 1 like Percy’s prophecy) and the giants were to be feared too but they get taken down. At 200 pages in, I dead ass wanted to DNF, it was so boring. I gave it a one star because although the good I mentioned was really great, it doesn’t save the book. So for me, this series had every book be 3 stars or under except House of Hades. 5 books and I only really was able to like one and get through it easily and it still had issues. Like what?

Lastly, I want to touch on Jason. I still think he’s bland though I appreciated him giving Nico a hug at the end there. Again from ToA/being spoiled over the years, I learned that Jason died and I won’t be reading ToA but I read the summary of the book where he died and um, wow. I don’t feel anything for his death but the fact that he and Piper broke up sent me into a laughing/anger rage. Laughing because they really said ‘I love you’ at the end of BoO and they didn’t even make it a year lmao. And the fact that PIPER, miss always insecure in her relationship with him, McLean broke up with HIM. WOOOOOW. But it made mad because I listened to her complain/fawn over Jason for 4 freaking books (not counting tSoN) for NO REASON cuz they ended up breaking up. Overall, I appreciated what Jason, Hazel, Frank, and Piper did in the HoO series because they were helpful but I couldn’t connect with their characters. I’ll admit that in BoO we got a little bit more bonding between characters which is what I asked for in my last read with me and I like the Percy/Jason scene underwater and Piper/Annabeth scene from the beginning. I do think some relationships were summarized when they could’ve been shown--i.e. Annabeth/Reyna/Piper friendship but they have potential. 

The bonding was good, it was just too late. It should’ve happened in MoA/HoH as well. Random but I also hate how Leo was treated (esp. by Jason and Piper) throughout the series and I’m glad he got out of that mess. He was reduced to a deus ex mechanic and that wasn’t cool. The Seven wouldn’t have been able to do this quest without him. 

Sooo I guess this is it. I don’t think I’m going to read another Rick Riordan book again unless I hear something drastic happens to Percy or Annabeth/Any of the PJO characters and Reyna. I’m strongly reconsidering removing him as my fav author. I still love the PJO series but this one was not it. I don’t know if Rick was on a tight deadline for these HoO books but it was just poorly executed. I don’t regret reading the series, I think reading HoH was worth all the time I spent reading this series. I wish I had just read a summary of tSoN and MoA, especially because I already read them years ago and knew I wasn’t into them from my first read. I wasted my own time by doing that. So if I had done that I would’ve gotten to just read HoH and then only be disappointed by BoO as opposed to three books. It is what it is. It’s nice to be in the loop because I always see these things about HoO characters and spoilers so now I know how it went down. 

But that’s it guys, thank you for reading this entire thread and the ones before it. I have a lot of opinions and I don’t think I’m in the minority by saying I didn’t like this series overall. I will get back to my writeblr content and I will leave you guys with my final ratings for the series (My rating system may seem generous compared to my read with me thoughts but I personally don’t give less than 3 stars to books that plot wise made sense. It may not be the most compelling plot or have the best characters but if it made coherent sense, I have to give it at least a 3.) :

The Lost Hero: This score is based off of my original reading in 2012/2013 and my thoughts on the main characters in that book, I give this a 3/5 stars

The Son of Neptune: 3/5

The Mark of Athena: 2/5

The House of Hades: 4.5/5

The Blood of Olympus: 2/5 

Worst book of the series: Mark of Athena (Blood Olympus is a close tie but the Nico/Reyna really saves it from this spot) and best book- House of Hades. 

[itsomgitsgreenblogging]

Keeping it Classy (Chapter 2): A Solangelo fanfic

I finally got the inspiration to finish this week thanks to Solangelo Week! This meets the College/Roommates prompt so I’m just going with it. Enjoy!

Read on AO3

Chapter 1

Preview: 

“You are such a sourpuss,” Hazel said with frown. “Nico, would it kill you to be a little more positive?”

“Honestly it might,” Nico said with a shrug. “I don’t know who positive is but she sounds bothersome.”

“Just meet him for lunch,” Hazel told him. “Give the cute boy a chance.”

“I’m telling you, this is a horrible idea. I’ll mess this up badly, I just know I will,” Nico said as he trudged forward, kicking a pebble in his path.

“Didn’t you just tell me yesterday that you were going to find out if he was interested?” Hazel asked with an impatient sigh.

“Well I changed my mind! I’m allowed to do that it’s a free country you know!”

“Listen, Nico, I know you’re pissed at me, but seriously stop toying with the scissors,” Thalia whined exasperatedly as she snatched the hand towel to dry her face. Nico looked up and gave her a look, bathroom scissors still in his hand.

“What? Am I not even allowed to cut my nails?” Nico asked her sullenly.

“You aren’t cutting your nails, you’ve just been glaring a hole in the wall! Listen, I don’t know how many times I can apologize. But I’m already suffering here! My head feels like it’s being split open, literally, like I might die from this hangover!”

“Then perish,” Nico told her.

“You suck,” Thalia said, throwing the towel at his head. He ducked it and stuck his tongue out at her. They both glared at each other for a solid minute.

“Hey, we’re going to brunch. And you’re coming with us Nico,” Annabeth announced as she walked into the bathroom in just a bra and underwear which made Nico lose his balance and slide off the toilet.

“Woah! Annabeth! Put some damn clothes on!” Nico demanded of her, watching as she picked up the blue toothbrush and began brushing her teeth. “And oh my god, that’s Percy’s toothbrush! That’s disgusting!”

“Please stop yelling,” Thalia begged, taking the position of cuddling against Nico who was now wedged between the tub and the toilet and the wall. Annabeth just watched them, obviously amused before swishing and spitting.

“Thalia, get off of me,” Nico told her.

“Bathroom party!” Percy said, only wearing boxers as he walked in, giving Annabeth a sloppy kiss, which left both of them smiling like dopey idiots. Annabeth put toothpaste on the toothbrush and stuck it in Percy’s mouth.

“You’ve got morning breath,” she explained.

“Babe you can shove anything in my mouth and I’d be into it,” Percy promised her, voice muffled between the toothbrush and his teeth. Annabeth just snorted in amusement.

“Ew,” both Thalia and Nico said.

“Anyways Annabeth told you guys about family brunch, right? It’s mandatory,” Percy said as he brushed his teeth.

“Family brunch?” Jason chimed in, popping his head in as he walked by. “Awesome! Thalia, you coming with?”

“Sorry, I have to go back to my dorm. I feel like I’m gonna die,” Thalia said as she got up unsteadily.

“I’ll walk with you over there. I’m gonna go pick up Piper, Leo, and Calypso from their dorm,” Jason said as he gave his sister a smile.

“Nico...thanks for last night,” Thalia said honestly. “I hope everything goes well with the boy.”

“Get out of here before I change my mind about the scissors,” Nico said as he pulled himself up. Thalia leaned in and kissed his temple, making Nico squawk and swat her away. Both Jason and Thalia were laughing as they left the bathroom.

“So brunch?” Percy asked curiously.

“If we go somewhere where there is enough maple syrup to drown me so I no longer have to deal with this wretched plain of existence then I’m okay with brunch,” Nico told him seriously.

“Sounds good, will do. But don’t forget I’m a lifeguard so I’m like contractually obligated to administer CPR,” Percy reminded him before he swished and spit.

“Percy, you’d find me shoving my entire fist into your big mouth way less sexy than anything Annabeth has planned for you,” Nico told him as he managed to get himself unwedged.

“Yeah I know isn’t she sexy?” Percy said dreamily.

“That wasn’t where I was going with this,” Nico said hopelessly. “Come on, doofus or we’ll miss brunch.”

Nico, Percy, and Annabeth disembarked from the dorm and took an Uber over to the restaurant. Nico generally didn’t mind third-wheeling it with Percy and Annabeth, since they were generally a good time with their antics and penchant for getting into trouble. However on that particular morning, they were basically attached at the hip. Whatever kind of sex they had last night had to have been either extra good or extra weird, Nico thought as Percy blew bubbles into Annabeth’s water and she giggled. Nope, definitely extra weird he corrected.

“So you got Will Solace’s number last night?” Percy asked curiously.

“I did, before I had to save Thalia’s life,” Nico told him as he swirled the ice cubes around with his straw. “It doesn’t mean anything though. He probably just feels bad for me.”

“Highly doubtful,” Annabeth said with a roll of her grey eyes. “When are you going to get it through your thick skull that people find you attractive?”

“Um excuse me?” Nico called the waiter over. “I just want to make it clear that we’re not splitting checks.”

“Okay sure,” the waiter said before walking off.

“There’s going to be seven of us!” Annabeth gasped in indignation.

“Yep, and you’re going to have to check all that math when we pay because I know for a fact that you are anal retentive about that stuff,” Nico said with a vicious grin. “Today’s a good day to exploit my enemy’s weaknesses.”

“Nico you petty bitch,” Annabeth said darkly. “I was giving you a complement and this is how you treat me?”

“What can I say? That’s how I roll,” Nico said with a shrug. Suddenly hands were placed on his shoulders. Nico looked up, glaring into Jason’s face.

“Why are you touching me?” Nico asked him.

“I’m breaking up whatever fistfight that was going to ensue before it even starts,” Jason said calmly before releasing Nico and sitting down next to him, Nico brushed off his shirt.  

“You’re no fun at all,” Annabeth told Jason while pouting.

“Babe, we can’t get kicked out of here before we even order pancakes. I really want blueberry pancakes,” Percy told Annabeth with puppy dog eyes, and Annabeth sighed as if Percy had just made a really good point.

“Anything look good?” Piper asked as she plucked the menu right from Nico’s hands and gave Nico a smile that made it virtually impossible for him to complain.

“I love the omelettes here,” Leo said as he slid into the seat next to Percy, bringing Calypso with them. She laughed as their chairs collided.

“Great now I’m like the seventh wheel,” Nico mumbled under his breath.

“You could’ve invited Will, I’m sure he would’ve come,” Piper told him.

“Listen, I have a bone to pick with you over that,” Nico told her with an angry huff. “Don’t just go blabbing about my business to everyone and their mother, and I mean that literally I’m half convinced Sally’s going to call me by one over this.”

“Oh, you mean Will Solace?” Calypso asked curiously. “He was at the party last night, he’s the same Will that Piper was talking about?”

“Great, you know Will Solace? Does everyone know Will Solace?” Nico lamented. Everyone at the table looked around for a minute, before there seemed to be a general consensus made.

“Yeah, I think everyone does now that I think about it,” Annabeth concluded.

“He’s in the Orientation Club, he showed me around when I transferred here. Had one of those super slick white jackets, you know the ones? The ones the people wear when they give tours around campus? He’s a really cool dude,” Leo said with a envious nod. Nico definitely knew the ones. The whole jacket and dress pant combination that the student-led tour guides wore that was a combination of both over eager and incredibly good looking that he had admired from the second floor of the student union as they walked by leading hopeful high schoolers and their parents.

“His brother Austin is in the drama club, Will went to like all of the performances we put on of Anything Goes,” Calypso said as she rested her head on her chin. “He even bought an ad, it was so sweet and thoughtful.”

“Will helped out with the Habitat for Humanity thing last spring break with the rest of the mission from his church,” Annabeth said with a shrug.

“He’s part of the Biology Society, so we meet with them for student government,” Jason said thoughtfully.

“How the hell does he do all of that stuff?” Nico asked suspiciously.

“He’s the kind of person who can’t help but get involved when people ask for his help,” Percy explained easily. “Somehow he just sort of...does it?”

“He’s perfect,” Nico said as he was locked in a deep unfathomable horror. “He’s a perfect human being. Literally he was probably carried to Earth on a sunbeam.”

“Probably,” Percy agreed.

“I can’t deal with this, nope. No way. I thought he was in a totally different league but now I know he’s from a like different planet. How the hell do you guys think that I can just casually ask a guy like that out?” Nico demanded of his friends. “Especially when I’m...like...me?”

“Nico, you’ve got a lot of good qualities,” Piper promised him.

“Name one,” Nico challenged.

“You buy your sister breakfast every morning because you love her and you know it makes her happy,” Piper immediately said.

“Shit, I wasn’t expecting you to come up with one that fast,” Nico admitted as he looked away pointedly, feeling his face flush from the unexpected compliment.

“Why is it Nico takes compliments from Piper and not me?” Annabeth asked Jason, who shrugged.

“Aside from the fact that Nico should totally go for it, does everyone know what their getting because I’m starving and ready to order,” Percy said, thankfully bring the topic around to something Nico could actually deal with which was stuffing himself up to the gills with pancakes. The conversation shifted to something Clarisse had done during a soccer game, and Nico half listened as he tried to think through his own issues as he dumped more maple syrup on his stack of pancakes and poked the yellow of his sunny side up eggs and watched the yoke run.

He was lucky to have great friends, even if they drove him up the wall. But he also knew that their perspective was skewed by their obvious hope that Nico would find love as if he was on some sort of Lifetime movie. What Nico needed to do was do what his dad always said...even if it burned him to think that way. He needed to think like a freaking lawyer.

Now Nico’s dad was possibly one of the most infuriating people Nico had ever met and they disagreed on basically everything they could. Hell, if they could argue on the color of the sky they probably would do that too. But they were also a lot a like in a lot of ways too, and even if what his dad usually spat out was a load of garbage he sometimes did give valid advice. He had to think defensively: to protect himself and to do that he needed to proceed slowly, find the traps, measure and calculate the risk. And above all, never, ever let anyone see him sweat or be weak.

First course of action he could take was to do absolutely nothing. He didn’t have proof that Will was at all interested in him, save for being friendly at the party. This whole thing was probably all of them thinking about this too hard, really. If that was the case all he needed to do was avoid, which should be easy because before last night Nico had never come in contact with Will Solace before. Second route would be to pursue Will Solace and find out if he was interested in Nico. That was the hard one, since Nico sucked at flirting in general. But hey if it didn’t work out then at least he could say he tried.

So what should he do?

Nico thought long and hard about this. He had Will’s number but Will didn’t have his. When Will saw him at the shop, would Will be weird about the fact that Nico hadn’t texted him? He doubted Will would though, he seemed so effortless in everything he did. Hell, Nico knew that Will certainly was not interested in him like that. Nico hadn’t probably even come across as an actual human being during his interactions.

But…

As he walked a few steps behind the group as they excited the restaurant, Nico pulled out his phone. After a moment of thought, he bit the bullet.

Hey, Nico typed. He waited for a moment, stepping over a crack in the sidewalk. But then just as he was about to put his phone away, there came a reply:  

Hi there!

Nico smiled.

“Hey,” Will greeted, and when Nico looked up Will was insanely close and insanely smiley. Nico couldn’t help but jump, but be settled as quickly as he could and pushed over so Will had room to stand next to him. Will smiled gratefully.

“Woah, uh, hi,” Nico said, and he wasn’t sure what expression he was making but it didn’t damper Will’s positivity in the slightest. That had to be a talent of his.

“It’s nice to actually, I don’t know, know who you are,” Will explained as he stood right next to Nico as they both awaited their orders. “So I’ve got to ask, you always get two coffees. Is it for the girl that meets you here or do you just drink both because no judgment.”

“Yeah, that would be my sister Hazel,” Nico explained with a shrug. “Our schedules really conflict, so it’s nice to get to see her.”

“Oh, wow. That really is nice. I wish my siblings bought me food,” Will said with a pout that was so cute Nico thought he was going to have a heart attack. “I guess they don’t love me.”

“Well, I am the older brother,” Nico pointed out.

“Shoot, I guess that means I’d have to buy food for them,” Will said with a sigh and Nico couldn’t help but snort and laugh at Will’s troubled tone. Will met his eyes and grinned.

“You’ve got a great laugh,” Will told him, blue eyes catching the light.

“Ugh, no I do not. I’ve got a horrible laugh,” Nico dismissed with a scoff, cheeks feeling warm. He hoped that Will didn’t notice.

“But I like that,” Will said.

I like that, I like that, I like that, Nico parroted in his mind. The sound of that was divine, even if Will was seriously probably on drugs. Nico’s laugh was pretty hideous. But somehow Will sounded like he meant it, like he really did like Nico’s laugh. After all, Will seemed like the kind of person who really and truly found good in everyone. That was an admirable quality for sure, and not something that came easily to Nico.

“So do you have class later?” Will asked as Piper presented them both with their coffees. For a split second Piper stared him down, and he pointedly ignored her before walking out the door quicker than he needed to.

“Yeah, today’s my easy day though. I’ve got one class at ten and then my other one at eleven. Done at twelve,” Nico explained easily.

“Well if you see me at Hestia come on over,” Will said, saying the name of the main cafeteria building.

“Okay sure,” Nico said before his brain had a chance to catch up with his mouth. It was at that precise moment that Hazel turned the corner and waved to him before walking over. She plucked the coffee out of Nico’s hand.

“Hi there, and you must be…?” Hazel asked, obviously being coy. If Nico didn’t love her he would hate her in that moment.

“Will. Will Solace, nice to meet you,” Will introduced.

“I’m Hazel, Nico’s sister. It’s nice to meet you too,” Hazel said, giving Nico a knowing smile.

“I’m going to go to class, but I’ll maybe see you later,” Will said pleasantly.

“Yeah, later,” Nico said, fumbling the words out of his mouth like he had stuffed it full of peeps. Will walked off towards the science building, and thankfully Hazel only started teasing him when they began their own walk and they were out of earshot.

“Later? Later? What does later mean, Nico please you have to tell me what later means!”

“Later just means Later! Like I might see him later, that’s it!” Nico said quickly, trying to defuse Hazel’s excitement but he found that it was far too late.

“But he wants to see you later,” Hazel told him as she bounced on his arm and Nico quickly traded his coffee with his other hand to keep it from spilling.

“We just became acquaintances he probably is just being friendly!” Nico told her quickly. Hazel sighed dramatically and got off his arm. “Will Solace is just a friendly dude.”

“Well I think he is interested in you,” Hazel said as she looked at her phone, grinned madly, and then held up the group chat for him to see. “And everyone else thinks he is too.”

“Shit! Piper!” Nico grumbled, as he watched Leo’s response of about twenty kissy-face emojis flash by the screen as everyone else spammed with reaction gifs. He batted her hand and got his phone out of his line of sight. “You guys don’t get it. Even if Will Solace is into dudes, which hasn’t even been confirmed, he’s probably not interested in me like that. I doubt he goes out with every gay guy he meets. Really, he’s just being friendly.”

“You are such a sourpuss,” Hazel said with frown. “Nico, would it kill you to be a little more positive?”

“Honestly it might,” Nico said with a shrug. “I don’t know who positive is but she sounds bothersome.”

“Just meet him for lunch,” Hazel told him. “Give the cute boy a chance.”

“I’m telling you, this is a horrible idea. I’ll mess this up badly, I just know I will,” Nico said as he trudged forward, kicking a pebble in his path.

“Didn’t you just tell me yesterday that you were going to find out if he was interested?” Hazel asked with an impatient sigh. 

“Well I changed my mind! I’m allowed to do that it’s a free country you know!” Nico told her before running a hand through his hair, probably not helping any of his cowlicks at all. “Okay, okay I know I’m being slightly ridiculous--”

“Slightly?” Hazel asked him. 

“Okay, very ridiculous,” Nico corrected. “But every time I’ve tried the whole romance thing it’s ended up being a total disaster.” 

“It hasn’t been a total disaster,” Hazel tried to tell him but Nico shook his head. 

“Hazel. Albania.” 

“Okay, fine it’s sort of been a disaster, but really what do you want me to say to that? I think you should give it another shot. Meet him for lunch, he already offered and you already agreed.” She had got him there, Nico realized. He had already agreed, and if he skipped out then it would be rude of him. Usually he didn’t care about being rude but Will Solace had never done anything wrong to him, so Nico knew he didn’t deserve that. Nico would meet him for lunch, if was pretty much decided. As if sensing her victory, Hazel sipped on her coffee with a content smile. 

So that was how Nico found himself in the cafeteria, nervously playing a dating sim on his phone as he waited for Will to get back from the lunch line. Will was all smiles as Nico sat across from him in the cafe. In fact, Nico didn’t think he had seen Will frown at all. Nico wondered if it hurt his face to stay like that all the time. Nico hoped it didn’t, Will had a very attractive face after all. Nico wouldn’t want him to hurt...unless he was into something like that. 

“So, tell me, how’s your day going?” Will asked as he stuck his fork into his salad. 

“Pretty normal I think,” Nico responded as he scooted a carrot across his plate, eyeing it with distaste. 

“Not a fan of carrots,” Will asked with a chuckle.

 “Not really,” Nico admitted. Then watched with horror as Will picked up the vegetable and popped it into his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it. Holy shit, was Nico’s immediate thought. My fork had touched that. Oh my gods, am I in fourth grade? Nico’s more conscious mind asked, thoroughly annoyed. At this point Nico was probably gaping at Will like he had just grown another head. Will just continued to smile as if he had no clue what had befuddled Nico so thoroughly. Oh, he was tricky. Nico thought. 

“So...um, you mentioned you have siblings earlier?” Nico asked, hoping to get onto a topic he felt he could contribute to. Will nodded as he continued to eat his lunch. “How did you all end up going to the same University?”

“Well, my deadbeat dad sorta kinda donated a whole bunch of money to this school as his Alma mater, so, I got in for a nominal fee as did they,” Will said with a shrug. “Well, also it’s a pretty awesome school with stuff we all liked.”

“I’m sorry?” Nico said, his voice creeping up awkwardly.

 “What for?” Will asked curiously. 

“Uh...for having a deadbeat dad?” 

“Oh, well, Apollo’s not that bad really,” Will said as he waved off the concern. “He’s harmless, just super irresponsible and also utterly incapable of keeping it in his pants. I tend to be more of the parent in most cases. It’s just annoying, but he’s got money so I can’t really complain.” 

He didn't say it in a bragging way, nor like he was looking for pity, instead he seemed matter of fact about it. Nico didn’t really know what to say to any of that. Nico’s family...well it was the definition of complicated. Hell, Nico wasn’t sure that he’d told the therapist he had been seeing for three years about half of the drama. Nico’s relationship with his dad was light-years ahead of where it had been even a year ago, and it was currently functional (which was the first time he could even say something like that). But Nico knew about having an absent dad. Not that this was the conversation he wanted to be having with Will at all, actually if he could help it he wouldn’t be nudging this topic with a two foot pole. 

“Well, I have Hazel so I get what it’s like to have a sibling go to the same school,” Nico said, switching the topic back as fast as he could. “Plus...I guess Percy and Jason count as family sort of, but you aren’t allowed to tell them that.” 

“Speaking of, they aren’t having another party this weekend are they?” Will asked with a glint in his eyes. 

“Not that I know of, but I’m usually the last to find out. Why?” Nico asked suspiciously. 

“Would you like to come out with me tomorrow night? Grab a drink or something?” Will asked hopefully. 

 “Sure, yeah, of course,” Nico agreed in an awkward tumble of words. “I mean, I’ll go out to get a drink with you.”

 “Awesome,” Will said with another of his signature smiles that basically melted Nico’s brain into mush. Nico wasn’t even sure how he functioned for the rest of the day. He certainly didn’t breath a word of what was happening to any of his friends of Hazel, especially now that he knew that they had some kind of bet going on. With as little fanfare as possible, made better by the fact that it was date night amongst his friends, Nico slipped out of the dorm and arrived to the designated spot. 

Will had chosen to meet Nico at The Gladiator, which was a five minute walk from campus, and was generally a hustling and bustling establishment. Since it was so busy, Nico hoped he wouldn't see anyone he knew. And as they made it to the bar, it just seemed to be people Will knew who all greeted him in the same fashion that everyone else did. By the point that Nico managed to sit down he was almost certain that he was breaking out into a cold sweat.

 “So what do you drink?” Will asked curiously as he leaned against it, white t-shirt looking almost horrifyingly good against his tanned skin. Nico wanted to bite it...which wasn’t great for his focus because he already had a difficult time processing what was being said to him. 

“Depends on what mood I'm in,” Nico said with a shrug, managing to get the words of his mouth without blubbering. “I think I'm just in the mood for a vodka tonic or something.”

 “You got it then,” Will said with a smile.

“I can buy my own drinks,” Nico argued weakly. “I--” 

“Oh hi Will, and hi--ohmygodNicodiAngelo!”

That wasn't a particularly good sign. Behind the bar was Mitchell, and Nico groaned. He had forgotten Mitchell worked here. He was a distant relative of Piper’s, a nice enough guy but with the backbone made of gelatin and a gossip monger’s brother. Dangerous combination if you asked Nico (though people tended not to). 

“People tend to have that reaction to you don't they?” Will asked, a mirthful glint in his eyes. Nico wanted to sink into the floor. 

“Oh, hey Will!” A voice greeted from the side, a group of people waving at him.

“Give me a minute?” Will asked apologetically, and Nico waved him on numbly before returning his attention to Mitchell who was standing dumbfounded behind the bar just staring at him as if he had grown another head.  

“Vodka tonic please Mitchell,” Nico said glumly. Mitchell made a sound that was a cross between a delighted giggle and a boiling kettle.

 “Oh my God, like oh my God,” Mitchell said, nearly pulling himself over the bar in his enthusiasm. “You are on a date. With Will Solace. In the gay bar I work at. And I'm witnessing it with my own two eyes. Oh my God. I'm going to die, I have to text Lacy right now.”

“Didn’t I order something?” Nico asked crossly. 

“Oh my God you aren't denying it! Ahhh! This is the best day of my whole life!” 

“We are not on a date!” Nico said harshly. “We are just friends, this is platonic!” 

“Honey, please. Denial is not a good look for you,” Mitchell told him before fanning himself excitedly. “Oh my God Sebastian is gonna flip!”

 “Mitchell, please, my drink,” Nico begged. 

“Okay, okay. I'm cool. I'm cool,” Mitchell said as he took a deep breath. A giggle spurted out of him before he went to go retrieve whatever he needed to make Nico’s drink. Nico sagged against the bar. What was he even doing here? Five minutes in and he had already embarrassed himself. He should just quickly down his drink and then leave. 

“Sorry about that,” Will said as he slid into the bar seat next to Nico. 

“It’s fine,” Nico said, trying to come off cool and unaffected. He wasn't sure how that was going for him but he certainly could try. Mitchell came back with Nico’s drink and smiled at Will. 

“What can I get you?” He asked Will who smiled. “Rum and coke, also, put Nico’s drink on my tab,” Will told Mitchell.

 “Oh of course! I'll be right back with that,” Mitchell said as he nodded so hard he nearly dislocated something and then ducked out of the way of Nico’s annoyance. 

“You aren't paying for me,” Nico informed Will curtly. 

“Why not?” Will asked, sounding confused. 

“Because I'm perfectly capable of buying my own drinks!” Nico huffed, greatly annoyed by Will’s very resistant denseness. If Will paid then this was definitely a date, and Nico didn't think he could handle that. 

“I see,” Will said with a sly look. “Well you'll have to excuse me for buying this round.”

 “Fine,” Nico said as Mitchell returned and placed down the drinks before running off to help another customer. Nico got bustled at the bar a bit, and managed to scare off a guy with a glare before sighing. 

“So you mentioned to me you don't come here often, was there somewhere else you would prefer? If you really dislike--” Will began to say before Nico cut him off. 

“It's not that, I just usually go to quieter bars. Like Easton Street or something.” 

“Oh, so you like old people bars,” Will teased and Nico rolled his eyes. 

“I don't see anything wrong with having fifty year olds buy you drinks all night,” Nico said with a shrug.

 “But you don’t want me to buy you a drink?” Will asked with a laugh, and Nico felt his face flush.

 “Because if you buy me a drink--we’re not on a date,” Nico spluttered.

 “What would it take for this to be a date?” Will’s tone was curious and Nico swallowed heavily.

 “Um…” Nico mumbled, and then suddenly Nico felt Will’s hand touch his fingers, curling around them. He looked at Nico, as if for permission, and Nico couldn't look away. 

“Here’s what I think we should do,” Will said with a smile, staring at Nico so intensely that he was half convinced he had something on his face. 

“We should finish our drinks, then go dance on the dancefloor, and then I think you ought to kiss me.” Now it was Nico’s turn to stare at him. Woah, okay, so this was happening, Nico thought before he eloquently concluded with: screw it. 

“Why? Because you won't kiss me?” Nico asked him, as he slid his arm around Will’s waist, doing his best to give a flirty smile. “I don't think I've done anything that bad yet.”

 “I think I like where this is going,” Will whispered in his ear, as a thrill ran up his spine. 

“I think I do too.” 

Will’s lips were hot on his as they burst through the door of his apartment. Nico grabbed the bottom of Will’s shirt and nearly ripped it as he aimed to get his hands everywhere they could go--and Nico gasped as Will curled his fingers in his haired and pulled just right. 

“Are you--God, Nico,” Will gasped as Nico trailed his mouth down his neck, looking for places to mark his skin. “Are you sure you’re good with this?” 

“Just shut up and make out with me!” Nico ordered, managing to shut Will up with another bruising kiss. Nico groaned as Will half sent them sprawling back on the couch, and how good his weight felt on him--how his touch traced fire down his skin. Oh, they would have time later to do all the things he had imagined, but for right now Nico just wanted more. Nico wanted whatever Will could give him and yet it didn’t seem like enough. 

“God, you’re hot,” Will half-moaned into his neck, kissing down his shoulder, over his chest, down his belly as he fumbled with his belt and Nico desperately tried to kick off his boot. 

“I know,” Nico said.

“And you’re cocky,” Will said, looking up at him with eyes a darkened blue that sent a shiver down his spine. “But I don’t dislike that.” 

“Why don’t you put me in my place then?” Nico asked him with a grin, as he trailed his fingers under Will’s chin. “Unless you like it the other way around, I can be very obliging when I want to be. You always seem to be taking care of other people, I’d be happy to take care of you” 

Nico watched Will have a physical reaction, eyes blown wide, cheeks flushing red, and he seemed to freeze for a single moment. 

“Holy crap,” Will said, looking away for a second as if trying to compose himself before squinting at him suspiciously. “Are you sure you are a real person and you haven’t been hanging out in my head for a few months because you are like, hitting all my very odd specific kinks right now.” 

“What can I say? I’m just that good. And plus I’ve been having plenty of my own naughty thoughts,” Nico said with a laugh as he pushed Will on his back on the armrest. Will was laughing--a low rumbling vibration that made Nico groan again and reach down--

The door slammed open.

 “We’re back--holy crap!” 

In that moment, Nico jerked to look up and his leg slipped. He felt Will attempt to grab him to keep him from falling, but the next thing he knew Nico was clinging the back of his throbbing head and laying half underneath Will who was sprawled over with their legs tangled up together. Nico looked up with a glare to see Percy, Annabeth, Piper, and Jason standing in the doorway all with various expressions of surprise, embarrassment, and amusement. Nico placed one hand on the coffee table he had bashed his skull into and glared. 

“Didn’t your mom ever teach you to knock you goddamn degenerate?!” Nico demanded of Percy as he felt Will reach over.

 “Shit, that’s going to be a nasty bump,” Will said, gentle fingers prodding the back of his head, and though his cheeks were reddened he carried on like business as usual. “You guys wouldn’t happen to have an ice-pack would you?” 

“Yeah, probably,” Jason said as he quickly went into the kitchen, pulling Piper behind him who was offering a thumbs up.

“Wow, you really fell head over heels there, didn’t you?” Percy asked with a grin. Annabeth just sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. 

“You are definitely not helping,” Annabeth told him as she grabbed him by his shoulders, and physically steered him away. “We’re going to your room, I’m so sorry guys.”

 “Please, don’t stop on our account! Keep making out,” Percy hollered at him. “Nice seeing you Will!”

 “Yeah, good seeing you too Percy,” Will said, with a embarrassed laugh that was still good-natured and totally hot. Nico now felt his skin erupt into heat as he sank somehow further into the floor. 

“God I hate this fucking family,” Nico said as he put his face in his hands, looking up only to see Jason handing Will the ice-pack which Will pressed to the back of Nico’s head. Nico looked at him and sighed as he touched it. “If you never want to talk to me ever again, I totally understand and support your decision.”

  “Why would I do that when this is so much fun?” Will asked, and Nico tried to detect any sarcasm but saw nothing in his expression that indicated such. Will knotted their fingers together as they held the ice-pack together. “I would totally do this again...though, I always appreciate a head’s up for interruption. Do you think we could do that?” 

“Yeah…” Nico said, nearly beaming. “Yeah, I think that can be arranged.” 

“Get a room!”

 “It’s my fucking apartment--Percy Jackson get over here so I can kick your ass!” 

Will laughed, and somehow disaster appeared to be avoided. 

[solange-lol]

could you possibly write some sort of high school au solangelo??

school! aus! are! my! guilty! pleasure!

my apologies, this is kind of long, I got excited. 

read on ao3

Will Solace hated Nico di Angelo with a burning passion.

Okay, that was a bit dramatic. But he didn’t like Nico. All through middle school you expect the whole “guys stick together,” thing, and for the most part Will did have a lot of friends by his side. He was pretty popular, laid back. Not on any sports teams, but everyone still liked him. 

Well, everyone but Nico, who teased him consonantly and pulled every prank imaginable on him. There was no reason behind it, maybe just for the sole reason that everyone liked Will whilst Nico had his sister Hazel, and that was all. 

Of course, Will never thought of this teasing to be anything besides a constant threat against him

₪₪₪

When they got into high school, Nico finally seemed to hold an unspoken truce to Will. Maybe because Will had sort of lost all his friends from middle school and only hung out with the kids who ate lunch in the band room.  

By their second year, Will couldn’t recall the last time Nico di Angelo had even spoken to him. Either he gave up, or he was too busy paying attention to the infamous Percy Jackson, a junior who played Fullback on their schools football team along with Jason Grace who played Quarterback and who had grown closer to Nico over the years, meaning that the three of them spent a lot of time together, as well as their girlfriends Annabeth Chase and Piper McClean, not to mention Hazel who still sat as his lunch table along with her boyfriend, Frank Zhang (who was also on the football team and played wide receiver.) All in all, Nico had found himself a small friend group. 

When Will first heard the rumors about Nico liking Percy, he wasn’t sure what to think. At first, he didn’t know if he should believe it. They started out high school with “gay” still being an insult, but as the months passed, Will started to see more and more LGBT couples, including Jason’s older sister Thalia, who was in Percy’s grade, and Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, also a junior. (not to mention Will deciding he was bi.) After a while, it all made sense to be true. Nico basically looked up to Percy, always tried to engage in conversation with him, and laughed at all his jokes, which 90% of the time weren’t even funny. 

A few weeks later, word got around that “Nico finally got the guts to tell Percy how he felt, Percy politely rejected him, now Nico refuses to talk to him” which was the first time Will ever felt bad for him. 

₪₪₪

After all the “Percy rejecting Nico” drama, everyone had the unspoken agreement that Nico was gay, and by the middle of their sophomore year, everyone mostly forgot about it, including Will. 

So when Nico and Will were paired up for a History project, Will thought nothing of it besides anxiety that this is where Nico will remember he existed and start teasing him again.

To his surprise, however, Nico seemed to act like nothing ever happened in their past years, and worked with Will quite well. They talked a lot during the week they had, and afterwords they continued to talk to the point where they were maybe kind of friends?

They didn’t eat lunch together, Will still sitting in the band room while Nico sat awkwardly in the cafeteria with his friends (and as far away to Percy as he could get) but they exchanged “hellos” in the hall, and talked a bit together before the classes they took together would start. Will was surprised by how much they actually had in common when it came to interests.

And by winter break, Will had developed a kind-of-sort-of-crush on Nico di Angelo. 

“Just ask him out!” his cousin Kayla told him while they sat on the couch watching their younger cousins unwrapping presents on Christmas morning after Nico had sent Will a half-faced snapchat saying “merry xmas solace” making Will’s heart melt. When it came to relationships, Kayla was always there for Will. 

“Thats what Lou Ellen said, but I can’t just go up to him and ask him out!” 

“Why not?” was her response. “You can handle rejection!”

“Not from him!” he hissed.

“William Solace, theres nothing to be afraid of, because he obviously likes you!” Kayla said indignantly.  

Will huffed, “We’ll see.” 

₪₪₪

To Will’s surprise, a note fell out of his locker a couple mornings later when he opened it to get his textbook for Math.

skip lunch. meet me in gender neutral bathroom on the second floor across from the library. -nico 

Will smiled. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it was a harmless note.

Like the note said, Will showed up outside the bathroom on the second floor, where Nico was standing against the wall, with his usual black shirt, tattered black jeans, and black converse. 

Upon arrival, Nico barley looked up before grabbing Will’s hand and dragging him into the bathroom and locking the door behind him. 

“What a-” Will started before Nico turned around, trapping him against the bathroom tiles, fierce determination in his eyes, and suddenly bad feeling were flooding into Will’s stomach, making his heart beat fast and his eyes widen.

It’s a trap, it’s all been a trap, this is where he beats me up, forget friendship, forget crushes, it was all a trap

But Will didn’t have any time to put his thoughts into actions before Nico stood up on his tiptoes, leaned in, and-

kissed him

Nico was kissing him.

He didn’t think, he didn’t notice any feeling except for the soaring feeling of his heart as Nico di Angelo kissed him.

As soon as he could process what was happening, he responded  to the kiss, hands lifting from his sides to wrap around Nico’s waist, pulling him closer. Nico’s hands dropped from the walls onto Will’s shoulders, then sliding his hands up so his palms cupped Will’s face, his fingers closing around the back of his neck. 

It felt like days when they finally released each other, smiling with flustered cheeks and messy hair. 

Needless to say, Nico showed up to his Biology class in the same state, mumbling an excuse as he slid in the seat next to Piper, who gave him a knowing wink.

₪₪₪

(junior year)

Nico was at a party.

He hated high school parties. He wasn’t big on socialization, despite being friends with 3 of the best football players in the school. His friend group had grown since last year. Sometimes he sat in the cafeteria with Jason and Piper and Hazel and all the others, but most of the time he sat in the band room with the theater kids, and now had a solid group there too. Lou Ellen and Cecil, Leo and Calypso, and of course Will.

Will. That was the only reason he showed up to the freaking thing. He would’ve preferred to spend a nice quiet night together watching a movie or something at Will’s house. But Jason asked Nico to come while Will was standing next to him and Will decided they were going. And Nico didn’t argue because frankly, he wasn’t paying attention to the conversation.

But now he as at this party with a bunch of drunk juniors and seniors in Jason’s house and he didn’t know where Will had gone or where anyone was frankly, and so he stood in the back with a Diet Coke, hoping no one would try and approach him.

Unfortunately, that didn’t go very well because he suddenly found himself in a conversation with Percy Jackson, his first crush that had rejected him, which Nico wasn’t as crushed as he could be, considering he knew how much Annabeth and Percy liked each other. 

And now here was Percy, chatting away with Nico instead of making out with Annabeth somewhere else, just like Nico’s awkward sophomore year didn’t happen.

Sophomore year. He had a crush on Will Solace ever since 6th grade, but by the time they got to high school, Nico undoubtedly decided that Will didn’t like him. This was also when he mt Jason, who then led to Percy. All through freshman and sophomore year all he thought about was Percy. It was unrealistic, yes, but isn’t everyone’s first second crush?

And then, yes, he got rejected by Percy which basically outed him to the entire school which would have made him probably transfer in any other situation, but instead he took it as an opportunity to get closer to Will, and eventually kiss him, who thank god liked him back, and by the end of the month they were dating. 

And now here he was, not really paying attention to this drunk Percy while scanning the room for Will. Just as he finally spotted the blonde head, Percy put his arm around Nico’s shoulder. Nico caught Will’s eye at this exact moment, and what happened next was not his fault. 

Will practically ran over to the two, grabbing Nico’s arm. 

“Sorry Percy but we have to go,” Will said quickly before dragging Nico out of the house. 

Nico was relieved to feel the cool night air on his skin, to get away from that loud party which would no doubt be caught soon. 

“Do you still like Percy?” Will asked suddenly.

Nico turned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean do you still like Percy?”

“No, idiot, of course I don’t like Percy.”

“Okay, good.”

“Why do you ask?”

Will sighed, avoiding eye contact “I haven’t seen you two talk in forever, and just the way he stood next to you, with his arm around you? I don’t know, I guess I just panicked. Thought that you still liked him… more than me.”

“Will?” Nico said. Will raised his head, squinting one eye to look at Nico. 

“I liked you first, before Percy. I used Percy as a distraction, because I thought you would never like me, but I’ve liked you ever since 6th grade.”

“Really? I thought you hated me in middle school? The constant teasing?”

“Thats called flirting, sunshine.” 

Will smiled, now looking at his palms and shaking his head, “All this time I could have spent with you and I thought you hated me”

“Hey, it’s alright,” Nico said, taking Will’s hand with one and putting the other on his cheek. “I have you now, and thats all I need. That past doesn’t matter. What matters is.., I love you., Will Solace”

Will’s eyes widened, and for a second Nico cursed at himself for going too quickly. But then, Will pulled him into a kiss, and Nico knew everything was alright.

“I love you too, Nico di Angelo,” he said when they pulled apart, smiling down at him as brown eyes met with blue. A small smile crossed Nico’s face too. This was all he needed. 

So I may or may not have been thinking about that freaking RIverdale thing with the “i love you’s” and Jughead and Betty while writing the ending iudbhskja

Anyway, I actually had a dream that I was Nico di Angelo and I went to a party and fell asleep on a couch cuddling Will Solace which is like the best dream ever but of course I was going to actually do that but I didnt add the party because why not

I have more ideas but I didn’t want to add them all because this was already super long so that can be saved for another fic :))

If you do want me to write another school!au oneshot then I will because like I said I absolutely love school au’s and I have more ideas !!

If not… well I’m sorry you didn’t like it but I’ll probably write some more anyway ;) 

[shippy-pjo-shipper]

Any ot4s? Personally, my favorite ot4 is Piper/Leo/Hazel/Frank. I also really like Percy/Anubis/Nico/Thanatos, Percy/Nico/Ethan/Alabaster, and Percy/Nico/Apollo/Hermes

I like a lot of different combinations between various characters.

My favorites ? I'm not sure, but the first ones which came to my mind are :

-Thalinzylloe (Thalia/Kinzie/Hylla/Zoe) : aka the huntress/amazons ultimate OT4. I love those girls and I'm sure they would have been best friends (with... different turns of events). I don't have a lot to say except that they're amazing and could make the most powerful group ever.

-Frazeynason (Frank/Hazel/Reyna/Jason) : aka the romans lovers. If Jason had chosen to go back to Camp Jupiter after the war and remain centurion by Hazel's side, I see those four bonding around their responsibilities. They would spare with each other, organize camp and activities together. Thet would be lovely and absolute cute dorks. I love it !

-Willecalico (Will/Leo/Calypso/Nico) : All of the pairings included are awesome. Will and Calypso are the sweet lovely one (with sometime a hard temper of course). Nico and Leo would constantly be surrounded by their love. They would be adorable and a true relationship goal.

-Preychelypso (Percy/Reyna/Rachel/Calypso) : Already answered an ask about it and again, I love this ship. In an universe where Percy and Reyna would be praetors, Rachel and Calypso would be the support they'd need, always there to cook them something, propose some days off, paint them, make them laugh. A perfect mix of some of my favorites Percy's pairings.

So here it is for my favorites OT4 at the moment. And for yours anon :

Piper/Leo/Hazel/Frank (Fripazeleo) is cute, I prefer different one but this one is nice. Percy/Anubis/Nico/Thanatos (Thanubercico) is really really cool, I don't know I love the mysterious aura which is around this polyship, it's interesting (plus, I love the idea of Percy being completely in the deadly discussions between his boyfriends). Percy/Nico/Ethan/Alabaster (Ethabastercico) is interesting, but one of the only thing I can think about this ship is how much work Percy will have with those boyfriends (but in the other way, those three would defend Percy to death). And Percy/Nico/Hermes/Apollo (Apermico) sounds... sassy. Like, Nico would be so constantly done with this three. I don't particularly ship it but I see the appeal.

[imgonnabeyourbubblegumwitch]

I Love You, You Pay My Rent: Chapter Six

First Chapter (Prologue)

Previous Chapter (Chapter Five)

Nico had been living with Will solace for one month and one day. He had grown used to waking up in his new room, had even put up a couple of posters and tried to make it his. He wasn’t used to waking up with his head pounding and his mouth dry and barren as the Sahara. He lay in bed for a long time whimpering to himself but eventually he dragged himself up, step by careful step, propelled by the need to find painkillers and water.

He vaguely remembered going to a fancy restaurant on a pretend date with Will and several attempts to recreate Nico’s pirate cocktail. He also thought he remembered inviting Will to Percy’s engagement but he hoped that was part of the strange dream he’d had about a zebra and a line of life sized toy soldiers.

When he stumbled out into the kitchen he saw Will sitting neatly in one of the armchairs.  Nico was about to question how Will looked so awake when a dark head popped up and suddenly Percy was grinning at Nico. Nico nearly dropped the glass he was holding.

“Afternoon Neeks,” Percy said. “Is my face really that frightening?”

“Don’t call me Neeks,” Nico snapped back automatically.  

He got his water, and then sat down near Will. Something about having Percy around felt wrong, and Nico felt weirdly protective of Will, even though that made no sense because he was pretty sure Will could handle himself and Percy wasn’t exactly a threat.

But Will’s body language wasn’t saying that. Perhaps it was just the horrendous hangover he probably had and was doing very well to hide, but Will seemed uncomfortable. He was stiffer than normal, and when he spoke it was almost like he did when he was around Drew, like he thought he was on show.

“Turns out we’ve got a couple of biology classes together,” Percy said gesturing to Will.

“And you never noticed before now?” Nico asked somewhat waspishly.

“He’s hardly ever there,” Percy said with a shrug not really picking up on, or perhaps simply just ignoring, Nico’s tone. “Still gets amazing grades though, not sure how he does it.”

He gave Will a big, friendly grin and Will smiled back automatically, wan and so far removed from the smiles he gave Nico that Nico was simultaneously smug and immensely pleased, and a little worried.

“Anyway, so I came over to invite him to the engagement. Thought if he was going to he’d be able to drag you out the house if you suddenly decide you don’t want to do the party thing. Besides I might need a biology tutor at some point, so seems like a good idea to make friends with someone so good they don’t need to turn up right?”

“I’d tutor you anyway,” Will said quietly. “You don’t need to bribe me.”

Nico had never felt uncomfortable around Percy before. Actually, that was a lie, he had felt uncomfortable around Percy pretty much constantly for several years but that was because of his crush. But now his skin felt like it was itching and all he wanted to do was pull Will away from Percy’s clutches.

It probably wasn’t Percy’s fault: he was being friendly and cheerful and there probably wasn’t any malice in the invitation. Knowing Percy he really was just interested in getting to know Nico’s housemate. Percy had been lax on things like that before and it had cost them both, so Nico did appreciate that Percy was at least trying to learn from his mistakes. But couldn’t he do it somewhere else, to someone else who wasn’t Will?

When Will’s phone went off, Nico used it as an excuse to gently encourage him to leave the room. With an apology, Will left to take the call in his room and Nico was left with Percy. There was a moment of blissful silence and then Percy ruined it.

“Are you okay Nico?”

“Hungover. Fed up of interacting so soon after waking up. Completely uninterested in answering that question. Otherwise I’m coping.”

Percy pulled a face.

“Just coping?” he asked. “You used to be like my fun, annoying kid brother. You didn’t stop talking – it drove me up the wall. Now you get annoyed if I’m around for more than five minutes and you barely say a thing. What happened?”

Nico stared at him in complete disbelief.

“What happened?” he hissed. “You got my sister killed!”

Percy blanched but steadied himself.

“You have to know I regret that!” he said pleadingly. “Every day Nico, and I swear if I’d known –“

“It’s not good enough!”

Nico was standing before he realised it, the glass of water tumbling to the floor.

“You ruined my life and I still-“

Despite the waves of anger and despair Nico could feel choking him, he managed to silence the next words. I still loved you, he wanted to say. After everything I was still in love with you and you didn’t deserve it. You didn’t even notice. He snapped his jaw shut, clamping his teeth together to stop the words forcing their way out along with his anger.

Percy looked kind of small all of a sudden.

“It was a mistake,” he said hollowly. “It was a stupid mistake. And now I can’t make another mistake and lose you too Nico, can’t you understand that?”

Nico just glared at him, holding his gaze.

“I wish you’d died instead of her,” he told him, words sharp and dagger like.

Percy went even paler. He looked like he was fighting back tears, but he was resigned too like he kind of expected it. He didn’t bother arguing or trying to fight back, just left leaving Nico to wonder whether it was just the anger and rage he tried to keep locked away talking, or whether he’d really meant what he said.

It just went to prove, really, that he and Percy really didn’t do well when they were alone together.

He felt too edgy and vulnerable after his fight with Percy to want to see anyone, even – maybe especially – Will, so he confined himself to his room in a self-imposed exile and wondered if there was a special place in hell reserved for people who told someone that they wished they were dead.

To his surprise, given Will’s usual interest in his health and wellbeing, Will left him alone. Maybe he’d heard a part of the fight or had just picked up on the bad vibes, but he seemed to sense Nico needed space for which Nico was eternally grateful. He left food out for Nico and then disappeared off out, presumably to one of his friends since Nico thought classes were probably over for the day.

Jason texted him telling him he’d heard about his argument with Percy and asking if he was alright. It was a stupid question, so Nico ignored it. He probably shouldn’t have because the next person to text him was Hazel who didn’t waste time with questions and just announced she was coming to visit for the weekend.

No matter how much he might hate the rest of his family, he couldn’t say no to Hazel. So he settled for scolding Jason for telling on him to his baby sister, and then grumpily gave Hazel his new address. Then he wondered if maybe he should have asked Will first. But then Will was always insisting this was Nico’s place too. So if Nico wanted to bring someone round, surely that was fine?

He posed the question to Will the next day.

“You have a sister?” Will asked.

Nico sighed.

“She’s called Hazel. She’s actually technically my half-sister. But yes. She won’t be any trouble.”

“You know I don’t’ care what you do,” Will said in response. “It’ll be cool to meet her.”

And that’s when Nico finally put together living with Will and inviting Hazel over and got Will was going to meet Hazel. Hazel was going to meet Will.

“Oh no,” he said quietly.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing.”

Nico went to meet Hazel at the station. She gave him a huge hug as soon as she saw him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She might have been tiny - one of the few people he knew smaller than him - but she was strong.

“Can’t breathe Hazel,” he muttered.

“I’ve missed you,” she replied, but did loosen her grip.

“So you said you’d moved. Does that mean I don’t get to see Leo?”

“He betrayed me by going on some extended roadtrip with Calypso,” Nico said.

“That’s pretty awesome.”

“He’s a traitor,” Nico insisted. “Made me find somewhere else to live with a total stranger.”

“And what’s this total stranger like?” Hazel asked.

Nico sniffed.

“Tolerable I suppose,” he said, turning away so Hazel wouldn’t’ see the blush he could feel creeping into his cheeks.

“Tolerable?” Hazel asked. “Isn’t that your version of my new best friend?”

“Tolerable,” Nico repeated, but he couldn’t stop a smile.

Hazel filled Nico in on her life as the two went back to the apartment. She was still working hard, still went riding on the weekends. She was still with Frank which Nico was glad about. Frank was a good guy and he’d been a little worried that the two might find the distance hard when Frank, who was a year older, went to college.

Nico in turn was supposed to tell her about his life. He glossed over the fight with Percy even though it felt like a lead weight in his chest, the fact that he was fake-dating the person who he might have slightly fallen for, and the fact he’d been stupid enough to invite Will to the engagement party as his pretend boyfriend. Instead he told her about Reyna’s birthday because it satisfied the obligation to tell Hazel stuff while simultaneously being completely harmless.

Hazel was full of questions when they got to the apartment. Her eyes were so round they were practically saucers, probably because the last time she’d come to visit him he hadn’t owned plates but had had custody of several interesting times of mould.

“Wow, Nico,” Hazel said as he let her in. “This place is really nice. You’ve moved up in the world!”

“It is pretty nice,” Nico agreed. “The apparently endless supply of take out left overs is the best bit. Will always orders way too much food for himself.”

“Is Will around?” Hazel asked as she dumped her rucksack on the floor and threw herself onto the sofa. “I want to meet him.”

“He’s just some guy I’m living with,” Nico said. “What’s so interesting about him?”

“You tell me,” Hazel replied eyes far too knowing.

Nico gave her an unimpressed look but dutifully knocked on Will’s door and called his name. Wil didn’t answer so Nico assumed he was out. Nico turned to report this to Hazel and found her kneeling by the TV.

“I’m assuming these are Will’s,” she said with a slight grin. “He’s got a good taste in films. I love the Princess and the Frog!”

Nico gave a half shrug as Hazel wandered around the room, poking and investigating things. Nico hadn’t realised how much had changed since he had moved in. He remembered how clinical and impersonal the place had seemed. Now there was stuff everywhere, Will’s and his. It startled him how settled he’d become, almost without realising. It was one thing to have posters up in his own room, but even with Leo, his stuff had remained firmly in his room confined to space that was solely his own.

“Nico?”

“I’m fine,” he told Hazel. “What do you want to do tonight?”

“Movie marathon?” Hazel suggested.

It really wasn’t the worst thing she could have come up with so Nico agreed readily enough and suggested she order something to eat, handing her his card.

“Do you think Will wants anything?” she asked.

Nico shrugged.

“He eats most things. Just order double of whatever you want. Oh, and if you’re getting Chinese he doesn’t want fortune cookies. He’s got a thing about them.”

“Noted.”

“He likes pineapple but not pepperoni.”

“Okay,” Hazel said with a slight smile.

“His favourite at the moment is dim sum.”

“Got it,” Hazel said, her grin suddenly very wide. Nico felt his cheeks heating up again.

“We get food a lot,” he said defensively.

“I didn’t say a thing,” Hazel replied innocently.

Nico huffed and told her he needed a shower. He escaped to his room, leaving her to sort out food and a line-up of movies, and lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He wondered if Hazel knew. She was certainly perceptive enough to pick up on it, and was eerily good at telling who would likely end up with who a skill that only Piper surpassed her in. But he’d thought he’d kept his feelings for Percy well hidden. He knew at some point he was going to have to tell her he was gay, and it would be far easier admitting his feelings for Will than Percy. But somehow it didn’t quite feel right.

Soon, he promised himself. I’ll tell her soon.

He took a shower because otherwise Hazel might question why his hair wasn’t damp and realise he’d just been ducking out from the conversation. The warm water felt good, relaxing him when he didn’t realise he’d been tense, and by the time he’d come out and re-dressed Will was sitting next to Hazel, chatting cheerfully. They had cartoons on but neither were really paying attention as Hazel told Will about one of her classes at school. If he hadn’t known better he would have thought they were old friends with how comfortable they looked with each other.

Seeing Will interacting with Hazel didn’t feel weird in the way that seeing Will with Percy did and he left them talking, taking his time making his coffee. He tried not to think about how his heart felt too big for his chest, or how he felt all warm and kind of fuzzy.

“What did you order?” he asked Hazel as he sat down on the other side of her.

“I didn’t. I mentioned I wanted to try cooking pizza from scratch and Will said we could try. You don’t mind right?”

“Whatever you want Hazel.”

Hazel grinned.

“We’ll need to go out for ingredients,” Will commented.

“You cooking though,” Nico said. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Might burn the building down.”

“And as tragic as that would be,” Will answered, “think how much that would annoy Octavian.”

Nico laughed. He could perfectly picture Octavian’s face as he came home and saw smoke pouring out from under their door.

“Sold,” Nico said. “But shotgun not going out.”

The pizza took a ridiculously long time to make and Nico could have complained that it would have been quicker to order it. But Hazel was having fun and he had to admit he was too. It didn’t matter that their pizzas went horribly wrong and Nico could practically hear his mother yelling at him from beyond the grave about his cooking skills. Nico liked hanging out with Will and Hazel. The only hard thing was trying to act normal so Hazel wouldn’t keep giving him side-long glances with accompanied by mysterious knowing little smiles that put Mona Lisa to shame. He hoped he was imagining it but as the pizzas were cooking and Will was getting out plates, Hazel suddenly attacked.

“So Will,” she said as she finished telling him about Frank. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“Uh no I – “

“Boyfriend?” Hazel asked sweetly. Nico glared at her but Hazel feigned ignorance.

“Not at the moment,” Will said.

Hazel gave him a big grin.

“I’m sure you’ll find someone soon,” she said.

Nico intensified his glare. Hazel stuck out her tongue behind Will’s back. She looked like she was going to say something else and Nico was considering tackling her to the ground, and whether Will would notice, when the timer rang and Will left to get the pizzas out.

“What are you doing?” Nico hissed.

“Taking an interest in his life,” Hazel said loftily but she couldn’t quite keep the mischievous little grin off her face.

“I can take an interest in yours too if you like. You usually complain though.”

“Hazel –“

“Do you have a girlfriend? Boyfriend?” She knew. She definitely knew. He could just admit it here and now, but it was too difficult with Will only in the kitchen and he just shoved her arm instead.

“Hazel!” he snapped.

Hazel burst out laughing and Nico tried to hush her. “You’re such an annoyance,” he told her irritably and shoved her down into a chair.

“Now behave. Quit grilling Will about his love life.”

Hazel pulled a face but dutifully pretended to zip her lips shut. Nico gestured that he’d be watching her as Will came back with their dinner, and sat down trying to pretend like everything was normal.

He got through dinner without embarrassing himself and Hazel surprised him by keeping quiet on the topic of romance and they talked instead about what they were going to do tomorrow for Hazel’s only full day in the city. Hazel wanted to go to a museum and Will suggested an exhibit on the greek gods.

“Since you love mythomagic so much,” Will said with a grin.

“That sounds pretty cool actually,” Hazel said. “I’d like to see that.”

“I’m up for it,” Nico told her, licking ice cream off his spoon.

“Great. Now you promised me a movie marathon and that I could pick,” Hazel said. “You haven’t seen Princess and the Frog yet right?”

Nico let Hazel sleep in his bed and crashed out on his floor. Hazel dropped off almost immediately and began snoring gently. He found it much harder to get to sleep. He blamed it on the hard floor but it could possibly also have been because his heart was jumping all over the place in his chest. Every time he closed his eyes all he could think about was Will.

You’re in way too deep, he told himself but he got the feeling his warning was way too late.

The next morning he found Will helping Hazel with some biology homework, the two sat at the dining table together. It was weirdly domestic but also weirdly not all that strange a sight. Nico poured himself cereal and ate as Will explained some minutiae of the circulatory system.  

He left to get ready and when he got back he found Will was watching TV.

“What are you up to today?” he asked, going over to sit on the edge of the armchair.

“Nothing in particular,” Will said. “I was going to catch a movie with Lou Ellen but she cancelled last minute and everyone else is busy.”

Nico knew what he was going to say a split second before he said it and it still managed to be a surprise when the words left his mouth.

“Well maybe you could come with us?” he suggested. Will looked up at him.

“It was supposed to be your day with Hazel,” he said.

“She won’t mind. You’re her new BFF, she’s totally in love with you.”

Will laughed.

“I’m just that good,” he said. “Charm the dads, flowers for the mums, become BFFs with the little sisters.”

Nico laughed too.

“You’re full of yourself Solace,” he told him.

Hazel came out of the bathroom then, hair brushed and up, and saw the two of them. She grinned but didn’t say anything as she pulled on her jacket.

The Greek gods exhibition was pretty good. Hazael was enjoying it anyway. She jumped from statue to vase to painting, taking pictures with her camera and stopping at random points to sketch in the little notebook she kept in her pocket. She’d barely spent two seconds with them, just kept running off in a way Nico was starting to think was deliberate since it felt less like he’d come here with Hazel and a lot more like he’d come here with Will.

They wandered along, side by side, close enough that their hands occasionally brushed. Will didn’t move away though and Nico didn’t think he could if he wanted too, it was like Will had some kind of gravitational force that kept pulling Nico in. When Will stopped to admire a statue, Nico stopped to admire Will admiring the statue.

“Kind of looks like you,” Will commented.

“It looks nothing like me,” Nico retorted. “Who is it anyway?”

Will looked around for a plaque.

“Hades, Lord of the Dead,” he read with the beginnings of a grin.

“Great,” Nico said. “Thanks a lot.”

“Suits you, Death Boy,” Will teased lightly.

“He doesn’t look like me!” Nico protested shoving Will lightly in the arm.

“Well okay you’d have to put in some more hours in the gym to get those arms,” Will conceded.

“Are you insulting my figure Solace?”

“Not at all,” Will said. “You’re figure’s fine with me.”

Nico looked at him in surprise and was even more surprised when he saw Will’s cheeks were suddenly tinged pink. He was hit once again with how freaking beautiful Will was and wondered if he could constantly say things to make Will blush just so his cheeks could stay that rosy. Nico kind of wanted to kiss him and he realised with horror he’d actually leant in slightly and this wasn’t supposed to happen and Will’s eyes had gone wide and this was all wrong and –

He was incredibly relieved when Hazel pinged up by their sides and said that she wanted to visit the gift shop. Nico answered automatically and he’d never know what he said, or how he’d managed to speak at all when all the breath felt like it had left his body.

He’d been expecting Hazel to corner him about Will all weekend so when she began packing things back up in her rucksack he wasn’t especially surprised (even if he also wasn’t thrilled) when she brought him up.

“So Will’s pretty great,” she said. “You got lucky on the housemate lottery.”

It was tame compared to what she could have said so Nico gave her an honest answer instead of brushing her off.

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

“Nico?”

“Yes, Hazel?” Nico asked with a sigh. She was fidgeting, looking surprisingly unsure.

“You could do worse.”

Nico’s heart skipped ten beats. He swallowed and even though Hazel was accepting and sweet it was still insanely difficult to speak. He managed to nod mutely and Hazel smiled back, nodding too. She turned to leave the room but Nico called her back.  

“Hazel?”

She looked at him but he didn’t have the words so he hugged her and hoped she understood.

Next Chapter

[cabinofimagines]

Happiness In Strange Places Pt. 2

Requests: Part two of this imagine was sent in on multiple occasions so here it is

Pairing: SingleParent!Leo x Nanny!Reader

Fluff | Smut | Angst

A/n: This is soo bad, I’m tired and I honestly couldn’t give two fucks about how well this is liked, peace out bitches, I’m going to bed. -Day

"I'll... I'm just gonna go. Thanks for hanging out with me, though."

His warm and calloused hand entrapped your soft and reasonably small hand in his own, "Wait!" His mouth moved on its own and --he guessed-- his mind was made up.

"I think I love you too."

You stood motionless, did he just say he loved you? No... he said he thinks he loves you.

"Don't," You managed to get out, "Please just... don't."

Leo looked up at you in bewilderment, his grip slowly slipping from your hand as he lost all the confidence he had collected earlier. A scoff escaped his lips as he looked away, his hand dropping from yours and finding its way to his curly locks. His mind now polluted with thoughts of negativity, why would you even confess to him if you weren't going to accept him? Did you just prank him? No, you looked so sincere and embarrassed when you confessed. If this was a prank, then you were a damn good actor.

His blood boiled in anger the more he thought about the whole ordeal. This was absurd, you confessed to him so why are you dismissing his feelings like they were nothing; as if he were nothing. His emotions that swirled throughout his entire being confused him greatly, his heart ached with sorrow of a lost love, his pride bore a gaping hole from rejection, yet, he was furious.

"Is this seriously how it's going to be?" His voice held a venomous bite that was entirely new to you. His hands curling into tight fists as he tried to control himself.

This new side of him had scared you more than anything, was he really not the man you remembered? You watched his knuckles turn white and small sparks ignite from his fists, hesitantly you placed your hand delicately on his shoulder in hopes to console him.

You retracted your hand with a hiss, his shoulder was hot to the touch and you could tell he was seriously upset.

"Leo," You mumbled carefully, "You need to calm down, let's talk about this--" Your speech was cut short due to the surprise grab Leo made for you. His hands wrapped around your forearms as he slammed his lips to yours in what felt like panic.

You could feel his nervousness and his temper as he kissed you, his lips trembling and hot as his lips danced across your own. The kiss itself was short lived due to the fact that he was still mad and when he was mad, he was hot. Not hot in the term of being attractive, but hot in the term of heat.

You shoved him away harshly and let out a rather loud yelp of pain as you doubled over. Leo furrowed his brows in confusion, "What? Why do you keep pushing me away?"

You looked up at him with an angry glare, Holding your arms against your stomach while they stung with pain. "You fucking burned me that's why."

The deep regret and panic you saw in his eyes did not deter your mood in the slightest, still glaring hard at him while you made your way to the kitchen sink to cool off your burns under the water. You let out a soft whimper as the cool water soothed your aching arms.

Leo hadn't moved from his spot, sitting on the couch you had pushed him onto when he burned you. He burned you. He promised himself when he was just a child that he would never hurt someone he cared about with his abilities, not after what he did to his mom.

Noah padded into the living room clad in his black jogging pants, a red t-shirt with a white faded band name on it, and his mismatched striped socks. Leo turned his attention to the little boy rubbing his tired eyes, mentally cooing at his son's "big boy" attire.

"Daddy? Are you mad?" Noah innocently questioned as he peered curiously at his father's sitting form. His question took Leo off guard but Leo answered him nonetheless, "No, mijo. I'm just confused about some things, no need to worry."

Of course, his son inherited his mother's never-ending care for others and kept prodding at his father's feelings, "About what? Do you wanna talk about it?" Leo grinned at his son, he was rather smart for his age and tended to repeat what others have said to him, he guessed he got this phrase from Y/n.

"I'm just confused about my feelings right now, I'll be okay, though," Leo reached his hand out to muss Noah's hair, "It's late, mijo, let's get you back to bed."

Leo stood up from the couch with a soft groan and a small stretch, he bent down to lift Noah onto his hip while he carried the sleepy boy back to his bed. Leo knelt down onto the small bed and placed the small child back into his comfy bed. He tucked Noah in gently, brushed back his curly mop of brown hair, and kissed his forehead.

Before Leo could say goodnight and go back to the living room to hopefully apologize to Y/n, Noah had called out to him in a timid voice, "Daddy?" Leo looked back at Noah, leaning against the doorframe as he listened, "Hm?" It was hard to see how much Noah's tiny body fidgeted with nervousness as he asked ever so quietly, "Can I call Y/n mommy? She's real nice and takes good care of me. She even kisses me goodnight when you can't!"

Leo's eyes widened and his mouth went agape, he could hardly fathom the thought of Noah actually WANTING to have a mom. Noah has been content with just having a dad for as long as he could remember, he's always just wanted a dad and nothing more, or at least that's what Leo thought. He's imagined many different times and had many dreams that his and Noah's small family were complete, but never once did he think Noah would want Y/n as his mom. Leo cleared his throat, "That's up to you, bud. If you feel that way then it's up to you, just..." Leo paused and looked down at his feet, rubbing the back of his neck in guilt, "Just don't get upset if she doesn't like it, okay?"

Noah slowly nodded and slunk back down underneath his Bob the Builder blankets-- a gift from his Uncle Percy. Having said goodnight to Noah, Leo shuts the door and stalks off to the living room couch to once more slump down in his own shame.

Meanwhile, Y/n had taken a seat on the kitchen stools and contemplated her next move. You knew that you had confused Leo to the point of anger with your change of feelings, but you didn't want a relationship out of pity. How could you approach him now that he's upset? You mulled over these thoughts for a good while until you decided it was in both of your best interests to sort this out now. You nervously peek around the corner of the kitchen wall and make sure Leo is calmed down. Once you scan his body for any noticeable heat marks with your eyes, you make your way into the living room, sitting down on the couch and alerting him of your presence.

He didn't look up at you and even moved away from you when you sat down. "Hey," You muttered, "I know you didn't mean to hurt me." Leo shook his head and scoffed at your words, "Why is it always you?"

You furrowed your brows in confusion, reaching out hesitantly to touch his arm, "What?" You scooted closer, testing your limits. Leo didn't seem to notice your movement but retreated away from your touch, "It's always you," his voice cracked in emotion, hurting your heart as he continued, "I always lose control around you, I've never hurt you before though and I promised I'd never h-hurt anyone with my abilities, not again."

Leo hid his face in his hands while mumbling somewhat incoherently, "I didn't mean to hurt you... I'm sorry." Your heart drops and so does your face, "Aw Leo," You croon, "It's not as bad as it seems. It just shocked me that's all," Your hand reaches out shyly to smooth down his curls, not making a difference of his wild curls. He flinched away from your touch, looking up at you with a gaze that looked more hurt than a kicked puppy.

"Your arm is red, it's scarred and it's all my fault," His eyes started welling up with tears, "I love you, Y/n. But all I do is hurt you. When I left, when I was with Calypso, when I lost contact with you... How could you still love me?"

Your hand slid down to his cheek, resting there and turning his sorrow filled face towards you, thumb wiping away the stray tears that fell without his permission. You leaned forward and kissed him on his lips, slowly to savor the taste of him. The faint taste of root beer he drank earlier in the day lingered on his lips, mixing excellently alongside the sweet taste that was none other than the original taste of Leo.

You withdrew from the kiss, answering his question before you dived back in for yet another kiss, "Because you're Leo Valdez, my best friend and the only man I've ever loved. I will love you always"

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