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“I’ve missed it here.” Percy breathed out as he stood on Half-Blood hill, Annabeth at one side and Jason and Piper on the other.
The summer sun shone down at Camp Half-Blood, welcoming the summer campers back. The four of them had driven cross-country in Percy’s Prius from New Rome, just to spend the summer back at camp. Percy has spoken with Hazel and Frank before they left, the couple planning on shadow traveling there as soon as possible.
“Come on, let’s go say hi to Chiron and everyone else!” Annabeth announced, adjusting her duffel bag over her shoulder before taking Percy’s hand and pulling him down the hill.
“I hope Leo’s around, I’ve missed him.” Piper said, looking around with a wide grin.
“Is he still with Calypso?” Percy asked.
Jason shook his head in response. “Nah, he Iris Messaged me a few weeks ago and said she ran off claiming she wanted a “real mortal life”.”
Percy scoffed. “I never liked her much anyway.” He grumbled.
“Neither did I, she was kind of a bitch.” Annabeth replies with the roll of her eyes.
“Agreed.” Piper breathed out.
They made their way through camp, Annabeth and Piper greeting a few of their younger siblings as they passed.
“Guys!”
They all looked up at once, a familiar blonde medic jogging towards them with a wide grin.
“Will!” Annabeth mirrored his grin, holding her arms out for a hug. She stood on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck. “How are you? It’s been ages.”
“I’m really good! Was the trip here okay?” Will responded, letting go of Annabeth to hug Piper and side-hug Jason and Percy.
“It was lovely, no monster attacks at all.” Piper said with a sigh of relief.
“Yeah, man, we got lucky.” Percy said as he pat Will on the shoulder. “Is Death Breath around here? Or did you two-“ he made a slicing his throat gesture.
Will sputtered for a moment, shaking his head quickly. “No! Gods no!” He laughed. “We’re fine! Perfectly fine. He’s waiting for you guys.” He gestured to the porch of the Big House, where a ravenette was sitting on the steps with a dog by his side.
Jason shouted in excitement, grabbing Percy’s hand and dashing towards the Big House.
“Weirdos.” Piper grumbled with a small giggle. She linked arms with Annabeth, following their two idiot boyfriends with Will at their side. “I swear they’re more in love with each other than they are with us.” She said, making both blondes snicker.
“Nico! My baby bro!” Jason cheered, letting go of Percy and holding his arms out as an invitation for a hug.
Nico awkwardly stood up, a small smile on his face. He wrapped his arms around Jason, patting the son of Jupiter’s back. “Hey, Jace.” He let go of the blonde and took a small step back. “Hi, Percy.”
“What? No hugs for your favorite bro?” Percy scoffed, opening his arms with a playful smile.
The son of Hades scoffed, giving Percy a one-armed side-hug. He sat down on the steps of the Big House porch, placing his hand on the dog’s back.
“Who’s this?” Percy asked, kneeling down and going to pet the dog.
“Don’t touch her.”
The son of Poseidon frowned, pulling his hand away. He paused for a moment, then he noticed the harness the dog wore.
“Is she your service dog?” Jason asked, sitting down beside Nico and bumping their shoulders together.
“Mhm, her name is Luna. She’s a chow chow.” The ravenette said with a fond smile, patting the dog’s head. “She helps with my anxiety and my balance.” Nico’s smile grew when Will, Annabeth, and Piper joined them.
“Hey, Neeks.” The daughter of Athena smiled, holding her hand out for a high five from the youngest of the bunch.
Piper ruffled Nico’s hair before sitting down beside Jason. Will came to kiss his boyfriend’s forehead before flopping backwards into the grass.
“Is Hazel coming?” Nico asked, turning towards the others as he’s tangled one of his hands in Luna’s fur.
“Yeah! She said she would shadow travel with Frank sometime today, probably before dinner.” Percy said excitedly as he held his arms out for Annabeth. He smiled like a little boy on Christmas when she sat on his lap.
“Gods, I can’t wait to join everyone in New Rome at the end of the summer.” Will said from where he was laid like a starfish, soaking up the sunlight. “I love it here at camp, but it’s getting lonely without all the oldies. Being around ten year-olds all day gets really tiring, really quick.” He groaned, Nico nodding in agreement. “It’ll be hard to leave my sibling bu-“
“Guys!”
Their heads all shot up, looking over to the source of the voice.
Leo came running towards them, his camp t-shirt decorated with scorch marks and small holes. He ran towards them with a big grin, clearly unbothered by the soot that was smeared all over his exposed skin. Small sparks lit up in his curly brown hair, igniting from the pure excitement surging through his veins. The son of Hephaestus threw himself at Piper first, smushing his cheek against the top of her head.
“Oh my sweet Pipes! My sweetest girl! My darling Aphrodite girl, how I have missed you!” He said dramatically, petting Piper’s head and smooching her forehead. “Jason! My boy! C’mere!” He extended an arm to the son of Jupiter, beckoning him into the hug.
“It’s good to see you too, Leo.” Piper chuckled, patting her best friend’s back. She giggled when Jason hugged them both.
“Have you grown since I last saw you, Man?” Jason asked, giving Leo a teasing poke on the stomach.
“I hope so!” Leo took a step back and struck a pose, laughing to himself. “Percy, my main man, how's it going?” He shot finger guns at the son of Poseidon, then took Annabeth’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Beth, my love, you are looking gorgeous these days. Did you do something with your hair?” He said with a bow.
Annabeth giggled, shoving Leo’s arm. “Shut up, Dork.”
Leo smirked, plopping down in the grass. He waved to Nico, as well as Luna. “How’s it going, beautiful lady?” He wiggled his brows.
The son of Hades scoffed. “You saw her this morning, Stupid. You made sure you were at my cabin the moment the sun rose so you could pet her before she had to work.” He said with the roll of his eyes. He leaned down to rest his head against Luna’s back. The Chow Chow turned her head to look at him and sniffed his forehead.
“Leo, man, not even I get up that early.” Will let out a breathy laugh, swatting playfully at the Latino’s leg.
“How long have you had her?” Annabeth asked, gesturing towards the dog. “Luna.”
Nico hummed softly in thought. “Well, she only officially became mine a few months ago. She had to be trained to accommodate to my specific needs, so it took a little while to get her full-time.” He straightened up. “After a particularly, um, traumatizing head injury in the pit, I’ve had really bad vertigo. She keeps me from falling over and/or landing on my face.” He said with a small laugh.
“How long were you there?” Percy asked. “In uh...Tartarus.” Muttering the word seemed to come as a challenge for him.
Nico opened his mouth to respond, but Will cut him off. “Chiron told us we were gone for fifteen days, but it felt so much longer than that. It felt like we were down there for months .” The son of Apollo sat up, running his fingers through his blonde curls. He checked his watch. “Shit, I have to get ready for my shift at the infirmary.”
Everyone dramatically groaned, making the blonde smile.
“We’ll see you at dinner, right?” Annabeth asked.
“Mhm, of course! Come get me if Hazel and Frank show up before then, ‘kay y’all?”
Nico snorted, pretending to hold up an invisible microphone. “Give me a “yeehaw”, Cowboy.” He said with a teasing smile.
Will leaned down closer to Nico’s hand. “Yeehaw.” He said with the most southern accent he could muster. He giggled quietly, pecking his boyfriend’s lips. “Love you, come get me if you need me, you know where I’ll be.” He straightened up. “Bye, Luna. Bye, Friends!” He waved to the others before jogging off to the Apollo cabin to change into his scrubs.
“You guys make me feel so single.” Leo muttered.
——
“I’m exhausted!” Hazel exclaimed as she threw herself onto her bed in Cabin 13. “It’s been a long day.”
Nico nodded in agreement. When Luna untied his laces he toed his converse off, nudging them under his bed. He patted his bed so the Chow Chow hopped up. He unclipped her support harness, hanging it up his his leather jacket.
“I’m glad you’re here, Haze, I’ve missed you.” Nico said with a smile, laying down on his stomach on his bed. He rested his chin on his palm. “Where’s Frank?” He asked.
“With Leo, just hanging out until the harpies come out I guess.” The daughter of Pluto said with a shrug. She got up from her bed and shuffled over to her brother’s, laying down beside him. “Can I do your hair?”
Nico arched his brow, eyeing her curiously. “Why?” He asked.
“Because it’s so long and pretty!” She giggled. “Look at this little curl! Look at it!” She pinched a lock of his hair and held it up for him to see. “Please let me play with it? Please, Nico?”
He groaned, dropping his face onto the bed. “Fine, I guess you can do my hair.” He chuckled when Luna began to paw at him in concern and sniff his head. He sat up, petting her head. “I’m okay, Lulu, don’t worry. Hazel’s just being weird.” He whispered to the fluffy dog.
“You love me!” Hazel giggled, hugging him from behind. “Now stay still, goober!” She said with a happy grin, sitting back and beginning to comb her fingers through Nico’s hair.
Nico sighed loudly for dramatic effect. He sat still, just to make Hazel happy, and allowed her to do whatever she wanted with his hair. When Luna laid her head in his lap and scratched behind her ears and smoothed her fur down, his smile growing.
——
When Frank and Will entered the Hades Cabin, they were pleased to find their significant others passed out on one of the beds. Nico was holding Hazel’s hand loosely in his own, while a few stray braids decorated his hair. Hazel herself was curled up close to him, a tiny smile gracing her features.
“Gods, I’m so in love with her.” Frank whispered, his smile nothing less of lovesick.
“They’re adorable, I hate to have to move them.” Will whispered back, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Yeah, but I’m not sharing a bed with you, man. I prefer to share with my girlfriend.” The Roman replied with a small smile, lightly punching Will’s arm.
Will snorted, nodding in agreement. He knew he could simply just go sleep in the Apollo cabin while Frank took Hazel’s bed, but he wasn’t exactly keen on sleeping alone. He enjoyed having a certain ravenette and fluffy dog to snuggle.
Frank quietly tiptoed over to the bed. He placed a kiss on Hazel’s cheek before carefully lifting her up bridal style. Her golden eyes opened sleepily when she was moved, but closed again almost instantly. She leaned her head against Frank’s chest and signed contently.
He laid her down in her own bed, then brushed her hair from her face. “Do you want to change?” He whispered. “I don’t know if sleeping in leggings is comfortable.” He asked her.
Hazel blearily opened her eyes again. She shook her head, reaching up to grab Frank’s arm and pull on it. “‘m comfy.” She mumbled.
Little did Frank know, leggings were very comfortable to sleep in.
Will watched them with a fond smile. They were cute. He looked down at Nico, pleased to find him still very much asleep. He- as carefully as possible -wrapped his arms around the son of Hades and scooted him up so he was laying on his pillow. The blonde smiled, getting into the familiar bed. He practically lived in Cabin Thirteen nowadays, and no one tried to stop him anymore.
He laid down beside Nico, pulling the blankets over them. He let out a breathy laugh when he felt Luna move to lay across their feet. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s waist, laying his head on the ravenette’s chest.
Just as Will closed his eyes he felt Nico return the hold and kiss the top of his head. He smiled, squeezing his boyfriend a little tighter.
With that, he fell asleep.