Nico di Angelo | Percy Jackson (sonofhades) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2020-09-09 18:45:00 |
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Entry tags: | !completed gdoc, !log, leo valdez (thevaldezinator), ~2020 september, ~~~~~nico di angelo (sonofhades) |
WHO: Leo Valdez and Nico di Angelo
WHAT: Helping out building droids
WHEN: Today
WHERE: Leo’s
WARNINGS Nah
STATUS: Closed/Completed Gdoc
Nico wasn’t quite sure why Leo had invited him over to help building stuff. He wasn’t any good at building stuff, and he doubted that Leo really needed his help anyway. Maybe he just wanted company. Nico could understand that. He was lonely a lot of the time too so he had a little pity on him and actually came over when Leo asked him to.
Hands in pockets, he found him puttering in the backyard. He really had no idea what Leo was building, and stood in complete silence behind him as he worked, the way only a son of Hades could. If Leo hadn’t seen him approach and was freaked out when he was suddenly right THERE, well, that wasn’t Nico’s fault, was it?
***
Except, somehow, Leo kind of knew he was there. It wasn’t even like he was full out waiting for Nico - Leo had a hard time not just getting sucked into his work sometime - but there was just something that told Leo that Nico was there. With that said, though, Leo didn’t say anything for a moment or two. Then suddenly he was sitting back on his heels on the ground looking at a pile of wires and motherboard-looking things. “Blue or red?”
--
How the hell should he know? Nico knew nothing about that sort of thing. He’d never built anything in his life. He stared at it and thought for a moment about asking Leo if he really wanted him to answer that because things were probably going to go all kinds of crazy if he did. But nah. He’d go along with it.
“Blue,” he guessed.
***
“Blue sounds good. Like R2. He’s blue and white.” He looked over and grinned at Nico, finally saying hi officially. “Hey Nico! I think a blue droid would be cool. Red probably would make it look too dark side anyway and since we’re trying to keep Anakin from going Vadar, that’s probably a good thing to avoid.”
--
“Okay,” he said, shrugging a little. He didn’t know anything about this stuff, although he did know a little more than he liked to admit about Star Wars.
“Yeah, red can feel a little mean sometimes. Blue is calmer.”
He still wasn’t exactly sure why Leo had invited him over. He definitely wasn’t good at this sort of thing.
***
“Is that what black does for you?” Leo turned to actually look at him this time. Leo was sort of more naturally red, but it was the fire stuff. He hoped he didn’t come off as mean. Maybe the grease that inevitably ended up all over him off-setted any meanness it gave off.
--
Nico didn’t think of Leo as mean. How could anyone think of Leo as mean? He was one of the nicest people out there.
“Black...I blend in better. People don’t look at me as much. I can be alone better.” Maybe he wouldn’t understand why Nico needed that, but he did.
***
Leo understood the desire to blend in. While he could be loud and energetic, he had lived most of his life thinking the fire thing made him a freak. When he got to camp, the idea he was an omen and a curse had hit him hard too. His way of dealing with all that, though, was to just power through it like it wasn’t bothering him.
“You ever consider wearing another colour?” He paused. “I mean, maybe not the bright orange of the camp, but like… what about the purple from Camp Jupiter? Or like, a nice navy blue?” He realized how that sounded and lifted his hands. “Not that there’s anything wrong with the black. I was just wondering.” Though it did give Leo an idea now.
--
Nico frowned, scowling a little at the suggestion.
“I’d really rather not. I like black. I like the way I look in black. And I am the son of Hades.” It kind of made sense, didn’t it? “And anyway, if all my clothes are black, I don’t have to worry about matching. As long as clothes are clean, they match.”
He crossed his arms.
“Why do you care, anyway?”
***
“I - “ He almost automatically said ‘I don’t care’, but that wasn’t really true. He paused and then shrugged. “I don’t know. If you like wearing it and like the way you look, that’s different than wanting to disappear, you know? I mean, I’d probably pay to see you in a different colour. Or like, plaid.” Did they make a black plaid? “But it’s not like I’m saying you need to wear something different. I was just wondering.”
He moved to stand up so he was beside Nico more. “Maybe I should wear black more. It’d hide the grease better, I’m sure.”
--
Nico sneered at the idea of wearing plaid. He was pretty sure he’d never worn it before. He wore black. That was his thing. He wore it for the reason of blending in, but he also couldn’t imagine wearing anything else. It would just be weird. Well, except for his bomber jacket, which was brown, of course, but he only wore that when it was cold.
He shook his head at Leo’s words.
“No. Black isn’t you. It would look weird.”
***
Woah. Okay, messaged received - no black plaid for Nico. Still, Leo already had an idea for his friend and he was going to do it and hope he didn’t get a bunch of skeletons sent after him for his troubles. “Really? You think so?”
Without really thinking about it, Leo whipped out his phone and stepped behind Nico. He wasn’t touching Nico, but he was close to the boy, and then Leo extended his hand out for a selfie. He didn’t take it, but let the screen display his face and Nico’s black-clothed shirt. It almost looked like he was wearing black. Almost. “Okay, so maybe black’s not my colour.”
An impulse came over Leo and he turned the phone a little to try and get a selfie, but he turned the screen just a little, saw how close Nico’s face was in the screen, and then suddenly felt himself blushing. He withdrew without taking a phone and took a step back, confused. He rubbed his neck and cleared his throat. “Anyway, you know. Black I think is fine. It was just a question.”
--
Nico didn’t like selfies. He didn’t like his picture taken and he didn’t like being that close to people so when it got even the least bit awkward, he took several large steps back, scowling at Leo. People didn’t get the idea that he didn’t like people touching him, no matter what. And sure, Leo hadn’t, which was why he wouldn’t totally go off on him, but it had been too close for Nico’s taste.
“You could have just tried your own black shirt,” he mumbled.
“Why am I here?”
***
He was just about to flush for some reason when Nico asked the question and got a genuinely confused look from the demigod. “Why?” He blinked. “...because I like spending time with you? ‘Cause… I wanted some company? … because we’re friends?” It sounded like he was asking Nico ‘which one is the right answer’ because he wasn’t sure. Maybe it was the fact he was picking up on how he had bothered Nico with his impulsive move.
“I guess… if you don’t want to be here, we can do something else? Or, uh… well I guess you can dip on your own too.” Leo didn’t want that though.
--
That was such a weird thing for Nico to consider. Who wanted him as company? Who wanted him as a friend? Other than Will, there weren’t that many people who had ever sought him out, and really Nico was okay with that.
“I mean...it’s not that I don’t want to be here. I just don’t understand. I mean, Jason’s here. Why didn’t you ask him? He’s your best friend, isn’t he?”
And he, Nico, was not the one people thought of when they wanted company.
***
“Well, yeah, he is, but you’re…” Something. He blinked, then frowned a little. “Can’t I have more than one best friend? I’m pretty sure there’s not a rule against it and if there is, it’s stupid and meant to be broken anyway.” Leo sounded much more adamant about that than maybe someone should have of that kind of opinion.
“I don’t know, Nico. I just like being around you.” He shrugged. “You might find that hard to believe, but you don’t suck as a friend. Sure, you can be stubborn, but have you met Piper?”
--
“Yes,” he answered. Of course he’d met Piper. He’d been on their ship on and off throughout their whole Quest, even though he might not have been an official member of it. “She seems okay.” He didn’t have much opinion about her. He didn’t dislike girls, but they also didn’t keep his interest long. Except Reyna. He liked her a lot, but that was different all together.
“I don’t get it,” he shrugged. “But if you want me to stay, I will.” It was weird being wanted somewhere. Maybe he could let himself get used to it.
***
It had been a rhetorical question, but he didn't say that. Instead Leo focused on the fact Nico was deciding to stay. He grinned wide. The fact Nico chose to stay made him feel happier than he really realized. "Sweet! You can tell me when the thing is starting to look too much like Clarisse." His grin turned lopsided, mostly joking.
***
That brought out a little smile. He knew Clarisse, and couldn’t say he was terribly fond of her. Of course, really, who could?
“Yeah, sure.” He didn’t really understand why Leo wanted him here, but he did have to admit it was nice to be wanted at all.