Reyna (romanpraetor) wrote in the100, @ 2015-12-17 11:01:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log/thread, nico di angelo, reyna ramirez-arellano |
Log: Nico/Reyna
Who: Reyna Ramirez-Arellano & Nico DiAngelo
When: Dec 16, morning
What: Nico gets the long awaited memory dump and needs to talk to Reyna about it. Bonus: hair braiding.
Where: Nico & Reyna's room.
Status: Complete
Rating: G/PG
Dreams were nothing new to Nico. Sleep and Death were twin brothers after all, their realms easy enough to step between for a child of Hades. An often traveled path for Nico. It was the pinnacle of multi-tasking. Fall asleep, let his body rest and his energy restore itself, and get a few things done while he was at it. Pass some information along. See what was going on other places. If the gods could mess around in people’s dreams, why couldn’t he use it just as well?
But the gods weren’t here and their usual information dumps were moments. Scenes. Not… whatever had just happened… He’d seen it pop up on the network every now and then. People getting more memories from back home. But reading about it and having it actually happen to him were two completely different things. Especially when the memory dump brought along some lingering exhaustion and new scars riddling his arms.
Instead of staying in his own bed, he silently slunk to Reyna’s and perched himself at the foot of her bed. He had plenty to sort out still in the mass of new information in his brain, but he also had questions. Things that were better dealt with sooner than letting them fester if Reyna managed to slip out without him noticing for the day. And considering how foggy his mind felt, her sneaking past wouldn’t be that hard a thing to do…
You didn't end up leading a Roman legion by sleeping in. Or by staying asleep while someone was watching you. She stretched, feet coming in contact with a lump on her bed that wasn't there when she went to sleep. She opened her eyes and yawned, taking in Nico on the edge of her bed, rubbing at his arms. "What's wrong?" she asked, sitting up and pushing stray strands of hair out of her eyes. Nico didn't normally sit on the end of her bed and wait for her to wake up. "Did something happen? Is Anakin okay? Is it Faith?"
Nico blinked out of his thoughts at the nudge to his leg. For a moment, he just stared at Reyna, the words taking a moment to seep through his brain. Right… Change in routine. Of course she’d jump to something being wrong wrong. He rolled his eyes. “If something had happened to either of them, do you really think I’d just be sitting here waiting?” he pointed out. “They’re fine.” A frown. “That I know of. Fine as the last time I saw them.”
Reyna nodded, her brain going through a hundred scenarios. "Okay, point. Then why are you watching me sleep. Did I forget we had plans? Or are you bi now and about to declare your love, because bad timing DiAngelo."
An indignant scowl settled on Nico’s features even as his cheeks turned pink. “No! I’ll leave that exploration to you. I’m having enough trouble with one option, I don’t need two to worry over.” He opened his mouth and then snapped it closed, not sure where to start with the jumble of thoughts. His eyes focusing down on the blankets, his hand went back up to rub at the new werewolf scratches on his arm through his shirt. “You left out a lot between Greece and Camp Half-blood,” he said softly.
"Well, there's no point in worrying you about stuff you don't know," Reyna said, brain still sleep addled and not realizing what exactly they were saying. The movement drew her attention and she scooted closer to Nico, taking his arm and pushing up the sleeve. "The scars from Lycaon.." she would recognize those marks anywhere, remembered that fight only too well along with what came after. "But how? I thought the gods didn't have reach here.."
“For my sake or yours?” Maybe a low blow and Nico felt a twinge of regret at the words as soon as they left his mouth. Even if his mind was jumbled, he’d at least been awake for a bit. He wasn’t the one getting barged in on before he’d even gotten out of bed with cryptic talk, which even if they were all used to, still wasn’t a good excuse to just expect them all to roll along with it perfectly fine.
Puffing out a sigh, he helped hold the sleeve up, his arm tense from the contact but not fighting to wiggle away from it. “I don’t know. Other people have mentioned getting memories. People not from our world. But I don’t know…”
Reyna gave him a look. There were things she didn't want to talk about from that time, namely Puerto Rico and what happened with Bryce. It didn't matter what Nico or anyone else said, in her mind, she was still guilty of patricide. "Both, I suppose," she said quietly as she stared at the scars.
"I was there when you got these. I thought maybe here, you wouldn't have to deal with that or .. any of it. It wasn't exactly the thing I'd want to repeat." She met his eyes. "How much do you remember.. or know.. however it works.."
“I know,” Nico replied softly, although whether it was acknowledging that he understood the ‘both’ statement or that he remembered her being there, he wasn’t sure. He shook his head. “It would have come out eventually, Reyna. Maybe in a slower trickle, but…” A puff of air. It was a thin tight rope. Keep it secret and hope it didn’t come out or tell and deal with the repercussions. He’d gone one way with Bianca. Jacen was going the other with Anakin. He still wasn’t sure which was the better way. Well, the better way with family and friends considering he still had no intention of putting the books he’d found back into the library for public consumption.
He took a deep breath before meeting Reyna’s eyes. “Everything. Albania, Pompeii, Portugal, the cruise ship...” His head ducked and voice lowered. “San Juan… Buford… Flying to Camp Halfblood with Pegasus… Octavian… Leo…” He paused, taking another deep breath, before looking back up at Reyna, a small smile quirking his lips. “Having two homes now…”
Everything. The word rang in her ears and her face paled slightly. Everything she'd been protecting Nico from. Everything she'd been trying to hide. She swallowed the growing lump in her throat. "How are you feeling?" A small smile. "So, you remember Will?"
“Overwhelmed,” Nico admitted. Granted, there were worse memories to get in one big go like that. As much as it sucked, at least he had lived through Tartarus and the jar in an orderly fashion and just not dumped into his head in one go. That… he couldn’t imagine that it’d be like to get all of that in one go. Even so, it had been a long journey and not just in distance.
Such as… His cheeks went red again as he puffed up, still not believing that he’d moved far enough forward to maybe consider the blond, but even more forward to actually tell Percy about his crush while his girlfriend was standing right there. “Literal ball of sunshine who worries too much and thinks he knows way too much? Yeah, I remember him.”
Reyna couldn't help but chuckle as she elbowed him playfully in the side. "That was the bit I wanted to tell you, but it just didn't seem right. I mean, seemed the sort of thing you should just experience for yourself. Although I guess the gods deprived you of that and you just got the cliff notes version."
She slung an arm around his shoulders and squeezed. "Look, you have questions, you know you can talk to me about anything, right? And obviously you have two homes."
Nico puffed up more as he crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s not… He’s not… that so isn’t… arg!” he huffed, scowling down at the bedsheets.
He stayed stubbornly like that a moment. Just a moment though before he leaned ever so slightly into her arm. “Looks like it might be three now,” he mumbled softly. He went over the memories and Reyna’s words for a second. “Things make more sense now. This…” He gestured between himself and Reyna and her arm around his shoulders. “Things you’ve said. But…” He shook his head. “I still don’t understand. That I… after what I did… that… I still don’t get it…”
"Do I need to punch you so you'll get it?" Reyna teased. "Look, you saved my life on that journey. More than once." She sighed. "And you know my secret and protected me - that.. it means a lot Nico. Just because I'm praetor doesn't mean I'm rolling in friends. So when I find one, I tend to hold on like a stubborn Roman. So you're stuck with me."
“Punching is easier to understand,” Nico deadpanned before his look softened. “And there was plenty of saving going all around, Reyna. I…” Would still be slowly disappearing in Buford if it hadn't been for them putting his well being over the quest. Not that they could travel far without a plan B, but still…
Shaking that thought away, his jaw set. “He was a jerk. He shouldn't have bullied you that way. It wasn't right.” He shrugged. “Being a son of Hades doesn't win you any friends either.” He scowled. “Despite what some people say. So… Thanks… For sticking around. It's nice.”
"So we call it even, okay?" she said, squeezing his shoulder. "We're good. And you're stuck with me. So you might regret that comment."
There was no need to dwell on Nico almost dying. It had been too close for comfort and had made Reyna realize that she considered the boy part of her family, regardless of what else happened. She sighed. "Bryce might be a jerk, but he's right. Roman law is pretty clear on this."
Nico shook his head as he turned to face Reyna more head on. “No, he's not,” he said firmly. “And it's not either. By that point, he wasn't your father and I'm not just saying that to make you feel better. Anyone who tries to hold you to the law for that will have to come through me and I'm an expert where ghosts and wraiths are concerned.”
Reyna pulled back slightly, running her hand over her hair, the braid messy from being slept in. "It doesn't matter, okay? Not here for sure. And probably not back home either."
She pulled her hair out of the braid, fingers combing through it before trying to bring some sort of order back to it and rebraid it. "But you're okay. I mean, other than the scars, and all? A lot happened on that trip."
Nico opened his mouth to counter and then pressed his lips together in a tight line. The issue obviously mattered to her. Even if he didn't have the memories, it'd be clear enough to read from her actions now. But it was a battle for another day. Something to be slowly worn down. He knew enough about guilt and regrets to know smashing at it head on would do little.
Scootching around Reyna, he batted her hands away before carefully running his fingers through her hair, working out the tangles so he could part it into three even sections. “Tired,” he admitted. “Still haven't recovered fully from traveling and then that battle…” A slight pause. “Might be cold out, but I want to go outside… Feel the sun…”
Reyna raised an eyebrow at Nico before letting him deal with her hair. It was a short list of people who Reyna allowed to touch her hair, not because she was possessive of it, but because of the position of vulnerability it placed her in. But she trusted Nico. Not only with her life, but with her secrets. She closed her eyes as she let Nico braid her hair.
"We can do that. At least you have a few weeks before the next capture the flag," she teased playfully.
Nico snorted in amusement, his chin tilting up as his hands moved back and forth, gently working the hair into a tight braid. “Capture the flag is no biggie. I could still beat everyone, even like this.”