Leo had been carrying the ring around so long that the box had become worn and covered in machine oil and grime. It wasn't that he wasn't ready to pop the question, or that he was worried about Nico's answer. It was because he wanted to find a special way to do it. Getting down on one knee didn't seem enough to Leo, he wanted to do something unforgettable.
He was on his way back to the apartment, late from having talked to Percy after work. (Percy had proposed to Annabeth a while ago and they were about to tie the knot). He hoped Nico wouldn't say anything about him being late. He hated lying to his boyfriend.
As he cracked open the door to the apartment he smelt cooking. He followed his nose to the kitchen to find Nico in the middle of an industrious mess. He stepped up behind his boyfriend who turned to capture the taller demigod's lips in a short chaste kiss.
"What ya cooking, good lookin'?"
"You know if you use something every day it stops being funny." Nico said but chuckled anyway. "It's your favourite. It'll be ready in 5."
"Ok, let me go clean up."
Leo returned, now in a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt, free of grease from the machine shop. They sat down at the table Nico had set and tucked into the pepper and beef tacos. Leo loved how Nico made them with chips, and how he never minded if Leo hogged all the salsa. He was focused on telling Nico about the guy who'd come in asking if he could fix his flying motorbike. He'd heard Leo worked on unusual machines and wanted to know if you could fix a bike that ran on demon energies… He'd been so focused that he had stopped noticing what he was putting in his mouth. Leo bit down hard on something that was definitely not food.
"Ow! Nico what the…" He said retrieving the object from his mouth.
"Oh Gods! I didn't mean for you to eat it, I thought you'd see it in the bottom of the bowl. Are you alright?"
Leo was looking between the ring he held in his fingers and Nico. "I don't think you asked the right question, but yes. God's yes I've wanted to marry you for so long." He got up to retrieve the ring from his tool belt and held it out to Nico.
They had goofy smiles on their faces as they slotted the matching rings onto each other's fingers. Then, hands intertwined they kissed in an awkward smiley way that had too much teeth. But they didn't care, they were happy.
Leo never forgot that moment, the way Nico's eyes lit up. Or the weird laugh they'd both made when they realised that they'd coincidentally chosen the same ring.
