Nico and Will walked through the woods at Camp Half-Blood holding hands in a comfortable silence. Months had passed since they had both done anything couple-y in public, which confirmed to Annabeth that they were indeed a couple, and they now spent as much of their free time together as they were able to. A pleasant walk in the woods wasn't anything new, and the sword Nico had sheathed along with Will's quiver of arrows and bow wasn't as off putting to them as it had been the first time they had to bring it on their stroll. It was sunny within the confines of the camp, despite the fact that thunder rumbled outside the barrier. The sunlight filtered through the trees casting shadows at random.
"Hey," Nico said, tugging on Will's arm as he stopped to lean against a tree. Will joined him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder to tug him closer. Nico snuggled into Will's chest, making himself comfortable, before sitting down and taking Will with him. Leaning his head on Will's shoulder, Nico glanced at the horizon, where grey clouds were brewing. They wouldn't reach camp, but he hadn't realized how far they had walked for him to be able to see the clouds. Will nudged him with his chin, pulling him out of his thoughts with a smile.
Simon stretched his wings and flicked his tail as he watched Baz approach from a distance. Not a hair out of place, Baz retracted his fangs and smirked. "Staring Snow? Just can't help yourself can you," he teased, stopping in front of him. Simon crossed his arms, accepting his challenge. "Well now, you couldn't haven't possibly forgotten that you liked me first," he replied, wrapping his tail around Baz's leg, pulling him forward flirtatiously. "Can't forget who kissed the other first either," Baz replied, wrapping an arm around Simon's waist to jerk him into his chest. "You're damn right I did, because I'm the dominant one in this relationship," Simon replied tracing Baz's collarbone lightly with his finger. Baz smiled, caught off guard. "When did you get slightly better at arguing," he shot back softly. "I had a mediocre teacher," Simon replied just as softly. "You're right. I'm a horrible teacher," Baz said, leaning down to kiss Simon passionately, but quickly. Before Simon could come out of his daze, Baz smiled as he whispered in Simon's ear; "I win."
That's how it had been ever since Simon and Baz had officially started dating. They argued constantly, after all, old habits die hard, especially ones that go on for eight years, and the ending was always that Baz won, but Simon tried, and he had been getting better. The flirting was fairly new though, as were Simon's three new appendages.
"Git," Simon laughed, shoving Baz away gently. Thunder rumbled and drops of rain plopped onto the couple's face's. Simon shoved Baz under the foliage of a tree, to try and stay dry. "Stay dry, I'm gonna go find someplace to wait it out," Simon ordered, taking flight before Baz could respond. He had no reason to worry anyway. Nobody lived out here, and the hiking trails were miles off. Nobody but Baz could see him.
Nico was curled up in his spot in Will's lap when he saw it. A dark winged figure on the horizon, approaching quickly. It's wings were jagged and red, and it seemed to be looking for something. "Will," he said, just loud enough for him to hear. The monster scanned the horizon, and it was close enough now that Nico could see it had a tail, and it looked a lot like a drakaina. Scratch that, it could only have been a drakaina. Will looked up to see it, just as the thing looked down to see them. It grinned, and changed it's course to come closer and circled downward. Will and Nico stood up, and before anybody could blink will had drawn an arrow and taken aim. The drakaina had just enough time to register what was happening before Will's arrow shot a whole through it's wing.
Beating it's wings frantically, the thing twisted through the air uncontrollably, and yards above the ground, it fell, hitting the ground with a sickening crunch, and letting out a screech of pain. It was now close enough that Nico could see that he and Will had made several mistakes. For one, it was not a drakaina, it was a male with wings and a tale. For another, they had just shot a whole through it's wing, and now it wasn't moving.