Hey guys! I was so happy to read your reviews :) Please keep them up they always make my day!
So anyways, I really wanted to do another chapter before Christmas and here it is! I hope you like it.
And Merry Christmas everyone!
3
Reflex.
A couple of days later the answer came to him as clear, as if someone had handed it to him on a note. A god damn reflex. That's why he had kissed Leo back and why his body had reacted the way it had. Being kissed was intense as it was and Leo had caught him by surprise. It had been bound to temporarily shot down Nico's, well, brain. Besides, everyone would black out a little if Leo kissed them … it wasn't a big deal.
However, on a completely unrelated topic Nico decided it was best to avoid Leo – which turned out to be surprisingly easy. Leo was hardly ever around. Jason said he spend most of his time in Bunker 9 and once again Nico wondered, what project he was working on.
Whenever he did see Leo, he never attempted to talk to Nico. He should be grateful for that. Except that he wasn't. In a way, Leo keeping his distance made Nico think about him even more. In particular; that kiss. He could hardly sleep anymore because every time he closed his eyes he replayed the kiss in his mind. It got to a point where he was starting to worry about something else than just Leo's feelings ... Until it hit him: What if the potion hadn't just affected Leo?
The day after the kiss Nico had gone to Piper and asked her to find an antidote for the love potion. As it turned out she knew a thing or two about that topic. She would have said something if … nevertheless, he needed to talk to her again. Unfortunately this meant coming clean about one thing he had kept from her.
He found Piper outside the Aphrodite cabin, explaining Drew why she couldn't try to love-potion someone's boyfriend and expect not to get some extra duties.
"Piper, can we talk?" Nico asked. "Alone?"
Maybe it was a mistake to leave Drew out of this, after all the potion had been her idea in the first place. But Nico was barely able to talk to Piper about this – Drew couldn't find out. Especially not after her accusation, that Nico had wanted Leo to fall for him. Although he knew no one believed it, it hung over him like a dark cloud.
"Sure," Piper said and signed for Drew to get started on whatever unpleasant task Piper had set her on. "Let's go inside."
Nico followed her inside and carefully closed the door.
"So what's up?" Piper asked. "If it's about the antidote, I haven't found anything yet. I may need to find a way to talk to my mother but it's not like that's the most simple thing in the world."
Deciding it was best to get right on topic Nico just sprang it on her: "Do you think the love potion works both ways?"
She took a moment to process his question. "Nico ... why would you ask that?"
"Leo …" he lowered his head. "Leo kissed me."
"Well … I assume he was bound to try something like that. Maybe if you'd let me tell somebody the potion worked we could keep more of an eye on him." While that was true, it wasn't an option. Nico had asked her to keep quiet and it needed to stay that way.
"No, you don't get it," he lowered his head. "He kissed me and … I kissed him back."
Piper blinked at him. Nico felt his cheeks getting warm. "It was a reflex, okay?"
"Yeah, no, hey, honest mistake … clearly it could have happened to anybody. Nico, you do know Leo's ... well ... you know."
"It was just a kiss," Nico realized he was being rude again, but didn't care. Piper was about to cross a line with him and he wouldn't let her. "And frankly, that's not why I'm here. I was hoping you could answer my question. Is it possible for the potion to work on both of us?"
Piper shook her head. "I don't think so, no. In the rare cases a love potion actually worked in the past, it only affected the one who drank it. You should be fine."
Whatever he was feeling it certainly wasn't fine. He felt sort of … numb. After all, the potion working on both of them would have been the perfect explanation for everything. But thanks to Piper he could say goodbye to his theory which left him with one question: Why couldn't he get that kiss out of his mind?
"It's normal to think about the kiss, though," Piper added after a while.
Nico looked up in shock and felt as if she'd read his mind. Something he did not like. "How did you-?"
"Give me some credit, will you? Jason is my first boyfriend, but I have kissed other boys before him. I was … exited that I got their attention and confused it with attraction. Or even love. That happens and it's completely normal. Give it time and you'll see things more clearly. And once we found an antidote, Leo will be back to normal, too. It's all going to be fine."
Her words had such a soothing effect, Nico wondered whether Piper had worked a little charmspeak into them. He came to the conclusion that he didn't care. In days he hadn't felt this calm. Even Drew couldn't shake this feeling, who was standing unusually close to the Cabin as he left it.
Nico just knew: It was all going to be fine.
As he was about to find out: Nope.
Ironically Leo chose this very afternoon to approach him again. Nico was sitting in front of his cabin, lost in thoughts (about no one and nothing in particular) when Leo walked up to him.
"Hey there, Angel Face," he said and continued without giving Nico time to tell him to cut the nickname out. "Remember that favor you owe me?"
"Uh …" For a brief moment Nico thought about denying it. But what good would it have done? "Yes?"
Leo grinned. "It's time to collect. Follow me, please," he said, turned around and went ahead.
When Nico didn't move, Leo stopped and looked back at him. "Are you going to make me take your hand and drag you after me? Because that'll raise questions." He left no doubt about the fact that he had absolutely no problem with doing it though.
Nico rushed to his feet in no time. As they walked towards the woods he hoped Piper wouldn't see them … however, the only one Nico did notice seeing them was Drew. That wasn't good either, but since there was nothing he could do about it he let it go and kept walking.
"Am I allowed to ask where we're going?" Nico asked after a while.
"I'm pretty sure you can figure it out on your own."
That was true. In fact, Nico was pretty sure he'd already known the answer before he'd asked the question. There was only one place Leo would go when he walked in to the woods: Bunker 9. They remained quiet for the rest of the way and Nico found the silence very uncomfortable. Of course he wasn't exactly the world's greatest conversationalist so he had no choice but to deal with it.
When they finally arrived at the Bunker Leo opened the great doors and gestured for Nico to go in. He wasn't there often but he was impressed every time he entered it. The Bunker itself was admirable enough, but that it was built into a mountain made it impossible to describe. Leo didn't close the doors behind him, which Nico was quietly thankful for. It would be awkward alone in a closed room with Leo, no matter if it was as big as Bunker 9.
"So, are you going to tell me why I'm here?"
For a moment Nico thought he saw a hurt expression on Leo's face but it vanished as quickly as it had come. "Uh, someone's in a bad mood," Leo said and walked past him to one of the working tables. "Don't worry, I'll make it quick so you can go back to your cabin, doing absolutely nothing at all."
Feeling like a total jerk, Nico followed him.
"You know how demigods can't use cellphones unless we want to become even more demon-magnet-y?" Leo started explaining. "I don't know about you, but I think that sucks. So, naturally, I plan to find a way around it."
Against his will, Nico found himself to be curious. "How?"
"Well, at first I attempted to build an advice myself, that would function as a phone. But that blew up in my face. Literally. Then I built this little chip which goes into a regular phone," he grabbed a phone from the table, cracked it open and showed Nico the implemented chip. "It blocks out our demigod-vibe. Unfortunately the chip works a little too well and blocks out everything else as well, including the phone signal. I realize you don't know too much about this stuff, but that's the one thing you want to work when you're calling someone. So I had this idea to redirect the signal over the Olympus which should be powerful enough to support the signal. But that's not as easy as I would have expected it to be."
Nico stared at him in disbelief.
"What?" Leo asked.
"You're attempting to turn the Olympus into a radio tower and thought that would be easy ... I'm just trying to figure out whether you're a genius or completely lost your mind now."
Leo grinned. "Both," he said. "Always both. But seriously, the idea isn't that farfetched. If anything, the Olympus is a major power source, with all the gods being there and everything."
"I guess, but none you can just access with a regular phone."
"I think that's very much possible, I would just have to get the support of the gods. However, I can't contact any of them, not even my dad. And that's where you come in. You're the only demigod I know who can visit his dad if he wants to."
Nico didn't even need time to think about his answer. "Exactly: If I want to. I've been trying to stay clear of the Underworld. Besides, even if I asked him and he agreed to help – which is a very big if – he's not part of the Olympus."
"No, but he sure knows how to pass on the message. And I'm absolutely positive, if my father hears about the idea, he'll be on board. Plus, he'll have a new favorite child."
"You defeated Gaea. I'm pretty sure you're his favorite already." Nico didn't realize what he said until he'd said it and immediately looked away. "I mean, you know … you saved the world. If that doesn't impress a god I don't know what will."
From the corner of his eyes he saw Leo smiling. "Thanks for the flowers. But still, he won't answer my calls. Which is rather ironic, because I want to talk to him about calls. Anyway. What do you say? Will you talk to your dad?"
Nico hesitated. He really didn't want to go back into the Underworld. That was a part of his life he was desperately trying to leave behind. Additionally, he was pretty sure the idea of talking to Hades was a dead end … in the most literal sense ever. Still. He did owe Leo a favor. "I guess I can try. But don't get your hopes up. My father is not known to be very helpful."
"Great," Leo seemed to have chosen to overhear that last part. "Thanks, dude. It means a lot."
"It is a good idea," Nico admitted. "But … you didn't have to drag me all the way out here." It wasn't until now that he realized that. Leo could have brought the phone back with him to the cabins.
"Nah, my project's don't leave this Bunker until they're finished."
Something about that explanation seemed not right to Nico but he didn't address the topic any further. He had a feeling he might not want to know the real answer.
Suddenly he heard a noise and saw the great doors closing. "What's going on?"
To both, his relief and shock, he saw that Leo was just as surprised about that as he was. "I don't know … hey!" He ran towards the doors but didn't reach them on time. All he could do was try and open them, but he soon turned back to Nico. "I don't know how but they're locked." Leo hit the doors with his flat hands. "Whoever's doing that, it's not funny!"
"It's not supposed to be funny, idiot!" That was ...
"Drew?!" Leo asked. "What in the gods names are you doing here?"
"I followed you to your little make-out place. I know about the kiss."
Nico got mad, but mostly at himself. He should have known Drew had overheard his conversation with Piper and he'd also seen her right when he and Leo went into the woods. This was his fault because he hadn't done anything about it.
"Well, congratulations," Leo didn't seem to get worked up at all. "Apparently you show some signs of intelligence when it comes to gossip. Now, do you mind letting us out?"
"I will. Once Nico promises me something."
Nico swallowed hard and walked over to the doors, avoiding eye contact with Leo completely. "What do you want?"
"You are going to tell Piper to cut out the crappy assignments she keeps giving me! I'm sick of it!"
"What makes you think I can do anything about that?"
"Because you're the damn victim of this whole love-potion-thing. Even though you've enjoyed the kiss just fine."
Nico shut his eyes close and silently made a vow to make her pay for that. "I'm not the victim. In case you forgot, Leo drank the potion."
"Yes, but that's exactly what makes him mentally incompetent. Even more than usual."
Leo tossed in a "Hey!" but Drew ignored him.
"It has to be you, Nico."
He his lip. "Piper's right to punish you, Drew. I won't do it."
A short moment of silence. Then: "Maybe I should give you some time to think about it. It's getting late. I'll be back tomorrow morning."
"Wait, Drew, don't go! - DREW?" Leo yelled but she seemed to be already gone. He sighed and leaned his forehead against the door. "Next time: Lie. It's not that hard I do it all the time."
Nico didn't say it out loud, but Leo was probably right. He should have lied. Now he was about to spend the night locked in Bunker 9 with Leo.
So much for staying away from him.
