NICO POV

Okay. If you figure out why there is a green-haired boy standing across from me right now, please let me know.

Because I feel like the definition of confusion right now.

"Will?" I whispered into the ear of the blonde standing next to me.

"Yea, Nico?" He responded, leaning in just close enough that I could feel his breath on my ear.

"Who is this person, and why are they trying to talk to me?" I asked.

"I'm right here, you know. And I have a garrotte, so you might not want to mess with me." Green Hair tapped his foot on the deck of the Big House, and I couldn't help but wonder what in Hades a garrotte was. The boy then crossed his arms and gave me a once-over.

"You're not too bad for someone so emo," he casually mentioned.

"EXCUSE ME?!" Will stepped in front of me, then spread his arms out protectively. "What did you just call my boyfriend?!"

I grunted.

"I meant my significant annoyance," he corrected, giving me a sideways stare.

I tried, and failed, to suppress a smile.

I couldn't tell if Will's reaction at Green Hairs words was because of the subtle hint at my attractiveness or the blatant insult that seemed to accompany the word emo.

"I called your boyfriend-" Green Hair started, but was interrupted by a hand slipping around his waist. Magnus Chase had appeared, and I couldn't help but stare at him. I'd heard a lot about Chase from Annabeth, but it wasn't until now that I saw him in person. He had met with her privately, leaving us to deal with the Green Haired boy, the deaf elf, and the fashionable dwarve. The latter two were presently nowhere to be seen.

So this was Magnus Chase.

I mean, wow. I didn't want to say anything with Will standing right next to me, but from the way Will was gawking, trying to form words, I could tell he had the same reaction.

Magnus was attractive. Like, really attractive.

The way he stood made his blonde hair shine in the sunlight, but the way he stood so close to Green Hair made it clear he was protective of him. Or maybe afraid of him, it was kind of hard to tell. I processed this for a second, the fact that the two people in front of me must be a couple. I must have looked stupid, because Green Hair smirked at me from the resting position his head had taken up on Magnus's shoulder.

"Come on, Alex." Magnus said. "We have to go meet Percy."

"Ughhhh," he groaned. "Fineeee."

"Don't be such a girl," Magnus said, and Green Hair, Alex, side-eyed him and smiled, as if they had shared some sort of private joke.

If it were possible, I was even more confused then I was before this interaction, when I was still questioning what the Hades a garrotte was.

I watched them walk away, then turned to Will in order to validate my confusion with his hopefully equally as confused expression.

As always, I wasn't disappointed. Will looked at me like, what just happened?

I shrugged, grinning, and let Will grab my hand. We started walking in the opposite direction of Alex and Magnus, and for the thousandth time since we started dating, I said a silent prayer to Hades for whatever had brought to me the magnificent idiot that walked alongside me today.