Chapter 6 walking in a dream

For nearly the past ten years Nico has lived with his aunt Hestia out in the country side. He came to live with her after he recovered from an accident he had been in, but he couldn't remember exactly what had happened; all he knew was that living out here was supposed to help him recover and stay healthy. He didn't mind really because it was peaceful out here and he enjoyed it.

Hestia was kind and took good care of him and he loved her very much; he had lost his mother while he was still young and didn't really remember her well so he imagined that Hestia was sort of like a mom. She herself hadn't had any children but treated Nico like her own and he loved her for it.

Nico hadn't seen his father much over the years, after the accident Hades had insisted that Nico should go live elsewhere but he himself couldn't leave because of work so he had stayed behind. Nico didn't really know how to feel about that, growing up he knew that he had loved his dad very much but now they rarely spoke or saw one another, though his dad did send him gifts from time to time.

Nico wondered just what had happened to drive them apart like this, was it due to whatever that accident had been? That was the only part really missing from Nico's memories; parts of the summer and fall from when he was about seven or eight were just gone. He never really understood why but a small part of him felt like he was missing something important, he just figured that that was normal for anyone who couldn't remember something though so he left it alone. Instead he focused on helping his aunt around the cabin they shared located in the mountains.

Hestia owned a small business that she operated from close to home and Nico had been helping her with it since he was about fifteen, together with a couple of Hestia's friends they led nature walks and hikes for tourists.

Nico kind of enjoyed telling people various facts and leading them to his favorite places, but his favorite part of the job was actually getting the chance to talk afterwards and more specifically to a certain blond who came on these walks regularly.

Nico's face heated up as he thought of the blond, he had started coming on the nature walks weeks ago but though they had only met relatively recently Nico felt drawn to him, almost like they had known each other for a lifetime. There was just something about the way his blue eyes would shine when he smiled or the sound of his laugh that made this warmth grow inside Nico's heart that he couldn't quite explain.

They tended to get repeat customers a lot but Nico couldn't help noticing just how regularly the blond showed up, at this point Nico would feel a bit disappointed if he didn't see him at some point during the week. He couldn't help thinking back to the time he had first seen the blond on one of the walks or hikes.

…

"Nico! Time to leave for the hike!"

Nico snapped out of his thoughts when his aunt called for him, he had been sitting in his room staring blankly at the book he had been attempting to read for the past hour or so but his mind kept wondering.

"Be right there!" he called back as he grabbed his hat and sprayed himself down with bug spray and threw on his boots.

As Nico rushed out the door he grabbed his backpack that sat waiting by the door for him and headed for the car where his aunt and her friend Athena waited for him.

"Hey," he said to the other two as he buckled himself in, "Artemis not coming with us?"

Athena started the car and headed towards the lodge where they began and ended all hikes and walks.

"She said that she'd meet us there, there's something she needed to do first today."

Nico was kind of curious as to what that something could be but figured that it could wait until later so he just sat back and watched the scenery go by as they drove.

Once they reached the lodge he noticed the various vehicles lining the small parking lot and interestingly enough he saw a motorcycle mixed in with the usual jeeps, vans, and trucks. He also spotted Artemis' car meaning she had driven here before them.

Figuring the something she had to do involved the hike he shrugged and headed into the staff area to fill his canteen before they headed out.

Once he entered the main lobby of the lodge he noticed that they had a rather large group today meaning they would most likely be splitting off into at least two groups to make them more manageable.

He took his usual position near the check in desk as he let the other three take the reins on the operation like always. He looked over the crowd and his eyes were drawn to a mop of blond hair on the edge of the group closer to where he stood. He was taller than Nico by a few inches; he had tan skin and shaggy golden hair. Nico was pulled from his observations when his aunt started the usual guidelines review and just as Nico had already guess she informed the group that they would be splitting up into two groups, one led by Nico and herself and the other by Athena and Artemis.

After that they separated into the two groups and headed out to the trails. Nico loved leading the hikes and pointing out the different animal trails or teaching people simple bird watching techniques. Like always there were the people that would ooh and ah when they would spot a bird from their field guide and try to get a quick snapshot of it when Nico would point it out. It made him happy that there were still so many people that enjoyed the outdoors, there was just something so freeing about being out here with nature.

Still his attention kept wandering over to the blond boy that had ended up in their group. He seemed to be having a great time and Nico couldn't help feeling a fluttering in his stomach any time he saw him smile, and when he caught a glimpse of those blue eyes he felt like he was seeing something out of a dream. Finally they stopped for lunch and set up outside the lodge from where they would continue from after an hour.

They met up with the other group and Nico watched as Artemis walked over to the blond he'd been stealing glances at all morning.

"That's her nephew." Hestia said as she came over to sit next to Nico at the edge of the group of picnic tables.

"Huh?" he asked as he blinked at his aunt, honestly he hadn't been paying attention to anything around him so he nearly jumped when he heard her speaking to him. He hadn't even noticed her approach.

"The blond you haven't stopped staring at all day. He's her nephew from the city, she thought it would be good for him to come out and enjoy the great outdoors for a bit while he has a break from school." She gave him a knowing smile as he blushed and cleared his throat as he turned away.

"Who says I was staring at him?" but it was no use he knew she'd know what was happening and he knew he hadn't exactly been discreet

"Mmhmm, she told me about this the other day, said that he was about your age and she thought that he could use a break from his studies for a while and she told me that she practically had to drag him away from his father, seems he's a bit overprotective."

Nico didn't need to think too hard about what that might be like, after all his father had shipped him off out here after he was in an accident 'just to be safe' he'd said.

"Well I hope he enjoys the hike then." Nico said as he finally focussed on his own lunch.

Hestia glanced over to where the blond sat and noticed the way he seemed to glance over in Nico's direction and smiled. "I have a feeling he will."

…

After the hike was over there was time at the lodge for people to ask questions and look around the information center at various facts about local fauna and flora. This was Nico's time to shine; he loved sharing his knowledge with people and was always eager to answer any questions they might have.

This time though he found his time occupied with a certain blond that seemed really interested in different types of plants and what uses they have.

…

Ever since that day the two of them spent as much time before and after the walks and hikes and during the lunch break just talking and getting to know each other. Nico always felt a slight thrill anytime he'd see that motorcycle parked outside the lodge and would skip his usual trip to the staffroom opting instead to head over to the information center in search of his favorite hiker.

If Hestia and the others noticed they never said anything for which he was grateful to them.

Okay it's almost 2 am (again) and I'm really tired so here's what I've got for you I hope you like it and I've fixed any mistakes I could find.

Also I've basically been BS-ing my way through most of this because I haven't been on a hike or nature walk for years and I don't even know what area I'm actually working with so just imagine what you will, I kept it vague on purpose sorry, I threw in whatever I could remember from fieldtrips back in elementary school.

Sorry this took so long, please let me know what you think!