Merry Christmas Everyone. Or happy Wednesday if you don't celebrate Christmas. Here's another one of my famous fast updates. I am loving House of Hades! Nico is actually gay, woo!

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Nico's POV

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I woke up to Leo shaking me. That in itself isn't abnormal, but the mad look on his face was. I blinked awake and rubbed my eyes, yawning. Leo scowled at me some more, and I looked at him, confused.

"Why are you mad at me?" I pouted, turning on the charm. I fisted his shirt and stared up at him, teary eyed. "Did I do something wrong?" Leo watched me for a while, and the anger seemed to dissolve. "Yay, you aren't mad," I said, wrapping my arms around his waist, squeezing. If any anger was left in his body, it melted away with that and he laughed, hugging me back.

"I honestly don't remember why I was mad at you, buddy," he replied, ruffling my hair. "You're so cute. Good job channeling it." I grinned up at him. It was one of many things we'd been working on over the course of a week. I'd been getting better at it, and trying it out on Leo worked wonders. "You can go try to talk to him now, if you want," Leo continued casually, resting his hands on his hips. It was moves like that that reminded me that Leo had a thing for Jason, and he was probably helping me so he learning a thing or two along the way about the art of cuteness. Leo was a brute, by the nicest definition, so he couldn't possibly crawl into the blonde son of the storm lord's lap. I don't think he cared, he'd do something to get his attention, same way as I would get Percy's.

…

"Percy!" I called as I wandered around camp. He'd disappeared and I wasn't sure where he went. It made me a little nervous, and my palms were sweaty. I wiped them on my jeans and continued to wander. Was he avoiding me? I knew what I said was harsh and uncalled for, but I didn't really mean it. I didn't hate him. Quite the opposite really. I think I loved him. "Percy!" I called again, choking back a sob.

"What is it Nico?" he asked, coming up the trail from the lake. He dried his hair with a white towel as he came, which I found strange since he could just will the water off. But then again, we all tried to live as normal lives as possible, and I guess that also included drying the old fashioned way. "Nico?" he asked, looking me over. "What happened to your clothes?" I ran down the path and plowed into him, wrapping my arms around his waist, breathing in the salty scent of him. He smelled like the sea and cinnamon (I wasn't going to ask).

"I'm so sorry Percy!" I blurted out. "What I said was stupid and wrong and I don't hate you!" I squeezed him tighter. He gently pried me away from him and chuckled, ruffling my hair. All the pain and hurt I'd caused him that I'd seen when I passed him during the week seemed to evaporate.

"It's okay Nico, it's okay," he said with a laugh, lifting me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist to anchor myself, and he smiled. "You act so grown up now Nico," he said, grinning at me. "But I see you're not too grown up to let me pick you up and hug you." He squeezed my middle and I gasped at the force. He must have really missed me.

"I've been practicing," I said with a shrug. "Leo…" I trailed off, watching him. I saw a momentary flash of jealousy and protectiveness, but then it was gone and he smiled easily, urging me to continue. "He's been helping me a lot. He helped me learn to sword fight better. He also taught me how to channel my cuteness, which I didn't want to get rid of entirely cause you like it." I beamed at him like old times sake, then continued with what I was saying before. "He also went shopping with me, shadow travel style." I smiled at the memory. Leo swore me all the way to Olympus while we were doing it, and cursed my name to every god and goddess he could name. "That's why I have new clothes. And I got muscles!" I flexed and he laughed, setting me down.

"I must say Nico, you look good," he said, eyeing me up and down. He gently lifted my shirt up and admired my six pack. "You finally have one Nico," he said with a big grin. "You really do look good. You even have an orange shirt on." I blushed. It was plain orange but it was close to Percy's. I didn't want a Camp Half-Blood one, not until I felt I better belonged.

"I've been practicing," I replied, coughing at his praise. It was few and far between I got that. "Hey, tell you what. I won't be mean to you every again, kay?" I held out my pinky. "Pinky promise." Percy threw back his head and laughed, wrapping his around mine.

"Pinky promise," he echoed. I smiled up at him. Seems like whatever feelings of hurt we had evaporated with this talk.

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Percy's POV

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My Prince of Shadows looked even better up close. He'd bulked with muscles in the last week, and he'd shed some of the little boy fat and become lean in the middle, better to show off his six pack coming in. His clothes no longer doted characters from games and TV shows, instead he pranced around in solid colors and stuff that most older teens would wear, skinny jeans instead of baggy, black jacket perfectly in place. He looked good. I'd told him I'd catch up with him later, and he accepted that and ran off toward his cabin.

"Damn Jason, he's changed," I said as we sat together by the creek. We had our backs against a rock at the water's edge, and Jason was enjoying letting the cool water run over his feet. Jason had a fascination with water I couldn't quite figure out. It was the equivalent of me being fascinated with air patterns, which was ironic.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Jason asked, drawing his feet out of the water and plunging his hands in instead. He briefly reminded me of a toddler playing in a water tray, but then I dismissed the idea. "He didn't throw a fit when you told him you were going to leave him to his own devices. I'd figure you'd be happy with that." He began playing with the rocky/sandy bottom, and again I got that toddler flash.

"I am," I replied, shedding my shorts and wading out. Jason followed behind me, seeming to enjoy the unplanned swim. "I guess I miss it too," I continued. "I mean, he's Nico, but not at the same time. He looks like Nico, he sometimes acts like him, but at the end of the day, he's changed."

"I don't see why you're complaining," Jason protested, swimming upstream. "Hey, guess what Leo did today while you were talking to your lover." I flared bright red but said nothing. "He tried acting cute. And since he tried, he was. I think that little guy of yours is rubbing off on him too." I smiled. So Leo wasn't helping Nico purely to help Nico. He had a hidden agenda as well.

"That's good to hear," I called as I swam up to meet him. "So Leo's got your eye now?" Jason turned the color of a tomato and looked down at his hands. I don't think I've ever seen the great Jason Grace embarrassed before, but he clearly was. "You don't have to talk about your private life," I said gently. "I didn't mean to pry."

"No, it's…it's okay," he whispered. "Leo… what can I say? He's incredible. Like you and Nico, we've been through a lot together. He's had my back countless times, and in fact he's saved it several. I don't think I could ever repay him for that." I nodded. I knew where he was coming from. "Leo and I have this connection I don't feel with anyone else, not even Piper. Gods, especially not Piper." I wrinkled my nose at that. The very idea of dating a girl was ludicrous. "I've never talked about my personal life Percy," he whispered, looking at me. "I've never been comfortable enough with anyone to do so." He waded over and wrapped me in a hug, one of a forever friendship. "Thank you."

"Thanks for telling me about your past a bit Jason," I said. "Let me return the favor. You know a bit about Nico and I. Let me elaborate a little. Nico… for a long time he blamed me for letting his sister die." I closed my eyes. Even now, that day was as clear as when it happened. "Bianca sacrificed herself to save us all. I could have stopped it, but I let her go anyway. I had to tell Nico about it when I returned to camp. He… he wanted nothing to do with me." I knew I was tearing up, and I swiped at my eyes, willing the tears away. "I think he's moved passed that, but still. I think that's why he flipped out on me at the restaurant. Because I'd already broken a promise to him…"

"It wasn't your fault she died a noble death," Jason said, his eyes holding so much sympathy it hurt. "She chose that, and I don't think you could've stopped her had you wanted to. He has to learn to accept that, and in a way, I think he has." I wiped at my eyes again and smiled.

"Thanks for cheering me up Jason," I said. "Your one of the best friends I've ever had." Jason smiled at me as he climbed back onto the bank. I trailed him and willed myself dry.

"Same to you Percy," he said, toweling off and looking at me a little ruefully. "Same to you."

…

I didn't catch sight of Nico again, but perhaps that was good. I had to stomach what Jason said to me, and what I'd told him. I didn't talk about that part of mine and Nico's relationship much. It was a dark time for both of us. I thought I'd finally managed to shove it into the back of my mind, but as Jason told me about Leo, I felt compelled to tell him something, and that was the first thing to surface. It did make me wonder about what kind of future we could have together.

"Oh, my precious Prince of Shadows," I whispered as I gazed out of the window. It looked directly to Nico's cabin, where I saw he was getting dressed for bed. Blushing, I turned away. I felt like I was intruding on his privacy by watching him. "Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes. I really hope we have a future together. And I hope our past is really behind us, because I don't think I could live with myself if you still resented me for Bianca's death." I shut the curtains to try and get the shadow prince out of my head, which only served to put him in there more.

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Nico's POV

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I'm glad Percy and I made up. Don't get me wrong, Leo is great, but I really missed my Prince of the Sea. I missed cuddling with him the most, but I promised myself that I would do my best to stay in my own cabin. And of course that was easier said than done. I got up out of bed and looked out the window at Percy's cabin. Sighing, I pulled the curtains together. Hopefully, that got my mind off of him for a few hours.

…

Well, this was an interesting chapter indeed. You saw Jason and Percy's friendship growing, and Nico and Percy finally made up! That gives me much joy, as I hate to see these two fight, because they're so cute together (which makes me not like Annabeth more, lol).