**Author's Note: This took forever, oh my gods I'm sorry. Writer's block + a screwed up sleeping schedule makes for poor writing ability. Anyhow, I was going to put in another suggestion in this chapter, but it ended up being a little too long since I want to develop the ideas really well. So, this is kind of filler. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!**
Before they knew it, the sun had started to rise, filling the room with a warm glow. The floor was littered with empty water bottles, because even if they'd promised each other they would not sing another song, the microphones sitting off to the side were just a bit too tempting.
"One more song," Leo pleaded, but his voice was weak. "C'mon, we can do it!"
Nico laughed, but at this point, he really did sound like a dying animal. "Gods, no. We have to stop sometime. And besides," he paused, taking a sip out of a half-full water bottle, "I don't really think we want Jason finding us playing Rock Band at five in the morning. That guy always wakes up at dawn."
"Ah, Jason's no fun." Leo chuckled, shaking his head. "Just one more? Please?" he whined, shaking Nico by the shoulders. "I haven't had this much fun in ages, bro!"
Nico rolled his eyes, ignoring Leo, and shut off the Wii and the television, yanking the cords out of the wall sockets. "Let's go, Leo," he muttered, dragging the older out of the room by the arm.
"Whatever, you're just a quitter," Leo said, sticking out his tongue. When they arrived back at the bunks, he tried to go through his ceremonious waking-up-the-others-in-the-loudest-possible-way practice, but he was halfway through screaming, "SPARKY!" before his voice broke. "Gah," he groaned, "too much singing."
"You're saying that now? Four hours later?" Nico would have laughed, if he was even able to. "It looks like we're going to have to just do things the normal, less annoying way." He stepped up to Jason's door, knocking three times. "Jason?" he croaked.
"You really think he'll be able to hear you through the d—" He stopped talking when the door flew open, and Jason stood there, eyes alert without a hint of sleep in them. Leo began to wonder if the guy ever slept, or if he even needed to. "Welp, it looks like he heard you."
"Leo, what's wrong with your voice?" Jason asked, a brow raised in concern. "Did you get sick or something? We're running low on supplies, but you can probably dig some nectar out of the supply room, if you need it."
"Not sick, just a long night," Nico explained, but the fact that his voice was just as weak worried Jason even more.
"Are you guys okay?" Jason felt bad for them, because the two boys were the youngest other than Hazel, yet they always seemed sad and exhausted when they came to wake the others up. Little did he know they spent their time playing endless games of Rock Band, while the monster attacks happened during the day.
"We're fine, Sparky," Leo reassured him, smiling goofily despite his bloodshot eyes and lack of a voice. "You can ask your girlfriend all about it, when she wakes up."
"Piper?" Now, he just looked plain confused. "What does she have to do with any of this?"
"You'll find out later, let's just get the others up," Nico said, cutting off the conversation. Next, he knocked on Frank's door. "Frank," he called, but it wasn't really loud enough to wake up a guy who slept like an elephant under tranquilizers.
"Frank!" Jason's voice boomed like thunder, and a second later, Frank stumbled out of his room still in his pajamas, hair sticking up in a few directions, eyes half-closed.
"Frank Zhang, Centurion of the Fifth Cohort, reporting for duty," he said in a daze, slurring his words together. It took him a few seconds and a few nudges from Leo before he regained his senses, realizing what he'd said. "I mean..." He yawned. "Good morning."
"Mornin'," Leo said in his not-really-all-there voice.
"Uh, you sound different," Frank noticed, but he didn't really seem to care as much as Jason did. "Is everyone else up, or...?"
"Nope," Jason answered. "Hazel! Pipes!" he yelled, because he didn't want Nico and Leo to waste their voices, which the two younger boys were rather thankful for. Jason knocked on their doors a few times, and the two girls walked out in their pajamas as well.
Piper yawned. "Hey Leo, Nico," she said casually, waving at them with a tired look in her eyes. "Have you been playing this entire time?"
"Yeah, mostly just guitar, though," Nico admitted, but he wasn't able to explain much to anyone else before Hazel was at his side.
"Your voice," she said, "Are you okay?" She already had her hand up against his forehead, checking for a temperature. "Do you need anything? What happened?"
Nico chuckled lightly. "Hazel, we're fine. I told you not to worry about me, okay? Leo and I were..." He hesitated, trying to decide whether to say 'singing for hours straight on Rock Band for the Wii,' or just come up with a lie to make himself sound less immature. "Well, you can ask Piper if you want," he said, not wanting to admit to the whole ordeal.
"Piper?" Hazel looked to her, obviously concerned. "Why would you know?"
"Ah, I'll explain later," Piper reassured her. "Just the boys being... well, idiots."
"Hey, you're the one who joined in!" Leo argued, but when Piper gave him the hey-I-have-major-blackmail-on-you look, he knew it was time to shut his mouth. "Well, then," he began with an overexaggerated yawn, "it looks like it's about time for me and the kiddo here to get to sleep. Right, Nico?"
"Don't call me 'kiddo.'" Nico grumbled, rolling his eyes. "But yeah, you guys head down and eat breakfast. Wake us up at sundown." He turned, and started walking into Leo's room, not really realizing that the others were still there, watching him. Sure, Hazel and Frank knew that Nico stayed in Leo's room, but Jason and Piper—
"Um. Nico?" Jason was the first person to speak, as usual. "That's not Percy's room."
Nico stopped in his tracks, silently cursing himself for being such an idiot. "Oh. Oh, right. I... must just be tired," he mumbled, before letting out a sigh and heading back into Percy's room. "Aha... yeah. Good night—er, morning." He shut the door quickly, leaving no room for questions to be asked.
Piper gave Leo a look as if to say, 'What was that all about?' In response Leo just shrugged, but the edgy expression on his face wasn't very convincing. Luckily, before Piper could ask anything more, Jason started to leave.
"He's right, we should go get something to eat," he said, walking in the direction of the dining room. "Leo, don't stay up working. Seriously, you've got to get some rest."
"Of course," Leo answered as if it should be obvious, smirking at Jason. "You guys just have a jolly old time eating waffles or whatever." He waved at them, strolling into his room and shutting the door behind him, letting out an exhausted sigh as he flopped down on the bed.
Leo sat in his room, wide-awake. Not working, not sleeping. Just waiting. As soon as he heard the last footsteps leaving the hall, he poked his head out the door, making sure no one was there. Then, he tiptoed out, careful not to make a sound, because he figured the others weren't too far off if they were still eating breakfast.
Good thing he'd made the doors so that they didn't squeak, he thought as he turned the knob on Percy's door.
In the room, Nico had fallen fast asleep, but his brow was furrowed and his expression tight, like he was in an intense dream. His slim fingers clutched the blanket tightly, his breathing shallow. He looked almost like a man in a coffin, which was a little creepy, especially in Percy's room in the dark.
"H-Hey... buddy?" Leo whispered, gently tapping him on the shoulder.
Nico's eyes shot open and he almost screamed, before Leo cupped a hand over his mouth. "Mmmffhh—"
"Shh!" Leo held a finger to his lips, knowing that if they made any more noise, they'd definitely be caught. "Shut up, Nico!" He listened, and let out a sigh of relief when everything was silent. "I'm gonna take my hand off your mouth. Promise not to scream?" Obviously, he didn't get an answer—but Nico did bite his hand, and hard. "Gah! What was that for?"
"Aren't you the one who just told me to be quiet?" he hissed, glaring at him, before his expression softened. "What... What are you doing here?"
"Hm?" Leo tilted his head, as though it should've been obvious. "What, didya really think I'd let you sleep in here all alone? You told me you hated it in here, so..." For lack of an explanation for his actions, he shrugged. "Just what friends do, I guess. Bet you never had a friend as great as me, huh? Now let's get you back in my room." Leo smirked, nudging him gently.
"...Friends. Of course," Nico muttered, rolling his eyes with a soft, hoarse laugh. He pulled himself off the bed, shaking his head, wondering, 'What did I ever do to deserve such an insane, idiotic, thoughtful friend like him?' Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he listened for people outside, and was met by silence. "No one outside. Let's go."
And lying on the warm mechanic's bed while Leo slept in the chair (because seriously, that guy could sleep anywhere), though Nico wasn't even sure if he was still awake, he whispered, "Thanks, Leo."