Nico shuffled into the mess hall at nine 'o' clock, hunched over in his favourite black hoodie, hands shoved deep into his pockets.
Hazel and Frank were walking out, rejoicing in the beautiful bright day.
"Morning sis."
"Hey Nico!" Hazel smiled, holding her hand up for a high-five (Leo had teaching her the 'new hip things' she frequently said 'Wass up dawgs?' and 'how're ya'll' among the hundreds Leo had somehow been storing away for a situation like this)
Squinting confusedly at it, he butted his head against it, instead of pulling his hands out of his pockets.
Frank lifted a hand in greeting. Nico scowled. It was far to early for socializing.
"Fuck you." he growled, and Frank raised an eyebrow, evidently about to actually change into a dog and growl back, but Hazel held up a hand.
"Chill, mate." And both of them stared at her in judgement.
She frowned. "Leo said that that was a normal way to stop a fight."
Nico winced at the mention of Leo, he had felt his soul enter the Underworld, but his father hadn't said about what had happened to him and he couldn't find him anywhere in the Underworld.
Frank dipped his head. "Soz mate, my bad, I was just joking, ya know, ma man?"
Nico stared at him in disappointment and left Frank to explain himself to Hazel.
As he walked to his table, each 'Good morning, Nico!' or 'Hey, Nico!' was met with a 'Fuck you'
As he sat down, Percy opened his mouth to say something, but Nico held his hand up, fixing the older boy with an icy glare.
Grabbing the pot of coffee off of the table in front of Jason he held the spout a inch away from his pale lips and tilted it, drinking almost half the pot, before lowering it and his hand, nodding at Percy.
"Proceed."
Once Percy started babbling about his new... Thing, he tuned it out.
"Hey Nico!" Nico mentally groaned and downed the last half of his coffee pot. Jason tried, half-heartedly to tug it back from him, that much coffee, meant for three people, drunk in less than five minutes, could not be healthy.
"How're you, Nico!?" Gods, he was cheerful today.
Nico stared steadily at him. "Fuck you?" he tried but the blonde's enthusiasm for life was getting to him.
Just as he placed the coffee pot down, ready to engage in camping life, it refilled and Percy got louder. Blinking as Jason withdrew his hand from his attempt to get it off the younger boy, he poured it in a cup, and added a heaped spoon of sugar.
Then, he gave it to Jason.
Nico was halfway into his pancakes when a set of arms curved around his waist from behind. Nico leaned back into Will's shoulder.
He had gotten better with human contact, he supposed.
"Fuck me." he groaned. Will laughed and propped him up on the table, before spinning around to his own table.
"Maybe later. Eat up."
Later on, Nico was beginning to come out of his brain fog, but he was still not ready for the overwhelming, 'HEY NICO!' a combined effort from the gathered Seven as he walked into the Poseidon cabin.
"Fuck you." he said, but with no real malice.
Then a pretty girl, with sun-bleached hair, a perfect tan and almond eyes, came up to him.
"Fuck y- Who're you?" he said before she could say thing in way of a greeting.
"I'm Calypso. Leo's friend."
Nico's first though was of the ice lolly, and then 'Pffft, Leo had a friend like you and never lorded it over us?'
He scanned the faces of any of the other Seven, in confusion.
Percy looked slightly shocked, while Annabeth had a face of thunder. Piper, however, looked intensely happy and so was Jason. He was fairly sure Hazel was crying and Frank was hugging her, grinning big.
And then, a Latino boy came up behind the girl, grinning with soot smeared across his face and what looked like a slap mark.
"Fuc- Wait, you're alive?" he said, getting less further with the 'Fuck you' this time.
Leo Valdez, reincarnated in all his glory spread his hands and grinned even wider, if that was possible.
"Surprise, Death Boy."
This may sound like Nico and Leo had a strong friendship and I guess they do.
There was a brief moment before HoH and BoO where I shipped them, due to a fanart.