Hate to Love (Valdangelo)

Little Talks

Nico stayed to watch the rest of the movie, but he couldn't focus on it. His mind kept going back to what happened before Leo left.

He could make no sense of it. The girl only lost her head, and Leo flung himself on Nico, hiding his eyes from the movie.

Nico was shocked at first, to say the least. He was not expecting to be bear hugged around the neck by a Hispanic elf.

His thoughts were cut off by a bloodcurdling scream that made him jump and reach for his sword, but he realized it was just the movie. Another girl's head was cut off, and the end credits rolled in.

Nico shook his head. What kind of an ending was that?

He turned off the TV and decided to explore the ship some more. It wasn't that late yet, the others were probably still talking in the dining room, deciding who was on what watch for the week, perhaps.

Nico probably should've been there, but he honestly didn't care what watch he was on. It wasn't like he was going to talk to the other anyway.

He somehow found himself on deck, looking out over the railing at the slowly rising moon.

He let his thoughts take over, which was a pretty bad idea. All they wanted to think about was Leo, and Nico really didn't want to fall for another guy who will never like him back. He's had enough of that for a lifetime.

But his thoughts continued.

He thought about Leo's cute elfish features, though he hated the fact that he used the word "cute."

He thought about his unruly curls, how they stuck up in some places despite Leo trying to pat them down.

He though about-

The door opening broke Nico from his thoughts, very happy for a distraction.

Until he saw that the distraction was all that his thoughts seemed to be about.

"Hey, Nico." Leo smiled. He walked over to Nico and stood next to him, looking off into the distance.

"I didn't know you would be out here." Leo said.

"I didn't either. I was just walking and thinking, and I ended up out here."

Leo nodded like he understood. "I come here a lot to think. Fresh air, you know? And Festus is, like, right over there, so I some times talk to him."

Nico didn't know how; he'd heard the dragon "talk." It was only a series of clicks and whirs. Though, Leo was a son of Hephaestus. He understood a lot more when it came to machinery.

"Speaking of which," Leo said as he began to walk backwards toward the front of the ship. "I don't think you've met. Come on, I'll introduce you." Nico raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. It couldn't hurt. He followed Leo.

"Festus. This is my friend, Nico." The metal dragon head made a lot of sounds, and Leo translated.

"He says, 'It's nice to meet you.'" Nico nodded.

"Likewise." He turned back to Leo. "So, you really understand him?"

Leo nodded. "Of course. Though, it's probably a Hephaestus thing. But I've never noticed any of my siblings talk to him, or show any hints of understanding him, so it might just be a mechanic to his machine thing. I don't really know."

Nico chuckled at the thoughtful look Leo had at the moment. It was, dare he say it, cute. Leo was looking up at the sky, with his lips pursed, and his hand on his chin.

Leo looked back at him. He stared for a moment or two, Nico staring back, until Leo broke it.

"I should probably go check on the engines before I pass out from exhaustion. So, good night, Nico." He turned to leave.

"Night." Nico called back. He saw Leo nod as he walked to the stairs.

Nico stayed out for a couple more minutes, thinking, until he got cold. He walked to his room and got ready for bed.

He took his sword off of his belt, traded his black jeans for black sweatpants, and took off his shirt.

He laid down and closed his eyes. It took awhile, but he finally fell asleep.

(A/N: Oh my gods, okay. So, the bold and italics is NOT working for me at all, and I just want to... *strangling motions* But okay, so yeah, everything after this should be in italics.

By the way, does the chapter title seem familiar to anyone ;) ?)

Nico was in a dark room. There didn't seem to be any light, and there was a faint rumbling sound from... Somewhere. He didn't know where.

The rumbling grew louder, and with it an evil laugh ripped through the empty room. Nico thought it was familiar.

He heard a giant crack, and red light burst from a fissure in the floor in front of him. It was growing.

He stumbled backwards, but the farther he went the faster it opened. The laughing and rumbling grew so loud it hurt his ears, and he plugged them with his fingers. It didn't work. It was still getting louder.

The crack in the floor reached him, and he fell, grabbing onto a ledge at the last second. It was a tiny ledge, only a couple centimeters. His fingers started to hurt, and they started to slip.

Water dripped onto the ledge, making his fingers slip even more, and he fell. He fell so quickly the wind hurt his ears, made it hard to breath. He tried to scream, but it came out as a feeble squeak.

He was thrown around, so he was now facing the top of the crack, his back to the bottom. He could scream now, he did scream now. He screamed until his throat felt raw.

Then he hit the bottom. He made a small sound in pain. His vision swam, up was down, left was right, and he couldn't tell what direction he was facing in.

Soon his vision improved. He looked around from his spot lying on the ground. The dark red skies were all too familiar.

He was back in Tartarus.

He screamed again.