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[He shakes his head after a moment's thought. A half smile twists his lips.]

I wouldn't have turned down the extra help, if I did. Unless the Roman Olympians are better parents...

[His tone was plainly doubtful.]

[ Another snort. They both know too well how that goes. ]

No, not especially. But the community's ... different. More room for families. College. Non-half-blood descendants living with them as well.

[Luke... doesn't say anything to that. He would seem absorbed in the paperwork. The second page was almost done, his own Greek lettering tight, small and slanted. ... But the expression on his face was a complicated one... Some mix of grief and anger, edged by an old childhood fear.

Even WITH a situation like that... it's not like he could have gotten his mother there. (If he wanted to. DID he want to?) It's not like he'd have been let out of camp to try. ... Or that his father would help. If he wasn't important enough for a satyr, then what were the odds of a broken, discarded mortal woman?

.. It didn't matter anyway, now.]

Edited 2015-07-26 10:48 (UTC)

Yeah?

[There's no air for a spirit to sigh. But there's something of a blurring around the edges as the other half-blood seems to calm himself down.]

So who's even left? You're not there now. [The statement has the edge of a question.]

[ Mothers getting dicked over by immortals: another thing Nico can absolutely sympathize with. How different would his own life had been if he, his sister, and his mother had been allowed to live in the Roman camp? ... Probably not much, given that prophecy. But it's a nice image all the same. Nico mostly remembers the modern world, though, so he isn't sure he would have enjoyed growing up in the 40s.

And that question... He's not sure how much to say. There were casualties, of course. But perhaps none that Luke would recognize. And certainly... ]

Most lived through it. A lot more than yours.

[ Still artfully avoiding the question of why he's here and not above. ]

[It seems to work... Luke glides over it as well.]

Touche.

[There was no remorse or regret. Not there.

He would regret the decisions he made, how he'd lost control with failure after failure and how it spun it that far out.

But not the war. Not the cause. Not the heroes that died beside him.]

I was talking about choosing to move there... But that answers a lot too.

[ He shifts a bit at that. Could he live in the Roman camp if he wanted to? Certainly - he'd been a go between long enough that he's used to it. Still a go between when he visits his sister. But... There's at least one reason to stay close to the Greek side when he can. ]

Sure. But Will is in the Greek camp. He gets grumpy if I'm gone too long.

[ Maybe the name rings a bell, maybe it doesn't. Will Solace, son of Apollo, one of the healers, and actively on Percy's side during Luke's conflict. Gay as hell. Literally, given the wistful way Nico's mouth twists. He's still not 100% casual about this with the living, even with Jason's badgering... But moving on from Percy to a boyfriend of his own site has helped.

Besides, Nico always was better at talking to dead people. ]

Will... Apollo, right? We hosted him for a few days. [The last offered by way of an explanation... but there were honestly few of that era that he hadn't kept up with before he betrayed them, or that he could have been regarded as a friend of.]

Well, well... [And then... there's an expression ... Nico hadn't seen before. Bright, amiable. A little bit of the wicked mischief most sons of Hermes were known for showing.

His memory of the healer was far, FAR younger, but ... There was nothing anyone in Camp Half-Blood liked more than romantic gossip. Life was far, far too short not to enjoy any way it came.]

So another happy couple. Next you'll tell me Thalia found someone Artemis didn't smite on sight.

[ Now Nico flushes a little; that breath of pink in his face might just be the only colorful thing in this part of the Underworld. Of course he knows that romance gossip is huge in camp - hadn't he just mentioned the Percabeth betting pool? - but suddenly being the subject of it, after assuming he would never, ever find anyone himself.

Yep. Blushing. And a little stammering. ]

So - you know him. Good. Uh. [ He's lovely, like the day to Nico's night, something he hadn't at all gotten used to yet - ] He's nice.

... I think Thalia's about the same.

[He would, if he thought about it, had a couple million feelings about the news about Thalia. Much like the news about Annabeth.

Fortunately, there was something nostalgic and frankly fun RIGHT THERE to focus on. He hasn't had any good gossip and the time to enjoy it IN YEARS.

Luke pushes himself up to sit on the edge of his desk (careful of the stacks of paperwork waiting) and sets his elbows on his knees, the PICTURE of attentive.]

Just nice? Come on. Surely there's more than that.

[ Nico turns away to hide the deepening flush on his cheeks. His influence facades a bit too; it's all starting to feel more like an ordinary conversation, not a quasi-interrogation between the son of Hades and a dead spirit. ]

He's - pushy. I was drained badly after the last few fights and he made sure I got better. Yelled at me if I wasn't taking it easy enough.

[Fades -even a little- is... good. Luke noticeably relaxes a bit at that, but if the spirit saw any advantage in it, he didn't take it.

The grin only widened, instead. He nods sagely, as if it was expected.]

So, someone who cares about you specifically, not just being nice.

Edited 2015-07-26 16:24 (UTC)

... Yeah. He cares about me a lot.

[ Said quietly, reverently. Like he doesn't quite believe it, even now. ]

[It's a bittersweet note. More campers than not were just like that, desperate for anyone who could offer honest emotion... not even something bigger than affection.

He lets that note stay there, unspoiled. Just takes the opportunity... and the ability, now that the compulsion has slackened, to look away, study the milling spirits, the faint edges of what he can see of the world outside of this room...]

Well. Here's a tip for you, then. If your cabin gives you any trouble while you're trying to get away, just set them up on guard duty, rather than try to distract em. Never works with any of my siblings.

But can't say it wasn't fun to watch kids try.

Guard duty, huh,

[ He considers that; fortunately (or not) for him, his only living sibling is Hazel, who is both a) Roman and b) a lot less inclined to make mischief than Luke's brothers in arms. He decides not to belay that particular point, though. ]

I'll keep that in mind if I get any more baby siblings.

[ He relaxes further; he doesn't particularly care if Luke wanders a bit at this point. The paperwork will be waiting, after all. It always is. ]

[It's Luke's turn to snort.]

"If"... that's real hopeful.

It's guaranteed. Who else is going to fight their battles? Entertain them?

[ The look Luke gets for that is a bit flat. Easy for Luke to say ... ]

Hades actually kept his promise, you know.

...

[Just. Pointedly looks at Nico.]

[ An equally pointed look back. ]

Both Hazel and I are from the forties. No way he'd bother with us if he had alternatives.

[There is ... less surprise there than it could be.

When you're a year rounder at Camp Half-Blood there was almost nothing to do but read myths and train, train, train, train for almost all of the year.

Trapped? Transformed? Bewitched... could have been anything. Thalia hadn't looked that different when she'd emerged from her arboreal prison.]

[Though there's something in the way Nico say it. Bother with.

The flash of anger on his face is ferocious... and quickly extinguished, replaced by exhaustion.]

You know, I'm sure if I ask I'm just going to get mad again. Fine. His ability to keep promises is great. [The tone is dry, dull.]

[ That right there is a difference between the two of them. Whatever issues Nico may have with family, at least his father never left him unclaimed, or didn't try to protect his family; hell, he's in the Underworld right now because he's actively by his divine parent's side. Can any other half-blood claim that? Not really. Even Hazel doesn't get as much one-on-one time with Pluto the same way Nico does with Hades, and he's pretty sure that their divine parent prefers her to him.

But there are other scars. Different ones, no less deep. He at least winces a little when he recognizes the anger in Luke's face. ]

... He preferred Bianca. Still does.

[ He shrugs. Lets it hang; doesn't seem to be waiting on a response. He's willing to leave it at that. ]

[The response doesn't come, and the silence is only broken by the strange unintelligible chattering of mortal spirits. What can he say to that? It's no world he knows...

But the idea that one of the things he'd ever wanted... might not have been that amazing to get either...

It's almost enough to make someone want to request a mortal life next time. Sane, normal, where when he thought life was unfair was like... something like having to do homework. Or having a curfew.

Almost.]

...

What do you say we go mess with something? [A beat.] Harmless. Prank type mess.

[ Sure does make it tempting, huh. He pauses for a moment at that offer ... Sometimes he forgets he's talking with a son of Hermes. Mischief, huh.

But. Well. This place can alway use some livening up. ]

... Why not?

[That... was NOT the answer he expected.

A grin flashes across his face and he sets the pen down on the table with a snap, jumping to his feet. Before the ghost king could change his mind. The paperwork could wait. He had eternity, after all.]

Great!

Lets see what's out there.

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