Hello again, fellow Leico shippers! Aw, I love you all :3

I know I told myself I'd take some time off from writing these but THEY'RE TOO CUTE I CAN'T EVEN-

*ahem* Anyway, this one's a got a bit more angst than my previous ones, but it gets fluffier so don't worry too much! Hope you enjoy!

Once again, NOT my characters, NOT my settings, I am NOT Rick Riordan (however much I wish I were)

Good to be Back

"Ow, no, stop it- OW!"

Nico cursed loudly and jumped, gritting his teeth. Leo gave him a withering look, slamming the pot of ointment back down on the table.

"Geez, Nico, you're such a baby," he said, shaking his head. He reached over and grabbed Nico's shoulders, pushing him back down into his chair.

Nico scowled, but Leo ignored him. He gestured impatiently with his hand, and Nico reluctantly used his good arm to stretch the injured one out across the table. Leo gripped his hand tightly and went back to smearing ointment on the burns while Nico winced and swore.

"Quit complaining," Leo said, glancing up at Nico's stormy eyes. "If we don't do this it won't heal."

"I know, I know…" Nico muttered. He stared at Leo's face while he worked. The son of Hephaestus would barely look at him. Nico could understand why, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

Anyone could see that Leo blamed himself for Nico's injury. It hadn't been his fault; Nico had insisted on helping him in the workshop that night, despite Leo's protests. A couple of Leo's siblings had a mishap by one of the forges and Nico had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a basic matter of bad luck- but naturally, Leo shouldered all the blame himself. It didn't matter how many times Nico told him it wasn't his fault, the stubborn little bastard wouldn't stop beating himself up. It was kind of annoying.

Leo had finished with the ointment, and he was busy winding bandages around Nico's battered limb. Nico winced at the contact, even though Leo was being as gentle as possible, his fingers brushing his skin with a feathery touch. Leo had always been gentle with Nico- handling him lightly, like he was afraid he might break- but Nico could tell from the way his fingers barely made contact that Nico's injury had shaken him even more than usual.

Leo tied off the bandage and helped Nico lift the scarred arm back into its sling. His work done, he sat back and put the lid back on the ointment, still not looking Nico in the eye. Nico considered trying to reason with him again, but decided against it- he knew it wouldn't get him anywhere. Instead he used his good arm to drape his aviator jacket over his shoulders, mumbled something about going to get some lunch, and went outside, leaving Leo alone in his cabin.

He ran into Hazel at the dining pavilion, and she grinned and waved at him to join her. He slumped down in the seat opposite her at the Hades table, and let her bombard him with questions on how he was feeling. He just smiled and nodded- he was used to this routine now. Hazel was supposed to go back to Camp Jupiter three days ago, but she'd stayed behind a little after the others had left when Nico had been injured. She refused to leave him until he was one hundred per cent better. Frank and Jason were grateful- it gave them an excuse to stay with their Greek friends a bit longer too.

Nico had to admit, he was grateful. Hazel regularly made sure he was eating properly, a habit he wasn't very good at maintaining without a little help. Not to mention he was grateful for the company since Leo was being so distant.

After she was done grilling him about his arm and his medication, Hazel noticed him looking down dejectedly at his soup and frowned. "Everything okay with Leo?"

He shrugged noncommittally. Hazel reached across the table and took his hand, smiling. "Nico, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

Nico gave her a withering look. "Like you ever stop reminding me."

Hazel rolled her eyes and continued. "Look, Nico- if there's something going on between you guys at the moment, you can talk to me about it! I'm right here, and I'm ready to help if you want me to."

Nico felt conflicted. What happened between him and his boyfriend was his business; he didn't like getting other people involved- least of all his sister! But then again, she did know Leo pretty well, and Nico was really running out of options at this point.

He sighed and hunched forward, keeping his eyes fixed on a small ruby that had erupted from marble table near Hazel's hand. "He still blames himself. You know, for what happened…"

Hazel nodded like she wasn't particularly surprised. Nico leaned his chin against his hand and glared down at the ruby as he let out his frustration.

"He barely talks, he doesn't smile- I haven't even seen him eat for days. It's been ages since he's cracked one his dumb jokes or made one of his stupid groan-inducing puns, he doesn't touch me other than to change my bandages, he's back to sleeping in his own cabin-"

"Wait- he sleeps in your cabin?!" Hazel exclaimed, fanning her face with her hand like she did whenever she was scandalised.

Nico blushed furiously at her implication- they were both thirties kids; neither of them was particularly comfortable with that topic. "Not like that! I mean, he sleeps in my bed- but it's just sleeping! I sleep better when he's there, that's all!"

Hazel smiled and nodded, but her cheeks were still flushed. Nico continued, glad they'd straightened that out. He decided not to mention that most of the time spent in bed with Leo was dedicated to passionate make-out sessions. He didn't want to burden her with that knowledge.

"Anyway," he said, returning his gaze to the ruby and scratching his head self-consciously. "He still fixes my bandages and helps me get into bed at night, but then he just leaves- I don't know if he goes back to his cabin or works at the bunker all night, but when I see him in the morning he looks like he hasn't slept. I just don't know how I can get it through his thick skull that he has nothing to blame himself for…"

Hazel shrugged and pushed the ruby back down into the stone, sealing the crack. "Leo's pretty stubborn. I think the best thing you can do is take care of yourself and give him some time to work it out. He'll feel better when your arm's healed up, I'm sure of it."

Nico nodded, but he didn't feel much better for the talk. He pushed his bowl away and stood up, giving Hazel a one-armed hug and a kiss on the cheek before stalking off to the woods.

He didn't know how long he'd stayed out, wondering aimlessly through the foliage with his thoughts. By the time he emerged from the shade of the trees, the sun had already set below the horizon and the moon cast its silvery light over the strawberry fields.

Nico sighed heavily. Leo was probably waiting for him in his cabin- he was supposed to treat his arm hours ago. He'd never hear the end of this.

He reluctantly traipsed back to his cabin, mentally preparing himself for the tongue-lashing of a lifetime. When he reached it he turned the handle and opened it slowly, hoping to postpone judgement.

To his surprise, he heard no shouting. Confused, he pushed the door open fully and poked his head round it. He'd been expecting to see Leo sitting at the table tapping his fingers, or maybe even just standing in the middle of the room with his arms crossed and his brow furrowed.

But the cabin was dark. He couldn't see Leo anywhere. Puzzled, Nico wandered further in. Maybe Leo had gone looking for him.

He saw something stir towards the back of the room. He tiptoed over quietly, hanging his jacket over a chair and adjusting his eyes to the gloom. He smiled.

Leo was lying on his bed, fully clothed and fast asleep. His hair was dishevelled and he had oil stains on his face and clothes. He had his arms wrapped around a wooden case, about the size of a shoebox. Frowning, Nico carefully lifted Leo's arms and slid the box out from his grip, trying not the wake him. He sat on the edge of the bed with the case on his lap and lifted the lid carefully.

Lined up inside were about a dozen figurines, miniature statues of the twelve major gods. He recognised them immediately. They were replicas of his old Mythomagic figurines that he'd burned a couple of years back, cast out in bronze. He lifted out the tray to discover even more underneath, these ones replicas of the monster figures. He picked up a manticore, confused. Why would Leo go to the trouble of casting out perfect replicas of his old collection?

He found his answer when he accidentally thumbed a tiny switch on the manticore's base. Its bronze tail arced up and flicked forward, launching a small barrage of tiny bronze spikes at the wall opposite. Nico jumped, nearly dropping the figure. The tiny monster sat back and licked its paws, its tail returning to its original position and new spikes springing out. Nico stared at it in awe.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

Nico jumped and turned his head. Leo's eyes were open, and he was smiling sleepily at him. "The best one's the dragon- I rigged it to breathe fire."

Nico carefully packed the figures back into the box and set it down on the bedside table. "Why did you do all this? These must have taken ages!"

Leo gave him a drowsy grin. "Remember when we watched Harry Potter and you said you wished there were real games like wizard's chess?" he shrugged. "I just incorporated a few elements."

Nico lowered his head, turning away from him slightly. "But… why would you do all this for me?"

Leo tutted. "'Cause I love you, stupid. And I still owe you for the workshop incident."

Nico blushed, but returned Leo's smile with a glare. "I keep telling you- it wasn't your fault, you don't owe me anything!"

Leo ignored the venom in his gaze, returning it with warm eyes. "I'll be the judge of that."

Nico snorted. There was no reasoning with some people. After a few seconds passed he lifted his feet off the floor and flopped down on the bed next to Leo, turning his head to look him in the eye.

"I'll make you a deal- stay here tonight and we'll call it even."

Leo grinned and reached his arm over Nico's torso, carefully avoiding his bad arm. His eyes closed.

"Done."

The next day, things were back to normal.

Nico woke up feeling warm with Leo's arm draped over him and the mechanic's breath on his face. He nudged him awake and sat back smiling as the son of Hephaestus fussed over him, treating his arm and chastising him for not being around for his check-up yesterday. But Nico didn't mind him complaining because he said every objection with a smile. He looked at Nico's face and told bad jokes while he fixed up his arm, making the pale boy laugh and groan in equal measure. His eyes sparkled with energy as he helped Nico into his coat and took his hand to lead him to the dining pavilion for breakfast.

Hazel was waiting for them, smiling as she saw their hands interlocked. Leo sat Nico down with her at the Hades table and sneakily avoided the rule against sitting at other gods' tables by sitting on the floor next to it. He got a glare from Mr. D, but he gave him a grin and a wave. He knew he'd won.

They all ate together, and it became abundantly clear that Leo was back to his usual hyperactive self. He told terrible puns, balanced spoons on his nose (and as much of the rest of his face as possible), and spent the whole meal flirting so much with both children of Hades he reduced them to fits of red-faced giggles. He also spent his fair share of time clucking like a mad mother hen over Nico whenever he so much as scratched his arm through his bandages. It was annoying, but he knew Nico could never stay mad at him for long.

For the rest of the day, Leo trailed behind Nico like a fussy, overprotective shadow; even while he was helping Percy in his sword demonstrations to younger campers. It didn't exactly help him assert his authority when Leo kept jumping forward and checking his sling every two minutes, complaining loudly from the side-lines that Nico was working himself too hard. He could hear the campers giggling as he walked away, but he didn't mind when Leo draped his arm round his shoulder as they walked.

That night, Leo and Nico got all their friends together for the first ever game of Mage's Mythomagic (as Leo referred to it). Needless to say Nico took an early lead while everyone else was still trying to figure out the rules. He was worried about the figurines tearing each other to shreds, but Leo reassured him that they were programmed to repair themselves when the game was over.

Despite Nico's early take over, everyone was having fun. That is, until Percy managed to score a critical hit with his dragon.

Leo's eyes widened. "Duck!" he shouted.

Everyone knew better than to question him. Eight demigods ducked down beneath the table just in the nick of time as the tiny bronze figurine took a deep breath and blew a scorching torrent of fire across the table, melting Piper's Hephaestus figure (oh, the irony) and roasting the seat where Annabeth had been sitting mere milliseconds before.

When it was done, Leo cautiously popped his head up over the edge of the table and frowned at the destruction. "Maybe I should tone the flamethrower down a few degrees…"

"You think?" Jason scowled, glaring at the lock of hair that had been singed off in the blast. "Bullets, fire-breathing collectables, how many more ways can we find to slowly shave me bald?"

"Well, that was fun!"

Nico smiled at Leo's grinning face across the pillow and rolled his eyes. "Yeah it was, if you don't count the part where we nearly got killed by a dragon the size of a glue stick."

"You've got to admit, that's a pretty darn memorable way to go!" Leo said brightly.

"Sure, we can console ourselves that for years to come campers would have sung the song of the elf and his lover who got torched by a toy lizard," Nico said dryly.

Leo burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. "Well," he said between guffaws. "It would make a change from those tedious tales of great deeds and heroism- honestly, who's interested in them anymore?"

Nico smiled, his eyes flickering over Leo's face. "It's good to have you back."

Leo leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "It's good to be back."

He pulled back and grinned. "Now, time to get up- need to fix up your arm for the night."

Nico smiled and used his good arm to pull Leo back down, kissing him softly on the lips.

"It can wait a few minutes."

Aw, lovelies :3

I'm currently working on another Valdangelo one-shot, but its based on a very dark tumblr prompt so it is going to contain much angst- DO NOT READ if you are sensitive! After that I'll hopefully be back to fluff :) Feel free to send me prompts, either on here or on tumblr! I like writing stories for people, it makes me feel like I'm contributing to society XD

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! See you soon, my darlings! :D