Room 313 | Sunday Afternoon

[deaths_demigod]

There didn't seem to be anything weird happening today, though Nico was certain that wouldn't last. Still, it was the last day before classes resumed and he was ready to spend it, flopped on his bed with his PSP. It seemed like a good day for wreaking havoc with a frying pan

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[trickydemigod]

Luke had been trying to force himself out of the room so it didn't seem like all he was doing was sitting around moping. Of course when he left he tended to go to the park and mope or sit on the roof and mope so it didn't really help anything in the long run but, still, he could say he got out of the room.

He was coming back from one of these daily runs to the outside world with a cup of coffee in his hand and not the slightest improvement on his rapidly fading tan. He'd look like you soon, Nico.

"Hey," he said, kicking off his shoes. "Getting any better at that game?"

[deaths_demigod]

Hey now, Nico's paleness was almost attractive. One of these days he'd go outside and not glare at the sun for trying to blind him because Apollo was scum.

"It's not about getting better, it's about continuing to enjoy it." The diplomacy was necessary since he kind of sucked at it, but he glanced at Luke and raised an eyebrow. "You're fast approaching looking like I should try and smack you with the frying pan, cuz."

[trickydemigod]

"And here I thought I was looking better." All the marks and bruises from fighting with Percy last week were gone now anyway. Now he just looked sickly instead of beat up and sickly.

"Things aren't going very well back home," he said, climbing up on his bed and leaning back against the pillows. "It's making me worried, and when I'm worried the whole eating and sleeping thing doesn't really appeal to me."

[deaths_demigod]

Yeah, Nico'd kind of noticed, having tried to keep out so there would be no repeats of last winter when Luke got pissed at him for not sleeping because Luke wasn't sleeping.

"That's a whole lot of worry." He didn't know how to ask where he was in his war as that assumed it would all go bad the same way and Nico really didn't want that.

[trickydemigod]

"Trust me, it's been earned," Luke said, toying with the lid of his coffee cup. He wasn't sure if he should share that he had been having doubts about this whole thing. Last time he said it he got punched in the face.

"You know how things work in the Underworld, right?" he asked. "Like, know all the stupid rules to everything?"

[deaths_demigod]

"No, I only lived there for an entire winter once," Nico said sarcastically, giving a little shudder at the memory of all that cereal consumption and the smell of decaying flowers.

[trickydemigod]

"Well I don't know, dude, I sure as hell don't know everything about my dad's business," Luke said, rolling his eyes. "Or anything about it, really."

[deaths_demigod]

"You need something," Nico realized. For all the lurking in shadow's Nico had done trying to figure out how Luke had gone from Camp Hero to Krono Suit, he was kind of in awe of his cousin now. "You're going to the Underworld?"

[trickydemigod]

"I need to go to the Styx," he confirmed, really focusing on his coffee cup now. "I know there's more to it than jumping in and taking a swim but I don't know all the details."

[deaths_demigod]

"Oh man, that's no picnic you're planning to go on," he said, eyes widening. "You know Percy's gonna throw a fit if you do that."

[trickydemigod]

"Good thing Percy's not gonna find out about it then," Luke said, not aware that the whole glowing thing sort of gave it away. "Look, I'd rather not do it either but I don't have a choice in the matter, so I'd like all the help I can get."

[deaths_demigod]

"And you figured I could provide you with the quick and dirty rules of taking Achilles' swim?" Nico didn't understand why this felt so much worse than when he'd told Percy about it.

[trickydemigod]

Luke nodded. "If it's not too much trouble."

[deaths_demigod]

Nico sighed and tossed his game to the end of his bed to give Luke his full attention, unable to not help his cousin here. "Do you know about the blessing?"

[trickydemigod]

The blank look on Luke's face probably answered that question before he even said anything. "Blessing from who?"

[deaths_demigod]

"You know it was Thetis who dipped Achilles in the Styx. You need your mother's blessing for it to work." That was maybe going to be the scariest part of it for Luke, in Nico's opinion.