My Little Death Boy (Solangelo ddlb)

Twenty Eight

"Will come onnnnnn, everyone's practically gone!"
Nico hurried me on as I finished affixing the saddle bags to the pegasus he was already sat on, Appache.

"I'm going as fast as I can nico, we're not gonna get left behind. We're fine"
Nico groaned until I finally pulled myself up behind him.
"Ok we all good?"
"Yup let's go"

Nico leaned back against me and kept a tight grip on my hand wrapped around his waist. My other hand occupied by holding onto the reins and saddle.

I gave a slight kick and Appache did as he was trained to do and followed the horses in front, on the journey back to camp.

We turned and I waved to the new Romans who had come to see us off. They had banners and were screaming good journey wishes as we flew away.

Nico quickly snatched my hand back to keep around him. I reached my head around and gently pecked nico on the lips.
"I love you nico, you're very special to me, my sweet thing"
I said, giving him a little reminder of my feelings, that I knew he appreciated sometimes. I nuzzled into his hair. It smelled nice, especially after I'd washed it in our shared bath from the night before.

Nico lifted his head up and kissed my chin before resting comfortably against my neck.
"I love you too Will, and you're even more special to me"
"Oh really?"
"Duh, you're my lanky sunshine boy, I literally wouldn't survive without you"

I laughed
"I mean true but... I'm not that lanky am I?"
"You're a tree, a gods-damned tree"

Our ride back was peaceful, mainly silent with a bit of sightseeing and cloud gazing as we flew back to camp.

We even managed to get in a sandwich each as we were flying through lunch.

There were spots of brief turbulence, unexpected winds that took Appache a few seconds to recollect himself but other than that, it was smooth sailing.

Which lended well to nico as he took a impromptu nap against my chest. I held him protectively as he dozed, watching the sun getting lower in the sky and noting that we were definitely getting close to camp.

I took another glance at my boyfriend and laughed to myself when I saw that nicos thumb had snaked its way into his mouth. I didn't bother removing it as it would probably only wake him and make him cranky, I just enjoyed the cute moment.

Suddenly a wave of whinnies went through the pegasai ride and we began our descent.

As we got closer to the ground, I instinctively tightened my arms around nico. He fussed a little and squirmed but didn't wake up as we hit the ground.
"Shshsh little boots"
I whispered and noticed campers coming over to hold onto pegasai.

A demeter girl held onto Appache's bridle to keep him still while I slipped off, taking nico down into my arms after, holding his face to my chest to hide his thumb sucking.

I sheepishly laughed when the girl cocked her head at me.
"He's absolutely wrecked, I don't have the heart to wake him"
She laughed too
"Don't think I would either, someone'll help with your bags"
She smiled as she undid the saddle bags and lead Appache away.

2 burly ares kids approached next.
"I see your hands are a bit full, cabin 13 yeah?"
I laughed awkwardly again.
"Yeah thanks"
One of the guys took all our bags and walked off to the cabins, me following after him while the other went off to help someone else out.

As we walked away, I spotted Annabeth and Percy going through printed photos from the trip. They looked up and waved at us. I nodded back, unable to wave as my hands were thoroughly full.