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It's been nearly a month now, which is probably why other people are getting involved, even if Nico would much rather they didn't. He knows it's his own fault for vaulting every time there's a fight, but he also knows the only reason Reyna's found out is because of Hazel; and there's a brief moment where Nico fears Leo opened his mouth, but then Hazel tells him that she saw him last time it happened and asked Will.

Nico's got a track record for not doing well when he's left alone, he's fully aware, and he fully understands Hazel's concern, and Reyna's too; he kind of wants to tell them he hasn't been alone, but there's a part of him that wants to keep the moments he's had with Leo private.

"I'm not running to isolate myself, I'm giving myself space so I don't blow up at him over misunderstandings"

It's technically not a lie, and had been the reason he had really stormed off that very first time, but then his mind got to him and he hurried to be with someone that wasn't Will; and though his visits to Leo have had very good results, he still has no idea why he went to him, not really.

Reyna lets out a long sigh.

"Fine, but you have to check in with someone, a text will do"

And Nico agrees, because he can do that, he can absolutely do that; anything to keep them from finding out the truth. He's not sure why he's so adamant to keep his friends from finding out, they wouldn't judge him for it, and he knows Calypso knows, because Leo had asked if he could tell her if only to get the perspective of someone who didn't suck at dealing with people; Calypso doesn't like him, Nico is pretty sure, but she's yet to spill to anyone, so she's ok by him.

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Leo would be lying if he said he isn't ten levels of intimidated by Reyna, but he also has a good track of dealing with people who scare the living shit out of him; and maybe he's hanging out with Nico too often if he's back to making MCR references in his head.

The point here is that Reyna popped up in the repair shop, and Leo has a split second where he almost fucked up, but he's managed to cover it by exaggerating his very genuine surprise at seeing her here.

"I'm looking for Nico"

Internally, Leo is panicking about exactly what could have happened to the Italian that would've resulted in this scenario; externally, he's cranking at the last bit of the music box, so he focuses on that.

"Well either Will or him will have to come pick this up today, so I can tell him to contact you if it does end up being him"

Reyna give him a look that tells Leo she hadn't expected that, which is good, because distracting her is the only way to not get caught in a lie. On the other hand, Leo's seen Nico at his worst, so of course he'd be helpful; if he didn't know exactly where Nico was running to, he'd have joined Reyna's search in a heartbeat.

"I'd appreciate that, thank you"

Reyna needs to remember she's allowed to loosen up around them, but Leo does not have the guts to tell her that.

"I'll let you go back to your work now"

She leaves with even strides, and Leo somehow manages to wait until she's disappeared completely from view to sigh in relief. When Nico comes by later for the usual 'it's me not Will' talk, Leo makes double sure he has actually talked to Reyna; which seems to unsettle Nico.

"You talked to her?"

Leo senses the undertone and shakes his head.

"She came by earlier trying to rope me into helping her track you down"

Nico frowns at him, Leo finishes putting the very last touch to the music box and pushes it in sight.

"I told her I'd ask you to contact her if you were the one picking this up instead of Will"

This puts Nico back into the mood Leo's more used to for these meetings.

"He wants to have sex"

Leo's every last nerve stands to full attention, because the way Nico looks strikes close to home, similar to how he himself looked back when he dated Khione. Despite this, he still keeps his voice even.

"Do you?"

Nico grabs the music box, fingers tapping a nonsensical pattern against the wood.

"I mean I just... I don't think I'm ready"

Nico's grip on the box tightens, and it's clear that this scares him.

"I might not ever be"

Leo nods and crosses his arms, blatantly ignoring the massive red flag that has risen in his head.

"So you tell him that"

Nico looks at him then, and Leo steels himself, whatever Nico is hoping to find must be somewhere in his expression, because he finally nods.

"Yeah, I really should"

He hopes with everything he has that he's wrong about this, that Nico really is just letting his inner demons take the wheel. But he will not hesitate to deploy the whole cavalry if he's right, though he might veto Percy if he does so; yeah, that's probably a good idea.