#{ nda || lou ellen blackstone // nosestealer }

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@nosestealer​ ( continued. )

Nico glares at Lou Ellen. It’s tempting. To just let go. It’s been a long time since he has. He copies her actions, watching a spike of obsidian shoot from the ground and crush a monster to dust. It’s satisfying. He can’t pretend it isn’t. 

But he knows. He knows he knows he knows--

He looks at Lou Ellen again. “None of this is gonna’ bring him back, Lou.” Cecil’s gone. He’s gone and he’s not coming back. “Be pissed and be angry, but you can pick fights here until the end of time and that won’t change.” 

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@nosestealer​ ( continued. )

Nico sighs, meeting Lou Ellen’s gaze. It’s a pointless debate. They both know he’s on her side, and he’ll do whatever she needs him to. “You’re not gonna’ find out,” he tells her. “I know you’re gonna’ tell me violence isn’t the answer here, but I can give him a good scare. He’ll fuck off if I do that. You know he will.” His gaze softens a little. “Nothing’s gonna’ happen. Alright? You and I will train, and I’ll scare the life out of him. People here already think I’m terrifying. Might as well use that for something productive.” 

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@nosestealer​:

"is it okay if i crash here for a brief nap? it's pretty cool here. and quiet. and dark." @ nico

“Sure.” Nico snorts with amusement and gestures around. “Make yourself at home, you know the drill. You okay?”

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@nosestealer​:

mvndrvke:  

look, sometimes people drift apart. and i don’t want that to happen to us, okay? ( nico )

lou ellen is terrified.

she’s going to new rome soon and while travis will be there, it won’t be the same. cecil won’t be there. connor won’t be there. and nico won’t be there either. at least, not all the time. and with her schedule, who knows if they’ll have time to grab a bite to eat or get something to drink while he’s at camp jupiter for his ambassador duties?

she doesn’t know what to do, or what to say, so she says nothing and hugs her best friend and puts as much love into it as she possibly can as her magic finally settles down.

her words are muffled, but they still ring true: “i don’t want that to happen to us either. it can’t be. it won’t. you’re on the cork board, nic. you’re my best friend for life and even after that, you’ll be my best friend. yeah, the distance is gonna suck, but i’m afraid you’re stuck with me forever now. no take backs.”

she’s going to sing at his and will’s wedding; he’s going to be the godfather of her kids.

“look,” says lou ellen, “i’m gonna miss you a lot, and part of me is already missing you despite still being here, so how about i’ll make you a deal? my siblings and i have been working on enchanting crystals so that they function as phones with video call functions, y’know, like cecil explained to you the other day? if i can tweak one of them, you can have it. all you’d have to do is channel a little bit of your power into it, and it’d be as if i’ve never left. it’s basically like im’s, except more…magical and less strenuous? it may not sound awesome but it’s all i got.”

Nico rests his chin against Lou Ellen’s  shoulder, hugging her tightly  and trying not to feel  as panicked as he does. He knows Lou Ellen going away is good, he knows it’s what   she wants and   needs, but  still, it hurts. It reminds him all too much  of  Bianca  leaving him. His life had only  just settled,  and now Lou Ellen is  leaving, and it’ll all be up in the air again, uncertain and new. Two things that he can’t stand. 

He snorts quietly. “I don’t mind being  stuck with  you,” he mumbles. He looks down at her. “Video calls,” he repeats. “Like an Iris message in a box. Okay....” He thinks  on it. “I think that makes sense. No, it’s something. Better than nothing.” He sighs quietly and blinks to try and hide the  fact that his eyes are watering. He’s not going to cry  about  this, that’s pathetic. He sniffs. “And I’ll be there for my job, it’s not like this is it. Right?”

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@nosestealer​:

mvndrvke:

❝ We learn from the ones we fear and hate the most. ❞ nico

“Well—” Nico’s not wrong. “—I feel like certain people have become better at evading my pig bombs. Which means that I definitely need to step up my game. Can I steal you away for a small brainstorm session or would you rather postpone this until after dinner?”

“No, I’ve got time.” He’s very obviously not busy. He leans back and stretches. “Do I have to get out of this beanbag chair?”

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@nosestealer​:

mvndrvke: 

’ it’s easier to walk away when you realize it’s never going to be okay. ’ nico

“if you’re walking, then i’m walking too.”

and it’s entirely unfair to the auradonians she let into her heart here. it’s unfair to the boy king, ben, and to the cheer captain, bucky, his cousin addison and the rest of the so called auradon kids that she’s gotten to know. but this is how they’ve always done things: he’s family and where he goes, she follows and vice versa.

“i can’t in good conscience stay behind while you go.” nor could she stay if any of the others - annabeth, cecil, nyssa - decided to walk away as well.

there is no shame in bowing out. she’s pretty sure he’s the one who taught her that, once upon a very freaking long time ago.

“the only question is: where are we walking to?”

“You sure?” Nico knows Lou Ellen has more connections to Auradon than he does. She’s like that, friendlier, more outgoing. Not like him, the sour-tempered son of Hades. But he’s glad to have her by his side. It’s been the two of them against the world for so long, he can’t remember a time when it hasn’t been. 

“Home,” he says. “Or the closest we can get to it. I’m gonna’ find my dad and I’m gonna’ help him. I’m tired of being involved in all this, here. This isn’t my world. It’s not our world.”

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@nosestealer: 

mvndrvke:

“I want him to be happy. It’s worth sacrificing myself.” nico

“Do you think he’d be happy if you sacrificed yourself in any way, shape or form?”

Lou Ellen didn’t have a leg to stand on here because her last relationship went downhill because of her. Not Miranda. Her. Because of Lou and her own choices.

But she knew enough to know that Will wouldn’t at all be happy if Nico ever sacrificed himself. And she’s known Will long enough to know that he’d do anything in his power to prevent Nico from sacrificing himself, perhaps he’d even go as far to try to do the sacrificing.

And oh, Lou needed to stop thinking about them and sacrifice in the same sentence because both of them had sacrificed enough and it was making her sick to her stomach. Lou Ellen sighed quietly, brown eyes softening as she looked at Nico.

Sometimes it hit her how similar they were; this was one of those times. I want him to be happy. It’s worth sacrificing myself. These were words that could have come out of her own mouth.

“Before you go down the sacrifice road, talk to him, okay? Just, uh, talk to him first, Nico.”

“I think he’ll be alive if I do.” Nico’s never really cared all that much when it comes to his own safety or preservation. It’s one of the things that’s never changed, no matter what happened. He’d been like that when Bianca had still been alive, he was like that now. Nothing had changed. The people he’d sacrifice himself for had just expanded. 

He shakes his head at Lou Ellen’s request. “No,” he says. “Because he’s gonna’ try to talk me out of it. I’ll do what I have to do to make sure he’s safe. I’m not scared of anything; he'll be fine. I know you'll keep an eye on him for me.”

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@nosestealer:

"C'mere," Lou Ellen murmurs to Nico. "A hug might not fix everything, but it never made anything worse either."

Nico presses his face against Lou Ellen’s shoulder. He’s not going to cry. If he keeps  telling himself that, it’ll be true eventually, right? He sniffs. “I hate them. I hate them.”

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@nosestealer said : "don't count your crocodiles before they hatch? isn't it chickens? nic, can you explain?" // @ nicoooooo

“Is it?” Nico sighs. “I thought I had that one. Chickens makes more sense. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.” His nose scrunches. “That still sounds stupid. Crocodiles sounds better.”

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@nosestealer​:

"happy pride month, nico. thank you for being who you are. and thank you for being my friend, too," lou ellen says as she hugs him. "i appreciate you. i don't think i say it enough." hopefully she shows it enough, though.

Nico’s nose scrunches. “You say it constantly, Lou, I know,” he says, but he’s grinning as he hugs her. “Happy pride month. You’re not gonna’ drag me out to some insane party, are you? I just wanna’ hang out and have a chill pride this year with you guys.” 

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@nosestealer​:

mvndrvke:

❛ Why did you bring me back? ❜ nico

“You’re making it sound like you’ve died and I’ve gone ahead and brought you back through necromancy. I can’t do that. That’s your thing, Nic.”

Magica de Spell is coming, Auradon is gearing up for war, and Lou Ellen finds that she cannot sleep without her best friend beside her or near her. She’s afraid; Magica’s a powerful sorceress but Nico can match her, powers wise, step by step, even if it’s not magic that he wields.

Similarly, she’s afraid - not only for her loved ones - but for herself too. Because while she’s powerful, she knows what it’s like to have someone whisper dangerous things in dreams, poisonous things that nestle within ears and hearts and turn it to dust from the inside out.

(Lou Ellen is divine but Magica’s tongue has always been silver and the daughter of Hecate fears susceptibility because has she not always been holding back? She’s got no idea what she’s even capable of! And she doesn’t want to give Magica any kind of leverage. At all.)

And the thing is: everyone knows that King Ben has sent Harriet Hook on a solo mission to infiltrate Magica’s lair; it’s been weeks now and she’s still not back. CJ barely sleeps anymore and whenever Uma doesn’t need him, Harry keeps his eyes firmly trained on the horizon, almost as if he can make his sister to return to the people that love her through sheer force of will alone.

Ginny Gothel is worried and Anthony Tremaine paces and paces and paces until he can pace no more and then Ginny, whose face is ever so pretty, reaches out to him, tugs at his hands until he sits down and she sits down in his lap, whispering reassurances to each other.

His captain would be back, triumphant.

Her frenemy would be back, victorious.

Harriet Hook would return with intel that would turn this tide, that would give them the upper hand.

Lou Ellen shares a look with Nico. He looks grim, grimmer than usual, and while she knows and respects that the son of Hades isn’t always the one for physical contact, she nestles against him anyway because they can both use the reminder that they’re still here, alive.

They both know that the eldest Hook isn’t coming back. Just like Cecil isn’t coming back.  

“I told you I was done.” And he’d meant it. Nico knows that he’d meant whaat he said  when he’d told  Lou  Ellen he was done. They  were supposed to have peace-- he was tired of fighting. And now he was just done with it. His last battle  had been fought and lost-- he couldn’t  do it  anymore. “I’m not coming back.”

Still, he hugs her when she leans against him. “I  just can’t do it,” he  says quietly. “I tried, I tried, but I couldn’t.... he’s gone.  Cecil’s  gone, and I can’t bring him back.”  The words hurt just to say. “You should leave  with  me, you and Will. This  isn’t our fight anymore.”

[mvndrvke-archive]

@nosestealer:

mvndrvke: 

❛ if we’re free , tell me why we can’t even stand upright. ❜ nico

“Because we’re not. This isn’t freedom. This is fear. The Royals fear us because they know they can’t control us. You, with your necromancy.” The Ghost King in all his glory would be a sight to behold, she’s sure. “And me with my magic. They’re inherently allergic to us.”

And oh, what Lou Ellen wouldn’t give to make them understand: it’s not the Rotten Four - while extremely powerful in their own right - they should be scared of. Not quite. It’s the Children of the Gods, and their legacies. They are the ones who could raze the United States of Auradon to the ground in it’s entirety.

They’re the ones who could lay waste to the world, if they so wished. And Lou Ellen wished it.

There’s no magic here, but Lou’s magic? It came from within because she herself was made out of magic by her Lady Mother, so while she’s not able to do all that she should have been able to do, she could do small stuff. Small mercies, she supposed, were better than none.

“The minute we get outta here,” said the brunette, ‘‘cause we will, I’m just gonna—” She waved her hand. “—let it all go, let it all out. And yeah, maybe I’d be proving their point. But as it is, I don’t really care. I genuinely don’t care. I’m getting you, and Will, and Cecil out of here with me. If I have to barter with Captain Atlantica for passage then so be it.”

And afterwards? She’s gonna get her brother out of exile. Even if it’d be the last thing she did.

“Let’s just focus on the getting out of here first,” Nico advises. “I wanna’ be gone as fast as possible too, but we have to be smart, right? And patient. Once we’re out of here, and I free my father....” They were going to regret ever letting Nico come here was the short answer. He takes a deep breath and exhales before he gets too fixated. 

“No.” Her words snap him back to attention. “We won’t have to do that. I’ll figure something else out, something better. I just need a bit of time to think. The four of us will get out of here, I promise. You know I don’t break a promise.” He sighs and  glances around to make sure no one’s near them. “Have you told anyone else what’s going on, what we’re planning? I know there are other kids from the Isle that hate this here, but I’m not interested in leading a revolution here. I just want to get the four of us out as quickly and safely as possible.”

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@nosestealer​:

mvndrvke:

❛ you stay out of this. ❜ nico

It’s really cute. He thinks he can tell her what to do. He thinks he can just tell her to stay put, thinks she’ll stay out of it. “No. I damn well won’t stay out of this. You need me out there. You all do.” He means well, but hasn’t he learned? It never bodes well to tell a witch what to do. “Look, Nic, I love you, but we’re not doing this right now. I can’t stay out of it. Lamia’s coming, and if I know my sister - which I do - she’ll bring a horde of other pissed off monsters with her. That white flag quest I went on with Pollux the other day? Didn’t exactly pan out.”

And so they’ll fight. Because don’t they always? Isn’t that why they were born? Why they were made? Lou Ellen sighs. “I can’t stay behind and worry myself sick, Nico, please. Don’t ask me to do that. I know you don’t want me out there ‘cause she’ll come after me first, but it’s a chance I’m willing to take. ‘Sides, it’s not like I sat on my ass for the last few years. I’ve trained, I’ve grown stronger. I’d be willing to roll the dice, see if I can hold my own against her.”

“Absolutely not. I’ve got this.”  Not that he expects her to listen. If Nico’s learned anything from being friends with Lou Ellen, it’s that Lou Ellen won’t listen to anything he tells her when it comes to keeping their friends safe. He can’t fault her for it; he’s the same. But it doesn’t make it any easier.  “Exactly, lucciola, it didn’t pan out. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

He huffs with annoyance. “It’s not one I’m willing to take,” he tells her sharply. “And you’re not going to be holding your own against her. If you’re gonna’ be a dick and insist you come with me, we’re gonna’ do this together. Got it? That means you don’t go darting off on your own to pull some heroic bullshit. Promise.”

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@nosestealer:

mvndrvke:

“ you left your body somewhere far behind. ”

right now, the counselor of cabin twenty is the living embodiment of exhaustion. the torches with greek fire don’t scare her; the skeleton above the door doesn’t scare her. she’s just glad that he’s here and that she can sit on the steps of cabin thirteen with her head in her hands.

he’ll probably disagree with the notion if he ever finds out she’s said anything about it. he’s her best friend’s boyfriend and therefore he, too, is one of her dearest friends. (and even if he hadn’t been dating will, then he’d still be considered one of her dearest friends.)

somewhere on her left, nico says: you’ve left your body somewhere far behind. lou ellen nods weakly, coughs as she expels shrouds of mist from her mouth and then slowly raises her head, looking every bit the stubbornly determined daughter of hecate that she is, despite suffering through a draw-back. (all magic comes with a price, after all.)

“i can go again, nic.”

"I really wouldn’t recommend it.”

He’s not great at this. He’s gotten better at being around people since he started living permanently in Camp Halfblood. Sure, he’s not perfect, and life isn’t perfect, but sitting with the Apollo kids and spending time with Will and his friends has made it easier for him. He’s gotten better at being a normal teenager. 

Admittedly, this is more in his area of expertise. Lou Ellen is suffering, and struggling with her powers, and he gets that. He’s been there, he’s done that, so to speak. He sits down next to her, long legs stretching out. He pats Lou Ellen’s shoulder, a little awkwardly, but trying to be comforting. He’s not a huge fan of the abbreviation of his name, but he lets it slide. 

“Breathe.” He takes a deep breath and exhales, like he’s trying to remind her how to. “You’re gonna’ make it way worse if you try again. Been there, done that. It’s not great.” He drops his hand from her shoulder and rests his elbows on his legs instead. “It’s a good first step. Take a minute and maybe-- maybe-- you can give it another go.”

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@nosestealer:

mvndrvke:

“ who am i in this story ? “

“in this story?” lou ellen echoed as two tiny animals made out of mist raced towards the strawberry fields, which were also made out of the mist. “you’re a bunny, that black one, and you’re also my best friend. the younger kids wanted a watership down-esque story. but without all the sadness, so i—” a shrug. “—might have told them about that one time we teamed up against alice and julia.”

"Watership down,” he echoes slowly. “I’m a rabbit? Oh boy.” He watches the little Mist creatures zoom around, though, and it makes him smile a bit. It’s exactly the kind of whimsical thing he can associate his new friends with, and he has to concede that Lou Ellen’s storytelling abilities are ones that always make him smile, albeit reluctantly at times. 

He flicks his hand and sends a little dark sparrow flitting after the Mist animals. He smiles.

“That was fun,” he says. “They never stood a chance against us.” He watches the creatures for a moment. “We make a pretty decent team.”

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@nosestealer said : "normally i don't give a shit as to what i look like, so long as i'm comfortable. but lux and i have a date night tonight. so, i thought i'd pull out all the stops: how do i look?" // Older Lou @ Older Nico

“Ooh, a date.” Nico tries not to smirk with amusement. “That’s adorable. He already adores you, you don’t gotta’ pull out the stops. But alright.” He looks her outfit over as asked. “You look great. Let me fix your hair, though, it’s a bit of a mess in the back.”