@just.marco; video

[brightline]

[The video flicks on aimed at the front of a truly glorious mansion. The camera sways back and forth a few times to show the whole front of it while Marco hums a dumb little theme song in the background. After a moment, the camera switches to front-facing mode, and Marco's face is visible. He's grinning broadly, dark eyes bright and very happy.]

Hello Riverview, my name is Marco and this is my crib.

[The camera bobs as the sound of a door opening can be heard in the background, and then Marco switches the view again so a large open-concept living space is visible for a few seconds before he switches the camera to show his face again. He crosses the room to flop down into one of the plush couches and continue smirking a bit at the camera.]

Seriously, though. Not giving the full tour but how did I miss that my sweet mansion totally came through the portal with me? No idea. But I ran into it this morning and I've been with some real estate agent all day figuring out how to get it in my name again. What a pain, right?

[A shrug of his narrow shoulders, and he offers a sardonic smile.]

Anyone else had this happen? Is it on the level?

[A pause and then he laughs a bit.]

This place is totally empty without the maids and Wetherbee.

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[deathkid]

[ for a few seconds, nico stares at the feed, at marco, eyes a little wide. he's surprised by the gesture for sure, though maybe it makes sense. marco has all that space to himself. would he really like it being alone? nico knows he feels empty enough in the darkness of the hades cabin back at camp where it's just him. ]

Are you sure? I mean- I guess it wouldn't be too different from being at the housing, but...

[brightline]

Yeah, I'm sure.

[He shrugs. Nico's observation is a little too close for comfort, so maybe it's good that he had it silently.]

There's a few sorta suites, I guess. Rooms with their own bathrooms and stuff. You'd have some privacy.

[deathkid]

That's really... very cool of you. I don't take up much space, so I don't need anything big. It'd be awesome to put up some posters, though. I got a cool Sex Pistols one I've had nowhere to put for a while.

[ and he manages a smile, grateful for the suggestion and the offer. but being one to not take something without offering something in return... ]

I make really good money at Trixie, so I can pay for stuff too, if it helps. And- And I'll have my room soundproofed. You know.

[brightline]

That's fine, I mean, I can't judge at all about taking up space, because look at my house. Usually it's just me and sometimes a girlfriend or whoever.

[A shrug.]

If you want to pitch in for groceries or something, that'd be cool. And don't worry. Every room in this baby is already soundproofed.

[deathkid]

[ a girlfriend? oh. nico does a pretty good job of hiding his disappointment. ]

Already soundproofed? [ his brows shoot up at that. ] I guess that's a good thing if you have a girlfriend.

> private

[brightline]

[Marco snorts at that, and he's thankful for his tan skin because it means he doesn't flush much.]

Man. That's not why I had it...

[Waving a hand, he purses his lips, then changes the privacy level.]

It was because all the people that would've probably ended up in those suites had nightmares, just like you and me.

> private

[deathkid]

That's right, you said...

[ his brows furrow as he watches marco. the more he talks to this boy, the more he realizes there's more to marco than meets the eye. there's more to him than the cheerful facade. it makes nico want to dig more, find out more about him. ]

How often? How bad? You don't have to tell me, it's just... I'm not used to being around people who get them as bad as I do.

> permaprivate

[brightline]

Yeah.

[A pause, and Marco purses his mouth again, bites at the inside of his lip for a few moments, trying to figure out how to talk about this.]

Pretty often, but not as often as it used to be. Maybe like twice a week? Really bad, about as bad as it gets, I guess?

[deathkid]

[ but you're always so cheerful. nico wants to say it, but doesn't. he's found that sometimes the most cheerful people could be inwardly hiding a lot of pain. like leo valdez. maybe that's the case with marco. ]

Me too. It sucks. Are yours from that war you talked about?

[brightline]

Yeah. It was really rough, a lot of bad stuff happened. I don't like to think about it a lot, and my life is way, way better now, but you know. Dreams.

[deathkid]

Yeah... I get that. It's the same for me. Stuff from the war. It's been over for a while but the dreams still kinda linger.

You know, if you ever need help falling back to sleep, I can help with that.

[brightline]

Been three years since mine, but still...

[He shrugs again.]

You can? How?

[deathkid]

I don't think the time matters. It's just the way things will be for people like us.

[ a small frown before he continues. ]

It's kinda one of my powers. I can put people to sleep. I did it recently to a god that was waking up, but that kinda knocked me out for a bit. It's easier when I do it to mortals.