NICO

[foreverphantom]

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[foreverphantom]

[ good for him. we will be differentiated by the thottiness, or lack thereof, of our outfits.

Danny's feelings come across a little wary, a little guarded, a little scared. but he takes the coffee. ]

...give them here.

[resumed]

[ precisely this is why i had to share. anyway he does notice the vibes from danny and seems to be shifting his own to be a little calmer and relaxed, handing over the cup and fishing out a few of those individual creamers and sugars to set on top. ]

Only thing you missed so far is an amusement park.

[foreverphantom]

[ starts fumbling to add creamer and sugar into his coffee. he scoffs a little laugh ]

"Only thing," huh? Seems like a pretty big only thing, if you ask me.

[resumed]

Better than a bunch of shops we have no use for despite our infinite money. [ a joke. he takes a sip of his drink, eyes focused on the ground for a second as he thinks. ] I don't know if that's your kind of thing, but we can go if you want. At least to take a look. I was out there yesterday and it's actually not bad.

[ he has thousands of questions, but this is just a bid at normalcy to start with. or as close as they can get to it. ]

[foreverphantom]

...sure.

I haven't been to an amusement park in years.

[resumed]

You and me both. C'mon. [ there's a gentle nudge with his elbow though and he turns to begin leading the way. ] Mouse told me weeks ago there was a ferris wheel in the city. I'd forgotten about it until now. But there're a few roller coasters and games and stuff. It's small, but...considering everything it's not bad for something to do.

[ something kind of fun before whatever bullshit the city throws at them next. ]

[foreverphantom]

[ the nudge makes something soft and small and warm bloom in his chest, before he tamps it down into neutrality ]

I guess so. And at least I don't have to ride anything as a prinny, either.

[resumed]

[ there's a little laugh. it's hard to get a read on his emotions while he keeps them locked up, but his posture is at least a little more relaxed than the last time they spoke. ]

Dude, I don't even know if you'd hit the height requirement as a prinny. Kind of glad we don't have to find out though, the whole thing was a little too jarring. This is a lot better for everybody.

[foreverphantom]

Oh, completely agreed.

...so, what do you want to try first?

[resumed]

Uh, one of the roller coasters obviously. What kind of a person do you take me for? [ it's always about adrenaline. and maybe it's just a distraction, anything to avoid the faint flickers of anxiety still gnawing at him on a day to day basis. ]

[foreverphantom]

[ he huffs a little laugh ] Alright, alright. I'm guessing that means you want to hit up the most intense one, then?

[resumed]

Sure. What's not to like about intentional thrills, right? [ versus whatever the fuck has been happening here. ] Plus it's only Tuesday and at this rate I'm deciding nothing terrible can happen on Tuesdays.

[foreverphantom]

Well now you've jinxed it.

[ absolutely CHUGS this coffee before dumping the empty cup in the trash, then gets in line for the scariest looking coaster in the park, which i've decided they've been walking towards ]

[resumed]

[ BRO he worked really hard to buy that coffee with his infinite money...but he grins and finishes his own, throwing it into the trash and following along. ]

Please. After this last weekend I kind of feel like I can deal with just about anything else. [ but the emotions spike to something a little like anxiety and grief again before settling back to light and amused. ]

[foreverphantom]

[ that emotional spike gives danny a brief bit of pause--he doesn't know everything that happened that weekend, but...he can guess. there's a bit of worry coming through danny's emotions that he's just gonna. ignore. ]

Well, let's see if that applies to the... [ looks up to see the name of the ride they're in line for ] ...Demolisher.

[resumed]

[ he senses it and just...tempers his own emotions to go quiet so he doesn't worry him. i hate both of them. ]

You ever think about how dumb it is they make these rides sound so impressive when at most they go upside down like three times? You've never experienced real fear until you're freefalling anyway.

[foreverphantom]

[ stop being the same person!!!! anyway danny shrugs casually ]

I wouldn't know. Freefalling loses all its terror when you can just fly.

But I highly doubt any one of these rides can be more terrifying than being in a car while Jack Fenton drives. At least these are on a safely tested pre-determined track.

[resumed]

[ can't stop, won't stop, not sure how to stop. ]

Okay, some of us like being grounded. The last time I flew was terrible. [ and yet there is something like nostalgia there as they move through the queue. ] Seriously though how hard can it be to drive a car? Those seem a lot easier to direct than pegasi.

[foreverphantom]

Pegasi? [ you know what, why is he even surprised, of course nico's ridden pegasi before ]

It's really not that hard, but Jack Fenton is...very rambunctious. And knows the laws of physics very well. He knows exactly how hard he can take a turn without completely overturning the car--just by a hair. And I don't think he ever learned what a speed limit is.

[resumed]

For the record, they don't like me very much. [ bemused, but also kind of like "well this is just normal." ] But yeah. There are a few that have helped my friends out sometimes, and back when we were transporting the Athena Parthenos a bunch of them came to help us carry it when I couldn't use my powers anymore. We were trying to get it from Rome back to New York, but we only got as far as Portugal. So they helped us carry it the rest of the way back. They're also good for chariots when we need them in battle.

[ just normal things. ]

Rambunctious sounds like a very generous word for reckless, dude. But also I can almost respect that specific talent. I might even be envious if I ever needed to learn to drive. Kind of sounds like he'd fit right in with the Gray sisters though. If you want a terrifying ride where you will have, like, a 90% chance of dying, that's your ticket. [ please sound less cheerful about that. at least they're moving through the line fast. ]

[foreverphantom]

...huh. [ good god nico that is so much lore you just dropped on him but he thinks he gets the gist of it anyway ]

Well what do you know. I knew a girl with the last name Gray in Amity Park too. She also had a 90% chance of killing me at any given moment.

[ he sounds. wistful. about this girl trying to kill him. ]

[resumed]

[ this is what happens when you die and come back. also at least he didn't elaborate on what exactly happened that made him unable to use his powers in the first place. that's a plus.

he picks up on that tone though and he kind of raises a dubious eyebrow while i break the fourth wall and kiss valerie on the forehead.

"at least she probably has two eyes?" wait, no, say something normal, idiot. ]

Didn't think that was your type. [ maybe not that. but listen, he knows a few guys who're dating women who could easily kill them, why else is there wistfulness at that!! ] But when you put it that way, sounds kind of interesting.

[foreverphantom]

[ well that makes his emotions go a lil haywire as he sputters ]

Wha--no! We weren't--we were just friends. [ and he really hates what a stock line that is. ] ...well, she and Danny were just friends. Vlad was manipulating her into hunting Danny without her realizing it.

...and then years later when I was me, she was probably the only hunter left who could hold a candle to me.

[ there are, in fact, some ppl who ship val and dan ]

[resumed]

[ yeah he just laughs. sorry. it's always infinitely funnier when other people's emotions are a mess instead of his own. and then there's a tiny waver of irritation again. ]

You know, the more I hear about Vlad the less I like the guy. [ a pause. ] I...have no idea if I should say no offense or not, considering.

[ he really just kind of hates when people are manipulated, period, for reasons he does not bother to explain. by now they are probably on the platform itself for the ride, waiting for the people ahead to board. ]

Sort of sounds like a case of she was trained and then turned around to be even stronger. [ impressive. ] Why was Vlad trying to hunt Danny through a teenage girl? Wait, does that matter now. It probably doesn't actually matter now.

[foreverphantom]

None taken. Both he and Danny were terrible people. Vlad's just much more open about it. [ but he shrugs and answers anyway ] It was mostly just a tactic to make Danny's life more miserable, try to drive him into his arms as the protege and son that Vlad always wanted from him.

...also to gather genetic DNA from him to make clones. [ gestures down at himself: case in point ]