Work Text:
It all started when Nico di Angelo claimed that he had never played a video game before. The complete shock of it all had almost hurt Leo. Never played a video game? That was a travesty that Leo was glad he had never faced before. Nico simply declared that he had spent most of his childhood collecting playing cards and figures rather than watching TV and playing mindless video games. Leo had almost challenged the son of Hades to a duel right there for stating that video games were simply mindless.
Now Nico was sat in Bunker 9, in front of a TV and game station that he had never noticed was there. Maybe it had not been, perhaps Leo had set it up when the raven haired boy was not paying attention. Leo was messing with the wires, plugging them in and then moving back to the couch where he had dragged a reluctant Nico. Leo sat down beside the other boy and handed him a controller.
“We are going to fix your childhood, one monster, shooting, and adventure game at a time.” Leo proclaimed, a trademark smile on his face that had Nico's stomach do a little twirl. He would deny it till he was dead if anyone asked.
“This isn't going to work Valdez, I suck at things like this,” Nico replied, voice a little dark as he made the comment, all Leo did was laugh lightly and nudged Nico's shoulder with his own in a friendly manner.
“It's alright, we'll get you kickin' but with a controller before you know it.” Nico had serious doubts.
An hour later Nico was extremely frustrated and had already guzzled down two cans of contraband Coke. He had made barely any process and that had changed games three times. Leo had claimed that starting out with Mortal Kombat would be easy, an old game that would not be too hard to get a hang of. Twenty minutes of that proved the Latino wrong as Nico's character continued to get his spine ripped out.
The next game was no better, Halo was not Nico's strong suit, he had been killed at least twenty times while Leo ran circles around him, blowing things up with ease and proverbially leaving Nico in the dust. Leo laughed at this and said that shooting games were not his favorite any way. The son of Hades did not take his word considering how good he was.
The third game that they played almost had Nico chucking his controller at the television. Resident Evil 4. Every other corner, he passed a zombie villager was waiting to take him out with a chainsaw or a hatchet, sometimes a flaming arrow and Nico never had enough green herbs to heal himself. Leo of course was no help at all, pointing out things that were too late to fix and generally being a pest about how he could have avoided death if he had done what Leo had suggested and gone up to the tower. That game almost broke Nico.
“Alright,” Leo said, standing up from the couch, Nico missed the warmth that the son of Hephaestus had been providing. “We're going to try something else, and I promise there is no chance of you getting killed by another player.” Leo reassured him, sending a wink in Nico's direction and he rearranged cords and set up a new system, grabbing two new controllers and two plastic things in the shape of guitars.
Leo sat back down beside Nico and smiled, handing him the guitar, controller already placed into the base of the add on. Nico gave it a confused look, but Leo beamed at him, assuring Nico that he would be an ace at this game. Than again Leo had said that about every game they had played already. When the rock music started Nico was almost inclined to believe him.
That was before the music had started and Nico realized he had no sense of rhythm whatsoever. Thankfully it seemed that Leo was through laughing at him and now was simply taking pity on his terrible video game playing skills. Nico looked down sheepishly.
“I told you I was no good at these things.” He remarked quietly as the “boos” from the fake crowd jeered at him through the screen. Leo smiled softly at his friend before shifting.
“Here, let me show you.” The Latino said, somehow managing to shift behind Nico completely, legs spread out on both sides of the smaller boys body and chest pressed against his back. Nico's face flushed a bright red as he fought to not press back into the warmth of Leo's body. Suddenly hands were pressed over his. One over the three colored buttons he had been using and the other pressed over the strum bar. Leo's hands were like mini heaters, warming the ghost king's own as they manipulated the plastic guitar.
“You just have to wait for the right moment to hit the strum.” Leo's voice said, the breath from the words tickling against Nico's ears, making his face flush darker. Nico was glad that they were the only two in Bunker 9, he doubted that Leo would be this close to him if others were watching.
The two played like this for a while, Leo's chest pressed against Nico's back and Nico's hands being moved by Leo's to hit the notes more accurately. They played in silence, the only noise coming from the now cheering crowd on the screen and the heavy rock music that Nico and Leo were creating, the thrill of wining round after round almost made Nico forget that it was Leo whose body was pressed against his. Almost.
“Do you think you could do it without my help?” Leo asked, his voice almost making Nico jump. Instead Nico flushed lightly, head tilted down as he shook it, he did not want Leo to move yet, selfishly he wanted to stay that way for longer. They played that way for another few rounds and before long Nico knew that he was getting better, that his hands did not need the subtle pushing of Leo's to hit the buttons at the right time. Nico knew that Leo noticed this as well.
“Look's like you got the hang of it!” Leo cheered happily, Nico said nothing as he moved away from Leo slightly, ready for the other boy to slip away from him. Leo did not though, he simply moved his hands from atop of Nico's and instead circled them around the other boys waist, holding him there.
“Show me you can do it on your own.” Leo said, voice a little softer and he leaned his chin on Nico's shoulder so that he had a better view of the screen. Nico swallowed lightly, the position they were in even more intimate and it made Nico's hopes rise, maybe, just maybe, Leo felt the same? Nico did not want to disappoint, so he played to the best of his ability, only missing a few notes.
A few round of this went by, Leo congratulating Nico cheerfully every time that he got a really good streak of notes, like he did not notice what the position was doing to Nico, making him flush, his hands sweat lightly, and his heart pound. The next time that Leo spoke it was soft, tentative, like he was not sure that Nico would not hit him.
“Hey Nico?” He asked lightly.
“Hm?” Nico did not trust himself to use actual words without stuttering.
“You're cute when you smile.” Nico paused, his breath leaving his body in one motion, how had he not noticed that he was smiling, a small, shy grin on his face. Nico twisted his head, eyes now locked with Leo's, Nico forgot to breath.
Leo's cheeks were dusted pink with a blush, his brown eyes cast down and away from Nico's face, brows furrowed lightly like he did not know what was going to happen next but was worried about it. Nico could not help himself as he leaned into the older boy and pressed his lips against Leo's.
Leo did not waste any time with hesitation as he pressed back into the kiss, he wanted to make sure that Nico knew that he was alright with it, that he wanted to kiss Nico as well. The kiss remained slightly chaste, only the soft press of lips, it did not delve deeper than that and Nico was thankful. He would not admit it, but it was his first kiss and he was not sure if he was skilled enough to deepen it. Leo's smile was almost blinding when the kiss ended and that was enough to have Nico smiling back.
“Let's see if you can beat it on medium now.” Leo said, his eyes full of mischief as Nico just groaned, a small smile on his face as he turned back to the screen, burrowing back slightly into Leo's warm arms.