The Shadow World Pt.1
Why is it always me? Nico di Angelo wondered as he hurried along the road. Why am I always assigned to everything? Why not Leo, or Jason? They're more than capable at doing this. They were both more capable than he was, actually. So why him?
The cold bit through his jacket, making him shiver. No matter how many warmth runes he would use, he would always be cold. Especially in the middle of December. It was his fathers' fault, he supposed. He was always cold too, even on sweltering hot days. Nico had the benefit of actually being able to feel warmth, but only in the most embarrassing of times. It was one of the many odd and confusing things about himself. No one really understood why he was like that. Not even him or his father.
"Nico! Did they give you another assignment?" Percy Jackson ran up to him, his coat billowing out behind him. He was a local warlock that Nico liked to hang out with. Nico felt warmth creep onto his cheeks. Did he mention this happened only in the most embarrassing of times?
"Yeah. Why's it always me?" He said, turning slightly towards the young warlock. He was only 16. Nico knew that when Percy turned 18, he'd be immortal and someday, he would die and Percy would continue living. It was inevitable, but Nico couldn't help feeling something for the perky teen.
"Who knows?" Percy says shrugging. He threw an arm around Nico's shoulders. "So what's the trouble this time? Maybe I can help." Percy said, looking down at Nico with a smile. Nico's cheeks felt on fire. He wondered if Percy could ever tell he was doing this to him, or if he was completely oblivious to his own charm. Probably the latter.
"Forsaken attack on a few mundanes. Nothing too serious." Nico said, keeping his eyes on the street ahead of him.
"How far away?" Percy asks.
"Just past Sweet on America." Nico answers, knowing that he would want to go into the candy shop after the battle. Of course, it would be a little complicated, considering the fact that by the time they dragged the body of the forsaken somewhere mundanes couldn't find it, they would be covered in blood, and Nico would probably need a couple iratzes.
"Great! Then we can-" Percy started.
"Don't get your hopes up, I don't know if we'll be able to go in. We'll be covered in blood, and Annabeth wants me back at the Institute by 8:00. It's already 6:00." Nico says, glancing up at Percy to see his reaction. He was smirking at him.
"You forget I'm a warlock. I can do many things." He says, wiggling his fingers.
"You are really determined to get into that shop aren't you?" Nico asks, narrowing his eyes at him, making him grin. He nods and removes his arm from around Nico's shoulders. Nico shivers as the warmth leaves him. Percy frowns.
"Are you cold?" Percy asks. He nods. Percy starts to shrug off his jacket, making Nico flinch.
"N-no, don't give me your jacket! You'll freeze!" Nico stutters, still watching as Percy continues to take off his jacket. Percy drapes it over Nico's shoulders. "B-but won't you be cold?" Nico asks.
"I'll manage. Besides, I'm always warm anyways. It's a warlock thing, I guess." Percy shrugged, putting his hands into his pockets. Nico pulled the jacket closer around him, letting the warmth envelope him. He slipped his arms through the sleeves. They were way too long and baggy on his slim arms.
There was a loud clunk behind them. Nico whipped around. The forsaken was there, holding a plank with a nail through it, and looking as ugly and oozy as ever. Its hair fell in greasy strings around its face. Nico slipped his hand into his jacket pocket for his Seraph blade. He whispered its name: Aeries. A glow appeared on the blade as it became an angel blade.
The forsaken charged at them like a bull, his weapon swinging around in his hands. Nico sidestepped and lunged out with his blade, disarming the forsaken. Percy managed to knock the monster to the ground and pin it down. The forsaken let loose an awful roar and squirmed around while Nico walked forward to deliver the final blow. Nico plunged his knife down into the creature's neck. Demon blood spewed onto both Nico and Percy, making them jump back in alarm as the creature became still.
"Well. That was easy. It almost seemed too easy." Percy says, simultaneously cleaning both of them off with magic. The blood on his jacket and face disappeared. He pointed at the dead creature and raised his finger slightly. The creature began to levitate.
"Whoa! You never told me you could do that. That would've made so many battles easier..." Nico says, watching as the forsaken floated into an alley and hid itself. No mundanes will find it there, Nico thought.
"I just learned how to do that. Pretty cool, huh?" Percy says, waggling his eyebrows. Nico laughs. Percy's eyes widen in surprise. Has he never heard me laugh? Nico asked himself. Percy laughs with him nervously, almost awkwardly. This day just keeps getting weirder...Nico thought to himself.
They started walking towards the candy shop, Percy walking with a pep in his step. Nico rolled his eyes at his friends' enthusiasm to go to a candy shop. They walked through door and a pleasant bell rang. Nico spotted a familiar head of hair.
"Is that your mom? I knew there was a reason you wanted to come here." Nico says, feeling proud of himself. Percy had inherited his mothers' kind heart and sound mind, while he got his dark hair and green eyes from his demon father. He also had webbed feet, but he liked to keep those hidden. Nico only knew about it because of the time Nico fell out of a boat and Percy had to go in to get him out of the water. He'd had to take off his socks and shoes to get him. That was also the day Nico found out Percy was a warlock. For the longest time before that, he'd thought he was a just a special mundane, not the spawn of a mundane and a demon.
Percy just grinned and walked to the counter to hug his mom and peck her on the cheek.
"Hey Mrs. Jackson. How are you?" Nico asked politely, sitting down at one of the barstools. Mrs. Jackson smiled at Nico and ruffled his hair.
"I've been great sweetheart, what about you? How have you been?" Mrs. Jackson asked.
"I've been good. I mean, other than the fact that her anniversary is next week..." Everyone already know who Nico was talking about. 'Her' was Nico's older sister. She was killed by a Drevak demon when Nico was 10.
Percy walked over and hugged him from behind. The night Nico found out, it was Percy who told him. Percy was with her when it happened. He'd tried to heal her but he couldn't. Nico knew that it wasn't his fault, but he still blamed Percy for her death. He needed someone to blame, and Percy was there.
He was inconsolable for weeks. He stayed in his room and hardly ate anything. He didn't talk to anyone. He just blasted Mayday Parade and Of Mice and Men on high and screamed at anyone who came near him. Then Percy began to come to the Institute. He visited every day he could. And after a couple of weeks of hearing Percy apologize to him through the door, his voice filled with agonizing sorrow, Nico finally let him into his room.
"I'm sorry." Was the first thing that Percy said. Nico just shook his head.
"No. Don't tell me you're sorry. You've got nothing to be sorry about. I should be sorry. I blamed you when you couldn't have done anything more than what you did. I'm sorry." Nico said, squeezing his eyes shut. "I'm sorry for everything. For falling overboard on that boat, practically forcing you to show me your warlock mark. I'm sorry for screaming at you when you tried to tell me about Bianca, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-" Nico was cut off by Percy, who'd wrapped him into a hug. Nico began sobbing, letting all of his sorrow out into big, heaving wails that echoed through his room.
"Don't you dare tell me you're sorry. Don't you dare. You have nothing to be sorry about. Nothing." Percy told him, rubbing his back, sending warm tingles through him.
"Why are you forgiving me so easily? You should be yelling at me, that's what I deserve." Nico said, sniffling and clutching Percy like he was a lifeline.
"You've just lost your sister. I don't want to make you feel worse." Percy said tentatively, almost as if he were afraid of upsetting Nico.
Nico just clutched him tighter. "Thank you. For everything." Nico whispered.
"You're welcome." Percy said back.
"C-can you hand me my IPod?" Nico asked. "It's on the table right behind you." Percy shifted to reach for his IPod. He handed it to Nico and he shuffled through his songs until he found the right one. Mayday Parade, Miserable At Best. Nico began to sing along with the chorus.
"Let's not pretend that you're alone tonight,
I know he's there and,
You're probably hanging out and making nice,
While across the room he stares.
I'll bet he gets the nerve to walk the floor,
And ask my girl to dance.
She'll say yes.
Because, these words are never easier,
For me to say,
Or her to second guess.
But I guess,
That I can live without you but,
Without you I'll be Miserable At Best."
Percy watched Nico with fascination. Nico had a really pretty voice, but if anyone ever told him that, he wouldn't believe them. Percy listened to Nico's voice as his tone changed from sorrow to something different, something that Percy couldn't pin down. They both soon fell asleep, Percy falling asleep first, due to lack of rest and the beautiful lullaby-like sound of the 10 year-old boy's voice. When Nico woke up and realized Percy was still there, he'd jumped up and scared Percy awake. Percy had fallen out of the bed and hit his head on the bedside table.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! You just...surprised me." Nico said sheepishly. Percy just rubbed the sore spot on his head and reassured Nico he was fine.
When he walked into the kitchen for breakfast with Nico though, Piper just about skewered him with a paring knife. It took a lot of explaining to get through that. Piper welcomed him to sit down though and chose to ignore Nico's bloodshot eyes. Then a few minutes later, Percy went home...
"Hello? Nico? Are you in there?" Percy asked, waving his hand in front of Nico's face. Nico shook his head, clearing his mind of the memory. Mrs. Jackson was looking at him in concern.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just lost in thought." Nico wiped his eyes, realizing that he'd started to cry.
"You're sure?" Percy asked, scrunching his eyebrows together. "You zoned out for like 5 minutes. And you were humming. It was really weird." Percy told him. The curious glint in his eye made Nico wonder if he recognized the song.
"I'm fine." He said. "Let's get some candy, everyone's been asking for some back at the Institute." Nico grabbed a few bags of candy, one for each of the people living in the New York Institute. Cinnamon jawbreakers for Leo, Jolly Ranchers for Piper, Twizzlers for Annabeth, Skittles for Jason, and a pack of watermelon 5 gum for himself. He set it on the counter and got out his wallet. Mrs. Jackson rang it up and Nico paid.
"Be careful, both of you! And come back anytime! Nico, you're welcome to come visit at our house, too!" Mrs. Jackson called after us as we left.
"Bye mom, I love you!" Percy says, walking out the door with Nico behind him.
They walked in silence. Percy walked with his hands in his pockets and whistled tunelessly. The bag Nico carried kept bumping against his leg, and was slightly heavy.
"Hey, why don't you call Annabeth and ask if you can stay at my place tonight? We could watch movies and stuff." Percy says, stopping in front of his apartment. "My mom will be home around 10:00, but we can just order a pizza." He says, looking hungry.
"Okay. Hold this." Nico says, handing him the bag so he could get his phone out of his pocket. He dialed Annabeth's number and waited for her to answer.
"Hello?" Annabeth says.
"Hey, it's Nico." Nico replies. "Would it be okay if I stayed at Percy's for the night? He really wants me to stay over, and you know how he is." Nico says, earning an indignant "Hey!" from Percy. Nico just sticks his tongue out at him and waits for her response.
"Sure. You're gonna drop by to get your stuff right?" She asks, rummaging around in something, presumably the fridge.
"Yeah. And I got candy for you guys. You like Twizzlers, right?" He asks, scrunching his eyebrows together.
"Yeah. They're my favorite. How'd you know?" She replies.
"Uh, lucky guess." He says. "I'll be over there in 5 minutes tops. See you there, Annabeth," Nico says, hanging up. "She says I can stay."
"Yes!" Percy exclaims, pumping his fist. Nico's used to these reactions from Percy. It's just how he is. "I knew she'd let you come over."
"Yeah, but I have to go get my clothes and drop off this stuff. I told Annabeth I would." Nico says, taking back his bag and starting down the street.
"Well, at least it's only a couple of blocks away." Percy says, walking after him.
They walked for a few minutes until they got to the gate. Nico opened the gate and walked forward, Percy following close behind. Nico walked inside and got in the elevator. When he got out, he went up the hall and handed out most of the candy he bought to his housemates.
"Jason! Taste the rainbow, ya bastard!"
"Whatever. Thanks."
"Hey Piper, catch!"
"Thanks!"
"Incoming, Leo!"
"Ow! Thanks bro!"
"You're all welcome!" Nico yelled as he walked up to Annabeth's room. She hardly ever left, and when she did, it was usually just for food.
Nico knocked tentatively until he heard Annabeth tell him to come in. He told Percy to go on to his room. He nodded and went on his way.
"Hey, Annabeth. Here's your Twizzlers." Nico says, tossing them to Annabeth and waits for her response.
"Thanks. Is Percy here? I thought I heard him." Annabeth asks.
"Uh, yeah, he's here. He came to help me get my stuff." Nico says awkwardly.
"Okay. Be careful." Annabeth says, staring at her computer screen.
"Yeah." Nico says, then walks out of the room, shutting the door behind him. He walks to his room and opens it wearily to find Percy going through his IPod.
"Hey! Don't touch that!" Nico says, jumping at Percy and snatching his IPod away. Percy just holds his hands up in surrender.
"Touchy." He says.
"Sorry. I don't like it when people touch my IPod. Or when they go through it. It feels like they're probing through my insides." Nico says, clutching his IPod. He turns the screen on and flicks through his music until he finds something. He plays a dub step type song and sets his IPod down, turning to his dresser while Percy lays on his bed, staring up at the stars Nico put on his ceiling. He'd put them there when they first moved here, when he was about 6 or 7. All the constellations were accurate, and he took pride in it because he'd done it by himself.
"What's your favorite constellation, Nico?" Percy asks suddenly, startling Nico. He turns around to face Percy and leans against his dresser.
"Pegasus." Nico says. "I like the way it looks. Majestic and beautiful. And it also reminds me of Bianca. Pegasus was her favorite too." Nico says, dropping his eyes to the floor. His hair drops into his face, covering his eyes. I need a haircut, he thinks. "What's your favorite?"
"Hercules."
"Why? Don't tell me you wanna be like him. I will personally smack you if you say that." Nico says.
"Why would you smack me?" Percy says, chuckling softly.
"Because! That would mean that you would want to be a big and strong jock instead of warlock Percy. I like you the way you are now, not some big show-offy jerk that pays more attention to his next fight than anything else."
"Wow. Okay. Well, just so you know, that's not why I like it. I just like how he was heroic, saving all the damsels in distress and such. Since I was little, I wanted to be a hero. A hero that was honest and fair, not how Hercules was. Hercules was strong, but only in the physical sense. I want to be strong emotionally, not so much physically. I have magic, I'm about as strong as they come, but warlocks have to be strong, emotionally I mean, because when everyone they love dies, it will hurt, but not so much that they'll do something drastic, like go on a rampage, or become a serial killer, or both. So, actually, I want to be the opposite, in a sense, of Hercules." Percy says, losing himself in his words.
Nico was astonished. He hadn't known that the young warlock could be so deep.
"O-okay. That makes sense, I suppose." Nico says, turning back around to finish packing his clothes. He stuffed a shirt and some jeans into the bag, along with some boxers, then walked into his bathroom to grab his toothbrush and deodorant.
"Really? I wasn't sure it would, considering I hadn't thought about it very much." Percy says, rolling over and propping his chin on his fist. "In my head, it didn't make much sense. But I'm glad you understood it. Cause then, when you're all old and wrinkly and I'm forever 18, you can retell it to me and remind me why I'm here." Percy says, presumably jokingly. But when Nico peeks around the corner to his bedroom, Percy's face tells the real story. The snarky retort Nico was going to say died in his throat. Instead he zipped up his duffel bag and put it on his shoulder.
"You ready to go? I'm getting kinda hungry, and the faster we get to your house, the faster we can order the pizza." Nico says, smiling a small smile.
"Yeah. I think I want to try something new though. I haven't quite got it down yet, but I think I can manage to get from here to my apartment in about two seconds." Percy says. "I want to try to make a portal, if I can remember how. I'd have to get it just right though." Percy says, his mind going about a mile a minute.
"Sure. Go for it." Nico says, grabbing his IPod from the dock and slipping it into his pocket. "I'll write a note for Annabeth so she doesn't worry." Nico says, scrambling for a piece of paper and a pen. He quickly finds each and begins to write a short note. 'Percy made a portal. See you sometime soon, I guess. -Nico.' He put it on his door so Annabeth would see it immediately. While Nico was doing that, Percy had been making the portal, muttering something in a demon language. The room was suddenly filled with a greenish-blue light. Percy exclaimed in surprise.
"It worked! Ha! Yes!" Percy says, fist pumping. "I honestly didn't think that would work. Like seriously." Percy says, still jumping up and down like an 8 year-old.
"Awesome! Now let's put it to the test and pray we don't end up in China. I've been there. It wasn't pretty." Nico says, shuddering. Percy quirked an eyebrow and said nothing. He turns toward the portal and waits for Nico to position himself behind him.
"Okay, the objective is to picture my room, okay? If you can do that, and my portal isn't crap, it should work perfectly." Percy explains, as if Nico didn't already know how to use a portal.
"I know how to use a portal, ding-dong. Now go!" Nico says, gesturing towards the portal.
"Fine. On three. One...Two...Three!" Percy says, jumping forward. Nico thought of Percy's room, closing his eyes, then he too jumped through the portal. He turned over once, twice, then fell forward as gravity became dominant again. He fell onto Percy's bed, face first. Unfortunately, he landed on top of Percy, who was face up, looking wide-eyed as Percy realized the situation they were in. Nico scrambled off of Percy and lost his balance, causing him to fall and hit his head on Percy's desk.
Nico hunched over, clutching his head. No blood, but he could already feel the knot forming. The portal had disappeared as soon as it had spewed Nico out of its exit. Percy was sitting up now, red in the face and realizing Nico was hurt. He got up and walked over to Nico, a worried expression replacing the embarrassed red expression on his face.
"How much does it hurt?" Percy asks, hunching over to see Nico's face.
"Not too bad. I'll just use an iratze and-" Nico started.
"No, let me. It's better and faster." Percy says, placing his hands on Nico's head.
"But an iratze is perfectly fine, and I don't want to-" Percy interrupts him again.
"Cause me any trouble? You won't. I want to." Percy says, smirking.
"I was going to say waste your energy, therefore inconveniencing you." Nico says.
"Well, healing doesn't take very much energy, and it's just a small bump. It'll take no time at all." Percy says.
"Fine. But next time, I'm using an iratze. Got it?" Nico relents. Percy nods. He moves his hands around until he finds the slight bump. Nico feels an immediate relief, so intense he wondered if he'd had a headache or something before without knowing it. Percy removes his hands from Nico's head and Nico frowns.
"What's wrong? You look like someone just took away your IPod." Percy asks, smirking at his cleverness.
"Maybe I'll come to you more often for healing. It feels amazing." Nico says, looking up at Percy as he picks some things off the floor and puts them where they belong. Percy looks up, startled. Not unpleasantly so, from the grin on Percy's face.
"Really? I wouldn't know, considering I can't get sick and I've barely been in any battles. I would hardly ever need to be healed, so I've never felt it before." Percy says, surprising Nico.
"I've been healed so many times, I've lost count. Most of them by you. But for some reason, it only feels that good when you do it. If any other person tries, then I just get a tingling feeling and then the pain's gone. But with you, the relief is immediate and almost pleasurable. It practically washes away all my stress for the little bit of time you're healing me." Nico says, wondering if it had anything to do with his attraction to the young warlock.
"Huh." Percy says, frowning. "That's kinda weird... Don't you think so?" Percy says, turning to Nico.
"Only a little. I don't know. Maybe it's because you're young and most of the other warlocks here are about 3 times as old as I am." Nico says.
"Maybe." Percy says, but he doesn't look convinced. "Nico can I tell you something? It's uh, kinda important." Percy says, seemingly bashful all of a sudden.
"Sure, you can tell me anything." Nico says, crossing his legs as Percy sits down in front of him.
"Well, um...This may come as a shock to you but..." Percy paused as if he were contemplating telling a lie to get out of saying what he really wants to say. He bites his lip for a couple seconds, then sighs heavily. "I-I'm gay, Nico." He says, dragging his fingers through his hair. "If you are disgusted with me, go on and tell me now, I'll understand. I can take it." He clearly didn't want Nico to be upset or disgusted.
Nico was ecstatic. He had a smile on his face and was laughing softly. He silently thanked the Angel Raziel for his fortunate luck as he continued laughing, confusing and irritating Percy.
"What's so funny? Why are you laughing? I'm not joking, Nico." Percy says, making Nico laugh harder. When Nico finally collects himself, Percy looks downright miserable.
"I'm sorry, Percy. You just have no idea how happy I am right now. No idea." Nico says, confusing Percy further. Nico leans in as if he were going to tell a secret, which he was, and whispers, "I'm gay too."
Percy looks up to see if Nico's joking or not, and sees that he's not. He breaks into a grin, a huge grin that transforms his face. Then he starts laughing, laughing of pure joy. Nico joined in, if only because he was about as happy as Percy to find someone else that they could tell.
"By the Angel, you have no idea how long I've wanted to tell someone. I've wanted to tell you, but I thought you'd be disgusted with me and not want to hang out anymore." Nico says, winding down. He lays down on his back and stares at Percy's ceiling.
"I thought the same thing!" Percy says, lying next to Nico. "Let's celebrate. PIZZA!" Percy says, jumping up and grabbing his phone.
"Pizza! Oh how I've longed for you, salty, cheesy, saucy goodness!" Nico says.
"Oh how I've longed to bite into your buttery crust, waiting for the sweet release that quenches my hunger!" Percy plays along, laughing with Nico as he dials the pizza place's number.
"Ha-ha! Olives, mushrooms, and spinach on my pizza please!" Nico says cheerfully.
"Eugh. Spinach? Really? That stuff is disgusting!" Percy says, but still makes sure that Nico's pizza has what he wants on it. Percy orders himself a meat lover's pizza, filled with bacon, sausage, and hamburger meat.
"Says the guy who eats peanut butter and pickle sandwiches! That's just plain gross!" Nico retorts.
"Its sweet and sour and I like it! Don't judge!" Percy says, hanging up his phone after giving the guy his phone number and address.
"Then don't be such a hypocrite." Nico says. "I'm gonna get a shower while I wait for the food to get here. If I'm not out in 10 minutes, I probably just found a really dirty spot that I had to scrub." He thought about it for a second, running over his words as Percy busted out laughing. "Get your mind out of the gutter! Jeez!" Nico says, grabbing his clothes and stomping into the bathroom, shutting the door a bit harder than needed. He threw his clothes on the toilet and turned the shower on. He stripped his clothes off and then stepped into the warm water. He washed himself and his hair in about 5 minutes and stepped out of the shower. A couple seconds later, a light knocking came from the other side of the door.
"What, Percy?" Nico asks, sighing.
"I have to pee." Percy says.
"Can you wait?" Nico asks, scrunching up his eyebrows.
"Not really..." Percy says.
"Why didn't you go before I got in the bathroom?" Nico asks him, wrapping a towel around his waist.
"I thought I could hold it. But I can't. Please let me in." Percy whines. Nico sighs and grabs his clothes, unlocking the door. He opened the door to find Percy prancing in place. He resisted the urge to laugh, but he decided to have some fun. When Percy went to go through the open door, Nico blocked his way. Percy tried to go around, but Nico blocked him either way.
"Nicooo! Please don't do this. Please. I really have to go!" He says, prancing around like a 6 year-old.
"Ha-ha. Fine. Go. But next time, go before I get into the bathroom. Okay?" Nico says, moving away from the door.
"Yeah, sure, whatever, just let me in there!" Percy says, practically running into the bathroom before shutting the door and locking it. Nico turned away from the door, shaking his head and smiling. He decides to get dressed before Percy gets out, or at least put on his boxers. He hurriedly puts them on, praying that his luck would hold out for a little longer and Percy wouldn't open the door. Thankfully, he got them on seconds before Percy opens the bathroom door, relieved of his issue. Nico hadn't gotten his shirt on but they both usually sleep shirtless anyways, so it's not a big deal, although Percy's gaze seemed to linger on Nico's exposed torso.
"What are you staring at?" Nico asks when he notices this.
Percy face turns red. "N-nothing!" He says, flopping down onto his bed. Nico's face turned a light shade of pink when he heard the lie in his crush's voice. He turned around, smiling to himself as his hopes of Percy actually liking him soared. He decided to try something.
"Hey, Percy? Now that I know you're gay and all, and you know I'm gay, I figure we can talk about some stuff." Nico says, rubbing the back of his neck. "So I have a question, and this is going to sound weird so don't judge me for asking okay?" Nico says. Percy nods. "Have you ever actually...liked a guy before? Like, like-liked?" Nico asks nervously.
Percy's face turned pale. "Uh...Y-yeah. Why?" Percy asks, his eyes flitting from one place to another.
"W-well, I think I might like someone. I need advice." Nico says, watching Percy's expression carefully. Nico's heart rate sped up drastically.
"Oh. Okay. Well, you need to know how to flirt, of course. I think you've got that down though." Percy says, his face turning slightly pink. "Um...You need to know the person well enough to know what they like and what they don't like. You also need to make sure that it's not painfully obvious, but don't make it so that the person you like has no clue. Give them a line, bit by bit. Eventually they'll figure it out, and decide whether they like you back or not." Percy explains, not meeting his gaze until after he was done talking. "Why are you smiling at me like that?" Percy asks, scrunching his eyebrows together.
"Because it's so obvious now. I can't believe I didn't see it before. I can't believe you haven't noticed, honestly." Nico says, confusing Percy. "Dude. Oh my god, you're so oblivious, it hurts. Do I need to show you?" Nico asks, leaning closer to Percy.
"W-what? I have no idea what you're talking about!" Percy stutters, staring at Nico, but not moving away.
"I know. That's why I'm showing you." Nico says, a few inches from Percy's face. He leans in, waiting for Percy to pull away but he doesn't. Their foreheads touch and Percy leans forward, brushing his lips against Nico's. Nico leans in the rest of the way, kissing him full on the mouth. His eyes flutter closed. Percy's hand tentatively goes behind Nico's head, bringing them closer together. His fingers curl into Nico's still damp hair. Percy's other hand goes around Nico's waist. Nico gasps from the warmth that courses through him and Percy takes the advantage. His tongue slips behind Nico's lips, making Nico gasp again.
Nico's hands bury themselves into Percy's hair. Their kisses become more fervent and passionate, until they have to pull away to breathe.
"Now do you know what I'm talking about?" Nico asks, out of breath.
"I'd have to be an idiot not to." Percy says, panting. He kisses Nico again, stealing his breath away.
"Have you ever been told that you are a really good kisser?" Nico asks, still out of breath.
"No..." Percy answers just as the doorbell rings. He hops up and runs to go and get the pizza they'd been waiting for. About two minutes later, he comes back up with two pizza boxes. He opens the top one and then closes it again, handing it to me. I opened it hungrily and grabbed a slice of the still hot pizza.
"Mm. Amazingness in the form of pizza." Nico says.
"You mean there's another form of amazingness?" Percy asks, scrunching his eyebrows together and cocking his head to the side.
"There are many forms of amazingness, this just happens to be one of them." Nico says, finishing his first slice and picking up another.
"Mm. Okay." Percy says and stuffs another slice into his mouth.
By the time they finish their 4th slice of pizza, it's already dark outside. Percy eats one last piece of pizza before closing the box and setting it to the side to save for later. Nico does the same.
"What movie are we watching? If you say 'Finding Nemo', I will leave." Nico says, glaring at Percy. Percy just grins.
"Well then, what movie do you want to watch?" Percy asks, crossing him arms over his chest.
"I don't know, put on Netflix and let's see." Nico says, throwing him the remote. He catches it with ease. He turns on the TV, then grabs the Xbox controller from his bedside table and turns on the Xbox. He signs into his account, SeaweedBrain1998, and flicks through the menus until he finds Netflix. "I still don't get why your name is SeaweedBrain1998. I call you Seaweed Brain once, and you go and make it your profile name. I called you that because you said something stupid!" Nico says.
"It fits though. And the 1998 is the year I was born. It's easy to remember." Percy says.
"Okay, but still. Why not make it something cool, like mine?" Nico's name was TheGhostKing128. He got the idea because Bianca had once told him that he was like the king of ghosts when he got moody.
"This is cool, to me. It describes me perfectly." Percy says, smiling at Nico. Nico just rolled his eyes and grabbed the controller from Percy, flicking through the genres until he found the Horror section. Percy looked at him like he was crazy. "Why horror movies? Why not the funny kid movies?" Percy asks.
"Because. Funny kid movies are boring and predictable. Horror movies are funny, predictable, and adrenaline-inducing. See the difference?"
"Whatever you say." Percy says, slightly horrified at the thought of watching a horror movie with Nico.
"Hmm...Have you seen Nightmare on Elm Street? I think you should see it. It's about Freddy Kruger. Or would you rather watch something about Jason Voorhees?" Nico asks, flicking through the movies, knowingly trying to freak Percy out.
"Um...Which is the least gory?" Percy asks.
"Hmm...I don't know. Maybe Nightmare on Elm Street. That one's my favorite." Nico says. "Yeah, we're watching Nightmare on Elm Street." He says, clicking the movie and playing it before Percy could even try to change his mind.
"But...I don't want to watch it." Percy says.
"Too bad. It's a good movie, you'll like it. Maybe." Nico says.
"Can't we choose a different scary movie?" Percy asks. Nico thinks about it for a second.
"Fine. There's this game called Silent Hill, and they made a couple movies based off the game. It's not as gory, but it's really weird." Nico says, flicking to the first Silent Hill movie. He chooses it and presses play.
"Okay, and you're okay with this?" Percy asks.
"The graphics are awesome but the story line hardly follows the one in the game. The games are really, really detailed. Like, really detailed. Most of the characters have good character development, but some are just awful. But I think you'll like it. If you want, tomorrow we can go and get the first three games from the Institute. I have them for Xbox." Nico says, watching the beginning credits.
"Sure we can do that-" Percy starts.
"Shhh! It's starting!" Nico says, watching with rapt interest. Percy pulled Nico against the wall beside him, propping pillows up behind them. Percy tentatively reached for Nico's hand. He twined his fingers with Nico's and saw his face turn a light shade of pink. Percy smiled to himself.
A woman appeared on the screen. She was blonde, with short hair and she appeared to be wearing pajamas. She was running, calling out a girl's name. She ran out into the clearing, near a cliff. At the edge of the cliff stood a girl. She couldn't have been more than 9 years old. She seemed to be teetering, about to fall over the edge. The woman ran to her and caught her just before she could fall.
The movie went on to include an awesome cop named Sibyl, and a creepy, seemingly abandoned, town called Silent Hill. The woman lost the little girl in this city. The air was filled with a smoke-like substance -Nico says its ashes-, and every now and then they could hear sirens, like sirens you would've heard during WWII that would bring another nasty horror into the woman's wake. The first weird monster-like things that showed up in the movie were these baby-like burned looking things that would chase the woman until she goes through a fence of some sort.
Eventually, this guy that Nico called 'Pyramid Head' showed up and basically tried to kill the woman. He did this multiple times during the movie, and he always had a ten-foot long sword with him, usually covered with blood. Nico explained later that this guy was trying to protect Alessa, the girl that planted the kind part of her soul into the woman's daughter, the girl that the woman lost.
All in all, in Percy's opinion, it was a weird movie, and he hated how Sibyl died, but he would gladly watch it again, at least for the graphics if nothing else. Nico asked if he wanted to watch the second movie, but Percy declined. He'd had enough Silent Hill for one night.
"Can I have a hug?" Percy asks a little while after the movie ended.
"Sure. Why?" Nico asks, frowning slightly.
"Because I'm still upset about what happened to Sibyl and I need some consolation." Percy says, holding out his arms for a hug. Nico happily obliges.
"Yeah, what happens to her is messed up, and not even close to what happens to her in the game though." Nico says.
"Well, what happens to her in the game?" Percy asks, furrowing his eyebrows.
"That's for me to know, and for you to find out."
"Aww, you're no fun." Percy says, pulling away from the hug.
"So I've been told." Nico says, grinning. "What do you want to do now?"
"That's my line! You are my guest, not the other way around." Percy says. "But I don't know what we should do next. I don't really want to watch another movie, and I'm not really in the mood for video games..." He says, trailing off into his thoughts.
"Well, what are you in the mood for?" Nico says, meeting Percy's eyes.
Percy shrugs. "I don't know. What are you in the mood for?" He asks.
"I can think of a few things." He says, walking his fingers up Percy's leg. Percy visibly swallows.
"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Percy asks as Nico's fingers move from his leg to his face, stroking his cheek.
"I think you know." Nico says, leaning in. Percy stays still for a second then leans in too. Their lips meet, crashing against each other. Percy pushes Nico down on the bed, straddling him. Nico tugs on his hair, trying to get him closer. By the time they pull away, Percy's shirt has been discarded and Nico's hands are placed on Percy's exposed torso. Percy touches his forehead to Nico's, panting slightly.
"You know, you're not that bad of a kisser yourself." Percy says, staring down at Nico. Nico smiles slightly.
"Thanks, I guess." He says, out of breath. Percy smiles too, then leans down and pecks Nico on the lips before rolling off of him and walking to his dresser. "What are you doing?" Nico says, his body cold without Percy there to warm it.
"I need a shower." Percy says, waving his sleep clothes-just a pair of boxers-at Nico.
"Okay. Don't take forever like you did last time. I was so bored!" Nico says.
"Well, if I do end up taking forever again, help yourself to the Xbox. I just downloaded this game called Portal, I think you'll like it." Percy says, stepping into the bathroom. He shuts the door, locks it, then Nico can hear the sound of the shower. He decides to try the game Percy suggested.
When the game starts, he's in a room with windows. There's a lady talking, but Nico doesn't pay much attention to her until she says that the 'simulation will start in 3...2...1...' And then a blue portal appears. Nico walks through it, and ends up in a different area. He can see the outside of the room he's in, and realizes that the portal wasn't just a hole in the wall.
He walks along, then sees another portal. He walks through it, finding himself in yet another new place. He decides to just go with it.
Throughout the game, he goes through many different portals, dying many times when the portal changes and drops him into toxin. By the time Percy comes out of the bathroom, Nico has gone through about 5 different simulations, died about 30 different times, and gotten seriously annoyed by the lady who keeps talking over the intercom.
"This game. It's so freaking addicting, but so freaking annoying. It's like a totally different and way more complicated version of flappy bird!" Nico says.
"Ha. You feel my pain. I've already beat the game once. I hate Glad0s. She's evil." Percy says, flopping down next to Nico.
"Glad0s?" Nico asks.
"The lady on the intercom. She's awful." Percy explains.
"You said she was evil. How is she evil? She's just a voice!" Nico says, dying once again.
"That's for me to know, and you to find out." Percy says, using Nico's words against him.
"You jerk." Nico says, shoving Percy lightly.
"Hey! No spoilers. You find out when you find out. And believe me, you'll know." Percy says, nodding eagerly.
"No, I won't, not if I can't get past this freaking simulation!" Nico says, dying for what seems like the hundredth time. Percy crawls behind Nico and puts his hands on the controller.
"You're doing it wrong. You're supposed to shoot a portal there, not down there. Then you jump through that portal, like this. And you do that again. There." Percy says, guiding him through the simulation easily.
"Well, now I feel stupid. That's so easy!" Nico says, walking through the next simulation easily.
"Nah, it took me about ten minutes to figure out how to do that one." Percy says. "Even when I did figure it out, it still took me a while to get through it. Put on subtitles, when you meet the turrets; the things they say are funny, but you can't really hear them." Nico pauses the game and puts on the subtitles.
When they finally get to the turrets, Nico immediately has to jump behind something so that they don't go off. Percy tells me how to deploy them without getting himself shot, and when he picks the turret up, it says something like "Put me down" or "I'm different" amongst other things that make Nico and Percy laugh. By this time, Glad0s had made it clear that she doesn't like his character, Chell, and is trying to kill her.
At the end of the game, Nico has to destroy three cores, each one a different emotion of some sort. Once he destroys them however, Glad0s 'dies' supposedly. And then his character walks outside and finds the world basically in shatters, filled with junk and such. Then something falls out of the sky and everything goes black.
"Okay, this song will make you laugh, I swear." Percy says, turning the volume up. The song starts, singing in Glad0s' voice. She keeps saying and implying that she's alive, which shouldn't be possible. And through it all, she keeps repeating, "And I'll still be alive." All in all, it was funny, yet odd, but it made Nico laugh, just as Percy said it would.
"How is she still alive? The facility basically collapsed! This is gonna give me a headache just thinking about how she survived." Nico says, burying his head in his hands while Percy chuckles.
"Oh, wouldn't we all like to know." He says, hugging Nico from behind. Nico can feel his body heat warming him to his very core.
"Why do these games have to be so complicated?" Nico asks.
"Why do you have to ask me questions that I don't have the answer to?"
"Because I can."
"What if I don't want you to?"
"Too bad."
"Darn." Percy says, nuzzling Nico's neck. Nico shivers with delight.
"Jackson, what are you trying to do to me?" Nico asks, tilting his head up.
"I'm trying to seduce you. Is it working?" Percy asks.
"Maybe." Nico replies softly.
"Great, 'cause I have no idea what I'm doing." Percy says, chuckling against Nico's throat, sending hot shivers down his chest.
"God. You sure you don't know what you're doing? It feels like you know what you're doing." Nico says, then letting his mouth fall open when Percy starts suckling his neck.
"Mhmm." Is all Percy says before he removes his lips from Nico's neck and moves them to his lips, kissing him softly. Nico moans quietly, then pushes Percy back so that he's laying on the bed. Nico straddles him, putting his hands on either side of Percy. Percy places his hands on Nico's hips, just above the waist band of his boxers. His thumbs stroke Nico's stomach, enjoying the softness of his skin. Nico sighs, then pulls away, resting his forehead against Percy's.
"You really have no idea what affect you have on me. No clue." Nico pants.
"And you have no idea what affect you have on me." Percy says, also out of breath. Then he rolls over, putting Nico under him. "But I can show you." He whispers in Nico's ear, sending shivers down his spine. Percy begins kissing his neck, moving down to his collarbone, then going back up, sucking at various places. Nico's eyes flutter closed as he moans, his mouth falling open. He feels Percy's smirk against his throat. His hands roam from Percy's back to his now dry hair. He buries his hands in his hair, then pulls Percy's mouth up to his own. Percy moans softly, his hands still on Nico's hips.
Nico moves his hands to Percy's back, tracing his spine and shoulder blades. Percy shivers involuntarily. He pulls away, panting.
"This is gonna sound so weird but... Can I keep you?" Percy says, watching Nico's expression. Nico grins.
"Copying Casper, huh? Of course you can keep me." Nico says. Percy lays his head on Nico's shoulder.
"I'm so happy. Are you happy? I'm happy." Percy mumbles.
"Of course I'm happy. Why wouldn't I be happy?" Nico asks, stroking Percy's hair.
"I don't know. But I'm happy." Percy says, yawning.
"Yeah? Well I'm tired. Goodnight, Percy." Nico says, also yawning.
"Goodnight, Nico. No nightmares, okay?" Percy says.
"I sure hope so." Nico says, then leans down and kisses Percy's forehead. Eventually they both fall asleep, just like that.
