A/N: ok so i have a huge city-boner for new york so i figured why not put it to use and write some nyc-based percico. will probably write more parts/chapters soon, just gotta do some planning so enjoy what i have so far! owo
Nico would have been lying if he said his heart hadn't leaped when Percy offered to show him around New York City.
And no, it wasn't because the thought of spending the day alone with Percy put butterflies in his stomach…well at least not entirely. There was more to it than that. The son of Hades had always been intrigued by "The Big Apple", a city that seemed to be vibrating out of its seams with all sorts of life. Nico loved cities, because for a while he could drown himself in the abundance of life. The dead gave off such a nauseating aura, one that he had long since gotten used to. But even though it was common for him to be around the dead, being around the living was a much better alternative.
And in cities, nobody cared who you were. In small groups of people (especially small groups of half-bloods), Nico was a glaringly obvious outcast, the odd one out, the weirdo. But in a city, he blended. Cities were full of outcasts and weirdos, and city-folk had adapted to treat everyone with indifference. In New York, this adaptation was a trait that every citizen had. Percy had once said that even the weirdest people could find a place there, "the great American mixing pot" he'd called it. Maybe even Nico could blend into a place like that.
Despite Camp Half-Blood's proximity to the city, Nico had never actually been into the metro area. The cities he usually found himself in were near the Underworld; cities like Los Angeles and, ugh, Hollywood. Californians seemed to have grasped the "indifference to weirdness" idea, but not in the same way as New Yorkers. The people of Hollywood were primarily tourists who saw Nico as an unsightly mark on the Walk of Fame and natives who seemed to think his darkness was a threat to the Sunshine State. Nico could ramble for hours about how much he hated the sorry excuses for cities on the "Golden Coast", but that was neither here nor there. New York; now that was a city. And when Percy offered to be his personal tour guide, he was quick to agree to a tour the following afternoon.
"So…where are you taking me?" Nico relished in the way the great Hero of Olympus squeaked at the sudden company in Percy's very blue bedroom. Nico also relishes in the fact that Percy is fully clothed, because while that is a welcome sight, it might make things a bit awkward.
"Gods, give a guy a little warning…how did you get in here?"
"Shadow travel, Perce. Now, I reiterate, where are you taking me?" The mischievous, excited smile that spread over Percy's face quickly shattered Nico's apathetic facade and had him struggling to force his stomach butterflies back into their cocoons.
"You'll see," Percy said conspiratorially. Before any other questions could leave Nico's mouth, the older demigod grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the very blue room and toward the front door. Sally poked her head out of the kitchen at the sudden commotion and Nico offered her an awkward wave as Percy continues pulling him. "We'll be back later Mom, gonna get dinner downtown!" being the only explanation Percy gave his mother before they're on their way.
"Isn't Subway a restaurant?" Judging by rolling green eyes, Percy found it a dumb question (oh how the tables of intelligence have turned). He navigated through the streets as if it was the simplest thing in the world. Nico, on the other hand, had already lost track of where they were and was grateful that Percy was wearing such an obnoxious blue shirt; at least he'd be easy to find.
"I didn't mean that kind of subway," Percy said with a soft chuckle, grabbing Nico's hand again when he almost lost the younger boy in a sudden rush of pedestrians. Luckily, Percy was too busy weaving through people to notice the way Nico's face turned red. The shorter demigod was pulled down a set of stairs, through a turnstile, down more stairs, and into a train car before Percy finally came to a stop. "This is the subway I was talking about." Nico marvelled briefly at all the people gathered in one place, people all so vastly different and from so many different places in life that were all in the same space. He was knocked out of his thought pattern as Percy let go of his hand, only to wrap it tightly around Nico's waist as the train shot forward a lot faster than Nico had been expecting. Blood began to fill the usually pale face of the Italian at their close proximity (that nobody in the train even seemed to bat an eyelash at). He forewent saying the first thing that came to mind –– which would have been something along the lines of "I'm in love with you, sorry" –– and instead settled for the second:
"And here I was, planning my sandwich for nothing."
"You'll be fine. Subway has nothin' on legit street food," Percy answered as the train came to a squealing halt. The moment the doors opened, he ushered Nico out of the train then out of the subway before he could be trampled by the rush hour masses escaping Fifth Avenue. Nico realized he couldn't find his voice as he took in his surroundings. The mid-September sun still burned above the skyscrapers, even at 5:30. The skyscrapers, though. They were taller and more clustered than anything he'd seen in L.A. or even what he remembered of Washington DC. Percy pulled him aside and to a stop in front a sunken plaza before speaking.
"This is Rockefeller Plaza. That gold statue over there is Prometheus and that big bronze one is Atlas. It's kinda crazy that I never notice all the Greek stuff around, but I guess…" he trailed off when he noticed that Nico's head was still tilted up to see the skyscrapers. With a soft smile, he took the younger demigod's hand, "Neeks?"
"Hm?" the shorter boy slowly turned back toward Percy, trying to ignore the endless hum of living souls around him. He was suddenly acutely aware of the hum of Percy's soul in particular as the son of Poseidon reached a hand up to caress the side of Nico's face.
"Welcome to New York."
With a kiss that stole the breath right out of Nico's lungs, the Italian decided that New York City was a damn good place; especially if Percy was in it.