wrote this in like an hour when i first woke up, so it needs a touch of editing. plus i don't have wifi so it's all on my phone eheheheh. so yeah i'll touch it up later, yeah?
nico couldn't surf, couldn't even swim, so he wasn't sure why piper had insisted that he go with her to look at boards. it'll be fun, she said. you might see something you like, she insisted. nico disagreed, but like all of their other friends, he had a terrible weakness where miss mclean was involved. something about those big blue-green made her impossible to say no to.
they passed through the door of the surf shop, a quiet jingle alerting the entire shop to their presence. most of the other customers — and there were quite a few, more than nico would have expected for a small store on the beach — ignored them, though a couple of people waved at piper.
piper gently grabbed his arm and pulled him around the crowd before turning him to face the guy running the register.
"see anything you like?" she asked, the grin obvious in her voice. and suddenly nico regretted his choice to come out to her as gay. up until now she'd been nothing but understanding, and hadn't tried to set him up with anyone, but here they were. he groaned,
"piper for cripes sakes, i told you i need to focus on school and graduating," he whined, trying to turn away, but she held him still.
"i'm not saying you have to date him, i just know he's your type, wait 'til he turns around."
nico stopped struggling with a long suffering sigh, and then the cashier was turning around, and nico felt his brain flat line.
he looked to be a year or two older than nico, probably seventeen or eighteen. and tall, easily six feet and maybe an inch or two more, with messy jet black hair and dark tan skin. yeah okay he might have been nico's type, even though he didn't even really think he had a "type" exactly.
the guy gave them a bright grin, his sea green eyes crinkling into a smile,
"hey pipes, you lookin' for anything in particular?"
piper shook her head, and draped her arm across nico's shoulders. he was pretty tolerant of piper being touchy, but right about now he just wanted to shrug her off and step away. maybe run out of the store screaming and never ever come back.
"nah, just showing my friend nico the sights."
the guy turned his attention to nico, giving him another of his 1000 watt smiles, which nico was sure made his heart literally stop, and offered his hand,
"hey nico! i'm percy, nice to meet you, if you need anything just let me know, okay?"
nico nodded absently, staring at the proffered hand for a moment before piper nudged him in the side and he took it, letting percy shake his hand.
"um thanks," he said, taking a step back, trying to move out of whatever brain melting aura this guy had. percy gave them another quick wave, before shifting his attention to a customer who wanted to ring out.
nico grabbed piper's arm and drug her to the edge of the shop.
"why did you do that to me?" he hissed, staring darkly into her wide eyes. she shook her head, making the braids bounce gently,
"honestly, nico, i didn't expect you to turn into a giant goober over a guy, i mean you do slam poetry in front of crowds, i thought you'd be cool."
nico groaned, leaning against a shelf of wet suits, burying his face in his palms. that would be just his luck, he thought he'd gotten over all the social anxiety he'd had in middle school, but trying to talk to one stupid cute guy and it all came crashing down around his ears. he was fine talking to jason, and dang was jason fine, but of course he was also piper's boyfriend so that could be part of it. plus he'd known jason since they were kids, what with their sisters being best friends (who made out, but no one seemed to mention that part).
"maybe it'd be easier if you talked to him more?" piper suggested, hopefully.
nico looked up, staring at her like she'd suggested sticking his dick in a volcano.
but over the next few weeks nico found himself returning to the busy little store on the beach. occasionally he bought little things, a tub of board wax for piper, a keychain he ended up giving to bianca, but most of the time he just lurked around watching percy between the shelves and merchandise, trying to stay unnoticed. it was pretty creepy, and he knew it. but even though every time he left, he swore he wouldn't do it again, he still ended up wandering in the next day.
if percy noticed him, he didn't say anything, though he did smile and wave whenever they made eye contact (usually resulting in nico walking into something or someone, christ almighty he was becoming a cliche).
it was a month since piper had brought him in, and nico slid into the store about fifteen minutes before they closed. he knew it was kind of an annoying thing to do, since percy probably wanted to close up and head out, but he hadn't been able to stop by in a couple days, plus hazel was coming to visit and he figured he could get her a little something (and get his daily dose of percy, god damn he was a cliche).
nico brought a keychain and a couple neat seashells up to the counter and glanced at percy shyly before looking back down to fumble with his wallet.
"getting something today?" percy asked smoothly, his lips curved into a sly grin.
"ummm," nico answered, eloquently, watching the older boy scan the items. percy chuckled, the sound making him shiver slightly.
"i'm off in about ten minutes, if you'd like to do something other than lurk around the store while i'm working, we could get some ice cream."
nico froze, trying to process the words, before the little mini-piper in his brain kicked him back into action.
"um, sure. i'd like that a lot," he said quietly, forcing himself to meet the other's gaze, and found himself looking into percy's brightest smile yet.
how obvious is it i've never even seen a surf shack.
i thought up way more for this au than i got to use i'm kinda sad.