When Nico woke up, a chocolate cupcake with blue frosting was waiting for him on his nightstand. Ordinarily, everyone but his boyfriend was terrified of venturing into the Hades cabin and waking Nico up, which meant only his boyfriend could have placed the cupcake there. After all, it was an ode to the first food they shared together, blue birthday cake. That also probably meant today was their anniversary.
Nico still remembered the day he had walked up to Percy (after Annabeth and Percy had broken up) and half-way through a conversation, Nico interrupted Percy with a kiss. Percy had merely responded, "Cool." To which Nico almost stomped away, embarrassed and angry, until Percy grabbed his sleeve, spun him around and kissed him fiercely. The memory brought a slight blush to Nico's cheeks, but he didn't mind. Most memories involving Percy tended to have that effect.
If it was their anniversary, Percy probably had something horribly dorky yet romantic planned. Nico groaned inwardly at the thought of whatever Percy might have done. Nico always had fun, but Percy always went all out. It was adorable, but tonight Nico would just rather it be the two of them, in private. Mostly Nico wanted to be alone because that meant Percy would be cooking. Nico had tasted the most authentic Italian in the world, and Holy Hades it didn't compare to Percy's cooking. For someone with the palette of a five-year-old, Percy knew his way around the kitchen.
Nico picked up the cupcake, smiling. On top was a note: Cabin 3, 6:00 PM. -Percy. Next to Percy's name was a slightly lopsided sketch of a shaded-in heart that made Nico smile. To be fair, most things Percy did made Nico smile. When Nico took a bite, it was perfect, just as he knew it would be. As he devoured the cupcake, he wondered what he should spend the next six hours doing besides waiting in nervous anticipation. Nico knew the last thing he was supposed to do was look for Percy, so of course, that's exactly what he wanted to do.
For the rest of the day, Nico looked everywhere for his green-eyed dork of a boyfriend. At one point he swore he saw a glimpse of raven-black hair, but it turned out to be another camper who gave Nico a rather strange look when Nico started following him. The Poseidon cabin had been empty when Nico checked it earlier, as was the Zeus cabin (sometimes Percy could be found watching Disney movies with Jason there, while the Little Mermaid was their favorite, they also liked watching Aladdin). No matter where Nico looked, Percy was missing. He would've been worried if not for the fact that other campers kept smirking at Nico, and one time Katie Gardner slipped up and mentioned Percy had just been there, but one of her siblings elbowed her before she said anything else. As frustrating as the situation was, it just made Nico more excited. He still grumbled about it for the next few hours, but his grin was so dopey it could rival even Percy's.
With just under two hours to go before he was due at Percy's, Nico opted to sit by the lake at just staring at the calming waves. He knew he couldn't stay here all day, but if his Kelp Head was hiding, then the water was the closest replacement Nico had (that he could stand). He could feel Percy around him, even though Percy was off somewhere planning something that made everybody he passed -with the exception of Mr. D - stare at him with a glint in their eyes. Nico didn't think he had ever blushed so much in one day. As Nico stared at the gentle waves, he remembered the day Percy had dragged Nico in, both of them fully clothed, and made an air bubble around them. Percy didn't need one, but he said he liked having a reason to be that close to Nico. They had stayed at the bottom of the lake for hours, talking and doing other things, and it was also the first time either of them said they loved the other. Percy somehow always knew exactly what Nico wanted, but, to be fair, most of the time Nico wanted Percy. Percy defended Nico when people accused him of being a traitor, when they made snide comments about the crack in the pavilion, throughout everything. Even when they were younger, Percy still looked after Nico even when Nico hated Percy for what happened to Bianca, when Nico pushed Percy away, Percy fought more to keep him. Loving Percy was all-encompassing, and there was something about Percy that made Nico believe he wasn't completely cursed after all.
Nico might have made the first move, but Percy certainly took the initiative in the relationship. Percy somehow always knew exactly what Nico wanted, but, to be fair, most of the time Nico wanted Percy. Percy defended Nico when people accused him of being a traitor, when they made snide comments about the crack in the pavilion, throughout everything. Even when they were younger, Percy still looked after Nico even when Nico hated Percy for what happened to Bianca, when Nico pushed Percy away, Percy fought more to keep him. Loving Percy was all-encompassing, and there was something about Percy that made Nico believe he wasn't completely cursed after all.
At 6 P.M. precisely, Nico strolled into Cabin 3 like he hadn't been waiting all day for this very moment. Nico felt his bones turn to jello as he saw what Percy had been planning. Right by the salt water fountain, Percy had set up a scene to look like Venice. In the middle of it all, bowls upon bowls of homemade Italian food and -of course- a pizza, because it was Percy. An enchanted mandolin played music that reminded Nico of his childhood; probably the Apollo cabin's doing. By far the thing that Impressed Nico most about the scene, though, was the son of Poseidon wearing a suit. Nico had never been one for suits, but he was considering changing his stance on them when he saw Percy wearing one. Damn, it just wasn't fair to humanity. Not that Nico would tell Percy that. Percy was busy lighting candles and didn't notice Nico entering.
Nico didn't say anything, but he didn't entirely think he was capable even if he wanted to. Percy always went above and beyond for their surprise date, but this... This was one of the sweetest things anyone had ever done for Nico. It took barely a moment before Percy noticed him. "I thought since I missed out on going to Venice with you, and we can't go back, for obvious reasons, I would make our own little Venice, minus the canals, of course. Sorry, but Chiron said no when I asked and-" Before Percy could ramble another word, Nico marched up to him, leaned upwards, and kissed him.
Nico broke off for a minute to mumble, "It's perfect, you dork." Without another word, Nico leaned up again to continue kissing a slightly stunned Percy. Percy broke it off again after a minute to remind Nico that Percy had cooked a tableful of his favorite food, other than McDonalds of course. Nico's eyes lit up at the mention of Percy's cooking. Nico didn't waste another second before sitting at the table across from Percy. With a mouthful of agnolotti, Nico asked, "Ready to tell me why the entire camp seemed to know about our date?"
With a proud glint in his eye, Percy explained, "I required some help. I needed the Hephaestus kids to build a kitchen, and they've been working on that for a few days, along with the Venetian backdrop. I believe they got the Hecate kids to help them with that as well. The Apollo kids helped with the music; the Demeter children let me use some of their crops as ingredients, and insisted I call them crops instead of plants. Chiron let me leave camp to get the ingredients that weren't plants, and he let me borrow the table, plates, and silverware from the Big House. However, he said that creating canals was 'too much' and would 'damage the foundation, Percy.' The Persephone kids helped with the flowers."
Nico looked down at the ground, his pale face glowing red with embarrassment. Percy lifted Nico's head and looked at Nico with those big, green puppy dog eyes. "What's wrong?"
Nico looked up and even on his best days, he knew couldn't resist Percy's look. "You didn't need to go to all this trouble for me."
Percy faltered, but a reply came soon enough, "I didn't go to all this trouble for you, I did it for me. I've always wanted to see Venice with you by my side."
Nico gave Percy a look that was half defeated, half Percy, you little dork. This instance was certainly not the first time Nico had given Percy this look, nor would it be the last. Percy smiled his troublemaker smile that had gotten him expelled from so many schools. Despite Percy's suave suit and incredible surroundings, by the end of the night, he had not five but seven tomato sauce stains. Nico did not hesitate to point this out and tried -and failed- to teach Percy how to eat in a way that wouldn't anger the Aphrodite cabin. Nico also attempted to teach Percy a few words of Italian, but Percy kept fumbling with the pronunciation. Every time Percy did something dorky, Nico just snorted, and Percy gave him a kiss. However, when Nico fumbled with the salt shaker and accidentally coated the lasagna with a thick layer of sea salt, Nico pouted when Percy giggled and took a bite of the lasagna anyways. All in all, Nico loved it. And it was completely worth it when Nico had to assure Jason, the entire Aphrodite Cabin, and Reyna (after Jason Iris-Messaged her) that they were just talking and fell asleep when Nico was caught leaving the Poseidon cabin later the next day. Even Annabeth teased them both about it and even though she was Percy's best friend, she generally avoided commenting on Percy's love life. It was more difficult to explain away the purple hickeys on Nico's neck. Though, even when Leo winked at him, Nico could only feel happiness burning inside him. After all, no day could be bad when you woke up to blue cupcakes and green eyes.
Sorry, I know it's not my best work, but I did the best I could at this time. Thank you to all my readers (though there are few), please review, I'd love to know what I can improve on! As long as its constructive and not just Percico hate.