Disclaimer: Nico and all his broodiness belong to Rick Riordan (also, the song "One More Minute" belongs, of course, to Weird Al)
Nico just hoped he'd miss the ocean this time.
Last time he'd shadow-traveled randomly, he'd ended up in the middle of the Atlantic, at night, without a coat. Ugh. He shuddered a bit at the memory. Lucky he hadn't got hypothermia before he'd worked up the strength to get out of there.
Also, the ocean held other significance for him.
But that was exactly why he was getting away- he needed some alone time. He needed some time NOT spent being reminded of a certain son of the sea god.
But it seemed that he was in luck, Nico thought as he stumbled forward from the shadows and looked around. If you could call arriving in this godforsaken little town 'lucky', exactly. He sighed. He'd landed in a deserted little alleyway. From where he was, he could see what looked to be the main street of a small (possibly midwestern?) town. A dilapidated ice cream shop was advertising "THE BEST MI KSHAKE IN AME ICA" (in letters so big even Percy could read them), but it seemed closed. (Darn, he could really go for something to eat. He was feeling beat after his shadow-travelling.) Beside it was a tavern that seemed to think it was still in the Wild West, with a rickety wood sign, saloon doors, and even a hitching post out front. Beside that, though, was a little neon-lighted diner that seemed more-or-less open and (perhaps more importantly) cheap. Nico hunched forward in his aviator's jacket as he started walking wearily toward it.
As soon as he opened the door, the smell of grease and the sound of terrible 80's music assaulted him. He breathed in hungrily. Gods, when was the last time he'd had proper junk food? Not since the battle of Manhattan, he realized with apprehension. Ever since then, he'd been eating at Camp Half-Blood, which was not exactly known for its hamburgers and fries, a fact that Percy often complained about. Loudly.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts and found himself a booth. Almost immediately, an over-enthusiastic waitress bounced up to greet him.
"Welcome to Nelson's Diner! May I help you with anything?" she announced, handing him a menu.
"Um, not yet," the son of Hades mumbled.
"New in town?" she asked helpfully.
"Just passing through."
"Ah. Are your parents coming to join you?" (How could she smile that long without getting a headache?, he wondered.)
"Last I saw Dad, he was pretty busy. Complaints from Charon, escaping hellhounds, disappearing security ghouls- you know how these things can pile up."
The waitress blinked.
"I'll have a cheeseburger, please," he added, handing her back the menu.
"Oh! Yeah, okay. That'll be right out" she walked away quickly, leaving Nico alone with his thoughts.
The tinny speakers in the corner of the diner continued blasting a stupid-sounding song. For lack of anything better to do, he leaned back and listened to it.
"...so I tore your name out of my Rolodex, and I tore all our pictures in two...and I burned down the malt shop where we used to go, just because it reminds me of you!"
Okay, bad decision. The last thing he wanted to hear right then was a breakup song. They always seemed so self-centered and whiny. But in spite of himself, he kept listening.
"'Cause I'd rather spend eternity eating shards of broken glass then to spend one more minute with you..."
Nico almost laughed. What did it say about him that he felt this song was relatable? Honestly, he was the son of the god of death, and it was starting to creep him out. He didn't really think it was healthy to go around burning down buildings after a heartbreak, for one thing.
Hypocrite, said a little voice in his head.
Shut up, he told it. That was a year and a half ago. And besides, I didn't burn down any buildings.
He could've sworn he heard the voice snicker.
When the waitress came out with his burger, he asked her who was on the radio at that moment, just out of curiosity.
"Oh! I've heard of him before. Something Al. He does parodies, I think. Would you like anything to drink?"
He stared at his soda moodily as she walked away. Of course it was a parody. It wasn't enough that Nico was cowardly, or lonely, or (why not just admit it) a filthy femminella. Nico was so pitiful that he felt he could connect to a song trying to make fun of unloved whiny people. Congratulations, Nico.
He took a bite of his burger. (Well, what did you expect him to do? Stare at it until it was cold? Even Nico wasn't stupid enough to do that.)
Surprisingly, the burger was good enough to distract him from his self-loathing, and by the time he'd finished inhaling it, the song was done. He found a few crumpled bills in his pocket and paid for his food.
As the door to the diner closed behind him, Nico shivered. He hadn't remembered how cold it was outside. Or maybe he'd just been to drained to notice last time.
"hmm-hmm-hmm, one more minute with you..."
When he realized he was humming, Nico blushed furiously and shrunk back into his coat. Gods, he hoped no-one had heard him. Ugh, that stupid song. Of all the things to get stuck in one's head...
So where to now? he thought idly. The underworld? No. He didn't really feel like seeing his father right now. Camp Jupiter? Nah. Hades had just introduced him to the Roman training camp, and he wasn't entirely comfortable going back yet. It was still kinda disorienting to think about.
And Camp Half-Blood?
He was of mixed minds. When he'd first arrived at camp, he'd thought it was the best thing ever. It'd seemed like his Mythomagic game come to life. But right now, there were just too many people for him. Too many people to recognize him, to talk to him, to whisper about him behind his back...
And of course, there was one person in particular that he didn't want to see.
No. He wasn't going to Camp Half-Blood. He'd rather freeze to death in the middle of the ocean than be anywhere near Perseus Jackson for any longer than he had to be.
He sighed to himself. Yes, I get the irony.
The voice in his head burst into laughter.
A/N:
Hey, guys!
So, since this is my first completed fanfic, I would really appreciate any reviews.
For the (one word of) Italian in the story, I did a bit of research. I felt like Nico would still be rather self-deprecating about his sexuality, and according to an article I found about a roundup of gay men from Sicily in about 1938 where they mention the term femminella as slang for a gay man. Since it's about Nico's time period, and general country (although technically this happened on the other side of Italy from him), I figured it might fit in with his vocabulary.
Perhaps I'm overthinking this.
Anyway, thanks for reading! Have a great day!
-geiltir