A/N: gonna post this early cuz i'm exciteD! my (first evER) contribution to percico weekend on tumblr uvu the timeline is kinda ambiguous like i guess after tlo but as if tlh didnt happen? idk enjoy
Percy hated how quiet it was. He'd moved out of his mom's apartment just a few months before, when he'd turned 20, and at first the freedom had been exhilarating. He could leave wet towels and dirty clothes wherever he wanted. Hell, he could walk around naked if he wanted to (which he didn't because holy shit was it cold in this flat). Still, he missed the constant noise, whether it be the turning pages of Paul's current reading material or Sally's restrained yet irritated command that Percy pick his damn towel up off the floor for the fourth time that night.
His flat, on the other hand, was frustratingly quiet, save for the occasional visitor. Sally and Paul came by every week or so and Grover came by when he could (which wasn't often), but at least it was better than the frequent "visits" of Connor and Travis Stoll (which were really just the twins passing out drunk on Percy's couch at ungodly hours when they couldn't make it home). Annabeth, on the other hand, had visited only once when Percy had first moved in for the sole purpose of dumping him. "It's just not the same as it was. We're adults, we need to stop clinging to childish things. It's time to grow up," she'd said. Percy almost felt himself get upset about it again but he quickly quelled the rising emotions. No use in getting worked up over it now, Annabeth was on Olympus living her dream and Percy was...well he worked at the aquarium but it was a pretty easy gig if you were the son of the sea god so he couldn't complain. Besides, being around water and fish all day was kinda nice. The fish's constant chattering could get grating but it helped him to actually appreciate the silence of the flat.
A silence that was starting to get annoying, even with Shark Week playing loudly on the TV. The demigod briefly considered going out but what could he even do in the middle of the afternoon? Percy's thought was interrupted when he heard footsteps on the linoleum of his kitchen. Instinctively, he gripped Riptide in his pocket and whirled around, ready to face whatever creature had snuck in. A dark eyebrow shot to his hairline when his eyes locked onto a familiar, black-clad form. When did Nico get here? How did he–– Actually that was a dumb question; shadow travel, obviously. Percy had forgotten he could do that, it had been over half a year since they'd seen each other and the older demigod had forgotten all the (admittedly creepy) things the other could do.
Percy watched dumbfounded as the son of Hades simply waltzed up to his fridge, plucked out the gallon jug of blue Kool-Aid, took a swig of it, then disappeared into the son of Poseidon's bedroom. He even had the nerve to close the bedroom door behind him, as if he didn't want to be bothered by the person who actually lived there. Percy huffed, rolled his eyes then focused back on the Air Jaws rerun, Nico would come out soon and explain this nonsense.
After watching Air Jaws twice as well as an episode of Shark After Dark, Percy realized it was still quiet in the flat with no sign of Nico. He craned his neck from the couch to catch a glimpse of the microwave clock and––Holy shit, how did four hours go by? Shark Week was just too captivating, it wasn't fair. Was Nico even still there? The head rush Percy got upon standing up had him making a mental note that it was a bad idea to get caught up in week long TV specials about sea animals. Once the wave of vertigo passed, Percy padded quietly into his bedroom and cracked the door open, poking his head inside. On top of his, of course, blue bed sheets, the 17-year-old son of Hades was passed out cold on his side. The previously full jug of Kool Aid sat drained on the floor, top lost at some point. Soft snores brought Percy's attention back to Nico. The boy had stripped down to a pair of black boxers at some point, throwing his clothes haphazardly around the room (which is what Percy did as well, but that was beside the point it was his house in the first place). In another show of audacity, Nico was wearing Percy's Darth Vader t-shirt, which had most likely been chosen because it was one of the few black shirts Percy owned. The rest of his wardrobe was, as once stated by Nico himself, "vomitously blue" and the son of Hades had a serious aversion to color.
Percy felt annoyance spark in his chest before it quickly died at the sight of the younger demigod's face. There were dark bags under his eyes but he was no paler than usual and his expression was incredibly calm, probably calmer than Percy had ever seen him. It was actually...dare he think it? Damn cute. He supposed that Nico had always been cute but this was the first time it had never made his heartbeat pound in his ears so loudly. He just couldn't bring himself to wake the obviously exhausted boy. Instead, the older demigod quietly picked the empty jug off the ground and took it back into the kitchen. As he filled the container with water to prevent later stickiness, he spotted his grocery list taped to the fridge. Percy grabbed the pen he kept on the counter and under the messily scrawled words "eggs" and "ambrosia", he added "kool aid". Then, as a second thought, the young man double underlined his latest addition to the list and noted off to the side "A LOT". Percy had a feeling that Nico would be dropping by more often, and the thought actually caused a warm sensation to spread through his chest.
With a goofy smile on his face, Percy quietly made his way back into his bedroom to see that Nico hadn't moved an inch. The goofy smile got even goofier, as Percy laid down beside the other demigod. He hesitated for a moment before gathering a burst of confidence and spooning up behind Nico, who didn't so much as twitch at the arm suddenly around his middle. All of the sudden, the quiet didn't bother Percy. The soft sound of Nico's breathing filled the small space and, even though the son of Hades' skin was barely warmer than the rest of the flat, the older demigod felt warm. He felt himself start to drift off, his thoughts becoming incoherent as his eyes fell closed. Just as he teetered over the edge of consciousness, he heard Nico mumbling.
"Piccione sciocco..."
"Pff, what?"