AN: I prefer making characters into friends rather than shipping them with everyone. I also hate character bashing. So I made one of the most hated and most loved characters into a Bro-OTP.

Disclaimer: Last time I checked I am a female brunette. Nice try, but I know that I'm not Rick Riordan.
Title: How Toilets Bring People Together.
Word Count: 848
Summary: Piper twisted her ponytail to get the rest of the water out. "Sorry that I didn't try hard enough." Friendship-fic, Vignette. No MoA spoilers inside.

Alternative Title: How Clarisse Can Create Friendships

"Sorry," Piper said again. Her downtrodden face became a grimace when she twisted her ponytail, and more toilet water was wrung out. "I should have tried harder."

Nico stared dejectedly at his prized aviator jacket. The smell of the camp toilets probably won't leave the material for weeks. He laid it out on the grass, hoping that the sun would start the process of drying it off.

He was ambushed by Clarisse and her siblings, telling him that he was never officially welcomed at camp yet. They then cornered him when he ran, got him, and dragged him over to the bathroom stalls. Piper joined soon later when she tried using Charmspeak to let him go. That failed due to the protection that Clarisse still had, and decided Piper also needed to be welcomed like everyone else had been before.

To make himself feel better, Nico wondered how it went for Percy when he first came to camp.

There. Much better.

He sat on the steps next to Piper. She was looking down at her feet, seeming very small and sad. He wasn't very good with talking to people—sad girls, especially, but he could at least give it a chance. "You did your best," he told her. He tried to give her an encouraging smile when she looked up, but it came out feeling forced.

"You're just saying that because…" Piper faltered at what the reason could be, so she shrugged and gave up. Her shoulders slumped. "I suck at being a hero."

"Eh…" Nico's eloquence started out. "Well, I wouldn't say that you suck."

She snorted, making the beads in her hair clang together. She spoke with heavy scorn. "You're Nico di Angelo, the Ghost King and a hero from a war. I'm just Piper who got lucky a few times. I don't think I'll ever be a hero like you guys."

Nico couldn't think of anything to say after that. He tapped his foot, attempting to think of what his friends would say in his place. Percy would make it into a joke to make her feel better, Hazel would say something comforting, Annabeth would say the truth that would somehow lighten the mood, but Nico wasn't them. He was the guy who hung out with dead people and relaxed in the Underworld. Having a sunshine personality and a caring attitude didn't go hand in hand with that. He wasn't even sure how to make anyone feel better after something humiliating. No wonder he sucked at making friends at camp. So far only the Ares Cabin liked him, and they still gave him a swirly.

Worst came to worst when Piper started to make sniffling sounds.

Nico leaned his head back, internally groaning and wondering which god he ticked off this time. Why him? Why not her boyfriend or best friend could be here instead?

Then the answer finally came.

"You stood up to Clarrise and her goons," he said loudly. Piper locked eyes with him, the tears in them gave him the push to say more. "That's brave. And you used Charmspeaking to help, that's also brave. Piper, you don't suck, you were being good person."

"I still failed," she said, but the dejected undertone wasn't fully there. "I couldn't stop them."

"Neither could I." That was true. Even he would have trouble gong against four highly-trained children of Ares. "You did your best, and now you know that you'll need to try a different tactic when going against her."

Piper weighed this new knowledge, the frown upturning when she ruminated on different ways. "I…I could have Charmspeaked the other guys… or…" Best to let Annabeth do any strategic planning instead.

"See?" Nico made a move to pat her shoulder, but decided to keep his hand down. That would be too corny. "Now you know what to do for Capture the Flag."

"Guess I do." The daughter of Aphrodite gave him a smile. "Thanks."

"Good." Nico stood up and held his jacket out far away. He wasn't sure how it was supposed to be cleaned. That was going to be another reason for his visit. "Now I say we go to Annabeth, and we call all think of a proper way to get revenge at tomorrow's game."

Piper then surprised him by hugging him. She stank of toilet water, but so did he.