Author's Note: Written for the prompt Rachel/Nico "blank canvas" on the pjo_fic_battle comm. on lj. Although it is indeed written far too late, I figure I might as well give credit where credit's due, right?

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare enjoyed watching Nico di Angelo.

She found she had put the activity in a file in her mind that was labeled something along the lines of 'Little things, pleasurable nevertheless.'Watching Nico was accompanied by activities such as, drinking hot chocolate while watching Bringing Up Baby and wrapping herself up in a wool blanket, or taking pictures of unsuspecting people who also happened to ride the two train.

She got into trouble for two of the named three activities, however. It turned out that no one on the two train enjoyed getting photographed without their permission and knowledge, and that the son of Hades did not approve of being watched. (Luckily no one seemed to protest her watching classic filmswith a mug of hot chocolate in her hand and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders- even if she did do it entirely too often.)

No, Nico did not enjoy being watched. And he especially didn't enjoy what he knew Rachel was always leading up to when watching him, which was whipping out her sketchpad and taking down what she saw.

Rachel had drawn Percy and Annabeth a thousand times over, much to their own dismay, although after a while of her going on, and on, and on about how much she she wanted to sketch them, they had given in.

Nico di Angelo was, much to Rachel's ongoing sadness, not following suit.

But still, there was always the three to five minutes when Nico wouldn't realize she was watching. When he'd be looking down at some paper or another, or focusing on something on the television, or standing in the kitchen and acting all domestic, where Rachel would have a few minutes where she could just watch.

Because if there was one thing that Rachel Elizabeth Dare loved most to witness (and then, hoepfully, paint) it was disturbing beauty. And those were the exact words to describe Nico di Angelo.

No one has black eyes ("It's not possible!" she had argued countless times in her art class. "Human beings are not sharks!") but Nico's were as close as it could get. His large eyes, the irises almost matching the pupils, held the same intensity they had when he was twelve, and Rachel often wondered if she could catch that intensity if she were to paint him.

His hair was as dark as his eyes, dark in a way that made it almost seem unreal. It was darker than Percy's, and that's saying something. It was black as night, dark as his home. It went in contrast with his skin on a bad day, when he was deadly pale, his skin practically as white as paper. But on a good day, when it took its natural olive tone, it absolutely complimented him in every way, giving him an almost exotic look.

His nose was straight save for a slightly crooked ridge, the means of which could be natural or derived from a broken nose or two; take your pick. His cheekbones were prominent, giving his face an almost aristocratic look about it. His lips accompanied the rest of his features nicely, the bottom lip slightly fuller than the top.

So it was in those few minutes when Nico was not aware, that Rachel would slide one of her sketchpads out from under the couch cushion (Rachel had a habit of storing sketchbooks all around her apartment so that whenever a moment, such as the one being told now, occured she could whip out some paper and a pencil and get to drawing) and begin to attempt to correctly portray the ridge of his nose, the exact angle of his jaw, before -

"Rachel!" Nico exclaimed. "We have talked about this." And he huffed all the way to the terrace.

And so for the first few years of their relationship, it went on like this, Nico standing his stubborn ground and Rachel never relenting, always sure that one day Nico would give up and just stay still so she could draw him, goddammit! However, when Rachel realized that that day simply was not going to come, ever (damn the son of Hades), she went about finding a new plan of action, one that would not fail, one that wasn't nearly as drawn out as sketching someone.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare finally bought a non-disposable camera.

Bow chicka wow wow. Review!