I just needed some plotless Christmas Percico fluff, okayyyy.
Also this was meant to be a drabble whoops I accidentally wrote 3K words my baddddd.
Disclaimer: Haha, I wish I owned PJO/HoO! Then I'd be an awesome writer, not writing crappy fanfics.
The North Pole
By: Coqui's Song
"I'm not walking out in the street like this," Nico says, a faint blush reddening his cheeks as he looks down at his ridiculous outfit. "Why did I even let you talk me into this?"
"Nico, it's New York. Nobody cares how you're dressed as." Percy shoots him a grin and puts on his Santa hat. "Besides, you haven't celebrated Christmas in… how long? More than seventy years? So we're going all out."
"There's really no need for it," Nico insists. "I mean, it's not like Christmas is a big deal or anything."
Percy frowns and grabs Nico's wrist, bringing him so close that he can smell the scent of the sea. So close that the seventeen-year-old half-blood has to glance straight up to meet the older demigod's gaze. He hates that he's so short; Nico reached his growth spurt rather early and then he stopped growing, so he's a little thing, while Percy grew steadily and stopped after he reached six feet tall. Nico's only five feet and six inches, yes, still, because that had been his height at fourteen and three years later, he's the same.
The red coat with the white trim that Percy wears is much too big for him, but it's a Santa costume, and Percy is a lean demigod machine –of course it's too large on him. Not that the son of Poseidon minds, anyway, because his sea-green eyes are sparkling; he enjoys this. Percy straightens Nico's elf hat and sternly tells him, "It is a big deal, Nico di Angelo. For me. Because you've been alone so long, I need to show you to enjoy yourself. So stop being such a Grinch."
Nico scrunches his nose and looks down at his red-and-green elf's outfit. "Well, at least you didn't dress me as Rudolf. Then I suppose we would have more of a problem. Although I probably should take more offense at being dressed as an elf."
"Why, because you're short?" asks Percy, lowering his hand to lace his fingers through Nico's. He smiles gently and plants a kiss on his forehead. He continues in a soft voice, "I like that about you."
The younger demigod hates that he can't control the blush that appears on his face. Gods, it's hot in this costume, it's so fucking hot in the apartment, with Percy in front of him. Nico is still not used to having Percy as his boyfriend and he thinks maybe he'll never get used to it, so he feels so hot right now, and he wishes that they could just go outside in the freezing December air already. He can't really think about much else other than the fact that he feels so, so warm right now, so his brain tries desperately to come up with some sort of coherent response, but it can't, so Nico just nods and makes an embarrassing squeaking sound from the back of his throat.
The son of Poseidon laughs and crushes him into a hug, which Nico gladly returns.
"Let's go," Percy whispers in his ear, kissing his cheek before he pulls away. He spins on the black heel of his boots and marches forward, opening the apartment door. He glances back at the son of Hades, who hasn't moved from his place.
Nico has just been watching Percy, entranced, his breath taken away. He feels in awe, the same way he felt when Percy saved him and Bianca from the manticore; the same way he felt when Percy came out of the Styx, bearing the curse of Achilles; the same way he felt when Percy rescued him from the bronze jar back in Rome. He isn't sure what exactly triggered him to feel like this –it could be Percy's smile, or the glint in his green eyes, or the raven-black hair peeking out under the Santa hat.
Five months they've been together, and it never gets old. He has loved Percy since he was ten years old, and seven years later, there they are, together. After all those years of pining after the son of Poseidon, after being convinced that Percy would only ever love Annabeth, there they are. And sometimes Nico doesn't know how to contain his happiness.
Gods, I love you, Nico wants to say as Percy gestures for him to follow him out. I love you so much; so, so much.
He shakes his head and offers a smile. "Sorry." The younger demigod walks out of the apartment and waits as Percy locks the door.
The older teen turns to him and says teasingly, "Feeling sentimental, my dear Ghost King?"
"Shut up," he says, shoving Percy gently, "I'm Glitter the elf now, remember, Santa Claus?"
"Ah, yes," 'Santa Claus' nods, "I forgot that you take your roleplaying seriously. Can someone spell 'Mythomagic'?"
"Oh, gods, why did I meet you when I was ten," Nico chokes out, thoroughly embarrassed.
"It was meant to be, you little dork," says Percy fondly, wrapping an arm around his waist and giving Nico a little squeeze. "Now let's get some pictures with the little tourist kids, huh?"
Ω Ω Ω
Percy wasn't kidding. The two demigods are stopped no less than ten times as they walk around Manhattan. Tourist families with little kids who point at them and squeal, "Santa Claus! Santa Claus!" They let them take photos of them, and when the parents offer them money for the pictures, they don't refuse it, because Percy's a broke college student and Nico attends high school and even though both of them have jobs, it's hard to make ends meet.
"This is kind of nice," Nico admits as they finally get out of Times Square. He's really cold, though, now. His teeth are chattering and he's shivering; he wishes he'd brought his aviator jacket. It doesn't matter now, though, because Percy wraps his arm around his shoulder, and the extra warmth coming off the son of Poseidon is more than welcome.
"Told you so."
He allows himself to grin. "So where are we headed?"
"Rockefeller Center," Percy announces. "We need you to experience the best Christmas ever, so that's what we're going to do. You're going to see the biggest Christmas tree in the States!"
"The biggest Christmas tree is in D.C., Percy," he murmurs. "It's in front of the White House."
"And you say you don't know about Christmas! Fine, the second biggest Christmas tree, Mr. Know-It-All." He pauses for a second, then launches into the street without looking both ways, in the way that only a born-and-bred New Yorker can do. Nico hesitates for a moment longer, because he sees that the crosswalk is lit red, but Percy tugs him forward, and he ends up sprinting to the other side of the street because he does not want to die like this.
"It's so obvious you're not from here," Percy chuckles fondly, squeezing his hand. "Don't worry; we'll make a New Yorker of you yet."
"I'm from Italy," Nico states. "I would think that means I belong here."
"You belong in Little Italy, for sure," says the older half-blood. "Maybe we'll move over there. We can have a cute little Italian garden and you can work in an Italian restaurant and you can teach me Italian and we can–"
"Shut up, Percy," Nico says, his face flushed. "We can't have a garden, because everything I touch dies."
"Hmm, well I haven't died." The nine-teen-year-old stops in the middle of the sidewalk and takes the younger teen's hands. His eyes are gleaming.
"Don't push your luck." Nico shudders with cold again. "It's like the North Pole here."
"I wouldn't say that yet," says Percy, turning slightly away and pointing into the distance, where a bunch of multicolored lights twinkle. He tugs Nico again, and then they walk faster and faster until they reach the huge crowd at Rockefeller Center. Even though Nico has to stand on his tiptoes to see the tree, it's still a breathtaking sight. And with Percy dressed as Santa Claus, it's indeed like the North Pole.
"Come on," the son of Poseidon urges, and they push through the crowd until they stand at the front of it.
Nico gazes up at the tree and all he can think is, Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wowohwowohwow.
They don't really take much time to admire the huge Christmas tree, because Percy pulls Nico forward and he doesn't really know where Percy is taking him; there are too many people, he can't see, he feels them closing in, and just when it gets so claustrophobic that Nico isn't sure he can bear any more people pressing against him, it opens up and there's an ice skating rink in front of him. People are skating around and around, and Percy tells him to wait while he gets skates.
"I-I don't know how," Nico stutters.
"I'll teach you, then, just like I taught you to swim," he says affectionately. "Remember that?"
Nico glances down at his own boots, trying to hide the huge smile that is fighting its way to his face. Of course he remembers. He's still slightly afraid of the water, though. He doesn't belong in there, no more than he belongs in the sky. "O-okay."
"I'll be right back," Percy says, squeezing his hand. Nico isn't much one for public displays of affection, but he won't refuse a brush of the hands, a kiss on the forehead or cheek.
He stands there, feeling rather self-conscious as children point at him and ask him what he's doing out of the North Pole and especially, Why are you so tall? I thought elves were short? and he tells them it's a lie; elves are like normal people, they're just Santa's helpers. So what are you doing out of the North Pole so close to Christmas, they ask, and he replies that he's helping Santa double-check the naughty and nice list, and, with a knowing, teasing glint in his dark eyes, asks them if they've been good this year. This scares them off and they trip over themselves getting away.
"I never thought an elf would be so naughty," a voice whispers in his ear, and Nico grins and turns to find Percy holding two pairs of ice skates.
"Santa!" says one of the children, running toward them and tugging on Percy's too-big coat. He looks at Nico warily. "Santa, your elf Glitter says I'm on the naughty list!"
"I only asked if you were good this year, Stephen, I never said you were on the naughty list," Nico protests, glancing up at Percy and smirking.
"I'll check my list once we get back to the North Pole," Percy promises Stephen, and the boy scowls at Nico and runs off to his parents.
He gazes after Stephen and sighs, his shoulders slumping. "Hey, Percy. Thanks for the skates." His voice comes out a little tired and sad, but he tries to sound enthusiastic. He takes the smaller pair and frowns at them.
"Hey, what's wrong?" asks Percy, pressing closer to him. "You were so good with those kids!"
The son of Hades grimaces and shakes his head slowly. "They don't like me, Percy. Did you see that kid Stephen? He was afraid of me. He hated me."
"Maybe it's because you were pretending to be an elf who would give him away to the big man? Maybe Stephen hasn't been very nice this year." Percy chuckles and hugs him. "They loved you. I saw while I was waiting on the skates. All those kids crowding around you. They loved you. Who knew the son of Hades would be so great with kids?"
"Okay," says Nico, because how is he supposed to reply to that? Shit, Percy can't just say things like that, those kinds of things that make him freeze up, not knowing how to respond, because the son of Poseidon is so freaking sweet it gives him diabetes and Nico loves that boy so much that his heart squeezes every time he looks at him. "Let's-let's skate now? Please?"
"Of course."
Percy leads him to the rink, and they sit and put on their ice skates. As the stand up, Nico grips the older teen tightly, because he doesn't want to fall, and certainly not on the ice that looks hard as rock. He sees a girl about eight years old fall flat on her bottom and the sound carries over to the seventeen-year-old, and he flinches, because damn that had to hurt.
"You are not letting me fall," the younger half-blood says through his teeth, and the college student laughs.
"Never," Percy promises, and he risks guiding Nico at a faster pace, and the younger teen curses under his breath in Italian.
"Fuck!" Nico gasps as he falls right onto his back. Percy backs away, barely suppressing laughter. "You ass, you lied to me."
"It's part of the experience," Percy states matter-of-factly, lowering himself and offering his hand to Nico. He helps the son of Hades up and Nico shivers. "Besides, it's actually fun falling. Can't you just feel the laughter bubbling up inside of you?"
"You're a masochist," he says as he stands up and finds his balance, but he has to grudgingly admit that what Percy says is true. He might have fallen, might have bruised himself up a bit, but he feels like laughing –no, giggling, which is something that the younger teen never, ever does.
Percy nods in agreement and lowers his head, pressing it against Nico's forehead. Their hot breaths freeze in the air and they stay that way for a few moments, staring into each other's deep eyes, the rest of the world melting away like snow on the first day of spring. "I love you," murmurs Percy, and the younger boy catches his breath, because this is something Percy has not said before now, because he never expected those words to come out of his mouth, because holy shit Percy loves him, he loves him, he loves him.
"I love you, too, Percy," Nico manages. "You know I do. You know–" he doesn't finish because he doesn't know how to even begin to attempt to explain the emotions rolling around inside him.
"Well, now we know it's the North Pole, because it's so warm here," Percy laughs gently, but Nico isn't left to think over the nineteen-year-old's paradoxical statement because then he's asking in a quiet, careful tone, "May I kiss you?"
"I don't like public displays of affection," Nico says, closing the space in between them, "but I'll make an exception this once."
And then they're kissing, and gods, it never, ever gets old, never. It feels just like the first time, and of course Nico swoons just like the first time, and Percy seems amused by this, the effect he has on the son of Hades.
"Daddy!" a young girl's shrill voice cuts through the thin, cold air, and the two teenagers break apart and glance around, trying to pinpoint where the sound came from. A young girl about six years old, wearing a bulky light pink coat, is staring at them with eyes big as saucers. She stands about twenty feet away. Two men come up to her and grab her hands and smile at Nico and Percy. She turns to one of the men and tells him anxiously, "Daddy, Santa Claus is cheating on Mrs. Claus with one of his elves!"
"Don't worry about that, sweetie," says the other man, adjusting his glasses. "That's not really Santa. That's just another elf dressed as Santa."
"What do you mean, Papi?" she asks, turning to the man with the glasses.
"Well, many of his elves go around the world dressed as him. Remember we went to the mall and you sat on Santa's lap?" The girl nods, and her papi continues, "Well, that wasn't really Santa. Just one of his elves dressed as him. They help him. So the one dressed as Santa is just another elf."
"Oh," the girl says, still glancing warily at Percy, who takes this as his cue to enter the conversation.
"Don't worry," Percy assures as he skates over to the family, Nico following him cautiously. "Santa would never cheat on Mrs. Claus. I'm his elf, Tinsel, and this is my boyfriend, Glitter. He helps Santa with his naughty and nice list; I tell Santa what the kids want this year. Glitter is much more important than me."
"I wouldn't count myself out, Tinsel. Without you, Santa would probably just give the kids socks for Christmas, eh?" says the man the girl had called Daddy. He pats Percy's back and grins.
"Probably," Percy admits.
They all smile at one another and then they say their polite goodbyes. The little family skates off, leaving Nico and Percy by themselves.
Nico waits until the family is out of sight before he bursts into a fit of raging laughter. "Wh-what was that?" He laughs more, and can barely get out his words. "And you-you tell me that I take roleplaying seriously, oh gods, Percy." He grabs his stomach and slips on the ice, falling on his butt, though he doesn't care; this all is just so freaking hilarious.
"It's Tinsel," he replies, straight-faced, and Nico just keeps laughing. "And you, Glitter, are adorable when you laugh."
His face is flushed, whether it be the cold or his laughing or the fact that Percy just complimented him, he doesn't know, but Nico's face is flushed and so very, very red it probably rivals Rudolph's nose right about now. He wipes away a tear and manages to get himself under control. "The kid… 'Santa Claus is cheating on Mrs. Claus,' oh, gods, only a six-year-old would say that. We should –we should do this more often."
"What? Completely humiliate ourselves by dressing as Santa Claus and his elf?" asks Percy, crouching next to him.
"No, celebrate Christmas," Nico states, breaking into a wide smile. "If that means dressing up as Santa and his elf, so be it, but this was so fun."
"I think I liked you better when you were being a Grinch," Percy murmurs, "because at least it didn't freak me out."
"This was all your idea anyway. You wanted me to like Christmas," he says, taking Percy's hand. "Besides, didn't the Grinch's heart grow three times or some shit? And don't even mention Scrooge."
"It's weird," the son of Poseidon insists.
"It's the North Pole," the younger teen says. "Crazy shit happens at the North Pole. Santa Claus can cheat on his wife, and Nico the Grinch can love Christmas."
"What happens at the North Pole stays in the North Pole," Percy agrees, pulling Nico closer and giving him a light kiss on the lips.
Let's hear it for crappy Christmas fics! :D Hope you enjoyed my little fluffy one-shot.
Merry Christmas. Feliz Navidad. And yeah, I'm only bilingual, so.
~Coqui's Song