A/N: Aloha people! 'Tis I, the mediocre writer from America. Today I present to you a story about dogs based off of an episode of a really cheesy kid's show. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson
Nico di Angelo did not like dogs, so when Percy Jackson shows up with a dog, he is moderately upset.
"Why the hell do you have a dog with you?" Nico asked angrily as Percy sat across from him. Percy smiled. "I'm taking care of her," he explained. "Piper was going on a trip with Jason and asked me to watch their dog. Her name is Dee."
Nico scowled. "You know I don't like dogs," he said. Percy blushed. "Yeah, I know, but c'mon. She's so cute! Look at her," he said, and lifted her up from Nico to see. He set her down on the table and she padded over to Nico. He leaned away as she began sniffing him, but otherwise didn't do anything.
He sighed. 'Whatever,' he thought as the waiter approached their table.
After ordering and eating, they simply talked. Nico did his best to avoid mentioning or even acknowledging Dee, who was sniffing around under the table. After a bit of silence, Percy stood hastily. "Hey, um, could you maybe watch Dee for a bit?" he asked sheepishly. "I-it's only for like 5 minutes!" he pleaded, seeing Nico's expression. Nico sighed (again) and agreed. It couldn't be so bad, right? 'Just keep her in your line of sight,' he told himself. 'Easy.' Percy flashed him a grin. "Thanks, man. Be right back," he said, and rushed inside.
He awkwardly beckoned Dee over. She walked over and sat at his feet. 'Okay,' Nico thought. 'This isn't so hard.' He stared at Dee for a few seconds, then decided his brain was melting of boredom. "Okay, girl," he said, getting her attention. "Um..." He pulled the straw out of his soda cup. 'I really hope this is safe', he thought. "Okay, um, go fetch!" he said half-heartedly, and threw the straw.
Dee raced to get it. Nico chuckled quietly, and he wasn't the only one. He jumped and turned to see possibly the hottest guy in the universe. The flushed, and so did the hottest guy in existence. "S-sorry," stuttered the hot guy. "It was kinda funny, though," he said sheepishly. Nico nodded. "Um, yeah," was his ever-so-intelligent response. The hot guy smiled. "My name's Will," he said. He tugged on something, and Nico watched as a small golden retriever walked over and started to...'bond' with Dee. "And this is Apollo," he finished. Nico cursed and made a split second decision. "Um, this is Dee," he said. "My name's Nico."
Hot guy-er, Will- smiled. "Nice to meet you, Nico," he said. Nico nodded. Awkward silence ensured. "So!" Will exclaimed with false cheeriness. "Would you do me the honor of doing to the dog park with me tomorrow at 3?" he asked. Nico flushed. "Yeah! I, um, yeah. Yes. Sure. 3 sounds great," he said intelligently. Will beamed. "Great! See you then," he said, and walked away.
Nico looked down at Dee as soon as he was out of earshot. "Thanks." he told the dog.
A minute later, Percy came out of the restaurant and sat down. "Why are you so happy?" he asked, seeing Nico's expression. "I thought you hated dogs."
Nico nodded. "I do, but...can I borrow Dee tomorrow at 3 o'clock?"
"Okay, lemme get this straight," Percy said. "While I was in the bathroom, you and the hottest guy in the universe booked a date at the dog park and now you need Dee because he thinks she's your dog?"
Nico nodded. "Seems about right," he said. Percy sighed. "Jesus Christ. Fine, you can borrow her. Don't tell Piper. Now, you need a lesson on how to take care of dogs before you make a fool of yourself in front of your future boyfriend." Nico groaned.
After learning how to play with Dee, what breed she was, and how to pick up her poop (gross), Percy deemed Nico ready to pretend that he liked dogs. It was about 5 when they headed off to their separate apartments.
As soon as Nico was in his apartment, he collapsed on the couch. His cat, a medium-sized black-and-gray tabby, came over and nuzzled against his knee. He patted he space next to him, and Tee jumped up onto the couch. She purred and nuzzled his hand as he petted her. Nico sighed. "What am I going to do?" he lamented to the cat. "I hate dogs," he said.
The cat did not respond.
Nico groaned again. 'Whatever,' he reassured himself again. 'I bet it's not that hard anyway.'
He mindlessly played Mr Jump until about 9 in the evening. "Shit," he mumbled to himself. He had barely made it past 3 levels (which meant he was now currently on level twelve) but he was exhausted. He rolled over, forgetting he was on a couch, and promptly fell face-first onto his rug. He moaned. "Fuck it," he muttered, and closed his eyes.
Nico woke up early the next day, meaning he awoke before noon. He groggily got up to change and eat breakfast, then headed out to Percy's apartment. He knocked. After a minute, Annabeth opened the door. "Oh-hi Nico!" she said. "Um, hey Annabeth," he said awkwardly. "Is Percy there?" Annabeth nodded. "Seaweed Brain!" she yelled, directing it inside the apartment. "Nico's here!"
After a second, a thump! was heard, followed by Percy. "Hey, Nico," he greeted him. "What's up?" Nico fiddled with the hem of his shirt. He was about four hours early, according to the clock in the apartment, and Percy seemed to notice, too. "Um, can I still borrow Dee for later?" he asked sheepishly. Percy nodded. "Yeah, I was about to walk her and drop Annabeth off at her apartment," he said. Nico nodded. "Okay, cool. See you guys later," he said, waving. They waved back and Annabeth shut the door.
Nico walked around aimlessly. He had nothing to do for the next hour, anyway. He stopped at Green Cafe for a sandwich at around 1, then headed back towards his apartment. He played with his cat for a bit, before checking the clock. It was 2:30. With the time it took to go to Percy's apartment and walk to the park, it would be 3.
Nico stood, despite the indignant meows of Tee. "Sorry, man," he said, and headed out.
The date went great. Will seemed to quickly catch on on how to make Nico laugh and what his sense of humor was like. Plus, he barely gagged picking up Dee's poop. Though, agreeing to meet at the park with their dogs again probably wasn't the most intelligent thing he's done.
Percy agreed to let Nico borrow Dee for dates with Will. Of course, Piper and Jason had to come back eventually, though Nico had hoped it wouldn't be in the next two weeks (it was).
It was awkward to tell Will if they could possibly not meet at the dog park next time, and Will seemed relieved. "Yeah!" he exclaimed. "Yeah, totally. There's this Italian restaurant by central park that you'd love," he said, smiling at Nico. He smiled back and thanked the gods he had agreed without question.
The Italian was good, though it wasn't actual Italian. Nico pointed it out and Will blushed. "Good, though." was his response. Nico laughed (he wasn't wrong).
Eventually, Nico started going over to Will's apartment for Harry Potter and Disney movie marathons. It was great, and they shared their first kiss when Sebastian was signing "Kiss the Girl". When it was over, Nico looked at Will, bright red. He smiled, and sung 'kiss the girl' along with Sebastian. Nico had punch his arm and snuggled into him while Will laughed.
So when he asked Nico to bring 'his dog' Dee over, Nico knew he was screwed. Jason would probably be delighted to let him borrow Dee, but there was no way in hell he was telling Jason.
In other circumstances, telling Will that Dee wasn't actually his wouldn't be awkward. But their relationship basically started with Apollo and Dee, so it could (theoretically) end their relationship. Nico doubted that would happen, but still. Theoretically.
Nico bit his lip. Should he tell him now, or wait until later? The right thing to do seemed to be to tell him now, but Nico was hesitant. He didn't know how Will would respond...but he did deserve to know that he hated dogs with all that was in him. 'Well,' Nico thought. 'Now or never.'
"Yeah...about that," he said hesitantly. "Well...youseeIdon'tactuallylikedogsandDeeisn'tmineI'msorrypleaseodn'thateme," he rushed out. "I'm sorry, what?" Will asked. Nico blushed. "I don't actually like dogs and Dee isn't mine," he said normally. An awkward silence came over the place. After about 2 excruciating minutes, Will burst out laughing.
"N-no way," he gasped out between laughs. "Apollo i-isn't mine either!" He gradually stopped laughing and turned to face a smiling Nico di Angelo. "So," he said. "Now that we like cats, why don't we go to your apartment for a change?"
Nico blushed. "Sure," he agreed. "My cat Tee will love you."
"So, I guess it runs in the family?"
It took Nico a second to process it, and when he got it, the turned around to gape at Will.
He laughed, seeing Nice's expression. "It's okay, di Angelo. I love you, too."
Nico blushed and leaned into Will's side.
Voila. Hurray for cheesy and rushed endings amirite.
xo