OTP challenge: "Can't you see I'm just a little - ahh, occupied?"


Toothpaste

It took Percy a little by surprise as Nico Shadow Travelled into his apartment at eleven in the evening. He spat out his mouthful of toothpaste into the sink and turned to the son of Hades leaning against his shower.

"Hi," he said, "what are you doing here?"

Nico shrugged. "Just saying hey, how're you doing and the other polite schist I'm meant to ask about."

"So eloquent," said Percy seriously before sticking his toothbrush back in his mouth and brushing with vigour.

"Wow," Nico raised an eyebrow so high that it disappeared into his – admittedly rather low – hairline, "that was a long word. Sure you can handle it?"

Percy spat into the sink again, pretending that it was Nico's face, before answering. "I'll manage," he said stiffly. "It's a little late, isn't it?"

Nico looked out of the window and started – noticing for the first time how dark it was. He checked Percy's watch, grabbing the older boy's wrist. "It's eleven," he said, voice giving way to a slight apology, but remaining sceptical enough that Percy knew Nico meant really, but you were up anyway, so what does it matter.

Percy muttered his reply around a toothbrush, words indecipherable. Nico pointed this out and Percy rinsed, glaring, "I said," he said, turning to Nico, "that it was okay."

"Well, good," said Nico, moving away from the shower to stand beside the door, folding his arms and frowning at Percy, "because I'm not leaving."

Muttering something about irritating sons of Hades, Percy made to shove past Nico, but was blocked. Nico smirked. "Don't I get a hello kiss?" he asked.

"No," said Percy, dodging around Nico.

Nico fell back onto the toilet seat, hands flying wildly and landing on the sink, or, more specifically, on the open toothpaste tube.

In a fountain of blue mint cream, the toothpaste exploded from the tube like paint, splattered, from a paint bomb. The mirror was covered, so was the left verge of the shower. So were Percy and Nico.

Slowly, Percy turned to Nico, still sat, looking slightly shell-shocked, on the toilet seat, mouth open and face completely blue. It was all in his hair too, dripping down onto his forehead and plastering blue to his scalp. It looked adorable, and Percy fought the affectionate smile that tried to surface.

Then he turned back to the bathroom, and suddenly fighting the affection wasn't so difficult. "Gods, Nico," he groaned, trying to run his hand through his hair, only to find that that the toothpaste had dried into his hair, effectively turning it into a mass of brittle plaster. "Would it have been so difficult to just say please?"

"Is that all I had to say?" wondered Nico aloud as Percy bent to the ground, swiping a towel from the rail – mercifully shielded from the spray by the shower partition. He began to scrub at the floor, praying to Hades that it would c ome out and that his mom would never notice.

He felt Nico wrap his arms around him, settling, warm and calming, like a second skin around his shoulders, resting his head in the crook of Percy's neck and letting his breaths sink to the rhythm of Percy's heartbeats.

"Can't you see I'm just a little - ahh, occupied?" Percy's last word came out an octave higher than usual because Nico had buried his face into Percy's shoulder, kissing the skin below his ear.

"Not as occupied as you'll be soon," said Nico and even though Percy couldn't see his face, he could feel the smirk that accompanied the promise.