It had been a long day. The British Museum didn't close until 8:30 on Fridays, and tonight he had had to help clean up and make sure all the ancient Greek artifacts were in the right place. He could feel exhaustion weigh heavy through his bones as he walked back to his apartment. The snow had long since stopped, and the sidewalks were covered in a thin sheet of melting snow. Yellow streetlamps glared down at Nico and he quickened his pace, his feet growing numb in his boots. He wasn't scared of the dark, usually he joked to himself that the dark was scared of him, but tonight the streets of London felt like a different kind of dark.
Nico didn't want to feel the presence when it hit him. He was only a couple blocks away from his flat when he felt it. Either it was a monster (and a big one) or a demi-god. Probably a child of the Big Three. Nico didn't want to find out which was which. A monster he could take, after all he always carried his Stygian iron sword in a poster tube slung across his back. But another demi-god? He couldn't deal with that. Not after what happened a two summers ago.
Nico brushed these thoughts from his head. No demi-god would recognize him like this. He'd grown up in the short time since he left camp. Nico kept his hair trimmed and discarded most of his skull-themed apparel. That was the old Nico. The Nico that was afraid of who he was. That was partially why he decided to move to London. That, and that the gods influence was weak here. He needed to figure out what he wanted to do, and not play ambassador between the two camps, his father, his friends, anyone.
Lost in his thoughts, Nico didn't notice a familiar person waiting next to him at the cross walk.
"Nico?"
Nico turned to see the last person he'd ever wanted to see again.
"Percy?"
Percy waited at a set of lights, anxious to get to find a hotel and finally get some rest. The plane ride was almost worse than Tartarus, with the redhead flirting with him every five minutes and Zeus making the plane feel more like a rollercoaster.
And gods it was chilly. His breath puffed in front of him and his fingers were stiff with cold.
The light changed and Percy went to start across the street when he noticed the young man standing next to him. A baggy toque covered curly black hair and he wore a dark coat and skinny jeans, but he was clearly recognizable.
"Nico?" Percy stared as the man turned to face him.
Nico had grown up, but he was just as pale, and bags still hung under his deep-set eyes. His lips were chapped from the cold and earbuds dangled from his neck.
"Percy?" Percy felt his heart leap. He hadn't seen Nico for a couple years and forgot how many feelings he had for the kid. How many mixed feelings. And Percy supposed he couldn't call Nico a kid anymore, he had to be about twenty by now.
"What are you doing here?" Nico asked, his voice cracking like he was still fourteen. The conviction and hurt in this simple sentence made Percy's heart hurt.
"Some bodies were found that matched the, uh," Percy struggled to search for the right words, "the M.O. I guess." Nico broke Percy's gaze by looking awkwardly away across the street and nodded.
"Okay. C'mon," Nico ushered Percy hurriedly across the street, "We can talk about this later, in private. Do you have a hotel booked?"
Percy was still mildly surprised at Nico's tone. He had definitely grown up since they last met. Percy shook his head. "I was planning on just crashing wherever."
"Alright. My place is only a block away, if you want to stay there."
Percy smiled, this was a new Nico. "Yeah. I think I'd like that."
Hey again! Sorry, another short chapter, but I've got school and stuff so idk when the next chapter is gonna be available!
Anyway, thanks for the really nice reviews and favs and stuff.
