The Plan – Part Two
Nyssa POV:
"So, before we totally mess up, let's make it clear that I hate white. And dresses. And bows. Oh and fruit cake. Can't stand fruit cake." I take a bite of my apple, chewing thoughtfully. I hadn't seen it coming, that we would have to plan an actual wedding. If you told me to plan a ton and a half flying chariot with machine guns and crossbow attachments that could fold down into a one kilo back pack, I'd have no problem. But a wedding, with invitations and formalities and traditions.. Yeah let's just say I'm better with machines.I wasn't good with social events. I've never been to a wedding, or even a formal party, so I was pretty much screwed in every way. I took another bite of the apple, surprisingly relaxed. After all, it was just a ceremony, and I would hate it whether it was done in a cellar or on the moon. Why bother worrying about it? Chiron had more or less informed us in the dining pavilion that we would be planning our own deal. Something of our own in this whole god awful mess. Oh, and I had to live with the prince of darkness. Yipee. So here we were strolling through the grounds, coming up on the dining pavilion.
"Agreed. So, how about a theme? Maybe we could get married in a grave yard, see how many odd looks we can get." Nico also has an apple – he was the one who thought to bring them along, and despite how much we hate each other, we are getting along. It's an unspoken agreement – we will save our anger and our frustration for later. We will, at some point, shout the house down. Just not now.
"Possibly. Out of interest, do you have any mortals you want to invite?"
"Nope, my families dead. Yours?"
"I'm not in contact with them." Nico's eyebrow lifts, but I ignore him. "And anyway, the less witness's the better. Maybe we could have a dead of night theme?"
"Hmm, I like it." He chews for a while, running his finger down the list of things we need, whilst I flick through the magazine that had mysteriously appeared on my bed. Frustration flooded my every vein and I fought the urge to throw it in the mud, deciding instead to shove it into the kangaroo pocket of my hoodie.
"Go on then. Who are you inviting to witness our humiliation?" Why cover up my feelings? He was stuck with me forever either way.
"Well, we should probably invite Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Luke – and my dad, if you don't mind."
"Not at all. Who wouldn't want the King of the Underworld to attend their wedding? No, he should come. Or at least we should invite him. Do you think he'll turn up?"
"Not really, but I'd like him too. What about you?"
"Yeah, because my dad's going to walk me down the aisle. But yeah, we'll invite him. And I guess we need to include some of my siblings – Leo, Jared, and Fiona would be my first choice. Piper's nice, though I don't know how the Leo, Piper, Will and Drew love square is going to work out."
"A love square? What's this? I sense a potentially useful scandal." He pulls a funny face and I snort. Ok, not so much of a monster after all.
"Yeah, the gods totally fucked up there. Leo has a thing for Piper, Drew has a thing for Will, Will has a thing for Piper, Piper has a thing for Leo and Drew has a major problem with Piper as a result. Oh, and of course this whole mooning over each other business is done in total secrecy, everyone but Drew seems to think their crush will never see them that way."
"Wow. Where do you get this information? Tell me more." He looks positively awed and I snicker. I know I shouldn't laugh at them but they were just so typical – none of them ever dared to flirt or give any sign that they liked the other person, they were so certain they would be rejected.
A blush rises on my cheeks as I realize he still wants an answer. Doubting that I could lie effectively to him, I decide to tell the truth, or try to.
"Well, I handle all the business, or trading side of things for my cabin. Most cabins have someone who does that – Miranda for Demeter, Malcolm for Athena, Chris for Hermes. Anyone with something to export does, and as Cabin 9 is one of those, I look after it. I trade in secrets too though, if it's important enough."
"Important? What do you mean?"
"By important, I mean all romance seems to go through me. I don't have a clue why, but people just seem determined to tell me the gossip. Especially the guys, actually, though I really don't know why I have the job, I never asked for it."
Nico just snorted and tossed his apple core in the bin. "Haha. Like we don't both know why they use you. Do you want flowers for the wedding? I could get them in any color or type you want, Persephone owes me."
"I wouldn't mind a few. Black and red rose's maybe, but I'm not the innocent daisy kind of girl. Certainly don't want a bouquet, and why do they use me for business?"
"Consider it done. They use you because your pretty, charming, and likable in an odd sort of way, plus your trustworthy. What are you doing when it comes to dresses, or am I not allowed to know?"
I freeze. Did he just call me pretty? Where on earth did that come from? I feel a bit of a blush creep onto my cheeks and I do all I can to suppress it, deciding to ignore the comment.
"I'll figure the dress out later. Let's concentrate on setting a date, though the idea of Clarisse in a white dress is amusing . . . ." We were just walking into the dining pavilion when an interesting sight caught my eye.
"Am I seeing things, or is Annabeth in Luke's lap?"
"Nope, they are indeed cuddling. Of course, Percy and Thalia were making out in the woods earlier, so it's hardly a mass betrayal on Annabeth's part, but it is surprising."
"Making out in the woods?" My voice rises almost to a squeal and a tremor runs down my back.
"Monster sources."
"Ah. Can you hear what they're saying from here? He seems to be kissing her hair." I feel like I'm about to faint. I can't believe Annabeth of all people is doing this, blindly flaunting her new relationship with Luke. It made me sick, the way she's all cozy with the ex-enemy.
"I can read their lips, or at least vaguely understand their conversation. Their setting a wedding date, he says whenever and she seems aloof about it. She's suggesting a month or so. Luke is surprised but happy and they agree and now I can't see Luke's lips because they're glued to her neck, and now I feel sick." He gives me a grossed out, rattled look. It's not immature; he's not grossed out by kissing – whether that was good or bad for me I didn't know.. I decided to ignore it for now. Either way, he'd have to fuck me at some point.
We turn away again, and put our heads down. For a while we chat about this and that, just getting to know each other, and trying to tune out the happy couple. As we walk away silently we are both praying that Percy doesn't stumble upon the sight of her quiet laugh or his soft sigh or the sound of hands rustling over fabric.
It's getting late when we finally return to wedding conversation.
"When do you want the wedding? Right at the end of the month?" Nico asks.
"Eager aren't we? No I think we need to get to know each other more first. And anyway, everyone is going to want their wedding then, so we may as well avoid that. I think few months. December would be good." No way was I telling him I was on my period. I might trust some parts of him, like how I could say I was dreading the wedding without him even blinking, but this was girl stuff. I had hoped not to need to talk about it for several years at least.
"December it is then."
