Prompt 1: Do one where Nico tires his hair up and how Anubis reacts.
Prompt 2: Try one where one of them dance or sings / hidden talent chapter.
Anubis felt like the gods had decided to punish him.
He was standing next to the training grounds in Camp Half-Blood, trying not to openly stare at Nico di Angelo as he trained the younger campers.
They had started with sword training, Nico having to switch his beloved Stygian Iron sword for a heavy, dull metal one.
Anubis could see that the other had to hold back as he was swinging his sword around. Having been on the receiving end of the blade, he knew how deadly accurate the son of Hades was. He never went too easy on the campers, though, always pushing them to train harder and whacking them on their wrists and other body-parts if they weren't paying enough attention.
Anubis had trained sword fighting with Nico many times during the three years they had known each other. He'd gotten his fair share of bruises from both the hilt and flat end of Nico's sword.
The one thing that always surprised him was Nico's speed, as well as his footwork. He was dancing around the other campers as they failed to predict his next move.
So, why was today any different? Well, Nico had decided that it was too hot to wear a jacket, and had ditched it in favour of a black tank top. Needless to say, Anubis had a hard time keeping his eyes off the demigod's toned arms and shoulders.
As if the gods wanted to punish him even more, the campers wanted to practice their hand-to-hand skills too. Anubis had hands-on experience with Nico in hand-to-hand combat mode, and he could say that he had to will his erection away during those training sessions.
Nico had actually been surprised when Anubis had asked to spar with him the first time.
"I thought you couldn't fight?"
Anubis had scowled at him, "Well, when you are constantly surrounded by troublemakers, you have to get some combat skills one way or another."
They didn't really keep score of their sparring (but Anubis was in the lead), and they rarely got to practice more than once a week. Nico had gotten busier after becoming a trainer in Camp Half-Blood, and it only saddened Anubis a tiny bit (a lot).
Anubis had to shake his head at the poor attempts to take the son of Hades down. That daughter of Athena was supposed to know not to leave her left side open like that. Nico kicked her in the side, sending her to the ground (she was lucky he had taken off his boots).
"You're out," Nico said, cracking his neck. "Who's next?"
A teen stood up from where he'd been watching the fight, "I'll go." He was bigger than Nico, and Anubis recognised him as a new child of Ares. The look on his face was haughty as he looked at Nico's smaller form, obviously underestimating him. Anubis crossed his arms and smirked slightly. If it was one thing he liked, it was watching Nico wipe the floor with overconfident douchebags. (The only thing he liked more was to be on the receiving end of that floor-wipe, not that he would ever tell Nico that. He was fine with pining in silence.)
Nico didn't look impressed as the guy approached, he got in combat-stance.
He really did have perfect form, leaving no obvious openings. His eyes had gone focused, gauging his opponent.
The big guy swung first, wide. Nico dodged it effortlessly, pushing the arm further on its path, making the guy stumble.
Anubis smirked at the surprised and irritated look the son of Ares had when he regained his balance. He lowered his stance, not taking Nico lightly anymore. He stepped forward and swiped at the other. Anticipating the dodge the son of Hades made, he made a move to grab Nico's leg.
Anubis almost scoffed.
Nico jabbed the heel of his hand into the underside of the guy's chin, effectively knocking him back. Not wasting any time, the son of Hades followed up with a kick to the side of the other's thigh. The son of Ares cursed in pain as he fell to the ground. He grit his teeth and a red aura shimmered around him.
Anubis frowned at the change in the teen's eyes. He felt his hands twitch in the want to step in and defend Nico, but he knew the demigod hated that, so he bit his tongue and stood his ground.
The son of Hades had clearly noticed the change too. He glared at his opponent.
"No powers, dude," he said, his voice dangerously low.
Anubis felt his own magic flare as he bit his cheek to hold himself back.
Nico glanced over at him, having noticed his magic signature. He shook his head, no.
The son of Ares hadn't been nice enough to let that opportunity slip away and had started moving to attack.
Nico must've foreseen it, because he sidestepped the other and shoved him face first into the ground. The son of Ares growled and tried to stand, pushing with his arms to get up. Anubis snickered softly at the look on his face when he suddenly sank a foot into the ground, his arms and legs trapped.
"What in Hades?!"
Nico crouched down in front of the guy, leaning his elbows on his knees, "You should know when you're outmatched. And if you use your powers in sparring again, you'll get to really know the difference between you and me."
The son of Ares grumbled out an apology as his red aura vanished. Nico smiled and let him out of the soil, giving him a hand up. The teen looked significantly less confident as he accepted the help and stalked away to the side.
Nico evened the ground again and turned to Anubis, "Let's show them how they really should fight, huh?"
Anubis shrugged, feigning indifference (he really didn't want to get caught in a compromising situation), "Sure." He shrugged off his jacket and slipped out of his shoes, putting his jewelry in the pockets, it really just got in the way.
Nico rolled his eyes but twisted his rings off, giving them to Anubis to put away.
The Lord of Funerals stretched his arms behind his back, feeling his shoulders pop beneath his T-shirt. He jumped a couple times on the spot, shaking out his arms and legs, before getting in position.
"We'll go a bit slow first to let you warm up, okay?" Nico grinned, his tone teasing.
Anubis rolled his eyes and made a quick jab at the demigod's head. Nico ducked, as he'd expected, and it gave him an opportunity to follow up with a swing at the other's shoulder, trying to knock him off balance.
Nico was quick enough to grab his hand and twisted it painfully to the side, Anubis having to follow the motion with his body to avoid further pain. He used his left leg to stump on Nico's foot, effectively making him release his arm. Once free, he made a jab with the heel of his hand to Nico's chest, knocking him to the ground. He placed his knee on the demigod's collarbone, grinning as he breathed hard from the sudden exertion.
Nico tapped the ground twice in defeat, and Anubis got up, pulling the other to his feet.
Nico breathed hard as he chuckled, he dragged a hand through his hair, pushing it away from his face (Anubis swallowed at the sight). "Gods, it's getting too long now." He turned to their stunned audience, "Hey. Any of you got a hairband?"
One of the girls answered yes and handed over a hairband. The son of Hades muttered his thanks and gathered what hair he could into a low knot on the back of head. His bangs still fell around his face, but didn't seem to bother him as much as the longer hair.
"That's better."
Anubis had to consciously not let his mouth drop open at the sight of him with his hair up. For some reason it made him look even hotter (something Anubis had thought impossible until now). That was going to be seriously distracting.
Nico didn't seem to notice the blushing faces in their audience as he lunged for the god's leg. Anubis barely managed to wrap his arms around Nico's shoulders at impact, stopping him from flipping him onto the ground by lifting him into the air, using his bigger stature to fling Nico off him. The demigod landed in a crouch on the ground, not wasting a second as he jumped at Anubis' shoulders, twisting around so that his legs wrapped around the god's throat, choking him slightly.
Anubis gripped Nico's ankles, twisting them to the point they almost dislocated, knowing that Nico would let up before that happened. The demigod hissed in pain and untwisted his legs, using his hands to pivot on the god's shoulders, kicking the back of his legs. Anubis cursed low as he buckled to the ground.
He blindly grabbed for Nico's hands on his shoulders to pull him to the ground. The son of Hades hit the ground with a grunt, squinting up at Anubis. The god was suddenly stunned as he looked down at him, seeing the disheveled hair half loosening from the band fanned out on the ground (gods, why was this demigod so beautiful).
Nico, not willing to let his slip up slide, grabbed his shirt and flipped their positions, pinning the god with a hand around his throat. The demigod looked puzzled at his easy win, raising an eyebrow.
"You getting sloppy, old man?"
Anubis groaned in dismay, tapping the ground.
Nico grinned as he pulled him up, wiping some dust off the god's shirt. Anubis slapped his hands away, shoving the grinning idiot a few feet back.
Nico pulled the hairband off and handed it to the stunned girl in the audience.
She blushed before suddenly blurting: "You guys totally like each other!"
Yup, the gods were definitely punishing him.
