A/N: UGH WHY CAN'T THIS FIC JUST WRITE ITSELF?

Here's this. Hope you like it. Plot starts soon, you should all be excited. Also, there is so much one-sided Percico in this chapter, I can't even. Nico, why can't you just be happy with your sexuality and move on with your life?

Anyway.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.

Please review!

Chapter Thirteen

Nico's dramatic entrance was so cool, it pretty much had everything short of a fireworks display. And Percy wasn't sure how exactly, but Nico had to have taken some Mist lessons from Hazel because there was no way the fans weren't seeing exactly what Percy was.

The son of Poseidon watched in amazement as his cousin rose from a pillar of shadows onto the stage, earning thunderous applause. From where he sat, Percy could just see Nico's evil smirk as he held up his hands and bowed dramatically to his adoring fans. Percy was surprised to see that somehow (more Mist?) Nico had fabricated the scar Percy had always had a hard time imagining, the scar that stretched from the corner of his lip to his cheek, elongating his smirk Joker-style. Nico was also wearing a headset/microphone/thing that the tech people backstage must've put on him when Percy wasn't looking, and his outfit- similar to his usual attire but with a darker pilot's jacket and spikes on his boots- was so accurate to the words Percy wrote that he almost forgot he wasn't looking at a fictional character.

The applause died down, and Nico just stood there for a moment, looking out at his fans. As Percy watched, Nico seemed to make eye contact with each and every person watching him, his gaze lingering on Adrianne and her friends especially. He breathed out in a laugh, the sound echoing throughout the lecture hall, and then- with an infectious smile Percy hadn't seen on his cousin in twenty years, he addressed the crowd.

"You know, the last time I was in front of this many people, I was bleeding from six different places, my sister had just disowned me for killing her aunt, and my entire audience was dead. This is a nice change, so thanks, Percy."

The fans chuckled, Nico turned to wink at Percy, and Percy grinned back at him. For a kid who'd done nothing but play card games and fight monsters his whole life, Nico was a pretty good actor.

"I'd like to thank Percy and his wife for inviting me here," Nico continued in character. "If they hadn't, I'd probably still be in my room, yelling at my ghosts and feeling sorry for myself, and that..." He chuckled and nervously ran a hand through his hair. "Never ends well..."

Percy grinned and stood up from his conference table, coming up to stand next to Nico. "We're glad to have you, Nicolas," he told his cousin, loud enough so that the fans could hear. "Now, I think our lovely fans would like to ask you some questions, am I right?"

The fans cheered and applauded and Percy clapped Nico on the shoulder before returning to his seat. Nico leaned back against the table and watched his audience, glaring slightly until the noise died down. After a few seconds of silence, he rolled his eyes and shrugged. "All right, what do you want to know?"

Nico had only spent a day and a half reading Percy's ten-book series, and he wasn't sure if it was because they were half about him, or because he was just good at remembering stuff, but when he had to answer the fans' questions as Nicolas Angel, it was surprisingly easy. At first, the questions were hesitant, as if the fans were thinking of him as an actor and not as the character and they didn't want to be disappointed if he couldn't answer something. But as they all got into the groove of Nico being Nicolas, once they'd been talking for at least half an hour and Nico had gotten tired of standing so he'd sat on the edge of the stage with his feet dangling over the edge, the fans started to open up.

"It was hard," Nico said softly when one girl asked about his sister's death. "I mean, the fact that I… was close, when it happened… If it hadn't been for-" Nico cut himself off before he could say Percy, reminding himself that he was being a character here. "If it hadn't been for Jace," he corrected, "and for Leo, I… might not have made it much farther… And then of course when Ha-" again he mentally cursed himself, "when Levy showed up, that helped a lot, because I had that sense of family again, now that I had a sister... Anyway, next question?"

As time went on, and Nico answered questions about pirates and blue cake and Mythomagic and other stuff that was so close to home he kept almost slipping up and talking about himself instead of Nicolas, Nico watched Adrianne out of the corner of his eye. She and her friends were studying him closely as he talked, listening to his answers and silently responding to them with looks of interest, and even- in Adrianne's case- suspicion.

After an hour or two- though it felt like much longer- when Nico was just starting to get uncomfortable with how his sister was watching him (not to mention that at least three fans had yelled at him to take his shirt off- he'd promptly ignored them), Percy stood up from his conference table thing and spoke into the microphone.

"All right, guys, that's all the time we have today. Thanks so much for coming, if you want anything signed by either me or Nicolas, we'll be right outside. Thanks again."

The fans cheered and started filing out of the lecture hall, and as he switched off his mic, Nico released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Great job," Percy said, taking a seat next to him on the edge of the stage. "You sure had me convinced."

Nico chuckled. "Thanks. I'm surprised they didn't call me out, the twelve million times I almost talked about you."

"It's understandable," Percy assured him. "After all, I was a very important part of your childhood."

Nico elbowed him in the side, rolling his eyes. "Stupid memory wipe. You practically were my childhood."

Percy grinned at him, and Nico tried not to blush, begging for a topic change. It soon came.

"Wow, Nico, I had no idea you could act."

Nico looked up and smirked when he saw Jason and Piper in front of him, their daughter asleep in Piper's arms.

"I would hardly call it acting," Percy joked. "Honestly, Jay, we can't give Nico too much credit." Nico elbowed him again, harder, making Percy laugh.

"What time is it?" Nico asked no one in particular. "I feel like I was up there forever."

"It's almost five," Jason told him. "Pipes and I were gonna get some dinner before we-"

The son of Jupiter broke off, exchanging glances with his wife, then both looking at Percy. Percy averted his gaze.

Nico frowned at the three of them. "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Piper assured him, and Nico thought he detected just a hint of charmspeak in her voice. "It's just that… Well, our original plan for tonight…"

Nico nodded slowly, remembering what Frank had told him. "Right, you guys were gonna… visit my…" His voice faltered.

"I mean, we could still go," Jason suggested, filling the awkward silence. "It'd make for a good laugh, right? Get Frank out of the house?"

Percy looked at Nico. "Your call, little cuz. What do you think?"

Nico glanced at each of his cousins in turn (and, technically, by DNA-less marriage, Piper was his cousin too now), then shrugged. "Why not, right? I've always wanted to see my own grave."

Unfortunately, it took Nico and Percy much longer than expected to sign autographs, and by the time Jason and Piper returned from leaving Tris with Lacy for the night, and Rachel had come to bring Annabeth home (while Nico temporarily hid in a closet), it was nearly seven o'clock and they still had a long line of fans to go.

"Can't we just tell them to leave?" Nico groaned as he signed yet another book as NA because he was too lazy to write out his full fake name.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately, no." He signed a book Read on! -Percy Jackson. "We shouldn't be here much longer."

"Where's Adrianne?" Nico wondered. NA. "You think she's left yet?" NA.

"I haven't seen her," Percy said. Keep dreaming! -Percy Jackson. "She hasn't been through the line."

Nico glanced at the book his cousin was currently signing, Everyone's a hero. -Percy Jackson, and raised an eyebrow. "Dude, what in Hades are you doing?"

Percy shrugged. "I got bored of just signing my name."

"So you decided to write Hallmark Cards instead?" He was down to just signing N now.

"Yeah, pretty much," Percy confirmed. Believe in yourself and others will believe in you. -Percy Jackson. "Although for the record, Hallmark went bankrupt like six years ago."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Of course it did." Physically what is the point of this? You know my name. "It was pretty much bound to happen." Oh my god, get a life.

"This must be weird for you," Percy realized as he signed Never say never. -Percy Justin Bieber Jackson. "All this future stuff."

Nico started to reply, until his gaze fell on what Percy had just signed. "Percy, you're so weird."

His cousin grinned. "Yeah, but you love me anyway."

Nico threw a pen at Percy's head and tried not to blush.

"A, are you dead yet?" Jeannine asked when Adrianne picked up the phone.

Adrianne rolled her eyes and looked away from the holographic image of her best friend to make sure Nico hadn't left yet. "Does it look like I'm dead, J?"

"Well, why else would you want to hang out at Fordham for two hours? Why haven't you left yet?"

Instead of answering, Adrianne pointed her phone at the conference table where Nico and Percy were signing autographs.

Jeannine gasped. "OMG, you're waiting for Nico?! A, that's so cute!"

Adrianne shushed her as the boy in question looked her way. "Jeannine, shut up, he can probably hear you."

Jeannine ignored her. "Tell me, A, is it gonna be your place or his?"

Adrianne groaned. "Oh my god, that is so gross! I'm physically hanging up on you right now."

True to her word, Adrianne disconnected the call and rolled her eyes, leaning back against the wall to wait for Nico to finish up.

Her friends were idiots, teasing her like that. She liked Nico, sure, much more than she'd thought she would. But not like that.

Not at all like that.

Nico practically jumped out of his seat after signing the last book, quickly saying to Percy, "I'll meet you outside," and then rushing over to the back of the hall, where Adrianne stood, nervously turning her phone over and over in her hands. Nico had noticed her waiting there a few minutes ago, and- since none of her friends seemed to be with her- he'd assumed she was waiting for him.

The affectionate smile she gave him as he approached confirmed his suspicions.

"Hey," Nico greeted her, leaning against the wall next to her with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey," she replied. "Done greeting your fans?"

"Yeah, finally," Nico chuckled. "I don't get why they care so much about getting someone's name on the inside cover of a book."

Adrianne raised an eyebrow. "What, you've never had a favorite book before that you wanted to get signed by the author?"

Nico shrugged. "I don't read much."

Adrianne nodded. "Ah."

"Yeah," Nico said, shifting uncomfortably. "So, uh, how'd you like the show?"

Adrianne laughed. "It was kind of amazing, honestly. I mean, just the fact alone that you're Percy Jackson's nephew and you can play Nicolas Angel so convincingly."

Nico shrugged. "Yeah, well, he taught me well, I guess."

Adrianne rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Anyway... I was… wondering if you wanted to hang out. Not now, just.. you know. Soon."

Nico nodded. "Y-yeah, of course! Uh, how about Monday? After school?"

"I can't, actually, then," Adrianne said. "I have musical auditions Monday."

"Oh," Nico muttered. "Okay. Not Monday, then."

"I mean," Adrianne added hastily. "I- I don't have to go, since I went Friday, I was just going to-"

"No, no, it's fine," Nico assured her. "Do whatever you have to do to get the part."

Adrianne smiled. "Thanks. But, um, I'm only at school till five. Maybe you could come over then?"

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Nico exclaimed, grinning. "I'll pick you up."

Adrianne raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you can drive?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "I'll have Percy come pick you up," he corrected.

Adrianne's smile widened. "That sounds great. I'll see you then."

She reached forward as if to ruffle his hair (like Bianca used to do; Nico's heart constricted), but then thought better of it and instead cleared her throat, waved awkwardly, and went outside.

Nico stared after her for a moment, feeling confused and oddly nostalgic, then he sighed and turned around.

Only to yelp in surprise at the sight of Percy standing no more than two feet away from him.

"How long have you been standing there?!" Nico demanded, clutching his chest in shock.

Percy laughed. "Not long," he promised. "Calm down."

Nico managed to catch his breath and glared at his cousin. "Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry," Percy chuckled. "But I just had to listen in. You know, if I didn't know Adrianne was your sister, I'd think you had a crush on her."

Nico's glare intensified, and- before he could stop himself- he said, "Percy, you of all people should know that's not how I talk when I have a crush," and sunk into the shadows before he could see his cousin's reaction.

A/N: So yeah. Aaaaaalllll of the one-sided Percico. Hope you liked that. Like I said, next chapter-ish begins the actual plot of this fic (assuming there is one, I'm not even a hundred percent sure). Please review!