Notes: So, I had a perfectly fine prompt before I decided to go and mess it up by trying to fit it into a sequence. So it's become less romance and more pre-romance-friendship. And less humor and more inserted snark because apparently that is how I write Octavian. Also, word limit is a bitch when you have situations that beg for explanation.
/winces and ducks head
Will write a fairly reasonable Rachel/Nico to make up for this sometime, I swear.
Title: Guards
Prompt: Pairing and genre; Rachel/Nico, Humor
Word Count: 498
If he had to pick a Greek he would happily stab in his sleep, it would be Jackson. There were just too many glares directed his way for it to be anyone else. But this girl- the mortal who walked amongst demigods simply because of some demented old spirit- well, she was deserving of an entirely new version of scorn altogether.
"Go away, Octavian," she sighed, "You're not fooling anybody."
"Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed, "I'm just here to make sure everyone is all right."
Everyone being most of the seven, and many of their allies. Weakened from battle and just barely holding on to being awake and polite and reasonable. It would have been a perfect opportunity to sow some of that discord.
"... Right."
"I find your lack of faith to be disturbing."
"Great. I find you disturbing, TB-killer. We're even."
He was not going to be thwarted by a mortal with ideas above her station.
"You shouldn't even be here," hands moved to the steel dagger in his folds.
Her eyes flicked to his robes, and narrowed.
"In fact, I think you should-"
"Leave her alone!"
Octavian blinked. The Hades kid (Messenger of Pluto, his ass- he knew there had been something wrong with that boy) had dragged himself out of bed, bandages and injuries-of-prolonged-kidnapping and all, and was attempting to glare up at him and threaten him with a giant black sword.
Six hours and one surprisingly one-sided battle ago, that might not have scared Octavian.
"But I'm not doing anything," he told the kid. Blankly. And let go of the hilt.
The little brat growled. Octavian tried to look properly chastised, because the alternative was rolling his eyes.
"Seriously. I'm not doing anything. Wouldn't even dream of intruding into your territory. You can keep her."
He had meant it as a joke, honestly. Something to throw the mortal off balance (because dammit, another ruined plan and he was getting really sick of those) and make the kid squeak.
He did not expect the more pronounced silence that came on the wake of his statement.
The kid was blushing. The mortal was fidgeting. They were both acting like he hadn't said anything of significance at all, no sir.
"Are you-" Octavian asked, because seriously, this was just horribly fascinating.
"No!"
"Of course not-"
"Then what-"
"It's complicated," the kid said shortly.
"It's nonexistent," the mortal insisted. But Octavian noticed she was hovering around the kid waiting to catch him in case he fell or something, and that the denial had been a little more vehement than it had to be.
A few more seconds of significant silence and Octavian resisted the urge to groan. They appeared to be in mortified solidarity about not letting him in.
The universe really had to stop messing up his plans. How on earth was he supposed to get around to fixing it otherwise?
