[A/N] Heres chapter 8 I hope you like it! Sorry it took so long to get out. Review and the next chapter will come out quicker.
[DISCLAIMER] I do not and never will own PJO.
The biggest perk at camp about being a child of one of the big three was the private bathrooms, Thalia thought to herself as she took a nice long hot shower. Little did she know Nico was having the same thoughts next door.
After she had finished showering and brushing her teeth, she got dressed. She put on a pair of black skinny jeans, a form fitting black Fender shirt, her slightly too big charcoal gray hoodie, black socks, and a pair of all black converse with bright red shoe laces. It was to be cold today, she thought absently as she opened the door and stepped out.
Nico had just finished brushing his teeth. He flexed in front of the mirror and chuckled at how stupid he felt doing it. Yeah he looked good, damn good if his opinion made any difference in the matter, but he still felt a foolish doing it.
He pulled on a pair of tight black jeans, a black shirt that read 'HAVE YOU SEEN MY ZOMBIE?' in white letters, his usual white socks and boots, a very dark green combat jacket with several pockets, and a black beanie. The sun's first rays were starting to peek through the windows of his cabin. He opened the door to his cabin and made his way towards the dining pavilion.
"Hey Nico, wait up!" Thalia called from behind him, jogging to catch up. Her hair obviously still wet. He would of preferred her in tighter clothes to be honest. She smiled as she drew level with him.
"Nice shirt." she said smirking, he had left his combat jacket unzipped.
"Thanks. Nice shoes." he replied smirking back. 'What kind of guy compliments a girl on her shoes?' the thought sprung into his mind, he forced it back quickly ignoring it.
"Thanks, but I think the shoelaces are way cooler." she said smiling genuinely. He nodded his head unsure of what to say. They continued on their way to the dining pavilion.
Upon arriving they saw there were only five or six people already there. They made their way to the serving station, Nico got a bowl of cereal and an orange, Thalia grabbed two pieces of toast and an apple. They both went to their respective tables to eat, they sat facing away from each other. Nico finished before her and went back for another bowl of cereal, half his orange still on the table. When she finished she walked over to where Nico was sitting.
"Good?" she asked him as he drank the milk. A milk mustache adorned his top lip and she couldn't help but smile at how cute he was, she was only slightly surprised to find herself thinking of him as cute. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
"It was ok," he said as he stood up "way better than snake meat at least." she couldn't help but laugh, he smirked. They were both standing beside where he had been sitting, they both looked unsure of what to do.
"Should we see if Mr. D is awake or if Chirons back?" she asked him, he nodded his head and they headed toward the big house. The day was brightening quickly now, soon the dining pavilion would be filled with people. There was no one on the porch of the big house.
"He's probably not back yet, and I'm pretty sure Mr. D sleeps until noon." Nico said sounding disappointed, he looked toward Thalia unsure of what to do now, her hair still looked damp, he found himself thinking of what her hair would feel like running between his fingers.
"I wonder if Annabeth and Percy are here yet?" Thalia asked no one in particular, snapping him out of his reverie, her eyes strayed from the big house, to the cabins, to Nico who looked away from her quickly a pinkish tinge coloring his cheeks.
"I don't know," Nico said shrugging his shoulder "but chances are they're asleep or busy with each other if they are." he continued, still not looking at her. They started walking towards the cabins. They got to Athena cabin first. Thalia climbed the steps to knock while Nico waited at the bottom. A gangly teen with blonde hair and gray eyes opened the door.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked her rubbing his eyes and smiling sleepily. He stood up straighter when he took in what Thalia looked like.
"Annabeth here?" Thalia asked skipping the formalities, he looked confused.
"No," he began "but I'm Brandon and acting head of cabin until she comes back." he bragged, sounding smug with his temporary position. Nico snorted loudly. He noticed him for the first time, his eyes narrowed, Nico glared back. Thalia rolled her eyes as she came to stand beside Nico.
"To Percy's cabin?" she asked him, he stopped glaring at the now closed door and turned to look at her. She was smirking at him.
"Yeah." he agreed, unsure of why she was smirking. They began towards Poseidon cabin. When they got there Nico knocked on the door three times. No answer, he knocked again louder this time. Still no answer, he looked at Thalia who shrugged her shoulders.
"Well shit.." Nico trailed off he looked at Thalia for some indication of what she wanted to do, if there was one he couldn't find it. He could of course go to the climbing wall, it was tempting. Extremely tempting, but Thalia had already shown her lack of interest in the climbing wall. Thalia and Nico stood in awkward silence, racking their brains for something the other would enjoy doing.
"Want to go to the climbing wall?" she asked looking pointedly away, his head snapped to look at her. She was embarrassed and afraid he would say no. He scrutinized her 'Why would she want to go to the climbing wall?' he asked himself. She slowly turned to look at him after what seemed like forever.
"Well?" she asked impatiently, he was looking at her like she'd grown another head. He continued to stare at her, study her. Finally he cracked a smile, just a small curl at the end of his lips that slowly turned into a grin.
"Yeah, I'd love to." he was having trouble keeping from grinning like an idiot, he was unsure why Thalia asking him to go to the climbing wall made him so happy but he shrugged it off quickly. Thalia just assumed that the mere mention of the climbing wall made him grin like an idiot. They turned towards it and began walking Nico a step ahead obviously excited.
Thalia was unsure of why she asked him, it had seemed like a good idea at the time. But that was before she thought about what he'd want to do at the climbing wall. Climb. 'Climbing would be better if it didn't involve getting so high up off the ground.' she thought to herself. Nico had slowed down as they left the cabin area, they were now walking side by side.
"I thought you didn't like climbing." Nico said a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. She raised an eyebrow at him in what she hoped would be a mock serious manner.
"Who said anything about climbing?"she asked, in an almost mysterious tone. He looked unsure of what to do, but he was still smirking.
"So if we're not gonna climb the climbing wall," he said skeptically "what are we gonna do?" The last time they had tried to do something other than climb the climbing wall flashed through his head. He gulped thinking about the Kazu. She wasn't looking at him, she seemed to be trying to come up for a plausible answer. Before she could think of one they got to the climbing wall.
"Race you to the top?" he asked her, hoping for some friendly competition. She whipped around to look at him and shook her head no.
"Come on!" he started she shook her head no again "Why not?" he was staring at her waiting on an answer. She blushed lightly due to the intense look he was giving her.
"I just don't want to." she said under her breath, her excuse sounded lame even to her. He was smirking again.
"What? Why not are you chicken?" he asked hoping to goad her into it. She glared at him, he smirked back at her.
"No way!" she said vehemently she knew what he was trying to do and refused to take the bait. He continued to smirk.
"How about we sweeten the deal then." he said in a silky-smooth voice, the one he reserved for swaying others to his point of view. His father had taught him a great many things, one of which was the fact that at some point everyone will give in.
"Sweeten the deal?" she asked her anger forgotten, he was still smirking. 'Bingo.' he laughed quietly in his head.
"Yeah you know, a friendly wager." he continued in the same voice, his smirk changing to a slick smile.
Did you like it? Tell me in a review! I'm open to any suggestions you have for this story, and would greatly appreciate them!