"Is it weird that I feel most calm and comfortable in places like this?" Nico asked as they walked up a large grass hill in the cemetery where his mother and sister laid. As he spoke the cold air turned his words into mist.
"If you were anyone but the son of the god of decay, maybe." Percy said, secretly admiring his lover's backside as they walked.
"It's just very peaceful compared to the underworld. It's like this is the quiet countryside, and down there is the big city."
"Dork."
Nico took a right and started toward another cluster of headstones and above ground tombs. On the way he told Percy about what the various decorations meant. The little lambs were children, broken columns symbolized the loss of the head of the family, butterflies meant an early death...
"There's also a legend that if you see a butterfly after the death of a loved one, they made it to the good place." Nico continued as he pointed to a carving of such a creature on one of the worn stones.
"Flutterbies." Percy mumbled. He wasn't sure how to respond to this information. He found it interesting enough, but he didn't really like to talk about death and things of that nature.
Nico stopped walking and put his arms around Percy's neck, "You're cute when you're humoring me." he said and pecked him on the lips. His eyes went wide and he bounced on his feet, "Ooh! I have an idea! Let's have a picnic!"
"Here? In winter?"
"Noooo. A secret place. Let me check it out first, though." Nico said and moved from Percy to a shadow being cast by a headstone. He disappeared for about five minutes and then came back through the same shadow, "Yep, it's perfect."
Percy was burning with curiosity. It was always a surprise with Nico. "Let's go get some food and stuff." he said and held out his hand.
"Okey dokey." Nico took the hand offered him and they started walking back to where they had come from.
The sun was shining on a large fenced-in park, reflecting off of snow dusted patches. Percy wondered why they were heading away from it. He followed Nico through a little patch of trees to a huge, ornate building. The windows and doors were boarded up, and weeds shot up through cracks in the cement beneath them. Nico led him into another shadow and they came out in a room. This room had vines creeping in from the broken skylights and dead grass poking up between broken black tiles on the floor.
"This used to be the lab." Nico said as he unfolded the blanket and placed it on the floor, "I had to come here once when I was little."
"What is this place?" Percy asked, sitting down on the blanket and surveying the moss on the cement walls.
"It used to be a monastery back in the seventeen-hundreds, then it was a hospital. It closed sometime when I was in the casino."
"Why'd you have to come to the hospital?"
"I fell off of the jungle gym. Back then they didn't have as many safety regulations. I fell on cement and thought I busted my elbow. I didn't, though."
This was a conversation Percy could get into. He was always fascinated when Nico could talk about his childhood as though it were yesterday, even though it was about 70 years ago. As they ate their sandwiches Nico continued to tell Percy about his hospital visit. He talked about how worried his mother had been and how good his sister was about taking care of him. He also talked about the layout of the hospital, and that he had remembered about it when they had gone to the cemetery.
"I didn't know that it would be totally shut down like this. I knew that when I was here a few of the buildings were closed because of budget cuts and stuff. This is neat, though. Nice and peaceful."
"You and your creepy places." Percy sighed, "At least the sun is out." he said, looking through the hole in the ceiling.
Nico opened a plastic container with fruit inside and popped a grape into his mouth. There were few pleasures in life that could be compared to fruit in his opinion. He picked out a strawberry and looked at it, "Do you suppose that people find strawberries romantic because they're like little tongues?"
Percy laughed and then his eyes locked on Nico's tongue as it flicked the tip of the strawberry, "Uh, Nico? Don't do that, please."
"Why not? It's weird." Nico said and did it again before pulling it into his mouth and sucking on it. He heard Percy moan and swallow loudly and he saw his lover's pupils darken, "Oh." he smiled a sly little smile and finished the strawberry, throwing the end at Percy. The other man leaned forward and kissed Nico, wasting no time in pushing his tongue inside the cooler mouth. Nico reciprocated, secretly comparing Percy's tongue to the strawberry both could taste in his mouth. He moaned. Percy's tongue was much better. He wrapped his arms around Percy's neck and pulled him closer.
After a few moments they parted and looked at each other. Percy put out his hand and moved a curl from Nico's forehead, "Your hair's getting long."
"I know. I have the intention to cut it soon."
"Not too short, though. I like to play with it."
Nico smiled, "Okay." he laid down and rested his head on Percy's lap. He squinted up at the sun coming through the decayed hole in the ceiling. Percy moved to block the light and then bent down and kissed his lover. Nico wrapped his arm around Percy's neck again and made the kiss deeper. As they made out Percy's hand ran along Nico's stomach above his t-shirt. Slowly it moved down and dipped below Nico's belt and the younger man gasped.
"Don't start something you can't finish." He said with a little half smile.
"Oh I'm going to finish." he said, "After you...finish." he licked up Nico's neck and at the same time his hand went up Nico's shirt. Nico stretched out and just enjoyed Percy's caresses. Percy moved his hand back down to Nico's belt. The sound of the buckle mixed with their breathing were the only sounds in the quiet of the abandoned building. Percy wanted his lover completely naked and bouncing on his dick, but just in case they got caught he kept it to a simple handjob.
Later on they were both laying on the blanket, staring up at the broken ceiling. Percy put his hand up and traced the lines of the creeping vines. He followed one all the way down the wall and then looked at Nico, who had closed his eyes. He opened them when he felt Percy's stare. He looked tired.
"Are you okay?" Percy asked quietly, "You know... after yesterday?"
Nico stared up at the ceiling again, "Yeah. I'm just... so tired."
Percy knew that Nico wasn't just referring to his nightmare last night. He still wasn't happy with things in his life. Maybe he never would be. "Come here." he said and pulled Nico into his body. Nico pushed himself into Percy and held one of his hands. At least he had one thing he liked.
About half an hour later Nico blinked his eyes open after water dripped from the ceiling onto his face. He pulled his jacket off and covered Percy before just walking around the room, trying to read water damaged labels and just taking in the beautiful urban decay. Even though the building was dead, life sprang from every corner that it could. It was all very poetic. Nico inhaled. He could breathe here. It smelled like dirt and kind of like old wet paper. If Nico could, he would live here.
"Cold." Percy whined from the blanket on the frozen ground.
"Put my jacket on, dork."
Percy obeyed, but was still shivering a little bit. His body temperature was a little bit different than Nico's. Seeing Percy as the vulnerable one was different and Nico smiled at it.
"Want to explore some more?" Nico asked, moving a table from the door and opening it.
"Are we going to get busted for trespassing?"
"Not when you can blend into shadows, and this is a very shadowy place I bet."
Percy bit his lip nervously, but nodded, "Okay."
They walked out of the room and Percy was surprised at how bright the hallway was. One side was doors, and the other was all windows. The dirty tile looked like it had been white at some point, and the walls were a light blue color. Maybe Italian hospitals weren't fond of "hospital green". Nico led him into a room that he didn't remember. It was empty and most of the paint was off of the walls, save for a patch that Nico read out loud.
"Vietato fumare. No smoking. This is probably where they kept chemicals and stuff."
Percy smiled, "Say that again."
"Vietato fumare?"
"Tee-hee. I love it when you speak Italian."
Nico blushed, "Dork." They moved from that room and continued down the hallway. They came to another room with vines creeping in from the skylights. Percy could tell that it had been a bathroom, even though all fixtures save a sink had been removed or broken.
"I'm pretty sure I peed in here once." Nico mentioned casually as he looked out the solo window, "I remember those trees being a lot smaller, though."
He left the bathroom and Percy followed, sensing a little bit of melancholy about his boyfriend. It must have been strange to realize just how much time had passed since he had been to the hospital. They were both a little bit disappointed when they discovered that most of the patient rooms had been nailed shut and the doorknobs removed. They finally found one that was open. It was barren, but Percy liked the bright blue of the walls.
"I don't remember the walls being blue, but there was a lot of stuff in the way." Nico said, running his hands along the rusty radiator, "I remember the tile, though. They looked like big flowers."
Percy looked down. The tiles were hexagons, about 6 inches in diameter. They were a darker brown color and red, shaped in flowers as Nico had said. The border of the room was black rectangular tiles. Pretty fancy. They finally got to the end of the hall and took a left. The tile changed from white to the flower shapes that had been in the room, only these flowers were black and red. It made the hallway seem darker than the other one. The floor was covered in a film of dust and dirt and water seeped in from broken windows, making muddy patches beneath them. Percy and Nico looked forward and saw that one single door was open. They walked closer to it and saw the number above it in peeling paint was XIII.
"I'm not really superstitious or anything, but walking into an open door marked 'thirteen' sounds like a ticket to death if this were a horror movie." Percy said, stepping away from it a little bit. Nico nodded, but spread himself against the wall and slowly made his way over to the door. He craned his neck and peered over into the room.
"I think it's empty." he whispered before creeping into the room. Percy gripped his pen just in case as he followed.
The room was empty. Nico said it was probably just some dumb kids thinking it would be cool to go into room thirteen. They left and continued walking. At the end of that hallway was another lab-type room, only this one was completely open from where the roof had caved in. Pieces of wood littered the ground, which was all but pure dirt at this point. A tree had sprouted in one corner, reaching up into the wintery sky, which had gone gray since they had entered the hospital.
"I have an idea." Nico said, pulling out the packet of sunflower seeds from his pocket. He planted them near the tree.
"It's still winter." Percy said.
"They should be okay. If they do grow, they'll get enough sunshine here, and it's moist, so they should always have enough water."
Percy doubted that the plants would be successful, but he wasn't going to rain on Nico's parade. He and Nico heard a noise in the hallway and darted to look out. Nothing was there.
"Probably a bird or something. Let's go home." Nico said, looking for a good shadow. They heard the noise again and started moving toward it. Percy readied his pen again and he saw Nico's hand hovering above the spot where he kept his Stygian blade. The smaller man had crouched down some as he started to head down the hallway. Percy assumed that Nico had sensed something, so he followed suit. Nico crouched lower and lower until he was crawling close to the wall, heading for room XIII. He looked back at Percy, telling him with his eyes to be ready. He looked forward again and darted into the room.
Percy followed him, and nearly fell backward when he saw what was in there. Her top half was a woman, but she had skin the color of soot and 6 arms and 2 legs morphing into a spider's back half. She was nestled in a corner above their heads and appeared to be knitting. Nico stood up and seemed to relax a bit, but Percy stayed as he was.
"Arachne." Nico said, nodding his head in greeting.
Eight eyes looked up from the knitting project, "Oh Nico. Ciao, come va?"
Percy watched in curiosity as they exchanged pleasantries in Italian. Nico gestured to him and he waved awkwardly.
"She says she will not eat you because you're with me." Nico explained, giving a half smile.
"Oh, that's... good." Percy said, eyeing the fangs in her mouth.
"Try not to stare. She's still sensitive after being transformed this way."
"She was human?"
Nico nodded, "Yeah. She used to be a really good weaver, and she once said that she was better than Athena. You can imagine how that went. They had a contest and what Arachne made was so awesome that Athena tore it up and slashed Arachne's face before turning her into a spider."
"Wow. That sucks." Percy said, daring to look up and see the scar still running across Arachne's face.
Nico turned back to Arachne and spoke with her for a while more, then turned back to Percy, "She protects this place. Apparently it's important to my father for some reason." Percy shivered and Nico pulled him closer, "I guess we should be going now. Don't want you to freeze to death." He turned and said his goodbyes to Arachne and they left through the shadow she cast.
"I seriously am in love with that place. We need to go back when it's warmer." Nico said, jumping on Percy's bed.
"Whatever floats your boat." Percy said. He wasn't so much into creepy decaying places with giant spiders, but Nico was happy and that's what mattered to him.
"Youuuu float myyyy boat." Nico jumped off of the bed and lunged at Percy. They fell to the floor and Nico quickly pinned the other man down. He licked Percy's face.
"Sicko."
"You like it."
Percy blushed, "Yeah, I do."
The next morning Nico was combing his hair in front of the mirror when Percy's face appeared behind him. They stared at each other for a moment and then Nico blinked rapidly and turned his attention to the drain in the sink.
"I'm going back home for a while."
Percy's heart twitched at the tone in Nico's voice, "But you still have a week left of winter vacation."
"I know. I just... I'm tired." He looked up and at Percy's reflection again. To Percy his eyes seemed darker than usual. He really did look tired; he had woken up in terror twice that night. Percy didn't like the thought that Nico was leaving to take care of himself.
"You can rest here. I won't bug you. I promise."
Nico finally put his comb down and turned around. He gave Percy a half smile and kissed him before he wrapped his arms around the taller man's shoulders, "I know, but I just kind of need some alone time before I go back to class and if I stay here I'll never want to leave you."
"That's fine with me."
"You're sweet."
Just then an iris message appeared in the sink and Nico released Percy to look at it.
"Percy! We need you back at camp right away! We've found another son of Apollo." Grover was telling him.
"Why do you need me?" he asked, half his mind on the young man packing in his room.
"Because that's your job." Grover said simply.
"I don't wanna." Percy complained.
Grover rolled his eyes, "Look, I know Nico's with you, but you've gotta come before we lose him again. Apparently he travels a lot."
"Fine. Just give me a second." Percy ended the iris message and then went into his room to tell Nico the news. The room was empty. Dammit, Nico had given him the slip while he was talking to Grover. At least he left a note. On top of the bed was a little sticky note with, "I'll miss you. See you in the spring probably. Love, Nico." written in the kind of perfect penmanship that they don't teach in schools anymore. Percy held it against his chest. Their relationship was so flawed. He wished he could do something about it, but he wasn't sure what.
"Son, your goat friend won't stop messaging me. Go to camp before I accidentally drown him." Poseidon said behind him. Percy turned around and from the look on his father's face he knew that "accidentally" really meant, "on purpose".
"Yep yep, almost gone."
"Why do you have a sticky note on your shirt?" Poseidon asked, green eyes falling to Percy's chest. The note had managed to get stuck to the cotton fabric. Percy quickly ripped it off and threw it to the side, smiling like nothing was strange. Poseidon just gave him a look and left.
x.x.x
"Can't breathe... not enough air..." Grover complained as he lugged some more supplies up the hill.
"You get used to it." Percy promised from his perch on the roof of a cabin. Things were coming together a lot quicker than he had imagined. There were a lot more demigods interested in a west coast camp than he realized. Of course Colorado wasn't exactly west coast, but it was certainly west and a lot closer than Camp Half-Blood for a lot of newly discovered demigods. The fact that he could see the campus of Nico's school from the edge of it made him happy, too. He was hoping to have the camp ready by the time Nico got out for summer vacation. Spring break had come and gone with not much word from him, so Percy was getting antsy to see him again.
"Where should I put this thingy?" a blonde young man said just as another one accidentally hit him with a sack of seeds he had just thrown over his back. "What the fuck, Henry?" he shouted, smacking the one called Henry over the head. Without a retort Henry lunged at the other man and the two began wrestling on the ground as Percy watched.
"A son of the goddess of victory versus the son of the goddess of revenge. This could be a while." Percy heard Chrion say below him. Just then a girl with flowing golden hair walked by, and Henry got distracted enough that the other man managed to shove him away and stand up. "Or not." Chiron said before looking up at Percy, "Aren't you finished yet?"
Percy smiled, knowing Chiron was joking, "Almost." He put one last nail into the roof and then got down to face the centaur.
"Eleven down, nine to go." Chiron said, surveying the camp and counting the completed cabins.
"Thanks for backing me up with this camp." Percy said, also looking at it.
"Well, Half Blood was getting a little crowded. That reminds me, what are we calling this new camp?"
Percy shrugged, "We'll get to that later. I'm just focusing on everything going right."
"Hey, where should I put this thingy?" the blonde young man asked again, somewhat impatient. Percy turned to him. He had some kind of large iron cylinder that he was dragging with straps.
"Uh... just put it over there for now, Cameron." he said. Truthfully he wasn't sure what it was for, but he wanted it out of the way until he figured it out. Cameron obeyed and dragged it over to the generic spot Percy had pointed to.
"Hey I have another question." Cameron said.
"Yes?" Percy said somewhat annoyed. He hadn't ended his conversation with Chiron.
"Are you really building a Hades cabin?"
Both Chiron and Percy looked at him, "Yeah." Percy answered defensively, "Why?"
Cameron shrugged, "Because there's only one. Seems silly to have a big ol' cabin just for one guy. Especially a guy who doesn't seem very interested in camp."
"Well it wouldn't be fair if he didn't get one."
"He doesn't at the other camp."
"It got flooded. Anyway, what are you getting at? You act like you know him or something."
"I do."
Percy's body felt a strange wave of panic. Who was this guy and how did he know Nico?
"I have two classes with him over there." Cameron pointed at the school. Percy relaxed a little, but not much.
"Do you talk to him?"
"I try to. I rarely get a full sentence. I feel like I'm pissing him off by talking to him, but I don't know, I just try anyway."
"Why? No other demigods in your classes?" Percy was finding it more and more difficult to hide his feelings. It seemed this guy had no idea that he was Nico's boyfriend, which meant that Nico probably hadn't mentioned him.
Cameron continued, oblivious to Percy's attitude, "I don't know, he just seems really chill compared to most of the people I talk to at school. Like, he doesn't have time for bullshit."
"Yeah that's true." Percy agreed.
"You know him?"
Percy gripped the nail gun in his hand hard, careful not to squeeze the trigger, "Yeah. I've been his boyfriend for almost two years now." it was not only the first time he had openly told someone new that he was gay, it was also the first time he had ever told anyone that Nico was gay as well.
Cameron raised his eyebrows for a moment, "Ohhh, so you're the 'P' that's on his notebook. I can't read cursive very well, so I thought it was Persephone or something, which I found hilarious if he were coveting his father's mistress." He was quiet for a moment, "Now that you've told me he's gay, a lot of things make more sense."
"Like what?"
"I always tried to talk girls with him and he would just kind of shrug and walk away."
Percy fought a smile because he could imagine the exact face that Nico had probably made, "Hey, I don't know if he cares if people know or not, but I'd be happy if you kept his sexuality a secret. I don't think I was supposed to tell."
"No problem. I'm not really interested in going up in a column of fire because I can't keep my mouth shut."
Percy's mouth twitched again, "Well, next time you have class together you should tell him to come check out the camp. I've told him about it, but he hasn't really said anything."
"I promise this isn't about him being gay or anything, but he just doesn't seem like a camping sort of person." Cameron offered.
"Yeah..." Percy was starting to feel weird about this guy being able to see Nico more than he could, "Okay, I need to get back to work and stuff. Just tell him I said hi or something."
He finally turned back to Chrion, who looked amused. Percy just playfully pushed him and moved on to the next cabin. Maybe he would visit Nico sometime.
x.x.x
Nico had just been walking to the grocery store when he smelled it. Something big and mean was following him. It had been a while since he had fought a monster, but he still wasn't really in the mood for it. He was planning to surprise Percy with a picnic. He looked around. Not very many people were out at this time of day. It was early; the sun had only been up long enough to warm Nico's face but not the sidewalk. Finally he got tired of being stalked and turned around. Something big hit him in the stomach and knocked him sideways. A young hydra was looking at him like a chew toy.
"Ahh what is your problem?" Nico complained as he got up.
The hydra just growled and lunged at Nico again, hitting him with its tail. Nico reached for his blade and jabbed it into the hydra's backside. The hydra's skin was so tough that Nico couldn't get the blade back out. When the hydra whipped around to bite at Nico he found himself with no weapon. He looked around for something to use and his sharp eyes saw something down the street. Now the question was if he could get there in time.
School was out already and Percy hadn't managed to visit his boyfriend. In his defense he was scrambling to get the camp finished. Everything was built, but now he needed counselors, activity directors, and all kinds of people to fill in the spots before the camp could officially open. It didn't even have a name yet. He was doing the budget with a daughter of Tyche, goddess of fortune when he started to feel a strange pull.
Percy didn't even have time to think before he found himself evaporating into mist. He suddenly found himself in a swimming pool. He heard frantic splashing and then something hit him.
"Percy! The pen! Click the pen!"
Without questioning he clicked his pen and finally his eyes focused on a huge creature with nine heads. It was smaller than most hydras he'd seen. This one must have been a baby one. Still, this "baby" weighed a few tons and could crush him with a toe. Something shiny caught his ADD and he realized that it was Nico's blade sticking out of the hydra's skin. The hydra started coming after him, so he quickly swam to the edge of the pool and hopped out. He wasn't sure of how to handle this creature. His first instinct was to chop its heads off, but he knew that wouldn't end well. He had to figure out a way to get underneath it. He looked around for Nico to help him with his plan, but the younger man was out of his sight. Shit, had he been eaten while Percy was distracted? Percy decided to take a chance and dove between the hydra's legs, shoving his sword up into its belly. The hydra screamed and stomped its feet. Percy would have been crushed, but he felt Nico grab him and throw him out of the way.
When he recovered and looked over he realized that his blade had gotten stuck in the hydra's skin as well. He needed a plan until his blade returned to him. Blood splashed his face and he looked up to see Nico swinging a baseball bat into one of the hydra's heads. Another head came and knocked him out of the way, but the now dead head threw the creature off balance and it stumbled. Percy felt his pen in his pocket and quickly clicked it, jumping onto the hydra's back and jamming it into the vertebrae of one of its necks. Two heads down, seven to go. More blood splashed onto his face. Make that six heads. He tore his sword out of the hydra's neck and started attacking the creature's spine. Finally the hydra was waning. Its feet buckled under and the heads started going quiet. With a final stab the body went slack and Percy looked over to see Nico bashing the last head in. He held the bat above his head until the body stopped twitching and blew into gold dust. He looked over at Percy and went toward him, dragging the bloody aluminum bat across the cement.
"Hey." he said and kissed Percy, both tasting hydra blood on the other's lips, "I made something for you." he brought out a little box.
Percy took a moment to catch up with Nico's quick change of character and then grabbed the little box and opened it. It was a little silver ring with a garnet stone and onyx insets.
"I do!" Percy said, taking the ring from the box.
Nico's mouth twitched in a smile, "Dork. It's to protect you."
Percy smiled, "I love when you're so sweet to me."
Underneath the drying blood Nico blushed. He tapped the bat on the cement, watching dried flakes of blood fall off of it. Percy loved when Nico looked so blood thristy, yet adorable at the same time. He put the ring on and looked at his own bloody hand. The ring was a little big, but that was ok.
"How about you come see the new camp and take a shower?" he suggested.
Nico looked nervous, "Can we sneak in and let me shower first? Somehow I don't think this is the entrance I should be making."
"But you look so... argh!" Percy pulled Nico in and kissed him hard.
"Sex... then shower?" Nico asked after his mouth was free.
"Oh yes please."
Nico just gave a smirk and then went about finding a decent shadow to travel in. It was that time of day when that was difficult. He finally found a big one underneath the swirly slide at the far end of the pool and pulled Percy toward it. He wasn't in the mood to expend more energy to shadow travel, but the reward was well worth it. Nico threw the bat into the pool and then Percy helped him concentrate on the location they needed to end up in and then they dissolved into shadow.
Percy felt a little bit sick and wrong at the fact that he liked what he was looking at. Nico's wet hands were leaving brownish red streaks on the shower wall as he desperately tried to find something to hold onto. Every so often he would turn his head to the side and look at his lover and Percy would drive into him faster, harder, making those black eyes roll up into his head before he'd look away again. The fact that Percy couldn't see Nico's facial expressions made him want to increase the smaller man's volume. He kissed Nico's neck as he pushed up and Nico gave a shaky, pleasured scream. Yessss. He needed more. He kissed the other side of Nico's neck and earned another restrained gasp. He gripped Nico's cock and bit down on the long, pale neck.
"Ah Percy! Don't do that!" Nico gasped desperately. He felt Percy smirk behind him. The taller man didn't bother teasing him by asking him why not. Nico was pulled closer and Percy bit his shoulder. Nico couldn't help the noises coming from his mouth. He slapped the wall, wishing for something to hold on to as his thighs started to quiver. Percy licked up the back of his neck and his body broke out in goosebumps despite the hot water beating down on them both. Percy gripped the smaller man's hips and drove in with all of his strength. He was close, too. Nico could tell. Nico pulled the taller man closer and Percy lost it, gasping against Nico's neck. The smaller man followed soon after, his legs collapsing underneath him. In Percy's weakened state he couldn't hold either of them up and they both fell into the bathtub, Nico leaving a huge red streak where his body slid down the wall.
They just kind of stayed there for a while, catching their breath. Percy knew they would have to actually clean themselves pretty quickly, as the water was already turning cold.
"I used to play baseball." Nico muttered, turning to look up at Percy, "I started with a stick and some rocks, but then I was on a real team."
Percy detected some melancholy in his lover's voice, so he just held him closer and let him talk.
"You know, I bet all or most of my teammates are dead now. I wonder how many had kids and got married and shit." he then stood up. He didn't want to think of such things anymore, so he changed the subject, "Hydra blood is sticky." he rubbed at his skin.
Percy stood up and grabbed the washcloth and soap long abandoned at the beginning of their shower. He started cleaning what was left of the blood off of Nico's body, then his lover reciprocated. He noticed Nico was shivering and noted that the water had gone cold. Satisfied that he was clean enough he turned off the water and grabbed his biggest, fluffiest towel and put it around the smaller body. Nico was suddenly very quiet and Percy could feel that he was becoming withdrawn.
"What's up?" he asked. Black eyes looked surprised, as if he had been far far away in his mind.
"Sorry, just thinking." Nico said, shivering still.
"C'mon, I'll make you some tea or something." Percy took one of Nico's cold hands and brought him into his room and sat him on his bed. He grabbed some clothes from his dresser and handed them to his boyfriend, "I'll be right back." he kissed him before leaving the room. When he came back with a cup of tea he found Nico fully dressed, but fast asleep. He always forgot how easily Nico got exhausted. Then again, he had fought a hydra and shadow traveled, both of which take a lot of energy from him. Percy covered him with a blanket. He would see the new camp later.
Nico woke up and temporarily panicked until he remembered where he was. He hated sleeping in the middle of the day. It made him spacey. Then again, he's a little spacey regardless. He got up and saw a mug of tea of Percy's side table. It was cold, but he drank it anyway. A little caffiene sounded good just then. He gave himself a mirror check and then walked through Percy's new cabin. It was like a house, really, just a small one. He wasn't sure where Percy was, but he figured if there was a lake or something in this camp that would be the best bet. Before he opened the front door Nico took a breath. Hopefully he would be accepted at this one.
He blinked as sunlight assaulted his eyes, and as they focused he noticed that this camp was a lot more open than Half Blood. Less trees, more walking space. He walked down off the porch and looked around for indications of water. There was something of a well in the middle of the camp, but Percy wasn't there. As we searched, he noticed a lot of stares from the people working on the cabins. He heard whispers of his father's name. If he were in the mood he would have tried to spook some of the more timid ones, but he wasn't feeling all that devious at the moment. He recognized some blonde kid from one of his classes and decided to attempt to get information from him.
"Do you know where Percy is?" he asked.
"Holy shit, Nico." the blonde said as though the sight of him was an amazing event. He regained composure and nodded, "Yeah he's in the office over there." he pointed.
"K. Thanks." Nico turned to leave when the blonde stopped him.
"Can I ask you a question real quick?"
Something about the blonde's wide-eyed innocence dropped Nico's guard, "Yeah."
"Have you and Percy really been dating for almost 2 years?"
Nico stopped to think for a moment. Had it really been that long? Where had he been?
"Yeah, why?"
The blonde shrugged, "Just thought I would have heard more about it, that's all."
"Oh... yeah." Nico wasn't sure how to respond.
"Anyway, no big deal. I was just curious."
"Okay." Nico stood there for a moment longer. He could tell that this blonde kid wanted to talk to him more, but wasn't sure how to do it. Nico threw him a little bone, "Well, I need to go find Percy now. I'll talk to you later I guess."
"Really?" the boy seemed strangely excited.
"Yup... see ya." Nico turned and walked quickly in the direction the blonde had pointed to. He walked into the office and saw that it was bustling. People stared at him for a moment, but then politely averted their eyes as they whispered Hades' name. He found Percy at a desk, chewing on a pen as he tried to keep the letters from mixing up. A cute brunette was at his side, helping him add up certain sums. She looked up and saw Nico and smiled before whispering something to Percy. Green eyes looked up and Percy took the pen from his mouth as he smiled at his boyfriend. He stood up and kissed Nico across the desk.
"Hey, have you checked out the camp?" he asked.
"A little." Nico answered, "I wanted to find you first, though."
"Well, I'm trying to make sense of how much money we have for an archery arena, but after that I can show you around if you want."
"Nah. I can explore by myself."
"Have people been nice to you?"
Nico nodded, "Mostly avoiding me, but I did talk to some blonde dude I recognize from school."
"Oh, Cameron. Yeah, he mentioned that he knew you." Percy said, choosing not to sound accusatory.
"He doesn't. We just have class together. He annoys me."
Percy smiled a little at Nico's face, "Well anyway, if people try anything just let me know. This camp is about accepting everyone."
"Okey dokey." Nico kissed Percy again and then left. He knew that this would be a common theme at this camp, at least for a while. Percy would be busy with something and Nico would have to entertain himself. He decided that was okay. It gave him some study time without being too far away. He stuck his hands in the front pocket of Percy's hoodie that he was wearing and continued exploring the camp. It was a lot bigger than he thought it was. He wondered where Percy had gotten the land and who was all involved with money and planning and such.
Nico walked over to a cleared patch of earth with cinderblocks surrounding it. There was a small shed a few feet away and he decided to check it out. Inside were various weapons, from swords to hatchets to bows and arrows. He picked up a small fighting ax and felt the weight of it. He swung it and accidentally hit the door of the shed. He looked around, but nobody had been watching. He gently pulled the hatchet out of the wood and then walked to the center of the makeshift arena, trying out various combat moves. He'd never really worked with such a weapon, but he kind of liked it. It was personal just like his small blade, but was made to be pulled back out of whatever it was he was hacking at. He decided to try throwing it next. His first throw made him glad that nobody had been watching, but he soon got the hang of it and nailed a nearby tree.
"Damn, look at you go." A voice said behind him. It startled Nico and he made an awkward battle stance with it. He saw that it was the blonde kid... Cameron his name was... and dropped his arm.
"First time with one of these." Nico waved the hatchet.
"Well you're good at it, I mean you use it well." the boy said.
"What's your specialty?"
Cameron pulled out a handful of small knives and then moved into a position to throw them. They all landed around the spot Nico had left on the tree with his ax.
"Nice." Nico said and then heard a sound and looked back at Cameron. He was now twirling a butterfly knife and threw it quickly. It landed lower than the other ones.
"I used to use that before I got the real ones."
"Neat." Nico said, swinging the hatchet around. From the corner of his eye he watched Cameron go to the shed and grab something.
"Hey." Cameron said to get Nico's attention and then he tossed a sword over. He gave Nico a look that said, "Get ready." and then lunged at him. Nico quickly ditched the hatchet and switched hands with the sword. It wasn't a very well balanced sword, but he would deal with it. He swung toward Cameron, but was blocked, so he threw a punch with his free hand. Cameron was dazed for a moment, but then smiled, "Good, I don't fight clean, either." He spun around and almost got Nico in the side, but Nico blocked it.
Percy walked up as the two were sparring. He had managed to convince someone else to work on the budget and he had gone to find Nico. He hadn't expected to find him socializing, if that's what you could call this battle. He watched the two. Nico was good, but Cameron was just a little bit better. No big surprise, as Nico hadn't gotten the training most demigods had. Nico was definitely more aggressive, though. Percy loved his boyfriend's bloodthirsty scowl and briefly wondered if Cameron realized how much danger he was in. He heard the latter yell in pain and saw blood running down his arm. While distracted, Nico kicked him in the chest, sending him backward onto his ass. He held the blade to Cameron's throat and the other man pushed the sword to the side with his own, nearly getting Nico in the guts. Percy bit his lip. This fight was getting intense. He wasn't sure who was going to win. Neither looked tired yet, but Cameron's arm was still bleeding and Nico's motions told him his lover's leg was sore. They continued fighting, each one slashing at the other and just missing their target. Percy noticed Cameron was starting to blink a lot. The guy was going to pass out. Nico still looked ready to kill, though he was a little bit slower than before. Finally he decided to intervene.
"Hey guys." he said, walking over to them. Both looked to the side and more or less immediately dropped their weapons, glad to have an excuse to stop. Nico grabbed Percy and kissed him hard. If he hadn't been sexually satisfied so recently, Nico could have easily jumped his boyfriend right there, and Percy knew it. He blushed as they parted, feeling awkward about kissing in front of Cameron.
"Hey man, it's cool. I understand what the heat of battle does to some people."
Nico's eyes secretly darted to Cameron's pants, where a bulge had formed. He grabbed the sword off of the ground to cover up looking and hoped Percy hadn't noticed any of it. "Do you have some food around here?" he asked, "I'm suddenly starving."
"Yeah, I'll take you after we put the stuff away." Percy said, picking the hatchet up. They stored the weapons in the shed and Percy ran his finger along the mark Nico's hatchet had left on the door. He of course figured out what had happened, but decided not to embarass Nico in front of Cameron. As they walked to the lunch hall Percy was a little bit annoyed that Cameron was still following them, but didn't want to be rude by telling him to go away. All three had some lunch together, Nico's consisting mostly of fruit.
"So are you vegan, or just vegetarian?" Cameron asked as he watched Nico shovel some pineapple into his mouth.
Nico swallowed and laughed a little, "Neither. I just really like fruit."
"Do you eat meat, though?"
Percy snickered and Nico fought a smile, knowing why he was laughing, "Yeah, I eat meat."
Cameron looked at them both, "What's so funny?" he watched Nico lick the tip of a grape before eating it and he blushed, "Oh. You guys are gross."
Both broke into full laughter until Nico choked on his own spit and had to stop to get a drink, "Sorry, it was just too funny to pass up."
"So Cameron, do you... eat meat?" Percy asked, turning red, but dead serious.
Cameron swallowed slowly, "Maybe, why?"
He shrugged, "Just curious."
"I choose not to discuss it." Cameron said in a tone that said, "Don't go there."
"That's fine."
"Sorry."
"Nah, it's ok."
Nico decided to change the subject, "So when does this place open?"
Percy turned to Nico. He always got excited when people asked about his new camp and Nico could tell that he was about to get his ears talked off, so he made himself comfortable on the lunch table seat. Cameron excused himself and left while Percy launched into his story about how the camp is supposed to open in June, but he still had positions to fill and some of the cabins weren't finished yet and etc etc.
Later that night the two were sitting on the dock of the lake behind Percy's cabin, dipping their toes in the water.
"Are you going back home tonight?" Percy asked, speaking to Nico, but looking up at the stars.
"I don't think I need to. School's right over there. I just need some clothes that aren't yours to wear tomorrow."
"You should bring some just to leave here all the time." Percy said quietly, afraid Nico would shit on the idea.
"Yeah, that'd be a good idea." he didn't like the idea of having to be at camp to be with Percy, but he was willing to deal with it.
"You mean it?" Percy asked, trying not to sound too excited.
"I mean it." Nico said, leaning over and kissing Percy. He then laid back on the dock, just staring up into the sky. He felt Percy lay next to him and he moved to be closer to him, feeling the taller man's warmth.
From the side of a nearby cabin Cameron watched them. He hated to break up such a cute couple, but he wanted him, and Cameron always got what he wanted.
~*~*~ This chapter took me a while. It's a bit jumbled, but I wanted to pack in a lot of information for the next chapter. Depending on my hours at work, hopefully the next chapter comes a lot faster than this one. I hope you're still enjoying it and I still love you ^.^ Hehe.