Disclaimer: I do not own anything that looks familiar.

Piper and Nico

Piper POV

I was having a rough day.

The campfire was dying, the campers had all wandered off to their cabins, including Jason, and I was the only one left. The Giant War was 3 weeks ago, and I was still in a depressed mood. Leo was de-missing. We just finished burning the last funeral pyre today, so I guess we were all in a sad mood tonight. So I just sat and watched the embers crackle and fade out.

Well, the best way to cheer yourself up is to cheer up someone else I guess. Time to get happy again! This girl can only take so much frowning. Frowning gives you wrinkles Dear. Yes Mom. Thanks for reminding me. My helpful mother always pops in to give me life-saving advice exactly when I need it. Thoughtful right? Well, smiling too much can also give you wrinkles, so take that. I stretch my arms above my head and look around for someone to cheer up and talk to. No one. Wait… Movement catches my eye and I can barely make out Nico sauntering away into the woods. I smile to myself. Perfect. Not so fast there mister.

I jog up to him. "Hey there." I say softly. He whirls around, startled. "Whatcha doing?"

A look of panic flashes across his face, but he quickly covers it up with a blank expression. "Nothing, just about to travel to my cabin."

"Wouldn't just be easier just to walk there?" My curiosity gets the best of me. "Shadow traveling takes more energy right?"

He shrugs, and then starts slipping into the darkness.

"Wait!" I yell quickly. He does this EVERY TIME. Whenever people try to talk to him, he just slips away. Wish I could do that sometimes. I grab his arm, and then suddenly I am whisked into freezing pitch darkness, flying past mysterious shadows and trying to ignore the chilling screams in my ears.

0-0-0-0-0

Nico POV

Just as I slipped in the shadows, I felt Piper's hand grip my shoulder. Ugh. Almost got away. I groan in annoyance, but there's nothing I can do about it now.

We land in the alleyway right behind the store. In Italy that is. Blinding sunlight scorches my eyes as I try to adjust. Piper stumbles away from me and lands on her knees. She holds her head woozily, and tries to calm herself. Well maybe if she didn't grab me like that, she would feel better, I muse. Shadow traveling unexpectedly, and for the first time at that, can make you dizzy. I cross my arms and wait for her to stand up.

"What the Hades Di Angelo?" She snaps. "This isn't your cabin!"

"Oops." I shrug and walk away. I hear her scramble to her feet and come after me.

"Where in the world are we?"

"Venice"

"In ITALY?" She yells.

"No, Venice in China." That shut her up.

Ok, Piper is a nice girl and all, don't get me wrong. We just don't click very well. She talks a lot. I don't, which is okay I guess, I'm a good listener. But I don't have time to listen to people talk all day. Just leave me alone, let me do my business and we will be good friends.

"What are you doing in Venice?"

Yep. Now I have to explain. Why did she have to come this very moment this exact time? Why in Olympus couldn't she have tagged alone yesterday? Or next week? Why? I begged the Fates. Why me? Oh the irony of an Aphrodite girl coming with me on this trip.

I didn't answer, but walked right into Campo de Frari and into Vestiti del Fazio, a clothing store on the corner.

Piper looked at me in amazement. "You're going clothes shopping? In Italy?"

"Well I am a human being. I need clothes. Most of my good ones got shredded in the war. And yes, the best fitting clothes are right here. You can wait outside if you want." I walked in and started browsing the racks.

0-0-0-0-0

Piper POV

Ok, one moment I am sitting by a campfire in New York, the next I am clothes shopping in Italy with Nico, of all people. Nico is Italian, right? I guess it makes sense to come here to shop. I look around. Most of the clothes are dark colors –jeans, tees, hats, jackets. I glance over to Nico to see him looking at a plain black t-shirt, only to shake his head slightly and put it back, only to pull out another black T-shirt that looks exactly the same, and nod at it approvingly. The inner Aphrodite in me sighs. I wander around, not really looking for me, but maybe for something that Nico would approve of.

I have no idea what he likes besides black. I don't really know much about him at all. A son of Hades, Hazel's brother, moody… and that's it. I never talked to him much on the Argo II, he stuck to himself. I know Percy and Annabeth knew him since he was like 10, but they haven't told me much about him.

I try reading signs, but (surprise!) I can't read Italian. So I continue to shuffle around awkwardly waiting for Nico. I see a navy blue shirt that says "Punk is dead. And I killed it!" in English. Uh, maybe he might like it? Son of Hades right? Killing? Punk? At least it's not black. Worth a shot. I grab a size small and a medium and walk over to him. He was now looking at some black skinny jeans.

"Hey, what about this?" I hold up the shirt.

The glare he shoots at me is physically wounding. "This is why I didn't want you along." He sighs heavily. "Do I look like Thalia to you?" He turns back to the clothes rack.

Eh. Worth a shot. Although he's right. Does look more like Thalia's thing, from what I've heard of her. Swallowing my slightly hurt feelings, I hang the shirts back on their rack. Spying a bench in the corner my the fitting rooms, I walk over to sit down. Probably best if I stay out of the way. That's when I spot it. A dark brown aviator jacket. I reach out to touch the tough leather, and sink my fingers in the soft inside. I remember Nico wearing one just like it when we rescued him from that jar. I think he lost it somehow, but I always saw him wearing it before. I grab the last one off the hook and pray to my mom it's the right size. Not caring what he might comment, I march up to the door of the fitting room he was currently in and threw it over the door.

Silence.

A rustle of clothing.

The door squeaks open a crack, and I see a brown eye staring at me.

"Wh-where did you find this?"

I pointed over to the now-empty rack. "It was the last one."

The door closes. More rustling of clothes. Okay…

After 10 more minutes of waiting, Nico finally emerges and walks to the counter to pay. The jacket is among the bundle of clothes in his arms. He and the cashier talk rapidly in Italian, money exchanged and clothes are put in a bag. Then we walk out without a word.

"Well?" I prompt him.

"Thanks. The jacket was on clearance, he told me they don't make it anymore."

"Does it fit?"

"A little big, but it's okay. My sister, B-Bianca gave me my old one." His voice grew quieter. "I've been looking for another one to replace it ever since it was destroyed."

"Oh.." I didn't really know what to say. "You'll grow into it."

"Sorry I snapped at you earlier."

"It's okay, I shouldn't have bothered you anyway. I'm the one who grabbed on to you."

"But you kept looking for me anyway?" His voice sounded puzzled.

"Hey, that death glare doesn't scare me away Di Angelo," I teased, "I'll always look for you."

"…thanks." He paused. "Ready to go home?"

"Sure. I need some sleep." I smiled. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back into the shadows.

Nico may be shy, or moody or whatever his problem is, but he's a good kid with a lot of backstory. Maybe someday I can cheer him up; I know he made my day better.

Author's Note

Eh, not my best. Couldn't think of a good ending, but whatever!

Those two characters are hard to write for me.

Let me know what characters to do next!

~Ellie