Nico di Angelo is an enigma that no one can really understand. Half the time he's quiet and mysterious, the other half he drives his demigod friends up a wall. And lets not forget his general dislike of human touch. Makes it difficult to be friends, honestly. Join the gang in sporadically updated one-shots which show just how difficult dealing with the son of Hades can really be.

(Some events may be cannon. Others are purely headcannon. It will all depend on my mood when I update)

Authors Note: Yes I am currently working on Stuck in Disneyland and Say Something. The chapters are taking longer to write and think about than previously planned.

I do not own PJO or HOO

I do own Daniel who may or may not appear again)

In Which Rachel Tries to Get Nico a Date

Nico loved Rachel. He really did. She understood him in a way that no one else really did. Neither of them had really fit into the demigod world. Rachel because she was a mortal, and the Oracle, which was strange to begin with, and Nico… well he simply had never really belonged anywhere. Rachel understood that.

But there are some days where Nico wonders how they even get along.

"No Rachel, I really don't need a boyfriend. Can I go back to sleep now?"

Rachel had dragged him over to their apartment living room window at five o'clock that morning. Nico had been having one of his rare nightmare free dreams, and was NOT happy with it being interrupted. At age 21 he was still suffering from nightmares about Tartarus. He wondered if he would ever really forget the place.

"His name is Daniel," she encouraged.

Nico sighed and banged his head on the glass once, hoping the pain would make her go away. It didn't.

Sitting down on a bench outside the apartment was a young man, maybe twenty, possibly older. At this distance, it was hard to tell. He had curly dark hair and rectangular glasses. He was reading something that looked suspiciously like Harry Potter. The man was wearing white skinny jeans and a dark blue flannel. At his side was a golden retriever, sleeping on the ground without a care in the world.

In summary the guy was cute, but definitely not cute enough to be cause for Nico to wake up at five in the morning.

"Come on Nico! You can't spend the rest of your life alone!" Rachel poked him in the ribs.

He swatted her hand away, "You are."

"That's different," Rachel, said happily, "I'm required to remain single. You sir, are not."

Nico sighed in exasperation, "Look, I'm just not interested right now okay? Go play match maker with someone else."

"Fine," Rachel was still smiling though, like she knew something he didn't. Which she probably did, being the Oracle and all that.

"I'm taking a shower," Nico told her, "Make sure you eat something before you leave for work."

"I can take care of myself Nico. I'm a grown woman," Rachel stuck her tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes and shut her out by closing the door to the bathroom.

By the time he was done and dressed she was already gone. Nico smiled to himself and took a deep breath. This is what he looked forward to each day, the couple of hours of solitude before he had to go to his own job at the Denny's a block away, where he worked as a waiter.

Despite himself, Nico found himself glancing out the window on his way to the kitchen. To his surprise, he was still there. Instead of reading, the man was on his feet, playing with his dog.

Nico found himself smiling. He was a sucker for attractive guys with dogs. Then he remembered the events of the hour before and scowled. He was NOT going to let Rachel win.

He went to go make his breakfast and pushed the thought of the guy out of his mind. By the time Nico was putting his jacket on to leave at 8:00 a.m. the man was gone.

Nico felt a ridiculous surge of disappointment. It wasn't like he'd been planning on talking to the guy. Hell, he didn't even know if the guy was GAY. Still, something about him had been sort of appealing.

He slammed the front door in frustration. The last thing you need is a mortal boyfriend he chided himself, Just let it go. He'd never been in a relationship before… heck; there were only three people in the world that knew he played for the other team. The last thing he needed was to get romantically attached to someone.

Nico put on his motorcycle helmet, and revved the engine. He loved his motorcycle. He'd salvaged it from a junkyard last year and Leo had rebuilt it and completely decked it out with everything a demigod in constant danger could ever want. There was even a place to store his sword, which was where it was now. The first time he'd brought it to work, he'd gotten so many strange looks he decided to leave it locked up in the cycle. Leo had made sure that mortals or monsters couldn't steal the motorcycle. He didn't know how but he appreciated it. Nico would have had the thing stolen no less than five times without it.

Nico sped through New York traffic, probably alerting every cop in a mile radius of his presence. Not that they would ever catch him. They never did. Hazel was convinced that he was going to get himself killed one day. She was probably right, but at the moment, Nico didn't care.

Nico made it to his shift about five minutes early. He threw his keys and his change of clothes in his locker. He had no intention of being in this uniform any longer than he needed to be.

He put on his apron and grabbed his pad and pen. Christy, his manager, handed him a set of silverware and pointed to a booth, where a man was sitting alone, his back turned to him. Nico sighed and made his way to the booth, dodging a pair of screaming kids who had escaped from their parents.

Nico didn't look at the customer as he set the silverware down on the table and started talking, "Sorry for taking so long. Can I get you anything to drink?"

He glanced up and froze. It was the guy from that morning.

I wonder where his dog is Nico thought stupidly, then noticed a patch of golden brown fur poking up from underneath the table.

" I snuck him in," the man said sheepishly, "I can put him outside if you want."

Nico knew his answer would probably get him fired, but somehow, he couldn't bring himself to play the bad cop.

"Well dogs are strictly not allowed, unless they are seeing eye dogs, but I guess if you can make sure no one else sees him then I'll pretend I never did," Nico said, giving the man his best smile. Usually smiling at customers felt forced. This time… it was a little easier.

"Thanks man,' the man said quietly, "I owe you one."

"If you get caught I'm playing dumb," Nico responded, "Drinks?"

He got drink orders for a couple more tables and went back to the kitchen to retrieve them. He saved the mystery guy for last. Nico wasn't even sure why he did it. Maybe subconsciously he wanted to get to know the guy better, and the longer he stayed, there was a better chance of that. Whatever the case by the time he came back to the table, the man was back to reading.

Nico placed the glass of Coke down on the table and the man closed his book. He could feel the stranger's eyes on him as he fumbled for his pen. Or it could just be his imagination.

"Could I ask you something?"

Nico's head snapped up at being addressed, "Um, sure…"

"Do you happen to have an apartment in the Edison complex?"

Shit Nico thought. Did he see them staring at him this morning.

"Yes," he decided to go the honest route. Maybe he was just being paranoid.

"I thought I saw you and your girlfriend staring at me this morning. I just wanted to know why," the man smiled up at him and Nico suddenly felt uncomfortable.

"Rachel? She's not my girlfriend," Nico said, trying for a smile, "She's just a friend."

"You didn't answer my question."

Nico shrugged, "she's been trying to hook me up with every attractive guy who passes by she sees. It's nothing personal."

Inwardly, Nico face palmed. Seriously? He couldn't even tell his friends about his sexuality, but he could tell a total stranger? Something was seriously wrong with him.

The man looked like he was trying hard not to laugh, "So what do you think? Like what you see?"

If Nico had a little less composure he would have blushed. Was this guy trying to flirt with him?

"Well my eyes aren't burning out of my skull," Nico smirked, "I should probably take your order before my manager gets angry."

The man laughed and handed him his menu, "Surprise me."

Nico knit his eyebrows together, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," the man winked, forcing Nico to look into his liquid green eyes, "Surprise me."

Nico stood in the kitchen for a few minutes trying to figure out what to put down on as an order. What does one do in this situation?

Finally he settled for something simple. Chocolate chip pancakes with sausage and eggs. Couldn't really go wrong there. Besides, it was his personal favorite.

When he came back with the man's food, he caught the guy smiling.

"This is my favorite thing to order!" the man raised an eyebrow at Nico, "Are you psychic or something?"

Nico smiled softly, "No. It just happens to be my favorite too."

"Really? Small world," the man grabbed a napkin and a pen from his back pocket. He scribbled something down and handed it to Nico.

"My name is Daniel Flores. I'm thinking we should hang out,"

Nico tentatively took the napkin and noticed a phone number scrawled on the page. He pocketed it and gave the man a genuine smile.

"Nico di Angelo," he introduced himself, "And I was just thinking the same thing."

He could almost hear Rachel gloating now, but he couldn't bring himself to care.