He's Still a Cat

It was lunch time and Will was walking down to the dining pavilion. Instead of going to his cabins table, he headed to the Poseidon table where Jason and Percy were chatting. He knew how close Nico was to them and decided that if anyone could help him look after the Ghost King it would be them.

"Hey Percy, Jason," Will said walking up to them.

"Aww, cute little Nico," Percy exclaimed picking up the sleeping tabby who was in Will's arms. He meowed in discomfort, probably from being removed from the warmth of Will's chest. It slowed to purring when Percy started to stroke his silky fur.

"So do you guys like by any chance, know what cats eat?" asked Will awkwardly.

Jason and Percy shared a look of thought and the former then answered Will.

"Um… food?"

Will sighed into his hand, "well I know that!"

Percy then got a spark in his eyes, "I have an idea!" he shouted.

Will now feared for his life. Percy having an idea wasn't often good. He waved his hand in the motion of carry on.

"So Lou Ellen said he's probably gonna be a cat for like a week, right? And we have no idea what food he should have or if the wood nymphs can even serve it here. And we don't have anything for him to play with or know how to properly care for him! So I suggest we ask Chiron if we can leave camp to go on a quest downtown for cat supplies!"

Will thought about it. Percy had a point. They would need some supplies and things to look after Nico with, which they probably couldn't find t camp. On the other hand they didn't want to draw too many monsters when Nico was as vulnerable as he was. Unless they left him at camp.

"Ok, let's go ask Chiron then," Will reasoned. Percy passed Nico back and ran ahead with Jason to the big house where Chiron was sure to be.

When Will got there Percy was explaining the situation to the centaur.

"I see your point and I trust you boys," he said, "I will allow only the three of you to leave camp. I think it would be best to leave Nico here. Argus can drive you down and bring you back in the camps van."

Ten minutes later Percy, Jason and Will were climbing into the van, with Argus at the front in the driver's seat. All three boys had backpacks with them that had nectar and ambrosia, some money and in Will's case a first aid kit.

Piper and Annabeth waved them good bye, the latter of which holding a sleeping kitten nestled in her arms. She and Piper would be watching over him whilst the others went to the shops.

In the van the boys sat in silence pondering over the meaning of life… or something. Then Will, ever the optimist, decided to break the silence. "Hey, I've got a joke!"

Will heard Percy murmur 'your face' under his voice and elected to ignore it.

Jason looked up at him, "yeah, what is it?"

"Ok," Will grinned, "what did the cat say when he lost all his money?"

"I don't know, what did the cat say?"

"I'm paw!" Jason and Percy both burst out in laughter, whether it was because they found the joke funny or they thought it was so bad, Will couldn't tell. The questers continued to tell jokes – a lot of cat themed ones – to make a more interesting journey. It was after their, roughly thirtieth joke when something weird happened (to clarify I mean weirder).

Jason squinted slightly at the walkway between the seats.

"Is it just me, or does it seem to be getting somewhat darker in here?"

"I don't know man," replied Percy.

"Wait look over there!" Will pointed to a few rows in front of them where the shadows had suddenly started to converge. As they watched, a tiny black cat scrambled out of the shadows and up to them. Surprised, Will crouched down and picked him up.

"And what are you doing here Death Cat?" he questioned him.

For answer, Nico snuggled his furry head against Will's chest and purred contentedly. Then he promptly fell asleep. Will wanted to tell Nico off for shadow travelling, especially onto a moving vehicle, but he was too cute to stay angry at. Using his powers, (which he figured out worked on animals. Some of his friends had even started calling him Doctor Dolittle, however much he protested) Will touched Nico's head and was able to read his vitals. All he could tell was that luckily Nico was only tired. He wondered how Nico had managed to slip away from the girls.

Annabeth held the little tabby against her chest. She and Piper were given babysitting duty whilst the boys went to get some supplies. But they didn't mind. Nico was so cute and it got them out of their camp activities for the rest of the day.

After a few minutes, Nico started pawing her arm, which she took as a sign that he wanted to be put down. She did so, and he ran around their legs brushing against them slightly. The sunlight was coming down hard so they decided to go sit by the shadows of a tree to get some shade. In retrospect, not a good idea.

Nico sat next to them and rolled on his back leaving his belly out. Piper came up and began scratching it. He purred happily and the girls couldn't help but smile.

They restarted their ongoing chat about nothing in particular. Every now and then they'd look over to see if Nico was still curled up where he was. Then they looked over to notice the space devoid of said black tabby.

Piper jumped up, eyes searching for the kitten.

"Where is he?" she asked Annabeth. Annabeth started shaking her head but then pointed to the edge of the forest, which was covered in shade, where a little black ball of fluff could be seen running up to a tree. It then disappeared.

A/N – Thanks for reading this and I hope you liked the second chapter! As far as I'm aware this isn't the end as I have more ideas. If you liked this then you may want to read my most recent Solangelo fic, 'Cute Italians on Sugar Rush's Will Annoy the Hades Out of You'. No this is not a promotional ad. Ha ha anyway… I'll try to update this next week! See you guys later!

Pandemonium K – Thanks! I'm hoping to make this at least a few chapters long!

Solei Dragheart – Thank you! Glad you enjoyed! Also, added a cat pun!

JustARandomNerd – I just love what you put ('Holy Spirit drinking spirits'). Thanks!

ruby262 – Thank you! Hope you liked this chapter too!

Disclaimer, I don't have a cat, so I have no idea how they act. This is guessing and google. So sue them if something is wrong.

Bye!

~a-halfblood-with-attitude