Coastlines: 20 Questions

Nico

Nico's eyes widened. Was this guy flirting with him? Nico had never been flirted with, so it was hard to tell, but his gut said he was. Holy Hera. Honestly, Nico thought the kid was dead. He hadn't bothered checking the Underworld because he hadn't thought anyone could survive those wounds without help from camp. He only came back to try to learn more about the fish monster.

Since the fight last January, Nico had been steadily improving his relations with both demigod camps back home. He still travelled a lot, mostly alone, but he was slowly starting to get to know other half-bloods. He wanted to learn more about the international community, so to speak, so was searching out non-American heroes. It made sense to come back to Ireland. He hadn't expected any conversations though.

"Who are you?" Let's start with introductions.

"Morris Morgan Black, son of Oceanus." Oceanus? That was a new one. Most Titans preferred to breed with other Titans, assuming they were even able to break free from whichever prison the gods had chosen for them.

"Nico di Angelo, son of Hades." Pleased to meet you.

"Pleased to meet you."

Morris smiled, and a very suppressed part of Nico's brain registered that he was cute. Up close, he didn't look like Percy at all – his hair was fire-truck red, he was almost as pale as Nico and he had piercings dotted around his ears with one in his lip. He looked about a million times healthier than the average non-camp-based demigod, which Nico supposed had something to do with his Titan parentage. Maybe some monsters were too afraid to pick on him. Still, he was odd. Where had he got that trident? He was Titan spawn, technically speaking, so Nico was ready to impale him if necessary.

"So… you're not dead."

"Definitely not. Want to grab a coffee?" Nico's eyebrows shot skywards.

"Excuse me?"

"Coffee. The bean drink. Want some? I prefer to walk and talk, as opposed to talk and let monsters find me." Morris had a point. Alone Nico didn't go a day without an attack; together they didn't stand much chance. But still, this was the kid of a Titan – and not the friendly one.

"Why should I trust you?" Morris smiled. Nico didn't know what type his lip piercing was exactly, but it suited him. A simple stud nestled underneath his bottom lip and drew attention to the perfect symmetry of his face. Too bad good looks didn't equal 'not evil'.

"I'm a demigod, aren't I? We're on the same team." Clearly he had no idea that until recently the Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter were very different 'teams'.

"Being a demigod doesn't make you a good person. But we should move. Somewhere neutral. Away from the sea." Morris grinned again.

"As long as it's away from the Underworld, you're on. Come on, I know a decent place inland. Let's walk and talk!"

There were lots of tourists about and the weather was decent enough that soon all Nico wanted was an iced coffee. He kept one hand on his sword, though, just in case Morris sprouted Titan tendencies and tried to murder all the mortals. They walked in silence for maybe half an hour, throwing tiny glances at one another when they thought the other person wasn't looking. Gods knew what Morris was thinking, but half of Nico's brain was working out how he could take the guy in a fight; the other half was searching for small talk.

"You don't talk much," Morris commented as they climbed a hill. "Are you one of those strong and silent types or have you seen too much war and violence to connect with civilians?"

"The second one." Nico chanced a glance in Morris' direction and saw he was smirking.

"How about we play twenty questions?"

"The parlour game?" Nico was surprised. He had played twenty questions with Hazel, but he thought it was something you did with people you knew.

"Sure. We don't trust each other and we probably have half an hour tops before another monster attacks, so we should probably get to know each other real quick. Ten questions each okay?" It didn't sound like he was asking.

"Okay…" Nico was still ready to spear the guy, but he was curious to know more about Morris. Why hadn't he gone to camp? Why did he have a Stygian iron trident? Why was he so attractive?

"I'll go first. How old are you?"

"About eighty-five." Morris raised his eyebrows and it was Nico's turn to smirk.

"I was born in 1932 and spent about seventy years in the Lotus Hotel in Las Vegas. How old are you?"

"Sixteen. Who put you in the hotel?"

"My father. He was on the losing side of World War II at the time. Why have you got a trident made of Stygian iron?"

"It was a gift from my father. Were you with anyone in the hotel?"

This was turning into a rapid-fire battle of wits.

"My sister Bianca. Which side did Oceanus fight on in the First Titan War?" Trick question. Oceanus had been neutral in the first war and sided with the Titans in the second – he had wrecked Poseidon's palace and would have determined the war's outcome if Percy hadn't convinced his dad to defend Olympus. Part of Nico couldn't forgive that – and besides, he wanted to see if Morris knew his mythology from his current events.

Morris stopped in the street and stared at Nico.

"He was neutral in the first war and fought with the Titans a few years ago." He paused pointedly. "It was a war I wasn't involved with."

"Well I was, and-"

"Do you always focus on violence when you're uncomfortable," Morris interrupted, "or are you too warped to think of anything else?" Nico felt anger wash over him and had to take several deep breaths to stop skeletons from rising from the roadside to smother the Titan spawn.

"I'm too warped. Why do you ask?"

"Why did you sidestep around explaining your sister?" The ground shook a little.

"She died a few years ago, and my other sister used to be dead so it isn't sidestepping, it's hereditary."

Morris blinked a few times and Nico got the impression that he regretted asking.

"I'm sorry. I had a sister too."

Oh. For the first time since he'd seen Morris amongst the waves, Nico felt an actual connection with him. A human connection, not based upon godly parenthood or monsters.

They arrived at the café and ordered iced coffees, Morris handing over mortal money since Nico never carried any, not that US dollars would have been much use.

Wait. Was this a date?

Morris

"So," Morris ventured, stirring his straw absent-mindedly. "Got any cool superpowers you can show me?" Nico laughed without humour.

"You don't want to see my powers, trust me."

"What, can you create zombies or something?" Morris laughed properly, then stopped abruptly when he realised Nico wasn't smiling. "Really? You can raise the dead?"

"Sort of. Mostly I argue with them about their final resting place. How about you?" He turned those obsidian eyes to directly face Morris, who wondered if Hades kids could read your soul.

"Well, I can breathe underwater-"

"Pretty average for sea god spawn." Hm. Obviously Nico was going to need the full explanation.

"I can heal people in the water-"

"Clearly not yourself,"

"-and I can change form." Morris took a deep breath. Here was the moment of truth, when Nico either accepted him completely or rejected a freak. "Physically, I mean. I can become like a merman, like Triton. And I can change biological sex." Nico spat out a bit of coffee.

"What, like your gender? Physically?" His eyes were like saucers.

"Yep. Wanna see?" For a moment Nico looked uncertain, but he nodded. Morris grinned and shook his hair out of the ponytail it'd been tied in for practicality. "Stage one, get girly hair." Then he concentrated, letting his mind wander until it latched on to whatever part of him that was able to transform. He always had his eyes shut doing it, so when he became a she, she only knew it because Nico choked a little.

"Holy Hephaestus. Is that fully… are you?" Morris opened her eyes and grinned. She looked down and yep, she was glad she had worn a training bra that morning. "Are you changed, like in your mind?"

Honestly, she had never thought about it. "I don't think so. I've always been me, inside my head. I don't think my gender affects the way I think, so I've never really… thought about it." She laughed a little at Nico's expression. "How many questions have we got left?"

"Uh… I think three each?"

"Okay-"

Morris never got to finish her sentence, because an ear-splitting crash rang through the hills. Nico drew his sword and Morris gripped her trident.

"Monster?"

"Monster. Fight?"

"Fight."

Once again, reviews would be cool, please and thank you!