Nico

Nico was going to have a word with Morris about her landings. She had gotten them literally into deep water twice in two weeks, and both times Nico felt he was doing an extreme version of the ice bucket challenge. Nico held his breath as he leapt, given Morris' track record. It turned out to be a good idea because for a long moment, all she could do was concentrate on manipulating the river so it gave them enough cover from the Stymphalian birds.

Nico closed his eyes against the water, which didn't look any cleaner under the surface than it did from land. The whirlpool became so ferocious that he was knocked out of Morris' grasp and he gritted his teeth, determined not to lose consciousness again. Too bad he was running out of oxygen.

Suddenly air washed over him, which was a strange sensation to say the least. "You can open your eyes," said a voice and Nico blinked to see that they were standing on the bottom of the river, Morris holding out Nico's sword. "This came loose from your belt when we jumped in."

"Thanks." Nico took his sword and noticed that Morris was back in guy form. "Uh… what happened?"

"There was a tourist boat coming along at the same time we jumped. I had to keep the Stymphalian birds away from us and the boat, and keep you alive. I turned into a merperson for a moment and wasn't really thinking when I changed back. I can transform again, though…?" So he had noticed that Nico kind of had a thing about that.

"It's fine," Nico managed. "Just be yourself."

Morris grinned and ran a hand through his hair. He had lost his bandana, and in the near-darkness his hair looked like molten copper. "We should get back to the surface," he suggested after a moment. "I'm not sure what's down here."

"Yeah…" Nico took a breath to gather his courage. "Actually, I think we should stay here a minute."

"Why?" Judging by his face, Morris was as keen on staying in the freezing, murky depths as Nico was. But Nico had remembered something, and now was as good a time as any to bring it up.

"Well, it's your birthday, isn't it? I want to give you your present." To say Morris looked surprised was an understatement. Demigods didn't do birthdays, unless they were at camp. To be honest, Nico wouldn't have remembered if he hadn't seen a hoard of trick-or-treaters traipsing alongside the riverbank that evening. Morris didn't seem to have noticed them or remembered that his birthday was on Halloween.

"Seriously, though? Here?"

"Yep." Before he could wimp out, Nico stepped forward and kissed him full-on the mouth.

Morris almost lost concentration and drowned them both.

Smoochies, as they say.

Mine are directed to Cerulaen for the editing and Ragemoon for being such a lovely client and having fun characters to play with.