"Do we have to?" Percy practically whined.
Nico shot him a withering glare, not for his words, but how he said them, "Do you want to explain how we got here then?" he asked acidly.
Percy cringed before visibly wilting. Nico tried to valiantly ignore the looks they were garnering. Percy sighed, squinting at the menu for all the good it would do for a dyslexic ADHD demigod to try and read a small cluttered font. Having enough of his dramatics, Nico pushed him out of the way, softening his glare only a little bit at the bemused and slightly frightened cashier.
"Four Happy Meals, please."
Meanwhile, Percy was patting down his pockets for money. Nico suspected he wouldn't be finding cash or change anytime soon. His eye twitched as he pulled out the wad of money that his dad always insisted he have on him. He could tell the cashier was openly staring now and that only soured his mood further.
Neither of them would've even been in this situation if Percy had reined it in just a tad while battling the feral harpies that descended upon Nico as he attempted to finish several Rites of Passings. Percy's nimble swordwork, while appreciated, managed to crush and destroy the several Happy Meals that Nico had laid out.
If that was all that happened, perhaps Nico wouldn't be as ticked as he was. What really made the child of Hades want to scream and rip his hair out was that the ghosts that the Rites were for, appeared anyway, freaking Percy out enough for him to continue to swing his sword around. The ghosts hadn't appreciated the threat of getting decapitated (for a few of the ghosts, it would've been the second time), and had promptly turned on him to hiss threats in their chattering whispers.
That brought them to now, Nico ordering another four Happy Meals from the McDonalds he visited not even an hour ago to see if redoing the Rites would appease the irate ghosts. Percy finished patting down his pockets looking sheepish.
"I don't have cash, sorry."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Nico snarled back as he handed the money over to the cashier.
He should've been back at Camp by now, hanging out with Will in the infirmary. But no, he was here waiting at a Mcdonald's with Percy Jackson because the other demigod couldn't tell a ghost from another monster. He fought the impulse to crush the receipt in his hand. He would've if he knew he could've remembered the little number on it. That wasn't the case considering his ADHD was just as bad as Percy's.
They must've made quite a sight to the other customers, two fidgeting teenagers that for all intents and purposes looked to have ants in their pants. Nico didn't even want to know what the Mist made the sword on his back look like. Hopefully something inconspicuous or so utterly boring no one would ask.
"Hey, Mister. Where did you get the bear?" Or not.
Nico's mind darted around frantically for an answer. Why on Earth would a kid come up to the pale kid dressed in all black to ask that question? His eyes finally landed on Percy, who looked very amused with his hands stuffed deep in his pockets. Oh, two could play that game, Jackson.
"My friend bought it for me. So why don't you ask him?" Nico motioned toward Percy with his head, smirking viciously when Percy's amusement slid off of his face to be replaced with slight panic.
Percy handled it with less grace, stuttering and bouncing around even more. It was a little funny since neither of the boys in question knew what the said bear looked like. Was it some sort of backpack? Or was it just hanging around on Nico's shoulder? It could've been anything really.
Nico left Percy to answer, walking to the counter to pick up his order. He thanked the cashier stiffly, grabbing the four meals by the handles and leaving the tray. He didn't wait for Percy before walking straight out of the building. He could hear Percy scrambling to catch up and had to bite back another smirk. Serves him right.
Annabeth was waiting for them at the open graves. Uh oh, Nico thought, more so when he noted her crossed arms and arched eyebrow. Beside him, Percy uttered a small curse and Nico's anxiety faded. Good, he wasn't the one in trouble.
He greeted Annabeth with a nod, pleased to see it returned with a smile. That smile turned into something more sinister and threatening when her eyes fell on Percy. Even as Nico knelt to place the new Happy Meals overtop the old ones, he could hear Percy gulp.
"Do you know what time it is?" Annabeth asked sweetly.
"Girlfriend time?" Percy laughed nervously.
"Hmm, I think that was a little over an hour ago. A little late to still be considered 'Girlfriend time' isn't it?"
"It wasn't my fault!" Percy defended. His eyes pleaded for Nico to play along. Unfortunately for the child of Poseidon, he would be doing no such thing.
"Yes, it was," Nico said easily, "These Happy Meals didn't destroy themselves."
"So let me get this straight-" Nico could hear Will's voice, cracking a joke about being a circle, "Not only are you late, you made Nico here late too?"
Wait, what? "I'm late for something?"
Annabeth sighed, throwing her hands up, muttering something that could've been "boys". She looked at him, probably to see if he was joking or not. How could Nico be late for something? The only thing he had planned was doing the Rites and… Oh.
Hadn't Will wanted to go out picnicking or something? Was that today? Nico distinctly remembered a basket with a folded blanket on it in the infirmary this morning. Oh no, what time was it? His head whipped up, looking for the sun. It was far too close to the horizon for comfort. If he shadow traveled he could make it.
A hand caught his upper arm just as he got one foot into the shadow he was going to jump into, "Oh no you don't!" Annabeth scolded, "What did Will say about shadow traveling? Emergencies only."
How could this not constitute an emergency?! Oh wait, hadn't he offered to buy more McDonalds for their picnic? He changed directions, breaking out of Annabeth's grip to sprint back toward the distant building. Camp was at least a fifteen-minute run away from here. Ordering and waiting would probably take another ten minutes. If he really pushed it he could be at Camp in thirty minutes.
"Noooo…" he heard Percy groan, "Please, you—you can't take me back there."
Annabeth snapped back at him, but Nico was too far away to hear it properly. His shoes kicked up dust as he ran like a madman. He tore through the doors like a hellhound was at his heels. He couldn't care less about the apprehensive cashier that had seen him for the third time in as many hours.
"Two Happy Meals please," Nico puffed out, cheeks flushing with embarrassment and exertion.
Gods, the cashier must think he has some sort of chicken nugget addiction at this rate. He'd ordered, what, like ten Happy Meals in the past three hours? Something like that. Annabeth and Percy entered the Mcdonald's in a more subdued manner, clearly looking for him. Nico was ready to jump out of his skin with stress. How could he forget something like this?
The child that had asked earlier about Nico's 'bear', jumped out from a nearby booth, looking for all the world prepared and ready to get the answer to her question. Her grin was a little unnerving, but she still chirped rather cheerfully at Percy, "You're back!"
Annabeth shifted back, hand reaching toward her backpack. Many things happened at once, the kid lunged at inhuman speeds for Nico. Thankfully for him, he was just as inhuman and managed to dodge the razor-sharp claws that would've cut him to pieces. Mortals screamed and ran, Percy uncapped Riptide, and Annabeth swung her pack by the strap, knocking it and all the heavy books inside into the monster's skull.
The monster went down, crashing into and flipping the nearest table and chairs. The cashier behind him was whimpering and crawling away behind the counter. Nico finally had enough presence of mind to draw his sword, bashing the flat of his blade into the monster's face. It wailed as its nose broke. It appeared to be another harpy, likely trying to enact revenge on him for its fallen comrades.
Percy sliced at its wing, sending it staggering into the soda machine. Cups and lids went flying as the harpy thrashed, slowly disintegrating into dust. It shrieked and in a last-ditch attempt, dove at Nico like a feathery rocket. It was easy enough to duck and cleave his sword through it at the same time.
The two halves of the harpy slid over the counter and into the back kitchen with a thunderous crash. Half-made food landed on the floor, shelves creaked and fell, and more mortals screamed. Silence ensued, broken only by the steady drip of the broken soda machine. A fine layer of dust caked everything, showing up starkly in his and Percy's jet-black hair.
"Well, this sucked," Percy remarked drily.
Nico wanted to bury his face in his hands. Instead, he sighed, loudly. It was like that tempted Fate and police sirens began to sound from the road. Nope, he was not dealing with them today, not after everything that happened here. No sir. He booked it, Annabeth and Percy not far behind.
"Di Immortales," Annabeth swore, "This was not my idea of a date, Jackson."
"What do you mean?" Percy wheezed, "I got the girl, a restaurant, and no money. Sounds like a date to me."
"Shut up," Nico and Annabeth told him in a deadpan. Percy wisely shut up.
"What in Tartarus happened to you lot?" Will blinked in shock at their dust-caked sweaty faces.
"I don't want to talk about it." Nico didn't pout, but it was a near thing as he buried his face into his boyfriend's shirt.
He let Will's hands manhandle him to arms length. His boyfriend's eyes were rounded in worry as he surveyed him from his face down to his legs. Everyone jumped and twisted around as something fell into the lake with a loud splash. That something turned out to be Percy, who sighed in relief.
"Boys," Annabeth grumbled under her breath once more. Louder she declared, "I'm going to shower. Don't bother me."
She stalked away, somehow still managing to look somewhat put together with her heavy backpack and sweat-streaked face.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Percy shot from the water like a cannon, completely dry as he raced after his girlfriend.
Nico decided not to comment on the "don't bother me" part of Annabeth's declaration.
Will looked at him again. Nico knew that look. Before Will could even draw breath, Nico was saying, "I'm fine."
Will squinted and his hand vaguely motioned toward Nico's hair. "Really, I'm fine. A bit of a monster tussle, that's it. Might've destroyed the McDonald's down the road, but I'm fine."
"You destroyed McDonalds?!" Will was exponentially more concerned with the state of the building and where he was going to get his next fix of fast food.
Nico bit back a smile as his boyfriend started to pepper him with questions, face growing more and more distressed as Nico told him about the state of the soda machine and the upturned kitchen.
"Sorry I missed the picnic."
Will waved him off, "There's no time limit on it. Still can't believe you blew up a McDonald's and I missed it."
"I did not blow it up," Nico retorted hotly.
"Did too."
"Did not."
"Did too."
"Did not."
"Did too."
"Shut up Solace."
"You love me di Angelo."
