The fates were laughing to themselves; even as a god, Percy was still their playtoy and they had acquired a new one; Nico Di Angelo. The three moirai had overheard Poseidon and Hades' conversation, and they had a plan on how to act on it. They had known the conversation was going to happen, but the 'when' had been fickle about its placement until it had been conversed about, which had just made the three of them chuckle in delight.
Percy was sitting in his bedroom, he had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling, as if the fates were planning something. But he didn't know what they were planning. He never knew, all he knew they always seemed to make his life miserable. They made him go through 2 wars, and lose all his friends and family.
And then there was the matter of godhood. Percy needed to make a godly weapon, he would probably just ask his father how he could upgrade Riptide from being a standard demigod weapon to a sacred godly weapon.
As Percy left his bedroom, and started to swim towards the central throne room, he was transported into the same concrete room again. "OH, FOR THE LOVE OF OLYMPUS!" He yelled loudly. For now, he was alone. Nobody in sight. Last time he was here, he had shared a kiss with his friend.
A kiss.
With Nico.
His friend, sort-of-cousin-but-it-was-weird, and fellow god.
Percy groaned, running a hand down his face.
Nico was leaving his mini-palace to ask his father the same thing that Percy was going to ask Poseidon, when the shadows seemed to wrap around him, and took him to the very same room.
"What in my father's underpants!" Nico yelled, then he noticed Percy.
He blushed hard at the memory, sharply turning his head to the side to avoid looking at his once-maybe-again crush.
Percy blushed when his gaze landed on Nico, and he had to force himself to look away. "So, back here again. Who do you think has meddled in our lives this time?"
Nico scowled as he thought, "Maybe our fathers, possibly Aphrodite, or even Eros." His eyes grew dark at the name, although Percy couldn't place why. "Gods' know, Perce, everyone loves to meddle with us."
Percy snorted slightly, "Yes. Yes they bloody do."
A piece of paper fell, and it read:
"To find what you seek,
You must work together,
And search your feelings;
Once that is done, then you are to be free
-Unknown"
Percy let out a long, long, long sigh.
Nico stared at the letter, brows furrowing as he read it.
Percy looked at Nico. "So we have to work together and search our feelings. So it's going to be a long while." Percy had locked his feelings down, like deep, deep down. After being made a god, he seemed to become emotionally unavailable.
Nico looked back at him, something soft in his eyes in understanding. "Guess so."
The two sat in silence for a moment.
"Well, one of us has to go first." Percy said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Nico looked at him, hesitating "You remember how I told you Eros made me confess to him, then I told you…. Well… I.. still… like… you." he mumbled the last part.
Percy stared at Nico, silent. "You still like me? After everything, I've said and done?"
Nico huffed, again turning his head. "Yes, Percy. It's– I don't know, you're… you're you."
Percy gulped, trying to search his feelings. His mind racing. His heart sort of fluttered. He had butterflies in his chest. "I..I.." Words just seemed to fail Percy.
"I mean, who can't like you? Everyone around you liked you, Percy; you just never saw it." Nico went on once the silence became too much.
Percy huffed, "Are you sure that isn't because of my so-called hero status?"
Nico just looked at him, slapping him then pulling him by his collar and kissing him to see how Percy would react.
He almost stumbled back from the slap, and it was rather jarring to go from that to being kissed; he didn't move. Nico's lips were… chapped, but soft, a stark contrast to his death grip on Percy's shirt.
Percy didn't seem to pull away, instead he started to melt into the kiss. His arms slowly settled onto Nico's hips. "I like you too Death Breath." He said quietly when Nico pulled back.
Both gods seemed to blush golden due to the ichor running through their veins.
Percy coughed, "So that's one line, cleared…"
Nico stepped back, hands leaving Percy's shirt with a slight frown. "You haven't explained your feelings, Percy. I told you about mine."
Percy looked at the floor, then back at Nico. Stepping forward, softly kissing him. "I like you Nico. I want you… no..no… I need you." He looked at Nico, waiting for a reaction.
Nico, almost instinctively, kissed him back, although when they pulled away from each other, he almost appeared to doubt Percy's words.
Percy looked at him, "I know you're doubting my words, so I can swear on the styx."
Nico shook his head. "You don't have to do that, Percy. That's not-"
"Then what Nico?" He questioned. "How and what can I do to prove I mean what I said?"
"I.. um.. Mhm… I don't know Percy." Nico said, thinking hard. "There's– sure, swearing on Lady Styx works, but it doesn't exactly prove anything."
Percy had an idea, he wasn't sure how much it would work, but he wrapped his arms around Nico, and softly kissed him again. The kiss was full of passion and was meaningful. He didn't want to pull the kiss off just yet, it made him forget about everything that had happened over the last few weeks.
He felt Nico kiss back, arms settling onto his shoulders. The kiss was deep, full of passion but Percy broke it off eventually. "Better?"
A blush crept onto Nico's face again, but this time he didn't pull away. "...I suppose it certainly proved something."
Percy smiled. "Now that's one line of that note fulfilled. What do we both seek, though?"
"Our demigod weapons to be upgraded?" Nico asked, pulling his arms off of Percy. "That's… It's what I had been about to ask my father before ending up here, unless…"
"Unless?" Percy asked, confused.
He frowned. "What were you doing before you ended up here?"
"I was on my way to ask my father how to upgrade riptide to godly standard." Percy said.
"So we were looking for the same thing." Nico nodded.
"But how are we supposed to help each other succeed in that as we don't know how?"
"I don't know; we've done the feelings part, which one could say ties in with the 'working together part–'" He trailed off. "Are we dating now?"
"Well we kissed 3 times, so I say yes, but can we take it slow?" Percy asked, Nico was helping him get over the death of Annabeth. "And you aren't a rebound." He said firmly. "Alright?"
Nico looked at him, a weight seemed to be lifted from his shoulders, "Good cause I'd make you reform if I was."
Percy gulped. "Well, good thing you aren't, and won't ever be."
In a rather sudden flash of light, a second letter appeared in front of their faces. Percy grabbed it before it fell out of the ground.
It read: 'Parents' cry loudly; we have to end now, may you find what you seek. ~Unknown'
Then suddenly, the two were returned to their bedrooms. Both wondering what the fuck just happened.
