Nico didn't know what was going on, from the moment he arrived in his father's palace he had been having trouble focussing. The talk about the influx of souls Hades was going on about seemed more boring than usual.
Hades noticed that his son seemed to be distracted more than his ADHD accounted for. He also seemed to be unknowingly pulling at his earlobe, like he remembered the boy doing when he was younger and getting tired.
"Nico. Are you paying attention at all?" Hades asked pulling his son's focus from one of the skulls on his throne, to him.
"Hmm?" Nico asked looking startled.
"It's been a long day, how about you go take a nap before dinner. Maybe then you'll be able to follow a conversation." Hades suggested knowing the missions he sent his son on weren't always the easiest.
"Okay." Nico answered rubbing his eyes with one hand and pulling his earlobe with the other, surprising Hades at the fast agreement.
Nico didn't know why he agreed so readily to a nap, usually he would argue that he could get through the conversation no matter how tired. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so tired, it seemed to sink to his very bones. He had a hard time making it to his room, feeling like he was losing time each time he blinked.
Finally he opened the door and had just enough time to shrug off his jacket before falling into bed in a deep sleep.
Nico was woken up by a person shaking his shoulders. He had to pull himself from sleep and got scared by the sight. A skeleton stood in front of him, not knowing why he burst into tears and pushed against the wall to get away from the skeleton.
Hades had arrived in the dining room ready for family dinner, when he felt and heard his son get terrified. Seeing as he knew Nico should be safe in his palace, he instantly teleported to his location ready to vaporise whatever would do his son harm. Saying that Hades was perplexed by the sight of his son sobbing and shaking against the wall, curled up so tight that his eyes were the only thing visible, and nothing to have caused this reaction was an understatement. But what Nico did surprised him even more.
"Papa!" Nico yelled running from the bed and hiding his face in Hades' robes, thumb firmly planted in his mouth.
Nico was scared the scary skeleton didn't go away and he was all alone, where were mamma and Bia or even papa to protect him, he wasn't supposed to be left alone.
Then his papa appeared in the room and Nico rant to the safety of his dad. Knowing his dad would protect him from the scary skeleton.
Nico didn't know how papa did it but with a wave of his hand the scary man disappeared into dust.
"Nico what's going on?" Hades asked, kneeling down worried for his son, that someone had cursed him.
"Scawy gone?" Nico asked between sobs looking over his father's shoulder.
"Yes son the skeleton is gone." Hades said rubbing Nico's back quieting the sobs to small sniffles.
Persephone was wondering where her husband and step-son had gotten to, neither of them made it a habit of being late especially for family dinners.
They hadn't left a message with one of the servants so she knew they hadn't left the palace.
The only place she hadn't checked was Nico's room, she usually liked to give the boy space but it was the only place she could think her boy could be.
When she entered the room she was greeted by Hades on his knees, rubbing Nico's back and softly rocking the boy back and forth as small sniffles came from the teen.
"Hades, what is happening?" She asked making the two notice her for the first time. She was shocked to see Nico's thumb in his mouth, if she remembered correctly mortals only did this as small children. And in any case she couldn't recall seeing the teen do this recently.
"Mami!" Nico squealed happy to see another familiar face. He still didn't know where his mamma and Bia were but he would be safe with papa and mami.
Persephone was taken aback by the name that came forth from Nico's mouth. He hadn't called her that since Hades had brought the family to the states. Nico stood up and grabbed her dress like he used to do when he didn't want to get lost in a crowd and turned his face up towards her, smiling around his thumb. The crying from a minute ago seemingly completely forgotten.
"Hades?" She once again asked slightly turning her face towards her husband as she wiped away the tear tracks on Nico's fae.
"Seph I have no idea." Hades admitted trying to pull the hand out of his son's mouth.
"He's been distracted and seemed tired. Even doing the ear thing so I sent him for a nap, next thing I know I feel him terrified by one of the servants." He said.
"You mean the pulling on his ear he used to do when he was 3?" Persephone asked.
"Yes and now with the thumb." Hades said finally succeeding in pulling the hand free, which made tears well up in Nico's eyes and Hades quickly released the hand so he wouldn't start crying again.
Nico's eyes started to droop again now that he felt safe and knew his mami and papa would protect him. Not letting go of mami's dress he put his head in the crook of papa's neck and soon he was back asleep, falling forwards into Hades' arms.
"We should contact Apollo, he'll know what's wrong right?" Persephone asked, seeming like something was seriously wrong with her step-son.
"Yes, that seems like a good idea." Hades said as he tucked his son into bed and summoned a rainbow prism.
"Iris Goddess of the Rainbow, show me Apollo." Hades said throwing a drachma in the spray.
"Uncle H! To what do I owe the pleasure?" Apollo asked putting down the guitar he was strumming on.
"I need you here, something is wrong with my son." Hades answered throwing a sideways glance at the sleeping demigod.
"I can't enter your domain Uncle you know this." Apollo said raising his eyebrows, surprised Hades could forget that fact.
"I, Hades, King of the Underworld give my permission to Phoebus Apollo to enter my domain. There now get down here." Hades said not caring he basically gave Apollo free reign to enter the Underworld from now on, and swiping through the mist.
"Well no wonder Nico feels bad, this place could use some sun." Apollo said as he appeared in the room earning him a glare from both other gods.
"Okay then hard crowd." Apollo muttered as he kneeled in front of the bed so he was eye level with Nico. His eyebrows shot up to his hairline as he took notice of the thumb planted in the demigod's mouth.
"Nothing's wrong with him." Apollo stated standing up and turning towards the couple who looked nervous.
"You didn't even check him." Hades noted anger rising at his nephew knowing that Apollo needed to touch his son to check for curses.
"I don't need to, he's not sick or cursed, he's just an age regressor." Apollo said disappointed in the other gods' gap in knowledge.
"What?" Persephone asked. "So what do we do?" She continued.
"Treat him like would when he was child." Apollo stated summoning a pacifier and quickly exchanging Nico's thumb with it.
"He is a child." Hades stated dryly. "He's only 14."
"A young child, when he still needed a pacifier." Apollo said while guestering to the sleeping demigod who had started suckling the pacifier.
And then everything suddenly made sense for Hades: the ear pulling, the tiredness, all things Nico had done when he was a toddler.
"Oh!" Hades exclaimed waking Nico who blinked up at him, as Hades sat next to his son on the bed and tucked his bangs behind his ear.
"It's okay Piccolino." He said pulling Nico's head in his lap.
Nico smiled shyly from behind the pacifier as he saw Apollo.
"Pollo stay for dinner?" Nico asked looking at Hades voice slightly higher than usual, tiredness forgotten for the growling his stomach was giving.
"I guess Apollo can stay for dinner." Hades said as he stood up and offered his hand to Nico knowing the boy had been clingy as a child.
After dinner Hades returned with Nico to his room, and helped his son into some pyjama's not wanting a repeat of the reaction to the servant.
"No sleepy." Nico said stomping his feet, letting out a big yawn.
"Niccolò if you are not tired then why can I see the back of your throat when you yawn?" Hades asked raising an eyebrow as he pulled one of Nico's arms through the hole.
"Big breath." Nico stated smiling. "I no wanna sleep. Mamma and Bia not here." He continued looking down.
"Oh Figliolo, mamma and Bianca are on a trip. You get to stay here with Papa." Hades said skirting around the fact that Nico didn't seem to remember his mother and Bianca were gone.
"Papa sleep with Nico?" Nico asked making grabby hands at the god.
"Will that get you to sleep?" Hades asked planning on shadow-travelling away as soon as Nico was asleep. He got a enthusiastic nod from Nico as he jumped on the bed and layed down under the blanket.
"Now papa." He continued patting the bed and Hades would bet Nico's puppy eyes worked more than when he was mentally older. And so Hades, Lord of the Dead joined his son in the bed, where Nico planted his head on his dad's chest and gripped his shirt, shortly after falling asleep.
—--
Nico awoke in his room in the underworld, surprised to not be alone. When he opened his eyes they went wide as he took in the sight of his father laying in the bed next to him.
"Father?" He asked sitting up, Hades opened his eyes not having realised that he had fallen asleep in the first place.
"Ah you seem to be back to normal." Hades said as if him sleeping in Nico's bed was a normal occurrence.
Nico raised his eyebrow and asked his father a silent question until realisation crossed his face and his cheeks felt like they caught on fire, before he buried his head in his hands and groaned.
"Please tell me I was dreaming?" He muttered into his hands, before lifting his head and seeing the pacifier laying between him and his father. "What?" He continued brain short circuiting.
"Apollo explained it to Persephone and I as a coping mechanism, probably from what you went through. You revert mentally to a time when you felt safe." Hades explained looking for a reaction on his son's face.
"Great. So now I'm even more of a freak." Nico fumed jumping up and pacing the length of the room as if being gay and a son of Hades didn't make him enough of an outcast.
"Niccolò Andrea Di Angelo, you are not a freak." Hades said grabbing his son's face between his hands and making him look into his eyes.
"There are a lot of people who would disagree. I'm gay, I have depression, anxiety and everyone thinks I'm scary." Nico stated not wanting to mention to his father that being his son still made him an outcast sometimes.
"I know being a child of mine isn't easy, mio figlio but that doesn't make you a freak, and neither do the other things. From what Apollo told me this is actually a healthy coping mechanism." Hades said moving his hands to his son's shoulders.
"Is there anything I can do to fix it?" Nico asked squaring his jaw, afraid of the answer.
"There isn't a need to fix it but Apollo said that you'd be able to feel it coming. When it does happen." Hades finished leaving the room so his son could digest the information at his own pace.
Nico sighed and grabbed the abandoned pacifier, looking at it wishing he had Leo's fire power so he could incinerate the only physical evidence of the event.