#but like i wanna get into streaming at some point and my skin’s just nico di angelo so i’m getting paranoid

[death-himself]

this feels like really a dumb question, but is it actually legal for mcyts to use minecraft skins made by other people?

like i don’t think philza or tubbo made their own main skins that they’re most known for, considering they’re just bleach and south park characters

so they’re basically using someone else’s art without paying them or crediting them for it, but also it feels really dumb for a minecraft skin to not be fair use right?

it feels like one of those situations where the creator of the skin could feasibly sue, but also why would they bother

[ladylooch]

Nico waking up Lex with soft kisses morning after having sex 🥰

I had no hope of not making this 18+ LMAO. Morning sex is the besstttttttt. K, but I swear this is sweet too!

Despite the falling snow outside, a distinct warmth fills my body. It could be the weak sunlight streaming in through the curtains. It could be the heavy down comforter covering my naked skin. 

But it’s not.

It’s the 6’1” NHL captain who strokes his thumb along the dimpled indents in my lower back. 

The rest of his fingers trace the curve of my ass, stroking along the warm skin. I feel the bed dip as Nico moves closer,  then the soft caress of his lips along my shoulder blade. As he kisses, he moves the blanket down from where it had been pulled up under my chin. I’m laying on my side with Nico on his side behind me. He works his lips as far as he can down my spine, then goes back up. A hand winds along my stomach, pulling me back into his hard everything. 

“Good morning.”

“Tell me we have enough time before morning skate?” I murmur, becoming slick as he works the head of his penis through my folds once. With little effort, he nudges in. Nico's lips continue to trail along my shoulder blade as his gentle bucks begin to spread my legs wider apart. He guides my knee up, supporting it for easier access. He catches the back of my head against his chest as I moan.

“I have five minutes.” 

“I should contribute then.” I reach down, taking his balls into my hand, letting my fingers explore our connection. Nico thrusts up into me as I squeeze him, pulling a content groan from his chest. He rests his nose against my shoulder as we focus together to get off. We know each other’s bodies so well, tuning into our noises and giving each other what we need to get there.

He hooks my knee in the crook of his elbow to free his fingers tips. Then he pets my clit with two soft fingers. My body awakens completely, bliss crashing into me and taking Nico too. He releases my knee after our waves subside. I close my legs, keeping him deep inside of me as he wraps me tight in his arms. I grip his forearms around me, closing my eyes and wanting to fall back to sleep with him just like this.

But hockey comes first right now.

“Wanna stay here with you.” He mumbles regretfully into the back of my neck. I whimper at the sudden emptiness as he slides out of me, rubbing along my side as he does so.

“Don’t stay late today.” I say as I turn, exposing my breasts to him. The chill from outside tightens my nipples into guiding points for his mouth. He leans down, still naked, kissing along each swell before leading to my lips.

“I’m running every light to get back to you as soon as I can.” He nips at my mouth. “Don’t leave this bed while I’m gone.” He calls from the bathroom where he goes to clean himself off. He comes back with a towel, smirking as he throws it at me before walking to the closet. “I’ll bring you back some coffee.” He says, grabbing his wallet and phone before coming to give me a goodbye kiss.

“Damnit, I love you.” Nico chuckles, then licks across my lips affectionately.

“Love you too, sweets.” He runs a hand through his hair, putting a hat on. “No leaving this bed.” He reminds me before he is off to be the face of a franchise. I smirk, knowing that same face will be buried between my thighs when he gets back.

[thehopeofitalll]

“How do you destroy a monster without becoming one?”

just a really angsty fic written by me and my friend (but she isn't here on tumblr)

Prompts: •“I-I can’t stop it, I'm sorry.” •“It's okay, It's okay, Just breathe. You don't have to be sorry for anything, I've got you.” •“I thought if I acted like it didn't matter, it wouldn't” •“How do you destroy a monster without becoming one”

read it on ao3.

-🦉-

Annabeth woke up, rays of sunlight streaming into Percy’s cabin. She reached out for Percy but her hand just ended up swatting the air. She turned to see that Percy was not there, her eyebrows raised in confusion.

She figured she’d probably find Percy at breakfast, so she got up and put on an extra set of clothes she kept in his cabin.

Walking out of the cabin, she saw Will and Nico heading out for breakfast too and picked up her pace in order to catch up to them. When she finally caught up to them she asked them if either of them had seen Percy recently.

Nico shrugged, while Will muttered a faint huh. “He came into the clinic for some bandages at an ungodly hour in the morning,” Will replied. “I think I remember that his hand was kinda bruised.”

“That’s...weird,” Annabeth mumbled.

Ever since they'd been in the pit, Annabeth had made Percy promise to tell her everything, no matter how dangerous the situation was. It had partly been the reason why they convinced Chiron, with the promise to buy lots of Frank Sinatra vinyls for him, to let them sleep in the same cabin. They had to explain that they needed each other to be there when they had nightmares. No one else could console them.

Annabeth was numbly thinking of this, worried why Percy hadn’t told her as she walked into the dining pavilion. But as she sat besides Malcom and looked towards the Big 3 table, Percy was nowhere to be found. She scarfed down her breakfast and headed out in search of him.

She started out by searching for him in the strawberry fields, but no one in the Demeter cabin had seen him there. She searched by the lake, and the satyrs and nymphs told her that he had not come by in more than a week.

That hit Annabeth as strange because he had told her he was going to the lake multiple times that week. She was now extremely confused.

When she finally found him in the sword fighting arena, he was punching a dummy with his bare fists, which had bloodied bandages wrapped around them.

She called out to him. “Percy! Seaweed Brain?”

But it was as if he couldn't hear her. He went on punching, his fists slamming against the poor dummy until it fell back with one last punch.

“Percy!” She exclaimed, pulling his hand, making him turn around. He almost punched her, but then stilled when he saw her.

“Oh, hi. What are you doing here?”

“Oh hi? And what am I doing here?” She repeated. “I’ve been searching for you since this morning, Perce!”

He just shrugged. “Oh I didn't realize what time it was, I’m sorry,” he mumbled, disinterested. He turned, beginning to walk away from her.

She grabs his hand and says “Percy, we’ve talked about this, you aren't saving me from anything by keeping secrets,” Annabeth said, forcing him to look at her. “We’ve promised to share everything with each other. Remember?”

“I do, it’s just…” He trailed off, refusing to meet her eyes. “I’m okay, Annabeth. It’s nothing, really.”

“And you've been here since when?” She asked, her eyes scanning his bloodied hands.

“Like, since 5 in the morning maybe?” He said, shrugging.

It pained Annabeth to see him so indifferent, so humorless, dull and monotone.

“Come, let’s get you some food, I’m sure you have something to eat in your cabin,” Annabeth said,

But as they were heading back to the cabin, Rachel came up to them and said “I don't feel so good,” and her eyes fogged up, green smoke spouting out of her mouth.

As soon as Annabeth heard the raspy voice of the Oracle say “The son of poseidon shall…” she knew this day was only going to get worse.

-🌊-

“Percy?” Annabeth’s voice rang in his ears. “Did you hear the prophecy?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled, sounding disinterested. “I did.”

If he was being honest, the only thing he heard was owl and he was firm in the decision of not letting Annabeth come with him on a quest. Not now, when he’d been having dreams of her death. And partly, because he didn’t want her to see who, or what he’d become...

Annabeth said something he didn’t hear. Then he felt her shake his shoulders. “Percy? Percy!”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Do you wanna come with me to the Big House and tell Chiron?”

“Yeah...no, I’m kind of hungry,” Percy said

-🌊-

Chiron rose up at his table in his dining pavilion. “Rachel, our Oracle, has given a prophecy today,” he announced in his booming voice. “And it seems that Percy Jackson, along with an owl and skull have to go. Nico is the obvious choice, being the son of Hades. As for the owl…”

Annabeth stood up. “I’ll go.”

“I was thinking Malcolm could come along with us,” Percy said.

Annabeth glanced at Percy, raising an eyebrow. “Are you being serious?”

“What?” He asked, raising his hands. “Malcolm’s a son of Athena too?”

“But Malcolm just came back fr0m a quest!”

“I mean I don’t mind going,” Malcolm said

Annabeth gave Malcolm a glare, one that Percy had only seen a few times but dreaded. Malcolm gulped. “On second thought, maybe I should take some rest,” he said.

“And besides, I’m cabin counselor, and this seems like a pretty big quest!”

“Well, the cabin counselor needs to be here! To...defend the camp?” Percy tried to counter.

“Percy that’s bullshit and you know it,” Annabeth said, glaring at him.

“Okay, hold on. Percy, Annabeth has a point here, she’s the person best fit for the job,” Chiron

“Chiron, really?! ” He said, standing up. Anger built up inside him, ready to burst. He clenched his fists. The goblets on the camper’s tables started to shake, some falling on to the floor, their content spilling onto the floor. He didn’t care how many goblets he spilled, but when his eyes fell on Annabeth, and he saw her eyes wide, as if she was afraid of him, he snapped out of it.

“I wasn’t hungry anyways,” he mumbled and stormed out of the dining pavilion.

-🦉-

Annabeth followed him out the pavilion. “Percy!” she yelled, running to catch up with him. “Percy, you don’t get to storm away from me with no explanation like that!”

“Yes I do,” she heard him mutter.

She grabbed his arm, firmly stopping him, and standing in front of him. “Percy, what’s going on? First, everything that happened in the morning and now this? You promised you wouldn't keep anything from me!”

“It’s nothing really, Annabeth,” he said, refusing to meet her eyes.

“It certainly doesn’t seem like nothing,” she said. “Percy, just tell me what’s bothering you. I know I can help you out.”

“It’s just..I’ve been having these dreams...about…”

Annabeth hesitated. She’d had her own fair share of dreams recently, none of them exactly pleasant. “About?” she asked.

“About...you dying,” he said.

Her eyes softened, as she sighed, lacing her fingers through his. “Percy, you wanted to stop me from coming with you on a quest because you had a dream of me dying?”

“Well, yes but still-”

“Percy, it was just a dream. Nothing’s going to happen to me, okay?” she reassured him.

“Yeah,” he said. “I guess you’re right.”

She smiled at him, then leaned forwards, kissing him on the cheek. “I’ll be alright. We’ll be alright.”

-🌊-

Percy went through the routine of getting ready for a quest with only one thing on his mind: He would keep Annabeth safe, no matter what he had to do.

-🦉-

Annabeth packed for the quest: considering strategies, storing some nectar and ambrosia along with her drakon bone sword, but her mind kept drifting to one thing: Finding out what was bothering Percy. She didn’t like him being so distant, and Annabeth had a hunch that it might be about her.

-🦉-

It had been a week since they’d left camp for their quest. A week of Annabeth trying to get through to Percy and him repeatedly pushing her away. She just wished he understood that she wanted to help him and didn’t want him to hide things from her.

They were currently making their way back to camp on foot. Nico insisted that he could shadow-travel, but Annabeth took one look at his pale skin before deciding that it was safer to not shadow-travel.

(And she knew Will wouldn’t appreciate it if they came back with a fainted boyfriend.)

Nico trudged a little behind Annabeth, who was leading the trio, and Percy was beside her.

She shot her boyfriend another worried look.

He must have noticed because he stiffened a bit, and turned to see her. “What?” he asked, sounding slightly defensive.

“Nothing, Percy, it’s just…” Annabeth sighed. “I’m worried. About you. It feels like something’s changed between us.”

“Everything’s the same, Annabeth,” he muttered.

“No, Perce, it’s not,” she said, wringing her hands helplessly. “Something’s bothering you, I know that.”

“You don’t know everything about me,” Percy said.

She stopped, reaching for his arm. “Percy, please,” she said, trying not to think about how their relationship was falling apart.

“I’m fine,” he said, sounding half-hearted. “Everything’s fine.”

“Percy-”

“Uh, guys?” Nico said, from behind them. Annabeth had almost forgotten that he was there too. “This place feels a little weird.”

She frowned, and placed her hand on a nearby tree. There were slight tremors, as the tree faintly shook.

“Something’s coming,” she said. “Gather up and take a flank.” She reached for her drakon bone sword.

Percy’s hand settled on Riptide’s hilt, as Nico pulled out his Stygian blade.

She frowned, her grey eyes scanning their surroundings for even the subtlest movement.

A figure flew overhead, and she looked up to see a creature with wings. Stymphalian birds, she had time to think before three more swooped in.

“What-?” Nico began, when they noticed vaguely humanoid shapes with brazen legs shuffling towards them.

“Stymphalian birds and empousai?” Annabeth asked, groaning. “It must be our lucky day.”

She turned, stabbing an empousa in the gut, then slashed her sword in a wide arc, driving back the other monsters. She and Percy stood shoulder to shoulder, and Annabeth allowed the thought to comfort her even in the midst of a battle: At least one thing hadn’t changed.

Nico slammed the butt of his sword against another empousa, as Percy brought Riptide down on a bird, slicing it in two.

Just as Annabeth killed an empousa, another lunged towards her, and she swung her sword. She gripped the hilt of her sword and drove it through another monster. Her eyes did a quick three-sixty, and widened in alarm as she saw a bird flying towards Percy, whose back was turned.

She ran, meeting the bird before it could harm Percy. She raised her sword, fighting off its’ razor-sharp teeth. Before she could stab it, the bird charged towards her, running its deadly metal feathers against her arm.

Annabeth let out a shriek of pain, staggering back as the bird quickly sunk its teeth into her injured arm.

Percy turned, shock clear on his face, fending off the bird. He clutched his sword tighter. Through her hazy vision, she could see him concentrating, gritting his teeth.

It first started with an empousa letting out a scream, another one following its lead. The Stymphalian birds slowed down, some falling to the ground. The monsters began crumpling, dropping dead.

She realized with a start that Percy was controlling them. She forcefully stopped herself from thinking about their time with Akhlys.

She’d been scared then, and she was scared now.

Though Percy rarely showed it, the son of Poseidon had absolute power. He could remove the water from someone’s body, and even the thought of that was terrifying.

“Percy!” She yelled. Annabeth saw the monsters slowly wither away, but some still writhed in pain. “Percy, stop!”

Nico stared at Percy with sheer terror on his face, as Annabeth struggled to move towards him.

“Percy!” Her voice broke into a sob. “Percy, please!”

She miraculously managed to reach him, tugging on his arm that was curled into a fist. “Percy, stop please!”

Her voice must have gotten through to him because he opened up his palms, stumbling backwards.

She glanced at Nico, and a silent understanding seemed to pass through them.

“Maybe we should to rest for a while,” Annabeth said, not letting go of Percy’s arm.

-🦉-

“You promised me,” Annabeth said, her voice barely a whisper but she knew Percy heard her. “That you wouldn’t do that again.”

Nico was curled up on the ground, sleeping soundly, as Annabeth pulled up her knees, resting her chin on them. Percy hadn’t spoken a word to her.

She heard him take in a deep breath. “How’s your arm?” He whispered.

“I told you that some things aren’t meant to be controlled the last time this happened,” she continued, ignoring his concern.

He shakily exhaled, maintaining his distance. “You shouldn’t have taken that hit for me.”

Annabeth wasn’t sure what hurt more: his reluctance to be open with her, or the fact that he stayed away.

“Why, Percy?” she asked, turning to see him looking at everything but her. She placed her hand over his. The way he flinched at the contact made her heart ache. “Why did you do it again?”

He looked at her for the first time since the incident. His eyes were filled with remorse. He looked broken. “I-I can’t stop it,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

“Percy, this kind of power...it isn’t safe,” she said, swallowing the lump in her throat.

“You’re scared of me, aren’t you?” He asked, a searching gaze on his face.

“I could never be scared of you, Percy,” she replied, squeezing his hand. “But...never mind, we need to get back to camp.”

She pulled her hand away, missing his warmth almost immediately. “Hey, Nico? We need to get moving.”

-🌊-

Annabeth might’ve said that she wasn’t scared of him, but Percy knew. He just knew that what he did terrified her.

He was exactly like the empousai, and Stymphalian birds. Even if he didn’t want to admit, he’d experienced some sort of satisfaction when he controlled the monsters.

He felt disgusted with himself. With what he did. But he wasn’t thinking when he took control. He just knew that he needed to get them away from Annabeth. He felt powerful with adrenaline coursing through his veins. But just like before, Annabeth’s anguish broke through to him again.

Back at camp, he did everything he could to delay the moment he’d meet Annabeth again. The way she looked at him, horrified, replayed in his mind all the time.

Percy sat down at the beach, his hands pressed against the sand. He heard soft footsteps, and Annabeth sat down next to him.

“Hey,” he muttered, knowing that he couldn’t ignore the problem anymore.

“Hey, yourself,” she said, softly, taking his hand in hers.

He glanced at her to see her bandaged arm. That didn’t make him feel any better. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to talk to you,” she replied. When he opened his mouth to protest, she cut him off. “Look, Percy, I’m not dumb. I know you. You’ve been trying to avoid me and trying to postpone this conversation. But I can’t be like this anymore. We can’t be like this anymore. We need to sort everything out.”

Percy sighed. “I’m sorry.” It seemed like that was all he said these days. “I’m really sorry.” His eyes stung, and before he knew it, tears were falling down his cheeks.

He remembered his fear of drowning from his time on Argo II. Now, he felt like his throat was closing up, like he was suffocating in poisonous waves.

“Percy, it’s okay,” she said, her hands on the small of his back, and he gripped her hand tighter, like he was afraid she’d disappear if he blinked.

“No, no it’s not.”

“Listen, Percy,” she continued. “It's okay, It's okay, Just breathe. You don't have to be sorry for anything, I've got you.”

The thought that had been bothering Percy came back, a voice buzzing in his ear, asking a horrible question.

Percy turned to look at her, his mouth set in a firm line. “How do you destroy a monster without becoming one?” he asked her.

“A mons-Percy, what?” She said, confused.

“It’s just…” His head was pounding and he felt like he might break down any moment.

“Percy, please, just tell me what’s going on. You’ve been acting weird for weeks now,” she said. “I just want you to let me in. Don’t shut me out like this, Percy. Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

“This urge,” he slowly began. “To bloodbend. I’ve been controlling and suppressing it for a while now,” he muttered.

“What?” she asked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was scared, Annabeth,” he admitted. “I’ve been having these nightmares, and they’re not just Tartarus. I see myself losing you, and it’s all my fault.”

“Percy-”

“And in a way, it almost happened, didn’t it?” He continued. “You harmed yourself trying to stop that stupid bird from attacking me.”

“I decided to do that,” she interrupted. “It was my choice, not yours, Percy.”

“But what good am I if I can't protect you?”

“Percy, that’s not true.”

“But it is!” He insisted. “I had to bloodbend back there. What if my usual power wasn’t strong enough? What if you…” died? He couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“Percy, nothing of that sort would’ve happened,” she said. “We would’ve taken down those monsters just fine. Besides, we’ve gotta have each other’s backs, right?”

“I just...I thought if I acted like it didn't matter, it wouldn't,” he mumbled.

“Look, Seaweed Brain,” Annabeth said, lacing her fingers with his. “We promised to be open with each other. You shouldn’t hesitate to tell me about things like this, okay?”

“But-”

“I’m here for you, Percy,” she said. “There’s no need to carry this burden by yourself.”

Percy stared at her. When he tried to speak, she leant forwards, pressing her lips to his and effectively shutting him up. He tried to put everything he couldn’t bring himself to say in that kiss:

I’m sorry, I should’ve told you. I’ll tell you everything from now. I was just terrified of you dying. I love you.

They didn’t know how, but they fell asleep there on the beach, their legs tangled together as the sea lapped against their feet.

And for the first time in what seemed like forever, Percy didn’t have nightmares.

[solangelover]

12 Days of Gifts: Day 3

Read on AO3 or FF.Net

Prev | Next

Nico was sitting in his cabin when Will found him in the afternoon. After a few knocks and a shout from inside, Will let himself into the dark Hades Cabin. It wasn’t actually dark—light streamed in through the blinds and a small lamp was on by Nico’s bed—but the vibe was still pretty doom-and-gloom if you asked Will. Nico would probably agree.

“‘Sup, Death Breath. Whatcha doin’?” Will made his way over to Nico’s bed and sat himself down on the edge. It took a while, but Will was glad they were close enough where he could do that comfortably.

“Trying to read,” Nico responded as he put his book down, resolutely ignoring the dumb nickname. He had a decently sized book, which was not necessarily a common sight among demigods.

“What about?”

Nico glanced down at his book. “Well, it’s about Stygian Iron. I wanted to learn more about it, but it’s hard to read.” He frowned at the book, seeming more frustrated than anything.

“Is it hard because of your dyslexia? Or hard because it’s technical?” Will’s dyslexia wasn’t as bad as many of the campers, so he didn’t have much trouble reading. Plus, he got a lot of practice by working in the infirmary.

Nico sighed. “Yeah, mostly the dyslexia. But it’s also a little boring. I just don’t have anything else to read, so I figured I may as well try to be productive.”

“How studious of you,” Will teased. Nico didn’t advertise it, but he knew that he liked the classes he had at camp and learned a lot from all of them. “I have some more fun books in my cabin. Like novels and stuff, not textbooks. Though I’ve got plenty of medical books, if you’d like.”

Nico huffed out a laugh. “Maybe I’ll look later. My brain hurts from trying to read.” He gave Will a pointed look. “But no to the med books, thanks. I think you yell at me enough that random health facts are engraved in my brain forever.”

“Good! That’s exactly as it should be,” Will laughed.

Nico stretched before getting up. “I think I have a sword-fighting class I’m helping Jason out with, so I gotta go.”

Will got up as well. “Okay! I’ll see you at dinner. I should probably make sure my cabin is doing whatever they’re supposed to be doing right now.” Plus, Will had something else to take care of.

--

“Nico! Hold up!” Will caught Nico as they left their respective cabins to head to the pavilion. The cold air whipped against his skin, making his cheeks red and his golden hair wild.

“Will? What’s up?” He waited for Will to catch his breath, still not far from Cabin 13.

Will straightened up and held out a small rectangle wrapped in blue paper. “I got you something!”

“Will!” At this point, Nico was a bit alarmed at the number of things Will had gotten him already. It wasn’t even Christmas yet! Was this normal? Should he be doing this too?

“I know, I know,” Will started, as if reading Nico’s thoughts. “You’re not obligated to give gifts or anything! I just keep thinking of things I think you’d like, and I don’t wanna wait. So, come on! Open this one!”

Nico lightly grumbled about being pushy as he tore through the wrapping paper. In his hands, he held a case with a disc inside. Someone told him it could store things on it, but he had never had one of his own. The cover of the case was red with an owl on it and words in golden lettering, but it was hard to read.

“It’s an audiobook!” Will exclaimed. “It’s technically a little old school since it’s on a CD, but demigods don’t have smartphones so,” he shrugged. “You have a stereo with a CD player in your cabin, right? I’m pretty sure I saw one in there one time. You can use that to play the CD. I can show you later.”

Nico had heard of stereos before, but CDs were way after his time. “What exactly is an audiobook?”

“Oh,” Will said. “It’s like someone reading a book to you, basically. Some are more dramatic readings than others. It’s something a lot of demigods like because you don’t have to read anything, but you still enjoy the book. I think some of the Athena kids even use it so they can multi-task with something else at the same time.”

Nico’s eyes widened. “Oh, that’s cool. They have these for all books?”

“Not all, but definitely popular ones.” He gestured to the disc. “That one is the first Harry Potter book, which was, like, the first really good book series for teens. The books are really thick, but the audiobook makes it way easier. I realized you had missed it, which really must be fixed immediately,” Will grinned at Nico; he felt really good about this gift.

Nico smiled back. “Cool, I can’t wait to… hear it, I guess.”

“You’re gonna love it! Go put it back in your cabin, we’re going to be late for dinner!”

As they walked to dinner, Will started telling Nico about the world of Harry Potter, without spoilers, of course. Meanwhile, Nico was thinking about his own surprise for tomorrow.

A/N: I almost made it some unnamed book by Uncle Rick, but that was too meta for me.

[jflashandclash]

Attrition of Peace

Twenty- Eight: Percy

I Fall Over. Epically, Of Course.

 Author note: Sorry this is late guys! The last week and a half has been insane. It’s not like I left you waiting for a major battle—oh… ah—well, I hope you enjoy!

             To say Percy was having a bad day would be a grievous understatement. He’d had worse days: he wasn’t in Tartarus right now, nor was he in that awful demigod prep course that Annabeth and his mom had signed him up for to do New Rome’s entrance exams.

           But, his girlfriend had broken up with him today for a weasel she couldn’t catch. And this was the third counselor of Cabin Seven that Percy would see moments before his death—though maybe not. Maybe Will was okay. Percy tried not to focus on Will, or Nico’s disappearance, or the headless corpse.

When he first ran up to the scene, Percy feared the worst on the body’s identity, except that Nico hadn’t been wearing such a fashionable pink pajama set. Percy was pretty sure, if someone tried to redress Nico in that post-mortem, even Hades would break the rules of the dead and allow Nico ten seconds of undeadly massacring to destroy such a sleepwear atrocity.  

However, when Percy saw Annabeth and Piper lying on the ground and that crimson-and-black unicorn-jerk keeping vigilance over them, everything else vanished. He sprinted to her side, dropped to his knees, and cradled her.  

With the way the unicorn had its gold and silver, broken horn to Piper’s neck, Percy may have feared some Diomedes’ level of flesh-eating-horse, except he could hear the unicorn grumbling about healing her.

But nothing about healing Annabeth.

When Percy pulled Annabeth into his lap, he was relieved to hear her soft breath. She was okay, but looked exhausted. There were dark circles under her eyes, like she hadn’t slept in days. He knew that look well during her exam times.

“Wise Girl…” he whispered and kissed her forehead. Despite the cold, her forehead was coated with sweat.

What happened? He demanded mentally.

The unicorn huffed, its black mouth puttering. He raised his horn from Piper to scowl one eye at Percy. At the sight of Piper’s neck, Percy winced. Pus and blood stained Piper’s camo jacket from some sore the unicorn was fixing. She was also breathing, though each breath rattled.

Eat bit, mate, the unicorn snapped. Other than Arion, Percy was so used to unquestioned respect from equestrians, the unicorn’s tone startled him. I just got back from fightin’ your little bird, went for a bit of grass, heard a crack, and came to check on my pet—

Jason and Leo appeared on either side of Piper.

When Leo knelt down, he landed in something squishy.

“How’s our Beauty Queen?” he asked, his voice cracking. Leo looked pale and he kept glancing back to Will.

Frank knelt beside Will. The big Canadian took off his praetorian cloak and gently laid it over Will in a way Percy really didn’t like. The movement was too final, too telling, especially how Frank covered Will’s smashed face, like that was all that was left to do.

Beside Frank, Hazel stood with her spatha drawn. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Her empty fist was clenched and shaking.

Calypso sank down beside the decapitated body, looking stunned.

When Percy returned his gaze, his eyes locked with Jason. A moment of understanding passed between them, and Percy knew he had seen the final moments of another deceased Cabin Seven counselor. He wondered how many friends Jason had seen die in battle.

Anger wretched at his gut. This was supposed to be a peace party.

           These other demigods weren’t great at the whole “peace party” thing. They’d need to be taught a thing or two about peace.

           Er, well, about keeping the peace. Or—whatever. They needed to be taught a lesson.

           “Guys? Earth to Percy, what did Sergeant Horn say about Pipes?” Leo asked.

           Judging from his expression, Leo hadn’t realized what had happened to Will yet.

           The unicorn snapped its teeth near Leo’s head. The name is Vinyl, Meat Sack.

           “I wouldn’t call him that,” Percy said. He’d meant it for Leo, but realized it work for both parties.

           “She should be okay,” Jason said, almost stubbornly. Percy watched Jason gently take Piper’s arm, two fingers pressed to her vitals. “Her heartbeat is strong though I think she’s running a slight fever.”

           Behind them, Percy could see Hazel wipe away her tears. “We’re not letting them get away, not—not with what’s happened here. I’m going to bring down that barrier.”

           Percy might have asked “What barrier?” but Hazel turned towards the woods, where they’d seen Pax dart off as they arrived.

           As she raised her empty hand, a circle of green runes glowed around the forested lot.

           Calypso stood up, away from the body. She rubbed her fingers on her work pants, then flipped her braid back over her shoulder. She stepped beside Hazel. “I can help you.”

           Leo frowned and shifted. “Sunshine, I thought you didn’t have magic—wait—if you do, shouldn’t you be focusing on healing Will?”

           Jason winced. “Leo—”

           But Calypso beat him to it. While lifting her hands beside Hazel, Calypso hissed, “What good would that do?” Her voice was so much harsher than he remembered.

That did make Percy realize she could be healing Annabeth or Piper. Thinking about the curses and death wishes Calypso had given Annabeth in Tartarus, should he let her heal Annabeth?

The barrier’s circle emblazed with a more brilliant green. It expanded, like a bubble ready to pop.

           Leo’s mouth dropped open. He glanced back over to Will and the decapitated body. “…oh… oh gods—does that mean the other body is Nic—”

           “No, it’s Jack,” Calypso said. She gritted her teeth. Hazel made a soft grumble. Something small and sparkly sprang up by their feet—a diamond.

            “Jack, your ex-boyfriend Jack? You can recognize him without a head?!”

            “Not the time, Leo,” Percy pointed out. Though he wasn’t sure it was ever the time to discuss headless body recognition. “Jason.” Percy locked eyes with the son of Jupiter. “Do you wanna find out if that barrier is wind resistant?”

           “On it,” Jason said. He gently kissed Piper’s forehead, took off his jacket, and propped her head under it. Then he went to join Hazel and Calypso. When he raised his arms, a deafening whistle blasted into the air as wind thundered into the trees.

           Leo fumbled with his tool belt. “Lemme alert Felix and Festus. Maybe we can smoke them out.”

           Frank stepped over to them, looking sick. “My stick could be in there.”

           “Right. Maybe Felix can annoy them out,” Leo corrected and walked off, calling on the metal friends they’d parked further down the street.

           Annabeth murmured softly. Percy dropped his face close to hers, trying to tune out the others. She was so quiet; he was scared Jason’s wind would drown her out.

           What she said made his skin crawl. “Eris... has… your sis...ter…”

           Percy felt his jaw drop. “My sister? They took my sister?!”

           She inhaled leisurely and her eyes fluttered. She seemed like she might pass out again, but managed, “Don’t... kill… Ajax… Not… Fault…”

           None of that made sense. But Annabeth’s grey eyes rolled back into her head before Percy could ask her what any of it meant. Although she’d barely managed to move at all, what little she had done spent the last of her energy. Annabeth collapsed into a deep sleep.

           Percy trembled as he mimicked what Jason had done for Piper. He took off his swim captain sweater to put under Annabeth’s head. He couldn’t tell if his shakes were more from fear or anger.

           You could mess with him. You could mess with the gods. You could even mess with Camp Half-Blood.

           But no one touched Annabeth.

           And no one touched his little sister or the rest of his family.

           “Your sister?! Gods, Percy, are—are you okay?” Frank’s voice brought him to the present.

           Frank hovered nearby, looking like he felt dumb for asking the question. But Percy was glad for it. The question made him focus.

           “You.” Percy pointed at the unicorn who had continued to heal Piper. “You keep an eye out on these two, else I’ll hunt you down and turn you into glue.”

           The unicorn huffed at him. Yea, the unicorn had attacked them, but he figured—had Vinyl wanted to kill Annabeth and Piper—he would have been using them for horn goring practice instead of sprinkling them with fairy dust.

           Percy got to his feet and drew Riptide. “Alright, Frank. No more horsing around. We gotta make a plan to catch these bastards.” Especially if his sister and Nico were on the line. Especially if they had to find out what bastard did this to Will.

           Something exploded beside them.

           Shards of what looked like glowing green glass puffed into the moonbeams before dissolving into dust. As Jason’s air swept the particles away, an entire townhouse came into view in place of the forest, with a full driveway, a van parked out front, and a confused looking metal donkey beside it.

           The Pax brother’s van.

           There was also a stumbling silver worktable on the lawn. Leo must have sent Felix in while Percy was attending to Annabeth. The table looked crippled, one leg bent to the point of nonfunctioning. Now, it might make a better piece of angry, modern art.

           “Barrier is down!” Hazel announced.  

           From their position in the neighbor’s adjacent lawn, Percy could see the back porch, where seven demigods were making a run for the forest behind the house.

           “They’re leaving out the back!” Percy shouted.

           Jason was on it. As he stepped rapidly along the side of the house, he raised one hand. A lightning bolt blasted into the tree line ahead of the retreating demigods.

           Everything went white.

           Percy’s ears rang with the pop.

           Despite temporary deaf and blindness, Percy and Frank rushed over to join where Jason and Hazel were converging.

           When Percy blinked the white dots out of his vision, he could see their attempted escapees were still trying to get to their feet.  Before the Pax brothers and their allies could regroup, Hazel lifted her hands and shoved them down, hard, like she was about to hop over an invisible fence.

           The ground by the tree line collapsed in a semicircle trench, cutting off any escape to the woods, unless one of them had a grappling hook or were an Olympic level pole vaulter,[1] they’d have to get through the five of them instead. Percy hoped they’d try to get through them.

           “Nice,” Frank complimented Hazel.

           “Thanks,” Hazel said, but her eyes were narrowed at their opponents. Percy understood. He could feel their collective rage. While Percy didn’t know the full story, these jerks had messed with him, his friends, and his family too much. They were going to find out who did this to Annabeth, Piper, and Will, where Nico was, and what they’d done with Percy’s little sister.

           “Annabeth said not to kill them,” Percy growled.

           Jason cracked his knuckles. “Did she say anything about beating them senseless?”

           “Nope. She left that out.”

           “Good,” Hazel said, clutching her spatha.

           A rush of air puffed out behind them as something thumped onto the ground. Leo laughed crazily beside what Percy assumed was Festus. “Ha—ha! Dragon cavalry has arrived! Let’s show them that our back up is cooler than theirs!”

           “No fire,” Hazel called over her shoulder.

           Frank gave her an appreciative smile.

           “Right! No fire!” Leo assured.

           Festus creaked in confirmation.

           “Hey, Sunshine, see if you can heal the girls while we take care of this.”

           Percy was thinking how to politely inform Leo that his girlfriend might want to kill Annabeth when a cry went up from Hazel’s makeshift trench.

           By now, Percy and his friends were walking past the back porch. He could see where Axel, Pax, Euna, and another boy that Percy didn’t recognize were standing

           The tall, gangly brunette stranger tossed something onto the ground.

           Smoke exploded into the moonlight, twisting out in three different colors: black in the center, and gold and green on either side. The screen completely coated their opponents, the back yard, and the trench. Then, it snaked upward into three separate shapes. The gold warped into a lion; the green, a serpentine head; the black, one of a goat.

           As though in sync with the swirling smoke, a hiss and a snarl thundered from within.

           Although Percy desperately hoped the goat would go baaaa, instead, a column of fire spat out of the smoke goat’s mouth. Not nearly as funny as the baaah, would have been.

           Percy immediately recognized the shape as something he’d fought as a child. Some part of him felt small again.

           Frank put it to words. “That is the Triple A Chimera,” he warned.          

“AAA? Do they sell insurance?” Percy asked, trying to sound confident. Why was his voice shaking still? He was trying not to think about his sister, or Annabeth, or what could have happened to either of them. He was trying to focus on the battle, but his mind kept twisting to panic, like his battle mode ADHD had gone haywire.

Someone chanted in a language Percy didn’t understand. The barometric pressure dropped, like it had when Jason summoned lightning. A flash of turquoise flames fluttered to life within the golden smoke, tinting it a sickly green.

           Another chill went down Percy’s spine. Some part deep inside of him said he should nope right out of this. But he and his friends had defeated the giants together and other way scarier things. Some renegade demigods? No problem, right?

           “Reyna said they use fear magic—at least the Leonis Caput does. Ares said he already killed two praetors.”

           “Right. Fear magic. That’s what it is,” Leo said behind them.

           Jason put a hand out to stop any of them from approaching the smoke. “Frank, you didn’t say Axel was the Leonis Caput!”

           “You know them?” Hazel asked. The fear magic must have been getting to her too. She looked queasy.

           “I fought him and the Silver-Tongued Snake during the Battle of Mount Othrys. That’s the bastard playing with Reyna’s emotions?”

           The way Jason said it made Percy think Annabeth’s wishes about no-killing wouldn’t be honored.

           “They have nicknames?” Percy asked, trying to stop shaking. “It’s like a boy band.”

           “I assure you, they’re nothing like a boy band.”

           As though to confirm, through the smoke, a figure stepped out. Percy wondered if the bronze dragon behind them might discourage an attack and encourage making a sign that said We surrender. Sorry for being jerks.

           Instead, the creature he saw didn’t look human, but also didn’t appear to be anything he knew from Greek mythology.

           It had a ram’s skull for a head, with horns jutting several feet out to the sides. Green mist poured from its empty eye sockets. Pouches with glowing runes dangled from its wrists, its exposed spinal column, and its two-pronged black staff. Its limbs looked built out of tree twigs. Although humanoid, its gait was off, like each cloven step forward required it to rip roots out of the earth.

           From the golden smoke beside it, another stalked forward. This one had golden skin that sagged into folds. Where the skin was torn, Percy could see a rotting skeleton. The face was feline, with a bloodied, crimson mane encasing the neck. Its jaws were permanently stretched into a snarl, too far for a living creature. Inside the blackness of the throat, Percy could see the reflection of two predatory golden eyes, like this thing had swallowed someone that wanted out.

           The way it moved reminded Percy of how Leo’s flames flickered—too abrupt and jerky to look real.

           Lastly, something rolled from the green smoke. It hissed out a laugh and crept closer, keeping low to the ground, though Percy could have sworn he saw the reptilian flicker of a tail.

           Percy was not digging this fear magic. He was shivering like the first time he’d seen Polybotes.

           “I’ve seen the real thing… They’re more like a… discount Chimera,” Percy said, swallowing.

           The others looked as stunned.

           “Jason.” Frank seemed to come to first. “Can you blow their cover?”

           Jason shook his head, like he was warding off a bad memory. “Gladly.”

           As Jason raised his arms to blast away the smoke, the serpentine figure and the feline crouched low, like an Olympic sprinter about to dash at them. Mr. Ramhead in the center slammed his staff down.

           “Incanteare: Gelu Semati!” he snarled.

           The serpent and the feline disappeared. Something else swirled out from the smoke: a blast of wintery hail. Tiny ice bullets pelted into Percy’s skin, making him wince and raise a hand to block his face.

           Although the smoke dissipated under Jason’s wind, the hail blew into the wind, unlike anything Percy had ever seen. Percy couldn’t sense the water in that ice. He never thought there would be a storm he and Jason couldn’t stop, but this hail didn’t seem to care about the powers of the children of the sky and storm.

           “So you wanna play with magic? You should know what you’re falling for,” the voice echoed from where Mr. Ramhead had been standing. The hailstorm increased; Percy could no longer see him. He could barely even see Frank, only a few feet away from him.

           But he could sense something coming, something bad.

           “I can’t control any of this!” Jason said, “Hazel?”

           “It’s an illusion—but I can conjure Mist, not see through it,” Hazel said, “Listen for them!”

           Percy desperately wished Rachel was here. Or Annabeth and Piper were conscious. Rachel could have seen through. Annabeth might have thought of a plan around it, and Piper could have talked Mr. Ramshead down.

           “Jason and I will take to the air, see if we can get a better idea of what’s going on or where this ends,” Frank said, getting a hold of himself. “Hazel, see if you can trip up our opponents and make it hard to sneak around. Percy, Leo, Festus, make sure no one gets past you.”

           “Will do, Praetor Man. Time for the Leomeister and Festus to—”

           Something scurried past Percy’s leg. He pivoted to follow the movement, but the small creatures weren’t after him. The storm was less intense behind him, allowing Percy to catch a glimpse of what happened.

           Leo stood a few feet back. Festus crouched behind him, making the townhouse look like a toy model. Both were ready to fight.

           Then a weasel the size of a tractor slammed into the side of Festus. It seemed to come out of nowhere. Two smaller creatures hopped off the first, scampering up onto Festus’s wings.

           While Festus tried to gain his footing, the monster-sized weasel twisted to chomp down on Festus’s neck. Percy hoped it would wretch back in pain from a toothache, but the black teeth sank right into the bronze.

           The dragon creaked in alarm. The weasel was smaller than him, but those teeth must have hurt.

           “Festus!” Leo shouted.

           Festus stumbled, smashing into the side of the house. Percy took a step towards them in horror—Festus was close to Annabeth, Percy, Calypso, and Vinyl. The structure groaned, siding ripping off and onto his wings. The weasel disengaged, darted to the side, and dashed at him again. That thing was fast.[2]

           “No fire!” Leo shouted when Festus’s mouth began to glow, withdrawing a sledgehammer from his tool belt.

           It creaked again in anger. Then went to unfurl its wings, when one made an uncomfortable cracking sound.

           One of the other tiny weasels phased out of Festus’s half-folded wing, a strip of wires dangling from its mouth.

           Something exploded on Festus’s other wing.

           They couldn’t use fire, but no one had said anything about water. Percy was about to give that giant rodent a hose down and get Festus clear of the girls, when he realized something horrible.

           The weasels had been a distraction.

           “Eyes forward!” Frank shouted.

           Percy’s gut tugged when he felt for the water in the plumps under the house. He pulled, forcing the pipes to burst, flooding the water towards the surface.

           As the water surged up, Jason shouted in alarm. The air and hail whirled around Jason as he went to take off, and follow Frank’s orders. Something anchored his ascent.

           Vines erupted from the ground, wrapping tightly around the son of Jupiter’s ankles. The vines shooting from the earth became thicker—tree roots—and dragged Jason back down. Jason slashed furiously at the plants, but a new one would snag out of the ground each time he cut one down. Soon, the tree roots had crawled up his leg and sank him back to the grass.

           A hissing laugh cackled out of the hail beside Jason. “I’ve seen enough hentai to know where this is going.”

           When the vines snatched at Frank, he dispersed into a swarm of wasps—or something like that, since Percy just saw the large Canadian disappear into the hail.

           Before Hazel could help him or Festus or before Percy could blast them with water, something rolled from the same direction of that taunting hiss.

           Percy expected to have to destroy the soccer ball-like object, but felt his stomach pitch when the head started talking in an announcer voice.

           “Oh! Our eagle boy is out for the count! Can the gracious Jason Grace manage to fight Euna Song’s godly grip! Stay tuned to find out folks—”

           “Is that a talking head?!” Hazel demanded, being closest to the… thing.

           No one could answer.

  ��        The Triple A Chimera reappeared.

           Percy didn’t see the other two members, but something flickered out of the hail, directly beside him. One moment, Percy was concentrating on the up flow of sewer water and hoping Hazel and Frank could help Jason, when a skeletal humanoid appeared out of the hail and rolled into the splits beside Percy.

           He hadn’t expected it to be so close, or so low to the ground. The movement completely exposed the Leonis Caput’s golden fur back and red maned head. It had no weapons drawn, and—for that instant—Percy could see it give him a ghastly grin.

           A second set of golden, glistening eyes winked at Percy from inside the creature’s massive jaws.

           As Percy pivoted to redirect Riptide, the monster slammed its palm into the side of Percy’s knee.

           Percy felt air escape his mouth in the form of a scream.

           Something snapped in his knee. The joint bent inward, towards his other leg.

           Percy focused to keep his concentration on the scene around him: the hail, the gleam of the monster’s fur, the sewage water, his friends’ shouts, the talking head announcing his fall. He refused to let the world white out, like his body wanted it to.

           In the same instance, Percy slammed Riptide’s blade into the Leonis Caput’s shoulder.

           The blade deflected off the monster’s hide.

           The Nemean Lion fur, he realized. He should have recognized it. This person—Axel?—must have killed it after him. If it was the same, no weapon could pierce that hide.

           There was nothing Percy could do to regain his footing. His knee wouldn’t respond when he tried to stumble. He was going to fall.

           But his little sister and Nico were on the line. He wasn’t about to let this monster win. After all, he was Percy Jackson.

 Footnotes:

[1] Pax would like to clarify, that as he and Axel are circus performers, they probably could have made it. But they didn’t want to leave the others behind. You’re welcome, Pax.

[2] Look up videos of weasels vs. snakes. Weasels are AWESOME!

[trashikino]

@lonelypond the temptation to make a shrek au was too real but i resisted,,,, here’s ur thing though! tower, princess and the wandering bard. ft rin as a klepto cat

The beaten-in path that she’d been following from town to town grew less and less distinct with each passing hour. From dirt roads, to thin patches where the grass was dead from trampling, to barely-hacked-out chunks of woodlife in a somewhat linear pattern. 

That does it: Nico is most certainly lost. 

She grimaces as the noon sun beats down on her, the sky offering no suggestions as to which direction she’s going, and does her best to wipe off her forehead with a handkerchief. Her clothes and even her hair seem to stick to her skin. Ugh. 

Best to look for whatever stream is watering all this greenery and have a quick bath before she continues trying to figure out where the hell she’s landed herself this time. 

The loose hacking of plant life she’d seen shows no sign of stopping, but she diverges from it when she sees a horde of trees in what seems to be a circle. A pond - perfect. 

“Can’t show up to my next venue all disgusting,” Nico mutters, and pulls the strap for her lute off first. She’d continue, except for the fact that something sprinted past her and took her beloved instrument with it. “H-hey!” She yelps. “Give that back!”

The creature stops for long enough for Nico to note that it’s a cat, but then then resumes bolting off in the other direction. A disgruntled Nico gives chase. 

It leads her, tearing through the woods and probably dinging up her poor, poor lute, until they reach a clearing with a lone, high tower. It looks like the sort of thing she should walk up to and shout for a long-haired maiden to help her climb it, but more importantly, the cat weasels into it from a small window in the bottom and trots merrily up a spiral staircase. 

The nerve of that little....! Nico marches up, fully intent to pound on the door until the owner of this freakishly tall building opened the door and returned her instrument, but nobody seems to be answering. She peers through the window. Nothing. 

Welp. Nico squirms through the window. Better to beg for forgiveness than ask permission, and all that. Besides, that instrument is her only source of income. Without it, she’s fucked. 

Not seeing the cat in the bottom room, Nico marches up a long, long, long spiral staircase until she reaches a room at the top with a door. She throws it open. “Alright, you stupid cat, give me the -”

Someone is home. Upon Nico’s dramatic entrance, a girl turns her head from where she’s sitting in a cushy looking chair, stroking a smug looking orange cat. “How did you get in?” She asks, a bit forcefully. 

Nico crosses her arms. “That’s beside the point. Your little orange rat took my lute, and I need it back.” 

The girl seems to sulk, but gestures to a bookcase that appears to be cluttered with other objects, all varying degrees of random. Nico scratches her head. “What, are you some kinda hoarder?”

“Just trying to find ways to pass the time.” The stranger replies in a clipped tone. “You really don’t have any manners, you know that? You broke into my house and you haven’t introduced yourself.”

“Yeah, yeah. I was in a hurry.” Nico scoops up her lute and fastens it securely where it belongs. “I’m Nico Yazawa. Singer and entertainer, bard extraordinaire, and all that. Who’re you?” 

She seems torn, but reluctantly gives up her name as well. “...Maki.” 

“You should train your cat to stop stealing things from people like that.”

Maki scowls. “She’s helping. I give everything back if they care enough to get it.” 

That does it. “You can’t just steal because you’re bored,” Nico growls. “You don’t even need half this garbage! If you’re so bored why don’t you move somewhere with more stuff going on?”

“I can’t!” And now Maki is shouting back at her, and the cat growls from where it’s perched on the armchair. 

“The hell you can’t! Just check out the city for a day and -”

“If I leave this tower, I’ll die.”

Nico’s shoulders drop. Maki takes a deep breath and turns away from her. “So moving isn’t an option, and neither is going outside.”

It’s still hard to believe. “You’re serious?” Nico asks, and, for her part, she’s at least a lot less antagonizing about it. 

“I’ll vanish. Look. Even the window is too far.” She moves out to the edge of the room and throws the window open quickly, then shoves her arm out into the air. After a moment, it flickers and fades away, like it’s evaporated. Nico jumps. 

Not a lie after all. Yikes. After a moment or two longer, Maki pulls her arm back indoors, and it starts to come back, however slowly. She sulkily walks up to the bookshelf and pulls loose a few books and trinkets. “Rin fetches me things from people passing by to help pass the time. I used to get mad, but I’m going to go crazy without something to do.” 

“That...sucks.” Nico says, intelligently. It’s okay to be at a loss for words, right? This is kind of crazy stuff, after all. “How long have you been here?”

“Ten years.” Maki sighs. “My parents used to visit frequently, but now it’s only a few times a year. A curse was put on me.” 

The thought of wasting away alone for ten years struck some kind of nerve with Nico. If this had been her...! She decides quickly that this is unforgivable. “Well......I’d be failing my job as the world’s best bard if I let you stay this bored for long!”

“What?” Maki’s disbelief is evident. 

She lets out a childish giggle. “Isn’t it obvious? Nico can’t let any potential fans get off the hook without at least listening to a few good songs. I’ll play so well you’ll never have to steal again~!” 

Maki is hesitant, still, reluctant to trust her. “What happens when you run out of songs?” 

Nico fake pouts. “Are you underestimating my skill? I know tons of songs!” Maki shoots her a look, so she huffs and crosses her arms. “Well, yeah, everyone has limits. I guess when I’ve played all the songs I know, I’ll leave...” The redhead seems to wilt a little, like she’d been expecting this sort of answer, and like she’s mad she ever expected more than that, but Nico’s not finished yet. “And I’ll come back when I know tons more!” 

That shuts her up, at least for now. Good. A quiet audience is better to play for. Nico strums a few notes on her lute and gets started, though she scans the room as she does so. “Hey, Maki?” She asks, before the lyrics are due to come in. 

“Y-yeah?” She sounds choked up. Aww, so she has feelings after all! It’s kind of heartwarming to know she’s that touched by Nico’s offer. 

“I noticed you have a few instruments in your secret stash, and a piano downstairs. Can you play anything?”

She shakes her head. Nico grins. “Then you should learn fast! I wanna do a duet with you some day, okay? I mean, you have toooons of time to practice, after all. So maybe one day you might even be able to catch up to me!”

Maki sniffles. “I bet you’re not even that good....” Wow, what a lame defense mechanism. 

Nico falls for it anyways. “Hey! Don’t insult me when I’m doing you such a big favor, you little brat!”

“Never asked for you to offer your services,” She says snidely. They butt heads a bit more, but Maki is still a good audience. When Nico plays, she listens. When she’s trying to teach her the sheet music, she pays attention. 

After a day or two, when Nico has exhausted many of her options, Maki catches her at the door downstairs. “You don’t actually have to do this, you know.”

Nico keeps coming back anyway.