#which is i firmly believe that percy is second only to nico on the 'most accidentally autistic-coded riordanverse characters' list

[phykios]

honesty and promise me, part 4 [co-written with @darkmagyk] [read on ao3]

 July twelfth dawns like any other day, Annabeth wrapped up in Percy’s sheets. She’s spent significantly more nights in his bed than she’s spent in her own apartment over the last two months, but who could blame her? This bed is literally to die for. Therapeutic mattress for the fucking win.

 Percy, to her greatest confusion and chagrin, is a morning person. Well, actually, what he is is someone who runs on very little sleep for three weeks at a time, before crashing headfirst into his bed for thirteen hours. It is a decidedly unhealthy way to live, but it means that Annabeth is used to waking up alone. The nights where she gets to wake up with Percy are the nicer ones, sure, but his presence is suffused in every corner of the room, his smell wafting from every piece of sweaty clothing tossed haphazardly about the floor, so much so that she never feels like she is truly waking up alone.

 Gross? A little. But the smell is oddly sexy, too, especially after he’s just come home from a run, all wet and glistening and flushed, panting hard--

 Ahem.

 The point is, when Annabeth rolls out of bed in one of Percy’s shirts (the one that says “Do You Even Lift, Bro?” with an image of a male dancer raising his partner, courtesy of one Jason Grace) and stumbles into the kitchen for one of Percy’s patented brunch specials, it’s a pretty normal morning. What catches her off guard is the spread: eggs and bacon, obviously, with fruit and granola and yogurt, but also an enormous tray of delicious, flaky croissants, perfectly crescent shaped, with little bowls of every condiment imaginable, multiple flavors of jams and preserves and Nutellas.

 “Bounjour, mademoiselle!” Percy says cheerfully from the oven, perfectly accented, bending over to take out a tray. “Ça va bien?”

 “Um… bonjour…” She pokes a croissant experimentally, and is equally delighted and dismayed to find that it is just as flaky as advertised.

 “Take a seat, these ones just need to cool for a bit and then we can get started.”

 Spring in his step, he opens the refrigerator, taking out the most beautiful cake Annabeth has ever seen in her entire life. Perfectly round, paper white, with little blue borders piped around the edge, but it’s got Annabeth feeling like she’s just been doused in cold water. “How the hell did you know it was my birthday?”

 Immediately, she knows it was the exact wrong thing to say. His eyes go wide as the saucers on the table, mouth open in shock. “It’s your birthday?”

 Goddammit. “Um.”

 “Why didn’t you say anything?”

 Because birthdays were inherently a dumb concept? Because her father had to be reminded of her birthday more often than not? Because her mother had stopped sending her birthday cards after she turned thirteen, calling them a waste of money and resources? “I don’t know,” she shrugs, dipping her finger into the strawberry jam. “I guess I just didn’t think it was a big deal. Ooh, does this have rosemary in it?”

 “Annabeeeeth,” he whines, plopping the cake onto the kitchen island. “I can’t believe you! I love birthdays.”

 “Well,” she flounders, attempting to duck his sudden attention, “what were you originally celebrating? I don’t usually think of cake as a brunch option.”

 He raises an eyebrow, not at all impressed with her attempts to change the topic, but he answers dutifully, “Originally, we were celebrating me being one month cig-free--”

 “Percy!” Annabeth gasps, clapping her hands delightedly, and a little exaggeratedly. “That’s great!”

 “But,” he continues, “now we’re definitely celebrating your birthday instead.”

 “Oh, come on!”

 “Nuh uh,” he chides, grabbing his phone and beginning to type something, “I am asking Nico to pick you up a birthday card as we speak.”

 Oh. “Nico’s coming?”

 “Well, this is his apartment. Part of the deal is that I make him breakfast. I think he’s bringing his boyfriend.”

 “Is… anyone else coming?”

 “Just a couple of people, my friends Frank, Grover, Rachel… I invited Hazel and Thalia, too, but I think Hazel told me she was busy, and you know Thalia. If it’s not at a crappy dive bar then the odds of her showing up are virtually none.” Percy pauses in his text, fixing her with an odd look. “You really don’t want anyone to know, do you?”

 How easily he reads her is a little disconcerting, and also a thought that she just can’t handle right now. “I just don’t like people making a big deal out of it. You know, it’s just another day. I’d much rather celebrate you quitting.”

 He holds her gaze for a beat, before smiling, finishing typing out whatever he was doing on his phone. “Yes, I am officially quitting. Cigarettes are terrible for you, and I do not have the money to keep up the habit. So, I swear,” he holds up a hand, “No cigarettes, no weed, no vaping. Not that I ever vaped before.”

 “Oh, never?” Annabeth teases.

 “Not ever.” He leans in, grinning that devastating grin that is seriously detrimental to her health. “You could not pay me enough.”

 “Good.” She goes to meet him, pressing her mouth to his, sweetly and chastely, but swiftly turning deeper, almost against their higher brain functions, like they only exist to be here in this moment, lips against lips, tongue and tongue. She’s always hated the taste of cigarettes, she prefers edibles to blunts, and anyone who vapes is automatically dropped from her list of potential partners… but she’s never minded the taste of ash on Percy’s tongue. It was just another part of him, another facet of the whole sexy package.

 Now, though, she has the full taste of him, unfettered and unfiltered, his morning coffee and his morning breath. It is disgusting, but again, oddly thrilling. This is Percy, stripped down and divested of all the trappings of blue lipstick and tight pants. She wonders what he thinks when he sees her like this, messy haired, face and ears empty of metal, last night’s mascara smudged all around her eyes. Given the way that he deliberately threads her hair through his fingers, winding the frizzy curls around him, pulling her close enough that the pristine cake is in danger from some serious smushing, she thinks he likes it just as much.

 Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on which perspective, either Percy’s, Annabeth’s, Nico’s, or the cake’s, their little impromptu makeout session has cold water dumped on it before they can end up doing it on the kitchen island. The sound of someone unlocking the front door is almost comically loud, and they break apart, equally red and flushing.

 “Gross,” says Nico di Angelo. “No heterosexuality allowed in my kitchen.”

 “Take that back, you biphobic ass,” Percy says. “I have never been heterosexual in my life.”

 “I’m not biphobic, I just don’t want to see you getting it on on my marble countertops.”

 “Speak for yourself,” chimes in Will, setting down a grocery bag right on the spot which would have been ground zero. “Hi, Annabeth.”

 “Hey, Will.”

 “Nice of you to join us today,” he says, as though he doesn’t see her here all the time.

 She offers her assistance in cooking or setting up, knowing full well that she will be firmly rebuffed--domestics are not her strong suit, by any stretch of the imagination--and is sent away with an iced coffee that Will has so thoughtfully bought for her instead of the birthday card she was dreading.

 Soon after, the party is in full swing.

 Well, she uses the term party loosely. It is fairly intimate, even with Nico’s enormous apartment making everything smaller. They have assembled an odd amalgamation of people: “You already know Nico,” Percy says, indicating the goth prince next to, “and Will,” his boyfriend, the perpetually cheery med student, next to, “and this is Frank,” a large, physically imposing man with a shy smile, next to, “Rachel,” a red-headed girl who looked like she just walked out of a paint shower, all making space for, “and my buddy Grover,” the guy in crutches who had immediately dropped into the single, out-of-decor, but extremely comfortable-looking loveseat Nico had placed nearest to the bathroom. All told, they look like the brochure for a community college who really, really wants to publicize how diverse their student body is, but with a kind of natural chemistry and camaraderie that those kids on that brochure could only dream of. “Everyone, this is Annabeth.”

 They greet her, each giving a limp wave.

 Then Percy leaves to attend to his brunch spread, but not before giving her a quick peck on the cheek. She can feel all eyes on them, hot and burning.

 Silence.

 “So,” Annabeth says, as awkward as a freshman in an orientation mixer. “What’s up?”

 “Your hair is amazing,” says Rachel.

 Hers is crusted with paint, a deep red that turns pink against the orange in the light, a close cousin to Annabeth’s, which is in dire need of a touchup, curls thrown in disarray by Percy’s grasping fingers. “Thanks, I--”

 “So how do you two know each other?”

 Annabeth blinks. “Friend of Thalia’s,” she says. “You?”

 “Used to do ballet together,” Rachel says, brusque, efficient. “Frank, too.”

 Frank waves again.

 A beat passes.

 Annabeth looks to Grover, who watches, bemused. “You, too, I take it?”

 Another second. Then he laughs, weird, but hearty, a joyful bleat. “Oh, sure,” he says. “I’m a regular Baryshnikov.”

 She can almost feel the room relaxing, heaving a sigh after holding its breath.

 “Are you with NYCB, too?” she turns to Frank, shoving her hands in her pockets, fingers curling around the fabric there.

 Shaking his head, he swallows his orange juice. “I mostly do modern and hip hop, now, music videos and stuff.”

 Objectively, she knows that you don’t have to be skinny as a rake or bodybuilding champion to dance, but Frank is neither of these, a huge, sweet-faced guy with a healthy layer of fat around his face and torso--a strict counterpart to Percy, who could give the Belvedere Apollo a run for its money. “Have I seen you in anything?” Not that she really watches music videos, but she figures it’s the polite thing to ask.

 “Um, maybe,” he shrugs, embarrassed. “I’ve been lucky enough to work with some really big people.” Though he offers no further details.

 “Working on anything cool?” She asks, doing her best not to cajole.

 He nods. “Percy and I have a thing coming out probably in the next month or so, with--ah, well. Can’t say.”

 “Tease,” Rachel grumbles, tossing back her mimosa. “I’ve been trying to get the secret out of him for months.”

 Frank smiles, secretive and a little smug. “Sorry. You’ll find out along with everyone else.”

 “Do you work together a lot?” Annabeth asks. She had thought that Percy was strictly ballet--though, she supposes dancers do crossover work more often these days, if only for the money.

 “Not as much as we used to, sadly,” he replies. “We actually lived together in Paris for a few years while he was contracted with the opera before I decided to come back home. Vancouver,” he adds at her unspoken question.

 “Bit of a hike, from Vancouver to New York,” says Grover.

 Frank shrugs. “I was in town anyway, and I haven’t seen Percy in about a year.”

 Annabeth frowns, doing some mental math. If Frank hadn’t seen him in two years, then that meant… that Percy had been alone in Paris all that time. The man thrives off of friendship and social interaction; no wonder he was jonesing to come back to America.

 “Remind me again how long you two were together?” Rachel asks, red hair bouncing as she cocks her head. A jolt goes down Annabeth’s spine, appraising Frank in an entirely new light.

 “On and off for about two years,” says Frank, thoughtful. “But I just lived with him to save money. The rent in Paris sucks.”

 “And you were the best roommate I ever had,” Percy says, slinging an arm around his shoulders. “Clean, good cook, better kisser--”

 Frank shoves him away.

 “You’ve only ever had one other roommate, other than Nico or your mom,” Grover points out. “That one guy when you first moved overseas--Frodo? Fedora?”

 “Fyodor,” Percy corrects. “He was terrible. I didn’t know any Russian, he didn’t know any English, and our French wasn’t good enough to actually hash it out, so he just gave me a permanent cold shoulder.”

 “Kind of a low bar, don’t you think?”

 “And there was my roommate in Boston.”

 Sharply, she turns her head. “You lived in Boston?”

 “Yeah, for like a year. I told you I was with Boston Ballet for a little bit, didn’t I?”

 Pretty sure he didn’t. She almost opens her mouth to retort, to ask when and compare notes, to mention that she lived in Boston, too, before remembering who she is with, swallowing her words.

 “Fyodor hated you,” Frank hums, reentering the circle. He’d wandered away and returned with a croissant, dipped in chocolate.

 “Trust, me, the feeling was mutual.”

 “It must have been,” Frank says, “because I saw your new apartment after he kicked you out--that place made a shoebox look luxurious.”

 Something in Percy’s face almost falls when Frank says that. Annabeth is sure there is a story there.

 But Rachel laughs. “Annabeth, you have no idea. It was a      Chambre de bonne    ,” she says, exaggerating the accent, “which might sound super fancy and French and cool, but trust me, it wasn’t at all. It was this size.” She slaps the kitchen island, a little too hard, her third mimosa making her loose-limbed and loud. “When I visited for Thanksgiving that year      I     had to pay for the heating bill, because Percy basically refused.”

 “It was cozy,” Percy mutters, suddenly very preoccupied with the half a croissant on his plate.

 “It was not.” Rachel says. “It was sad and cold and small.”

 Nico looks interested, but not nearly as boisterous as Rachel or Frank, “Was that the place…”

 “Ye,” Percy cuts him off, “Yes it was.” He smiles, Stepford-strained. “But, then Frank came to town, and so did his grandmother’s money.” He slaps Frank on the back. “And I got a bathtub.”

 “I still can’t believe that a ballet dancer lived anywhere for two years without a place to soak,” Frank says, shuddering.

 “I can’t believe you waited until Frank got to Paris to get yourself a sugar daddy,” Grover quips. Percy throws a grape at him. Grover, to her immense surprise, manages to catch it in his mouth.

 Annabeth can’t really be impressed. This is the second time someone has brought up Percy and Frank having a history. Something hot and angry curls in her stomach. But Percy is laughing.

 Rachel laughs too. “Oh, he didn’t wait,” she says. “He had a bevy of sugar mommies for trips to Ibiza and Moscow and Beijing.”

 “It was Tokyo,” Percy says, “and they weren’t my Sugar Mamas.” He turns to Annabeth, sheepish, but not actually shameful. “They weren’t. Honestly.”

 “Uh huh.”

 “They were mostly Kym’s friends, and sometimes we’d go out when they were in town, and if we had fun, they’d invite me wherever they were going next. And if I didn’t have to work, I’d go with.”

 “I have heard rumors,” Will says, popping his head in, Nico attached to his hip, “of Percy Jackson, boy toy of the rich and famous of Europe. Is it true?”

 “Yes,” Grover and Rachel say at once.

 “Do you want to hear about that, Will?” Percy asks, “Or would you rather hear about the summer Nico came to stay with me and Frank before he started college, and slept with every single dancer in Europe except Frank?”

 Nico waves him off. “Only because you were already sleeping with him, cause he was your sugar daddy. Not like I needed the money.”

 “It wasn’t like that.” Frank says.

 “And now that we’ve aired all of my dirty laundry,” says Percy, “I need to borrow Annabeth for a second.” Gently, but with force, he tugs her arm, his other hand around her waist, directing her where to go like she’s one of his dance partners. Usually, she minds--a lot. She’s not about to let anyone, let alone a man, tell her where to go--but, you know, it’s Percy. Alone time with him is never a bad thing.

 He pulls her into the hallway, shoving his hand into his pocket. “What’s up?” she asks.

 “So.” Mouth open, he pauses for a moment, just… looking at her. His eyes are soft, warm like the first day of spring.

 “What?”

 “Uh, nothing,” he shakes himself a little, pulling his hand out. “Sorry, I just--I know you said you didn’t want anyone making a big deal out of your birthday…”

 Oh, no. She braces herself for the worst.

 Uncurling his fingers, he reveals his present for her.

 “It’s… a pin?”

 “Yeah,” he smiles. “Remember when I took my sister to the Met a few weeks ago? They were having that thing on Egyptian jewelry? Well, of course we had to stop in the gift shop, and I saw this and just--you know, thought of you.”

 It is a pin--one of those lapel pins that more often than not are added to a collection usually displayed on a backpack. This pin is a silhouette she recognizes instantly: the Parthenon, its columns and angles rendered in sterling silver, little grooves dug into the metal in an approximation of the fluting.

 “Wow,” she breathes. “Thank you.”

 “It was nothing.” His ears are pink. “Happy birthday.”

 And then he hugs her.

 After a moment, she hugs him back.

 It’s amazing how she can have had sex with someone so many times, but feel so awkward giving them a hug.

 “I didn’t, um, tell anyone else,” he says, pulling back. His hands linger on her shoulders, thumb tapping at the base of her neck. “But, I kept meaning to give this to you, so, you know, now was as good a time as any, yeah?”

 “I love it,” she says, honestly. Which surprises her. “Thank you.”

 She slips it into her own pocket, not even minding the sharp corners.

 When they return, Nico has already cut into the cake. “You were taking too long,” he snips.

 It really is delicious. Much, much later, Percy sends her home with a sweet, soft kiss, and one of the last remaining slices, rather than staying for dinner.

 Percy is the kind of boy who goes to his mother’s for dinner every week. She had been invited, but also threatened with the promise of another cake, and his ten year old sister, who would “love to make you a present.”

 It sounded nice, but Annabeth knew when she wasn’t really wanted, and so she demurred, citing a need for some solo downtime.

 She hasn’t heard from Thalia in, like, four days, which meant she had probably gotten a short-term gig. (“You’re lucky, she’s had Jason paying for her phone the whole time you’ve known her. Before that, she was almost impossible to get ahold of.”) Piper would take her out to dinner tomorrow, “just because.” But they would both know it wasn’t true.

 So, to refresh and relax after a long, harrowing day of socializing, Annabeth goes home.

 Or at least to her apartment.

 It doesn’t have a doorman, or the views, or the room, like Nico’s place. Nor does it have any of the people, the energy, the joy. Her furniture doesn’t fill it up. The most appetizing thing in her kitchen are the granola bars Percy had made the week before, or maybe the brownies he made four days ago. She sets her to-go bag of cake and croissants down next to them, a smorgasboard of Percy’s culinary prowess.

 Despite the long hours, her clothes still smell a little like last night’s bar, and her skin has a faint patina of dried sex sweat, and smudged makeup.

 She doesn’t want to start leaving things at Percy’s place--don’t want him to get the wrong idea--but she also occasionally needs to be able to touch up her eyeliner. She’s either going to have to find a bag that isn’t embarrassing to carry, or surreptitiously shove some eyeliner and lipstick next to the condoms in Percy’s nightstand next time they have a sleepover. Or raid Nico’s bathroom.

 Regardless, she needs a wash something bad.

 As she scrubs down, she does her best to focus on the lemon scent of her body wash, and not Percy’s perfect form, dripping with water. She tries to visualize her last trip to Sephora, not blowing him under the hot water.

 It doesn’t really work, so she gets herself clean and gets herself off and considers just spending the rest of the day naked, in case the mood strikes her again. But it's only 5PM, and she doesn’t have Percy to cook her some dinner tonight, so she sucks it up and puts on some pants.

 When she had visited Boston for work a couple of months back, Alex had insisted on taking her shopping, complaining that her sister and her friend Mallory didn’t understand Versace quite like Annabeth did, and that Blitz sucked all the fun out of fashion, anyway. Then, she had bullied Annabeth into buying a set of sweats, claiming it was because of the Grecian patterns, but probably because she thought Annabeth in that much purple would be funny.

 But eventually, she had wheedled, cajoled, and threatened Annabeth into buying a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. After deciding to forgo a bra, because that is just one more area she has always fallen short in, she shoves on a School of Architecture underneath them. The crimson clashes terribly with the lavender and seafoam, but she kind of likes it. Piper would call it “artfully nauseating,” or something.

 Besides, no one is going to see her but her delivery guy. And if someone did see her, someone like Thalia or Percy, well, the clashing colors would be the least of her worries.

 She is folded into her couch, wedged into the corner, very much      not     looking up Paris Ballet clips from the past few years, trying to spot Percy in the background, when there is a knock on her door.

 Not for the first time, she curses her lack of doorman--and then frowns. Who even knows where she lives?

 Piper and Leo? Magnus and Alex?

 Has she already ordered food and just forgotten?

 Is memory loss a side effect of a SK-II mask no one had warned her about?

 Tentatively, she creeps towards the door, opening it slowly. If this were a horror movie, the door would creak open, revealing the villain cast in the shadows of the hallway, holding his weapon of choice.

 She sighs.

 The man is only a few inches taller than her, and dressed impeccably in a t-shirt and jeans that probably cost half a year of her rent-- a big critique coming from her, since she wears a month of her own rent as sweats. His blond hair is impeccably combed, his tennis shoes impeccably white, and his smile the most charming thing you can find this side of the Brooklyn Bridge.

 “Happy birthday, girly,” he says, giving her an awkward, one-armed hug, trying to avoid getting any of her facemask on his shirt.

 “What are you doing here?”

 “It's your birthday,” he reminds her, holding up the bag. “I told you I’d stop by last week.”

 Had he? Maybe, and she’d just been too drunk or hung over to really process it. But maybe he’d also meant to, and then failed to follow through. Luke has a bit of a nasty habit of treating his intentions as the same as his actions. His intentions are good, usually, but it means that he often ignored the actual actions. Like how his intention was to support his mother in the best nursing home in the northeast, but his action was to work with Saturn, a very shady hedge fund, to facilitate it. Or how his intention was to have someone at a stuffy party to talk to, but his action was dressing up Annabeth as his arm candy because none of Piper’s models would call him back anymore. He hasn’t asked her to do that since, like, February though, thankfully.

 “Sorry,” Annabeth says. “I just… you know I don’t like my birthday.”

 He also has a bit of a habit of ignoring her distaste in a really blatant way.

 He’s a little like Percy that way, actually.

 She’d only ever told Luke about her birthday back in those embarrassing freshman days, when she’d thought he looked as good on paper as any Harvard MBA student possibly could, with a devastating smile to match. She’d been so convinced that he would be the right boyfriend that might finally get her mother’s approval, and she figured that her future husband should know her birthday.

 “Come in,” she says, reaching for the bag, but he shakes his head and brushes past her, dumping his black back on the coffee table. Graciously, he doesn’t look at her as he starts to empty out its contents, giving her an opportunity to dart back to her bathroom and peel off her facemask. Luke would forgive designer sweats, but they aren't at the “just chilling in a facemask” level of a relationship.

 When she returns, there is a small assembly line arranged on her coffee table: a stack of paper plates, a carton of Haagen Daas, forks and spoons, and a Milk Bar cake, all wrapped in its box.

 “Is Milk Bar still the ‘it’ thing?” she asks. “With locations all over the country, I figured it would be passé by now.”

 “I know it’s your favorite,” Luke says. “I don’t always have to choose the most popular thing.”

 Milk Bar had been her favorite, that is true, right up until she’d started fucking Percy Jackson, and eating his food.

 “Thanks,” she says, cutting herself a slice, and scooping herself some ice cream.

 “That’s all you’re going to get?” he asks, cutting himself a sliver.

 “I have had so much cake today,” she says. Milk Bar really isn’t as good as Percy's, but it reminds her of birthdays in high school, waiting for her mother to visit, sneaking out when she inevitably didn’t, convincing the local bad boy to buy her some alcohol. She eats it, eagerly.

 Luke’s jaw drops. “You had a birthday cake? By choice? On your birthday?”

 She shakes her head, swallowing. “No, I was at a party with some friends. They didn’t even know it was my birthday,” Until she had stupidly revealed it. Whatever. She just has to make sure he’s been excised from her life by this time next year. And maybe freeze some of his baked goods beforehand.

 Luke doesn’t let her go through with her evening plans, which consisted basically of watching      Legally Blonde     for the gazillionth time while she slurped down some pierogies, but he capitulates to      Roman Holiday    , helping her put away the leftover cake and ice cream. “Thanks,” she says, when the movie was done. “I’m glad you came over. “

 No one ever comes over. Thalia is her best friend, but Thalia would have questions about how she could afford the place, Piper never understood why she’d moved out here at all, and Percy… Percy was irrelevant. There is no reason for him to come here.

 “I always like to see my best girl.” He smiles at her, charming and rogueish.

 “If all those models you keep trying to date know that your best girl is an architect who lives in Brooklyn who you actually feed, that’s probably why they don’t want to date you back.”

 Luke laughs, leaning over and knocking his shoulder against her own. “None of those girls could hold a candle to you.”

 “God, you must be a terrible boyfriend.”

 “Probably,” he agrees, sitting up and stretching, before reaching back to the bag he brought the cake in. “After all, you are the one I bring all the nice presents. But I think I’m a pretty good friend.”

 He takes out a box, burnt orange, a black ribbon wrapped around it, because Luke is nothing if not predictable.

 Annabeth sighs internally, quietly reminding herself that money is how Luke shows his love. And that she is wearing Versace sweats.

 “Herm  é  s,” she says, pulling off the ribbon. “This box looks too small for a Birkin.”

 “Do you want a Birkin?” he asks. “I can get you a Birkin.”

 “I probably don’t need a Birkin,” she admits. Though maybe it would be nice to have one in her closet, if her mom ever calls her up for lunch again. She could show up with a Birkin and an eyebrow ring. Sweet revenge.

 Luke waves a hand. “It doesn't matter if you need one, just if you want one.”

 Inside the box is a scarf, the silk soft and smooth between her fingers, a pleasing gradient of oranges and reds and pinks and corals. When she unfolds it, laying it out before her, she finds a sharp, geometric design, columns stacked together like skyscrapers. Luke obviously had her in mind when he picked it out.

 “Thanks,” she says. It’s pretty--perfect for an ambitious young architect with two degrees from Harvard who had moved to New York City with an offer from one of the best architecture firms in the world. And Annabeth has no idea where she could possibly want or need to wear it.

 “Hey,” Luke says, suddenly soft, “don’t cry.”

 Shocked, she reaches her hand up to her face. It’s wet.

 Luke is probably the only person she will let herself cry in front of. She’d spent three years doing that in college. He’d seen her through heartbreak and hangovers, guiding her through it all like an aloof big brother.

 “I’m okay,” she hiccups, wiping her nose.

 He hands her a napkin.

 Annabeth blows her nose, wet and gross. “I’m sorry, I promise I’m alright.”

 “You sure?” He sounds sincere, but she catches him glancing down at his wrist.

 “Do you have a date?”

 “I…” At least he has the decency to look sheepish. “Just some guys at work. You can come, if you want.”

 It could be fun. Hanging out with Luke can be fun. Get a little lit, take a business bro home, screw his brains out, send him on his way. But there’s an unspoken dress code to these things, and Annabeth just doesn’t wear Louboutins anymore. And the idea of fucking a business bro just… doesn’t hold any appeal right now.

 “No thanks,” she nods, using the clean edge of the napkin to wipe her eyes. “I am going to watch      The Search For Elle Woods    , and you're going to strike out with some models, and everyone is going to be happy.”

 “You really are so mean to me.” Luke complains, as she walks him to the door, before giving her another hug. “You sure you’re going to be okay?”

 “I am.” She is different and new, but Luke is still her friend. She had survived. It would be okay.

 “Well, call me if you need something.” He kisses her cheek, sweetly, without any heat. Perfectly platonic. “I love you very much. Happy birthday.”

 “Thanks,” she says, “I’ll see you around.”

 “Always.” And he is gone.

 She folds the scarf, going to put it in the dresser in her room, shoving it among a handful of accessories, gathering dust. She realizes, with a start, that she’s left a week’s worth of clothes all over her room on the way to the shower, and, with a sigh of adulthood, and the knowledge that if she doesn’t follow the ADHD gods and pick them up now, they’ll be there for weeks, languishing on her floor and stinking up the place, she goes to at least move them into her hamper. She rifles through ripped jeans and band t-shirts and black socks as she goes, checking each for anything like discarded change or a bus pass she doesn’t want to wash.

 She shakes out the pants she’d worn out the night before, and therefore the entire day until she’d gotten home. There is a rather unfortunate stain on the knee that she can’t quite parse--ketchup? Chocolate?

 Then she reaches into the pockets, touching metal, and she suddenly remembers her other birthday present for the day.

 Pulling out the pin, she feels strange, hot in the face, funny in the belly, tossing the jeans haphazardly in with the dirty laundry. It's small and shiny, cheap metal for mass market production, and yet, she walks it over to the dresser, laying it down on the silk scarf like it's the diamond broach her aunt gave her for her sixteenth birthday.

 She really is beyond Hermès scarves now. But that pin? Well, you never really can get more Annabeth--the middle school know-it-all, teenage debutante, college perfectionist, New York yuppy, or barfly and punk princess--than one of the greatest architectural achievements in human history.

 She is still a little shocked by how much she loves it. How much it means to her that Percy saw that it was perfect for her.

 And like so many times when she is confronted with an emotion she doesn’t like, she slams the door closed, and goes and watches a favorite movie from high school.

 She does order dinner, eventually, setting out her meal in between texting Piper about brunch tomorrow. It's a whole thing, pretending that they’re not going out for her birthday, but eventually they agree on a time and a place, and she can eat her sausage and watch everyone practice the Bend and Snap in peace.  

 So she is very annoyed when her phone buzzes again.

 Maybe the reservation fell through. Or maybe she doesn’t want Annabeth to show up in ripped fishnets, even though that only happened once.

 Her stomach sinks when she checks her phone. It isn’t Piper.

Hello Dear, Happy Birthday. We miss you. Please call anytime. Love Dad, Mary, and the boys.  

 Below the text is a link, leading to a gift certificate for $200 to Sephora, which has Mary’s name written all over it. Aunt Natalie would have suggested Bergdorf Goodman.

 Her hand clenches, momentarily overcome with the urge to hurl her phone against the wall. But there is no one around, so there wouldn’t be any point to it.

 She stabs at a pierogi with a chopstick, and watches the girls dance on screen, humming along.

 She passes out on the couch after midnight.

 Her mother never called.

[mcwriting]

Nico Di Angelo

Lol I spent the plane and train rides to, through, and from Italy reading The Burning Maze (rip my heart) and rereading MOA and BOO (don't have HOH on iBooks, just print) soooo. Yeah. All the feels returned and I was feeling this lol. 

Edit: I just realized I didn’t add ny typical header and word count and background so sorry y’all.

Edit 2: Lord have mercy on me there are probably a million typos

Not Tom holland (sorry not sorry)

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus

Ship: Nico Di Angelo x Will Solace (solangelo)

Setting: Camp Half Blood

Word Count: 683

Warnings: 1 bad word lol

Rating: K+ 

Background: I just really love Nico Di Angelo

After Will calls Nico over to the infirmary, he gets put in an area close to a window (Will wants him to get sunshine). 

Every few hours (or less), Will stops by Nico’s space and checks up on him. Will insists on making him actually lay down for the first few hours and is constantly fawning over Nico’s health. 

Nico is torn between love and hate for the attention. 

After a surprisingly peaceful nap, Nico wakes to find Will standing over him with Gatorade. 

“Electrolytes and salt are good for you right now,” Will insists. 

Nico thought that was only a Coach Hedge thing. 

He sits up and swings his legs around, putting his feet on the ground. Will watches him sip the blue sports drink for a minute before being called to the emergency area (someone just fell and busted his forehead in the arena and needs stitches)

Not long after, Jason appears and takes a seat next to Nico.

“So, uh. Our conversation seemed to get cut short earlier but... I saw you go and, and see, er, talk, I guess to...”

“You don’t have to finish that. But yeah, I decided to clear the air and come out to him. I mean, I’m over him, but I thought he should know, ya know? I figured it was the best way for both of us to become better friends and for me to finally let go.”

Jason put a gentle hand on Nico’s shoulder. 

“You, my friend, are one of the bravest, most incredible dudes I know. I am so happy and proud for you.”

“Come on, Jason. You’re too sappy for me,” Nico jokes, lightheartedly pushing Jason’s hand down. 

“Hey man, I hate sappiness as much as the next guy, but you know I’m always here for you. And if you ever need help getting a guy, just let me know and...” 

“Alright looks like time for another nap for me. Bye Jason see you next week!” Nico says quickly, trying to get out of that awkward situation. 

Jason laughs as he stands up and says his goodbye for the time. 

Nico, on the other hand, was serious. He goes back to bed. 

His second day in the infirmary, Nico is joined by another guest: Percy Jackson.

Nico is sitting up in the stretcher, slowly eating the breakfast Will brought him earlier. Now, Will has opened the curtain once again to announce that Nico has a visitor.

When Percy steps out, Nico doesn’t know how to feel. After yesterday, well, he knew things could be awkward for a little while.

Will gives the other boys space, leaving Percy standing awkwardly with his hands in the pockets of his basketball shorts. His eyes are steely, but expression still light. Nico understands what is behind those eyes. He is one of the only ones who understands what they could have seen.

That’s not the point right now, at least, it doesn’t seem to be.

Nico invites Percy to sit, which makes him relax some more. He won’t meet Nico’s eyes when he starts talking, flustered. 

“So, Nico. I... I wanted to talk about, you know, yesterday and just... well first of all, sorry for my reaction back there. I wanted to say something, but obviously that never happened,” he chuckles, finally turning towards Nico again.

“There really wasn’t anything you needed to say. Like I said, I wanted to clear the air and finally admit it. But also, like I said, that’s ancient history to me.”

Percy nods.

“I’m really, really glad you told me, though. I mean, that had to take some serious guts. And I want you to know that you can always tell me anything. And since apparently I’m ‘not your type,’ you can always come to me for boy advice!” He says excitedly.

Nico rolls his eyes, then smiles. 

“You’re pushing your luck, Perce. But, uh, thanks for being cool about this. I spent a lot of time hiding from myself, and I’m thankful for the friendship and help you’ve extended to me over the years.”

Percy repeats the move Jason pulled yesterday, clapping a hand over Nico’s shoulder. 

“I’m always here. But all seriousness aside...” he leans in to whisper, “Will, eh?”

Nico blushes and gives Percy a joking shove to the chest.

“Alright I think it’s time for you to go, I don’t know, bother Annabeth or something!”

Percy smirks as he rises from the bed. Putting his hands up in mock surrender.

“Okay, okay! I see how it is,” he begins, followed by, “really though, he’s a good guy, just in case you were wondering.”

With that he leaves, and Nico is left to finish his half-eaten breakfast. 

Will returns a while later, making a face Nico can’t quite read.

“So I know I told you you’re gonna have to stay here three days but... I need for you to go...” he starts.

Oh no. This is what Nico was afraid of. Surely the other campers knew he was there and were uncomfortable. What were they saying? Did they request for him to leave? Maybe it’s for the better. Gods, what does Will think about Nico?

“Hey, you don’t have to break it to me. I knew when I’m not wanted...”

“What? Gods, no, Nico! I was just gonna make you go take a shower! Hygiene is one of the best healers, you know!”

Nico is dumbstruck by the son of Apollo once again. Will really did want him around still? The other campers weren’t requesting for his removal?

“Wow. Ohhhh, wow. I really am dense. Yeah, though. I will definitely go clean up some and uh, I’ll be back in a half hour or so?”

He gets up and makes his way to his cabin, then the bathrooms, where a hot shower helps Nico clear his mind, and for the first time in a while, things feel... good.

Nico’s last day in the infirmary goes by too fast. Nico has enjoyed spending time with Will, even though his time often got cut short by other campers’ needs. Whenever Will had a break, he had come in and just spent time with Nico, a strong banter running between the two.

Now Will was standing by the bed, wringing his fingers.

“Soooo... this time I really am kicking you out. Your three days is up, and honestly, you’re way better than I would have expected you to be by now.”

Nico grins.

“Yeah I was expecting this.”

“Here’s the deal though. You’re gonna have to have bi-weekly checkups for a while. I need you to come see me Wednesday at 1. Don’t be late.” Will states firmly, though he’s obviously trying to fight back a smile. 

Nico feels the skeletal butterflies again.

“Of, of course. Yeah. Wouldn’t miss it.”

With that he leaves.

Over the next three weeks, Nico has found himself with Will more. Of course, he’s making new friends and reconnecting with old ones, but outside of his “appointments,” Nico and Will have ended up at the same training sessions and playing games on the same teams.

Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe someone was doing this on purpose, or maybe the two were just on similar wavelengths. 

Either way, Nico can’t stand being around him like this. Spending so much time with Will, he understands the feelings he has, and hopes that Will feels the same way. 

Finally, Nico can’t take anymore.

He heads to another check-up with Will, stomach in knots. He steps to the infirmary extra nervous. Today’s the day. He’s finally gonna tell Will. He’s just not quite sure how he’s gonna do it.

“I see you’re messing with your ring, there,” Will observes as he waits for the blood pressure cuff on Nico’s arm to deflate. “Something on your mind?”

How does he know me so well? Nico thinks. 

“Just a little distracted is all.”

“Bullshit, Nico. I know you.”

Will is too good. 

“It’s just that, these past few weeks, it’s been cool hanging out with you, and...”

“And?” Will grins, removing the cuff from Nico’s upper arm.

This is a lot harder than I expected, Nico thinks, letting out a breath he doesn’t know he’s been holding. 

“You know what? Frick it.” He mutters, standing. 

Will turns around from where he is prepping a thermometer.

“What was tha...”

He doesn’t get to finish, because suddenly Nico has one hand thrown around Will’s back and the other holding his head, and then their lips are pressed together and Nico’s never felt this way before and he doesn’t know if he’s doing it right but somehow, just somehow, everything feels like this was meant to be.

It feels like an eternity before they’ve separated.

“Nico,” Will whispers.

Nico freezes, then quickly steps back, arms recoiled to his chest.

“Oh, gods. I just did that,” he realizes, before putting his hands to his head and further exclaiming, “I just did that! Oh man, Will, I’m so sorry and I need to go and-”

Will steps forward and grabs Nico’s arm.

“Nico, stop. Look at me.”

Nico obeys.

“Nico, do you know how long I’ve been wanting to do that? I had this big plan and I was gonna get you at the bonfire and gods I can’t believe you would ruin my plan like that!” He rambles.

Nico is left in shock, then suddenly the two burst out laughing. 

“I can’t believe you! Hahaha!” 

“And you! Ha, That was amazing how you moved in on me! Totally caught me off guard! Haha!” 

Both boys steady their breathing enough to have a real conversation. 

“You know, Nico, I’ve been having you ‘check up’ with me every week so I can hang out with you. I mean, you really were sick for a while but you’re almost better than ever now.”

Nico can’t believe the lengths this boy went to be with him.

“So I should assume that us being at the same training sessions and on the same teams was part of your plan?” Nico questions.

“Wait that wasn’t you? Because it definitely wasn’t me, although I’m not disappointed that it happened.”

After more conversation and maybe one more kiss, the two decide to show off their newfound relationship at the evening’s bonfire.

With everyone  now knowing about the sons of Apollo and Hades being together, people keep coming up and congratulating them on finally realizing the chemistry between them.

Nico is surprised that so many campers shipped them. What’s more surprising is when Nico is stolen away by Percy and Jason, wanting to hear all about how they got together, though Nico can’t answer when Percy says,

“Obviously my plan to schedule them in the same training sessions worked great!” 

Nico is more surprised when Jason rebutts with

“Well I should take the credit for getting them on the same teams for capture the flag and stuff!” 

Nico can’t help but laugh and clear up the situation.

It’s funny how things work out, he thinks. You believe that no one can accept you or understand you, but maybe things are different. Maybe sometimes family does understand, and maybe, just maybe, you find the one in places you never thought possible. 

A/N: I don’t really like this ending :/ but oh well. Sorry I’m an inactive loser (esp to all my followers who are here for Tom Holland content whoops)

Love y’all 

[aion-rsa]

The Walking Dead: World Beyond Season Finale Review

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This The Walking Dead: World Beyond review contains spoilers.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond Episodes 9 and 10

Huck (Annet Mahendru) is a woman with a mission, and it’s not to make sure everyone gets to the Civic Republic Militia research facility safely. From the very opening of The Walking Dead: World Beyond‘s ninth episode, “The Deepest Cut,” as Huck stares into the darkness while everyone sleeps, it’s clear she’s facing a choice between the people that she has come to know and love as friends in Felix and the kids, and her loyalty to the CRM, her mother, and the CRM’s idea of the greater good. Throughout the series, when prompted, Huck has cautioned Hope in particular to make the choice that benefits everyone, not the choice that simply benefits her, and that encouragement to push hope towards that concept of the greater good makes much more sense after an opening flashback to her mother, Elizabeth (Julia Ormond), telling her to stick to the plan and get rid of the excess baggage.

Excess baggage named Felix and Iris.

Huck has already successfully run off Elton, Silas, Percy, and Tony, as is revealed later on in the episode. Her whole goal, all along, has been to recover the most valuable asset at Campus Colony: Hope. That’s right, the non-valedictorian troublemaker has been the truly valuable member of the expedition all along, and not because she makes good pruno. However, before we find out why she’s so important, there is a lot of episode to get through, most of which takes place in the form of flashbacks, hallucinations, or memories of other times.

Huck’s relationship with her mother Elizabeth is fleshed out in flashbacks. The material isn’t great, but the show immediately improves the moment Julia Ormond is on screen, because she’s a pretty clearly defined villain on a show that doesn’t have one. Even people like Huck, who betrayed friends, and Dr. Lyla Belshaw (Natalie Gold), who is studying her former associates turned walkers, aren’t quite despicable. Lyla is closer than Huck, but they both confess to be doing what they’re doing in service of, you guessed it, the greater good that Elizabeth has drilled into Huck’s brain as the end-all, be-all of the CRM’s mission.

To the credit of the actors and director Sydney Freeland, they’re working hard with their material. Annet Mahendru, in particular, is doing her best to sell Huck’s desperation to offload her friends without having them all killed. She might be the only member of the CRM to have that moral quandary, given their many efforts to kill Will (Jelani Alladin) in the post-credit sequence of “The Deepest Cut.” Mahendru shines particularly well not when paired with Hope (Alexa Mansour), who she has a relationship with already, but with Iris (Aliyah Royale), because it feels so wrong for the two of them to attempt to be friends, and Huck’s patter with Iris, particularly in Matthew Negrete, Maya Goldsmith and Ben Sokolowski’s scripts, falls so deliberately flat. It’s strained and awkward, and intentionally so, because Iris is too smart to fall for Huck’s lines and too determined to keep the group together at any cost to leave Felix (Nico Tortorella) behind no matter how badly he’s hurt.

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Felix’s hurt only increases during “In This Life,” as all of Huck’s talking gives way to violence as she and Felix engage in a knock-down, drag-out fight that renders the bulk of a safe house to shattered plaster and crumpled furniture. While Sydney Freeland handled most of the character-driven work and intrigue, Magnus Martens gets the cool action sequence during “In This Life,” and while the character stuff worked well, there’s nothing quite like a multi-stage, multi-part brawl to get the blood pumping, particularly when a toppled lantern kicks off a house fire. Martens and company do a great job of staging the battle, and while it ends in a stalemate, it doesn’t feel like an unrealistic one. Huck would be the fitter of the two characters, thanks in small part to the fact her mother brings food to their meetings, and Felix is still dealing with a nasty cut on his ankle from Huck’s switchblade spear. A good fight is always appreciated, particularly one with as many stages, stops, and starts as this one.

Percy (Ted Sutherland, who does good work in Elton’s hallucinations), Elton (Nicolas Cantu, who remains the strongest young actor on the show), and Silas (Hal Cumpston) have a pretty nice reunion moment, where Huck’s betrayal goes from hinted at by special effects bullet wounds to outright explained by Percy, and the tension of their escape, and their fence-side conversation with one after Silas decides to play hero, is solid enough. It tracks with what we know about the character, which is that he’s constantly full of guilt and that he’s not as aggressive as his outbursts would make us believe. He’d be willing to let the CRM take him into custody for the greater good (without having those lessons from Huck). Percy and Elton believe that the fire drew CRM attention, but the truth, which is revealed at the hand-over of Hope, is much more interesting. Armed goon squads don’t go out to investigate building fires, even in the Walking Dead universe. They’re looking for Huck’s loose ends with an eye to clipping them off.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond‘s season-ending event isn’t so much a season finale as it is warming up for the final season. The success of Huck’s mission, ironically, will sow the seeds of the downfall of the Civic Republic Militia. The mysterious hooded resistance fighters have added new skilled fighters in Will, Felix, and Iris. Percy has revenge on his mind. Elton has a friend to rescue. Hope and Huck are on the inside, and are about to be given about 9,000 reasons to want revenge on the CRM when they’re finally given the news about Campus Colony being destroyed. With or without Leo Bennett—I’m not certain he’s still among the living at this point—there are a lot of people on the inside of the CRM who have beef with the CRM.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

That’s exploitable assets. Not for Elizabeth, but for someone like, I don’t know, Rick Grimes, who will be forced to take drastic measures to keep Alexandria, Hilltop, and Oceanside from becoming the next Campus Colony? Thus far, the tie-in with the Rick Grimes movies seems limited to setting up the CRM as a villain; that said, I can’t imagine having the brilliant Julia Ormond of all people in your TV show and not have her appear in your movie. The second season’s general plot is firmly in place, all that remains is to see how it all pieces together as part of the larger Walking Dead universe.

The post The Walking Dead: World Beyond Season Finale Review appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[itsomgitsgreenblogging]

Break My Heart: Chapter 8 (A Solangelo Fanfic)

It’s finally here, chapter eight of BMH! The long awaited Capture the Flag showdown, and not only that, but romantic progression! Hurray! I wanted to get this done before I go on vacation. Also, side note, we are about half way through the fic now!

Enjoy! 

Read on Tumblr: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7

Read on AO3

Preview:

“If I didn’t hate him, I would understand why you find him attractive,” Drew said with Will with a sidelong look.

“I do not—” Will said with a suck in of air.

“Oh please, Nico di Angelo is hot. Not as hot as me though no one is hotter than me but, he’s hot. If you’re into MySpace circa 2006 aesthetics,” Drew said with a flip of her hair.

“You’ve got blood all over your face,” Will pointed out.

“And I’m still hotter than everyone else here, what’s your point?”

“I’m telling you, all you’ve got to do is let me handle this,” Clarisse said as she stabbed their second map with her second knife. Chiara from Tyche cabin groaned as she went about looking for another one. “Me and my cabin could beat that motley crew in their sleep.”

               “Oh yeah, Clarisse? Really? Is it really that easy for you?” Conner asked her in a sing-songy tone as Cecil and some of his brothers and sisters cackled behind them. That immediately had Sherman Yang and Ellis Wakefield on them.

               “Listen up!” Lou Ellen said as she stepped over Clovis’ sleeping bag from where it jutted out from underneath the table while Julia from Hermes Cabin kept poking him with a yard stick in time with snores. “Demeter, Hecate, and Hypnos cabin are down with the plan that has us creating diversions. But we need to know where we are going to place the bulk of our forces.”  

               “Mashed…potatoes…” Clovis added from his dreams underneath the table.

               “Uh…yeah, what Clovis said,” Miranda said as she cast a helpless look to Katie who was currently face-palming and shaking her head so adamantly that Will was sure he was going to need to check her for a concussion. Will helped spread their third map onto the table with Chiara’s help.

               “The counselors and longtime members of CHB are pretty familiar with all the routes, so we’re going to need to rely heavily on our senior campers,” Will said to the crowd. “Offense teams, no matter what happens, make sure you keep all of the members of your squad together and protect the camper to your left. Violet, what’s the name of this technique?”

               “Phalanx!” Violet chirped. “Like what Chiron taught us!”

               “Good,” Will said. “The other team is big and brash and if we can make them run into us, what do we do?”

               “Fake retreat, regroup, and then ambush!” called back the rest of his cabin, like any proper Grecian chorus.

               “Ambuscade,” Will said before giving a nod of pride. “Good work.”

               “The only problem is what the best routes are going to be,” noted Clarisse gruffly. “We’re going to need to be mostly responding, so it would be good to know what they are planning.”

“As far as I can see there are two main strategies that they could try,” Nico said as he tapped the map thoughtfully. He had been hanging back and observing the controlled chaos, but to Will’s surprise he finally decided to speak up. “They are either going to put Percy on defense and Jason on offense, or use both Percy and Jason on offense”

               “What makes you say that?” Katie asked curiously.

               “Well, they both have the most devastating attacks. But Percy, though he is a great swordsman, is going to be the most powerful by the river. And the river cuts the forest through the middle, so he could theoretically lead the charge to the river or stay there independently as the first line of defense. Jason can fly and is powerful anywhere so he’ll be offense, Annabeth won’t waste that. She might do a number of different other things with her team, but it’ll be based around those two.”

               “Iris cabin,” Lou Ellen suddenly burst out before giving a rueful grin. “They were working on a watch with a prism in it that can put off a rainbow. They can use it for short distance communication.”

               “Jason will fly and scout, and give Annabeth intel so that they can move their team,” Travis said with an appreciative nod. “What do we do in response?”

               The rest of the meeting was spent cobbling together some kind of strategy. It was almost nice, Will thought, as Clarisse threatened Travis’ life with a sharpened #2 pencil. It had been a while since they had a Capture the Flag, and though he knew he might regret it, seeing everyone pumped up for a game was so much nicer then coming up with actual battle strategies (like the ones they had desperately tried to come up with in the face of the insurmountable armies of the Roman Legion). After their planning session everyone went their separate ways, to attempt to get some sleep before the big day.

               “Make sure you get some shut eye,” Cecil told him as he ruffled his hair, ducking away as Well attempted to swat at him.  

               “I’ll try, you too,” Will said before looking to Lou Ellen. “Don’t stay up to late, okay?”

               “We’ll try.”

               Will turned to walk towards his cabin, thinking about strategies and another pressing issue he was having—

               “Will?”

               Will jumped and whirled around, seeing Nico standing behind him. His heart was pounding in his ears and he clutched his chest as he attempted to gather himself.

               “Holy Hera, Nico! Don’t just sneak up behind me,” Will said as he tried to speak over his racing pulse.

               “Sorry, I’ve been told I sort of disappear in the dark,” Nico said absently before shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans and slouching into his black hoodie which was about two sizes too big. “I just wanted to talk to you, about tomorrow?”

               “What about tomorrow?” Will asked him.

               “I want to stay with you—”

               —Will rocked back on his heels. Will’s brain immediately was set to Full Fantasy Frequency and took Nico’s words and applied them ten million different ways including Nico saying that to Will while they were gliding through the sky on a magic carpet singing Disney showtunes—

               “—during the game.” Nico qualified. Will wasn’t sure if felt disappointed or relieved, but definitely only one of those feelings was appropriate for the being-friends situation thing that was currently Will’s problem. Gods knew Will had been trying, but it was hard to know what lines he had to be wary of. He knew he shouldn’t even be wary of lines if Will really thought of Nico as only his friend and he was getting exhausted of it. 

               “Oh? Why?” Will asked, trying to get back on track.

               “Well, all of the Seven who were on the quest besides me who remain at Camp Half-Blood are on Team Aphrodite,” Nico explained, and as he explained Will suddenly felt silly for putting on such a childish filter over his thoughts of him. Standing next to Will, Nico was suddenly gaining a height and purpose he hadn’t seen out of the generally morose Nico since the battle. Here was a prince and a general and a warrior wrapped in one, why would Nico be worried about Will in the way Will was about Nico when he was so obviously out of Will’s league? “Though you’ve seemed to have forgotten, Piper is an accomplished warrior and strategist in her own right. Though Annabeth is surely helping her, Piper will be in charge of this group, and beside her is Drew who has a grudge and charmspeak. There’ll be people after you in this game. It’ll be best if I stay with you.”

               “Even though you can’t use your powers? You still want to guard me?” Will asked, feeling oddly touched by the display of concern.

               “Don’t go mushy on me, Solace. I’m just doing my duty as a member of this team to make sure that we don’t get our collective butts kicked,” Nico said as he waved him off. “Besides, who knows, maybe Percy and Jason will end up fighting each other and won’t even come near you.”

               “Yeah, what is that about? Their bro-ness tends to be off the charts but put them in an arena and they are at each other’s throats.”

               “It’s a Big Three thing,” Nico said vaguely.

               “You don’t ever seem like you want to butt heads with them. Neither does Hazel, if I remember right,” Will pointed out to Nico as they walked together. Nico just heaved a heavy sigh as if he were deep in thought.

               “It’s hard to explain…but sometimes they annoy me so much I want to stab them through the eye socket with an icepick until I can toast their brains en brochette,” Nico said as he swatted at a few stray curls as if they were bothersome thoughts before turning his attention to Will. “Is that normal?”

               “I mean…are you asking me if homicidal tendencies are normal because boy howdy I have something to tell you—“

               “Anyways,” Nico said, cutting him off. “It’s hard to explain, but it’s like, a calling in your blood…deeper than that, like it’s hardwired in your nature. I personally…usually…sometimes have nothing against Percy and Jason, but because of our dads and their histories it’s like written into us to be antagonistic to each other. Usually I can control it, obviously because I’m better then them in every conceivable way, but I’m also used to thinking of my nature as destructive so…”

               “Hey,” Will said, stopping him and grabbing his arm. “Don’t.”

               “What?” Nico asked him, caught off guard, staring between Will and his hand as if he couldn’t quite believe that wither were in front of him.

               “Don’t think of yourself as destructive. You aren’t.”

               “Will, seriously,” Nico asked with a laugh that was hard and bitter, shrugging off Will’s touch easily. “You don’t know the half of it.”

               “Well just know that I don’t think that’s true. I’ll never think that about you,” Will promised him firmly. “No matter what.”

               “I think you are the only person who would ever think that way about a son of Hades,” Nico said he brushed past Will and walked ahead of him. He sounded utterly incredulous, and Will just smiled and knotted his hands behind his head.

               “I don’t mind if I am. I’m contrary like that,” Will said with a smile, that he hoped Nico felt. Will wasn’t sure he did as they walked in their own directions.

               “INCOMING!!”

               Billie Ng managed to get a oak tree to flip up a branch in order to reflect an oncoming cannonball that was filled with Nemesis Cabin specialty Revenge Mix, which was essentially what happened when you put a pungent combination of herbs, rotten eggs, BO, and regret in a blender. All five of their party mostly managed to get out of the way with a well-placed dive, but all of them looked up to the sky as if it held more danger then could be conceivably imagined.

               “What the hell does everyone have against cilantro,” Nico said with a disgusted shake of his head as they walked forward.

               “It taste like dish soap!” Cecil said in reply before groaning and rubbing his shoe into the ground. “I think some of it got on my shoes.”

               Chiara, who of course, luckily was upwind from the scent pressed on muttering things in both English and Italian about the horrible things she was going to do to Damien White when she got her very well-manicured fingers on him. Nico snorted in appreciation of Ciara’s obviously colorful vocabulary.

               The game was mostly at a standstill. Hecate, Demeter, and Hypnos cabin had done a fantastic job of creating a confusing labyrinth of mist and plants for anyone attempting to get their flag. However, it had almost worked too well. According to Travis, who had been set free by Ellis before Ellis had been taken down kicking and screaming by Sebastian with a flame thrower and nail polish remover, they had figured out their regroup-and-proceed strategy and instead decided to pull out Harley’s catapults and begin a siege to wear out the magic users. Percy was guarding the river and was fending off their main forces with Athena and Nike warriors, while Jason was seemingly spotting for the catapults.

               Currently Will and his mishmashed group of demigods were attempting to sneak to the jail where most of the Ares Cabin were now probably seething in captivity. They had unfortunately broken off from formation and gone after Percy full bore, leaving most of them water logged and unarmed. Release Ares, and go for a full attack on the flag was the plan at the moment. It wasn’t necessarily a great plan, but it was a plan nonetheless and they were committed it.

               “I’m really not looking forward to the infirmary after this,” Will muttered mostly to himself as he looked at the general chaos ahead of them. “It’s going to be crazy.”

               “Hey, at least it can’t get any worse. Probably,” Cecil pointed out to him. “And I feel comfortable saying that because Chiara’s here and she’s basically a lucky charm. Except minus the rainbow marshmallows.”

               “Please, spare me. As if I haven’t heard one before,” Chiara grumbled under her breath.

They made it over the ridge and had a fairly decent view of the jail below.  Will couldn’t help but grimace. There was Paolo Montes next to Drew, who was obviously attempt to flirt with Paolo (though who knew how much was getting through the language barrier). Heather from Iris Cabin was playing with a knife and was standing next to Valentina who kept sneaking glances towards Paolo and Drew while Damian seethed and barked responses to the insults that Clarisse and the crew were yelling at him.

“I could pop into the shadow and kill them,” Nico offered.

“No, you don’t,” Will hissed.

“Yeah, dude. You would get no dessert for a whole week,” Cecil said with a shake of his head.

“There’s something wrong with you guys,” Billie said with a groan. Will watched as Damien reached over to wrap his arm around Valentina’s waist--

“DAMIEN YOU SON OF A CYCLOPS GET OVER HERE I’M GOING TO MURDER YOU!” Chiara screamed before sliding down the ridge and running with sword raised. Heather went running. Damien went stark white and Valentina screamed as Ares kids hollered in appreciation of Chiara’s murderous intent.

“IMPROVISE!” Cecil shouted in response, sliding in behind her and throwing a smoke bomb.

“I hate all of your friends!” Nico snapped at Will  as he pulled out the steel sword he was carrying before jumping down to join the fray. Billie’s hand went out and Lacey screamed as suddenly a maple tree decided to grab her by the roots.

Will stood up and aimed his bow, almost at the very moment that Drew whirled around to look at him. Will wasn’t great at the bow, unlike Kayla or some of his older siblings he didn’t have the gift. But there was something to be said about general aiming.  His arrow went flying and hit Drew’s armor with a loud thump, sending her flying back on her butt. Immediately after she was sent toppling over again when Valentina got slapped so hard by Chiara that she went flying and tripping over Drew.

Nico was currently parrying Damien, until suddenly Nico disarmed Damien and sent him flying. Paolo was screaming as a bush began spitting prickers at him while Billie Ng kept Lacy up in the tree, and Cecil reached out his leg to trip him and sent him into a tree trunk.

“Will watch out!” Sherman Yang yelled and Will whirled around only to see Drew lunging at him with a dagger raised--

Nico, in one fluid motion, got in front of Will, pulled back his fist, and punched Drew in the face. There was a crack and Drew’s head snapped back as she fell back on the ground hard. Blood spurted out from Drew’s face as she numbly held up her hand to it.

“He just broke my nose!” Drew screamed. “You just broke my nose!”

“Gods-damned right I did,” Nico told her as he shook out his hand before holding up his fist. “Want to try that sneak attack again? Because trust me, there are plenty of other things I can break in your face and I would be pleased to give you another demonstration.”  

“Damn, di Angelo. Nice work!” Clarisse said as she and the Ares kids got out of the jail. Will bent by Drew with his first aid pack and pulled out a wad of gauze after putting on gloves. Drew glared at him from over watering eyes, and if she could she would have turned her nose up at him.

“Drew, come on,” Will told her, continuing to hold out the gauze.

“He broke my nose.”

“Well, you also tried to stab me.”

“Because you shot an arrow at me!”

“Due to the fact you did something shitty to me by going out with me just to break my heart and we’re in the middle of a CTF match. I think we’re even now,” Will said with a sigh. “Now, will you let me stop the bleeding?”

Drew frowned, but conceded, and staunched the bleeding as Will gently eased bone back and gave a soothing wash of power to begin clotting and healing. Will pulled off his gloves and put them in his little trash bag.

“You’re stupidly nice,” Drew huffed. “To the point that it disgusts me.”

“Someone needs to be,” Will said as he helped Drew up. Will cast a look over to where Ares Cabin was directing some of his group members on how to bring the new prisoners back to their own jail. Nico met Will’s gaze, gave a glare to Drew, before returning to guard the exchange.

“If I didn’t hate him, I would understand why you find him attractive,” Drew said with Will with a sidelong look.

“I do not—” Will said with a suck in of air.

“Oh please, Nico di Angelo is hot. Not as hot as me though no one is hotter than me but, he’s hot. If you’re into MySpace circa 2006 aesthetics,” Drew said with a flip of her hair.

“You’ve got blood all over your face,” Will pointed out.

“And I’m still hotter than everyone else here, what’s your point?”

“Go get checked for a concussion, Drew,” Will told her with a scoff.

“Whatever, Solace, whatever. But take some advice from me? It won’t be long until everyone else realizes that di Angelo’s a little hottie when they stop being spooked by him. You might want to make that move you’ve been wanting to make,” Drew said as she sauntered off to join the other prisoners.

What?

Move? What move? Will wanted to make a move? No he certainly did not want to make a move! Will thought as his mind raced. He didn’t want to make a move. Not when Nico moved in front of him to protect him, not when Nico showed his shy smile, not when he revealed his weird sense of humor, not when the weight of Nico was on top of him the hay pile and the scent of his shampoo was seared in his brain, not when his “I want to stay with you” that made his heart do funny flips.

Aw, Hades! Hades, Hades, Hades! He totally did want to make a move! Will was totally falling in love with Nico like some kind of idiot, even though he already knew it was going to end on a dock in the fall with his heart broken! How could he let that happen—?

“OH MY GODS HELP!” came a scream that sounded very close, as did the sound of lightning striking and a sudden explosion.

“Don’t let her get away!” Annabeth Chase’s voice came.

“Alice!” Cecil gasped and suddenly veered towards the direction of the noise. Everyone was moving before any more questions could be asked, and they burst out on a trail as Alice Miyazawa sprinted with the red flag. Jason was flying above as Annabeth and the main Athena force was shouting and on her tail, along with Nyssa who was on Jake Mason’s back as she kept firing Greek Fire with what looked like a grenade launcher.

“Alice, pass!” Will shouted she slapped the flag in his hand he turn and ran before casting one final glance back. “Clarisse!”

“On it! Ares Cabin, to me! di Angelo, go with Solace!” Clarisse barked out as she held up her spear.

There was the sound of chaos behind them but Will didn’t look as he sprinted ahead. Nico kept up with him mostly, huffing. They tore through the forest together, however when they burst out by the river Will gasped as suddenly Nico pulled him over by the shirt hard. A wave smashed and receded, and Percy Jackson grinned and waved.

“Hey guys! Sorry, but I can’t let you past!” Percy said as he uncapped Riptide and gave a bright excited grin. “Otherwise Annabeth would kill me.”

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll save something for her,” Nico said with a savage looking smirk as he unsheathed his sword. “Will, stay behind me.”

“How about no way,” Will said as he threw a throwing knife he kept in his pack. Will was majorly off, but Percy still yelped and ducked, and Nico charged forward to take advantage of Percy’s surprise. Their swords clashed so hard that sparks bounced across the edge. Percy pushed Nico back on the ground with his superior strength, but before he could jab him Nico rolled and kicked at Percy’s legs. Nico was up to meet, one, two more hits as Will slide across the mud and--

Will yelped as suddenly Nico’s leg roundhouse kicked him. Will was sent sliding across the rocks and half way through the river.  Percy swore and Will felt the water attempt to drag him back, but then suddenly the water let go. Will hurtled over the edge with the momentum, and cleared the side of the water.

Will looked up in shock, as did Nico who was currently pinning Percy underneath him, as he must have slide tackled him. Both of them were covered in mud, and Percy gave a defeated sigh as attempted to shake his mud covered hair out of his face.

“Gods damn it, there goes my blue M&Ms.”  

The horn blew and Chiron appeared and grinned right at Will.  

“Winner, Team Apollo!”

As Will had predicted, the infirmary was full after the rather rough game of Capture the Flag. Paolo needed to get prickers pulled out of a good portion of his skin, Clovis had some major bruising after he had been unceremoniously tossed out of his hammock by the Victor siblings, Pollux who had been with Aphrodite Cabin had gotten pretty badly burned by a splash of fire, Harley had broken his leg after tripping over Clovis and falling down a ditch, Kayla had gotten jabbed in the leg by a spear, and Piper was currently laying in a bed after getting body checked by Clarisse and having her arm and clavicle smashed. And that was all besides the minor bumps, bruises, and scrapes that needed tending.  

“Quite the game,” Piper said, looking uncharacteristically pale. Jason sat by her bed, as immovable as a stone statue as he had been since Will had put the bones back in place.

“If I had been there…” Jason murmured but Piper shook her head gingerly.

“It’s okay, it’s the name of the game,” Piper said before swallowing. “Though I’m certainly not feeling good.”

“Nectar and ambrosia,” Will said as he gave the measured amounts to her. Jason lifted both for her to take sips and bites. “Let me see?”

Piper slowly offered her arm and Will went about his healing as he usually did. He kept it light and brief because he knew he needed to conserve. He helped bones begin to mend alongside the food and the drink of the Gods. After he did so and pulled away, Piper’s face had some color to it and she didn’t look like she was about to vomit.

“I can give you a sling and you can go, or feel free to rest here,” Will told her.

“I’ll take a sling and empty out the bed,” Piper said as Will helped her get into it.

“Is there anything I should do?” Jason asked fretfully.

“Just breathe,” Piper said with an impossibly sweet smile, that seemingly melted Jason like a freezepop in the Texas heat. She took Jason’s hand and Will’s aid, and suddenly leaned over. Piper’s eyes caught his, shifting in a margin between green and grey. “You might want to give Nico some attention, he’s looking kind of lonely.”

Will tried to splutter out a response, but it didn’t come as Piper breezed out with a laugh (followed by a clueless but bemused Jason Grace). Will looked over, his cheeks warm, only to find a freshly bathed Nico standing awkwardly.

“I’m here...since you said you could sometimes use help here, I figured now might be good,” Nico said quietly.

“Now is absolutely good, Nico,” Will told him. “Come with me?”

Nico followed him dutifully to where Kayla was laying on her side, while Violet and Emma snickered over the stitches they were doing. With a flick both of his siblings went to attend to other things, while Kayla just frowned at him.

“I’m fine!” Kayla said and Will just rolled his eyes.

“Nico do me a favor and hold the gauze against where the stitches are so I can wrap this?”

“Sure,” Nico said before doing just as well said, ignoring Kayla’s complaints that his “hands were too cold”. Will worked on wrapping Kayla’s leg with practiced motions.

“I never thanked you, you basically won us the match,” Will pointed out as he saddled next to Nico.

“No, that was you,” Nico said, keeping his gaze down.

If he looks up, I’ll give it a chance, Will promised himself. If there’s really something there worth changing fate about, I’ll try.

Will’s fingers brushed against Nico’s and Nico looked up, eyes wide. Their gazes held and Will swore there was electricity moving in the air between them, so much so that Will had the desire to go ask if Jason was still in the room. Will swallowed heavily around his heart in his throat before saying,

“Uh, move your hand?”

Nico jerked, looking flushed and slightly embarrassed and Will finished up without any of the practiced grace. Will offered Nico a small smile, one that Nico reflected.

“Idiots,” Kayla huffed as she lay down heavily.

[purple-urself]

Dream A Little Dream

My first Clovis x Nico fanfic, because I love this ship so much.

For @percy-potter-sideblog, thank you for urging me to write this <3

Day 2/7 of the @lgbtqpjo 3k celebration.

“Since returning to camp and trying to find some semblance of normalcy again, Nico’s physical health had dramatically increased thanks to Solace’s constant badgering and berating. What hadn’t gotten any better over the past few months however, was his sleeping habits, and more specifically, his dreams.“

A03

“Clovis… Are you sure about this?” Nico asked the boy in front of him, who was staring intensely. People say Nico had a weird aura, but he personally thought it was nothing compared to the aura that surrounded children of Hypnos.

“I offered didn’t I?” Clovis replied, not breaking eye contact even as he stifled a yawn. “Besides, your doctor recommended I help you with your dreams.”

“Please don’t call him my doctor, it’ll only encourage him.”

“Encouraging him to help you is something I actively do, Nico.”

And boy, wasn’t that the truth. Since returning to camp and trying to find some semblance of normalcy again, Nico’s physical health had dramatically increased thanks to Solace’s constant badgering and berating. What hadn’t gotten any better over the past few months however, was his sleeping habits, and more specifically, his dreams.

Bad dreams for demigods were a usual experience. Most campers had their fair share of gruesome nightmares ending in pain and misery. But most campers hadn’t actually met the Goddess of misery and lived to talk about it. Most campers hadn’t walked through a place worse than Hell only to be captured by the enemy and stuffed into a jar. Most campers hadn’t stretched their powers so far they were literally fading from reality.  

But Nico had done those things. His body may have healed, but his mind certainly hadn’t.

For the first few weeks after returning to camp, he kept his mouth shut about his nightly trauma, firmly believing that the nightmares would go away on their own.

They didn’t.

After a few weeks of little to no sleep, Nico could barely function enough to join in with camp activities. It got to the point where Solace dragged him to the infirmary to give him a check up. Nico still refused to tell the wannabe doctor about his night terrors.

It wasn’t until Clovis practically dragged him into the Hypnos cabin did he actually admit he may have had a bit of a problem. Clovis pushed him down onto one of the many cloud-like bunks, and simply told him ‘Sleep.’

He was out for 26 hours.

Clovis had made sure he, or one of his siblings, was always present to block the bad dreams, and although Nico was angry at first, he was grateful for the respite from the horror of his subconscious.

Since then, Clovis had made it his personal mission to help Nico block the dreams. Because of this, Nico had taken up residence in the Hypnos cabin for the foreseeable future, sleeping like a log every night thanks to Clovis and his siblings.

But tonight was different.

Tonight, it was Clovis’ turn to trade cabins. The son of Hypnos had insisted that blocking bad dreams was only a temporary fix, that in time, blocking his inner most fears would cause him more pain than do him good. Clovis told him that he’d eventually have to face the horror he’d experienced at the hands of the giants.

Nico thought it was bullshit.

Clovis didn’t care.

“Nico.” He heard the other boy murmur. “You spaced out, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He insisted. Clovis hummed under his breath, but didn’t say anything more. It was times like these Nico wished he knew what the other was thinking. Clovis was a bit of an oddball, but he was also incredibly intelligent when it came to the Gods and their powers. He was one of the first people to work out what was going on when the Gods were stuck between their Greek and Roman forms. Clovis also had the power to gaze upon the Gods as he slept, something that frankly terrified Nico. Who wanted to see Ares take a shower?

“C’mon we should get to my cabin before curfew.” Nico suggested, turning away from Clovis’ intense stare. The boy trailed after him silently. After spending so much time with the son of Hypnos, his presence was familiar to Nico, maybe even a bit comforting.

They reached the cabin, and Nico let himself in, holding the door for his companion. Clovis looked curiously around the room, probably noting the fact it resembled a vampire’s lair. The coffins had been replaced by actual beds, but Nico hadn’t gotten around to altering anything else about the decor, leaving the cabin not nearly as comfortable looking, nor as welcoming as the Hypnos cabin.

“Sorry about the…” Nico gestured towards the assortment skeleton themed ornaments around the room, but Clovis just shook his head.

“That’s alright. I’m not uncomfortable around things related to death, my Father lives in the underworld, you know?”

“I… didn’t know that actually.” Nico told him, surprised.

“He likes the peace and quiet down there. Way less noisy than on Olympus.”

True enough, Nico thought.

The two boys got ready for bed, Clovis not having to do much since he practically lives in his pajamas.

Nico climbed into his own bunk for the first time in what seemed like forever, Clovis standing beside him.

“Are you ready?” The blond asked, and Nico could already feel his eyes beginning to close.

“Mhhmm.” He intoned his agreement, and felt Clovis’ soft hand brush across his forehead, before falling into unconsciousness

The smell was what hit him first. The stench of burning charcoal and rotting flesh permeated the air, nearly causing him to gag. He opened his eyes, blinking at the desolate mist surrounding him. He was laying on his side, his body screaming in pain. Broken ribs, shattered wrist, bruises all over his body. Familiar injuries, and no less painful that the last time his brain had recreated them in his sleep.

The dreams weren’t all like this; some would revisit his meeting with Misery, others would have him fading out of reality, no one knowing or caring about his absence. All of them did the same thing though. They terrified him.

He was laying in the dirt of Tartarus, with no chance of survival. No help would come. No knight in shining armor would rescue him this time.

Everything hurt, and the fog surrounding him was getting thicker by the second. The repulsive smell was clogging up his airways, sticking to the back of his throat causing him to cough and splutter, which only made his injuries hurt more.

His breaths came out in short pants, not able to do much more. He was suffocating. He was dying.

“Nico.”

His name was spoke softly, juxtaposing his surroundings so vividly he almost wept.

“Nico, look at me.”

He turned his head slowly, and yet the pain was still so immense he nearly lost consciousness. As his eyes focused again, they came to rest on a familiar looking boy; round features, soft hair, kind eyes. The boy sat beside him, watching him closely.

“Clovis.”

And just like that, he remembered.

He wasn’t in Tartarus anymore. Clovis was here. Clovis would help him.

“Clovis… please.” He began to say, sputtering at the fog entering his lungs. “Help me.”

Clovis looked sad at his words, staring down at him with those navy blue eyes.

“I can’t Nico. I can’t help you.”

Can’t? Nico wanted to yell, what did he mean can’t? Clovis seemed to understand his thoughts, because he continued.

“This is your dream Nico. Your challenge to overcome. I helped you block these nightmares so you would regain the strength you had lost, but now you have that strength back, you must fight them with all you have.”

Nico trembled at his words. Fight? There was no fighting this place. No human should ever step foot here. No human had ever committed a crime so terrible to deserve the fate he’d chosen for himself.

Soon, the giants would find him. They would force him to drink from the river Phlegethon, and then stuff him in that godforsaken jar. And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

“Hey,” Clovis caught his hand, dragging his thoughts back to the present. “I’m not asking you to fight the war again, or even to fight the monsters you faced when you were down here. I’m asking you to fight the dream.”

Again, the son of Hypnos has seemingly read his mind, and Nico wondered if they had some sort of telepathic connection here.

“How?” Nico rasped.

Clovis looked at him fondly, and Nico felt his chest twinge in a different way.

“You’ve met me in dreams before Nico, what have we done those times?”

Nico felt his lips twitching at the memories of taking Clovis around 1930’s Venice, or hanging out with him in central park on a summer’s day.

The other boy’s eyes sparkled with amusement, probably knowing what Nico was thinking about.

‘You did that’ Nico tried to communicate through his thoughts instead of having to talk.

“Did I?” Clovis asks, humming at the thought. “I suppose I may have contributed a fair amount to our little outings together, but a lot of it was you. Do you think I could have recreated Venice in the 1930’s? Or the memory of your favorite ice-cream flavor? No, that was all you.”

Nico hadn’t really thought about it before, but he supposed that made sense. His memories had influenced both of their dreams, even though he couldn’t actually control them.

“Ahh, now you’re getting it.” Clovis told him, smiling. It wasn’t often the other boy outright smiled, and Nico felt a swell of pride at seeing it. “Remember how it feels to be in camp, running after Percy, or fighting Jason. Remember how your body feels when it’s at it’s peek, full of energy and life. Remember how it feels to stand at the ocean and breath the clean air. You have to remember.

At his words, the memories of Camp came flooding back to him. He remembers batting Solace’s hand’s away, insisting he’s fine, because this time he actually is. He remembers shadow traveling across the dining pavilion to grab an apple and not feeling nauseous afterwards. He remembers waking up one morning in the Hypnos cabin, only to find a sleeping Clovis passed out next to him. He remembers watching the boy, not really sure why, other than the fact that he could. He remembers it all, and he gulps in steady breaths of clean air as his pain vanishes.

He scrambles to sit up, immediately checking over his body for the injuries he had felt mere seconds ago. But they weren’t there.

He looks to Clovis, who has a light blush on his face, and is smiling fondly at him. Nico flushes in embarrassment as he remembers the last thought he had before his miraculous recovery.

“You did it.” Clovis congratulates him softly. Only then does he realize they aren’t in Tartarus anymore.

The hard dirty ground of Tartarus had been replaced by soft sheets, the disgusting stench was now subtle hints of lavender. They were in the Hypnos cabin back at camp.

“Are we still dreaming?” Nico asked in a hushed voice, even though the cabin was empty.

“Yes.” Clovis said gently.

Nico nods, letting out a huge sigh, face in his hands. That was intense, like nothing he’d ever experienced before. He felt like he could sleep for a week, and yet, he was already sleeping.

“Why do you think us Hypnos kids sleep all the time?” Clovis chuckled, and Nico realized the other boy could still hear his thoughts.

“It’s because in the physical world, I’m touching you right now.” Clovis answered his unasked question with a grin, and Nico felt himself beginning to blush.

“You’re sleeping with me in my bed?!” He asked, panicking a little.

Clovis laughs again, shaking his head.

“No, it’s nothing like that. I’m just sitting beside the bed, holding your hand.”

Oh. That must be uncomfortable, Nico thinks.

“I’ve slept in weirder places, believe me.”

“Stop doing that.” Nico tells him, not wanting the other to delve too deeply into his mind.

“Then we should wake up.”

Before Nico could say another word, he finds himself blinking awake in his own cabin, a warmth engulfing his left hand. He looks to the side of the bed, finding a very sleepy Clovis blinking up at him.

It only takes a second of indecision, before Nico is pulling the other boy into bed. Clovis looks shocked at the event unfolding, before shrugging and closing his eyes without a single word.

“Don’t get too comfortable, sleeping beauty, this is a onetime thing.” Nico tells his new bed-mate gruffly, before settling down himself, very careful not to touch the child of Hypnos.

And if they they wake up spooning together, well, no one is there to prove it.