"Nico?" Percy's voice called from somewhere in front of him.
The younger one stepped forward out of the shadows to where Percy was waiting. "Hey," he answered in a voice noticably lower than the last time they had spoken to each other, "Just stopping by to see if anything's new."
"Like your cabin?"
Nico shrugged, "Might have had something to do with it."
As the days passed the weather changed drastically. Privately, Percy wondered if Zeus was being poetic by making the weather stormy as soon as Nico arrived. He was a pretty volatile guy in general, but he seemed extra touchy lately. Sure Nico would hang out with the gang and all, but he remained quiet as a shadow until someone tried to talk to him. He would get all huffy and storm off, leaving a few cracks in the foundation on his way. Once Percy had grabbed him in an attempt to stop him from leaving and Nico quickly turned and pushed him away violently. Percy could still feel his icy cold hands on his chest. The older young man had decided that he needed to talk to the boy alone, and so waited until one evening in which he broke away from the group to go and find him.
Despite the fact that Percy had offered Nico a bed in his cabin, the younger one insisted on staying in the freezing three-quarters finished Hades cabin. Percy understood that Nico wanted some space, but it worried him to think of Nico huddled up in the freezing cabin with nobody else. He stepped up to the door and was about to knock when the door opened in front of him, letting out the scent of fresh paint. Nico looked up with a dark gaze.
"Boo."
"Hey Nico. Lemme in."
Instead, Nico stepped out. When he turned his face to look around for the rest of the gang Percy saw a streak of gray paint on his pale cheek. "Been painting?" he asked stupidly.
"Yes." Nico could tell that Percy was fishing for something, and he wasn't in a mood to give anything freely.
There was a silence as Percy waited for Nico to elaborate. When the younger one didn't he coughed awkwardly and continued his attempt to learn what was bugging his friend, "How long until it's finished?"
"It'll be done around the 23rd. Home sweet home."
"Will you let me see it?"
"Haven't you helped with building it?" Nico asked in an accusing tone. He himself felt bad that other campers had been assigned to making a cabin that they would never be allowed into, but he just couldn't be at camp as much as they could. What was Percy's excuse?
"I've been helping to find other half-bloods."
Oh.
Nico stayed quiet, leaning against the front of the cabin and enjoying the cool feel of it. It was like turning your pillow over at night to cool down. Percy's ineffective interrogation was making him angry, but he didn't want to explode at his friend.
"Did you fall asleep?" Percy asked, making Nico realize he had closed his eyes as he opened them to look at the older boy.
"No."
Percy let out an exasperated sigh and gently grabbed his friend's forearm, "Nico..." The younger man stiffened and would have pulled his arm away, but Percy tightened his hold, "Just tell me what's up with you."
"Nothing!" Nico shouted, then he softened his voice as Percy loosened his grip, "I'm always moody, Percy. You know that."
A crack of lightning shot through the clouds as if agreeing with the statement. Both boys looked up and Nico removed his arm completely from Percy's hold.
"Look, I appreciate you being worried and all that, but it's uh... it's just teen angst. I promise."
Percy gave him a skeptical look, "You can still tell me. I don't care if it's about hair that wasn't there before or- or other things."
The comment made both boys blush, but then Nico shook his head, "Just drop it Percy, trust me. You're better off not knowing."
Of course Percy wasn't satisfied with Nico's answer, but he backed off for a while and just let his friend hang around the gang like a storm cloud. Then the cabin had been completed and Nico had withdrawn completely. Since Nico had somehow known that he was at the front door last time, Percy formulated a plan to sneak in.
"Oof!" Percy whispered into the dark room as he came in through the window. Someone from the Hermes cabin had shown him the best way to pry it open. He hadn't ever thought he'd actually use the skill, but he didn't mind being proven wrong now. He checked his surroundings and didn't hear anyone coming in to check what the noise was, so he carefully closed the window and made his way out of the bunk room. There weren't many places that Nico could be. The cabin consisted of two bunk rooms, a bathroom between them, and a sunken commons area in front.
He nearly broke his ankle before he realized that the commons area stepped down, much like a pool without any water in it. Glancing around the Goth-tastic commons area, from the red wax dripping down the wall sconses to the black marble pit with various skull covered chairs in the bottom, Percy wondered where Nico could be. He checked the other bunk room and even the bathroom, but found nothing. He looked up to the bone chandelier, ready to pray to his father, when a light caught his eye. There was an eerie blue glow spread across the ceiling. Percy's eyes followed backward to the source, where he could barely make out a ledge of some kind. A loft? He felt around the gray walls until he found a ladder leading up toward the glow.
Percy slowly climbed up, both curious and cautious. Finally his eyes were above the ledge and he peered over it. The blue light blinded him for a moment, but his eyes quickly adjusted. What he saw nearly made him fall off of the ladder. Nico's pale top half glowed in the blue light of a small lamp as he writhed between the sheets on his bed. He was wearing huge headphones, which Percy attributed to him being able to sneak in so well. In terrible perversive curiosity, Percy's gaze traveled to the rest of Nico. Even hidden underneath sheets and blankets, nobody could mistake what Nico was doing to himself.
In a sudden surge of brilliance, Percy crept over the ledge and into Nico's room, where he watched the younger one's face contorting in pleasure. His plan was to catch Nico in the act, so Nico would be forced to trust him with a secret. He would show him how good of a friend he was by keeping it, and then Nico would open up to him. With this new plan in mind he walked closer. Now he could hear Nico whispering to himself.
"Fuck... harder... just like that."
Percy could barely hear the words over the garbled mess coming from Nico's headphones, but he later blamed them for what he did next. He leaned down and pecked the pale arched neck of his friend.
Nico's eyes opened wide and he sat straight up, knocking the unknown assailant backwards. He barely had time to realize that it was his friend and jumped out of bed to pull him forward again. Percy felt himself almost tumble over the ledge when Nico's hand grabbed his shirt and jerked him forward. When the chaos was over he found his top half pinned to Nico's bed by the owner's naked body. He secretly didn't mind that part, but the blade pressing against his neck definitely had him rethinking his plan.
"What the fuck, Percy?" Nico shouted, pressing his forearm harder against his friend.
"I was coming to check on you."
"By breaking in and becoming a voyeur?" Nico asked, still sounding pissed, but lightening his weight against the body beneath him.
"Okay, so my plans aren't always the greatest, I admit it." Percy pouted.
Finally Nico released his friend and stood up, crossing his arms. Percy was just so irritating sometimes! Still, he felt bad that he had driven his friend to criminal activity for the sake of caring for him.
"Umm... this is awkward." Percy said, sitting up. His eyes went from Nico's face to his arms, refusing to look down.
"Your fault, fish boy."
Percy glanced around the room, and over the ledge into the cabin commons. Somehow all of the lights had come on, and he found everything drenched in yellow antique lighting instead of candle light and flourescent blue. Nico continued to stand, posed like a statue of one of their fathers. Finally Percy's gaze snuck down for just a second and he inhaled in awkwardness. To cover it up he chose to continue bothering Nico with his voice.
"I notice that you don't seem to mind much." he muttered.
Nico laughed in an uncanny mimick of his father's cruel laughter, "Oh I mind very much, but I figured that this is much better punishment than anything I could inflict on you clothed."
Despite his best efforts, images flashed in Percy's mind of whips, chains, and blindfolds. He really needed to stay away from those internet sights. Thinking himself clever, he shut his eyes tight, "Ha! No more torture for me."
"You're still in my bed," Nico said in a low purr, which Percy could tell was getting closer. Finally he couldn't take it and jumped up screaming like a girl.
"Nico cooties!" he whined, wiping at his skin.
Nico laughed again and came forward. Percy thought he was going to be attacked, but Nico's arm passed him and searched underneath the sheets for a moment. Nico pulled out the boxers which he had shed earlier and slipped them on. He pulled his plush reading chair forward for Percy and then sat cross-legged on his bed, just staring at the older boy.
"Use my open mood wisely, Percy. I'm getting ready to clam up again." Nico mentioned casually.
Percy fiddled with a string on the arm of the chair, "So is this your teen angst? You're just horny?"
Nico smirked, though he was actually terrified about revealing his secret, "There's a little more to it than that."
"You're horny for guys?" Percy blushed.
"Getting warmer."
"You're horny for specific guys?"
Nico nodded, "Excellent detective work, Percy. Now it's past your bedtime, so you'd better run along." He got up from the bed and was about to usher Percy down the ladder.
"Wait, I'm not finished!" Percy pouted.
"Neither was I." Nico shot back, glancing at his bed meaningfully. He started securing the ladder for descent, but Percy grabbed his arm. He shuddered, "Percy, if you want to leave this room innocent, you will stop touching me."
Percy considered his words for a moment, "Why do you say that?" he asked, looking away.
"Oh Percy, the things that I want to do with you..." Nico whispered, spilling another secret.
"No, I mean, why do you think that I'm innocent?"
Nico scoffed, "Please, you may as well be walking around with VIRGIN on your forehead."
The hand holding Nico's arm moved, Percy's fingers stroking the pale olive skin beneath, "Have you-?"
"No. Not even close."
"What do you mean?"
Nico gently pulled his arm away, blushing, "I'm 16 and I've never even kissed a guy. Girls yeah, but they don't count. I haven't gotten the kind of kisses that I really want."
"I've never kissed a guy, either." Percy shrugged.
"Well, you don't like other dudes, so I don't think you need to worry about it." Nico crossed his arms, starting to feel cold and vulnerable.
"What if I do? I mean, not 100% or anything, but I do get curious."
Nico bit his lip, "Don't fuck with me, Percy. I'm being serious with you right now."
Percy felt strange. He'd never really bothered to wonder about his occasional attraction to the same sex, but when it came out of his mouth, he knew it was true. Nico saw the confused and somewhat pained look on Percy's face, "Oh... you are serious."
"Just once?" Percy asked quietly.
"Once." Nico agreed, turning his face up toward Percy's. Percy leaned down, put one hand on Nico's shoulder and the other on the side of his face, and then kissed him. Nico had to put a foot down to the floor to keep him steady as he started pushing forward, deepening the kiss. They started moving their mouths together, tasting one another without using tongues. Percy considered trying to dart his tongue out, but before he could Nico pulled away. "Yup, time for you to leave now." He whispered breathlessly.
"But-"
Nico sighed in frustration, "Fine, I'll leave. I need to shower anyway." He opened a part of the ledge, swinging it open and adjusting the ladder, muttering to himself that he should have put stairs in.
Percy listened as his friend left, touching his lips absent-mindedly. When he heard the front door shut his thoughts kicked back on. So, what had just happened here? He couldn't decide who had taken advantage of whom. He chose not to start questioning his sexuality just yet. Suddenly the lights went off in the cabin and the blue lamp came on. Percy started to feel like the shadows were creeping up on him and hastily made his way down the ladder and out of the window.
Meanwhile Nico had made it to the showers, glad that Percy hadn't followed him. How dare he sneak into his cabin? How dare he toy with Nico's emotions like that? He touched his still throbbing lips. It would have been better to have never known what it felt like than to know and not be able to feel it again. He turned the water on and stepped under it, already starting to feel better. He scrubbed at his face and opened his eyes for a second to find the soap when he noticed something... odd. The water looked gray as it spiraled down the drain. Had he missed a spot of paint? After a moment the water turned clear again and he shrugged it off, figuring that the pipes were just having issues. He'd inform Chiron tomorrow morning.
Not surprisingly, Nico was nowhere to be found the next day. Percy tried not to worry, telling himself that it was just Nico being Nico. But then the entire day had passed and there had been no sign of him. Percy ran to the Hades cabin as the sun went down and knocked on the door. No answer. Cabins didn't lock, and he had no reason to sneak in through the window, so he opened the door and stepped inside.
"Nico?" his voice echoed in the cabin like it would have in a cave. Percy looked up and didn't see the blue light, so he quickly climbed up the ladder. Nico's room was dark. Had he gone back to the Underworld without telling his friend? Percy rubbed at his chest, feeling a strange pain. Suddenly a low growl caught his ear. He turned around to a shadow at the corner of Nico's bed. Three sets of eyes were glaring back at him.
When Percy got outside he could barely even remember going down the ladder and leaving the cabin, he had done it so quickly. The scent of campfire filled his nose, which made him even more upset. Why did Nico have to be so... independent? He made Percy feel like a worthless friend because he never, well, needed him in any way. Nico was aloof, but still listened to Percy when he needed to talk about dark thoughts he'd never share with his other friends. Percy found himself wishing that Nico would feel the same way about him; that he was someone to go to when he needed to talk. Sighing and pushing away his thoughts Percy joined the campfire.
The fire had died down and almost everyone had gone to their cabins. Annabeth and Grover had stayed behind with Percy for a while because they could tell that he was upset, but after several reassurances that he was ok, they had finally left as well. Nico continued to watch his friend for a moment. It bothered him that Percy was so concerned about him when he didn't need to be, but at the same time it felt nice to know that *someone* cared. Maybe there had been more to that kiss, and the conversation leading up to it, than he had realized. Suddenly Percy looked up through the darkness, and Nico wondered if he could partially see in the dark as well, but then he looked away and started to get up.
"Wait." Nico said quietly, and Percy stopped, searching in the darkness. He pulled out Riptide and used its blue glow to search for the voice. Nico walked forward until Percy could see him.
"Was that payback for sneaking up on you?" Percy asked.
Nico smiled, the blue light making the white of his teeth and eyes glow, "I hadn't planned it, but I guess it works out that way."
"Where have you been?"
"I had to think for a few days."
"You've only been gone a few hours."
Nico waved his hand, "You know I haven't mastered the time differences yet."
"So did you get your thinking done?" Percy asked, finding himself transfixed on Nico's mouth as he spoke.
"Um... kind of I guess?" Nico noticed Percy staring at his lips and sucked them in, biting nervously. "I really need to talk it out with you, though. It's just weird because I'm nervous, and I never get nervous anymore."
Percy sat down and waited for Nico to do the same. When he did Percy reached out and pet Nico's hair ever so gently, "Go on."
Nico chose to ignore Percy's affectionate gesture, as well as what it made him feel, for now. "I just grew up in different times before Bianca and I got caught in the Lotus hotel. The things I'm feeling are wrong. But then, with you, it felt... right. I don't know what that means." he paused for comment, but when Percy stayed quiet he continued, "I feel a certain way with lots of guys, but never girls. Then I started noticing that all of my crushes have been guys... even dead ones. I'm just all fucked up I guess."
"Nico?" Percy started and his friend looked up at him, "You're just fine. In fact, I'm relieved to know that you even feel." Nico tried to ask what he'd meant, but he quickly kept on, "I've gotten crushes on guys too, but I never really thought anything of it until... you know, last night. I felt good."
"I felt good too." Nico admitted.
"So where does that leave us?"
"That's the big question, isn't it?"
Percy sighed, debating on saying what he really wanted. Finally he decided that he may as well try it before a monster incinerates him. He touched Nico's hand and when Nico didn't move it away he asked, "Would you be opposed to kind of like, experimenting together? I mean, you'll end up doing it all anyway, so why not guarantee it to be safe and special with me?"
"Because that's weird! You're my friend!" Nico cried in alarm, deflating Percy's confidence.
"Okay, I understand. Percy said, dejected.
"Wait. I guess we can do little things, but you have to realize that I'm sixteen and horny as fuck, so you'll have to be the responsible adult."
"Of course." Percy agreed while thinking about how much he liked it when Nico said the word 'fuck'.
"Well then um..." Nico sat closer.
Percy put Riptide away and took a hold of Nico in the dark. The younger man had to do the steering this time, and took Percy's head in both of his hands. The second time was better than the first, now that their nerves were at ease. Percy pulled Nico closer, pressing their bodies together as much as possible. The younger man gasped, but continued moving his mouth with Percy's. In a surge of confidence and need, Nico was the one to deepen the kiss, snaking his tongue into the older boy's mouth. It was Percy's turn to gasp and he was quick to reciprocate the act. Nico moaned and one of his hands moved behind Percy's head to fist in his hair. Percy smirked against Nico's mouth. Figures that Nico would be the aggressive type.
Finally they pulled apart, breathless. Nico wanted more, so much more, but he wouldn't ask that of Percy. Not yet anyway. Percy reached up and ruffled Nico's hair.
"Were you sitting close to the campfire tonight?" he asked.
"No, why?"
Percy pulled his hand away. It was gray with ashes. Nico felt an unease in his stomach. What was this stuff?
"Nico?" Percy could tell that something was wrong.
Dark eyes looked up and him, "I probably just had it on my hand and touched my hair." Nico said quietly, "Hey, I'm gonna take off for a while. Promise not to worry about me."
"Wait, what?"
Nico put his hands on either side of Percy's face and said slowly, "I am going back to my father for a while. Please don't worry about me." Before Percy could protest he pecked him on the lips, "I'll be back soon, ok?"
Suddenly Percy knew not to fight it and lamented, "Okay. Don't forget about me I guess."
"You dork." Nico kissed Percy again, "Also, I intend to pick up where we're leaving off."
"Promise?" Percy nipped at Nico's bottom lip and he could have sworn that the other young man purred.
"I promise." With one last kiss, Nico left Percy and disappeared into the shadows.
Percy sighed with loss and looked at his hand. It was still gritty with ash. He wondered about Nico's reaction and what it could possibly mean. Obviously something important if Nico was going to talk to Hades. He ran his clean hand through his hair. His hair felt damp, probably from getting hot and sweaty with Nico. Mmm, hot and sweaty... Nico... Percy let his mind wander for a moment. It replayed Nico's voice whispering, "Fuck... Harder..." while imagining doing just that for him. Hmm... maybe he needed to rethink his sexuality afterall.