An Uncomfortable Moment

It was Nico's fourteenth birthday. Jason, Leo, and Piper had just returned from their quest, and the son of Hades was avoiding his Roman cousin, in case some sudden memories came to light. Jason had, after all, seen Nico at Camp Jupiter. If Annabeth learned he was Pluto's Ambassador, things would get ugly real fast.

So, the youngest di Angelo spent the anniversary of his birth standing on a balcony in his father's palace in the Underworld. He gazed down at Elysium, wishing that the first birthday party he had been to was his own, not Percy's. No, what he wished was that Bianca was still here to celebrate with him.

He remembered her birthday, a few months ago. July 13th. He had gone to see her, waving to Silena and Bekendorf and Lee Fletcher as he passed. They had gone for a walk; talked about life (or death, in her case). But part of him still wanted to hold her hand one more time.

"Nico," He turned around. Hades stood there, looking vaguely uncomfortable. "Happy birthday."

Nico blinked, then recovered himself, "Thank you, Father." The god held something out to him, and he accepted it. It was a black dagger, about a foot long, inlaid with silver words in ancient Greek. The metal wasn't Stygian Iron like his sword, though. It was a darker metal, denser, heavier. It made him feel strangely weightless.

"What's it made of?" Nico asked, looking up at his father in bewilderment. Hades seemed almost proud for a second, but it must've been a trick of the light.

"That dagger is made of the same material as my Helm, and has the same properties."

The boy's eyes widened briefly, before settling into an expression of awe. "Cool." He breathed.

Hades stepped to the side, gesturing robotically. "Come. Walk with me." Nico obeyed, curious. His father wasn't exactly the bonding type, even if he had gotten better after the Second Titan War. The god of the dead had no time for social interactions or outings.

Said god cleared his throat awkwardly. "Son, as you know, Persephone will be arriving soon." Nico groaned inwardly, "And before she left for the summer, she asked me to talk to you about something."

All this was doing was making Nico extremely confused.

"As you know, puberty is a time of your life where you will begin to take interest in the, ahem, other gender."

Oh, Styx no!

"And, sometimes in a relationship, two people will fall in love. When the couple gets old enough, and they love each other very much, they will sometimes… express this love in… a…physical manner."

Stop talking! Persephone's laughing it up right now, I can feel it!

Oblivious to the look of dawning terror on his son's face, Hades continued talking.

The Queen of the Underworld was not happy. It had been an hour, and Hades had not yet arrived in the throne room the greet her. What on Earth was he doing now?

Her answer came soon enough. From a side hallway, Nico stumbled in, an expression of dazed horror frozen on his face. Behind him, Hades looked as if someone had just lit his pants on fire.

She smirked inwardly and raised an elegant eyebrow at her husband. "You waited until now to give him The Talk?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but his bastard son beat him to it. Looking his stepmother right in the eyes, Nico mumbled something incoherently.

"Repeat that, please?" Persephone asked, her mouth puckering primly.

"I said; you should have just left me as a dandelion."

AN: Poor Nico. I have heath class this quarter; believe me, I've been there. *shudders*

His birthday is November 1st, in head at least. Anyway, tell me what you think! Review!