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PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || Phoe's Tumblr Drabbles – A Knightmare || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO
Title: Phoe's Tumblr Drabbles – A Knightmare
Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus
Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.
Warnings: m/m, fluff, hurt/comfort, protectiveness
Main Pairing: Nico/Percy
Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo
Summary: Prompt: "Baby, I'm scared." - "You don't have to be; not as long as I'm here." for Nicercy. Percy used to love winter, but ever since Tartarus, the cold and dark reminded him of it...
Phoe's Tumblr Drabbles
A Knightmare
Winter used to be a season that Percy loved a lot. Not his favorite, because that would always be summer – the heat and beaches and also the summer-break – but he still loved it. The snow, the long nights, hot chocolate and warm blankets in front of the TV, Christmas.
Tartarus had changed that.
Ever since Percy had made his return from Tartarus two years ago, winter had become kind of an... issue. The cold and dark, being alone. Even the whistling of the wind. Summer nights somehow weren't that much of a problem. He didn't even quite understand why, but winter nights... Winter nights, they scared him.
During his first winter back after the war, he worked through most nights, went sleepless. His mother worried a lot, but Percy had quite literally just been through two wars, so it was obvious there would be some consequences to the things he had been through.
The second winter was easier in that he didn't worry anyone, because he was living on his own in New Rome where he had started attending college. No one to directly hover and if people asked why he looked so sleepless, well he just blamed college and studying for it and everyone accepted it because hey – he was the seaweed brain, of course he'd be overwhelmed with college.
But this year, it might just be an actual problem.
Because he was not alone anymore. He was sharing his bed with his boyfriend. Him and Nico had moved in together about half a year ago, Percy moving out of the dorm-room and getting a nicer, bigger apartment together. It was very blue and also very black – though Percy had stopped Nico from actually painting the walls black, thankfully enough.
This however was the first winter they were spending together, sharing a bed.
When it started getting colder and darker, Nico had still been gone. Visiting his father in the underworld and helping Hades out with some urgent underworldly matter. He had returned this morning, looking exhausted but also rather pleased with himself.
"I cooked dinner, amore. You hungry?", asked Nico, kissing Percy beneath the earlobe.
A little startled, Percy looked up from the book he was reading. Or had meant to read. Instead, his thoughts had drifted off to how he was going to explain his nightmares to Nico without sounding ridiculous. The wars laid behind them. He hadn't been in Tartarus that long. He should be over it. He was supposed to be stronger. Sighing softly, Percy got up and followed Nico.
"I figured we could watch Rise of the Guardians during dinner?", suggested Nico with a grin. "I know you have a total crush on Jack Frost and it is the season."
"That's an Easter movie", pointed Percy out, though he offered Nico a small smile. "I love you."
"I love you too, amore", assured Nico as they gathered their good and went to the living room.
/break\
Percy must have been tossing and turning as he fought against the nightmare. Everything was dark and cold, the whistling of the wind through the leafless trees sounding more like the whispers of Tartarus. He was alone. In his nightmares, he was most of the time alone. Sometimes, Annabeth would be there, sometimes she would die down there.
"Everything is alright, amore. You are not alone", whispered Nico's soothing voice.
When Percy looked up, there stood his Ghost King. "Nico... Baby, I'm scared..."
"You don't have to be; not as long as I'm here", promised Nico.
And where Nico usually radiated darkness to a certain degree, now he seemed to radiate light and warmth. Tartarus brightened up and changed to a snowy hill in broad daylight, the setting reminding Percy of the town where Rise of the Guardians took place. Confused, Percy looked around as he was being pulled up by Nico.
"You should have told me about your nightmares", whispered Nico gently as he pulled Percy onto the frozen lake, ice-skates appearing beneath their feet. "Dance with me?"
Blinking confused, Percy allowed Nico to guide him. "I don't... understand."
"I can walk through dreams", replied Nico. "When you were tossing and turning in your sleep, I decided to... visit. Percy, babe, I love you, I want to help you, but for that... you gotta tell me when you need help. I want to be there for you, please let me."
Wrapping his arms around Nico's neck, Percy pulled him close and buried his face in Nico's chest. "Gods, I love you. I love you so much. I'm sorry. I just... I should be over this..."
"Percy, you went through Tartarus", grunted Nico seriously, cupping Percy's face to make him look up. "The only reason I overcame it is because I am tied to the underworld. And even I still sometimes have... nightmares."
Slowly, Percy leaned in to kiss his lover. He started smiling as snow began to fall around them. Nico was good at designing dream-landscapes, this was absolutely breathtaking.
"You just... took my nightmare and... turned it into a winter wonderland", laughed Percy breathlessly and collapsed into the feather-soft snow.
Nico followed suit and rolled over to face Percy once Percy did the same. "I love you. I'll always do everything I can to protect you. And this...? This is something I can do, Perce."
"You're... basically... my knightmare?", asked Percy tentatively, batting his eyelashes.
It took Nico a moment and then he snorted and rolled his eyes, causing Percy to crack and laugh. "Because I'm your knight in shining armor in a nightmare. Hahaha. Please stop spending time with Thalia. I swear, every time the two of you hang out, your puns get fundamentally worse."
"Shut up you love it", pouted Percy and leaned in to kiss Nico.
"No. I love you. The bad puns are just a... side-effect or something", argued Nico.
He smiled and wrapped his arms around Percy's waist to pull him closer so they could kiss properly. Percy sighed and melted into the kiss, though he startled when more snow started falling. The two of them rolled onto their backs to gaze at the clouds. Percy laughed as one of the clouds shifted into a dolphin and started swimming through the sky, nudging a unicorn with his snout. Turning a little, he looked at Nico with what could only be described as heart-eyes. He honestly didn't know what he had done to deserve Nico, but he was grateful to have him. Smiling to himself, Percy snuggled back up to Nico and continued watching the living clouds be adorable.
~*~ The End ~*~