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Nico just barely refrained from cursing as he climbed aboard the boat.
Normal people, he reflected, normal people take jobs during the summer holidays. Or road trips. In cars on stable ground. Not sailing trips to god knows where.
Reyna had been right to refuse to join them. Nico had tried, he really, really had, but Hazel had been determined to bring him, and in the end he couldn’t say no. So here he was now, aboard a sailing boat with seven other people, about to embark on a two week trip down the coast.
Despite the grandiose name, the Argo II wasn’t particularly big, about thirty feet long and ten feet at its widest point. It could easily host four adults and two children, but they were cramming eight adolescents in there. Nico really didn’t look forward to it, but judging by the excited chatter around him he was the only one.
Percy grinned widely as he saw them approach. “Nico, Hazel, glad you could come. That makes all of us,” he said. Nico looked at him in disbelief. He was wearing an old fashioned captain’s hat and had a pipe in his mouth.
“When did you start smoking?” Nico asked with distaste, causing Percy to laugh.
“It’s just for show. Leo insisted, to get us in the right mood,” he laughed. “Where is your nautical spirit, Nico?”
“I must have left it at home,” Nico said. “Darn, now I have to go back. No need to wait for me.”
“Very funny, Nico. You’re not getting out of this,” Hazel reprimanded him. “Come on, let’s put our stuff away.”
“Who’s sleeping where, anyway?” Nico asked. “There’s not exactly room enough for everyone, is there?”
“Of course there is,” Percy scoffed. “Jason and I are on the main beds, since we’re the tallest. You and Leo are taking the shelf beds above us, since you can fit into them. Annabeth, Hazel and Piper share the front cabin. Frank volunteered to take the floor, though, he, Jason and I will probably rotate. See, everyone fits!”
“And the luggage?” Nico ventured.
Percy shrugged. “Wherever there’s room for it,” he said. “You worry too much.”
“Someone needs to,” Nico muttered.
The cabin was full of people when he and Hazel climbed down, so Nico settled for just throwing his things up on the shelf bed and getting back up on deck as quickly as possible. How he was going to manage a whole week of this he had no idea.
“Alright, is everybody ready to cast off?” Percy shouted a while later, grinning at they answered in affirmative. “Alright then, I’m going to need someone to cast us off in the front, and another to collect the anchor-line. Any volunteers?”
Nico was tempted to volunteer to cast them off and remain on the bridge, but Hazel would never let him get away with it. Instead he tried not to get in anybody’s way as Percy started up the motors and they slowly started moving out of the harbor.
“We’ll set sail when we get out on open waters,” Percy said, grinning widely and looking completely in his element, despite the hat and the pipe. Nico quickly looked away so nobody would catch him staring.
That was another problem with this trip. He had had a crush on Percy since he was a kid, though he had never told anyone about it. And now Percy was single for the first time in years, after he and Annabeth decided they were better as friends a couple of months ago.
So for the next week he would share close living quarters with his sister, his sister’s boyfriend, his crush, his crush’s ex, and three of their nosy friends. And there was absolutely no escape, and no possibility of being alone until they’d anchored somewhere.
If Nico wasn’t ready to drown himself before the day was over he would be very surprised.
When they had left the harbor behind Percy ordered him to roll out the foresail, which was done by hand by spinning a rope around a spool and then locking it. It wasn’t as heavy as Nico expected. Meanwhile the others were busy getting the mainsail up.
“Watch out for the boom,” Percy said as he turned off the motor and move the boat to catch the wind. The boom swung to the side with a dangerous speed.
“Anyone want to bet how long it will take before Jason get’s hit in the head by that thing?” Leo laughed.
“Aw, be nice, Leo,” Piper reprimanded him, gently caressing Jason’s head, though they were both grinning in amusement. Nico was pretty sure Leo had a point. Someone was going to get hit by the boom before the trip was over, Nico was absolutely certain. With their track record, it was either him or Jason.
“Well, ladies and gentlemen,” Percy said happily as they slowly moved forward with the wind. “This is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard the Argo II. Food and drink will be served as soon as someone goes below deck and makes it. Leo is not allowed near the stove.”
“Very funny, Percy,” Annabeth said, rolling her eyes.
“That’s Captain Percy to you,” Percy said, grinning. “We need to give the rest of you some titles as well. Annabeth is obviously quartermaster.”
“And let’s leave it at that, before you start a fight over meaningless titles,” Annabeth said with a smile, though her tone left no room for arguments.
Singing old sea-shanties had been Leo’s idea, because of the recent Assassin’s Creed video game, and he had even printed out the lyrics to some of them. It could have been fun, really, except having Leo leading the songs really wasn’t easy on the ears. Nico suspected he suffered more than most of them, since he actually had a background in music. He kinda regretted not bringing his guitar, but there hadn't really been room for it, and he didn't want to risk it falling into the ocean.
“You look like you’re about to jump overboard, Nico,” Percy laughed after the latest song was finished. “Are we really that bad?”
“The girls are doing fine, and Frank,” Nico said. “The rest of you are seagulls at best.”
“Geez, Nico. That’s harsh,” Jason laughed.
“Well, it’s kinda true,” Piper grinned, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
“We’ve found something the blond superman can’t do! Hallelujah!” Leo snickered, then turned towards Nico and handed him the papers. “Why don’t you take over, then?”
Nico hesitated, and Hazel nudged him with her elbow. “Come on, Nico. Sing for us.”
“Fine,” Nico gave in, eyeing through the pile. He didn’t want to do any of the really fast or silly shanties. He doubted it came as a surprise for anyone when he started: “Oh, I thought I heard the old man say...”
“Leave her, Johnny. Leave her,” they answered, all smiles. They did manage to keep fairly well in tune this time.
They sang a couple more shanties after that, as well as some songs that had nothing to do with the sea. Nico didn’t really like being the center of attention, but leading the shanties wasn’t so bad. At least it gave him something to do.
They anchored just off shore in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. They played cards for a while, but despite them not doing much being at sea was pretty tiring, and one after a another they started yawning. They were all in bed before eleven o'clock.
"This is like lying in a coffin," Leo complained loudly, moving around in the tiny shelf bed above Jason. Nico, who was lying above Percy at the opposite side, was forced to agree with him. He tried to adjust his position, but there was only so much space to do it, and he couldn't sit up.
"You okay, Nico?" Percy asked, sitting up in the bed below him. From the angle Nico was lying in it was kinda hard to see his face.
"I can handle it," Nico said determinedly, and Leo scoffed.
"Good for you. I'm not sure I can," he said. "When you hear strange clawing noises in the night, that will be me trying to claw my way out of this grave."
"At least you have a proper mattress," Frank said from the floor. Nico could only see his feet sticking out from underneath table. He was apparently wearing Batman-socks. Nico was pretty sure it was a gift from Hazel. He had been with her when she bought them, after all.
"We have very different perceptions of proper," Leo complained. "Couldn't I just snuggle up with the girls or something?"
"I dunno, Leo. Think you could handle all three of us? We can be quite demanding," Piper said teasingly from the front cabin, and Nico heard his sister's scandalized exclamation of "Piper!" followed by giggles.
"Fine, I'll snuggle up Jason or Percy then. One guy shouldn't be too hard to handle, right?" Leo said, and Nico turned around as the other's laughed, hiding the blush on his face.
The following day was rainy and the wind was pretty strong. Most of them hung out in the cabin, at least somewhat dry and warm, but Percy was standing outside steering the ship, and Hazel was hanging over the bulwarks, puking out everything she’d left in her stomach. Nico was sitting beside her, not so much holding back her hair as holding back her so she wouldn’t fall overboard. Frank had offered to join them, but there really wasn't anything he could do and Nico was already wet, after all.
“How is she?” Percy asked, barely audible in the wind and rain. Nico scowled at him.
“If you could take us to shore, that’d be great,” he shouted back.
“I’m trying to,” Percy yelled back. “But I can’t make the ship go faster than it is. The shore is at least three hour away.”
Hazel started puking again at that, and Nico did his best to sooth her. In the end she had nothing more to throw up, and was just making strangled noises while holding on so tightly to the bulwarks that her left knuckle whitened. She was wearing a glove on the other hand, so Nico suspected the left glove had taken the jump into the sea that Hazel seemed to be craving.
"Nico!" Percy shouted over the storm. "I need you to bring in the foresail. The wind is too strong!"
"How?" Nico shouted back, and when Percy pointed it out he shouted to Hazel to hold on tightly, then moved to start spinning in the sail. It was hard to keep his balance in the stormy weather, but he managed somehow. Hazel eventually disappeared back beneath the deck while Nico stayed, figuring, rightly so, that Percy might still need his help. He was already cold and wet all the way through, so why not?
“And the award for best sea legs goes to Nico,” Percy said that evening, when they were anchored just off shore behind a small island, meaning the sea was pretty calm. They were all crammed inside the cabin, listening to the neverending rain falling down on the deck above them. Percy raised his steaming cup of tea, spiked with just a little bit of rum, as if it was champagne at a party. “Seriously, the rest of you landlubbers were just hiding in here all day.”
The praise was nice and all, but did little to warm anything but his cheeks. However, the spiked tea, definitely got the job done, even if the taste was a little odd. Warmth spread from his throat and stomach all the way out into his fingertips.
“How are you feeling?” Hazel asked beside him, and he gave her a smile.
“Warmer,” Nico said. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay now,” Hazel said, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Thanks for staying with me.”
“I’d say ‘anytime’, but for both our sakes I hope this doesn’t become a habit,” Nico said, giving her a brief kiss on the forehead.
“Aw, that’s so sweet,” Leo grinned from the other side of the table. “Can Nico be my big brother too?”
“You wish. I’m not sharing,” Hazel mumbled, causing the rest of them to laugh. Nico grinned as well as he put an arm around her shoulders. She closed her eyes, probably exhausted after spending the day feeling ill. Frank was giving her a worried look, but he didn’t say anything.
“Anyway,” Percy said. “The point is that Nico have been promoted to First Mate, and the rest of you are swabs.”
“Can there be a ‘first’ mate if there are no other mates?” Leo asked, and the rest laughed again, while Percy gave an exasperated sigh.
“Sailing Master, then,” he said. “Higher rank than you, in any case.”
“Oh, you’ll sing a different tune when the motor inevitably breaks down and you need my help,” Leo grinned.
“Didn’t you hear Nico yesterday? Apparently I can’t sing any tune,” Percy smirked. “And we can get by without the motor if it breaks. We have sails, after all.”
Apparently Percy was serious about making him "Sailing Master". When something needed done, he called out to Nico by name, asking, or ordering, him to do specific things. By the end of the following day Nico was pretty sure he knew exactly how everything worked on the ship, with the exception of the rudder. Percy still steered himself all the time, occasionally handing the boat over to Annabeth when there was something else he needed to do. Not that Nico was particularly inclined to try his hand at steering. With his luck they would probably hit a reef or something.
They lost time waiting out the storm, so Percy suggested night sailing to get back on schedule, rather than anchoring somewhere. Everyone was enthusiastic about it at first, but the wind wasn't very strong and one by one they stared disappearing into the cabin to sleep. By midnight Nico was the only one left. He had planned to go, but Percy had given him a look like a abandoned puppy and Nico didn't have the heart to go through with it. Instead he pretended like he was just going to stretch, then sat back down again, looking out across the dark sea lit only by the lights on the boats and the almost full moon.
Sailing in the moonlight with Percy would have been romantic, if not for two things. One: the six other people snoring below deck, and two: the fact that Percy had no idea it was supposed to be romantic and was wearing a bright orange wind jacket.
“It’s funny,” Percy said with a smile. “You’re the only one who didn’t want to come, and yet you have adapted better than all the others together.”
“Well what can I say? I’m flexible,” Nico muttered, not realizing how that could be interpreted until the words left his mouth. He blushed a bit, but thankfully Percy didn’t notice.
“I’m just saying that this trip would be a hell of a lot more boring for me without you,” he said. “So thanks for coming.”
“...sure,” Nico said, not really finding any other words. His face was burning and there was something warm in his stomach, but he tried not to let it show. He tore his eyes away from Percy’s smiling face and looked up at the stars instead.
“So, you want to try and steer her?” Percy asked, and Nico looked back at him in surprise.
“What?” he asked, and Percy chuckled.
“Come on, it’s not that hard,” he said. “I’ll show you.”
Nico supposed there were a lot of jokes that could be made about Percy teaching him how to use the tiller, the wooden stick that turned the rudder, but thankfully they were alone in the cockpit.
“Just move it in the opposite way than you want to go,” Percy said, for some reason correcting the course by pushing Nico’s arm rather than the tiller itself.
“That makes no sense,” Nico muttered, doing his best to concentrate on steering the ship rather than the warmth of Percy’s hand on his arm.
“Relax, you’re doing fine,” Percy laughed, apparently noticing how tense he was, though he misinterpreted it. “The sea is calm and there’s nothing you can hit within a sea mile or two at least. And we’re in no hurry. Take your time, try moving around a bit and see how she responds.”
Nico tried, but he was still nervous. “I don’t even know where I’m going,” he said, looking around the open water. “There are no landmarks.”
“Just look at the compass, and keep heading southwest,” Percy smiled. “Or I could turn the GPS on for you. It’s not a hundred percent so I prefer to go with my own instincts, but if it’ll make you calmer...”
“It’s fine, just don’t leave me up here alone,” Nico said, frowning as he tried to get the ship to obey him.
“You’re correcting too much. Be gentle,” Percy said. “And don’t work against the wind, make it work for you.”
“I had no idea it was this complicated,” Nico said honestly. “You make it look so easy.”
Percy chuckled. “It’s not hard once you’ve got a feel for it,” Percy said. “Like riding a bike, or kissing.”
Nico blushed again, trying to ignore the fact that he just said that while sitting so close. He accidentally moved the tiller way too far again.
“Gently,” Percy laughed. “You have to handle her with care, you know. She’s sensitive. Think of her as a girl you like. You wouldn’t make sudden forceful movements with her, would you?”
Nico gritted his teeth. He understood what Percy was trying to say, but the reminder of just how impossible his crush was hurt. Percy wasn’t interested in boys, and definitely not interested in him.
“You okay?” Percy asked, sounding worried. “I just stumbled on something bad, didn’t I? Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Nico muttered, trying to guide the ship back to the right course.
“It’s some girl you like, right? You want to talk about it?” Percy asked, and Nico resisted the urge to shove the tiller into his stomach.
“It’s not, just leave it,” Nico scowled.
“Is it that bad?” Percy asked, unable to take a hint. “Who is it? Do I know her?”
Nico took a deep breath, considering the benefits of jumping over board. In any other situation he would have told Percy it was none of his business and left, but here there was nowhere to go. And even if he managed to escape chances were that Percy would tell the others about it.
“That’s not it,” he said, trying to keep his voice steady. “It’s just that I have no interest in girls at all, so your metaphor doesn’t work for me.”
Percy blinked. “Oh,” he said, staring at Nico, wide eyed, for a moment. “Well, um. Think of the tiller as a dick then, I suppose.”
“Wh-what?” Nico stammered, feeling his face starting to burn while Percy grinned at him.
“Well, you wouldn’t want to hurt someone by yanking too hard, right,” he said. “Gentle, remember.”
“No, I mean, are you okay with this?”
“Sure, man,” Percy shrugged. “I feel like I should have guessed, to be honest. You don’t exactly pay much attention to girls.”
He frowned. “Not that I’ve seen you pay attention to guys, either,” he said, gently nudging him. “So is there some guy you like then?”
Nico didn’t really know what to say so Percy nudged him again. “Come on. I need to warn him about you possibly yanking his junk off.”
Nico let out a huffed laugh despite himself. “There’s someone,” he said after a moment’s pause. “But it doesn’t matter. He’s straight.”
“That sucks, man,” Percy said sympathetically, which was more than a little ironic. Nico smiled bitterly.
“Yeah,” he said, looking out towards the horizon again. Neither one of them said much after that, though Nico blushed deeply when he realized Percy’s advice regarding the tiller actually worked.
The rest of the journey passed without incident, except for the fact that the boom ended up hitting Piper in the head on the fifth day, to everyone's surprise and horror. Thankfully the blow wasn't very hard, and she got away with a small bump and a light headache. When they came back to shore Nico could tell they were all as glad to be off the boat as he was. Not that it hadn't been surprisingly fun, but one week was definitely enough.
Still, it wasn't like they were apparently tired of each other. Just a few days later Hazel dragged him to a party at Annabeth's house. Nico tried to be sociable, but it wore him out after a time. In the end he retreated into the kitchen to catch his breath. Surprisingly enough Percy joined him a while later, looking a bit nervous for some reason.
“So I was thinking,” Percy said. “Do you want to come sailing with me this weekend?”
Nico turned around to look at him, surprised. “Maybe,” he said uncertainly. “Is anyone else going?”
“Just you and me,” Percy said. “The others seemed to have had their fill of sailing for a while, though I haven’t actually asked them. I just figured that since you seemed to enjoy it we could go together. Just for a short trip.”
Nico really hoped his face didn’t show how conflicted he was. On the one hand, being alone with Percy was a dream come true, and it almost sounded like a date. On the other hand he knew perfectly well that Percy was just looking for a friend to sail with. Going with him might be a really bad idea.
“Okay, I’ll go,” Nico said, because he was apparently a masochist. Percy happy smile definitely made it worth it, though.
Sailing was a different experience when it was just the two of them. It was a lot calmer, for one thing, but it was also a lot more personal. Nico and Percy were alone at sea, far away from the rest of the world, and Nico enjoyed it way more than he should have.
They anchored a little off shore for the night. Nico shouldn’t have been nervous about it, considering he had slept on the shelf above Percy for the whole trip before, but he was anyway. He tried to keep his back turned while getting dressed for bed, but he had a ridiculous feeling that Percy was watching him. He didn’t turn around to check, because he was sure it wasn’t true, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to indulge in the fantasy for a little while.
“Um, Nico,” Percy said after Nico had already lay down, and he turned around to look at him. Percy was sitting up on his bed, looking uncomfortable.
“What is it?” Nico asked.
Percy hesitated, dragging a nervous hand through his hair. “Um, I didn’t really plan on bringing this up, and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything,” he said. “But um, this straight guy you like...”
Nico went still. Had Percy found out somehow? Was he freaked out by it?
“Um, how much do you like him?” Percy asked, not looking at Nico. “I mean, does anyone else have a chance?”
Nico blinked. “What?” he asked, completely stunned. Surely he was misinterpreting Percy’s meaning, because this was impossible. Right?
“I mean,” Percy said, frowning towards him. “Would you be interested in going out with me?”
Nico stared at him, not comprehending what he’d just heard. Did he already go to sleep and was dreaming? That seemed more likely than that this was actually happening.
“Nico?” Percy asked uncertainly after a while. “I swear I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Say something.”
“Uncomfortable?” Nico asked. “I’m not, I… is this really happening?”
“Yeah,” Percy muttered. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
“No, but...Are you serious?” Nico asked. “You want to go out with me? ”
“Yes,” Percy said, clearly getting frustrated. “Why are you acting like this? If you don’t want to you can just say no.”
“That’s not it!” Nico said hastily. “I just... I thought you were straight!”
“Yeah, I thought so too, but...” Percy said, then trailed off, looking up at Nico in wonder. “Wait a minute. Are you saying…?”
“Yes,” Nico said quietly. “I’ve had a crush on you for years. I never thought I stood a chance.”
Now it was Percy’s turn to look stunned, then a small smile slowly appeared in his face. “You certainly stand a chance now,” he said, reaching over the aisle with his feet to give Nico a gentle nudge. “So? Will you go out with me?”
“Are you really planning on starting this relationship by kicking me?” Nico said, unable to stop the grin on his face. “Yes, I’ll go out with you.”
“Great!” Percy said happily, getting up from his bed and took a step forward before sitting down on Nico’s bed instead. Nico tensed up when Percy reached out to touch his face.
“Um,” Nico said uncertainly. “What are you doing?”
“I was just planning on kissing you,” Percy said, frowning a bit. “That’s okay, right? Or is it weird since we’re in bed and everything?”
“A little,” Nico said, feeling his face growing hot. “And I haven’t ever really...um...”
“What? You must have kissed someone before?” Percy exclaimed, looking at Nico’s blushing face with wide eyes. “Really?”
“Shut up,” Nico muttered, looking away. “I’m not exactly the most popular guy in school, and I don’t go out much.”
“And people don’t know you’re gay,” Percy concluded, nodding in understanding. “I still want to kiss you, though. Is that okay?”
Nico swallowed nervously, then nodded. Percy’s face slowly came closer, and Nico had trouble breathing even before their lips met. Percy’s mouth was hot against his, but Nico didn’t really know what to do with it. Luckily, Percy seemed to have some idea, because he put a hand on his chin, urging Nico to open his mouth. When Nico complied, Percy’s tongue entered his mouth, and Nico had never felt anything quite like it.
He felt a little dazed when Percy pulled back, and was struggling for breath, but he was smiling.
“You can breathe through your nose, you know,” Percy chuckled, boping Nico’s nose with his own. “Really, you are adorable.”
Nico’s cheeks went red again, and Percy laughed. “No need to be embarrassed,” he said, reaching out to comb Nico’s hair with his fingers. “I didn’t mean it as criticism. You’re just really cute.”
“No, I’m not,” Nico scowled. “I’m far too thin and short and always look tired no matter how much I sleep and...”
Percy cut him off with another kiss. “And nothing. You’re still cute,” he said when he pulled back, though he stayed pretty close by. “Can I stay here with you? I don’t want to go back to my bed.”
“Right, because it’s so very far away,” Nico said, rolling his eyes despite the blush. “At least three feet, maybe even four.”
“I would still miss you.” Percy laughed, pulling him closer into his arms. “Come on, let me stay,” he urged. “I just want to sleep, nothing more. I promise.”
“Fine,” Nico smiled, doubting he would have said no either way, but relieved nonetheless. When he cuddled up to Percy on the narrow bed a little while later his head was swimming with everything that had happened, and he thought he would never be able to go to sleep. However, Percy was warm and cozy wrapped up around him, and Nico quickly found himself drifting off. He closed his eyes and fell asleep to the sound of Percy’s breathing.
Percy was still tangled around him when he woke up. If he hadn't been Nico would probably have thought he had dreamed the whole thing up, but it was actually true! Percy Jackson was now his boyfriend, and currently snoring lightly against his head, possibly drooling into Nico's hair. Nico didn't care. He just buried his face further into Percy's neck, breathing in the scent of him. He smelled like the ocean, and like the boat. Nico wondered what he would smell like if they weren't out at sea.
"Has anyone ever told you you smell like the shore?" Percy murmured sleepily into his hair. Nico made a face.
"Meaning mud and dried seaweed," he muttered. "Thanks a lot."
"Not that," Percy laughed, pulling his fingers through Nico's hair. "There's this scent of land that sometimes come before you even see it when you're sailing towards shore. Trees and grass and earth and stone, that sort of thing. It's nice."
"Stone doesn't smell," Nico pointed out, but Percy saying he smelled nice was a good feeling.
"Well, you still smell like that. Just accept it," Percy chuckled. "We should probably start heading back."
"Yeah, we should," Nico agreed, though neither of them moved for a long time.
When they finally got out of bed and set sail again Nico took over the rudder while Percy sat behind him with his arms around Nico's waist.
"You're getting good at that," Percy said against his neck, sending shivers down Nico's spine.
"Well, I wouldn't want to yank anyone off, right?" Nico muttered, blushing as he gently corrected the course just a little bit. Percy laughed.
"Intriguing," he said teasingly. "So are you busy next weekend?"
"No," Nico said, blushing a bit. "You want me to come sailing with you again?"
"Just you, me and the ocean," Percy confirmed. "Sound good?"
Nico grinned. "It's a date."