Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Um, I’m not really sure what to say,” Nico mumbled uncertainly, looking up at the interviewer, who thankfully didn’t seem irritated.

“Tell us about yourself,” she said. “The audience needs to get to know the participants in order to get invested in the show. Why don’t you start with your name and background?”

“I’m Nico di Angelo, 19 years old. I’ve been studying to become an special effects makeup artist in Los Angeles the last couple of years,” Nico said, then trailed off, not sure what else to say.

“Any previous modeling experience?”

“Not really. In class we’ve modeled for each other but I don’t think it’s the same,” Nico said. “Usually my face has been completely covered, for one thing.”

“And what do you think about your chances? Are you going to win?”

“Have you seen the other contestants?” Nico said with a wry smile. “I didn’t think I’d even pass the application process. If I’m still here after today I’ll be very surprised.”

With that, his time was up. Nico thanked the interviewer for her help and exited the room. He had been the last one, all the other contestants were standing around, admiring the fancy courtyard. He was pretty sure that every single one of them would look perfect in a picture, even if Nico were to bring out his camera right now and go “cheese”. He quietly shook his head. What was he even doing here?

“Nico!”

Hazel approached him with a wide smile on her face. “How did it go? It wasn’t so bad, right?”

Nico made a face at her. “You owe me McDonald’s for a year for putting up with this,” he said. “Seriously, Hazel, I don’t fit in here. I don’t look even remotely like a model.”

“Enough that they picked you out of thousands of applicants,” Hazel pointed out. “And at least one other guy here has roughly the same body type as you, so clearly you need to widen your perspective of what models are supposed to look like.”

“It doesn’t really matter,” Nico said. “I’m likely going home tonight anyway.”

“No, you’re not. You promised you’d at least try,” Hazel said sternly, then smiled. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

Nico seriously doubted it, but he didn’t have the heart to lessen her excitement. Instead he nodded and put an arm around her as they looked around the courtyard, ignoring the camera men that seemed to be absolutely everywhere. The design seemed very Greek-inspired, or at least the Hollywood version of it; there were pillars and and statues all over the place.

“You know, I’ve never tried making any classical Greek monsters in class,” Nico mused. “If I make a minotaur when I get back, will you model it for me?”

“Unless I’m too busy being America’s Next Top Model , sure,” Hazel laughed. “I bet I’d look awesome with a bull head. I’m going to design the most elaborate nose-ring ever for it.”

“Looking forward to it,” Nico grinned.

A lone woman approaching them caught their attention. Nico immediately recognized her.

“Hi, everyone,” she said, sounding excited. “You all probably know me already, but my name is Venus, Ve for short. Welcome to America’s Next Top Model! Are you as excited as I am?”

There was a cheer all around him as an answer, and Nico made a half-hearted attempt to participate in it. It seemed to be enough for Ve.

“Alright, that’s good to hear. Because your first challenge starts now,” Ve said, slightly overdramatic. “As you’ve noticed, we’re standing in a beautiful garden inspired by Greek temples, so for your first photo shoot you will have to embody a Greek god or goddess.”

She walked over to a table with two richly decorated buckets on it, explaining that they would have a sort of lottery to determine which gods they would try to portray.

“You don’t think the Minotaur is in there, do you?” Hazel joked, and despite his nervosity Nico smiled.

“I wish,” he said, then they were separated into two lines, girls and boys. Nico was hoping to get Hephaestus or something where he didn’t actually have to look good at the photo. On the other hand, if he got Zeus he wouldn’t have a chance and then he could go home with a clear conscience, telling Hazel he tried.

With that in mind, he walked up to the table when it was his turn and fished a piece of paper out of the bucket.

Hades

Okay, that wasn’t what he had expected. Nico looked at the name, feeling intrigued despite himself. This might actually be fun.

“Nico? Nico di Angelo?” a surprised voice said beside him, and Nico looked up.

“Percy?” he asked in shocked disbelief. Percy grinned at him.

“I knew it was you,” he said. “Long time no see, man. Didn’t think I’d meet you here.”

“Likewise,” Nico managed. It shouldn’t have been such a surprise, really. Percy was twice as good looking as it would take to get accepted to this show.

Percy shrugged. “I lost a bet,” he said. “But this seems like it could be fun. Who did you get?”

“Hades,” Nico said, and Percy laughed.

“That sounds like you,” he said. “I got Poseidon, which is funny because I’ve barely been out of the water lately. Think this game is rigged somehow?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Nico said, then thankfully the makeup people called for him. “I’ve got to go. I’ll see you later.”

“Sure. Good luck,” Percy said.

“You too,” Nico said then hurried away to shake hands with the girl who was doing his hair and makeup for the shoot. He watched as she quickly and efficiently made him look even deader than he usually did, trying to learn from just observing. It was rare that he could watch a professional work, after all.

The photo shoot was one of the most awkward things Nico had ever done. He had been a part of photo shoots many times before, but never on this side of the camera, and he had no idea what to do with himself. Thankfully, Mr. Apollo, the photographer who was also one of the judges, shouted out suggestions, and Nico tried to follow them as closely as possible.

“Remember, you’re the ruler of the underworld,” the photographer said. “Hold your head higher. That’s great!”

Nico doubted it was actually great, but at least he wouldn’t have to know how much he sucked until he had to go home.

“Okay, we’re done,” Apollo said what seemed like an eternity later. “Good job.”

Nico’s legs were shaking slightly as he walked off the set. “Thank you for all your help, and for having patience with me. I really appreciate it.”

Apollo looked a little surprised. “No problem, really,” he said, then had to go take pictures of the next one. “See you later, kid.”

Nico was already back in his usual clothes when it was Hazel’s turn, and he hung back to watch her. She had drawn Hecate, goddess of magic, and she was really selling it. Even without a camera of his own Nico could tell the pictures would be great.

When she was finished she walked over to give him a hug.

“That was so amazing,” she said. “I mean, being a monster is fun and all but I actually felt beautiful up on that set.”

“You’re always beautiful,” Nico said, kissing her cheek.

She playfully hit his arm. “You have to say that, you’re my brother,” she said. “I watched part of your shoot as well, you know. You looked great. I got chills.”

“You have to say that, you’re my sister,” Nico smiled, and she hit him a little harder in the arm before going to get rid of her makeup. Nico remained where he was, watching one of the other guys modeling. The guy was blond, tall, muscular and exceptionally good looking. Nico watched as he posed as Zeus, looking completely professional. This was what a male model was supposed to look like.

The blond guy smiled towards Nico as he came off the set. “Hi, I don’t think we’ve been introduced,” he said, offering his hand. “I’m Jason Grace.”

“Nico di Angelo,” Nico said, shaking his hand while trying not to blush. He had a firm grip, but not like he was trying to crush Nico’s hand. “Have you been modeling long?”

“Couple of years, though mostly for artists,” Jason nodded. “What about you?”

“First time,” Nico admitted. “My sister talked me into applying for this.”

“How did it go? I didn’t get a chance to watch any of the earlier shoots,” Jason said, and Nico shrugged.

“No idea. I’m probably going home.”

“You don’t know that,” Jason said sympathetically. “Besides, you can always try to charm the judges when we meet them all later.”

Nico laughed. “Yeah, I’ll do that,” he said sarcastically.

***

Nico hated being the centre of attention. It had been bad enough on the photoshoot, but standing in front of a panel of three judges who were supposed to evaluate you was even worse. Ve and Apollo looked reasonably friendly, but the stern looking woman on the right, a former supermodel named Juno, didn’t seem impressed at all. Not that Nico expected her to be, really.

“So, Nico,” Apollo said with a smile. “On a scale from one to ten how well do you think you did today?”

Nico hesitated. “Um, I’m not sure. Four?”

For some reason Apollo laughed while Juno shook her head in disapproval.

“You have no self-confidence. How are you planning on getting by in the industry?” she asked.

“I, um, I really haven’t thought that far,” Nico said uncertainly.

“I’ll tell you how. By taking pictures like this,” Apollo said, and a picture appeared on the big screen beside the table. It showed a dark figure walking through a brightly lit garden. He should have looked out of place, but he didn’t. The look in his eyes made it clear that he had every right to be there, and possibly ruled it. It took Nico a moment to comprehend that the guy on the picture was actually him.

“This is actually one of the best pictures out of the bunch,” Ve said. “You completely embody the god of the underworld, and quite frankly I’m a little scared of you.”

She tittered a bit at the last part to let him know it was a joke. Juno just frowned deeper.

“Even so, it’s clear that you don’t have much interest in pursuing a career in modeling,” she said. “Tell us. Why should we allow you to continue and send someone else home?”

Nico thought for a moment. “You’re right, I’ve never given modeling much thought before,” he said honestly. “But today was a very interesting experience, and the result is better than I thought it would be. I would like to explore it more and see what I can do, but of course the decision is yours.”

“Always so modest,” Apollo smiled. “We really need to work on that self confidence of yours.”

“Thanks, Nico. You can head back.”

"Thank you for the opportunity," Nico said, then turned around, resisting the impulse to run. He was still shocked by the quality of the picture.

Hazel gave him a hug when he came back to the waiting room, and he was thankful for it, though he suspected it was only half for his sake. He had been one of the last to go in there, and most of them were just waiting for the result now. A couple were talking to various cameramen, but there was a nervous tension in the room.

"You didn’t tell them to let you go home, right?" Hazel asked, and Nico shook his head.

"No, I said I wanted to stay," he said. "And I kinda do. It’s an interesting experience."

"See? I told you it would be fun," Hazel said.

It wasn’t so fun when Ve came out to announce the judges’ decision, though. Nico felt pretty calm, thinking it would be okay either way, but Hazel was clearly nervous and more or less crushing his hand in hers.

Nico tuned out Ve’s speech about the prices, he had read all about it when they applied for this, and doubted he’d get even close to winning anyway. Instead he looked around at the others. Most of them looked really scared, but Percy seemed calm and gave Nico a grin when he noticed him looking. Nico could feel his face heat up so he quickly looked away, and noticed Jason looking at him. When their eyes met Jason just smiled and mouthed “good luck”. That really didn’t help reduce his blushing one bit.

Ve started calling the names of the finalists, alternating between girls and boys. The first name called was “Piper McLean”, quickly followed by “Jason Grace”. Nico wasn’t surprised. He wondered how their pictures had turned out. He hadn’t seen Piper’s shoot, but he had caught a glimpse of her as Aphrodite and she looked so very different now, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt.

"Annabeth Chase," Ve continued, handing a tall blond girl a copy of her photo. "Nico di Angelo."

Nico stilled, shocked. It was a good thing Hazel gently pushed him towards Ve, or he would probably had taken a lot longer to react. Ve gave him a smile as she handed over his photo, and Jason gave him a high five when he walked over to them.

Thankfully Hazel’s name was called next, and she hugged him tightly when she joined them. Percy followed her moments later. After that it was “Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano ” and “Leo Valdez” followed by “Drew Tanaka” and “Frank Zhang”.

"Congratulations!" Ve said happily. "One of you will become America’s next top model. The next challenge starts tomorrow. Now, who wants to see your new house?"

***

Nico walked a bit behind the others, distancing himself from their excitement as they explored the house. There were a lot of delighted shouts and running around, and Nico just didn’t have enough energy left to deal with it. He took the time to look around at his own pace, realizing immediately that there were only two bathrooms, and between the ten of them that was bound to become a problem sooner or later.

By the time Nico got to the bedrooms all the beds had already been claimed, except one. He was apparently sharing the smallest room with one of the other guys, the tall, muscular asian with the babyface that had been dressed up as Ares earlier. Looking at him now made it kinda hard to believe he’s been able to pull off such a scary expression.

“Hey, I’m Frank Zhang,” the guy said, standing up to shake Nico’s hand, looking a bit nervous. “I guess we’ll be sharing, huh?”

“Looks that way. I’m Nico di Angelo. Pleased to meet you,” Nico said.

He quickly discovered he’s been incredibly lucky getting Frank as a roommate. He could hear the others partying and shouting about the smallest stuff through the walls, but Frank seemed calm and quiet. Nico suspected he was shy, but he had a feeling they’d get along just fine.

“So, um,” Frank said after they’d both been sitting on their beds with books in their laps for a while. “You know some of the people here from before?”

Nico sighed, not really wanting to be reminded of it. “Yeah, Percy and I knew each other when we were young. It’s a long story.”

“Oh,” Frank said. “Actually, I was talking about one of the girls. Hazel, right? Is she your girlfriend?”

Nico snorted. “I get that a lot,” he said. “She’s my half-sister.”

“Oh, that explains it,” Frank said, sounding a bit relieved. Nico resisted the urge to laugh. One day, and Hazel was already gaining admirers.

Chapter Text

Nico woke up early the following day. Beyond early, really. He'd always had a hard time sleeping near people he didn't know.

He tried to be as silent as possible as he got out of the room and walked downstairs to take a shower. The house was completely quiet, which was quite a change from last night. Nico suspected this early was the only time he had a chance to get peace and quiet. And to take a long, uninterrupted shower.

When he walked into kitchen afterwards he found the tall blond girl, Annabeth, at the table reading a book. She looked up as he approached.

"Good morning," she said. "Couldn't sleep?"

Nico nodded. "What are you reading?"

She lifted to book up from the table to show him the cover. The title said Pillars and Stones: A Critical View of Greek Influence on Modern Architecture.

"I'm studying to be an architect," she explained.

"Really? Then I suspect you didn't enjoy the fake temple in the park yesterday," Nico said, and Annabeth wrinkled her nose.

"There was so much wrong with it," she said. "I barely stopped myself from starting a lecture about it, but I guess the look worked for Athena."

"You're not planning on becoming a model?" Nico asked, and Annabeth shrugged.

"I don't know. My application was a spur of the moment-thing," she said. "I figured it could be fun to try something different, and I have modeled for a friend before."

Nico nodded. “There seem to be a lot of that.”

"Hey, I didn't think anyone else would be up already," Jason said, coming in through the door. He was wearing a purple T-shirt and sweatpants, and had the audacity to look really good in them. "There's a small gym upstairs. Either of you want to join me?"

"I already showered," Nico said, shaking his head.

"I'm in. I could use some exercise," Annabeth said, closing her book and getting up. She walked upstairs with Jason while Nico proceeded to inspect the kitchen. The fridge was full of different stuff, but Nico didn't feel like he could stomach anything big. In the end he settled for yogurt and some fruit. As he ate, the others slowly started to appear, some yawning widely. Percy was walking like a zombie to the fridge, then checked the cupboards.

“Ugh, I wanted pancakes. We need blue food coloring,” he said.

“What?” the other small guy in the house (Leo? Nico thought that was his name) asked. He was busy burning his bacon black, and Nico suspected the smoke detectors would go off soon.

“You still don’t eat pancakes unless they’re blue?” Nico asked with a laugh.

“Pancakes! Bacon!” one of the girls exclaimed. Despite the early hour she had already done her makeup, but the disgusted face she was making wasn’t exactly pretty. “Don’t you guys know this is a modeling competition?”

“Well, someone’s grumpy,” Leo laughed scooping the cinders that had been bacon on to a plate. “What’s wrong? Didn’t get your beauty sleep?”

“Ugh, I can’t believe I’m stuck here with all you amateurs,” the girl said, stalking off into the house.

“What’s her problem?” Percy asked with frown, and Leo shook his head.

“No idea,” he said. “So what’s up with the blue pancakes?”

***

A while later they were taken to a large building. Juno was waiting inside, standing in front of a rather huge runway. She was smiling, but it seemed a bit fake.

"Today, you will learn how to walk like a model, because tomorrow you will be put the test in a fashion show, displaying clothes by the famous Favonius," Juno announced. "And you better make him proud, because he will be joining us in deciding who will be eliminated this week."

Judging from the excited murmur around him, Nico should probably have known who that was.

"Now then, pick a partner. Boys with girls, thank you."

Nico looked around, but Hazel was already talking to Frank. Instead he ended up with a tall, stern-looking dark-haired girl he hadn't talked to before, but he remembered her name, at least.

"Have you done this before?" Reyna asked, and Nico shook his head.

"No. If we get judged as teams I apologize in advance."

"It's fine, I know how it's done, just follow my lead," she said.

When Juno called them up on the catwalk a few moments later, Nico really tried to do as Reyna did, but he didn't need Juno to tell him he failed epically. Reyna on the other hand looked like she was born to walk up there.

"Reyna, that was excellent," Juno said. "Though you might want to go for fierce rather than angry." Nico cringed as she turned towards him. "You on the other hand have no posture, and looked scared all the way to the end. Be happy you don't have to walk in heels, and learn from your partner."

Reyna was a stern but surprisingly patient teacher. "Straighten your back," she advised him. "And walk like you know exactly where you're going and are not going to allow anyone to stop you."

She actually cracked a smile as he tried. "Now you're thinking military," she said. "That's a bit too much. Relax a little bit."

"It's way harder than it looks," Nico said, silently wishing it was a zombie walk instead. He was pretty good at that.

At the end of the day he had managed to get Juno's disapproval down to a "Huh. Just don't embarrass Favonius tomorrow." so he counted it as a victory. Some of the others hadn’t been so lucky.

"Thank you so much for all your help," he told Reyna as they walked out towards the car. "I'm sorry I couldn't do much to help you."

"It's okay," she said. "I've been doing runway shows for a while. It's the pictures I'm having trouble with."

"What goddess did you get yesterday?" Nico asked.

"Bellona," she answered, and Nico frowned.

"But Bellona was a Roman goddess," he pointed out, and Reyna nodded.

"I know, but someone putting this together didn't, or didn't care," she said. "It worked out well for me, though. It would have been hard to pull off Aphrodite."

Nico supposed she was right. Her face was pretty, but not nearly soft enough for the goddess of love. Bellona would have been a perfect choice. Nico frowned, getting more convinced that lottery must have been rigged somehow.

***

They were required to spend some time in the “confession booth” each day, to talk about stuff directly to the camera. There wasn’t anyone else there, though, probably because they thought it would be easier to went feelings that way. Nico didn’t have much to say, but there was a list on the wall behind the camera with suggested topics. “Talk about the other contestants.” it said on the top.

“I don’t really know the others yet,” Nico said out loud after turning the camera on. It felt really stupid to talk to himself like this. “Except Hazel and Percy, of course. I haven’t seen Percy for years, but he doesn’t seem to have changed much.”

Nico hesitated before continuing. “Reyna really helped me out today. I would probably have fallen off the runway if not for her. That might still happen tomorrow,” he said. “Frank is a good roommate, but we haven’t really talked much, though he has a Mythomagic badge on his bag so I guess we have that in common.”

He thought for a bit. “I’ve barely talked to the rest of them. Spending more than a few minutes with Leo is exhausting. I don’t know where he gets his energy. When I last saw him he was picking apart the toaster in the kitchen. I hope he gets it fixed before tomorrow morning.”

“As for the rest, I don’t know. Annabeth seems really intelligent, and Piper could probably sell combs to bald people. Which is useful for a model, I suppose,” Nico continued. “She or Jason is probably going to win this whole thing, though Drew seems dead set on victory. She declared it rather loudly earlier.”

“It’s funny, actually,” he mused. “When I arrived, I expected it to be Hazel and me against the rest of them, but it doesn’t even feel that much like a competition. Everyone’s been great so far.”

“I guess that makes for boring television. I’ll stop rambling now,” Nico said, getting up to turn off the camera. For a brief moment he wondered what the others were saying about him, then he decided he’d rather not know. He would find out along with the rest of the country when this was all over.

***

Drew screamed excitedly as Favonius was introduced to them before the show, but the rest of them just applauded. Even after seeing him, Nico still had no clue who the guy was.

They were ordered to walk the runway once in front of the designer, so he could give them some last minute pointers. Nico tried his best not to make a fool of himself.

Favonius nodded when he was finished. “Keep an even pace, don’t run back. Stay a second at the end. And don’t look so angry. Pretend there's a guy you want to impress in the audience,” he said, then dismissed him to get his makeup done. Nico blushed as he walked, wondering if he was really that obvious, but at least the make up girl put so much foundation and powder on his face that no blush would show through. Nico thought the thick eyeliner was a little cheap, but on the other and it gave them all a pirate-y look he could appreciate.

The so called dressing room backstage was a mess. All of them had an assistant to help them get dressed quickly, so there were over twenty people back there. Nico was standing between Reyna and Drew, like nobody cared about the fact that boys and girls were changing in the same room. Then again, they would probably be in too much of a hurry to even notice each other.

“Nervous?” Reyna asked him with a smile, and Nico nodded.

“Stage fright,” he admitted. “You?”

“Not really. The worst thing that can happen is stumbling and falling off the runway,” she said. “You’ll be fine.”

Nico wished she hadn’t mentioned stumbling.

It took forever for the show to start, but once it did things moved at an incredible speed. They pushed him out on the runway before he even knew what happened. Back straight, Nico thought, long strides, even pace, don’t look too angry…

He wasn’t even aware of the audience. They were just noise somewhere in the back of his head as he walked. Once he got back off the runway he had no time to revel in the fact that he hadn’t stumbled before he was undressed and halfway in another costume. Then he was out on the runway again.

***

“So does anyone else feel like they never want to change clothes again, or is it just me?” Leo asked after they all got home. Drew made a disgusted sound, but Percy laughed.

“I feel you, man,” he said. “That was so much more stressful than I thought.”

Nico agreed. All he really wanted was to go to sleep and forget everything until tomorrow, but of course the others dragged him into a game of Truth and Dare, to get to know each other better. They all gathered in a circle on the floor, with the bottle in the middle.

“This is so childish,” Drew said, though she did join. She kept gazing in Jason’s direction. Maybe she was hoping to be dared to kiss him, or the other way around. Nico couldn’t exactly blame her. He wouldn’t mind that himself, to be honest.

Nico shook his head to clear it as Leo spun the bottle first, and lo and behold, it landed on Nico.

“Truth or dare?” Leo grinned, and Nico scowled. He hated this game. There was no way to win.

“Dare,” Nico muttered, figuring he’d rather keep his truths to himself. Judging by Leo’s widening grin he was about to get humiliated on nationwide TV, because there was no way in hell they wouldn’t air it if it was bad.

“Do we have something we can use as a blindfold?” Leo said, and Nico groaned, though he didn’t protest as Piper tied a scarf around his head, covering his eyes.

“What now?”

He could hear Leo laugh. “Now we spin the bottle again, and whoever it lands on will kiss you. Then you have to guess who it is.”

“Seriously?” Nico exclaimed, suddenly terrified. “That’s ridiculous.”

“That’s the game. You can take your revenge on the next person,” Percy said, seemingly amused. Nico waited for them to finish spinning. If it landed on Percy he was going to kill Leo in his sleep.

A few moments later there was a large hand on his cheek, cupping his face and making him lift his head, then there was a pair of lips on his. Nico tried very, very hard to be analytical about it, but he hadn’t been kissed in a long time. And large hands, leaning upwards and a tiny hint of stubble definitely said guy. His mind was frozen until the person pulled away.

Not Percy, Nico could hear him whistling a bit away and the guy was still in front of him. Leo wasn’t as tall as this, which left Frank and Jason. Nico frowned. Thinking back at it there had been a pretty concentrated unevenness of the lips, and Jason had a scar.

“I’m not sure, but… Jason?” Nico said, and someone helped him take the scarf off as the room erupted in applause. Jason was standing in front of him, looking flustered, and god, he’d really kissed him, hadn’t he?

Nico was pretty sure his face was on fire as he sat down in the circle again, trying not to look at Jason. He spun the bottle, landing on Percy.

“Dare,” Percy said immediately. Nico had time to wonder if he was worried about what questions Nico might ask if given the chance.

“Um...” Nico said, trying to think. “Brush the teeth of the next player the bottle lands on.”

Percy laughed widely at that. “That’s the weirdest thing ever,” he said, spinning the bottle, which landed on Leo. “This is going to be awesome.”

“For him you might want to use soap,” Jason grinned, and he had Nico’s full support. Even if he was still hard to look at.

"Oh? Maybe you should worry about your own mouth," Leo said, matching his grin. "You do realize Nico's first thought after kissing you was of brushing teeth, right?"

Jason looked a bit offended, but even he joined it the laughter that followed.

***

Ridiculously early the following day they were herded into a car and taken to a nearby beach. Ve was waiting for them, looking way too awake for that that time in the morning.

"So as you have probably guessed, we're doing swimsuits today, courtesy of our old friend Favonius," Ve said with a smile as her long hair blowed in the cold wind. "And that's not all, you're doing this challenge in pairs. Your partner has been randomly selected and I will tell you their names in a moment."

She made a dramatic pause to let that sink in. "The picture we're looking for is a seductive couple on the beach. We want sensuality, and you need to sell the swimsuit," she continued. "And keep in mind that you will still be judged individually for this. Now I will announce the pairs. First off: Percy and Annabeth."

"Alright," Percy said happily, throwing an arm around Annabeth's shoulders. Considering how well they had worked yesterday, not to mention the looks they were giving each other now, they had this in the bag. Nico felt a pang of jealousy before he reminded himself that those feelings were supposed to be dead and buried years ago.

"Nico and Hazel," Ve continued.

Nico blinked. Hazel took his hand, giving him a conflicted look. Nico could understand that. He was simultaneously feeling relieved that he wouldn't have to get almost naked with someone he didn't know, and dreading the fact that it was supposed to be a sensual picture. Any other girl would be hard enough, but how the hell was he supposed to be seductive with his own sister?

***

Nico felt incredibly self-conscious, walking around with no shirt and only wearing a pair of black shorts. He had never been one to voluntarily spend time on the beach and never sunbathed, but he was apparently the only one. Everyone else seemed so comfortable in their bathing suits, and they looked good. Beyond good, even. What the hell was someone as short, scrawny and pale as him doing here?

“It’s cold out here, isn’t it?”

Nico looked up to see Jason smiling at him. He was wearing a pair of blue shorts that matched his eyes, and nothing else. Nico swallowed hard, trying not to stare at Jason’s muscles. Trying not to think about the fact that he had kissed him yesterday.

“Yeah,” Nico said lamely, looking away. Percy and Frank stood talking to each other a bit away, and that wasn’t a good direction to look in either.

“You okay?” Jason asked, sounding a bit worried. Nico silently cursed himself for being obvious.

“I’m fine. It’s really cold, though,” Nico said. “And I think my shorts are too small.”

“Mine too, man. I think it’s on purpose,” Jason laughed, and Nico made the mistake of looking. Jason was right, his shorts did look a little tight. Nico forced himself to look away, suddenly glad the weather was freezing.

Hazel joined him soon enough. They watched Drew and Leo fight their way through their photo shoot and Percy and Annabeth ace theirs before finally stepping in front of the camera themselves.

“Okay, arms around each other,” the photographer said, and they did as he asked. “More sensual, please.”

They tried, but it just felt stupid. Hazel started laughing when Nico stroked her face, and it was contagious. In the end they were both down in the sand laughing at the sheer absurdity of the situations. The photographer tried giving them directions, but when they walked off set both of them knew they hadn’t been able to deliver what he asked for.

Nico was pretty sure he was going home. He just hoped Hazel would be able to stay.

***

They were the last to be judged that day, and Nico was dreading it more and more for every other pair that stepped forward. The judges seemed to have a bad day, and were pretty harsh. Percy and Annabeth apparently had disregarded the camera in favour of each other, Drew and Leo looked like they were going to kill each other, Reyna and Frank were too stiff. Even Piper and Jason got critiqued, and Nico saw nothing wrong with their picture at all.

Finally, he and Hazel were called. It was horrible standing in front of the judges as they looked at Nico’s and Hazel’s photo. Nico actually thought it was a nice picture, but for a family album, not for a fashion ad.

“What happened, you two?” Ve asked. “The picture has no sensuality. I don’t see 'come hither', I see two kids wrestling in the sand.”

“Erm,” Nico said. “I’m sorry. We’re half-siblings, so it’s kinda hard to pretend like that.”

“Really?” Ve said, looking surprised at the others. “Did you two know this?”

“I didn’t,” Juno said, but Apollo laughed.

“Of course I knew,” he said. “I thought it would be fun to see if they could pull it off. Sorry guys. It’s a fun picture, but not what we asked for.”

“I think I’m more comfortable knowing they couldn’t do it,” Juno said with a shudder.

“Well, better luck next time, guys,” Ve said. “You can head back.”

Nico put an arm around Hazel’s shoulders as they turned to walk back to join the others.

***

“So, Nico?”

“Not his strongest week, but being asked to make love to your sister this early in the game is a bit unfair.”

  “I’m not so sure it would matter which girl we put him with, to be honest,” Favonius said, with a wry smile. “The guys may have a better chance.”

  “Be that as it may, the guy is about as sensual as a brick,” Juno said. “And he’s not commercial enough. I say out.”

  “I like Nico,” Apollo said. “He’s all polite and sweet, and the Hades-photo was amazing. I vote in.”

  "And you're not just saying that because he's your type?" Juno said.

  "Like you voted Jason in for his bubbly personality," Apollo snorted.

  "Jason takes good pictures," Juno said sourly. "Nico doesn't."

  "He's had one failure, and it's not even a bad picture," Apollo said. "Jason has the same expression in every photo. He's boring."

  "If you two would stop arguing we still need to send someone home tonight," V sighed.

  "I don't think either Jason or Nico should go home," Apollo said. "Jason is actually the most professional of the boys, but Nico is the easiest to work with because he actually listens when you give him advice."

  "That is a good trait," Juno admitted sourly. "But the fact remains that Nico is not a model. You should have seen him on the runway a few days ago. It was a disaster."

  "He wasn't the worst," Favonius pointed out. "He did well enough during the actual show. Apollo is right, if you give him instructions he'll listen."

  "Alright," Ve said. "So who are we sending home?"

 ***

It was hardly a surprise that he, Hazel, Leo and Drew were the ones on the chopping block. Two people were getting sent home, and it could be any of them, really. Nico cast a glance towards the others, the ones that had already passed. Reyna gave him a small smile and a nod, probably to cheer him up. He would miss her when he got home.

Ve finished talking about why they were the ones on the bottom, essentially had been repeating exactly what she’d been saying when they were being judged earlier. Then she paused before telling them who was moving on.

“Congratulations, Nico,” Ve said holding out his photo with a smile. Nico blinked. He really hadn’t expected that.

Leo slapped his back to get him moving. “Well, I’m out,” he said. “You go show them what us small guys can do.”

With that, he made a mock salute towards the judges, blew a kiss towards Piper (or possibly Jason who stood beside her) and went out. Nico joined the rest of the group who was moving forward, but his eyes stayed on Hazel’s face. She looked nervous, but spared him a smile, probably happy for him. Nico wasn’t sure he’d want to stay without her, though.

Ve made a overly long pause before announcing the next name.

“Hazel, you’re still in the running towards becoming America’s next top model. Congratulations,” she said, and Nico breathed out in relief as she handed his sister her photo. “I’m sorry, Drew.”

There was a tense silence in the room as they all waited for Drew to throw a fit or start crying. Only she didn’t.

“Thank you for the opportunity,” she said, her voice shaking a bit, but she held her head high as she gave the rest of them a court nod before turning and walking out as was the custom. Nico had never really liked her, but he had to respect her for that, at least.

***

The atmosphere was different when they returned to the house. Despite their nervousness the day before, it was only after tonight they felt the competition was real. They gathered around the dining table, all a bit shaken.

“I propose a toast, to Leo and Drew” Piper said, getting up to take out a bottle of vodka from the stocked alcohol cabinet, the one marked “to be consumed at your own discretion”. Nico suspected the producers of the show were hoping they’d all get drunk and do something stupid to make the show more interesting.

“I second that,” Percy said. “That whole ordeal was terrible.”

“I thought you said you didn’t care if you got through,” Annabeth said, getting some glasses. Nico moved to give her a hand.

“I know, but they made it feel like an execution or something,” Percy said. “And it’s not like I wanted to be the first to go, in either case.”

Jason looked up as Nico put a glass down in front of him. “Are you okay? And your sister? You two were the last up there,” He moved his gaze towards Hazel, who smiled.

“I’m okay,” she said. “Though I feel a bit bad for Drew. She was definitely a better model than I am.”

“The judges disagreed,” Reyna pointed out. “That’s why you’re here and she’s not.”

“We all like you better, in any case,” Percy said. “Leo leaving sucks, though. He seemed like a fun guy.”

Jason nodded. “He never cared about modeling, though.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but not many here do,” Annabeth said dryly. “I wonder if they deliberately made this season full of amateurs.”

“Drew certainly thought so,” Piper said, passing the bottle around. “You drinking, Jason?”

“Just one toast,” he agreed. “For Drew and Leo.”

“For Drew and Leo,” they all echoed, raising their glasses in a toast before drinking. Nico made a face at the bitter taste, but swallowed anyway. It would have been rude not to.

Chapter Text

The fire alarm went off in the middle of the night.

As Nico rolled out of bed, his first thought was: What did Leo do? then he remembered Leo wasn’t there anymore.

“Wake up. We need to evacuate,” Frank urged him, more or less dragging him up. Nico yawned as Frank pulled him out of their room. Nico didn’t fully wake up until they got out of the house to join the others.

“Everybody okay?” Reyna’s voice called. “Is anyone missing?”

“We’re all here,” Jason answered, and Nico yawned widely, looking around. Everyone were gathered outside the building, wearing pajamas and nightgowns and in Percy’s case just a pair of boxer-shorts. Nico looked away, not feeling awake enough to deal with that.

Suddenly the alarm from the house stopped, and they were bathed in light. Nico felt like he had been blinded.

“Good evening,” Apollo’s voice chirped, and Nico groaned. He wasn’t the only one.

“A false alarm, then?” Jason asked, and Apollo laughed.

“We needed to get you out of bed somehow,” he said. “Get ready for a morning photo shoot. No makeup, no fuss. Come as you are.”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Annabeth muttered somewhere behind Nico.

“Not at all. Come line up,” Apollo laughed, clearly enjoying this. “The sooner we get started, the sooner you can head back to bed.”

Nico didn’t move fast enough, and found himself at the end of the line. Jason was standing in front of him, dressed in a loose purple T-shirt and grey pajama-pants. For some reason there were a pair of glasses on his nose. Nico frowned.

“Since when do you wear glasses?” he asked.

“What? Oh,” Jason said, taking them off, inspecting them, probably to make sure they were intact. “I thought things looked blurry. I must have fallen asleep with them on. They’re reading glasses.”

“You read?” Nico asked, realizing too late how that sounded. “Uh...I mean...”

Thankfully Jason just smiled. “Not very well, but it’s something to do since they confiscated our phones and we have no internet,” he said. “I never thought I would miss it this much.”

“I know what you mean,” Nico sighed, then yawned again. “It’s inhuman.”

“The lack of internet or waking up to take photos at this hour?” Jason chuckled.

“Both,” Nico said, shivering a bit in the cold night air. “And not letting us go inside while we wait. It’s freezing.”

“Wish I could help, but I have no jacket or anything to give you,” Jason said. “You want to share body warmth?”

There was a laugh in front of Jason. “Smooth,” Percy said, turning around. “Also unfair. He’s wearing a pajama and I’m practically naked.”

“Which is your own fault,” Jason said, grinning slightly. “You had to have known they would pull something like this sooner or later. Besides, you could have brought some clothes with you.”

“Right. You’re just saying that because you think Nico is cuter,” Percy scoffed, and Nico looked down on the ground, cursing his cheeks for blushing. “And here I thought we had something special.”

“You’re so full of shit,” Jason said, laughing slightly.

“Next!” Apollo shouted. “Stop flirting back there. Or come closer so I can hear you.”

It took forever until it was Nico’s turn. He would have fallen asleep while standing, except he was too cold. When he finally stood in front of the camera he was far from happy.

“Jeez, Nico. If looks could kill,” Apollo laughed. “Now pose for me.”

Nico made an attempt to be professional, but he was pretty sure he was glaring in every single frame. Apollo seemed happy, though. Nico suspected he enjoyed seeing them suffer.

“That’s it,” he finally said. “Back to bed now, like a good boy.”

Nico growled, but didn’t protest. He hurried back into the house. Some of the others were still hanging around the lobby, but Nico made a beeline for his bed and covered himself with sheets, trying to get warm.

“How did it go?” Frank asked from the other bed, and Nico snorted.

“We’re all going to look terrible.”

***

They were a sorry sight the following morning when the cars came to get them to bring them to their real photo shoot for the week. Well, week wasn't really accurate, but everyone had adopted "TV-time", since it was a weekly show.

Ve met them inside a downtown bar, strangely enough. It was empty of customers, which almost felt eerie, despite the otherwise cozy and rather old fashioned atmosphere.

“Hi, guys. Did you sleep well?” Ve smiled, and there were grumbles all around.

"This is the hardest challenge yet," she continued cheerfully. "You will pair up a person of the opposite gender, and you will choose their dress and makeup to turn them into a person of your gender. Boy turns into girl, girl into boy. You will also direct them in a photo shoot, which will be edited to look like you're in the same picture. Keep in mind that you will be judged both on how well you perform and how well you dress and coach your partner."

She paused to let that sink in. "Now, I will call you up in a random order, and you can select your own partner. Piper, you're first."

Piper looked around, clearly hesitating. Then she suddenly smiled. "I want Nico."

Nico moved to stand beside her, a little surprised. Then again, with Leo gone he was probably the easiest to turn into a girl. Hazel was paired with Frank, and Nico really didn't envy either of them the challenge. Frank's babyface might have been easy to turn female, but his physique would undoubtedly give him away. Hazel's only chance to look muscular was to cover her face and give her shoulder pads worthy of a football player.

Nico looked back at his partner, realizing he was in for a challenge there as well. Piper had very female features, but if he aimed for androgynous rather than traditionally masculine he might be able to pull it off.

"The hair and makeup people are here to help you, but they will only do what you ask them to. Don't expect them to do your job for you," Ve said with a smile. "Ladies first, or more correctly we're making ladies first. Looking forward to seeing you in high heels and lipstick, guys. You have two hours before the shoot. Good luck."

"Okay, let's go make you pretty," Piper said with a laugh, leading Nico towards the clothes. "That shouldn't be too hard. Do you think we should decide on a theme to make us fit together since we're supposed to be on the same photo?"

Nico nodded thoughtfully. "That's a really good idea," he said. "Any suggestions?"

"The color scheme is black, I suppose," she laughed, gesturing towards what Nico was wearing. "Though it's not really my color."

"It doesn't have to be completely black," Nico said. "We could go for a 40s Film Noir-look."

"Works for me," Piper said with a smile, then frowned. "Actually that might work really well. Are you prepared to shave your legs?"

Nico shrugged. "I'm studying special effects makeup. It's hardly the first time."

Less than two hours later Nico found himself in a black dress, really uncomfortable high heels and a stole of fake-fur around his shoulders. He had dark, heavy make up in his face, and Piper had completed the look with black gloves and lots of white pearls around his neck and wrists. Rather than a wig they had actually decided on using his own hair, hastily curled and with a bucket of hair spray to keep it in place. Piper even talked the photographer into letting him use a lit cigarette as a prop. Nico wasn't too thrilled about it, but he had to admit it fit the genre.

The set was the same for everybody, a bar disk and a couple of bottles on the shelf behind it. It would work well with their idea, provided Nico could pull off the whole femme fatale-look. Which he really wasn't sure he could.

"Lean back against the counter, but don't slouch," Piper directed him. "I'm a hot detective standing in front of you. Seduce me."

"Yeah, Nico! Show some leg!" Percy shouted behind Piper, and Nico had a hard time controlling his laughter. Usually he would have been deathly embarrassed, but the situation was too absurd, especially since Percy was dressed in drag as well. Annabeth had made a good effort to make him look like a girl, but he certainly wouldn't fool anyone. Unless they were really drunk and looking for a hooker.

"Focus, Nico," Piper said. "I'm standing in front of you, and you're planning on luring me into a trap. Straighten your back and push your butt out. That's good!"

Nico was thankful when it was finally over and he could get off the set. He ran into Jason on his way to the makeup chairs.

"Whoa. Nico?" Jason asked, eyes as wide as his false eyelashes would allow. "You look stunning."

"Piper's work," Nico said, hoping his blush wouldn't show through the powder. "You look...um..."

He didn't know how to finish that. Percy may have looked like a hooker, but Jason mostly seemed like a prank gone wrong. He was wearing as much make up as Nico was, but highlighting all the wrong features. Nobody would take him for a girl, despite the long blue dress. Which actually fit him surprisingly well.

"I know, but it could be worse," Jason said with a laugh. "Reyna really didn't have an easy job with me. You really pull it off, though."

Nico wasn't sure that was a compliment. "I gotta go change. See you later," he said, walking away and trying not to stumble on the high heels. His feet were already aching. How girls could walk around in things like that all day was something he'd never understand.

***

Pipers wardrobe was easy to put together. A trench coat, a suit and a hat was all she really needed. The makeup was a lot more tricky, though. A lot of the changes had to be very subtle, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to explain exactly what he wanted.

"Would you mind terribly if I did it myself?" he asked Sarah, the makeup girl, uncertainly. She smiled.

"Go ahead," she said. "Just tell me if you need help."

"You done this before?" Piper asked, and Nico made a face while quickly inspecting his arsenal of makeup. He had never really worked with stuff of this quality.

"Once," he said. "That was a zombie makeup, but I suspect the basics are the same."

"Comforting," Piper laughed. "Well, if I end up a zombie we'll just pretend it was the plan from the beginning."

"Right. Zombies in the 1940s. It actually sounds interesting," Nico smiled, then started working. He was using the shadows on his own face as reference points, but her bone structure was different so he had to improvise a bit.

"Do you have facial hair somewhere?" he asked Sarah, who pointed him to a stand by the wigs. It took him a few minutes to find a color that matched Piper's hair. He had opted to use her real hair as well, mostly hidden underneath the hat. Still, the look wasn't complete.

Piper visibly hesitated when he approached. "I don't think facial hair would look good on me," she said.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to give you a hint of sideburns to make you look more masculine," he said, and she smiled towards her reflection.

"I think I look pretty masculine already," she said. "I knew choosing you as a partner was a good idea."

"I hope you won't be disappointed," Nico said. "Now hold still."

Once they were out on set he found Piper did well enough without him. The only useful advice he could give was "be careful so the hat doesn't hide your face." She played around with her props, a lighter and a cigarette, a lot more than he had done, and it looked great. Smelled terrible, but looked great.

***

They were all exhausted when they got home. Nico kinda wanted to go to sleep immediately, but it was still early. Frank had thrown himself onto the couch and was watching cartoons, and Nico opted to join him.

“I swear my mouth still taste of lipstick,” Frank said as Nico sat down.

“You’re not supposed to eat it,” Nico snorted. “Even if it says cherry flavored.”

“Trust me, whatever lipstick she put on me has never seen real cherries,” Frank said, making a face. “So, um, sorry about making your sister look like Santa.”

“That was quite an achievement,” Nico couldn’t help but grin. “But I made her into a goblin once, so I can’t complain.”

Frank smiled at that. “I just hope I haven’t ruined her chances.”

“I doubt it. I mean, did you see Reyna and Annabeth?” Nico said. “Or yourself, for that matter.”

Frank smiled at that. “Good point,” he said, leaning back on the couch. “Thanks. I feel better now.”

Hazel sat down between them on the couch a little while later, and a blush appeared on Frank’s cheeks. Nico smiled. He would never say it out loud, but he thought they looked pretty cute together.

***

The judges was in a much better mood this week, or at least they seemed to be. They all laughed loudly at most of the pictures, but then again so did the competitors. The nighttime photos were hilariously terrible, and the ones from the photo shoot were terribly hilarious. Frank really hadn't joked about making Hazel look like Santa Claus.

“Would Nico and Piper please step forward?" Ve finally asked, calling them up as the last pair. She smiled at them as they approached the judges' table. “First things first. Let’s see your fire alarm-pictures.”

Their pictures appeared side by side on the screen. Nico cringed. He looked like a sleep-deprived drug-addict just about to commit murder. It wasn’t exactly Piper’s best picture either. She only looked half awake and her hair was a mess, but she was still pretty. He definitely wasn’t.

“This was probably the most fun I’ve ever had on a photo-shoot,” Apollo grinned. “Everyone hated my guts.”

“Unsurprising,” Juno said dryly. “None of the night-pictures are even close to publishable.”

“That wasn’t the point of the exercise,” Ve smiled. “But as far as the pictures go Nico’s is one of the most intriguing. Not for a fashion ad, but as a photograph. You really look frightening.”

“Thanks?” Nico said, unsure if that was a compliment. Piper gave him a grin.

"Now, for the genderbend-challenge,“ Venus continued. “I think you two already know you are the winners this week. Let's see your picture."

Nico looked over to the screen. The picture showed a smoky bar-scene where a dark-clad lady was clearly in the middle of trying to seduce a cool, hardcore detective. He didn't recognize himself at all.

"I absolutely love this picture," Ve said. "It looks like a movie poster."

"Or an advertisement for cigarettes," Juno said, wrinkling her nose. "Was that really necessary?"

"It adds to the atmosphere," Apollo said dismissively. "Who's idea was it to have a Film Noir-theme?"

"It was Nico's," Piper said, grinning happily at their success.

"But having a theme at all was Piper's idea," Nico added.

"This shows a great ability for teamwork in the both of you," Ve smiled. "I understand that you did Piper's make up by yourself?"

"I did," Nico admitted, a little embarrassed.

"Did you notice you were the only one who wasn't trying to hide her features with facial hair?" Apollo asked. "That was a stroke of genius."

"A bit of an overstatement, but it's true Piper looks very good on this picture," Juno said. "How much direction did you give her during the photo shoot?"

"Barely any," Nico said. "She knew what she was doing."

"I see," Juno nodded. "And Piper, how much direction did you give Nico?"

"Um...Some?" she said uncertainly.

"She was very thorough," Nico smiled. "It was really helpful."

"Well, we already know you take direction well," Apollo said with a smile.

"Great job, both of you," Ve said. "You can head back."

***

“With the exception of Nico and Piper, everyone’s been struggling this week,” Ve said thoughtfully. “This is going to be a hard decision.”

“We might have shot ourselves in the foot on this one,” Apollo agreed. “Who do we blame what on, anyway?”

“I hate to say it, but I honestly don’t know who to send home,” Juno said. “It’s obvious the guys know next to nothing about makeup, and the girls need practice acting like men.”

“We might have made this challenge too difficult,” Ve admitted. “But we have to take Piper and Nico’s success into account. That was the best picture in the competition so far.”

“The boy is studying makeup. Of course he had an advantage,” Juno said. “And Piper was clever enough to choose him as her partner. They had won before the challenge begun.”

“Can’t argue with that, but it’s still impressive,” Apollo said. “So, what are we going to do?”

***

"Nobody is going home this week!" Ve announced after they had gathered for elimination.

“What?” Annabeth asked, surprised, as there was a shocked murmur among the rest of them.

“We have decided to postpone the decision until after next week,” Ve clarified. “We will then combine the scores and have a double elimination, but for now, congratulations. You’re all still in the running towards becoming America’s Next Top Model.”

“Alright!” Percy laughed, high-fiving Jason and Frank both. Nico walked over to give Hazel a hug, relieved she wasn’t leaving without him.

When they got home, the atmosphere at the house was very different from last time. Everyone was laughing and joking around. Someone, probably Percy, came up with the idea of having a improvised pool party. Nico had barely even been out by the pool yet, but this time he couldn’t really avoid it.

He wasn’t surprised when Percy pushed Annabeth into the pool and jumped in after her. Strangely enough Annabeth didn’t even seem angry when she emerged, despite the fact that he had probably ruined her clothes.

“Is he always like that?” Reyna asked Nico, nodding towards the pool.

“For as long as I have known him,” Nico answered, taking a sip of his Surprise Cocktail à la Piper. It was strong, but pretty good.

“I’m surprised she puts up with him. She seems so level-headed,” Reyna noted.

Nico shrugged. “He grows on you.”

“Who grows on you?” Jason asked, turning up behind them with a glass of soda in his hand.

“The idiot in the pool,” Nico answered with a vague gesture towards where Percy was trying to show off his swimming skills. “You’re not drinking?”

“Nah, I don’t really like alcohol,” Jason shrugged. “How do you know Percy, anyway?”

“We lived close by when we were kids, but lost contact growing up,” Nico said,still a little uncomfortable with the subject. “What about you and Piper? You knew each other from before, right?”

“We dated for a while. Didn’t work out,” Jason said easily. “Actually I...”

A splash rain of water suddenly fell over them, making their clothes wet. Percy was kicking up water from the pool with impressive force.

“Pool party, guys!” He shouted. “Get in the pool! Come on, you’re wet already!”

Jason and Reyna exchanged a glance, then went to join him in the water. Nico opted to stay where he was, watching the rest of them fool around in the pool. Percy made an attempt to chase him and throw him in once, but on land, Nico was much quicker than he was.

Chapter Text

Nico was starting to feel more comfortable in the house, which, unfortunately, meant he slept longer in the mornings. If Frank hadn’t more or less dragged him out of bed he would have missed the car taking them to the challenge of the day. He had no time to eat breakfast or do anything about his looks other than quickly get dressed. He was pretty sure he looked a mess.

Nico yawned widely as he entered the car. Reyna, who sat beside him, gave him a smile.

“Tired?”

“Mmm,” Nico agreed with a nod. “I slept too much. And I want to sleep some more.”

She chuckled at that.

As the car started moving Nico fought to stay awake, but his eyes kept closing themselves. Half an hour later when the car stopped he woke up with his head resting on Reyna’s shoulder, but thankfully she didn’t seem to mind, just smiled towards him as they got out of the cars.

They were standing by a pretty large park. It was early so not many people were out, except a couple of tourists paying to ride a horse carriage and an elderly couple feeding ducks in a nearby pond. Some ridiculous morning person was doing pull-ups on a steel construction in a corner. Ve was waiting for them by a statue of some old guy that was presumably important. She was holding a basket in her hand.

“Welcome to today’s challenge,” Ve greeted them, then walked over and handed the basket to Nico. He looked down to see it was full of smartphones. “Take one each. You’ll need them for this challenge.”

Nico took one and handed the basket to Reyna. He wondered what this was about, considering they hadn’t been allowed access to their own phones at all.

“You each have a phone? Good,” Ve smiled. “Now I’m sure you’ve all taken tons of selfies before, right? That’s today’s challenge. You’ll need to take a selfie that somehow represents you. You can be alone or have other people with you, but you need to take the picture yourself. You can take as many pictures as you like, but when you return the phone only one should remain on it.”

She looked around at them. “Everyone ready? You have an hour, starting now.”

Nico looked down at the phone, unsure what to do. He’d never been one for taking selfies, and on the rare occasion when he did he always looked terrible.

Hazel was, unsurprisingly, heading towards the horse chariots in the corner of the park. Reyna was going with her, chatting about horses. Percy was headed for the pond, and Nico hoped he wasn’t planning on jumping in. Frank went in the same direction, but Nico assumed he was going for the ducks rather than the pond itself. Annabeth headed across the street towards an old building with Piper, and Jason went towards the steel construction presumably meant for working out. Each of them seemed to have a plan immediately.

Nico, on the other hand, felt completely blank. He looked around the park, trying to find something that would work, but there was nothing. He just wasn’t a park-kind of guy.

Nico walked around aimlessly for a while, looking for inspiration. Eventually he heard the cameraman sigh behind him.

“Could you do something, at least? Filming you just walking around is boring,” the cameraman said, and Nico looked up at him in surprise.

“Sorry,” he said. “I thought you guys weren’t supposed to interact with the competitors.”

“We’re not,” the cameraman confirmed, giving Nico a smile. He was young, around Nico’s age, had curly blond hair and was pretty good-looking. Nico briefly thought it would have made more sense for him to be in front of the camera while Nico was behind it.

“Sorry, I’ll stop talking. I don’t want you to lose your job over this,” Nico said apologetically, and the guy laughed.

“There are no rules against it, per se. It’s just not recommended,” the guy said. “Besides, I’m just filling in because my father thought it’d be a good idea. Anyway, stop walking around like an idiot, you only have half an hour left.”

“I know, I just have no ideas,” Nico said. “I don’t really take selfies.”

“Well, this is your chance to try something new, then,” the guy said. “I’m Will, my the way.”

“Nico,” Nico said, then felt a little stupid. “Though I guess you knew that.”

“Yup,” Will nodded. “Come on, just take a picture of yourself.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“It’s not that hard, either,” Will pointed out.

“The pictures are supposed to show our personalities somehow,” Nico said. “I can’t just point the camera at my face and click the button.”

“It’s better than nothing at all, which is what you’ll end up with at this rate,” Will said. “And I will have an hour of footage of you walking around aimlessly. You can do better than that.”

Nico made a face at him. “Why do you even care?”

Will shrugged. “Maybe I’m just a helpful person. Clock’s ticking, by the way.”

“Fine,” Nico growled, giving in. “You be my background then.”

Will grinned. “Oh? So what part of your personality am I portraying?”

“The part that always ends up hanging out with annoying people,” Nico said, rolling his eyes as he moved closer to Will and aimed the camera. “Don’t make stupid faces.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Will said. “Aren’t you afraid that having another person in the picture might spoil your chances?”

“It’s allowed,” Nico said, frowning towards the camera as he took another picture. Will was right that it might hurt his chances, the blond guy with his bright smile pretty much outshone Nico just by being there. On the other hand, hiding in the shadows while others took the spotlight was definitely part of his personality.

“Thanks, I think I got one,” Nico said, and Will grinned before taking his own phone out of his pocket.

“Say cheese,” he said, then took another photo with the two of them, laughing as he looked at the picture. “Aw, you look completely bewildered.”

“What was that for?” Nico scowled.

“Just a memory,” he shrugged. “I think time is running out.”

He gestured towards the gathering place, and Nico sighed as he started walking back. Will followed a little behind, filming him.

“I thought you said you had enough footage of me walking around.”

“Aimlessly,” Will nodded. “Now you have a goal. It’s different.”

Nico rolled his eyes, but decided not to inquire further.

Ve collected the phones in a basket, then the competitors were ushered back into the cars to go home. Will waved goodbye with a grin, and Nico uncertainly gave a short wave back.

“Someone you know?” Jason asked from the seat beside him.

Nico shrugged. “Not really. We just talked a bit.”

“The cameramen following me never talked to me,” Jason frowned. “I didn’t even know it was allowed.”

“Neither did I,” Nico said. “How did your picture end up?”

“Decent, I think. I’m not really sure, I was upside down,” Jason smiled. “You?”

“I’m not sure the judges are even going to realize I’m in it.”

“You’ve been wrong before,” Jason said. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

***

Apparently Jason hadn’t had enough exercise at the fitness corner of the park, so when they got back to the house he and Reyna managed to talk Nico into joining them at the upstairs gym. Nico followed them a little uncertainly. He’d never been much for gyms, mostly because he preferred to train alone, usually just jogging.

Still, he could bench press an impressive amount.

Reyna seem surprised. “You really don’t look that strong,” she said. “No offence, just that you don’t exactly look muscular.”

“It’s okay, I don’t really train that much,” Nico said, lifting another load. His arms protested a bit, but he managed without too much effort. “We do carry around molds and stuff in school a lot, though. They can get pretty heavy.”

“Molds?” Jason asked from the rowing machine. Nico tried to concentrate on what he was doing himself instead of watching Jason’s muscles work. Which was slightly mesmerizing, to be honest.

“Mmm,” Nico nodded, looking back up towards the roof. “Molds for the foam pieces we use to change someones face for a makeup. It’s fun.”

“It must be uncomfortable to wear something like that,” Reyna said.

“Not really. I tend to forget about it after a while,” Nico said. “Some people are allergic, though. And sometimes it itches. How long am I supposed to keep lifting this?”

Jason laughed. “As long as you want, but don’t tire yourself out,” he said. “There are no rules. You can move on if you’re bored.”

“Good,” Nico said, putting the weight down and getting up from the bench press. Looking around, none of the machines seemed all that interesting. He ended up on the stationary bike, because at least that was easy.

“You know, we don’t mind showing you how things work if you want to try something,” Reyna smiled. “It’s more fun if you actually know what you’re doing.”

“Maybe later, but thanks,” Nico said, smiling slightly. He was content on the bike, and basically turned into a dirty pool of sweat before long. He was also panting much louder than Jason or Reyna.

“You okay over there, Nico?” Jason asked, sounding a little worried.

“Yeah,” Nico managed between breaths, slowly stopping and stepping off the bike. His legs shook a little. “I think I’m done.”

“You should cool down and stretch before showering,” Reyna ordered, and Nico sank down on the yoga mat in the corner, watching Reyna and Jason continue to train as he did his best to stretch. Reyna looked like she was having fun on the treadmill, while Jason… Well, Jason looked great, muscles glistening with sweat as he lifted way more than Nico had on the bench press. Nico felt his cheeks heat up, and turned his gaze back to the floor instead.

***

The following day they were taken to a large building with an uncomfortably high roof. Ve met them inside, and there was something Nico didn’t like about her smile.

"This is another pair-challenge," Ve said once the greetings were done. "But it has a twist. You will be working boy-boy and girl-girl, in a classic superhero and sidekick set up. However, it's up to you to convince the judges you are the superhero of the picture. Your pairs have been randomly selected."

"Hazel and Piper," Ve announced. "Percy and Frank. And you can guess the rest, but: Reyna and Annabeth, and Jason and Nico."

They moved to stand beside their respective partner. Nico didn't really think he had much of a chance. Jason looked like a superhero just standing there in T-shirt and jeans.

"Oh, and there's one small detail I haven't told you yet," Ve said, looking like she was going to laugh. "During this photo shoot you will be suspended from the ceiling."

"What?" Percy exclaimed, actually sounding frightened. Nico could relate. Not having his feet on the ground really wasn't his idea of a good time.

"You okay?" Jason asked as they walked to hair and makeup. "You look pale."

"I'll be fine," Nico said, trying to sound confident but it came out as irritated.

The costumes were ridiculous; colorful spandex suits that really showed off Jason's muscles and Nico's lack of them. At least the suits seemed to be vaguely based on actual superheroes, and Nico was lucky to get Batman's color scheme. Even without the giant S on his chest, Jason was obviously a blonde Superman.

"Okay, guys. Up, up and away," Apollo, who was the photographer again, said cheerfully. Nico's stomach already felt funny just looking at the hooks from the ceiling that connected to the harnesses underneath their costumes. Really thin harnesses that Nico didn't trust at all.

"This is crazy," Percy muttered beside him, looking a bit green, and not just because it was the color of his costume.

"I agree," Nico said, feeling sightly nauseous.

"You two afraid of heights?" Jason asked. "I actually think it looks kinda fun."

"I'm not afraid," Percy said, clearly taking it as a challenge. "I'd just rather it was a water tank or something."

Nico shuddered at the thought. Breaking his neck from a fall and drowning were equally scary from where he was standing. "Don't give them ideas."

"Alright, first up. Hazel and Piper," Apollo called, and Nico had to watch his sister being hauled up to the roof. At least she looked graceful, but Nico kept worrying. It really didn't look safe.

"She will be fine," Jason said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. "They have taken every safety precaution. There's virtually no chance of the harness breaking, but if it does she will land softly on the mattresses. Don't worry."

Nico made a face though he didn't take his eyes away from Hazel. "I not worried," he lied, then sighed. "I just want Hazel to come down, and I don't want to go up there."

"Hey, it'll be fine," Jason said, rubbing circles into Nico's neck with his thumb. It felt kinda comforting. "I'll be with you up there, and Hazel has Piper. You won't be alone."

"So we'll both fall. That's not helpful," Nico said hollowly, but illogical as it was it did make him feel a little better. Especially after Hazel came back down unscratched. She gave Nico a hug.

"That was terrifying. My legs are still shaking," she laughed. “But it was actually pretty fun. Don’t worry.”

"Next up; Jason and Nico," Apollo said, grinning as they approached. "Damn, I should have saved the up, up and away for you two."

"Funny," Nico muttered, trying his best not to freak out as the crew fastened the hooks in his costume.

"Relax, it'll be fine," Jason said reassuringly, and Nico resisted the urge to scream at him.

As they started hauling him up, Nico gripped the wires for balance. He felt completely helpless suspended in midair, and he hated the feeling.

"Okay, you're ready," Apollo said. "Let go of the wires."

Hesitantly, Nico did as he asked. Then he lost his balance and promptly ended up with his head towards the ground. Someone laughed, but Nico didn't care. He was trying very hard not to panic.

"It's okay, Nico," Jason said beside him. "Take my hand. I'll help you regain your balance."

It was pretty hard to find his hand with the cape obscuring his vision, but once he did Nico grabbed it like a lifeline. Jason took a hold of his own wires to help Nico up again.

"See? No harm done," Jason smiled, and Nico just made a face at him.

"Ready to begin now, lovebirds?" Apollo shouted from the platform opposite them. Nico blushed and carefully let go of Jason's hand.

"Ready?" Jason asked. "Remember, small changes of balance are enough."

Nico nodded, and Jason shouted to Apollo to begin.

"Alright, guys. Give me hero," Apollo said.

***

“Yellow question. Let’s see,” Piper said, looking down at the card. “Which country invaded Cyprus in 1974?”

“Turkey, I think,” Annabeth said, looking at Nico, who nodded. They were teamed up in a game of Trivial Pursuit, because Hazel was on Frank’s team and Annabeth's affection for Percy did not extend as far as trivia games, apparently. They were currently in the lead, but not by much. Reyna and Jason were pretty good at this game and only one wedge behind. Hazel and Frank put up a good fight as well, but were tied with Percy and Piper, mostly because they seemed to have a lot of luck with the questions.

“That’s correct,” Piper smiled. “And you get another piece. You’re killing us here.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll catch up,” Annabeth said. “We still need to get the dreaded orange Sport-wedge.”

“Ha! That was the first piece of pie we got,” Percy grinned. “You should have been on our team."

“It was luck,” Jason pointed out. “Everyone knows that soccer is called football in Europe.”

“We don’t choose the questions,” Piper laughed. “Hazel, Frank. Your turn.”

“Ugh, pink,” Hazel groaned. “Frank, this is your territory.”

“I’ll do my best,” he smiled.

In the end Nico and Annabeth ran over the orange category headquarters three times before getting a question they could answer, but they still won, since Reyna and Jason got similarly stuck on the Entertainment category.

Afterwards, they just read the questions randomly for a while, before Percy laughed.

“Imagine how the person cutting this show together must hate us,” he said. “How would you make something like this seem interesting on TV?”

“And next, On Americas Next Top Model: huge drama in the house: Percy and Annabeth don’t play on the same team, and hearts are broken,” Piper laughed. “An intense game of Trivial Pursuit, where eternal rivalries are formed as teammates fight each other. Don’t miss it!”

“Sounds riveting,” Nico said dryly. “And I think we’ve given them more than enough entertainment already. A quiet evening is nice.”

“I’m with Nico on this one,” Annabeth nodded. “Half of us will be going home tomorrow. Taking it easy is a good thing.”

Percy made a face. “I was taking it easy until you said that. Man, tomorrow is going to suck.”

***

"So part of your personality is chatting up pretty blondes?" Apollo laughed as Nico’s selfie appeared on the screen.

Nico was standing beside Jason in front of the judges. Jason’s picture was shown on the other half of the screen, showing him hanging upside down and looking good doing it. Nico’s selfie on the other hand just showed Nico glaring at Will, who was grinning widely.

Nico felt his cheeks heat up. "That's not what I was going for."

“What were you going for then?” Juno asked with a frown. “Jason’s clearly showing us his athletic side, but what are you showing?”

“He’s showing me that my son is slacking off on the job,” Apollo grinned, then laughed at Nico’s baffled expression. “Will didn’t tell you?”

“No. No, he didn’t,” Nico said. “We didn’t really have time to talk much.”

“Well, you two make an interesting contrast,” Ve smiled. “That’s what you were aiming for?”

“Something like that,” Nico agreed, a little relieved that he didn’t have to admit he hadn’t really had a plan at all, though he guessed the judges had seen right through him.

“Okay then, let’s see your superhero-photo now,” Ve said, and the selfies disappeared to make room for the larger picture. It showed two super heroes flying around, holding hands while looking at each other. Nico frowned. It must have been one of the earlier frames while he was still trying get some semblance of balance and Jason helped him.

"Well, this is an interesting picture," Ve said. "It doesn't really look like a hero and his sidekick."

"It looks like two heroes flying off on a date," Apollo laughed. "The rest of the pictures were pretty much the same."

"I disagree. I think it's pretty clear who the hero is in this picture," Juno said. Nico was forced to agree with her, and the picture didn't even show just how much of a hero Jason had been at the actual shoot, going out of his way to make Nico feel safe.

"That's your opinion," Apollo shrugged. "It's not exactly what we asked for, guys, but I really like this picture. And it's nice to see another expression from Jason for once. We should pair you up with Nico more often."

"I agree. It has a wonderful romantic vibe," Ve sighed, smiling widely. "Thanks, guys. You can step back."

***

“Well, my friends, we have a tough decision ahead of us,” Ve said. “Four people are going home tonight. Let’s try to make the right choice.”

“We’re the judges, there’s no one else to tell us if we choose wrong,” Apollo grinned.

“We’ll go through them all one by one,” Ve said. “Let’s start with Piper.”

“Lovely girl, great charisma, awesome photos,” Apollo said dismissively.

“And a terrible fashion sense when it comes to everyday clothes,” Juno added with a frown. “But she is one of our strongest competitors this season.”

“Percy?”

“Too much of a joker, doesn’t take things seriously enough,” Juno said.

“But he does look good in the pictures,” Apollo said.

“I agree. I like him,” Ve smiled. “He’s a wild one.”

“Too wild, maybe,” Juno said dryly.

“Okay, Annabeth?” Ve asked, then smiled. “She and Percy are just the cutest couple.”

“This is the season of love,” Apollo laughed. “Good pictures, good walk, good fashion sense.”

“She’s too much of a know-it-all,” Juno wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like her.”

“You don’t like anyone,” Ve smiled. “Except maybe Jason.”

“Jason is one of the best,” Juno nodded stiffly. “He is a model, unlike most of the others.”

“I still maintain that he is boring,” Apollo said. “Except when paired with Nico, apparently.”

“Jason doesn’t need Nico to be interesting,” Juno said. “This week he was clearly the winner.”

“I actually disagree,” Ve inflicted. “I think the best shot of the week was Hazel.”

“Now there’s a wildcard,” Apollo grinned. “You never quite know where you have her, but when she’s good she’s miles ahead of the rest.”

“You can’t make a career out of being good sometimes,” Juno said grumpily.

“Okay, moving on. Frank?” Ve smiled. “The love of Hazel’s life?”

“And suffering from the same inconsistency, unfortunately,” Apollo said. “But when you get him to feel comfortable he can do anything.”

“This is not an industry where showing discomfort is acceptable,” Juno said. “Frank has potential, but he needs time to grow, and this is not the place for it.”

“What about Reyna?” Ve said. “She seems a bit stiff to me.”

“She’s very professional on the runway,” Juno said. “On of the best, definitely.”

“But not so much in photographs. She glares at the camera,” Apollo said. “Not my favorite.”

“Your favorite glares at the camera just as much as Reyna does,” Juno scoffed.

“Yeah, but Nico is so cute,” Apollo grinned. “And he looks good when he does it. Reyna just looks terrifying.”

“Hypocrite,” Juno muttered.

“Moving on to Nico, then,” Ve said. “You’ve been divided from the start when it comes to him.”

“I admit he’s gotten better, but he’s still not a model,” Juno said. “He sinks into the shadows rather than stand in the spotlight.”

“And he does it well, considering that selfie with Will,” Apollo grinned.

“Don’t forget we have to take last week’s results into account as well,” Ve reminded them. “Who do we send home?”

***

Hazel’s was the first name to be called that day. She smiled brightly as she accepted her picture, but gave Nico a worried look as she walked to the side to wait for the rest of the elimination to be over. Nico tried to smile at her, but he was nervous. More nervous than he should have been, considering he didn’t exactly consider himself a model.

“Jason Grace,” Ve said, and Jason went to join Hazel on the side. “Now, six talented young models stand before me, but I only have two more photos in my hands.”

She paused for a while, then turned the third photo. “Piper Mclean.”

“Congratulations,” Annabeth told Piper, and both her and Reyna gave her hugs before she went up to get her photo and joined Jason and Hazel.

“Nico di Angelo,” Ve called turning the last photo over, and Nico felt Percy pat his back.

“Good work,” he said, and Nico went to accept his photo.

Afterwards there were hugs and tears all around, as their group was cut in half. Nico watched them walk away with a lump in his throat. It was almost strange how they had all become friends over the course of only a few weeks. Nico was going to miss them.

***

Hazel came to hang out in Nico's room that evening. She didn't say so, but Nico suspected she really missed Frank. They had become close, after all, and Nico suspected Hazel was in love with him. Nico put an arm around her and kissed forehead.

“We’ll get out of here soon,” he told her. “You can call him then.”

“It’s not just Frank,” Hazel said, leaning against him. “Annabeth and Reyna were really nice as well. And I know you and Percy have history, but I thought he seemed like a good guy.”

“He is,” Nico confirmed. “I’ll miss them as well, but there’s nothing preventing us from keeping contact once the competition is over.”

“You’re right,” Hazel said. “Still, the house feels empty.”

Nico smiled. “Imagine how empty it will be for the finalists. You can tell me about that after you win.”

Hazel laughed. “I won’t have to. You’ll be there.”

Before Nico could answer there was a knock on the door and Jason appeared in the doorway.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt,” he said. “Piper and I were planning on watching a movie to take our minds of things. You’re welcome to join.”

Nico and Hazel exchanged a glance, then shrugged. “Sure. We’ll be right there.”

Chapter Text

The house was starting to get empty. Nico thought his footsteps were uncomfortably loud as he made his way down the stairs to the kitchen early in the morning. He had woken up early again, probably as a result of the sudden silence. Frank hadn’t exactly been a loud roommate, far from it, but it was still a noticeable change.

Nico was halfway through his breakfast when Jason entered, looking like he hadn’t slept all that well either. Nico was a bit surprised when he just grabbed a bowl of corn flakes and just sunk down at the table.

“Don’t you usually start your day in the gym?” he asked, and Jason shrugged.

“Not always,” he said. “I don’t feel like it today.”

“Nervous?” Nico asked, and Jason made a face at him.

“Aren’t you? We’re down to the final four,” Jason said. “One mistake, and it’ll cost you the competition.”

Nico hesitated. He was a bit nervous, even though he was pretty sure he would be going home after the next judging whether he made mistakes or not. After all, Jason was his opponent, and he was looking like a corn flakes commercial just sitting there eating breakfast.

“You still there?” Jason asked with a small smile, bringing Nico back to the present.

“Sorry, I must have spaced out,” Nico said, shaking his head. “But I’m sure you’ll do fine. You only need to be better than me, after all.”

“Thanks, now I’m really nervous,” Jason laughed.

***

Going to strange locations for photo shoots was starting to become routine at this point. Piper and Hazel spent the car ride trying to guess what the shoot would be, but Nico didn’t really listen. After all, they had no way of knowing.

They were taken to yet another studio, and Nico looked around curiously as Ve approached them. There were no fish tanks or zoo animals or medieval torture instruments to be seen, nothing out of the ordinary. The set seemed simple, but judging by Ve’s amused smile this was going to be anything but simple.

“Hello, guys. Welcome to this week’s photo shoot,” Ve greeted them. “Today, you will be shooting ads for Olympus Make-Up’s new skin-care product line, Ambrosia. To show off your beautiful skin, you will be naked from the waist up. That goes for both boys and girls.”

"Naked?" Hazel repeated, blushing violently, and Nico cringed. As much as he was going to hate this, Hazel was going to hate it more. An old-fashioned upbringing didn’t really prepare you for public nudity.

"That's right, but just from the waist up," Ve said cheerfully. "And you will be accompanied by the other two of the opposite sex in your shoot. You know, the old "use our product and all girls or boys will want you"-kind of deal. Good luck. I look forward to seeing your pictures."

Nico gave his sister a worried look as Ve left them after the explanation. "You going to be okay?" he asked quietly.

"We'll see," Hazel said. She gave him a small smile, but sounded a bit shaken.

"Don't worry, you can cover yourself until you're actually on set," Piper said reassuringly. "And even then they're going to want you to find a way to cover your nipples. It'll be fine."

"Yeah, but still, being half-naked in front of people..." Hazel muttered.

"If you want to back out I'll come with you," Nico said, but Hazel shook her head.

"No, I want to try," she said, determinedly turning around towards hair and makeup.

Despite her determination, Hazel was clearly uncomfortable with the whole thing. She was covering herself up with a towel and seemed to be trying to hide behind Piper when the two girls joined him and Jason on set later. Both of them were wearing really long-haired wigs, presumably to cover their breasts. Nico walked over to give Hazel a reassuring hug, and her skin felt as sticky with all kinds of products as his was.

"You'll be fine," he told her gently. "And if you want to back out just tell me, okay?"

"Thank you," she murmured

"Okay, Hazel. You're up first," the photographer said. It wasn't Apollo this time, and Nico wasn’t sure whether or not that was a good thing.

"Oh, god," Hazel muttered.

"Don't worry, I'll be right there, remember?" Nico said.

"One guy on either side of her, please," the photographer said. "And lose the towel."

Hazel blushed furiously, using Nico as a shield against the world as she threw the towel aside and frantically tried to arrange her hair to cover as much as possible.

"We're supposed to be pretty close by," Jason said as he approached them. "But if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable just tell me."

"Thanks," Hazel smiled nervously.

"Okay, ready?" the photographer asked. "Move closer, please. Remember, guys: You want her."

Nico wasn't so sure he could pull that off this time either. He moved closer to his sister, noticing how tense and scared she looked, and a wave of protectiveness came over him.

"Okay, Nico, now you look angry," the photographer said. "Try to soften that a bit, will you? And Hazel, they're not going to hurt you."

"Think 'queen', Hazel," Piper shouted from the sidelines. "They are just your slaves or something. You're in charge here."

"She's right, you know," Jason said.

"Okay, I'll try," Hazel nodded. Nico smiled, and leaned in to kiss her cheek as encouragement.

"There! That's good!" the photographer said. "Hold that pose for a bit. Nice!"

Things worked well enough after that. Hazel seemed to be a little more confident, which meant Nico could relax. Trying to look anything but brotherly was still a challenge, though.

They switched places after a while, and Piper replaced Jason.

"Hello, Nico, you sexy thing," she grinned.

Nico blushed a bit as he rolled his eyes, trying not to notice that she was a lot less concerned about covering up than Hazel was. Breasts had never done much for him, but that didn’t mean he was completely comfortable being exposed to them. Hazel wasn’t the only one with an old-fashioned upbringing, after all.

"If you make me laugh we're never getting out of here," he warned her, and she briefly stuck out her tongue at him before starting to play her role, which apparently included being way too interested in his ears. Nico thought it was weird, but the photographer seemed to love it.

"That looks great," he said. "Hazel, look up at him. Good."

It was Piper's turn next, so Nico remained on set while Hazel walked off to watch, covering herself with the towel again.

"So you two are madly in love with me, right?" Piper grinned towards Nico and Jason as they positioned themselves around her.

"Of course," Jason said with a smile. "Isn't that right, Nico?"

"Naturally," Nico answered dryly, and Piper laughed as she reached up to touch both of their cheeks.

"Jerks," she said.

"Hold that pose," the photographer shouted.

Afterwards he hung back to watch Jason's shoot. After making sure Hazel was okay, which he needn't have worried about because Jason was very respectful of both girls, Nico could relax and just look. It really looked like an ad was supposed to look like, beautiful people standing with their arms around each other. Nico had done well on his photos so far, but he had no illusions about his looks. Some people might find his face intriguing, but he didn't look like a model, and he knew it.

Jason on the other hand was a model all the way to his fingertips. His only blemish was that thin scar across his lips, and all it did was add some personality. Nico's eyes wandered over Jason's chest, following Piper's fingers as she ran her hand over his muscles. Nico wondered what it would feel like to actually do that.

He shook his head, trying to get rid of the thought. He was undoubtedly going home this week, because Jason losing to him was an impossibility, but it was still a bad idea to get all hot and bothered over the abs of another contestant. In front of the whole country, no less.

***

There was an envelope waiting on the table when they got back to the house.

Tomorrow you will be doing commercials for Hecate's new “Mist” perfume and aftershave respectively. This envelope contains four papers with the lines you will have to learn. Make sure you know them by heart. Good luck!

"A commercial," Hazel said excitedly, reading over Nico’s shoulder. “That sounds fun!”

"I guess we've got homework," Nico smiled, handing out the scripts. It was just one piece of paper each and just one paragraph of text, so Nico didn't think it would take that long to learn. There was a long silence as they all read through their lines.

"You want to help me practice?" Hazel asked Piper, who nodded.

"Sure," she said, then gave Jason a worried look. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I can handle it," Jason smiled, though his expression faltered the she turned her back and followed Hazel upstairs.

"Is something wrong?" Nico asked, and Jason sighed.

"I'm really dyslectic, and on top of that I have a hard time learning words by heart," he said, seemingly a bit embarrassed as he readjusted his glasses. "Would you mind practicing with me? I know you probably have your own way to learn things but..."

"I don't mind," Nico said, slightly disbelieving. Had he honestly expected Nico to leave him to fend for himself after all the help he had given him throughout the competition? "Do you want me to read the whole thing aloud for you first?"

"Thanks, that would be great," Jason smiled, looking relieved.

***

It was another early morning when they were taken to the film studio. Walking onto the set felt a bit disorienting, because the set was liy to look like a late evening party in a garden outdoors, despit it being inside and before dawn. Nico was actually pretty impressed by the effect, but he didn’t have much time to marvel at it before Apollo and Ve appeared.

“Hello, kids,” Apollo grinned, like the early hour didn’t bother him the slightest. “Ready to sell some perfume?”

“It’s the same deal as yesterday, ‘use this product and all girls or boys will want you’, so be sure to apply what you learned then,” Ve said with a smile. “You will dance around, smell each other, retreat into the library for a private moment and read your lines. Oh, and you need to act mysterious and alluring, as that is the basis for the Hekate trademark.”

“It’s a very simple and basic thirty second commercial,” Apollo nodded. “And it’ll take all day. Let’s see who’s still standing at the end.”

The dancing was, surprisingly, the easiest part. The choreographers walked them through it in ten minutes, just some basic waltz steps and twirling around each other while the background dancers took care of the rest. The hardest part was pretending to get enchanted by Hazel’s and Piper’s perfume, and pretending to enchant them. And then look into the camera at the end to say the lines. It took at least two hours before Apollo was satisfied enough with their performance to finally send them away to hair and makeup to prepare for the actual shooting.

A while later Nico found himself dressed in some sort of eighteenth century-inspired coat and handed a richly decorated mask on a stick. His hair was gathered in a low ponytail, and his shoes had heels. Nico had always been fond of dress-up and masquerades, so it was kind of fun, even if he had to admit Jason wore the costume a lot better than he did. Piper and Hazel were beautiful in their ballgowns and up-dos, as well.

“Well, how do we look?” Hazel smiled as they approached. She twirled around to show of the flow of her dress, and Nico smiled.

“Stunning,” he said. “And only slightly more historically accurate than we are, which isn’t saying a lot.”

“I think they are going for fairy tale rather than historical accuracy,” Piper smiled. “So which one of you is prince charming?”

“They both are,” Apollo sang cheerfully, appearing behind them with a grin. “Let’s get started then. I hope nobody has asthma.”

Nico frowned, a little confused until the smoke machines turned on. Then again, the perfume/aftershave was called “Mist” so he supposed it made sense.

They started with the dancing scene, repeating it over and and over and barely stopping between takes. Nico was starting to get dizzy from all the spinning and the smoke when Apollo finally decided it was enough.

“Good work, everyone. Let’s take a ten minute break before moving on to the whole seducing-part,” he announced, and Nico sank down in a chair with a sigh.

“Hey, you okay?” a familiar voice said behind him, and Nico looked up in surprise. Will gave him a bright grin as he sat down in the chair beside him.

“I’m fine. There was just a little too much spinning for me,” Nico said truthfully. “I didn’t realize you were here.”

“Well, dad forced me to come work during my day off,” Will shrugged. “And I don’t blame you for not noticing. They are really drilling you guys today, aren’t they?”

“You could say that,” Nico nodded. “Sorry if I got you in trouble after last time, with the photo.”

Will laughed. “Don’t be. Dad was all proud of me for showing my face on tv.”

“Someone you know?” Jason asked, handing Nico a glass of water as he sat down in the chair beside him.

“Will, Jason. Jason, Will,” Nico introduced them absentmindedly before taking a big gulp of water. He hadn’t even realized how thirsty he was.

“Right, you were in Nico’s selfie last time,” Jason said as the two shook hands.

“Guilty,” Will said, looking between them with a smile. “So that’s how it is, huh?”

“That’s how what is?” Nico asked with a frown, but they were interrupted before Will had time to answer.

“Time’s up,” Apollo shouted. “You can all flirt later. Let’s try to wrap this up before midnight!”

Nico quickly emptied the glass, then sighed as he walked back on set, hoping his attempts at “mysterious and seductive” wouldn’t end up as “creepy”.

***

They did manage to get finished before midnight, with a whole hour to spare. Still, it was way past that when finally got back to the house. Hazel and Piper went off to bed immediately, but Nico went out on the balcony instead. The cold night air was wonderfully refreshing after spending the whole day in a smoky room. Jason joined him a while later, though neither of them said anything for a while, just concentrating on breathing.

"So tomorrow evening I'm going home," Nico said, finally breaking the silence. He looked up at the dark sky, but couldn’t see any stars.

Jason snorted. "I seriously doubt that. You did better than I did today," he said. "I can do runway shows and photo shoots okay, but I'm terrible with words. For some reason my tongue tends to stumble over them."

"I've never noticed," Nico said, and Jason gave him a smile.

"You're easy to talk to. I don't know why," he said, and suddenly there were butterflies in Nico’s stomach. It didn't help that Jason was standing close enough that Nico could feel the heat radiating off him in the cold air. He wasn’t sure how to answer that.

Jason cleared his throat. "Hey, Nico. I was wondering..." he trailed off, looking nervous as he turned his gaze toward the ground.

"What is it?" Nico asked carefully, trying not to let his imagination run wild.

"I just...One of us is going home tomorrow," he said. "And I was thinking...We're friends, right?"

"Right," Nico nodded, wondering where this was going.

"So could I have your phone number?" Jason asked, and Nico could swear he was blushing.

"Sure," Nico said, feeling his own cheeks grow hot as well. "We should meet up sometime after we both get out of here."

"That's what I was thinking," Jason said, looking relieved. "You live in LA, right?"

"Yeah, I have an apartment near campus," Nico said. "You could crash there if you're ever in town."

"That sounds great," Jason smiled, looking ridiculously happy, and Nico got a bit lost in his smile for a few seconds before remembering that they were likely being filmed right now.

"We should probably head back in," Nico said uncertainly, and Jason nodded, a little deflated for some reason.

***

“Oh, you guys look great. I want a dress like that,” Ve exclaimed as Piper’s version of the commercial showed.

“You have at least four dresses like that. I’ve seen them,” Apollo scoffed.

“One can never have too many dresses,” Ve said dismissively, then smiled as she turned back to Piper. “Excellent work. More charming than mysterious, maybe, but it works for you.”

“Very convincing,” Juno nodded. “I’d buy that perfume.“

“Yes, who wouldn’t want a fragrance that brings all the boys to the yard,” Apollo laughed, earning a scowl from Juno.

They went on to look at Piper’s skin care photo, which she unsurprisingly looked great in. Nico thought he himself looked a little out of place at Piper’s left, but since she clearly was the focus of the picture it didn’t really matter.

Jason had been right, his lines in the commercial sounded a little stiff, but he looked great, and as Juno loudly pointed out, that alone sold the product. Apollo complained that his photo had the same expression again, but Nico didn’t see how that was a bad thing. He was gorgeous no matter what expression he wore.

Hazel’s commercial was apparently “very enchanting”, and Nico smiled proudly at his sister’s success. Still, all three judges agreed she looked a bit too shy in her photo.

“It’s also clear that you’re more comfortable with Nico than Jason,” Juno said. “Understandable, but it shouldn’t be apparent in your photo.”

“An easy thing to get over with a little practice,” Ve said with a smile. “ Thanks, Hazel. You can step back.”

Nico took a deep breath as they called him forward and his commercial started playing. He tried to think objectively about his performance, but seeing himself on screen was still embarrassing. When the commercial ended he had no idea what to think. The judges on the other hand clearly knew.

“Mysterious and a little bit dangerous,” Ve nodded. “I think that was my favorite.”

“Some of the takes crossed the border into creepy,” Apollo said with a grin. “Still, you got it in the end.”

“It was... adequate,” Juno said, and Nico couldn’t help smiling. If Juno wasn’t complaining, it must have been great.

“Now for this week’s photo,” Ve said, and the picture appeared on the screen, showing Nico with the two girls by his side. “Oh would you look at that.”

Apollo laughed. “Poor girls. So close to you and yet completely ignored. Were you flirting with the cameraman?”

Nico could feel his face burning. Thinking back, he had probably been looking at Jason behind the cameraman rather than the cameraman himself “Erm, no,” he managed, and Juno gave him a frown.

“It’s true you look way more interested in whoever is looking at the picture than the girls in your arms,” she said.

“Which is perfect for a picture like this,” Ve smiled. “Thanks, Nico. You can head back.”

***

“Alright, time to choose our finalists,” Ve said seriously. “It won’t be an easy choice.”

“It’s never been an easy choice,” Juno pointed out.

“So, girls first,” Ve continued. “Piper or Hazel?”

“Piper has been on top this entire competition,” Juno said.

Apollo nodded. “But Hazel has come further, considering where she started. She has amazing potential.”

“Undoubtedly,” Juno nodded. “She could go far, but what matters is where she is right now.”

“Okay, how about the boys,” Ve moved on for the camera’s sake. “Jason and Nico. Couldn’t be more different.”

“It’s pretty much the same story,” Apollo sighed. “Jason is a safe bet, but Nico has a habit of surprising us.”

“For once, I agree,” Juno said sourly. “Nico’s commercial was excellent. I just wonder if he actually wants this.”

“Well, I want him to want it,” Apollo grinned.

“My point is that the opportunity might be wasted on him,” Juno said coldly. “Jason would appreciate it more.”

“This competition isn’t about pleasing the competitors,” Ve said. “So who goes home?”

***

“I want you to know that this was a hard decision,” Ve said as she stood before them, holding the covered photos of the finalists. “In fact, I think this is the longest deliberation we’ve ever had on this show.”

“And the most shouting we’ve done,” Apollo added. “My throat is still sore.”

Ve ignored him. “You all deserve this, but there can only be two finalists.” she paused theatrically before revealing the first photo. “Piper McLean.”
Piper gave Hazel a hug before accepting her photo. She looked happy but conflicted as walked to the side to await the next name.

“Nico di Angelo.”

Nico was beyond shocked when his name was called. It was more habit than anything else that moved his feet forward to accept his photo.

"Congratulations," Ve said.

"Thank you," Nico replied automatically, then turned around. Hazel came forward to hug him, looking really happy for him despite her own loss.

"You're amazing," she said. "You're going to win the whole thing."

"I'll try," Nico managed. When Hazel took a step back Jason was there, having just said goodbye to Piper.

"Sorry," Nico told him, and Jason laughed.

"You deserve it," he said, then took a step forward and awkwardly offered Nico his hand. "Good luck."

"Thanks. I'll see you soon?" Nico said as he shook Jason's hand, and Jason smiled wider at that.

"I hope so, Nico," he said.

They didn't have time to say more before Hazel and Jason had to leave. Piper and Nico remained to listen to the "you are the finalists best of the best this is the real challenge"-speech Nico never thought he'd hear. Not that he exactly heard it now, either. He was still in shock.

***

The house was eerily quiet when they got home. Piper's heels echoed in the hall.

She sighed as she took off her coat. "Do you want a drink?"

"Gods yes."

Piper made them both impromptu screwdrivers, and they settled up on the same balcony Jason and Nico had talked the night before.

"It's strange," Piper said as she took a sip of her drink. "It's just you and me left."

"It's strange alright," Nico agreed. "I never expected to make it past the first challenge, let alone all the way to the finale."

"Jason was right, you know. You deserve it," Piper said. "What are you going to do if you win?"

Nico shrugged. "I haven't really thought about it. Model, I expect."

"That goes without saying," Piper laughed. "I wonder what they are going to throw at us tomorrow."

"They are probably going to bury us alive and expect us to dig our way through the mud and be fierce when we emerge," Nico said, and Piper laughed harder.

"I bet you could pull that off," she said.

"If anyone can pull it off it's you," Nico said. "Have you taken a single bad picture since you came here?"

"Not really, but neither have you," Piper pointed out. "Really, either of us could win this, but no hard feelings either way, right?"

"None," Nico agreed, lifting his glass, and they toasted to that.

Chapter Text

Piper's face mirrored Nico's mood when she sat down in front of him at the breakfast table the following morning. They had been up late, neither one of the eager to face the finale, and now they were paying the price for it.

“You look like shit,” she commented with a yawn, and he made a face at her.

“Right back at you,” he said.

Piper sighed theatrically. “I know. Forget top models, we should be America’s Next Face In Sleep Depravity,” she said, taking a big gulp of coffee, then making a face. “Ugh, that’s bitter.”

“Let’s just hope today’s photo shoot involves zombies,” Nico smiled.

No such luck, as it turned out. Shortly after breakfast they were taken to the local opera house to pose at the grand stairwell underneath a massive crystal chandelier.

“And of course you will be wearing red carpet attire,” Ve said, positively giddy about the whole thing. “You will be taking two photos, one alone and one together. These will run in Elysium Magazine if you win.”

She wished them good luck and walked away. “Of all the days to have a beauty-focused shoot,” Piper muttered as they made their way over to hair and make up.

“You’ll do great,” Nico assured her, and she shrugged.

“Oh well, could be worse. At least we don’t have to perform opera or something.”

“Don’t let Apollo hear you say that,” Nico grinned.

Nico was dressed up in a black suit and tie when he walked on set, and Piper, beautiful in a red strapless gown, gave him a wolf whistle.

“Who is this handsome man and what has he done with Nico?” she teased him, and Nico could feel himself blushing from embarrassment.

“I feel like a scrawny 007,” he confessed, and Piper laughed.

“Well, Mr. Bond, I’ll be your leading lady for tonight,” she said. “To be honest I’d rather do another action photo shoot than this.”

“Right there with you,” Nico nodded.

“Aww, you guys look adorable,” Apollo grinned as he walked up to them. “Let’s get ready for the shoot. Piper, you first. Up the stairs.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, taking a hold of the dress with one hand and lifting it slightly. She shot Nico a look as she started walking. “Let’s see if I can do this without falling on my face.”

“Just make sure you look good when you fall,” Nico grinned, and she stuck out her tongue at him.

She rocked her shoot, of course. Sleep deprived or not, she looked right at home in the environment, making it work in her favor. Nico wished he had her ability to adapt. He felt completely out of place in the high-class surroundings dressed up like a British secret agent, even more so when it was his turn in front of the camera.

For the first few shots he had no idea what to do. He was completely alone, and there were no props or anything for him to work with. This, he supposed, was the difference between a professional model and an amateur.

“You awake there, Nico?” Apollo called from behind the camera. “Come on, give me something here.”

“Sorry,” Nico said, trying not to panic. He needed to figure out something, and fast. All they had given him to work with was the suit.

“Ready?” Apollo called.

“Ready,” Nico answered. Screw it, he decided. Might as well go all out with the James Bond thing and play it like he was on a secret mission with a gun in his pocket and mayhem on his mind. Adjusting his tie, he tried channeling Sean Connery.

“Oh, now we’re talking. Keep it up,” Apollo sang as the camera flashed.

Finally his turn was over and Piper joined him on set for the the last pictures. She grinned at him and took his arm like they were a couple on the red carpet, .

“Okay, I think we got it. Good work,” Apollo shouted after just a few flashes. “I still have ten frames or so for you, though, so feel free to goof off.”

Those last few frames were probably the most fun Nico had had in front of a camera the entire competition. Since neither of them had any qualms about looking stupid anymore, they struck the silliest poses. Piper even talked him into dipping her like they were dancing.

“Okay, that’s it. Last photo of the season,” Apollo called, and the camera flashed once. “This is sad, I’m going to miss you two.”

“Aw, we’ll miss you too,” Piper told him, and Nico looked around, realizing that yes, stressful as it had been, he would miss this when it was over. Which was the day after tomorrow. Still, it wasn’t the same without Hazel there. Or Jason.

Smiling, he tried to picture how Jason would have looked in the suit. It was a nice mental image.

***

“Usually the last competition is a runway show,” Piper said when they got back to the house. “How’s your walk?”

“Reyna gave me a lot of useful tips, but that was a while ago,” Nico said. “So I’d say terrible.”

“I could use some practise myself,” Piper nodded. “Let me just get my heels.”

She looked pretty funny wearing stylish high heels together with sweatpants and a hoodie, but the way she walked you’d have thought it was couture. Nico didn’t do nearly as well, but he had improved somewhat. They managed about half an hour of actual practice before the whole thing ended up in a competition for the silliest walk rather than the most stylish. Nico even coached Piper in how to walk like a movie zombie.

“Imagine doing a fashion show like this,” Piper laughed, as she walked towards him with her arms in front of her. “Grr. Argh.”

“I’d watch that,” Nico grinned. “I doubt this is what we’re going to do tomorrow, though.”

“No, that will be ‘walk walk fashion baby’ rather than ‘braaaiiins’,” Piper said. “Can you do that slow, creepy ghost walk?”

“It’s just a slow walk, isn’t it?” Nico pondered. “Let me try.”

Piper laughed loudly as Nico completely failed at being creepy for once. His only saving grace was that she didn’t do any better.

***

To say Nico was nervous the following day would have been a vast understatement. The fashion show they had done earlier in the competition was nothing compared to this. The catwalk was at least twice as long and there were ten times as many seats around it, waiting to be filled with all kinds of people from the fashion industry. Nico was so busy looking around that he missed Ve telling them the name of the designer whose clothes they would be wearing, though the suspected he wouldn’t have recognized it anyway.

Luckily he and Piper weren’t the only models in the show. There were joined by ten or so other people he vaguely recognized from earlier seasons of the competition. They all introduced themselves, but there was a little too much happening at once for him to remember all the names.

“Nervous?” the winner from last year, a pretty girl named Silena, asked him with a smile. Nico nodded.

“Terrified.”

“I remember how scared I was when I was in your shoes,” she said. “Don’t worry. You’ll do great. You definitely have the right look for this designer, at least.”

Nico didn’t have time to ask what she meant, but once he was in the make up chair it quickly became clear. White powder, heavy eyeliner and the biggest, messiest hair he’d ever had indicated a sort of gothic, somewhat Tim Burton-inspired aesthetic. And he was a thin, stick-figure kind of guy, so it really did fit.

The first set of clothes he got dressed up in felt more steampunk than gothic, though, top hat and goggles and a detailed utility belt. For some reason someone had decided it was a good idea to stick a stuffed crow to his shoulder.

“Why?” he asked the girl helping to dress him, and she shrugged.

“The designer wanted it that way,” she said. “Something about ravens being poetic.”

Nico frowned. “This is a crow.”

“I wouldn’t know. The designer said it was a raven,” the girl said, frowning at the bird. “So it’s a raven to me.”

“It’s still a crow.”

“Don’t tell him that,” she said, giving him a wink. “You’re ready. Now we just have to wait for the show to start.”

Nico hoped that would be soon. The room backstage was full of people and quickly getting hot, not to mention his hands were starting to shake from nervosity. He briefly caught Piper’s eye across the room and she gave him a pale smile, looking as nervous as he felt. At least he wasn’t alone in this. And at least the thing on his shoulder was a crow, not a monkey like Piper’s. Honestly, what was the designer thinking?

“Everybody settle down. The show is starting,” the guy by the door announced. “Form a line, please.”

Nico was third in line, but it still felt like an eternity until he was ushered out on the runway. Silena walked past him about halfway, looking extremely professional despite the parrot on her shoulder. Nico decided to try to aim for that.

The rest of the show passed in a blur, with him trying to walk down the runway like he hadn’t been mangled by the assistants trying to quickly switch his clothes backstage between every walk. It was probably apparent to everyone that he was an amateur among professionals, but at least nobody threw him out. And he didn’t fall on his face this time either, so that was a victory.

After the show he and Piper were both given one outfit as a memory, under the condition that they wear them during the last judging. It was a pretty huge gift considering the prices these clothes fetched on the market. Nico was pretty sure he’d have food for half a year if he sold it, but it was actually one of the nicer outfits, a nineteenth century inspired suit and coat with a steampunk twist, fitting like it had been tailored for him, so he decided to keep it.

“It’s over,” Nico breathed as they got back to the house that evening. He sunk down on the couch, completely exhausted. Piper nodded as she claimed the armchair.

“It is. We should celebrate.”

“Yeah, we should,” Nico agreed, but neither of them moved, too tired for celebrations. Finally Piper sighed.

“I’m glad it’s the last day tomorrow. I miss the others.”

“Me too,” Nico agreed. “We should try to get together again in the future at some point.”

“Definitely,” Piper nodded, then smirked. “I think I know who you miss the most.”

“Hazel?” Nico said dryly, and Piper laughed.

“Of course. Apart from that,” she said with a dismissive wave. “You and Jason were getting quite close at the end there, weren’t you?”

Nico felt his face grow hot. “It wasn’t...” he tried, scowling at her disbelieving look. “Can we not discuss this in front of all the cameras?”

“Sure,” Piper said, and Nico was glad she didn’t push the issue. There was silence for a while.

“Want to stuff ourselves full of popcorn and chips and watch a movie?” Piper asked, and Nico nodded.

“Sounds perfect.”

***

The judging felt different this time. Maybe it was because it was the finale and the last time he would have to experience it, but Nico felt strangely calm. He had given it his all, and had nothing left to prove. Win or lose, it was out of his hands now.

“Welcome,” Ve greeted them, sounding strangely solemn. “You’ve both come a long way, and now it is time for your final judging. Piper, you’re first.”

“Your work on the runway was very professional,” Juno said as Piper stepped forward. “I honestly couldn’t see any difference between you and the models who’ve been doing this for years. Good job.”

“Thank you,” Piper smiled.

“I agree, you have a slightly tomboyish, flirty attitude when you walk that I absolutely adore,” Apollo added. “You’ll go far.”

“Now let’s see your picture,” Ve said, and Piper’s photo appeared on the screen. She looked stunning, the very image of poise and grace, but with a playful hint in her eyes. It could easily have been the cover of a magazine.

“I had a hard time picking which frame to use,” Apollo said. “There were so many good pictures to choose from.”

“I really love this one,” Juno nodded. “Very classy.”

“Thanks Piper, you can step back,” Ve smiled. “Nico, you’re next.”

Nico did feel a hint of nervosity when he took a step forward, but it wasn’t as bad as he would have expected.

“Well, your runway walk was decent,” Juno said, looking vaguely like it pained her to admit it. “I’m glad to see you’ve practiced.”

“You looked right at home in that setting, too,” Apollo grinned. “Well, you still do. It really is your style.”

“Speaking of style, let’s see your photo,” Ve said, and Nico turned towards the screen. The picture didn’t really look much like him at all.

“This was a surprise,” Ve smiled. “Very suave.”

“I can’t believe you pulled that off,” Apollo laughed. “You had a rocky start, and then suddenly you turned into a different person.”

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t think you’d succeed at a shoot like this,” Juno said. “You managed to prove me wrong.”

“Again and again. He’s good at that,” Apollo grinned.

“Thanks, Nico,” Ve said. “Now let’s the the picture of you together.”

Nico gaped as the picture appeared. For some reason Apollo had chosen a photo from the later part of the shoot, where they were pretending to dance and Nico was dipping Piper. They were both smiling playfully, looking like they were having fun.

“There were so many good photos,” Apollo said. “But I really liked this one. It has so much energy.”

“I agree. You two look adorable,” Ve said. “A very fitting last photo for what have been a fun season.”

Nico couldn’t exactly argue with that.

***

“Okay, this is it, friends,” Ve said. “Who will be America’s next top model?”

“I’m sure you all know what I think,” Juno said. “Piper is the clear choice.”

“But Nico has taken everything we’ve thrown at him and turned it into his own thing,” Apollo said. “You said it yourself, he keeps surprising us.”

“Meaning you never know what you’re going to get,” Juno pointed out. “I admit, when he walked up to us on the first day I would never have thought he’d make it half as far as he has, but he’s not quite there yet.”

“Neither is Piper,” Apollo said. “Oh, she’s very talented and fun to work with, but she also have ways to go.”

“She wants it more than Nico does,” Juno said sourly. “He’s made it all the way to the finale, and he still looks like he isn’t sure he’s supposed to be here.”

“I think that’s just his default state. It’s adorable, isn’t it?” Apollo grinned. “Look. I’m not saying Piper doesn’t deserve to win, but Nico does too.”

“And yet we can only have one winner,” Juno said, and Ve sighed deeply.

“So who do we choose?”

***

“First of all, I want you both to know you’ve both done an excellent job. I wish we could have chosen both of you,” Ve said. “However, a decision has been made.”

Piper silently took Nico’s hand as they waited for the announcement.

"The winner of America's Next Top Model is..." Ve said seriously, pausing forever until she finally continued: "Piper McLean!"

Confetti started falling from the roof as Piper covered her mouth with her hand, clearly shocked. Nico wasn't. He would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed, but he wasn't surprised.

"Congratulations," he smiled, giving her a hug. "You deserve it."

She laughed happily as she held on to him tightly. "So do you," she said.

Nico smiled, placing a brotherly kiss on the cheek before taking a step back. "Go get your prizes," he said. "Remember, you get a car!"

"I do, don't I? Among other things," Piper grinned, then approached the judges' table while Nico stepped back into the shadows.

He couldn't decide if he was more relieved or disappointed, really. On the one hand, coming in second always sucked, especially when the journey was this long. It had been fun, and he had learned a lot. On the other hand, he was now free to do whatever he wanted again. If he decided he wanted to model, there would be time for that later.

Besides, looking at Piper's smiling face he couldn't be anything but happy for her.

***

Coming home was weird at first. Nico hadn't really been alone for weeks, and now he came back to an empty apartment. As much as the constant noise in the house had irritated him, now he found that he missed it. He wished he could have talked to the other competitors, but until the first episode aired he was forbidden from even adding them on facebook. Jason's was the only phone number he had. He had stared at the paper with his number more times than he wanted to admit, but so far he hadn't gathered enough courage to actually make a call. Part of him hoped Jason would take the first step. Towards what, Nico wasn't sure.

Going back to school was strange as well. It was in the middle of the semester and he would probably have to repeat most of the classes he had been in the middle off, but thankfully they didn't mind him sitting in at the lectures so he’d have an easier time catching up. He spent a lot of time in the project room as well, working on his sculpting skills. On the whole he was pretty busy.

Hazel visited him a lot, though she was a bit preoccupied with her long-distance romance with Frank. Nico could only smile and shake his head as she told him about something he had said or done. His sister was obviously deeply in love with the guy.

About a month after coming home Nico got a call from an unknown number.

"Nico di Angelo speaking," he answered hesitantly.

"Hi, it's Jason," a familiar voice said in the other end, making Nico freeze on the spot. "I guess you never added my number your phone, huh?"

"Sorry, I forgot. I still have that piece of paper, though," Nico said apologetically. "How have you been?"

"Good. Listen, I have a job in LA next week, filming a commercial," Jason said. "You wanna meet up?"

"Sure," Nico said, trying not to sound too enthusiastic despite his heart beating fast. "Where are you staying?"

"Um, I was sort of hoping that maybe your offer was still standing," Jason said, sounding uncertain. "But I can get a hotel instead, no problem."

"No, it's fine. I have plenty of room," Nico said quickly, which was a bit of an overstatement. "You're welcome to stay here. I mean, if you don't mind sleeping on the couch."

"Thanks, man. I really appreciate it," Jason said, and Nico missed actually seeing him smile. The thought that he would soon see it again caused a sudden invasion of butterflies in his stomach. He really couldn't wait until next week.

***

Nico's heart was racing to dangerous speeds when the doorbell rang, but he tried not to let it show when he opened the door. Jason was standing outside, looking gorgeous as always.

"Hey," he smiled towards Nico, who had a hard time controlling the impulse to throw himself at Jason right then. He took a step back to get a hold of himself. This was the first time they'd met without any cameras nearby, but that still didn't mean making a fool of himself was a good idea.

"Hey," Nico answered. "Come in. Did you find the way okay?"

"Yeah, it was surprisingly easy in the end," Jason said, lifting his bag from the floor and entering. "Wow, this place is really clean."

"It wasn't yesterday, trust me," Nico smiled. "Are you hungry? I could order pizza or something."

"Only if you allow me to pay for both of us," Jason said. "I really can't thank you enough for letting me stay."

"It's no problem, really," Nico said, not wanting to admit that just seeing Jason again was payment enough. He called the pizza place while Jason apparently inspected his movie collection.

"You're really fond of horror movies, aren't you?" Jason said when he had finished.

"I'm studying special effects makeup, what did you expect?" Nico smiled. "I take it it's not your style."

Jason smiled. "Definitely not. I got nightmares from the Mummy," he said.

Nico snorted. "That's pretty bad," he said amusedly. "I have other movies as well, though."

“And a lot of video games,” Jason commented. “Also mostly horror. How do you sleep at night?”

Nico snorted. “I’m not easily spooked.”

“This is more my style,” Jason smiled, picking up the cover to Kingdom Hearts. “I used to play this when I was younger.”

“It’s ridiculously easy,” Nico grinned. “But we can play it if you like.”

They spent the rest of the evening lazily playing the game while reminiscing about the competition. Nico tried not to laugh at the fact that Jason kept dying from the ordinary enemies even though he managed the bosses just fine.

Jason had to be at work at eight, so they went to bed earlier than Nico would have liked. As they prepared the couch for sleeping in Nico fought with the ridiculous notion of inviting Jason to his bed instead. He scowled at his own mind. Nothing about the evening had in any way indicated that Jason wanted anything but friendship from him, and he wasn’t going to screw that up.

***

Jason went off to work early the following morning, saying he had no idea when he’d be back. Nico gave him a spare key just in case he wouldn’t be home when Jason returned. Nico tried to keep busy and not wait for him, but he kept glancing at the clock trying to guess what time he’d back.

It turned out to be a futile effort, because when Nico went to bed a little after midnight he still hadn’t returned. He had gotten a message around nine saying it was still going to take a while, so he wasn’t worried, just a bit disappointed.

The sound of the door to his bedroom opening woke Nico up that night. He looked up sleepily to see Jason standing in the doorway.

"Hey," Nico said drowsily.

"Sorry to wake you up, I just wanted to check if you were home," Jason said, sounding apologetic. Nico shook his head.

"'s okay," he said. "What time is it?"

"Around two. They dragged me to a party when we finished filming. I couldn't exactly say no," Jason said. "Sorry. I would have liked to spend more time together before I leave tomorrow morning."

That woke him up.

"Tomorrow morning?" Nico repeated. "Why can't you stay longer? Do you have a job booked or something?"

"No, but I didn't want to trouble you longer," Jason said uncertainly.

"It's no trouble at all. Come on, we've barely had any time to hang out," Nico said, vaguely aware he was practically begging. "Can't you stay another day at least?"

"If you're sure," Jason said hesitatingly.

"I'm sure," Nico smiled, feeling his sleepiness returning. "It'll be fun."

"Okay, I'll stay another day," Jason said, lingering in the doorway for a bit. "I'll let you go back to sleep now. Goodnight."

"Night," Nico yawned, lying back down on his bed. He fell asleep within minutes.

***

When Nico got up the following morning he found Jason already dressed, sitting on the couch/bed and looking through Nico's portfolio from the competition. He looked up as Nico approached.

"Good morning," he smiled.

"Hey," Nico answered. "You've seen all those pictures before, haven't you?"

"Not up close. Besides, I was mostly worried about my own ass at the time," Jason said. "But this is a really good portfolio. Are you seriously not going to continue modeling?"

Nico shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "It was interesting, but most of the jobs are just standing there looking pretty while selling clothes, right? And you know I'm terrible on the catwalk."

"You're not that bad. Piper said you were great at the finale," Jason said. "And you take wonderful pictures."

"Still, special effects makeup is more my thing," Nico said. "I prefer making things go bump in the night."

It took him a second to realize how that must have sounded. He blushed furiously. "I didn't mean..."

"It's okay, I know," Jason laughed. "I learned that expression from watching Buffy as a kid, you know."

"Good," Nico said, relieved. "That show is actually what got me interested in makeup in the first place. I mean, looking at it now some of the effects are terrible, but back then I was blown away."

"Considering the horrible nightmares some of the creatures gave me, I'd say it was good enough," Jason said. "So do you have a portfolio or something for your makeup work? I would really like to see it."

"Sure," Nico said, getting the folder from his bookshelf. "It's more a scrapbook than a portfolio at this point, though."

"Holy..." Jason swore as he opened the book. "Nico, did you draw this? No, scratch that. Did you actually make that?"

Nico looked over his shoulder to see where he was pointing. It was the sketch and finished makeup of a goblin man he had done in class. Not a very complicated sculpture, but the paint-job on the foam piece had turned out pretty good.

"Yeah," he answered, blushing a bit. "It's not my best work, though."

"You're kidding," Jason said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Nico, this is amazing."

"Thanks," Nico mumbled, feeling his face burning as Jason turned page after page in the folder, basically showering him with praise. It was pretty obvious Jason hadn't had much to do with special effects before, so of course he was impressed by everything. Still, his words felt pretty good.

Nico didn’t have any classes that day, but since Jason seemed interested he took him on a tour of Nico’s school to show off the almost finished sculpture of the Minotaur he was working on and explain how the whole process worked. Jason was almost childishly excited about the whole thing, and Nico found it hard to stop smiling. Especially when they went out to each lunch at a small Chinese restaurant near his house and he could almost pretend it was a date.

***

"So have you actually had any work in your field yet?" Jason asked when they got back to Nico’s place that evening.

"Not unless you count face painting at parties," Nico smiled. "I'm actually supposed to do that again in a few days. One of my father's associates have a daughter turning seven. I was there last year as well."

"You like working with children, then?" Jason smiled, and Nico shrugged.

"Sure, they are usually easier to please if nothing else," he said. "But they get more demanding every year, and I haven't been doing face-or body painting for a while so I'm a bit nervous."

"You can practice on me if you like," Jason said. "I've actually never done it."

"Really?" Nico asked, surprised. "No body painting either?"

"No, it's never been required for any job," Jason said. "So go ahead if you want to practice. It could double as modelling practice for me, after all."

"Okay, if you really don't mind," Nico said uncertainly, then went to get his set of paints. It was a pretty cheap brand, but they worked well enough, and were easy to wash off.

"What would you like me to paint?" he asked.

Jason shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. What do the kids usually want?"

"Flowers and butterflies, usually," Nico said. "Sometimes something really strange. A girl wanted me to paint a train on her face once. And then there was this kid who wanted to look like the devil."

Jason laughed. "Kids, right?" he said. "Hmm, I once saw a guy who had vines with small flowers painted to climb over half his face. It was pretty cool."

"I could try that," Nico nodded. "Now hold still."

At first Nico was completely concentrated on getting the painting right, so much that he could have been painting on canvas rather than a human being. Then, once he got the hang of how and what he was doing, things changed. Suddenly he was aware of how close Jason was. Nico was leaning over him while Jason was sitting down, but somehow, without even realizing it Nico had moved to stand between his legs. When Nico wasn't working close to his eyes, Jason was watching him and there was something in his look, something that made Nico nervous.

He decided to ignore it for now and continue painting instead, following the vines down Jason's neck all the way to the collar of his shirt. He hesitated when he got that far, and without a word Jason took the shirt off, careful not to let it touch his face.

"Stand up," Nico urged him quietly, and Jason obeyed immediately. Nico didn't dare look at his face as he continued the vines down Jason's chest, seeing those perfect muscles really close for the first time. He could see Jason's chest move as he breathed, could feel his breath in his own hair. Jason shivered visibly when Nico moved his brush to create a vine encircling his left nipple. Nico still didn't dare look up at his face.

He slowly continued down Jason's chest to his stomach, low enough to notice the bulge in Jason's pants. His breathing had been erratic for a while now, so Nico wasn't surprised, though he hadn't exactly expected it. There was a lot about this situation he hadn't expected.

"You know, getting hard during bodypainting is not very professional," Nico said thickly, testing the waters, feeling braver than he thought he would be.

"I doubt it would happen on a job," Jason said in a low voice. "But you're different."

Nico's heart leaped at that, but he continued what he was doing and sat down on his knees in front of Jason to be able to paint the details on his lover stomach, stopping right above the waistband of Jason's pants. Part of him wanted to just continue painting on Jason's chest forever, but he had to face the issue in front of him. The issue being that Jason was clearly hard because of him, and he wasn't really sure how to deal with it. He wasn't sure how Jason wanted him to deal with it.

In the end he decided to throw caution out the window.

"You know, I can't take pictures of you if you look like this," Nico said nervously, aware he was basically talking to Jason's crotch. "We need to do something about it."

His hands were shaking a bit as he moved to pull down the zipper on Jason's pants. However, before he had gotten that far Jason caught his hand and dragged him up to stand.

"You'll just have to crop the picture," he said, not really looking at Nico as he handed him the camera from the table behind them. Nico was disappointed and hurt, wondering if he'd really been wrong about the whole thing, but he tried not to let it show. Instead he coached Jason into the light and took a couple of pictures.

"Did you get enough?" Jason asked when Nico checked the frames, and he nodded.

"Yeah, thanks," he said, not looking up.

"Thank god," Jason muttered, then gently took the camera away from him and sat it back down on the table before reaching out to cup Nico's cheek, urging him to look up. Jason was flustered and looked a bit nervous, then his face came closer and their lips met.

Nico was completely stunned for a moment, then threw himself into the kiss. Jason made a sound in the back of his throat, and if Nico hadn't been hard before he definitely was now. He pressed himself against Jason, who was running his hands down Nico's back, sending chills down his spine.

"I wanted to do that since I got here," Jason said breathlessly as he pulled back, then proceeded to kiss Nico's throat, causing him to moan.

"But why did you push me away?" Nico asked, breath hitching as Jason actually bit into his neck, not hard, but enough to hurt a little bit.

"Because I didn't want all your hard work to go to waste. I'm pretty sure it's all smudged now," Jason said against his skin. "Besides, I can't have you blow me without at least kissing you first."

Nico laughed happily. "You moron. You could have told me."

"I wasn't sure where we stood," Jason said, pulling back enough to look at him. "I mean, I thought I was getting the right signals, but I suck at reading people."

"You read me right," Nico said.

"I've wanted you since the competition, but I wasn't sure it was mutual," Jason said. "Besides, with all those cameras around..."

"Yeah, I'd rather not let the whole country seeing me make a fool of myself," Nico said.

“I think I already did that,” Jason said sheepishly. “I may or may not have rambled about you in the confession booth.”

Nico laughed, face heating up again. “So now that we have kissed and everything...”

Jason smiled, leaning down for another kiss before he answered.

"I'll follow you."

***

They were tangled up in Nico’s bed, afterglow slowly fading away. Nico was feeling more at peace than he had been in a long time.

"Jason?" Nico asked, looking up at him. "Please tell me you're not actually leaving tomorrow."

Jason moved to kiss his forehead. "Not unless you chase me out," he said. "I have a job in five days, so I have to be back home before then, but in the meantime I want to stay. If you'll let me."

"Moron," Nico muttered, rolling his eyes before snuggling a little closer. Jason gently stroked his cheek, lazily dragging his thumb over Nico's lips.

"Just making sure," he said, moving so that their faces were mere inches apart. "I really like you, you know."

Nico blushed, but couldn’t help but smile. “If you haven’t guessed, I like you too.”

“I had a feeling that might be the case,” Jason grinned, leaning in to place a light kiss on Nico’s lips. Nico followed him as he meant to withdraw, and the kiss turned deeper, slowly becoming more intense. It didn’t take long before Jason moved to get on top of him again, straddling his hip as they kissed each other hungrily.

It took a long time before they finally went to sleep.

***

“Do we have to watch this?” Nico groaned. He was sitting beside Jason on the couch, and Jason had an arm around him, squeezing his shoulder in reassurance.

“Come on, we have to,” Hazel said. She was on the floor with Frank, who was visiting. “We need to know what parts of that whole thing are public now.”

“And it’s what brought us together,” Jason pointed out. “Why shouldn’t we relive it?”

“Jason’s right,” Frank smiled. “It’ll be fun.”

“I hate all of you,” Nico muttered. “Fine. I’ll watch.”

Jason leaned in to kiss his eyelid, and Nico figured he could make it through watching himself on television if Jason was beside him. Maybe.

The television briefly showed his face, and Nico groaned again, which only caused Jason to laugh.

“Who will be America’s Next Top Model?” the tv asked, and Nico settled against Jason, preparing to be humiliated.