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Percy had never been farther north than Alaska, but he instinctively knew that this was a different country altogether. It was much colder than Alaska, for one, and the air felt different. He turned to Nico. “Where the heck are we?”
Nico swayed on his feet. His face was pale in the darkness. “Iceland,” he muttered.
Percy put a hand on Nico to steady him. He looked around again. Their immediate area was dark but down below were the twinkling yellow lights of civilization and closer, in the opposite direction were the lights of a single complex. Percy’s night vision was good enough that he could tell it was some sort of spa. “How do you feel about a mini vacation?” he asked, pulling Nico along.
Nico stumbled, then yanked his arm from Percy’s grasp. He blinked rapidly a few times and shook his head, though it didn’t seem to be in answer to Percy’s question. “Might as well. I can’t get us back home right now.” Now that Nico was fifteen, his voice finally deepened.
Percy was not immune to Nico’s new voice. In fact, it turned him on to hear Nico talk. He fervently wished that he was still Nico’s type. “Great,” he said with a smile that Nico didn’t see.
They hiked up a slight incline to the compound. There were signs in Icelandic and translations in English. Thank gods. The sign said that this was a hot spring and they were open until 9pm. It was past that. The closed sign might have stopped normal people, but Percy and Nico were demigods, and they ignored it.
They walked along a boardwalk. Percy could sense the water next to them; he would have been able to even if he wasn’t Poseidon’s son because he could feel the heat it gave off. The hot springs were big and the series of hotels, restaurants, and other buildings took up a lot of space too. It was a miracle that they weren’t caught by someone glancing out a window. Eventually they came to a dark section of the hot springs, where the lights from the buildings didn’t touch.
Percy could barely see Nico. He reached out, half blind, before touching Nico’s bomber jacket. “This looks like a good spot.”
Nico didn’t flinch away this time. His voice was low when he asked, “Are you expecting to skinny dip or something?”
“Uh, yeah. That was my plan,” Percy whispered back. He couldn’t see Nico’s reaction because it was too dark. When Nico didn’t reply, Percy said, “Well I’m getting in. You can sit here and be boring if you want.” Then he started taking off his clothes. The air was cold. It made his skin break out in goosebumps and he shivered hard. Percy eased off the dock and into the hot water. He almost moaned. “Gods, Nico, this is great. You’ve gotta try it.”
Nico grumbled. Then there was the shifting of clothes. Percy felt the second that Nico’s toes touched the water. He felt when Nico submerged himself up to his neck in the hot spring. Nico gave a surprised sigh. He stayed by the deck.
Percy swam to him. It wasn’t very deep water. He touched Nico’s bare shoulder and felt his muscles twitch. “Come over here. There’s a place to sit.”
“You know I can see in the dark, right?” Nico hissed. But he let Percy guide him away from the deck and to a stone wall that jutted from the lagoon. As if proving his point, his eyes caught the light and turned a dim red like animal eyeshine.
Percy’s eyes did the same thing except his eyeshine was teal. “But can you see in the water?” He asked.
Nico said nothing.
Percy got them to the underwater bench. He liked the hot spring a lot. If Nico wasn’t here, he would take a nap in the water. They sat side by side and Percy kept his hand on Nico’s arm.
Nico’s muscles were tense beneath Percy’s fingertips. He stayed still as he sat on the bench beside Percy. If he left the water, it would be even colder than before they got in. After a long time, Nico said, “It smells like snow.”
Percy sniffed the air. “Yeah, it does.” He let his hand slide down to Nico’s elbow. The skin of his inner elbow was soft.
“What are you doing, Percy? You know I’ve got a boyfriend.” Nico managed to make it sound like a question. He did not pull away from Percy despite his questions and the tone he asked them in.
Percy thought about how they were in each other’s elements and their own elements - darkness and water - and how comfortable he felt even though he couldn’t see five inches in front of his own face. “I’ve been thinking since you dumped me, about my feelings for you.”
“Don’t say it like that. We weren’t dating.”
“That’s how it felt. Anyway, I’ve been thinking since then. I feel too much for you, about you, to tell you all in one night. But what it all comes down to, is I’d like to try to be your romantic partner, if you’ll let me.”
“You’re an idiot,” Nico said.
The barb stung a little, but Percy supposed it was fair since he was being so vague. “Maybe. But I could be your idiot,” Percy replied. He dropped his hand to Nico’s forearm.
Nico lifted his hand to touch Percy’s cheek. His hand was warm. It was a brief touch but it was the first time Nico had willingly touched Percy since their jump here. “I’m trying to get over you.”
“But why?”
“I thought…” Nico trailed off and looked up at the sky. Snow had begun to fall. “Do you really want me?”
Percy moved his hand to Nico’s wrist. He felt Nico’s pulse thumping against his fingertips. “Yes. I do.”
Nico moved so that they were holding hands. His fingers were thin between Percy’s, knuckles bony and protruding. “I’ll have to break up with Will when we get back.”
Percy nodded. He wasn’t very good at sharing the people he loved with others. And he didn’t want to share Nico with another boy. Percy kissed Nico’s hair. It was cold and there were snowflakes in it. “Can you jump us into an empty room?” He asked.
Nico hesitated. “We should get our clothes first.” They swam back to the boardwalk and once Percy had their clothes, Nico shadow-traveled them. It was always a cold ride, but being wet made it even colder. Percy felt like icy needles were burrowing beneath his skin.
Coming out in the dark hotel room was a blessing. Percy rubbed the ice from his eyelashes. He shivered violently. Even when he dried himself and Nico, the cold cling to their skin. “W-where’s the h-heater?”
There was shuffling as Nico searched the room for the heater. Then the mechanical sound of buttons being pushed and a whirr as the heater started up.
While Nico did that, Percy found the bed and turned down the covers. He pulled his clothes on and got into bed. It was comfortable. Percy listened to the sounds of Nico getting dressed and then felt the bed dip beneath Nico’s weight.
Beneath the covers, Nico found Percy’s hand and held it.
Percy wanted to kiss Nico but thought it best to take things slow. Now that he knew Nico was still interested in a relationship with him, he could take it as slow as Nico needed to.