Work Text:
PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || The Accidental Demon Roommate || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO
Title: The Accidental Demon Roommate – How to Summon Your Dream Demon
Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus
Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.
Tags: m/m, demons, magic, pining
Main Pairing: Nico/Percy
Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Lou Ellen Blackstone, Alabaster C. Torrington, Cecil Markowitz, Will Solace
Summary: Nico and his friends think it would be fun to try summon a demon. And it's all fun and games until an actual demon with big blue horns and wings and a lot of sarcasm appears in the pentagram. It gets more serious when Perseus the demon refuses to leave again.
The Accidental Demon Roommate
How to Summon Your Dream Demon
There were many things that were hard to explain to one's roommates, but Nico was fairly sure that a demon in the middle of the living room took the crown there. Something he had never expected to have to explain, if he was being honest. And in his defense, how had he been supposed to know that summoning a demon would actually work?! That was ridiculous.
As ridiculous as the actual demon standing in front of him. Ridiculously gorgeous, that was.
Tall, broad shoulders, dark, messy hair, piercing poisonous green eyes. And huge sapphire-blue horns bending outward from his forehead and curving back. The horns matched the mighty wings. Leather wings like a bat, with pointy talons. The demon was wearing black skin-tight leather-pants and an azure-blue, open button shirt, showing off his toned chest and abdomen. Honestly, Nico was too gay for this. How was this okay? He had just meant to have a little fun with his friends, not really meaning anything by it, and all of a sudden this hot demon appeared in the pentagram.
"What's up."
Well, that sure wasn't what Nico had expected a demon to say. Not that he had expected a demon to say anything because demons weren't real and Nico, Hazel, Lou Ellen and Alabaster had honestly only tried summoning a demon to freak out Frank, who had been very sure it would work and very freaked out by them suggesting it. Nothing was supposed to happen. They wanted to flicker some lights to make Frank yelp, then reveal the trick, laugh and eat cake.
It had come up during their monthly party of Mythomagic and it had led to a lengthy debate, before Lou Ellen had jokingly suggested that they could just try and summon one and see for themselves if something would happen or not. Her older brother Alabaster owned a magic shop, selling candles, crystals, charms and such things to those who believed in it, so the four of them headed to the store and asked Alabaster for advise – a book with a spell and all supplies. Seeing as the shop was about to close for the night, Al had decided to simply tag along with them and help out.
Nico lived with Alabaster's younger sister Lou Ellen and two others – Cecil and Will. While Cecil and Will could not be bothered to join the monthly Mythomagic game, Lou Ellen had really gotten into it and started joining Nico, his cousin Hazel and her best friend Frank.
The five of them returned to the apartment and started setting everything up the way Alabaster instructed them to – five candles in a star-pattern, drawing the pentagram beneath them with blue chalk. Lou Ellen and Hazel were really into it, giggling to themselves as they followed the instructions, while Nico was really mainly in it to give Frank a bit of a scare; they pranked each other, it was what they did. One time, they had been on a ski-trip and rented a cabin together during high school, Frank had dressed up as a bear and Nico had nearly had a heart-attack seeing the bear outside the cabin. Hazel and their friends Jason and Reyna couldn't stop laughing.
After everything was set up, the five of them came to stand in a circle behind the candles, holding hands and reciting something in Latin that Alabaster had pointed out in a book.
And it worked. It actually worked. The pentagram released dark-blue smoke – well, more like mist at first but then it became thicker. And when the smoke disappeared, there was a ridiculously hot guy with horns and wings standing in the pentagram, showing off his six-pack with an open shirt and asking 'What's up' like they met at a bar and he was trying to flirt with Nico.
"I... I... I expected you guys to play a trick to me, but holy shit not this. How did you-"
"We didn't do anything, Frank", hissed Lou Ellen distressed.
"I mean, we did. The same thing as you. We all did this together. But-", started Hazel.
"We summoned a demon. I mean, you guys wanted to summon a demon", stated Alabaster.
He sounded casual, calm. Everyone else, including the hot sexy demon, turned toward him.
"Alabaster Catelyn Torrington, did you seriously make us summon a real demon, knowing that this was actually real and going to work?!", exclaimed Nico in a high-pitched voice.
"Catelyn?", echoed the demon with a snort. "No, wait actually. Alabaster?"
"You, shut up and keep out of this", grunted Alabaster, glaring at the demon.
"Don't threaten the demon!", yelped Hazel a bit nervous.
Alabaster rolled his eyes and waved a hand dismissively. "You guy came to a magic shop and asked a warlock how to summon a demon. How did you expect this to end...?"
"When you said you were a 'warlock', I thought that was a D&D class!", yelled Frank distressed.
"...What", grunted Alabaster and the demon with matching deadpans.
"Yo, warlock boy. Did you seriously summon me with a bunch of newbies?", asked the demon.
"I mean, yes. But I thought they knew what they signed up for", argued Alabaster defensively.
"...So, when you call mom a 'witch'...", drawled Lou Ellen slowly, dreadfully. "You're not just saying that because you're mad she left you and your dad?"
"What, no. I'm calling her a witch because she literally is a practicing witch."
"This feels like a conversation the two of you should have had years ago. In private. Together. Prior to summoning a demon", muttered Nico, followed by a string of Italian curse words.
"Mh. This one speaks Italian. The language of sex. I like it."
Nico nearly swallowed his tongue and stared at the demon, who was now winking at him. Was the hot sexy demon flirting with Nico? Nico wasn't sure if that was distressing or exciting. Or both.
"Okay", said Alabaster forcefully, gaining everyone's attention. "Yes, I'm an actual warlock. Mom's a witch. Lou Ellen's a witch too. Hazel's also a witch, or has some witch-blood in her anyway. Which is why the summoning worked. We just successfully summoned a demon, because I thought that was what you actually wanted to do. Honestly, I thought mom has had a talk with you about this at this point, Loulou. How was I supposed to know you guys don't know you have magic?"
"I'm gonna faint now, okay? I'd really, really like to faint now", whispered Frank.
"Oh yes please, do faint!", urged the demon on. "I love when humans faint. It's entertaining."
"It also allows you a quick escape because the circle is broken", grunted Alabaster unimpressed. "No, Frank, you will not faint. And no one is going to leave the circle, because otherwise we let a demon out into this world and I will not be held responsible for that."
"Why did you think this was a good idea?!", screamed Hazel, uncharacteristically loud.
"I don't know", replied Alabaster with a shrug. "In my line of business, you don't ask questions. You just do the work and get paid, it's better for your own mental health, you know. Just... deliver the goods, step away, and if the police come, you genuinely do not know what happened."
"...How often has the police come to you?", whispered Frank mortified.
"Only four of them were about murders", shrugged Alabaster.
"That wasn't even the question!", exclaimed Frank distressed.
"I like you, Alabaster Catelyn. You are entertaining. Feel free to summon me more often."
The attention was drawn back to the demon in the room. Hot, sexy demon. Nico tried to keep his eyes on the demon's face so he didn't stare at the revealed chest. Also he needed to stop thinking of the demon as the 'hot, sexy demon', it was not helpful in this situation.
"What's your name?", asked Nico, motioning at the demon.
"I'm Prince Perseus of the third kingdom of hell. But you are free to keep referring to me as the hot, sexy demon. I like it, it has a nice ring to it", replied the demon, grinning at him.
"H—How-", started Nico, a mortified look on his face.
"Demons can read minds", offered Alabaster casually.
Nico made an even more mortified noise and actively tried to not think about licking the demon's abs – oh no, the demon could probably hear him think that. Groaning, he covered his face.
"Not just hear, also see. Since some people think very... visually. That is a very generous visual, by the way", replied the demon – Perseus – casually. "Oh, my friends call me Percy. And since you're getting very intimate with me there in your mind, you might as well call me Percy."
"This was a horrible mistake", whispered Hazel to herself. "How do we undo it?"
"I mean. There's nothing you can do anymore", declared Perseus – Percy – with a smirk.
The five humans turned, because the demon was suddenly not in the pentagram anymore, instead, in a puff of smoke, he appeared on the couch, arms spread out over the backrest, legs spread in an inviting and provocative way, a coy look on his face.
"Nico, don't get provoked by the demon", groaned Alabaster. "You broke the hand-holding to cover your face and you took a step back. You broke the circle because a demon was fucking with you-"
"Not yet. Give me a bit more time and we'll get to that", purred the demon, winking at Nico.
"...So... So we let a demon loose on the world. Does that mean we started the apocalypse?", asked Frank distressed. "Can I faint now? Please?"
Rolling his eyes, Percy snapped his fingers and just as Frank went into his knees, a chair appeared right behind him in a poof of blue smoke, for Frank to gently sink into. There was a nearly pitying expression on Percy's face as he cupped his head with one hand for support and looked at them.
"If it's any consolation, I'm not big on the whole... apocalypse-thing. So much work, so dirty. And, quite frankly, I'm quite a big fan of humanity. It's entertaining", offered the demon.
Alabaster had left the circle after chiding Nico already and he was currently pacing through the apartment, from one corner to the next. "Frank, you can faint as much as you like now. I'll... I'll just... go to my shop and try to dig up information about our demon here. If he gave us his real name, that shouldn't be too hard. And then I'll dig up info on how to banish this particular demon. Now that may take a little longer."
"By 'a little longer', do we mean... like... hours?", asked Lou Ellen hopefully.
Alabaster snorted and stuck his head out of the kitchen. "Aren't you cute. Okay, I'll put 'call our mother' onto my to-do-list, right after 'banish my little sister's demon'. We're talking weeks here."
"Weeks?", echoed Frank, making a noise that indicated the fainting was coming closer.
"Listen here, kids. These are ancient texts in languages that aren't actively spoken anymore and you're asking me to not just track them down but also to be able to translate them. Weeks is the optimistic prognosis here", replied Alabaster unimpressed.
"Wait a second. You are way too calm. We just released a demon into this world. That's a problem. Right? And for weeks? He could destroy everything here. The whole city, the world", asked Nico.
"I just said that I am not interested in the apocalypse!", groaned Percy, sounding annoyed.
"No offense, but... you're a demon. Demons lie", replied Nico.
"How could I not take offense to this hurtful stereotype?", asked Percy, very offended. "You don't see me claiming that you're a gladiator who can't drive, only eats pizza and has a lot of orgies."
"...Orgies?", echoed Nico confused.
"Hey, I'm millennia old! There have been a lot of stereotypes for Italians over the time. Your people spent a lot of time on orgies and gladiator fights", huffed Percy.
"Can you people focus for five seconds?", called Alabaster out annoyed. "While you have been... bantering and bickering with the demon, I contained the demon. He can not leave this apartment anymore. So it'll be fine for a couple weeks. I'm going to do my job now. Goodbye."
"Goodbye? Wait, no, what. You can't... You can't just leave us with a demon!"
"Loulou, you'll be fine", dismissed Alabaster. "He's contained. If you're pissing your pants about it, you can just... move back in with mom for the time being."
"I hate you", grunted Lou Ellen flatly. "Seriously. This was supposed to be a fun games night. And now we have an actual demon here and I am having an identity crisis."
"Talk to mom about that. And believe me, I had other plans too, sis."
With that, Alabaster just... left the apartment. Frank finally allowed himself to faint and Nico only on reflex managed to grab him by the shoulder and hold Frank steady on the chair. Hazel made a small sound and let herself slide down the wall to sit down, legs drawn against her chest, face buried in her hands. Now it was Lou Ellen's turn to pace the apartment, though not to perform any containment-magic, just for the sake of pacing and coping with her identity crisis. All of Nico's focus was on the slyly grinning demon still lounging on the couch.
"You guys are gonna be so much fun to mess with for the next couple weeks."
/break\
"What do you mean you summoned a demon while I was on a date with Jake?"
Will looked angry. Will was rarely angry. He was usually pretty kind, sometimes impish. Looking furiously angry like this and pacing (this carpet had seen a lot of pacing today), that was new. Nico and Lou Ellen sat on the couch, looking guilty. Cecil took it way better than Will, he was cackling.
"I mean, that's not real, right? Like, Nico just picked up a weird cosplayer hook up and they're pranking us", snorted Cecil while poking the demon's wings.
The wings twitched and the demon looked annoyed. "Do not touch my wings. I am generally very chill, however... if you poke me, I might poke you back."
He motioned at his horns. Cecil snorted again. Percy disappeared in his trademark cloud of smoke and reappeared in the kitchen, hovering mid-air, crosslegged, in front of the now open fridge. Will and Cecil screeched loudly at that, Cecil jumping half a foot into the air before rushing over to the kitchen and waving his hand above and below the demon to check for wires.
"Holy shit, what do I do with this-", screamed Cecil distressed.
"One. Evening. One. Date", hissed Will, slapping Nico's arm for every word. "I hate you."
"You love me", grumbled Nico. "And it wasn't my idea. And I didn't think it'd... work."
"We all didn't. Aside from Ally, who assumed I totally knew what was happening and wanted this outcome. Why I would want to share my apartment, I don't know."
Will made a small sound and sank down on the couch next to Nico and Lou Ellen. "...What now?"
"We... wait. Alabaster contained the demon in our apartment and he's looking into how to banish him. Until then... he... uh... lives here. If you guys are uncomfortable with it, you can just... move out for the time being?", suggested Nico, earning a glare.
"Brilliant idea. I'm living with three other people because the spare penthouse near Central Park that I own is so drafty", snorted Cecil sarcastically. "Where would I live? This is my place!"
"Okay, yes. But Will, uh... Jake?", drawled Nico, voice wavering.
"We've been seeing each other for three weeks! I am not moving in with my very new boyfriend, who is renting a room above the garage he's working at, where the other three mechanics who work there also live", grunted Will pointedly. "You don't move in after three weeks. And I can hardly say 'hey, so my roommates accidentally summoned a demon, can I stay with you, babe?'. I don't even know yet if I call him 'babe'! We haven't figured pet-names out yet!"
"The blonde one seems like fun", called Percy out from the kitchen. "His boyfriend's hot."
"How does he know that?", hissed Will worried.
"You must have pictured Jake while you talked. The demon reads minds", replied Lou Ellen.
"The demon has a name", called Percy, sounded offended. "My name is Perseus. Prince Perseus. If we're gonna be roomies for the next couple weeks, you can call me Percy."
"Percy the demon", muttered Will, shaking his head. "How is this my life?"
"If... If it'll calm you down a little? He's been very harmless so far", offered Nico carefully.
"I take offense to that too. I am a scary, dangerous demon!", exclaimed Percy scandalized.
He suddenly popped up right behind the couch, holding a plate with a ridiculously highly-piled sandwich on it – at least two heads tall. And with... everything on it. Nico even spotted a slice of pizza leftover from yesterday on it. Narrowing his eyes, Nico took a closer look at the sandwich.
"You said you're not interested in the apocalypse and you have not harmed us in any way. You snooped, but you haven't harmed us. Not overly dangerous in my books", offered Lou Ellen.
Percy glared and threw a pickle at Lou Ellen, making Nico laugh a little. This wasn't really dangerous. The demon was kind of cute. Not just physically, but he was funny and, well, cute.
"Thank you", chimed Percy, puffing up his chest. "I do pride myself in my cuteness."
"Nico, stop hitting on the demon", groaned Lou Ellen, picking the pickle off her cheek to throw it at Nico instead. "He has been flirting with the demon ever since we summoned him!"
"The demon has a name", grumbled Percy around a mouthful of sandwich.
"So... So, what. We're... gonna live with a... sandwich making demon...?", asked Cecil disturbed.
"Ye—ep", chimed Percy. "By the way, I like bacon. And skittles. And chocolate."
"...Ew", grunted Lou Ellen, making a face.
"Not on a sandwich. Well, the bacon, not the rest", huffed Percy. "I'm just... giving you a grocery list. Because, piece of advise: Keep the demon sated and happy and he won't have to eat you."
"...I hate you all so much", muttered Will distressed, rubbing his face.
/break\
When Nico woke up, he stared right into the very pretty face of the hot, sexy demon they had summoned yesterday. Which in itself was a mortifying thought. The fact that Nico was laying on his back though and Percy was... floating in the air, above the bed, staring at him.
"...Do demons sleep?", asked Nico exhausted, running his fingers through his hair.
"No—ope. I took the liberty of using your Netflix to binge-watch One Day at a Time though. You see, that's the result of what evil demons do up here, you know", drawled Percy with a glare.
"...An evil demon created One Day at a Time...?", asked Nico sleepily and confused.
"What? No. Stupid. A demon canceled the show. Every time a really brilliant TV show gets you really hooked and you want more of it, you crave more of it, and it gets just... canceled? That's Crowley's doing. He loves doing that. Getting people addicted to shows and then just making it so there won't be more of the show. He's evil", declared Percy with a pout.
Nico grunted and nodded slowly, rolling onto his side and pulling his blanket closer. "Okay."
"Will you go groceries shopping? Because I'm hungry and the fridge is empty. Well, I'm not hungry. Demons don't need to eat. But it's fun and I can taste. So I like eating."
"How... How? I went groceries shopping yesterday, because of the... the game night..."
"You elected to lay unmoving and unconscious on your back for ten hours", argued Percy. "What was I supposed to do? I had to keep myself entertained with other things."
"Okay..." Nico nodded slowly and sat up. "Today, we're gonna make a list of things that... that entertain you... that won't run us into bankruptcy. Because I can't shop like that every day."
"Mh... Ka—ay. Long as you keep me entertained", hummed Percy pleased.
/break\
They actually made that list. As well as a list of Percy's favorite foods. They... shared meals. Percy was just, eating with them, sitting at the table, listening to their conversations and even... engaging with them. He spent his nights watching Netflix to the point of being caught up with the shows Nico was watching, so the two started talking about them. It was surprisingly easy to talk to Percy. It was fun to talk to Percy. The next time Mythomagic night came around, Percy even played with them. He let Nico explain the game to him and instead of stopping Nico from rambling, he kept asking questions and it was just so very, very easy to talk to him.
"Are you people actually kidding me?"
Nico turned toward the irritated voice of Alabaster, who walked in after Lou Ellen opened the door for him. His irritation confused Nico, until he returned his attention to the game they were playing and how everyone was huddled close. Percy was sitting next to Nico, hovering. Everyone was in costume – and not just some cheap costume; Percy had used his magic to give them all completely authentic costumes. So Alabaster had just walked in on them all playing Mythomagic, in authentic costumes – togas and sandals, even the jewelry.
"Unbelievable", grunted Alabaster, shaking his head. "I... I genuinely thought this didn't need to be said. Even with you lot. Even after you decided to summon a demon without knowing what you were getting yourselves into. I really thought that 'don't befriend the demon' didn't need saying."
"Well, that's kinda rude", grunted Percy, shaking his head.
"In our defense: You left us for four weeks with a demon in our apartment", grunted Lou Ellen.
"To guard him. I expected you people to be on your guard. Not make friends!"
"He's nice!", argued Lou Ellen, motioning at Percy. "He can actually cook and he summons stuff for us that's very convenient. I mean, look at us. That necklace is real gold."
Alabaster just shook his head. "You are so gonna spend your next time off with our mother so she can teach you some basics, this is truly getting ridiculous."
"Are you just here to mock us, or do you want something?", wanted Hazel to know.
"I bring some results. Nothing on banishments yet, but... information", declared Alabaster.
He sat down with them, glare fixating Percy, who simply pouted and crossed his arms, just hovering mid-air with his arms and legs crossed. He could sit on a chair, but generally, Percy preferred to just hover, because it unsettled humans and he did get a kick out of unsettling them.
"Prince Perseus of the third kingdom of hell checks out. The demon exists. He was first recorded in ancient Greece, having been summoned by... by various kings over time, honestly. I'm not going to bore you with a history lesson", grunted Alabaster. "He seems... helpful. So far, there have not been any murders, plagues or other disasters around him."
"I don't like... that stuff", shrugged Percy. "I like trickery. Helped Daedalus design his labyrinth. King Minos wanted to just kill the Minotaur but no, that's boring. Also, no to murder. Instead, I whispered into Daedalus' ear to make him create a totally unnecessary and unnecessarily complicated labyrinth to put the Minotaur in."
"That's what he does", grunted Alabaster, waving vaguely at Percy. "He causes mischief. He makes trouble. But he doesn't seem overly dangerous, really. Which, has me a bit more relaxed on finding out how to banish this one. But you don't seem to mind the company."
No, Nico really didn't. There was some off sense of relief at hearing this. Part of him had tensed up when Al walked in, fearing he'd just... banish Percy. Because he liked Percy. He liked talking to Percy, he liked being with Percy, he liked spending time with Percy. He liked Percy.
Suddenly, there was a thud and everyone turned toward Percy, who was now just sitting on the ground like he had been dropped from mid-air. Large sea-green eyes stared up at Nico in surprise and there was a blush on his cheeks. He looked startled and flustered and cute, though Nico wasn't really sure why he was blushing. Percy had never blushed before.
/break\
"You were thinking about how you liked me", whispered Percy that evening.
Percy liked to be in Nico's room, Nico often woke up to the demon hovering close by and often fell asleep having a soft conversation with Percy, like right now. Aside from the topic of choice now.
"I... I mean, we started out with you observing that I called you hot, sexy demon in my mind."
"That's different", huffed Percy amused. "Sexual attraction, sure. I'm a hot, sexy demon. But you were thinking about how you like me. And not just... like me, like how the others came to like me, as a friend. You were thinking it fiercely, with... with feelings. With genuine, true feelings. For me. For who I am. No... No one likes me for who I am... They like the wealth and power I can provide. They do like me for my physical appearance. They may enjoy my company, because sass and snark amuse the powerful people, as long as the sassy snarky one serves them. But you like me. Like me, for me. For cheesy, silly, romantic reasons. No one's ever liked me for those before."
"You say a lot, but I can't tell if... if that's good, or bad", whispered Nico after a moment.
"I want to kiss you. And... not to seduce you. I want to kiss you softly and tenderly."
Nico simply nodded, because he didn't know how to respond to that, but goodness he absolutely loved the sound of that. Soft and tender kissing with the cute demon who was kind of living with him now. The kissing was indeed very soft and tender, Percy gently cupping his cheek as they kissed. When they parted, Percy stopped hovering and just plopped down on Nico's bed.
"I don't sleep", whispered Percy softly, making Nico nod in confusion. "But I wanna do the thing humans always do on TV. Where they just... hold each other at night? Can I hold you while you sleep? Or would that be weird because I don't sleep?"
"I... I think that would be fine", nodded Nico, swallowing hard.
It took him a bit to relax as Percy wrapped his arms and his wings around Nico, very clingy but surprisingly comfortable. Nico smiled to himself as he fell asleep to Percy talking more about his past, about kings he had served who had summoned him, about mischief he had caused in the past.
/break\
They didn't banish Percy, even two months later when Alabaster actually found a way to do it. Al simply threw his arms up in the air and bitched about it before leaving them to it. Percy officially lived with them now. And Nico found out what kind of demon Percy actually was – a demon of inspiration, who promised great fame to those whose creativity he helped along. The same kind of demon as mythological muses were, he explained. But every such deal came at the cost of one's soul. It was unusual, had Percy said, for a human to willingly give Percy his soul first, before getting something in return. But Nico was in love, and by loving, he gave his soul. Overwhelmed by this, Percy gave Nico what he usually gave in return for a soul – inspiration and fame. Nico, an unsuccessful graphic novelist, finally found the inspiration for the perfect book-series. A series about a handsome, mischievous demon throughout history.
~*~ The End ~*~