Chapter Text
Bianca di Angelo left when was twenty three, having completed college and being accepted to the Hunters of Artemis™. She had her life sorted out, career in the bag and by the looks of the excited letters she sent home, a relationship in the works.
Nico followed his older sister's lead, moving out a scarce three days after she had, albeit fixed in a situation that differentiated tremendously from hers. He was two years her junior, a college drop out with no qualifications or credentials to his name, and the concept of a love life was foreign to him. And unlike Bianca, he didn't leave to pursue his career of choice. Instead his step mother Persephone just so conveniently happened to stumble upon his gay porn collection, and her conservative ass had demanded his departing.
Bianca nearly dies of laughter over the phone when Nico re-accounts the tale.
"It's not funny," he snaps, as the train speeds through the remote countryside. He is the only passenger in the carriage, save for an elderly woman sitting across from him.
"It's hilarious," she counters, "honestly Nico, your life is like a bad episode of Skins."
"Shut up," he says, which earns him a glare from the old lady sitting across him, who evidently bears the same sort of mindset as his dearest stepmother. He considers sticking up his middle finger at the old bat, but decides against it. He is a mature adult now after all, isn't he? "For all you know I could be curled under a ditch with no money to my name, left to the wolves.
"Yeah right. Dad sorted you out, didn't he?"
"Yeah," Nico admits. Hades was quick to surrender to his wife's whims, but not before he slipped Nico a few hundred quid. "And I rang Hazel. She said I'm welcome to kip in with her."
"Hazel?" Bianca echos apprehensively. "Like our half-sister Hazel?"
"How many other Hazels do we know?"
"Shut up smartass. So she's cool with you staying for gods know how long? Wow. When's the last time you saw her, when you were what, eighteen? Nineteen?"
"Doesn't matter. She seemed thrilled to have me. I don't know how her boyfriend feels about me though."
"Boyfriend? Oh yeah. Leo, wasn't it?"
"Uh no. He's called Frank."
"No way. I'm pretty sure it's Leo."
"Whatever," Nico says, although he's absolutely certain he is correct. "Oh, and speaking of such. I've noticed you've neglected to use any pronouns when mentioning your love life, sister dearest."
"Oh shut up. Artemis is a unisex name. It could very well be a boyfriend. You shouldn't jump to conclusions."
"Well, is it a boyfriend?"
"Well no. Artemis just so happens to be my new girlfriend. Only a couple of years older than me and already running the business. But that's not the point."
"You fucker!" Nico chortles. The old lady glares at him. "So are you ever going to inform your parents that not only am I a faggot but you are also a raging dyke?"
The old lady promptly moves aisle.
"Definitely not. But hey, at least Hazel is straight, right? Whatever her boyfriend is called."
"To Hazel," Nico says fondly. "I'd drink to her heterosexuality if I had alcohol with me."
Bianca sniggers on the other end of the line. "Yeah, well I gotta go now. See you Nico."
"Yeah, see you. Bye." He pauses. "Love you."
He's pretty sure she is smiling. "Love you too Nico."
The phoneline goes dead, and Nico promptly sleeps for the remainder of the journey. He is awoken by a jolt just in the nick of time, and exits at his designated stop a mere second before the train doors shut, his belongings in hand. He exits the train station and breathes in the freshness of the great outdoors. Nico loves darkness and the like - from the age at which he was able to comprehend the notion of colours, his room had always been painted black - but a five hour train journey can drive anyone mad. He scans through his phone contacts until he finds the number Hazel had instructed him to ring upon his arrival and hits dial.
"Hello?" says a female voice.
"Uh hi. I'm Nico di Ang - "
"Oh Hazel's brother! Of course. Shit. Um look, I kinda forgot I was meant to collect you. Whoops. Please don't tell Hazel. But hey, I'm in town now and hey, it's like a five minute drive to the train station. I'll be there in like five. Or ten depending how the traffic goes. Hang in there, yeah?"
"Uh sure. No worries. Hey, I didn't get your name."
"Piper! Piper McLean. Small green shitty car. And I will see you, Nico di Angelo, in exactly nine minutes and thirty seconds."
Nico can't help but laugh at this, and leans against the wall playing some mini games on his phone. It's been approximately twelve minutes, and he's considering ringing Piper again when he hears an engine sound so messed up, it's somewhat comical coming his way, and sees a green mini making its way toward him.
The driver, presumably Piper, gets out and okay, Nico is as gay as they come but he can't help but do a double take. Shit, but she is gorgeous. Her hair is messy and choppy and she is one of those girls that you want to hate because of how great they look with such hair. She's wearing a crop top that shows off a perfectly flat stomach and shorts don't leave much to the imagination - not that anyone would complain. Her legs are perfectly toned, and are miles long. And absurdly, she's got two Starbucks cups in hand.
"Nico!" she exclaims sheepishly. "Okay, I know I'm slightly later than planned, but I felt obliged to get you a Sorry-I'm-Late present. Hence the Starbucks. They probably spelt your name wrong." Her voice is warm and speaks the truth - when Nico takes ahold of the frothy vanilla mixture she hands him, the cup reads Neeko. But it smells good, and tastes even better. Nico hadn't even been aware of how parched he is.
"Starbucks?" he questions skeptically.
"Don't judge," she says. "I've been living with a white girl for the past two years. Her tendencies are starting to rub off."
She helps him carry his stuff to the car and they dump his bags in the bagseat, chatting amiably the entire time. The car engine chortles to life, and the pair of them chat amiably as they drive. Piper is easy to talk to. She's immensely likable, and doesn't pry, but doesn't mind divulging her own matters to Nico.
"Don't judge the CDs," she urges him. "I swear, not all of them are mine."
"I should hope not," he says, "My Chemical Romance? Really?"
"It belongs to my friend Leo, I swear. He got one shitty CD of that emo crap stuck in the player, and he hasn't been allowed in the car since. Funny enough his CDs always seem to make a reappearance here anyway. That was way back, a good few years ago when the car wasn't even mine."
"Oh yeah? Who'd it belong to?"
"Jason," she says. "My ex. When he gave me the car he had a series of rules to follow, but so far I haven't paid heed to any of them. Aside from not allowing Leo to come near it."
Nico laughs. "So you still have your ex's car? Wow. You guys parted on good terms then?"
"Oh yeah. It was a mutual thing really. We're still best friends. I mean, we'd have to be on good terms, seeing as we live in the same apartment block."
"You live in the same apartment block as Hazel then?"
"Yup. Oh yeah, she wanted me to tell you. She's really sorry that she couldn't collect you herself, but she had to work overtime. The boys were willing to collect you, but Hazel decided I'd be the better candidate for the job. Ah, good, we're here."
Nico doesn't have the time to ask who the boys are, because Piper is pulling into the car park of a series of apartment blocks. They're nothing special, but seem in reasonably good nick. No outlandish graffiti, broken windows or anything of the like. Piper deftly reverses, and leaps out of the car, instructing Nico to discard their empty Starbucks cups while she gathers his stuff. He does so - the place has its own dainty flower beds and garbage cans, not your typical run-off-the-mill council estate then - and takes half his stuff and follows in line behind her as she leads the way. They take the elevator to the fourth floor, and Piper leads him to Apartment #6.
"Well here you are," she says brightly. "Hazel should be home by now, and I'll bet you anything the boys are playing video games. Anyway. I'm on the this floor too, room #3. Give me a buzz if the boys are being assholes. I'll probably see you later anyway."
She hugs him then, and Nico is overwhelmed by her flowery perfume scent and the sensation of having another human being who isn't Bianca displaying such affections towards him. But nonetheless, he hugs her back, and he's vaguely upset to see her go, leaving him to enter the room by himself.
He knocks on the door gingerly, and mentally rehearses his greeting, but he's interrupted by the door opening and a familiar face - several years older now, but familiar nonetheless - beaming at him, and then he's encased in another hug. Hazel is shorter than he is (unlike Bianca, who towers above him, much to Nico's resentment), and Nico can rest his chin in her curls. He feels odd, as if a substance of sorts has suddenly been dropped on him."
"Nico!" she exclaims. "Come on in you idiot, no need to knock. Oh crude. I've gotten flour all over your jacket, dammit. Frank and I were going to make a surprise cake for your arrival but I guess it's not much of a surprise anymore. You've met Frank, right? My boyfriend?"
Frank then. Bianca was wrong.
She drags him through the doorway and he barely has time to register the colourful paint scheme in their hallway and the numerous pictures adorning the walls before they've arrived in the kitchen, where a man around Nico's own age, maybe older, is mixing an assortment of ingredients. In any other situation this guy, with the huge frame and abnormal height might have been intimidating. But here, with flour caking his arms up to his elbows and beaming at Hazel and Nico in turn, he's more like a teddy bear.
"Nico," he greets, and Nico is relieved to realise his voice isn't threatening in the slightest. "Frank Zhang. I'd shake your hand, but uh - " he holds out his flour clad hands in explanation and Nico shrugs. "Well I've already been greeted by Hazel," he offers, and he wasn't insinuating a hug, but suddenly Frank Zhang, his baby sister's boyfriend has him in a bear hug and Nico is pretty sure there's more white than black in his hair.
Hazel laughs. "Oh well. There's an en-suite in your room Nico. Don't use too much hot water, yeah?"
Nico nods. "Okay. Um. Where can I leave my stuff?"
Hazel and Frank barely exchange glances before they both yell, "LEO!" and the door to Nico's right, which if the noise is anything to judge by is a sitting room, Xbox 360 intact, opens and another guy walks out. He's a short guy, and skinny, with hair that knows no boundaries and ears that could give Legolas a run for his money. His smile is wide and almost infectious. He grins at Nico and sticks out a hand in greeting.
"Leo Valdez. The cooler boyfriend of the trio of course. And I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume you're Nico?"
Trio. Ah, of course. That would explain the confusion regarding the names. Nico returns the handshake and is shocked at the force behind the other guy's shake. Leo has some serious energy.
"He emerges," Frank mutters.
"Oh come on. I've only been playing for," - he checks his watch - "three hours. You guys have been baking for even longer."
"Yeah, no thanks to you!" Hazel exclaims, swatting a dishcloth in Leo's direction.
"Oh come on man!" Leo exclaims in mock hurt. "It's not my fault you guys won't let me use the kitchen."
"Yeah, ever since you nearly burnt it down!" Hazel points out.
"Don't ask," Frank adds for Nico's benefit.
"Oh shut up," Leo says fondly. "You guys love me really. He has to stand on his tip-toes to kiss Frank's cheek, but he's able to remain flat footed when he does so to Hazel. Albeit not before swatting her back with a dishcloth.
He dodges her retaliation, and grabs Nico's bags. "So I guess I'm showing you where you're staying, yeah?"
He leads Nico to a room at the end of the hallway. Nico is somewhat bemused by the sheer size of this flat. "Here you are," Leo declares, waving his hands with a flourish. The TV doesn't have any decent channels, but if you've got a DVD player or whatever you can hook it up. Say, you got any games for an Xbox 360 with you?"
"Yeah. I got GTA5. Any good?"
"Oh yes!" Leo says. "Nico di Angelo, you are my new best friend. I've been wanting GTA5 for ages but Hazel and Frank keep insisting it's "bad for my brain cells" or whatever. Okay come on, you hurry up and take a shower - I don't know if you noticed but you're covered in flour - and then we can leave those nutters to playing their Betty Crocker shit. We need to play this game."
Nico showers with haste, ridding his body of the powdery substance. Once he's dressed and his hair is in a presentable state, he makes his way to the living room Leo had previously been in and is in right now. "Sit down man," Leo says brightly when Nico enters, and closes his laptop to insert Nico's game into the device. As the screenloads he flops himself down on a beanbag. "Hey, the whole polyamory thing doesn't freak you out, right?"
"No way," Nico says hurriedly. "I'm cool with just about anything. As long as my sister's happy, you know?"
"Oh yeah," Leo assures him. "She's happy. We all are. I mean, back in the day, when we were teens, I had this major crush on Hazel. I also had this tiny crush on my best friend Jason, and this chick Calypso, but that's a story for another day. Basically, I was bi as hell - well I still am, obviously - anyway, so I was bi and crushing on Hazel hardcore. Then she got with Frank and they were totally perfectly in love and I was bitter as fuck. I wanted to hate Frank, yeah? But shit you just can't hate that guy. So after years of pretending I was cool with it, while being kind of a dick to Frank, my friend Jason, the one I fancied a bit, told me to get my shit together and just confess my feelings to Hazel. So I did. And weirdly enough she liked me right back, only she was still in love with Frank. So she tried this open dating thing for a while, where she dated both Frank and I separately dating her. But it didn't feel completely right. And then one day we were like, "Fuck it, let's have a threesome," so we did and, well, we've been dating ever since. I mean, I never really realised how much I liked Frank? And likewise. But it was there. And things are great now." He pauses to load the game, a fond smile on his face. "So what about you Ghost Boy? Got any girls? Or boys? Anyone who doesn't go by either of those labels?"
"Ghost Boy?" Nico echoes indignantly.
"Yeah, no offence dude but you are seriously pale."
"Whatever. Believe it or not, I'm Italian."
"No way!"
"Yeah. My sister - Bianca that is, my full sister - has the proper golden tan Italian complexion. Meanwhile I look like a washed out Irish guy. But anyway, there is nobody right now." There never has been for that matter. But despite Leo's likability, Nico doesn't really feel like conferring such.
"Oh. Bummer. Oh well, you'll meet someone, yeah?"
"I guess," Nico says halfheartedly. "Hey, when you say Jason, you mean Piper's ex Jason?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot, you met Pipes! And yeah, that's the one. He claimed to be totally straight when I liked him, and now what do you know but he's dating a dude." Leo throws his hands to the sky in mock anguish.
"Oh shit, he realised he was gay and dumped her? Harsh. Poor Piper."
"Oh dude no. No no no. It wasn't like that at all," Leo laughs. "Wait, please tell me you didn't notice what a raging homo Piper is herself."
"Wait, Piper's gay?"
"Oh yeah. Dude, she's going to be offended you didn't realise that. Better not mention it."
Then the game loads oscreen, and any topic of conversation that does not center around cursing at onscreen enemies is immediately forgone.