Work Text:
Nico hadn’t wanted a cat. He wasn’t even entirely sure if he liked cats. The only thing he was really sure of was that he couldn’t leave this sad, pitiful looking animal out in the cold. It had clearly been on its own for a while; its fur was matted and dirty and he was thin as all hell. If Nico were a cat, this cat would still be thinner than him, and that was a bad thing.
“C’mere, kitty.” It’s definitely not a kitty anymore, not that that matters. He reaches inside his McDonald’s bag and grabs a fry, showing it to the cat huddled in the alley.
“Here, kitty.” Did cats like McDonald’s? This one clearly did. Either that or it was just starving. Nico is betting on the latter.
The cat slinks over to him. Nico gives it a fry and then pets it carefully. He even gives it his last chicken nugget, which is saying something.
“Do you want to come home with me?” He asks it. He assumes this is more of a domesticated cat, and he’s afraid it will die out here on its own.
The cat meows. Nico isn’t sure what that means, but he takes it as a good sign.
“Okay.” Nico opens his bag and holds another fry over it so the cat will go in. “You won’t be in there long,” he tells it. “It’s just that I’m technically not allowed pets in my dorm.” He’s not sure why he keeps talking to the cat like it understands him, but it seems to calm the animal down. He holds his bag gingerly all the way back to his dorm, making what he hopes are reassuring sounds whenever there is no one around to hear him. He tries to imagine what Jason will say when he gets back to find a cat living in his room.
He manages to get the cat upstairs no problem. He carefully removes it from the bag, googles ‘how to clean a cat,’ and then gets to work.
At first the cat really doesn’t like what Nico’s doing, but Nico is gentle and keeps feeding it fries and eventually it calms down. It even starts to purr. Nico is beginning to enjoy himself when the cat starts meowing.
“No, no, no,” he says hurriedly. “Stop that.”
The cat does not stop that.
“Shh!” Nico begs. “Stop, you’re going to get us caught.”
Apparently the cat understands this to mean, ‘be louder,’ because that’s what it does. Nico fumbles with his phone, trying to get music playing to drown out the cat, but too late. There’s a knock on the door.
“Look what you’ve done,” he admonishes the cat quietly. Looking around frantically, he gently puts the cat in a laundry basket (with holes) and then places Jason’s suitcase on top so it can’t escape. “Sorry,” he whispers, before opening the door.
Octavian, the RA, is there, glaring at him.
“I heard a cat.”
“Okay. Is this a game? Like I Spy?”
“Cut the crap, di Angelo. I distinctly heard meowing. Are you hiding a cat?”
“I don’t even like cats.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“What was the question?”
“Cat, di Angelo.”
“No, no, it’s Nico. Nico di Angelo. Not cat.”
Octavian looks about thirty seconds away from murder. “You’re hiding a cat in there.”
“No I’m not. That’s against the rules. I don’t have a cat.”
“Then you won’t mind if I search your room?”
“Don’t you need some kind of warrant for that?”
“It was me.”
Just as Nico’s panic is rising to a crescendo, the door beside him opens and a blond boy steps out, wearing an Olympus U sweatshirt with jean shorts and flip flops. Nico wants to mention that it’s November, but he decides against it.
“Excuse me?” Octavian turns his attention to the blond. Nico remembers seeing him around, but they’ve never talked.
“It was me. I was meowing.”
Nico tries to keep a straight face, unsure if he’s more surprised, relieved, or confused.
“What is your name?”
“Will Solace.”
“Will Solace.” Octavian says it in the same kind of tone you would use to say something like flesh eating babies. “And why exactly were you meowing?”
“I was on Skype with my cat,” he says with a shrug. “She misses me.”
Nico stares in disbelief at the boy.
“Do you expect me to believe that?” Octavian says, but he looks significantly less confident now.
“It’s the truth.” And then Will meows, loudly, and it does really sound like Nico’s cat. Octavian looks between the two of them before standing up straight and trying to look in charge.
“No more meowing, Solace.”
“I wasn’t aware that was against the rules.”
Octavian clearly doesn’t have an answer to this and so instead just slumps away. Nico waits until he storms out of sight before slumping against the door frame in relief.
“God, I hate that guy,” Will mutters. Nico lets out a breath.
“Thank you,” he says. Will shrugs.
“It’s not a problem. Like I said, I hate that guy. You could be cooking meth and I would still side with you.”
“I’m definitely not doing that.” Nico’s pretty sure meth makes you lose weight; he tries to imagine what Hazel would do if she found out he was doing illegal drugs that made him even thinner.
Will smiles. Nico doesn’t think he’s ever seen anyone with a nicer smile.
“So,” he says conspiratorially. “Can I see it?”
“See what?”
Will rolls his eyes. “The cat.”
“Oh. Duh. Yeah.”
Will follows Nico into his room, closing the door behind him. Nico saves the cat from its dirty laundry prison.
“Sorry,” Nico says to it. “But you have no one to blame but yourself.” He puts the cat on his bed, and Will sits down to start petting it. Nico knows there’s some kind of joke here about the first time he’s gotten a cute boy in his bed and pussy, but he can’t really formulate it yet.
“He’s –” Will lifts the cat and peers under it. “She’s,” he amends, “in really rough shape.”
“I found her on the streets. Couldn’t just leave her. I don’t suppose you’re studying to be a vet, are you?”
Will smiles lopsidedly. “Nope. Doctor. Wrong species.”
“I was trying to clean her up but then she started, well. You know.”
Will nods and keeps petting her. “I know a nice shelter, if you want. My sister volunteers there. We could bring her there.”
The cat stares up at Nico as if she had understood. It’s like she’s begging Nico not to do that. He sighs.
“No. Hang on.” He gets out his phone and calls Hazel.
“Hi, Nico.”
“Hey. Do you want a cat?”
Hazel is quiet. Then she says, “Is that a street name for something?”
Nico rolls his eyes. “Yes, I am trying to sell my little sister drugs. I meant literally. Do you want a cat?”
“Where did you get a cat?”
“Found her on the streets. Abandoned. She’s in pretty rough shape.” He is shamelessly trying to appeal to Hazel’s love of animals. He hears her sigh.
“Dad doesn’t like cats.”
“Dad doesn’t like anything, Hazel. Look, it’s either you or a shelter. Do you want the cat or not?”
“Yeah, okay. I’ve always wanted a cat.” Nico smiles. He could always count on Hazel.
“Perfect. Do you think you could get her tonight? Animals aren’t allowed and I’ve already almost been busted.”
“What happened?” Hazel asks, and Nico hurriedly explains.
Another sigh. “Yeah, okay. I’ll ask Frank if he can drive me. Hang on.” Nico can hear faint talking in the background. “He says it’s not a problem. We’ll be there in about half an hour.”
“Hang on. Where are you?”
“I’m at home.”
“And Frank is there?”
“Yeah.”
“Is Dad or Persephone there?”
“Nico, I am 17 years old. I do not need a chaperone. Do you want me to take your damn cat?”
“Yeah, okay. We’ll talk about this later.”
“No, we won’t. I’ll see you soon.” Then she hangs up. Nico stares at the phone.
“Little overprotective of your sister, are you?” Will is looking at him with an amused expression on his face.
“She’s at home, by herself, with her boyfriend!”
Will laughs. “Is she at least taking the cat?”
“Yeah,” he says.
“That’s good. Do you not like her boyfriend?”
“What? Oh, no. Frank’s great. Couldn’t have picked a better dude. But still.”
Will laughs again. It’s quite a nice laugh. Nico’s glad he does it so often. “Does the cat have a name?”
Nico shakes his head. “I’ll let Hazel name her, I guess.”
“Maybe the cat can be chaperone.”
Nico glares, but Will doesn’t seem intimidated, just grins at him. Before Nico can say anything, the door opens. He jumps and tries to hide the cat, but it’s just Jason. Nico breathes a sigh of relief.
“Jesus, you scared me.”
Jason looks at the scene, of Nico, Will, and a mangy cat all sitting on Nico’s bed. “Is this you coming out as bisexual?”
Nico laughs. “I knew there was a joke here somewhere. But no. We temporarily have a cat.” Nico explains the whole story. Will even meows again for comparison. By the time he’s done, he has a text from Hazel saying that she’s arrived.
“C’mon,” he says. “We have to sneak this cat down to Hazel.” They coax the cat back into the bag and then make their way downstairs. Will tags along, but Nico doesn’t mind. He’s pretty much earned it. Plus he smells good. Not that that matters.
As they are sneaking down the stairs, Jason says, “This is like in Harry Potter. Except it’s a cat instead of a dragon.”
Will suddenly gasps. “We should name the cat Norbert!”
Nico snorts. “You two are nerds.”
“Okay, important question,” Will says. “Which of us is Harry, who’s Ron, and who’s Hermione?”
“Ron wasn’t there,” Jason reminds him. “He was in the Hospital Wing.”
Will snaps, as if he couldn’t believe he’d forgotten.
“I will gladly go back upstairs if you’d like to stay authentic,” Nico says drily, but Jason and Will start talking about Harry Potter and so they don’t hear him. “Can you believe these nerds,” he whispers to the cat in his arms.
When they get downstairs, Hazel is standing outside Frank’s car. She gives Nico a hug when she sees him.
“Hey. Is this the cat?”
“No, I figured you might want a new backpack.”
“Would it kill you to not be sarcastic for once?”
“I don’t know. I’m not eager to try.”
Hazel takes the cat into her arms and nuzzles her. “Does she have a name?”
Nico is about to say no, but both Will and Jason break in with, “Norbert.”
“Like the dragon,” Frank says from the front seat. Nico rolls his eyes.
“Hi, Frank. Thanks for doing this.”
Frank just smiles. “No problem. Is that the meower?”
Will bends down so Frank can see his face. “I usually go by Will, but that works.”
“Thanks, Hazel,” Nico says. Hazel is too busy petting her new cat to really notice. “You don’t have to call her Norbert if you don’t want to.”
Hazel looks at the cat. “How do you feel about the name Norbert?”
The cat meows. “That means she likes it,” Will says. “Trust me. They don’t call me the meower for nothing.”
“They don’t call you that at all,” Nico says. Will winks, which for some reason makes Nico blush.
“We should get going. Dad will be home soon, I’d like to get home before him.”
“Don’t want him knowing you were alone with your boyfriend?”
Hazel just rolls her eyes, unaffected by Nico’s glare. Nico is about to say something else, but Jason elbows him in the stomach.
Hazel hugs him goodbye, waves at Frank and Will, and then gets in the car. Frank waves and drives off.
“What was that for?” He asks Jason, rubbing his injured ribs.
“Give her a break. You’d have done the same.”
“But I didn’t.”
“Don’t be bitter just because your sister has better luck with men than you do,” Jason says with a smirk. Nico tries to kick him but Jason easily evades him, cackling the entire time.
When they get back to the floor Jason excuses himself. “It was nice to meet you, Will,” he says, before winking at Nico. Nico doesn’t know why people keep winking at him tonight.
He is just about to thank Will again when he speaks.
“You know, I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to talk to you since September. If I had have known all I needed to do was meow at you I would have done it ages ago.”
Nico stares at him, confused. “What?”
“I’ve wanted to get to know you since school started, but you seemed kind of...”
“Scary?”
“Stand offish.”
“Oh,” Nico says, still trying to wrap his head around this. “Why did you want to talk to me?”
“You’re cute.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Will smiles. “You don’t have to look so astonished about it.”
“It’s not exactly something I hear often.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
Nico blushes. “If you say so.”
“Keep in touch, Nico. I’d like to be your friend, at least.”
“What’s at most?”
Will grins. “Do you want to know?”
Nico nods.
“Truthfully, I’d really like to go on a date with you.”
“That seems pretty tame for an at most.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Well. You did pretend to be a cat for me.”
“Don’t do me any favours,” Will says, but he is smiling widely and his eyes are bright. They are very, very blue. Nico had been under the impression that Percy had the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen, but he might have to rethink that.
“I’m not,” he says.
Will’s happiness is so contagious that Nico can’t help but grin.
“Okay. Great. I’ll get back to you, then?”
“You’d better,” Nico says with a smirk. “I know where you live.”
Will laughs before heading into his room. Nico takes a deep breath.
“Can’t believe it took a pussy to get me a date with a guy,” he mutters. “Thanks, Norbert.”