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“Come inside for cake and ice cream,” Percy offered. “It sounds like we’ve got a lot to talk about.”
Nico frowned, his eyes averted and his hands in his too-big jacket pockets. As he obviously debated the pros and cons of hanging out with someone as uncool as Percy, he ran his fingers through his almost shoulder-length hair. The silver flash of his ring was brighter than the moon.
“I'm not gonna bite you, dude,” Percy added, which did actually seem to alleviate some of Nico’s apprehension.
He still looked unsure and troubled, but he gracefully swung through Percy’s window without a word.
Percy followed him in (less gracefully, he bumped his head against the window frame with a loud expletive) and gave Nico a wide berth, who was just standing in the middle of the bedroom with his eyes to the floor. The guy was hella unnerving, and Percy was sure Nico didn’t even realize it.
“You…” Nico quickly glanced around. “Have a lot of stuff.”
Percy looked at his shelves full of knickknacks and his wall plastered in posters. Even the top of his dresser had piles of half-folded clothes and a few of those long, stuffed animal snakes spilling over the side. “Yeah, I guess so. I just cleaned, too.”
“You’d never be able to tell.” A muffled laugh from Tyson drew Nico’s attention to the door. It was dread, that's what it was; dread, all over his face, from the way his jaw clicked to the fluttered movement of his eyelashes. “Sounds loud out there.”
Percy shrugged as he sat down on his bed. “I’m kinda over it.”
“Shouldn’t you want to hang out with your… friends?”
“S’just my family out there.”
“Oh.” Nico seemed to visibly relax, his shoulders no longer drawn in together and his back straighter. “Okay.” One of the stuffed snakes on the dresser found its way into his hands, and he ran them down the length of it as Percy desperately fished for absolutely anything to say.
“Have you, like, ever been to a birthday party?” was what he landed on, because his conversational skills were nil whenever the topic wasn't monsters, sword-fighting, quests, or all the latest strategies on getting expelled before the lunch bell rang.
Nico put down the plush before he answered, “I don't remember.”
“Oh. Um.” Percy scratched at his ear. “Right, sorry. I think it's kinda common that at some point people—like, friends, maybe—split off, kinda more intimate—” He caught the look of dismay on Nico’s face (and he was pretty sure it was dismay, if not disgust at the idea of being Percy’s friend) and quickly backtracked. “What did you wanna talk about, again?”
Nico pressed the back of his hand to his mouth, like he really was about to hurl at the accusation of friendship, but after a second it became clear he was just fidgeting as he decided his exact words. “My idea involves the River Styx. You know about Achilles, right?” he asked, instead of acknowledging any of the mess that’d spilled out of Percy’s mouth.
“Something about his mom dunking him into it and made him unbeatable but his weak spot was his foot, yeah.”
“Impenetrable,” Nico corrected. “Big difference. But yes. We put you in, and then you’ll be on equal footing with Luke.”
Percy fell back onto his bed with a sigh. “Great. Y’know, I really don't wanna end up as the guy who died to a friggin’ arrow to the foot.”
“I can dip you by your hand if that makes you feel better.”
“Aw, you'd hold my hand?” He meant it to be light teasing, but Nico went silent for several long seconds, and when he did speak it sounded like it was through grit teeth.
“I’ll push you in, then,” he said, his words slanted in heat.
“Ohhhkay,” Percy tittered and rubbed his ear again. Gods, near-death experiences in the Labyrinth or no, he still had no idea how to approach the spiky tweenager-shaped brutality that was Nico di Angelo. He’d have better luck trying to instruct Tyson how to use an inside voice. “Uh, about that cake—it’s on my dresser. You can have the whole slice, it’s okay.”
He heard Nico make some noise of discontent, though his voice was further away now. “I’m alright. Really. I can’t imagine this amount of Blue 1 is good for anyone.”
“Dude, if you don’t eat at least three bites I’m gonna force you.”
“Okay, okay.” Nico’s next words were through a mouthful of cake. “The River Styx isn’t really that bad of a choice. Better than the Lethe, or the Phlegethon.”
“I dunno,” Percy said with a frown. “That seems too easy. Take a dip, just like that?”
“If you’re unprepared you could die. So it’s not too easy.”
“What!” Percy sat up and glared at Nico, who was now crisscross on the floor with the fork in his mouth. “You should’ve led with that!”
Nico slowly took the fork out of his mouth and winced. He averted his eyes again. “I think if I showed up here and opened with asking you to possibly die, you would have shut the window on my face.”
“Yeah, and that’s my right! I don’t wanna die.”
Though, the more Percy thought about it, the more likely it seemed that Nico was onto something, and if they don’t do this then everyone would die anyways. If what his dad said was true, then Typhon would be waking up soon, and a buttload of chaos would follow. Maybe having at least one of the good guys who could go toe-to-toe with Luke was a good idea.
“This isn't exactly my first choice, either,” Nico mumbled, his cheeks pink, “but we don’t have very many options.” He set the rest of the cake aside and wiped at his mouth again.
“I… gotta think about it,” Percy said. He wished Annabeth was around to tell him what she thought was a good idea or not. As it was, he had to use his own noodle brains to make that decision. Even Rachel might have her own good, worthwhile thoughts, but… No, leaving that box closed was the right move.
“Then think about it, but don’t think about it for too long. The Underworld is getting more full by the day.”
Percy nodded, not really listening anymore. The moonlace’s glow was dim through the window, but the soft light was easy to get lost into. Several moments passed before he remembered he had a guest. “Yeah. Hey, can I show you something?”
“I should be going,” Nico said as he hopped to his feet.
“Nah, it’s late. You’re staying, right? Lemme brush my teeth and we can figure out the sleeping sitch after.”
“No, I really need to go.” He spun the ring on his finger as he briefly ducked his head, so that all his hair fell into his face. “Thank you for the cake. I'll see you soon.”
Percy was already halfway out the door, but he paused to shake his head. “I'm serious, dude. Just stay the night. You can have my bed.”
Nico’s mouth twitched downwards. “Fine.”
With the agreement (and word was binding!) Percy quickly brushed his teeth. His tongue was totally dyed purple from the cake, a clear marker that maybe he did eat too many dyed foods. He’d hate to see what his stomach lining looked like. That was probably why Nico had been inspecting the snake; it was very teal, much like nearly everything else in the bedroom, so he must have thought it was lame.
That snake plush might make for an okay pillow on the floor, or maybe Nico would want it up in the bed with him, like by proximity he could make Percy’s belongings less of the rejects from a six-year-old’s bedroom.
He returned to his room with a glass of water, but the window was open, the sounds of the cars down below filling Percy’s room, and Nico was gone back into the night.