Work Text:
Percy was used to—what he and his colleagues called them—merverts. They usually would leave him alone if he ignored them for long enough, he even had a strategy for it. It was easy to keep his eyes on entertained kids or bored parents instead of random creeps. Most of the time he wouldn’t go into the public areas of the aquarium either—sticking to the staff-only areas kept him safe.
They would leave after a while. Paying money to see a merman actor who wouldn’t acknowledge them seemed to bore them quickly.
Except one just wouldn’t let up.
At least he’s attractive. Percy thought before slipping down into the water gracefully. He gave a quick glance around at the aquatic creatures in the cold tank, he didn’t want to disturb them if he didn’t have to. Verifying the location of a new turtle was his favorite part. He felt giddy upon spotting Shelly swimming at the other side of the tank.
Looking out at the people on the other side of the glass, he saw a family gather. However, he took the risk of sparing a glance at a man leaning against a pole nearby. He was pale and had black shaggy hair that gave Percy the impression he didn’t care much for appearances. Still, there was an effortless beauty to him.
What soured that beauty was the mervert being there for all of Percy’s shifts for the past month. While it was creepily persistent, at least the man wasn’t particularly awful for Percy’s eyes. He didn’t need them to get even more tired. After all, they were already struggling from being underwater constantly.
Keeping his gaze from the guy, Percy made a bubble heart for the kids and a short barrel roll before going to the surface to take a quick breath. He could hold his breath for a few minutes, but he was no miracle worker. His record was three minutes, but he rarely let himself get close to that anymore.
Diving back down, his mind drifted even as he performed more tricks and swam around with the fish as if he knew them. A wishful part of him wanted to believe that the guy on the other side of the glass had a good reason for watching him, but really it didn’t seem like it. Percy remembered how the guy was obviously watching his abs when he first came to watch.
It wasn’t innocent curiosity that kept the man coming back, Percy was certain of it.
He waved at a kid tapping the glass, then proceeded to show his disapproval with a head shake. When this didn’t deter the kid, he tried to make a comical pout and swam to another part of the tank. The only person he could see on the other side from this area, however, was the mystery man.
Holding his breath, as always, Percy peered at him before simply swimming back up to the surface. He had no idea how to deter that creep, the ignoring thing could only work on so many people.
Rubbing his face for a moment, he gave himself extra time to breathe. Oxygen deprivation wasn’t good with racing thoughts. Still, he forced himself back down even as his head ached. He could only keep up a small smile for the spectators, not able to manage a toothy grin with that man there.
This was really getting to him now, Percy realized as his smile faded. He couldn’t do this. He needed air. He needed a break. Who cares if he got fired for not lasting very long? Percy needed to get his mind in a stable state before doing his stunts.
Swimming back up, he scooted onto a deck area to get his tail off. He let himself take his time with the process of removing the silicone tail. It shimmered green in the light, despite being mainly blue. With some effort, he got it off and put on some swim shorts.
Why were his eyes already tired? Why was his head already hurting? Why did he get a job where people gawked at him if he didn’t enjoy it? These awful questions swam in his head as he grabbed a towel and started his trek towards a break room.
Percy rubbed at his eyes and stared at his feet until he heard an unfamiliar voice behind him.
“You wrap your towel like a girl.”
Frowning, Percy adjusted the towel underneath his armpits before whirling around. “That’s not—“
His criticism died in his throat upon seeing the mervert right in front of him. Percy swallowed, not sure how to handle the trespassing in an employee-only area and the sexist(?) comment.
May as well tackle the easier bit first.
Furrowing his brow, Percy scoffed. “That’s a pretty shitty thing to say. It’s easier to dry off if I wrap it around more of my body. Simple logic.”
“I wasn’t insulting you. I just noticed.” The man’s voice was blunt, but Percy swore he could hear thinly-veiled sarcasm.
“You need to be more aware of how you sound then,” he decided to say after some thought. “You declaring I’m doing something like a girl as your first ever greeting doesn’t leave a great impression.”
The man frowned. “I apologize. I don’t do this often.”
“It’s reassuring to know you don’t trespass often,” Percy snapped back.
He felt satisfaction as soon as he got to say what he was holding back for only a short period. It was still the longest short period of his life, but Percy felt it was worth it when he saw his stalker’s eyes shoot to the floor in shame.
“I was worried about you.”
What a shitty excuse.
Percy bit the hook anyway. “Why?”
“You never stop swimming that early.” The creep put a hand up into his own hair, playing with a strand in front of his eyes. “I thought something was wrong.”
“A sane person would get an employee if that thought crossed their mind.”
Percy had to resist breaking his gaze in a pseudo-staring contest when dark—almost completely black—eyes stared up at him. “You think I’m sane?”
Losing the staring contest, Percy leaned against a wall. “I haven’t known you long enough to tell.”
“But you’ve seen me long enough.”
Shaking his head no, Percy anxiously shifted his weight from one foot to the other. This conversation was creeping him out, and yet it was oddly exciting to finally talk to this guy. “Still not enough information. I don’t even know your name, that’s how little I know.”
“My name is Nico.” He said this so confidently Percy had no doubts. Nico was his creep’s name. “You’re Percy.”
Percy idly nodded like a bobblehead. “Yeah, that’s right—Wait. How do you know that?”
“It wasn't hard to ask your coworkers about you. I know much more, even.”
“…What do you know?”
“Percy Jackson. 25. You live on Blackjack street, specifically apartment 818 on floor 8.” A sly grin slowly emerged on Nico’s face as he watched Percy freeze. “You only got your driver’s license this year, and had to be driven here by one of your coworkers constantly before then. Someday you want to try going to college again, but you had a bad experience when you went the first time.”
Some of his coworkers did have a tendency to gossip, but he never realized that could put him in harm's way. Now Percy was alone in a hallway with a guy he barely knew—but apparently Nico knew him very well—and he was freaking out internally. A shiver went down his spine, and he suddenly had the urge to move. Why didn’t Nico ever end up visiting his place unannounced? He was lucky.
“Anything else?” Percy asked in a small, unsure voice.
Nico started stepping closer to him until Percy was nearly being pressed onto the wall by the intruder. “Your favorite color is blue.”
Letting out a huge breath of relief at the very simple fact, Percy slipped out of the space between Nico and the wall.
“Okay. I need to go. It’s really weird you know all that stuff about me, but what can I do? I’m not a Man in Black.”
Nico tilted his head.
“Movie reference,” Percy said bluntly. “I’m gonna go now?”
He took steps away from Nico, but didn’t turn around. His feet moved in reverse, unsure if they should turn and book it to a single-occupant bathroom to hide. Heart thumping in his chest, he knew it was due to fear, but if he didn’t know any better he’d guess it was for a different reason.
When he wasn’t chased after, Percy turned and finally started walking normally. As soon as he was in the safety of a staff break room, tension filtered from his body.
Percy felt it coming back when he went to his apartment that night. He checked all of his locks and windows with a singular thought plaguing his mind. Nico knew his address. What if he decided to take his obsession further?
Laying in his bed, Percy scrolled through his phone with a total of one brain cell operational. Sleeping was hard when you were contemplating moving.
Suddenly, his thumb brushed the top of his screen as he was sent a text message. Percy huffed as he was sent away from an artist painting people’s cats, he wasn’t done watching that yet! He assumed the person texting him would be Leo or Jason, but realized grimly that an unfamiliar number was gracing his presence with an unfamiliar message to match.
Do you think I’m a creep? I don’t know if I am.
Frowning, Percy replied absentmindedly.
I think you have the wrong number
I don’t. This is Percy, right?
An involuntary shudder went through his body. Percy’s thumbs moved faster than his thoughts, trained with many years of thoughtless texting.
Please dont tell me ur that guy I met today
I am. Sorry. Gonna answer my question?
Why would I answer that and why shouldnt I block you right now
That finally led to silence from Nico’s end. Percy sat there for a moment before going back to that cat video he wanted to finish. Just as he did, a message came through. He grunted in annoyance at the sight of it, but swiped down to read anyways.
Because talking to me would probably be more interesting than what you’re doing right now.
Percy wondered how Nico would know he wasn’t really doing anything right now. Looking around anxiously, he saw the curtains on his window were very much closed. He was going to ask, but it was as if Nico could read his mind, because the answer came without any prompting.
You responded so fast. I’m making an educated guess that you’re bored.
Fuck it. Youre right so what do u want
Your attention.
His stomach suddenly was invaded with butterflies, but he tried to will them away and think rationally. This guy couldn’t be messaging him for no reason, there needed to be an ulterior motive. He even had doubts about this guy liking him. Nico probably was just planning to stab him or worse. This had to be a ploy.
You have it so anything else??
I don’t want to demand anything else. I am already pushing my luck, aren’t I?
Yeah ig thats true
The silence after his last message felt awkward, so Percy pressed on. Though this weirdo kind of deserved to feel awkward, he didn’t want to experience the feeling as well.
How did you get my number??
You should probably share less personal information with your coworkers. They are way too open and desperately want you to get laid.
Instantly, a certain animal caretaker popped into his head.
Leo.
How did you guess?
The better question is how could I not
The conversation with Nico was interesting, but it wasn’t holding his attention enough to stop the impending doom of sleep. The words on his screen were starting to become even more indecipherable in his tiredness.
Anyways, see you tomorrow probably, youre always there after all, standing there alone, staring at me
Yeah.
Do you not want me there? I can’t tell.
If I said yes would you not come? Cause youre creepy
Probably wouldn’t, I just thought this was how it worked.
What do you mean??
I’ve read a lot of romance books that were recommended to me. Is this not how you attempt to start a relationship? You go to the person’s place of work and stare into their eyes until they understand exactly how you feel about them. Then you make out in a staff-only area and swap clothes. Then you go on nice dates.
Being dyslexic and tired was a struggle Percy wanted to ignore now, but he tried his best to get a vague handle on what Nico was saying. Once he did, he was truly running on low battery.
I can’t tell if youre messing with me or if youre genuinely clueless but Im too tired to tackle this goodnight
Percy turned his phone off and set it to the side, forgetting to charge it as usual.
He was getting on his silicone tail and gazing down at the tank. The sea creatures were unbothered by life, and he envied them because they didn’t have to deal with a dead phone in the morning. Percy’s phone was now being charged, but he obviously couldn’t use it underwater, so he didn’t have his usual entertainment during his hectic morning.
Accepting the cold rush of water every time he got fully in the tank was a feat in itself, one that most people would never think of or appreciate. He surged down, opening his eyes to look at the guests and ignoring the stinging sensation it gave him.
Percy froze up a bit when he saw Nico wasn’t alone like usual. Instead, there was a tiny girl holding his hand. Nico was even closer than usual, and he had a smile on his face as she ran up to wave at Percy. Pushing down his confusion to the lowest depths, Percy gave a small wave in return.
When he went to the surface to take a breath, his confusion returned. The kid looked nothing like Nico, with her dark skin and curly hair, so he wondered if they were even related. It’s not like he could ask any questions while doing his job though, so he took the plunge back down to entertain the aquarium visitors.
Nico only watched for a short time as well, taking his leave when it looked like the girl was getting annoyed. Percy laughed underwater when he saw Nico get pulled away, though it was mostly performative as he needed to go back up quickly to catch his breath after.
When his shift was over he pulled off his tail with newfound urgency. He was so curious about that kid and his stalker. Hissing as he struggled out of the water, he headed towards his phone. Percy went down the same hallway he encountered Nico in previously.
Maybe that was a mistake.
“You really do swim majestically.”
He didn’t have to turn around to know who said that. Even though they only had a single interaction, Nico’s blunt tone was recognizable.
“That’s a better opener than last time,” Percy smirked as he slowly turned on his heel. “Good job.”
Rubbing his neck, Nico looked away shyly. “Uh, thanks.”
Psyching Nico out wasn’t Percy’s intention, but it did feel like karmic justice. “So, why did you have a kid with you today?”
Nico rolled his eyes, like the answer was obvious. “It sounded like you minded that I was alone while watching you, so I brought someone this time.”
“You stole someone’s kid to look more normal?”
Percy’s eyebrows raised. Shit, maybe he should call the police on this guy. He couldn’t tell if Nico was ignorant or playing dumb—or if it was somehow a mix of both.
“I didn’t steal her,” Nico huffed. “I was babysitting for my sister.”
“That kid was your sister?” He was prepared to fully believe that.
“I didn’t know your dyslexia carried over to spoken word.” Nico smirked and spoke before Percy could even be offended. “She’s my sister’s kid, my niece.”
It was hard to think of Nico as a creepy stalker when they got caught up in conversation, in a serious sense at least. Percy stared into those dark eyes of his and realized this guy was totally his type. If Nico didn’t know a crazy amount about him, Percy would consider the near-stranger a catch.
Percy started walking past Nico and into the break room. “That makes sense.”
He realized his mistake when someone was inside. One of his closest friends was in there, sitting with his legs crossed and his head down. Jason looked up from his phone, his irises peeking above his reading glasses. There looked to be a large amount of text on his phone.
“Who is this?” Jason asked. “New hire?”
“Uh.” Percy looked between the two. “He’s just a friend. Don’t tell the boss?”
“The rules say only employees can be in staff-only areas, but I guess there’s no need to cause a fuss over it.” Jason smiled and stood up, approaching the two with his hand offered to Nico. “I haven’t met you before. What’s your name?”
When Percy heard nothing from Nico, he took a closer look at a pale face. Nico looked a bit awe-struck. It was fair, Jason was attractive. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed, muscled—Percy had no doubt half of their workforce was pining for him. It was understandable.
So why did Percy feel jealous when Nico looked at Jason like that?
“Meglio togliermi il pensiero.” Percy suddenly wished he knew Italian, but Nico moved on. He shook his head and took Jason’s hand. “Nico. You’re Jason, right? I heard about you from Leo.”
Jason’s smile brightened as they proceeded to shake hands. “That’s right! He said good things, I hope?”
“He said you could rival the strength and mental fortitude of Atlas,” Nico said bluntly.
Percy rolled his eyes, there was no way. “He definitely didn’t say that.”
Nico scowled, turning to the merman actor. “He totally did!”
“I’ll believe he can be that eloquent when I hear it for myself.”
They proceeded to argue about Nico’s claim for the next five minutes while Jason’s head swiveled back and forth to follow the conversation. He soon huffed loudly to get their attention.
“We can just ask him about it later.” Jason’s idea quieted the two. “And also, sorry to ruin the fun, but Nico really should go before someone else comes in here.”
Percy expected Nico to argue, or to fight. In the end, Nico calmly backed up and opened the break room door to leave.
“I’ll see you later,” he muttered before turning away.
How was Percy supposed to react to the fact Nico just proclaimed they would meet after the usual time they see each other? A chill went down his spine. He was warming up to Nico for sure, but parts of this still weirded him out.
“Yeah. Sure.” Percy responded curtly as he watched Nico leave with a frown.
“What was that about?” Jason asked as soon as Percy closed the door, since Nico neglected to do so.
“What do you mean?”
His coworker frowned and sat down again. “We’re friends, so tell me what’s going on. Why didn't it look like you wanted to see him later? You never liked mixing your work and personal life. Heck, you never even let your ex come into the back rooms with you. What’s up?”
Being reminded of Annabeth wasn’t on his bucket list, but it did make him want to message her later. It had been a while since they talked. His mind was getting off track, he told himself. Maybe it would be good to tell someone about Nico instead of ignoring the potential problem.
Percy spilled his dilemma to Jason. He left out his complicated feelings and simply vented about how long Nico watched him creepily from the other side of the glass before moving on to actually talking to and messaging him. Now he was coming into the staff-only areas without permission. Things were escalating, and he wasn’t sure how to handle it.
While he was explaining, Jason went to the vending machine to buy a cookie. He gave it to Percy when the false merman finished speaking.
“That’s a lot,” Jason said simply. It would have come off as disregard from other people, but Percy knew Jason was deep in thought.
“Yeah,” Percy said while unplugging his phone. “I don’t really know what to do about it. I should just head home. Staying here getting more anxious about it doesn’t sound like a great option.”
As he stood up, Jason reached to gently grab onto his forearm. “Stay safe, okay?”
Percy smiled at him and stuffed the cookie he was given into his mouth. “Of course. I’ll be fine.”
After that Percy went to his car and scrolled on his phone. He went back to his text conversation with Nico from the previous night, finally processing what the last message from his stalker said.
He wants a relationship with me.
It was so strange. They had barely talked to each other, and yet Nico felt like courting Percy in some way. How was Percy going to let him down slowly or push him away from that idea? Should he act gross or send Nico weird things? What if Nico was into that? Wouldn’t that make the crush worse?
Percy groaned and decided to start driving. He could think about this while on the road. Starting his car, he got on the highway. His mind worked on autopilot as he drove, and his gaze occasionally wandered towards the billboards and buildings nearby.
An ad for a new burger place caught his eye. That cookie did help stave off his hunger, but now a burger did sound good. With a signature disappointed-in-his-unhealthy-food-choices sigh, Percy headed towards the place. Fast food wouldn’t hurt, he hoped.
Underworld Burger wasn’t familiar to him, but that made getting food a little more exciting. He wasn’t sure what to expect. Still, he wasn’t expecting to see Nico behind the counter, and in uniform.
He hesitated in front of the glass door of the establishment, about to turn away. It was too late though, Nico’s eyes were on him. Running away now would seem suspicious—it would make him look like he was stalking a stalker.
Percy pulled the door open to go inside, and Nico said nothing.
Percy approached, and Nico said nothing.
Percy gave a small wave, and Nico said nothing.
Fine. I’ll say something first.
“Uh. I wasn’t expecting to see you here…?”
Nico frowned at him, adjusting his ball cap that showed the fast food brand’s logo. “Same. What do you want?”
“Aren’t you supposed to say,” Percy stepped closer to the counter, “can I take your order?”
He regretted saying that until he saw the slightest quirk of a smile on Nico’s face. Then he felt almost on top of the world. It was strange to feel so much for someone so creepy, but Percy didn’t dwell on it. Who could judge his internal monologue? Gods?
“I know you,” Nico muttered. “It’s not going to be the same. What do you want?”
“Uh. Recommend something to me?”
Looking bothered, Nico looked up at the menu placed above his head. He considered it for a few seconds before turning back to Percy.
“I never eat here. The ice cream is good, that’s all I know.”
“You work here but you don’t eat the food?” It felt like a dumb question as soon as it left his mouth.
“Burgers are overrated,” Nico tapped on the screen in front of him, “but just get that and fries like a normal person.”
Well now Percy felt he’d be judged if he went with that idea—and he was stubborn—so he looked at the other options.
“I think I’ll get chicken nuggets and onion rings.”
Nico rolled his eyes but gestured at the card reader to his left. “Super unique.”
“How can I be unique when ordering fast food?” Percy complained, but he swiped his card in the reader anyways. “All you guys have are burgers, fries, and a bunch of cheese-infused fried shit.”
“True. You can go sit down now.”
No one was coming up to order and the only other customer in the place was an old man on his phone in a far corner—so it felt fine to stick around. “Nah. I feel like this is the first normal conversation I’ve had with you. I need to cherish this moment.”
Percy tensed up under Nico’s now judgemental gaze. He didn’t move though, even when Nico’s eyes looked him up and down.
“So I need to act differently to get you to stop torturing me at work?”
“This is payback, really.” Percy leaned over the counter a bit, putting his hands on the cold surface for balance. “You stare at me all the time at my job, you can handle a few minutes of me returning the favor.”
He quickly removed himself from the counter when another worker, who was awkwardly avoiding looking at the two of them, set a tray holding Percy’s order down and walked away. Percy suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious. What the hell was he doing? Returning the favor? How petty was that?
Silently taking the tray, Percy found a table behind a half wall that would obscure his view of the register and Nico. He ate quickly and quietly, not wanting to dwell on his interactions any further. As soon as he was done, he speedwalked out of there. Thankfully, Nico seemed occupied with a huge family trying to relay their order.
Percy hoped he went relatively unnoticed, but his hopes were dashed as Nico met his eyes through one of the huge glass doors of the place. Quickening his pace, Percy got into his car. There, behind tinted glass, he was safe.
I’ll see you at work.
Ominous
Pls don’t kill me I havent even watched a gay hockey show Leo suggested to me yet
Despite the out-of-nowhere text he got from Nico the night before, his work the next day went off without a hitch. Nico was there, as usual, and this time with no kid. He seemed antsy, and halfway through Percy’s shift he disappeared. Maybe he was going to the bathroom? Percy settled on that explanation, even as the break continued for a while.
When he got out of the water he went through his usual steps of getting his tail off and heading to the break room. He half expected to turn a corner and see Nico in front of him—he was even tensed up because of that suspicion—but no one was in the hallways. When he opened the door to the breakroom, he realized why.
Nico was pinned to a wall, thrashing, and Jason held him down with his forearm. Upon doing a sweeping glance over the room, Percy noticed his bag where he stored his things was tipped over and his usual jacket was on a table instead of being inside.
“What’s going on?” Percy said.
The two struggling men froze. Jason spoke up first. “He was going through your bag!”
Percy frowned, collecting his discarded jacket into his arms. “Why were you going through my things, Nico?”
He watched Nico attempt to struggle out of Jason’s hold again, but Jason kept him pinned to the wall. Going limp, Nico sighed. His head was turned to the side—he didn’t look at either of the other men.
“I wanted your jacket,” Nico mumbled. “I was cold.”
“Even if that was what you were looking for—you didn’t ask for it, did you?” Jason gritted his teeth, which made Percy realize he had never seen the muscled man angry before. “You’re a creep, and you need to stop coming back here. I should get you banned—”
That arm pushing against Nico was starting to look painful, Percy put a hand on it. “Jason, enough. I invited him back here.”
“No, you didn’t. You told me about how this guy’s been stalking you—”
Pushing down on Jason’s arm, despite it not being very effective, still managed to get his friend to back off. Percy’s body, and his mouth, were moving faster than his mind at this point. “Things have changed.”
“Changed?” Jason seemed genuinely flustered, but the anger from his face was gone already as he stepped back. “It’s only been a day. What could have possibly changed?”
Percy closed his eyes for a moment to relieve the small amount of pain they were in from being open in water for so long, but also to think. This was probably a bad idea, it was hard to ignore it once it came to him. He felt a strange urge to protect Nico. Did it truly matter that he couldn’t figure out why that was? It was a fact anyways, so why not?
“We’re dating now. He can have my jacket.”
Approaching Nico, Percy handed him his jacket in a methodically slow movement. Nico’s eyes widened, and he accepted it into his arms. They shared a long stare. It felt like they were the only two people in the room before Jason interjected.
“…I will never understand romance. Not my thing.” Jason opened the door to the breakroom. “But as long as you’re happy, I don’t care. Call me if you need me, Percy.”
He slipped out as Percy and Nico were frozen in place. It took a few seconds before Percy could let out a nervous chuckle.
“Uh, sorry I had to lie like that. I just didn’t want you to get in trouble—”
Nico’s shocked expression quickly turned into a glare. “That was a lie?”
Percy frowned at him. “Yes? Of course it was. We never established any sort of romantic relationship.”
“I was so happy…” He couldn’t tell if Nico was messing with him when Nico’s gaze dropped to the jacket in his arms and he spoke in a small voice. Percy still felt bad. It did feel a little unfair to Nico that he did that. It was, right? It had to be, if Nico looked so sad.
“Hey, hey.” Percy put his hands on Nico’s arms. They were still crossed, holding onto his jacket like a lifeline. “It’s okay. I’ll make it up to you somehow.”
Nico responded bluntly, the sadness in his voice somehow gone. “Somehow? You don’t know how to.”
“That’s… true,” Percy admitted hesitantly. He was starting to feel uncomfortable, but his hands stayed where they were.
“Kiss me.”
That startled him.
“What?”
"Kiss me," Nico demanded, voice once more tinged with sadness, "and I'll forgive you."
The room suddenly felt colder, like someone just switched the air conditioner on. He was being manipulated, wasn’t he? This wasn’t right. He shouldn’t be interacting with Nico at all—he was a creep. A mervert, even. Percy didn’t forget that, did he?
But what would be the harm of kissing Nico? No one else was here to see his lapse of judgement.
“Alright, just this once.” Percy sighed and pulled Nico forward, deciding that he would do this on his own terms. He would act first.
Their lips crashed together more harshly than Percy intended, but the kiss was otherwise gentle. Percy could feel Nico smile into it.
Percy knew, as soon as he felt that movement, that this wouldn’t be the last time he would give in.