Work Text:
It's important to know, Percy has nothing against Will Solace.
Just, keep that in mind.
"And then I make sure to wait for his summer break so we can both go to the Underworld, but no now he pitches a fit about it. Um, so sorry, do we only visit my family in the winter now? His dad is at our place like, every month!"
So if he's using his time catching up with Nico over drinks to subtly (or not so subtly) goad Nico into ranting about his boyfriend, know that it really isn't personal.
"I thought he was supposed to work on the whole, visiting your father thing?"
Nico rolls his eyes as he lifts the bottle to his mouth.
"He was. He even seemed like - excited? Like last December, all he could talk about was how important family was, that we should visit more, but then when we went in May he was so cagey the whole time. It was like he thought my father was gonna smite him or something."
Percy hums against the mouth of his bottle, trying to not sound too delighted at the thought.
"I mean... that could happen."
Nico waves him off dismissively.
"Maybe if it was you. Will's safe, pretty sure Hades doesn't even think about him."
That definitely wasn't supposed to be a compliment, but Percy can't help preening a little over it anyway.
"He's all, 'Oh but I'm saving lives, Nico!'," Nico says in a terrible and therefore amazing impression of his boyfriend, "like that obviously means more than rounding up lost souls, so I should be the one to handle groceries."
"Wait, for real?"
Nico nods, taking another - long - pull from his beer, and grimacing. He must be really pissed - Percy knows Nico doesn't really like beer, but there hasn't been one complaint about the lack of options. He hasn't even given Percy his usual hard time about the location. Not that there's anything wrong with Thebes' Den, besides being a little dark and a little divey and much more in line with Percy's standards, than Nico's. Percy can see neon signs for three different domestic lagers from his seat at the bar.
"Yeah, and heaven forbid I forget anything from the grocery store."
And look, Percy knows it's pure masochism, falling into this trap. People complain about their partners all the time, it doesn't mean they're going to break up. Nico and Will are probably only going through a rough patch, and just because Percy couldn't hold his relationship together doesn't mean no one else can.
Well, what happened with him and Annabeth was a little different, but that's besides the point.
"Dude, that's fucked."
Thebes' Den's bartender-slash-barback-slash-owner Mark comes out from wherever he lurks when he's not facilitating underage drinking just as Nico's polishing off his beer, setting it down with a too-hard clink and a huff. Percy raises his eyebrows and looks at Mark, who raises his eyebrows right back.
"Another round for you?"
"Yeah guess we better," Percy says, trying not to smile. Nico looks up as Mark sets two more bottles down in front of them, and must mistake the look on Percy's face for something else.
"Gods, sorry. I'm just dumping all this on you and you don't need that right now."
Oh, but he does. Even if he's fooling himself, he'd rather be here than anywhere else. Like, here trying to be a good friend to Nico, here. Not in this particular bar, here. Percy's already here enough since it's kind of become his go-to spot when he just needs to get out of his apartment for a bit. Mark's a real legend for not mentioning how often that is in front of Nico - or bringing up how most nights, Percy doesn't even drink anything, he just hangs out, which somehow makes it even sadder.
"No, dude, do not apologize. It's great to see you - I mean, I'm sorry things have been shitty with you guys, but I'm - I'm still glad you reached out."
Way to tip your hand, Jackson.
He is sorry, though. He really is. Really. He likes being friends with Nico. He likes that they actually see each other, that sometimes it's Nico who asks if he wants to meet up. He doesn't want to lose that, and being supportive about this kind of stuff is what friends do.
Even if Percy also knows his heart jumps a little too much when Nico wants to hang out, and falls a little too low any time Nico brings up his boyfriend. Which, admittedly has been less and less lately.
"It's just constant with his issues - visiting my dad, the shadow traveling thing. Gods, remember that time he had to sit down on the ground with his head between his knees after, when we came to New Rome?"
Percy laughs into a fresh beer. He definitely remembers, mainly because it was - besides hysterical - the first time he looked at Nico and thought, what are you doing with this loser?
Not that he has anything against Will.
"Well he always was super weird about Underworld stuff, right?"
"Seriously. It's like, did he not know I was a child of Hades when he asked me out? It's not like it was a secret."
Percy looks Nico over, taking in the black jeans, deadly leather boots, skull t-shirt. The eyeliner. Gods.
"No, there were signs."
Nico gives him a side-eye and a playful shove - well, a Nico type of playful shove, which means it still hurts a little.
"Well, he missed them apparently."
Percy can see that. Has seen it, in fact. Even before what are you doing with this loser? became, what are you doing with this loser who isn't me?, it always seemed like Will wanted Nico to look different, act different. Be someone else entirely. It was like he thought Nico's whole personality was something that could be fixed, would be fixed just by being with him, standing in his too-bright sunshine that Percy always thought was a bit much. Shadows are what make things interesting - without them, everything just looks bland and washed out.
"Sounds like he's missing a lot of things, to be honest. Where is he, anyway? I assume not home, since you're hanging out with me."
Nico scoffs into his drink. Apparently him being friends Percy had become a sticking point in his and Will's relationship a while back. Percy's not even going to pretend to be sorry about that.
"You assume correct. I don't know, he's on some summer trip with his school friends. In Iowa."
"Wait, what?"
"I know."
"Who the fuck goes to Iowa?!"
"Not me," Nico says, shaking his head, "So thank the gods that for once he actually didn't try to get me to come."
"What is there even to do in Iowa?" Percy asks skeptically, "Besides, I don't know, look at fields of corn or whatever."
Suddenly Nico stiffens, face somehow darkening even further.
"Ugh, don't. Don't get me started on that."
"On what? Corn?"
Nico shudders. Percy frowns in total confusion.
"What's wrong with corn?"
Sitting upright, Nico almost seems to steel himself, which makes no sense. Of all the things they've talked about, surely this is the least charged...
"Nothing's wrong with corn, it's how he eats it."
Percy laughs abruptly, surprised.
"I mean, it sounds like this guy seriously sucks, don't get me wrong -" Nothing against Will "- but how can the way he eats corn be a problem -?"
Nico shakes his head rapidly, "No, you don't understand. It's so fucking weird, I can't even - ugh."
Now Percy's fully sideways on his stool, intrigued.
"What, like corn on the cob?"
Nico groans and nods.
"But - how? There's only one way to eat it."
"Yeah you'd think that, but apparently no."
Percy looks at him expectantly until Nico finally pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes. When he speaks, it's mumbled into his hands.
"... from the end."
"What?"
"He eats it from the end, Jackson!" Nico says in an outburst, loud enough that the like, two other patrons in the bar turn to look. His resulting blush is almost cute enough to distract Percy from the absolutely heinous thing he just said. Almost, but not quite, so Percy cracks up, laughing.
"From the end?!"
Nico glowers like it's all Percy's fault people are looking at them.
"What does that even mean?" Percy manages to get out between breaths, "How do you eat corn from the end?!"
Nico's scowl deepens and he starts fishing around in the pockets of his jacket.
"Oh, you think it's funny? I'll show you, and don't come crying to me when you're too scarred to ever look at corn again."
The idea of crying to Nico about corn is more than enough to set off a fresh round of giggling, which would be more embarrassing if Nico wasn't clearly also breaking - albeit, a little more hysterically. He pulls his Leo and Annabeth-issued cell phone out of his pocket and unlocks it.
"I mean, however he does it, it can't be that weird, right?" Percy says, trying to hold it together while Nico scrolls through his photos, "Of your list of grievances, I'm surprised this one made the conversation -"
But Nico's found what he was looking for and holds it up, and Percy cuts off mid-word. There's a long, long silence.
"... dude."
"I know."
"What the fuck?"
"I know."
Percy wants to stop looking at it. He needs to stop looking at it. He cannot stop looking at it.
Maybe he does have something against Will Solace.
"That's... wow."
Nico gives him a twisted, pained smirk, "What happened to, can't be that weird, hmm?"
"I stand fucking corrected."
Another bout of silence.
"How did you even get that picture?"
Nico shrugs, looking mildly nauseous.
"I just took it. Honestly, pretty sure he was so enraptured he didn't even know I was there."
"Okay, gods, put it away. It gets weirder the longer I look at it."
"Are you sure? You don't want to visualize it, just a little bit longer? Imagine the sounds?"
"Fuck, stop, I feel like I need to take a shower."
Nico laughs in triumphant disgust. Percy finishes shuddering to scoff.
"What're you laughing at? He's your boyfriend."
The laugh turns into a groan.
"Gods, that's so embarrassing. Not for much longer."
... wait, really? is what Percy thought he didn't say out loud, but the raised eyebrow and sudden eye-contact from Nico suggests otherwise.
"Yeah, really. You think I was going to stay after all that? Sure, it's mostly because of all the other shit, but clearly his call to 'heal the sick' is coming from inside the house."
Percy's mind is still spinning a little, but he tries to pull a reasonable response out of the mess.
"Wow. Cool."
Not his best work. The dumb smile probably isn't helping either. Nico rolls his eyes and finishes his beer.
"You're unbelievable, you know that?"
Percy shrugs, smile undeterred.
"So I've been told. You want another round? On me?"
Nico rolls his eyes.
"They're all on you. I probably shouldn't though, since I have to shadow back."
Percy spins a little in his chair, leans on the bar to look at Nico, and does what he does best - talking before thinking.
"Crash at my place."
Nico rolls his head to the side from where he's propped it on his hand and raises his eyebrows.
"At your place?"
"Yeah?"
"Your weird, too hot, possibly-so-tiny-it's-illegal apartment?"
"That's the one," Percy says casually, because shut up, this is a normal thing to offer. It is.
Heart's not in his throat at all.
"Yeah, alright."
Heart's way too excited. Percy forces himself to chill out. Very normal.
"Okay good, because honestly dude, I'm gonna need something stronger than beer to get that image out of my head. That is a shots-level nightmare fuel for sure."
"As long as you get one for me too."
"Absolutely, you've earned it."
Another round turns into two. Two turns into Mark making them drink a glass of water each before close. Water helps a lot of things but they still end up stumbling home, half shoving each other, half arm-in-arm, laughing too loud for how late it is, maybe even for Brooklyn.
"No but, no -" Percy forces out, almost wheezing, "are you sure the corn thing isn't the biggest reason?"
Nico elbows him in Percy ribs, having great access to them from being tucked under Percy's arm.
"Ugh, it's higher up than it should be."
"Wait no I mean, like, on behalf of corn."
"What?"
Percy grins down at him. He's even more flushed, and it's still almost distracting enough.
"Like, because you were corn, does it offend you -?"
"Oh fuck off."
This shove somehow hurts less than the one in the bar. Maybe because Percy manages to grab Nico's hands, or because Nico doesn't bother pulling them back.
"It is super disrespectful to your corn identity -"
"You are such an asshole."
"- I mean, the spiritual connection you must feel with his victims -"
"I will leave, I swear to, to whichever one of them, I don't care if I get stuck in the shadow dimension."
"Wait - does he know about that? You being corn? Dude, did he ever ask you to roleplay as -"
Nico shoves his hands in Percy's face like he's going to cover his mouth, but they're both laughing too much for it to really be necessary.
"Stop, you have to stop unless you want me to throw up on you."
Percy shrugs, completely undeterred from looping his arms around Nico's waist to keep him there.
"I'd still let you sleep in my bed."
"Unbelievable," Nico says in disbelief, but he doesn't move away either.