Percy Jackson

The fact that Nico didn't make me feel like a dumbass while showing me how to make homemade tortellini (which isn't hard in concept, but making sure the insides didn't fall out was hard) was a whole miracle in it of itself.

It was the nicest I've felt in at least a week, if not longer.

Once the food was ready, though, we sat down together on the couch, almost cuddling as Nico was definitely laying back on my side.

Just, you know, closer than friends usually sit.

I was a little surprised that he leaned back since Nico always seems so repulsed by touch, but it wasn't a bad surprise because it both felt like an honor that he initiated it, and also I just really like physical contact.

"Is there anything you want to watch?" I asked Nico, earning his full attention.

"Uh... Anything?" He guessed. "I haven't watched TV since I was a kid in the like 1930s."

And maybe it was a dumb thing to say.

"Oh!" Because I always forget that he was born a super long time ago. "Well uh... Film is shot in color now."

And I definitely deserve the eye roll.

"I know that videos are in color," Nico reminded me. "i haven't watched TV, but I did have to watch the gods awful orientation video. Plus, the ads on times square are like... On screens. Or some are at least."

"I always forget there's an orientation video thing," I tried to excuse myself. "I never watched it so... It's not my fault you're old."

"You're older than me!"

"You were born before me!"

"Okay and?" Nico asked. "You're still older than I am like, biologically speaking. I spent like 80 years or whatever in the Lotus and aged like... Not a ton, so..."

His voice trailed off for a minute, thinking to himself.

"Were you ever in the Lotus?" My crush started off. "Sorry, that's probably a stupid question but..."

"I was, actually!" I tried to reassure him. "It's not stupid, please don't call yourself stupid. Grover, Annabeth, and I were there for like, a few days or so my first summer, which was... A year a half before you came to camp. Why? Did you see us?"

Thinking to himself, Nico slowly nodded his head.

"I for sure saw you and Grover because I remember making a remark to Bianca about how he walked and she definitely slapped me for it because it was rude and she tried to make me track down Grover to apologize even though I never said it to him, I just asked her why he walked like that, and then we never found you guys so... I've always been curious, but I'm convinced that Annabeth doesn't like me because she knows about my being gay and all so I've never asked."

"Annabeth—" but after seeing how she was to Rachel, I couldn't, in good heart, defend Annabeth. "I mean she's never mentioned anything to me, but... With how she's treated Rachel, I guess I wouldn't be surprised. Sorry if she's ever been like, shitty to you."

"Percy, don't apologize, it wasn't you that did it," Nico insisted as he put his bowl down on the coffee table, now empty. "she has been mean to me before, but I didn't just take it, I called her on it. She's just really possessive of you, which I could understand if you were dating but..."

I rolled my eyes, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Yeah, no, that will never happen," I responded, placing my also empty bowl next to his, feeling a little better with actual homemade food in my stomach now. "I'm much more interested in somebody else right now. Oh— and there's also the fact that I'm gay."

"Oh, yeah?" Nico said back as he turned his head to face me and there was definitely a tone shift and if I'm not stupid it was kind of... Suggestive. "And who would that be?"

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

Like, he knows, and I'm aware that he knows and I even know that he returns the feelings so it's anything but a big deal, but he's just...

He's just attractive and everyone once in a while it's intimidating and the fact that I'm out to literally anybody at all is new so it's weird to not have to stop myself before saying anything because he knows and he's more than okay with it.

He actually seems to be happy about it, which... i mean it makes sense now that I know that he also likes me so...

Yeah.

I can be smooth, though, too. I do it all the time on accident, or like, as a joke.

"I think," I reminded the son of Hades, leaning in towards him just enough to hopefully you know, suggest something that I at least think would be really nice to do. "That you know exactly who he is. He's sitting right next to me, after all."

"Is he?" Nico teased, raising an eyebrow. "You're in luck then, because he'd love to go out sometime. Whenever you feel up to it, of course."

Is this his way of telling me that he wants to date?

Shit. I think it is.

It's fine, just... It's okay. Just breathe and respond and don't look like an absolute dumbass.

"Whenever I feel up to it?" I repeated, both wanting confirmation and not yet having processed it enough to have a good response.

"Mhm," my crush confirmed the very good news for me, and I noticed him stop himself from glancing down, which pleased me a lot. "Whenever you want."

"Hm...." I hummed, my voice trailing with it for a second before I just decided to turn my brain off for the 15 seconds it'd take to do it because I want to and I know he wants to. "Do you think he'd like to go out for dinner tonight?"

"I think he'd be ecstatic to go out for dinner," Nico agreed, and the fact that I'm calm right now is a miracle, especially since our foreheads are so close that it would probably be easier to just have them touch and lean against each other and he's right there.

The bigger miracle was that I could get the next question out.

"Would I... Would I be able to give him a kiss?"

It made him smile, which already made the question worth it.

Letting himself glance down at my lips, Nico connected our foreheads and decided to play a very dangerous game.

"You can kiss him any time you want," and I expected it to end there, but his lips moved closer to my ear and sent shivers down my spine. "and anywhere you want to."

Fuck.

That's it... I couldn't— my brain fucking stopped when he did that and my body liked it very much and so I listened to my body and to what my crush just told me and tilted his chin up just a little, and leaned in to my first meaningful kiss.

I mean, sure, there's been truth or dare games or spin the bottle or the one time I kissed a girl in 7th grade basically to confirm that I was gay and that she was a lesbian (luckily we were both right in those labels), but those didn't mean anything like this did.

This is me, kissing a boy that I like and have liked for a while now.

A boy who even likes me back.

A boy who kissed me back.

Scientifically speaking, breathing is the dumbest thing that we need to do in order to survive because it meant that I couldn't kiss Nico for any longer, but he was smiling and I was smiling, too, when it was over, so that felt like a good sign that he isn't repulsed by my kissing abilities.

"Has anyone ever told you," Nico was the first to break the silence, giving me a quick kiss on the corner of my mouth they almost made me melt upon contact. "How great of a kisser you are?"

"Hmm no, but you're the only one who's ever had the honor to find out," I answered his question. "Well, besides this one girl when I was like 13, but all that did was confirm that I'm gay and she's a lesbian so..."

Nico chuckled, and I'm just winning today in terms of seeing his smile and hearing his laugh.

It's been a long time since I've heard it this much.

"Well you're a really good kisser," the son of Hades told me, which made me smile even more and roll my eyes.

"You're pretty amazing yourself, too," I reassured him. "I think I could get used to those kisses."

"Good," Nico returned. "because I could get used to them, too."

And then, because it's been established that we both enjoy it, we kissed again.

That was it, though. We just kissed for a little bit and held each other and then we just laid there for a little while, mostly silent, stealing kisses or smiles every once in a while.

Eventually, though, I did have to get up to shower because I'm absolutely disgusting in spite of what Nico has said today, because I haven't had the energy to shower since I showered at Rachel's, basically.

I rinsed off once when I was here and that was about it.

Now I have a reason to, though, so I told Nico that I'd be back in a little bit since I have to shower before we go out for dinner and then he realized that he doesn't own any other clothes besides what he's wearing because it's all at his dad's and so he told me that he was going to shadow travel and get some clothes quick so he also didn't look homeless on our date.

I assumed he meant he was going to shadow travel to his dad's, change, and come back.

I was wrong.

•••
Nico di Angelo

What? It's not like I own anything to go out in, it's just shit that I don't care much about because it's been quests and the streets basically ever since Bianca died.

I knew there was a mall nearby, though, so I shadow travelled there and walked into a store called Hot Topic that seemed to fit my vibe, looking at the pants and realizing that I have no idea what size I was when I got the living Jesus scared out of me.

"Death Breath?" The nickname was enough to confuse me, even though there's only really one person that calls me it. "What are you doing in a Hot Topic on a fucking Thursday night?"

Before I could answer the question, though, Thalia Grace was standing next to me, messing my hair up.

So luckily I haven't done more than brush it yet.

"Getting clothes?" I felt like that part was obvious. "What are you doing here? Where's the rest of the hunt?"

She shrugged.

"Around the city," the daughter of Zeus explained. "since camp is being remodeled we're technically there to help but the Hephaestus cabin has it covered pretty much, and what they don't have, Annabeths cabin does, so we're just kind of doing whatever. What are you buying clothes for, though? Like, I figured that much since you're here but... What's the event?"

"Can I not just get new clothes?"

"Hm.... No."

Rolling my eyes, I debated if I should tell her, or more accurately, how much I should tell her, because neither Percy or I are out yet and I refuse to out him because that's just mean.

"You're impossible," I reminded her. "I needed new clothes as it was, but if you're that insistent, Percy and I are going to eat dinner at somewhere that isn't the apartment because he hasn't left the apartment in a while and I don't want to look homeless so I need new clothes. Happy?"

She wasn't.

She was disappointed, actually. Sighing in order to let me know that.

"Damn, I was hoping it would be a date or something," the daughter of Zeus told me. "I don't know who it'd be with, but... I'm sure you've met some people in your time away from camp."

"Hm? Oh, yeah, no," I let her down there, even though she was right and it is definitely a date, just one that she isn't allowed to know about. "Just Percy. You'd be one or the first to know if I ever had a date besides like, me, my date, and maybe Percy, depending."

"Well duh," the huntress remarked, grabbing a shirt from behind where we were standing. "Somebody has to help you to look irresistible. Speaking of which, have you tried this on yet?"

And although she didn't know it, Thalia helped me get ready for my first date.