Hell And High Water 18

A little more between the two demigods and a surprise for both at the end.

Despite the fact that Percy had said he knew and understood what was going on, with all the people Nico mentioned the day before, there were still many aspects about the situation that hadn't quite sunk in yet. Mostly, it was exactly what all this meant for he and Nico. He knew, well enough anyway, that they had been in danger since the very beginning and that things had gotten worse with all these people working together. But as to what that set them up for in the future, Percy was clueless. He wished he knew, but he was as naive about this world as an infant is about everyone else's.
The whole day through, and in the ones that followed, Percy stayed pretty quiet. He said nothing about the current situation and very little about anything else. He figured, since there was nothing that really needed saying, he should keep quiet. But, surprisingly enough, the son of Hades didn't quite agree. Percys silence was borderline nerve racking to Nico as the younger wondered why he had barely spoken a word in days. But, despite his curiosity, the son of Hades tried to pretend he didn't care much about it, since he shouldn't at the time. He had so many other things he had to think about so Percy was pushed to the back of his mind. But it was still bothersome. He knew Percy was probably more confused than he had been a couple of months before but, as long as the son of Poseidon was still showing no signs of insanity (which Nico didn't think was going to happen any time soon) he figured Percy was fine. Or, as fine as one could be.

As the days passed on, and Percys tense, fearful, and confused silence continued, Nico decided to totally trash the son of Poseidons escape plan: he knew there was no way the older demigod was getting away from any of this on his own, anyway. But it wasn't just as simple as throwing the papers in a trash bin. Nico had to go all out and burn all the papers he had written any of the plans on. And then there was the question of what to do since Percy couldn't get away. There were plenty of things the son of Hades could do but they were all pretty foolish and dangerous so he ditched out on working them out soon after the thoughts came to him. And, it didn't take Nico long to realize, that only really left one option: he had to protect Percy with his life. Maybe there still was a slight hope for Nico to be the prince that saves the captive after all...
The entire time Nico was fighting with reality on the outside, he was fighting with false hopes inside his mind. He couldn't help but think that, if he saved Percy's life and kept him safe, the son of Poseidon would feel indebted to him and repay him any way Nico wanted... It was a terrible thing to think, but Nico could live with being a terrible person.
Percy had been thinking about plenty in the days that passed as well. Although, his thoughts weren't exactly on the same page as Nicos were. They weren't even in the same book...
The son of Poseidon had plenty of things running through his mind but only one thought was reoccurring. And, no matter how much he tried, he couldn't figure why it kept popping up over and over again. As far as he knew, it really wasn't important to him and the whole thing had happened so long ago anyway. He just figured it was probably a way to help himself stop thinking of Nico so much. But that, by no means, meant that the son of Poseidon didn't care to know everything Nico knew about it, since the thought was centered around the son of Hades...
After day on end with the same thought invading his mind, Percy had finally had enough of it. In all honesty, he really didn't care about knowing everything as much as he did at first, but it was still bugging him half to death. He had to get it sorted out.
"Nico." The word was more of a demand, like 'talk to me now', than a request to be responded to.
The force in Percys voice was slightly startling to Nico. He wasn't sure if it was anger, demand, fear, hatred, or something totally different. He wasn't particularly fond of any of those being reasons, though. Even if he did have to admit that the force in the elder demigods tone was very appealing: it reminded him of the old Percy from Camp Half Blood.
The son of Hades wanted to respond to Percy in a likewise manner, a sharp and harsh tone, but something inside of him kept that from happening. Maybe it was the fact that he didn't know where any of this was going and he was truly curious to find out. He kept his voice soft and gentle but had to fight to. He bit the inside of his bottom lip before asking, as if he hadn't noticed the elder demigods tone. "What's up?"
Percy cleared his throat, relaxing a bit now that he had the son of Hades' attention. "I know this was a while ago, but there's something I really want to know." The son of Poseidons tone was a little softer than before.
Nico was a bit shocked that Percys tone had softened so much so abruptly but it made him feel not so tense and agitated. The son of Hades turned a bit to face Percy a little more and prepared himself for a question about Camp, or the Argo II, or the interaction between the two the few days earlier. It literally could have been any of those, and he knew it. But, nevertheless, he was ready with plenty of 'I don't know's and 'I'm sorry's and his other typical answers to Percys typical questions.
Nico gave a nod telling the elder demigod to go ahead and talk.
Percy didn't waste a second before he blurted out his question. "Where was that phone call traced to?"
Nicos heart jumped into his throat and made him feel like he was choking on it. Percys question was definitely not what he expected. He was happy it was a simple question, sure, but still... He didn't want to answer it. But, maybe that made it not so simple.
Nico chuckled a little, to hide his hated anxiety, and shook his head. He really didn't want to answer the older demigods question because that would be giving the son of Poseidon a little too much information about himself and his past. But he knew he couldn't lie to Percy. He may have been confused about everything that was going on but his demigod intuition allowed him to know when he was being lied to, and Nico knew that quite well. So, instead of lying, Nico tried to find the right words to use to make the whole thing make sense without going too far into detail.
He cleared his throat. "I used to live there with an old friend." ...So much for the right words. The last four probably weren't the ones he should have used. They would, without a doubt in the son of Hades' mind, lead to more questions.
"Who?" Percy asked curiously with an almost childish tone.
Nico was right: they did.
The son of Hades seriously felt like he had dug himself into a hole with his own poor word choice. He felt like he kind of deserved it, though, because of stupid choices he had made in the past, and stupid choices he was making now. One of those stupid choices was when Nico had gone to the park all that time ago to meet the same 'old friend' he was talking about now, the same person that Nico had gotten wasted because of. But the worst choice of all was something a little more serious. Nico and his 'old friend' had traveled around a fair bit and, now, Nico decided to stick around the places the two had lived in or spent time in before. He thought going back to familiar locations was a good idea because they were comfortable and he knew them well. But, now that his enemies and pursuers were there, or around there, he wasn't so sure.
Nico pulled himself from his thoughts and recalled the question at hand. He knew he should answer it. He knew he could answer it. He just didn't know how without saying too much. And he didn't really want to give an answer, anyway. He didn't want any more questions, he didn't want any more details, he didn't want any more memories about the place or his "old friend". The son of Hades gave a forcefully relaxed shrug. "Just an old friend. I trusted him for quite a while." Nico scoffed and shook his head as all those memories Nico didn't want to think about came flooding into his mind. "But that was a long time ago."
Percy was silent for a moment and he waited for Nico to say more. But nothing more came. The son of Poseidon gave the situation a little time to cool, sensing tension from the younger about the whole situation, before he spoke again. "What's his name?"
Nico tensed but tried not to snap at Percy. It was hard, though. Hard as hell. He knew Percy couldn't have any idea how much this stressed him out because the son of Poseidons life had been so simple before. Yes, simple. Nicos, however, had not been. And, bringing all this back up, was not the son of Hades' idea of casual chit-chat. But, still, gave an response. "Don't worry about it."
The son of Poseidon squinted his eyes in a slight confusion and let another couple of silent seconds pass before he spoke up again. "But, what if-"
"Stop!" Nico interrupted, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes closed tightly. "There are no ifs, ands, or buts. Understand? Don't worry about it." Nico hadn't realized before how much of a touchy subject this was for himself. Well, now he did... It shouldn't have been, though, and he knew that quite well. It shouldn't have mattered one bit to him at all. It was in the past. But, the past never really goes away... Or randomly pops up at kind of the worst of times. Thats what it did in this case, anyway.
Percy decided he should let things go after that and hoped they would cool off a bit. He was learning, slowly but surely, that Nico was... sensitive?... Maybe that wasn't the best word but it seemed to fit. He knew he had to be very careful talking about things, whatever those things were, and he knew sometimes he didn't do so well with it. He just hoped Nico wouldn't hold it against him.
The next few hours of the day were basically a blur to Percy as his thoughts wandered on and on. He had gotten an answer to his question, for the most part, but it was still running through his mind. And his mind wasn't taking it well. Percy couldn't help but wonder who the person was. He couldn't help but wonder why he and Nico were no longer friends. But, most of all, he couldn't help but wonder why Nico had gotten so defensive over the whole thing.
Nico, on the other hand, was not in a blur. His mind felt pretty clear but it did have a few things on it. One was the feeling that he had upset the, now, delicate internal balance of the son of Poseidon. Percy had gone back to being overly quiet and reclusive within his own little world of thought and games on his phone and he couldn't help but think it was because he had said too much. Or maybe he hadn't said enough...
Nico kept an eye on the son of Poseidon after that and saw that he looked occupied enough but he would peridically place his phone in his lap or on the bed beside him and look off into space blankly. It was clear he was thinking, very deeply, about something. Nico would watch him for a few seconds each time the son of Poseidon 'zoned out', trying to figure what exactly the elder could've had on his mind, but he never managed. He had never been very good at reading people and Percys expressions, or lack there of, were confusing to look at and impossible to process.
Nevertheless, Nico continued to watch him. He took in every feature on the son of Poseidons face, studying his every move (no matter how slight they were), watching his breathing, focusing on his slight twitches when his thoughts became a little deeper. He longed to know everything about the son of the sea god. He was desperate to know his dreams and his fantasies. He would do anything to learn of Percys fears and his hopes. He wanted nothing more than to know everything about the son of Poseidon. His every thought. His every move. His every feature. His everything. He wanted to learn what made Percy smile. What made him cry. What pushed him away. And what would bring him closer. Nico had never felt so desperate for something in his life.
The son of Hades stood from his bed and made his way toward the bathroom. He feared that if he stared at Percy for too much longer his thoughts would start to darken and carry him to a place he didn't really want to go. Well, he did want to go there, but there was someone else who had to agree to go to that place with him and he couldn't see that happening any time soon.
Nico used the toilet before he stood, until his feet hurt, staring at himself in the mirror. He was really begining to hate the reflective glass objects that hung on the bathroom walls. He wasn't Narcissus, or anything like him, and he loathed the way he saw hinself. His reflection showed him who he really was and he could have gone the rest of his life without looking at it even once more. From his shaggy, dark brown hair, to his oh so visible jawline, to the prominent collar bones that showed through the neck of his shirt, he hated his reflection and how weak it made him look and feel.
After ridding himself of the temptation to break the glass, Nico returned to the room and saw Percy sitting up on the bed. He still looked as though he was thinking deeply but there was an aspect of his demeanor that practically screamed discontent with a whisper of animosity. No doubt both were how he was currently feeling. And there was only slight doubt that those feelings were directed at the younger demigod.
In an attempt to get both himself and Percy to stop thinking so much, Nico asked the son of Poseidon if he was hungry. It was well passed midday and neither had eaten since lunch the day before.
Percy shrugged and mumbled a "Sure". Nico tossed him a, surprisingly, bright smile and took the order menu off the desk. Percys heart skipped a beat when he saw the son of Hades looking at him in such a way. He had never seen Nico smile so... brilliantly. ...He hoped to see it more often.
The two sat on Percys bed for some time, trying to choose from the menu. It was harder than Nico ever thought possible because everything he suggested, Percy shot down within seconds. And, even worse were Percys suggestions: all mesnt as jokes that weren't very funny. Despite the lack of humor in the jokes, Nico snickered frequently and did everything in his power to keep himself a decent distance from the son of Poseidon: they both needed air that wasn't too thick to breathe.
Finally, the two teen demigods came to a conclusion on a meal and called for room service. The wait, which was terribly awkward, didn't last long and only when it a river did Percy decide to stop being a hermit. It did take a while for him to really relax and be loquacious but Nico was fine with how little he spoke right off the bat. As Percy spoke more, he got into how the food compared to Camp's. He didn't think any food would ever measure up to that which he had at his previous home. But, 'this wasn't bad', as Percy stated.
Nico found the older demigods behavior very amusing, truthfully. It made it hard for Nico to take his eyes from the son of Poseidon as he took bites of the food and commented about the taste. More amusing, though, was that Percy nitpicked the texture or the feeling each bite left in his mouth once he swallowed it down.
Nico paid attention to everything, soaking it up and taking it in. He even watched Percy as he lifted his fork to his lips time and time again to tenderly devour his meal. He watched how the older demigods Adams Apple would bob each time he swallowed. The best part, as well as the worst, was watching Percy close his delectably perfect lips around his fork; Nico wished he could eat them instead of the food... He never imagined eating being a turn on, or watching someone eat ever making him feel the way he felt. It was almost torturous to watch the way Percy treated his food and silverware and Nico could have sworn it was the sexiest, biggest turn on in the world to see the son of Poseidon tongue his food and lip his fork. It was almost as if turn ons had become a serious form of torture and the son of Hades was being electrocuted or water boarded. It was keeping him from eating his own meal...
Within just a few seconds, Nico had totally neglected the food on hisnplate. He was so focused on Percy, his lips, his neck, his jawline, that he didn't even notice the son of Poseidon staring at him. Very awkwardly.
The son of Poseidon cleared his throat lightly. "Nico?"
The younger demigod snapped out of it, realizing Percy had picked up on being watched.
"Sorry." There was a slight studder in the apology. "Just keep eating."
Percy shrugged, not thinking too much about any of it, before he continued to feed himself. Nico tried not to think too much about it, as well. He tried to keep his eyes to himself but every few minutes they would betray him and sneak a peak at Percy. And, whenever they did, the son of Hades never knew if he regretted it or not...
Once the two demigods finally managed to finish their meal, with all the awkwardness and the staring, Nico went off to the bathroom and Percy turned the t.v. on. He flipped through the channels for a while, unhappy with everything that played. All he was getting were crime shows and news and basically just all the things he didn't want to watch. He flipped to the guide channel and searched through it but stopped when he found something too good to pass up. It was his most favorite of all time. The son of Poseidon smiled and jumped a little on the bed before pressing enter on the remote and smiling even more widely when the begining of the show played before him.
Nico left the bathroom only a few minutes later. He was scratching his head as he entered the room but stopped abruptly and dropped his arm to his side I'm slight shock. Percy had turned the television on. But that itself didn't bother the son of Hades. What bothered him was the show he was watching. Finding Nemo. Nico hated that movie.
"Really?" He pointed at the t.v. but looked at Percy with disgust playing on his features and overwhelming his word.
"What?" Percy said with an innocent tone and expression.
Nico fought not a spit a response. "This movie."
Percy shrugged. "It's Finding Nemo."
Nico scoffed. "I know quite well what it is, thank you." His tone was not a very pleasant one yet he couldn't have cared less about it. However, it made Percy almost ashamed about liking the movie. Almost. No matter what anyone else said, though, or how they said it, Finding Nemo was, and would forever be, his favorite movie.
Nico managed to live with the cartoon until it was over and then stole the remote back from the son of Poseidon. Percy pouted again and Nico knew that he had to grow a thicker skin to the older males puppy eyes. He would start giving in soon if he wasn't careful.
Nico let the t.v. play very quietly for the remainder of the day, not caring much what was on it as long as it wasn't cartoons; he had things to think about and, like before, the slight sound of the t.v. was relaxing. It kept his mind focused on the task at hand instead of the unimportant things, like Percy. And, if it were tuned into cartoons, it would make the whole day a total waste of time for him and his thoughts.
As the son of Hades thought, he came to realize a number of things. The most important was that his main concern was what would happen if anyone unfriendly were to show up. He was almost positive that his enemies were slowly becoming aware of what was going on, meaning who Percy was, where the two were, and things like that. Basically, they were learning the last things Nico wanted them to know. He knew he was more than capable of protecting himself, and hoped he was capable of protecting Percy, as well. But Percy was going to have to learn to do it himself, just in case. And that was imperative.
The son of Poseidon knew how to use a dagger, a sword, and a gun. But knowing wasn't the problem. Doing was the problem. Nico couldn't be sure Percy would be able to step up and take on whatever perilous menace he was facing. A part of the son of Hades figured Percy would be fine. But, another part of him questioned the elder demigod and his abilities. Percy had done a lot of gutsy and fierce things in his life, which should mean that he would jump into a fight with fists ready and not a care in the world about the outcome. But that could also make him run. He could fear such situations and try to avoid them at all costs. Avoiding something was a good thing, yes, but would Percy try to avoid it once he was already facing it? Nico sure hoped not, because that could turn out very badly.
The son of Hades looked toward the older demigod. Percy was staring up at the ceiling in complete and utter boredom. Nico knew it was as good a time as ever to run Percy through some questions and hypothetical situations.
Nico grabbed Percy's attention by tossing a pillow at him. The elder demigod tensed but came to his senses rather quickly.
"What?"
Nico never made his intentions clear before asking Percy a random question. "What's your name?"
Percy furrowed his brow in question but never spoke his confusion nor his curiosity. Nico gave a sigh knowing Percy was beyond lost and impatiently told the son of Poseidon what he was doing, sounding rather annoyed, before repeating the question. Percy nodded once, silently preparing himself.
"My name is Pan."
Nico shook his head lightly but the hardhness in his tone didn't really match the softness of the action. "I would be stupid to use that name again. You used it when you introduced yourself to Horme, right?"
Percy nodded and tried to pretend he wasn't upset by Nicos words. Not like it mattered, though: Nico wasn't paying enough attention to know he was faking his relaxation.
"Yeah," Nico still spoke in an offensive tone, yet it wasn't necessarily harsh this time, "don't use it again. People'll figure things out and, sooner or kater, know you by it. And then you'd be screwed. And don't use Don either. Since you used it with Herc, he knows it. There's no doubt he told someone by now."
Percy nodded firmly, having gotten over the younger demigods tone, and made a note in the back of his mind to find a new Greek or Roman gods name to use as an alias. Nico, on the other hand, didn't make any mental notes and, instead, started to ask more questions.
The first few followed suit in normalcy as the one regarding Percy's name. After that, though, they seemed to get a little weird. Nico asked what Percy would do if someone came at him with a blunt object, or a knife, or a gun. Percy did everything he could to remember what he had gone through with the son of Hades; all the 'training' the younger demigod had thought necessary. Nico asked what he would do if someone was trying to sell him something, like weapons, or drugs, or themselves.
"Tell them I'm not interested...?"
Nico cocked his head to the side. "You don't sound so sure."
"Because I'm not." Percy paused. "Nico, I have no clue about any of this. This stuff isn't me."
Nico shook his head. "You're right. It's not you. But what is you, is demigod logic. Use it. It comes in handy, trust me."
The son of Poseidon took to heart what Nico said,even if it was said in a way he would have preferred changed. But it did make a difference. From that point on, Percy ran each and every question through his mind, analyzing it until he hoped he had a reasonable response, and then giving an answer. Nico was pleased enough with most and those he wasn't he asked until he got a sufficient answer.
Throughout all the questions and answers, there was only one thing that Nico didn't like much. He asked it again and again and even asked more before asking that one again to see if the answer would change, but it never did. No matter how many times he asked the same question, Percy wouldn't budge from his answer.
"If you have to kill someone, how will you do it?"
Percy's answer came quickly and he spoke shortly, having been about the twentieth time he had given the same response. "I won't."
Nico sighed. "Percy, listen-"
"No, you listen." Nico sat back in surprise as Percy spoke on quietly but harshlt. "I've already done it once. I won't do it again."
Nico shook his head. "Ya know what, I don't understand that, Percy. I have seen you do some pretty brutal stuff. You've killed monsters and battled giants and gods. You never back down, you by never give up, why is this any different?"
"Because these are human beings we're dealing with." Percys voice was no longer quiet and was now actually almost a yell. "This is so different, Nico"
Nico sighed. He was trying everything he could but he knew Percy was still too soft for murder. And Nico did see a point in the older demigods argument, even if the point wasn't relevant to himself anymore.
Percy broke the few second silence that had come after his comment. "Can I go to bed now? I'm tired."
Nico shook his head. "Not yet. There's one more thing."
"What?" Percy grumbled. Or, rather, whined with the under tone of a grumble.
Nico paid no attention to the elder demigods question and asked one of his own. "What do you do if someone comes onto you? "
Percy shrugged, not wanting to do this anymore than he did in the beginning. "I don't know."
The son of Hades ran his fingers through his hair. "You need to know, Percy." He sighed, sounding agitated. "It's kind of important."
"Why?" The son of Poseidon wasn't sure what it was but he was feeling pretty uncomfortable with where the conversation was going. "Who's gonna come onto me?"
Nico shrugged and spoke with annoyance at the fact that Percy couldn't just answer. "I don't know. A lot of players out there these days are gay guys. They get into the business by hooking up with a gang banger and they get stuck in it. If anything is to ever happen, and you come upon one, you could get hit on. Pretty hard core. I mean, look at what happened with Herc."
Percy hung his head as the memory of his interaction with the man named Hercules ran through his mind.
Nico continued to speak. "You think he's the only guy that has a thing for guys?"
Percy looked up at the younger demigod as something popped into his mind. He took a second more to think about it before he spoke. "Are they all gay?"
Nico shook his head, still annoyed but knowing questions like these were important to the older demigod and needed to be answered. "Not all of them. Some are straight, some are bi, some are pan, some just f**k anything that walks." He shrugged. "You can never really know. But one thing you can know is that it takes a lot to get them to back down."
Percy nodded once, sharply despite the sick feeling in his stomach: he didn't like the sound of what he had just heard. It meant that he was in store for more than just what had happened with Herc. He just hoped he was ready for it. And so did Nico.
The son of Hades cleared his throat and the air along with it, before he spoke again. "How would you react to it?"
Percy still had no clue. He had been given a little time to think but that wasn't what had actually been on his mind. He had been thinking about Nico. He recalled how he acted when Nico had him pinned to the bed and was rubbing his knee into Percy's groin. He had enjoyed that much more than he ever thought he could and he was enjoying thinking about it now.
"Percy?"
That one word pulled the son of Poseidon from his thoughts of the past. "Hmmm?"
Nico fought not to show how angry he was getting. "How would you react?"
The elder demigod shrugged again, a slight blush spreading to his cheeks. "I really don't know."
Nico sighed yet again, not noticing the color on Percy's face. "I hate to make this seem so important, but it could literally mean the difference between life and death for you. If you react even the slightest bit off, they'll find it suspicious and you'll end up dead. So, I will ask you again. How would you react?"
Nico was growing more impatient by the second and Percy was tired. The two had been at this for hours and the son of Poseidon had had enough. He just wanted to go to bed. He said, once again, that he didn't know and Nico felt like hitting something. How it was so hard for someone to answer a question, he would never know. Nico asked again and Percy complained like a child. He whined and groaned and seemed close to tears. Nico silenced and dropped his face, shaking his head in utter disappointment. It was an easy question and figuring the answer was as logical as logic could get, and still Percy couldn't come up with it.
But, Nico was just as determined to get an answer as Percy was to stop being asked. The son of Hades would have been satisfied with even a crap answer, if it made sense. But Percy had nothing. Nico wasn't going to let it go until Percy answered him. But, obviously, just asking him the question wasn't enough.
So, Nico went with something different. "Stand up."
Percy whined and dropped his head backwards. "Nico, I'm tired. It's late. Please just let me go to bed."
"You can go to bed when we're done." Nico said forcefully. "Stand up."
Percy whined again and put on his puppy face and played it for a minute, hoping to accomplish something with it. But, much to the son of Poseidons displeasure, Nico shook his head and repeated his previous order.
As Percy sat, still a bit sulky and whiney, the son of Hades thought. He wasn't too thrilled about the situation himself but he had to know what Percy would. The idea he had in his mind would either work out really well, or fall apart very quickly. But he had to know. The only problem was there was a possibility Percy could react differently to Nico than he would to someone else. Nico hoped he was both wrong, and right.
Percy stood from his bed, finally, and looked at the son of Hades.
"Why am I st-"
"Shhh." Nico was being very forceful even with that one small sound he made. His tone sent shivers down Percys spine that the elder demigod hoped the younger didn't notice. He felt bad that he let the sound effected him so but Nicos whisper was intoxicating. It made Percy forget that they weren't the only two people in the world. And, because of those things, it made him feel stupid...
"Let me ask you a question, Percy." Nico whispered before falling silent for a short moment. "If someone is coming at you, what do you do?" He was talking very slow steps toward the son of Poseidon, eyes glued tightly to Percys.
Just having Nico staring at him like he was, seeming as if he was trying to see into Percy's soul, made the son of Poseidons head spin. "T-" Percy's voice cracked. He coughed slightly and continued. "Tell them I'm not interested."
Nico smirked at the fact that Percy couldn't speak. It was something he had always hoped for but never imagined happening. It made him no longer care if the idea didn't seem too bright. He was going to carry this as far as he could.
Nico stepped a little closer to the son of Poseidon, who was standing at the edge of his bed. Percy managed to take one step back before he fell on his butt on the mattress. His breath caught when he felt the soft material beneath him. Nico continued to step closer until he was only about a foot from the son of Poseidon. Percy was looking down at the floor, trying to compose himself.
"Look at me." His voice was still a whisper, low and deep.
After a second, Percy looked up at Nico. The son of Hades tilted his head to the side and smirked widely. It was a truly devilish look. "You're not interested?" His tone was lower now, close to being frightening, but Percy found it grippig. He could have sworn the younger demigod was being momentarily possessed by an incubus. He couldn't decide whether he hated it or not... No. He hated it. There was no question in his mind. Nico was a guy. He couldn't like this. ...Then why did he? Why was his heart pounding? Why was the blood racing through his body?
Nico lifted a hand to Percy face and caressed his cheek ever so softly. He could feel Percys breath hitch and his body tremor ever so slightly. He did more than everything in his power to hold himself back. "Are you sure you're not interested?" His lowered his hand a little and brushed one finger softly across Percy's jaw line.
While Nico tried his hardest to keep control, Percy lost it. A quiet whimper escaped his lips as he recalled how he had felt the last time things had gotten heated between Nico and himself. He didn't know where this going, but that was perfectly okay. He would find out sooner or later.
Nico pulled his hand away upon hearing the whimper, knowing what would happen if he didn't, and left Percy on the bed. He had intended all of that to be a teaching experience, not something to get off on. But that changed once things started playing out. Ten minutes was all it took for Percy to, seemingly, give in. Under any other circumstances, Nico would have pushed Percy onto the matress, climbed on top of him, and made his own day. But, that wasn't the point. The point was to find out if Percy could fight a guy coming onto him. Apparently, he couldn't.
Nico made his way into the bathroom to try to calm himself down. He had made a situation that he couldn't handle. He had done it himself and regret was slowly creeping in. He was fighting harshly against the images that were threatening his sanity and self-control.
Nico shook everything off the best he could and left the bathroom. He must have been locked inside the small room longer than he thought because Percy was already sleeping when he came back out. Nico sighed. It wasn't that the son of Poseidon being asleep was a bad thing or anything, but a part of him had been wondering if Percy was as messed up by the interaction as he himself was. Clearly, he wasn't.
Nico shook that off, too, and got himself ready for bed. He climbed under the blankets, trying to forget everything so he could sleep.

Percy's dreams were typical for him that night: being chased by monsters, out-smarting gods, flying through the sky on the Argo II, and a small one about being in Tartarus. It was a normal nightmare for him to have, honestly. He had had it plenty of times before. It was starting to not even bother him much anymore. Even before the Lotus, that very nightmare had plagued his nights. Nothing was too out of the ordinary and nothing bothered him too much, for the time being.
He did, however, soon have one that woke him with sweat pouring off his face. It was his newest nightmare: the murder he had committed. He stayed seeing a body less head roll to the floor and a blood pool form. He took a moment to catch his breath before he stood from his bed and went into the bathroom. He used the toilet and splashed some cold water onto his face before leaving the bathroom and going back to bed.
As Percy lay, curled into his blankets, he spoke a quick prayer to Poseidon. He asked his father to send him sweet dreams that wouldn't wake him with sweat. That was the last thing he did before he fell back asleep.
Not long after, Percy felt something close to his face. His eyes fluttered open and he saw Nico above him, watching him sleep. He went to speak but Nico placed a finger to his lips to shush him.
"Do you have any idea what you do to me, Percy?"
Percy was utterly surprised by Nico and didn't even bother to answer the question. It's not like he had time to, anyway, because Nico scooped his lips up. He froze momentarily before giving in and kissing Nico back, opening his mouth for the son of Hades to slip in his tongue. It didn't take long for that to happen and for Nicos hands to find their way to the hem of Percys shirt, since he had actually slept in one that night. He slipped his fingers under it as he deepened the kiss.
Percy, being too tired and shocked to do much fighting, moaned lightly at Nicos cold hands on his torso. But he didn't fight them away. He felt too mesmerized. Nico traced Percys abs with his cold fingertips, causing Percys skin to litter itself in goosebumps. Nico lowered his bottom half into Percys, rubbing their groins together. Percy was starting toget hard to begin with, thanks to Nicos cold fingers, but feeling Nicos clothed erection against his own strengthed his own excitement and added pleasure to it. He whined softly again and felt Nicos hand travel to his hip. He gripped it tightly and dug his thumb and fingertips harshly into the skin, causing Percy to let out yet another moan: his hips were very sensitive. Nico groweled into Percys mouth at the sound and pulled the son of Poseidons lower half into his own. Percy let out another moan at the feeling and Nico repeated the action a few more times before letting Percys hip go. His lower body fell back to the bed and Nico pulled away from his lips to whisper in his ear.
"Move your hips against mine, goddess."
Percy blushed bright red at the name but did what he was told. Having Nico move his hips was one thing, but doing it himself was something else entirely. It made things even better by adding a little more pressure.
"Aaahhhh."
Nico looked over at Percy in his bed and sighed. He had woken him with another nightmare. He rolled over to go back to sleep and let things finish themselves, like they usually did.
Percy moaned again. Nico knew it wasn't going to be a quiet night and he sat up to grab his headphones.
"Nicoooo, please."
Nico froze. What in the world was going on? He sat up in his bed and watched Percy squirm slightly. He could see sweat forming on Percys brow and his own heart was begining to race. Was Percy having a-
The son of Poseidon moaned again and gripped tightly into the sheets below him. Nicos heartbeat quickened a little at the scene that was unraveling before him. He was really, really enjoying it.
Nico stood from his bed slowly and approached Percy. The son of Poseidon had squirmed enough to push his blankets off of himself and lift his shirt up. His whole torso was on perfect view. The first thing Nico noticed was the tent in the son of Poseidons pajama pants. He himself moaned at the sight and was quick to come to a decision: he was going to play with Percy. He didn't know if he would ever be able to again, so he was going to take his chance now.
"Percy?" He tried to be as seductive as possible.
Percy moaned again.
"Say my name, Percy."
The son of Poseidon sighed heavily and gripped into the sheets before speaking. "Nicoooo."
Nico lost it. This was too much. He could feel his own hard on forming and, within seconds, he had rid himself of his pajama pants and boxers. His own excitement had made itself very known, but he wasn't done with Percy yet.
"What do you want me to do, Percy?" His voice was gravely again.
"Anything." Percy whined.
Nico cursed to himself as he continued to say Percys name. He wrapped his hand around his own hard-on very quickly and began to pump himself, growling lowly.
Percy moaned again and Nico got another bright idea.
"Percy, I want you so bad. Do you want me?"
Percy moaned out a response, "Yes."
Nico moaned now, and Percy heard it. "Oh f**k, Percy. It's so good."
Percy moved his hips up into the air, while clutching a ball of blankets tightly to his groin, a couple of times before he moaned very loudly, shook enough to make the bed squeak, dropped his hips back to the mattress, and fell quiet. But Nico wasn't finished. He continued to flick his wrist back and forth on his member as he pictured Percy raising his hips over and over and over again. He heard the son of Poseidon moan his name and tell him he wanted him. Nico tightened the grip he had on himself and twisted his wrist back and forth until he could feel the pressure building up inside his body. He let out a moan of his own, that sounded oddly like Percys name, as he came into his hand.
Nico gave himself a minute to catch his breath as he stared at the son of Poseidon who was begining to wake up. He hurriedly cleaned off his hand with a few tissues and climbed back under his covers, only moments before Percy sat up. He whined awkwardly. But it wasn't a pleasurable whine. It was more of a distasteful one, like he didn't like what he was seeing. He climbed from his bed and looked over at Nico. A redder than red blush spread across his face when he saw the son of Hades. He grabbed a clean pair of boxers and made his way to the bathroom and stripped his clothes off. He washed his soiled underware in the sink after cleaning himself off with a washcloth and then went back to bed. He was happy that he didn't get much of anything on the sheets.
Nico had heard everything that happened and it gave him a sense of accomplishment. Percy was straight, as far as Nico knew, and he had just had a wet dream, about a guy. About Nico. It was too good. Nico did feel guilty for using Percys dream to get himself off, but he needed a release, and he got one.

Both boys woke later than normal when morning came; Percys dream could be thanked for that. It was much too late for breakfast so Nico didn't bother to get any. He woke first, but stayed out of the shower so Percy could clean himself properly. He would probably still need to...
Percy spared Nico a seconds glance before bolting into the bathroom once he woke up. He was embarrassed at himself for allowing something like what had happened the night before to actually happen. He had never dreamed about a guy in such a way before... It made him very uncomfortable.
Percy showered rather quickly and left the bathroom. Nico went in right after and took a quick shower of his own. Half the day had worn away and Nico had a few things he wanted to talk to Percy about... He figured doing it over lunch would be a decent(ish) idea.
Once Nico was dressed, he left the bathroom to find Percy sitting on the floor listening to music. He smirked at the fact that he wasn't sitting on his bed. His stomach flipped around at the fact that it was, technically, his fault. He got over that, pegging it to be thought about later, and coughed to try to grab Percys attention. Learning he couldn't hear past his head phones, Nico tossed a pillow at him. Percy looked up and his cheeks darkened a shade. Nico had to fight every urge he was facing.
"C'mon, get up. Let's go to lunch."
Percy was rather confused, but he turned off his music and stood. As Nico turned and walked away from him, Percy couldn't help but stare. He had never noticed before but Nico walked with such an air about him that made Percy feel both afraid and protected all at the same time. It was rather pleasant to watch.
Percy shoved the thought away and pushed himself from the floor before he slipped his sneakers on. Nico had grabbed his keys and was situating his gun within his jeans. Nico made sure he had his key card and wallet before leaving the room, Percy following after him.
Nico took Percy on a decent drive to find a restaurant. He thought about bringing things up on the way to eat, but he figured Percy might lose his appetite if he knew Nico knew about his dream. So the son of Hades stayed quiet.
The two reached a decent sized restaurant, that was seemingly empty because of the time, and ordered lunch. Nico racked his brain, trying to convince himself he really should talk about the night before. Or maybe he was convincing himself not to...
He didn't realize how caught up in his thoughts he had been until he and Percy recieved their food. The first few minutes of the meal passed silently, save for the sound of the metal knives and forks on the glass plates. Nico was fond of silences, to be honest, but this one was absurd and rather unreasonable: Percy didn't know Nico knew about his dream, so it shouldn't be that hard to talk about it. But, the idea still excited him and, since they were in public, excited wasn't something he should have been.
They were both almost done eating when Nico cleared his throat and spoke.
"Percy. I have something I would like to talk to you about." His words made him sound like a school counselor or principal, both Percy had dealt with plenty of times before. Percy froze at, not just the tone, but the words as well. He feared the worst.
Percy slowly lifted his head and faced Nico. It took him a second longer to actually shift his eyes to look at the son of Hades, but he did. Nico gave him a small smile, that was barely even visible, but made Percy's heart beat a little bit faster.
Nico opened his mouth to speak, feeling like he now knew how he wanted to put the whole thing. He stopped, though, when Percy averted his eyes to look toward the door. Someone had just entered and, by the look on Percy's face, it was someone he recognized but didn't expect to see. Nico turned his own head, heart stopping almost instantly. There, in the enterence way to the restaurant, were three blasts from Nicos past. The three faces looked around the room a little and came to a halt on the two sons of two of The Big Three.
Nico and Percy continued to stare in awe as Hazel, Frank, and Leo stared back at them.

Author's Note

My typical note: ignore any all all mistakes in grammar and/or spelling. And, also, it may be a while before I update any more sections. Hell And High Water only has a few more sections but I have recently fallen I'll and there has been doctors appointments and tests and there will be more and a possible surgery depending on what's found so it'll be a while. Just keep an eye out.