ꜱᴘɪᴅᴇʀ ʙɪᴛᴇꜱ: ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴄᴀʙᴇᴛʜ/ꜱᴏʟᴀɴɢᴇʟᴏ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛ

xɪɪ ɴɪᴄᴏ | ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ ɢᴇᴛꜱ ꜱɪᴄᴋ

Fun fact: Percy gets that drooling in his sleep thing from his mom. They're both out cold on the plane, dribbling on themselves, and probably too tired to stay awake after the scene they caused when they were boarding.

Now Nico's not a judgemental person. He thinks of himself as generally accepting. He's a gay man. It's in his nature. So he's very patient when Sally has some last-minute flying reservations (Nico doesn't like planes either), and he even offers shadow-traveling as an alternative, although Percy quickly shoots that down.

The problem is Percy himself. His mom is fine. Yeah, she's sick, possibly terminally, but Sally Jackson is not the problem here. Percy's being so fussy over her. It's like he's manifesting his anxieties into worry for his mom.

Actually, that's exactly what he's doing. Of course.

Then it was 'who's going to have to sit up front by himself' because Sally shouldn't sit alone. Nico offers to sit in the seat in front of them. He jumps on the opportunity. He can't wait to put on his headphones and watch an airplane movie and forget about Percy's overbearing behavior. Maybe that's why Annabeth broke up with him.

You stop that, Nico, he scolds himself. That was a very mean thing to think!

Besides, Nico's traveling with Percy. If there is going to be any Annabeth drama, he'll more than likely be expected to take his side.

Oh, but the seat. No, Sally wasn't about to let Percy be a 'bad friend.' No way. Percy took the seat next to a stranger, leaving Nico in a window seat next to Sally. He's beginning to feel claustrophobic, but he completely understands why Percy wouldn't want his mom sitting where she could see how high up they are.

Nico's thoughts drift to his friends in New Rome. Lucky them. They don't have to take a plane.

So there they are. Percy's sitting in the aisle seat in front of Sally next to a stranger with a baby on his lap.

It was a little unruly at first. The baby cried during takeoff, and Percy kept turning around to check on his mother.

"Mom, are you good? Do you want me to ask for some Ginger Ale or something?"

That was the last time Percy had turned around because while his leg was in the aisle, the flight attendant came by with a snack cart and smacked him.

Nico had laughed and said that it reminded him of a scene from The Office, but neither Sally nor Percy understood the reference. They don't have Netflix or Peacock, or whatever streaming service Nico's favorite comedy is on nowadays. He bets they don't even have cable.

So now Percy and Sally are both drooling in their sleep, and the baby in front of Nico is no longer crying; he's peering through the gap between the seat and the window, staring Nico down.

Nico waves, hoping to maybe get some entertainment from the baby. It doesn't work. The baby just keeps staring ahead.

He's bored, and a little airsick. He turns his phone off airplane mode. Knowing Leo, this phone can work even from the Underworld if he needs it to.

He puts in the passcode and opens his messaging app. There's something from Drew already.

Pictures. Nico lets out a sigh of relief. It's just cute puppy pictures that Drew took. There's nothing wrong. But still... he sends a text just to make sure.

Her reply is instant: Everything's great! You didn't tell me how gross the pee pads would be tho :( Hope you're having fun!

Nico can accept that answer. It's exactly what he expected when he asked Drew to watch the puppies in the first place. He thinks of his half-sister and sends some of his favorite puppy pictures to her. Drew really is good with a cellphone camera.

Nico looks out the window and closes his eyes for a minute. Planes suck. Hopefully, Zeus understands that they just need to get to New Rome. It's just a couple of hours. It's even a direct flight.

The cell phone vibrates on Nico's lap. It's a text from Hazel: Aww, so cute!

Then, she follows up with another message: Can you keep a secret?

Oh boy. Sure, he writes. As much as he hopes Hazel's okay, Nico doesn't want to get involved in some sort of cheesy dramatic scheme.

There goes that thought. Hazel's next text says Piper and I told Will and Annabeth to drive up early.

Lucky for them. It is at a resort, after all. But why early? Nico's becoming curious.

Piper and I really want Annabeth to be in the wedding party, but she probably would have said no if we asked her months ago so we just got her a dress and we're going to lie and say that someone else can't do it and we need her to fill in.

Porca vacca. What a scheme indeed. Nico's thumbs hover over the keyboard; he's not exactly sure how to respond to that information, but it sounds like Will is going to be at this wedding for sure now.

Before he can come up with a response, Hazel sends another text. How does she type so fast? She's just as old as he is if not older. I didn't like it at first either but Piper says it'll work. She really wants to see Percy and Annabeth on good terms, and I can't say I don't agree.

Oh, so this is about Percy and Annabeth. Even worse.

They won't like that, Nico replies. But fine. I'll play along.

Nico scrambles to hide his phone in his jacket pocket when he catches Percy stirring.

"Oh, hey Nico, what do you think about-" Percy can't finish that thought because he throws up in one of those little barf bags in the seat pouch. The baby in front of Nico starts to giggle.

Percy looks up at Nico and opens his mouth to say something, but then he turns right back around and gets sick again.

"You good?" Nico asks awkwardly. This whole situation is awkward.

"Yeah." Percy wipes his mouth and seals the bag. "You know, I made that pre-airplane potion, but I think it worked on everyone except me."

Nico faces the window and closes his eyes again. Maybe some rest will keep him from ending up like Percy.

"Hey, Nico, can I ask you something?" Percy asks.

"Sure," Nico says.

"Um, can I have your barf bag? Just in case."

Nico hands Percy his barf bag and turns towards the window once again.

"Hey, uh..." Percy just isn't going to let Nico get any sleep on this plane ride. "I actually was wondering- do you think Annabeth's changed?"

This is what Nico's losing sleep for? "I'm pretty sure we've all changed, Percy."

"Yeah, but like, is she going to be different? She didn't seem okay when we broke up. Do you think she's the same? Or is she going to be okay?" Percy is overthinking this.

"Percy. It's been, what? Like ten years?" Nico says. "She's definitely over it."

Percy furrows his eyebrows and sighs, rubbing his temples.

Nico takes his hair out of its ponytail. He can feel a headache coming on. "Sorry. Maybe I was a little too blunt. We don't really know what happened, so-"

"No, you're right. Gods, what if she has another boyfriend?" Percy opens Nico's barf bag.

Nico looks out the window so Percy can barf in peace.