PJO x Gotham Crossover

Duke is honestly shit at choosing who to befriend

"WHAT THE FUC-"

Huh.
It seems we're starting this chapter on a pretty sudden note, not that the previous chapters haven't been started similarly (the author takes joy in chaos) but this is almost a bit too abrupt, so let's rewind a little, as this doesn't happen until the end of Nico's day, and Nico's day started even earlier than normal.
Because he'd woken up at around 5 am, the absolute earliest time any vet clinic in Gotham opened.

Of course there was a reason for it. He had to check the newfound stray kitten he'd aquired for illness, and indication of owner.

Nico would never willingly wake up early (not without reason at least), as he much preferred staying up late and waking up late.

Or staying up late and waking up early, then cursing himself for his own choices after falling asleep twice standing and one time during a game of capture the flag, only to wake up again in a hostage situation (he was the hostage) after the younger campers decided to use him as leverage. It may sound oddly specific but that's what happens when you don't get enough sleep, so get your 8 hours kids!

But, getting back on track, the trip to the vet had been surprisingly short, and as it turns out, the kitten which had yet to be named was pretty healthy other than being malnourished.
So why Nico was running to class, practically vaulting himself up the school steps many hours later, most definitely very, very late to class, was and will remain a mystery.

Though I will drop a few hints in the form of the words, mugging, Gotham and the protestations of sentient freezer rights.

Nico was still speeding through the school faster than any average human, luckily not running past anyone except the janitor (who'd just shrugged noncommittally, as this was the average Tuesday for him) and eventually arriving in front of his math class (math was at the end of the day, that's how late Nico was).

Skidding to halt, Nico was almost immediately down on his knees wheezing, the adrenaline leaving him quicker than Zeus could throw a tantrum. His ankle had stopped hurting from his nightly escapade after quite a lot of ambrosia, which was lucky with the amount of running he'd been doing.
Nico spent several minutes collecting himself because he was already late, so why would a few extra minutes matter.

Finally, his pulse had slowed down, and he brushed some of the snow out of his hair (Freezer Incident™), tidying himself up in the process. Once finished, Nico took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

But by some miracle of luck, the class wasn't actually in the middle of a lecture, so most of the students had moved to work with their friends and were talking loudly, meanwhile the teacher seemed to be occupied with a particularly difficult student.
This of course made it much easier for Nico to soundlessly slip over to his seat besides a certain dark haired boy, slumping his bag on the ground next to him as he wordlessly sat down.
No one had batted an eye, so Nico assumed he was in the clear.

Except for his friend Duke, who was scowling at Nico from the seat next to him, looking especially irritated.

"Where have you been?" Was the first thing Duke said, for good reason of course, though Nico was caught off guard by the annoyed tone.

"Wow, not even a good-" Nico paused to check the time "-afternoon, I'm hurt"

"Oh womp fucking womp, I had to pair up with that Thing, for the first part of the worksheets"
Duke pointed at the bulky blonde haired boy talking loudly to his friends a few desks forward, they were laughing and jeering at some poor girl trying to do her work.

"Okay maybe you do have a reason to be annoyed, he looks terrible"

"He was terrible, and the ONLY REASON I was paired with him was because SOMEONE DECIDED TO SKIP-"
Nico clamped a hand over Duke's mouth, rolling his eyes as he did.