Don't Fear the Reaper

50) Steph Should Have a Talk Show Called 'Spoiler Alert'

A/N: I LIIIIIIVVVEEEE!!!!!! long chapter btw lol

It had been slow progress. Nico seemed to change mentality every other day. One moment he would seem fine, sometimes even bordering on okay, and then the next, he would be seething or suicidal.

"Alfred," Bruce said hesitantly as his eyes were still locked on the screen that showed Nico knitting in the hospital bed. The kid had finally allowed them to take off his cuffs a few days prior, and they had mostly not regretted it. "Do you think Nico would enjoy eating with the family today?"

The butler looked at him in slight surprise for a moment before humming in consideration. "While the only way to know for sure would be to ask, I would guess that he would not like that idea."

"Really?" Bruce asked, genuinely surprised. "I thought he would jump at the chance to leave the room."

"Perhaps, however I still think he would pass on this opportunity," the man said, turning his attention back to the bookshelf he was dusting as he talked. "The boy has been doing better with eating recently, however it is still a point of stress for him. While he may enjoy leaving the room, I do not believe that sitting at a large table, surrounded by a bunch of people staring at him, would be what he considers a 'good time'."

The man had a point. "Then what do you suggest?"

The butler hummed. "Perhaps our guest would enjoy moving to one of the drawing rooms while he knits, or maybe he would enjoy sitting in the library while he reads the Dante books you gave him. I ordered some additional books to add to our Italian section, which may offer some additional entertainment for the young lad. Additionally, I believe all of your children would jump at the chance to plan things for him to do outside of the room. It could be start to task them with coming up with ideas for you to approve."

Bruce smiled softly at his father figure. "You are quite fond of him, aren't you?"

"While you may have a proclivity for taking in young orphans, I did it first," Alfred said with a small smirk before turning to leave the room. He hesitated momentarily as he said, "And you may want to invite your children to bring their friends over as well in the future. I believe it would be beneficial if he became more accustomed to being not only back in manor, but around more people than just you lot." And with that, the man was gone.

~~~~~~~~~

Nico was used to confusion. He was born in the 1920s, grew up in fascist Italy, moved to the US without knowing the language, and then woke up one day in a different century just to find out he was a demigod. He had gotten used to pretending to know what was going on when someone would mention something he had never heard of or done something strange that everyone else seemed to understand.

However, this was not something that he could pretend to understand, and he didn't think he could blame it on being from the past.

"Do you want a blanket?" Steph asked as she picked up two throw blankets from a basket, throwing one to him before he could even think to answer. She sat down on an armchair, popped her feet up on a foot rest, and then grabbed her yarn and needles.

Nico just sat stiffly on a couch, his eyes going between looking at the girl in confusion and observing the room, as if he expected it to be some kind of trap.

"No one else is in here," Steph said, not even looking at him, her focus locked on the needles in his hands. "I told the boys that if they stepped foot in the library while we were here, I would post all their secrets on Twitter. I have blackmail locked and loaded for each of those mother fuckers."