Don't Fear the Reaper

83) A Totally Normal Day

A/N: heeeeey, long time no see, am I right? anyhoo, I had a super causal depressive episode, and then my life caught on fire so... slay. Enjoy the chapter!!!

They'd been having a good day—well, good was a strong word, but Nico hadn't had a panic attack or gone non verbal yet, so it was as close as they could get.

They'd trained in the cave, eaten breakfast with the family, and then made their way to downtown Gotham. Nico was undeniably stressed to be around that many people, but Steph stayed close and always seemed to find nearly empty shops for them to hide out in when it began to be too much. Alfred kept close in the car, both to give Steph a place to stash all the stuff she'd bought for the both of them, but also to give Nico the peace of mind that he had a way out the second he needed it.

They were on what felt like their millionth shop of the day, Nico taking everything in but remaining mostly passive as Steph held things up to get his opinion, when he heard someone call out.

"Steph?" A girl, looking to be around Stephanie's age, if not a few years older, said from across the store. She quickly made her way over to them, looking excited to see the blonde. "Omg, long time no see."

Steph smile at the girl, sending a glance to Nico to see if he felt okay with someone talking to them. Nico gave a small nod, not really feeling strongly either way.

"Hey Kelsey," the blonde said, giving the girl a small half hug. "What brings you to the fashion district?"

"I actually live a few blocks down and my aunt is friends with the owner of this place," the woman, Kelsey, said, tucking a strand of her shaggy brown hair behind her ear to reveal a myriad of piercings. "I came by to drop off some stuff for her and decided to look around, and low and behold, here you are."

The two smiled at each other and Nico raised an eyebrow slightly at the blonde, definitely noting the slight hue of pink on her cheeks.

"Oh, sorry, I'm being rude," Kelsey said, shaking herself slightly as she looked to Nico and offered her hand. "I'm Kelsey Morganson. I'm a friend of Steph's—we met when we enrolled in the same community college class last semester."

Steph looked like she was about to find a way to distract Kelsey from trying to shake his hand, but Nico spoke first. "I'm sorry, I'm not comfortable with physical touch, but it's nice to meet you. I'm Nico DiAngelo."

"Oh, no sweat," the girl saw with a casual smile, moving her hand back into her pocket. "So, Nico, how did you meet Steph? Am I interrupting a date of something?"

Steph gagged while Nico couldn't help but choke on a laugh.

"Literally never!" Steph said, looking disturbed. "That's like incest!"

Nico snorted at that. "I mean, not really, but I'd still never-"

"Nope, it's incest," Steph stated, apparently deciding in that moment that it was now a fact. "I'm claiming you officially as my brother, and so now it's incest."

Nico shook his head, but couldn't stop the small smile that pulled at his face. He looked back to Kelsey, who was laughing at Steph's reaction, and said, "There's a whole lot of backstory, but Steph essentially kidnapped me and then harassed me until I stopped hating her."

"Sounds about right," the brunette with a laugh before pulling out her phone to check the time. "Okay, I'm supposed to meet my aunt in like 5 minutes to help her with some errands, so I gotta go, but I'll see you in Italian 202?"

Steph stiffened slightly, very purposefully not looking at Nico as she waved to the girl. "Yep, see you then!"

Nico gave a half hearted wave to the other girl, but his eyes were stuck on Steph, all words he might have said leaving his mind instantly.