The Nico That (Almost) Destroyed Christmas

Must Be Hereditary

Nico slumped down it the patch of snow, not caring as his black jeans went darker from the damp.

He wasn't tired from the shadow travel.

Well, he was, but that wasn't why he sat down. He sat down because he finally escaped.

No, that didn't sound right. That sounded like he wanted to run. That sounded like they were keeping him their, trapped, but they weren't.

Nico could leave whenever they want, the incident a month ago had proved that.

He had gotten a message from his dad, a note, most definitely delivered by one of the skeletons because a decaying hand was still attached to the card.

"Want a quest? Come if yes."

Of course Nico had gone! It was his dad! Turned out to be one of the lamest quests ever though. Hades just asked him to help him find what he was going to wear on a date with Persephone.

Most of the quest consisted of him rating different outfits that Hades and his skeleton minions came up with.

"It's supposed to be casual," Hades said. "We're going to a haunted house."

"A haunted house?" Nico asked.

"Persephone's idea," Hades said.

"Sure. Maybe you should wear a jacket so when she gets cold you can offer it to her."

"Really?"

Nico made a face. "Do you really think I'm that romantic, Dad?"

"Well--"

"Don't answer that."

Hades adjusted the collar of his jacket and stared into the antique mirror. It matched the ominous aesthetic of the rest of the chamber with curtain drawn windows and cold stone flooring. Nico sat on a creaky chair placed in the middle of the room, his head leaning back to rest against the wooden back.

"Were you busy?" Hades asked.

Nico blinked boredly. "What?"

"Did I pull you away from something important?"

Nico couldn't tell if Hades was being sarcastic or not.

"No," he finally said.

"Hm."

"What?" Nico snapped.

"What?"

"What hm?"

Hades narrowed his eyes at him in confusion. "Is this some sort of new slang--"

"No!" Nico cried, throwing his arms up and rubbing his head. "Why did you go 'hm.' People don't just go 'hm' like that and not mean anything by it."

"Oh." Hades went back to the mirror, frowned at himself again. Then he promptly exploded in a flurry of dust. Nico waited as he billowing mass warped around him, then dissipated, leaving Hades with a new leather trench coat and sunglasses.

"I was just thinking," he said, then, "what about this?"

"Lose the sunglasses," Nico sighed.

"Really? I thought they were kind of... hip."

"They make you look too much like Ares."

Hades glanced at himself in the mirror. "No sunglasses," he said. "Agreed." The accessory disintegrated with a poof of smoke. "Anyways, I was just thinking--"

"That's unfortunate," Nico whispered to himself.

Hades trailed off and huffed. "What was that?"