A Story To Be Told - Nico Di Angelo X Reader

Seven

Y/N really didn't want to wake up and face reality. She wanted to stay where she was, where ever that was and stay in perfect slumber. But she had to get up eventually, might as well be now.

She didn't recognize the room. It's design was dark and brooding, with green-fire torches lining the wall, the type that never seemed to go off. The place smelled of dirt and rain, like the after of a funeral.

Slowly and painfully, she got up on her elbows and took in her surroundings. There wasn't much in the room, just a few randomly scattered bunk beds across the wooden floor and a desk or two. There were only two windows, one on each side of the room, which were pretty tiny, and the black curtains were slung across. The moonlight slipping through them.

Hesitantly, she got off the bed, wanting to get out of here as soon as she could, but a voice in the dark stopped her, "Where do you think you're going?" It asked.
She recognized that voice, but still couldn't quite tell who it belonged to. She stayed silent, afraid that any mistake would send her to the mercy of the fates.

The speaker got up and revealed himself. "Go back to bed, we still have a few hours left of the night. You should rest."
"I want to go back to my cabin." She said, her voice unwavering and strong.
"In that shape?! No way, Jake would kill me." He chuckled. She could tell he was being sarcastic.

She looked down at her leg and realized what Nico was talking about; her right knee was wrapped up neatly, with a cloth in the center, all bloody and disgusting. She also noticed that the clothes she was wearing weren't hers. They were darker and much wider, knitted for the structure and body of a male.
"Besides," Nico said, walking to one of the desks and  pulling out a box, "It's about time I changed that for you." He pointed at the
bandage.

Nico instructed her to sit on the messed up bed and extend her knee. "You could've gotten yourself killed out there." He said, unwrapping the cloth.
Y/N didn't say anything. She didn't want to, she didn't have to.

Nico huffed, frustrated "Look, I'm trying to be nice here. I even let you sleep on my own bed, I should've stayed where I was! I should've let you finish yourself off, I should've let the Cyclops bash open your skull! I shouldn't have risked my own life to save one like yours!" He ranted.

She was getting on his nerves, "Speak!" He yelled, pressing the cleansing cloth tightly against her skin, making her wail and claw at his hands.

He pulled them away and threw the cloth into the bucket full of cool water he'd used on her before. "Sorry." He said, rubbing the surface where she had scratched him. "I didn't mean it."

He walked towards the bucket and brought it nearer to her. He reached for her knee but she flinched away, and he understood why. "I won't hurt you again. I'm sorry, I promise."

This promise could've meant many things at once, it could affect his future with her, and he was willing to take the risk and keep it. He reached for her leg once more. She felt the cool ice-water against her skin, which made her tingle.

Even under the dim light of the fire, Nico could still clearly make out her facial features. And even though she was scraped and covered in dirt from a few hours earlier, she seemed more beautiful than ever. "You're pretty." He found himself saying, without even wanting to.
"What?" She whispered.
"You're filthy." He said quicker than he intended to. And she giggled.

That's a first, he thought, but found himself laughing along, lifting their spirits that seemed way down in Tartarus.
"Thank you," her voice was frail and weak, but audible.
"No need to thank me. I'm doing my job."
She chuckled, "What do you mean? Did someone ask you to look after me?" It was intended as a joke, but she heard an unexpected answer.
"Your brother."

She looked down, her smile remained however. It felt like something Leo would do. And she was grateful that he still looked after her, even after passing away.

"Neeks?"
"Since when do you call me that?" He laughed, his eyebrow raised and a shocked expression on his face.
"What day is it?" This was a question that had swirled in her mind and annoyed her since she woke up at the beach.
"We're leaving tomorrow morning. So I'll make sure you go early to your cabin to pack your things."

Nico wrapped a new cloth around her knee, "It's gonna stay ugly for a while. I gave it a special treatment so come back to me when you need it fixed."
She snorted, "Why would I come back to you if I'm going to stay with you for the next five days?"
"Right. Anyway, you should get some rest. We have a long way to go tomorrow."

She crawled into the black covers of his bed, and tucked herself in. "Goodnight." She said.
Nico shared a last laugh, "There isn't much of the night left," he started, and crawled up on the floor in the corner where he had emerged from, and covered himself with a blanket. "Night." He muttered.