"ARGH!!!"
Reyna was chasing Nico in the kitchen of her apartment the whole hour, and he was growing tired. Shadow-travelling all the way here was quite exhausting already. Then Nico thought it was worth it when he found delicious-looking brownies on the counter. The stuff tasted better than they looked. When he was chewing on the last one, he found Reyna, her mouth slightly ajar and her expression was turning from shocked to murderous. The brownies didn't seem so worth it at that time.
And here they were now, Nico apologizing over and over and Reyna trying to kill him with a rolling pin. If others would use that as a weapon, Nico would have laughed. But Reyna was a different case. Maybe she could even make a mixer look so dangerous.
"How could you eat those brownies?! I spent half a day trying to perfect them!" she growled at him, chucking scrapers and a plastic spatula at him. Nico ducked.
"I said I was sorry, all right! I didn't know!" he replied. Then something shiny whizzed past him. He turned around to find it was a fork. The fork hit the wall, impaling itself half an inch from his head. Nico gulped.
He suddenly realized he was too late. A stainless steel bowl hit him squarely in the forehead.
He staggered, and Reyna took the opportunity to pin him to the wall.
Oh, Styx , Nico thought. Reyna pushed him hard.
"They were just brownies, Rey!" Nico protested. Reyna pushed him harder.
"It took me a lot of effort to make them, Death Breath. And don't call me Rey!"
"I'm so sorry, okay? I didn't know." he said, raising his hands in surrender.
"It was for someone," Reyna said through gritted teeth. "I know I can't spend another day trying to make them."
Nico's heart stopped. Hurt made its way to his chest.
He huffed. "That someone must be really special to you." he muttered bitterly, not facing her. Reyna's grip loosened. "So special that you'd kill me for eating his brownies."
It all seemed so silly and foolish, but Nico couldn't help feeling this way. It was weird but. . .
He looked at Reyna's face, and saw her eyes had dark shadows under them. Her lovely face seemed stressed and exhausted and somehow sad.
"That's because the brownies are for you, dummy." she mumbled. "They were supposed to be a surprise, but you ate them anyway."
It was time for Nico to be shocked. Reyna made those brownies? For him? It was too hard to believe, it all seemed impossible. It was as easy to believe as something like his father inviting Nico and Hazel for a picnic. Or if Zeus was beginning to be wiser than Athena.
Nico waited to be zapped into ashes or turned into a raccoon any minute now, but he was grateful it didn't come. He didn't want to be roadkill if he got loose in the streets someday.
"Uh, okay," Nico said slowly. Reyna blushed.
"I'm really sorry, Reyna. I should have known."
Reyna's face was only an inch from his, and warmth made its way to his neck and face. Awkward silence followed that.
"They tasted really great." Nico said, hoping to break the silence. "They taste way much better than anything else I've ever tasted."
Reyna smiled and put her arms around his waist. "I'm so glad you liked it. Next time, inform me if you'd come here. I don't want to try to kill you again."
"Yeah. I definitely should."
"But it was fun, though."
Nico laughed nervously. "Let's not get there again. Now, let's clean this place up."
They looked around the mess. And suddenly, everything was back to normal again. Like nothing even happened.
