The Black Coral (Percico/Pernico)

Chapter Seventeen: A Siren's Nightmares

Siren's Cove must have been a mysterious place to contain that much fog. That statement went through Nico's mind once he took in his surroundings. The thick fog made it nearly impossible to see anything, despite the streams of silver moonlight escaping through the gaps of the mist and shining upon the deck of the Black Coral as it drifted through the murky waters.

"Percy," Nico turned and called to his lover, who was standing upon the helm, guiding the ship to their ideal destination.

Percy held the wooden pegs of the wheel in his hands firmly as Jason shouted directions at him from above. As the first mate, Jason was his eyes. Percy did not want to chance any danger regarding his ship, so he was at his highest peak of concentration as he directed the ship through the potentially dangerous waters, his anxiety causing his temple to throb and his heart to pound in his chest, escalating his breathing pattern slightly.

He attempted to appear level-headed for his crew; he was the captain, so he had to remain calm. After all, he was the one who kept everyone together: the mortar between the bricks, the nails in the wood, the sap beneath the bark, and if he fell apart, so would everyone else.

"Percy," Nico repeated, aware of Percy's hyper-focused behavior.

"Yes, love?" answered the raven-haired male distractedly, for the majority of his attention was aimed upon the waters and whatever Jason was yelling at him from the Crow's Nest.

Nico noticed his absentminded response, so Nico ventured his way up the left staircase that led to the wooden precipice his lover was standing upon. He stood next to his love; Nico had no idea whether it was safe to call him his love quite yet, but he surely felt concerned for him as he leaned his head against the captain's arm.

Percy took his attention off of the ocean for a split moment to smile down at the prince.

"Yes?" Percy repeated in a playful tone, which quite contrasted his nervous mood he had kept up since the ship was directed towards Siren's Rock.

"You are nervous," Nico told him, leaning into Percy further, intending to calm him with loving contact.

Percy raised his eyebrows as his eyes locked once more on the slate of blue glass, which seemingly parted for his ship, through the mist. Nico read him like a book. "What gave you that notion?"

"You are inattentive, your posture is stiffened, your grip on the helm is tightening as we speak," Nico told him, his voice nearly a whisper. "Would you like me to take it for you?"

Percy shook his head. "I am fine," he said, but the captain was not sure whether he was trying to convince Nico or himself.

"But are you really?" Nico teased, a slight mischievous smile settling upon the prince's lips.

Percy looked down at him once more before leaning his head downwards and pressing his lips to the tip of Nico's nose.

"It is fine," Percy concluded, a sturdy rock of a feeling settling into his stomach. "We will arrive shortly. You should prepare, Nico."

Nico, unsatisfied with Percy's response, placed his palms on Percy's cheeks, the pads of his fingers sliding into raven hair, with his digits split in the middle, molding around Percy's ears and resting against the soft flesh and cartilage.

Percy was forced to look Nico directly in the face now, and he could now see the seriousness his prince possessed in his expression. A glint in his dark eyes told him that he was concerned for him, his eyebrows creased and forehead contracted slightly. A small frown adorned his lips, and all Percy wanted to do, everything else forgotten, was to kiss it away.