Sea Green (Merman Percico)

Chapter Eight

"Let's go here," Percy said, pointing to an Italian restaurant. Percy and Nico have been walking around town for twenty minutes, having a good-natured conversation and trying to figure out what they wanted for lunch. Even though Percy has never been to any other restaurant than what Nico already showed him, he wanted Percy to walk around and just pick a place at random.

"Works for me. They have a great dessert I think you would love." Nico walked through the door and held it open for Percy. The merman came in, smiling his thanks, and gawked at the place. It was a typical Italian restaurant: a place with a red, green and white color scheme that sold cheap Americanized Italian food. Nico picked a booth by the back wall.

Percy sat at the table, "what do they have here- other than great dessert?" Nico saw the waitress collect her things and start making her way over. "Lots of things," he said.

The waitress took their drink orders and handed out menus. Percy chose the classic spaghetti while Nico went with some stuffed ravioli. Percy took a sip of his coke, a new found favorite apparently. "You have so many options for food it's amazing."

Nico quirked his lips, watching Percy's eyes follow the movement. "Does that mean you only eat fish at home?" Percy blinked and looked back up to Nico's eyes, "yeah. I mean, we eat plants too, but we mostly eat what my dad catches. Which is mainly fish since fishing is his hobby."

"Honestly, I'm surprised you even eat fish. You're half fish right?" Nico hoped that question wasn't rude, but Percy didn't act bothered. "Way of life. Sharks eat fish, even though they're fish too. Besides, some fish weirdly find it honorable to be eaten by the 'King of the Sea'."

"So it's monarchy system? When your dad passes, you would be the king?" Nico, even thinking of how majestic Percy is, still couldn't picture him being a king of anything but seaweed and blue food. Percy shook his head, "not exactly. No one but my dad will ever be the King of the Sea."

Before Nico could ask another question, their food came to the table. Percy asked to poke at Nico's "mini jellyfish pods" with his fork. Nico just gave Percy a ravioli since the request was too strange for words. In return, Percy gave Nico his bread that came with his meal. After they've eaten their split lunches, Nico ordered a piece of double fudge chocolate cake for them to share.

"That was amazing, I love spaghetti. And chocolate for that matter." Percy held the door for Nico as they left. They started back down towards the beach side, heading for a quiet place Nico wanted to show off. "Not a bad choice for a random pick," he agreed.

Percy smiled and looked at him, "you have sauce on your nose." Nico could feel the back of his neck grow hot as Percy's thumb brushed it off. "Do you always get food on your face?" he asked. Nico sighed, "apparently, yes."

...

Nico led Percy to the boat dock, a long stretch of wooden planks that ended low in the water.

There were no boats around, no people either. They were alone and sat towards the end of the dock. Percy looked out into the ocean, "hey, you wanna see something cool?" Nico looked at him and watched as he gently laid his hand in the water, resting it on the surface like it was a lily pad. When he removed it, an orange fish was seen right above the water. The fish bobbed his head out a few times as if to say hello, Percy smiled. "he asked for your name." Nico looked back up to Percy with a look of shock on his face. "you can talk to fish?"

Percy laughed, "of course I can. All merpeople can. You expect us to all live together and not talk to each other?" Nico looked back at the waiting fish. "Nico," he says hesitantly, just in case Percy was joking with him. The fish's head bobbed out, pointing towards Percy. His scoffed, and Nico had a feeling that if he didn't already know Percy was a merman, he would've thought Percy was crazy. "what's he saying."

"It's an update about my family." Percy rolled his eyes with a hint of a soft smile, "and he said he was going to tell my dad about my date." He looked at the fish, shaking his head, "such a gossip, as always." The fish bobbed up one more time, faster than the last times, before sticking his fin up out of the water as he turned to swim away. "That was... interesting." Nico said. Percy smiled sideways at him, "interesting?"

Nico felt his pulse beat hard in his neck, "yeah." Percy sat back beside Nico and brushed his fingers along the back of Nico's hand, "I'm glad you find me interesting." Nico didn't just find Percy interesting, he was captivating. That word rang through Nico's head as he leaned over to kiss him. Percy's fingers slipped into Nico's and he moved even closer for deeper contact.

Nico could only hear his blood pounding and Percy's light breathing until movement in the water broke them apart. There was a school of fish, all having their head above the surface, and behind them was a larger sea animal Nico couldn't name. Percy turned pink, sitting up to glare at the sea creatures. They all swam away as quickly and disappeared. "Sorry about that," Percy muttered. Nico could only laugh.

.....

"That's ridiculous," Nico laughed, clutching his ice cream cup as he walked. Percy was laughing harder than Nico, telling the funny story just riled up the hilariousness of when it first happened. They sat on a park bench in the middle of a roundabout garden, a few blocks from the beach. "The funniest thing about it was my dad started using it has a trademark. 'Poseidon, god of the sea and bad Hawaiian shirts'."

Nico laughed again, trying to control it with a spoon full of vanilla ice cream. The few people who were walking around the area them paid no attention, busy with their own lives of vacations and trying to find a store that didn't sell only bathing suits and surfboards. The giddiness of the conversation calmed to a comfortable silence as they worked on their cool treat before it melted in the late June heat.

"Nico... are you okay with dating a half fish?" Percy asked out of nowhere, startling Nico out of his creamy haze. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I live in the ocean, I grow a tail every time I get wet and I know nothing about this world nor can I explore it for too long without salt water nearby. I'm not human..." Percy smoothed his spoon over his ice cream, not looking at Nico. Nico swallowed and placed his own cup down on the bench beside him. "Percy, I never focused on any of that. I like you for you."

Percy looked at him, making Nico quiver from seeing his green eyes so dark with fear and insecurity. "I'll never be normal. But I'm willing to try to learn and blend in... I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it."

Nico shook his head, "I'm not asking you to change anything Percy. You don't have to blend in for me. I like you the way you are... please don't change a damn thing." Nico added quietly, but his tone grew firm. He wanted to tell Percy he loved him, but he was afraid it was too soon for that- even if it was true.

Percy searched Nico's face for any lie, but couldn't find one. He looked back down at his dessert cup, "okay."

Nico watched him for a moment, then reach out to pull the boy's face up to his. Their lips locked, sharing a comfortable, reassuring feeling through the kiss. Nico felt Percy's body relax, his lips grinning, "thank you."

If it seems like this chapter is just three scenes of fluff strung together, that's because it is. But this was also what I was going for so...  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯