The Dorky Sea Prince

   I have a confession to make. I'm short as hell. And  I hate this fucking apartment because it is built for tall people and I am not tall. 

   As I stare hopelessly at the extremely tall cabinet that goes up to the ceiling where the fancy cups are, I hear laughter come from the living room. At first, I feel a pang of jealousy. Then I remember that Percy and Annabeth broke up a while back. There was nothing to be jealous for. Except maybe the fact that both Annabeth and Percy are taller than me. This fucking apartment.  Is made. For tall people. And let me tell you. I'm about as short as a fucking daisy.

   "What's the hold up, Neeks?" Percy called to me from the couch.

   "Nothing," I call back, even though there is a hold up. I hear muttering coming from the couch and I hear someone get up. Percy is standing behind me, even though I don't see him, I know he's there. "I told you I would be there in a little bit, okay?" I say a little irritatingly.

   Behind me, Percy laughs. "Nico, you don't even have the cups out. What are you waiting for? The gods to stop being childish?" he asks jokingly. I scowl, but don't turn around. Half of me hopes he'll go away and the other half hopes he'll help me get the cups. There's a silence and then there's another chuckle. "You need help, don't you?" he asks me.

   I turn around quickly, feeling my cheeks go red. "No!" I say. Percy gives me a look. "Fine. Yes." He smirks and reaches above me to open the cabinet. I realize just how close he is and how I'm actually enjoying the fresh clean scent of the ocean that seems to flow over him and wash over me. I scowl as I realize what I'm thinking about.

  You told yourself a long time ago, Nico, that you'd gotten over this dork.

   Kinda sorta lied.

   To yourself?

   Well, your talking to yourself, aren't you?

   I'm snapped from my thoughts (quite literally) when Percy snaps his fingers in front of my face. "You okay, bro? You just zoned out and started scowling..." He had gotten down the cups and in the corner of my eye I saw Annabeth smirking as she leaned against the doorway to the kitchen.

   "Yeah. I'm okay." I notice I still sound distant. But I'm apparently not as distant as I thought seeing as how Percy's chest is really just inches from my face (really, I'm that short) and how he doesn't seem at all phased by how close he is. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, he looked more than comfortable; almost content, save for the worried expression he had on his face.

   Annabeth finally made her presence known as she walked toward us. "You two having too much fun, or are we going to drink some milkshakes?" Percy blushed involuntarily and so did I. As she walked by, Annabeth winked at me, taking a cup that was sitting on the counter.

   I know what you're thinking. Fancy cups for a milkshake? Yeah, well, they weren't just milkshakes. They were blue milkshakes. And they were homemade. So yes. Fancy cups for a milkshake. Plus Percy had insisted and would've probably started crying or something if I said no.

   "Nico, I'm bored," Percy groaned. Annabeth had already left and Percy didn't seem in any mood to leave. Bummer.

   I rubbed my temples. "Then go home," I said as I closed my eyes. Percy groaned again.

   "But it'll be even more boring there!" he says, and I try my best not to stab him with his own sword. He had been twirling it around and had almost murdered my kitten, Shadow, if I hadn't taken the cursed sword away from him. Shadow was sitting on my shoulder and nuzzling my neck as Percy groaned and complained.

   Shadow hissed at Percy's next groan. "See? Shadow thinks you should shut up and go home." Percy looked over at me, glaring at both Shadow and I with those stupid green eyes of his.

   "Yeah, well, Shadow should go and-"

   I emerged from the shadows in front of Percy, pointing the tip of Riptide to his throat, Shadow still on my shoulder. "Insult Shadow and I swear I will spend the entire night trying to find your vulnerable spot with your own bloody sword." Even though I wasn't English or anything, I'd been there enough times to catch on to their lingo. I'd only been there because of a certain person I had to look into, and let me tell you, that didn't go well. But, that's a story for later.

   Percy grinned. "Actually, that doesn't sound so bad. At least I'll have something to do. Besides, you'll never find it." I scratch the back of my neck. In truth, I actually knew where his weak spot was. After all, I had been there when he had jumped (more like collapsed) into the Styx and I am a child of Hades, so seeing his vision and tuning into his thoughts weren't that hard. In fact, I could've killed him at any point whenever I felt like it (believe me, the feeling came), but I never did.

   "Yeah, well, you're wrong. Go home." Percy stuck his bottom lip out. "Gods, don't pout like that! Stay for the night for all I care!" I stalked over to my room, more than sligthly irritated with this boy's attitude, even if he is older than me by like, three years older than me. Sometimes he could act like he was still a pre-schooler. No wonder Annabeth had broken up with him (although she did say that it was because of something else; I'm not sure what).

   I felt Percy follow after me. "Gods, Perce, don't you have anywhere else to go?" I didn't even bother looking back. He was already pouting.

   "Not really..." I sighed and wondered why I was the only one he really went to when he was bored. And then I remembered; I was the only one that could really deal with him. Yeah, he might've faced Kronos and Gaea, but somehow he was still dorky and annoying as hell.

   I crawled into bed, more than a little exhausted and I felt something sit on the edge of my bed. I had already closed my eyes, but as soon as I felt the presence, I cracked my eyes open. Percy was sitting there staring at me. "Do you need something?" I asked. All I really wanted right now was some fucking sleep and this idiot was not letting me get my much-needed sleep.

   "Can I stay here for the night?" he asked tentatively, but something in his eyes told me he already knew the answer.

   "No one ever said you couldn't." Despite the fact that my tired eyes were already closing, I could still perfectly imagine Percy's look of satisfaction as he lyed down next to me. "You get close to me and I swear to gods you will die a slow and painful death somehow involving Shadow," I muttered in Percy's general direction before I could let myself fall asleep. Then, I let the darkness consume me and take me to places that only my twisted mind could conjure. Somehwere where this stupid dork was mine and mine only.

   Oh, Christ I'm sorry that some of this is weird. The whole 'I'm about as short as a fucking daisy' part was created at around two am, so please cut me some slack. At the wee hours of the night, my brain gets weird. Sorry not sorry for making Percy a clingy piece of shit and for making Nico cuss more than necessary. And I'm also not sorry about not making the whole freaking chapter describing the manly sea prince and imagining those perfect lips on Nico's. I think in this fanfic I'll focus more on how I think Nico fell more in love with the dorky side of Percy; just like a lot of people in this fandom. I guess I don't imagine Nico to describe Percy that way (even though it's cute af), I imagine him more talking about how dorky he is and how he can't really possibly believe that he in love with someone this dorky. So yeah.

   Until next time!!!

       ~awkwardnarturtle