Percy Jackson Ships

Sleepover -//- Percy and Nico

Percy and Nico had done something no one ever expected them to do. They had a sleepover. Will was out of town, and Nico hated being at camp alone, so the weekend Will was gone, Nico asked Percy if he could stay over for Saturday night, until Will got back. Percy was shocked of course. He always got the feeling that Nico was uneasy around him, but of course he was okay with it. He gave Nico the address, and told him whatever time he wanted to turn up was fine. Around 6 pm Saturday, there was a knock on the door, and Percy opened it to a very tired looking Nico di Angelo. 
"Hey, man. You okay there?" Percy asked, almost catching Nico as he swayed on his feet.
"Shadow-traveled for a little while. I'll be fine in a minute." Nico said, guarded as ever, like wasn't sure if he wanted sympathy from Percy or not. Percy didn't know what he expected, but he shrugged it off and showed Nico inside to the couch so he could sit down. "Thanks." Nico said, catching his breath.

"No problem. So, my mom and stepdad are out of town this weekend. I don't remember why, if I'm honest. But my mom left some pancakes we can heat up in the morning, and money for pizza or Chinese or whatever we want to order." Percy told Nico, sitting down next to him, but keeping some distance.
"Pizza's fine with me. Cheese or pepperoni. I don't really like all those extra toppings." Nico nodded, and Percy smiled.

"Yeah, me too. Besides, stick with the classic stuff, y'know? That's how it was meant to be eaten. Not with pineapple, or green peppers, or anchovies." Percy added, and Nico nodded as Percy picked up the phone to order the pizza. Just a medium, plain pepperoni was fine, but Percy ordered bread sticks and a dessert pizza, too.
"You didn't have to..." Nico started.

"But I wanted to. And besides, if I'm honest, I usually have Leo or Jason over, and they usually eat a pizza each. But I don't eat a ton at once if I can help it, and I've seen you eat. You don't eat a whole bunch yourself. So one pizza sufficed. So I figured it'd be fun to get some sides, too." Percy shrugged. "Here. You good to stand up? I'll show you to the guest room." Percy asked, holding out a hand to help Nico up, but Nico stood up fine on his own. 
"Okay. Let me grab my bag." Nico says, walking to the other side of the couch where he dropped it, and seeing a little puppy behind it.

"That's Faye. We just got her a month or two ago. You're the first of the Argo II crew to meet her." Percy grinned. Nico did not smile, and backed away, almost ramming into Percy, as the puppy bounded towards him. Percy stepped in front of him quickly and scooped Faye up before she pounced Nico. He turned around to see Nico pink with embarrassment. 
"I really shouldn't be scared of dogs, but.... y'know... those hellhounds just kinda.... put the fear of the gods in me." Nico mumbled.

"Hey, it's fine. Just come here. She's not gonna bite you, or turn into a hellhound or anything." Percy said, and Nico smiled a little.
"If she did, I'd definitely advise you to get a new dog before running out your door so fast you would only see a Nico shaped hole in the door." Nico said, joking around a little. Percy chuckled, and reached for Nico's wrist, pausing before he grabbed it. Nico shrugged, and Percy guided Nico's hand out to let Faye sniff it, but she almost bit him. Nico tried to pull his hand away, but Percy smiled.
"She's not gonna hurt you. It's okay. Just pet her. I'll make sure she doesn't bite." Percy promised. Nico slowly put his hand on Faye's back, and pet her. "There. See? Hold on. She needs to go in her crate anyway, then I'll actually show you to your room." Percy said. Nico was only 15, so as Percy was 18, he was trying to behave like the adult he was. Trying. It took a lot not to joke, but he didn't because you never knew what was going to upset the son of Hades. He slipped Faye into her crate. "No more weird surprises, I promise. We had our share of those." Percy said, coming back to Nico, who was holding a small black bag.

"Gods know we did." Nico said, and chuckled. Percy about fell over. Nico di Angelo laughed. He would be telling Annabeth about this as soon as he could.
"Definitely. Alright, just down this way. That's the bathroom there, and my room, and then here's your room. It adjoins to mine, but obviously we can keep that door closed." Percy said, showing Nico the little room. The walls were dark gray, and the bed comforter was blue, as were the sheets. A few paintings were hung around the room, and a small dresser and closet with no doors was on the far side. "It's not much, but-"
"Shut up, water boy. It's great. Looks better than bunking with my father, which is where my next stop would have been had you been busy." Nico said, setting his backpack on the bed and rejoining Percy in the doorway.
"Here, I'll just give you a room tour while we wait for pizza." Percy said, opening his bedroom door. He and Nico walked inside, and Nico couldn't help but smile. Percy's room looked like an ocean. He even had a goldfish on his bedside table. His walls were blue, and so was his comforter and sheets. He had MythoMagic posters in one corner, along with all his figures on his dresser, which held a few photos, as well. Actually, there were pictures everywhere. Above his bed was a collage labeled 'Annabeth'. On the wall next to Nico there were collages for Jason, Piper, Leo, Calypso, Hazel, Frank, Grover, even Will. But nothing for Nico. Which shouldn't have made Nico upset, but he figured with all his pictures, there had to be a few of him. Percy smiled. 
"C'mere." Percy motioned to his closet, and Nico followed. But it wasn't used as a closet, because there were blue fairy lights at the top, and the words 'MY FAMILY' painted on the wall. Under it were names. 'Annabeth, Grover, Mom, Paul, Thalia, Jason, Frank, Hazel, Piper, Leo, Calypso, Will, Nico, and Bianca'. Nico couldn't help the tears brimming in his eyes seeing the picture of Bianca. And the picture of him was maybe the only good picture ever. They were at the beach, and Percy went around and made everyone smile for a picture. He remembered that day fondly. But his thoughts were interrupted by a buzzing noise. He jumped about 3 feet up. Percy smiled. 
"Don't worry, man. It's just the pizza. I'll be right back. Gotta go downstairs." Percy said, heading out of the room. Nico stood there looking at Bianca a little while longer before closing the closet and heading back out into the living room, where he sat on the couch to wait. He looked through his sketchbook, and decided to just start sketching the first thing he saw. A flower in a vase is what he saw. Nico's hands worked on their own as they moved across the page, outlining, sketching, and shading. Drawing had helped him cope with everything since Tartarus. He was so into the drawing he didn't realize Percy had come back with the food.
"You good, Neeks?" Percy asked, snapping Nico out of a trance.
"I'm good, yeah. And don't call me Neeks." he nods, heading over the the table where Percy had set down the pizza, breadsticks, and dessert. It all smelled great.
"Sembra molto buono." Nico said appreciatively as the two boys sat down to eat. "Looks so good." he adds to a very confused Percy, who chuckles.
"Okay. I thought I had just heard you wrong. You were speaking Italian. Gotcha." Percy said, picking up a slice of pepperoni pizza and a breadstick and setting them on his pate as Nico did the same. 
"You're not going crazy. Crazier, anyway." Nico joked. Percy was flabbergasted. Nico was laughing and joking and letting himself be happy, something Percy didn't get to see very often.

"I don't think I can get crazier. I mean, let's be absolutely honest here." Percy shrugged jokingly. Nico shook his head, taking a bite of his pizza. The two ate in silence, eating almost all of the pizza, to their surprise, and almost finishing off the breadsticks. They had one piece each of the dessert pizza, which was basically a giant chocolate chip cookie. Nico and Percy both couldn't eat anymore, so they decided to just put the food out of sight.
"Movie?" Percy asked. 
"As tempting as that sounds, honestly, I think I'm gonna call it a night. Shadow-traveling is no piece of dessert pizza. In the morning, though. We could watch 'The Breakfast Club'" Nico laughed. 
"Definitely. Get some rest man. See you in the morning." Percy said, chuckling as Nico headed to the guest room.
"Ti amo. Platonicamente, ovviamente."(I love you. Platonically, now, of course.) Nico whispered as he slipped in the guest room. He changed into one of Will's gray hoodies and some long pajama pants and had barely reached the pillow before he was out like a light.

Percy woke up to a loud yell from the other room. What was going on? The he remembered: Nico. He opened the door to Nico yelling, crying in his sleep. Percy watches him for a second to see if it'll stop, but Nico starts shaking, and then he's thrashing around and cries out. Percy hurries to wake him, and Nico shoots up, remembers where he is, that he's okay, and cries some more. Percy perches next to him cautiously.
"Are you okay?" Percy asked the small boy. Nico shook his head. "Do you want to talk?" he tried again. Nico's whole body shook as he let out more heart-wrenching sobs, but Percy could catch a shake of his head. "Okay. You just want me to stay?" Percy asked one last time. Nico nodded. "Okay then. I'm right here. Whatever you need, whatever you want to do." Percy said, and there they sat, son of Hades and son of Poseidon, the younger one's body wracked with sobs, missing his sunshiney, beautiful boyfriend, but grateful for his cousin next to him. Percy carefully put an arm around Nico, and Nico didn't flinch away. He seemed to lean into it a little bit, so Percy wrapped both of his arms around Nico and moved closer, holding his cousin tightly, hoping to ease the sobs. So they sat longer, and Nico's arms were hugging his chest now, holding one of Percy's arms in the process. Percy felt awful for his poor cousin. He had probably dreamed of Tartarus, Percy realized, which is why he didn't care about his current surroundings. Nico's sobs started to slow, and his tears dried, and he knew he should be embarrassed about this, but it was Percy. The Percy he knew and loved, and he knew Percy loved him. He stayed holding onto Percy as he was hugged by the sea demigod. His head found it's way to Percy's shoulder.
"I know how awful those dreams are. I really do." Percy said after a minute.
"But you don't know how bad mine are. You had Annabeth there keeping you sane. I did it all alone, and just talking about it is torturous. And when I got back, it was just like Tartarus. I was all alone. I'm still alone, really." Nico whispered.
"Nico, you're not alone. Ever. I'm here, aren't I? And Will. Gods, that boy is wrapped around your little finger. Hazel is always an Iris-message away. Actually, really, the entire Argo II crew is always around to listen. Rachel, Grover, Mellie, even Coach. Whenever you feel alone, remember that you have a whole support system. It's all okay. If it's not now, then it will be." Percy reassured the smaller boy, who nodded, not moving from his cousin's embrace. Nico was reassured, and thought of Will, who would threaten him with three days in the infirmary if he didn't get back to sleep. Percy was humming, and his hand was unconsciously stroking Nico's hair, which Nico knew wasn't his fault. He was ADHD. He was constantly moving. Besides, it was nice. Nico's eyes got droopy, and not soon after, he was snoring. Percy laughed quietly. He knew it would take Nico a while to be okay, so after laying him down, he went back to bed. But he kept the door open. Just in case of a monster or nightmare.