Many Kinds of Love

Chapter 1

Nico put his hand against his head and winced. He looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings and he scrambled into the corner upon seeing the boys standing outside of a barred door. 

One was a blond boy who stood next to a black boy that he recognized walking through the streets with the girl. Nico knew that the blond was Jason, son of Zeus, king of Olympus. 

"Jace, I'm telling you, he's a demon. He can't talk so I don't understand what you're waiting for. They don't speak any language that we know." The other boy said. Nico thought that the boy was very cute but when he heard his voice, it sent shivers down his spine. 

"Well, how do you know, Percy?" Jason asked. 

"In case you've forgotten, we captured that very demon that tried to wreck our ship." 

Nico looked at them with wide eyes. He remembered hearing his people talking about that. The two boys looked over at Nico. 

"YOu know about that?" Jason asked. 

Nico nodded, causing Percy's eyes to widen.

"You can understand us?" 

Nico nodded again. Percy and Jason exchanged nervous glances. 

"Thaw era oyu nigog thwi em?" Nico asked, edging a little bit out of the corner. 

Percy shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand you. Do you know any english at all? Surely if you know it you can speak it?" 

Nico bit his lip. His father had taught him how to understand english but not how to speak it. He never allowed him to speak english. It was forbidden. Nico shrugged. 

"Sir Jason, Master Leo requires your assistance." A robotic voice said. 

Jason sighed, looking at Percy. 

"Don't worry, I can handle him. Go on ahead." Percy nodded. 

Jason smiled and nodded back, clapping him on the shoulder before running off. After a few minutes, Percy looked back at Nico. 

"I don't suppose you could tell me your name?" Percy asked.

"Coni." Nico answered. 

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Coni?"

Nico shook his head. Percy sighed with frustration, running a hand through his already messy black curls. All of a sudden, an idea popped into Nico's head. The demons had their own language that they spoke, but they wrote english, as was the rule ordered by Nico's father, the king. 

Nico got up and walked up to Percy. Percy took a step backward. 

"I nac wetri glishen." Nico said, pretending to hold a pencil and write on his hand. 

Percy finally came over and knelt beside Nico. He copied Nico's actions. "You can write english?" 

Nico nodded, his eyes filled with excitement. Percy smiled. 

"I'll be write back." Percy said. 

<<<>>>

Percy sat down on the floor like Nico. Nico quickly wrote his name down on the paper with the clipboard, before showing it to Percy. 

"Nico?" Percy asked, looking up and meeting Nico's gaze. 

Nico nodded. "Coni."

Percy smiled. 

"It's nice to meet you, Nico. I'm Percy. Now can you tell me what you were doing at the market earlier today?"