Jason Grace and The Land of Fire and Ice (Magnus Chase x HoO Crossover)

Emotional Espressos and Eventual Enlightenment

If I told people I was nervous to see a 14 year old, they'd laugh at me. If I told them the 14 year old was a son of the god of the underworld and had a sword that sucked out the soul of his enemies, they'd probably have a heart attack. Or send me to a mental asylum.

"I'll meet him by myself." I told the two, who were helping me remove the leaves from my hair. My t-shirt was majorly creased, jean shorts stained with dirt and once grey trainers a greenish grey colour. Nico wasn't one to care about appearance, anyway.

"You look like shit." Trisha helpfully pointed out, licking her thumb and scrubbing dirt off my cheek like an angry Mediterranean auntie.

"I never asked to have this face, did I?" I grumbled, Trisha backing away and staring at me as if I told her that the world was flat.

"Not your face. You have the most attractive face I've seen. Your dad's sperm has some quality chromosomes." She backed up and looked at me up and down. "Your attire looks like shit."

"Flirting 101 by Trisha Bahl." Andre taunted, focused on us both, amused. "You told your best friend you're gonna meet him at 12. It's 11:40. Let's go."

Us three walked out of the park, people staring at us, probably because they knew we slept here the night before. Why were they looking disgusted, as if they offered to help in the first place?

This is probably how homeless people feel.

A small, elegant cafe with a few seats was the end of a road, people sitting outside smoking or drinking their beverages with others. My legs seemed to not move, despite my protests, until I felt a hand on my right shoulder.

"Trisha and I will wait for you at the bookshop." Andre gestured to the shop next to the cafe. "Good luck."

They both walked off, looking back at me with a worried expression. I sighed, walking into the cafe. The smell of coffee beans and chocolate calmed me down, and helped me forget about my extreme anxiety.

What if he didn't come? Would I rather him not coming, since he could accidentally blast me into Tartarus from fear or something? Was I being a bad friend for putting more stress on his already stressed life?

Calm down, Jason, I told myself, looking around. It was a cafe inside a library, so most people were reading whilst drinking their drink. A waitress walked to someone, holding a cup of espresso.

"Double espresso, di Angelo?"

Pale hands placed 'A Monster Calls' down, his expression annoyed. Two black hoop earrings were placed at the top of his right ears, his raven black hair put up to a small ponytail. He only usually placed it back because he couldn't be bothered to cut his hair.

He wore a black graphic tee of a rock band I had never heard of as he took the espresso, turning to see the waitress.

"Have you guys got dyslexic-free books?" He asked, sipping the espresso, never looking away from the woman.

Even though she was probably in her early twenties, she gulped as she dodged his eyes.

"They... they haven't been invented yet." She stammered, gripping onto her tray.

"Such a shame." He sighed, placing his espresso on the table. "Then maybe in Italian? Or Greek?"

The woman raised an eyebrow. "You're dyslexic in English but not Greek or Italian?"

Nico frowned, looking up to the waitress. "Do you want to sit down so we can discuss my mental disabilities?"

"Um--"