Shattered

Nico

"Will would kill me," the son of Hades wheezed as he rested against the barracks' wall. "I really should have taken gym."

Up until then he never realized how much his lifestyle had changed since being forced to stay at Demeter's farm. Back at camp his days consisted of helping Will out in the infirmary, sparing with Jason, training the new kids, and long walks in the woods with Will. At the farm though he was cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, homework, tutoring Jason and Percy, and trying to keep everyone's spirits up.

Definitely should incorporate some kind of cardio into my routine.

It also didn't help that his back was still hurting from time-to-time, severely limiting his mobility, but right now as he was struggling to catch his breath from an activity that wouldn't have phased him two months ago, he knew he should have pushed through the pain.

"Hey did you guys hear something?"

"Oh come on!" he groaned as he rushed into the dark space between the barracks, clutching his aching side.

"I thought it came from over here!"

When Jason had returned with news that mortals had taken Camp Jupiter and New Rome, he had been skeptical.

Now though, after seeing the packs of armed men and women roaming around the Principia, occupying the fifth cohort, and the mess hall, the idea didn't seem so farfetched.

"Check between the buildings!"

"Crap..." he stepped into the shadows only to reappear an instant later inside bath house. He collapsed to the floor and took in a few ragged breaths. Apparently he had overdone it with shadow travel the day before taking Percy out for a day of fun, as the small leaps from building to building were seriously draining his stamina. It probably also didn't help that he hadn't slept previous night. How could he after what happened?

Another reason why Will would kill me, he thought, but with a smile on his face. He pulled himself to the edge of the communal bath and absent mindedly skimmed the surface of the calm waters with his hand, as he tried to control his breathing.

I kissed Percy.

That thought had been replaying in his head for nearly twenty four hours, only interrupted by Jason's return and his father's violent coping methods.

I kissed Percy and he kissed me back!

It was giving him severe emotional whiplash. On one hand, one of his deepest desires had come true, and not only that, it was more incredible than he could have ever imagined. The kiss had started slow, and he had managed to enjoy the taste of Percy's lips; salty but sweet with a hint of blue food coloring.

He furrowed his brow. "Does blue food coloring even have a taste?"

It didn't matter, because that's what Percy tasted like! From there the kiss only intensified and Percy was the one who did it! They had clung to each other desperately and had only parted when they had to take breath. They had floated there in each other's arms panting heavily, their foreheads pressed together, until they made eye contact, at which point the son of Poseidon started to laugh.

And so did he.

Percy swam him back to the shallow end of the pool, where they finally separated, only for the two of them to have a massive splash fight.

Percy using his powers was totally cheating, but he did let himself get wet so I guess that was nice.

They had splashed about for what had seemed like a fun filled eternity until they both grew too tired and exhausted to continue. When he had started to climb out of the pool, gravity's sudden return and the unexpected weight of his waterlogged clothing almost made him fall on his face, but somehow Percy had been there to catch him.