What The Nefarious Carnival Does To You (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Chapter Five: Collecting Broken Shards

What The Nefarious Carnival Does To You

Chapter Five

Collecting Broken Shards

Nico could tell he was going to have a bad day before he could get out of bed.

He stared at the ceiling of his room. Whoever had the brilliant idea of pulling the curtains aside in his room will pay. Y'know, when he manages to get off his bed. The sunlight that streamed through the windows lit up the whole of his room; which looked unnatural since the boy was used to the enveloping darkness. The young male gritted his teeth and massaged his tummy. His lower back ached, his head was foggy, and he felt uncomfortable somewhere below.

"The fuck happened?" he frowned. Last night, he remembered Leo calling their attention. Then Frank came in with Rachel carrying the mirror. Nico shut his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows. He moved sideways and frowned displeased when something brushed against his abdomen. Determined to find out what was making him feel uncomfortable, he sat up.

His hand covered his mouth as he yawned and stretched. He didn't bother with his hair as he slipped on his bedroom shoes and exited his room. Yes, he had bedroom shoes. Mind you, they were black and perfectly manly skulls.

The bathroom was two rooms away. It really sucked when they can't have their own bathrooms. Instead, the boys get their own as well as the girls. How they can ever gain privacy in a situation like that he doesn't know. Nico trudged his way there. As he reached inside, he sighed in relief mentally at the lack of presence in the room excluding him, of course. He chose the nearest stall and removed his clothing.

I should have carried spare clothes. Great. Just wonderful. The scowl seemed to stick on his face as he got rid of the last of his clothing. He turned the shower on and looked down. His eyes widened and his cheeks flushed involuntarily. W-what is... s-seriously?! He groaned and scrubbed the dry substance sticking to his abdomen off. Nico was sure he didn't have any sexual dreams last night. So why did...

His thoughts were interrupted as the door to the males' bathroom closed. Nico couldn't believe what luck he had. Finishing quickly, he dried himself off, slipping on his previous clothes afterwards. He thought of walking out without opening his eyes to avoid seeing who came in. But he might bump into the wall so he rejected that idea. He shook his head and thought it was the lack of sleep getting to him. He exited the stall and slipped on his bedroom shoes.

"Nico?"

Of course it had to be him. The Necromancer had really wanted to abscond but it was like he was being pulled. Against his will, he spun around to meet his personal beloved nightmare. "Hmm," He gulped. Percy's sea green eyes looked at him worriedly. Something twitched at the back of his mind but he pushed it away. He backed a step when Percy came close.

"You okay there?" To his embarrassment, his cheeks probably imitated the color of cherries as the older male's eyes looked over his form. Nico tried covering his body by crossing his arm over his chest. "Yeah, no. Just a rough night. I couldn't get much sleep. The usual. Nothing to worry about." He shrugged. For a second, Percy was stunned before gaining his composure. "Rough night, huh?" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Nico didn't question his demeanor and nodded numbly.

"Well, I'm leaving," Nico turned and left the bathroom. He was on his way to his bedroom when his stomach decided to set an alarm. He rubbed his tummy and headed to the kitchen for breakfast. Upon entering, three other carnies were already sitting and chatting. He made his cereals and listened in.

"Have you ever tried to call out an owl? Since you're a shifter and all," It was Annabeth. There was a sound of a spoon scraping against the bowl.

"An owl? Hmm. No." Frank answered. Nico grabbed his own bowl and sat beside Leo. He reached for the milk box sitting on the table and poured it over his pile. The male beside him knitted his eyebrows. "I didn't know they had phones." Annabeth rolled her eyes and spotted Nico. "Good morning." She greeted. Nico grumbled and stuffed his face with his cereals.