WHISPERS • A PERCICO AU

• Chapter 2 •

As soon as he came back home, Nico di Angelo was exhilarated.

Finally? Somebody could understand  him? It seemed too good to be true.

Trying to keep his feelings in check, the smiling black-haired boy closed the door behind him. With a quick glance around, he noticed his sister reading a book in the living room.

She looked so similar to their mother, Nico always felt a small pang of sorrow making his heart heavy when he studied her statuesque figure.

The silky dark hair enveloping her regal face was pulled back in a beautiful french braid, a few loose strands making it even more elegant. Bianca di Angelo's gleaming black eyes were tight with concentration, reading her open novel carefully. The hints of brown in it made her slightly resemble her younger brother even more. Her olive skin was dusted by noticeable freckles that seemed like constellations in the night sky. Nico's sister lean and short figure was propped onto the leather couch, stiff yet relaxed at the same time.

She was wearing a soothing rich brown sweater under a thick beige jacket with multiple pockets and buttons. Dark grey jeans wrapped her legs comfortably, showing gracefully the outline of her slim curves. Her ankle-length white socks matched her outfit fashionably. A silver ringlet, glinting in the light, was set in her delicate hair. Her tan skin seemed to glow with a silvery aura because of the glinting chandelier hanging from the tall ceiling of their spacey house.

Nico snapped his fingers for attention. Raising her head at her younger brother, Bianca beamed, but her expression quickly melted to worry. "You're soaked!" she exclaimed, apparently not aware of the storm rumbling outside.

Rolling his eyes playfully at her, Nico shook himself, letting the drops of water falling onto their grey marble floor, which made Bianca frown slightly. "Go do that in the bathroom, not here. Someone's going to slip." she reproached him, furrowing her eyebrows in disappointment.

Yet her hitching voice betrayed the anxiety swelling inside of her. This was Bianca, after all.

Nico sighed and walked up the slithering stairs and trudged through the wide corridors, following the way to the bathroom. There, he changed quickly, throwing his wet clothes in the laundry basket.

Putting on a fresh grey top under a black leather bomber jacket, Nico threw on some black skinny jeans. Then, quickly, he ran down to see his sister.

He hadn't told her about Percy Jackson yet!

Nico di Angelo couldn't wait. He wasn't sure why, but a strange feeling he had never felt before tugged at his heart, transmitting a message he couldn't decipher yet.

Bianca was still in the living room, yet her face wasn't in a book this time. She was staring wistfully out of the window, her thoughts elsewhere. She remained calm, but her expression was troubled. Her eyes were dancing with emotions. Her face remained void of it.

Nico swatted his hand in front of her. That quickly got his sister's attention. "Yes?" she demanded, her demeanour not changing the slightest.

First, the black-haired boy had questions. His expression not betraying his true thoughts, Nico signed gently. Where is Dad and Persephone?

The ASL for 'father' resembled the L for loser, which Nico kind of considered him as. Hades di Angelo had ditched their mother, Maria di Angelo, a short time before the fire.

For a long time, Nico had blamed his father for her death, but his resentment quickly melted away. It was useless to remain resentful against someone who was your own blood.

Hades had quickly taken the siblings under his wing, with his wife Persephone. Even though they didn't pay special attention to them, Nico wasn't bothered by it. As long as they didn't resent him for growing mute over time, then he wasn't fazed one bit.

Bianca hesitated, which snapped Nico's attention back to her. "I think Persephone is out visiting her mother, Demeter." She shuddered at the unusual names. "And Dad... he's probably still at work."

Biting his lower lip, Nico met his sister's gaze. I met someone today, he signed. Percy Jackson.

The dark-haired girl gazed into her sibling's eyes. "...Percy?" she asked.

Nico nodded, unsure what to make out of Bianca's response. He understands sign language.

The black-eyed teen nodded slowly, seeming to ponder Nico's frantic hand-shapes.

"So... you're friends?"

Nico faltered for a second, before signing back unsurely. I guess.

The corners of Bianca's lips curled up in the beginning of a smile. I know him, she signed. She then wiggled her eyebrows suggestively to him. Of course she knew the not-so-secret-anymore difference with his sexuality.

Grinning, Nico flashed an expression full of mirth to her, blushing slightly. Then, before running up the stairs in a hurry, he signed quickly. Well, I got to go.

The truth was, though, he had nothing to do. Nico had finished all his homework. He had completed the read of the series he had wanted to take a look at. He wasn't hungry— he had went out to eat quickly at McDonalds, before bumping into the ethereal Percy Jackson.

Plopping down onto his bed, Nico shuffled his grey silk bedsheets. He thought better of laying down on his cotton black pillow— his hair was still wet with rain.

His raven black hair drying slowly in the night air, Nico gazed out of his window, down the street, where he had met Percy.

He was fairly sure he had never noticed him before. They went to the same school, yet Nico had never raised his head to find something appealing about him.

Now his whole world had flipped over. The way Percy's jet black hair billowed in the harsh wind of winter or the soft summer breeze made a thousand skeletal butterflies in his stomach resurrect. How his sea green eyes glinted brightly, even in the dark storm, twisted Nico's mind in a hypnotising way. All his aspects, from his aspectabund face to his nimble fingers, were everything to Nico.

The same question ran circles in his mind.

How can someone be so perfect?

Even though Nico wasn't aware of his imperfections nor of his flaws, he was sure of one thing.

He could never like someone as instantly as Percy.

Closing his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering, Nico daydreamed. He saw Percy flashing him a bright smile. He then saw him, his eyebrows furrowed with worry. The next image he saw was him with his usual laid-back and friendly look on his godly face.

An idea then occurred to him.

He should meet Percy at school the next day. Anything, really, a quick conversation in sign language, or just a knowing look was enough. Anything to make him know he was still here, alive and well.

As determined as Nico was, he wasn't really ambitious. He hadn't set goals in grand things like becoming a writer, but he concentrated on the little things. The little things that mattered to him.

It wasn't just things, it was concepts. A slightly depressing fact about himself was that New Year was his favourite part of the, well, year. Nico could make small resolutions he could hold on to. He could be sure of something, for once in his life.

He was aware his life would be a constant loop of change, but he knew deep inside drastic decisions were to be made.

Nico di Angelo wasn't sure what to make of that, though.

Should he be excited or scared?

∆ ∆ ∆

ok here have another chapter that sucked

ok bye

-drakonator