Boys Like Boys [Nico di Angelo]

chapter nine

  I felt someone shake me awake, so I blinked my eyes open to be met with Nico's dark ones. Right now, they were colorless, like if you were to stare into the vacuum of space. I sat up ran my fingers through my hair, before sighing. My sleep was dreamless after the nightmare, luckily. I got up and changed, before brushing my teeth and combing out my hair with my fingers. I knew it was around breakfast time, but my stomach was churning, so I didn't feel like eating.

  Nico was already gone, leaving me a bit wary and insecure. Should I even go out? I wondered what people would think of me, especially if I were to be walking alone. I sighed and took a book from Nico's bedside table, looking at the table of contents. I saw Thanatos and flipped to the page, reading up about him. I read that he was Hades' right-hand man, which explained why I could touch Nico without him getting hurt. Nico being the son of the god of the Underworld justified it as well.

I delved deeper and deeper into the story about Sisyphus. I was so caught up in it that I didn't even realize Nico was in the cabin until he sat on my bed. I jumped and peered up at him, watching as he gave me a small smile.

"You do this thing when you're concentrated...you poke your tongue out of the side of your mouth," he commented and I instantly looked down and bit my lip. "It's kinda cute."

I snapped my head up to look at him, my cheeks burning. I probably looked like a tomato, which was embarrassing, but Nico was flustered too.

"I-I didn't mean to say that," he whispered and I grinned up at him, watching as he looked away from me. "Why weren't you at breakfast?"

"Wasn't hungry," I shrugged, not having the heart to tell him it was because I didn't want to be alone. He nodded and stared at the book in my hands.

"What were you reading about, anyway?" he asked and scooted closer to me. I stared down at the pages, avoiding his eyes and how flustered I felt when his knee brushed mine.

"How Sisyphus escaped dying by tying up Thanatos. No one noticed until Ares saw that none of the soldiers were dying at war, so he freed him," I summarized. "It's just...its interesting to me, because here I am reading about my dad. It makes him seem so less real, you know? My mother talks about him a lot."

"What does she say about him?" he asked curiously. I bookmarked where I was and set it down on the bed, pulling my legs up to cross them.

"That he was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen."

Nico let out a small laugh and I felt my eyebrows furrow.

"What's so funny?"

"That's what my half-sister Hazel told me after she met him," he explained, a small smile playing on his lips as he looked at me. I looked down at my hands and fiddled with a loose thread on my jeans. "You do that a lot," he commented. I looked up at him.

"Do what?"

"Look away..." 

I looked away from him again, before biting my lip as I realized he was right. He sighed and sat on the bed, facing me. I avoided his gaze as long as I could.

"That's a nervous habit, y'know?" he asked and I peered up at him. "You don't have to be nervous here. Well, at least around me, you don't."

"I don't want to be," I admitted, feeling butterflies swarm my stomach as his gaze laid on my face. "I'm just..."

"Scared?" he finished for me, raising an eyebrow. "I know. New place, new people. The first thing Chiron tried to do was separate you. As you can tell, I'm never going to let that happen."

I didn't say anything as I stared at my jeans, my face flushing, picking at a loose thread again. He sighed and strapped his sword sheath around his waist.

"I'm going to go train. Wanna come with?" he asked and I nodded, getting up and taking Perseus' harpe and the book with me. Nico threw a look at the weapon in my hand. "Where'd you get that?"

"My step-sister. She's...I dunno, different, I guess."

"She's mortal?"

"I always thought so. Then again, I always thought I was mortal as well."

He nodded as we exited the cabin and headed towards the Training Arena. People gave me odd stares, so I wrapped my arms around myself in attempt to make myself disappear. Nico noticed and scowled at anyone who looked at me, so they would look away. I felt my cheeks heat up as I looked away from him. He took his jacket off and began training with dummies and the occasional passerby. I would read, but would peer up at him through my lashes. He clenched his jaw when he was concentrated, and his eyes grew hard and steely, like he was hyper-focused. I admired how slender and agile he was, making it easy for him to dodge attacks. Within the few people he battled, he had only lost once and by the time he was done, he was breathing hard and was hot and sweaty, his black curls sticking to his forehead. I tried to ignore how good I thought he looked, instead turning my eyes back to the book in my hands.

I felt my cheeks flush as we made eye contact. His eyes changed colors in the sun - one angle they were green, then grey, then brown, then a mixture, but one thing always stayed the same. They were always dark.  

"Can I see your weapon?" he asked when he walked over to me and I handed him the harpe, still sheathed. He unsheathed it and stared at it, watching the reflections in the sunlight. "It's odd. It looks like a small sword, but at the same time, it looks like it could be a sickle." I shrugged and watched as he experimentally sliced a dummy with it. "Nice," he muttered to himself, before sheathing it and handing it back to me.

Suddenly, Chiron came galloping towards us. He stared me down like I was some criminal, his eyes on the harpe in my hands.

"Where did you get that?" he asked calmly and quietly.

"How did you know-"

"I can sense it's power. Tell me, how did you get it?" His voice was slowly becoming less calmer. I felt my hands shake as he placed his hands on my shoulders. "Who gave that to you?!"

"Chiron!" Nico snapped, stepping between me and the centaur. "Stop."

"You're right. I deeply apologize for my behavior, Calum," Chiron said and I took a deep breath.

  "I-It's okay," I stuttered out and Nico threw me a glance, but I gripped tightly onto the back of his shirt, wanting him to stay in front of me. He seemed to get it as he turned back to Chiron.

  "Calum, where did you get your weapon?"

  "My step-sister gave it to me before I left," I informed him, peering at the centaur over Nico's shoulder.

  "Who is she?"

  "H-Her name is Veda," I told him and I could tell he was trying to keep his composure, but his eyes were swimming with confusion and he looked to be deep in thought. "Is...is something wrong?"

  "No, of course not..." Chiron trailed off. "But the weapon you hold in your hand was the blade Perseus used to behead Medusa."

  "Wait - Perseus-Perseus or Percy-Perseus?" Nico asked and Chiron gave him a look. "Oh," he whispered.

  "It's a very powerful weapon. I don't know how you've obtained it or how Veda had it in the first place."

  "You keep saying that like you know her," I murmured and Chiron's deep eyes met mine.

  "Veda is a rogue demigod. We thought she was dead."