Chapter Text
"You're cute, but not my type." Nico had said to his old crush, Percy. It had felt like such a relief to come out that he didn't even notice when Percy slouched, or the way his eyes turned hollow and sad. Annabeth didn't either, as she had been too busy giving Nico a high-five. For once, he felt good, he felt seen, life was pretty nice. Until Jason and Hazel came knocking.
"Hey... Nico-?" Jason had awkwardly started to say before Hazel opened the door herself. They looked anxious as they sat down on a spare bunk.
"What is it?" Nico had asked, sobering up at their expressions. "Is everyone at camp okay? Has Gaea come back?" Millions of questions bubbled up in his mind until Hazel put a hand on his arm and gave her older brother a reassuring glance.
"Nothing like that." She said to him.
"It's… about Percy…" Jason chimed in. Nico tensed and shook off Hazel's hand. He had forgotten about Percy. His sea-green eyes and messy black hair were, for once, not on his mind in hours.
"What about Percy?" Was all he felt safe to ask.
Hazel and Jason looked at each other. This was getting pretty annoying.
"So I'm guessing that you didn't notice?" Jason looked about as awkward as Nico felt. He didn't want to think about Percy. Not now.
But he had to. What had he missed?
"No, I didn't. So tell me, Jason. Why did you and Hazel barge into my cabin?" He regretted his temper instantly. Sure, he and Hazel were both technically from around the same era, but Nico didn't know much about actually living in that era. Especially for a person of colour. She flinched and tensed before answering.
"His eyes. He looked sad." Yeah, right, "It was like… I don't know. Maybe he liked you, too." It was almost a question.
Thirteen-year-old Nico would've had (almost) all his dreams come true. But now? Now was a terrible time to learn that the boy of his past-dreams maybe loved him back.
"I- what?" Nico didn't know how to feel. Happy? Annoyed? Like punching the nearest object? Maybe the latter, if he were to be honest with himself.
"Uh… yeah," Jason said before trying and failing to shuffle nonchalantly to the door. Hazel smacked his hand before asking Nico if he wanted them to stay.
"Nope. It's all good." He mumbled before walking outside himself.
"Neeks, where are you going?" Hazel asked in a worried tone.
"Just for a walk. To either summon the dead or hang out with Hestia. You decide what's more likely."
"At this point, I don't even know," Jason said, trying to make Nico smile. Nothing more was said, and the shorter boy walked out the door, leaving the other two in the small, dark cabin of Hades.