Chapter Text
Nico had met Percy when they were ten and fourteen respectively. His mom had died two months prior and his dad had brought Nico and his sister to America to live with him and his wife, Persephone. The house was big and nice and bright and there were all of these plants that Persephone told him he was not allowed to touch.
After a week of living in the house, Nico accidentally knocked a potted plant off its stand. (He had been playing pirates with Bianca and they were having a sword fight with brooms. Bianca dodged, his broom hit the pot, and the ceramic broke.)
Persephone wasn't as mad as Nico thought she would be. She told them they had to go outside and play and not come back in the house until Hades got home from work. That was how they met Percy. Being stuck outside, they were forced to socialize with the cool older skater boy. Maybe 'forced wasn't the right word. It's not that they didn't want to meet their neighbor, but that they weren't motivated to socialize with anyone.
So the next time Percy skated by and saw them, he waved excitedly and came to a stop in front of their driveway. Percy was tall and nice with long loose black hair and green eyes. Maybe it was the skateboard. Maybe it was the smirk. Maybe it was even the baggy punk clothes. But that was when he realized he had a crush on Percy Jackson.
Percy was only available to hang out on weekends; this was because Percy lived with his mom during the week and spent weekends with his dad, who had a house on the same street as the di Angelos. Bianca and Percy became good friends quickly. Nico hung out with them but was mostly relegated to "Bianca's younger brother". Which, Nico supposed, was fine because he got to see Percy. But it was Percy and Bianca who were friends so it wasn't a surprise that when Percy got a new skateboard, he gave his old one to Bianca.
Then, a few days before Christmas, a drunk driver made his way down their street. Percy lived. Bianca did not.
Percy stopped skating as much after that. Nico stopped leaving the house.
Nico received a blue three-tier chocolate cake for his birthday that January. It was petty but Nico threw it straight in the trash.
That winter, Nico let Persephone teach him about all the plants in their house. Nico was still not allowed to touch them. He just followed her around as she checked the moisture of the soil, the water levels, or whatever else needed tending to. She taught him a lot about plants. She told him which plants were for decoration or medicine, which ones flowered, and which ones didn't.
Then when she went away for her formal summer job in Europe, Nico was alone again. His father was never home, always occupied with work, as was the life of a Funeral Director. Nico was alone and bored and often stared out the window at their street.
He missed Percy.
He found it somewhat ironic that the first person he ever had feelings for had unintentionally caused the death of his sister.
They didn't talk much for the next two years. They waved at each other and Nico had even attended Percy's 15th and 16th birthdays. But they still weren't quite friends.
.. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-
Nico was thirteen when he found out he had another sister. A girl from Louisiana named Hazel Levesque. Her mom had died recently and so she had come to live with their dad in a situation similar to Nico's. She was also thirteen, a little younger than Nico though, and in the grade below him.
She too managed to befriend Percy. It was annoying, Nico thought, how he seemed unable to avoid Percy entirely. Unlike Bianca, Hazel welcomed Percy into their house, she offered him snacks and soda and they sat on the couch and watched movies or played video games. Nico never voiced his discomfort at having Percy around, but somehow Hazel had sensed it anyway.
"What's your problem with Percy? You're never this awkward?" She questioned one day.
Nico raised an eyebrow. "I'm always awkward. It's my defining personality trait."
"Nico, please try to be less... i don't even know. You just seem so mad at him or something."
"It's complicated. I've known him for three years. He knew Bianca before she died. I don't want to mess up your relationship with him," Nico explained. It wasn't a complete lie, but he couldn't exactly say 'I have a massive crush on him and he's the reason my sister is dead'.
"Come and hang out with us then. You'll have fun, please," Hazel said.
And Nico could never deny her anything.
.. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-
Nico was nineteen and Percy was twenty-three and Nico was being forced to attend some stupid live band performance at this equally stupid coffee place.
Nico really didn't want to go. He went for two reasons. Reason 1: He only had three friends and Hazel and her boyfriend were out doing some coupley thing so Nico had no excuse for why he wouldn't be able to hang out with Percy. Reason 2: Percy had promised to buy Nico as much coffee as he wanted.
It was winter and Nico was usually freezing anyway, so he had layered a long-sleeved shirt, a short-sleeved shirt, a light flannel, and his aviator jacket. He was still freezing. He even had his thick skeleton gloves on. The layers weighed him down and he moved a bit more sluggishly than usual, just a few steps behind Percy, who was telling Nico more than enough about every band member.
Piper McLean was the lead singer, who was really nice and used to date the former guitar player before he left for college. Nico learned that she moved around for a bit but stayed in Oklahoma when she wasn't at college.
Thalia Grace was the bassist and did backup vocals for Piper. She was a bit mean, Percy said, but was apparently one of those people that are nice once you get to know them. She was the older sister of the former guitar player. Percy had met her when he was a freshman in high school and she was the cooler older senior that had taken him under her wing.
Reyna Ramirez was the drummer and Thalia's girlfriend. She had just recently gotten her master's degree in some political field.
Someone named Leo Valdez had taken over as guitar player and that was the reason why Percy was going to this performance, and by extension, the reason why Nico di Angelo had been forced out of his house to see the stupid performance.
.. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-
The show started at 8:00 on a Saturday night. They had arrived with 15 minutes to spare. Percy had dragged them toward the line so they could place their coffee orders. There were 10 or so people in front of them but the line moved swiftly.
Percy ordered something cold and Nico shook his head in disappointment.
"Its well below freezing out and you want a frappe?" Nico questioned.
"I think that's pretty normal compared to yours, Neeks." Percy dribbled his fingers on the countertop as Nico recounted his freaky coffee order.
"Ok, listen carefully, Connor," Nico said, squinting at the barista's nametag. "I want you to take your largest iced coffee cup and fill it three quarters of the way full with espresso, add 10 pumps of vanilla, then fill it the rest of the way with oat milk. Put whipped cream on top."
"You realize that's gonna be like twenty dollars worth of espresso, right?" Connor asked.
"So?" Nico asked. "He's the one paying."
Percy smiled at Connor pitifully.
"Just make his monstrosity of a drink, Connor."
"Okaaaay then," Connor scribbled down the rest of the coffee order and Percy slid a credit card toward him.
They stood around waiting for their drinks.
Percy gave Nico a stern look. "Anything else had better be decaf or I'm not paying for it."
"Why not?" Nico asked. "Its not like it's going to kill me."
"Because your dad hates me enough as is. Im not sending his kid back to him hopped up on caffeine. If I do that I'd probably wake up embalmed in a casket," Percy told him. He was smirking slightly.
"You wouldn't wake up in a casket," Nico told him. Percy opened his mouth to protest. "The embalming process would kill you first." Nico smiled menacingly.
Their conversation was interrupted by Connor's announcement that their drinks were ready. Connor regarded Nico carefully. He slid the drink across the counter slowly.
"Please enjoy your monstrosity, freaky dude," he said.
Nico inserted a straw into his drink. He sipped on it while giving Connor a suspicious look.
"Could be worse," Nico told him.
Percy laughed. "Sorry, Connor, this one's really hard to please."
Percy led Nico to a small booth in the corner, not far from the stage. The curtain was still closed but Nico could still hear people talking behind it.
Percy slid into the booth.
"How exactly would embalming kill me?" Percy asked.
"You really don't know?"
"Nah, everyone in my family got cremated. How does it work?"
"Your blood gets drained and swapped for Formaline, which is usually just called embalming fluid. Then Cavity fluid is replaced with some sort of preservative. So yeah, getting embalmed would kill you as a result of blood loss," Nico explained. He stared down at his hands, which were folded in his lap. He flexed his fingers and the bones on the back of the glove mirrored the motion.
"Cool," Percy said. "That's what you're studying too?"
"Yeah." Nico glanced up at Percy. "You really think it's 'cool'?"
"Well, it's a bit freaky, and it's not my thing but it's interesting. Annabeth talked about its impact on ancient Egyptian architecture. She told me how most of the pyramids are really just impressive tombs and shit."
"Oh."
"Hey, look, the show's starting," Percy said. He pointed at the slowly opening curtain.
The first person Nico saw as the stage opened was a short black girl with blue streaks in her afro. She had on black baggy cargo pants, a thin black sleeveless shirt, and an excessive amount of gold jewelry. She was smirking. She stood behind a mic stand with a guitar slung across her shoulder.
The curtain spread wider. He could see a choppy-haired girl holding a mic. She had on brown baggy cargo pants and a pink tee shirt. Her hair was done up in a few little braids and pulled into a makeshift bun. Behind her was a girl standing behind a drum set. She wore a fitted purple shirt with equally purple cargo pants.
Nico assumed that the cargo pants were intended to be a matching uniform of sorts.
The curtain opened fully and Nico could see the fourth member of the band. And oh no. He was pretty. Maybe not conventionally pretty, but he was definitely Nico's type.
He continued the streak of baggy cargo pants, though his were green and torn in places. His white dress shirt was tucked in, the sleeves rolled up past his elbows, and a pair of suspenders draped over his shoulder to support his pants, which were slung low on his hips. His hair was dark and curly. He was a bit short, but Nico was in no position to complain about height.
He was ripped out of his thoughts when the bassist spoke into the mic.
"Hello, everyone! It's good to see you all again. I know it's been a while so we'll run introductions really quick." The girl smiled. Pointing at the girl next to her she said, "This is Pipes, and if her name and placement wasn't enough of a clue she's our lead singer. The girl failing to hide behind the drums is Reyna. And this one here is Leo. He's our newest member so didn't give him that hard of a time when he fucks up. As for me, I'm Thalia; and this is Electrick Gayze!"
Piper spoke next. "We've got twelve songs we'd like to sing for y'all. They're not ours-- we don't want to overwork Leo with that complicated stuff yet-- but we hope you'll like them. We'll start things off with a classic tonight."
Thalia sang the intro and then Piper took over for the first verse:
"So you think I've got an evil mind, well I'll tell you honey / And I don't know why / And I don't know why"
She finished out the first verse and Thalia picked up with the chorus. Nico tried hard to focus on the performance rather than the way Leo's fingers were strumming the cords. They continued with this pattern, Piper singing the verses and Thalia doing the chorus.
The audience clapped appreciatively. Nico just stared.
It was during the second song that Percy realized that Nico was staring at the newest band member.
"Nico," Percy said. Nico found it almost painful to take his eyes away from Leo.
"yeah?"
"You're staring at him," Percy noted.
Nico sunk further into the booth, he noticed how warm his face had gotten. "I am not," he asserted.
"Nico, we've had this conversation before. You're allowed to like guys. There's nothing wrong with that," Percy told him. "Thalia and Reyna are together. The band is literally called 'Electrick Gayze'. Get it? Gays. Gaze."
Nico groaned. They had had that conversation before. Many times.
"And I'm pretty sure Leo is bi. or pan. or something. And he's single. Maybe you could ask him out after the show?" Percy suggested.
"He doesn't know me," Nico seethed. "He'd think I'm a loser fan or something."
"You don't have to know him. I do. Look," Percy said, "I'll take you backstage during the intermission and you can meet him and the rest of the band."
"Percy, I dont-"
Nico looked up at the stage. The second song had ended and they were well into the third. This time, Leo had joined Thalia at the mic. They were playing their guitars in unison while belting out the lyrics to the song. Piper's voice could hardly be heard over Leo and Thalia's.
Leo wasn't much of a singer. That was for sure. But it wasn't unpleasant and he appeared to be having fun.
"You keep saying you have something for me / something you call love, what the hell? / You keep saying you are better than me / Well these boots are made for walking and that's just what they'll do / and one of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you!"
And fuck. Nico kinda loved his singing.
He went back to staring and Percy dropped the 'I know you're in love with him' topic.
Another song passed and Nico's monstrosity of a coffee drink was gone.
They began singing Nirvana's most popular song. Then Leo was back at Thalia's mic singing the second verse.
"I'm worse at what I do best / And for this gift, I feel blessed / Our little group has always been / and always will until the end."
Leo couldn't hit high notes like Piper and didn't really know how to make a deep voice fit the song like Thalia, but he sang well. He was strangely confident about it. Nico wouldn't admit it but he kinda liked Leo's voice.
Another song passed and Thalia sang most of the lyrics with Piper echoing behind her.
When the song finished Thalia leaned in close to the mic.
"I hope you all enjoyed our performance, we're gonna have a quick intermission and we'll be back in twenty minutes. Get some refills on your drinks. Thanks for coming out tonight!"
Please, god, Nico begged, don't let Percy drag me backstage.
His prayers went unanswered.
"Come on, Neeks," Percy started. Nico squinted at him. "They don't bite. I promise."
Nico slowly extracted himself from the booth and followed Percy toward a door beside the stage. Percy walked inside and held the door for Nico.
There was a couch and a few recliners pulled around a small coffee table. Reyna was the first to see them. She sat up from where she was lying on the couch and waved them in.
Percy approached her and gave her a brief, awkward hug. "It's good to see you Reyna."
"It's good to see you too, Percy," She said. "Did you like the performance?"
"Yeah, it was great! Leo did good, I'm proud of him. I do miss your actual music. Your drum solos are awesome."
"Thanks." She turned to look at Nico. "Who's your friend?"
"This is--"
"I'm Nico."
"It's nice to meet you Nico," She told him. She stood and approached him. She extended her hand for him to shake. Nico didn't want to make the interaction more awkward so he shook it. "I'm Reyna. Have you been here before? I don't recognize you."
"I don't get out much."
"That's all right, I don't get out much either. Aside from band gigs and work, I usually just stay at home. Thanks for coming out, though. Did you like our show?" Reyna asked.
"Yeah it was good."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it."
"Where's everyone else?" Percy said.
"Leo and Piper went to snatch coffee and Thalia went to the bathroom to fix her makeup. She's delusional enough to think she sweated it off or something." There was a fondness in her tone. "They'll be back soon enough." She gave Percy a pointed look. "Am I not enough for you, Jackson?"
"No, it's not that," Percy explained. "I wanted to see Thalia and chat with Leo and introduce Nico here to the rest of the band."
"Alright. Sit, Nico," she told him. "You're more than welcome to hang out with us.
Nico never really felt welcome anywhere, but he took a seat in the recliner anyway.
"So, Nico," Reyna started, "Are you from here or are you just here for college?"
"I've lived here since I was ten; I'm going to college here though," Nico said. "What about you? Percy said you earned your masters or something?"
"Percy just loves to talk about me, doesn't he? Well," she started. "I graduated about two years ago, and I got my master's in Political Science. I moved here from Puerto Rico for College and I really liked the area so I just kind of stuck. Currently, I'm working as a receptionist for the courthouse."
"Cool."
"Reyna's really smart too. Straight A's," Percy added.
Reyna didn't comment. "What are you going to school for?"
"I'm trying to be a Funeral Director like my dad."
"That's very cool," Reyna told him.
A door opened suddenly and Thalia stepped through triumphantly. "I told you my makeup had gotten messed up out there!" She said.
"It was hardly even smudged."
"No, It was--" Thalia saw Nico and Percy sitting in the recliners and ceased her rant. "Percy!"
She walked toward them, much faster than Nico thought was possible due to the platform boots she wore.
Then she punched him on the shoulder. "Hey, I haven't seen you in months! You need to call more often, asshole."
"Sorry, Thalia, I've had work and college stuff to deal with," Percy told her. "And it's not completely my fault. You haven't had a performance in a while."
She groaned. "Fine, we're both at fault. But you have to start calling or texting. I sent you like twenty messages and got no response!"
"I'll try harder." Percy glanced at Nico. "I almost forgot. Thalia, this--" he pointed to Nico "-- is your newest fan."
Thalia considered him carefully. "Who are you?"
"I'm Nico, Nico di Angelo," he said.
She squinted and looked back at Percy.
"Glad you could make it out tonight. Sorry, you didn't get to hear any of our original stuff. I didn't even get to pick most of the songs for tonight," she told him.
"It's fine," Nico said.
"Yeah, totally," Thalia said, then she collapsed onto the couch, her head landing on Reyna's lap. "You should come back when we start playing our own music. Its less glorified karaoke and more punk."
"Is it punk?" Percy asked her. "It seems more Rock or Pop."
"It's very Punk, Jackson."
Percy laughed lightly.
Nico turned his hands over in his lap and began to pick at some of the fuzz on his palm.
"You gonna stick around for the after party?" Thalia asked.
Nico didn't manage to fully decline the offer before Percy interrupted him.
"Duh," Percy said. "Who all's gonna be there? The rest of the band and me and Nico?"
no, no, no, Nico thought. you're my ride home! if you stay i have to stay! i don't wanna be stuck here.
"Percy, I really would rather not--"
"Just a little while, ok?" Percy said to Nico. "Maybe an hour at most."
"Piper's girlfriend will be there, but that's pretty much it," Reyna told them. It's hardly a party. You don't have to stay."
Percy glanced at Nico.
"Sure. We'll stay."
.. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-
They went back to the booth at the end of the intermission. Leo (and Piper) didn't come backstage during that time, which, Nico supposed, was good because Percy wasn't trying to play matchmaker. They sat through another series of songs before the band closed up for the night. Nico stared at Leo the whole time.
Maybe he could talk to Leo during the afterparty, assuming Nico didn't chicken out.