Fix You (Percy Jackson Fanfiction) (boyxboy)

Tea with Nana

This has happened before. Several times actually. Sometimes it sorted. Sometimes it didn't. So as Nico maintained steady breaths to give off the illusion of sleep, he tried to make heads or tails of which sort of situation he currently found himself in. He woke up to the shrill whistle of a tea kettle and the rush of feet pounding wood floor as someone hurried to silence it. His back pressed into something soft and he could feel the weight of blankets on top of him. Every once in a while he heard more shuffling and whispered voices. A cat meowed. Gradually the voices gained volume and when a woman yelled, "HE CAN'T STAY HERE!" Nico figured it was time to get up.

He peeled open his eyes and found himself in a child's bedroom. Planes were painted on the wall and the shelves stacked about had different models lining them. Everything in the room had a thick layer of dust upon it. Clearly nobody had used this room in quite some time. The sheets wrapped around his legs were baby blue, the quilt was navy with planes scattered about. The kid liked planes. That much was clear.

The next thing Nico noticed was that he only had boxers and a t-shirt on. Quickly pulling the blanket back over his pasty, gangly legs, he scanned the room for his belongings. They were resting on a toy box in the corner and he scrambled over to pull on his dark skinny jeans and socks. Leaving his coat and shoes, he wandered into the kitchen where the yells had reached full volume.

A redhead about his age stood toe to toe with an older woman whose white hair only revealed traces of what surely used to be a vibrant ginger like the boy before her. Her cheeks were rosy with fury as she whacked the counter with a wooden spoon to emphasize her point. "I put up with the trouble you cause because you're my boy and I love you. But I will not stand for you dragging others here. It's dangerous!" WHACK! "It's careless!" WHACK! "It's selfish!" WHACK! "I didn't raise you like this Kellen!"

The redhead put his hands on his hips and leveled her with a hard stare. "Actions speak louder than words Nan. You kicked me out at eight years old to save your hide. Naturally I grew up to be selfish. If you can call saving one of my kind from certain death selfish."

The woman sighed heavily before glancing up. She did a double take when she saw Nico standing in the doorway. "Oh, um. Good morning son. Can I get you anything? We have toast and some fruit. Perhaps tea or juice?" Nico cocked an eyebrow at the rambling woman until she came to a halt. "I'd like some answers if you don't mind," he said with confidence. By now the ginger- Kellen- had swung around to face his damsel in distress. "Right," he said moving forward. "You're probably a bit confused. I'm Kellen, this is my grandmother. I call her Nan. And you are?" he inquired as he held out his hand for Nico to grasp. He hesitantly met what he learned to be a firm grip. "I'm Nico. It's a pleasure. I'll uh, I'll take that tea after all ma'am. Maybe we can talk over that."

The woman nodded her head vigorously and set about filling three mugs full of tea, placing them on a platter along with three spoons, a bowl of sugar, and a carton of cream. Her manners were clearly overriding her previous animosity. The three sat in awkward silence for a moment. The only sounds were the clinking of spoons and porcelain. Eventually Kellen coughed and set his tea down to gaze at Nico. "I'm a son of Vulcan," he stated before waiting to see Nico's reaction. The old woman gasped out a shocked, "Kellen!" but Nico raised a hand to placate her. "I'm the son of Hades," he replied. The gingers eyes went wide as he looked at Nico like some sort of exotic animal or a rare breed. Nico smirked. "I know," he joked, "I'm a bit of a phenomenon. Unless you're surprised I didn't say Pluto."

Kellen swallowed thickly and nodded. "A bit of both maybe. So you're... Greek?" Nico cocked his head at the boy. "Yeah. A bit of both in a way. Are you in the legion? Are you with camp Jupiter or what?" The boy nodded once more. "Yeah I've been with the legion a little less than a decade now. I visit Nana once a year here in her apartment. It's safe because it's above the billiards hall and the monsters can't smell us through the stench of intoxicated men. It works out. Anyways. So, I saw you yesterday, and you looked pretty out of it. I was running towards you to warn you about the empousai when you killed it. Knew for sure what you were at that point. You passed out and I brought you here, but I couldn't find any injuries and you didn't have a fever or anything."

Nico listened patiently as Kellen explained his side of things. He fought the blush that rose when he imagined Kellen pulling his pants off and searching his body for some sort of wound. Two people had seen him in a state of undress. Will Solace and Leo Valdez. The thought of this stranger seeing him like that was mortifying. But he was glad to have been cared for. Who know what would have happened if he'd been left on the street?

"Yeah, thank you. I'd be in a pretty sticky situation without your help. I'm not sick or hurt I just...," he blushed and laughed a bit, "... needed a nap." When Kellen and his grandmother gazed at him in disbelief, Nico expounded on his reply. "I can shadow travel. I step into a shadow and can appear in another place. It's extremely useful, but it wipes me out completely. I usually have to sleep a bit to regain the energy to go on. I'm on my way to Camp Jupiter and I'd just jumped here from some place in Colorado. I was looking for a place to rest when the Empousai distracted me. By the time I'd killed her it was too late. So yeah. I'm lucky you found me."

The son of Vulcan nodded as he squinted his eyes, almost as if he peered hard enough he could naturally ascertain all of the information he wanted know. "What brings you to Camp Jupiter?" Nico nodded. He knew this question was coming. "I need to meet with Reyna. I need her help with something."
Kellen whistled. "You've got friends in high places Nico." The raven haired boy just smirked. "You have no idea."