Shocks and Surprises

Chapter One

Light.
That's all Nico could see right now.

He squinted his right eye open only to be met with the bright sunlight. He slowly sat up, rubbing the sleepiness out of his sore eyes to see that it was most likely one of the most sunny days so far this year. It was almost guaranteed that he would be forced to go to the beach today as a certain son of Poseidon has been asking him to do that for the past few weeks and what a wonderful decision it was to agreed to go today of all days when he knew he would be most likely to burn. Nico sighed loudly and fell back on the bed he shared with Percy, just relaxing in the silence for a few minutes.

Nico groaned quietly to himself, ' I thought it would be obvious I don't like the beach' Nico thought to himself. He pondered on that for a few more seconds before conceding that he had actually gotten used to it and possibly even enjoyed going to the beach and being near the sea over the past few years. Maybe it's because the sea always reminded him of Percy. During the times when Percy and he were apart for long periods of time Nico remembered how he used to go and sit at the beach, just to let the smell of the sea bring him at least a little bit of happiness in his loneliness. Nico cringed internally, noting to himself to never let anyone find out that little secret of his, especially not the person who he knew who make fun of him the most about it, his boyfriend could be a prick sometimes when it came to blackmail material.

Rolling over in their bed, Nico mentally prepared himself to drag himself out of the cosy blankets and up for breakfast when he heard footsteps outside the room, just giving him enough time to hide under the covers and wish to himself that he would be allowed to sleep in, just once, before Percy peered in through the door with a spatula in his right hand and pancake batter covered left hand on the doorknob.

Percy looked around for a couple of seconds until his eyes fell on the pile of Nico shaped blankets in the middle of the bed. "Get up, you little asshole. the sun is out, the water's warm and pancakes are cooking, I swear to gods if you're not up in the next two minutes I'm letting yours burn." Percy said sweetly, his smile pulling to one side in a sort of smirk contrasting how he sounded.

Nico was never always one to get up early but ever since he and Percy finally dealt with their shit in a very non dramatic and calm way (Jason swears to this day that their "passionate and way too obscene" public reunion was the most mentally scarring and over the top thing he'd ever seen) and made everything official Percy decided it would be a good idea to get Nico up at 7am every day. Even Sunday's. Not even because Nico needed to be up, Percy just liked the company. Percy glanced at Nico's pile of blankets and smiled softly before walking over to him and kissing Nico's forehead gently.

Shrugging him off Nico squinted once more at the ceiling addressing Percy. "How are you actually dressed? It's way too early right now." Nico whined, now burrowing deeper into his covers trying to escape the light pouring in through the windows.

"Because I'm a functional demigod who doesn't sleep in on gorgeous days like this!" Percy chuckled and quickly yanked away Nico's covers, leaving him blinded and colder than he was previously. Nico sat up, hair disheveled and glared at the taller boy. "What the hell was that for? I was already getting up and now your pancakes are burning." Nico smiled as Percy's eyes widened before he yelped and ran back to the kitchen, cursing Nico and all the gods along with him.

Nico giggled into his pillow until the yelling from Percy died down and he came back into the room holding a plate full of black pancakes. "Hope you're happy with you're extra few minutes of beauty sleep, now you have no breakfast, how's that?" Percy pouted at the ruined food until Nico got up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek while moving around the room looking for a fresh pair of boxers and shirt before he got into the shower. Looking over his shoulder Nico asked. "So I'm guessing we're going to the beach today?" With a small smile on his face Nico watched as Percy's expression instantly brightened as he began rambling about how much fun they would have, how he promised to bring as much sun cream as he could carry for Nico and that he'd have such a good day, Percy's hands waving everywhere as he spoke while lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Leaning against the set of drawers Nico was previously searching through, the same small smile appeared on his face as he took in the happiness practically radiating from his boyfriend. Percy stopped talking mid sentence and tilted his head to the left with a confused smile. "What's that look for?" Percy asked as Nico pushed off the dresser and walked towards his boyfriend.

Pressing his forehead lightly against Percy's, Nico just sighed happily and wrapped his arms around the older boy hugging him. "Nothing, I just love you." Nico said quietly into Percy's shoulder. Percy tightly hugged him back and kissed his neck briefly before pulling away. "I love you too, now get your butt in the shower while I try and salvage the rest of the batter." Percy replied with a grin, walking out of the room.