@percicomicrofic | prompt: TURN | wordcount: 1,427 | warning: the following work includes nsfw themes: graphic descriptions of making out and innuendos to light under-the-shirt action. please do not proceed if you are uncomfortable with that.
When you are a new Camper, a short orientation film about basic Greek mythology is simply not enough to cover the complex intricacies of Camp culture. So, consult any seasoned Camper and they’ll tell you the most important tid-bits: the best time to eat breakfast is dawnbreak, when there aren’t enough Hermes campers to start food fights; it is always cheaper to commission the Stolls to raid the Camp Store instead of buying things yourself; beware of the canoe hidden by seaweed in the little alcove on the beach because it is more often than not used as a nymph make-out spot; and never, ever put Percy and Nico in the same room together or you’ll end up with broken bones and splattered guts.
Yes, it is not a secret that Percy and Nico loathe each other.
It is not a secret that Percy’s and Nico’s swordfights always end in Chiron intervening before they burn the Camp down, nor is it a secret that Percy and Nico deliberately sit opposite each other on their respective tables during meals so they can glare menacingly while eating. No one has ever tried to hide the fact that Nico eggs Percy’s cabin almost every other night, plunging the economy further down with his copious egg-buying, or that Percy retaliates by flooding Nico’s cabin periodically but never regularly. No one knows why or how this fierce rivalry even began, only that the Camp’s gossip mills are all the better for it.
What is a secret, however -
“Oh, fuck, Nico,” Percy groans as Nico bites the spot above his collarbone. His hands tug on Nico’s hair, eliciting a sharp groan. As for Nico’s hands, however, they travel down, dangerously down, circling small circles right under Percy’s belly button.
Nico licks a long stripe of his neck, from his collarbone to the sensitive spot under Percy’s ear. Was Nico not pressed firmly against him, Percy is sure he would have fallen right to his knees. Not that Nico would have minded the outcome. Percy tries to move his hand downwards to grip Nico’s nape, but Nico slaps it away.
“No touching,” he admonishes, mouth already working on another hickey. “Let me do the work.”
“But that’s not fair,” Percy whines, then gasps when Nico sucks on his neck a little sharper, and all unnecessary thoughts - which is to say, anything that isn’t directly related to Nico - slip from his mind.
As Nico works his way around Percy’s neck, Percy rests his head against the wall of the supply closet, hands gripping wildly for purchase in Nico's hair. His neck and lips are cool from Nico's saliva even in the sweltering supply closet.
“This still isn't - unh - fair,” Percy stammers. “It's your birthday, and I should be the one doing the work.”
Nico lets his mouth flit over Percy’s neck, breath tickling his jaw, before he captures Percy’s lips in a kiss. But before Percy can even begin to kiss him back, Nico pulls away, sucking lightly on Percy’s bottom lip for a second longer before breaking off.
“Consider this my birthday gift. Seeing you all - ruined - for me,” Nico whispers, dropping his hand down Percy’s pants before removing it just as fast. Percy shivers, unconsciously rutting against the phantom of Nico's touch.
“If you want to see me, why are you doing it in some dark supply closet without any lights?” Percy grumbles.
Nico merely chuckles, the bastard.
“Because I have night-vision,” Nico pecks Percy lightly. “And I couldn’t wait till we got to the cabin.”
Then, finally, Nico kisses Percy - properly this time. His hands move, fingers digging into Percy’s waist as he pushes him further into the wall till bumps from the cracked plaster throb against Percy’s back. He slides his tongue into Percy’s mouth, and Percy groans at the intrusion, jaw falling slack as he loses the last bits of his autonomy to Nico’s salty and slightly musky taste, his warm tongue flicking over the insides of his cheeks, the tips of his teeth.
He squeezes Nico’s hair, hands trembling to go literally anywhere else. Nico’s hands slip under his shirt, stroking his abdomen as he continues kissing him, and Percy lets out a loud open-mouthed groan. His hand flings to the wall behind him, fingers curling around the dust and chipping plaster, as Nico’s tongue flicks at the back of his throat. Against his mouth, Nico lets out a small whine, hands tight enough to bruise around Percy’s chest. The sound pulses through Percy’s body and reaches all the way downwards, and he is obsessed. He wants more of Nico. No, he needs more of Nico.
Percy groans again with abandon, silencing the annoying voice in his head that keeps telling him to keep quiet; the relationship is still secret, you’re going to get found. But Nico - especially a groaning Nico, a lost-to-lust Nico, a ‘I want to mark you because you’ll always be mine’ Nico - is infinitely more important.
Nico slides his hands up Percy’s shirt again so suddenly that Percy lets out a broken high-pitched inhale. His hand flails wildly around in the dark and -
Something crashes loudly.
Metal screeches on metal as the armour in the supply closet falls. Swords tumble down, clanging against each other as they clunk on the stone floor. The sound is so loud that a migraine shoots right inside Percy’s temples. His hands go straight to his ears, and in the dark, he assumes Nico’s do too.
“Hello? Is anyone in there?” someone says and knocks on the door.
Percy tries to find Nico in the dark but can only see a glimmer of his pale skin as he clamps his hand across Percy’s. Percy’s heart is jackrabbiting in his chest, and Nico’s palm is throbbing and sweaty over his mouth.
“Oh, gods. Oh gods, what do we do?” he whispers frantically. “You can, uh, touch me now, I mean - not that it matters anyway because if we get caught - ”
“Hello?” the voice from outside interrupts them. The doorknob starts rattling. Percy’s heart beats faster.
“Nico,” Percy whispers back, arms winding around his waist. “Nico, you can shadow travel.”
“Oh, right,” he says, and that is the only warning Percy gets before Nico plunges them into the shadows.
When they land, Percy willfully ignores the vertigo. He scrambles to find Nico’s face not even moments after they land - in his cabin, or Nico’s cabin; at this point Percy wouldn’t even have cared if they landed in the dining pavilion where everyone could see them.
In the dark, Nico trips, bracing his hands on Percy’s chest. Percy’s hands, as if they have a mind of their own, catch Nico by his face and press him into another sloppy kiss. He miscalculates the distance, and his lips accidentally land on Nico’s nose, and they both giggle softly. Nico’s arms wind around Percy’s neck, pulling him closer, slower this time, guiding him into another kiss. Percy’s lips press insistently against Nico, and he opens them slowly, infuriatingly slowly. Percy half-groans, half-grumbles, arms tightened around Nico’s waist, slipping right under his shirt.
Suddenly, the back of Percy’s eyelids burn. The two immediately jump apart as lights flood the cabin - Nico’s cabin, apparently.
Not that it matters anyway.
Because standing in front of them is Will Solace. And Annabeth Chase. And, as if that doesn’t make it more mortifying, the entire Camp - including Chiron, though gods only know how he managed to fit inside. The room is covered in black balloons and dark red buntings, and there is a towering skull-shaped cake sitting forlornly on the table in the middle.
For a long second, nobody speaks. Will and Annabeth sport equally shocked, open-mouthed expressions. Percy takes a step away from Nico, trying to fix his shirt and turn up the collar to hide Nico’s lovebites. Not that it would matter. From the corner of his eye, Percy can see Nico vigorously rubbing his lips, trying to make the swelling go down.
From some corner of the room, a camper blows a party whistle, and the high-pitched sound falls sharp and heavy on the occupants of the room, awkwardly fizzling out into nothingness when no one moves.
“Is this a bad time to say… Happy Birthday, Nico?”
