@percicomicrofic | prompt: SPACE | wordcount: 400 | universe: post-HoO
Nico looked up at the popcorn ceiling, wondering how he'd never noticed all the cracks scattered across it.
"It's not me, right?" He took another sip of wine, swirling it in his glass. "He treats me like a patient he needs to cure." He snapped his fingers repeatedly, recognition lighting his eyes. "Like I'm someone he needs to fix!"
As usual, Nico was propped up against Percy's right side. He'd climbed through Percy's window after shadow traveling onto his fire escape, just as he had all those years ago.
"It's our third fight in the past month." His eyes were still plastered toward the ceiling, creases forming around them. "You know he actually yelled at me this time?" Nico scoffed, tossing his left hand into the air. "I didn't really care much for it, but it was that fucking tone he used."
He hiccuped, a sour note of wine passing through his lips as he snuggled deeper into Percy's side. The scent of sea salt and musk grew stronger, and Nico could feel Percy's heartbeat quicken.
"Nico, I know what's best for you!" The son of Hades mocked in a whining, nasally voice. "Why can't you see I'm just trying to help you?"
Nico grabbed Percy's hand, interlaced their fingers, and gave it a firm squeeze.
He hated how furious Solace made him. How a few words sputtered from his know-it-all mouth would dig at him and set him off.
Nico knew he needed to ground himself, and that meant seeking out any kind of sensation around him: touch, scent... taste.
He shifted his sight toward Percy, noting how his breathing had grown heavier and his face had become several shades darker.
He wasn't going to let a measly ten-minute argument ruin the rest of his night.
"What do you think about all this?"
Nico could feel Percy's heartbeat pounding as he held their hands together tightly. Percy's breathing had also become shallower, and his muscles felt like a coiled-up spring, ready to burst at a moment's notice.
Good, Nico thought, he's just as pissed about it as I am.
The ghost of a smile spread across his face as he delighted in their shared animosity.
Nico raised his glass and took another sip, waiting for a response. He'd carved himself a space beside Percy, and no one, not even wannabe doctor Solace, could ever take that away from him.
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