#rexumbrx

         The legion occasionally offered a hand out to Nyx, hoping he would join them, find a team and work against crime-- he’d always refused. Unfortunately for Ella, the higher-uppers were stubborn, and kept asking for her to bring him messages requesting his joining. She dreaded it-- in all honesty, the child was afraid of that odd blue-purple skin of his, plus the fact he was always hiding somewhere dark. She was not good at seeing in the pitch black, and it made her jumpier than usual. 

      “Hello, hello?” Ella trilled, echoed in chirps by at least 3 birds she was probably hiding in her long red hair or too-large shirt. “We have a message, message, yep, for Nyx, please! Come out for Ella, please, Ella is here--” 

Nico wheezed with the impact as the bandits threw him to the floor of the cell, managing at least to land on a shoulder and the previously undamaged side of his face. His nose throbbed painfully and he couldn’t breathe through it. Probably broken, he thought distantly, easing himself off his shoulder and edging toward the far wall so he could keep an eye on the door. He didn’t want to be caught by surprise again.

Styx and stones, he was stupid. How on earth had he and his men been ambushed so completely? His throat tightened for a moment, saying a quiet prayer for those who had died--Nico was pretty sure all those with him had been captured and killed. If he had been killed alongside them, he would have just assumed this to be regular highway bandits, though perhaps more foolhardy than the usual sort, attacking a royal entourage like they did. But no, they kept him alive, though slightly roughed up. These were no highway bandits. Normal highway bandits didn’t prepare cells for their captives either.

Taking a few steadying breaths, he reached up a hand to straighten out his nose, shifting it painfully back into place so he could actually breathe again. He had to do it now before it healed wrong and he would be stuck without breathing through his nose for the rest of his life. And only then did he actually look around the cell, finally spotting another figure in the gloom. The bandits had more than one prisoner? He nodded, finding his voice.

🔱🔱🔱 || @rexumbrx

            “Ah, dude. You shouldn’t have!” Despite his attempt at hiding his own enthusiasm, Percy Jackson would eventually let out a surprised laugh, unsure of how to even BEGIN thanking the other for his birthday present. It was strange, after all, for someone like Nico Di Angelo to give someone a GIFT, much less something for the Poseidon boy that was crafted so FINELY by the son of Hades himself. 

              And it wasn’t necessarily a BAD thing, but still. Percy was already awkward enough around the kid as it was and now… Now, he had a pendant in his possession that almost made him choke up on the spot. Almost, being the key word there. 

             “ Nico…,” immediately, he would clear his throat. Again, how should he even begin to relay his gratefulness without seeming too weird? So, after a few seconds of hesitation, the Poseidon boy would simply settle on putting the thing on, before flashing a wide and thankful grin. “Seriously man, this is great. Thank you.”