Nico’s lower back was aching and he felt like he’d aged 10 years as he squirmed in the rigid leather airplane seat. He happened to be squished between a hot blond boy and an old lady who dressed like a slutty teenager and drooled like a rottweiler. When the plane jerked to the right and the lady’s head swooped down onto his shoulder, he groaned and thought about the cause for this whole mess: his father.
His father was the head director of The Underworld, a famous archeology company that specialized in digging up Greek artifacts. It was the 50th anniversary, and his father, Hades, had requested that he’d be present. After all, he did expect Nico to take over the company in a few years.
When a loud, ungrateful-sounding snore erupted beside his right ear, he jerked to the side and crashed into soft blond curls. He flew back the other way, only to find the old lady’s head hanging sideways in his seat with drops of saliva pouring down like rain. To his left, the boy was rubbing sleep from his eyes, sighing.
That was the moment he lost hope. Circling back, he realized there never was much hope to begin with.
It was 3 in the morning when aggressive ringing sounded from his bedside table. Not in the mood to deal with drunk pranksters, Nico let the phone ring until the voicemail took over. “Hi, this is Nico. Please leave your name and number, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can,” said Nico’s robotic voice.
What he didn’t expect was for his father’s scratchy voice to blow through the speakers in response. “Nico, this is your father. Please call immediately.”
He groaned and crawled out of bed slowly, like a snail in a blanket shell, not wanting to anger his father by ignoring him, but also dreading dealing with him at this hour. In the dark, he scrambled to find the phone and ended up knocking it on the floor with an unwanted bang. He plopped off the bed, still cocooned in black sheets, and impatiently grabbed the phone. Unwilling to use his muscles anymore, he dialed the number of his father’s place in New York and rested his head on the cold hardwood floor. The cold felt nice, relieving, like it froze the chaos.
“Nico,” said his father. “I’m glad you responded so soon.”
“Surely you remember,” his father continued. “Today is The Underworld’s 50th anniversary.”
“Why would I remember that, father?”
“Because you’re my successor. And I’d like you to be present at the celebration ceremony tonight.”
Nico groaned. “You want me in New York. Today?” he questioned incredulously. He was doubting his father’s sanity less and less these days.
“Yes, of course,” his father stated. “I’ve already made arrangements. You’ll be boarding the 9:00 AM flight. I’ve emailed you your ticket along with all the details you’ll need, including the whereabouts of the suit you’re going to pick up on your way.”
“Father, has it ever occurred to you that I might have other plans?”
Nico made a sound of utter disbelief.
“Besides,” his father explained,“those can be postponed. They’re not as important. They’re not your future.”
They certainly were not. Instead of his video game marathon with Percy and Jason, his neighbors and friends since birth, he sulked onto a crammed airplane headed to the last place he wanted to be.
He dragged his feet on the gray isle of the plane, a bag filled with random things he packed at the last minute thrown over his shoulder, while he scanned for his seat.
“Goodmorning!” said the blond he was trying to squish by to reach his seat, the middle one in a row of three at the back of the plane. It was probably the cheapest ticket his dad could find.
He slumped in his seat, intending to go back to sleep since he’d been disrupted at a ridiculous hour that morning, but the boy to his left continued. “So, where are you headed?”
The blond laughed. “I gathered as much.”
After Nico didn’t elaborate, the boy decided to carry on the conversation himself. “I’m going to visit my father. They’re holding an event to celebrate his company and I had to be there.”
That should have been his first hint.
“Okay.” Nico closed his eyes.
“You seem really tired, I’ll let you rest.”
Nico responded by throwing his sweater over his head to block out the light.
The blond laughed suddenly, pulling him from memory lane. Nico’s head spun around to look at him.
“I see you’ve got a little problem over there.” He laughed again, his eyes crinkling and his dimples becoming pronounced enough to draw Nico’s attention.
The blond pointed to the lady who’d fallen into his seat, snoring. Nico was sitting on the edge of his seat, hugging his bag, eyes sore from lack of sleep, and probably looking like a madman. He couldn’t agree more, and nodded his head vigorously.
“I dunno… I don’t really want to face the monster in her waking hours.”
“True. That might be more scary.” The blond laughed. He laughed a lot, Nico noted.
Nico glanced behind him and groaned. “But I’d also like to actually sit in my seat and not get a sore back because of a sleeping beauty over there.”
The boy’s face broke into another genuine laugh and Nico chuckled slightly. The blond caught his breath then looked back up at Nico with a small smirk. “I’m told I have a very comfortable lap.” Nico furrowed his brows suspiciously. “You can try it out if you’d like.”
Nico’s eyes popped open wide like gold balls and looked away, face tinted pink. He cleared his throat. “Uh… thanks, but no. I don’t think that will be necessary.”
The boy laughed again. “That’s too bad…”
Nico couldn’t have been more thankful for the beep as the seatbelt sign flashed on and the pilot announced their descent towards New York. He released a breath as the lady hogging his seat bolted up and settled in her seat after he growled “What are you waiting for?” when she stared at him wide eyed upon waking and wiping sleep from her makeup covered eyes.
He clipped himself in his seat after forcing the lady to wipe her drool from his seat, to which the blond chuckled. He gathered his belongings and counted the seconds until he’d be facing his father.
He took a deep breath. Or quite a few deep breaths as he stood, luggage hauled over his shoulder lazily and oversuit flung over his arm, in front of the door to his father’s company. He leaned his forehead on the tinted glass to take a peek inside at the chaos, but didn’t have the chance to before he fell into the arms of his father’s co-director. His father called him his apprentice, but his actual name was Apollo.
“Silly boy! You’re going to ruin the perfectly polished windows!” Apollo exclaimed incredulously.
Nico groaned and pushed himself off of Apollo and onto his own two feet.
“What are you doing here anyway, kid?” Apollo placed his hands on his hips. “The party hasn’t started yet!”
Nico shook his head and turned away. “Where’s Hades?”
“Hades?” He grabbed Nico’s elbow. “Who are you?”
That got his attention. Apollo jumped up and clambered away, lugging Nico by the elbow. “Hades! Hades! Your son is here!” He smiled back at Nico and lowered his voice. “Oh boy, you’ve grown!” He looked Nico over from head to toe and whistled. “There are so many things I’d like to show you. This is all too exciting!” He spun around, letting go of his hold on Nico. “And my son is arriving today too! Remember Will?“ He smirked. "You guys will be the perfect match!”
Before he could begin to process everything Apollo had said, his father’s voice came booming from behind him. “Son, it’s nice to have you here at last.” He turned around to see his father smiling.
“Hello father.” He smiled, despite himself.
His father looked behind Nico and frowned. “Apollo! Leave my son alone.”
Nico stepped aside as his father approached Apollo and they began bickering about things that went over his head. They had a very strange relationship, his father and his partner. They never got along, yet they did, in their own way. To people who didn’t know them, they’d look like they hated each other. But, in actuality, they quarreled in a brotherly fashion, not as enemies.
Nico turned around to go wandering and maybe find somewhere he could settle down and play Sonic Dash on his phone or take a nap. Instead, he came face to face with the boy from the plane. He closed his eyes for a second, then opened them and squinted at the blond with a frown.
"What are you doing here?” they asked in unison.
Nico glanced back at Apollo, then back at the blond, and smacked his forehead. “Will?”
When they were younger, their fathers would always drag them along and throw them in a back room for “play dates” while their fathers dealt with “adult stuff”.
Will nodded and laughed. “Looks like you’ll be seeing a lot more of me, Nico.” He wrapped an arm around Nico’s shoulders and started tugging him away. “Let’s get away from those two morons and catch up.”
Maybe taking over the business wouldn’t be so bad after all.
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