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“Ah!”
Fox News. God, no.
“Oh!”
Animal Planet, and there’s a program on about the mating habits of the banana slug. Wonderful.
“Ow!”
Cartoon Network. This will do.
“Goddammit! Why is this so heavy?”
Jason sighs, turning his gaze back to his half-written paper. His laptop thrums steadily in front of him. He can do this. The guy will leave soon. He can control his neighborly instincts.
His phone pings. It’s a message from Percy. He should really just mark his messages as spam and be done with it.
Percy : you want 2 help him dont u?
Jason : No. I have a will of steel. Leave me alone.
There’s a loud bang from outside his door, like something heavy has just been dropped, immediately followed by a loud, frustrated cry. Jason winces. His phone pings.
Percy : that sounded like it hurt. poor guy. if only there was some1 to help him. a local superman if you will.
Jason : Shut up. I dont always want to help people.
Percy : i’m betting 30 seconds and you fold.
Jason glares at his phone screen, his glare only intensifying once Percy sends a dancing emoji. He finds pleasure in torturing Jason, this is proof of it.
Across the hallway from his apartment door, he can hear another door open. The walls are paper-thin, no wonder. He breathes a sigh of relief. Finally, the new tenant will leave, and so will Jason’s urge to help him with his luggage.
Jason : Your plan has been foiled, spawn of Satan. He’s leaving.
Percy : wait for it…
Jason barely has time to frown at that message when a BOOM explodes through the air.
The tenant lets out an “ARGHH!!!” and then Jason can hear the only other person on their floor bang on their own door, shouting, “Keep it down out there!”
“It wasn’t me!” the tenant calls. “This stupid dog surprised me!”
Mrs. O’Leary. Jason groans. His phone vibrates once again.
Percy : good dog :)
With friends like these, who needs enemies? Sighing, Jason saves his paper, pushes off of his couch, turns off the TV, silences his phone and opens his door.
His new neighbor stands at his threshold, trying to lug an Olympian-sized travelling case inside while not scratching the sides of the door and shoving off the huge black slobbering dog jumping all over him. It doesn’t help that he’s the size of a slightly overgrown Oompa Loompa.
“Need any help there?” Jason calls.
The other man grunts. “What,” he huffs, “does it look like?”
Jason’s phone buzzes in his hand.
Percy : he sounds delightful
Jason : Stop eavesdropping. Come downstairs and face me, you coward.
“Are you just going to stand around texting or are you going to help me?”
The man is barely holding himself up, courtesy of Mrs. O’Leary, who’s plastered herself to his side. Standing on her hind legs, she’s almost as tall as he is, and is currently introducing herself by applying a fingernail-thick layer of her own saliva to his skin. Luckily for her, he seems more annoyed by Jason’s unhelpfulness than by her drooling, which is just a little unfair, if you ask him.
“Sorry,” he answers, tucking the phone into his back pocket. He starts to hoist the case up but almost doubles over. It’s like lifting an anvil.
“What the hell is even in here?” he mutters.
“Books,” the man answers, now hugging the dog back and barely peering over her furry shoulder at Jason. “Books, books and more books. A light microscope and a surgical kit too, but mainly books.”
“You’re a surgeon?”
“Just a student. Hence the dark circles.”
Both Mrs. O’Leary and Jason pause as the guy points out his extensive eye bags for them to ooh over.
“Cool,” Jason comments, and Mrs. O’Leary woofs.
“Thank you,” the guy smiles. Jason’s surprised how big his smile is. It almost takes up his whole face.
“I’m Nico, by the way,” he says, sticking out his hand while steadying himself with the other.
“Jason. And this is Mrs. O’Leary.”
Nico’s eyes widen and he turns to the dog, who has mushed up her face into his. “You know this adorable abomination?”
“She belongs to my friend Percy. He lives right above me.” And listens in on everything I say and do when he’s bored.
Nico’s eyes widen even more. “You’re allowed pets in this building?” he says, gasping gently.
“Yeah. If the landlady’s okay with Mrs. O’Leary, she’ll be okay with anything.”
“Do you have a pet?”
“A goldfish. It died.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Did you give it a funeral?”
“A Viking one. I set him on fire and flushed him.”
It’s a joke to make your liver cringe, and one he stole from Piper to boot, but Nico laughs like it’s the funniest thing. “Okay,” he says when his giggles subside. “Help me with my stuff and then you can show me around.”
~*~
“And this is the fourth floor, where my aforementioned best friend lives. You can go to the roof of the building up those stairs there, but there’s all sorts of junk up there, and plus there’s not even a railing in case you trip, so I wouldn’t recommend it. The woman living above you is Mrs. Menezes. She’s really friendly and has a fat cat –“
“I love fat cats.”
“– but she likes to play heavy metal really loud at ungodly hours of the morning so that might be annoying. Don’t report though, if you just ask her to turn it down –“
“Oh, so this is why you haven’t been answering my messages.”
Jason sighs and turns around. He hears the smirk in Percy’s voice long before he sees it. “I,” he says, “was giving our new neighbor a tour. Percy, Nico. Nico, Percy.”
“Is that why your butt kept buzzing the whole time?” Nico asks Jason, “It was your phone? I wondered what was going on.”
“Uh,” Jason stares. “Why were you looking at my butt?”
Nico blinks. “It – it was buzzing?”
“Hey, it’s fine,” Percy waves his hand dismissively, “I stare at Jason’s butt all the time. It’s really nicely shaped. Like an untouched rose, wholesome and pure.”
“Oh my god.” Jason covers his face with his hands.
“Wait a minute.” Nico points between the two of them. Jason can practically see the gears turning in Nico’s head. “Are you two… together?”
Percy snorts. “He wishes. No, I’m in a great long-term relationship with a girl I love, and Jason just so happens to be single. What about you?”
“Me? Oh, no, dating is the last thing on my mind right now.”
“So you’re not with anyone?”
“No.”
“Huh. How about that. Did you hear him, Jason? How about that.”
Jason tries to go for one of Annabeth’s eye-of-the-tiger glare. Sadly, he has a feeling it’s somewhere in between dog-begging-for-scraps and teenager-silently-begging-their-parents-not-to-embarrass-them.
“Okay, well,” Nico shifts, looking decidedly uncomfortable. “It was nice meeting you… I think. You have a great dog.”
Percy’s expression switches from sly to adoring in point five seconds flat. “Oh, I know!” he gushes. “She’s so great, isn’t she? Like a million pounds of love and fur.”
In response, Mrs. O’Leary detaches herself from Nico and jumps into Percy’s arms, who nuzzles his face into hers. Jason watches, equal parts disgusted and amused, as she slathers him in her drool and he baby talks her.
“Well,” Nico observes.
“I can never decide if it’s cute or disturbing,” Jason whispers to him from the corner of his mouth.
“Probably a little bit of both.”
“Just wait until you see them sleeping. She’s the big spoon.”
Nico lets out a strangled sort of laugh, and when Jason looks over, he’s got his hands clapped on top of his mouth and his eyes are sparkling. “I think I could do without seeing that,” he answers, his voice rising and falling with unreleased laughter.
Jason knows there’s a goofy smile on his face, but he doesn’t wipe it off. Instead, he tugs on Nico’s sleeve. “Come on, let’s get some food.”
~*~
Percy’s always been the friendlier of the two of them. Even though neither of them are especially loud people (they leave that to Leo), he’s always gotten along better with people. Whether it’s a stranger on the bus, the old lady who lives next door to him, or trainees at the aquarium, he always clicks with them during their very first conversation.
Jason knows he’ll eventually do that with Nico too, but right now, Percy upstairs probably cuddling with Mrs. O’Leary as he goes through his work plan for next week, while Jason’s down here, sitting on a rug in Nico’s apartment, both of them eating pizza and going through his boxes, not even thinking about the fact that they only met half an hour ago.
Jason should probably be a bit more cautious. After all, this person is basically a stranger. For all he knows, the giant suitcase Nico was lugging before was filled with jars of preserved heads of his victims and not his books. Maybe one of these boxes is filled to the brim with instruments of torture. Maybe his name isn’t even Nico di Angelo. Maybe the only reason he has such good skin is because he bathes it in fresh blood every day.
All very likely possibilities, but he thinks he’s just going to go with his intuition on this one. His neighborly instincts are what got him here in the first place.
And anyway, the two of them keep the door open the whole time, and sit a respectful distance away. They split the money for the pizza and Nico surprisingly lets Jason have full snooping privileges through the boxes, though Jason knows he’s pushed private luggage into his bedroom already.
“Really?” Jason asks, holding up one of Nico’s T-shirts. “Batman?”
Nico snatches it. “Shut up. Who doesn’t love Batman?”
“I’m more of a Captain America person myself.”
“Only because you look like him,” Nico answers, throwing the T-shirt into his bedroom.
“Percy says my butt looks like his. I swear to god he has an obsession with it.”
Nico snorts, then pauses and looks off into the distance thoughtfully. “Huh. It does.”
Jason raises an eyebrow at him. “Are you having a flashback of my butt?”
Nico narrows his eyes. “It was buzzing.”
Jason laughs quietly, pulling open another box. Nico settles across from him again, cross-legged. He’s pulled his hair into a small pink clip so he can eat properly, but it’s all over the place now, falling into his eyes and the sides of his mouth.
Jason’s hand grasps something hardcover. He takes it out, expecting it to be one of Nico’s books. It’s thin, rust-colored, and has a cheesy plaque on the front that says Sweet Memories in cursive.
Jason raises an eyebrow at him. “Nice album.”
“My mom’s choice. Don’t judge.” He takes a bite of his pizza. He eats it weirdly, starting at the crust first. “And I like the photos.”
“May I?”
Nico shrugs.
There are about four photos per leaf, all of them old and slightly grainy. Jason recognizes his new friend in each of them instantly. He can’t help but smile when he sees the laughing face of a younger Nico.
The first few pictures are of him, four or five years old. Jason tries not to coo over them – Nico strikes him as the sort of person who wouldn’t like that – but Nico must see it on his face because he just rolls his eyes and says, “Go ahead.”
And then Jason doesn’t even try to hold it in. Each time he sees a particularly cute picture of large-eyed and gap-toothed Nico, Aw!s and giggles and gushing gibberish spills out of his mouth. Jason’s met quite a few babies in his lifetime and younger Nico was definitely one of the cutest.
Older Nico isn’t that bad either.
“Where did you live in these pictures?” he asks. “Nothing looks familiar to me.”
“Ravenna, Italy.”
Jason tries not to stare. “I knew you weren’t white.”
“God forbid.”
Jason laughs. “What’s it like there?”
“Nothing like here, at least it wasn’t then. It was a small town. I don’t remember much of it, honestly. We moved to the US when I was really little. Only a few months after the last of these pictures were taken, I think.”
Jason flips a page, smiles at the sight of toddler Nico burying his head in an oversized teddy. “Why’d you move away?”
The silence stretches for so long, Jason thinks Nico hasn’t heard him. Just when he’s about to repeat the question, Nico shakes his head and mumbles, “We just did.”
Jason nods quickly, and continues going through the album. After a few minutes, Nico starts to tell him about the people in them too.
Most of them are neighbors or friends of the family, people that flit in and out of the pictures and blend in with everyone else. The only ones that keep recurring are Nico’s family themselves. His father, a tall dark figure; his sister, barely older than him and with the same features, constantly next to an obviously adoring Nico; and his mother, a beautiful woman with darker skin who apparently loved colorful dresses and her children in equal measure.
They seem like a happy family, and to Jason, it’s bittersweet. He’s always glad to see people who’ve grown up in functional families, because all the people he’s closest to never seem to have them. But it also makes a familiar pain jab at his heart. Nico’s family parallels his in some ways, but Jason’s never known anything like in these photos.
Nico’s enthusiasm when talking about his sister is rivaled only by Percy’s enthusiasm while talking about pizza. His eyes start sparkling, he laughs after every other word, and he gestures with his hands so much he almost slaps Jason twice. Even the tiniest joke his sister made is hilarious to him, the smallest accomplishment a Herculean triumph. According to him, she’s the funniest, nicest, kindest, most popular, friendliest, smartest, the most talented, and most beautiful individual to ever walk the face of the earth. At one point, Jason expects Nico to start telling him about how his sister single-handedly discovered the cure for every disease known to mankind at the tender age of five.
“She sounds great,” Jason comments, and Nico snorts and rolls his eyes like Well, duh. “Is your family here or in Italy?”
Nico’s smile falters. “Well,” he says, after a moment of hesitation, “my father is abroad. I don’t know where exactly.”
“And your mother and sister?”
“They’re not…” he shakes his head, “I don’t know.”
A of silence passes. “Well, that’s okay. My sister’s always moving from country to country. If she didn’t send me postcards and Skype with me once in a while, I really wouldn’t know where –“
“No, that’s not it.”
Jason blinks. “Oh. Sorry if I –“
“That’s fine.” He reaches for the album, slides it from Jason’s fingers.
Jason feels hot all over. “Are you sure?” he asks in a rush. “I really didn’t mean to overstep.”
Nico blurts out a laugh. It sounds rough, and that makes Jason want to kick himself all over again, but when Nico raises his eyes, they look soft. “You didn’t. I’m just really sensitive about family stuff, I guess.” He laughs again. “And anyway, it’s not like I don’t have any family at all. You should meet my half-sister. She’s great.”
Jason grins. “Yeah?”
“Uh-huh.” Nico packs the album back. “She’s a year younger than me and she’s studying to be an artist. And she’s so talented too. Can you believe she’s already had showings in galleries? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to do that in New York City?”
“Wow. She must be really good.”
“She is! I know she’s going to be even better by the time she graduates. She’s probably my favorite person in the world.”
Jason laughs. “You really love your sisters.”
“That’s because I have amazing ones.” He picks up another pizza slice, takes a bite. “Just wait until you meet Hazel, you’ll love her.”
“You say that like I’m meeting her for sure.”
“Well, of course you are. She’s going to come visit me, help me unpack and stuff. And of course I’ll tell her about how I was ambushed by a freakishly large and clingy monster the very first day I moved in.”
“It’s called working out! And if you think I’m clingy, you need to get to know Percy better.”
Nico smirks around his pizza. “I was talking about the dog.”
Jason knows it’s not polite to welcome your neighbor into the building by kicking at his shins and trying to steal his pizza but really, he couldn’t care less.
~*~
They’ve unpacked kitchen utensils and Nico’s college paraphernalia when Nico’s pocket starts playing the Gravity Falls theme song.
Nico shoots an apologetic look at Jason, who waves his hand and goes back to pulling things out of a box marked Things to Shove Under Bed, and takes out his phone.
“Hello? Hey! Yeah, I found it just fine. Oh, it’s great, although the neighbors are a bit weird.” He sends Jason a look, which quickly morphs into confusion as he keeps listening to the person on the other end of the line. “Wait, what? Right now? I don’t know how to get there from here.” He pauses, looking even more confused, and then glances at Jason. “Um. Okay?”
He covers his phone’s mouthpiece. “Uh, Jason? Do you know the way to Barney’s from here? The bar?”
“Yeah, I do. Want me to take you there?”
Nico starts to reply when the person on the other end of the phone starts talking again. His eyes widen. “Wait a minute,” he says, “Do you know him?”
Jason blinks. “Know who?”
In response, Nico just wordlessly hands Jason the phone. Frowning, Jason puts it to his ear. “Hello?”
“Piper and I are meeting you guys at the bar in half an hour,” a familiar voice responds. “You can bring Percy as long as he promises not to be too annoying. See you there.”
~*~
“So how crazy is it that you’re Reyna’s best friend-slash-protégé-slash-weird little brother figure?”
“Protégé? She’s not a kung fu master, Percy.”
“For all we know, she might as well be.”
“It’s not that crazy,” Nico cuts in, kicking at a pebble. “She’s the one who suggested that building to me in the first place. I guess she just forgot to mention she was friends with you two.”
“That’s because she’s embarrassed to be.”
“Percy,” Jason cries, horrified.
“Well, it’s true. Especially Leo. She looks like she’s just smelled something rotten whenever she sees him.”
“Why does she put up with you then?” Nico asks as they pause at a green light.
“Because her girlfriend is friends with us and makes her hang out with her,” Percy beams.
“And because she actually does like us,” Jason answers, slapping Percy’s shoulder when he whispers a soft nuh-uh. “Percy just thinks that because she has a low tolerance for his shenanigans.”
“Her girlfriend,” Nico echoes. “Piper, right? I’ve never met her.”
“You’ll love her,” Percy grins. “She’s like the girl version of me.”
“Except cooler,” Jason adds.
“That is just mean, Grace.”
“You’re not disagreeing.”
“Why would I?”
Jason laughs as they round a corner, kicking at Percy’s foot. Percy skips away, snickering. On his other side, Nico ducks his head and pulls his jacket closer around him.
“So,” Jason says, waiting until Nico lifts his head. “This must be kinda weird, huh?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you only just met us today. People don’t usually get this familiar this fast. At least, not most people.”
Nico shrugs. “I don’t think it’s that weird. Neighbors should be close, right?”
“With walls as thin as ours,” Percy comments, “we’ll be closer than you’d ever want to be.”
“Oh, please,” Jason snorts. “You’re the one who keeps eavesdropping on me through that stupid vent in your room.”
“It’s not my fault you’re so loud.” Percy winks at Nico. “You should listen to the things he gets up to at night. Downright indecent.”
Jason punches Percy’s bicep as hard as he can, trying not to laugh, and then turns to apologize to Nico for his friend’s absolute depravity.
To Jason’s surprise, Nico’s blushing hard. The color bleeds down from his ears and cheeks to his neck and disappears under the collar of his dark T-shirt. “No thanks,” he says, looking away.
Confused, Jason sends a frown Percy’s way. All he gets is a knowing smirk in return.
~*~
“Enjoying yourself?”
Nico looks up, lips stretching into an even wider grin. “You got me a drink! Thanks, I was parched. I’ve been talking to Piper non-stop for like two hours.”
Jason laughs. “I guess that’s a yes.” He sits down at their booth next to Nico, careful to keep a fixed distance between them. Meanwhile, Piper’s half-lying on in the booth, head resting against Reyna’s shoulder and feet plopped onto Percy, who keeps complaining about it every other second.
Nico nods, bringing the glass to his lips. “She’s really fun. I can see why Reyna’s with her.”
Jason hums in agreement. “I can’t believe how long it took them to get together. Reyna’s great for her.”
“And you weren’t?”
“What?”
“Piper told me. You guys used to date?”
“Oh.” Jason shrugs. “That was a long time ago. We didn’t even date that long.”
Nico turns his torso towards him. “What happened? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Nothing, really. There wasn’t some big fallout like there is in the movies. We just realized we weren’t really that good together.” Jason takes a sip of his own water. “I’m just glad we stayed friends. Although Reyna does still give me her signature murderous stare now and then.”
As if on cue, Reyna turns her head and glares at him. Jason grins back. Nico laughs.
“What about you?” Jason asks, casual as can be. “Dating anyone?”
Nico shakes his head. “I just recently got out of a relationship, actually.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I’d been dating him for a long time – we even moved in together – so it kinda came as a shock to both of us. It was what needed to happen, to be honest. And anyway, we’re still friends, like you and Piper, so it all worked out.”
“I’m glad.” Jason smiles, but his attention snagged on something Nico’s said. “So you date guys?”
Nico’s smile turns languid. “That’s the generally accepted opinion of what gay men like.”
Jason can’t help the way he perks up, back straightening and eyes brightening. “Yeah? Me too!”
Nico blinks. “You’re… gay?” He glances at Piper.
“No, I meant – I’m bi, actually.”
“Really? That’s good.”
“Yeah?”
“No, I mean –“ he shakes his head, “Not good, just – well, it’s nice, I guess. In a way.” He shakes his head again, laughing. There’s a slight dusting of pink on his cheeks.
Jason knows there’s a dopey smile on his face, but he can’t bring himself to wipe it. “Yeah,” he agrees. “It’s good.”
~*~
“What,” Jason says, plopping down next to Percy, “was that smirk?”
Percy, who had just been “absolutely not sexting” Annabeth, jumps as he scrambles to hide his phone screen and bangs his leg underneath the table. “Ow!” he complains. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You know what.” He nabs Percy’s own ice cold beer and passes it to him to press against his bruised shin. “Earlier, when we were walking here.”
“Oh. That.” Percy glances at Nico across the booth. He’s taken off his jacket and seems completely relaxed, easy smile on his face, one leg up on his seat, talking and laughing with an animated Piper, while Reyna slouches next to her and tosses in a word now and then.
Percy shrugs. “Not sure what that was about myself. Just pass it off as me being stupid like you usually do.”
Jason frowns. “Um. Okay, first of all, that was weirdly passive aggressive.”
“I know. Wow. You’ve screwed me up worst than I thought.”
“Secondly, I will not. Tell me what it was about.”
“Nothing!” Percy shakes his head. “ was just thinking… well, it was awfully nice of you to show him around the whole building.”
Jason nods slowly. “Yes. I know. That’s what neighbors do.”
“Even though we don’t have an elevator and you had to hike up and down all those stairs.”
Jason shrugs. “It was okay. I made sure Nico had time to take a breather.”
“Oh, you did, did you?” Percy smirks. “And you helped him unpack too, right?”
“It was only polite.”
Percy lets out a loud guffaw, startling some of the booths around them. “Earlier, you were whining to me about how you have to write a paper in two days plus you have work tomorrow and the day after. If I remember correctly, you said something like: Can you believe I don’t even have enough time left in the day to jerk off?”
“Okay!” Jason flies forward, claps his hands on Percy’s big mouth and glances Nico’s way. Luckily, he seems just as immersed in his conversation with Piper as before.
Percy knocks his wrists away. “That!” he says triumphantly, pointing at Jason’s face. “That’s what I was smirking at.”
“What?”
Percy just smirks again, then whispers, “Just promise me you guys will keep it down whenever it does happen. That vent lets me hear an awful lot, you know.”
Tonight, when Jason gets home, he’ll do an inventory of all his murder weapons and torture instruments. And then he’ll make Percy regret he was ever born.
~*~
By the time they’re getting ready to leave the bar, Piper and Nico have already exchanged numbers and even have a minute-long hug. When they break apart, Reyna is staring at Nico. “I thought you hated physical affection.”
Nico smiles. “Some people are exceptions.”
“You disappoint me.”
When the three of them finally hit the road, Nico seems in much higher spirits than he did coming here. He’s also warmed up to Percy by now. The two of them talk about the night in excited voices and loud laughs. Nico keeps moving around, weaving between the two of them, walking backwards so he can face them as he talks, jumping down onto the road and back onto the sidewalk when a car comes by. Percy gives Jason a slightly overwhelmed look from time to time, like he can’t believe how hyper this guy is.
Neither can Jason, to be honest. But he doesn’t mind.
By the time they reach their building, Nico’s almost fallen into Jason three separate times, and Jason’s hands are tingling from steadying him. He sends side-eye glares at Percy whenever he sniggers under his breath, and hopes to God this doesn’t become a thing.
Mrs. O’Leary is waiting for them at the lobby door, looking disturbingly like someone waiting to pick their friend up from the airport. She leaps up excitedly as soon as she sees them, and then runs right past Percy’s open arms and onto a laughing Nico.
They walk up the three flights of stairs to Jason and Nico’s floors, and Percy glances at their third neighbor’s door. “As soon as that guy moves out,” he whispers to them, “I’m moving in there so we can all be together.”
“Told you he was clingy,” Jason mutters to Nico.
They stand around awkwardly on the landing for a little while, Percy and Mrs. O’Leary seeming the only halfway comfortable ones. Jason stares at his door, trying to force himself to turn to Nico and invite him in. Nico, for his part, just looks between the doors of their apartment, Percy, and the dog. He doesn’t even glance at Jason.
Finally, he decides things will be a lot easier if it’s the three of them. “Do you guys want to come inside?” he asks, and Nico’s head whips up. “We can hang out for a while.”
“No thanks,” Percy says, stretching and yawning, though it all looks a little exaggerated to Jason. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
“It’s only ten,” Nico glances at his watch. “You sleep this early?”
“Of course not. But I have a date with Netflix.”
Jason wishes he could say he missed the way Percy emphasized the word ‘date’ and looked at Jason meaningfully as he did so, but sadly, he can’t.
Nico gives Percy a bemused frown. “Okay, well, it was nice to meet you.” He drops down to touch the dog. “And it was especially nice to meet you, Mrs. O’Leary!”
“And here comes the cuddlefest,” Percy says with utter disdain, watching the two nuzzle each other’s faces. “Honestly. It’s disgusting.”
“I think it’s cute,” Jason grins.
“You would,” Percy mutters.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“Nothing! Come on, Mrs. O’Leary.” He reaches out and nabs her collar. “We can watch that Hachi dog movie together. Say bye!”
Mrs. O’Leary delivers one last lick to Nico’s cheek and then bounds up the stairs after Percy.
Nico stands up. “Do you think I should’ve mentioned that the dog dies in the most heartbreaking way in Hachi?”
“We’ll just let him find that out for himself. And then sob about it the rest of the night.”
“Does that vent in your apartment go both ways? I think I’d like to hear him cry.”
Jason laughs. “Come on,” he says, waving a smiling Nico inside. “Let’s find out.”
~*~
“Want me to turn the heat up?”
“No, I’m good.”
“Okay. Would you like something to drink?”
“Water’s fine.”
“Sure. Make yourself at home.”
“At home? Can I put my feet up on the coffee table?”
“Not a chance, sorry. But you can choose whatever TV channel you like. Here.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem. I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time.”
“Hey, Nico? Do you want ice in the water?”
“…”
“Nico?”
“Were you – were you watching Cartoon Network?”
“…Yes.”
“Hmm. Very nice.”
“Thank you.”
~*~
“You know what,” Nico says, chewing slowly, “I change my mind. It is weird.”
Jason looks up from his grilled cheese. “What is?”
“That I made friends with you so quickly.” Nico bites at his sandwich, surveying the photos and trophies lining the shelves. The lighting in Jason’s bedroom is low, and Jason is lounging on his bed, trying to look relaxed but not too relaxed.
It doesn’t help that he has to keep one eye on that damned vent in the corner of the room, and the other on Nico because… well, because.
“I don’t usually do that,” Nico continues. “It takes me a long time to get comfortable enough with people to open up to them. I can’t remember the last time I felt this familiar with a stranger.”
“Me neither.”
“It’s definitely weird.”
“Yeah, but…” Jason sits up. “Not in a bad way, right?”
Nico turns around. “No, of course not. I wouldn’t be here if it was.”
“You don’t think I’m being overly friendly or creepy-ish?”
Nico raises an eyebrow. “Am I being creepy-ish?”
“Well, I did briefly consider the possibility of you being a serial killer.”
Nico laughs. He hasn’t bothered to brush off the toast crumbs around his mouth. It looks like a little toast beard. “So did I. And that Percy was your partner-in-crime.”
“He is, but not when it comes to murders. Piper helps me with that.”
He laughs again and then, sadly, brushes away his cute toast beard. “No, I just think you’re really friendly. You and all your friends. What are you even made of?”
“Politeness and neighborly instincts. Which is why I helped you with your bags today, even though I bet Percy ten dollars I wouldn’t.”
A surprised grin stretches Nico’s lips. “I made you lose ten dollars before we even introduced ourselves?”
“Yup.”
“Awesome.”
Jason laughs, rolls his eyes. “He’s going to buy the money’s worth of takeout for us anyway, that’s just what he does.” He closes his eyes, rubs at them.” Anyway, I’m glad I helped you. If only so I didn’t have to listen to you curse at your freakishly huge bag anymore.”
“And tomorrow you get to help me move the rest of my stuff in.”
“Oh.” Jason glances at the laptop on his bedside. “I, uh…”
“Unless you have something to do,” Nico adds, following Jason’s gaze.
“I actually do have a paper to work on. But as soon as I’m done with that,” he pushes himself up on his elbows, “I’m all yours.”
Nico smiles, eyes crinkling. “I can’t wait.”
~*~
Percy : that was an adorable conversation you two had.
Jason : I hate that vent.
Percy : well I’m just thinking
Percy : u know what they say
Percy : love thy neighbor
Jason : I will kill you.
Percy : ;)
~*~
The next day, after finally finishing his paper, Jason decides to head out for a walk to stretch his legs. He opens the door and the first thing he sees is Nico leaning against his own doorframe, going through his mail.
He looks up and grins so brightly, all the fatigue of writing an eighteen-page paper seems to disappear. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Where are you going?”
“Oh, I was thinking of going for a walk.”
Nico nods, but Jason doesn’t move towards the stairs. Slowly, Nico raises his eyebrows at him, then tilts his head towards his apartment and says, “Wanna hang out?”
Jason’s already closing his door. “Definitely.”
“Cool. Come on in.”