Fics: 2 Rachel/Nico, 1 Nico, Percy, and Thalia
Here are some fics written for my pairing + prompt = 1,000 word or less fic meme. There'll be more soon. Enjoy, and remember: comments = love!
Title: To Catch a Demigod
Prompt: Rachel/Nico, blank canvas
Word Count: 726
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Rachel/Nico, with mention of Percy and Annabeth.
Summary: Rachel Elizabeth Dare enjoyed watching Nico di Angelo. The son of Hades did not approve of being watched.
Notes: This is actually a prompt from a challenge that was up long ago on pjo_fic_battle, but I wrote this for it, and it was just lurking in my fic folder, so I thought I may as well post it, consdering it fit the criteria.
Rachel Elizabeth Dare enjoyed watching Nico di Angelo.
She found she had put the activity in a file in her mind that was labeled something along the lines of 'Little things, pleasurable nevertheless.'Watching Nico was accompanied by activities such as, drinking hot chocolate while watching Bringing Up Baby and wrapping herself up in a wool blanket, or taking pictures of unsuspecting people who also happened to ride the two train.
She got into trouble for two of the named three activities, however. It turned out that no one on the two train enjoyed getting photographed without their permission and knowledge, and that the son of Hades did not approve of being watched. (Luckily no one seemed to protest her watching classic filmswith a mug of hot chocolate in her hand and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders- even if she did do it entirely too often.)
No, Nico did not enjoy being watched. And he especially didn't enjoy what he knew Rachel was always leading up to when watching him, which was whipping out her sketchpad and taking down what she saw.
Rachel had drawn Percy and Annabeth a thousand times over, much to their own dismay, although after a while of her going on, and on, and on about how much she she wanted to sketch them, they had given in.
Nico di Angelo was, much to Rachel's ongoing sadness, not following suit.
But still, there was always the three to five minutes when Nico wouldn't realize she was watching. When he'd be looking down at some paper or another, or focusing on something on the television, or standing in the kitchen and acting all domestic, where Rachel would have a few minutes where she could just watch.
Because if there was one thing that Rachel Elizabeth Dare loved most to witness (and then, hoepfully, paint) it was disturbing beauty. And those were the exact words to describe Nico di Angelo.
No one has black eyes ("It's not possible!" she had argued countless times in her art class. "Human beings are not sharks!") but Nico's were as close as it could get. His large eyes, the irises almost matching the pupils, held the same intensity they had when he was twelve, and Rachel often wondered if she could catch that intensity if she were to paint him.
His hair was as dark as his eyes, dark in a way that made it almost seem unreal. It was darker than Percy's, and that's saying something. It was black as night, dark as his home. It went in contrast with his skin on a bad day, when he was deadly pale, his skin practically as white as paper. But on a good day, when it took its natural olive tone, it absolutely complimented him in every way, giving him an almost exotic look.
His nose was straight save for a slightly crooked ridge, the means of which could be natural or derived from a broken nose or two; take your pick. His cheekbones were prominent, giving his face an almost aristocratic look about it. His lips accompanied the rest of his features nicely, the bottom lip slightly fuller than the top.
So it was in those few minutes when Nico was not aware, that Rachel would slide one of her sketchpads out from under the couch cushion (Rachel had a habit of storing sketchbooks all around her apartment so that whenever a moment, such as the one being told now, occured she could whip out some paper and a pencil and get to drawing) and begin to attempt to correctly portray the ridge of his nose, the exact angle of his jaw, before -
"Rachel!" Nico exclaimed. "We have talked about this." And he huffed all the way to the terrace.
And so for the first few years of their relationship, it went on like this, Nico standing his stubborn ground and Rachel never relenting, always sure that one day Nico would give up and just stay still so she could draw him, goddammit! However, when Rachel realized that that day simply was not going to come, ever (damn the son of Hades), she went about finding a new plan of action, one that would not fail, one that wasn't nearly as drawn out as sketching someone.
Rachel Elizabeth Dare finally bought a non-disposable camera.
Title: The Alive and Fighting
Prompt: Nico, Percy, and Thalia - "we've got your back" Submitted by epoc823
Word Count: 736
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Nico, Percy, Thalia, and mention of Drew.
Summary: Thalia and Nico teach Percy the importance of having each other's backs during the zombie apocalypse.
Notes: This fic ran awaaaaaaaay with me. It is AU and Crack. Therefore, it is ridiculous. You have been warned.
"Percy, if Nico and I can pretend to be flesh eating zombies, then you can too!" Thalia whispered loudly.
"What ever happened to the original plan, you know, of jumping the rooftops to get past the zombies?" Percy complained. "That was a great idea, don't you think? Then we don't actually have to - "
"Look asshole," Nico interrupted harshly, pointing his sword at Percy as if it were a yard stick. "That was the plan before Thalia joined our troop of the alive and fighting. And I would think you would know that Thalia's afraid of heights, and, therefore, jumping the roofs is no longer the plan of action! Now man up, and convince yourself that there's nothing you want more than to eat a nice, fresh human brain."
Percy frowned before saying, "Jumping four feet from roof to roof to get past the crowd of zombies is a hell of a lot less scary than pretending to actually be zombies so that we can pass through them unnoticed."
"I beg to differ," Thalia muttered, peering around the corner of the brick building they were all hiding behind, looking at the bloody undead roaming and moaning in the fiery streets.
"You know, you two are no good for anything," Percy decided, shaking his head. "A daughter of Zeus who's afraid of heights and a son of Hades that can't banish the undead? Really? I mean, if there was a river or a stream or even just a fountain around or something, I could at least give the zombies a bath and get rid of the smell!"
Thalia and Nico stared at Percy silently for a few moments, their expressions hurt. Finally Nico said, "That shit cuts deep, bro."
"Seriously," Thalia agreed. "Even the zombies can get along, Jackson. You are not being a team player!"
"You're just being a whiny bitch," Nico added for effect. "I mean, I saw Drew impersonate the zombies earlier to get through a bunch of them. Drew. And it worked."
"See!" Thalia said, gesturing towards Nico.
"Drew?" Percy repeated, leaning forward slightly, disbelieving.
"Drew," Nico said, nodding. "She was going all out too. She, like, took out some red lipstick and smeared her whole face in it so it looked like blood and shit. It was pretty badass."
Silence. "Drew?" Percy said again.
Thalia rolled her eyes, and extending a quick hand, smacked him. "Ow, what the fuck, Thals?" Percy said, holding a hand to his cheek. Nico was chortling with barely concealed laughter.
"Listen Percy," Thalia began, ignoring his protests. "If Drew can get through the crowd of zombies alive by pretending to be one then we sure as fuck can!"
Percy, still rubbing his cheek, straightened, and looking at Nico said, "Drew?"
"Drew." Nico agreed.
Percy sighed, slumping so much that the tip of Riptide dragged against the cement for a second. "Fine."
Thalia and Nico high fived.
"But I want to lead!" Percy added quickly. "There's no way I'm letting either of you hold my life in your hands."
"Yeah, whatever Percy." Thalia said.
"Let's do this," Nico said, switching his stance from foot to foot anxiously. "And just remember Percy: We've got your back."
...
"Okay, this idea may have been better in theory," Nico admitted lowly, slowly lolling back and forth, arms extended, doing his best impersonation of the undead surrounding him.
"Shut up, Nico! Zombies don't talk," Thalia reminded him, moving her body much the same as Nico, so far remaining unnoticed as the living by the creatures around them
"Yeah, Nico, zombies don't talk." Percy shot out quietly. "And you know what else doesn't talk? Dead people. Which is what we're going to be in a - oh, shit, fuck!"
"Percy, you idiot!" Thalia shouted, breaking her act as she turned to scold Percy who had tripped on an overturned garbage bin.
"Run, motherfuckers!" Nico yelled, slicing his sword through a trio of zombies which had turned their attention towards Nico, Percy, and Thalia.
As the children of the Big Three sprinted through the crowd of zombies, slicing and shooting arrows as they went, Percy slapped Nico over the side of the head, saying, "I told you that wouldn't work!"
"Look douchebag," Nico yelled back, sending his sword through the stomach of a zombie wearing a Keep Calm and Carry On shirt (on the irony), "all we were missing was the red lipstick!"
Title: His Girl Friday
Prompt: Rachel/Nico, a thing called fate. Submitted by the lovely epoc823
Word Count: 1116. Yes, I went 116 words over the limit. Whatever, as Mr. D would say.
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: The slightest if you squint bit of Rachel/Nico, Sally, Annabeth, Percy, mention of Hades, Persephone, and Demeter.
Summary: In which Nico is kicked out of the Underworld, as well as his best friend's apartment, and Sally sees things that a certain son of Hades and Oracle remain oblivious to.
Notes: Not sure how I feel about this. All I know is that I stand by Nico and Rachel's mutual love of old films and Sally's seeing everything. The end of the fic is semi based of an entry in the novel The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan.
Nico di Angelo wasn't wanted anywhere, it appeared.
He really should have known that attempting to stay in the Underworld during Winter was never a good idea, though, so he supposed that was his fault. He'd been through enough Christmas dinners with his father, Persephone, and Demeter to know that that never ended well. The goddess of Spring had just been about to chane him into a dandelion or something of the like when Hades had said, "Just leave boy, now, for your own sake."
He had taken the message.
His immediate reaction had been to go to Percy and Annabeth's, his default couch crashing location, but the instant he appeared in the corner of the dark living room, Annabeth was there, a firm grip on the collar of his shirt, dragging him toward the door.
"-the fuck?" Nico managed as she threw him outside the threshold.
"Sorry di Angelo," Annabeth said, not sounding at all sorry. "Percy and I want to be alone tonight. Alone."
"Is he gone yet?" Percy called from, undoubtedly, the bedroom. Nico and Annabeth rolled their eyes in unison.
"I'm dealing with it." Annabeth called back. "Look," she continued to Nico, "I am sympathetic towards your cause, so I shall tell you this and this only: Sally is always more than happy to put you up for the night." And with that, the door closed in his face.
"Well then," Nico muttered, retreating to the dark end of the hallway and a second later appearing at Sally Blofis's front door. Nico, having mounds of respect for Percy's mother, never simply appeared inside her apartment, although she always made a point of reiterating that he could. Still, he always showed up at the door to her apartment instead, ringing the doorbell politely.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't mind if you just travel into the apartment?" Sally said as she opened the door.
"At least a few more times, of course," Nico said, kissing her on the cheek as always as he entered the apartment. "You know how I can be a bit thick sometimes."
"Just so you know," Sally said, walking down the short hallway towards the living room with him, "I do already have company."
"Oh. Do you want me to-" Nico began.
"No, no, that won't be a problem. It's just Rachel. You know her."
"...Sally, the last time I saw Rachel I was twelve." Nico said, a tad startled. It had indeed been five years since he had seen, or even really thought, about the Oracle, and considering his not-so-impressive people skills, he wasn't exactly thrilled to have to share Sally's adoring attention with her now - or, on an even scarier thought, strike up a conversation with her.
"Hm. Well I'm sure it won't be a problem." She replied nonchalantly, taking his coat from him and hanging it on a hanger despite his silent protests to do it himself.
Nico headed to the kitchen on Sally's demand to eat something, eavesdropping on Sally and Rachel's conversation, of which he could easily make out in the small apartment.
"Who's Nico di Angelo?" Rachel's voice.
"You know Nico. You went on the quest with him back when you and Percy first knew each other."
"..."
"The son of Hades?" Sally prompted.
"There's a son of Hades?" Rachel asked.
And Nico had thought his memory was bad.
Sally sighed. "Don't worry about it dear, he's really quite nice."
"'Kay." Came Rachel's nonchalant reply.
Nico entered the living room with a microwaved carton of chow mein in his hand, to fine the living room dark, the lights dimmed, and a black and white film playing on the modest television. Rachel and Sally sat beside each other on the green couch, and Nico, feeling the odd one out as always, took a seat in the armchair off to the side.
Rachel glanced over at him as he sat, a curious look on her freckled face. She looked him up and down, eyes widening just a fraction, and then turned her attention back to the movie.
Nico turned his attention to the screen as well. It took him only a moment to recognize the film, as well as every actor in it.
"You're watching His Girl Friday?" he blurted.
Rachel turned toward him slowly, her movements almost comical. "You know this movie?"
"Um... yes." Nico glanced over at Sally, finding her expression quite odd. She had a soft smile playing at her lips, blue eyes twinkling with a look that could only mean I know something you don't...
Rachel was staring at Nico, an utter look of disbelief written all over her face. Nico shifted uncomfortably. Rachel continued to stare. Sally's smile broadened. Finally, Rachel spoke.
"Who are you again?"
...
"But yeah, if I'd have to pick my favorite female opposite of Cary Grant it would be Irene Dunne. Katherine Hepburn's great, but he and Irene made more films together anyway and - wait." Nico paused, looking straight at Rachel from his spot next to her on the couch, where he had moved about thirty minutes in to their conversation. "What were we talking about?"
"Well," Rachel said, crossing her legs beneath herself, "I believe we began in on how it's really a shame that Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant didn't make more films together, and then jumped over to the fact that there are no films made nowadays with the same rapid fire dialog as witnessed in many of the classic movies of Hollywood cinema, such of His Girl Friday. From there we went into Cary Grant's massive and impressive repertoir of work, as well as his accompanying leading lady's. The mention of romantic interests dwelved is into the rumors that he was gay, which were probably false, at least in part, considering his collection of wives. After that we jumped back over to the leading ladies, which was followed by a debate on which of his female co-stars had the most charisma with him on the silver screen. You were just making your case for Irene Dunne over my preference of Katherine Hepburn, which is, by the way, total bullshit."
It was Nico's turn to stare. He couldn't be more grateful in that moment that Sally had left the room when he and Rachel had really gotten on a roll, for he was sure that if he saw her knowing smile he'd blush shamelessly. He couldn't help but in that moment notice how pretty Rachel actually was. And he couldn't help himself from thinking anything other than Holy shit in that moment.
"That," Nico breathed, "is awesome."