igrab
in
grabi_hands
If No One Will Listen (Percy/Nico, PG)
Percy, Sally, pre-Percy/Nico . written for vaultedthewall . 603 words . PG . I'm not worried for him, I'm worried about him.
"I'm worried about Nico," Sally said, out of the blue one morning.
Percy looked up from the sink, where he was both washing and drying dishes at the same time - water powers came in handy. His eyebrows went up and his lips thinned like he was trying very hard not to grin. "No, you're not."
"I am. I'm not worried for him, I'm worried about him." She gave him a very pointed look over the edge of her novel. "Specifically, I'm worried because he doesn't have any other friends."
Percy swallowed visibly and sighed, like he was somehow uncomfortable discussing this - and maybe he was, maybe this was one of those things that mothers shouldn't talk about with their sons. But he'd always been frank with her before, and she could tell that he would open up - he just needed to sort his thoughts out.
"It's, um," he said, which wasn't a very auspicious beginning. Percy was staring down at his hands, submerged in the soapy water, and gnawing on the edge of his lip. Sally took pity on him and elaborated.
"It's just, it isn't healthy. He doesn't just have no one - he doesn't want to have anyone else in his life. He's a little obsessed with you."
Percy's neck was going red but she wouldn't let him slither out of this. "I know. I know that." And I don't care, came the unspoken continuation. Or rather, he did care - he encouraged it.
"It's just - I know what it's like, to not have anyone." He didn't mention the number of times he'd switched schools, the constant feeling of being different, and as expected it quickly drew up Sally's guilt at keeping such big secrets from him - even when she'd known it was necessary - and contributing, in that way, to his estrangement. "I know what it's like to feel looked down on and hated and blamed for stuff that I have no control over. I know what it's like to just..." and here the blush deepened, and Sally wondered - not for the first time - if this thing between her son and the boy she was quickly coming to think of as her other son might be more than just friendship. "...really want to be with someone, to spend time with them, to have this... person, that doesn't judge, doesn't criticize, where you can just be and you don't have to think about it and." Percy seemed to realize he'd started to babble, and quickly busied himself again. "Look, it isn't his fault."
Sally watched, amused, as the water danced and sloshed in magical spirals under Percy's command, and - well - she could understand that, too. Both the obsession, and the easy relationship.
Maybe Percy was simply lucky, to find them both in one person.
"Well, all right," she said, like she still didn't believe him, and came over to kiss the side of his head. "But if he breaks your heart, I'm saying 'I told you so'."
"Mom," Percy muttered, somewhere between scandalized and defensive - embarrassed because it was maybe, sort of, could-be-kind-of true. "...Anyway, you didn't tell me so. So there."
So there, she thought, and when she heard Percy's text ring go off and saw a smile spring to his face, well - she knew who to blame.
"I'm worried about Nico," Sally said, out of the blue one morning.
Percy looked up from the sink, where he was both washing and drying dishes at the same time - water powers came in handy. His eyebrows went up and his lips thinned like he was trying very hard not to grin. "No, you're not."
"I am. I'm not worried for him, I'm worried about him." She gave him a very pointed look over the edge of her novel. "Specifically, I'm worried because he doesn't have any other friends."
Percy swallowed visibly and sighed, like he was somehow uncomfortable discussing this - and maybe he was, maybe this was one of those things that mothers shouldn't talk about with their sons. But he'd always been frank with her before, and she could tell that he would open up - he just needed to sort his thoughts out.
"It's, um," he said, which wasn't a very auspicious beginning. Percy was staring down at his hands, submerged in the soapy water, and gnawing on the edge of his lip. Sally took pity on him and elaborated.
"It's just, it isn't healthy. He doesn't just have no one - he doesn't want to have anyone else in his life. He's a little obsessed with you."
Percy's neck was going red but she wouldn't let him slither out of this. "I know. I know that." And I don't care, came the unspoken continuation. Or rather, he did care - he encouraged it.
"It's just - I know what it's like, to not have anyone." He didn't mention the number of times he'd switched schools, the constant feeling of being different, and as expected it quickly drew up Sally's guilt at keeping such big secrets from him - even when she'd known it was necessary - and contributing, in that way, to his estrangement. "I know what it's like to feel looked down on and hated and blamed for stuff that I have no control over. I know what it's like to just..." and here the blush deepened, and Sally wondered - not for the first time - if this thing between her son and the boy she was quickly coming to think of as her other son might be more than just friendship. "...really want to be with someone, to spend time with them, to have this... person, that doesn't judge, doesn't criticize, where you can just be and you don't have to think about it and." Percy seemed to realize he'd started to babble, and quickly busied himself again. "Look, it isn't his fault."
Sally watched, amused, as the water danced and sloshed in magical spirals under Percy's command, and - well - she could understand that, too. Both the obsession, and the easy relationship.
Maybe Percy was simply lucky, to find them both in one person.
"Well, all right," she said, like she still didn't believe him, and came over to kiss the side of his head. "But if he breaks your heart, I'm saying 'I told you so'."
"Mom," Percy muttered, somewhere between scandalized and defensive - embarrassed because it was maybe, sort of, could-be-kind-of true. "...Anyway, you didn't tell me so. So there."
So there, she thought, and when she heard Percy's text ring go off and saw a smile spring to his face, well - she knew who to blame.