#and I MUST draw Nico in them

[as-rare-as-trees]

I saw on instagram some silly high heeled flip flops and the way I NEED to draw Will wearing them

[natsukazesan]

Scene redraw sort of?

I'm in Enies Lobby in my rewatch and young Robin breaks my heart. The flames reflected in her eyes was just so... Yeah. I wanted to draw it.

[leaentries]

let them eat cake | nico hischier

SUMMARY: when mrs.cap learns that cake can serve more than one purpose

WARNINGS: food play, slight boob worship, slight nipple play, oral (f. receiving), fingering, swearing, not proofread

WC: 2.97k

A/N: guess who’s back from the dead ! i hope you will take this nico fic as a form of apology for my lack of content recently !

the captain’s girl masterlist!

The familiar blaring of an alarm broke through the warm, golden atmosphere of the bedroom. Sunlight bounced amongst the beige walls, as the air slightly blew against them. Realizing Nico must have left the balcony door open, you managed to peel an eye open to gaze at the sleeping man beside you. 

His chest rose and fell in deep breaths, signaling he was still locked in his restful slumber. You took a moment to admire the youthful lines of his shaven face, taking note of every mark he had. The straight swoop of his nose, or the curve of his eyebrows; you swore to commit them to memory. Your eyes trailed down to his neck, where his chain dangled loosely to the side. A sweet smile found home on your lips as you watched his nose scrunch slightly in his sleep. 

However, your morning bliss was interrupted by Nico’s phone, which, once again, began to scream with that god-forsaken alarm. 

Very carefully, you lifted your body onto your left arm, maneuvering yourself to grab his phone and hit the “stop” button. As it would be, you didn’t quite make it that far before collapsing halfway onto the sleeping boy.

Nico’s body jolted at the sudden weight, hands immediately going to hold your hip and the arm that now lay limp across his chest. 

“Jesus, schatzi,” His voice rumbled with sleep, “What are you doing?” 

You sheepishly grinned at him, “‘M sorry, Neeks. I was trying to turn off your alarm so it wouldn’t make you cranky this morning.”

His eyebrows furrowed, “Cranky? I’m never cranky in the mornings. I think you’ve got me confused with someone else, baby.” 

“Ah, so you're not the guy who almost chucks his phone at the wall every morning because his alarm is so obnoxiously loud?” 

Nico gave you a deadpan look. 

You shrugged at him, “Could’ve fooled me.”

“Yeah, yeah” He quickly flipped you over, his heavy body now pressing into yours, “I’d be careful with what you say.” 

His lips placed slow, hot kisses down your jaw, only stopping once he met your earlobe. He bit lightly, drawing a sharp gasp from you. 

Nico’s voice came out in a rough whisper, “After all, I’m very cranky in the mornings.” 

Nico removed himself from you, taking away the warmth of his thick muscle. Making his way to the bathroom, he gave you a quick wink and a smug smile. You squeezed your thighs together in an attempt to control the ache that now resided in your core. 

“You suck, Hischier!” 

Well, happy birthday to you.

  -

While Nico took his time in the shower getting ready for the day, you took it upon yourself to start making a big breakfast for the two of you. 

Although it was your birthday, you still wanted to do something sweet for the both of you to enjoy. You had been looking forward to sharing an intimate meal with him first thing in the morning. Yet, if you were being honest, you never cared to make a fuss over your birthday. 

It just never occurred to you to care so much. 

As you scraped the last bits of your breakfast out of the pan, you heard Nico’s heavy steps approaching the kitchen. 

“Mmmm,” He sniffed the air with a dog-like fervor, “Something smells good.” 

You nodded towards the two plates, that now sat full, on the island top. “I made us a big breakfast this morning. I thought it would be nice to spend some time together today. Especially since you’ve been busy with all the away games the past few weeks.” 

Nico walked up behind you, hands circling your full waist with a squeeze. 

“That sounds perfect, schatzi.” 

Grabbing your hand, Nico helped you make your way into the high-top seat, carefully pushing you in before finding his way next to you. He gave you a quick peck, reaching to pull your legs to drape across his lap. 

Your stomach argued with hunger, prompting you to finally satisfy your morning needs. You closed your eyes in bliss at the warm taste of your favorite breakfast. Ever since you were a child, you had this same meal every year. Yet, it never failed to bring back the same excitement and nostalgia as it did when you were little.

“Fuck,” Nico mumbled under his breath, “Don’t make that face, baby. It’s too early for me to be hard.” 

You fluttered your eyes innocently, “I don’t know what you're talking about.” 

However, you most certainly did. And the evidence was currently pressing into your calf. 

A low groan escaped his mouth as you dragged your legs slowly from his lap. Grabbing the empty plates, you made a show of your hips in the short walk to the sink. Carefully placing them in the metal confinement, rough hands came to pull you back. 

“Oh!” A squeal echoed into the kitchen as Nico walked your body back to the counter. His large fingers gripped your wrists, pinning them to the cabinet above you. Nico’s face dangled teasingly too far for your aching lips. 

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, schatzi.” He took his bottom lip between his teeth, “Swaying that pretty ass in my face.”

Nico shook his head in disapproval, “‘S not fair to me, baby.” His deep eyes only seemed to grow bigger, “Why are you being mean to me?”

You furrowed your brows in a pout, “‘M not being mean.”

“Oh yeah, you are.” He moved one of your hands back down to cup his heavy length straining against the fabric of his sweats. “Think just because you’re the birthday girl, you get to be a brat? Is that it?”

You huffed in annoyance. You should have known Nico wouldn’t give in to you so easily, even if it was your special day. Deciding to continue your ploy, you gave him your best puppy eyes, “No, Neeks.” You bit your lip, “I just want my favorite birthday present.”

Nico didn’t miss the way your eyes scanned his body, your orbs lingering on his throbbing erection. He could feel his resolve faltering at your sultry gaze, his body naturally leaning in to press against yours.

Although, just as Nico’s lips were about to finally slot on your awaiting ones, his phone blared loudly for the umpteenth time that morning. Nico’s forehead dropped to your shoulder in defeat.

“I’m sorry, baby.” He mumbled, “Gotta go to morning skate.”

Even though you knew he had to leave, you couldn’t help but feel slightly dejected. You nodded understandably, acknowledging his predicament.

Nico picked his head up, placing a sweet kiss on your cheek, “I promise, I’ll make it up to you when I get back, birthday girl.”

-

As soon as Nico had left and the remnants from breakfast had been cleaned up, you easily found yourself falling into a peaceful nap on the couch. Yet, as quickly as your eyes shut, they opened again at the feeling of warm lips trailing your shoulder. 

“Wake up, schatzi,” Nico’s warm voice soothed your sleepy mind, “I brought you something.” 

Intrigued, you lifted your head to meet his gaze. 

‘Wha’dya bring?”

Nico’s mouth quirked up, “Come with me to the kitchen and find out.” 

Giving in to the curiosity, you rose from the couch and followed your boyfriend into the homey room. You felt your breath stop for a moment at the lopsided cake that now sat center on your island. It wasn’t the prettiest or the most shapely, but you didn’t care. With the icing slightly running down the sides and the half-cut strawberries, it was perfect. 

“You made me a cake?” 

Nico shuffled bashfully, “Yeah, I tried to, at least. I-I know it’s not the best, but-” You cut him off before he could finish. 

“It’s perfect, Neeks.” You looked at him with sparkling eyes, “Thank you.” 

“Anything for my birthday girl.” 

You turned back to admire the pink cake once more. Nico’s warm body came to lean against your back, his arms wrapping around to cage you in. You watched as his right hand moved to swipe some of the fluffy icing from the side onto his finger. 

“Open up, baby.” 

You obliged gratefully, taking in his sugar-covered digit. You swirled your tongue to gather as much of the sweetness as possible, sucking lightly. 

“Fuck..” Nico’s voice came out in a hoarse whisper. 

You could feel his hardening length pressed snuggly against your cheeks, taking the opportunity to tease him a bit. Jutting your hips backward, Nico groaned at the pressure. He pulled his finger from your mouth, a trail of saliva still attached. His hand moved to grasp onto your heavy breast through the material of your t-shirt.

Nico’s fingers danced across your peaked nipple, before quickly turning your body in place. He swiped another bit of the icing, letting your mouth eagerly accept his offer. His eyes grew with dark lust at the sight. Nico’s cock twitched with desire at the feeling of your tongue. 

He removed his finger suddenly, drawing a whine from your lips. However, you were quickly cut off by Nico grabbing your thighs to hoist you onto the countertop. The cool sensation of the marble ignites goosebumps all over your skin. His mouth immediately found your neck, trailing sloppy kisses down the supple skin. His hands toyed with the hem of your t-shirt, before managing to discard it completely. 

“Look at these, baby” His eyes were glued to your breasts, “Been thinking about my girls all day. Always sit so pretty for me.” 

His fingers were cold as they grazed over your bare nipples. Nico didn’t waste any time as he lowered his mouth to take one into his mouth. You bit your lip to suppress a squeal. His teeth bit the pebbled bud lightly, sending shocks of pleasure to your core. You leaned your head back as a whine echoed into the kitchen. 

“Mmm, fuck,” You panted with arousal, “Missed this so much.” 

Nico raised a brow, “Yeah?” He mumbled as he took in the other nipple, “Missed me sucking on these gorgeous tits?” 

His accent grew thicker as the pure need for you flooded his senses. Your body felt like it was on fire with each lick and suck Nico gave to your swollen breasts. You could have sworn you’d cum from just that alone. 

Nico pulled up, his own chest heaving with desire while he ripped off his shirt. As if a lightbulb went off in his mind, his lips grew into a wicked grin. He gripped the backs of your legs, yanking you forward on the counter. You sucked in a breath, undeniably hot and bothered by his manhandling. Nico kept his hand on your leg, while he reached to pull the platter of cake closer to the both of you. 

You watched him quizzically as he, once again, dipped his first two fingers into the icing. Nico looked back at you, smirking at your questioning face. He answered with a sly wink, before smearing the icing down the length of your chest and abdomen.

“Nico!” You exclaimed with a laugh, “What the hell?” 

“It’s okay, schatzi. I’ll clean you up.” He gave you another smirk, before bending down to trail his tongue along the stripe of frosting. “Always taste so sweet.”

 He took his time, making sure not a single bit of the sticky substance was left. The air ran cool against your skin as Nico’s tongue traveled further down your body. You found yourself panting with arousal. He pushed your shoulder slightly as he signaled you to lay back. 

You gasped, back arching against the cold countertop. He took the time while you adjusted to the temperature to rub some more icing along the insides of your thighs. Your legs parted subconsciously, letting Nico slot his body in between them. 

A whimper escaped into the air as you felt his warm muscle flex against the plush fat of your thigh. He ran his tounge teasingly closer to your throbbing core, but only to trail it back down. Your chest heaved with anticipation, the tension overbearing, and raising a sheen layer of sweat over your skin as he continued his mistrations around where you needed him most. 

Determined to have you begging, Nico pulled away completely. Watching your flushed breasts rise and fall at the pace of your rapid breathing. He had to suppress a groan at the sight of your perked nipples still covered in his spit. His eyes met yours as you looked at him desperately. 

“Nico,” You whined, “Why’d you stop?” 

He smirked at you, “I want you to beg for it, schatzi.” 

A fire lit inside of your stomach at the authority in his tone, yet you couldn’t help the bubble of stubbornness that arose with it. 

“Why should I?” You inquired, propping yourself up onto your elbows, “I mean, it is my birthday. Don’t I deserve a present?” 

Nico almost smiled at your rebuttal, but he also needed to make sure you knew who was in charge. He leaned forward, his rigid abdomen pressing into your soft one. His mouth latched onto your nipples one more, this time sucking harshly. 

You cried out through the mixture of pain and pleasure, your slick practically dripping onto the counter by now. Your hands moved to grip his shoulder roughly, your nails leaving angry red marks in response. Nico only pulled away once he heard your needy cries and felt the way your hips bucked up into him. 

“Ready to stop being a brat?” 

Normally, you’d put up more of a fight, but with Nico’s relentless teasing all day, the thrumming need that pounded through every vein in your body had you complying with his wants. 

“Yes,” You breathed, “Please, Neeks.” Your body began to squirm as he dragged his clothed cock along the wetness pooling from your cunt, “Fuck, please do something.” 

His head tilted at you, hips still moving torturously slow, “But I am doing something, baby.” 

Your head fell haphazardly against the cool marble, an exasperated sigh leaving your throat. It was agonizing what he was doing to you, and he knew it. 

All you heard was a low chuckle before you felt Nico’s body lower and the sound of his knees thumping down against the hardwoods. Your eyes fluttered closed as Nico’s lips began to leave light kisses closer and closer to your clit. 

Nico’s right arm moved across your leg to gather some more icing before prodding at your closed mouth. Right as you opened to accept his fingers, Nico plunged his tongue deep into your soaked hole. 

Your body convulsed at the sensory overload. You felt your eyes roll back as the sweet strawberry cascaded over your taste buds and the surging pleasure Nico provided pulsed through your core. You swirled your tongue around his fingers, determined not to leave a single bit of the treat left.

Nico’s fingers fell from your mouth as you moaned almost pornographically at the intense sensation of him lapping at your velvet walls. His nose nudged against your clit with every pass he made, causing the onset of your orgasm to show its head. Your hands tangled themselves into his thick hair, tugging in an attempt to ground yourself further onto his face. 

Nico moaned against your pussy, the vibrations sending shockwaves up every limb. Your body felt as if it was floating, tingling with the utmost euphoric sensations. That familiar burning only increased as Nico replaced his tongue with two fingers. He plunged them brutally, not bothering to start slow. 

“Fuck!” You cried as your back arched off the counter. 

Nico’s mouth sucked skillfully on your clit, drawing fast circles. You could feel your climax approaching impossibly fast, your cunt beginning to spasm around your boyfriend’s fingers. 

“Close already, schatzi?” He mumbled against you.

You nodded helplessly, overwhelmed by the searing pleasure in your lower stomach. You could feel the blood pounding in your ears as you were hit with one of the most intense orgasms you’d ever had. Your hips bucked against Nico as he continued his abuse through the duration of your high. 

Your mind felt like it was spinning, the weight of your climax taking the breath from your lungs. Your vision went white as your eyes clenched shut. Nico’s finger slowed to a stop, his mouth now leaving gentle kisses to the side of your knee where he rested his head. Your jaw fell slightly, lungs burning from the lack of air. 

All you could feel was Nico carefully removing his fingers, and the weight of his body moving to now stand. His warm hands caressed your hips soothingly, coaxing you back to reality. 

“Come back to me, pretty girl.” 

You eventually managed to peel open your lids, eyes clouded with dreariness. 

“There’s those pretty eyes,” Nico smiled lovingly at your fucked out state, “Let’s go take a quick shower. You’re all sticky from the icing.”

A laugh bubbled up, “Yeah?” You started at him accusingly, “And whose fault is that?” 

Nico just rolled his eyes at your attitude, helping you off the counter and into the bathroom. 

Once you were situated under the scolding water, Nico slid in behind you, arms wrapping around to pull you into his front. 

“Today is my favorite day of the year,” Nico stated.

You lifted your head from his chest, looking at him questioningly, “Why?” 

“Because it’s the day you were born.” 

You felt your cheeks go red, a bashful smile turning up on your lips. You shoved your face back into his toned chest, hiding away from his gaze. 

“Neeks,” You whined with embarrassment. 

Nico just laughed, placing a kiss on the top of your head, “Happy birthday, schatzi.” 

[mikkomacko]

Him and I - Falling Angel

Pairing: Mob Nico Hischier x reader

Warnings: crying, discussion of violence and death, a little bit of angst but mostly fluff with our fav mafioso

Previous

Enjoy! xx

______________________________________________________________

You spend a lot of time staring at walls and ceilings now. Not that you particularly like it, but it’s one of the few things that doesn’t make your head pound. The pain is getting better, you don’t have to hide in the dark bedroom every other hour anymore but it still leaves you dizzy and upset.

These are your last few days in Switzerland and you get to spend them laying on the couch. At least the boys have found a way to keep you company and keep themselves busy.

“Pass, pass, pass!”

Jack has always been loud. You’ve known that since the moment you met him and could hear his voice over everyone’s else’s in The Rock for the rest of the night. Nico used to joke that he was so good with the ladies because he was the only one they could actually hear.

Even with his attempts to be quiet for your sake, his voice makes your temple throb. You eye twitches uncomfortably, gaze half focused on the FIFA game on the tv as Luke’s character passes to Jack. You don’t know how they manage to follow along with so much happening, but it’s entertaining to watch them.

Knowing if you keep watching you’ll eventually throw up your lunch all over the living room, you instead watch them. The coffee table has been moved to the far end of the room, the large fur rug that once lay in front of the fire now lays in front of the couch. All four Devs boys are sprawled out on it, backs against the sofa and feet stretched out towards the fire place.

They’ve been like that for days, sat on the floor together with controllers and Gatorades. And you usually take up the other couch, tucked under a blanket and head flat on the cushion so you just have to press your cheek into the fabric to watch them. That or look up at the white ceiling and watch the fan spin round and round.

Jack and Luke must score because they high five each other and attempt to quietly cheer while Alex throws his head back against the couch and Mercer pulls at the fluffy rug in frustration.

You wince, not sure if it’s from the volume or guilt for not telling the boys that Nico had fucked you into the fur of that very rug just a couple days ago. Before you can think on it too much, soft fingers are brushing the side of your face, drawing your attention.

Nico stands above you, leaning over the back of the couch to press his palm into your forehead. His skin is cold, finger tips chilled from getting more firewood from outside, and you lean into it, the weight of his hand dulling the pounding in your head. He frowns down at you, flicks his eyes up towards the boys.

“Inside voices or m’taking the game away.” He warns, and that’s not the first time you’ve heard those words lately. Almost immediately the boys fall silent, hushed whispering filling the air before someone gently apologizes.

“It’s ok,” you say, closing your eyes and letting Nico’s hold anchor you. “S’not you guys.”

His thumb strokes over your hairline. “What do you need baby?”

You shake your head, blinking your eyes open to look at him. Nico just watches you for a moment, silent and observant with his lips pursed. Fortunately he doesn’t look at you all sad and guilty anymore, even in moments when he knows you’re hurting.

“M’gonna change and then come lay with you, ok?”

Nico leaves, taking the cool feeling of his hand with him and annoyance bubbles in your gut. Slowly, you get up from the couch, trying to avoid any head rushes or dizziness as you tiptoe around the boys.

“What do you need? I’ll get it.” Luke is already moving to get on his feet, almost tripping you as you step over his lanky legs.

“I’m good. Just getting some water.” You assure, laughing when he lifts a hand up for you to hold as you walk. The rest of the boys take after him, all holding out their palms to keep you steady as you navigate their gangle of limbs.

You don’t need the help, but the gesture is so sweet it burns in your chest and you instinctively reach up to touch the pendant around your neck.

“Hey.”

A knot forms in your throat, your fingers tightening around the little devil horns. Timo is leaning against one of the counter tops, drying off his hands.

You swallow, turning to open the cabinet with the cups.

“Hey.”

Moving to the fridge, you keep your gaze down and fill up the glass with water. It’s awkward, just as it has been since he left you at the hospital. Timo’s never been good at fixing things, and you’ve never been good at giving him the chance to even try.

“You look a lot better,” he says tentatively. “The bruising and stuff.”

Bringing the glass up to your lips, you just nod and take a sip. It feels wrong to walk away from him, so you don’t. You just stand there, holding your water and staring out the kitchen window.

“Are you ever gonna look at me again?”

You shrug, take another drink of water and try to ignore the pounding of your heart in your throat. Timo sighs, and you can picture him rubbing at his right eye like he always does.

“What do I have to do to fix this? You want to me get on my knees and beg? Cry?”

This time you do look over at him, stomach twisting when you meet his gaze. The usually bright and beautiful blue of his eyes is dull and cold, so sad and unlike your best friend.

“I don’t know,” you murmur, because you really don’t. You want to fix this, want to forgive Timo but it’s hard for you to get over feeling betrayed, especially by him.

“You forgave Nico,” he argues weakly, “what’s the difference.”

Bristling, you scoff. “The difference is that it’s Nico. I get why he’d be hesitant about my abilities, not you. You’re the one I train with, the one I’ve spent miserable hours with learning to fight and survive. And you still doubted me.”

Timo’s offended, you can tell by the way he stands up straighter and tilts his head to the side. Narrowed eyes zeroing in on you. “I was just following orders, doing what I was told.”

It’s a valid point, at least to him. And that makes it hurt even more. Even though he’s your best friend, he still chose Nico over you. His loyalty still doesn’t lie with you let alone the both of you, as it should.

“I don’t care,” you mumble, looking back out the window. Tears have begun to prickle behind your eyes and you don’t really want to cry in front of him right now. “M’sure Marcelo was just following orders too. Doesn’t mean it’s right.”

“Don’t do that, don’t make me seem like him.”

Timo scoffs. “I didn’t say that,” you argue “but it’s funny that you immediately attached yourself to him.”

Rubbing at your burning eyes, you blink a few times and notice it’s begun snowing outside. You wish you could go out there and bury your head in the piles of it.

“I wouldn’t hurt you like that.” Timo defends but he sounds flat, like he’s lost all the fight in him.

You have too, and you want to go lay down and sleep. “No, you wouldn’t,” you agree with him, “but you’d hurt me in other ways, that’s for sure.”

“Y/n-“

“Enough,”

Nico’s voice startles you, a bit of water spilling from your glass when you jump and turn to the entry way. He’s changed into a pair of sweatpants, chest bare as his hoodie and coat have been forgotten somewhere upstairs.

He’s not looking at you, dark eyes instead focus on Timo and while he doesn’t look mad, he’s obviously annoyed.

“You can fight with her about this later, when she’s better. Not now.” He tells him gruffly, uncrossing his arms and stepping into the kitchen.

As if he were pulling you by a string, you meet him halfway and step into his chest. Maybe you’re being dramatic or a baby about this, but you can’t help it. You’re hurt, both physically and emotionally and while Nico does have a part in it, he’s also the only person that truly makes you feel safe.

It’s unfair to Timo, you know that. But you deserve to be a little unfair right now.

“Tired,” you mumble, nose pressing into his collarbone. Nico wraps an arm around you, presses his fingers to the back of your head protectively.

“Let’s go lay down,” he instructs, and you hum in agreement, letting him lead you back towards the living room. The blinds have been lowered, dimming the light in the room and the other Devs boys have turned off the game in favor of scrolling through Netflix.

A part of you wonders if Nico told them to. It wouldn’t surprise you and you can practically picture him standing over them, eyebrows furrowed and arms crossed as he instructs them to quiet down and turn the game off.

“What are we watching?” You ask, placing your water on the side table and waiting for Nico to sprawl out on the couch before you settle between his thighs. He sits up so you can lean back on his chest, his skin warm even though the fabric of your shirt.

“Whatever you want,” Mercer replies casually, but you don’t want to pick. Especially not after you pull a throw blanket up and over your legs, snuggling into Nico. Your eyes already feel droopy and heavy, tired brain unable to think of a movie you even like.

“Holtzy can pick,” you decide, sending him a lazy wink when he looks over at you. A sly grin takes over his face.

“I told you she wouldn’t want to pick,” he address Nico, “she’ll be out in two seconds tops.” You hear your boyfriend scoff, slipping his hand under your shirt to rest in your belly. You silently laugh and he lightly pinches at the softness of your stomach when he feels your shoulders shake.

Alex puts on an Adam Sandler comedy, one of the new ones you haven’t seen yet and you’re glad. Nico loves comedies but he hates rewatching movies, so at least he’ll be entertained.

Tilting your head back, you pucker your lips and press a kiss to the scar under Nico’s chin. His scuff is growing out, and it tickles your lips enough that you have to scratch at them afterwards but it makes him chuckle so you don’t care.

Settling back into his chest, you watch the into of the movie through droopy eyes. Timo comes into the living room just before your eyes fall shut, settling into the couch behind the other boys. You don’t see if he looks over at you and Nico, but it feels like he does just before you fall asleep.

~~~~

You’ve never been a fan of early rising, not until you met Nico. He likes to get his days started right away, likes to be out in the sun and feel like he’s actually doing something. When you first started seeing him you thought maybe he was lying about simply liking the morning. Like maybe he had undiagnosed anxiety or was a workaholic and couldn’t let himself sleep in.

Now you think he really just likes the morning.

And you don’t blame him. The house in Switzerland is peaceful, silent except for the groggy words exchanged between the two of you and the cautious movements of making breakfast without waking the boys.

Nico’s in his briefs and a black hoodie, pin straight hair tangled on the left side of his head and eyes still puffy. Even so he looks handsome, all dimples and sleepy smiles as you help him whisk eggs for breakfast.

The quiet is nice. Not that you don’t love the ruckus of having your family in the house with you, but you also love the moments you can just exist with Nico.

No Jack also means no pounding headache.

“Why are you drinking that?” You ask Nico when he places two glasses of iced matcha on the countertop in front of you.

He shrugs, sliding one over to you before bringing the other up to his lips and taking a sip. You don’t miss the way his nose slightly scrunches, green foam lingering on his top lip.

Giggling, you reach over the island counter and cup his jaw, wiping the matcha away with your thumb.

“You like it,” he explains, catching your wrist when you pull back and bringing it closer, pressing a kiss to your palm. “Figured I’d try again.”

His voice is still deep and gruff, lazy accent lisping some of the words and it’s so cute you can’t help but smile at him.

The compliment is on the tip of your tongue, eager to jump out just so you can see him blush and get all shy, but the words never come. They’re forgotten by the soft knock on the front door.

Eyebrows furrowing, Nico looks at you and then towards the entryway to the front door, and back to you.

“Don’t look at me,” you say, taking your hand back and reaching for your glass instead. “I don’t know anyone here.” You take a drink, following him out of the kitchen and down the short hallway.

The figure of a woman looms through the blurred glass of the door, but Nico must recognize her because he puts a hand out to stop you.

Your heart stutters, fear clawing at your throat when he turns to you and looks worried. You know that look, know what it means. Whoever is outside the door shouldn’t be here, more for your sake than Nico’s.

Immediately you think of Lena, imagine that somehow she’s found her way back to Switzerland and is here to torment you some more.

“Shit, sorry, s’ok I swear,” he immediately soothes, taking your face in his hands. Nico strokes your cheeks, biting at his lip as you let his words sink in for a second. It’s not until you’ve taken two deep breathes do you realize that you’re practically tearing a hole in his hoodie where you’ve biting your hand in the fabric to hold onto him.

“S-sorry,” you whisper embarrassed, struggling to get your knuckles to relax.

He shakes his head. “Don’t be sorry for that,” he tells you earnestly, whatever else he was gonna say interrupted by another knock on the door.

“Nico, I can hear you at the door. Open up.”

It’s his mother, you realize, immediately understanding why he looked at you like that. You haven’t seen Katja since the family lunch all those days ago and you suppose she’s heard about what happened and is here to talk about it with Nico. Especially since one of the people you forced Luca to banish did business with Rino.

You let go of Nico and take a deep breath, placing your hand on his back in what you hope is a comforting manner as he undoes the lock and opens the door.

Katja is dressed to the nines, her styled hair tucked under a fur winter hat that matches the long fur coat she wears. Diamonds peak out from under the collar, matching the ones on her ears and her finger. You look down, notice that even her snow boots are slick and elegant, and somehow look like they even have a heel in them.

Suddenly the boxers you stole from Nico and his old Team Suisse shirt feel like rags on you.

Kicking the fresh snow off her boots, she enters the house and you and Nico both step back in sync. As if being approached by a dog with foam at its lips.

“Glad to see you’re still a morning bird,” she says in greeting, adjusting her Chanel purse in the crook of her elbow.

“You too,” Nico replies, running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to tame the tangles and knots. “Father still asleep?”

Katja clicks her tongue. “You know how he is, him and Luca, out like logs until at least 10.”

Insecure and unsure of what to do, you just nod at her words and reach up to fix the cowlick at the nape of Nico’s neck for him. That was the wrong move, however, because now she’s looking at you.

“Hello y/n,” she says politely, and while her face looks just as emotionless as it did when you met her, there’s something in her tone that’s different. Something that feels familiar.

“Good morning Katja,” you croak out, fingers finding your pendant and clutching at the metal. “Do you want coffee or anything? Nico and I were making breakfast if you want to stay?”

You’re rambling, you know that, but it’s suddenly hit you that she’s looking at the bruises on your throat and the healing stitches on your head. The last thing you want is for her to say something, and you’re tempted to duck behind Nico and hide.

Instead you keep yapping.

“Nico take your moms coat and-“

“That’s quite alright,” she cuts in, stopping Nico from reaching for her things. “I stopped by to see if you’d like to take a drive with me?”

You freeze, mouth parted in confusion and dig your fingertips against the pointy horns of the devils charm.

“Mother we’re not even dressed-“

“Not you,” she cuts him off, “just y/n.”

Once again you don’t even know what to say. What does she want with you? Is she mad about Lena’s family? Does she want to take you away from Nico so she can banish you from the country as well?

Realistically you know that would do nothing to keep you from Nico. He’d give up Switzerland for you, you’re sure of it. He’s given it up before for less. The thought is still terrifying though, mostly because she’s terrifying.

“She doesn’t go without me,” Nico states firmly, reaching his hand behind him for you. You cling to it, hold on for dear life to keep from spiraling into an anxiety attack.

Katja looks at him with stern eyes and an unimpressed tilt of her head. You don’t know what makes you say it but before either of them can speak you spitting out an agreement.

“Of course I’ll go,” you squeeze Nico’s fingers when he whips around to look at you. “Just let me change.”

Pleased, she folds her hands in front of her and nods. Nico stares at you in bewilderment, shaking his head and turning to hide you from his mother with his body.

“It’s ok,” you whisper to him. “I’ll just go for a bit and I’ll call you if I need to.”

He just keeps shaking his head. “You’re still recovering, and you don’t know what she wants or-“

“She’s your mother, Nico. It doesn’t matter what it is, I need to go.”

Unimpressed and annoyed, he sighs through his nose. You let go of his hand, reach up to hold his pouting cheeks. Swallowing the lump in your throat, you force a smile.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” You joke, but he doesn’t think that’s funny by the way he glances at the wounds on your skin and scoffs.

You kiss his cheek in apology, quickly ducking away and towards the stairs to change. Hopefully giving him a bit with just his mother will calm him down, and give him a chance to set some ground rules.

Toothbrush hanging between your lips and deodorant stick in hand, you picture him standing over Katja, hands on his hips as he tells her how long you can be gone, what streets and neighborhoods to avoid, that you’re phone is to be on and in your hand every second.

Capping the deodorant, you finish scrubbing your teeth, spitting toothpaste into the sink with a grin. Nico can be overbearing and overprotective, but you love him for it. His instructions and rules never feel like too much, like he’s restricting you. Instead they make you feel safe, loved. It’s a nice feeling to have again after feeling so scared and embarrassed lately.

Ten minutes later you’re tiptoeing down the stairs to find Nico sitting across from his mother in the living room, the mess of pillows and blankets from the boys splayed out on the floor between them.

“Sorry about the mess,” you tell her, Nico rising at the sound of your voice. He’s got your coat in his arm and your boots resting by his feet. “The boys stayed up late playing video games last night.”

Katja looks around, slightly confused. “The boys?”

Nico holds your jacket open for you, helps you slip your arms in. “From Jersey,” he answers. “A few of them flew out to see her.”

You turn and his fingers fall to the zipper, latching it and dragging it up to your chest. He’s still pouting when you look at him, thick fingers now snapping the buttons shut for you.

Katja makes a noise of understanding. Holding Nico’s shoulders for balance, you shove your feet into the boots, not even thinking about tying them since you’re just sitting in the car. That’s not good enough for Nico though because he sits back in the couch, leaning down to tie them for you.

Your cheeks burn, Katja’s gaze heavy on you as her son bundles you up through grumpy sighs and petulant eyes. Dodging her eyes, you wiggling your feet in your too-tightly tied boots while Nico rises to his feet again.

“Phone?” He questions and you dig it out of your pocket to show him you have it. Nodding proudly, you put it away and he smooths your hair down.

“30 minutes,” he informs you, and you try not to laugh as his predictability. “If you’re gonna be late, if roads are bad, if you don’t feel well you call me.”

You nod through his words, making sure to not look away from his eyes so he knows you’re listening. “Don’t get down anywhere, unless you absolutely have to, and don’t talk to anyone but Katja, understand?”

Narrowing your eyes, you hold your fingers to your forehead and salute him. “Aye aye boss,” you joke and he rolls his eyes, features easing up as he fights off an amused smile.

“Alright, alright,” Nico relents, pressing a chaste kiss to the top of your head before dropping his hands to his hips. “Get outta here, I’m gonna get ready and finish breakfast for when you get back.”

“Ok,” you murmur, lightly taking his chin between your thumb and pointer finger, overgrown beard tickling the pads of them. “Just don’t shave, alright?”

He looks at you fondly, something warm swirling in those pretty brown eyes of his. “Aye aye boss,” he mocks, left eye fluttering into a wink.

You let go, clearing your throat and turning to Katja. “Ready?”

She’s watching you both with a raised eyebrow, curiosity swimming in her eyes and the look is so similar to Nico it makes you stutter, as if she’s looking right into you the way he does.

“Yes, very well,” she rises from the couch, looks at Nico. “I’ll obey the rules, Nico.”

He doesn’t give any indication that he’s heard her and it makes your skin crawl uncomfortably. “Let’s go then,” you say weakly, motioning to the door. Nico follows you out, stands in the open doorway as Katja gets into the backseat of a black car. You look back at him, meet those strong and certain eyes of his.

And he nods just once, his silent way of telling you he’s sure it’s ok, it’s safe. You slide in behind his mother, let the driver close the door behind you and watch him through the tinted window as the car rolls down the snow covered driveway.

~~~~

Katja spends the first five minutes of her time in silence. The car creeps down the freshly cleared roads, a cruising pace like it has all the time in the world. You hold your phone in you hand, anxiously lighting up the screen every 30 seconds to check the time and make sure Nico didn’t call or text.

Finally, she motions to the driver and a partition slides up, sealing you two off from other ears. For some reason, that makes you more nervous. Why does she not want her driver listening in?

Sweating, you press the seat warmer button to lower the temperature. Across the car, Katja clears her throat.

“For a moment back there, I thought you and Nico were hiding grandchildren from me.”

It catches you off guard. Of all the things to talk about, she’s saying that? Even more confusing, what does she mean by that? What could make her think you and Nico were secretly parenting children this whole time?

Sending your confusion, she continues. “The mess at the house and the ‘boys’ you referred to. I was afraid I had missed out another part of my son’s life.”

“Oh,” you say dumbly, fiddling with your phone and looking over at her. She’s already looking at you. “Um, Nico wouldn’t do that-we wouldn’t do that. I know he doesn’t share a lot, but he’d share that.”

She lips curl into just the tiniest smile, her eyes gleaming with mirth. “I believe you know my son very well. Apparently you don’t know how much he despises this family.”

Shockingly, she doesn’t sound angry or upset. Neutral, like she’s reporting the weather to you. It makes your heart ache for her. You can’t imagine being a mother and feeling nothing when your child doesn’t like you.

That’s an experience you don’t want to have.

“He loves you,” you tell her, feeling like she has to at least know that. “He tells me that all the time. That he does love everyone here, but he’s different from you.”

Her fingers clench in her lap, so quickly you think you might have imagined it. The rest of her stays stoic and poised.

“I raised Nico in a very specific way. All three of my children were planned, brought up in different ways. It’s simply the way this life works.

“Nico never wanted to be a part of it.”

You don’t really get what she’s saying. It doesn’t matter. Katja glances at your throat, something sad settling in her eyes and continues talking.

“My husband is an only child. He inherited the business from his father. And that left him vulnerable. From the moment Rino and I married we knew we wanted three children, enough to keep the business - and those around it- safe.

“I’m afraid that lesson never made it to Nico. He was always a little rebellious, always stubborn-“

“Determined,” you quickly add, smiling softly when Katja lights up at the word. “Once something is in his head, there’s no stopping it.”

She chuckles fondly. “Yes, determined. And he was determined to get as far away from us as possible.”

The car keeps rolling through the town, the clock shows you have twenty more minutes before Nico will be tearing through the streets, most likely with the boys behind me, still dressed in pajamas and half asleep.

“Nico didn’t see what the business was like when it was just Rino. The way it left us- me vulnerable.”

Katja clears her throat uncomfortably. A rock settles in your gut, the purpose of this conversation becoming clear.

“You were hurt.” It’s not a question. You know the answer.

She inhales, “Yes, a few times. Back then it wasn’t terrible, there was a code against harming the women of the business. But I was intimidated, taken, scared. Anything to rattle Rino, make him give it all up.”

“Did he ever try?” You ask.

Katja nods. “He said he would try but we both know he wouldn’t. This is his life, it’s all he’s known. So we expanded instead, planned our kids and where they would be. In order to protect each other.”

That’s why he was supposed to go to Germany, that’s why his whole life was planned out for him. He was meant to have the role since before he was even born.

You can’t imagine how angry his parents must have been when he vanished.

“Nico being overseas doesn’t give him that protection.” You state.

Katja simply nods, eyebrows pinching sympathetically. “And by extension, you either.”

The car falls silent as you take in her words. Suddenly you’re mad. What right does she have in telling you this? Of showing her disappointment in Nico’s decisions and turning it on you?

“Are you trying to scare me into not being with him?” You snip, “Tell me I’m not safe, that I won’t ever be because you don’t like that Nico chose his own life?”

The time on her little car ride is winding down. The driver circles the block, begins the slow drive back to the house.

“I’m trying to make sure you know what you’ve gotten into,” Katja replies back, her tone a little heated.

“I do know. I-“

“Are you going to marry Nico?”

You pause, confused on the sudden shift but nod. “Yeah I am.”

She looks out the window for a moment and you wonder if somehow you’ve become the most disappointing thing in Nico’s life to her.

Then she turns back.

“This life will always be harder for us,” shockingly, Katja reaches her left hand out and places it on your forearm. “We have taught Nico very well, all of our children. But he’s the first of them to bring marriage into his business. And the fear that comes with that? The sacrifice? It’s something that can’t be taught.”

You understand where Katja comes from. And you’ve known that Nico will never know what it’s like to be in your place as the wife of the boss. If anything, this trip shows that. He had no understanding at all for what happened with you and Lena.

But Katja has failed to take into account that this happened away from home, away from the Devs.

“It’s not a business to us,” you say softly, placing your hand over hers. The large diamond ring on her finger cuts into your palm. “In Jersey, we’re a family. And Nico has made sure everyone in that family knows we take care of each other.”

Katja is such a hard woman to read. She’s always composed and cold, like a Barbie doll brought to life. For the first time since you’ve met her, emotion swells in her gaze and it takes you moment to realize its relief.

She’s been scared. This whole time she was scared for Nico and his safety. Maybe even for your safety.

You swallow, look down at where your hand is holding hers. “I know Nico disappointed you all when he left, but you should know that you gave the world the most strong, level-headed, and capable man I’ve ever met.”

Katja is watching you through wet eyes when you meet her gaze. “He is so easy to love,” you say earnestly. “Even when he’s purposely trying to make it difficult.”

That makes her laugh. You imagine Nico’s always enjoyed pushing against those that love him, testing the strength of that bond.

“I wouldn’t have chosen him and this life if I didn’t think he was worth it. And I can say the same thing for the dozens of boys and men back home that have followed him too.

“We’re not vulnerable, we’re not alone. We’re a family.”

Katja sniffles, blinking away the tears in her eyes and you let go of her hand so she can collect herself. Giving her a moment, you unlock your phone to text Nico that you’re almost home. As usual his response is instant.

Good, I miss you

You bite at your lip, overwhelmed with how much you fucking love him. Another text comes in.

Do I need to kill her?

Unfortunately, you have no idea if he’s saying that to make you laugh or if he’s actually serious. A part of you thinks he’s actually serious. Somehow, that makes it even funnier.

Nico is on the doorstep when you the car pulls up to the house. He’s put on jeans and a beanie, the same hoodie from this morning covering his torso.

His eyes follow the driver as he climbs out of the car and comes around to open your door. You step out, meet Nico’s gaze and hope he can read you. Like always, he can and you can see him visibly relax from across the way.

Katja slips out of the car behind you, whispering something in Swiss German to her driver before walking up the drive with you.

“Mother,” Nico greets, pushing off the doorway he was leaning against. “You’re thirty seconds late.”

She breathes out a laugh, shaking her head fondly at her son and much to your enjoyment, Nico’s cheeks flush. You watch him bite back his grin, try to hide his own amusement even though his dimples give it away immediately.

“My apologies son,” Katja says warmly, not even a bit sorry. Pulling your hands into your sleeves, you squeeze them together to fight off the cold and wonder how Nico could possibly be standing out here in just his hoodie.

Both him and Katja notice at the same time, Nico reaching out for your elbow and pulling you up a step. Instinctively you give him your hands, curling forward when he takes them between his and brings them up to his mouth. Blowing warm air on them, you catch his mother’s eye and feel your ears burn with shyness.

You wonder if she’s used to seeing Nico like this, if she remembers how sweet and kind he is. Did he even get to be like this around them? Or was his life always so cold and scripted?

Katja’s eyes shine with pride, her left eye falling into an effortless wink before settling back on her son.

“I should let you two get back inside, warm up and rest.”

Nico straightens out, still cupping your hands in his large ones. He looks confused, probably having expected more from her visit. You’ll have to tell him that this might have been your favorite moment from the whole trip.

“Before I go,” she digs into her purse, pulls out a little black box and you feel your heart jump into your throat. “I wanted to give you this.”

You pull back from Nico so he can take the box, his own fingers trembling now as he grabs it from her palm. Looking up at him, he looks shocked. Lips parted in awe.

“This is…” he trails off, opens it to reveal the most stunning silver wedding band you’ve ever seen. The diamond is smaller than the one Katja has on, but it’s bright and beautiful, surrounded by tiny little green gems. “This is supposed to go to Luca.”

Nico’s argument sounds weak and breathless, like he’s in disbelief and doesn’t even know what to do with the ring. Based on his words you guess it’s a family heirloom, a ring from a grandmother or great grandmother that is supposed to go to the oldest son.

Katja shakes her head, reaches over to gently close the lid of the box and rest her fingers over Nico’s. “It goes to the son that most deserves it.”

She looks over at you, gives you a smile that is so motherly and tender it makes you ache. “A man is only as strong and capable as the women behind him,” she turns to Nico. “And you son, are the strongest and most capable man I could’ve ever hoped to bring into this world.”

~~~~

You and Nico don’t talk about it. He presses a kiss to the side of your head as you stand in the entryway, peeling off your boots and jacket. Then he’s dashing up the stairs, and you clean up and put away all your layers.

In the kitchen you find breakfast still warm on the stove so you serve two plates for you and Nico, putting the rest aside for the boys when they get up. You drink your slightly watered down matcha, throwing Nico’s in the sink because you know he won’t drink it and pull out the cold brew you’d put in the fridge for him yesterday.

He comes into the kitchen just as you’re adding a bit of milk to it, eyes lighting up when he sees it. “Where’d ya get that?”

“The fridge,” you sass, laughing when he sneaks up behind you and wraps his arms around your middle. His beard tickles your skin when he tucks his face into the crook of your neck, pressing loud and obnoxious kisses there.

He’s gentle, careful to not agitate your healing bruises and the soft movements make you laugh even more. Nico doesn’t pull away until your laughs have turned to silent gasps for air and you’re pretty much a puddle in his arms, weight held up by him.

He’s laughing too, when he pulls back, turning you to face him. You wipe at your cheeks, smiling so wide your jaw aches and you look at him through wet eyelashes.

Nico’s always been beautiful. You’ve known that since the moment he winked at you from across The Rock. But sometimes he still manages to steal your breath away. When he’s so happy it radiates off of him, all dimples and rosy cheeks, eyes shining and framed by laugh lines.

He looks at you like that now, your heart doing flips and you giggle like a school girl. His smile widens at the sound and he leans in to kiss between your eyes.

“Thank you baby,” he says, reaching around you for his coffee. You clear your throat, try to catch your breath and calm your racing heart.

“Want to eat breakfast in bed?” He suggests and you jump at the offer. Eagerly nodding, you gather your matcha and his coffee, and he grabs the plates.

~~~~

Staring out the large window at the mountains in front of you, you blink sluggishly as Nico gently combs his fingers through your hair.

“Do you want to talk about?”

His voice is low and soft, like he’s afraid you might have been sleeping and he doesn’t want to wake you. You wonder if he’s been doing that all week, trying to talk to you in these in-between moments and he always caught you when you weren’t awake.

“About what?”

He hums, the sound vibrating in his chest and against your spine. You can’t see his face, but you’d imagine it’s disappointed in your lack of confrontation. Nico has never known you to shy away from things, and you feel bad for doing it now.

“Whatever you want,” he says easily “the ring, my mother, Timo…” the silence he leaves speaks volumes, both of you knowing what he’s leaving unspoken.

Your heart thumps loudly, nervous and scared of addressing what you know he really wants to talk about. But he’s given you all this time to hide, to ignore all the ugly parts of this trip. Hell, he’s even gone out of his way to defend you from the hard conversation you should be having with Timo.

This is something you can longer run from. Not with that big sparkly ring tucked away somewhere in this room.

“If I wanted to leave,” you start, voice wobbling. “Would you let me?”

You’re not talking about the house, the town, or even Switzerland as a whole. You mean it all; him, the boys, the Devils.

He understands. You can tell by the way his chest rises when he inhales, the breath deep and trembling.

“Yes,” he says after a moment, voice quiet and hallow “if that’s really what you wanted to do, if that’ll make you safe and happy, then yeah I would. And I’d do everything I could to make it happen.”

You wait with bated breath, staring out the window at the lazy snowfall and the snow capped Alps, not that you’re actually seeing it. All you can see is him.

“Before you’d do that,” he continues, that determine edge creeping back into his tone and you feel your heart jump into your throat. “I’d offer something else.”

“Yeah?” You croak out, “what?”

“Me,” Nico murmurs, and his lips ghosts against your neck, breath warm on your skin. “I’d give it up. Take out the inheritance I put into it and sign everything over to the ones that came with me.

“And I’d take you anywhere you want to go, build you a new house for us and the dog and- and maybe a family even. Whatever you want to do, just as long as I get to keep you.”

Relief washes through you, the anxiety and fear that Katja had knowingly put into your heart deflating. Rino never offered her that, was never willing to pick her over everything. And maybe that’s why she’s been so unsafe this whole time. Maybe what her and Rino have is nothing compared to what you and Nico have.

You crawl up onto your knees, moving so that you can face Nico and fall into his lap. He’s droopy, eyes sad and lips pulled down into a frown. Even his hair looks sad, flopping into his eyes that watch you so intently.

His hands shake when they find your hips, drawing you closer to him and you wrap your arms around his neck.

“You get to keep me,” you agree, tongue feeling heavy as tears well up in your eyes. “And you can keep to Devs. I just had to know-“

“If I’d do it,” he cuts in, clearing his throat nervously. “I have a plan for us,” Nico swears, his voice wobbling with emotion and you reach up to push his hair out of his eyes, stroke your thumb over the frown lines between his eyebrows. “In every universe I have plan for us, no matter what I have to give up to make it happen.”

Unable to speak around the lump in your throat, you just nod. But that doesn’t stop the sniffles or the water that blurs your vision. Before you know it you’re crying, big, fat tears rolling down your cheeks and you can’t stop it.

Nico doesn’t even shush you or try to make you stop. He simply reaches up and wipes at your splotchy cheeks, even though it does nothing to keep them dry. You tuck into his shoulder, hiding the stupid whimpers that are squeaking out from your chest into his hoodie.

“It’ll be ok baby,” he coos, rubbing up and down your back gently, and smoothing down your hair. Nico feels so safe, so big and protective holding you like this and the words you’ve been holding back since the hospital finally find the strength to come out, knowing that at the very least he’s got you.

“I failed Nico,” its garbled mess of words, muddied down by your crying and sniffling and his hoodie. You’re surprised he even heard you. But he did.

“What do you mean sweetheart?” He tries to guide you away from his shoulder, and you dig your nails into his bicep to hold on tighter. You’re too ashamed to look him in the eye.

Turning your head, you press your cheek to him so he can hear you this time.

“I did everything I was supposed to do last time and then I got here and it was like I couldn’t think. I left you and Timo, and then I ran and I didn’t even think or fight back. I didn’t do anything you or Timo told me.”

You feel hysterical, squeezing your eyes shut as the words just keep tumbling out and out. And all poor Nico can do is hold you and hope to god it’s enough.

“I was just a stupid crying girl, it was Philly all over again and I kept passing out and crying. How am I supposed to do this, to be this person? I can’t take care of you or the boys, I can’t even take care of myself.”

He sits up, holding you so tightly you almost can’t breathe but it for reason makes you feel even better. Tucking back into your hiding spot, you stifle your whimpers into his neck again and Nico begins to gently rock you back and forth.

“You didn’t fail anyone baby,” maybe it’s the way he’s holding you, like he’s trying to physically gather up the words and squeeze them into your ribs and heart. Or maybe it’s his voice, so strong and confident in what he’s saying. Whatever it is, you calm down enough to hear him, to feel his chest move with every syllable.

“I don’t expect you to be perfect, to be able to do everything for everyone. I’ve spent my whole life in this role and I still fuck it up. I fucked it up with the Flyers and god knows I fucked it up here too.

“But you’re safe now and you’re ok. And we’ll do whatever you want to do. If you don’t want to train with Timo anymore, I’ll get more guards. If you want to train with me instead I’ll switch with him.

“Stay at home, work at the cafe, at the bar, whatever role you want here I’ll give to you baby. Just know you have never once failed me.”

Blinking open your puffy and swollen eyes, you hesitantly pull back to look at him. You hiccup, clumpy eyelashes catching together and Nico reaches up again to wipe at your cheeks.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you that day,” you whisper, gaze falling to embroider logo on his chest because you’ll cry again if you see those beautiful eyes of his. “Going behind your back to Luca, calling the boys. I had to do something though, I had to prove that I could do something.”

He cups your jaw, traces the outline of your swollen bottom lip with his thumb but he doesn’t urge you to look at him. Nico’s always been good at knowing when you need a break.

“You killed Marcelo to show us,” he states, not a question or a guess. “You wanted me and Timo to know that you could still do it.”

“I didn’t forget everything,” you nod sadly, peering up at him through your lashes. “I went too far, I know. But I was so scared Nico.”

“I was gonna kill him,” Nico admits, and you tilt your chin up to fully see him. He looks so casual, like he’s talking about the weather outside or dinner tonight, something normal. You suppose violence in this world is normal.

“I was gonna kill Lena too. After I let her know she could never be you.” He shrugs, tucks a loose piece of hair behind your ear. “I think you did it better baby. And I should’ve told you that there but I was scared too. And guilty.

“Being home, I let my guard down. That’s all I could think about when I saw you in the hospital bed.”

Sniffling, you lean back into him, unsure of what else to say. You’re exhausted, your eyes heavy and you’ve got a headache budding in the back of your skull. Nico just holds you, exactly like you want him too.

“I love you,” you murmur, dipping your fingers into the strands of hair at the nape of his neck.

Nico presses a kiss to your temple. “I love you with everything I’ve got baby.”

You close your eyes, inhale deeply to smell his cologne. “I want to marry you.”

His smile touches the side of your face as he presses his cheek against yours, leaning back into the headboard. “I want to marry you too,” he says earnestly “but sleep first ok?”

Not needing to be told twice, you let yourself fade away, telling yourself that you’ll talk to Timo tomorrow. Everything will be fixed tomorrow.

Next

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———

Will is good at making decisions.

It’s one of the only things he’s good at, actually. He can’t fight. He can’t control water or lightning or plants. He’s not as smart as Athena’s kids or as charming as Aphrodite’s. He is clumsy and soft-hearted and stubborn. But he is observant, he always has been, and he prides himself in his ability to think ahead. He keeps his infirmary stocked and his siblings on schedule. He reigns in head counsellor meetings and draws up binders and binders of files and projects — he is organised. He watches, he notices, he reflects, he prepares. He’s as impulsive as the rest of them, sure, but he has enough contingencies in place that he’s solid. A solid head on his shoulders, and he knows it — the head medic must.

So when he watches himself, horrified, diverge from his very detailed twenty-nine step process entitled The di Angelo Dilemma: Approaching Friendship like a Normal Person and ask Nico to come over, he considers the possibility that he has been possessed. Maybe the eidolons that fucked everything up the first time around have been crouching in dark corners, patiently awaiting the perfect time to strike and ruin Will’s life.

“See you then,” says Nico, rushing out the door, and Will smiles at him easily, watching him dash across the common, and then he sets aside the folder he’s updating, walks calmly out of the empty infirmary, nodding to Mr. D. as he passes, turns a corner in the hallway, slips into his favourite supply closet, sticks a chair under the door handle, clears his throat, and screams.

It’s one of those good screams, by design; he takes a good deep breath beforehand and lets the sound billow out of him, lets it scrape the sides of his throat raw and reverberate somewhere in the base of his skull. Were he not home in a camp that regularly makes use of lethal weaponry and deadly rivalry, entire armies would come running to his defense. As it is, he is left to fall to his knees and scream until he is hoarse, or until he hears a faint will you shut the fuck up! echo from around the vegetable gardens.

“Why me,” he croaks, giving in and collapsing to the floor.

It’s a nice floor, really. In between breakdowns he returns and decorates the place, sweeping up the dust and covering floors and surfaces with rugs and throw pillows. A guitar leans in the far corner for when his mother is thousands of miles away and he’s feeling sorry for himself. A photo album lives half-shoved under a shelf for when he is in need of punishing. His sketchbook remains in a constant state of almost-full under the one dusty window. (That one carries slightly less general despair.)

He is, upon reflection, somewhat of a disastrous person.

How fitting.

“Ugh,” he says out loud, to himself, and reaches for his guitar.

He has no intention of playing anything worthwhile. In fact he doesn’t even bother tuning it, not that he can very well anyway, and just strums random chords and riffs and yells over a string of flat discortants, at one point, filling the tiny room with noise ontop of noise ontop of noise until everything is gleefully stifling, like a mass of birds clouding the sun, like the thirteenth year of swarming cicadas, like the twentieth layer of July Texan heat. Until the mess is transferred from inside of his head to outside of it. Until he has committed so many musical sins that his father retreats from the sky a full forty minutes early.

“I feel you are at fault,” says Kayla, when he finally returns to their cabin. “For.” She gestures vaguely at The Outdoors.

“Hnnngh,” responds Will, taking three steps and tipping, gracelessly, onto Austin’s bunk, nearly bouncing right off of it. He catches himself, barely, and presses hard into the pillow, curling when his brother makes space for him, when his sister sighs, deliberately loud, and presses her knee into his thigh as she climbs up, too.

“This is your own fault,” Kayla grumbles. Her bony shoulders settle along the dips of his ribs, next to Austin’s thin ankles. “You could talk about things before they blow up in your face, but nooooooo. You run around doing everything yourself. Moron.”

Will swipes the heel of his hand under his eyes, throat garbling a weird snort-laugh-sniffle. Those bony shoulders tip to the side, slowly, until she curls under his chin, dragging Austin down with her. “You’re so mean to me.”

“Sh-h,” Austin says, patting blindly until his palm finds Will’s face, then patting deliberately. His knees press against Will’s, now, forehead inches away, barely clinging onto the too-narrow mattress. “Quiet town now. Reflect in your foolishness.”

“So mean.”

Years ago, exactly how many Will refuses to count, this exact scenario would be met by lots and lots of teasing, by pinched cheeks and cuffed shoulders and a forehead kissed several times over. There would be at least six instruments played at once, a camera flash the second he walked in the door pouting, and more lights on that would ever be necessary. An oft-repeated and never-resolved debate, probably; you coddle him, Cass; oh, shut up, Michael, he’s little. The scent of woodgrain and antiseptic and vanilla. A thousand other details he never thought to memorize.

Now there is quiet, or at least more of it.

Kayla hums, notes muffled as she gnaws on her lip, and Austin’s socked feet tap against the blankets, mapping out the tune playing out in his far-away eyes. The last final glow of the horizon turns red, then orange, then violet, sinking into dark navy blue, and their aunt blinks her way into focus, stretching widely across the thin wisping clouds. The fairy lights wrapped around the pillars and ceiling beams blink alongside the stars, chatting away to each other, and the breeze from the window is soft and warm and almost as sweet as southern jasmine. There is a pit in the dead centre of Will’s chest, and he is afraid Kayla will fall into it, and then Austin; afraid they will succumb to his gaping maw.

“What if I ruin absolutely everything,” he says. He swallows, and then again, and again, because his throat is dry, escape for the burning trails mapping the his face from corner of his eye to mouth. “What if I — scare. Am. What if I’m the reason, again.”

Diana snorts. You are such a drama queen.

And that’s coming from this theatre, Lee adds, gesturing grandly to the gold pillars of the cabin. You’ll be fine, kid.

A chorus of agreements from the rest of the occupied bunks; Kate’s encouraging grin, Leanna’s fond hair ruffle as she dances past, Amir’s wink.

Will smiles and blinks back and he is gone, and Michael’s scowl disappears, and Kate and Phoebe’s laughter fades from the background. The cabin is quiet, shadowy; Austin and Kayla breathe quietly, swallow silently.

“I don’t know,” Kayla admits. “You — could be. Again.”

Will squeezes his eyes shut. He begs for Lee to go back to his sleep for the night. He inhales around the shake and inhales and inhales and inhales and feels the vacuum dead centre in his body, like from navel to spin, twisting, tubing, sucking; take, take, take, take. Can I, can I, can I. I want. Please. Let me have.

“I’m not sure it’s better not to try, though.” Austin’s hands curl around Will’s palm. “Right? You always say to — try. Do your best.”

A smile curls up the corner of Will’s mouth.

“I do.”

“And you did try.”

“I did.”

“Did it fail?”

Will flicks down to meet Kayla’s eyes, squinting one and tucking his chin.

“I asked to come over.”

“Oh, well — okay, Marilyn Monroe. Like that’s a new thing.”

“For no reason.”

“…Oh.”

“I could go on the sand rant, Kayla. I’m like a sleeper agent. As soon as he says it, I’ll — you know.”

Austin shifts, frowning thoughtfully. “I mean, he kind of already knows you’re weird.”

“Not this weird!”

“I think everyone knows you’re weird, actually,” Kayla adds. She wiggles, squirming and elbowing until she is half-perched on the fleshy part of Will’s waist, ignoring his wheezing. “Being a nerd dork loser is kind of your whole thing.”

“It is not!”

“You have binders dedicated to people, Will.”

“That’s not bad!”

“Specifically on how to best socialize with them, Will.”

“That’s — thoughtful!”

“…Sometimes being related to you is hard.”

“I am! Collecting data! To better my relationships! What is the issue!”

Austin and Kayla exchange a meaningful look — which does not, Will is relatively certain, usually involve putting your entire palm on your brother’s face and shoving it so it cannot be seen. Kayla.

“You’re doomed to fail,” they decide. And then they kick him off the bed, which is rude, but he is weak to their giggling, and it’s bedtime for them, anyways.

As per his carefully outlined routine they are sent to the showers and sinks, back in half an hour, bickering. As per his less carefully outlined but nonetheless regularly present routine they are separated physically from each other and shoved to seperate bunks. As per his most carefully outlined routine, he follows them each, ignoring their complaints, and presses the back of his hand to each forehead, closing his eyes as he lets his life force bleed into theirs, mixing, checking, making sure.

“We’re fine,” Kayla grumbles.

“Shut up and cough,” Will orders.

Austin gives him less trouble. Will makes a show of thanking him for it. Kayla throws her extra pillow. Will takes it, placing it on his own bed. It is silent after he says goodnight, silent as he clicks off the light, gathers his caddy, pads to the door.

“Goodnight,” whispers a voice, half hidden by the creak of the screen door as he opens it.

“Goodnight,” whispers another, half hidden by the cream of the screen door as he closes it.

“Goodnight,” Will repeats, grinning. “Sleep well, kiddos.”

They grumble, and their bedsprings groan as they turn away, mimicking the grate of the rickety porch steps. That, at least, is familiar; that at least matches the echoes that bounce around the walls of the cabin and the inside of his skull.

———

next

[siminiecricketart]

Thinking about how soldier poet king applies to Percy Jason and Nico

Nico is arguably the soldier: “The Soldier is a person who sees everything as a fight. He feels destined for violence, driven by anger, and he walks into this world of conflict, partially by his own choice” - throughout the original and HoO, Nico is seen to be a character who holds a grudge, who holds in so much anger and resentment over what happened to his sister, to the point where she begs him to forgive, to let go and move on but he struggles with this. He then also holds anger over his feelings towards Percy, that although he blames her for Bianca, he also develops feelings for him so his whole arc which causes further torment, and he is driven by anger of all the wrongdoings towards him in his life. I know peopl would be like “uhhh ghost king? It’s in the name???” But just trust me. He is the solider.

Jason is the Poet: “The Poet is a more peaceful creature who sees the beauty and poetry of the world and uses the power of words and his sensitivity as a strength that others may underestimate. However, the quiet power of his character can change the world as much as an act of war.” Jason’s whole arc was that he was trained as a perfect Roman soldier since he was a baby. It makes perfect sense that he would be placed in the solider category. But this just isn’t Jason, and we see him fight this role.. Jason isn’t prone to violence, and we can see in his character that anger doesn’t drive him. Despite how he was trained, and how he should have been, Jason is seen as more of peaceful character compared to the other two. He wants peace, he wants to right the wrongdoings done towards the minor gods and goddesses - to the point that he decided his purpose was to recreate New Rome, to build shrines to these gods and goddesses so that they can get the respect and devotion they deserved. He wanted to leave the world a better place than the one he lived.

And Percy is the king: “The King is a person who feels the burden of being the one who has to manage and take accountability for the world. Duties are inevitable for him, and he feels he must take them on his shoulder and follow what the world expects.” I don’t even think I have to say much on this. Percy has felt the burden of the prophecy from the moment he arrived at camp. He didn’t tell anyone of Nico and Bianca’s parentage, because he didn’t want Nico to have any responsibility of the prophecy - time and time again, percy has taken the burden of helping the gods, helping the world. He carries the prophecies on his shoulder, and then CHB and CJ. This, and his fatal flaw being loyalty, percy being the king, and not the soldier makes absolute sense in my mind.

I’m so bad at words but I hope my reasoning makes sense with these three and yes I will be drawing this lol

[overtake]

every time i remember that gifset of daniel laughing and talking pre-race with max and his dad in spa 2014 and realize that max saw daniel win his third race and red bull's 50th race live and IN PERSON....like daniel must have seemed so cool and larger than life. and then come to find out a few weeks later it's max's test and he had made a welcome video for him. like...it's too much they're TOO MUCH.

This response got ludicrously long.

It’s such “fated to be in each other’s lives forever” shit. It’s always been Max and Daniel. In 2011, before Max was even a red bull junior. In 2014 at spa, ahead of Max being announced for toro rosso. In video form at his super license drive, when Max being his future teammate wouldn’t have even been thought in Daniel’s mind. The things Max got to see Daniel achieve and dream that he might have that and more, and the hot guy doing it is paying attention to him.

He wins that race and backs him, saying he couldn’t have done what he’s about to do and saying Max has the talent to be there… I just know it was good to hear that the man you just watched on the podium believes you deserve this oppprtunity. And if he wasn’t ready at your age and is sitting in front of you a three time winner, what can you achieve by his age?

Obviously, Max has never needed other people’s validation on his skill. He knew he could be successful and had no issue staring his naysayers down. He’s a cactus, not a delicate orchid. You cannot kill him. Your opinions mean nothing to him if you are not in his inner circle (though Daniel certainly worked his way into being someone whose opinion Max holds, hears, and values).

But still, it has to be nice to hear back then that there are people with achievements you want who believe you’re capable of getting there. Even the most brave-faced sixteen year old (with a father who tries to toughen his emotional resolve by saying he will never be anything more than a truck driver) still appreciates having someone believe in him, even if he doesn’t need the validation.

I think people tend to wrongly characterize young Max as some delicate friendless loser and Daniel was the only person to ever show him kindnesses etc etc etc. Max is extremely confident and never relied on Daniel to build self-worth or whatever pathetic way people try to write him. But he always just glowed around him — textbook of that first crush that makes you have the italics “oh. oh” moment. It’s very apparent that Daniel meant a lot to Max as a teammate and that the two of them just liked being around each other, such an anomaly for that era of f1 (ex: like they mentioned in on the sofa 2017, Lewis, — who had been busy with the life altering downfall of his relationship with Nico — was in awe of Max and Daniel and asked for the scholarship of how they got along so well).

It’s so clear that this draw between them started for Max so early from just the way he looks at Daniel on that phone, shy and not knowing quite what to say, and his gaze lingering on it even after it stops playing with that smile. He has to tear his attention away to say his sweet little praise of Daniel. Daniel respected Max as a serious competitor from day one with his quotes about Max’s talents, and that already meant something to Max — but then he also went ahead and liked Max and was kind to Max in a time where he was drenched in doubters.

It’s a great tragedy that we will never know what it would’ve been like to see the two of them in a car that could compete for championships. Obviously tensions would have altered their relationship (I mean, the Renault engine frustration and natural increase in rivalry as it became Max’s team already meant their relationship improved post-leaving), but I’m going to be delusional and think that they never could have hated each other in that bone-deep way because they like each other in a way that is so natural that it feels encoded in their DNA.

Things would have gotten messy as competitive battles do, with many a wall punched and inflammatory quotes in the media pen — especially as Daniel would have to reckon with the inevitability of Max being a generational talent whose already sharp elbows in their early days only doled out more hits on the road to WDC. It’d be claws out, teeth bared tension.

Still, I employ my delusion to say that in that universe, at the end of their careers, they could sit on Daniel’s farm and still enjoy being around each other — like Daniel said in 2019, they had a heated rivalry and pushed each other, but there was always respect. At the end of the day, Max has never stopped looking at Daniel outside the track with anything but effusive love, and Daniel is always there looking back with his mouth open and ready to make Max laugh — and I genuinely believe they would have cared enough about each other to keep their fight contained to the environment and time period and rebuild anything lost when it’s all said and done.

It’s the eternal thesis of them, that everyone has said a million times over: they like each other so much, so genuinely, without a veneer of fakeness and PR to it. They’d like each other in any universe in any conditions, even ones where they were built to hate each other. There could still be fighting and resentment and cold shoulders, but they are not built to hate each other, and that’s why I like them so much.

[hyperfixation-fix]

(Reminded of this thought by this post - thank you for the dopamine @sunshinepov , I absolutely loved your drawing)

I can barely begin to imagine how painful it must have been for Nico in that moment, clinging to Percy's arm, feeling him slip, watching him fall. Rick did kind of touch on it, but... it must have been agony.

Nico knew what they were falling into. He knew exactly what they would have to endure to get to the gates, if they even survived at all. He watched the man he had loved and hated and yearned for for years falling into the most unimaginable suffering, suffering he not only could imagine but had gone through. And Nico was helpless.

And you know what's worse?

He was watching Percy fall with Annabeth. For Annabeth.

Nico had gone through Tartarus completely and utterly alone. No one had tried to stop him. No one had followed him. No one had been there to hold his hand, fight by his side, weep with him, hold him, lend him the strength and love to keep going. And now he watched as Percy, the person his life had revolved around for so long, gave everything without a second thought to protect someone else from the torture that Nico had suffered alone.

Can you imagine the anger and jealousy?

And can you imagine the guilt and shame that must have immediately followed? To see an act of pure love, to watch someone risk their everything for another... and to feel... jealous. To make it about you. To hold their suffering up alongside your own, compare them, and think, "Lucky them." Nico must have been repulsed by himself, right to his core. To be so different, alone, unloved, unlovable, self-centred, selfish, monstrous, and so very, unforgivably weak.

Gods, Nico deserves so much love.

[a-star-that-burns-brightly]

CH2-14 Thoughts

So! CH2-14, huh? This episode has been our longest in the series yet, and it has used that time incredibly efficiently, especially given it is the penultimate episode before our culprit reveal. I don't think there's much to start with, really. Let's jump right into it :D

SWEAR STATISTICS (ch2-13)

BINGO CARD

Nico

DT-Dev needs to stop drawing Nico so handsome when they're in the middle of killing someone. this has happened twice now, I am very concerned.

Nico is probably the character I have the least to say about overall, but I still think it's fair to start with them. For one, we finally got the reveal of Nico's true murder plan! I...still personally do not understand why they didn't just garrote the man from the beginning, but it's nice to finally have some answers. Nico confessing to not trusting anyone in the killing game as well as their whole speech later on is honestly very based, if I was in their shoes I'd probably not see the point in pretending to be guilty either, and I really do think it was the most mature way to respond to this situation as a whole. Nico is probably one of the more logically-driven in the cast (when Ace isn't up their ass, anyway), so it makes a lot of sense to me that this is the conclusion they'd come to.

(x) Nico: I… I just can't stand being treated like that. My teachers, my classmates, my father… I don't ever want to relive what they did to me.

Furthermore, we also learned that their father was also in on the abuse and transphobia they received, and this combined with how Levi talked about his father in the previous episode, it's just daddy issues across the board huh? Guess DT-Dev had to make up for J's mom angst somehow lmao. But in all seriousness, the fact that Nico more than likely had no one be there for them during those times is probably part of why they drifted more towards animals, besides the fact that there's no social rules with animals. (...has anyone put alien blues by vundabar on a nico playlist? I'm getting sidetracked.)

There is also a lot I could say about Nico's predominant male figure subjecting them to such treatment and how that relates to their relationship with Ace and Ace in general, but I'll leave that for a future post. All I'll say for right now is to look up VeryWellMind's page on toxic masculinity and observe how many points relate back to Ace :3

(x) Nico: I don't expect you to forgive me. Very few people ever do. So I don't see the point in acting sorry.

The last thing I really want to mention when it comes to Nico is this line, specifically the bolded text, because... am I wrong to think this is a very strange thing to say in the context of talking about your attempted murder? I've seen people say that this could be in reference to Nico's blunt way of speaking, but I feel like that doesn't fit in with this context, and the wording itself feels too dramatic for that to be the case. I feel like Nico has resorted to violence against their bullies before. I don't think it ever got as severe as the situation with Ace, but if only a few days of abuse caused Nico to choose violence, I think its almost a guarantee that they resorted to violence a few times during the years they were abused by their peers. Would certainly explain those weird ass bandages around their upper arms. anyway Nico, I adore you very much despite your bullshit murder plan. can't wait to see where you go :) (also is it fair to say that the theories of literally anyone else committing Ace's attempted murder are de-confirmed now? Like I don't think you could get a greater confirmation than the first thirteen minutes of this episode lmao)

Hu

...Oh yikes. So I have defended Hu on a few occasions, talking about how she is just defending Nico and that her behavior towards them is completely normal. And I think I must take advantage of my minimal gag reflex and gulp down that L because lord have fucking mercy.

First and foremost

(x) Hu: You’re trying to paint them as the villain just because they lost their temper at Ace once!

(x) Hu: If Arei died of a stab wound, it would be wrong for me to say you did it.

Both of these lines were fucking crazy of her lmao. Absolutely nonsensical, she is so annoying /affectionate

Second and secondmost, Hu so clearly projecting her own emotions and feelings onto Nico so that they can look weak and small and thus have to rely on her and clinging onto that perception when it continues to falter is so fucking delicious. The way I worded that makes it seem like I think Hu is being malicious, I do not, but also that is literally what she is doing, and furthermore it is not working. This episode alone brought Hu in my mind to a high-c tier, to a high b-tier because there is nothing I love more in this world than fictional women being awful. And now that I have that all typed out, I can't help but realize that this sounds very familiar...

Oh! That's right!

...Man Hu, I get that it's across the color wheel, but you really like to foil with people in red. Yeah, I think that Acevi and Huco are meant to be parallels of each other relationship wise. Both of them feature someone (Ace and Hu) projecting a certain identity onto a stranger (Levi and Nico) to satisfy their own emotional needs and their reactions when those fantasies crumble beneath them. The dynamic between Ace and Hu is so delicious to me and I think should be explored more in the fandom. Not just because they somehow manage to give divorced spouses vibes despite one of the two being gay, but because I think the way that they foil, how they are different in contrast with how they're similar in typical DRDT fashion, adds so much to both of their characters and their relationships with the others. And I'm also glad that I at least have two more, count-em two, more parallels between Nico and Levi. I will keep spreading my Levco agenda until the day I die.

Okay but, though I've kind of been taking the piss out of Hu during this section, I do actually feel very bad for her. Especially if Eden is the culprit, because Hu and Eden have shown to be close on multiple occasions, and I could not imagine witnessing the gruesome execution of someone you love after pretty much dealing with two betrayals back-to-back. And I guess since we're here I should clarify that I do not think Hu, or anyone else except the two suspects we land on in this episode, are responsible for Arei's murder. Third Party Theory seems to hinge entirely on the idea that someone other than Nico attempted to kill Ace, and as I've said before I don't think that's the case. And given the fact that we have at least 40 minutes left of the overall case, I can't really see a way from a writer's perspective to throw in such a major final twist with an entirely different character without it feeling rushed. I'm sure DT-Dev could pull it off, but just on concept, not sure how it could work and also if Eden really is the culprit, Hu is 1000% going to try and take her place as the optimistic mood-lifter, and I need to see that outside of my imagination

There isn't much else for me to add, really, part from the fact that I am very excited to see how Hu's character progresses and how her relationships with the cast progress. ... ...hey can we count Hu and Nico as toxic yur--

Ace

Funny thing, I originally was not going to give Ace his own section in this post. But I decided I would anyhow for two reasons 1. Ace is a very fun character to analyze And 2. I get to once again talk about how much of a fucking liar this man is lmao

(x) Ace: Who’s gonna stick up for me, huh? No one. Because I have a spine and I don’t need other people to lie to me constantly to keep me happy.

[Pictured: Doesn't need other people to lie to him constantly to keep him happy]

(x) Nico: What else should I say? Ace: W— "What else should I say"?? Ace: You tried to murder me. You fucking tried to murder me! And after all's said and done, you can't even say something as simple as "sorry"?!

I love this jockey the best when he is gaslighting himself. We obviously know that Ace does, in fact, need people to lie to him to keep him happy. And I don't just mean that in the context of Levi and Nico. Ace has a very antagonized view of everyone in the cast

(x) Ace: -but now they apparently also have a fucking defense brigade to shield them from even having to think about the fact that they're a murderer.

the only person defending them was Hu

And that view of his classmates, to me anyway, is very intentionally cultivated by Ace himself. He is very aware that how he's behaving is wrong, and he is clearly not happy about it

(x) Ace: You think I act like this for fun, and then I go to bed and sleep soundly at night, you dumb piece of shit?

Ace doesn't like the fact that he is being rude to otherwise innocent people, but at the same time, he knows that any of these innocent people could stab him in the back without a second thought, like Levi. So Ace demonizes the cast in his head so that he can emotionally distance himself from them, and as such, will feel less bad about treating them like shit. As a certain indie game that had its nine year anniversary once said: The more you distance yourself, the less you will hurt. The more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others.

Ace does need people to lie to him to keep him happy. Which brings me to his role in this whole scene with Nico which just- I love. So much.

It is so, so funny to me that Ace is putting this pressure on Nico to give an apology. And why is that? Ace treats both Nico and Levi in pretty much the same way, incredibly volatile even more so than the rest of the cast. And that makes a lot of sense given his relationship with both characters and how both of them have threatened his safety. But there is one key difference between his interactions with both of these people

(x) Levi: Ace, I already said— Ace: "Sorry" won't cut it. You know that's just a word you say, right? You think that saying two syllables is going to make me forget how you acted yesterday at that trial?

(x) Ace: You tried to murder me. You fucking tried to murder me! And after all's said and done, you can't even say something as simple as "sorry"?!

With Levi, he repeatedly denies and mocks his apologies. With Nico, it's almost like Ace wants them to apologize to him. But why is that? Ace certainly cares less about what Nico thinks compared to Levi, so why does he necessarily care whether or not Nico apologizes to him? You could say it's because the severity of what both of these people did to Ace, but to me personally? I think Ace just wants this all to end. Nico's murder attempt on him, the scar it left him, it was the perfect kick in the ribs to everything Ace had become since the events of Chapter 1. It confirmed to him that not only was his fear that everyone is out to get him, that he's going to be next after Xander and Min, completely justified to have. But also that his efforts to appear tough and threatening to prevent that fear from becoming reality were not only null, but thrown right back in his face.

(x) Ace: You know… Heh. I've always wondered which is worse, dying young or living a long shitty life of suffering. But it turns out neither of those options are as bad as this.

He is currently at his lowest possible point. At this point, the least that he wants is for Nico to provide him with some form of closure, so that he can put that moment where his guts were spilled on the floor to rest. But Nico isn't providing him that closure, they refuse to. And with Ace now being suspected for Arei's murder, regardless of if he survives this chapter or dies with it, I think he is finally going to break down. That hidden quote of his is fast approaching. I already know.

Rose

Rose is a character that, though I love dearly and believe she is one of the most strongly written of Despair Time's cast which is saying a lot, always somehow manages to fade into the background for me. But this episode bringing her to the forefront and giving us some extra character development from her is something I loved a lot.

For one, her clear and open betrayal towards Nico's actions was very upsetting to me, especially when you take into account that Nico asking Rose to teach them how to paint was probably the first time Rose has ever been asked to paint something for someone without a contract involved. I can imagine the idea of it must've been a breath of fresh air for her, and for it to only result in another red string in Nico's murder plan had to have been crushing.

But what's possibly even more crushing is her monologue after David gets frustrated with her, because...

(x) Rose: I know I'm supposed to remember everything. I know I'm supposed to be smart. I know I'm supposed to be helpful. Rose: Yet I'm not. Rose: I… I'm sorry for being useless. Maybe if I tried harder, if I just got over myself—

Wow this woman really does see herself as a commodity that only exists to be used by other people, doesn't she?

Something I've always appreciated about Rose's character is how it commentates on the subject of big corporations seeing art as content instead of something that was the product of someone pouring their heart and soul into a canvas. And how that mindset kills the desire for artists to create. And it is so fascinating seeing how that mindset reflects how Rose sees herself as a person.

She's one of the few characters in the cast that I can never really get a read on when it comes to where her character arc could be going, but I am very excited to see where DT-Dev takes her, even more-so with this development.

Teruko

I am like, 9999% sure this sprite is the first time she has smiled throughout this entire chapter. I am so happy for her.

Teruko, as always, stays being Best Girl™, and I absolutely adore the development given to her as well. Her realizing that her attempts to over-correct by isolating herself and not receiving help from anyone not only resulted in her getting hurt, but those around her getting hurt as well. And the fact that that's what leads her to coming to this conclusion really goes to show that, despite everything, she cares about these dumbfucks so much. And this is only taken further by her decision to trust Eden despite (HOW I INTERPRET IT) already knowing that Eden is a more likely culprit than Ace. She is choosing to trust her, regardless of if she'll regret it. And I honestly think that, regardless if Eden is the culprit or not, regardless if Teruko backslides, I think the fact that she got the courage to trust Eden at all is going to stick with her. I don't really have much else to say, really. Uhh... Teruko and Rose were kinda fruity this episode, I dunno.

David

[Sighs] This man provides us with a new headache every single episode and I love/hate him so much for it. So like...basically everyone else who watched this episode, I was confused as fuck watching whatever the hell David was pulling for the last 18 minutes of the episode. But now that I have time to think about it, I think I have a pretty stable idea. So, let's get into it.

Firstly

(x) David: Because I'm actually the first person to see the body.

Now, most people are immediately brushing this off as David lying to fuck things up again. But I think that a lot of people are forgetting two things 1. David is not a compulsive liar. He doesn't just tell lies for no/little reason behind them. The lies that he tells all have reasoning and inner logic to support them. 2. There really isn't any evidence suggesting that he couldn't had seen Arei's corpse before everyone else.

So though this point is mostly speculation, I think that David is telling the truth (sorry if this seems like an asspull, there is literally five more hours until the next episode comes out I need to speed things up)

But that's not really what I want to talk about in this section anyway, it's everything that comes after this that I want to talk about.

(x) David: All I want is for Teruko to distrust others.

...So. I think David is lying off his ass when he says that this is why he is doing this. And my reasoning for why I think that is pretty simple... Why would he care?

Like, yeah given the fact that David more than likely has Teruko's secret, he has every right to suspect that she might be affiliated with the death game, and also probably wants her dead. But...what does that have to do with Teruko's distrust in others? Not much. I think this sentence is David lying about why he is doing this to keep his true intentions underwraps. But what are those true intentions?

I can answer that pretty easily as well. David's whole argument in this part of the episode is the idea that Eden is not exempt from being the culprit. He suspects that she is the one behind Arei's murder, and I don't think that's helped by the seed planted in his head by Arei that even Eden must be responsible for the harm of someone. And well...I think we know how exactly David feels about the culprit behind Arei's murder

(x) David: Ahaha. It's just so foolish. David: For someone to take advantage of Arei like that… David: It's absolutely unforgivable. All she wanted was to change. David: What a reprehensible person this killer is. I look forward to seeing their painful execution.

And that leads me to what I think David is truly trying to do here: I think he is trying to get Eden voted for.

That is why he wants Teruko to believe him, and is using her trust issues against her to do so. He's seen the first trial, he saw how Teruko was able to convict Min as the culprit and convince the others to vote for her too. He wants her to do the same thing again, but for Eden. Really, it's a win-win for him. If Eden is the culprit like he suspects, then he gets to witness the unforgivable culprit get their just deserts. If Eden isn't the culprit, then everyone ends up getting executed. Which is, y'know, that other thing he really wants.

That's my personal theory on what David was trying to do here. It's not perfect, but it'll do for now. I love you, Mr. David Chiem. Please keep being confusing.

Eden

...So yeah, if you've been paying any attention to this post, I do still think Eden is the culprit. I also think during the scene with her and Teruko she is very desperate and wants to live and as a result, may have sipped a small tiny bit of the manipulation juice. But I will get to that in a bit First of all though, I absolutely loved the scene with Teruko and Eden. There is something about all of their scenes that just resonates with me in a way I can't describe, and this one is no different. The way it is shot, with the half-and-half and then the closeup on both of their expressions, and the fucking HUG CG? Luucarii and Zel both did an amazing job bringing the scene to life with their voices, and the choice to use the same OST as the kitchen scene in CH2-3 was fucking evil, especially because of what I'm about to say. All around, a fantastically orchestrated and emotional scene, I would expect no less from DT-Dev and their team.

But now it's time to talk Eden!Culprit. This is not something I should have to clarify if you aren't stupid, but I think before I really go into it I should say that I do not think Eden is an inherently malicious character, and I think she feels horrible for what she has possibly done. I also think she wants to live, like every bundle of pixels masquerading as a human. She can feel guilt for her actions and also indulge in a bit of gaslight gatekeep girlbossing. Min already proved that those two things can be simultaneous. With that out of the way... I do think that Eden is slightly manipulating Teruko here. And there is a very big reason why I think that is because of something @thebadjoe pointed out in their theory post

(x) Eden: Teruko, relationships aren't transactional. It's not that I did something good for you that you should do something good for me.

[11 episodes later]

(x) Eden: Please, Teruko… You’re my friend, aren’t you? Eden: Friends help each other…. So please, help me…

...Eden? Darling? I thought you said that relationships weren't transactional. You can't simply change your principles because they're getting closer to the truth. Putting the fact that Teruko never even considered her a friend to begin with on the shelf for right now, these two lines from Eden directly go against each other. Saying that relationships aren't transactional, and then saying that Teruko should help her because she's her friend. I think Eden knows that she is basically backed into a corner. There is no evidence suggesting that she couldn't had done it, and David is turning the tide in a way that is leading others to begin suspecting her. And just as Arei said...

(x) Arei: -you're pathetic and weak, and you always need to rely on others to get by.

Eden's is too overcome with emotion to defend herself properly, so she comes to Teruko to defend her for her. And when Teruko initially refuses, she becomes desperate. Using their relationship so that Teruko will believe her and trust her.

I don't think Eden wants to do this, but I don't think she knows what else to do, and is terrified and just wants this trial to be over. Even if it means treating her and Teruko's relationship like it's transactional. And Teruko, ultimately, gives into this idea.

(x) Teruko: Don’t… get me wrong. This isn’t out of kindness or pity or anything else. This is only because you helped me in the last trial.

(teruko is most likely simplifying her thought-process, I think she does genuinely care for eden and wants to trust her. But the idea of relationships as transactions isn't one inherently new to her, so I do think this is partially the truth.)

And I think the fact that Teruko does agree to help Eden is why Eden goes in for the hug. This is where we take that point of "Teruko never agreed to be friends with Eden" off the shelf

Eden knows that Teruko is choosing to not be her friend, despite considering Teruko as a friend. But I think in this moment, Eden thinks that Teruko finally considers her as a friend, someone she is willing to extend her hand to. And even if this day is her final one, I think Eden will appreciate forever.

Extra Thoughts !! - TERUKO SAID IT!! SHE SAID THE WORD!! THE T WORD!! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THAT FROM HER!! another one to cross off the bingo card babyyyy - that aside, as always the voice work for this episode was fucking phenomenal. I already mentioned Luucarii and Zel's performances, but Swords and Arakachi did amazingly too. Such an amazing frosting on top of the already great storytelling.

(x) Eden: Arei is… She could have been my friend! Why would I kill her??

- maybe I'm reading too deep into it, but I honestly think this is the closest we've gotten to direct confirmation that Eden thought Arei was full of shit when she said she wanted to change. Like...she literally corrects herself. Why the fuck did she correct herself. - this isn't something I usually compliment, but the music-choice in this episode was amazing as well. Every song chosen suited the situation and the rising tension, and all of them were fucking bops. - I also adored the new sprites, as I always do. Especially Nico's

Predictions for CH2-15 - I'll be honest and say I have none. At least other than the obvious, that being that there's 100% gonna be an Ace VS Eden scrum debate.

Conclusion

This episode was a fantastic way to lead into what will probably be the last episode of the trial. I cannot wait to see what's cooking come CH2-15, which is in... [looks at my conveniently placed watch] THREE HOURS?! WHAT THE FU-

UPDATED SWEAR STATISTICS CH2-14

UPDATED BINGO CARD

[2nd2ndalto]

here is a smol ides of march au

Leo taps Nico’s leg with the flat of his gladius. “Look sharp, di Angelo, the big boss is coming through,” he mutters. 

Nico shifts from where he’d been slumped against the wall of the Forum, pulling himself to his full (yes, really) height and tipping up his chin. It’s his least favorite time of day to be on guard; the midday sun is beating down on the stone walls and the gravel at his feet, and the damn helmet isn’t helping matters. He couldn’t find his own this morning, so he’s wearing Reyna’s, and it keeps sliding down his sweaty forehead.

Nico half-listens to the conversation as Caesar and his companions draw nearer.

“Forget not, in your speed, Antonius, to touch Calpurnia; for our elders say the barren, touched in this holy chase, shake off this sterile curse,” Caesar says, characteristically self-important. 

Leo quirks an eyebrow at Nico, and Nico tries not to laugh. 

Then, “Caesar!” someone calls. The voice is creaky, ethereal. Nico shivers. 

The general stops short, his entire entourage grinding to a halt around him. One of them knocks into Leo, then grabs Nico’s shoulder to steady himself. Nico grits his teeth. 

“Who is it in the press that calls on me?” Caesar asks, imperious. “I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music cry, ‘Caesar!’ Speak; Caesar is turned to hear.”

Nico lets out a long breath. Why use two words when two dozen will suffice? The longer this exchange takes, the longer he has to stand here, pin-straight in this stupid fucking sweaty tunic. 

“Beware the Ides of March,” croons that same spooky-sounding voice, and a tall figure draws forward. It must be a man, Nico supposes, if only from the height. The figure is robed in sky blue, head covered, his back to Leo and Nico. 

Nico’s mind wanders to the gnawing hunger in his stomach, the blisters on his sandaled feet. The heat on his armor is starting to make him feel as if he’s being slowly baked. A Nico panini, perhaps. 

“He is a dreamer!” Caesar announces suddenly, jolting Nico from his discomfort. “Let us leave him.”

Nico lets out a breath as the group in front of him begins to move once more. 

The man in blue - the soothsayer, Nico supposes, lingers. Once Caesar and the others are out of sight, he turns with a shrug. 

“They never listen.”

And his voice isn’t spooky, or ethereal. It’s light, easy. Nico blinks, surprised, taking in sparkling blue eyes, crinkled at the corners, a rueful half-smile. A spill of freckles, several blond curls peeking out around the edges of his hood. The young man appears to be right around Nico’s age. 

And he’s hot.   

Next to Nico, Leo seems to be undergoing a similar journey of revelation. He steps forward, holding out a hand and offering a toothy grin. 

“Leo Valdez. It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Soothsayer, sir.” 

Nico rolls his eyes. 

The man in blue quirks a smile and takes the proffered hand. “Will Solace.” He steps back. 

“Fucking hot out here, isn’t it?” Will Solace says. He shoves down his hood, revealing a head of tousled blond curls, shining like gold in the sunlight, the blue in his robes reflected in his eyes. Nico feels a bit like he’s been punched in the face. In a really good way. 

“Sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” Will says, fixing his grin on Nico. 

“Nico. di Angelo,” Nico manages, extending a sweaty hand. Blue eyes catch on his and linger, curious.

“You sounded… different. Before,” Nico says.

Will’s grin goes wider, a bit sly. “I’ve been trying something new.”

“So it’s all an act, then?” Nico asks, curious, because… 

“Oh no,” Will shrugs. “He really does need to beware the Ides of March. I just find folks are more receptive to prophecy if I get a bit spooky with it. You know. Really lean into the drama of it all.” Will wiggles his fingers. 

Nico nods. “Caesar does have an… aura of death. A thick possibility of it.”

“Nico,” Leo complains. But Will quirks an eyebrow, regarding Nico with more interest, a quick once-over and a half-step closer. 

“You know, I might have a prophecy for you,” he tells Nico. 

“Yeah?”

Will touches two fingers to his temple, closes his eyes, a flutter of dark blond eyelashes against freckled cheeks. “Yes. I see you, having dinner with me. Tonight.” Will’s voice has gone spooky again, but it’s edged with something warmer now.  

“Good grief,” Leo mutters. 

Nico nods. “Interesting. Do you see yourself picking me up at eight, maybe?”

“You know, I do,” Will grins “You’re good at this.”

“Maybe after dinner I can show you what else I’m good at,” Nico counters. 

Will waggles his eyebrows. “I foresee that I would enjoy that.”

They exchange details, and Will replaces his hood as he leaves, winking at Nico before turning to stroll away. 

“That was disgusting,” Leo says flatly.  

“Hey,” Nico shrugs, grinning, wondering if he can convince Jason to take his shift tomorrow morning. “There's no use fighting the power of prophecy.”

~~~~

Many thanks to @anything-thats-rock-and-roll for the quick beta & for enabling this ridiculousness

[snexy-the-snail]

Into the Dark

Nico wasn’t sure what to think of his dad. At first, he had been thrilled to learn that he had a parent left, that he and Binaca weren’t alone. The orientation video did little to quell that excitement either. It sounded nice, being snugly secure deep within a being who loved you. A safety that couldn’t be ruined, and closeness to family. It sounded more appealing after Binaca joined the hunters.  

Only Hades didn’t come for them. There wasn’t a safe space, no gentle words or reassurances. The orientation video was cheerier than anything that had been happening, his sister died on her first quest, his hero hadn’t been able to stop it so he left.  

Hades didn’t come after that either, he never came no matter what he did whether it was something as simple as an offering or large like speaking with one of the judges. Admittedly his choices slowly turned more reckless, less about getting attention from Hades and more to just prove himself.  

 It wasn’t until after the Labyrinth he finally got some of that attention he had craved.  

“That was reckless.”  

A breath of surprises escapes him before he schools his expression. “It was a calculated risk.” That sounded reasonable right? It wasn’t like Hades would be able to sense any of his inner feelings. He clenches his hand in a fist, hiding it in his jacket pocket.  

There was a tsk behind him, a hand resting on his shoulder. The chill of the weight settling deep in his bones. Much like being in the shadows or underground it was..comforting. The grip only tightens as the silence falls over them. Nico finds that he has to bite the inside of his cheek from leaning closer to the god, the pain a nice distraction.  

“Not calculated enough. Messing the realm of death is never an acceptable route.” Hade’s voice soothing despite the rough edge to it. He sounds almost worried. “Being a child of the underworld does not excuse you from this Nico.” The tone was deceptively light despite the scolding side to it. The grip on his shoulder changed, a sudden movement and he was pulled against his father’s side.  

It’s a motion that brings surprise to him. Nico hadn’t expected the attention on him to be this gentle. This was not the wrathful god he had been taught to be cautious of, this was a soothing parent showing concern, no matter how rusty those skills seemed to be. He stays quiet, trying to resist the urge to lean further into his father’s embrace. The chill of the shadows that curled around the divine being soothing his weary body. Apparently using excess powers of his divine side was a no go. “I swear- are you even listening to me child? What you did was reckless, and you continue to exhaust yourself.” 

A coppery taste floods Nico’s mouth, distracting him slightly. He had been biting so hard he had accidentally drawn blood. Though the brief pain wasn’t what was causing his eyes to water. Tears stinging at the corners of his eyes as Hades continued to speak. 

“I am speaking to you, the least you can do is answer. Must you be this vexing?”  

Before Nico can stop himself, he turns, burying his face into Hades’ chest, a sob drawing from his chest. Part of him expected to be shoved away, instead strong arms wrapped around him, the chill spreading throughout him more fully, shadows blurring the space around them. “I-I’m sorry- I'm...Sorry” he chokes out, his voice muffled slightly by the fabric.  

“What was I supposed to do? I’m not even supposed to exist and the one person I've ever known is gone.” He can’t help the bitterness in his tone. He couldn’t even bring her spirit forward to speak to her. The chill grows, as does the grip on him. “If I had another chance I’d taken it, I’d take it even now. I miss her and I’m tired of pretending that it’s fine.” 

“You didn’t even care enough to check on me! It’s only when I broke your stupid rules that you came.” His voice comes out in shaky broken sobs, his hands coming up to twist in the fluid feeling fabrics. With his anger finally released he feels an overwhelming sense of tiredness, his tears still streaming down his face, soaking his father's clothing.  

He can feel Hades start to run a hand through his hair, grimacing at the touch. Part of him expected the touch to give to pain, but it didn’t. “You’re...Correct. I didn’t visit you, I have been...afraid.”  

Afraid? The idea was laughable, he opened his mouth to voice the thought before Hades continued. 

“Losing your sister was... losing any child for any god is a sensation that none of us find pleasant. I feared if I met with you that I would give into some desires.” Hades’ tone takes a sour tone. Nico had no doubt about what either.  

“Then do it! Do you know how excited I was to learn about you? About the idea of finally having a place safe for me? I was alone and thrown into a world that’s trying to kill me why wouldn’t I want it.” He snaps, shoving back away from the cold embrace of his father. Hades’ expression is unreadable as he looked his son over. It makes Nico squirm slightly, turning his gaze away from his father.  

“It’s not just your fear Nico.”  

“What?” 

“I am afraid. You remember the early stories, I am not fond of my memories of the times. I cannot trap you the way I felt.” Hades’ tone is firm and carries an edge to it. It was something Nico hadn’t given much thought. He had thought the orientation video was meant to ease demigods into the idea. Did the elder gods truly struggle with it? 

“You...I...oh.” The anger left him at once. His father was scared of upsetting him.  

Silence falls over them both before Nico looks back to the god’s gaze. He takes a step forward, leaning back against his father.  

“I won’t feel trapped. You’re my father, my family...and...and that’s what I need right now.” 

There’s a certain softness in his father’s gaze now, shadows dancing around the god almost like a mirror to his emotions. “Please?” He adds on when neither moves. That seems to be the permission Hades was looking for, the god’s hand resting back on his shoulder. “You will not feel trapped?” The question comes.  

“I won’t I swear.” Nico says breathlessly, his heart pounding as he squeezes his eyes shut. Watching gods shift their forms was always so disorienting. He squeezes his eyes shut, the stupid little jingle from the orientation video buzzing in the back of his head. He blindly grasps at his father's hand as it encircles around him. “I can never get used to you just- just being able to do that” He mumbles, blinking his eyes several times before looking his father over.  

Oh- being small was really disorienting. “That’s normal.” Hades reassures, curling his hand more around Nico as he scoops the boy up, keeping his motions smooth. It was appreciative considering Nico was still trying to get used to the fact he was easily sitting in his father’s palm. Nothing could’ve prepared him for that. He had seen gods shift around, changing their forms easily, Poseidon easily being one of the most annoying to keep track of the god was basically just water half the time. Then again, he rarely saw the god, just once at an Olympus meeting, it had been the quest he lost his sister on. 

“I’ll...go slow.” Hades’ voice rumbles now. He could see how people used to worship gods now, if they appeared like this, he would instantly scramble to flatter them too. “Okay...Really father, I’ll be fine.” 

Still didn’t stop his insides from doing a flip when Hades opens his mouth. There wasn’t warmth, and the darkness was intense, much like the shadows he would bend to hide himself. In a way it was comforting. Nico could feel the corners of his mouth twitching upwards, nearly tempted to dive in. He managed to stay composed however, taking a small breath in, as the hand he was resting on tilted slightly.  

He slid in feet first, the god’s tongue quick to meet his descent to safe guard any possible interaction with the pearly white teeth. It wasn’t fear that caused his heart to beat in his throat, but it wasn’t quite excitement. Just the cool sense of bliss as he slid inside further. He steadies himself, wriggling slightly when Hades seemed to pause.  

“Still okay. I promise, this...this is something different for me.” 

It was. His father might see it as a sense of being trapped, of torture, but for him, Nico craved it. The constant buzzing under his skin that demanded he focused started to fade. He no longer felt the need to constantly observe his surroundings, why would he with the comfort of his father all around. The darkness encircled him as he slides in fully, a clack sealing him in pitch black. “No one really talks about their parents doing this...well I mean they do it’s just no one really talks about what it's like.”  

Will only talked about how it was a way his dad showed affection. Other kids speaking about how it was just a quirk of their parents, or simply just a task that needed to be done. Then again, he guessed it would be weird to speak about how each god was different from each other.  

A hum rumbles around him, the muscles twitching under him. There's a brief moment when has lifted up, pressed lightly against the roof of the god’s mouth. “O-oh right. Yes, I’m laying down.” He laughs folding his arms in front of him, resting his head. He had a feeling any time spent mainly in the mouth was due to Hades hesitating himself. The younger gods really seemed to not struggle with this at all. He was pretty sure he saw Apollo stalking his kids more often than not, and even Dionysus had a few times where neither of the twins could be found.  

He closes his eyes letting a breath out as he focuses on the area around him. Gods didn’t need to breathe and in a strange sense Nico found the eerie silence comforting, much like being fully encompassed by the earth. It was a sense of being wrapped in silence and shadows, much like the fleeting memories of when he had been growing up. The world was a lot louder than he had remembered.  

It was off but Nico found he didn’t mind the salvia soaking into his clothing's, most likely making it easier on them both for later events. He mindlessly starts sorta swinging his legs after a moment. Hades wasn’t doing much after all, and while the silence was welcomed, he was getting a tad bored. It wasn’t like the god’s maw was spacious either. With the size he was at now, his legs awkwardly bend more into the god’s throat. “Still alright.” 

That seemed to jar Hades back into reality. Nico can’t help but laugh, patting the muscle under him. His hand sunk deeper than he had been expecting, then against like how his uncle was as fluid as the waters of his domain, his father was as wispy as the shadows themselves. He wouldn’t be surprised if Hades forgot about him one day and he dropped straight through. Will said Apollo had done it once with one of his children.  

A rolling pressure sucked his legs further down, the cool fleshy tube pulling him rhythmically as he slid down Hades' throat. To the belly of the beast in a sense. A smile cracked on his face as darkness swallowing him, rather than a squeeze there was a drop, and he spilled into a larger space. Rather than a plush swinging sensation there was a firm rigidness. It was soft, but Nico felt like he wouldn’t face plant at any given second.  

“Still okay” he says trying to right himself in the dark. It was weird being to stand, though given how small the space was he had to crouch slightly. “I am... very sure this isn't how a stomach is supposed to be.” He muses after a second. 

“What does that mean?” and wow. If Nico thought that Hades had sound regal before, inside it was everywhere. He could practically feel the vibrations. “Well...um first off, it’s supposed to be made out of muscle, I can basically stand in here.” He points out sinking a hand into a ‘wall’ of a stomach. His hand sank into it much like they usually did with shadows. “Then again you’re not very much like a person either.”  

There’s a thoughtful hum, the firmness of the space fading until rippling shadows nearly made it impossible to stand. A small laugh escapes Nico as he’s cradled by the flesh surrounding him. “I wasn’t complaining! IT was just- funny you basically put me in a box.” He laughs at the idea, closing his eyes with a slight smile.  

“I believe we work different than most mortal internals.” Hades points out, Nico closing his eyes as he feels the rumble of his father’s voice. “You do. When Will was describing it to me I was like ‘there’s no way’ because like how could insides even do that!” 

The only reference would have been Kronos, and even then, he was pretty sure it wasn’t exactly the same as a human’s..or maybe it was. There were so many myths on how men were created and he doubted that they had been mashed together with two sets of arms and legs. Who knew, and personally he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out. 

“Just..don’t forget I’m in here.” He says after a few moments. The shadows rippled around him, almost like Hades took offense to the comment. “I won’t. I doubt any god would.” There’s pressure against him, cradling him slightly. Everyone was right, this was weird, but not bad per say. It was..comforting almost, to be fully protected by your parent. 

[anotheroceanid]

I wrote this sleepy, directly on my laptop and barely revised it, please have it in mind!!!

Your treat. @perseabeth @orchardsong

For context to everyone else, this is a unfinished one shot I was writing for the WTHB series, but I literally just made two scenes and called it a day and went back to the main story lol

Her eyes are only slightly closed as she enjoys the sun kisses on her skin. Percy tries not too look flushed while she help one of the new campers on how to hold a sword properly.

‘Are you alright, Miss Jackson?’ The little girl asks. ‘You’re red.’

Percy is obviously failing.

‘It’s never this hot in Atlantis. I think I got used to weather there.’

‘Oh, there must be nice. I don’t like when it’s hot.’

      It would be a surprise if she did. The was Boreas’ daughter. And Canadian.

‘It is. But I like warmth, too.’

For a second, Percy was silently judged by a seven-year-old girl, ‘Well, guess even the Hero of Olympus can have poor taste. If the barrier controls the weather, couldn’t someone turn on it’s AC?’

Percy wheezed as she heard an indignant "Hum!" near her ear. The sun tickled her cheeks, and Percy smiled softly.

‘Hey, do not wave the sword so… fast…’ She mumbled as one of Hermes’ boy threw his weapon a few metres away. Thank gods it was a wooden sword, because it hit right in the head of one of Demeter’s children, who immediately started screaming.

‘Keep going, Anne, you’re doing fine.’ Percy praised the daughter of Boreas as she ran the other way, where the six-year-old boy cried. ‘Chill, chill. It’s alright!’ She bent down to be at the child's height, so she could verify it’s head. ‘It’s alright, right?’ She whispered as low as possible, so the young campers that reunited around her wouldn’t listen.

‘Yup. Just good old drama.’ Apollo answered. Only her could hear him.

‘Great! I mean, hey it’s not bad, you know? You’re tough!’ Percy cheered, and the six-year-old seemed sceptical. ‘It’s just a little ouchie, isn’t it?’

‘No!’ He claimed loudly, hand dramatically placed on his head. ‘It’s a big ouchie! Kiss it!’

Percy blinked for a moment. Oh, this is cute. ‘Of course, of course.’ She said, as she kissed his forehead. ‘Is it better now or do you think you need to go to the infirmary get some syrup!’

‘I’m fine!’ He cheered. ‘No syrup, it’s disgusting.’

‘Okay, no syrup then.’ Percy laughed, and she heard Apollo giggling too. ‘Now get your sword and go back to practice, okay? Nico, would you assist me, please?’

On a distant corner, wearing a black hiking jacket that would make Percy melt in that heat, Nico Di Angelo frowned. ‘Am I not, already?’

‘The idea is to, for example, not let people accidentally throw swords on each other.’ Percy mouthed.

‘I don’t like kids.’

‘Then why did you offer help, Mr Retiree?’

‘Technically, I could be.’ Nico said.

‘Technically, he could be.’ Apollo muttered, at the exact same moment.

‘… and it was either that or helping with the strawberries. The dryads say I’m terrible with plants.’ The dryads are correct, Percy silently agreed, but said nothing. ‘But I’m terrible with kids too, so…’

‘You’re not terrible with kids. They are very welcoming if you try.’ Percy encouraged, though Nico didn’t seem convinced. ‘For cookies, then?’

Nico seemed to ponder for a moment. ‘Don’t draw skulls on them this time.’ He turned, moving toward the same son of Hermes, who looked at Nico like he was the coolest guy alive.

‘That’s a low blow, love.’ Apollo whispered, and she felt his fingertips stroking her neck. She felt a shiver down her spine. ‘Can I get cookies too?’

‘Stop that!’ She mumbled, trying to move her lips as little as possible. She had gotten pretty good at it recently; though it was particularly easier when she was surrounded by little kids she towered over. But poor Nico… Well, he was too overwhelmed by the speed the son of Hermes talked to pay attention to her. If his eyes grow any bigger, they’d fall out of his face.

Apollo chuckled. ‘Took me a lot of effort to get here. If anything, it’s your fault I turned touchy.’

Percy knew she was red like a tomato. ‘You’ve always been touchy.’

‘Unfortunately, I tend to get worse with time.’ He kissed one of Percy’s shoulders. ‘Will you come to Delos with me for the weekend?’

She bit her lip, knowing she should say no. However, it was not like Percy had anything to do at camp in the weekend. The friends that’d be at camp would be engaging in activities Percy had been avoiding and the other friends… Well, not her age. Percy didn’t see herself spending the entire weekend playing UNO with Cabin 7 and Nico, either.

Technically, she could go to Atlantis. There was no downside to that, even if sometimes Triton could be a bit overwhelming as an older brother. Then, father allowed Triton to be overwhelming, so she blamed it on him. Besides that, it was always fun in Atlantis…

‘Or…’ Percy started, ignoring completely her previous line of thoughts. ‘You could come to my mother’s apartment.’ Apollo got silent. Percy blushed. ‘Unless it’s something terribly offensive to invite a god to your mother’s apartment for a weekend. In this case, ignore what I just said.’

‘Do you want me to meet your mom?’ He whispered softly, and Percy felt his breath near her neck.

‘You know my mom.’ She answered, exasperated at the closeness. ‘Dude, I really need to focus on not letting a kid not pluck an eye from another.’

He ignored what she just said and kept going. ‘I saw your mom. Once. That didn’t count.’

‘You talked to her.’

‘Artemis talked to her. I just stood there and nodded trying to not look stupid.’

This was Percy’s time to chuckle. ‘Artemis would argue you failed.’

‘I would argue I failed that day! I’m pretty sure I was smiling a little too much. Didn’t she spoke to you about me?’

‘Nope. Not a word.’ Mostly because Percy blackout-ed a few hours after the Laurel Wreath Ceremony and didn’t remember most of it, because no one thought about telling her the free drinks weren’t alcohol free. Bless Rhode for helping her and keeping it a secret.

‘See? I caused a bad impression.’ He professed dramatically. ‘You cannot ask me to just show up in your door one random weekend and then meet your mom, I need planning time. I need to gather gifts, and maybe write a poem or a music to her.’

Percy pictured Apollo showing up at their door with a millionaire collection of jewellery and the next Billboard Hot 100 number one hit. That wasn’t the way Percy wanted her mom and Paul to meet her boyfriend. Boyfriend? Can she call him that? Secret boyfriend? Friend-with-Benefits who walk holding hands in Paris? Friends’ brother who she kissed indiscriminately when they were left alone? Friends’ dad she got cosy with? Percy never brought up the topic, and sincerely she was a bit nervous to do so, but she wondered what she should call it.

Not that she would be announcing it to anyone any time soon. Or ever. Well, ever was a long time to count with, but she’s not spilling the tea the next girls’ night.

‘My mom won’t be there.’ Percy revealed, licking her lips timidly. ‘She and Paul are visiting his family, so… We would be alone.’

Which wasn’t the case in Delos.

His mom was there. Leto was amazing, but that all knowing grin she would give them made her feel scandalous. Additionally, Percy would like to have a moment with her Call-It-What-You-Want without Thalia, Artemis and Hermes playing UNO on the living room. It was not as if she intended doing anything, Percy simply didn’t want that feeling of being watched.

‘Oh…’ Apollo sang devilishly. ‘This won’t help me cause a good first impression.’ He laughed, obviously finding fun in it all. ‘Which isn’t fair, considering my whole family adores you. And don’t dare arguing with me, you know it’s true. I’m talking about the side of the family that matters, by the way.’

They remained quiet for a second, then Percy spoke. ‘So, is it no?’

‘It’s an absolute "I’ll be there!", I’m just thinking how I’ll make it up for your mom… Any idea?’

‘My mom is chill; she won’t hate you for coming over when she’s out. Mom always says I can bring in, hm… ‘Boys, but he didn’t need to know that. ‘…friends.’

Silence, again. ‘Her favourite singer is definitely getting a Grammy next year.’

‘Her favourite singer is Freddie Mercury.’

‘Your family definitely hates me, my love…’

Mr D almost cries when she tells him and Chiron that she is leaving to spend the weekend "with her mom". Well, he didn’t cry. But he cried out a ‘You’re leaving me alone with them?!’ As he pointed his finger to a group of toddler demigods who played in the carpet. Apparently, they invaded Big House and refused to get out without a fight.

Chiron also gave her a pleading look as one of the toddlers pulled his tail. ‘Is it urgent?’ He asks, silently agreeing with Mr D.

‘I mean, she’s happy that I improved with the whole thing with the war, so we wanted to spend some time together, you know? Like the old times. Words like "gatekeeper" and "fight" were used against my father.’ Being around Hermes made lie much easier for her. Percy wondered it was some sort of blessing or if she was just learning it by familiarity.

‘Can’t you go next week?’ Mr D asked, as he moved his hands to flout a pointy pen out of one of the toddlers’ hands. The poor kid started to cry. ‘Or next month? Your mom won’t run away, Penny Johnson!’

She held a laughter as she watched Mr D pick up the child and try desperately to stop the monstrous tantrum over a pen. ‘They won’t grow in a week.’ She retorted, smiling devilishly.

‘Maybe we should get a permission on Olympus to age every kid to twelve as soon as they cross the barrier for the first time.’ Mr D suggested, looking rather serious.

‘You’re not doing that!’ She and Chiron rushed to suppress that absurd idea before the other gods heard it.

‘Oh, as if I didn’t suffer enough…’ Dionysus sighed. ‘How people do it without drinking?’

‘Preferably, everyone should do it without drinking.’ Percy frowned. ‘Give me the child, would you?’ She stepped in and stole away the toddler from his arms. He didn’t even fret from releasing them.

Percy rocked the toddler cheerfully, and they quickly forget why they were crying.

‘Just take them with you! Actually, why don’t you keep them?’ He suggested, as if it was the most brilliant thought someone could ever come out with.

‘I’m seventeen!’ She remembered to him.

‘Back on my days, you’d have a litter of your own already… Your mother will be there, won’t she?’ Oh, yeah, that… ‘A souvenir from Camp Half-Blood, isn’t it nice?’

Without even thinking twice, Percy come up with an answer. ‘It’s not her job to take care of other people’s kids.’

‘And is it mine?’ Dionysus pointed out to himself, and as Chiron and Percy opened their mouths to answer, with a finger raised, he added, ‘It’s a rhetoric question.’

‘So, here’s my rhetoric answer: tire them until they sleep and pray it last for a few hours. That was what mom did to me when I was this age.’

She put the toddler on the ground, and it ran to hug Mr D legs, who shrieked like he had just been electrocuted.

Percy grinned and left the Big House.

It’s almost night. She needs a bath. Camp got so crowded ever since the end of the war that the days felt longer with all the additional classes, they needed to encompass all different age ranges; not that the veterans would use it as an excuse to skip the underground parties. They were more frequent when Pollux was around. However, he had been pre-emptively sent to a spiritual retreat with the Maenads. A fancy way to say he’s temporary exiled from Camp, because apparently some gods (Athena) didn’t like the "bad influence" he had on their children (Annabeth). The Gods weren’t thinking straight if they thought teenagers would let his legacy go to waste.

The Stolls were getting a lot of money with the parties. With the brilliant mind of Leo Valdez, one of the campers that arrived last winter, they were literally keep the Underground alive. Percy suspected that Mr D knew but kept quiet about it because he didn’t want to spoil everyone’s fun—especially when this fun kept his domain so close to him.

Percy watched as some nymphs giggled as they whispered to each other. The nature spirits were having the time of their lives. Good for them. Still, she had other plans.

From the Aphrodite Cabin, Drew waved to her, moving her lips asking if she was coming. Percy mouthed a "No, visiting mom", to what the daughter of Aphrodite made a pout. "Next one, then?" Percy read on her lips, to what Percy laughed and shrugged.

[sionisjaune]

A short Nico/Jenson ficlet for @penaltyboxboxbox's girlcedes ballet AU... the last image made me insane...

Afterwards, he always asks about Lewis. The sweat on Nico’s back hasn’t even begun to dry, and her knees ache from riding his cock, and her back aches from practice, and he flops on his back, slides one of his disgusting cigs from the crumpled pack on his dresser and asks about her, absently scratching the scruffy hair on his chest. 

“She’s fine,” says Nico. Today, Toto announced that Lewis had made prima after stringing them both along for weeks. Everyone knew he would pick Lewis in the end, just like everyone knew that Lewis really was prima material, even with her tattoos and her piercings and her muscled quads and thick torso. 

Jenson sucks on his cigarette for a moment and then turns his head to the side to exhale in the direction of the window. Nico wishes he would blow smoke in her face, if only so that she could have something to yell at him for. 

“She still remember me?” says Jenson, wrapping his lips around the cigarette for another drag. “Wouldn’t kill her to come around…” 

Nico rolls her eyes and climbs off of Jenson’s lap to hunt around for her panties. Jenson must have tossed them somewhere in his pigsty of a room sometime after he stuck his hand down her jeans. Eventually, she finds them dangling from the bedpost, beside Jenson’s foot. She tugs them on only to discover that they’ve ripped along the seam where elastic meets delicate lace. Monstrous, soul-sucking rage swells in her chest and bursts like a party balloon before it can become anything real. Instead of ripping her own hair out of her head, she locates Jenson’s boxers and lobs them at his face.

“What would you even do?” Nico says. 

“Huh?” says Jenson, lighting another cigarette. He cups his hand around the end to shield the flame from the draught gusting in through the window. 

“If she came around. What would you do?” Nico crosses her arms, but it only serves to draw Jenson’s attention to her tits. When his eyes widen, she swallows and purses her lips to keep the bile down. 

“Dunno,” says Jenson, folding one wiry arm behind his head. “There used to be a band. We were Mick Laren. You, know like the—” 

“I know,” says Nico.

“Then we were Downforce. And then Lewis and the Mechanics.” Jenson chortles. Nico is going to be sick. She scoops one of Jenson’s dirty shirts off the floor—an embarrassing band tee going threadbare at the collar—and pulls it on over her head. She tiptoes back to Jenson’s bed and slides back in beside him because she has nowhere else to go, really. Jenson folds his arm around her and pulls her into his chest. At least he’s good for keeping her warm. Nico slides her leg over his while he puffs on his cigarette.

“Give me that,” Nico snaps. Jenson hands her the cigarette obligingly, and Nico plucks it from his hand with two fingers. It’s too short to hold onto properly, but it feels good on the way down, stinging her throat and curling poisonously inside her lungs. Toto would fucking kill her if he saw. She hands the butt back to Jenson, and he squishes it out on the nightstand.

“You can’t even fucking sing,” Nico sighs. 

“Sure I can,” says Jenson, pinching her in the side. “You wanna hear what I’m working on?”

“No,” says Nico, into his chest. 

“Some girlfriend you are,” says Jenson.

“Not your girlfriend,” says Nico. 

Jenson snorts. “Tell that to the panty collection in my underwear drawer.” 

“They’re probably not even mine,” says Nico. “Slag.” 

Jenson kisses the top of her head and tosses the sheet over her body. She might as well stay the night, now. The alarm clock on the nightstand reads 2 AM in forbidding analog digits. Waking up to whatever shit breakfast Jenson cooks up is marginally better than waiting pantless on the street corner for a cab. God only knows where her jeans ended up.

“Sweet dreams, princess,” says Jenson. Nico squeezes her eyes shut tight.

[mikkomacko]

New Year’s Resolution

Nico Hischier x reader

Warnings: smut, a bit of a daddy/breeding kink

Part 2

~

Babbling and stumbling, Nico shoulders his way back from the bar and towards you. The silver beads around his neck sway as he messily approaches the tall table you’re perched at, the drinks in his hands tittering towards the edge of the glass.

You bite back a laugh as he continues to chatter to himself about god knows what, any words made unintelligible by alcohol and the music in the club. Digging a lip gloss out of your purse, you hide your giggle with the glittery tube as you apply a coat.

Nico presses himself up close to you, chest against your shoulder as he slides your rum and coke towards you. You tuck the lipgloss away again, tilting your chin up towards Nico as he takes a swig of his beer.

His gaze settles on you, eyes zoning in on your glossy smile and you watch his already dark eyes grow even more black.

“Pretty,” he mumbles, dipping his fingers into your hair, “I love having a pretty girl.”

Heat floods your cheeks and you purse your lips to keep from giggling. Nico always gets a sweet tongue when he drinks so you don’t shy away from his loving look at bars anymore but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still fluster you.

“Thank you,” you say, holding his gaze as you sip the drink from the little black stirring straw. Nico blinks slowly, licking his own lips at the sight of your puckered ones. “For my drink and for being sweet.”

His already flushed cheeks turn a shade darker, dimples sinking into them as he grins. You’ve barely placed the rum and coke back on the table when he leans down to kiss you, his fingertips pressing into your scalp. You grab his bicep, steadying yourself because Nico drunk and in love is a force to be reckoned with.

He dips his tongue into your mouth, wrapping his other arm around your middle and drawing you up to him. The fresh beer bottle presses into your side, ice cold glass on your skin that makes you shiver and fold into the warmth of Nico’s chest even more.

“Schao!”

Nico reels back from you, lips red and wet as he looks behind you for whichever teammate called his name. You settle back into your seat, still holding tight to Nico’s arm as you haphazardly wipe away any smears of lipgloss around your mouth.

You don’t hear whatever Jack shouts to Nico but your boyfriend does, nodding along as he sweeps his finger through your hair. Absentmindedly, he twirls his finger around a strand, playing with it and you take another drink from your sweating glass, trying not to smile too widely at the sweet man standing over you.

“M’gonna play pool with Jack,” Nico addresses you, tugging playfully on the strand of hair he’s been fiddling with. “Come watch?”

You nod, collecting your purse and drink. You nudge Nico back so you can stand up but he doesn’t budge, smirking down at you and drinking his beer. Rolling your eyes, you climb to your feet and come chest to chest with him. He smells like cologne and the bar, the yeasty scent of his beer flooding your nose. You must make a face because he laughs, placing a hand on your back and moving to guide you towards the rows of booths in the back.

Jack is awaiting your boyfriend impatiently, tapping his foot like a child with a pool stick in each hand. You squeeze by him, meeting his pointed gaze with an innocent batting of your eyelashes.

You find a seat with Bratter and his girlfriend, smiling as the two greet you as if you hadn’t seen them earlier in the night. Nico is pulling at your purse on your shoulder, tugging the bag down your arm. Glancing over, you find him digging through the main pocket until he finds a stick of gum. Dramatically, he pops the gum into his mouth with an amused smile before handing your purse back.

Laughing, you set it in the booth next to you, turning back to your conversation. Nico kisses the top of your head before he goes, finally joining his alternate for a match against Timo and Luke.

You keep chatting for a bit, sipping your drink and occasionally checking on Nico. The club is starting to get more packed in the general floor area and you realize midnight is quickly approaching so you and a few others head to the photo booth before it gets too hectic. A Happy New Year headband is distributed to you as well as blowers and poppers. Bratter finds a top hat and Nicole glasses.

Peace signs and funny faces, kisses to the cheeks of Bratter and you hugging Nicole with him pouting behind you, the camera flashes and flashes. You’re taking the last photo of you and Nicole downing your drinks with arms intertwined when your boyfriend sneaks up.

Him and Bratt catch you two at the last second, arms snaking around your waist and lifting you into air with a shocked laugh as the flash goes off. It almost looks like the two boys planned it but you’d imagine it’s just whatever telepathic co-dependence they’ve acquired over the years of playing together.

Nico smells of mint when you turn and sling your arms around his neck, the gum he swiped earlier smacking obnoxiously as he smiles. He’s drunker than he was before his game of pool and judging by the wet spot on the collar of his shirt he had to pay the price of losing with a shot.

“You’re druuuunk,” you tease, slipping your fingers under the edge of his beanie.

“So are you.” He responds, voice heavy and thick with his accent. You laugh, the last bit of your third drink of the night making you feel a little loopy and light. Fiddling with the short edges of his recently trimmed hair, you nudge him backwards until you’re out of the way of photos.

Nico finds your mouth, the hand that had been on your waist slipping down to fit into the back of pocket of your leather pants. Heat creeps up your neck, fueled by the stirring in your belly as Nico’s large hand palms at you.

“Come down Neeksy, it’s not midnight yet.”

Siegs shoves at Nico’s shoulder, jolting you two apart and Nico looks over at him with annoyance. You two separate enough for him and Nico to start chatting in Swiss-German, something you’re still struggling to understand when you’re sober let alone drunk so you tune out.

Hugging Nico’s arm, you peer up at him with big moony eyes. He’s so handsome with his kiss bitten lips, that stupid piece of gum still visible with every laugh. His voice sends pleasant chills down your spine, his words deep and sloppy from drinking. But most of all, he looks happy. Yeah he’s got that drunk, cocky swagger that comes with almost every attractive NHL player but he’s still himself. Giggling and talkative, eyes dark and lidded but still welcoming.

You watch the way his Adam’s apple bobs when he swallows, how shiny his neck is with sweat and you can almost picture the shimmer you know rests on his chest and collarbones and everything beneath his clothes. Suddenly you want to forget all about midnight in favor of taking Nico home.

By the time Nola is drawing you into a conversation you’re about to be a puddle on the floor.

“Hm?” You hum, blinking out of your daze and meeting Nola’s gaze. She laughs though you know by the teasing look in her eyes that she can see right through you.

“What’s your resolution for the year?”

Nico and Siegs focus in on you now, awaiting your answer and while you wish you had something good to say, you’ve never been a resolution person.

“Oh I don’t have one. I can make changes and goals whenever I want, I don’t need a new month to do that.”

Unsurprised by your answer, Nico just laughs but the other two scoff and complain, listing off the pros of doing a January reset.

“Mine is to drink more water,” Nola says and you applaud her even if you think it’s a bit dumb to only start doing that because of a new year. “And mine is to stop drinking alcohol.” Siegs adds, lifting up his glass of water as if proving his success already.

“What about you Nico?”

Nola’s question makes him stop and think, which you weren’t expecting because Nico has the same views about resolutions as you do. But his eyes twinkle with excitement and something you don’t recognize as he shrugs, looking from you to his friends.

“Not sure yet, gotta think about it.”

Siegs ribs him for not being prepared but Nico takes it all in good fun. You ponder that look in his eye, curious as to what he’s up to because you know he does and says everything with intention.

“Come on baby,” Nico pulls you from your thoughts. “S’almost midnight.” All the Devils and friends cluster together in the middle of the vip section, Timo and Jack now standing on the pool tables and you cringe, knowing they’ll be paying to reupholster that later.

Guiding you by the hand, you think Nico is leading you towards the others but he simply drops off the empty drink glasses at a messy booth table before tugging along to the back room. It’s quiet and cold compared to the rest of the bar, and you crowd into his back to maintain some sort of warmth.

Nico finds his way into the single use bathroom, nudging you in before himself and then kicking the door shut. You barely catch the sound of the lock before he’s taking hold of your face. Warm hands squish your cheeks together, puckering your lips and he giggles cutely.

“Know what I want for my birthday,” he says after moment of just looking at you, words still slurred but more serious than he’s been all night. You’re tempted to tease him that new years comes first but you know how much he hates having a birthday close to a holiday so you stay quiet. Rather than answer, you wrap your fingers around his biceps reassuringly and raise a questioning eyebrow.

He hesitates, sweeping his gaze over your face as he gnaws on his bottom lip. It’s not until he meets your eyes does he speak. “I want a baby.”

It’s not news to you, his wish. You’ve had the marriage talk, the baby talk, the everything talk. And you both decided that the whole white picket fence in a large house with children and a dog is in the cards. But a time limit was never mentioned, instead both opting for a feeling it out vibe.

You suppose Nico is feeling like he wants to be a father. And that, you realize is what was twinkling in his gaze before. It was unknown to you because this is uncharted territory, being parents. Maybe it’s a similar glint he gets on the ice when he’s in charge of the team, when he’s ready to step up.

“I can’t have a baby in four days,” you say because you need time to think. Could you guys do this? Are you ready to do this? To change your life and your body forever?

Nico doesn’t laugh, he doesn’t even smile. His eyebrows pinch together, his thumb beginning to stroke over your cheek.

“M’serious,” he grumbles “I’m ready. To do this. With you.”

You soften, frowning at the annoyance and hurt in his gaze. Of course you knew he was serious, he doesn’t say things he doesn’t mean but you didn’t realize just how serious he was. You wonder how long he’s been thinking about this.

“I know baby,” you soothe, “sorry I know. I just-what if we’re just drunk and horny?”

He lightens up a bit, the pinch of his forehead smoothing out. “I am drunk. And horny,” he confesses with a small laugh. “But I’ll still want this tomorrow when I’m hungover and mad and again when I’m sober and tired.”

A while, you decide. He’s been thinking about this for a while. There’s no way he hasn’t been and judging by his confidence, he’s got it all figured out in his head. The timing, the money, the change it would bring to both of your lives. He’s prepared to do this with you.

And how could you say no? Of course you want children with him. How could you not? He’s the most perfect man you’ve ever met and by the way he wrangles hockey boys you know he’ll be a perfect father.

“Ok,” you agree. “I’m ready if you are.”

It’s like a weight has lifted off him, his whole body relaxing and his lips twitch into a smile. You laugh, running your hands up and around to his neck. Drawing him closer, you tip toe until his mouth meets yours.

“Sure?”

“Yes.”

“100%?” He presses, running his nose along the side of yours.

“Yes.” You breathe against his wet lips. “I want to have your baby Nico.”

His chest rumbles with a suppressed groan, Nico’s eyes squeezing shut and nose scrunching in both pain and pleasure. You giggle, kissing at his chin and jaw as you paw at his shoulders.

Outside, the muffled cheers of the minute countdown reach your ears.

“You know, they say whatever you’re doing at midnight is what you’ll be doing for the rest of the year?”

Eyelashes fluttering, Nico blinks open his dark eyes to peer down at you. “Gets those pants off then. I wanna be between your thighs.”

Sloppy and hastily, you yank your boots and jeans off as Nico tugs at his belt. His drunk fingers fumble and by the time he’s got it off and unzipped his jeans you’re removing the beanie from his hair and tossing it to the side. You yank at his shirt, desperate to feel his skin against yours and bite at his collarbones. He lets you manhandle him for a second, pulling the shirt over his head himself before he’s dipping a hand into his boxers, maneuvering them enough to get his hard cock out.

Giddily, you jump at him so he can lift you up around his waist, your feet locking above his ass. You wrap your arms around his neck, needing something sturdy to hold onto. Stroking through his hair, Nico manages to push your underwear to the side, enough for him to line up the swollen tip of his cock with your entrance.

You moan softly, shifting your hips lower to pull him in even more and Nico takes that as his sign to drop you down onto his cock fully. You gasp for a breath, squirming as his thickness stretches you open. Whistles and cheers sound throughout the bathroom, the celebration in the bar echoing into you both and Nico laughs softly, pressing his lips to your cheek.

“Happy New Year sweetheart.” He tells you, his fingers rubbing circles into your lower back.

You smile, smooching a wet kiss to his lips. “Happy New Year baby,” you mumble, sneaking your tongue into his mouth. He moans, chasing your kiss with his own tongue and grabs your ass with both hands.

Slow and steady, he moves you up and down on his cock, leaning backwards until his shoulders rest on the wall behind him. You have no idea how he’s capable of holding you like this, moving you in his large hands but it makes your stomach tighten in pleasure and you clench down around him.

“Fuck,” he mutters, panting heavily. You whimper, dropping your mouth to the side of his neck as his cock brushes that velvety spot inside. “So good baby, gonna make me a daddy?”

Clinging to his shoulders, you nod pathetically. “Yes Nico, gonna make you a daddy. Please let me make you a daddy.”

His mouth finds yours again, flipping himself around so he can press you into the wall. His thrust grow quick and strong, fucking up into you like a man starved. Your brain goes fuzzy under the haze of him kissing you silly and driving his cock into you. He takes short shallow breathes, pulling away to mumble drunken nonsense about filling you up, about having you on his cock all night long until you’re swollen with his baby.

It’s frantic and hot, a new side of him you’ve never seen before and it has your orgasm rising quickly. Whatever breeding, baby-obsessed persona that has taken over him is driving you wild and you’re practically sobbing into his chest when you reach your peak. You bare down on him, thighs straining and burning as you work with him to stretch out your own orgasm and help him reach his.

When Nico does come it’s instant and strong, his hold on you tightening as his cock twitches and his orgasm burst from him. He mewls and groans, his voice cracking as he whimpers and you encourage him with soft fingers through his hair.

“That’s it Nico,” you murmur, your own voice rough and scratchy. “That’s it baby, let me have it all.”

Your toes tingle and you’re unsure if it’s your fading high, the alcohol, or how tightly Nico has you pinned but you don’t care. You fight off every tired muscles, every burning limb and just hold him. He buries his face in your neck, hot breathes making your skin sticky as he takes a few shallow ruts of his hips into you.

By the way he hisses and shivers you know he’s feeling the sharp stings of his oversensitive cock, yet he still knocks his hips into yours. You don’t think it’ll actually do anything more, him torturing himself by trying to fuck his come deeper into you but you don’t complain, instead enjoying the aftershocks of your own high.

Finally, he settles, still buried to the hilt but holding still. You give him a moment to breathe, to ground himself again before encouraging him to look at you with a soft tug on his hair.

Hooded black eyes finds yours, his cheeks red and sweaty with long strands of hair stuck to his forehead. You brush them back, cupping his stubbled jaw in your palm.

“If we planned this better you could’ve been fucking me in our bed.” You say quietly, a small smile rising on your lips.

Nico blinks sluggishly, fucked out as he hums his disagreement. “I like this better. ‘Sides, it was the beer that made me ask you.”

You kiss him softly, stroking his cheek. “Really?”

He nods. “Yeah, and the boys. Everyone kept asking me for a resolution and what I want this year and yeah. I decided I should just do it now, as my resolution or whatever.”

Tilting your head in confusion, you wonder what his plan had been before tonight. How long he would’ve waited to tell you that he was ready. But right now isn’t the time to quiz him, not when you need to get cleaned up and rejoin the party outside.

“I like this resolution,” you answer. “Think I’m gonna steal it.”

He laughs, nuzzling into your hand and closing his eyes in exhaustion

“M’tired but I don’t want to put you down.” He mutters. “Don’t want to pull out yet either.”

Shaking your head in amusement, you admire him for a moment. His long eyelashes, his thick eyebrows and perfectly curved nose and he’s pretty pink lips.

“We can do it again at home,” you promise “think it might take a few tries anyway baby.”

He grumbles, scrunching his nose. “No I think I did it now,” he argues “but I still want to do it again at home. And on my birthday.”

This time you do laugh, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead, as you mentally piece together a plan for getting the both of you dressed and into an Uber home.

The hardest part, you decide, will be getting away from the team without them bugging about where you disappeared too.

And you were right, because as soon as you and Nico return fully clothed and put back together again he’s loose lipped and cocky. You’re hurrying to gather your purse and coat when Timo ribs him for not popping champagne with them and Nico proudly puffs his chest out, wrapping his arms around you lifting you into the air like a prize.

“I was too busy popping one into my girl,” he says casually. “M’gonna be a dad this year!”

Mortified and blushing, you kick Nico’s shins until he puts you down as Timo and everyone hoots and hollers. You spin to face your drunk boyfriend, smacking at his chest but you can’t even be mad when you see the innocent glee in his eyes, the sweet smile he gives you like you’re the greatest gift in the world.

“Nico,” you whine, unsure of what to even say. He doesn’t catch the hint, slinging his arm around you and pulling you into his chest. That sweet tongue of his murmurs into your ear how much he loves you, how excited he is to have a pretty baby to go along with his pretty girl. And you melt into it, cheeks red as you hide in his shoulder.

“Cap,” Holtz says, shaking his head as he smack Nico’s shoulder. “Starting the year off with a bang huh?”

You burrow further into him, embarrassed as he laughs and laughs.

The only solace is knowing that you’ll get to remind him of his big mouth tomorrow morning.

[imperatorrrrr]

Good morning. Let's make it a fun and engaging activity. I think you'll find it entertaining and rewarding

"Who do you think is the movie or film character that best mirrors Nico's personality, and why?"

Good Evening Anon, thank you for this lovely question.

Unfortunately, you have stumped me. I have been thinking for days about this and essentially my brain has gone empty and I'm not able to think of any movie or television character at all.

But.

I will use your ask, and apologies for co-opting your ask, to finally do my SteveBucky // JackNico are Parallels of Each Other Tangent aka the SteveBucky to JackNico Pipeline

...am I saying Nico is Bucky Barnes? No. Am I saying that Jack and Nico together are very Stucky coded? Yup.

Some things off the bat...Nico has clearly never been brainwashed (the concussions don't count), nor does he have a metal arm, nor has he ever been incorrectly labeled a villain (the Florida Panthers doing this also doesn't count), so like lets just put all of that aside okay and focus on the characters at their core.

1 - Jack Hughes is the undisputed star of the New Jersey Devils. He is a superstar. He is the main focus of media. He will always be the big draw. He has, what is it, the second highest selling jersey throughout the league.

Whomst else is the main focus, the star, the dude who is put in front of the cameras? Steve Rogers.

2 - Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers are typically seen as being evenly matched in the powers department. Yes, Bucky got the bastardized version of the serum whereas Steve's was pure, but they're pretty much even in terms of the powers they have.

Nico Hischier is also a first overall draft pick just like Jack Hughes.

3 - Bucky Barnes is known to do the spycraft, the jobs that Steve as Captain America can't do or can't be seen to do. He does the dirty work, the behind the scenes stuff. Steve is leading out front with the shiny shield, but Bucky is in the background being stealth getting the job done without anyone noticing.

Nico Hischier is known to do the "dirty work" in hockey games. He goes to the corners to win puck battles, he's net front grappling against opposing players. He's known to be a defensive forward and one of the best in the league (you'll get that Selke win soon!) and he does all this stuff throughout the game that no one is privy to. Most importantly, Nico is matched up against opposing team's lines in such a way as to give Jack Hughes the room to do his Jack magic and give us that flashy highlight reel offense whether it be a silky pass or an unbelievable goal.

Nico in the background. Bucky in the background. Jack in the foreground. Steve in the foreground.

4 - Steve Rogers is known to be an absolute bitch, a mastermind strategist.

Jack Hughes is known for his pithy and generally cunty responses to the media and also having an insane amount of hockey knowledge and being able to see plays and see the ice like no one else.

5 - Bucky Barnes is a caretaker. He looked after Steve when Steve was poorly and sickly when he was younger and in the comics he kind of collects these kids/orphans that he takes under his wing. He also was the dude in charge (under Steve) as Sarge during WWII. He herded Steve and the Howling Commandos and kept them alive.

Now think about Nico Hischier as a Captain. Every quote about his captaincy talks about how he's a better person than he is a player and he's a remarkable player so he must be a fairly amazing person. He cares about making sure his guys are okay and that his guys can come and talk to him about anything not just hockey. He wants to push people to be their best. Coaches, throughout Nico's career, have placed the worst/worse players with Nico because Nico makes them better and takes responsibility for them.

6 - Bucky Barnes' thighs. Nico Hischier's thighs. Do I have to say more?

7 - Steve Rogers, all American, blue eyes, blonde hair. Bucky Barnes, brunette who holds such sadness in his eyes and is incredibly expressive with his face.

Jack Hughes, all American, blue eyes. Nico Hischier, Swiss brunette, who has a face made for tragedy.

8 - Steve Rogers gets into fights. Bucky Barnes pulls him out of them or finishes them for him.

Jack Hughes will find himself the target of an opponent trying to get in a hit and Nico Hischier comes flying in to defend his honor (see: the Nico coming after TK when TK tried to go after Jack incident).

9 - Bucky Barnes was known to be a charming ass mother fucker back in the day. From the comics especially.

Whomst is a charm offensive on the ice and off the ice? Ah, yes, Nico Hischier.

10 - A lot of teammates, when talking about Jack Hughes, say that how he plays and how good he is inspires them to go out there and give it their all. He leads with how good he is on the ice and his hockey skill. He motivates through his sheer skill level. He scores a goal and it turns the entire game around.

Steve Rogers is also known to be quite inspiring as Captain America with his rousing speeches.

11 - Picture it with me now, folks. Pre-Serum!Steve + Pre-War!Bucky Barnes and Jack Hughes + Nico Hischier.

12 - Steve Rogers is the sun and Bucky Barnes is the moon. Jack Hughes is the sun and Nico Hischier is the moon.

I think twelve is a good place to stop right?

It really is no wonder that I so seamlessly transitioned from SteveBucky to JackNico.

[hadeslegacyhephgirl]

So this ain't da soulmate au. Its coming, promise. in the meantime, witness the evil of my brain and have some major angst.

TW: Character death, HEAVILY implied - idk how far that goes, so maybe it's not even implied - self-harm, grief.

~*~ 6:58 when the patient is admitted 7:20 when the heart-rate monitor flatlines 7:22 when Nico receives the call that destroys him. 8:13 when the shroud is burnt 8:17 when the wooden marker is shoved into the ground

8:20 and Nico's world is in pieces.

Rest in Peace William Andrew Solace 1993-2017 Beloved Brother, Medic, Friend, Lover.

~*~ 9:43 and Nico is laying on his bed 9:44. His Will is gone. And he's never coming back

~*~ 10:36 has someone knocking on his door 10:37 and Jason's sitting next to him on his bed.

Nico can't look at him Because he's got blonde hair and blue eyes, but not the curly blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes that he loves. Loved. Still Loves.

10:42 when Jason finally starts talking

Nico doesn't hear a word of it.

10:45 and Nico is alone again. He's empty Because without his Will, there's nothing left for him. Not anymore.

~*~ 2:41 and he hasn't moved. 3:20 and people are talking to him, talking at him. He doesn't hear a word.

3:36 when Reyna, Hazel, Kayla, Cecil and Lou Ellen show up. They don't say a word.

3:38 and he finally breaks down, sobbing into Hazels shoulder. Because they all knew Will. These are the people who considered Will family above everything. They know his pain He knows their pain.

3:52 they're sitting in a circle. They still haven't said a word, but somehow have said everything they'll ever need to.

~*~ It's 2:38(am) when Nico has his first panic attack without Will. 2:39 and he's drowning in those haunted waters. It's a new kind of torture. Because now Wills voice is part of his chains.

2:43 A flash of red A cry of pain Blood accident. sharp. ow.

~*~

9:18 he makes his first deliberate cut 9:19 he watches in facination as the drops run down his arm 9:22 when he finally bandages them 9:32 and for seven minutes he could breath, could forget, could drown out everything but himself

9:24

Will has been dead for 10 hours.

And Nico is broken.

~*~ 10:37. A month later. Nico is scarliy thin from eating virtually nothing exept what was forced into his mouth

10:38 and he finally pulls out the ring The one he was going to propose to Will with on the day Will died.

10:40 and he's moving, feet taking him outside and down to the docks 10:43 and his arm draws back, throwing the ring as far as possible into the water 10:44 there's a splash. Nico is not around to hear it.

~*~ 11:55 Percy finds the ring 11:56 he realises what it is. Nico had talked to them about proposing to Will. This was that ring.

12:10 Percy, Jason, Annabeth, Hazel, Frank, Reyna, Lou Ellen and Cecil are gathered at the dining pavilion 12:20 they agree.

They need to get Will back And they're gonna make it happen

~*~ 1:34 they have a plan 1:52 they're meeting up with Grover and Apollo (disguised as Lester) in Central Part 1:57 the passageway to the Underworld is open, a yawning pit of darkness and cold. 11:58 Percy goes first 12:00 Apollo and Grover decide to follow

~*~ 12:23 They arrive at Hades Palace 12:34 when Hades greets them, hears their request 12:35 when Hades and Apollo exchange looks 12:37 when Hades sighs, rubs his forehead

'You'll have a ten minute window. Do what you must'

~*~ 12:38 finds them at the Elysium gates 12:41 Will is following them out

~*~ 12:42 and they're running out of time 12:43 and Will stops, exhuasted 12:44 Annabeth is yelling "Nico is in trouble! He's dying Will!" (and it's true, it really is)

12:46 Will is the first out of the Underworld, alive and solid and desperate because where is Nico, if I know him he's really in trouble and I know what he'd do and I need to stop him before he goes to far.

12:49 Apollo dissapears 12:52 the demigods are in Apollos chariot, racing toward Camp Halfblood and Will wants to go faster, faster, please.

~*~

1:02 Nico hears the knock on his door 1:03 and it's open 1:03 and he can't move because 1:03 Will is back. 1:03 Will is standng, there, Nico's proposal ring in hand and another one, a silver band with the moon phases etched into it. 1:03 they stand there, unable to comprehend it

~*~ 1:05 and they're on the floor, Nico pressing butterly kisses all over Will - face, hands, arms.. 1:07 they simply lay there, basking in the fact that Will is there and alive

~*~ 1:10 Will pulls Nico into the cabin 1:11 Nico's sleeve is rolled up and Will is heartbroken over the bandages on Nico's arm 1:12 His arms are re-bandaged and they lay on the bed 1:13 Nico asks the question he desperaltly wants to ask, the one he never got to before Will died 1:13 Will is the one pressing butterfly kisses on Nico's faces, whispering yes, yes, one thousand times yes. I'm never leaving again

~*~ 6:32(am) there's a dawn ceremony, with Apollo leading them through a simple exchange of rings and vows 8:43 when the celebrations start 9:31 when the newlyweds make it back to Cabin 13, now decorated, cortesey of Hades, Persephone, Apollo and Aphrodite. 9:46 when they finally get to lay down, simply be next to each other, Nico spooning Will as the exhaustion of the last few days catches up.

Above the bed, the promise is carved into the wall.

I'm never leaving you again. Promise.

~*~ Authors notes: they're like 23-24 yrs old here. So. Just cause.

If you don't get it, the question Nico asks in the second-to-last section is will u marry me. that's what the ring was for.

the rings- Nico has the gold band carved with the sun all around: ☀️. ☀️.☀️.☀️.☀️.☀️.☀️- like this but a LOT more elegant. think the sun pattern from Tangled/Rapunzel Will has the silver one with the moon cycles: 🌑.🌒.🌓.🌔.🌕.🌖.🌗.🌘.🌑. - again, a lot more elegant. and in solid silver.

headcannon - Will plays the flute- he got one for the wedding presents. U know. Doctors hands-piano hands-flute hands. Also its just sweet, so we go with it.

Promise, I'm workin' on dat soulmate au. ITS COMING I SWEAR 😥😥😥😥