#may do something like this again full colour I think he’d have one of Leo’s blue pillows in his bed

[seagull-scribbles]

Canyon forest palette for Raph, whichever one you want ❤

Early to bed, late to rise,

Sleep all day, make up lies

[Ask meme here]

[highgaarden]

Hey! I absolutely love your fics for the great, you write all the characters so well! Could you do 92 for Peter and Catherine?

p/c + 92. Can I kiss you?

--

It's a bit of a shock, waking up. Stale vodka gurgles unpleasantly in the low of his belly, and he briefly entertains the notion of cutting it open with a dagger and watch bile leak out of him.

He might still be a little bit drunk.

“Fuck me,” he groans, and attempts to roll over so the sunlight doesn’t sear too much of his eyeballs. 

He falls heavily, but his hand manages to catch on his side table, where Catherine’s hangover potion lay looking ever so reposed in a tall glass. 

He grabs it and swallows its contents without much thought.

In moments the vomit in his throat dislodges and his migrain tempers.

She is a witch. He thinks if she were here he could—

“Emperor?”

Orlo enters after only an abrupt knock. He groans. “What is it, you tiny wart?”

Orlo huffs, allowing himself affront for the briefest of seconds before seemingly shaking it off. It swings in his shoulders ever so slightly. “The state dinner—”

Peter throws his pillow at him.

--

They sip vodka quietly, admiring the lawn and its brightly adorned strollers. Peter thinks he might be bothered about something, because he’s sipping vodka.

Some of the Empress’ perfume wafts his way when she fans her neck. She shifts a bit where she sits, moves a cushion to the side, and stretches out more comfortably on the blanket.

“Why are you sipping on your vodka quietly?” she asks after a fashion. 

“It appears I am thinking,” he says.

“You sound surprised?”

“One does not often notice they are thinking.”

“I.” Catherine thins her lips, her expression schooled suddenly. She nods. “Yes. I suppose so. What is it are you thinking about?”

“That it’s bloody hot, and those women on the lawn look so oddly-shapen for the weather.” He pauses, scrutinising their silhouettes. “It’s disconcerting to the eyes.”

“That’ll be their corsets,” Catherine allows, a tune of - was that vindication?

His eyes immediately rake down her neck, to her chest, to her waist.

“Oh.” His eyebrows come together and he tilts his head. “You are not wearing one.”

“No.” Catherine shakes her head slowly as she draws out the vowel. She’s smiling something wicked, just the tiniest upturn of a corner of her mouth. He starts to smile back.

“And why not?”

Catherine glances at the women of her court one last time before turning her attention back to him. She smiles fully now, and he cannot help but admire how it rosies up her cheeks, the same kind of dark pink as her lips.

“It’s disconcerting to the eye,” she says, and raises an eyebrow as if she, too, knows that this is their very first inside joke.

--

The Empress is an accomplished piano-plunker, and the room politely trills. When she stands at the end of her performance piece, he rouses the room to a thunderous applause and leans in for a quick and perfunctory kiss, as they are meant to.

Festivities pull him away; he thinks he see her whispering with Leo at some point, trading gossip with Lady Dymov at another. He stabs the roast pig with Grigor and shoots a frog at Velementov’s arse. The fat general’s face gets steadily redder as the night progresses.

When he finally stumbles into his wife, even she has red patted high on her cheeks, bringing out the colour of her eyes quiet sweetly. 

“Husband!” she hiccups.

He giggles.

The kiss that lands on her lips is a clumsy one: their noses bump together and her lips part slightly at the unexpectedness of it all. It’s a perfunctory kiss, he wants to argue, but he can’t, because the inside of Catherine’s mouth is hot and tastes of mandarin infused vodka.

“Having fun, Empress?” he asks when he pulls back, winded from the dance he’d cajoled Velementov into.

“I - am feeling much cheer,” his wife allows. 

“Great!” He pats her bum before he leaves and she swats at his hand, much like he had once imagined a wife would.

--

Peter once had thought it a chore, to picnic with Catherine every so often, but here he is taking turns insulting Archie with her back and forth, and realising that she’s managed to cheer him from his sour mood.

Fuck the court, so what if he can’t be sure they’re still smiling.

Catherine tells him to let his feelings focus his action, and his eyes travel upwards as are their wont whenever someone tells him to focus, and he - 

focuses, on a strand of Catherine's hair curling away from where it is supposed to be pinned. A diaphanous rebel curl, proudly golden in the sun, and he remarks upon her hair absent-mindedly.

Catherine pauses. 

“Has it always been this way? So golden?”

Catherine purses her lips and studies his face. “Yes,” she allows. 

“You were saying about Archie?” he asks, and soon enough they are on their feet again.

--

If he’s honest he’d expected a bit more fanfare to his declaration, but his discomfort was so great it was only a lukewarm complaint at best.

Catherine expects the kiss this time, and then she doesn’t expect it, and then she does again, so his kiss lands rather awkwardly, and isn’t he fucking used to that by now?

He can argue - it’s  - whatever. It’s not like he wants to prove anything to her. What a real kiss would feel like, for example.

For a second he wonders —and then he says good night. Because there’s nothing else to say.

“Good night,” his wife allows. She’s always just allowing things.

I may love you stretches in the space between them as she turns. I may love you bounces off the walls in echoes that sound like the bottom of her heeled boots. I may love you sounds like a pussy defense of what he actually feels for her.

He feels - mildly - frightened.

--

The court is calm, but Peter remains restless.

A hall full of stuffy wigs proves too cantankerous a scene, and he forces his sight on something he must admit is far more pleasant: Catherine. She’s cutting her tiny chicken into tinier pieces and doing not much else with them.

She has not said much to him since his confession.

He puts a hand over hers, surprising the both of them.

He searches her eyes for something.

He’d like to think he finds something.

And something indeed changes in Catherine’s eyes. For a second he sees - everything. But before he can even start to gather whatever it was that was making his wife look a funny, different way at him, it’s gone.

“All is bliss, right now,” is what she finally allows, looking visibly upset.

--

The day of Catherine’s birthday dawns brightly. All traces of raspberry have been banished from the kitchens. 

Her gift arrives bundled up in silk, ushered through secret hallways, and finally carted into his quarters in a large ornate trunk.

“Hello!” Peter greets with much enthusiasm. “Good trip?”

“It was agréable,” the swanky chap says with his fancy accent, and bows. “An assured honour, Emperor.”

“Think nothing of it.” He waves an arm. He runs through the itinerary with him, and Volti’s eyebrow raises ever so slightly upon hearing him falter upon his practiced speech.

“Perhaps we should furnish your declaration with a little bit more ... imagination,” Volti suggests. 

“She has an odd sense of humour,” Peter muses. “I’m not sure she’ll appreciate that.”

“Everything you say should be true,” Volti shrugs. Even shrugging the French fucker looks ever so refined. “But be careful of giving everything away: that is when one becomes boring.”

Peter wonders if this is what makes Catherine so fascinating to him.

He hears her footsteps coming down the hall, and something must have shown on his face for Volti stops mid-spiel—and thank fuck for that.

“That’ll be the Empress. Like we planned, Volti!”

Volti winks, and struts off to his hiding place.

He puffs out a breath and straightens himself. Catherine will love him today, he is sure of it.

[msjr0119]

One Temptation

Part 4

*This new series is based on The Royal Romance characters who belong to Pixelberry - AU Plot switch*

Riley Brooks moves back to New York after leaving five years prior- struggling to get by in life she wanted to go home. After getting mugged, a woman and man come to her rescue and offer her a job at their strip club. A rich business man Liam Rhys is forced to visit the club as part of his bachelor party. What will happen that night?

Warnings: Swearing, Smut, drunk antics 🤣

Tags-if you want to be removed let me know 😊: @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @drakesensworld @ladyangel70 @kingliam2019 @bbrandy2002 @butindeed @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @pedudley @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @insideamirage @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @dangerouseggseagleartisan @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415 @notoriouscs @whenyourheartskipsabeat @jovialyouthmusic @nz1091 @yukinagato2012 @indiacater @seriouslybadchoices @rainbowsinthestorm @cordonianroyalty @dcbbw @qammh-blog @beardedoafdonutwagon @jared2612 @princess-geek

*******

Liam walked towards the strip club- not knowing exactly why. Forcing himself to see the girl who’s heart he broke all those years ago.

Liam entered his penthouse after work, noticing the light off- he switched it on. Jumping out of his skin- he didn’t know that Madeleine was there.

“Why are you sitting in the dark? You scared me.”

“Care to inform me as to why Alice is going out with Leo tomorrow?”

“He’s her uncle! It’s about time that he knew about her and spent time with her!”

“You went behind my back Liam!”

“So what DARLING? You and me are over... I’m fighting for full custody and I want you to leave as soon as possible. You are nothing to me apart from the mother of my child. You were the biggest mistake of my life.”

“Good luck with that!”

“I beg your pardon.”

“You heard me Liam, how do you even know that she’s yours?” Madeleine smirked knowing she was getting under his skin. Sipping the glass of wine- she laughed in his face. “When she was conceived, I was still sleeping with your brother remember. Except I knew that you’d be the better option to be a father...”

“You are despicable. You should stop drinking. Alice is mine whether you like it or not.”

“She may not be... did you know Riley had a pregnancy scare when you cheated on her with me?” Liam’s heart sunk, he had only ever imagined a family with Riley. Assuming that Madeleine was lying with what she had just said- his fists clenched.

“You are sick, a disgusting vile creature Madeleine. I’ll see you in court!”

After his argument with Madeleine there were doubts racing through his mind about the true paternity of Alice. If Alice wasn’t his daughter- he had nothing to lose, he knew he’d win back Riley. Surely? Noticing Riley, he walked straight over to her.

“Hello Riley.”

“Oh hi. Please don’t cause any trouble Liam after the last time you was here.”

“I won’t I promise, I just need a drink, and a friend.”

“I’m working Liam, I can’t talk much.” Reaching over to grab her hand, she fixated her gaze on him. He looked broken.

“I’ll ask if I can have my break. I’ll meet you over by the booth.” Watching him walk of to the booth, she noticed his face fall into his hands. She wasn’t a bitch, before they began dating they were close friends- if he was sincere about his intentions of being there, she would talk to him as a friend.

“So what’s up?” Sliding a scotch towards him, she provided a soft smile.

“I don’t think my daughter is mine, she said she slept with Leo around the same time.”

“Maybe the two of you need to learn how to put something on the end of it? I’m sorry Liam, but this is karma for you.” A sly smirk appeared on her face, but she couldn’t bitch about Madeleine when she herself had slept with the two brothers.

“Don’t you see? If she isn’t mine, we can start again? I’ll make it up to you a thousand times over. I know you still love me and could forgive me deep down Ri.”

“I do still love you- I’ve never denied that. But...” Liam forced his lips on to hers, expecting for her to slap him he was confused when she didn’t. Deepening the kiss, he placed his arms around her- he had missed her. Not giving two fucks that Drake had escaped, he knew he wasn’t with Maxwell so he had gone elsewhere.

“Bastien? What the fuck? Where is he?”

“I don’t know? I’m sorry, I must have fallen asleep.”

“For fucks sake!” Storming over to Maxwell’s, he banged on the door. Hoping that Drake was there.

“Liam? Can I help you?”

“Is Drake here?”

“Why would be here? He’s in Texas isn’t he?” Maxwell knew what Liam had done, and he knew to not keep Drake at their apartment- not only for Drake’s safety but also for his.

“Can I check that he isn’t here at least?”

“I’m not stupid liam, but sure check every crevice if you need to. If you do find him please do let me know .”

Knowing she didn’t resist the kiss, he was making it his aim to win her back.

“Liam, I’m so sorry. That shouldn’t have happened. It can’t happen again. I think you should leave.” Touching her lips with her fingertips, she immediately regretted what she had just done. Feeling frustrated with herself, she couldn’t make eye contact with him.

“Ri, I felt something that I haven’t in a long time. Please just give me a chance.”

“I can’t Liam I’m sorry. Please.”

“Okay, I’m sorry Riley. I do love you- I always have and I always will do.” Holding her hand he had hoped that she would see that he was telling the truth- he knew he had messed up. Opening her mouth she was about to respond breaking his heart, knowing she could never forget what he had done.

“Liam?”

“Leo? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same. Are you okay Ri?”

“Yes, I’ll be ready in an hour Leo. Goodbye Liam.” To avoid the awkwardness, she gave Liam a quick hug before returning to work.

“What are you playing at Leo? Ready in an hour?”

“I’m taking her out with Max. She’s been down since Drake left- I assume that was down to you?” Folding his arms, his eyebrows raised- wondering what wonderful bullshit Liam would produce out of his constant lying mouth.

“Maybe you are right. I need her back, Drake was in the way. She kissed me back- she loves me.”

“You lost her a long time ago- you didn’t see how broken she was- who was there picking up the pieces? Me! I care about her, she’s one of my closest friends. Get Drake back now!”

“What do you mean you picked up the pieces? I can’t- I don’t know where he is.”

“Oh Liam, whilst you was fucking Madeleine. I went to find the apparent love of your life- I found her. I spent a week with her trying to convince her to come back.”

Leo arrived in Florida six months after Riley abruptly left New York, not knowing exactly where Riley would be- he needed a miracle. He had heard in the past of her talking about her Gran in Tampa Bay. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

After a few days of searching for her- he had given up hope. Sitting down at the fountain in Hyde Village- he had given up hope. Wishing she wasn’t stubborn and kept in touch with the people who cared for her. Believing it was his imagination, he stood up seeing the brunette walk past him.

“Riley Brooks.” Turning around slowly, she recognised that familiar voice- the colour drained from her face as if she had seen a ghost.

“L- Leo? What are you doing here?”

“I could kill you at times Missy- we’ve all missed you. It’s a free country, I don’t have to explain why I’m here. How are you doing?”

“I’m better, thank you. How are you? You look more toned.”

“Do you like what you see? It’s what single life does to you... sends you to the gym.” Winking at her, he always flirted with her in the past- it was typical Leo.

“You look good Leo, but I have to go. My Gran is expecting me.”

“Let me take you out tonight please.” Looking into his piercing eyes, she couldn’t resist saying no to one of her best friends- in the back of her mind she was contemplating what his true intentions were for showing up unexpectedly.

“Leo, I’m not interested in Liam. If that’s why you’re here.”

“No, I’m here as a friend.”

“Oh sorry. No funny business though alright Leo? Don’t be getting us into trouble.” Remembering back to the good old days, Leo nearly got them all arrested one night- laughing at the memory she knew if she refused he would be persistent in persuading her to reconsider.

“I can’t promise that.”

“Come back with me then we will go out. I just need to give her her medication and make her some food, change her catheter...”

“Is that why you left? I didn’t realise she was that poorly.”

“No, I left because of Madeleine and Liam- I didn’t realise either until I arrived. Come with me to my grans?” Leo nodded, Riley suggested this as she didn’t want to arrange meeting him somewhere that he wasn’t used to.

Walking to Riley’s grans, Leo’s heart sunk watching Riley fuss over her gran- she was selfless and attentive.

“So where are you wining and dining me Rhys?” Riley was used to Liam treating her to five star Michelin restaurants- she didn’t really appreciate the grand gestures as she was more of a greasy junk food type of girl.

“That is upto you... I’ll let you decide.”

“I know the place, come upstairs with me whilst I get ready- I don’t want you feeling awkward.” Leo covered his eyes as she got herself ready just to provide her with a bit of dignity. He was tempted to peek, but respected her more.

“Whatcha think?”

“You’re beautiful... Erm... I didn’t... I ... you look good Ri.”

“Why Leo, I’ve never seen you this flustered before. Are you okay? Come on....”

“So I know you don’t want to talk about him- but how are you feeling regarding him.”

“I’m still heartbroken, I cry myself to sleep every night- every time I close my eyes I see her smirk in my mind. I just need to move on- have a rebound, get over him.”

“I’ll make you a deal- we will help each other pull tonight, they both fucked us over- we both need to release.”

“Deal!”

After a meal, they headed over to a bar. Leo did his usual trick attempting to pull- it wasn’t working as he had expected it to. Riley sat the bar witnessing him failing - laughing to herself she felt sorry for him. Ordering them both another drink- Leo disappeared out of her view, smiling she had hoped that he had finally pulled. Someone tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hey beautiful, are you alone.”

“Yes. No. I’m with a friend.”

“Shame. Are you single? You know if you are I could change that?” Feeling his warm breath linger in her ear- her skin crawled.

“Sorry, I really need to go. Nice meeting you.” ‘Not’, she muttered.

“Don’t go, I haven’t got started yet!”

“Get your hands off me you creep!” Leo returned from the bathroom, seeing the commotion- witnessing Riley slap the man.

“Hey, are you okay? Hey mate get your hands off my girl.”

“She gave me the impression that she was single.”

“Not anymore.” Leo cupped her cheeks forcing a kiss on her lips- Riley knew it was for show so decided to go along with it hoping the creep would move into his next victim.

“You okay?” Pulling her towards him, he watched the man walk away- hoping he wouldn’t bother Riley again, as he would sure teach him a lesson in how to respect women.

“Just peachy Leo, thank you. Why do I always attract the bad eggs?” She laughed trying to make a joke out of the bad situation.

“At least you pull. How about we go back to my hotel room and raid the mini bar? No creeps involved.” Heading towards the exit, she turned around wondering why he was hesitating leaving.

“What are you still doing here? Come on Rhys.” Holding her hand out towards him, he eventually snapped out of his gaze- and led her to the hotel.

Arriving at the hotel room, they decided to play drinking games both becoming intoxicated far too quickly. Both laughing like the old days- they collapsed on the couch, she had missed Leo as well as Maxwell and Bertrand. Hoping that eventually she could return back to New York.

“We should have just stayed here- avoided you pulling creeps, avoided me becoming embarrassed at the lack of pulling.” Snuggling into him, she laughed- they were both useless.

“Do you ever think about what our futures would have been like if they didn’t cheat on us?” Leo looked at her, noticing that her smile had soon disappeared- seeing the tears fall down her cheeks, he caressed both cheeks.

“Well I’d have potentially been in prison for murdering her. I think you and Liam would have been married, had kids- I’d be the cool wind up merchant uncle.”

“The biggest wind up merchant. I’ve missed you Leo- you’re still one of my closest friends.”

“Likewise Brooks. Do you miss him? I don’t miss her one bit.”

“Of course I do. I’m just sexually frustrated as I still love him. I wish I could forgive and forget -but I can’t. If I did he would do it all over and over again. He would continue to make a mug out of me.”

Leo too was sexually frustrated, an idea popped into his head but he knew she would potentially slap him as she was in that kind of mood.

“He was an idiot letting you go. Please don’t slap me, but I have a suggestion. How about you and I... help each other... no strings attached. I’m here for a week or so...”

“Why would I slap you?”

“Because you may think that I’m using you- but you admitted that you are sexually frustrated as am I... we can just you know.” Riley always thought Leo was attractive- he was a Rhys after all. She wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the desire to just have sex that made her crash her lips onto him.

“Have you got a condom?” She asked breathlessly.

“Of course I do... just for precaution.”

Leo turned to face her, knowing he was now the one breaking the brother code- no matter how appalling Liam was towards her, he was still his brother- his brother who betrayed both him as well as her. Hesitantly pulling her towards him- he didn’t know what to expect as she was one of his closest friends. He believed that she was beautiful, there was no denying that. In the back of his mind, they were both each other’s rebound- no strings. But he didn’t care- if they could both make each other happy as friends with benefits- he was intending on doing it. Both their heartbeats increasing, they both closed the distance, matching baby blues containing desire. Their lips crashed onto each other’s as if their lives depended on it. His tongue slid across her cherry bud lips before entering inside her mouth, starting off gentle but soon turned demanding- their tongues battling against each other. Riley’s fingers ran through his hair - knowing it was just sex, she inhaled the familiar scent, it was as if she was sleeping with Liam again. Leo’s hands held her hips, pulling her closer to his muscled chest.

The kisses became more passionate as the time went by. Leading her over to the bed, they stripped each other’s clothes off eagerly- pausing to admire each other’s bodies. Falling backwards on to the bed she pulled him down towards her.

“ Are you sure about this Ri?”

“Yes. Stop teasing me Leo. We both need this.” Not sure if it was the alcohol that made her feel intoxicated, or the presence of someone with her- she didn’t care, she wanted him. All of him. Staring into her eyes, they pleaded with him, he nodded in response. Her heart began pounding as he stood up, placing the condom on before he forgot- licking her lips, he smirked rather than physically responding to her by speaking.

Gently cupping her cheeks as he hovered over her, he kissed her forehead. Guiding her hands above her head, he held them with one hand- whilst his other hand explored her body, circling her breasts- before kissing her hard.

“This is going to feel so strange, if you want me to stop just tell me.”

“Leo, just shut up and kiss me. It’s just sex remember. ”

Leo slid his hand between her legs- positioning his fingers and thumb at her entrance. The slightest touch, made her damp- Leo wasn’t expecting her to be like that. Kissing her neck, whilst working his thumb over her clit in a tantalising rhythm, she couldn’t contain her moans, hearing her scream him name made him want to skip pleasuring her and just get to the main part. All her muscles began to quiver- Leo smirked knowing he was showing how to treat a girl. Seeing her breathless already, he removed his fingers, replacing them with his tongue instead. Witnessing her eyes widen, he wondered how long it had been for her since she had this pleasure. Was Liam the last man to taste her?

“You taste so good, baby girl.” He said before plunging his tongue deeper inside. “Fuck!” Riley screamed, as she dug her nails into back- making the slightest mark. Removing his tongue, he placed his fingers there giving her that bit more pleasure- smiling at her as her whole body trembled.

Before she could recover from the actions he had performed on her, he rubbed against her entrance, before forcing his cock inside of her. Holding that position, their eyes fixated on each other. Slowly Leo began to thrust in and out at a steady speed, before increasing it- hitting her deeper. “You feel so good, Leo.”

His thrusts were powerful as their bodies collided in sync perfectly together. “This is just the start baby.” After a while his movements slowed down, as he released himself.

“Well that wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be. Thanks Ri, you’re amazing you know that?” Riley opened her eyes, as Leo removed himself off her, laying at the side of her. Both staring vacant up at the ceiling. Holding his hand, she turned to face him. “No it wasn’t awkward at all. So what are we now? Fuck buddies” She laughed whilst snuggling into his embrace. Both breathless, they laid in silence- until Riley heard him take a deep breath.

“Come back to New York with me, it is your home. We all miss you. Maxwell and Bertrand especially.”

“Leo, I cant. Not whilst my gran is poorly. Maybe in the future. Thank you for tonight- I really needed it.”

“So did I. You’re amazing Ri. Best friends, friends with benefits. No strings.”

“Damn right Rhys.”

“So if you’re free tomorrow... how about you show me around your new stomping grounds?”

“Is that all you want to do?” Leo looked at her puzzled, with the seductive tone of voice she had provided.

“Yes. What do you take me for? You could show me around, then I’ll thank you by doing this...” Kissing her neck, she immediately felt turned on once again. He could see it in her eyes, rolling her on to him- they both gave each other that knowing look.

“Round two Miss Brooks?”

“We slept together for that whole week- she soon forgot about you. What are you going to do? Get rid of me too? You lost her. Get over it! I’ll pick Alice up at ten in the morning.”

“How could you do that to me?” Riley looked over at the two men, Leo looked smug- whilst Liam looked as if he was about to break down uncontrollably. Feeling her heart beat increase, she was intrigued as to what was included in their discussion.

“No strings attached my dear brother. She was single, as she was single when she slept with Drake. Don’t worry there wasn’t any feelings between us- it was just sex. If you love her you’d let her go Li. Just think about it. Oh and remember if she knew what you did to Drake, she would never forgive you. Maybe you should find him and make amends!”

*****

Liam stormed out of the club and made his way back to his penthouse- Madeleine was in her designer dressing gown. Pulling her up from the sofa, he pulled her into the bedroom. No strings attached, he thought.

******

Leo and Riley met Maxwell at Kismet, the friends kept drinking shots- all almost ready to pass out. Riley noticed that Leo’s gaze was fixated on the red head at the bar.

“Hey, Max. I think Leo likes her over there look.” Maxwell followed to where Riley’s finger was pointing. “He’s hypnotised, shall we play matchmaker?” Maxwell nodded, he was too drunk to function correctly- he needed to inform her about Drake. Waiting for the right opportunity, he knew if Leo copped off with the stranger he could talk to her in private.

“Hey, my name is Riley and this is my friend Maxwell.”

“Olivia.” Maxwell pulled the stranger and Riley into a group hug- the alcohol had gone straight to his head.

“Nice to meet you Olivia. Our friend over there the handsome blonde with the piercing blue eyes can’t take his eyes off you. Would you like to join us for a drink?” Olivia looked over, and saw Leo wink at her.

“He looks like a player. Not my type sorry.”

“He’s not a player. He’s a good shag.” Maxwell looked confused at the statement. How the fuck does Riley know? This woman is going to kill us if he’s a shit shag.

“And how would you know? Are you his ex or something?”

“No, I’m his brothers ex. But I slept with him for a week- no strings attached- so i know he’s a good shag. You won’t regret it. Give him a chance. I’ll pay you $20 to just talk to him.” Olivia smirked, grabbing the money she walked over to Leo- winking at his two wingmen, leo was grateful for their spontaneous matchmaking.

“We need words now Riley!”

“Max, I need more shots- I’m not leaving this bar until I have them. I’m missing Drake- how could he leave me?” Beginning to cry, she would regret this drunk breakdown over a man she hardly knew.

“So when did you and Leo sleep together?”

“In Florida, he came looking for me unlike you guys... sorry... it just happened. It meant nothing. The only person I’ve felt something towards left me.”

“I need to talk about that to you. We are going to Bertrand’s.”

“But I’ve just ordered these shots.”

“Drink up buttercup. Bertrand is expecting us.”

“What about Leo?” Both looking over towards the table, Leo had his tongue down Olivia’s throat- he wouldn’t care if his friends ditched him as he was most likely getting laid later that night.

“He’s fine with Olivia. Come on.”

*****

The cold air had hit the two friends walking from the cab towards Bertrand’s front door. Spying through the peep hole forgetting to knock on the door they both had giggles- not realising why Bertrand wasn’t answering.

“B... b.... let us innnn... pleasssee...”

“Bertrand... I need to wee. I’m going to do it ... on the door...”

“Don’t you dare... piss all over me Max. You’re disgusting....” Riley began banging on the door and pressing the buzzer frantically, as Maxwell whipped his cock out spraying all over the door.

“BERTRAND OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR NOW!!! Why are we here again? How much have we had to drink? I think I’m going to be sick!” Riley placed her ear next to door, hoping to hear footsteps. The door suddenly opened- both Riley and Maxwell fell through it landing on the floor.

“Hey Riley, are your legs open like that on the pole.”

“Fuck off Beaumont, I don’t dance.”

“You would do if I was a certain tall dark handsome strangerrr...Who are you?”

Both looking up they saw a woman staring at the two of them with a perplexed expression.

“Can I help you? Where’s B?”

“I’m Savannah, let me help you both up.”

“Riley! Maxwell! Can neither of you contain yourselves?” Both biting their lips, attempting to hold their laughter in- they knew they were in the doghouse.

“Savannah darling, please make them a strong black coffee.” Riley and Maxwell both looked at each other- before bursting out laughing. Riley decided to mimic Bertrand’s voice, much to his annoyance.

“Savannah darling, could you add a bit of Irish whiskey in it. I need it after the day I’ve had. Fucking Liam. Thanks babe.”

“What’s he done?”

“Kissed me. I pushed him away. Fucking wanker. Karmas hit him though - hard. I’ll explain tomorrow. So are we having one big sleepover B? I think we will have to sleep naked though. Have you got a spare toothbrush? Toothpaste? Where are we all sleeping?”

“Arsehole...forget the sleepover essentials... we’ll just be dirty stop outs for the night... I forgot why we actually came here... oh yeah... Ri. Go in the spare room.”

“Why?”

“Erm, there’s a secret stash of booze.” Bertrand shot him a stern stare. “Sorry she wants booze what else could I say?” He whispered to his older brother who just shook his head.

“Why didn’t ya say so before?” Stumbling into the spare room, she opened the door- believing she was hallucinating.

“D-Drake?”

[ofnine]

meet ailsa!

At a glance SHE may look like HAYLEY ATWELL, but in reality they’re just 38 year old AILSA Ó CLÉIRIGH, a HUMAN here in Barton Hollow. They are a MEMBER in the HUNTERS. They work as a DEPUTY SHERIFF here in town and are known for being CONSCIENTIOUS and CYNICAL. I’d watch my back if I were you...

BASICS

Full Name: Ailsa Mairéad Ó Cléirigh

Nicknames / Monikers: Ally, Lili (both rare)

Current Titles: Deputy Sheriff

Former Titles: Valedictorian ( Yale Law School )

Gender & Pronouns: cis female & she/her

Date of Birth: 17th February, 1982

Place of Birth: Cork, Republic of Ireland

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual

Romantic Orientation: Biromantic

APPEARANCE

Faceclaim: Hayley Atwell

Height: 5 ft 8 in

Eye Colour: Brown

Favoured Expression: Half-smile.

Accent: Eastern Mid-Coastal, exhibited here ; the Irish can sneak out into her voice when she’s excessively tired, or has returned to Ireland for any considerable length of time.

Clothing Style: Either suits, waistcoats, or comfortable, when she’s not working; obviously, then, she’s got to be in uniform. If she could get away with waistcoats all the time, she sure would.

TRIVIA

MBTI Type: INTP-A

Hogwarts House: Slytherin

Theme Song: A Rush Of Blood To The Head by Coldplay

Favourite Movie: Anna Karenina (2012), dir. Joe Wright

Preferred Weather: When it’s sunny, but not humid, so the weather isn’t out for murder and she can just perfectly enjoy it. The sky’s big, blue and beautiful.

Favourite Food: She doesn’t often have it, but she can’t resist a McChicken sandwich with cheese and extra lettuce sometimes, with the classic McDonalds fries. If you don’t eat your fries first, she doesn’t trust you.

Favourite Drink: Wild Cherry Slurpee. Yes, still.

Favourite Book: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

BIOGRAPHY

The Sheriff likes to say that Ailsa Ó Cléirigh is the closest person he’s ever met to famed literary detective Sherlock Holmes, and he wouldn’t necessarily be far from the truth; she’s gotten so far so quickly because she’s always been so observant and deductive to the extreme. It’s also why the Sheriff is so keen to keep her around at Barton Hollow, and on side with his ideas about supernaturals.

She works hard at what she does, and she’s got the level but cynical head that means she can’t be blinded by what often trips people up: ‘thinking the best in people.’

Ailsa has been a natural pessimist since she was very young — even before she moved to America from Ireland — and Ailsa would attribute a grand deal of that to her parents. Her parents’ attitude of always pushing her harder, barely acknowledging the achievements she did make; it made a lonely child of her, perhaps, and an overachieving one.

( Which is a combination those of the modern age just know too well, isn’t it? We all know what happens to the kids who get on Gifted & Talented, or whatever; the same applies all the way up to her prime academic achievement. Graduating valedictorian from Yale Law School. )

She spent some years pursuing a career as a lawyer. And it was through this — when she was in her mid-20s — that she met now-Sheriff Grayson, who is, to this day, her boss. At the time, Ailsa wasn’t sure of her life. There was the deductive reasons: what would be most lucrative, what was most available, and it was the Sheriff who first told Ailsa Ó Cléirigh to pursue what she wanted; what drove her and made her motivated so that she wouldn’t regret doing it when she was out of time.

That led to her current career path, and they were both founding members of Barton Hollow; he became the Sheriff, and she his deputy, or as he’d say, ‘the logician to balance out the madness.’

After a while, he entrusted Ailsa with the truth of his being a hunter, and with the reason behind that. So used to his approval and support, she decided to help him. The reasons for his anger seemed rational enough, but it’s always been something she’s had somewhat of a moral crisis about.

She’s more hesitant, which makes sense on the surface — with her deductive nature considered. You probably wouldn’t guess she’s wrestling with herself about the whole situation, with condemning the many for the actions of the one.

( After all, if the supernaturals took the same attitude, the human race would be done. )

CONNECTIONS

Green Light — An on-again off-again connection ( okay mayhaps if someone wants to bring Chris Evans for this I would vibe ) between Ailsa and a supernatural muse; it happened before her boss drew her into the world of the Hunters, and this was actually likely the cause of the breakup. But however much they’d like to pretend, love isn’t so easily severed; they both despise that they’re still doing it, but they are simply drawn together.

College Rival — Ailsa narrowly beat her college rival to be Valedictorian of her class at Yale Law School. The rivalry’s been going on since they were both very small, and the tide shows no sign of turning any time soon; I’d love them to be a mundane but not a hunter, who thinks the hunters are — frankly — insane.

Tell Me — Ailsa’s best friend in the world, and it’s the story of best friends that are a little closer than the dictionary-accepted definition of ‘friends.’ There’s been feelings there since they were young, but neither of them have ever taken the step; but there’s the pact that if they’re single by 40 they’ll get married. ( They’re almost there. )

Someone To You — A supernatural who’s trying to draw Ailsa out of the world of the hunters. They think she’s salvageable, and it’s certainly slow going. A kind gesture here, a coffee there, they see what’s really at the core of Ailsa Ó Cléirigh; a lonely brand of child from the start, never recognised for her talents, so when someone ( the sheriff ) finally did, she found she’d follow them to hell.

Stakeout — Probably a vampire who’s got an interest in Ailsa, and who thinks the best way to get back at the Barton Hollow Sheriff’s Department would be to turn their poster girl.

[tcmpcral]

full name.  basil

pronunciation. technically BAY-zil but my dumb disney-loving brain defaults to BA-zil lmao nicknames. dumbass, dumb as ass (these are, of course, all lovingly given to him by his brothers) titles.  basil the kicker, ‘our kicking basil’ courtesy of roh height.  5′11-6″

age. 23ish

zodiac. leo languages. whatever language they speak on his planet plus a few others

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

hair colour.  red, white eye colour. black with yellow sclera skin tone.   body type.  very athletic and toned, but a little bit wiry tbh accent.  like majora below, he’d technically have one to an earthling’s ear, but they wouldn’t be able to place it dominant hand.  left posture. confident. has a definite swagger to his gait, and he sometimes tends to lean on one hip when he stands. other times, he simply has a very open, fearless stance scars. what scars he has are covered by fur tattoos. none most noticeable features. the fact he aint got no clothes on >:u possibly his doe eyes, which gives him a markedly more ‘innocent’-looking expression compared with his brothers

CHILDHOOD.

place of birth.  currently unnamed planet in U9 hometown.  an overpopulated city where it was easy for him and his brothers to ‘disappear’ quite often from under ‘human services’ noses birth weight / height.  he has no idea manner of birth.  just. the usual, i guess :v first words.  it was probably something like ‘bermo’ which was his babyish way of saying  ‘bergamo’ lmao siblings.  lavender, older brother, bergamo, oldest brother parents.  his father died at some point before he was born, so he has no memories of him. his mother either died or was separated from the three around the time basil was one to two years old (which means i need to edit A Thing i wrote recently rip), so his memories of her are fuzzy and nondescript parental involvement.  he was loved by his mother and treated overtly affectionately by her from the time he was born-- however, his time with her was short. from her disappearance on, he was raised by his older brothers, who did their best of course, but likely fell short in various ways

ADULT LIFE

occupation.   ??? whatever it is, it’s not fully legal current residence.  a small apartment with his brothers. thanks to a certain god’s influence, it’s a little more luxurious on the inside than one might expect based on its outward appearance close friends.  uhhh. his brothers. minca, at one point. and probably again eventually. otherwise, he has various. uh. basically casual drinking buddies, so i’m not sure he’d consider them close relationship status.  single financial status.  it’s okay. paycheck to paycheck, but. again, thanks to a certain god, he and his brothers are able to live rather comfortably driver’s license. unfortunately, yes  criminal record.  Yes vices.  impulsive, short-tempered, has a tendency to be irreverent without entirely meaning to (not that he’s not Trying to be, just that he’s not thinking about it), lacks common sense a lot 

SEX & ROMANCE.

sexual orientation.   he personally identifies as heterosexual but tbh it’s bc he’s only had one girlfriend and hasn’t really thought about his sexuality in great depth. i could honestly see him being bisexual romantic orientation.   ??? preferred emotional role.  submissive |  dominant  | switch  |  unsure preferred sexual role.  submissive | dominant | switch  |  sex repulsed libido.  h-hahaa er. High turn ons.  i don’t. know yet tbh turn offs.  anything too Out There love language.  how do i. explain it. it’s not affectionate exactly, but it would be very obvious to his partner that he likes them, bc there’d be signs like his face lighting up whenever he spotted them in a room, or the fact that he invites them to go with him everywhere, that he’d rather spend time with them than with his drinking buddies, etc. he doesn’t actually do a lot of PDA, i think, bc i tend to see him as being a little more immature than that tbh, but there’d definitely be signs of affection and. adoration there relationship tendencies.  basil, at this point in his life, just wants someone he can have fun with. he doesn’t want commitment, he doesn’t want to think about the future (unless it involves daydreaming about visiting cool places)-- all he cares about is the now, and how he can have fun in the now. as such, he’s drawn toward those with like values and desires, and would be turned off by someone who seemed intent on ‘changing him into a better man’ or something similar

MISCELLANEOUS.

character’s theme song. here we go again, renegades hobbies to pass the time.  sparring/fighting, drinking, parties, tagging along with his brothers, causing mischief mental illnesses.  avoidant behaviors but lbr mostly none physical illnesses.  none left or right brained.  right-brained fears.  failure, disappointing his brothers, losing his brothers, embarrassing himself in a way he can’t Come Back From self-confidence level.  ehh, tbh, it’s mostly high. he probably gets down on himself at times when he thinks he’s done something exceedingly stupid, but for the most part, he thinks pretty highly of himself vulnerabilities.  don’t. don’t pull his tail, that hurts. his loyalty to his brothers, the secret feelings he keeps to himself about his childhood if anyone ever figured them out tbh, his fears that he really is kind of dumb

full name.  majora pronunciation. MAH-zheruh nicknames. nurse baobei (an old one from shosa that majora absolutely hates to be called in public these days. not that he. loved it to begin with) titles.  has an officer’s rank of some kind? does that count height.  5′8ish

age. Advanced (TM) no sorry i just haven’t decided how he ages compared to humans yet :v

zodiac. capricorn n/a languages. whatever language his planet/region uses, as well as a few neighboring ones

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

hair colour.  olive green, white eye colour. ???? skin tone.   body type.  slender, slim, but toned. certain joints like his wrists and ankles are very thin and frail-looking, however accent.  he’d have one to an earthling’s ear, but it’d be hard to place dominant hand.  right posture. generally straight, tho sometimes a little slouchy just bc he’s tired. while he was a military nurse, he wasn’t required to complete any kind of military training, so he doesn’t have the perhaps expected ‘soldier posture’ scars. what scars he does have are easily hidden by fur. has a scar on his upper abdomen leftover from a splenectomy tattoos. none most noticeable features. his ears are huuuuge

CHILDHOOD.

place of birth.  some planet in U4 lmao hometown.  a currently unnamed city on the coast. presently lives in a mountainous region in the northern part of the country/planet he lives on birth weight / height.  ~6 pounds, ~19 inches manner of birth.  something akin to twilight sleep first words.  it was ‘pig’ bc he witnessed one of his older sisters calling another child the term as an insult siblings.  four other siblings (two older sisters, one younger sister, one younger brother is the baby. he is the third oldest of five, right smack dab in the middle). his eldest sister is deceased. he is mostly estranged from the others and only sees them occasionally throughout the year parents.  Mother: jima Father: rougu, i haven’t quite decided what it was that they did just yet but whatever it was left them rather well-off financially, enough so that they were able to allow their children to pursue whatever interests and hobbies they desired (assuming they were proper, of course). their beliefs were steeped in traditions and conventional wisdom, and these are what majora grew up with and probably still to some degree practices to this day parental involvement.  somewhat negligent once he hit a certain age and was capable of helping with younger siblings and household chores, etc. his parents never were particularly affectionate with him, tho they encouraged certain interests of his (...martial arts, mostly) while discouraging others they felt tarnished his (read: their) reputation. this was especially true as he grew into his preteen and teen years and began showing behaviors they didn’t like

ADULT LIFE

occupation.   retired; former nurse current residence.  lives in a communal apartment setup. he lives at the end of the hall, is able to claim he has the largest room of the floor, and also has a nice little balcony attached to his room as well that he shares with the newly-married couple who live in the room next to him (who i’ve named chuan and cori). he’s quite fond of his living arrangement, despite what he may occasionally say otherwise close friends.  ..........shosa. that’s it. that’s literally it relationship status.  single financial status.  he survives on retiree and disability benefits........ but altogether, it’s not bad driver’s license. doesn’t need one. both. bc the city he lives in is compact enough to be able to walk everywhere and bc. Blind lmao  criminal record.  lots of curfew and truancy violations as a teen fjfiea;g  vices.  proud, aloof, withdrawn, set in his ways, stubborn, self-sabotaging

SEX & ROMANCE.

sexual orientation.   generally identifies as homosexual romantic orientation.   homoromantic probably preferred emotional role.  submissive |  dominant  | switch  |  unsure preferred sexual role.  submissive | dominant | switch  |  sex repulsed libido.  middles toward low, even when coupled, but he’s not repulsed by any means turn ons.  ....like basil i’m. not entirely sure yet turn offs.  treating him like a doll?? does that make sense, listen he might like to dress up but don’t treat him like a mannequin. and don’t take advantage of the fact that he can’t see what he’s putting on, that should be obvious. Anything without his permission, ignoring his discomfort if it comes up, not letting him know what you’re doing before you do it gdi love language.  kinda stiff and awkward in the beginning, but he softens up soon enough. he never does get to be the type who is outwardly affectionate and forthcoming about his feelings, and particularly in public, will seem very distant and cool to his partner, but he is definitely the sort to enjoy being around a partner and seek their company quite often, whether it’s to accompany them about the town or simply to relax at home

relationship tendencies.  truthfully, romance just isn’t on his mind much these days, but he’s always gravitated toward those that he could spend time with and not necessarily worry all the time. he’s not like basil and wants only to live in the present, but he does need something or someone to ground him in the present, or he thinks himself into a nervous frenzy about the future, particularly nowadays at his age and at his level of dependence on others. he worries occasionally that he’s too much of a burden, and that his efforts to decrease his status as a burden only exacerbate it

MISCELLANEOUS.

character’s theme song. cleopatra hobbies to pass the time.  fishing, listening to music/the radio, playing music occasionally (usually when he’s been left in charge of kids and they’re being little hellions rip), going to see plays and operas (even if he can’t appreciate the sets or costumes anymore, he can still enjoy the stories and acting, he supposes) mental illnesses.  none tbh physical illnesses.  some kind of anemia (think pernicious anemia), which results in fatigue and body aches, compromised immune system left or right brained.  left-brained mostly fears.  death, losing another sense, various small fears related to his blindness and his resulting vulnerability, being helpless/a burden, convalescent homes self-confidence level.  relatively high to moderate while he keeps his independence. when he makes mistakes or otherwise flubs up bc of his blindness, it tends to crash a little vulnerabilities.  his fear of both dying and debility/helplessness, frequent refusal to accept help, obviously he. uh. can’t see, tho his other senses help him out to some degree there, 

[bubblegumwitchswriting]

The Currency We’ve Spent Chapter Seven

Main Pairing: Will/Nico

Other Pairings: Jason/Piper; Percy/Annabeth; Hazel/Frank; Leo/Calypso

Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15934799/chapters/40763918

First Chapter (Prologue): here

Previous Chapter: here

It had been approximately five minutes since the last world-changing event hit them, so they were probably due another one. Jason's statement was probably earth-shattering but neither he nor Will appreciated that and just stared at him slightly blankly. Jason sighed in relief and sank back slightly into the cushions.

"Is that bad?" Will asked.

"No," said Jason. "That's good. That's really good."

Nico wasn't sure if it was just him or whether Jason really wasn't making much sense. He glanced at Will, but Will was just surreptitiously examining Jason, in med-student and doctor to the mob mode.

"Did -" Jason paused. He looked at Will as though trying to figure out how to phrase something.

"Luke never mentioned it," Will said, acting more composed than he must have been feeling. "Nico can you get that notebook?"

Nico got up to did that, leaving Will examining a cut on Jason's arm.

"How did you get this?" Will asked, as Nico padded away. Nico stopped listening. He didn't want to know. He couldn't know.

Everywhere around him the protective bubble he'd been forming ��was fracturing and cracking. The world was pushing in, reality was coming for him. But why was this his reality? Why couldn't whatever drama his father and Jason's father were involved in just leave them all alone? Why couldn't he just have a boyfriend and worry about paying the rent and who was going to wash the dishes.

Actually, that was never really a worry. They both knew who would always end up doing the dishes.

He glanced at the date jar as he picked up Will's notebook. It had been only an hour or so since they'd been happily, soppily, writing down ideas for dates like a normal - sickeningly sweet - couple. Now it felt like a lifetime away. It felt like they had two different lives, two different personas - crisis and normality.

Normality hadn't lasted long and they had more experience with crisis. In the long hours of night that stretched out into time spent in the dark reaches of dark thoughts, deep worries that he usually shoved to the back of his head, he sometimes wondered if he and Will could cope without secrets, without drama, without crisis. If he closed his eyes and thought really hard he could maybe, just about see the two of them with a house and a car and proper jobs, maybe even kids. But the picture was hazy. The picture was hard to reach.

The picture might scare him a little.

He knew Will liked him, and liked him a lot. You didn't stay with someone who's family and family friends had tried to kill you, unless you liked them a lot. He knew that Will was loyal. He knew that despite Will's habit of picking up habits - even healthier eating, going to the gym, no tv days - and dropping them a week later, Will was loyal. He stayed, come rain or shine. Will was one of those people who didn't shy away from forever.

Nico couldn't say the same for himself.

Case in point: Austin. Nico had finally managed to convince Will he wasn't overthinking the secret brother. He'd then managed to convince himself he wasn't other-thinking the secret brother. Mostly convince himself anyway.

It wasn't the secret side of it he was over thinking this time, but the family aspect. And okay maybe the secret side. But not in the same sense as before: he had changed, no matter the looks Jason might give him. But Will's loyalty to his foster brother despite not seeing him in years, how torn up Will's life had become because of the past, because of those secrets - well that was something Nico was over thinking. Will had made it clear he didn't blame Nico for the possible actions of his father, the definite actions of Jason's father, Percy's father.

But would that hold? Would Will's loyalty hold?

And if Will was so loyal would there be a time when he went back to Luke?

No. Nico was not going down that path again. He wasn't.

He picked up the notebook just as Will called out to ask what was taking so long, and for a glass of coke and a pack of cookies. He assumed the coke and the cookies were for Jason, so he picked up the remains of packet of oreos - Jason's favourite and carried it all the into the living room.

He put everything down on the coffee table and Jason took an oreo. That was good. Jason looked too thin.

Will picked up the notebook, weighing it briefly in his hands before flipping the pages over, scanning his writing as though something might job a memory, a synapse might spark and he might suddenly unlock the secrets of the universe.

"Nothing," Will said with a shrug. The notebook seemed heavy in his palms.

"Something in here might help anyway," he said, holding it out to him. Jason reached out with a certain amount of reverence. He read, quickly and his expression changed. Sympathy? Wonder? Slight suspicion. Nico couldn't read Jason as well as he used to.

He wondered if he should have stopped Will giving Jason the book, but it was too late now anyway. And anyway Jason wasn't a threat. He had to stop letting his father get to him.

They'd already eaten, but they had a second dinner because of the unspoken agreement between him and Will that Jason needed to eat. With the lights on and Will making jokes, most of them at Nico's expense (Nico didn't mind because they were drawing smiles out of Jason, and then good-natured teasing out of Jason), Jason started looking more Jason like.

Midway through the evening, Jason and Will began ganging up on Nico's relationship with vegetables. Nico quickly diverted them with a question about Thalia.

"Won't talk about what happened," Jason said with a sigh. "But doing alright. She and Piper are getting on great. Always ganging up on me though."

"Gee," Nico said and he didn't think he'd ever felt the sarcasm dripping from his tongue so venomously, "I wonder how that feels."

Will just laughed; Jason pointed out how many nutrients aubergine had in with a beatific smile.

"That may be," Nico said, poking a piece with his fork. "But I hate the texture."

"I have to sneak vegetables in," Will said. "Like you have to do for little kids."

"I seem to recall earlier you saying how much you liked my spaghetti dear," Nico said. "And I put vegetables in that. You just have terrible taste in healthy stuff."

Jason went home with a bit of colour in his cheeks. After Nico shut the door behind him, and bolted it, he looked at Will, in the kitchen and staring into space.

"You didn't have to give Jason the notebook," Nico said softly. "That was a nice thing."

Will nodded. He pressed the thumb of one hand into the palm of the other. It was a nervous habit he'd only picked up very recently.

"It'll probably help," he said with a shrug. "And besides it will probably all come out at some point anyway."

He looked resigned. Nico wanted to get rid of that look but he didn't know how, not when he himself was resigned too.

Would they even survive without secrets?

He either needed to sleep, or a distraction. He glanced at his watch, Will noticed.

"Picnic tomorrow," he said. "First day of the rest of our lives doing the important stuff and all that."

Nico nodded.

"Are you saying early night?"

"Early night for you would be about 3am given how late you woke up," Will teased.

"It wasn't that late!" Nico protested, poking him in the ribs. Will giggled, squirming. He was extremely ticklish. It gave Nico the edge in arguments when Will had the edge with his sarcastic dears and loves and sweethearts melted Nico into butter outside in a heatwave. Will had not yet worked out that Nico was equally, and possible even more, ticklish. It was one secret he intended to keep from Will until he was cold in his grave.

Still giggling Will moved back, out of reach.

"I was just going to suggest Mario Kart," he said. "I'm not tired yet and aside from our super romantic rom-com picnic, we don't have much to do tomorrow."

"I'll take you up on that," Nico said. "Providing I get to be Luigi."

"You can be Luigi if you get there first," Will offered, sprinting away to the living room as he spoke.

"Come back cheat!" Nico called, running after him.

The next day dawned fair and warm: perfect picnic weather. Will, full of visions of checked blankets and wicker baskets searched for both despite knowing full well they'd never owned either of those items. He was debating going out to find them and whether amazon could same day delivery them and whether that was even a thing, or he'd dreamt it, when the doorbell went.

Will still deep in picnic planning land, ignored it. Nico drinking coffee and eating this morning's pancakes (Will was apparently very serious about big, important breakfasts - not that Nico was complaining) had to get up. He was expecting Jason, maybe Percy or Cecil. Lou Ellen even. He certainly wasn't expecting Thalia.

"Hey," she said, quietly hands shoved deep into the pockets of her jeans. "Jason gave me your address. I wanted to bring this back."

She took Will's notebook out of her jacket pocket.

Nico nodded. Then remembered they were both standing opposite sides of the doorway.

"Right," he said. "Come in?"

Thalia picked up on his tone.

"Won't stay long," she assured him. "I know you two are probably busy. I just wanted to ask Will something."

Nico pursed his lips, sour and irritated. He tried to shove it down but it was a pressure behind his eyes, a heat in his blood.

Thalia went through into the living room where Will was still at the laptop, staring with slight horror at the prices of picnic hampers.

"Hey," she said. "Thalia. Jason's sister."

"I remember," Will said. "From the party?"

Thalia and Will hadn't interacted much. Thalia, strangely, seemed unsure and she nodded, picking at a silver thread along the hem of the jacket. She didn't sit down, just stood uncomfortable and thoughtful in the centre of the room. Will closed the laptop.

"Brought this back," Thalia said, handing the notebook to Will. "Jason copied it all out. He said you wouldn't mind?"

Will shook his head.

"I suggested it."

Thalia nodded again. The thread was getting longer as she played with it, winding it tight around her finger.

"You knew Luke fairly well?"

Will looked down at the table, quiet now too. Nico suddenly got the impression he wasn't necessarily an important part of the conversation. He faded, as unobtrusively as he could into the kitchen. He could still hear them talking, could still jump in and rescue Will or kick Thalia out if things got too much. Could still eavesdrop.

He closed his eyes and took a breath. Sometimes he really hated his inner self.

"I guess," Will said. "I mean as much as anyone. He just kept to himself really. Didn't say much to anyone or have much to do with anyone."

"No," Thalia said softly. "I knew him. He trusted you. I can tell from the things he told you."

Will looked down at his hands.

"It was a business relationship really," he said. "But he must have cared about you. I haven't seen him or contacted him in a couple of months and he still texted me the other day to make sure you were okay."

Thalia was pale, furious, upset, hurt. It was a mix of emotions Nico was intimately acquainted with and for the first time in a very long time he felt a flash of kinship to Thalia.

"See," she managed. "He trusts you."

She shrugged, pulled her jacket more closely around herself.

"He wasn't always terrible you know," she said. "Even now I'm sometimes not sure he's wrong. I just wish he -"

She broke off, shaking her head.

"Thanks for answering. I know it's probably not something you want to dwell on."

Will didn't deny that.

"Any time," he said.

Nico showed Thalia out. At the door she paused.

"I know you didn't want this," she said. "But I thought maybe now?"

Out of her pocket she pulled a mythomagic card. It was a rare version of Hades. It was the card Thalia had brought back from their road trip, the card Bianca had gotten for him.

He swallowed the lump in his throat, ignored the heat in his eyes. He managed to reach out a hand to take it.

"Thanks," he said quietly.

Thalia, didn't acknowledge it. That was fine: he didn't want her to. Acknowledging him would also mean she acknowledge how rigidly he was holding himself, how hard it had been to get the words out at all. She just turned and left.

Back in the living room Will had opened up the laptop again and was back on the hunt for picnic hampers.

"We don't need a hamper," Nico said, forcing himself back to normality, back to that persona. "I mean how often are we going to picnic?"

"We should do it every weekend," Will said. Nico have him a look.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, forestalling Nico's comment. "I know. We'll probably do it twice and then it will rain and then we'll be busy and then -"

Nico sighed. Will was right, but suddenly he realised that he'd also been picturing their picnic with a hamper. Will's stupid romanticism was rubbing off, catching like the dreaded lurgy.

"We'll go today with a boring old carrier bag," he said. "And then we can look in some junk shops. I'm sure a thrift store somewhere will have a hamper."

Will grinned at him.

"What?" Nico said.

"You are a romantic!" he said with a grin.

"It's your fault," Nico grumbled. "I'm pandering to you and some of your stupid ideals are rubbing off."

Will just grinned, not taking Nico seriously at all. Nico wondered how seriously he'd meant it. He'd never had the opportunity to be romantic before. It had been so much easier to be a cynic.

"I'll start packing the food," Will said. "See if you can find something to sit on. It doesn't have to be checked."

They had plenty of blankets. Nico folded one up on the fourth attempt and then they were out in the warm spring air. Birds sung, road rage was at a minimum. It was a lovely day.

In the park there were plenty of other picnic-ers: other couples, families with small children running happily across the grass. Nico watched them blankly. Was that his future? Or was his future darker, did his future involve an endless array of Luke's and Ares's and echoed gunshots in his head.

He honestly didn't know which he wanted, which scared him more. And that scared him.

"I'll just do all this myself shall I?" Will asked, teasingly as he shook the blanket out. Nico looked up at Will, blonde hair a bright halo on the warm day.

What are you scared about? he asked himself.

He didn't have the answer.

"I was just waiting for you to get the blanket down," Nico said, equally teasing. "Not my fault you're slow."

They talked. They watched clouds. They did everything they were supposed to do on a romantic picnic. But Will didn't seem to be as present as he might have been. Given how excited Will had been about the whole thing, his distractedness worried Nico. He got an explanation without warning, as Will stirred a pot of honey he'd been spreading on a slice of bread.

"Thalia's right," he said, watching the spoon go round and round. "Luke did trust me."

Nico had no idea what to say. He had no idea where Will's train of thought had come from, even less where it was going.

"Did you trust him?" he asked.

Will sighed.

"You know what," he said. "I did. At least to the extent that he would continue to pay me and continue to ensure I was as out of danger as possible."

"When I met him," Nico said. "He seemed okay. I think that was one of the things that really bothered me. He does all these terrible things, but he just stood there and seemed okay."

Will was quiet.

The spoon went round and round.

"You know," Will said quietly. "I sometimes wonder if he has done terrible things."

Nico really didn't know how to answer that one. He couldn't think of a single thing to say that wasn't Luke is evil!

"I mean what do we really know? Your father and Jason's father don't like him. He attacked them. But they also attack him. We don't know who is right."

"Luke's the mob," Nico said, frustrated, but he knew he was mostly frustrated with himself. Because Will was making sense. He didn't want Will to make sense. He didn't want things to get messier. He didn't want to find out just how loyal Will was.

"Yes but," Will said gently, "-and please don't take this the wrong way but - how do we know you're dad isn't. Jason's father isn't?"

If it were a gang fight, a turf war, if it was one version of a mob against another version of the mob would that make it better or worse?

If it was would Will pick Luke? Would Nico pick his own father?

"I -" Nico said. But then he shook his head. "Maybe you're right."

"I didn't mean to rock the boat," Will said. "Or ruin the picnic. But we don't know anything. I gave Jason the notebook because maybe we need to go back a bit. Figure out what happened in the past. Figure out who's right now. Maybe that's the only way we get out."

"That doesn't sound like getting out," Nico said, through gritted teeth. "That sounds like getting into it."

"Wasn't that your idea?" Will asked. "Getting into it to get out of it?"

"My idea largely involved neither of us getting hurt!" Nico snapped.

There was a beat of silence. Will put down the spoon. Nico played with the ring on his finger.

"We won't," Will said.

"You can't promise that," Nico said.

"No," Will said. "I guess I can't. But I can't promise we won't get hurt anyway. Ignoring everything, not being angry, it was okay before. But now Austin's here, and you're here and everything that goes with your dad and Jason's dad is here. I think now not being mad is making it worse. Ignoring it all is making it worse. Kayla's strong, she's doing okay. I don't have to worry about upsetting her."

"What about upsetting yourself?" Nico asked softly.

Will looked up at him, expression suddenly so much it made Nico dizzy.

"I've got you," Will said. "I know you'll be there."

Nico swallowed. He couldn't look up. It wasn't an I love you, the words weren't even close, but they carried the same tone, the same weight.

"And I've got Jason and Percy and Annabeth and Piper, and Lou Ellen and Cecil and -" Will added with a grin, completely and totally ruining the moment. Or maybe the way his eyes gleamed made it better. Either way Nico lent forward and kissed him.

"You have us," he agreed. It wasn't an I love you, but he hoped it carried the same tone, the same weight.

[jovialyouthmusic]

Two’s Company, Three’s Allowed, a TRR fanfic  Summer of Love 2

@speedyoperarascalparty @brightpinkpeppercorn @sleepwalkingelite@zaffrenotes @ao719 @choicesfanatic86 @darley1101 @flowerpowell@gardeningourmet @kinkykingliam @livingthroughchoices@likethetailofacomet @andy-loves-corgis @silviasutton1989 @blackcatkita @cgd03 @flowerpowell

Erotica. Not suitable for under 18s

Debriefing and the Sisters return

‘Well you certainly took your time.’ said Drake as Brad emerged from the summerhouse with a spring in his step. ‘I hope you took full advantage of your opportunity.’ The sisters had not come out yet.

‘A gentleman never tells.’ smiled Brad. ‘And a Prince never brags.’ Drake frowned.

‘Not fair Brad, I always tell you what I get up to.’

‘And I’m grateful for that, but my lips are sealed.’ Drake sighed.

‘You could nod if I ask you questions.’ he said ‘and they might not be so scrupulous about kiss and tell.’

‘I think you’ll find no specifics will be revealed, but my reputation may receive a boost.’

‘You are so going to spill, man. A couple of beers and you’ll tell me everything.’ Drake grinned.

‘You’re not going to let me off, are you? Anyway, you have a job to do – you have to smuggle them back out – and they want to come back again.’

‘High five, Brad! They almost never ask for a do -over – so to speak.’

‘Well, I’d better get back to the palace. Father will be expecting me for dinner, and Leo, Maxwell and Tariq will be there too. I’m glad I’m not Crown Prince, he’d be throwing a banquet and inviting anyone who’s anyone.’

‘Yeah well, that’s a small mercy. However will you cope just getting a Porsche for your birthday – what a let-down!’

‘We can go out for a drive tomorrow, I promise. Join us for a couple of beers after dinner?’

‘Sure thing, Brad. Happy Birthday, man. Welcome to the club.’ He clapped Brad on the back and walked off toward the summer house.

 ---------

Later the four friends sat around a fire, swigging beer by the neck. Maxwell was insistent.

‘C’mon Brad, gice us the deets.’

‘I will not, it’s private.’

‘Safe to say he’s not a virgin any more.’ grinned Drake ‘The girls wouldn’t tell, but they’ll be back for more.’ Brad groaned.

‘It was an amazing experience, but I don’t think I could cope with both of them again. My legs are still a bit shaky.’ he said, taking a swig from his bottle.

‘Man, you can’t let them down.’ protested Tariq ‘I only got the one go with the older one, and she was dynamite. She only went with me to get to you.’

‘Nobody ever asks me.’ Maxwell complained. Drake slapped his hand on the younger man’s knee.

‘You’re too young pipsqueak - wait until you’re older, then you’ll be fighting them off with a stick.  You’re not even shaving ye.t’ he assured him. Maxwell huffed.

‘Age never seemed to be a problem for you, Drake.’

‘What can I say – some noble ladies like to be defiled by a commoner.’ he grinned ‘and working in the stables helped tons. All that space in the hayloft is perfect for a little privacy.’

‘Well, it’s past my bedtime.’ sighed Maxwell. ‘If I don’t get back soon Bertrand will ground me for a week.’

‘I’ll be off too if Brad isn’t going to tell.’ said Tariq. ‘I need my beauty sleep if I’m going to last the distance at the Club tomorrow.’ he winked at Brad. ‘Now there’s a place to meet willing ladies.’

‘Sadly Bastien wouldn’t be free to make sure I’m safe.’ said Brad dejectedly ‘Leo’s giving him the runaround and I can only get away with so much.  Trips out won’t be possible for a while.’

‘Well, I’m off now. Don’t total that Porsche – give us a ride sometime, huh Brad?’ said Maxwell. Brad nodded and promised, and the two young men left Brad and Drake alone by the fire. They sat in companionable silence until Drake spoke.

‘It’s just you and me now, buddy. I won’t breathe a word to a soul if you want to tell me anything.’

‘I know what you’re trying to do.’ said Brad. ‘And I know how stubborn you are, so I’ll share a little.’ Drake shifted and handed Brad another bottle of beer.

‘They were pretty full on.’ started Brad. ‘I knew I wasn’t going to get out until they were both satisfied’ Drake grinned.

‘Why would you want to get out?’

‘Seriously? I didn’t think I’d get out alive, it was terrifying.’ protested Brad ‘Well, maybe I’m exaggerating, but it took me a while to relax and enjoy it.’

‘So how many times…? Drake prompted.

‘I came twice – both girls too’

‘Way to go! Any more details?’

‘Well you can imagine I was first to pop, but only just. I managed to hold off until Lisa came.’

‘That was your cherry gone I take it?’

‘It certainly was. After that Annabelle told me I was – now you promise on your life not to breathe a word, Drake.’

‘Cross my heart.’

‘Okay, she told me I was – girthy, and I might have problems with some girls if I didn’t take it slow. So I had to prove I knew how to treat a girl, using the skills you so kindly described.’

‘Oho, a bit of fingering and oral?’

‘Yup. I got to go properly with Annabelle after that.’ He sighed. ‘Honestly Drake, I was all but done after. It took a lot of stamina, and I’m not sure I could do it again.’

‘Sure you can. Don’t worry, I can stall them for a few days, give you time to get your strength back.’

‘Much appreciated. Have you – enjoyed them at all?’

‘Not all the way, Annabelle gave me a blow job as a bribe to get to you.’ He leaned forward, clinking his bottle with Brad’s. ‘One last detail then I promise not to ask any more.’ Brad took another swig of beer.

‘What is it?’

‘Positions – when you had each of them, what position?’

‘You really want to know?’

‘Wouldn’t ask otherwise.’

‘Okay. Cowboy with Lisa, missionary with Annabelle.’

‘Not bad going for your first time. Let me give you a tip – get them both on you at the same time, you’ll have a blast, and maybe it will save your strength’

‘Both at once? How?’ Drake laughed at his friend’s innocence.

‘You know there’s this thing called porn don’t you?’

‘I live in a palace Drake, I can’t access stuff like that, there’d be a scandal.’

‘I live here too you know, and I see plenty. Not that it’s all practical mind, if you believe what you see you’d never even try for real.’

‘All the same, I can’t risk something like that.’

‘Leo watches.’ Drake pointed out.

‘Leo’s – well, Leo is Leo.’

‘You’re so noble.’ laughed Drake ‘you should be King, not that horndog. Come up to my room sometime and I‘ll show you stuff on my laptop that will make you hard for a week.’

‘Watching porn with you would just be weird.’ replied Brad, draining his beer. ‘I’d better go get some sleep, I’m bushed.’

‘Okay, but one last shot. Get one going cowboy and one on your face.’

‘On my face? That’s a thing?’

‘C’mon man, think oral.’

‘I think I can let my imagination guide me.’ replied Brad ‘But thanks for the advice. Stall them if they get in touch – but I’ll give it another go. Thanks Drake, that was a truly great birthday present. I was beginning to think Father would have to hire me a high class escort or take me on a trip to Paris. I think what you did was just about perfect. I owe you.’

‘I only channelled what was already there. They aren’t the only ones who’d like to get to you.’

‘On balance I think the fewer the better – less chance of scandal or blackmail.’

‘You’re paranoid, Brad.’

‘Sadly I have to be, you of all people should know that.’ he replied with real pain in his eyes. Drake hung his head.

‘I’m sorry. We’ve both lost people dear to us. I forget sometimes. Sleep well, my friend,’

‘You too, Drake.’

------

It was almost a week later that the sisters came to call again. Brad emerged from the summerhouse afterwards looking a little the worse for wear. Drake had to laugh at the sight of his friend, normally so well turned out and well-groomed looking tousled and flushed.

‘I swear Drake, those two will be the death of me.’ he gasped ‘They’re insatiable! I did what you said, tried going for both of them at once, but they went wild.’

‘I could hear you were all having a lot of fun.’

‘Oh god, were we loud?’

‘Uh huh. It’s a good job the Guard are still running around after Leo. Are they keen for a rematch?’

‘Yes. Actually…’ Brad went even redder.

‘Actually what? Spill, man.’

‘They suggested you might like to join us next time.’ Drake gaped at his friend in disbelief.

‘Really?’

‘Yes, really. I don’t know if I’m not measuring up, or if they’re just – kinky.’ Drake blew his breath out, puffing his cheeks.

‘Wow, I wasn’t expecting that. How do you feel about it?’ He asked. Brad looked troubled.

‘I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I could do with the help. On the other, we’ll see each other in action. I don’t know if I could handle that.’ Drake sucked his breath in sharply.

‘Good point. I hope they don’t expect any man on man action – that’s totally out.’

‘Agreed. Let’s think this out.’

‘We could ease into it – take one each and keep ourselves to ourselves, see where it takes us.’

‘That’s a plan. Or I could say no thank you and drop it.’ said Brad, losing a little of his colour.

‘You can’t, this is too good to be true. A foursome? You – we - might never get the chance again.’

‘True. Anyway, we can stall for time, think it over. If you like you could go and see them right now, they might still be up for it.’

‘I think I’ll pass. If they smell of your cologne I might freak.’

 -------

Drake lay restless in bed, pondering the sisters’ offer. To be truthful, it really appealed to him, except that he didn’t want things to get weird with Brad. Would it harm their friendship? When his father had died in the line of duty and his mother had left Savanah and him to go back to America, it had been Brad who had stood up for him, made sure he and his sister had a roof over their heads. It was sometimes tough being a commoner living in the Palace, but again Brad always defended him. Not that he cared what any stuffy nobles thought about him, he was confident in his own skin – most of the time. He’d be going off to University soon and who knows where he would go on to after that. Savannah was secure enough at court, and Brad would be fine without him, he was sure. Leo would eventually be King and Brad would marry some foreign Princess or one of the ladies at court.

On balance, he reckoned that if it went weird, well, he wouldn’t be around much longer anyway. He might as well take advantage of Brad’s influence while he could. He wasn’t sure how his love life would hold out once he had left Cordonia, so what the heck. He had little to lose. He rolled over and fell into a deep sleep.

[willandlyra]

when i rise i see you falling

a couple of anons have requested something with will being the insecure one, or a bit of a mess, in the relationship. so: 

in which will is sad, and neither of them really know what to do but they’ll try.

::

Will’s main problem is – well, actually, that’s a part of it. Will doesn’t know what his problem is.

He knows Nico likes him. He knows it because he knows how Nico is when he doesn’t like someone. And this isn’t that. He knows Nico likes him because he doesn’t shadow travel midway through a conversation just to piss Will off, because he knows that the whole ‘fading out of existence thing’ still gives him the shakes.

He knows that Nico likes him because they sit together at the campfire and Will teases Nico, and his face glows hot and pale scarlet underneath the light of the burning. He knows it because their fingers brush together and Nico’s eyes widen like little moons, and he knows it because Nico fakes inexplicable, uncontrollable zombie epidemics so as to sit with the Apollo table at meal times.

And, you know, there was the whole thing where Will asked Nico out in the most awkward way possible, and the two of them tend to hole up in Nico’s cabin or behind a tree or lie down in the tall grass (Will’s pick, not Nico’s. Nico claims to have had enough experience with Demeter’s overgrowth, whatever that means) and make out until their lips are sore and their eyes are bright.

Yeah, that too.

But there’s this other thing.

There’s this horrible thing inside of him that crawls out at inconvenient moments. When he can’t sleep or when Nico’s stuck in the underworld with his father, and he hasn’t had a chance to talk for a while. When Percy Jackson makes a joke and Nico laughs and like, not a big deal, but also.

Percy Jackson saved the world a couple of times and jumped into Tartarus after his girlfriend, and how do you compete with that?

So it sneaks up in the night, this little black feeling, like bed bugs or stupid monsters. Not big enough to do anything huge, like cut open the skin and scar, but enough to leave a sore spot.

::

Starts sort of like this:

So Nico and Jason will spend hours duelling, just for the fun of it, with swords and their weird ass powers, and campers will literally fill out to watch, placing bets on which Son of the Big Three is gonna win this one.

Piper joins in, putting her bets on Jason – sometimes, like a supportive girlfriend – or Nico if she’s feeling like that’s her lucky call. Hey, she goes where the money is, much to Jason’s indignation.

But then Piper also had a part in the whole saving the world thing. Piper hasn’t sat on the side lines helplessly, unable to save a single soul when your friends are saving everything around you.

These thoughts aren’t fun, and they make Will feel a little queasy, guilty for even letting himself think of them. He shuts his eyes tight for a moment and when he opens them he catches Nico looking at him from where he’s in the midst of dodging Jason’s attacks.

Will plasters on a big smile, cheers him on. Places a bet.

After the duel, Nico ignores everything else and makes headway straight for Will, who may or may not be hastily trying to make an exit. Because he’s got that feeling again.

Nico is sweaty and his hair is tangled, and he’s breathing a little more heavily than usual, shoulders shuddering with the weight of extra breath.

“Grace, you lost me the last of my drachmas!” Leo screams from afar. “How could you do this to me!”

Nico raises an eyebrow and smiles a little.

“Giving into the temptation of gambling, and at such a young age too,” he says. “So sad.”

It’s a Will-type comment, one meant to make him laugh, and it makes him realise that Nico doesn’t really know what to say because he knows something’s up.

A few years ago people were weary of the death kid who glowered from the other end of the room, and now he’s reading feelings from across ocean spaces.

“Yeah,” Will attempts. “I’m getting a little worried – I’m pretty sure Drew Tanaka is going to end up with his cabin at some point, with the way this is getting. Time to tell Chiron?”

“Oh, Mr D already knows,” Nico says. “Totally approves, of course. Says it reminds him of his ventures to Vegas. I don’t even wanna know.”

“Not sure I do either.”

Nico laughs, and then pauses, and then reaches out and grasps Will’s hands squeezing his fingers lightly now that all but the last few dregs of campers are left in the area.

“Is everything okay?” he asks.

Will smiles and says, “you worry too much.”

::

Nico isn’t perfect, and Will knows this better than anyone.

With glory comes a whole bunch of other things. Dark matter and memories that don’t belong in any living person’s skull. Dreams of dying and thinning away on only pomegranate seeds, feeling yourself slide away into shadows.

There’s a haunted look in Nico’s eyes, sometimes, and the same ghost mask is thinly veiled over the faces of the Seven, and Will wouldn’t trade that for anything.

But people died trying to do the things they did, to save the world and fight off the monsters, to stop the bed bugs biting, gnawing at the ankles of the youngest campers there. So when Will bandages up the broken wrist of an Ares camper, or dries the hot wet tears of a little girl in his own cabin, when they thank him in small, tinny voices, Will can’t help but shudder.

Because they shouldn’t be thanking him.

They aren’t thanking the right person.

::

It comes out of nowhere sometimes, a little like things that go bump in the night.

Each and every demigod at this camp has some sort of scars attached to their skin. And some of these are more obvious than others. Will spends so much time patching people up in the infirmary, not only physically, after duelling incidents or general illnesses that come and go, but soothing his patients when they wake with night terrors.

Like clinging to tidbits of light to stop someone from fading out of existence.

Will’s the head medic. The rest of his cabin look up to him like some kind of icon, in awe of his healing powers, his focus on a patient and the way he keeps it together. But that’s a whole other problem. They don’t realise that just like the rest of them, he’s damaged goods.

Nico looks at him the same way.

Says in awe, reaches up with soft bony fingers to drag a light touch across Will’s cheeks. He breathes things like, ‘you’re amazing’ when he’s healed someone, and the colour has gone from his skin. In awe, like he doesn’t understand how Will has these fingers that are perfect for fixing things up.

If Nico called himself damaged goods, then Will would hit the roof and he’d come down with a smart ass answer and a scowl, listing reasons why that’s not true, why Nico kicks ass, why that’s the dumbest thing he could ever ever say. Wait til his eyes are closed in thought, because Nico can’t always pull all the self hatred out of him, no matter what Will says.

Gently kisses the thin skin of his lids.

Says, “you’re fine, Death Boy.”

And yet – when it’s his own face he’s looking at and his own heart he’s stabbing at with rusted arrow ends, none of that comes to mind.

And there’s just this Nothing in front of him – this big white blank space. And so in spite of all the love he feels off the backs of his family and his friends, and the boy that kisses him before he goes to bed, it reads with just a few little words that hurt like bee stings: you’re not worth it.

Not worth it, not worth them, not worth him.

::

It’s not always this bad.

It comes and goes like coughs and headaches. Sometimes he falls asleep and it’s gone by morning. But sometimes it sticks in the back of his brain, thick and black and ugly. Sometimes he can’t stop thinking about it and he can’t sleep at night and he thinks dark thoughts like:

Not worth it. Not worth him.

After all, he lives in a camp full of heroes and if he isn’t one of them, what does that make him?

Nico picks up on his silence, a few days after a particularly bad spell has been leaving him in all these different kinds of blue. They’re at the campfire, and people are singing some dumb songs, taking the piss out of quests and destiny and the joke life of each and every demigod. About dead beat parents.

Merriment and red cheeks, but there’s something really heavy holding down Will’s heart.

“Are you okay?” he whispers. His hand reaches out and takes Will’s, threading their fingers together. Nico’s hands are always cold but it feels kind of good against the heat of the flames.

“Yeah,” Will tells him.

Flashes a bright light smile, but of course, Nico doesn’t buy it.

“I’ve been worried about you. These past few days, something has been off. I can tell.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Nico sighs.

“Whatever, Will. If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. But you don’t always need to be the Camp Medic, you know? Or the big brother, or the head of the Apollo cabin. It’s okay if you’re not sometimes. That’s – it’s fine.”

Nico’s cheeks are a little aglow, and Will is touched. He knows that Nico doesn’t find these kind of things easy. That words plucked from the bottom of the heart are as easily accessible as flowers blooming in Tartarus.

But he’s trying and Will’s tired because he’s just not really sure if he’s worth those words, or that smile, or the hands soft and warm and holding his own.

::

His little siblings love him because he can patch up wounds in a flash and he’ll make them laugh, poke their noses and muss up their hair. His older siblings laugh with him, and he teases them about other campers who their cheeks go red around, and makes sure they get enough sleep.

But they’d love Michael more, if he was here. If they could hear the jokes that Lee used to make.

And this is a primary difference between the heroes of Camp Half-Blood and Will: they don’t always save the people that they love. In fact, very often, they lose them. But they at least get a chance.

Will’s brothers died and he never even knew they needed him.

::

Will has had bad days before.

When he’s not wanted to get out of bed but he does anyway because he has to. And he snaps and snipes until Kayla demands he take a break from working the infirmary.

He’s curled up with Nico and fallen asleep on thick duvet covers. Especially warm because Nico is almost perpetually cold except to Will, who often thinks he feels like he’s the warmest person in the world.

But he doesn’t often have bad days like this. And it’s obvious, because neither of them know how to deal. Nico wants to help, yet doesn’t know how – doesn’t know whether to reach out and touch or keep his distance, and Will can’t tell him either way because his head is swimming and he doesn’t know what he wants.

He just wants this sadness to stop – the third bad day this week. Or, bad night, because it’s in the midst of the night when his voice cracks and the words spill out, the things inside of his head trailing like weird slime and leaving stains. And Will hates this, the kind of vulnerability that shows.

He's usually so okay – made of stone and built not to break. Each and every demigod has this sometimes, when something inside snaps and subsequently, everything crumbles. Will is particularly good at ignoring these waves. At least, usually, not now.

Mouth down-turned into a small frown, and Nico scratches at his head.

“But I don’t understand,” he’s saying. “You shouldn’t – you shouldn’t feel that way. You’re not – you’re worth more than that, Will.”

Will makes a small sound.

“You’re worth everything, and you don’t need to go on – on stupid, dangerous quests to do that. Not going on a quest doesn’t mean you’re not a hero.”

“Pretty sure it does, di Angelo,” Will says, with a little bit of humour in his voice, but it sounds kind of empty. Like fish in the underworld.

Nico shakes his head. “Look, no, listen to me. It sounds – gods, it sounds so lame – but like. If anyone is gonna be a hero here, it’s you. You patch up the Stolls like, every day. And put up with the Hermes cabin and work overtime after Capture the Flag. I don’t even want to know how many times you’ve healed Leo and Jason and Percy after duelling. Especially Leo – him and his stupid fire tricks – but like. See what I mean. Or where I’m going, at least?”

“Yeah,” Will does. He gives Nico a slight smile. “It’s sweet.”

“No, it’s not. It’s true.”

“I don’t know…”

“Well I do,” Nico huffs a little impatiently this time. “You don’t know your own worth. Well, I do, and so does Kayla, and so does Austin. And it’s a lot, so this sadness you’re subjecting yourself to – it’s bullshit. I get it. Really, I do, but…”

“Nico,” Will says gently. “I appreciate what you’re saying. But I don’t think you can make this go away.”

Nico looks at him.

Nods, slowly.

“Okay,” he says. “I guess I can’t. But I can stick out with you, right?”

“What do you mean?” Will asks, and despite himself he’s got a little smile forming on his lips at the determined look in Nico’s eyes. Light, fiery – like very much living things.

“I’m just gonna stay here – as long as you’re cool with that – until this shit gets out of your head. And if you want me to say stuff and like, tell you over and over that you’re the coolest person I’ve ever met, I will. So… yeah.”

“We’re in your cabin,” Will reminds him.

Nico blushes. “And you’re lucky I like you. No one else is allowed to spend so much time in here.”

Will lets out a little laugh, a bit wet, like there are tears caught in the back of his throat.

“I’m lucky you like me,” Will says. “I’m lucky I have you.”

He lets himself fall against Nico, lets his head fall against his lap as Nico’s hands reach out, his fingers running through the crown of blonde curls. And it feels good, nice, soft. Safe. Nico bends down a little, presses a cautious kiss on his temple.

This is unfamiliar territory. But they’re learning.

And the black stuff around Will’s heart is starting to thin out like ice on a warm morning, on a sunny day, though it might take a while longer to thaw entirely.

They fall asleep near like that, half snoozing and falling onto each other, wrapped up in one another and exchanging sleepy kisses, and Nico whispers, when he’s not so sure Will is still listening, is still even awake, “you’re really, really, really worth it.”

::

In the morning they wake before the sun has fully risen, dregs of pale light streaming into the cabin.

Nico’s already holding Will’s hand.

“You were as cheesy as me last night,” Will tells Nico, and there’s a little smile on his face when his cheeks pinken.

“Yeah, well,” Nico mutters. “You bring out the worst in me.”

“I kinda like it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. And Nico?”

Nico looks at him, raises his eyebrows expectantly. “Mm?”

“Thank you.”

::

Will still doesn’t know what his problem is, or why he gets so sad sometimes, or why the shadows seem to whisper around him that he’s not good enough, and he’ll never be a hero, and he’s not worth it.

But the good thing about having a boyfriend with weird, cool, underworldy powers?

He’s very good at chasing those shadows away.

//

note: lame and random, but i’m really unsure about this one, just bc i wrote it whilst a bit of a Mess and the structure is a little weird. im not sure whether i like it enough to put it into my canonverse series on ao3 so please let me know if you think i should or shouldnt do that.

[dotshiiki]

Late Night Revision

One more for @percyjacksonweek2k17. I know it’s supposed to be angst day, and I started out trying to deal with Percy’s struggles in school as an ADHD/dyslexic kid, but it didn’t turn out so much angst as a character study. And playing with a mental picture of PoC!Percy. Oh well. 

Summary. Paul finds Percy studying at night. 1226 words.

The kitchen lights were on when Paul got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.

He didn’t think much of it at first—he lived with a teenager, after all, and they were a race prone to midnight refrigerator snack raids.

He was about to wander back to his bed when the muttering, pacing steps, and the soft clatter of something on the floor penetrated the sleepy fog over his mind. The numbers on his digital wristwatch glowed 3am—that miserable hour that was both too late at night and too early in the morning. If Paul were to guess, he’d say Percy hadn’t gone to bed at all.

The kitchen was infused with a smell of coffee so concentrated, it nearly gave Paul a caffeine boost from inhaling it. Torn Nescafé sachets littered the counter, where Sally’s French press lay on its side, coffee grinds spilling into the sink.

Percy was pacing the length of the kitchen, a beat up book with a rolled-back cover in one hand and a mug in the other. He kept tipping it to his lips, although no more liquid seemed to remain in it. Near the door, an innocent blue ballpoint pen—not the magical bronze one, Paul was relieved to note—rolled to Paul’s feet. He bent to pick it up.

'Oh hey,' Percy said sheepishly. 'Sorry, didn’t mean to wake anyone up.'

Paul handed him the pen. 'You didn’t. I had to use the bathroom.' He gestured to the coffee marathon Percy had set up and a messy pile of papers on the kitchen table. 'What’s up?'

Percy put his mug and book down. 'Got a test tomorrow. Er,' he cast a quick glance at his watch, 'today.'

'Last minute revision?'

Percy ran his fingers through his hair. It was already substantially ruffled, sticking up in the back as though he’d done this a hundred times throughout the night. 'I just can’t get any of this. Tetchy’s gonna fail me,' he muttered. His eyes widened as he remembered who he was talking to. 'Mr Tetley,' he corrected, with another rake of his fingers across his head.

Paul suppressed a grin. Charles Tetley was Goode High’s twelfth grade biology teacher, and he’d come by the students’ nickname for him fairly. He could easily have stepped straight out of that Roald Dahl autobiography with the old English schoolmasters, so straight-laced and irritable was his teaching style. Paul had made the mistake of asking the man to lunch once; he’d droned on obliviously about gene mutations and Punnet squares for a full hour, nearly setting Paul to snoring. If that was the way Tetley delivered his classes, it was no wonder Percy, who already found paying attention challenging under the best of circumstances, was struggling.

'I gotta pass this test,' Percy groaned. He sank into a kitchen chair and plopped his elbows on the table, hands tugging at his hair. 'Annabeth’s gonna kill me if I don’t graduate and go to NRU with her.'

Ah. That explained Percy’s uncharacteristic motivation. Percy’s formidable girlfriend had been over many an afternoon, their two heads bent over their homework as they struggled through the material together.

Annabeth could only do so much, though. Paul knew she faced the same learning challenges as Percy, although she did a remarkable job finding solutions to work around them. On Percy’s textbook, between the paragraphs on natural selection and Darwinian theory, were multi-coloured stains that were evidence of her reward-each-paragraph-read-with-a-jelly-baby method.

Percy picked up his book again. His hands were shaking slightly, and Paul wondered if he’d progressed from jelly babies to espresso shots per paragraph.

He reached out and took the textbook from Percy’s trembling hands. 'You’re not doing yourself any favours if you go into the test without sleep. You need rest if you’re gonna consolidate all this information.'

'I don’t think I could sleep now if I tried,' Percy admitted, with yet another comb through his hair. 'I drank, like, a month’s worth of coffee.'

Paul put his arm around his stepson’s shoulders. 'At least come out and get some air,' he said.

He led Percy over to the tiny balcony. The cool night air, blustery with the promise of spring rainstorms, slapped Paul firmly awake, but it seemed to have a calming effect on Percy. Maybe it was the smell of it, fresh and forceful like an ocean gale blowing in from the Sound. Paul noticed the way Percy’s body oriented itself automatically towards the breeze, leaning slightly into it as though yearning for the ocean of its origin.

Son of the sea god, Paul thought wryly. He remembered the first time he’d met Percy. Sally had warned him that her son didn’t look anything like her, but he hadn’t really believed it—there was always something, even if it wasn’t obvious—until he’d been standing in front of this dark kid with messy hair and features that made Paul wonder if Sally’s ex had been of Mediterranean, or maybe Arabic descent. There was nothing of Sally in the contours of Percy’s face, or his striking eyes. It hadn’t been until Percy was introduced that Paul had spotted the faintest of resemblances—a single dimple when he smiled, the same firm handshake, a shared cadence and mannerism in their voices and postures.

The quizzical look Percy gave him now was most definitely Sally’s, down to the way his head quirked to the side. 'You’re looking pretty serious, Paul,' he said.

Paul shook his head. 'It’s nothing.'

He looked up. The night was clear and cloudless, lit only by the stars.

'I can never place the constellations,' Paul remarked. 'It’s like one of those connect-the-dot pictures, except without the numbers.'

The corner of Percy’s mouth twitched. 'That’s Ursa Major,' he said, tracing in the air with one finger. 'And Leo.'

'Indeed.' Paul scratched the day-old stubble on his chin, impressed. He hadn’t imagined Percy to quite so knowledgeable about astronomy. It seemed quite an arcane bit of trivia for him to pick up.

Percy shrugged. 'Annabeth taught me. I—it’s easier to remember stuff when it’s connected to stuff you already know.' He made a face as he pointed to another constellation. 'The Hydra. Luckily that one only has one head.'

'Huh.' Paul drew his thumb and forefinger to meet under his chin. An idea was starting to form. He’d taught plenty of kids over the past fifteen years, and what had always stood out to him was how the same information presented in a completely different format could change their ability to understand it. 'Percy—if you ever need any help with school, you know I’m here, right?'

'Sure. I’m doing okay with the Hamlet paper, though. It’s been lots clearer since you did the acting stuff with our class.' Percy rubbed his eyes. 'I may be failing Bio, but at least I’ll pass English.'

'Don’t give up, Percy,' Paul said. 'There’s always one more class test. Even if you fall behind on this one, you can make it up.'

Percy grimaced. 'Doubt it. But thanks, Paul.'

Paul sent Percy off to bed, promising to clean up in the kitchen. The biology textbook was still lying open on the table. Paul stared at it for a long time.

Then he sat down at the table and began to read.

A/N: There’s more I wanted to get to but that’s it for now. I’m kinda playing with the idea of Percy as a vaguely Middle-Eastern looking kid (basically stereotyped terrorist-look because hello, all the mortals jumps to the conclusion that he’s a teenage terrorist/arsonist/just bad news?) (Not to mention there are some pretty dishy Middle Eastern dudes.) And also the theme of learning stuff via better analogies, which I didn’t end up weaving my way to after all. Long-windedness is a damn curse with me.