#the initial intent was that they were friends and hera simply did not approve

[happyk44]

"I want you out of Jason's life."

Nico's nose wrinkled. Really? No, hello, how are you? Just straight to the punch. No wonder Hades said Hera was his favourite sister - quick to the chase and unapologetic about it.

"I don't know," he said. "I'm pretty comfortable in Jason's life." He picked a piece of lint off his pant leg and flicked it at her. Her eyes narrowed. "And I think he likes having me around."

"You're a poor match to his potential." Her voice hardened. "He wastes time on you."

Nico scowled. "In case you haven't noticed, Jason's changed! He doesn't want your potential, that manufactured life shoved down his throat anymore."

For moment, Hera softened. Her soul smoothed down, went flat with the thought of Jason. The way he was now - bright and happy. No longer rimrod straight, straining under the weight of responsibilities he didn't ask for.

Then bitterness baked itself into Nico's tongue. He gagged under the acidity of her soul. Displeasure oozed off her in a white-hot flame. It tickled at his skin. He recoiled.

"I am quite happy with Jason's life. He may do what he believes will fit him and you-" The word was a bitter frost. "-do not fit."

Nico didn't tremble. She didn't scare him, not in the way she wanted. "He disagrees."

Her lip curled. "He wants normalcy. You do not offer that."

Her memories pushed onto his mind - flickers of Jason crouched at her temple. He had hopes now. Family. A litter of kids. Maybe a house of his own - something small. Close to New Rome, but private. The normal life he'd never thought would be possible for a son of Jupiter with no family and practically wolf-born.

But Nico could... He could do that. Probably.

His throat swelled as Hera pulled back her projected thoughts and looked down at him like he was no more than a bug to sway away. He glared at her around his rising panic.

Kids... He wasn't scared of them but it was a stimulation thing. They were loud, needy. But he could handle it. Right? And marriage never scared him. Although the permanence... and the stories he'd heard for ghosts, warning him.

Things change, they'd whisper. They change. Sign your name on the dotted line and there goes your life to someone you thought you knew but never met.

But. This was Jason.

He could, he could do that for Jason. Jason wouldn't change on him, wouldn't demand anything more of him than he could give. Jason wouldn't confine him.

Or was that Hera's point?

His palms itched. "I can do that," he said. He held his head up high and rose to a bitter stand. "I can do normal."

She didn't seem fazed by his claim, almost amused. "Can you?"

She snapped her fingers. The sound cracked through the still air. Nico jerked, hissing under his breath as he glared at her. His hand steadily came off from his sword still rested against his hip.

And in the corner, a sharp cry blasted through the air. The wail was unending as he turned to face the source of the noise. A little girl - no older than three or four, sitting in the far shadows of the cabin, knees to her chest. She gasped for breath then opened her eyes.

The moment she spotted Nico she was darting forward, stumbling with untrained feet. She crashed into his legs, wrapped her arms around him. She was whimpering, shaking.

Horrified, Nico turned to stare at his aunt. Hera's grin was wicked sharp. Cruel.

"Newborns are harder," she said. "So I've given you a gift."

The girl tugged desperately at Nico's shirt. Panic was rising in the form of bile from his stomach to his throat.

"And I even made her what you once wanted," Hera went on. "You never did name that child you dreamed of." His body stilled, paralyzed. "But close enough, yes?"

He'd never dreamed of children before. Just one time. When his sister left him and he was lonely, waiting for her to return. Still smelling the sea in the night air and seeing a black horse disappear into the sky.

He swallowed thickly.

"When you realize you cannot handle the responsibility, let me know." She smiled, warm and kind, but coldness only sank into Nico's stomach. Like ice cubes dropped directly into his veins. "And I will take her out of your life, and you will take yourself out of Jason's."

The girl was still yanking at Nico's shirt, desperate for something. But he couldn't think, couldn't focus.

Hera stepped back. The air swirled around her, disappearing her from the bottom up. Her eyes flickered down to the little girl. Nico followed. Thick tears were welled up in bright green eyes. She looked about ready to scream again. His stomach turned.

"Goodbye, nephew," Hera said, just as the girl began to shriek.

And then she was gone. Leaving him all alone with a screaming child he didn't ask for, and the overwhelming fear that maybe he really couldn't do this.

Fic idea where Nico wakes up to a random three year old in his cabin and the kid calls him Papa and Nico is just ???

While everyone is trying to figure out where the kid came from and who or what it really might be, the kid accidentally explodes a bunch of goblets. And everyone is just ??? and Nico waits for a sign from Poseidon like "oh yeah that's mine, thanks for finding them" but nothing comes, and now he's a little nervous, because those green eyes look awfully familiar, so he squats to the kid's height and is just like, "...Percy?"

And the kid just squeals excitedly, looking around and calling out, "daddy??"

The tension in the air almost triples.

The kid pouts when they realize Percy isn't actually around. Turns on Nico. "Papa, where's Daddy?"

Nico wonders if it would be socially acceptable to bury himself alive.