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Percy doesn't really know how he ended up living with Jason and Nico. It wasn't really on purpose. It's just what happened when it all went down.
It, being when he and Annabeth broke up and he was chivalrous and told Annabeth she didn't have to move. Unfortunately, that meant he didn't really have anywhere to go. He could live with his mom, but Estelle took his room and he's 25-years-old. He doesn't want to live with his mom, as lovely as she is. He couldn't go back to camp either, and he certainly couldn't go anywhere else in New Rome. He was in dire straits until Jason offered his and Nico's guest room after Percy has spent two months couch hopping.
"You have a guest room?" Percy asked at the time. "In New York?"
"Nico's dad," Jason said, and Percy could almost hear the shrug in his voice. "Don't worry about it. At least you won't have to pay rent."
There's that, Percy guesses. Things could always be worse. Things could always be like right now, when Percy knocks on Nico's and Jason's front door only to be faced with a scowling Nico di Angelo.
"Hello?" Nico asks when he seems to register that it's Percy. "What are you doing here?"
And Percy— Percy hasn't seen Nico in years. He can't be blamed for the way that he's staring at the boy in front of him, the man in front of him, long and lean and beautiful. Nico's always been pretty, but now…
"Uh," Percy finally says, blinking the stars out of his eyes. "Jason said I could crash in your guest room?"
"That fucking—" Nico mutters before he rolls his eyes. "Sure. Why not? We could always use another roommate. We already have so many."
"You have another roommate?" Percy asks as Nico steps back to let him inside.
"Olive Garden," Nico says, nodding at the corner. It seems like a non-answer until the corner moves and oh, it's a cat. Dark as Nico's hair and dark as Nico's scowl. "She doesn't pay rent."
"Hello, Ms. Olive Garden," Percy says with a smile. "I heard no one pays rent anyway, so you're probably fine. Is she yours?"
"She's her own."
Percy blinks. "Sure. Where should I put my things?"
"Follow me," Nico says as he ducks down the hallway. "Guest room's next to mine, so try not to be too loud unless I'm in the Underworld."
"How often is that?"
Nico shrugs. "Half the time, maybe? So you can throw ragers six months out of the year. Jason's a pushover and would probably let you."
Percy laughs and Nico watches him carefully before his mouth ticks up in a small smile. It's a good look on Nico. Percy idly wonders if everything is such a good look on Nico. He's almost afraid of the answer.
"I'll let you settle in or whatever," Nico says, waving his hand dismissively. "I'll make dinner."
"You can cook?"
Nico waves his hand again and shuts the bedroom door.
Nico can only kind of cook. He can certainly provide wine well though. He's an expert at it. Percy is sure his mouth is tinged red like Nico's is. Across the couch from Percy, Nico is laughing too, which means Percy is laughing, and then Percy isn't laughing at all and he's crying. He's wine drunk and weeping on his new couch that's actually Nico's and Jason's couch.
"Uh—" Nico says.
"I just don't know what to do," Percy sobs. "She left me and I feel like a newly hatched chicken. She took all my feathers."
"Don't chicks usually have feathers when they're hatched?"
"Shh," Percy shushes. "You get my point."
"Sure. Go on, I guess."
"I feel my life is starting over," Percy sighs. "New house, same but new city, new job, and I'm a virgin."
Nico huffs out a laugh. "I don't think virginity works like that. I don't think it resets when you get out of a relationship."
"No, like, I'm a virgin," Percy says miserably. "In general. All the way, all the time."
Now Nico's laugh is loud and bright. It nearly makes Percy smile. "No way. No way you lived with your long-term girlfriend and you've never had sex."
"She was waiting until marriage."
"No way."
"Way!" Percy cries. "I thought when we moved in together… Well, you get it since you and Jason live together."
"Huh?" Nico asks. "What about me and Jason?"
"You're together?"
Nico leans forward and slaps his hand on Percy's mouth. "Never say that again. Jason and I are not together. We slept together one time and that was it."
Percy moves Nico's hand and he doesn't know why he keeps holding it, but it's nice. "Oh, okay. Cool. That's awesome."
Is it awesome? Percy has no idea what's going on. He's still crying.
"Yeah, okay," Nico laughs. He doesn't move his hand. "You have to fuck someone, Perce. It's the only answer."
"But anyone I would have sex with would have to know I'm a virgin and that's humiliating."
"You told me."
"Right," Percy says slowly. "Neeks, that's brilliant."
"Don't call me— What's brilliant?"
"You already know I'm a virgin. We should sleep together and it would solve my problem."
Nico blinks at Percy a few times. They're still holding hands. "Do you even like men?"
"Yeah, totally," Percy says with a smile. "That's old news. I like men, you're beautiful, and you know I'm a virgin. You used to like me, right?"
"When I was 14?"
"Right, so just tap into that."
"Uh—"
Percy laughs. "Neeks. Nico. Come on. It's literally perfect. Let's have sex."
Nico bites his lip while he thinks now. Maybe he did before and Percy never noticed. All possibilities.
"Fine," Nico finally says. "But not while you're drunk."
Percy uses their joined hands to tug Nico close and smack a wet kiss on his mouth. Nico gives a breathless laugh in reply and Percy, for once, feels light.
The next afternoon, Percy is nearly bouncing on his feet while he knocks on Nico's bedroom door. He hasn't seen Nico yet today, but he's probably up by now.
He wasn't, apparently. Nico whips open the door and there's another dark scowl on his face that matches Olive Garden as she flees the room.
"What do you want?" Nico hisses. "Why are you waking me up?"
"I thought you'd be up," Percy says nervously, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I was wondering— About what you said last night—"
Nico's narrowed eyes go wide. "You remember that?"
"Well, yeah. It's kind of a big thing for me."
"Alright," Nico says after too long. "Come in. Get comfortable, I'm going to brush my teeth."
Nico disappears into the bathroom across the hall without another word, so Percy figures it's time to follow instructions. He goes into Nico's bedroom and opens the window so light comes into the room before he settles on the bed and looks around. It's a bit of an unlikely room for Nico—not too much black, pictures and posters on the wall, and a cat tower in the corner. Olive Garden must actually be Nico's.
Nico saunters back into the room and sits down on the bed, leaning back against his hands to look at Percy. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yeah," Percy says with surprising confidence. He wants Nico. He doesn't know how much he wants to dig into that feeling, but here they are. "Yeah, I really do."
"With me?"
"With you."
Nico smirks. "Then kiss me. Prove it."
Percy doesn't have to be told twice. He surges forward to pull Nico in with a hand on the back of his neck, tangled in the soft, curling hair at his nape. Their lips crash together and it takes a minute for them to adjust, but it slots into something undeniably good when Nico tilts his head to the side. Percy knows the noise he makes is embarrassing, but he can't help it. He's never kissed a man, never felt the slight brush of stubble on his skin, and it's electric.
Nico smiles into the kiss before he pushes Percy back onto his back and Percy goes easily, always happy to let someone else take the lead for a moment. He's particularly happy to let Nico take the lead. He doesn't want to dig into that either, but it scratches at his brain.
"I'm going to let you fuck me," Nico whispers, "if you think you can handle it."
"I can handle it," Percy says quickly. "Yeah. I can."
"You think you can hold out that long?" Nico asks as he drags his hand down, palming at Percy's cock through his sweatpants. Percy makes some kind of strangled noise and Nico laughs. "I don't know if you can, Perce."
Percy drags Nico's hand away and laces their fingers together. "I can't if you're going to do that."
Nico laughs again. "Alright, alright. No foreplay for virgins."
"No foreplay for virgins, please."
"Well, if you're going to say 'please."'
Percy grins and kisses Nico again, sinking into it. Nico's a good kisser. Percy forcibly doesn't think about where he would have learned to do that. He doesn't have any right to be jealous, even if he certainly is.
"I'm going to finger myself open, but I want you to give me something to watch while I do," Nico says quietly. "I—"
"Can I open you up?" Percy asks almost desperately. He has to get his fingers inside Nico or he's going to go insane. "Please?"
Nico huffs out a laugh and brushes a kiss on Percy's jaw. "If you're going to say 'please.' Do you know what to do?"
Percy doesn't want to admit how much time he spent researching how to fuck Nico this morning. That feels embarrassing. "Yeah, I do."
So Percy finds himself two fingers deep into Nico, and he feels like he's holding his breath in preparation for—
There. Nico moans and Percy's breath catches in his chest. He sounds gorgeous. He looks gorgeous on Percy's fingers, sweat beading at his temples as he clearly tries not to squirm. Percy waits until he's comfortable fucking two fingers inside Nico to lean over to kiss him again. Nico struggles to kiss back as Percy adds another finger, another moan falling out of his mouth.
Then— A whine when Percy crooks his fingers like the articles said to. Fuck.
"You sound incredible, baby," Percy can't help but whisper. Nico opens his eyes and watches Percy carefully. "Can I call you that?"
"It's, ah, better than Neeks," Nico huffs out. "Sure."
"Thanks, baby," Percy says with a grin. He focuses back on making sure Nico feels good, on ignoring his own desperate need to fuck Nico, until Nico says he's ready. "Do you have a condom?"
"I'm clean," Nico says as Percy pulls his fingers out. "You're a virgin, so…"
"You're going to let me?"
"Yeah."
"Holy shit."
Nico laughs and pulls Percy in to kiss him as he shuffles a pillow under his own hips. "Fuck me right, Perce."
Percy can do that. He slicks up his cock and presses into Nico slowly, making sure not to hurt him. Their kiss turns messy when Percy is fully inside Nico, when Percy is so overwhelmed that he might pass out. The tight coil in his stomach needs to go away if he's going to fuck Nico right, but Nico is tight and wet and warm around him.
Nico is powerful as all hell, scary as the gods get, and he's letting Percy inside him. That's almost more overwhelming than the feeling of being inside him. Percy tries not to let tears well in his eyes.
"All good?" Nico asks softly. Oh, yeah, Percy hasn't moved.
"All good," Percy whispers back. "Can I?"
"Move."
It takes Percy a moment to figure out the movement of his hips, but he manages it and the first real roll of his hips punches a moan out of them both. Percy kisses Nico, Nico tangles his hands in Percy's hair, and Percy mildly wonders how he never thought about this. He's known Nico for, what, a decade? And he's never considered this? That sounds insane when he thinks about it, because this is kind of the best thing to ever happen to him.
It isn't just the sex either. Percy will think about that later.
Percy knows what to do now. He drags one of Nico's hands out of his hair and down so Nico can wrap his hand around his cock and jerk himself off in time to how Percy is fucking him, so Nico can come over his hand with a whine.
Percy starts to pull out, but Nico wraps his leg around Percy's waist. "Keep going, Percy. Fuck me right."
"Yes, sir," Percy says with a quick nod before he's fucking Nico fast and hard, chasing his own orgasm. "Can I—"
"Inside, inside," Nico urges. That's enough for Percy and he comes deep inside Nico, comes hard enough that he's dizzy with it.
He braves it when he comes down and kisses Nico. Nico, gods above, kisses back. Percy smiles into it as he pulls out, gets dizzy again when he sees his cum leaking out of Nico. Nico looks at Percy, looks where Percy is looking, and laughs.
"Never let anyone do that before."
Percy feels his brain stop, restart. "I could fall in love with you, Nico di Angelo."
Nico laughs again, louder this time, and rolls out of bed. "Yeah, yeah, Percy Jackson. We'll see about that."
They see about it. Six months later, Olive Garden is curled up on Percy's chest while Nico sleeps next to him, drooling a little on his pillow. Percy runs a hand through Nico's hair, laughs when it doesn't make him stir, and falls back asleep.