Some Percico One Shots

George Is A Decent Cat Name

"You know, we really should've gone shadow traveling," Nico mumbled, watching the raindrops on his window roll down. They were on a road trip to Florida to visit the beaches. Nico was surprised it was only the two of them, he had expected Percy to invite Grover or Annabeth, but accepted nonetheless. He was bad at starting conversations, thankfully, the rain filled the silence.

"But then it wouldn't be a road trip," Percy pointed out.

"Fair enough. But this rain, you can't even see the road." Nico stated.

Percy spared Nico a quick glance. "Dramatic much. You can see the road perfectly fine."

Nico rolled his eyes and leaned against the window. "Yeah, but these windshields are moving too fast. Can you see?"

"The windshields are-"

Nico sat up, eyes widening. "What?"

"Sorry, just had to drive around a hole." Percy smiled sheepishly. Nico slouched back, sighing in relief. "But the windshields are fine. I mean, they're not a bother."

"I wouldn't know, I haven't driven before,"

The car came to a sudden halt. Nico would've slammed forward, had it not been for the seat belt almost tying him back to the chair.

"What was that for? We could've crashed or something!" Nico yelled. Percy backed away, surprised. 

"Sorry, sorry. I just hit the brakes, no near death experiences here. Besides, I can't see other cars on the road, don't worry." Percy said. Nico took a few deep breaths to calm down.

"Oh. Sorry for overacting, but tell me next time, you scared me." Nico said. "But why did we stop?"

"I think I saw something on the road," Percy explained, unbuckling his seat belt. He quickly got out of the car, ignoring the pouring rain outside. Cold wind hit Nico's face, and he almost called out for Percy before getting out of the car himself. He didn't hate the rain, but he didn't like getting wet either.

He walked in front of the car, one hand protecting his eyes from the bright headlights. Percy was kneeling on the ground, cradling something against his chest.

"What is it?" Nico asked, kneeling down to get a better look.

"A cat." Percy responded. He slowly got up, and Nico saw a drenched black creature shivering in Percy's arms. His eyes widened, was the kitten hurt? Animals usually shied away from him but he didn't like seeing the poor kitten in that condition.

Percy headed toward the car, the kitten was too cold to protest. Both got inside, Nico tried to not slam the door.

"Percy, could you remove the water from him? The cat's completely soaked,"

"Yeah," Percy responded. He closed his eyes and concentrated. The cat stared at Percy with big curious green eyes. Slowly, the water on the kitten's fur began compiling together and moving toward Percy in one big bubble. Surprisingly, the cat didn't move in protest. Percy opened his eyes, quickly opened the door, and the water bubble flew outside and splashed onto the road.

Nico raised his eyebrows, fascinated with what he just saw. The cat laid on his lap, now dry, but it was still shivering.

"Wait, give me a moment. I should have a towel back here," Percy reached toward the back seat, hands roaming for his backpack. He dug around before successfully taking out a small white towel. He gently dried the shivering kitten with the soft fabric.

Some dirt stuck to the towel, but the kitten was now clean. Percy leaned toward him, carefully examining the kitten for any injuries. Nico held his breath, Percy's face was right next to him. 

He moved back and said, "It seems like it's okay. What it was doing out in the cold, I don't know." Percy sighed. "Reminds me of Small Bob," he said, caressing the small creature. Nico looked up at Percy and took note of his guilty expression.

"Who?" Nico asked, handing him the kitten as best he could.

"A friend back at Tartarus," Percy said. He smiled but his eyes were downcast. Nico didn't pry further.

"Oh, would you like to name him Small Bob?"

"No, another name. I still need some time before I can call something Small Bob." Percy said. Nico nodded, he understood.

"George?" Percy suggested.

"George? You sure you don't want something more unique?" Nico said.

"I mean, it's not the most crazy, but George is a nice name." Percy argued.

"Okay, George is now your name." Nico told the kitten. Percy lifted the kitten toward him, silently offering Nico to touch it. He hesitated before petting George's head. The kitten purred in response, and Percy smiled at the sight.

"Cute." Percy blurted out.

"I guess." Nico said, gently petting George.

"No, I meant you're cute." Nico froze.

"What?" Nico, but he knew Percy saw the bright red on his cheeks.

"Just teasing," Percy said, a playful smile on his lips.

"Okay, will you continue driving?" Nico asked, eager to change the subject. He didn't know why Percy flirted with him out of nowhere. Even if he was just playing around, Nico doubted Percy understood how fast his heart raced or how warm his ears got whenever he acted flirtatious.

"Yeah, do you want to bring George on the trip?" Percy asked.

"Sure? Where did you plan to leave him? Certainly not in the rain." Nico said.

"Of course not. I just thought that you'd like to leave him at some adoption center. But if we can keep him, then sure? Besides, I don't think I'm ready to let him go, he's adorable. He'll be like our child."

"Our child?" Nico asked, eyes widening. The comment was so random, it caught him off guard. He smiled to himself, not being able to meet Percy's eyes. 

"Yeah," Percy responded seriously.

Nico sighed in defeat. "Fine. But I think it'd be nice to have him on the road, don't you agree?" A small companion would make the trip more enjoyable. He did worry about facing monsters and how the kitten would react to it. George wasn't Mrs. O'Leary, who could help in battle, but they would come up with a solution by the time it happened.

"Of course! Although, we might need to stop by a store to get some food for him. Who knows how long he was out there, he's probably starving." Percy stated. Nico nodded. 

"Do cats even like cars?"

"Actually, I have no idea, but if you hold him constantly, surely, he'll feel safe. He likes you."

Nico smiled. "Fine, but eyes on the road. I'll take care of the cat, you take care of the road."

"Aye aye captain."

A/N I really went on this whole week thinking that I published a new chapter last Saturday, but of course, I forgot to press the actual Publish button 🤦 Alas, we hit 1.3K reads! Thank you all! It really warms my heart knowing that people out there are enjoying my fics <3 This motivates me to post more, because I procrastinate a lot 😅 so let's hope I stick to a schedule. Thank you for reading, and have a great day!