Nico di Angelo and the Avengers

Chapter Nine: Story Time

i'm so dumb. like literally. error 404 braincell not found.  more on that in the AN at the bottom aaagh

Whatever Tony's plans with the Hephaestus kids were, they involved him staying behind in Cabin Nine. Nico could make his peace with that. He'd just have to remember to warn Chiron. And Mr. D. And the entire rest of Camp. Oh, gods have mercy upon him.

Whatever. Whatever. Nico would deal with that later. Right now, though, he and the remaining Avengers (as well as Percy and Annabeth, who had joined them shortly after they left Cabin Nine) had a big decision to make:

What the fuck were they going to do in the meantime? Their weapons were left behind in the basement, and honestly Nico was glad. It wasn't a time for sparring; they were all too tired, he could see it in the bags under their eyes. (Well. Natasha could probably manage, but Nico was hard pressed to think of something she couldn't manage, especially after having to have dealt with the five other dumbasses who made up the Avengers).

"What now?" Bruce asked, voicing the group's unspoken question. Percy and Annabeth had led them on a full tour of Camp, introducing them to some demigods here and there, but that was a quick process, and after a while they just took to circling around the Cabins a few times.

Percy's face lit up. Nico didn't like the look in his eyes, especially because said eyes were directed right at him. "I know," he said, grinning almost malevolently.

"Oh, gods," Nico said. He'd caught on. "No. Percy--"

"Did Nico ever tell you how he and Will even got together?"

"No..." said the Avengers in one way or another.

Nico was... feeling a lot've things. On the one hand, the mention of Will sent a pang through his very being, and he felt his jaw tremble with it. On the other hand, Nico couldn't recall those events and not feel a little happy. He thought about it. He...

He sighed. "Fine. Just because we have nothing better to do."

"Nico," said Steve, aka the only person here who had any earthly idea what Nico was going through, because he was going through the same, "You don't--"

"I know," Nico said, half-smiling. "But I... I want to. Kind of. Only," he said, staring at Percy with what was almost a glare, "if you promise not to butt in."

"I--"

"He won't," said Annabeth, rolling her eyes. "I'll make sure."

"Thank you, Annabeth," Nico said, playfully cordial. Maybe... Maybe it really would do him some good to talk about happier times. Even thinking about it seemed to alleviate the ever-pressing-down-upon-him sorrow.

She grinned at him. "Anything for my favorite edge-lord." She turned to the Avengers, grinning, and oh, no, he should've known she had something more planned. Annabeth was practically an older sister to him, now. Of course she wouldn't make it easy on him. "Follow me, you guys. We're going to Nico's Cabin."

Nico buried his head in his hands, groaning loudly in embarrassment. "Fine. But I want you all to know in advance I designed that thing when I was, like, thirteen."

"It can't be that bad," said Clint.

Annabeth just laughed in response.

~*~

"Oh my God," Clint said, his face stuck somewhere in between abject horror and total, childish amusement. "It is that bad!"

"Shut up," Nico murmured, face red.