PJATO- Merry Christmas

Nico had had no idea what day it was when he'd rapped his knuckles against Percy's bedroom window. Snow drifted from the sky and landed in his hair, a cold gust of wind caressing the skin beneath his jacket.

Nico knocked again.

Persephone had gone into the Underworld four days before on the Winter Solstice and Nico had no wish to deal with her attitude regarding the subject, so he'd come back to the land of the living. He'd been trying to uncover more information about his mother, but there was nothing. Still nothing.

Just as he went to knock again, the window opened and an olive-skinned face peered out, startling Nico with its brilliant green eyes. "Percy," he said.

"Nico?"

The son of Poseidon's hair was in disarray and his white t-shirt was crumpled. What time was it? Time Square had said it was nine o'clock a half-hour ago. "Can I come in?"

"What are you doing here?" Percy asked and he stepped aside to let Nico through. The younger demigod gratefully ducked beneath the glass and pushed a foot through, then pulled in the other. Percy shut the window. The room was pretty much how he'd last seen it during the war with Kronos: pictures of demigods on the wall by the bed, dresser pressed against the left wall and clothes scattering the floor.

"I needed to ask you something," Nico said, bringing his attention back to him. The other demigod looked like crap – bags beneath his eyes, which he rubbed, and slight stubble on his chin. Completely disheveled. And sexy.

Nico mentally slapped himself.

"About what?" Percy asked, running a hand through his hair.

"I was wondering if you would be willing to help me look for something," Nico said. "A mirror."

"A mirror?"

"Well, not an actual mirror. More like a shard."

"What?"

"A piece of mirror. It's ancient, belonged to Achilles."

"Why would Achilles own a mirror?" Percy asked, blinking tiredly. "Isn't that more of an Aphrodite thing?"

"It was the mirror on the opposite side of the room of the bed that Achilles and his lover slept in, so they could watch themselves."

Percy's face went dark red.

"According to Macaria, my father had given it to my mother as a gift. They-"

"I really don't want to know what they did with it."

Nico made a face. "She said that it might hold some kind of spiritual essence of my mother."

"So why do you need my help?" Percy asked, then realized it must have sounded harsh because he corrected himself. "I mean, you're the son of Hades, right? If it's located somewhere down there . . ."

"It's not." Nico shook his head. "Somewhere in Italy."

The son of Poseidon let out a sigh and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. "And what am I supposed to do? Why are you asking me? I'm as ignorant as you are."

"But you're more experienced," Nico insisted. "And besides, Italy is the center of what used to be the Roman Empire. Do you know how many monsters would be there?"

"You want me there for protection," Percy said.

"Yes."

He paused briefly in which he scratched his face and hair, sighed through his nose, and looked at Nico earnestly with those intense eyes. After two minutes of this, Percy reluctantly said, "Alright."

The son of Hades beamed. "So we'll start now," he said. "I picked up a trace of the mirror not too far from Florence. If we-"

"Woah," Percy interrupted, making a 'T' for 'time-out' with his hands. "We're not starting today."

"What?" Nico asked. "Why not?"

"Nico, it's 9:50 AM."

"So?"

"Christmas Day."

Nico stared at him.

Percy sighed, exasperated. "You're telling me you've never heard of Christmas?"

"Of course I've heard of Christmas," Nico said icily. "The celebration of the birth of Christ."

"And family," Percy added. "Being together."

"Your point?"

"My point is I'm being together with my family today. You can understand that much, can't you? Besides, shouldn't you-" He stopped.

Nico seemed to be both puffing up and deflating at the same time, his small hands balled into fists and his pale face pink.

"I'm sorry," Percy said softly after a moment. "I forgot."

"Whatever," he spat. "Nevermind. I don't need your help anyway." He turned back to the window, striding towards it.

"Wa-! Nico, wait!" Percy grabbed the boy's arm, only to be shoved roughly away. Tears had formed in Nico's eyes.

"Why?" he asked. "So you can shove all the things you have into my face?"

"No," Percy said, grabbing him again. This time Nico didn't resist, allowing himself to be pulled against the older demigod's chest. "I want you to stay because you're my friend. Because you're lonely."

"I'm not lonely."

"Nico, you're withering away as we speak and you look like a zombie. You need food, you need sleep, and you need some actual cheerfulness. So stay for the night and eat some food, okay?" Percy ruffled his hair, making the boy squint and scowl at him. But then Nico frowned, looking above Percy's head.

Confused, Percy pursed his lips. "What is it?" he asked. And he looked up.

"No, don't-!"

But he already saw it.

Mistletoe grew abnormally quickly from Percy's bedroom ceiling, something highly impossible in the mortal world, but not entirely in theirs. "What."

"Persephone," Nico grumbled. "It's gotta be."

"What?"

"She and Aphrodite have been in contact lately, something totally abnormal with them." He shook his head and went to move away out of Percy's bedroom when the hand that was still gripping his arm gave a gentle tug. Nico turned to see Percy smiling softly at him and glance upward again toward the mistletoe.

Nico made an ugly face.

Percy's eyebrows went up.

And then they were kissing. Softly, sweetly, a kiss that tasted like death and rebirth and salt-water taffy, but mostly rancid morning breath.

"Merry Christmas." They weren't sure who'd said it first.