We Can Run

Jason wakes Nico up at eight in the morning. Golden Boy always gets up early to “exercise” and do stuff Nico hates. He wakes him up by throwing the duvet off of his body and yelling, “WAKE UP, NICO.”

Nico rolls off the bed.

He doesn’t mean to roll off the bed, he meant to roll to the other side, but in his groggy and confused state of mind, his sense of direction flipped. So now he’s sprawled out on the floor in only his underwear, yelling swears that aren’t actually swears. (Nico doesn’t swear. Or, he tries not to. His mother - the biological one, not Persephone - forbade him from swearing when he was growing up. It just kind of stuck.)

Jason watches for a moment, amused. After that moment is up, he grabs Nico’s arm and hoists him to a standing position. “I’ve been told to wake you up. Sorry.”

“Who told you that?” Nico falls back onto the bed. He wraps the duvet around his body and sits, not going back to sleep. It’d be pointless now, if somebody told Jason to wake him up. That means he has to do stuff. Gross, but necessary. He is Crown Prince.

“Hedge.”

“Great.”

“It’ll be fine. You’re just going to do sword stuff with, uh… the guy from Olympus. The blonde one, but not the king. The prince.”

Nico’s mouth goes dry. He swallows anyway, irritation rising in his chest. “Will?”

“That’s it,” Jason walks towards the door as a few servant girls enter the room. “I’ll meet you in the dining hall for breakfast. I don’t want to see your naked ass.”

“I don’t want you to,” Nico stands and follows the girls into the bathroom.

~*~*~*~

After Nico’s bathed and dressed (black everything - tunic, pants, boots.), he meets Jason down in the small dining hall, where breakfast is. During breakfast and lunch, it’s not a huge gathering, and if you’re hungry, you can come eat. Dinner’s the big deal. Jason sits across from Nico, already eating. Nico grabs a couple scones and nibbles on them as they talk.

“I haven’t seen Will yet,” Jason comments.

Nico rolls his eyes. “Maybe he’s one of those really early risers. Like five in the morning.”

“I didn’t see him when I was working out,” Jason frowns. “I-” He’s cut short by the entrance of the Crown Prince of Olympus. Will Solace enters the small dining hall, flanked by a girl with crazy red curls and more freckles than Will himself (truly a revelation), and a tall, tan boy with sweeping black hair and sea-green eyes. Will’s dressed like him, but instead of all black, there’s actually some color to his outfit.

Will seems… nervous. He’s fidgeting, playing with his hands as he approaches Jason and Nico. “Can we sit here?” He asks, brandishing a stunning smile. Nico nods. “Thanks.” Will sits next to Jason, the girl on the other side of him, and the boy next to Nico.

“Oh, right,” Will smiles again, and Nico’s chest squeezes. He thinks it’s irritation. This boy just gets on his last nerves. “This is Rachel Elizabeth Dare-”

“Rachel is fine,” Rachel Elizabeth Dare begins adding jam to her toast.

“-And this is Percy Jackson.” Will motions to the boy next to Nico. Percy doesn’t say anything; he just starts eating. A lot.

“Uh, Nico.” Nico points to Jason. “Jason.”

“Hey,” Jason beams. He likes new people. They’re very different.

Percy and Rachel launch into a conversation that Nico doesn’t care to listen to, so he zones them out and focuses on Jason and Will. “I’m really not in the mood to exercise right now.”

Jason snorts into his coffee. “When are you ever?”

“That’s a valid point.”

Will smiles. “I’m excited!” Of course he is. There’s that irritated clench of Nico’s stomach again. “I’m not that good at swordfighting, but I’m pretty good at archery.”

“Nico’s great at swordfighting. Like, really good,” Jason comments. Nico rolls his eyes.

“That’s an overstatement. Stop exaggerating.”

“I’m not exaggerating-”

Nico throws a piece of cereal at him, which shuts him up. For a few more minutes, the two of them mess around and pick at their food until Jason stands suddenly. “Okay, let’s go. Nico and Will, it’s time to exercise.” As the three of them exit the dining hall, Jason mutters to Will, “I kind of have to always look out for Nico. If I don’t make him do something, it won’t get done. Like waking up. He’ll literally sleep forever if I don’t wake him up.” Nico decides not to argue, as he doesn’t want to waste his breath. Besides, it’s true. Jason is ninety nine point ninety nine percent of Nico’s impulse control. And Nico in general.

They make their way outside to the armory, where Will finds a sword to practice with. A tall, pretty (and scary-looking) girl Nico doesn’t recognize is waiting outside in the training arena, leaning on a longsword. When they enter, she stands up straight. “Morning.”

Will beams. “Good morning, Reyna. Reyna, this is Nico and Jason. Nico and Jason, this is Reyna. She’s the general of the Olympus army. She’s really badass.”

Reyna doesn’t even blush. She only wields the sword and steps back. “Okay. I know how shitty Will is with a sword, but I want to see Nico’s skill. Nico, whenever you’re ready.”

Nico almost rolls his eyes again. He doesn’t need lessons. He’s the best swordsman in the castle, and that includes the soldiers. All the good fighters are out putting their skills to use on the field. Still, he complies, and stands there, his shoulders slouched and definitely not in good formation. He can see how skeptical Reyna is, and when she runs at him, fully expecting to make a good hit, Nico’s solid black sword clangs against hers.

He’s holding his sword in one hand, fighting off the strength of hers with his left arm. After a few seconds, he has to add both hands, because judging from the burning in his arm, he’s not able to fend off Reyna’s raw strength with only one arm. As she swings her sword in an arc, he has to admire her. Reyna’s fucking strong.

He catches her mid-swing and sidesteps, sliding the sword out from under hers and sending his to her back, which is wide open. He fully expects to hit it with the flat of his blade, but doesn’t expect her body to twist, and make him step back as she gets back to her feet from her knees, their blades battling for dominance.

Then they’re dancing. Nico’s spinning and the extension of his left arm is twirling, and he’s having the time of his life. Finally, a match. He’s knocked the swords out of the shitty castle guard’s arms too quickly too many times, and he finally has a worthy opponent. It’s exhilarating; Reyna’s great at this, amazing, even, and Nico can see why she’s the leader of the Olympus army. He doesn’t want to get in her way. She’s unstoppable.

But he feels unstoppable, too. And they’re dancing and Nico’s breathing heavier each minute. He doesn’t want to relent - he’s strong, too - but after a lifetime of quick duels and unworthy matches, he feels tired. After about a minute more, he allows his sword to be knocked out of his hand and watches it hit the ground and still with a thud.

Nico’s panting, but he’s grinning, too. He holds out his hand and waits for Reyna to accept it. Normally, he hates touching people, but c’mon. This is definitely worth a simple handshake.

Reyna’s grinning, too. She accepts his hand and shakes - her grip is firm, admirable - and nods to Will. “That’s how you fucking fight.”

Will and Jason are staring, Will with an expression of awe and Jason with pride.

“Nice, Nico,” Jason beams.

“I got tired,” Nico says sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Reyna shrugs. “I underestimated you. I’m sorry about that. Anyway, Will, think you can match that?”

Will laughs nervously. “I doubt it,” he glances to Nico. “You’ll have to give me lessons.”

“Will, I’m here for a reason. And it’s to teach you. I’m the one giving lessons.” Reyna deadpans and sticks her sword in the ground, leaning on it like she did before.

Will grins. “Then you’re a shitty teacher, because I’m still terrible.”

“Put your sword where your mouth is, Solace, because I don’t care if you’re the Crown Prince or king of Olympus; I’m kicking your ass!” Reyna backs up again like she did for Nico, pulling the blade out of the ground. Will sighs.

“En guard, I guess,” he says weakly, and raises his blade to a defensive position.