Can't believe I never posted this here...

This is a fic I wrote a while back for a Percico contest I entered. I came 5th so clearly it wasn't awful XD

Nico was lying on his bed when he caught a glimpse of the time. 6:59 was displayed in neon green numbers on the face of the digital clock next to his bed, so he started to push himself off of his bed and into a standing position.

Every night at 7:00 since they had started dating about a week ago, Nico and Percy would meet up in cabin three to hang out or pick something to do for the night. Campers weren't allowed inside of a cabin that wasn't their godly parent's, so after getting caught the first time Nico started shadow travelling into the Poseidon cabin. The first time he hadn't bothered to get up and the ended up falling about three feet to the ground on his back on Percy's turquoise ceramic floors. It had hurt really badly and Percy had laughed at him after he was sure he was uninjured.

Nico travelled right as the clock struck 7:00. Arriving a split second later in cabin three, he was momentarily blinded from the increased light compared to the Hades cabin. Percy was kind enough to turn down the lights each night as he knew Nico was coming from a dark cabin and through the shadows, so the only light source was a reflection off of a pool of water, which casted intricate wave patterns across the ceiling and walls. Regardless, it was still brighter than cabin thirteen. At least it only took Nico a second to adjust.

When his full vision returned, he saw Percy on his bed, facing the opposite direction. He had a book in hand, so he was clearly not sleeping. Walking as silently as he could, he crept up behind Percy before quickly plucking Riptide off of Percy's bedside table and leaning down to whisper in his ear, "I'm here."

Nico had to pull his head back immediately to avoid being stuck by a flailing Percy. Percy's hand immediately went to where Riptide had been resting which made Nico glad he had had the sense to take it in the first place. When Percy saw who it was, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Geez, Nico, did you have to scare me like that?"

Tossing Riptide back to Percy, Nico responded with, "I can't help it if I'm just naturally quiet." Nico would probably never admit he got a bit of a sadistic pleasure out of scaring people. They all thought he was naturally quiet, and to a certain degree he was, but a part of it was him putting effort into it. It was childish sure, but he didn't care.

"You really do need a bell or something," Percy said, lightening up a little bit and adding a chuckle.

"I am not wearing a bell Percy," Nico deadpanned.

"I wasn't serious Nico," Percy laughed, "But maybe do me a favour and knock on the inside of the door or something."

"Alright, alright," Nico promised, but he knew that he would be breaking that promise at least a few times.

"Thanks," Percy said as he pulled Nico into a hug. "Now, for tonight, I was thinking…"

"Oh no," Nico cracked, but Percy just deadpanned. He was glad that Nico could have a sense of humour however, even if it was recently developed and only around him.

"Do you still have enough energy to shadow travel the two of us to the west coast and back?"

"I think so. Why?"

"Well I was thinking of what to do tonight, and I spoke to Jason recently and he mentioned that today there was a carnival in Berkeley. I thought it might be fun to go."

Nico actually had to work to contain his excitement. He loved the carnival back in Italy, and some of his best memories from his childhood were from the carnival in Venice. He knew that this probably wouldn't be the same, but hey, it was still a carnival.

"Sure. Why not?" Nico said. "When do you want to leave?"

"How about now?" Nico didn't even respond before he had grabbed Percy's arm and they were gone.

...

Nico shadow travelled them to Berkeley, and they arrived right in the middle of the carnival grounds. Walking out from around the stand they had arrived behind, Nico felt a sense of disappointment. This was nothing like the type of carnival he was expecting. Expensive games with cheap prizes, loud noises, flashing lights, and the smell of greasy food assaulted his senses. Where were the people in fancy masks and costumes? And no, the clowns don't count.

While Nico stood there taking in the odd surroundings, Percy had purchased tickets at the stand they had landed next to.

"Come on Nico, let's go!" Percy smiled as he grabbed Nico's arm and led him off.

As they walked, Nico continued to look around. Maybe it was no Venetian carnival, but this one looked like it could be fun. They meandered through all of the stalls, looking at what each one had to offer. Percy had come to a stop at one stall in particular, and Nico thought that he was going to burst with excitement. He had ordered a deep fried Mars bar, and when Nico took his offered bite he didn't exactly understand why Percy was so crazy about it. It almost tasted like nothing and it melted in his mouth, but not in a good way. But if Percy liked it then good for him.

A few more minutes of wandering, eyes skimming the goodies at various stalls, and this time it was Nico's turn to come to a sudden stop. It was a game, and hanging from the ceiling was a stuffed animal. But it was no ordinary stuffed animal; it was Cerberus. Nico couldn't explain why, but he wanted it. Perhaps it was the carnival atmosphere getting to him. Before he even had the chance to vocalize his wishes, however, Percy had already paid the game operator.

"Percy, you don't have to waste your money…" Nico started, but he stopped when he saw the knowing smile on Percy's face. "What?"

Percy just nodded his head towards the game, and when Nico looked he understood. It was a water based game. There were a bunch of water guns, and the number of targets you hit determined what size prize you got. When Nico was told to pick up the water gun in front of him however, he started to worry.

"Percy, maybe you should…"

"Go ahead, you got this," Percy interrupted with a wink.

Lining himself up, Nico waited for the buzzer before he started shooting at the targets. Sure enough, he could just barely notice Percy influencing the direction of the water to hit the targets. Three shots later and the stuffed Cerberus was his.

"Thanks Percy," Nico said with a soft smile.

"No problem," Percy responded with a smile. They stared at each other for a moment, and slowly, Percy started moving his face a little closer to Nico's. At first Nico was a little excited, but then he started to freak out. What was he supposed to do? What if he was a terrible kisser? He couldn't let this happen yet.

"Hey look, a Ferris Wheel!" Nico exclaimed and started walking towards it. Nico didn't notice Percy give off a slightly disappointed sigh, and neither of them noticed the person watching them from just around the corner.

...

They waited wordlessly in the line for the Ferris Wheel, and both parties could feel the mild awkwardness between them. It got to the point where Nico was absentmindedly squeezing one of the heads on his stuffed animal and Percy was chewing on the stick from his now finished Mars bar. Fortunately there weren't too many people in line and they got on the ride fairly quickly. As they ascended, a bolt of lightning stuck in the distance and Percy finally broke the silence.

"Whoa, did you see that?"

"Yeah, that was kind of cool," Nico mumbled offhandedly as another bolt struck, a little closer this time it seemed. "Hey, Percy, I'm sorry…" Nico started, but he was interrupted by a sudden flash of lightening in very close proximity. Not expecting the interruption Nico was startled and inadvertently jumped a little closer to Percy.

"Whoa, hey there," Percy laughed when Nico's arms had grabbed onto him. "Just a little lightning, nothing to worry about."

As if on cue however, there was a sudden series of lightning strikes around the fairgrounds, and with each one Nico grabbed on to Percy a little tighter and moved a little closer. When the lightning seemed to subside, Nico was practically on Percy's lap.

"Nico, are you afraid of lightning?" Percy asked with a gentleness in his voice.

"Just a little," Nico softly admitted, keeping his face down.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with…" Percy started but stopped when suddenly the ride shuddered to a stop. They were right at the apex of the ride, with a view out over the countryside towards where they knew Camp Jupiter rested.

"Ladies and gentlemen we are having an issue with the motor, we'll have you down as soon as we can," a voice called out from below.

"Well I guess we're stuck for a while," Percy commented.

"I could just shadow travel us out of here."

"Don't you think it would be a little suspicious if we suddenly disappeared?"

Nico paused, searching for a counter argument, but nothing came. Noting his lack of response, Percy continued.

"So, how should we pass the time?"

"I don't know," Nico said, shifting his view out to the horizon but keeping hold of Percy. "You have any ideas?"

"Just one."

"What's that?" Nico asked, turning his head back to face Percy.

By the time Nico saw what was happening, he had no time to react. It was only a split second later that Percy had pushed his lips against Nico's. Nico's concerns from before came roaring back, but as he tried to pull away Percy grabbed the back of his head and pulled away just enough to say, "Don't overthink it. You're doing fine."

Sure enough, Nico let it go and realized when he wasn't freaking out over it, his body seemed to know what to do naturally. A few seconds later and it felt like he had been doing this forever. They kept going until the ride got going again, 20 minutes later.

...

Jason was just about to go to bed when an image of Nico appeared before him. Startled for just a moment with the Iris message, he quickly regained his composure as Nico started to speak.

"I know it was you."

"Hi Nico, nice to see you too. What's up?" Jason asked with a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Hilarious. Now 'fess up."

"I assure you I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me, Grace. I know you caused the lightning at the carnival," Nico started. His voice softened ever so slightly as he continued with a modest smile. "I just wanted to say thanks."

"Well, since you're not mad I'll ask, how did you know?"

"Simple. Lots of lightning, but no thunder. Dead give-away."

Jason mentally facepalmed with that one. He had been too busy focusing the lightning strikes he had forgotten about the thunder. Well at least Nico wasn't mad. Suddenly an image of Percy appeared right next to Nico, and Jason momentarily freaked.

"Hey, Nico, I'm just about to go to bed but I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"Alright, later," Nico said before ending the Iris message.

"Well that could have been awkward," Percy chuckled as Jason turned his attention to him. "Now 'fess up, I know it was you making that lightning."

"Now why would you say that?" Jason asked, feigning innocence.

"There was no thunder, duh."

Jason physically facepalmed this time. He'd REALLY have to work on that.

"But did you really have to scare him? When you said you'd help me get a romantic moment with him this definitely isn't what came to mind. I thought that's what the carnival idea in general was for."

"Well it worked didn't it?"

"Yes, but still. But I will say the top of the Ferris Wheel stop was a nice touch. How'd you pull that off?"

"The motor is electric, I just messed with the fields," Jason stated as though it should be obvious.

"Well, regardless, thanks. I owe you one. Talk to you later Grace!" Percy didn't even wait for a response before he ended the message. It may not have been how he expected it to go, but his first kiss with Nico was even more amazing than he thought it'd be.

As always, reviews are appreciated!