i’m raising the dead (everyone turn and run)
Day 1 of @pjo-disability-week ‘s event!
Words: 1,158
Rating: Teen & Up (for language)
Prompt: Retaliation & Infirmary Cameo
Summary: Nico loves getting revenge on people, especially those who find it a good idea to prank him. In other words, Nico is a Little Shit.
please read or add kudos here to support me!
Writing below the cut
Nico loved revenge.
He learned this soon after becoming a full-time member of Camp. It’s been two years and everyone has learned he has just as bad as the Stolls when it comes to pranks.
This is why he is thoroughly surprised when he crutches into his cabin to see pink streamers and glitter everywhere.
For fuck’s sake, Nico looks around, astonished, before grinning wickedly. He tunes into the soil and he has the faintest imprint of some of the Aphrodite kid’s spirits lingering. The whole cabin was probably in on it, for them to complete this much work in the half hour he was gone.
He opens his closet and—how?
Half of his shirts are bleached and dyed pink. He knows, now, that this was due for retaliation.
The next morning they wake up to a skeleton standing silently at the foot of every one of their beds. Yes, the ones on the top bunks too. Nico made them climb up there.
When he summoned skeletons, he got this odd feeling of where they were—he could not see them, nor less see through their nonexistent eyes, but instead this soul-deep intentness to where they were lied in him. He could feel their actions like a ghost in his limbs.
He grinned as he ate his first breakfast of eggs and bacon, when he heard the first shriek from their cabin—followed by more, with one boy who still had his overnight rollers in.
Someone near him gasped—that boy said his hair was all natural!
Nico smiled devilishly.
The day wore onto its peak and every skeleton assigned to a person followed them around. Except for the new little girl, who was only 8, whom Nico spared and only made a skeletal cat follow her. He still told the cat to knock some things off of tables.
He wanted the skeletons to be more of a nuisance than anything. Shake their hand when they’re applying makeup, keep moving their items on tables, undo their beds after they made them. Things like that. Endlessly annoying.
And also act extremely creepy whenever looked at. But that was just a bonus.
Though, he noticed his energy was low from the dozen skeletons he had necromanced. As he tried to adjust his cane against the gravel he almost tripped, narrowly catching himself on a tree.
“Di Angelo!” A voice he loathed (Read: looked forward to) all too much called.
Nico groaned exaggeratively, making sure his massive eye roll was seen as he turned around. “Yes, Mr Doctor?”
“Not a doctor,” he repeated for the upteenth time. “I won’t say anything about the skeletons… yet—“ He looked to where one was taking the claw clip off of a girl who just put it on ten minutes ago. “—but you are exerted and need to stay in the infirmary.”
“Ohh fuck you.” Nico used Will’s outstretched hand to steady himself as they both walked to the infirmary now. “I’m fine.”
“Mm,” Will glanced him up and down, how his knees were visibly swollen under the braces and skinny jeans and his hands were clammy. “Sure you are, sunshine.”
Nico thumped his shoulder into Will’s. The blond was talking about his day so far—what he’d done, the moronic things the campers had done, how much damage Percy Jackson had caused that day… the typical.
“I had told her last week, “*Don’t ride the Pegasi until you can walk on it with normal pain.” But what did she do? The next day she rode Butter Biscuit to the border—”
Nico was nodding along, accepting electrolyte water as he removed his braces and elevated them with ice.
“So she got back and had the audacity to complain to me about swelling.” Will threw his hand up, taking one hearing aid out. “You think!?”
Nico chuckled, propping the pillows so he could sit upright. “Sounds like something I’d do.”
Will sighed and slumped into a chair beside him. “Gods, does it.”
“How long am I staying, Doc?” Nico asked.
“I want you here til’ tomorrow afternoon. Just cause I wanna monitor yer’ heart rate. I’d summon em skellies off after the next hour or two.”
Nico gasped in offense at that. “What!? No.”
Will pinched the bridge of his nose. “At least I’m not making you bed bound again.” He grumbled after, “Grumpy old man.”
Nico shoved Will’s face away, pouting. “I know you hated me.”
Will stood up and made sure to put the two other bottles of water within reach. “Have a good nap, sleepyhead.”
True to word, Nico slept great.
When he woke again, sometime during the dinner hour he thought, for the vague scent of garlic wafting through the half opened door, he took collection of his cadavers.
They were all still performing their tasks, terrorizing the Aphrodite cabin as they tried to eat. Perfect.
It was only a few minutes before he forced himself to stand, limping with the cane because he was too lazy to put his braces on.
His heart rate ended up quick in his throat so he stole the nearest hospital issued chair and hauled ass down the hall.
He was ready to get back to his favorite thing: Revenge.
He was already on a roll with the skeletons, why not add to it?
He found Will and—aha!
He closed his eyes to concentrate momentarily among the buzzing hospital lights. (Gods, when would he finally force Will to change them? He would do it himself at this point.)
A skeleton barged in the door, making his way right over to Will. He yelped and jumped in the air.
The skeleton blew a kiss at Will, and the physical confusion in his body was obvious even to Nico who was behind him and autistic as hell.
He made the skeleton point to himself, making Will turn around. Nico waved and grinned mischievously.
Will scoffed and pinched the bridge of his nose, waving off the new bony friend. (who did not stop following close on his heel.)
“What am I going to do with you.” Will ruffled Nico’s hair, making the dark haired boy try to bite at the hand.
“Now now, what did I tell you about the hand that feeds?” Will stuck his tongue out and mimed a hand feeding his other hand, then switched it to a middle finger last second. The bastard.
Nico turned and faced the skeleton. “Harold, stab him.”
Will yelped again and ran away. The skeleton was just as fast. Harold took off his own left forearm bone and wielded it like a fierce sword. Hoots of ”Ow!”’swere heard from the main room.
Nico leaned back in his stolen wheelchair, relishing in the sweet sounds.
(—who he probably stole from Paolo, who had broken one of his prosthetics—it was fine, Paolo had swapped their strawberry basket ones because Nico had better strawberries)
Another day, another retaliation.