welcome to the monkeyhouse [november 17]
Percy doesn’t make comment on Nico mentioning cognitive issues which is the first nice thing Percy has done that Nico really, really appreciates because he doesn’t like to talk about it at all. He’s dyslexic with ADD, it’s not something he’s exactly ashamed of but it’s also not something he likes to talk about with people, especially people he’s just met. Percy nods for Nico to try with the locker just as kids start filing out from their morning class, loud and pressing up against them and it makes Nico’s hands shake and he misses the first try, curses under his breath with the second failure.
Percy steps in and opens Nico’s locker with ease and it makes Nico hate him, just a little. (At least he’s not the girl who jumps ten feet when Percy opens his locker. He’s not that skittish, jesus.) Percy makes some crack comment about how Nico shouldn’t feel bad. It makes Nico’s cheeks flush of their own accord, embarrassed. He takes the lock from Percy and tries again, cursing and fumbling with it again before finally jiggling it open. It’s a tiny locker – probably, in fact, small enough to fit him, despite Percy’s jokes.
They make their way to the library – it seems to left of the center of the school, so they traverse the hallways quietly, Percy occasionally pointing out offices, places where they hold freshmen classes. Percy puts his hand on Nico’s shoulder and he flinches away from the touch.
The librarian greets Percy with a smile, just like everyone else they’ve met so far. Mr. Mercur, the library smiles and asks for Nico’s schedule. He passes it to him wordlessly. “Just a minute, I’ll go run and get them,” he whispers with a kind smile. “Percy why don’t you show Mr. di Angelo around our lovely library?”
Once the librarian’s gone Nico looks at Percy. “He either really loves his job or is super creepy and I can’t tell which,” he whispers.
Percy doesn't quite know what to make of Nico. He can hear Annabeth in his head telling him to stop psychoanalyzing people, but he doesn't really do that and he's not trying to do it now. He just—Nico seems like a genuinely sweet kid, but he also doesn't seem like someone who's used to a lot of human contact. Percy wants to ask him about his life, about what brought his family to Jersey, but the way Nico shut down his question about where he's from makes Percy think that trying to go down that road wouldn't lead anywhere good.
When Nico flinches away from his touch, Percy takes a step back, burned. He shoves his hands in the pockets of his hoodie then and doesn't take them out even when Nico turns to look at him, Mr. Mercur disappearing into the back room to pull the books for his classes. He does laugh, though, at the look on Nico's face, and then Percy shakes his head and holds a finger up to his own lips.
"Don't make me laugh," he scolds, though his smile takes all the sting out of the words. "We're in a library, di Angelo, God." Percy winks at him again and takes him around the library, quietly pointing out private study rooms that can be reserved and areas where kids are allowed to group work as long as they keep the volume down. He also points out the different book sections and the entrance to the computer lab, then drops into a seat at a round table not far from the counter.
Percy pulls out a chair for Nico and gestures to it, smiling kindly. When Nico sits, Percy leans forward across the table and absolutely does not spend a full five seconds staring at Nico's lip ring (at Nico's mouth) before he meets his eyes. Percy flushes and nods toward the counter, to distract both himself and Nico. (He hopes to God Nico hasn't noticed the glitch in Percy's behavior, because it's probably really weird and creepy.) "He's worked here since my mom was a student," he whispers. "She said he had pet snakes named George and Martha in a terrarium behind the counter when she was here, but I've never seen any proof and he's never mentioned them, so." He shrugs, like, who knows?
