[ early in the morning, mal slides the door open of nico's bedroom and lets herself in. not in the mood to get stabbed, she starts singing before she jumps on top of the bed. she alternates sliding her fingers over his brow and tapping his forehead to keep him from falling back asleep.
[Nico comes to slowly, roused by the voice and then by the bed sinking in, blinking blurry eyes up at the whirl of purple and blue that has disturbed his sleep. He groans and swats lightly at Mal's fingers at his brow, making a valiant effort to frown at her even though he's finally begun to comprehend the words coming out of her mouth and his lips keeping wanting to twitch into a fond smile.]
It's too early for birthdays. [He groans, feeling his face lose the fight against a smile and shoving it into the pillow to hide.]
[ not one to surrender so quickly (or at all) mal snakes her hands to his sides. in true sister fashion, she hones in on the exact spot nico is ticklish. ]
[Like a fool, Nico doesn't expect it, and he immediately lets out an embarrassing sounding yelp, squirming away and cursing into the pillow.]
Mal! Stop! [Now fully awake, he kicks the blanket free and scoots back enough to keep her dangerous attacks at bay, all the while shooting her a truly dramatic pout.]
[ if camp half-blood could see him now. nico di angelo. son of hades. the ghost king. cowering away from the dreaded tickle attack.
normally, mal would have happily ignored him, but it is nico's birthday. certain privileges are had. so instead of further torture, she throws her arm around his neck to plant a loud, obnoxious kiss on his cheek. ]
I let you sleep in long enough. Now, come on. Breakfast is on the table. And there is a present, [ she finishes in a sing song, waving her finger left, right, before booping his nose. ]
You are so annoying. [He says with all of the conviction of a sleepy kitten, smile going strong now, and eyes bright with affection.
Back home, Will is the only one who touches him with any regularity. Casual pats, loose hugs, and the occasional kiss. Some of the other Apollo kids have gotten more used to slinging an arm around his shoulders or patting him on the arm, but most people are still so careful with touch. Even Hazel. (When he sees her.) It's. Well. He can't say he hates it. Just...just sometimes he wished his closest friends were a little less careful.
Mal isn't careful. Not like that. Mal hugs and kisses and tousles his hair whenever she feels like it. It's the worst. He loves it. He doesn't think he'll ever get tired of it.
Now as she finishes singing to him and allows him room to get off of the bed (after booping his nose. Booping it!) it's instinct to reach over and pull her into a side hug, cheeks gone rosy with embarrassed affection.]
You didn't have to do any of this. [That doesn't stop him from sounding endlessly pleased though, and he reaches for her hand to give it a squeeze.]
[ skipping to the door, she grabs hold of the knob, and pauses there. ]
But I am such a good, giving soul. [ she punctuates her fake humility by playfully wrinkling her nose at him.
leaving him with a shout to brush his teeth, she returns to the kitchen where she notices the banner is half an inch skewed. magic quickly rights it.
she went out of her way (and through half of llave's stores) to make this a birthday unlike any other.
heavily discounted halloween decorations shout from the walls and the table. the table is laid with a paper cover painted to look like a casket. ghost balloons drift lazily through the kitchen, powered by magic. dark red and black roses with skeletal thorns bloom in greeting, and plastic spiders have woven nico's name across the ceiling.
happily wagging his tail next to hades' usual chair, all three of cerberus' heads have a different spooky headband. mal scratches him behind one ear. ]
[With a snort, he disappears to do that and to tug a brush through his hair a few times to get his hair to be almost presentable. Still in pajamas, he emerges a couple of minutes later to take in the scene of the crime.
It's a lot.
He tries really hard to pretend to be offended for about half of a second and then just bursts into a wide grin, eyes twinkling. The spiders make him snicker the most, but the coffin tablecloth is the coolest. Mal is the best sister. She just gets him.
Naturally, Cerberus is his favorite out of everything, and he's sure to give each head attention, telling all of them how fierce and scary they look in their headbands while scratching them under each chin and watching as his pajama pant knees get drenched in drool. Breakfast is delicious and only mildly awkward, but he still volunteers for dish duty to escape all of the weird feelings twisting in his chest. It's a nice kind of twisting at least. When he's finished washing, he turns to see where Mal has gone, wondering if he should take the opportunity to go and change for the day, or if he can get away with lounging uselessly for a while longer.]
[ as is frequently the case with nico's would-be-actual-queen-of-an-entire-realm sister, the decision is taken out of his hands by mal herself. ]
All right. Go get dressed. Stuff you don't mind getting dirty. Please don't use any of your school things.
[ for once, mal has dressed down. for her, anyway. a cropped purple camisole spray painted throughout in green and magenta. the unpainted sections on the front spell out "rotten to the core"; on the back is her ever present double dragon symbol. army green cargo pants, artistically ripped and mended again. sturdy black boots. black fingerless gloves. a drawstring backpack. her hair is pulled up into a messy bun, and her face is free of makeup but for a little eyeliner and lip gloss.
cerberus chews on a bone next to her, still wearing his headbands. that he is sticking with her rather than immediately trotting loyally after hades tells: wherever they're going, he's coming too. ]
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no subject
Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you…!
[ early in the morning, mal slides the door open of nico's bedroom and lets herself in. not in the mood to get stabbed, she starts singing before she jumps on top of the bed. she alternates sliding her fingers over his brow and tapping his forehead to keep him from falling back asleep.
happy birthday, you cannot sleep in 🥰 ]
no subject
It's too early for birthdays. [He groans, feeling his face lose the fight against a smile and shoving it into the pillow to hide.]
no subject
[ not one to surrender so quickly (or at all) mal snakes her hands to his sides. in true sister fashion, she hones in on the exact spot nico is ticklish. ]
no subject
Mal! Stop! [Now fully awake, he kicks the blanket free and scoots back enough to keep her dangerous attacks at bay, all the while shooting her a truly dramatic pout.]
no subject
normally, mal would have happily ignored him, but it is nico's birthday. certain privileges are had. so instead of further torture, she throws her arm around his neck to plant a loud, obnoxious kiss on his cheek. ]
I let you sleep in long enough. Now, come on. Breakfast is on the table. And there is a present, [ she finishes in a sing song, waving her finger left, right, before booping his nose. ]
no subject
Back home, Will is the only one who touches him with any regularity. Casual pats, loose hugs, and the occasional kiss. Some of the other Apollo kids have gotten more used to slinging an arm around his shoulders or patting him on the arm, but most people are still so careful with touch. Even Hazel. (When he sees her.) It's. Well. He can't say he hates it. Just...just sometimes he wished his closest friends were a little less careful.
Mal isn't careful. Not like that. Mal hugs and kisses and tousles his hair whenever she feels like it. It's the worst. He loves it. He doesn't think he'll ever get tired of it.
Now as she finishes singing to him and allows him room to get off of the bed (after booping his nose. Booping it!) it's instinct to reach over and pull her into a side hug, cheeks gone rosy with embarrassed affection.]
You didn't have to do any of this. [That doesn't stop him from sounding endlessly pleased though, and he reaches for her hand to give it a squeeze.]
no subject
[ skipping to the door, she grabs hold of the knob, and pauses there. ]
But I am such a good, giving soul. [ she punctuates her fake humility by playfully wrinkling her nose at him.
leaving him with a shout to brush his teeth, she returns to the kitchen where she notices the banner is half an inch skewed. magic quickly rights it.
she went out of her way (and through half of llave's stores) to make this a birthday unlike any other.
heavily discounted halloween decorations shout from the walls and the table. the table is laid with a paper cover painted to look like a casket. ghost balloons drift lazily through the kitchen, powered by magic. dark red and black roses with skeletal thorns bloom in greeting, and plastic spiders have woven nico's name across the ceiling.
happily wagging his tail next to hades' usual chair, all three of cerberus' heads have a different spooky headband. mal scratches him behind one ear. ]
Good dog.
no subject
It's a lot.
He tries really hard to pretend to be offended for about half of a second and then just bursts into a wide grin, eyes twinkling. The spiders make him snicker the most, but the coffin tablecloth is the coolest. Mal is the best sister. She just gets him.
Naturally, Cerberus is his favorite out of everything, and he's sure to give each head attention, telling all of them how fierce and scary they look in their headbands while scratching them under each chin and watching as his pajama pant knees get drenched in drool. Breakfast is delicious and only mildly awkward, but he still volunteers for dish duty to escape all of the weird feelings twisting in his chest. It's a nice kind of twisting at least. When he's finished washing, he turns to see where Mal has gone, wondering if he should take the opportunity to go and change for the day, or if he can get away with lounging uselessly for a while longer.]
no subject
All right. Go get dressed. Stuff you don't mind getting dirty. Please don't use any of your school things.
[ for once, mal has dressed down. for her, anyway. a cropped purple camisole spray painted throughout in green and magenta. the unpainted sections on the front spell out "rotten to the core"; on the back is her ever present double dragon symbol. army green cargo pants, artistically ripped and mended again. sturdy black boots. black fingerless gloves. a drawstring backpack. her hair is pulled up into a messy bun, and her face is free of makeup but for a little eyeliner and lip gloss.
cerberus chews on a bone next to her, still wearing his headbands. that he is sticking with her rather than immediately trotting loyally after hades tells: wherever they're going, he's coming too. ]