Chapter Text
Percy Jackson hadn’t even met his new neighbor yet and he already didn’t like him. There were only four apartments on the upper floor of the building and two of them had been empty when the new tenant had moved in, the third occupied by an elderly deaf woman. Of the empty apartments, why had the new guy chosen the one next to Percy? Percy would probably never have cared - probably wouldn’t even really be aware he even had a new neighbor -
- if it weren’t for the piano.
Percy honestly had nothing against pianos or musicians in general. He was actually kind of envious of anyone who could play an instrument - he had no musical talent to speak of; he couldn’t even sing that well, always off-key whenever he decided to sing along to his favorite songs on the radio. His best friend, Grover, played the panpipes and, while he was admittedly not the best of musicians, he played at decent tune and it was still more than what Percy could do. So, no, it really wasn’t actually the piano that was the problem.
It was the fact that his neighbor was playing the piano during late hours of the night that was the problem.
He complained about it often, how he would be in bed after a long day juggling school, homework, and his part time job, and it wouldn’t be long before he heard his neighbor come home. There never really seemed to be a set time when his neighbor came in, but it was always late. Percy would always almost be asleep. Then the music would start up.
And it wasn’t that it was a radio that needed to be turned down. It was definitely an actual piano - probably an electronic keyboard, since there was no way a full piano would fit into the rather small apartments. He could hear, through the walls, a series of notes being played, then a wrong key, a two second pause, and then the whole thing from the beginning. It was often the same piece, a slow piece that was probably beautiful in its entirety, but Percy only ever heard parts of it before he would tuck his head under his pillow in the effort to block it out.
It had already gone on for a couple of weeks. The first few times, it was just an annoyance, but after a week, he’d gotten angry - he needed to sleep so he didn’t go to his morning classes exhausted. Finally, he went over and knocked on the door to try to talk to his neighbor, to no avail. The door stayed closed and there was no sound of movement inside the apartment. Percy figured the other tenant had already left for the day.
He didn’t catch him after school, either. Percy had only a short, hour long reprieve between his classes at the university and his job doing rounds at the aquarium. He was hoping to catch his neighbor during that break and try to have a polite conversation with him about his late night playing. Unfortunately, it appeared the guy wasn’t home and Percy didn’t have time to waste waiting around to see if he showed up. He changed clothes, grabbed a quick lunch, and headed out again.
That night, when Percy got home from his shift and a late dinner picked up at the Burger King drive-thru, there was no piano music. Percy went to bed and curled up under the blankets, beginning to doze and, still, no piano music echoed through the walls as before. It was a nice reprieve and, for the first time in two weeks, he had a decent night’s sleep, uninterrupted by the invasive music.
Percy figured someone else had already complained about the music and his neighbor had stopped. It was blissful, getting to sleep through the night without the neighbor’s piano interrupting his dreams.
A couple of days later, the music started up again. Percy had just fallen asleep, already used the music having stopped, when the notes woke him from his slumber. The notes were soft, as though the other tenant was trying to practice as quietly as possible, knowing how late it was, but they were still enough to jar Percy from his sleep. Percy gave a groan and rolled over in bed, grabbing his pillow and clutching it over his ears.
He really needed to invest in earplugs if he couldn’t talk to his neighbor about his late night practice.
* * * * *
Despite attempts to ignore the music and buying earplugs - which he always forgot to wear, anyways - Percy still couldn’t sleep when his neighbor started playing. He left a note on his neighbor’s door, first asking politely for him to practice some other time, then a second note later, a little more aggressively; the words “hey jackass, some of us are trying to sleep!” may or may not have been written and it may or may not have made things worse.
The music changed, from the soft, slow tune that Percy could eventually fall asleep in spite of it being played late, to a piece more active, louder, and much harder to fall asleep against. It seemed familiar, like a piece from a video game that Percy used to play before college and his part time job took up all of his free time. He couldn’t place the piece, but between the nagging familiarity and the rather spiteful tempo change from the previous quiet piece played before, Percy knew he wasn’t going to get to sleep any time soon.
He’d go over and yell, but it was already close to midnight and he was already in bed, curled up in his blankets. He was warm and unwilling to leave the comfort of his bed, even to tell his neighbor off. He’d leave another note in the morning.
* * * * *
At least, that had been the plan, but a phone call from Annabeth woke him in the morning and the two of them agreed to meet for breakfast. Percy had jumped at the chance to see her. Never mind how tired he was because his neighbor had been playing until the early hours of the morning, hanging out with his friend would more than make up for the lack of sleep and Percy’s morning grumpiness after a night of invasive piano practice.
Annabeth was one of his closest friends from way back when; they’d gone to the same camp, every summer from ages twelve to eighteen. They’d also briefly dated for about six months before deciding that the long-distance relationship between New York and California just wasn’t going to work out. With Annabeth’s family living in San Francisco and Percy’s family in Manhattan, the two of them only really meeting during the time at camp, it was too awkward and too distant; Skype calls and chat dates really didn’t compare to going out for coffee together. By the time Annabeth moved to New York to attend classes for her degree in architectural design, the flame of their relationship had burned out and they’d agreed to continue as friends.
Though they both attended New Athens University, a recently established university in Manhattan, with Annabeth in the architecture program and Percy studying marine-biology, they almost never saw each other. Their core classes were on opposite sides of the campus and the supplemental classes for their degrees were never the same. Little meet ups for breakfast or lunch were about what they could get in with their vastly different schedules before Percy had to head for the aquarium for work and Annabeth left for her next class.
Percy dressed quickly after hanging up the phone and grabbed his backpack, coat, and keys before heading out the door. He paused in the hallway and looked toward his neighbor’s closed door. The note he’d left the night before - the “hey jackass” one - had been ripped down, though there was still tape on the door and a scrap of paper still attached. There was a new note, though, not one of his; it was written on a piece of pink stationary with faint rose patterns. Percy stepped over and read the note, full of curiosity and a bit of satisfaction that maybe someone else in the building was getting tired of the late night piano practice.
The note read: Hey, Nico! Your phone seems to be dead, so I’m leaving this note. I know you’re stressed about the end of term recitals (Will is too, though he won’t admit it), but could you maybe not practice so late? I’ve got a test coming up and I need to sleep! Love you, but I love my sleep, too! - Mitchell
Two things stood out to Percy after reading the note and neither of them really had anything to do with his neighbor’s late-night playing; one, he finally had a name for the elusive neighbor, and two, his neighbor was apparently a student. That might explain part of the late-night playing, actually. If his neighbor’s schedule was anything like his, Percy might be a little more understanding of Nico’s practicing at odd hours.
Well, he might have been, if it didn’t interrupt his sleep so much.
Putting thoughts of the elusive Nico and his late-night music aside, Percy headed out. He opted to take the bus to the campus, saving himself some time. While walking to the university on a bright Tuesday morning in May would normally be right up his alley, Percy wanted to get the cafe near the campus as soon as possible. He didn’t want to make Annabeth wait for him and walking would take much longer than catching the bus. There was a stop just across the street from the cafe they’d said they’d meet at anyways, so even if the bus was running a little late, Annabeth would be able to see him coming.
When Percy got to the cafe, Annabeth was already sitting at a table near the window. She had her blonde curls tied back in a loose bun while she studied the textbook laying on the table as she waited. A pencil was clenched between her teeth and her thin-framed reading glasses were precariously perched at the tip of her nose. She looked up when the bell on the door sounded, signalling the arrival of a new customer and smiled when she saw Percy.
“You look terrible,” she noted when he stepped over and took the seat across from her. “Did you stay up late studying?”
Percy shook his head. “No, my neighbor kept me up. Again.”
Now, Percy had complained to Annabeth before about his neighbor, so she knew more or less how long the problem had been going on. “I thought you were going to talk to him?”
“Yeah, well, I can’t really talk to a guy that’s never home.” Percy picked up the small menu on the table and looked it over before the waitress could come over for an order. He and Annabeth made their orders and soon got back to conversation. “I guess he’s a student, if the note one of our other neighbors is anything to judge by, so I kind of get it. He probably goes to school and then has a part time job, so he can’t practice most of the day. I get that. What I don’t get is why he has to practice so late. Or why he doesn’t get like headphones or something. He’s probably got an electronic keyboard in there, so headphones would solve the problem.”
“Maybe he doesn’t like headphones,” Annabeth pointed out. “I don’t know much about keyboards and music, that’s more Malcolm’s thing, but I’d think the sound would be different through headphones.”
“If he’s going to practice late at night, he can still use headphones,” Percy countered. “It’d let him practice and let me sleep!”
Annabeth rolled her eyes. Percy had told her all of this before, so she changed the subject. “Have you registered for next term yet?” she asked.
“This term doesn’t even end for another month,” Percy told her. “Then we’ve got a semester break. I have plenty of time to register for classes.” That was assuming that he got enough sleep to do well in the classes he was currently taking. If he failed any of his classes, he was going to blame his neighbor. “Bet you’re already registered.”
“Of course,” Annabeth replied. She closed her textbook as the waitress came over with their coffee, not wanting to spill any over her book. The cafe served dine-in coffee in handmade mugs from the art department at the university and the mugs were a very eclectic mix of tried-and-true traditional design and more modern designs, all in a range of colors. Annabeth’s was a hand-warmer mug in various shades of green and gold, filled to the brim with her cinnamon mocha with extra espresso shot. “I’m almost done with my degree. If I didn’t register early, the classes I need might fill up so I’d have to wait again and I’m not waiting another term to graduate because I waited too long to sign up.”
Percy gave a nod, only half paying attention. He loved Annabeth, she was his best friend, but this wasn’t the conversation he wanted to have at the moment. He was still tired from a night of restless sleep, interrupted by Nico’s practice and his own inability to relax. So he let Annabeth talk as they waited for the breakfast they’d ordered. Most of the time, she wasn’t bothered by it when Percy only paid half-attention to her; she appreciated the chance to just talk to him sometimes - it helped her process her thoughts and, sometimes when she was talking about a project she was working on, just talking to Percy would help her figure out something she’d been having trouble with, just saying it out loud to someone.
Of course, Percy did have to answer from time to time, in order to carry the conversation, but for the most part, he just liked letting Annabeth talk. Hanging out with her was enough for him. They kept up the conversation for a while, eating their breakfasts, drinking their coffees, and enjoying each other’s company, like they always had at camp. After they’d finished, Annabeth packed up her book and slung her bag over her shoulder and Percy grabbed his before the both headed to campus.
“So what are you going to do about your neighbor?” Annabeth asked as they walked to the university. “I know your focus in class gets worse if you don’t get enough sleep, so you really need to get in touch with him and come to some sort of understanding about his practice.” She gave a small frown. “Don’t any of your neighbors complain?”
“Mitchell, the guy downstairs, left a note complaining this morning,” Percy told her. He shook his head. “Other than that, no. Our floor only has four apartments - his, mine, Mrs. Nguyen’s, and an empty one. Mrs. Nguyen doesn’t complain because she can’t hear.”
Apparently, Nico’s late practice didn’t bother many others. Mitchell had never complained before, until Nico had deliberately started playing a louder piece. Percy wondered if they were just lucky enough that the space between floors was enough to block out the sound of his neighbor’s music, unlike the walls of the apartments. Then again, of course, the piano would be set up on the wall opposite Percy’s bedroom.
“I think I’ll stake out in the hallway later tonight and see if I can catch him coming home,” Percy commented as they reached the science building of the university, right on the edge of campus. It was where most of Percy’s core classes were held and he had a study session with his lab partner before class that he should be getting to in a few minutes. “Maybe I can talk to him and convince him to practice another time or get headphones. He must be reasonable.”
“Good luck with that,” Annabeth told him. She shouldered her bag and turned to head towards the math building. “I’ll see you later, Percy. Thanks for meeting up with me!”
“Any time!”
As Annabeth left to head for her class, Percy went into the science building and made his way towards the classroom where he and his lab partner were supposed to meet for their study session. His partner had been absent the last lab day, so they’d booked the room for a catch up session. Once he got there and met up with his partner, the two of them were too busy working on the project they needed to work on for Percy to think of much of anything else.
* * * * *
Although he’d intended to stake out the hallway that night to wait for his neighbor to get home, Percy ended up getting home later than usual. There was an emergency lock-down at the aquarium after reports of a man-chase in the area. Employees were kept late, since the police weren’t letting anyone leave aquarium, since the guy they were looking for was reported to have run into the aquarium’s back end to hide out. A canine unit had gone through the entire aquarium grounds while employees and a squad of police ushered visitors out of the area.
By the time the guy was apprehended and all the excitement settled, Percy was exhausted. He caught a ride back to his apartment building with one of his co-workers, rather than have to deal with two bus transfers to get home. He usually went up the stairs to the fourth floor, but tonight, he trudged over to the elevator to take it up. All he wanted to do was heat up a frozen dinner to eat and go straight to bed.
But of course, his neighbor was practicing. Percy could hear the music as soon as the elevator door opened. It wasn’t a piece that Percy recognized him playing before. This piece was upbeat, cheerful, bouncy - everything that Percy absolutely did not want to hear after the evening he’d had at work. Notes echoed down the hall to Percy’s ears and it was the breaking point. Percy had had enough.
He snapped, storming over to his neighbor’s door and knocking hard. This was it. He was going to get his neighbor to listen to reason (though how reasonable Percy was actually going to be was up for debate). The late-night practice would stop, one way or another. The music ceased and, a few moments later, Percy heard the lock on the door click before it opened.
His original thoughts of yelling at his neighbor for the weeks of lost sleep and barely contained anger and annoyance flew out of his mind, replaced by a single thought as he finally first laid eyes on his neighbor.
Oh no, he’s hot.
Nico was clearly a couple of years younger than Percy, probably no more than eighteen or nineteen. He was a little shorter than Percy, four inches or so, with messy black hair that was tied back in a short ponytail, though some fell loose to frame his face. Dressed in black jeans and a loose dark red t-shirt with a grunge cross design on the front, the teen was slender, surprisingly slight for a teenager. A pair of rectangle-framed glasses were propped over his lightly freckled nose, and dark brown eyes met Percy’s as Nico greeted him with a tired “Can I help you?” from dry lips.
Percy snapped out of the pause his neighbor’s appearance gave him. His previous anger had been effectively killed by his surprise at the fact that he was actually facing his neighbor and his neighbor happened to be very good-looking. He still managed to recover the reason he’d come over.
“Yeah, hi,” he told the teen. “I’m your neighbor, Percy Jackson.”
“The ‘hey, jackass’ guy?” Nico asked, scrunching his nose. His glasses slipped a fraction with the motion and he brought a pale olive hand up to push them back in place with a sigh. “Look, I know, practicing late is kind of a jerk move, but I don’t have any other time to practice yet.”
“Don’t you have headphones or something? Your piano’s set up right on the other side of the wall of my bedroom.”
Nico raised an eyebrow. “Is it?” He bit his lip, slightly crooked teeth sinking into soft flesh. “I can move it and see it that’ll help. But no, I don’t have headphones. Mine broke a few weeks ago and I haven’t gotten around to replacing them. I’m struggling to get my bills paid right now.”
“What about your parents? Can’t they help you?”
Nico shook his head. “My mom died years ago and my dad’s...not really around. I’m on my own.”
Percy deflated a little, hearing that. “Oh.” He felt a little guilty for being angry at his neighbor. He knew parental situations weren’t always great. His father had left before he was born and his mother had been married to an abusive man until Percy was twelve. His second - and current - step-father was great, though; he’d even helped Percy find and put down his first payment for the apartment he was living in. From the sound of it, Nico wasn’t nearly as lucky as Percy was. “Sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It’s alright.” Nico shrugged. He reached up, tucking his hair behind his ear. “About the late-night practice, I’m sorry. I have juries at the end of the term I need to practice for, but I can stop for tonight. I’ll ask Will if he has a spare set of headphones tomorrow, so I don’t bother you anymore.”
Percy gave a nod. “I’d appreciate it. I have to be at campus early tomorrow and a decent night’s sleep would be great.”
“Sorry. Again.” Nico leaned against the frame of his door. “My hours at work are getting changed next week, so I’ll be able to practice much earlier, so you won’t be bothered when I’m practicing without headphones.”
“Thanks.” Percy started to turn away, the reason he’d stormed over covered, but he paused and turned back. “You’re a student, right? Where do you go to classes?”
Nico paused, like he hadn’t expected the question. “New Athens University,” he replied. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Actually, I think I recognize you. You’re in the lab class next to my physics class. I’ve seen you at noon, when we get out.”
Percy gave a slight frown. “Really? I’ve never seen you.” If he’d known his neighbor had been going to school at the same time he was, in the classroom next to his, maybe they could have gotten this issue settled a long time ago. Thinking on ifs and maybes wouldn’t be any help now; Nico had already promised to tone down the practice. “Are you busy after class tomorrow?”
Nico shook his head. “I’ve got an hour break before I have to go to my next class. I usually get lunch after.”
“Same,” Percy told him. He gave a small smile, trying to be friendly now that they’d addressed the antagonism between them. “Want to join me tomorrow?”
The other boy shrugged. “Sure.” He pushed himself from the doorframe and let his hands slip into his jeans pockets. “Shouldn’t you go to bed? It’s almost midnight.”
Percy checked his watch instinctively when Nico pointed out the time and, sure enough, it was five minutes to twelve. If he was going to get any sleep before he had to be up for class, he really needed to get in bed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch.”
Nico nodded and headed back inside his apartment, closing the door behind him. Percy headed for his own apartment and went inside, dropping his bag to the floor just inside the door before heading for the kitchen. He decided it was far too late to deal with a frozen dinner, so he raided his refrigerator for leftovers, not even bothering to heat up the remains of a pasta meal he’d had a couple of days ago before heading to his room. All the while, he listened to the quiet of the floor; Nico was, so far, keeping his promise to stop practicing that night.
Sliding into bed, Percy ate his cold dinner and left the dishes on the table beside his bed when he was finished before laying down, pulling the blankets up to his chest. Through the wall, he could hear Nico moving around in his apartment. Percy held his breath, hoping that the teen wasn’t about to start playing his piano. Listening for a few minutes, Percy heard a few thumps and thuds, and that was it. He wondered if Nico was actually moving the piano, as he’d said he would.
In spite of the annoyance and anger he’d felt towards his neighbor over the past few weeks because of the late-night practice and in spite of his relief that Nico had promised to cut back on said practice, when Percy fell asleep, he dreamt of Nico playing. The thin fingers that had seemed so pale when Nico had his arms crossed over his chest earlier were dark against stark white keys as they all but danced over the keyboard in Percy’s dream. The melody playing in his head wasn’t anything Percy immediately recognized - likely something he’d heard in the background of a movie or something - but he wasn’t exactly paying attention to the music, captivated as he was by the brown eyes just peeking behind long lashes and Nico’s head tipped down while he played.
If Percy’s dreams had been invaded by his neighbor’s music before their talk, he might have woken up irritated, but Percy was oddly soothed when he woke up in the morning - save for the morning stiffness.
* * * * *
“Don’t forget the study guide for the final is up online,” Dr. Bythos told his class as they finished their lab session. “It’s never too early to start studying. We’ve got some serious science to cover on the final and if you’re not prepared to study your asses off for it, you’re not going to pass.”
Percy stuffed his books into his backpack as his classmates started filtering out of the room. Most of them were only paying half-attention to their professor as he warned them of his notoriously difficult final coming up. It was still a few weeks until the final, but Percy had had Dr. Bythos before and knew not to underestimate the upcoming test. Sometimes he debated whether going into marine biology was a good idea or not, with how difficult the classes were for him - between his dyslexia and ADHD, Percy struggled to keep up with his classes from time to time, but that was the reason tutoring centers were in place around the school.
Shouldering his bag, Percy headed out of the classroom and caught sight of Nico waiting in the hallway. The younger student was leaning against the wall, arms crossed and head tucked down, eyes closed as he listened to music from his iPod. Percy approached him, reaching out and lightly tapping the teen’s shoulder to get his attention. Nico gave a small jump, eyes opening, and jerking away from the touch before realizing it was Percy and relaxing again. Percy blinked in surprise, having not expected that kind of reaction from Nico, but didn’t press the matter by questioning him about it.
“You ready to go?” he asked instead. At Nico’s nod as the teen pulled his iPod out of his pocket to stop his music. Percy gestured for the other teen to follow him. "C'mon."
Percy led Nico off campus to a small shop a couple of blocks away. It was one of his favorite places to have lunch, run by a young couple that he knew. Though he was significantly younger than Grover, Percy had been good friends with the man, whose wife, Juniper, had often baby-sat Percy while his mother was working. Grover had always been glad to hang out with Percy, who helped him feel less nervous as the years went on, until Grover and Juniper had moved out of the apartment complex they’d all lived in and opened the shop - Pan’s Wilderness. It was a vegetarian café, serving breakfast and lunch and, for all it was a small shop and Percy wasn’t really a vegetarian himself, the food was great and the atmosphere friendly.
Perfect, really, for getting to know the surprisingly calm and very cute young neighbor Percy had finally met. As they took a table, Percy gave Nico a smile, ready to strike up a conversation. He decided to keep it simple and stuck to the subject of school.
“So what’s your major?” he asked, reaching for a menu. “You said you had juries at the end of the quarter. Are you a music major?”
Nico shook his head. “History major,” he replied. “I’m taking the piano courses to supplement my degree and it helps with work.”
“You play for a living?”
“Kind of,” Nico replied. He picked up his own menu, scanning it for his choice. “I work part time at the campus bookstore, but I’ve got a job at a private bar right now, too.” He paused when one of the servers came over and asked about drink orders, making his order for a glass of Coke, no ice, before making his lunch order as well. “I’m just taking the extra piano courses to keep up my repertoire.”
Percy gave a small, embarrassed laugh. “And here I am getting pissed off at you for practicing for your job.”
Nico shrugged. “To be fair, you didn’t know and I was...kind of being a jackass on purpose after you left the note. I tried to keep as quiet as I could at first.” He reached for the little porcelain bin the sugar packets were kept in, idly letting his fingers shuffle the packets. “And I moved the piano last night, so maybe that will help.”
“I was wondering. I heard you moving around.”
Nico nodded. “Yeah. I figured I better move it while I was thinking about it so I didn’t forget.”
“How long have you been playing?” Percy asked. Now that he and Nico were on talking terms, he was actually pretty curious about the teen. Not to mention there was also that bit of attraction he’d felt when Nico first opened the door the previous night; and the dream hadn’t helped that matter. “I don’t know much about pianos or music, but you sound like you’re pretty good.”
“I’m good enough to make decent pay,” Nico replied. He scrunched his nose slightly in thought. “I’ve been playing since I was twelve. I kind of...stopped for a while after my sister died, but I picked it up again in high school.”
“Oh.” Percy was sure it wasn’t his place to ask about Nico’s sister, but he caught a flash of sadness in the younger man’s eyes when Nico mentioned her death. Whatever had happened, it must still affect him. Percy decided to change the subject, asking Nico about his major.
Nico was quite fond of history, it turned out. While they were waiting for lunch, Nico talked while Percy listened and Percy soon realized that Nico got the same twinkle in his eyes talking about history as Annabeth did when she was talking about architecture. He’d thought that was cute about Annabeth, really, and it was oddly just as cute about Nico. Percy couldn’t help watching Nico as the teen spoke - Nico’s hands moved in quick, precise gestures and, as he continued, his speech got a little faster, a soft Italian lilt to his voice.
The two of them ate lunch when it arrived and Percy found himself wanting to hang out with Nico some more. As he went up to pay the bill, he considered asking Nico to join him the next day. Maybe they could make it a daily thing, just meeting up at lunch. It sounded like a good idea to him and if Nico was alright with it, he didn’t see any reason why they couldn’t. After paying, he went back to Nico and asked about lunch the next day.
“I have a different schedule tomorrow,” Nico replied, though he gave a bit of an apologetic shrug. “I have class straight until 2:00 tomorrow, then it’s straight to my other job before I play at the bar. My schedule’s not the same as today until Friday.”
“Then how about Friday we meet up for lunch?” Percy asked.
A small smile crossed Nico’s lips and, in spite of himself, Percy felt his heart skip a beat. “Yeah, okay.”
Percy smiled back at him. “Great!”
The two of them left the café and went their separate ways - Percy heading for his apartment to get ready to leave for his job and Nico returning to campus for his next class. Percy waved to the younger man as Nico walked off, then shouldered his bag and headed down the street, looking forward to hanging out with Nico again.