Nico Di Angelo x Reader - Cold Hands, Warm Heart

Nico Di Angelo met her three times.
The first time he seen her, she was asleep outside his cabin. Her (H/C) locks curled around her face, which was rid of any stress or frustration that was embedded into others' expressions. She looked so peaceful and innocent, breathing deeply, murmuring sweet nothings every time she stirred. 
To say Nico was staring would have been exaggerating the situation. To say he was discreet in his glances would have been doing him a disservice. He stayed there looking at girl until realistion slammed down on him like a brick wall. What was she doing sleeping outside his cabin?
The black haired boy stepped forward cautiously, afraid to disturb the tranquil atmosphere that surround her like a curtain. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and shook her softly. The only response he got was the girl's head rolling to the side. 
Up close he could see all the detailed features on the beauty's face and he gulped noisily. Being this near to someone so pretty was not good for his heart. He shook her shoulder again, this time with more force, but still no luck. 
Nico saw the girl's mouth open slightly. As he watched those rosy red part, he felt a tremendous urge to lean in and place a small kiss on them. They just looked so... tempting. At that precise moment, her eyes fluttered open and he met (e/c) eyes that were tinted with a drowsy haze. She blinked slowly, like an owl, and Nice swore that he felt his whole soul was being watched very critically. 
'Oh Gods, I'm so sorry, I was just going to close my eyes for a bit, but it looks like I drifted off,' she groaned, rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands as if to erode away the aftermath of sleep. She looked up at Nico, smiling at him tiredly and he felt his heart skip a beat. No one smiled at him like that. No one.
'Anyway, sorry for bothering you and thanks for waking me up,' she said, nodding respectfully at him before hauling herself up and dusting herself off. 'Do you.....know who I am?' he asked, bewildered at the girl's easy going nature with him. She raised an eyebrow at him in a bemused fashion. 'Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades, I know who you are,' she answered matter of factly, 'I don't live under a rock, y'know.'
The ghostly pale boy just grew more frazzled. If she knew who he was then why did she bother being friendly?
'Because I don't believe in judging people based on other's opinions and stories.'
Nico jumped, staring at her like a deer in headlights. 'C-can you read m-minds?'
This caused the corner of her mouth to curve into a crooked smile. 'No, if I did, I would love it, but no. You asked that question aloud,' she chuckled softly, making Nico's face twist into an expression of horror. What the girl did next though left him dumbfounded. She reached out her hand and ruffled his hair, smiling that carefree smile all the while. He didn't realise what she was doing at first, but when he did, he found that he didn't want to bat her hand away or hiss at her angrily. He liked the gentle pressure of her hand on his head. Her hands weren't warm, they were quite cold, almost like they had been just out in a snow storm. It didn't bother him. In fact, it reminded him of his own hands.
When the (h/c) haired girl withdrew from him, he almost whimpered at the lost before remembering who's son he was. Nico coughed harshly and pushed past her, hoping to appear somewhat hostile so she would not mark him as 'soft'. He heard her tinkling laughter again and turned around to see her walking away, shaking her head in a fond manner. 'I'll see you some other time, Nico,' she said, waving at him as she strolled in the direction of the forest. 'Wait!' the dark haired boy yelled, causing the girl to stop in her tracks and face him, (e/c) eyes sparkling with new found interest at the turn of events. 'I didn't catch your name.'
The girl grinned wildy. It was the type of grin that most people would categorise as infectious. It almost managed to make his lip twitch, as if it was willing him to smile like her. '(Y/N)! (Y/N) (L/N)!' she called, spinning on her heel, walking with her hands behind her back. After a few minutes, her silhouette vanished as more distance was put between them. (Y/N). (Y/N) (L/N). Her name made his heart flutter, an action he was not very well accquniated with. But he couldn't say he hated it completely.


'I can't believe it!' 
Nico nearly jumped and turned around to glare at the individual who had shouted. It was Percy. Go figure. He was sitting down in the grass with Jason, who was motioning the black haired boy to come join them. 'What's going on?' Nico asked, sounding very uninterested and very annoyed at the volume of Percy's voice. 'I can't beat my sparing partner no matter what I do,' the son of Poisden grumbled, punching the ground in frustration. 'You think they'd let me win at least once out of pity.'
'You were the one who said, 'Don't go easy on me,' if I remember correctly,' stated Jason calmly. Obviously the situation at hand was having no major effect on him. Percy scowled at him ruefully and went back to punching the grass. Gaia wasn't going to be pleased. 'So who's you're sparing partner?' Nico asked as the two boys had not mentioned a name or hinted at the person's gender. Both guys looked at him in dismay. 
'How could you not know-'
'We spare everyday-'
'Their hard to miss-'
'Their Dad is-'
'I can't hear you if you all talk at once,' the Italian hissed. It was more of a hindrance to ask them then to search for the mystery sparing partner himself. Percy smiled sheepishly in apology. 'Sorry Nico. My partner's name is-'
Suddenly there was loud clang of metal on metal. A dark shadow loomed over Percy, who was defending himself with Riptide. Then his ears picked up on the sound of a soft laugh. A familiar soft laugh. 
The shadow drew back from Percy and rested their sword on their shoulder, pushing back their hood. There, smiling that infectious smile, was (Y/N) in all her glory. 'I must say Percy, you're reaction time was increased beautifully,' she mused, her lyrical voice lightening Nico's fowl humour. The boy in question smirked up at her and said, 'I have to be on my toes with you around, Death Girl.' At this, the (h/c) haired teenager laughed, which made Nico notice the way her hoodie rode up her stomach, revealing (s/c) skin. The son of Hades turned his head swiftly so as not to let the blood rush to his face like it wanted to. 'I wouldn't be giving back sass if I had those fighting skills, Fish Net,' chuckled the girl, her eyes shining with amusement. That's when her eyes landed on Nico, and though he was convinced his eyes were deceiving him, her smile grew wider. 'Good afternoon Nico,' she greeted, ruffling his hair with her cold hands like she had done last time, 'and good afternoon to you too Jason.' 
The black haired boy was to busy reeling in the feel of her touch to hear Jason's response, but the loud cough brought him back and when turned to look at the two demi-gods, he was met by two pairs of curious eyes and raised eyebrows. 'Well, if we're all done with the formalities here, I'll be off to the arena for some training,' declared (Y/N), inching away bit by bit. The tense atmosphere between the boys was probably very obvious to her sharp eyes. 'And we've our sparing session in an hour Percy, so don't be late, I will go back to my cabin if you pull the same stunt as last time,' she warned with hands on hips and an unimpressed expression. Percy grimaced in distaste and muttered, 'Chiron called me out-' The girl shook her head and glared at him, her usual carefree nature eroding away slightly. 'I don't care. If you're even a minute late, I will leave. Is that clear?'
Percy frowned but nodded in agreement, a feat that was not to be overlooked. The boy could be as stubborn as hell. Nico, who had been silent during this transaction, felt an arm snake around his waist and found (Y/N) giving a toothy smile. 'Want to walk over to the arena with me Nico?' she asked, her arm tightening. The dark haired boy felt his face heat up heavily and tried to voice his answer, but found his voice to be nothing but a shrill, strangled noise. The girl looked at him quietly, waiting for any sign of a reply. 'I'll go with you,' chirped Percy, who had quickly stood up at her invitation. She gave him a neutral look and said, 'Is your name Nico? No, it isn't. If I wanted you to go with me, I would have asked you.' Percy made a face and sat back down, sulking. 
'I'll go with you.'
(Y/N) snapped her head back and stared at Nico with wide eyes. He himself was surprised at his sudden urge to company her, as he preferred solitude to the intrusive conversations with other people. But he felt compelled to go with her, for reasons beyond his comprehension. The girl grinned up at him and dragged him with her towards the arena, while Percy roared abuse at them until they were out of earshot. There was silence for a while until Nico felt he would burst from the questions brewing in his mind. 'Why are Percy's sparing partner? Why were you sleeping outside my cabin? Who's your father?'
The (e/c) eyed girl glanced at him beneath heavy eyelashes and then let out a twinkling chuckle. I'll never get enough of that laugh. Nico, realising what he had just thought, averted his eyes in embarrassment and concentrated on the ground. 'Weeeeell,' she hummed, her musical voice sending a delicious shiver down his spine,'First question: I'm Percy's sparing partner because he pestered me for 2 months solid. That, and because he wasn't concerned about my godly parent, so I thought, hey, he might not be so bad. Boooooy, was I wrong though, he's a pain in the backside. But lovable in the big eyed puppy sort of way.' She smiled fondly then, obviously replaying some previous sparing incident that had occurred.
'Second question: I have a bad habit of falling asleep when I'm too comfortable. Your cabin, despite what people may say, is actually kind of peaceful to be around. That and I wanted to talk to you.'
'You wanted to talk to me?' Nico echoed, bewilderment colouring his voice. 
'Yeah. You're always seem lonely when you're not with the usual gang of hell raisers, so I wanted to talk to you,' she replied simply. The son of Hades heart ached painfully at her words which rang with brutal honesty. It had been awhile since someone had said something so simple, but so meaningful to him.
'And last but not least, your third question,' she sighed. He could tell it wasn't one of her favourite inquiries. 'My father is Thanatos, God of Death.' Nico could hear the heaviness that came with that last answer. To be a daughter of Thanatos did not seem like an easy task. At least from the way she said that statement.
'You don't sound very happy to be his daughter,' voiced the boy, his forehead crinkling in worry. (Y/N) smiled half-heartedly at this. 'It's not that I don't like him- He's my dad for crying out loud- but I did something bad because of the powers I have because of him. It's my fault, I know that, but I didn't know how powerful my abilities were.' Nico cocked an eyebrow, and (Y/N), seeing his expression, began to explain in further detail.
'I have the power to kill someone with just one touch, like he does. And because of that, I- I- killed someone very important to me.'
At that point they had stopped walking and the arm she had wrapped around the pale boy's waist was holding him in a frightening grip. 'I was only 5,' she whispered. Now Nico had realised that she wasn't talking to him. It was more like she was reciting a nursery rhyme that was carved into her memory. 'I had no idea what I was doing, I was playing with lego, and then Mom came in and I.... I reached out to hug her and then....' (Y/N) was gasping, gripping onto the front of his t-shirt like he was her lifeline, 'she went limp. I thought she was asleep, so I started calling for her. But-But she didn't answer. She never answered, no matter how hard I cried or screamed, she never answered. She didn't answer-' 
Tears were running freely down her face, her eyes focused on a scene that he couldn't see. Nico, on impulse, wrapped his arms around her in a gentle embrace and stroked her hair. He didn't know if what he was doing was right, he was never the 'comforting' type of person, but after a few minutes, her sobs died down. She pulled back, sniffled loudly and wiped her eyes roughly. 'Sorry, I dunno what happened there, I'm never like this,' she said, tear stains streaked her face and her eyes were red and puffy. Was it so wrong that Nico thought she was incredibly beautiful at that moment?
(Y/N) breathed deeply and looked at Nico with a relieved expression. 'Thank you.' The Italian blinked in surprise. 'For what?'
'For not freaking out and calling me murderer,' she stated, pushing her hair out of her face.
'I think you might call yourself that enough as it is,' he replied, looking at her with a kind smile, a rare occurrence. At this, she stiffened guiltily and let out a shaky chuckle. 'You're not wrong.'
Nico took one of her hands and relished in the their temperature. It was almost a cold warmth they radiated. They stayed like that, and as they did, time stood still. Until she said if she didn't go soon, Percy would beat her to the arena. Damn Percy Jackson.


Later that week, Nico found himself in bed, wide awake and restless. The image of (Y/N)'s tear stained face was vivid in his mind, the feel of her soft hair through his fingers taunted him and her rosy lips made him feel hungry. He was scared of these insanely strong feelings, scared of what they might make him do. He wanted to see her again. He wanted to see her right now, wanted to see that wild grin of hers, those eyes that gleamed with a mysterious edge. Nico sighed dramatically. He was starting to get into a habit of that and he knew it made him sound lovesick, which was somewhat true.
'You'll ruin that pretty face of yours with all that sighing.'
Nico let out a shriek that would have gotten him slandered by Percy big time. He bolted up right and saw the object of his dreams standing before him in (favourite colour) pyjamas. 'H-how did you get in here?!' he shouted, and even to his own ears he sounded like a damsel in distress. The (h/c) haired girl grinned evilly at him and sat down his bed, staying an appropriate distance from him. 'Through the door. Did you think I came in through the window? I'm not Cat Woman y'know,' she retorted, leaning back against the headboard and sighing in content. 
The boy glared at her but soon gave up after his eyes started to wander over places they shouldn't have. 'Why did you come over?' he asked, eyes trained on his hands. ''Dunno. I sorta missed you,' she muttered. Nico glanced at her and to his surprise, he could see that her cheeks were a deep red. Before he knew it, he was trailing a finger across her face. (Y/N) looked at him curiously, but didn't stop him.
'You missed me?' he said, locking eyes with her watchful stare. 'I missed you,' she confirmed, confidence filling every syllable. Nico began to draw designs across her skin and he as said his next words, he felt like his heart would give out: 'I-I m-missed you t-too.' 
(Y/N) smiled at him sweetly, reached out to grab his free hand and intertwined their fingers together. That's when a fact that had intrigued him when they had first resurfaced. 'Why are your hands so cold?'
She laughed, her features forming a cheerful expression. 'Same reason yours are. Both our fathers' deal with death, so it's only natural we both have cold hands,' she explained, then he saw her fond smile. It was something he liked to see on her face. 'But I was once told by someone that cold hands mean a warm heart. So that means all the heat from our hands has gone to our hearts.'
Nico moved closer to her until both their shoulders were touching. 'Do you truly believe I've a warm heart?'
(Y/N) raised an a delicate eyebrow at and said, 'You do. You don't hide it as well as you may think you do.'
The son of Hades smirked at the daughter of Thanatos and leaned in to kiss her forehead gently. 'Maybe you're just too sharp.'
'Maybe,' she reasoned.
They both stayed like that until they fell asleep. Sometimes having cold hands had it's benefits, like, oh, maybe a warm heart? Definitely.