"Nico?"
Ducking under the dinner table, Nico crouched down and put his hands over his ears. You stared, wondering why he was acting like this, then remembered his worst fear was arousing much more recently than it had been in the past.
"Nico?" you called again, lifting the table cloth and bending to your side so you could see him. The poor boy had his hands clutching tufts of his wavy black hair and his amber eyes were much lighter than they usually were, something that only happened when he was frightened.
"G-Get away, (Y/n)," he wheezed. ". . .I-I don't wanna hurt you. . ."
"You won't hurt me." As you spoke, you carefully climbed over and sat next to him, carefully pressing against him and tucking a loose strand of your (h/c) hair behind your ear (if your hair's actually too short for that, ignore that last part).
"H-How. . .can you b-be so sure?"
"Because. . ." You placed your hand on his arm gently, making him turn to look at you. ". . .I know how much you care about me. You'd never hurt something you value for."
He glanced away. ". . .Well. . .N-not on purpose, but. . ."
"Hey." Your grip on him tightened ever so slightly, making him meet your gaze in a flash. "If it's on accident, I'll understand. I know you. And I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt me on purpose." When he didn't reply, you moved your hand from his arm to his cheek. "What do we do when we're scared?"
"Uh. . .run and hide? Under a blanket?"
You giggled at his tentative, joking tone. "No, you goofball." After giving him a gentle push, which made him chortle, you added, "We talk about it and get over it together, remember?"
His head perked up, making his black hair bounce and it shifted in front of his left eye as it always did. "Oh, yeah!" he breathed in feign surprise, as if he only just remembered what you were talking about.
You pushed him again, dipping your head with laughter to hide your grin. "Bobo!" you hissed (if you don't know what that means, you basically just called him an imbecile in Spanish).
After that, you finally heard that genuine laugh that you'd grown to adore so dearly.
The two of you crawled out from under the table where you found someone staring at you. You both came to a staggering halt, startled.221Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAq2UMOG29R
Nico, brows curved with nervousness, raised his hand in a slight wave. "M-mamá," he stuttered, grinning awkwardly.
Mirabel raised an eyebrow at him knowingly. After a moment of silence, she mumbled, "Lemme guess. You were afraid that your mass-manipulating Gift would hurt someone and hid under the table until (Y/n) found you and made you come out."
Nico and you exchanged a glance. Sometimes you wondered if it was actually Mirabel with the enhanced hearing Gift and not Dolores.
"Yeah. . ." Nico glanced away, rubbing his arm in embarrassment, and you turned your head to stare in the opposite direction nonchalantly.
"It'll be okay, Mijo," Mirabel soothed, coming up to stand in front of him and place her hands on his cheeks. She then pulled him into a hug. "No one thinks you'll hurt anyone."
Tears poured down Nico's freckled face as he buried it in his mother's comforting embrace. "But what if I do?" he whispered.
You came up to wrap your arms around the two of them, pressing against Nico's back. "You won't," you murmured, closing your glistening (e/c) eyes.
"She's right," Mirabel agreed.
"But what if I become a monstrous beast?" Nico pulled away from the two of you and looked up at his mother in fear.
"No one thinks you're a beast," you reassured.
"But what if-"
You silenced him by pressing your lips against his. He stiffened instantly, then gradually relaxed when you didn't pull away for a few moments more.
The suffocating passion that radiated off of you in waves through the kiss seemed to calm him. Nico wrapped his arms around you carefully, then you pulled away.
"No one thinks you're a beast," you repeated.
After staring down at your hands, which were gently holding his, Nico smiled. "Well. . .At least if I do. . .I'll have my beauty right by my side to stop my rose petals from falling."
You grinned at him and he grasped the bottom of his gray shirt, using his Gift to turn it to gray mush and reconstruct it before your eyes into a gorgeous rose without a stem. Although the rose was gray like his shirt, it still held every other detail of a real one and felt like polyester when he handed it to you.
Looking up at your boyfriend, one of Thee Madrigals, you took a moment to be happy with the life you two led and told him the words you said to each other every night before bed even if the day had sucked, even if you'd just argued an hour before: "Thank you. I love you."
Tears spilled from his amber eyes as Nico echoed your words. "And I love you."
221Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqfpNx5wnH
Nico Madrigal221Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtsLCGDEhO
Gender: Male221Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOXcVvCzjet
Hair: Short, messy, wavy-curly, black221Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7aah5hsRU
Eyes: Orange-ish ginger221Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXld1KmLqA
Skin: Olive221Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡurVgGKwo2M
Build: Wiry221Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUF90qvwqc
Mother: Mirabel221Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlaUJMAOMir
Father: currently unknown221Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuyvC67QBWd
Gift: Mass manipulation (he can turn any solid into literally anything he wants, though he can only manipulate the shape and not the color or material)
ns 172.69.7.30da2
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