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happyk44 · 9 months

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Nico was staring at Walt. For the millionth time in his life, he wished he knew what was happening in the other’s head. His eyes were black, emotionless, face neutral.

Walt had met Hades once or twice while spending the day with Anubis, enjoying the strange sensation of fluttering between different realms, different Underworlds, comparing intake and rebirth numbers. The man had a similar look. Unreadable. Calculating.

All until someone else came in, someone permanent in his life like Melinoe or Persephone, and then it shattered and he was smiling, something soft, sweet, pleasant.

Walt was slowly waiting for that day it would appear on Nico.

He wasn’t into Nico.

Gods, he barely understood why Percy was. Nico was cute, yeah, but uncomfortably dirty, always covered in a thin layer of shadows. They clung to him like cobwebs. It was gross.

But they’d been getting closer since Nico first showed up at Anubis’s request. Since he’d started training him. Having never had a host before, Anubis barely knew where to start. His powers were instinctual. He never could explain it the right way.

It caused them both a lot of frustration because he wanted to be more than just a life force and Walt wanted to be more helpful than just manifesting linens. He wanted to be able to assist the others without having to go fully hosted every time.

Nico was helpful. Obviously, despite the fact they both drew godly energy in and out of themselves, there were differences but it was helpful either way.

Walt could unbury the dead, he could send souls back to the Underworld - usually his Underworld, but, sometimes, if he focused enough, he could send them to the right place. Nico had been warming up to him and his jokes.

Then he’d asked about the ghosting thing.

He remembered it so easily. Hot afternoon. She-Ra was playing on TV. He was lounging on Sadie’s lap. Then Nico showed up in a sudden burst of shadows, right in front of the couch. Percy’s sword had slid through his body like he was air.

At first, Walt had just thought he was watching Nico shadow travel out of danger, but when he slapped back into place as though nothing had happened, it hit him.

Incorporeal form.

That was so fucking badass.

He’d begged for days. And just like that everything between them vanished. He didn’t understand why, didn’t realize what it was, figured it was just the suddenness of danger in a place he’d considered safe quaking in on him.

It wasn’t until Percy tugged him aside and explained that he realized why it was a touchy subject.

“They kept him in a jar,” Percy had said quietly. “He survived off these seeds from his step-mom. He realized it wasn’t guaranteed he’d have them if it happened again so he taught himself how to temporarily die without dying. So he wouldn’t need to use them. If he didn’t have them. Or… if someone else was there who needed them too.”

Percy’s eyes had gone faint before he dropped them to the floor. He shook his head. “It’s not something you should be asking about, Walt.”

He stopped asking after that.

It was a touchy subject for Nico, and, when he really thought about it, something touchy for him. And Anubis. Dying, even temporarily, even in a way that wasn’t really death, was in no way something he wanted to do.

And it explained the way Anubis would shift inside him, disgruntled. Of course, the other would never hiss Nico’s secrets without his permission, but he’d never made it out like it was something good. Something Walt should be aiming to do.

Walt had just thought it was cool.

But it was risky. It sounded horrifying to do, something disorienting. Turning yourself into a ghost and trusting you could pull yourself back into human form, into reality before you faded away to be collected. Trusting that he could do it without sending Anubis fully out of him

He was on the verge of death and every second the god was in him was just a slight extension to his sentence. His life - it was like a trick. It reminded him of something he’d read. Technically you can only live for a couple minutes but every time you breathe it resets the clock.

Anubis’s presence was just a constant reset, ongoing without pause.

Even a mere step and the clock would slow it’s ticking. They’d manage to figure out how much he could truly stretch himself away and that had been more of a test to see how much Anubis could disappear before his presence stopped registering to magic wards. The answer was not at all.

He didn’t have to listen in on everything, same as Walt didn’t have to take in everything on his end but he did have to be there.

Or Walt would shatter into a broken down man, pain encompassing his whole body as everything shut off inside him like a checklist.

Access to legs? Check. Kidneys? Check. Liver? Check. Lungs?

Checkity-check-check.

He could still remember the morning he woke up and thought, My heart stopped.

The next day he left home to go join the Nome. He was dying, he knew that. He’d make the best of the time he had left.

And then he was granted more time. It was like the universe was sending out a letter. Here’s some extra time in exchange for helping to defeat Apophis. Thanking you in advance, the Duat.

Walt unwrapped his hands from the linens that had spurred around his skin.

Nico’s sword glittered in the light as he shifted forward.

“I’m working on it,” Walt said, even though he knew it wasn’t an issue to the other. Nico didn’t care so long as it didn’t impede his ability to do anything else. And having his hands wrapped up made him feel safer about touching things when his powers were on.

He’d only just barely gotten over the whole “disintegrate everything into ash” side of his powers. It still had him on edge, itching at the back of his mind every time Sadie dove in for a kiss or one of the anklebiters demanded to be picked up and carried to their next destination.

Nico regarded him. “I know.”

Despite towering over him, Walt always felt so small.

It reminded him of the first time he’d met Sadie. She was so in tune with herself, her skills. She laughed loud and free, full of life and unearned confidence. When she walked into the room, she commanded the attention of everyone in there without a single word.

She was an explosive expression of a person and she knew it. There was no stopping her.

Nico was so vastly different from Sadie from tone to personality to fashion sense, but that was something nobody could deny. They both knew very clearly who they were. And they were both so very confidently settled in their identities, in such a way that it was envious. How could anyone know who they were so easily?

Without question?

Even after years of living with her, of learning her, he couldn’t tell if it was all just a facade or not.

"I'm going to teach you how to make yourself incorporeal."

A bundle of emotions exploded in him. Most of them were Anubis. Walt only felt cold shock - like a jug of ice water had been directly injected into his nerves. Nico's eyes were still hard to read. He remained unchanged.

As they were just talking about the weather.

"I-"

Please do not.

Walt scanned the training room, trying to find the words. It was so rare that he'd ever find himself speechless and it seemed to happen most around the lanky teen across from him. "I thought you didn't want to teach me that?"

He shook his head. "I changed my mind."

He glanced up at Walt, something painful etched into his face before it vanished. "You might need it one day."

Walt froze where he stood. Nico was a feral cat. He slipped in and out spaces, treated everywhere like it belonged to him. He knew the other pantheons accepted his presence, whether they liked it or not. He knew that Nico had accumulated more knowledge that way than any demigod or magician or whatever other user of godly power that existed had ever could.

He took a step forward, swayed in place.

Uncertainty bubbled in his stomach. "Is something going to happen?" he asked.

Nico squinted at him. "No. Why?"

"Because-" Walt splitters, gesturing widely while Anubis settled, disgruntled and annoyed. "You just said-"

"Your reaction time is slower than everyone else's."

Going quiet, Walt blinked, listening.

"You're not as instinctual. It's fine. That will come with time. But as it stands, you file through what you can and can't do and it slows you down. You're too used to choosing between amulets and you treat your powers the same." Nico cocked his head. "One second can be the difference between life and death. If you don't move fast enough, you'll be caught or killed."

"Oh."

"If you don't want to learn it-"

Uncertainty and fear still rabbled in his chest, a protest to what he was thinking. "I do."

Do not, Anubis begged. It's too risky.

"You don't need to be so worried, Anubis," Nico said before he turned on his heels.

Sadie saw the difference between them so easily. She saw when he was present, even if he wasn't talking. It was body language. Something about the way it looked when two people were in one body, the way Walt walked like he was in constant conversation.

When Anubis was in control, it was different. He held himself taller than Walt was, pulled more inwards.

To Sadie, no matter how slight, the changes were obvious.

To Nico, it was so much more different. It was harder not to feel invaded when he did it, even though he knew it wasn't intentional. He couldn't tell by body language or the way Walt's eyes would flash black instead of brown. He just looked at him and saw two souls instead of one

He analyzed from there.

He said he picked it up from a dead sibling of his, who went blind early in life. The way he talked about it, the slip of his face - Walt had a slight feeling it was more than accidental but he refused to pry.

Maneuvering the world through watching the souls within each person was better than just watching them. It was morally questionable to do that to the living so he admitted he didn't do it much. Just when he had a bad feeling. Or when he was talking to Walt.

It was like cutting into a person for autopsy. The secrets behind them revealed in a small little glowing orb. It made Walt feel like a fish, gutted open. Utterly exposed for consumption. But he didn't say anything against it because it was…

It was strangely pleasant to have someone simply look at him and know what the other mingling inside was saying. Instead of always having to translate, he could just be known.

Sadie just had to watch him.

Nico just had to take a look inside and analyze what he saw. Then the answer laid so easy.

Maybe if it were anyone else, Walt wouldn't feel so okay with it. But it was Nico, who showed up whenever he called and sometimes brought pie and was slowly teaching him what he knew even though there was no real reason for him to do it. He was safe

"I'm allowed to be concerned about my host dying," Anubis said. If Walt listened hard enough, he could hear the changes that Sadie had attuned herself to. The slight lowering of his voice, the subtle change to his accent.

"If he dies, I'll bring him back," Nico said. He put his sword down and took off his coat, folding it neatly onto the floor. "I can move faster than collection."

"Nico-"

"Relax. When have I ever deceived you?"

#dated february 9th 2021 #from the twitter archives #nico di angelo #walt stone #anubis (tkc)#my writing #happy talks pjo #my fanfic

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happyk44 · 9 months

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“I’m deaf, moron!” Katsuki barks.

Shouto pauses. “Oh. I didn’t notice.”

For a moment, he wonders if, by the look on Katsuki’s face, this is the day that he’ll be blasted into oblivion but the punched up scowl just deepens and his hands fist firmly at his side.

“Listen, Icy Hot. I’m deaf.” He pushed by his hair, always covering his ears. “I can’t fucking hear you. Wait until I get my fucking aids in, you dumbass.”

Shouto waits patiently by the doorway as Katsuki turns back around to rummage through the kitchen drawers for a spoon.

Then he follows him out of the kitchen and to his bedroom where the door is ceremoniously slammed in his face. He waits a little longer before he realizes the other boy is not going to be answering his question about his notes anytime soon and retreats back to the kitchen.

Izuku is there. In his hands, he’s carrying two boxes of granola bars and shrieks as soon as he turns and spots Shouto.

“So you’re the one who’s been taking all the snacks,” Shouto deadpans.

Izuku’s face burns redder than a cherry. “I get really hungry after my workouts!”

“Aizawa said he wasn’t going to be wasting anymore of the kitchen budget on snacks if we couldn’t share sensibly.” Shouto leans against the doorway. “I can just get them for you, if you want.”

“No, no, no!” Izuku sputters. “No, I couldn’t, Shouto.”

With great reluctance, he puts back one of the boxes and opens the other. Five glossily wrapped bars spill out onto the counter. He puts the rest of the box away and crams the remaining bars into his pockets. “I’ll just make sure to stock up when I go out again.”

“It would be smart to do that instead of spending everything you make on merchandise and then taking all the snacks.”

Izuku’s skin burns even harder. Shouto snorts. “What are you doing up?”

“Oh, I couldn’t get back to sleep so I started studying Bakugou’s notes.” He grins, wryly. “I remembered he usually gets up around this time so I came down to catch him with some questions I had but he said he was deaf and left.” He sighed. “It was just question about the statistics examples he wrote down. He didn’t have to be so dismissive about it.”

“Kacchan is deaf though.” Izuku rips open one of the bars. “He doesn’t really hide it.”

Shouto blinks. “Really? I thought he was lying to avoid answering my questions.”

“No, no.” Crumbs drip from the bar as Izuku gestures to his ear. It was an accident when we were really young. He sort of…” Izuku winces. “…blasted himself in the ears because I was yammering and he didn’t want to listen to me. It was an accidental quirk glitch.”

Mm. Shouto had those a few times when he was younger. Waking up with frost all over one side of his sheets or the burnt remains of a teddy bear cuddled to his chest. “I’m surprised he just didn’t throw something at you.”

Izuku bit into his granola and chewed thoughtfully. “Yeah, well, I was doing a presentation in class.” He swallowed thickly. “He has hearing aids, obviously, but I guess they’re probably not to comfortable to wear to sleep.”

“Probably not.”

Whether the others in the class are also aware of Katsuki's deafness, is not something Shouto can easily pick up on. But in the following days, he notices signs of its evidence more and more.

When he runs his hand through his hair, there are flashes of orange and black beneath his hair, where his ear would be. When his friends clamour for his attention, he barks that he's not listening and always raises his hands to his ears. Presumably turning off his hearing aids one by one. Sometimes he'll lean into conversations and do the same, likely turning them up instead.

His constant shouting for the softer speakers in the class to speak up. The way Aizawa always raises his voice at him, even when not out of reprimand.

Then there are the few obvious times when he comes down from his room and just blatantly ignores everyone hollering at him.

It had seemed like defiance in the past - but now, to Shouto, it's just times when he's without his hearing aids, no intent to communicate with anyone else.

In the moment, he doesn't understand why he does it but he does it anyway. Pulling himself away from late night conversations in the common room with everyone else, to sit in his bedroom, alone, watching JSL videos.

He doesn't ask Izuku about Katsuki's skill or knowledge when it comes to sign but he doubts that Katsuki wouldn't have learned something.

But he can't really explain his own desire to learn.

It's weirdly difficult in a way he hadn't expected. It is another language, he has to remind himself when he tries to practice translating alongside his English homework. Of course, there's a learning curve.

And it's not like he's learning for anyone specific. Right?

A familiar tuft of hair grabs his view from where he's hunched over in an armchair off to the side watching JSL videos. Katsuki ignores the jeers from his friends as he sinks down next to Kirishima.

"Hey, Blasty! Surprised you're not asleep yet!"

Katsuki pushes Kaminari away with his foot and ignores him. When he runs his hand through his hair, visibly annoyed, the flash of orange and black that Shouto had found himself seeking every time was absent.

Nobody else seems to notice its absence or Katsuki's unusual silence. They just press play and continue watching the film, chattering commentary that Katsuki vaguely nods at when they turn to him.

Then, about a half hour later, he checks his phone and answers the front door. Shouto can't see who it is with where he's sitting but from Izuku's happy, "Hi Uncle!", it's Katsuki's father. Everybody else shouts out similar greetings.

Shouto is close enough to the front door to overhear but the sound of explosions from the TV cover most of it.

He hears, "Last one" and "Damage" and Katsuki's resulting grunt before nothing else. Then the door closes and Katsuki vanishes back upstairs to the complaints of everyone else. As he watches him leave, he notices him carrying a small bag that he definitely didn't have before.

"Do you like them?"

Katsuki stares at him before, "What?"

Shouto gestures to his ears. "Your hearing aids. You were fiddling with them all day. I was wondering if you like having them."

Katsuki slams the door shut on him and after a few unanswered knocks, he leaves.

Maybe that was too much.

It's weird being Katsuki's friend - or at least, half his friend. Izuku is so much easier to talk to. He won't slam the door in anyone's face. He'll just politely say that it's private or a secret or he isn't comfortable talking about it.

But Katsuki is a fiery explosion of teen and ever since releasing his fire, Shouto hasn't been able to stop himself from seeking out more heat.

He's halfway into a methodic stirring of some hot chocolate Momo bought for everyone. The taste is good but the powder isn't dissolving.

"You're supposed to sift it first."

He blinks up at Katsuki who's standing uncharacteristically close. Which Shouto doesn't mind. Maybe its the necessity of his quirk to keep him sweating but he's always warm. And on the cold side of Shouto's body, it's nice.

"Oh." He stares down at his lumpy drink. "I guess I can't really do that now."

"Read the instructions next time, dumbass." Katsuki reaches for his own bag before shifting through the rest of the box and pulling out a mini sifter. He brandishes it with a wide open grin, sharp teeth and tongue. Then turns and grabs his own mug from the cabinet.

Silence percolates between them, the thump of Shouto's spoon the only break, when, "They're fine. They're just a different brand."

Shouto glances up at him.

Katsuki lifts his hair to show off the black and orange hearing aid. It's themed like his hero suit, orange X on a black background and leads into a small circular device embedded into the spot just behind his ear. The hair there is meticulously shaven away.

"My last pair got damaged." He exhales shakily and doesn't make eye contact. "The old man dropped these off but I never liked them so I got new ones."

"What's wrong with them?"

"Too heavy." He scowls. "And the batteries run out too fast. Other ones were better."

"Oh." Shouto had never considered that there may be more than one type of hearing aid. But in hindsight, he probably should've expected it. "Will you be getting a new pair soon?"

The deepening of Katsuki's scowl is his only answer.

Shouto doesn't say anything to the annoyed silence. Instead, he moves over to the sink and washes his spoon, setting it aside to dry. The hot chocolate is still lumpy but the bursts on his tongue aren't all that horrible so he swallows it down and watches Katsuki carefully.

Sometimes his actions don't really talk to his thoughts.

Do you know sign language, he asks, frowning as he finishes the last bit off with fingerspelling.

Katsuki stares at him before pinching the bridge of his nose. "Why the fuck would you ask me that in a language you're not even sure I know?"

"So you know it."

"Such a simple fucking question," Katsuki mutters. "And he can't even sign the entire thing."

"But you understood."

"Didn't even speak while saying it, absolute moron."

Katsuki shoots him an amused look. "I'm surprised you ever learned Icy Hot. I thought you grew up in a closet eating saltines."

There's a joke there that he vaguely remembers being shown before but he can't quite place it. He still smiles, sort of halfway. The revelation will either throw Katsuki into a brash spiral of anger or…

Well, he can only imagine a fist flying at his face. But still. He doesn't really lie.

"You piqued my interest."

Katsuki's ears redden. His face burns with the harsh tone snapping from his lips. "What the fuck's that supposed to mean?"

Shouto pauses. Then, "I don't know." He looks down at the warm mug in his hands. Inky black chocolate murks back him like a void. "I guess… if they get damaged in the field, wouldn't you want to still be able to communicate?"

For a moment, Katsuki seems to accept this answer and Shouto relaxes, sipping at his mug while the other takes down a box of cookies with his name written in large black sharpie across the front.

"You should practice more," is all he says before he leaves.

#dated february 9th 2021 #this is an old old one #from the twitter archives #bakutodo #todoroki shouto #bakugou katsuki #happy talks mha #my writing #my fanfic

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