Work Text
The radio spat out another few verses of a song before it died completely for the second time that day. It was old and rusty, and you had no idea why Nico insisted on keeping it in her garage.You yawned, sitting in a squeaking chair and balancing it on its back legs. The day was sunny, but you didn’t feel like bathing in it, so you accompanied Nero playing under the roof of his car. Judging by the string of curses coming to you since the moment he started, he wasn’t having much fun.“Just drop it,” you suggested. “You’re gonna need a new part, there’s nothing you can do with the old one.”“Just watch.”“I’m watching and listening and my poor innocent ears are all red from it. And they know you’re not gonna make it.”“I’m so glad I don’t have those ears, because they clearly know nothing about the engines.”“We’ll see in a few hours when Nico comes back and tells you exactly the same thing.”Nero closed the hood with a thud. He walked in your direction, hair ruffled and irritation in his voice.“Oh, so you think you know my car better than me? What else do you know better?”“What I don’t is a better question, boy,” you shot him a bright smile, standing up eagerly.Nero looked down on you, only a few inches separating you, tension thick in the air. You could feel his breath on your face, but you were far from letting him intimidate you. You’ve known him for too long to get scared of his moods.“Don’t start a fight you know you won’t win,” you suggested, provoking him openly. “We both know you’d get your ass handed to yourself.”He laughed, crossing his arms to look bigger and show off his muscles. He liked doing that.“You wish.”“Well, you know what they say about the guys running around with big swords,” you whispered, ghosting your hand over his arm.A blush creeped on his cheeks as you took him by surprise. You leaned even closer, taunting him.“…they are shit in close combat,” you whispered in his ear.You punched him in the stomach, taking his breath away.Nero gasped, bending in half, but dodged your next punch and jumped back, missing your kick by an inch.“That’s not fair!” he yelled.You pushed him back, not giving him time to recover. You punched fast, keeping him occupied with your arms. Close combat in a small space was no place for wide, flashy moves.He blocked a vicious kick you wanted to knock him with and made you stumble to the right. Your arm hurt when Nero gripped it, pushing you on the car’s hood with a loud thud and pinning you down with his weight.He was breathing heavily over you, catching his breath. Your fists hurt, but it didn’t matter at that moment. Smiling brightly at him, you relaxed your arms. But Nero wasn’t stupid and wouldn’t fall for the trick and let you out. He was a slow learner, but he did learn.“Feeling better? The frustration must have been killing you,” you asked lightly, appreciating how close he was.“I already told you, I’m gonna get this car running,” he muttered through gritted teeth. He may have tried to look angry, but his reddening face was telling you he noticed your closeness too.“Shame,” you shrugged dramatically, your eyes still pinned with his hand. “I kind of like it the way it is now.”The garage door opened with a high pitch of rusty hinges. Nico whistled behind Nero’s back.“Damn, I didn’t think that old thing could be ever useful again. Keep going guys, don’t bother.”She grinned, walking past you to the backdoor to the house, groceries in her hands.You laughed as Nero’s face became even redder. He let go of you with lips tightly pursed and turned his back to you.“It’s your fault.”“And there’s no hiding you enjoyed it.”Nero growled, but didn’t trust his voice enough not to break, so he didn’t say anything. He avoided looking you in the eyes.