Mortals meet Percabeth (and others)

Written With Love

Written With Love

NO MIST

Nico only started talking in English when he realised no one at Camp could understand him

But he still thought, wrote and spoke in Italian when he was insulting people and didn't want people to know, because where was the fun in that? It was quite fun actually to see the look on people's faces when he knew they didn't understand him but liked to pretend they did

The true reason that he still speaks Italian -- as well as it being his first language -- is because it made him feel closer to Bianca. When they were younger whenever they felt nervous or out of place in the world that they didn't quite understand, they would talk in Italian it was like a secret language between the two of them. One that only they could understand

After Tartarus, he began mixing up his Italian words with the English words, sometimes forgetting even the simple words that everyone uses in their day-to-day language and he struggled for a while until a very patient son of Apollo helped him and was actually very patient with him and understood him in ways that Nico couldn't understand. Why would anyone want to understand him and be friends with him? It didn't make sense

He was broken

He was a screw-up

He was nothing good

And yet he had attracted a ball of light -- no literally a boy that can glow when he got too excited or when he was calm enough to actually control it. It was nice to have someone to converse with, someone with who he could be himself around. To Nico, it was nice to have a friend

Amico

That's what he had started calling Will at the end of his sentences. The Italian word for friend mostly because that's what he was and because it was harmless, nobody understood what he was saying anyway

But the more time he spent with the Son of Apollo, the more he found himself liking the boy and actually wanting to spend time with him and then just like that, everything seemed to happen at once he found himself attracted to Will Solace, from the light dusting of freckles on his nose to his blonde hair that seemed to actually be woven from pure gold and even the scar he had on the side of his head from when he fell down as a young child and split his head open on a coffee table

Nico was in deep

So of course when they next met up and every time after that he would occasionally slip in a pet name or an adverb here and there. Things like Ragazzo Carino (meaning pretty boy) or il mio raggio di sole (meaning my sunshine)

It was easy to say things like that in Italian because Will couldn't understand him and so it was easy for him to test out his terms of affection and not feel embarrassed by it. However, what he didn't know was that Will understood every single word

* * *

Will was sure he was dreaming the first time he heard Nico call him pretty boy

It had taken him the whole conversation to get his head around the fact that he had indeed called pretty boy and when Nico or he left (he couldn't quite remember which way round it was) he was blushing bright red all day, and when Kayla asked what had him so happy he couldn't answer without blushing and spluttering

Kayla raised an eyebrow but said nothing correctly thinking that whatever had Will smiling had something to do with the son of Hades

After that interaction Nico got bolder with his flirting and name calling until he ended up calling Will my love in Italian and that was when Will suddenly choked on air as he went red in the face trying to get air in his lungs

Nico raised an eyebrow wondering why Will had gone red in the face — almost forgetting he had called the blonde my love as he was sure Will couldn't understand him.

"Sorry" Will coughed, patting himself on the chest "I don't know what happened"

"It's alright" Nico mummers, his eyebrows pinching together suspiciously "Are you alright?"

"Yeah yes I'm fine" Will stated still coughing through his words making him less believable by the second. He took a few minutes to collect himself still shaken up by the severity of Nico's words (even if he didn't mean it in the way Will was thinking even if the dark haired boy definitely did) and he found himself struggling to look Nico in the eye

Eventually he forced himself to looking directly into Nico's dark brown eyes so dark and deep that they were almost like an abyss that Will thought he could get lost in forever. They were like pits of darkness showing what he was supposed to represent. All things darkness. But Will found little bits of light reflecting off them if he looked at him a certain way (and by the Gods Nico looking at Will will forever be his favourite thing)

That's what Will chose to focus on.

The light.

Will gave Nico a half smile. Nerves and unease snaking in his gut and twisting around until it sank to the bottom of his stomach like a stone just resting there and the more Will tried to remind himself to breathe the tighter his chest constricted. He let out a eerie breath "I have a confession to make..."

"What?"

"I well you know — I know ..."

"You what?"

"I-I Gods you know I can normally tell you anything"

"respira amore mio" Nico said, the words rolling off his tongue before he realised he wasn't speaking English

There it was again. My love

Will's heart beat picked up, blood strumming through his hears and he could hear the beat of his heart in his head and prayed that it wasn't as loud as he could hear it in his head

"Will? William Solace do I have to raise an army of the dead to make sure you pay attention to me?" Nico whined, speaking slowly to make sure he spoke in English

Nico's voice snapped Will from his thoughts and he turned his head. Once again, looking into the deep dark eyes and this time instead of feeling like everything was tightening now everything felt loose he could breathe again and his tongue untied itself from the knot it had tied itself in and before his brain had chance to catch up to his mouth he had started rushing out the words and by the time they were half out his mouth Will couldn't stop them if he tried "I know what you've been saying in Italian — like the entire time Italian is the language of music so most of the Apollo kids know Italian"

Nico's brain shut off the second he heard that he heard that Will knew what he said and it was his turn to go bright red. He wanted to be swallowed up by a hole, a very deep hole and to never be seen again

"Okay Nico I don't want you to panic — I'm generally flattered about what you think of me and I don't want you to stop flirting with me in Italian because I like you a lot but I thought you could never like me back — let alone love me and if you'd have me I would like to be your boyfriend"

"You what?"

"I would like to be your boyfriend"

"I know I heard. Say it again"

So Will said it again and again until it sank in both of their heads that this was real and happening. He said it until his voice was course and even then he carried on saying it until Nico had enough and surged forward capturing Will's lips with his own, his brain spiking with excitement and his body having a mind of his own tongue swiping over the blonde's lips in order to gain access

And years later Italian was still the love language between the now man often letters of declarations of love exchanged between them