The Solangelo Collection

Nico vs. Will: Capture the Flag

Capture the flag wasn't Nico's favorite game.

It wasn't his favorite game at all.

Nico just thought that he had been in too many fights, battles - wars - to really see to the appeal anymore. Some days, he would sit out of the game, drinking a (non-diet) Coke with Mr. D, playing pinochle and trying to ignore the clanking of swords against armor best he could.

Sometimes, Mr. D snapped his fingers and brought out Chiron's record player, turning it up to the highest volume before pretending to not know Nico's name for the next few minutes.

Today, however, was different. Nico felt good today.

And Will had challenged him with a bet.

They had been sitting on the grass behind the infirmary during a quiet moment of the day, which meant no one had accidentally hit themselves with a sword or dropped a knife on their foot in the past hour.

"You know, I don't think I've ever played against you in capture the flag," Will said, breaking the silence. Nico squinted at Will, both to keep the sunlight out of his eyes and to look at him in confusion.

"No, you haven't," Nico replied, finally giving up and just shutting his eyes. He laid back on the grass, looping his hands behind his head. "I don't participate often."

Will knocked his elbow against Nico's as he laid down beside him, joining him on the ground. "Only on good days," Will agreed.

"Only on good days."

"I bet that if you did play though, I'd win."

Nico's eyes shot open and he immediately had to shield his eyes from the onslaught of sun with his hand. "What?" He rotated so he was facing Will, propping his head up on his hand. "What was that, William?"

"I said that I would win," Will repeated, incredibly too matter-of-factory for his ego. "If you played, I would win if we were on opposite teams."

The audacity.

Nico stared at Will for a second, trying to filter the correct thing to say through his brain.

"Sure, whatever you want to believe, Solace," was what Nico landed on, plopping back down onto the grass and closing his eyes again. "You wish."

That was how Nico ended up here, in armor and waiting for teams to be assigned. He stood, arms crossed, next to Will, who was positively giddy with excitement.

Chiron and Mr. D began to enter the crowd of half-bloods. Mr. D gave Nico a look, an eyebrow raised. In return, Nico offered a slight smile and a small thumbs up. This seemed to be decently satisfactory for the god, but Nico could tell that he still wasn't sure.

But it was a good day. Nico would be fine.

As the only child of the Big Three at Camp Half-Blood, it was usually easier to divide up the cabins into teams when Nico wasn't playing, as there was usually significantly less bickering about what team he should be on. But today was different because Nico was absolutely determined to win a bet, which meant there was a substantial amount of bickering between the campers. Nico moved to stand next to Chiron, waiting to be assigned a team.

"Alright, alright," Chiron started, silencing the campers it's the way only he could. "Nico is participating in capture the flag tonight, as many of you already know. Which means he needs to be placed on a team. But there is a catch, as from what I understand a bet has been made?" Chiron gave a questioning look to Nico, who nodded silently. "Right. A bet has been made. Which means that Nico cannot be on the same team as the Apollo Cabin for tonight's game. Keep this in mind as you finish choosing your teams for the night. Go ahead and discuss with your-"