Demigod in Gotham

3) Italian Mumbling is the Way to a Man's Heart

A/N: some chapters will be in other people's POV... like this one for example

-Will POV- 

Nico entered the infirmary as Austen and Kayla were patching up the Stolls, who had apparently tired before the Ares kids did, and Will was lecturing them about how if they were going to prank others, they at least had to have an escape plan lined up.

"—you can't just expect to be able to out run them every time. You have tried and failed to do so multiple times; I would have thought by now you would have gotten smarter- oh hey Nico. What did Chiron want to talk to you about?"

Nico walked past him and towards Will's 'office' (which was really just a supply closet with a desk in it that he had a bad habit of sleeping at after a busy shift). Will dutifully followed him into the room, having come to expect this, and sat on the desk while Nico took the chair. What he didn't expect was the slight grin on Nico's face. Though Will had seen Nico smirk and occasionally give a halfhearted smile for a photo, it was rare to see the dark haired boy let a grin creep through his mask of neutrality.

"I got assigned a city." Nico's grin widened slightly as he continued on. "Chiron said it was a pretty dangerous place, which was why he was hesitant to assign me to it, and I'll have to do some research and training before I head out, but I actually get to leave."

Will smiled, excited for the boy, but not able to ignore the sadness that tugged at his heart. "That's great Nico! Is there anything I can help with?"

"I don't think so. I'll have to travel to Camp Jupiter for a few days to work with Hazel and meet with Percy and Annabeth, but I should hopefully be back with a few days to spare before I leave." Nico had stolen a pen and a notepad from Will's desk and began to write a list of what he needed to do.

Will could tell that his ADHD brain had kicked in as he intensely focused on his writing, muttering to himself in Italian as he went. The blond watched him with a smile, trying to memorize the way his eyes would dart across the page and how he had pulled his knees to his chest in the chair to be more comfortable. He tried to peak at the notes but paused when he saw they were in Italian.

"You're writing in Italian again." Will wasn't sure if it was a question or statement but either way, he had not meant to say it out loud.

Nico looked up from his notes and stared at him for a moment before he processed what Will said. "Oh yeah, I've been practicing recently with a new camper. He's from Long Island but his parents immigrated from Rome a few years before he was born. He missed speaking Italian and I hadn't really spoken it since before the casino so while I help him with sword fighting, he helps me practice my native language."

"Oh wait, is that the kid with the curly brown hair? Has he been claimed yet?"

Nico's attention was back on the paper, but he still answered as if it was his sole interest. "Yeah that's him, and no he hasn't. Though Gio is only 12 so the gods have another year to keep their oath and they seem to be waiting until just before they turn 13 recently." He paused and looked back to Will with a devious smirk. "I would bet he's a kid of Dionysus though. Mr. D has been away on Olympus since the start of April to be with his wife, so he hasn't seen Gio yet. My guess is Mr. D is gonna come back, take one look at Gio, and start doing some mental math."

At that, Will burst out laughing, Nico following soon after. They continued chatting for a while until the dinner conch was blown and Nico said he needed to head to Camp Jupiter so, after making Nico swear he would eat dinner with Hazel or the others, Will said goodbye and watched his crush run off toward the Hades Cabin.

Kayla came up next to him as he stared at the now closed door of Cabin 13. "Are you ever going to tell him?"

Will bushed profusely as he tried to deny what she was talking about. "Ha, what are you talking about? Tell him what? There's nothing to—" Upon seeing that she was buying none of it, he gave up. "I don't know. Maybe one day? I'm just worried that because he's from another time, maybe he won't understand. Or worse, he does understand and he hates me after it and I ruin everything. Or-"

"I'm going to stop you right there," Kayla said covering his mouth. "I know it's scary but you are going to hate yourself if you never even try. Plus, he's been in our century for a few years now, I think he at least understands that's being gay is fine. And, if he hates you after then that isn't on you. Nico is a big boy and if he for some reason decides he doesn't want anything to do with you, then that's his loss. You are not responsible for the ways that other people decide to behave."

Will stared at her for a moment, momentarily stunned by her sudden seriousness. "Okay, I understand. Though I'm still not ready to tell him yet."

"That's okay, just so long as it's not fear of rejection holding you back. Now come on, let's go get food." 

A/N: Another chapter! This one also doesn't really have a point other than to tell you to vote if you want to (you should want to).