• solangelo •

NICO

Nico was definitely intimidated when Percy walked over to him, although he would never have admitted it.

'So... you're gay?' Percy asked, his voice curious.

Nico shoved his hands deep into his pockets, letting his hair fall in his face.
'Yeah.'

Percy nodded slowly.
'That's cool, I guess; uh... did Annabeth know?'

'Yeah,' Nico repeated.

'Okay. We're still cool, right?'

'I don't know; are we?' Nico asked, finally raising his head to look at Percy.

'Well... yeah. Yeah, we're still cool.'

'Cool.' Nico let himself smile, just a little, at Percy. Percy grinned back, nodding.

'Sweet. Well, I just want you to know... Bianca would be really proud of you, Nico.' Percy met Nico's gaze. 'We all are. Letting Octavian do that was really brave of you.'

Nico just wished everybody would stop talking about it, but nodded anyway. Before Percy could say anything more, Will reappeared with the two.

Nico noticed the sharp expression on Will's face when he spoke to Percy.

'Leo and Calypso are both fine,' Will stated, looking Percy in the eyes; his unspoken meaning was almost unmissable – like he was telling Percy to leave.

Percy thanked Will and jogged back over to the others.

Will looked at Nico in concern.
'Are you okay?' He asked.

'Yeah, I'm... I'm fine.'

'Did Percy do something?' He pressed, sounding edgy.

'No, no... he was just... talking about Octavian,' Nico finally managed to say.

Will winced, and his eyes slipped to the ground.
'Oh.'

'Will, I... I didn't want to let him do it.' Nico admitted, sighing. 'I just... I saw Hades while Reyna, Coach Hedge and I were bringing the Athena Parthenos, and he told me that some deaths could not be prevented... and... I knew, when I realised what was going to happen to Octavian that Hades was talking about that... Octavian would have done it either way.'

Will closed his eyes, sighing a little.
'I think I knew that. It was just against my nature to let somebody die.'

Nico didn't reply.

'Well, di Angelo – you going to go see Leo?' Will questioned.

'No, um... I think I'll just wait. I'm tired,' Nico answered, sighing a little.

'Finally!' Will exclaimed, smiling. 'Go to bed then, death boy.'

Nico rolled his eyes at Will one last time before making his way over to the Hades cabin. The beds, although they looked like coffins, were comfortable, and Nico sunk into the blankets and mattresses gratefully.

He'd been exhausted lately, but his dreams at least hadn't been anything to be concerned about. After all that had happened, Nico honestly just wanted to sleep peacefully.

-

Nico felt a sense of Deja-Vu when he awoke to see blonde hair, glowing from the rising sun, standing at the door of the Hades cabin; this time, however, it was not Jason.

'Morning, di Angelo,' Will greeted, smiling.

Nico was tempted to tell him to go to Hades so that he could get some more sleep, but settled for groaning into his pillow before glaring at Will.
'What time is it?' Nico asked, his voice lower than usual from not being fully awake.

'It's morning!'

Nico wanted to murder Will for how cheery he was being so early in the morning.

'I swear to god, Solace, if it's any earlier than eight...' Nico trailed off threateningly, staring at Will with an unimpressed expression.

Will scratched the back of his neck, laughing awkwardly.
'It's half past six.'

Nico shoved his face back into his pillow, cursing.
'Have I mentioned that I hate you?'

'Multiple times,' Will said with a nod. 'Anyway, get up.'

'What? No, go away. I'm not a morning person.'

'Clearly.' Will smiled a little. 'Please get up, Nico; nobody worth talking to is awake, and I'm bored.'

Nico let out a deep sigh, looking up at Will.
'Make me a coffee and I'll consider getting up.'

'Consider it done,' Will replied with a bright smile.

'White with three sugars.'

'How ironic – something sweet for a son of Hades.'

'Don't push your luck, Solace,' Nico warned, not really meaning it; if he was honest, Nico was glad to see Will's stupid face this morning – and he was getting a coffee out of it, which meant that it had to be good.

Once Will had left, Nico finally dragged himself out of bed to his closet. He pulled on a pair of black jeans and a dark grey shirt, then quickly put on his sneakers.

'Will is so annoying,' Nico mumbled as he made his bed, glaring at the blankets; he still wanted to redecorate, but he decided he was definitely not going to be redecorating with the skulls of monks.

'Is he?'

Nico almost jumped out of his skin.
'Father,' Nico greeted, pushing down any fear.

'A child of Apollo,' Hades mused, his lips turned up slightly at the edges. 'Curious – but he's not Jackson or Grace, so I already like him.'

Nico looked at his father cautiously. Since when did Hades approve of anybody? And why was Hades telling Nico?

The door opened, and Will walked in. Nico's gaze immediately shifted to him, and Will's eyes widened.

'Will,' Nico murmured. 'Maybe come back in five minutes.'

'No, no; it's fine, Will. I wasn't here for anything really important anyway,' Hades reassured.

Nico's suspicion grew; Hades was the lord of the Underworld, and he was being... nice? Was this a trick?

'Nico, I just want you to know; what you told Jackson the other day was brave, and I'm proud of you.' Hades met Nico's gaze. 'No matter what.'

'I...' Nico was beyond words, but he eventually composed himself. 'Thank you, dad.'

Nico just hoped that Hades could tell how much it really meant to Nico; conveying real emotion wasn't one of Nico's strong points. Nevertheless, Hades dark eyes seemed to shine before he nodded in reply and vanished.

Nico almost forgot that Will was standing at the door; he couldn't get over what had just happened.

'That was Hades,' Will stated.

'It was.'

'He was... a lot less intimidating than I expected.'

Nico nodded in agreement, silent. He obviously had known that Hades was aware to some extent that Nico was gay, but Nico would never have assumed that Hades would be caring enough to personally visit and say that he was proud.

It tugged at Nico's heart; Hades was actually making an effort.

'Well, here's your coffee.' Will walked over to where Nico was standing, handing the coffee to him. 'Your dad seems alright.'

Again, Nico nodded.
'Y-yeah, he's... he's cool. Um... thanks for the coffee.'

Will smiled, putting his hands in his pockets.
'No problem, di Angelo.'

Dedicated to @betweens for being the first vote :) comments and votes, I love them guys! if you're first to vote or comment, you'll get a dedication (yes, I'm resorting to bribing you guys into comments and votes)