A oneshot that takes place in the same universe as the rest of the fic, but is not connected directly. I plan to continue this story like this, in the occasional oneshot, but it will still be classified as "completed."
"Hey Nico!" Will said, smirking, as he strode over to the Hades table where Nico sat behind a plateful of taco and next to a Jason.
"Yes, Will?" Nico asked, slightly wary. Yesterday, after Jason finished his lesson teaching the baby campers, as they had taken to calling the under-13s, remedial swordsmanship, Will and Nico had wrapped themselves up in a little wager. A quick sword fighting match, where loser had to complete a dare of the winner's choosing, and Jason played referee. The game and bet was proposed by Will, and Nico readily agreed, never having lost a sword fight with Will. But when Nico used a skeleton to hold Will back just before finishing him off, Jason declared him a cheater and Will won by default.
"I've decided what you'll be doing for your dare." Will grinned, and slid into the seat next to Nico, careful not to sit too close as to make Nico uncomfortable.
"And what would that be?"
"Well it has multiple parts, but the first step is going with me to the bonfire tonight."
"Seriously Will? You know I hate sing-alongs. And I'm not the biggest fan of fire, ever since that...accident...when I tried out the forge. Never again, I swear to gods."
"I'm sorry about the fire, but I'll be sure to not let you get burnt. On the other hand, if you do, that would mean spending time together in the infirmary."
"Shut up, Will!"
"Will not. And you not liking sing alongs is part of the dare."
"Gods, I hate you."
"You love me."
"I can do both."
"Sure, sure."
"Now, eat your taco, and then we can walk over to the campfire, okay?"
"I'm full, actually."
Will tried not to roll his eyes at Nico when he said that, then looked over to Jason. "How much of his dinner did Nico eat?"
"Don't worry Will. He had about a taco and a half. He's been eating well for a while now." Jason responded, while Nico groaned at the both of them.
"Really? Playing doctor again, Solace?"
"Only for you, Nico."
"Well doesn't that make me feel special."
"If you guys are just going to keep flirting, I'm going to go find Piper. I'll see you around."
"Jason!"
"Nico! Seriously, though. I was about to go...hang out with Pipes anyway."
"Yeah, I'm sure you'll just be 'hanging out' with her," Will said, a little eager for Jason to leave him and Nico alone.
"Ugh, just stop talking the both of you!"
"Sorry, Nico," they both said simultaneously. Jason then waved at the pair, and walked off.
"So what's the next part of the dare, after the bonfire."
"During, actually. And you'll see."
"It's not singing or anything is it?"
"No, it's not. Don't worry about it, it's nothing too bad. But we should probably start heading over, it looks like all the Apollo kids other than me and those on their shifts at the infirmary are already there."
"Fine," Nico huffed, and stood up slowly next to Will who had already hopped straight up from his seat. After Nico noticed Will eying his hand, Nico smiled a little and grabbed Will's, to which Will responded with a light gasp and huge smile. And a desperate urge that he held back to hug Nico super duper duper hard. And he knew the opportunity would come as soon as Nico's dare really began.
Once the pair had arrived at the campfire pit, hand still in hand, Will began to explain the conditions of the dare. Meanwhile, some of Will's siblings were cooing at the sight of them hand holding, and Kayla passed. After the rules were explained, Nico just about threw a fit.
"Hey, you're the one that agreed to the bet. And this is the dare I've chosen. Now turn around, or I might just take back what I said about no singing."
"Oh, Hades. Fine. Let's just get it over with."
"Come on, Nico. I mean, if that's really how you want to be about it. I'm sure my siblings wouldn't mind you joining them up there."
"Please, no. Just put the chain on." And so Will put a loose rope chain around Nico's neck, and tied it together in the back, so that the little wooden sign could be clearly seen in the front.
"Free Hugs," it read.
Nico was so close to shadow traveling to China, but if he did, Will promised to make him spend a week in the infirmary after, and then wear the chain anyway. And any complaining would result in him singing, something Nico avoided always, but a million times more when there were people around. And people were already filing in, saying their "hello"s to Will and generally eying Nico strangely.
"Hey, I'm going to go talk to a couple of the patients I've been working with. I'll be right back, okay?"
"Come on, Will! Don't leave me alone up here."
Will was hoping Nico would say that. "Well, if you want, I suppose I could take you with me. You might like them."
Nico shrugged. "As long as I'm not being let alone up here. Let's go."
Will slipped his hand back over Nico's, and stood up. "Come along then. And don't even think about hiding your sign."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Nico mumbled, but Will still caught it and smiled coyly at him.
They got to the bottom of the amphitheatre area and Will walked towards a boy about eleven years old with salt and pepper colored hair, with a little girl hiding behind him. The boy was an obvious Hermes kid, but Nico couldn't see the girl clearly enough to tell.
"Will!" The boy said, gleefully.
"Hey, Sammy! Have you met my friend, Nico?"
The boy—Sammy—shook his head. "Travis said he was a meanie," he whispered.
"Nico? Please. I'm sure Travis was just playing a fun prank on you. Nico here is one of the nicest guys in camp.
"Oh yeah? Prove it."
"Easily." Will said, right before he bent down to the little girl hiding behind Sammy. "Hi, Lucy."
"Hi, Will," she said, coming out from her cover. Nico could see that she that she a tooth missing right near the front of her smile, that she was about six or seven years old, and that she had adorably big brown eyes that matched the color of her hair. Will leaned in and whispered something to her, then smiled at Nico.
After Will stood up, smiling and eagerly nodding at Lucy, she began to walk forward to Nico, and tugged a little bit at his shirt.
"Hi there," Nico said, feeling a little awkward, but mostly surprised at the girl's actions.
"Hi. Willy said that you're giving out free hugs."
Nico looked up suspiciously at Will, then smiled at Lucy. "Yep. Do you want one?" he asked, and Lucy grinned and nodded, showing off her missing tooth again. Nico immediately bent down and gave the cute girl a tight squeeze, then released.
"It was nice meeting you, Lucy."
"I like you!"
Nico grinned sheepishly and blushed, and the girl hugged him a second time, which he returned.
"So, Sammy. Still think Nico here is a meanie?"
"Well, not if Lucy likes him."
"Good. But next time, I'm sure your own judgement will do fine, as long as you don't give too much heed to what the Stolls try telling you."
"Thanks for the advice, Will. And, Will?"
"Yeah, Sammy?"
"Thanks for taking care of us in the infirmary this past week."
"Of course. But right now I'm going to go back up to my seat. Real quick, though, would you like a hug from Nico? If you didn't notice, they're free."
"Uh, sure." Sammy said, and shuffled over to where Nico stood. "Um, can I have one?"
Nico smiled kind of unsurely, and bent down not as much as he would have liked to have to to give this boy a hug.
"See you around," Nico muttered, then went back up to their seats with Will.
"Who were those kids?" he asked once they were relatively alone.
"They came in together a week ago. One of the satyrs found them hiding at their church camp. Two weeks after it was supposed to end. I mean they weren't you after the battle with Gaea bad, but they were far from good."
"Wow...do you know who the girl's godly parent is?"
"No, neither have been claimed, but Sammy's pretty obviously a Hermes spawn, isn't he? Probably good, since he and Travis are already best friends. but I'm not sure about Luc. I think she might be one of Persephone's? Or that's my guess is what I mean to say."
"Huh. Yeah, maybe. Do you know if she was born somewhere between 9 months after the beginning of spring and the end of summer?"
"Yeah, beginning of January."
"I guess Persephone wouldn't be a bad guess. But I know she doesn't really do much with guys that aren't Dad. So kind of hard to believe."
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
"Guess so," Nico replied, as Percy came up next to him.
"Hey, bro. Since when did you go to bonfire? I don't think I've seen you at one since the day we brought you—what's that around your neck?" Percy rambled, then leaned in towards Nico, and laughed when he could read the chain Nico wore.
"I want a hug!"
"No."
"Come on, Nico. You know the rules."
"Fine! Here," Nico said, then quickly hugged Percy.
After Nico let go, Percy looked over the both of them. "So what's this about anyway? Not that it's bad to wear a Free Hugs chain, but it's pretty out of character."
"Lost a bet," Nico groaned.
"How many people have you given hugs to so far?"
"Including you, just three."
"Will, you should really do something about that. Not much of a dare is it?"
Will smiled at Percy, "S'pose not. I might figure something out for this one later.
"Just don't have too much fun," Percy smirked, then sauntered off to find Annabeth, leaving behind a practically fuming Nico.
A few minutes later, Malcolm came by to say hey to Will, and, in the middle of their conversation, Will suddenly leaned in and dropped his voice so Nico wouldn't be able to hear. Malcolm chortled quickly before they both stood back a step apart, and Malcolm made his way over to Nico, eying the sign around his neck.
"One, please." Malcolm said with a smug smile.
"I'm sorry?" Nico asked, rather befuddled, as Malcolm gestured to the "Free Hugs" sign Nico adorned. Nico rolled his eyes and quickly hugged the Athenian boy. Four hugs and Nico already desperately wanted out. At least it wasn't too easily seen if Will wasn't pointing it out, and luckily, Will promised nothing would be publicly announced about his dare, though Will could still point it in a small group.
By the end of the night, Nico was relieved. He was relieved that there was no more of that god-awful singing. He was relieved he managed not to burn his marshmallow. Mostly, though, he was relieved the chain was about off, and he hadn't even hit a double digit of hugs. After Malcolm came by, Nico had also been forced into embracing Cecil, Kayla, and a cute little boy from the Athena cabin that functioned almost as Malcolm's delayed shadow. And that was it. As all the campers began to dissipate, Nico reached his hands to the back of his neck, about to undo the rope's knot.
"Uh-uh," Will clucked, "you didn't really think you were getting off that easy, did you?"
"What do you mean?"
Will laughed at the flustered boy, "That you're not done hugging yet."
"Who's there to hug? Pretty much everyone's already gone to their cabins, and none of the ones that haven't are looking anywhere near us."
Will rolled his eyes, then looked straight into the younger camper's. "Nico..."
"Hmm?" He responded, once again confused for what must have been the 500th time that day.
"Hug me," Will said with a smirk.
Nico looked down at his feet in hesitation, the pink in his cheek quickly reddening. Before he could think about it too long, he had his arms wrapped tightly around Will's, and stood more intimately with him than he had even with the little girl, Lucy, who the first hug had gone to. Before he knew he was being lifted, Nico found himself being held entirely by Will's arms, his feet off the ground and he had to restrain himself from wrapping his legs around Will. After standing like that for another moment, Will let Nico down, but their hands remained connected. The couple walked in silence to the Hades cabin where Will dropped Nico off, as both secretly wondered how much longer until they're getting dumped in the lake.