Nico walked into the iHop and almost immediately, his muscles loosened. The bright and harsh lighting was a huge contrast to the dark and hooded veil that covered the town outside. Nico closed his eyes and detected the lingering scent of pancakes in the air. Oh how Nico missed his safe space.
His trance was broken when a familiar voice asked, "Back so soon, Mr. Grim Reaper?"
Nico's eyes snapped open and half-heartedly glared at the man standing in front of him. He was tall and had broad shoulders. His curly, blonde hair was messy but in a put-together sort of way and went along with his tan skin. He had the bluest eyes that Nico had ever seen. (And believe him, he's seen a lot of eyes in his lifetime, some begging for mercy and some filled with fear.)
He was wearing a t-shirt with the classic blue apron over it. The man moved his hand in a two-finger salute as a greeting, effectively making his biceps flex a little. And man, if Nico wasn't staring before, he was now. (And maybe drooling a little. But that's not the point.)
"Hmph, whatever, Mr. Sunshine," Nico retaliated.
Will chuckled. "It's been months and you still haven't come up with another name, have you?"
Nico looked away and blushed. "I've been busy," he muttered. Then before Will could get another word in, Nico said, "So, are you gonna get me a table or what?"
To other people, this may have come off as rude but Will was used to it by now. He knew that Nico wasn't intentionally like that. Will smiled widely and swept his hands over the span of the empty restaurant. "Choose wisely, Nico!"
Nico laughed a little and pointed randomly at booth by the window near the entrance. "That one."
"Ah, good choice sir!" Will exclaimed in a horrible British accent. He led Nico over the booth and sat him down. "Should I even give you menu?" Will mused.
"Nah, you already know what I'm gonna order."
"I still think it's boring. Try something new!" Will coaxed.
"It's simple and a classic!" Nico said, a bit defensively.
Will laughed and his eyes crinkled at the edges. "One stack of pancakes coming right up!" He smiled and winked one more time before heading into the kitchen.
Nico stared at Will (and his butt) until he disappeared from his view. Then he sighed and leaned back in his seat, kicking up his feet onto the seat across from him. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the quietness in the iHop and let the comfort wash over him. Saying that his job as an assassin was tiring was an understatement. He had desperately needed a break, no matter how brief.
Somehow, Nico always ended back up at the same iHop whenever he had a break. Nico didn't know whether it was because the pancakes were to die for or if it was because of a certain blonde waiter. (He suspected it was the latter.)
He didn't know how tired he was until he was jostled awake from someone breaking through the glass window.
This effectively woke Nico right up and instantly, his muscle memory kicked in from all his training for situations like these. Nico leapt out of the booth, away from the broken glass and the intruder. He whipped out his knife that he kept on him at all times and pointed it at the intruder.
Said intruder was wearing a black ski mask and an all black outfit, similar to Nico's outfit, minus the ski mask.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Nico growled and sneered at the man.
"Can't tell you who I am but I can tell you this," the man said, his tone mocking. "I'm here to kill you." With that, the man lunged forward and swiped a piece of broken glass at Nico. Nico dodged and tried to stab the man's arm. However, the man kicked out his feet which knocked Nico over and sent his knife flying. "Man, I just wanted some pancakes," Nico murmured.
Nico scrambled to get up but when he did, the intruder made a grab at him. Nico kept dodging and the man kept following. Nico decided that he had dragged it out long enough and so in one swift movement, he jumped up and coiled his legs around the man's neck, as if his legs were a scorpion's tail.
The man stumbled backwards and onto the floor, clawing at Nico's legs, which were slowly getting tighter and tighter. Nico thought he had won.
Key word being "thought".
As a sharp pain shot up his right leg, Nico retracted his victory. He made a strangled sound and looked down to see that the man had stabbed Nico with his own knife that was conveniently located next to where they had landed. Nico's legs loosened its hold and the intruder took the opportunity to flip them over so that he was now trapping Nico.
Nico grunted in pain but he tried his best to fight back. But all his attention was seemingly going somewhere else and all he could focus on was the pain in his legs. The man raised the knife over Nico's chest and Nico's last thought was 'Guess I'm dying in an iHop'.
Well, it would've been if a shot hadn't rang out and all of a sudden, the man toppled over to side, clutching at his hand and screaming. Nico felt, rather than saw, the bullet whiz by, narrowly missing his face. He turned his head and was met with the image of Will holding a gun in his hand, a look of concentration on his face.
Nico was brought back to reality when the intruder groaned in pain. He quickly retrieved his knife and knocked the man out cold.
Nico took a moment to catch his breath and wipe the sweat away from his forehead. He scanned the room and observed all the damage he had done when he was fighting the intruder. He met eyes with Will and Nico's heart sped up.
The silence was eerie. Will had lowered his gun, though he still had a cold look on his face, as if all the features were hardened. Nico didn't know who would speak up first but he didn't have to dwell on it long because Will asked, "Who are you?"
Nico responded with, "Well, who are you?"
Slowly, the hard look was melting off of Will's face. His lips twitched upwards and he said, "Very mature of you."
Nico could feel his own lips form into a smile, despite the situation. He heaved a sigh and decided to tell Will who he was since he already saw what he did. "I'm an assassin that works under Olympus Agency."
Will looked shocked. "I'm also an assassin under Olympus Agency," he echoed incredulously.
Nico's eyes widened. He was surprised, yes, but it wasn't because that he had met another assassin. Assassins rarely met with each other and the Agency liked to keep it that way. No, Nico was shocked at the idea that Will was an assassin.
"You're an assassin? Wha—how? You're always so sunny and bright!" Nico said.
"Well, what about you? I knew you had the whole badass vibe going on but I didn't think you could kill someone in under three seconds," Will countered. Slowly, they were both walking closer to each other.
Nico blushed at the "badass" part. "Actually it's two seconds," Nico corrected under his breath.
That seemed to break the tension because suddenly, Will was laughing. Nico couldn't resist not joining in and so they laughed and clutched at their sides from laughing so hard.
After the laughing had died down, Nico said, "That was a great shot you made there." Immediately, his face burned and he looked away.
Will cleared his throat and replied, "And that were some awesome fighting moves you did there."
Nico glanced up at Will and noticed two things. One, they were standing really close to each other and two, Will seemed to be blushing too, a light pink covering his cheeks.
Up close, Nico could really see Will's deep, blue eyes and the way it shone in the fluorescent lighting. Nico couldn't help but get lost in them as they stared at each other.
"You know, you're really cute when you blush," Will said out of the blue.
Nico crossed his arms and looked down at the ground, his face becoming redder. "Oh yeah, well you're really cute and hot at the same time."
Will chuckled and gently uncrossed Nico's arms. He slowly brought him closer and closer and Nico let him. Soon, their lips met and they were kissing. It got deeper and deeper until Nico suddenly recoiled.
"What? What's wrong?" Will asked, concerned.
"We forgot about that guy!" Nico answered, pointing behind in the general vicinity of where the unconscious body laid.
Will's mouth went slack for a moment before nodding. "Yeah we should probably do something about him."
"I suggest we call one of the agents from headquarters and confine this guy."
"That sounds good. But boy, am I gonna have to come up with a good excuse to my iHop manager as to why the restaurant looks like this."
Nico giggled at that and Will shot Nico an amused look. Nico gave Olympus Agency a call and after that, Nico and Will spent the time talking with each other as they waited for someone to take the intruder away.
Finally, an agent arrived and dragged the man with them into a sleek, black car. Nico and Will stood outside the iHop and followed the car as it quickly sped out of view. It was still dark out and they had a lot of cleaning to do. Nico started to head inside when Will grabbed his hand before he could go.
Nico turned around cocked his head in confusion. Will let go of Nico's hand and nervously asked, "Would you like to go out with me sometime?" He chewed his lips as he waited for Nico's answer.
Nico gave Will a shy smile. He didn't have to think about that. "Yes."
A huge, dopey grin took over Will's face and he lit up like a Christmas tree. Nico's smile grew larger and his stomach fluttered at the sight. He didn't know how the whole dating thing would work out, what with both of them having busy schedules as assassins. But he did know that he wasn't going to let this opportunity go to waste and he certainly wasn't going to let Will go.
• • •
A/n: mmmm inspiration hit me like a mother-trucker for this one
Also midterms are finally over!! But I already know I got a few wrong for some of them smh.
I guess that's all the news I have for y'all? Okay, byeeee (and have a nice day)!
-Victoria :)