Will looked at the tree and sighed. He glanced at Lou Ellen, who tightly gripped an ornament while she stared at the sight before her.
"Wow," she managed.
"Wow, indeed," Will said.
Jason peeked from behind the tree and beamed. "It's huge," he noted. "It barely fit in the infirmary!"
"I noticed." Will swallowed and stared down the elephant in the room. "How exactly did you get it in here?"
"That's not important," Jason said quickly, ducking back behind the tree. "What's important is that it's here. Right?"
"Yeah, that does seem important."
"Will, I'm not an idiot."
"The current circumstances conflict with that statement, Jason. How am I supposed to fit campers through the doorway?"
"They climb through the window. Problem solved."
Will face-palmed.
"I can shrink it," Lou Ellen offered, but Will waved away the suggestion.
"No, that's fine. We can just try to push it to the corner."
"Great idea."
"Shut up. Do you have a better idea?"
"I can shrink it," Lou Ellen offered again, and Will rolled his eyes.
"Fine, but only if you-"
He was cut off by the sound of snapping twigs and, "What in the name of Hades-?"
"Nico!" Jason said, reaching around to help him out of the branches. Hades' son stumbled out, wiping needles off his face with his arm.
"Whose brilliant idea was that?" Nico demanded, glaring at Will. Will held his hands up.
"Don't look at me. Besides, it was your idea to come in."
Nico rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Blame it on me."
Will nudged him with his shoulder. "So, what are you in here for?"
"Dunno. Annabeth told me I should check it out. I see the tree's coming along... It's coming along."
Jason glared at Nico, pushing his glasses back. "Why doesn't anybody like the tree?"
"Because it's cramped in the infirmary," Will said, crossing his arms. "Why'd you insist on doing that?"
"Injured campers should have something decent to look at while you're healing them."
"I'm decent to look at."
"Will, what the heck."
Will grinned and turned to Nico. "You didn't hurt yourself again, did you?"
Nico's face turned pink. "No. I just told you why I came here.."
"Did you come to see me in all my decent glory?"
"Shut up."
"Aww," Lou Ellen said. "I see a fight coming on. Let's hug it out." She reached over and pulled Will and a begrudged Nico into a hug. Will sighed and rest his chin on Lou Ellen's head.
"Di Angelo, you smell like sunshine and unicorns."
"Why are you sniffing me?"
"I think the better question is how does he know what unicorns smell like," Lou Ellen commented.
"And I don't smell like unicorns," Nico grumbled.
"Really?" Will fixed his gaze on Nico, who tried to squirm away from Lou Ellen only to be squeezed tighter.
"Really," Nico replied.
"Let's see." Will leaned down and gently grabbed the back of Nico's neck, and a bolt of static seemed to surge from his fingertips, yet he ignored it and took a good whiff of Nico's hair.
"Hey!" Nico protested, finally escaping Lou Ellen's grasp.
"You definitely smell like unicorns," Will concluded. Jason laughed.
"Dude, sniffing people is just wrong, especially Nico."
Will grinned. "Yeah, I know. But his unicorn scent is uncanny."
"I totally get that, but it doesn't mean you get to sniff him." Jason climbed off the tree and walked up to Will, brushing needles off and sending them everywhere. Will frowned distastefully.
"You're gonna clean the infirmary," he decided.
"Sorry, I'm busy."
"No, you're not!" a voice sang, and Piper peeked out from behind the tree. "Do you guys need help in here?"
"No," Jason said defensively. "We've got it covered."
She stared at him dubiously.
"We would appreciate the help," Will said, and she beamed.
"Great! Where do I start?"
"Help us move the tree to the corner."
She observed the tree for a minute, her face paling. "Oh. Okay."
Lou Ellen grinned and tossed something at the tree. After a puff of smoke and a coughing fit from Will, the tree stood a foot tall, and ornaments that used to be on it littered the ground. Lou Ellen winced. "Sorry. I thought the ornaments would shrink, too."
Will shrugged and Piper grabbed the tree and set it in the corner. "Now we all can decorate." She glanced at Nico and grinned, and Nico blushed. Will frowned, but didn't question anything. He joined Jason and Nico as they began picking up the ornaments while Lou Ellen brought the tree back to its full height. Piper slipped away without a word.
"So, you excited for Christmas?" Jason asked, casting Nico a sideways glance. Nico shrugged, not meeting his gaze. Silence followed.
"I'm so excited," Will said, decorating the tree. "We know how to celebrate."
"Will, you're not old enough to drink," Jason said, and Will laughed.
"Haha, Jason. You can go straight to Tartarus."
To his surprise, Jason's eyes widened and he glanced at Nico, who looked more grim than usual. Nico caught Jason's concerned gaze and shot him a dark look.
"Buzz off, Jason. I'm fine."
Will looked back and forth between the two. "What? What just happened?"
Jason and Nico shared a silent argument, and apparently Nico won.
"Whatever," Jason grumbled. "Doesn't matter."
Will's jaw set. "You're kidding. Did I say something?"
"Drop it, Solace."
"Nico, you know you can-"
"I said drop it," he hissed, shooting Will a dark glare. Will bit his tongue, trying to ignore shattered feeling as his heart knotted. Nico sighed, and Will must have looked more upset than he wanted to let on.
"Look, I'm sorry. I just don't want to talk about it, okay?"
Will put on a smile. "Yeah, you're fine."
But what was it? Was it what Will said?
Haha, Jason. You can go straight to Tartarus.
He had heard whispers, rumors, he thought, that di Angelo had been there. Tartarus. He hadn't believed it, but if those rumors were true...
He'd talk with Nico about that later. When Nico was more open to him. They were becoming closer slowly but surely, but sometimes he felt that Nico was purposefully distancing himself. It was frustrating. He just wanted to move forward with Hades' son.
Nico was thoughtfully looking at his ornaments and carefully placing them on the tree. His eyebrows were furrowed, yet he seemed distant as if his thoughts were somewhere else.
He caught Jason frowning at him and realized that he was staring at Death Boy, and he quickly averted his gaze, becoming much more interested in decorating the tree.
Piper bounded back into the infirmary and paused only for a second before leaning down and helping with the ornaments. "So, Jason," she said conversationally. "How're the new cabins coming along?"
Jason sighed and pushed back his glasses. "It's taking a lot longer than I expected, but at least they're coming along."
"You know what I'd like," Lou Ellen said to no one in particular.
"Mmm?" Will replied, pinning a particularly stubborn ornament to the tree.
"A nice little bomb that will explode and reveal presents hidden within."
"That's nice."
"Yeah, I know."
"You know what I'd like?" Will said. Lou Ellen met his gaze and gave him a wicked smile.
"I think I do." She glanced back at Nico and Will rolled his eyes, facing the tree and putting on a couple ornaments.
"Dude," Jason said. "What do you want?"
"I would like..." Will finished putting the ornament of the tree and sat down, observing his work. "...you to clean up the pine needles you drowned the infirmary with."
"Will, you suck. Seriously, I need some ideas."
"Get him some more hospital shirts," Nico offered. "He said he had to trash a few last week."
Will grinned. "Aww, di Angelo! You know me so well!"
Nico looked away and stood up, and soon all the demigods were admiring their work. It wasn't until a nudge on the shoulder from Piper that pulled him back from his thoughts. She gave him a lopsided smile, pointed up, and took a step away. Will looked up.
Mistletoe.
"Hey, Will," Nico said, appearing in front of him. "I was wondering if you..." He stopped when he followed Will's gaze. He winced, and Will sighed. Then he noticed the few silenced demigods around him, staring at them as if waiting for something.
That's when it happened. Nico pulled Will down to his level and gave him a light kiss, then turned to storm out of the infirmary. Will couldn't move at first, yet he finally dashed out after Hades' son.
"Di Angelo! Nico, wait!"
Nico stopped in front of the Hades cabin, refusing to turn around. "What, Will?" he growled. Will froze, then lightly turned Nico around to face him.
"What were you about to ask me?"
Nico looked down at his feet. "The competition later, do you wanna work together?" he grumbled.
"Well, of course! And one other thing, Nico."
Nico sighed. "Look, Will, I-"
"Shut up."
Nico's eyebrows furrowed and his lips parted, yet he quickly masked his surprise. "Don't you-"
"That was hardly a proper kiss." He leaned down and pulled Nico towards him into the proper kiss, not caring about the stares from nearby campers. When he finally drew back, Nico stared at him with wide eyes, then a smile split his face, and Will felt his own grin widen.
"I'll see you later, Solace." Nico turned away and shut the door, leaving Will to face the gathering of questioning demigods.