Cops and Elves Don't Go Together
disclaimer: I don't own anything but plot.
a/n: two/three? shot here we goo!
He was a cop. He was a certified, trainer police officer. He caught criminals. He saved lives. He did not deal with 'santa and his elves.'
He normally worked as a detective, but he always volunteered to give an extra hand as a mall cop at the extravagant mall that was owned by his friends, Annabeth Chase and Piper McClean. Annabeth had designed the mall and began building when the buyer backed out. Piper had never planned on owning a mall or anything, but she said she simply couldn't let Annabeth's breathtaking designs go to waste. So she bought the mall and put Annabeth as a co-owner despite Annabeth putting in only a few hundred dollars herself.
And they were doing amazing. The mall was one of the most articulate designs he'd ever seen. The only problem was that the most expensive stores were spaced out quite a bit. Each jewelry store required an officer nearby, and there were at least 5 located all across the mall. That still left out all the other general stores that were also robbed often. So Nico always gathered his colleges and volunteered to help out for a cheap pay; there were few mall cops even in their large city.
He'd been doing that every Christmas season for five years, and not once did anyone ever insult him so much as to placing him with Santa.
He'd complained to Piper, but she said it was out of her hands. She said to embrace the Christmas spirit and spread some joy.
Well, Nico did not want to spread some joy. He had no joy to spread. Yet he somehow found himself on Santa's stage at nine-thirty in the morning the next day. The only perk to this job was the hours were few and far between.
When he made it onto the stage, he understood why they needed a cop with them. Between the fake winter trees and rocks and pounds of snow, Santa's kingdom was quite remote and tucked away from the outside world. He didn't even hear the hustle and bustle from the rest of the mall. The area was very open, and everyone was residing in the large gingerbread hut.
There were five people inside. Santa had his hat and coat off and Nico could recognize him as Gleeson Hedge, their old high school gym teacher. He was a short Santa, unfortunately, and the pants clearly did not fit him properly. But by the way he gave hearty ho-ho-ho laugh after a hearty ho-ho-ho laugh, he was determined to play this role. Beside him, listening painfully, was a talented photographer by the name of Silena Beauregard. She was also a friend of theirs and was definitely doing Annabeth a favor because he work far outshined shitty Santa pictures. Her boyfriend and temporary assistant, Charles Beckendorf, had her tucked into his side as she riddled with her camera, both giggling. Gods, they found this fun...
That left the two elves. One was, of course, Drew Tanaka. The first year, Percy was Santa. The second year, Jason was Santa. Nico believed that was the reason she constantly agreed to be an elf, all in hopes they'd come back. Well, she also clearly loved the outfit. Currently, she was caking her face in rosy red blush and sparkling highlighter.
The second elf was somebody Nico had known lightly and made out with often during his days back at high school. Will Solace was a bright, tan, blonde, blue-eyed hot jock. He was on the basketball team. And he was the guy always rumored to be gay. Nico had spent his days in high school sheltered in the closet, as did Will, clearly. Even their closest friends' suspicions were only confirmed during college. And Will Solace was always a mystery to everyone except Nico, who knew the truth and kept it locked away on Will's behalf. And partly his. They went to a small private school. Everyone knew of everyone. And nobody was gay. Not a single person in his class had ever came out or uttered a word...about themselves, that is. Nico had heard all the rumors of Will, and Will's rumors were probably the only reason people didn't start any about Nico. He had been painfully obvious, enough that Will didn't even ask him. He simply knew.
Now he was here, volunteering. Of course he as volunteering. He'd always been the nicest person on earth. It used to get on Nico's nerves. It still slightly did.
He didn't have more time to ponder about Will because Gleeson, more commonly just called Coach Hedge, spotted Nico and clapped his hands together. "Nico's arrived! Great!" At that, all heads turned to him. Most of them smiled, with the exception of Drew, who glared, and Will, who just...stared. It make Nico shift uncomfortably. It was like Will had thought him to be dead.
"Now we can get started. Silena and Beckendorf - you man the camera and position people. Will and Drew - one directs and takes the money, names, and all that, the other can lead the kids and families and make the reindeer hats. Hand out candy. You know - be an elf. Nico - you keep the creeps off me. I know I'm attractive, but I'm here for the kids! And take away anyone who's bat shit crazy or line slippers. You know the drill." He really didn't, but there wasn't much to it. "We start in ten, people!"
Nico could not believe he was actually here. Mall cops were one thing, but a Santa Cop? Why don't you take his masculinity card away then and there?
"You look very happy to be here," commented a smooth voice of lavender. Nico looked up and found the sparkling blue eyes crinkling at him. Will Solace in all his glory was extending a cookie toward him. "I know we don't have donuts, but maybe you can make an exception for me," he continued with a wink.
Nico snorted derisively. "I've been told never to take food from leprechauns - untrustworthy bunch."
Will looked like Nico had slapped him. "I - I'm no leprechaun! What sort or scam do you think we're running here?! I'm an elf!"
Nico spilled forward with laughter. "Where're your ears then, elf?"
Will's glare turned his face red. "I'll be back. No donut for you then, Scrooge!"
Nico follows him to his previous seat, smirking as he stole the cookie from his lips. He ate it in three bites while Will watched, completely astounded and insulted. "Delicious. Thanks, Solace."
"You're a smug little ass," Will said hauntingly, securing his ears in a dramatic manor so as to prove to Nico he was, in fact, an elf. Nico simply shrugged and smiled.
"Cussing put an officer...hmm, I bet that could get you a few days, maybe even a week."
Will's jaw dropped, and for a moment, fear pulled behind his eyes. Finally, Nico burst into hysterics. "You should have seen your face! Oh gods...chill out. I'm not a total dick, just an ass."
Will was a sputtering mess. He couldn't decide between which words to use, it seemed. "You - I - abuse of power -" and a bunch of other interesting insults.
Nico leaned against the table. "Hmm. Pretty sure I heard 'eat a dick' in there. Nice. Original. Very appropriate coming from Santa's elf."
With that, he patted Will chest and walked outside. Will didn't seem able to function without exploding for a good minute.
The area was still barren. Kids and families were most likely waiting outside the busy stage for one of the elves to open the gate. Nico took a spot between Santa and the entrance line. Drew and Will came out, both with completed outfits.
For a modest helper of innocent Santa, their outfits were far from it. Drew had a short, tight dress that hugged her curves and had a low cut. But that wasn't what Nico was looking at. He was looking at Will's outfit.
He was dressed in green leggings and a semi-long shirt that, when he bent over to move fake presents out of the way, rode up enough to give Nico a full view of his ass that had only seemed to grow rounder since the days of high school. His little boots jingled as he walked toward Nico, a firm frown planted on his face that was adorned in minor make up consisting of large red stains on his cheeks. His hat and ears only complemented his jaw line and general facial structure that looked nowhere near innocent or young enough to be deemed elf-worthy.
"Can I ask you a question or will you threaten to arrest me again?" Will asked hotly. Nico stepped beside him and grinned, hands on his belt.
"Only if you're into that," he winked. Will became a sputtering mess again, cheeks red without any makeup.
"Nico di Angelo. Where was this confidence back in high school?"
He grinned dirtily. "College taught me a few things."
Will shot him a impressed smile. His eyes ran up and down Nico's body. "It sure did." He noticed Drew squawking at him to open the gate and sighed. "Keep me safe today, will ya?"
Nico grunted in reply. "Of course. Just like I kept your secret safe in the locker room."
This time, all of Will's face turned bright red. He giggled and purposefully bumped into Nico as he passed by. Nico tried and failed to hide the grin that spread from that memory. It'd been so long ago, but he could remember it in every detail.
. . .
The clock was running down in the second quarter. Nico was between Jason and Reyna as they watched Will Solace bring the ball up the court. He held up two fingers and faked a shot before passing it off to the wing. Ten seconds to go. Will cut through the middle, rolled off a pick and got the ball where he plowed through the open side for a lay up. At the last second, a player double Will's size moved forward and thrust his body into the air bound Will. The ball went through the hoop, but Will came crashing to the floor.
He was down for a second before his teammates helped him up. There was a cut above his eyes currently oozing blood fast enough to slip into his mouth. As the buzzer rang, he spit out blood and glared heavily at the large player before strutting back to his bench where he swished his mouth full of water.
"Your friend Will seems pissed," Jason commented.
"He seems calm to me. I'd have decked the dude. That was such a penalty!" Reyna sneered.
Nico looked at her with disdain. "It's called a foul."
"Oh fuck off!"
He chuckled and watched the boys break from the huddle. Some grabbed balls and began shooting for the remaining eight minutes of halftime. Others, like Will, wandered off on their own toward the locker room. Except, Will caught Nico's eye very slightly before turning the corner and slipping past the door to the locker room and outside.
Nico tried to keep the butterflies in his stomach to a minimum. "I'm going to the bathroom."
Without a second thought, he escaped in the crowd that was aiming for the concession stand. Nobody saw him follow Will outside into the crisp night air.
The blonde was pacing, hands running through his hair, when Nico found him. He looked up and cursed under his breath. "Finally," Will groaned, stormed towards him as if Nico had been the one to lay him out. Will's hands pushed Nico back against the wall. He stepped in close and briefly memorized Nico's smug grin. "Gods, you're hot."
Will's lips slammed on Nico's within seconds, and he couldn't remember a better feeling. It was like the world came to a stop and all he could feel were his hot hands and wet lips. Their tongues collided for dominance, and their hands were groping every area possible. He could taste the metallic tint of blood on his demanding lips, but that only made it so much hotter. Their kissing was fast and heavy and full of desperation. There was no stopping a kiss like this. It was building and building full of utter need for the feel of the others lips on their own.
Nico soon moved on to Will's neck, eliciting addictive, quiet moans from the basketball player. His fingernails dug into Nico's back as Nico continued to suck and bite just above his collarbone, completely forgetting about the fact that everyone would be able to see it as he played the second half of the game.
The buzzer game the two-minute warning and Nico broke away, leaving Will to whimper in response. He quickly pressed his lips to his for one second and snorted. "Alright, super star, get back out there and beat some ass."
Will wrapped his hands around Nico's waist and pulled their bodies against each other's. "I'd like to beat your ass instead."
Nico grinned devilishly but pushed away. "Go!" He urged, shoving him in the direction of the grin by slapping his butt.
Will jogged off, but not before yelling over his shoulder, "Meet me in the locker room thirty minutes after the game."
An excited fire was started in his stomach at his words. They'd never done anything past making out, and he had no idea where Will was headed with this. Licking his lips, Nico walked back into the game as the players broke away from the benches. Will glanced into the stands and winked, but nobody except for Nico knew who it was to.
"Took you a while," Reyna goaded, but Nico shrugged.
"I was hungry."
"You're never hungry."
"I was just now. Oh - ouch!" Nick distracted Reyna by pointing out how Will once again got slammed into the wall by the enormous player. This time, his lip was the cause of the steady line of blood running down off his chin. They had to pause for him to wipe the blood away before it stained his jersey, and then they were off again.
It wasn't a close game. The other team lost by points, but they made up for it in injuries. Will wasn't the only one beaten and bruised, but he was the only one Nico cared enough about to pay attention to. Holding an ice pack to his hand, Will vanished into the locker room with the rest of the team.
"You ready?" Reyna asked.
Nico froze. He'd forgotten they'd given him a ride to the game. Piper and Jason were talking animatedly to the cheer captain, Silena, while waiting on Reyna and Nico.
"Uh, I forgot. Will had my binder. I'll wait for him. He'll probably give me a ride home."
Reyna's eyes burst into flames. "You're sending me off to be a third wheel to my ex and his new girlfriend? Seriously!?"
Nico cringed. "I'm sorry, Reyna. See if Percy can-"
"The guy who rejected me!?"
Nico tilted his head and thought for a second. "You are making this very difficult."
"Oh, you're an ass!" She hit him hard enough to send him back into his seat. Then, she stormed away. Nico felt bad, but not too bad. He waited, counting each player and coach as they left the locker room. It wasn't odd for Will to stay behind and shoot. They'd even given him his own set of keys.
So when everyone was out, Nico knocked on the locker room door twice. Will dashed to the door and opened it with a grin. "Hey."
"Hey." Nico grinned. With his good hand, Will grabbed his arm and pulled Nico inside. The locker room was nice. It had a couch facing a TV in the middle and large wooden cubbies for each player lining the sides with small chairs placed in front of each. "Wow. I'd come in here during lunch and sleep."
Will laughed, falling back on the couch with a huff. He replaced a new ice bag back on his hand. "That's because you're consistently sleep deprived." Nico shrugged, sitting beside Will and kicking up his feet. "Well, I was gonna offer to do something more, but I really can't with my hand."
Nico spotted patches of blue and black across the back of his palm and cringed. "Yeah, no kidding." He smirked devilishly. "I'm fine with the usual," he purred, swinging a leg over Will's form.
Will's smile lit up. His good hand wrapped around Nico's boys and pulled him close. "Well, if you insist..."
Nico's hands wound through Will's golden locks as their lips melded together. There was still a faint taste of blood, and Nico's tongue quickly licked over where his lower lips was busted. Will laughed into the kiss, his tongue running over Nico's lips as well.
They were too good at kissing by this point. They'd had too much practice. It'd almost be an insult if they were to try something new because this was just too good.
Maybe that was why they, after sneaking around and making out for a solid two weeks, were finally caught in their deciphers.
The door came open by the hand of two laughing guys. Will and Nico didn't even have time to look up before they stopped laughing completely. They were staring, open mouthed, at the pair who quickly scrambled away from each other.
"What the fuck."
"You faggot! We always knew about you, Solace!"
Nico didn't know the two staring at them with pointing fingers, but they were still in their uniforms. Clearly, they were part of the team. He had no idea what they came back for, but it didn't matter now.
He spared Will a glance and felt like their world was falling apart. "No - I - I..." Will stuttered helplessly. The blue in his eyes was starting to pop, something he only did when he was in tears.
Nico felt rage course through his veins. These idiots had no right to call him that. They hurt Will, and that was not okay with Nico.
"What? Pussy cat's got your tongue? Oh that's right - you don't go near them!"
"Your gay ass boyfriend can't even speak!"
"You're defiling our locker room, too, you queer shit! That's it!" And as one of the boys advanced on Will, Nico found himself in the way, fists clenched. His eyes bore into the guy, who was slightly taller than he was, but it made no difference to Nico.
His fist connected with his face with a loud smack. Will flinched backwards. The boy clutched his face and stumbled to the ground. "You've got to be joking! Kill that fag, dude!"
On his command, his friend launched himself at Nico. It was only instinct at this point. Nico side stepped and then used the kid's momentum to slam his head into the locker. The other guy lunged at Nico's legs, and then Nico was on top of him, pounding fist after fist into him. When he stopped struggling, Nico got off and threw a few good kicks into the second kid.
And then they were silent, groaning on the ground and clutching at their wounds. Nico stood, wiping off his hands. Then he knelt next to the first guy and fingered his gold chain. "You want to keep your mouths shut or this might happen again, yeah?"
Their nods were forced and slow due to their pain, but Nico wasn't finished.
"I'm doing you a favor, truly. Wouldn't want the world knowing you two got beat up by a couple of fags, would we?"
It was like the two hadn't even thought of that. They shook their heads in fear, as if they'd rather get beaten up again than have that news leaked. Nico jerked on the chain. "Not one word to Will, about Will, or even a thought. If I hear one thing about tonight...you won't have to worry about sharing the locker room with him anymore because you won't be able to walk. Am I clear?"
"Y-yes."
Nico sneered one last time and stood up. "Get out. Now."
Despite their wounds, the two disappeared quite quickly. Nico was left with bruised, bleeding knuckles and a shell-shocked blonde boy.
"Why'd you do that." Will asked in a hollow, dead voice. Eyes of scorn and despair stared at him.
Nico tried to steady his breathing. He knew why he did it. There was no question. "They're going to tell people anyways."
Nico gritted his teeth. "Maybe."
"Are you going to beat them up again?"
Nico clenched his jaw. He hated the look on Will's face, like Nico had been in the wrong.
"I don't know, Will. Maybe."
Will had tears in his eyes. His hands were shaking. It was painful for Will to look at Nico, and he saw the words written in the blue orbs the moment he finally did hurt himself long enough to meet Nico's gaze. "I - I can't."
He felt anger building inside him again. He felt the red hot heat running through his blood, washing over all rationale. "You. Can't. What."
A tear escaped onto his cheeks as his lips trembled. "I can't do this anymore, Nico. I-it won't end well."
"Will."
"Better save ourselves the pain."
"Will, stop it."
"Let's just - act like we never knew each other."
"Stop it, Will!"
"If we don't remind them of us, they'll forget about it."
"No they won't, Will. Please, stop talking. Just stop."
"Yeah. Yeah, and we'll ignore anything they say. Deny it until we die."
"Will please!" Nico cried out. His hand gripped Will's arm desperately, and he was surprised to feel hot tears of his own dripping down his cheeks. "Don't do this," he whispered.
Will shook his head distantly. "I'm sorry, Nico. I have to."
It wasn't in the words that finally hit him. It was his eyes. His gorgeous blue eyes. He'd given up. He'd given up without even trying. Nico wasn't worth that much to him, so he'd given up. It was an easy decision for Will, something he didn't even have to think over. It was simply...done.
"Fine," Nico gasped, jerking his hand away. He didn't say another word. "Fine. Have a shitty life, Will Solace."
. . .
Nico never did hold a resentment for Will. He couldn't. He liked him too much. He wanted him to be happy too much.
His eyes watched Will the entire first hour. He watched the way he smiled. He watched the way he bent down to talk to each impatient, bratty child. He watched the way his blue eyes would make their way back to Nico every once in a while.
In the span of three hours, Nico had to escort two men away from Drew, though she seemed like she didn't mind the extra hands. That was about as interesting as it got before they finally got a break. Most of them made their way into the cabin, but Will had other plans.
He walked up to Nico and pretended to fall with exhaustion at his feet. "Help me, officer. I need help."
Nico squatted down and peered at Will curiously. "You don't want my help."
Will giggled lightly. "Yes I do."
"The only place I'm helping you to is my bed," Nico snorted. Will bit his lip and wrapped his hands around Nico's neck.
"That'll do."
With a heavy eye roll, Nico stood up, pulling Will along with him by default. Will didn't release Nico immediately. Instead, he sidled even closer to him. "So, which one of these are you gonna use on me?"
Nico threw his head back in laughter. "I should have only knew you'd be kinky," he snorted. Will blinked curiously, staring down at the belt separating them. With a sigh, Nico decided to answer. "Handcuffs. Maybe the baton...if you're naughty."
"Me? Naughty?" Will feigned to be shocked. One hand snakes around Nico to grab his butt. He leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "Never."
Nico gave him a dirty smirk and gripped his hips, ready to attack him with a kiss that had been building for years. He was unfortunately interrupted by somebody clearing her throat behind them.
"Well this would be an unfortunate turn of events had any children or parents been present." Piper chirped sardonically. Eyes struggling to tear away from his blushing beauty, Nico looked up. By the grin on her face, Nico instantly came to a realization.
"You planned this," he gaped, releasing Will from his grasp. He owned a look of surprise as well.
Piper looked around impishly. "When I heard Will Solace, the one and only high school boy who interested Nico di Angelo was volunteering for the holidays, how could I not pair you two together?"
Nico crossed his arms over his chest. "There were many other ways of getting us together that didn't involve me being reduced to a babysitter."
Piper blushed sheepishly. "This was the most fun way, though!"
Will pursed his lips before growing a smile. "Hmm. Piper, was Annabeth a part of your plan?"
She looked apprehensive, and so did Nico. The expression on his face was similar to one that their rule-breaking friend Nico wore often, though Will pulled it off with more grace than Leo. "Yes...why?" Will whipped out his phone. "Wait - Will, no! You-,"
Nico was lost so he peered over Will's shoulder curiously. His eyes widened as he read the message Will was sending to Jason. Nico decided to read it out loud just to hear Piper's life come to an abrupt halt like his did this morning. "Hey Jason, it's Will. I just wanted to let you know that Piper and I caught up and she's still as madly in love with you as she was senior year when she refused to go to prom because you didn't ask her. Figured I'd let you know."
"Damn. Revenge looks good on you," Nico muttered, surprised at how turned on this scheme made him. Now Will was texting Percy, but Piper had already ran off in futile hope of repairing what had been sent. "Hey it's Will. Annabeth and I caught up since I came into town last night and she confessed that she's been waiting on your to kiss her for years now. I know you've been in love with her since freshman year, so a little advice? Next time you see her, just kiss her."
Nico scowled. He'd known for years about Percy and Annabeth, and Jason and Piper to be honest. He simply thought if he could come out of the closet to multiple people multiple times, then they could all man up to one person once. "That was almost...nice. Dammit, Solace, you suck at revenge." Will put his phone away. He had smile, but Nico could tell it was forced. "What?"
He looked down and shook his head. "Nothing...it's just," Will bit his lip and met eyes with Nico. Guilt splayed painfully across his beautiful face. It looked odd there; it didn't belong. "She reminded me of high school...and how horribly I treated you."
Nico winced at the memory. He scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "It's okay. It was a long time ago."
Will wrung his hands. "It's not okay."
"It's not like I don't understand, Will. You were scared. So was I. I get it." Nico stepped forward and grabbed his hand. "Look, it sucked afterwards. I'll give you that, but you did sort of make up for it on prom night."
Despite his melancholy expression, Will struggled for a smile. He squeezed Nico's fingers lightly and looked up. "That was pretty great, wasn't it?"
"Yeah..."
. . .
a/n: so this is a little random Christmas special that kind of went off track but eh idc it was written on my phone and the formatting is crap soooo I hope you enjoy it for fun bc it's not anything amazing. But feel free to leave your opinions and such every criticism and compliment helps! Who wants the second part of this!? And why?