Disclaimer: I do not own—nor do I claim the rights to—the Percy Jackson universe or any of its characters. All credit goes to rightful owner, Mr. Rick Riordan.

Here was the thing. Nico knew he was not that tall, even by European standards. He only stood at 152 centimetres at fifteen years old. Almost everyone else his age where in their 160's, which meant most people Nico's age were easily half a head taller than him. Then of course, there was Will; Nico's boyfriend. Yeah. He had one of those now. He still sometimes woke up, scared he'd made it all up in his head to not feel so alone, until Will was in front of him, smiling at him, giving his shoulder a squeeze, and just having this look in his eyes; like Nico was the best thing that had happened to him.

The problem with Will was, he was quite tall. He stood at 170 centimetres already, at fifteen, where there was still room to grow. This meant, Nico was a full head shorter than Will, just reaching his shoulders, and Will was not shy to remind Nico at any given moment he could. How did he rend Nico? Using him as an arm rest when they were side by side. They could be standing there, talking to someone about one thing or another, and then suddenly, Will would be leaning on his shoulder, clearly comfortable, with a shit-eating grin to boot.

The thing was, Nico wasn't one to complain. Not about his height, or his slender built. It came in handy during sword fight or capture the flag where they were all banned from using their powers. He found he didn't need the shadows to be invisible, and because he was so lite and petite, he could hide almost anywhere and be the element of surprise. He even found he enjoyed sneaking up behind people without the use of shadows and scaring the shit out of them. So if Nico had to be honest, he didn't hate behind short, or slender-built, or anything like that. He was fine with looking how he looked, maybe with the exception of those bags under his eyes he seemed to be constantly fighting.

The problem was not Nico's height. The problem was Will's height, and his insistence on using it for puns and joking around. When Nico helped out in the infirmary and had to use a stepping-stool for the taller shelves, Will would be there, in an instant, shouting at him.

"How's the view up there, shorty?"

"Shut up, Solace!"

And Will would walk off, laughing his ass off, as though he had done something incredibly smart by taunting Nico. Nico rolled his eyes more at Will on a daily basis, than he thought he'd done from the age of eleven to fourteen; and Hades made Nico rolls his eyes a lot during that time.

Despite the way Will used him as a shelf for his own convenience whenever he felt like it, it wasn't all bad. Neither Will, nor Nico, were big fans of PDA—Will had taught Nico what that meant when he was in the infirmary. It surprised Nico, since Will was a bit of a touchy guy, that he didn't really agree with PDA. They spoke about it one day, when Percy had come to see Nico, and then Annabeth had come, and then the two of them had kissed at some point, and Nico had gagged.

"Take that outside," he'd said.

They looked at him, Percy grinning, Annabeth giving an apologetic smile, then they left. Will came shortly after and sat by Nico's side, an amused smile on his face.

"What are you laughing at, Solace?" it was a challenge, not meant in spite, but with just enough bite to make Will chuckle.

"You're so old."

Nico huffed. "I'm fourteen, dumb ass."

"Your soul is old, Grandpa."

"Har, har." Nico didn't break eye contact. He stared Will down. Will and his amused grin. "I don't appreciate people eating each other's faces in front of me. If that makes me old, so be it."

Will had laughed then. Low and almost shy. He smiled warmly at Nico and made the skeletal butterflies play tag in Nico's stomach. "Me neither. If I happen to walk by someone who's smooching, that's one thing, but if we're having a conversation, I'd rather you not kiss."

"Exactly!" Nico agreed. "Not to mention, it is so rude!"

Will laughed out loud at that, then hummed in agreement. "It is." He took a breath and looked intently at Nico as he said his next sentence. "I would never do that if I got a boyfriend."

He stood and left before Nico could comment on that, and the statement stuck to Nico's brain for the remainder of his time. If I got a boyfriend. Will had said it so casually, like it was normal for a boy to want a boyfriend. If I got a boyfriend. Saying that so casually to Nico, as if he knew Nico had butterflies in his stomach whenever Will was near. If I got a boyfriend. Making Nico question if Will was throwing him hints, because Nico was not having that. If Will wanted to tell him something, he should have the courage to be forward about it.

After that, Nico challenged Will a lot more, and Will played along without a hitch. It was exciting, and so different, and funny. Nico couldn't remember the last time he laughed as hard as he sometimes did in the presence of Will Solace, and suddenly, everything moved along at once. Fast but sure, and Nico found himself pulling Will into a kiss one of the days, scoffing at him.

"Stop hinting at me, Solace. Learn to be forward."

Will smiled, mischievous and giddy, and chased Nico's lips until he stole a second kiss, and honestly, Nico was so overwhelmed he could have this he might have accidentally cried, so Will had to spend a good amount of time calming him down, and holding him, and shushing him. It felt embarrassing because Nico had been on his own for so long, and then it felt comforting. Will was always so patient with him. If Nico had a bad day, or a no-touch day, he could push Will away, and Will wouldn't even be sad about it. He would stay at a distance that allowed him to be close to Nico, but without touching hi, and then he would wait for Nico to feel okay with being touched. He waited with patience and kindness.

A hand snapped in front of his face, stirring him out of his thoughts. He looked up, into Will's familiar face. Blue eyes and blond hair, an amused smile painting his face.

"Where'd you go to?" he teased.

Nico looked around him at the other campers who were laughing and talking amongst each other, roasting marshmallows and making s'mores. He wondered how long he'd been spacing out.

"Just thinking," Nico shrugged.

"About what?" Will passed him a s'more. He took it and bit into it.

"Stuff." He replied, cringing at how dumb that sounded. "It's difficult to explain."

"Try me." Will challenged, bumping his shoulder with Nico's.

"You're tall."

Will gave a hearty laugh that had a few of the campers looking at them for a millisecond before going back to their marshmallows and s'mores. "Was that what you were thinking about this whole time?"

"Kind of."

Will gave him one of those warm smiles that seemed to make Nico fee warmer on the inside. As though his body had seasons inside it and Will cause summer to start.

Nico groaned and leaned into Will, fitting almost perfectly against his collarbones, his ear close enough to his chest to hear Will's heartbeat.

Yeah. Nico didn't mind being petite.

I think I had another idea to start with, but I like this. Fluff is good. Also, I don't know if I will be able to do tomorrow's (23rd August) Swap Prompt, since my boyfriend is visiting. If I do the swap prompt, it will likely be up late.