just a little solangelo ficlet. also anyone who ever says they like their coffee black can't be trusted.
Nico drinks his coffee black.
When Will first discovers this, his immediate thought is Nico only drinks his bitter bean juice without milk or sugar because it makes him cool or something. Nico is surprisingly aware of those kinds of things.
It's not until several months of knowing one another that Will finds out the truth.
Nico, no surprise, is more or less nocturnal. His closest relative after Hazel is probably a bat. So when Nico is forcibly dragged from bed-which is anytime before two in the afternoon-by Will, or Hazel or Percy-and-Jason, the first thing Nico does is make himself a cup of coffee.
"When I'm that groggy, I don't even taste it." Nico tells Will one morning at about ten. The only reason he's up at such an early hour is that Nico has to cover one of Percy's classes in thirty minutes.
"Really?" Will asks. The son of Apollo feels great. He was up at six with the sun-his first glass of OJ was hours ago.
Nico nods. He's actually looking a little more awake now that he's halfway through his second cup of coffee and the muffin Will had snagged him from breakfast at eight that morning.
"At this point, it's a caffeine delivery mechanism."
Will buys him a lot of novelty mugs for his birthday and Christmas from there on out. If gross, black coffee is Nico's "caffeine delivery mechanism" of choice, it's at least going to come in a nicer container than a chipped white mug.
(Will still doesn't know why Nico can't just have a 5-Hour Energy and love himself.)
Nico collects a Jack Skellington mug, a mug with little glow-in-the-dark skulls all over it, one with the Italian and Venetian flags on it (at first purely as a joke gift, but it's quickly one of Nico's favorites) and finally one with a floral design. The last one makes the son of Hades look a grunge-hipster-wannabe but somehow, he pulls it off.
It's not until they start dating that Nico finds out Will's beverage preferences.
"Never was a coffee person," Will says as they walk out of a Starbucks in Manhattan, hand-in-hand. It's become one of their frequent date spots because it's close to camp and Nico can easily get his caffeine fix.
Now that it's starting to cool of, Will doesn't feel like ordering a berry refresher anymore. Nico went with his classic caffé americano (no matter the weather) and Will decided to order a chai tea latte with skim milk. Nico had taken notice.
"That doesn't surprise me though," Nico says, sounding pensive, "Whenever I offer you coffee you dump like half the sugar pot into it." He pauses as they wait to cross the street and head to Central Park, "You know, you could've just told me you don't like coffee."
Will finds himself blushing and it's not just because of the November chill. "Didn't want to seem rude," he mumbles into the collar of his down vest.
Nico rolls his eyes in that loving but exasperated way of his and drops the subject.
The next time Will goes over to Nico's cabin to spend some time with his boyfriend, Nico doesn't offer him a cup of coffee. Instead, Nico reaches on his tip toes to grab something off the high shelf of a cabinet in his kitchenette.
In his hands his a box of herbal tea and a Rapunzel mug.
He's embarrassed, Will realizes, when Nico pushes the box and mug into Will's hands with a quiet, "Your siblings said this was a kind you liked."
It's definitely a kind he likes and the mug is cute too. Nico knows him so well.
His boyfriend is still standing there awkwardly with the tips of his ears bright red. That won't do, so Will puts down his gifts and sweeps Nico into a hug. The startled boy squirms for a minute before getting comfortable.
"You're cute, Nico. Thank you."
"Mm, I'm death and destruction. I'm not cute."
"Adorable," Will amends.
Nico makes a face, but pulls away to make Will a cup of tea anyways.