Nico di Angelo crept slowly towards his cabin. He glanced left and right, and finding the course clear, walked as fast as he could without upsetting the resident in his bomber jacket. He was almost at the door of Cabin 13 when he nearly collided with something. No; someone: Jason Grace.
He was about to yelp but he quickly regained his composure.
"Hey, Jason. What are you doing here?"
Jason looked straight at him and smiled. "I thought I'd check up on everyone. It's Christmas break and I haven't seen some of you in a while. Percy should be here soon too." He turned his head this way and that, as if trying to spot him somewhere.
"So…just visiting?"
"Yep. It's good to be here. Hey, what's wrong with your jacket?"
Nico continued to stare ahead, barely looking at Jason but through him-at his cabin. "What's wrong with my jacket?" He asked as casually as he could, but he could feel the creature moving around in it.
"What are you hiding in there? Is it something from the underworld?" Jason looked wary.
"Nothing. There's nothing in here" Nico replied, patting the lump in his jacket.
"Meow", came a sound from inside Nico's bomber jacket.
Persephone's gown, thought Nico. The thing didn't make a sound all the way here from the shelter. He had discarded the portable home they gave him at the base of the large pine tree at the entrance of the camp and tucked the now restless animal in his jacket. He thought that would be less conspicuous, even if a bit awkward.
"Is that a cat?" Jason raised his eyebrows, then scrunched them together. "Why do you have a cat hidden in your jacket?"
Nico sighed. He knew he could trust Jason, but he still needed to get inside the cabin. Will was bound to come looking for him soon-the guy was relentless.
"Can we go inside first? I'll tell you afterwards."
"Sure." Jason moved aside and Nico hurried forward and unlocked the door. Jason followed him in and closed it behind him. Nico stood in the middle of the room and unzipped his jacket. Immediately, a green eyed, fluffy ginger kitten jumped out. It ran a lap around Nico, then headed towards the bed and jumped up on it, resting its little head on the blankets.
"Lively little thing, isn't it?" Jason grinned, looking back from the cat to Nico.
Nico took a breath. "It's for Will. An early Christmas present." He paused, then continued, "I thought he might like the company. He's at camp all year round, and he loves animals so yeah..." he finished up lamely.
Jason was looking back at the cat, but he nodded.
"And it's ginger because-
"Yes. Gods, this is embarrassing." Nico raised his head up to the ceiling.
Jason let out a laugh. "No, it's sweet. So you're not going to wait till Christmas to give it to him?"
"Oh no, no way. I can't keep him here. He makes so much noise, everyone will find out and will want to pet him. I just need to keep him here till the afternoon."
Jason went to the bed and sat beside the cat, petting its tiny head as it purred.
"But you can't keep it in here alone?"
It wasn't a question; Jason saw the problem in Nico's plan. Nico just shrugged helplessly.
"Okay here's the plan: I'll babysit the kitten here and make sure he doesn't break anything. You go out and see Will, act natural. If someone asks about me, tell them you didn't see me around. Deal?"
Nico sighed in relief. "Yes, sounds good. Thanks, Jason, really. I'll go out and see Will in the infirmary before he comes here." Nico rushed out of the cabin. He stood outside by the door to gather himself up. Will dropped some hints that he'd like a pet, even if unconsciously. And a cat seemed the most suitable thing for him. He thought the cat even looked like him; bright eyed and full of energy. The woman at the shelter said it liked to cuddle, too.
Nico opened the door of the infirmary. Will was seated at a desk, reading. When he heard the door open and close he raised his head slowly from the book and his face broke into a smile when he spotted Nico.
"Hey!" He exclaimed, spreading his arms wide. Nico walked slowly towards him, keeping his smile in check and gave him a quick hug, while Will held him tight. He let go a couple of seconds later and asked: "And how are you, dear?"
Nico rolled his eyes and kept his face neutral. "I am fine. It's not as cold here as it is outside the camp"
"Yeah, Mr.D isn't in the Christmas mood. I'm hoping Chiron might convince him to let it snow a bit, for the new camper kids to play." Will gazed at Nico's face for a second, before his eyes slid to his plain dark shirt. "I see someone else isn't in the Christmas mood either."
Will was wearing an orange and green Christmas sweater over gray pajama pants. The sweater looked horribly bright, it was almost glowing.
"It doesn't matter, really. And it's not even Christmas yet, today's the 22nd"
Will just nodded. "I knew you'd say that." He paused and bent down, taking a red clothes bag from under the desk. "However, I had someone from the Athena cabin make this for you. Consider it a preliminary Christmas gift." He handed Nico the bag.
"What do you mean preliminary Christmas gift?" Nico said as he took the bag and looked inside. A black shirt was folded inside. Nico took it out and spread it in front of him, revealing a thick woolen Christmas sweater, midnight black with stripes of gray and patterned with white skulls.
Will noticed the hint of a smile on Nico's face and grinned, peering from behind the shirt. "You like it?"
"Yeah. Yeah, thanks, Will."
He moved forward to hug him, but Will was already on his feet.
"Merry Christmas, Di Angelo" he said into his ear.
"Don't be so formal."
"Should I call you Angel then? Sweetheart?"
"Gods, Solace, can't you spare a moment?"
Will let out a laugh, and Nico couldn't help but laugh either. They broke off and Nico decided to put on the sweater-just to check if the size was right. It was. He kept on anyway and wore his bomber jacket over it.
"How did you know my size?"
"I looked at the shirt label while hugging you the other day."
Will just laughed as Nico looked stunted, but before he could say more Nico shook his head and said: "Come on, I need to show you something."
He was going to wait till the afternoon, but now was as good a time. There was no one in the infirmary and the sooner he gives it to Will the better-for him and Jason. He just needed to go in before Will and tell Jason to leave, it was no problem.
Will followed Nico outside, he walked on behind him until they reached Cabin 13. There was a lot more noise than Nico expected coming from inside. He told Will to wait outside, while he went in and closed the door quickly behind him. He looked around and froze in the doorway.
"What?" was all he could come up with.
"Oh hey Nico. Merry Christmas!" greeted Percy
Nico didn't reply. His attention was caught by a triumphant "Done" coming from the corner of the cabin. He turned to see Leo Valdez dusting his hands and smiling.
"Oh Nico! I fixed your LP player. The cartridge needed changing, nothing serious. And honestly, why use an LP player when you can have me make a better-
Leo continued to talk as Nico glared at Jason, who looked abashed. "I'm sorry, Nico. Percy came looking for you, said he had to give you something. But instead he saw me and decided to stay." He sighed. "And him," he pointed at Leo "said he was curious to see what the inside of your cabin was like and decided to sneak in when he thought no one was in there. But he bumped into us and you know." Jason broke off, smiling sheepishly.
Nico wasn't angry. He looked around the cabin, nothing was burned or broken. The cat was stretched in Percy's lap, toying with something hanging from his jacket. Nico started to speak but music came blaring out.
"What the-"
"Sorry, sorry!" said Leo "I was just trying it out!"
Just then, Will came in. "Nico what's going on here?" he said loudly, the last word echoing louder as Leo turned off the record player in time. There was an awkward silence, broken by Leo saying "At least we know it works perfectly now."
Jason and Percy got up and greeted Will, who grinned back and waved. Taking the hint, the two began to leave, Jason glancing at Leo, who looked lost for a second but then followed suit. Jason patted Nico on the shoulder as he left, while Percy nodded smilingly at will-who nodded back-and handed Nico the cat. Leo rushed past, saying "Merry Christmas", with his index finger on fire.
Will and Nico were alone in the cabin now. Holding the cat in his arms, Nico turned around and faced his boyfriend, who had his arms folded and was smiling curiously at him. Nico continued to stare at him, the cat rubbing its head on his chin. Then, in a dazed state, he pushed the cat forward and said "Merry Christmas, Will."
"Oh." Will's smile got wider as he took the cat and cradled it, looking as happy as ever.
Nico sagged in relief. "I thought you might like him." He said, not looking directly at him. "I didn't want to spoil the surprise, so I told Jason to look after him for a while." Nico wasn't sure there was anything to explain. It was awkward, but nothing has happened. If anything, he was happy Will liked the gift and that Jason and Percy looked after the cat. And Leo fixed his record player, which was nice of him. Really, he didn't understand what was going on.
He looked at Will, who was staring at him. "What?"
Will just leaned forward and kissed him.
"Thanks for the gift, Nico. It's really lovely and cuddly."
Nico grinned, blushing.
"Come on, let's give little Apollo here a tour of the camp."
"Oh you already named him?"
"Of course, love"
"Could you please not?"
They walked along holding hands, playfully bickering as it started snowing, peppering Nico's dark hair with white and pilling up on the cabin roofs.