Random idea I had. I don't own PJO or the gymnastics headcannon.

Will 1/4

Will was going to one of his most recent favorite places – the Hades Cabin. Will had recently put it upon himself to break down a certain son of Hades' barriers. He figured the best way to do that was to pop in to said son of Hades' cabin randomly and annoy him with whatever popped in Will's head. If Percy and Jason could be Nico's friends, why couldn't he? So that was all that Will was expecting from this visit - he was definitely not expecting what did happen.

When Will reached the Hades Cabin, he hopped up the steps and, completely expecting the door to be locked, he put his full weight on the handle. The door swung open and Will stumbled inside, surprised. When he looked up into the cabin, he was shocked by what he saw. Nico was sitting on the floor wearing black basketball shorts, black undershirt and black socks, but that is not what had surprised the son of Apollo: it was the position the son of Hades was in. Nico – the Ghost King – was sitting in the middle of his cabin doing the splits.

"Nico?" Will asked shocked.

Nico looked up, just noticing that Will was there, and quickly pulled his legs out in front of him. "Really Will? The one time I forget to lock the door?"

"What were you doing?" Will asked.

"Sitting in my cabin?" Nico replied, although it sounded more like a question, and Will could tell from looking at Nico's eyes that he knew that Will wouldn't buy it.

"You can do the splits?"

Nico shrugged in response and looked at his feet in front of him.

"That is SO cool!" Will exclaimed.

Nico looked back up at Will. "You really think so?"

"Yes!" Will thought he saw a glint of excitement in Nico's eyes mixed with relief.

"Will you at least close the door?" Nico asked.

Confused, Will turned around to see the cabin door was still wide open from when he had stumbled in a few moments ago. "Oh, yeah." When he turned back around to face Nico, the son of Hades was sitting on the edge of his bed.

Will walked over to the bed across from Nico and sat down. "I have always wanted to learn how to do the splits, but I knew that my siblings would make fun of me if I even told them I wanted to," Will said, looking at Nico in amazement. Will knew that his friend would be trying to figure out if Will was being truthful, so he tried to put as much truth behind his voice as he could. "Can you do anything else? Like backflips or something?"

Nico gave Will a funny look. "You really do like that stuff," Nico stated.

Will could feel himself blushing slightly. "Yeah," Will unconsciously rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away from Nico. "Hey, can you do the thing where you hold your hands out to the side, and as you jump, you touch your toes? Like doing the splits in midair?" Will looked back at Nico in time to see him give a small, almost imperceptible, nod. "You can!?" Will exclaimed, a little too loudly. He saw Nico jump, but was too excited to feel too guilty. "Can you show me? Please?" Will asked, giving Nico his puppy eyes.

"Maybe later."

Will stopped, knowing that that was the best offer he would get.

"I have something to show you." Nico said suddenly, as if he had to say it fast, or else he would lose his nerve.

"Okay?" Will said, unsure of what to expect.

Nico got up and walked over to the door and locked it. Then, he went back to his bed and moved a skull pillow that was leaning against the wall. It had been a gift from Hazel, and Will knew that Nico would never get rid of it for that reason alone, but apparently it was also hiding something. After Nico moved the pillow, Will could see a tiny keypad on the wall. Nico punched in some numbers too fast for Will to catch what they were, and what happened next completely shocked Will.

Part of the ceiling in between Nico's bed and the corner of the cabin started coming down. The section of ceiling was a circle, about 2 feet in diameter, and when it hit the floor, Will could see that it was a tight spiral staircase. Will looked at it, speechless.

Nico walked over to the first step and hesitated, as if steeling himself for what he was about to do. He looked at Will, saw his shocked face, which must have been priceless because he smiled slightly, and motioned for the son of Apollo to follow him as he went up the stairs.

Quickly, Will jumped up and followed him. When his head poked up through the hole that the staircase had made, he gasped. There was a whole second floor! From the outside, the Hades Cabin didn't look like it could have a second floor, but here, Will was looking at it. He quickly climbed the rest of the stairs and stood on the second story's floor. He looked around, amazed. There was gymnastics equipment everywhere except for a strip of clear space along one wall where, Will thought and hoped, Nico could do flips. It looked crammed to Will, but he thought Nico probably had it organized somehow. All of the equipment was black and gray with some yellow spread around. The floor was all gray padding with yellow tape along the outside so it was easier to tell where the gray floor met the gray walls. "This is incredible," Will whispered. Then, realizing that Nico was probably waiting for a reaction, said it louder. "This is incredible!"

Will turned to see Nico watching him. He saw the anxiety in Nico's eyes fade with a kind of hopeful expression. "You actually know how to use all of this?" Will asked excitedly. He had to suppress the urge to go run around asking what everything did, but he knew that Nico probably wouldn't appreciate that, especially since he seemed so insecure about it.

"Yes?"

"Could you show me how you use all of this?" Will asked, gesturing to the whole room.

Nico looked at Will tentatively. "Would you want to try some of it?" Nico asked.

Will's eyes widened. "I probably can't do any of it," Will started. He saw Nico deflate and added, "But I'll try whatever you think I should. I just haven't done anything like this before. I would love to be able to though."

Nico perked up and turned around to face the wall. He reached out a hand and opened a cabinet that Will hadn't noticed was there before. Will couldn't see into the cabinet, but when Nico turned around, he had something white in his hands. "Here, put these on." Nico said, throwing the pile to Will. The son of Apollo caught the pile and saw that it was white basketball shorts and a white undershirt. "And take your shoes off." Nico added.

Will quickly took his shoes off and headed over to Nico, who was holding a door open. Will went inside and realized it was a small bathroom.

When Will came out of the bathroom, Nico was standing over in the clear space by a wall. Will headed over, a little nervous at what Nico might make him do.

"I didn't know you owned anything other than black." Will said, looking at the white clothes he was wearing. Will smirked; "And the Hawaiian shirt," he added.

Nico rolled his eyes. "I thought we agreed to never bring up that mishap again." Nico narrowed his eyes. "Unless you would like a reminder of helping deliver Chuck."

Will's eyes widened and he zipped his lips shut.

"Despite what people may think, I do own other colors; I just don't wear them outside of my cabin. How do you feel about a handstand?" Nico asked, changing the subject.

"Umm, I will probably fail miserably." Will replied.

"Okay, well, you have to start somewhere, so we'll try it against the wall."

Will hummed nervously.

"You'll be fine, Will. It's really not that hard. I'll show you first."

"mm'kay"

"So first you put your hands near the wall," Nico said while demonstrating. "Then you use one foot to kick up from the floor and up against the wall. Your other leg will follow the first. The trick is to keep your legs and torso straight the whole time. Make sure you don't push up too hard, or you will hit the wall and bounce off. Don't do it too lightly either, or you won't get up high enough." Nico pushed off of the floor and his body went up, barely touching the wall. "Then, to get down, you bring one leg forward and the rest of you should follow. If you land with both feet on the floor, the momentum should bring the rest of to your body up." Nico did what he had just described and was suddenly standing beside Will again.

Nico looked at him. "Like I said – easy."

"Okay…" Will said, his voice wavering a bit.

"I'll help you. You won't learn anything if you don't try it."

Will bent down placing his hands down close to the wall. "Is this good?"

"Yep. Now just kick up, keeping your body as straight as you can."

Before Will could decide against it, he took a deep breath and did as Nico said, trying to judge how hard to jump. He felt his body go up and hit the wall, his body gently bumped off, then rested against the wall again. He felt something on his ankles and saw Nico's black socks in front of him. He let out his breath; Nico must be holding his ankles against the wall. "Good, a little forceful maybe, but I think it would have worked. I didn't want to chance you falling over on the first try. I think I'll help you down. Ready?"

Will tried to reply, but the only sound that came out was a grunt.

"Okay, try to keep your body straight." Will felt Nico move one ankle down toward the floor while keeping the other against the wall. When the first foot was almost halfway down, Nico started moving his other ankle down. Just when Will felt like he was going to break in half, his feet hit the floor and his body went up. This only took a couple of seconds, and Will was rightside-up again. He immediately felt dizzy and put a hand on the wall to help steady him. "Are you okay?" Nico asked. "You're really red."

Will put his other hand on his face. "The blood had rushed to my head."

"Oh, yeah. I guess you get used to it." Nico said. "I'll show you something I have been working on if you want."

"Yes!"

"Are you still dizzy?"

"No, I'm good now."

"Okay," Nico said as he started to walk toward the middle of the room. "I don't have this perfected yet, so don't be surprised if I fall down or something."

"How long have you been doing this gymnastics stuff?"

"…Bianca used to want to be a gymnast-"

"So you did it with her! That is so cool! I am sure that none of my siblings would do it with me."

"Yeah, well, it's actually pretty useful in fights and stuff too. It makes it easier to get out of the way quickly, or jump on top of monsters."

Nico stopped in front of a piece of equipment that had two strings hanging down that were attached to little rings. "Okay, so after you can do a handstand on the ground without the wall for balance, you could try this, but it took me a long time to be able to do it at all." Nico walked in between the rings, facing away from Will. He grabbed the rings and took a deep breath. Then, Will watched as Nico jumped up, flipping himself over so he was upside down. He straightened his arms and was shaking very badly.

Will took a step forward and Nico hissed "I got this." Will reluctantly stepped back and watched in absolute amazement as Nico pulled his legs together and stopped shaking quite so much. Nico's face was starting to go red from the strain and he let out a long breath. Then, he loosened his hands just enough for his body to swing back around. There was a thump and an Italian curse from Nico and there he was, standing in front of Will on one leg, holding his foot.

"That was fantastic! I would never be able to do that!" Will was almost hopping up and down with excitement until he realized that Nico must have hit his foot on the way down. He took a step forward to look, but Nico waved him away.

"It's fine. But I shouldn't walk on it yet." Nico said.

Will had to resist the urge to double-check, but knew that Nico probably knew what he was talking about. He probably got hurt a lot in here. "What do you do if you get hurt in here?" Will asked, concerned.

Nico shrugged and used one hand to point to a first aid kit in the corner.

"But, what if you like, break a bone or something? You've never come in to the infirmary before saying that you landed wrong after doing a flip or something. I would have remembered that."

Nico sighed. "Remember when I came in with a broken arm about two months ago? Right after the war with Gaea?"

Will didn't even have to think about it. "Yeah, you said you were in the woods and a hellhound came out of nowhere and attacked you. I was surprised that you didn't have any scratches."

"Well, what actually happened was that I was on the trampoline." Nico gestured to a large trampoline in the far corner. "I was trying a triple backflip for the third time I think and I was too close to the edge. I hit the metal edge with my arm."

"Oh… what if you hit your head and blacked out or something?"

Nico shrugged. "Hasn't happened yet." Nico put his foot on the ground. That whole time, Nico had been standing on one foot and he didn't lose his balance at all. Needless to say, Will was impressed. Nico started walking away, limping slightly and Will followed. "How good is your balance, Solace?"

"Umm, I don't know. I don't need to have a lot of balance. I usually just need to walk around."

"You've never ridden a skateboard?" Nico asked.

"When I was really little. Not since I came to camp."

"Okay, next is the balance beam." Nico said, his limp had gone away already and he stopped by the long beam.

Will stepped onto it and immediately almost fell off. He stuck his arms out to the side for balance. The beam was about 10 feet long and about as wide as Will's foot. Nico stood beside Will on the floor and held up one hand. "If you start to fall, grab my hand. It should help steady you."

Will was surprised. Nico was letting Will touch him. After two steps forward, Will saw why. He started to tip and grabbed Nico's hand with his left. When he stopped shaking, Will started forward again. "Thanks." Nico nodded. After another three steps, Will wobbled again. This time, he couldn't catch his balance until he put one foot on the ground.

"Try again." Nico said as he took a couple of steps back to the start of the balance beam. Will looked at how long the beam was. He had only made it about 3 feet. Not even halfway.

This time, when Will stepped up onto the beam, Nico hopped up in front of him, facing him. He held out his hands a little. "It might be easier to use both hands to steady yourself."

Will nodded. He looked down at the beam in front of him and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. He noticed Nico taking small, quick steps backward, not wavering at all. After three steps, Will wobbled and grabbed on to Nico's hands. His hands moved, and Will was afraid he would tip Nico over, but then he realized that Nico was pushing him so he would be standing straight again. "Thanks," Will said.

"No problem." Nico replied. Will took a few steps forward, a little distracted because Nico actually didn't flinch for once when Will had touched him, and his foot slipped. He made a desperate grab for Nico and missed his hands. He grabbed Nico's shoulders instead. Instinctively, Nico ducked and stepped off of the beam, leaving Will to fall off after him. He landed on his back. "Sorry." Nico said, holding out a hand to help Will up.

"No, it's okay, I'm sorry I missed your hands." Will said, taking Nico's hand. When he was standing again, he saw a glimmer of amusement in Nico's eyes. Will sighed. "I'll try again." Part of Will was jumping up and down at seeing Nico having a little fun, even if it was because Will fell down.

They both went to the beginning of the beam and started again, the same as last time, with Nico in front of Will, ready to help him if he needed it. This time, Will only needed help three times and he made it to the end. Nico hopped off the end neatly (facing the wrong way, the son of Hades didn't even need to look!) while Will stumbled down, a little less gracefully.

"Will,"

"Yes?"

"I hate to tell you this, but your balance sucks. We'll have to work on that."

Half of Will pouted. He couldn't be that bad. The rest of him was celebrating that

1 Nico had said 'we' so Nico would still help him.

2 Nico sounded like this would become a normal thing for them to come up here.

3 Nico is AMAZING at gymnastics and didn't mind helping him.

Outwardly, Will sighed. "Okay."

Nico looked at him, worry showing in his dark brown eyes. "You do want to come back, don't you?"

Will's eyes widened. "Yes! Yes, I do. I really do. Nico this is so cool, I definitely want to come back."

Nico relaxed and headed towards the stairs. "Good, I would kind of like to have someone here with me."

Will grinned. He knew Nico wasn't as antisocial as he claimed. "I can't believe you haven't told anyone about this. Nobody knows about it except me, right?"

Nico suddenly spun around and looked Will right in the eyes. "Yes, and if you ever tell anybody, I will send some skeletons after you. Got it?"

Will looked directly back at Nico. "Got it. Your secret is safe with me."

"Good."

Will walked back to the bathroom and changed back into the clothes he had arrived in. When he came out, he handed Nico his clothes back. The son of Hades shook his head. "Keep them. If you are coming back, you'll need them."

"Okay, thanks. Hey, if I come back, does that mean I get to see you wear different colors?" Will couldn't resist teasing Nico just a little, and it seemed a little safer to tease him about his clothes rather than the fact that he can do gymnastics.

Nico sighed as he started down the stairs back to the first floor. "I suppose so."

"Awesome. I bet you look great in yellow."

Nico stopped and looked back at him. He raised an eyebrow.

"What? I've never seen you in yellow and it's my favorite color."

Nico continued down the stairs. "Stereotypical son of Apollo."

Will gasped dramatically. "Says the son of Hades who no one has ever seen with any color besides black on." Will avoided the Hawaiian shirt issue this time.

"Hey, I do wear the Camp Half-Blood shirt."

"After washing it with all of you black clothes enough times for the orange to become a dirty brownish color."

Nico shrugged. "What can I say?"

Will snorted. "So, should I come over tomorrow after the infirmary?"

"Yes, I mean, if you still want to."

"Of course I will." Will looked down at the clothes in his hands. "Um, should I leave this here? I'm only going to use them here, and I don't want anyone asking where I got them or anything."

"Oh, yeah, good point." Nico took them back and watched as Will let himself out. "Bye, Will."

"Bye, Nico."