Another one-shot by yours truly! Aaand HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
"When the moon comes up and the shadows are out to play- that's when you know di Angelo's here to stay." -me
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"I swear to the gods Percy- If you try to make me wear that I will summon a whole army of skeletons against you," Nico argued
"You've got no choice," Percy reasoned, "The party's costume only and this is the one Piper made for you."
"I'm not wearing that thing," Nico insisted, "I think I'm scary enough as it is."
His arms remained tightly crossed and he glared at Percy. On the other hand, Percy was completely unaffected. He merely held out the hanger with the costume on it. A large grin spread across his face.
"Well then," Percy said, "I'll just leave it here so Piper kills you instead of me. And if you change your mind…"
Percy tossed the costume on Nico's bed before leaving the Hades cabin to put his own on. With one foot out the door he stopped suddenly.
"Oh," Percy said, glancing over his shoulder, "and remember- Will is going to be there."
Nico grumbled incoherently. He knew Will was going to be there. Honestly that was the only reason he was going at all. He grimaced and reached out for the dreaded outfit.
Halloween at Camp-Half Blood was beyond the wildest dreams of most demigods.
The Demeter cabin grew huge pumpkins that were hollowed out and placed around camp. Nico brought skeletons out of the ground that the Hecate cabin charmed to preserve and animate. And of course the Aphrodite cabin had a tradition of making costumes for everyone.
As Nico stepped out of his cabin he noticed everything around him was lit up, and everywhere he went he saw ghosts and goblins, witches and mummies. When he saw a group of girls from the Aphrodite cabin he thought his eyes were going to combust. They had only scraps of fabric on. It was so indecent. (A/N 1940s Nico is rearing his head)
Nico hugged the shadows, searching for his friends, or at least a friendly face. But no such luck. If one of them had passed him or was nearby he had no way to tell with all the masks and make up.
He picked nervously at the fabric clinging to his body. Nico didn't even know what the hell he was. Even if he had access to the internet he wasn't sure what he would try to look up. Stupid looking kid in a baseball hat?
A few Ares kids snickered as they passed Nico so he sent them a cold glare. That was it- he couldn't handle the ridiculous costume Piper had given him no matter what. Will wasn't in sight and he didn't want the son of Apollo laughing at him either.
"Nico?" a voice called out uncertainly.
Nico spun around so quickly he almost tripped. Standing there in an outfit far stranger than his own was the reason he had come to this idiotic party.
Will's blond curls poked out from the loose hood of his neon yellow onesie. His bright blue eyes penetrated Nico's fading glare. Long yellow fabric ears hung from his hood and Nico could see a tail poking out from behind him. A light blush began to spread across Will's face at the sight of Nico's costume.
"Um," Nico stuttered trying to start a conversation, "...Do you know who I'm supposed to be? Because Percy wouldn't tell me."
"Oh- well, based on the hat and the gloves, not to mention the vest, I'd have to say you're probably Ash Ketchum from the Pokemon series," Will said.
"The what?" Nico asked, utterly confused.
"Don't tell me you've never heard of Pokemon!" Will gasped.
"Remember Will- until a few years ago I thought I was in the 1940s."
"Well you used to be obsessed with Mythomagic so I guess I assumed you'd be familiar with Pokemon. And the fact that Piper matched our costumes."
"She what?!" Nico sputtered his face turning more red by the second.
"I'm Pikachu," Will said gesturing to his costume, "Ash's partner."
Nico went from 'Kill Piper' mode to an embarrassed mess of a demigod in about 3.4 seconds. He would've made for a very convincing tomato.
Jason brushed by Nico at this point, slipping a piece of paper into his hand. As soon as the son of Jupiter was outside of Will's line of vision he gave Nico a big thumbs up and mouthed 'go get him!' making Nico flare up even more.
Nico glanced at the piece of crumpled paper in his hand, barely making out the uneven scrawl, 'One of Ash's catchphrases is "Pikachu! I choose you!" You're welcome!'
At this point Nico didn't think it was possible for his face to get any more red, but it was as if all the blood in his body had decided to defy gravity and rush to his head and neck. He really just wanted to go hide in his closet again- both the real and metaphorical ones- to get his friends to stop embarrassing him.
"That's it," Will said, "we're watching Pokemon."
He grabbed Nico's hand and began pulling him towards the Apollo cabin.
Nico was on the verge of fainting from how close Will was, but he somehow managed to utter a few words, "B-but what about the party?"
"Screw the party. This is more important," Will responded.
Nico was too stunned to argue and just let himself be pulled along and listen to snippets of conversations from the surrounding people. At one point he passed Jason, Percy, and Annabeth, but Piper was nowhere in sight.
"Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father! They should not be kissing, so stop making out!" Jason chastised them.
Annabeth simply threw her helmet at Jason and went back to kissing Percy, who was chuckling a bit at her well aimed shot and the son of Jupiter wheezing for air.
The noise of the party faded behind Nico and Will as they got closer to the cabin seven. Little lanterns hung from the porch, twinkling in the night. Now that he thought about it, Nico could see that the entire cabin was shimmering faintly. Will pulled him through the open door and toward what he could only guess was his bed.
From beneath the mattress, Will pulled out a laptop and placed it on the covers. He then shuffled through his trunk to find a small binder of DVDs. After a bit of searching he seemed to find what he was looking for and slid the disc into the laptop.
The son of Apollo sat down on the bed, leaning against the wall with the laptop on his lap. He smiled at Nico and patted the spot next to him. It took a few seconds for Nico to comply to the request, and even longer to accept the fact that Will decided to place his arm around Nico's shoulders.
Will clicked a few buttons and an image flashed up on the screen. Music began to play and Nico's jaw dropped when a character wearing a hat identical to his popped up.
"Is that supposed to be-" Nico began
"You?" Will finished with a smile. "Yup."
They sat there watching in silence until Professor Oak handed Ash a pokeball with a small lightning bolt on it and a little yellow creature jumped out of it soon after. Nico glanced sideways at Will to see him smiling again at the screen. So that's who he's supposed to be, Nico thought.
As they sped through episodes Nico began watching Will's reactions more than the show itself, and although he would never admit it, it made him smile just a bit. Will's eyes began to droop as midnight neared, and he started snoring softly.
Nico leaned into Will and whispered, "William Solace, I choose you."
I think I'm choking on fluff. What are you guys doing for costumes? Or what did you do if it's not Halloween anymore? I'm genderbend Jack Skellington and about three people have recognized who I am so far. -sigh- Well, eat lots of candy, get tons of cavities, and read fan fiction.
Sidenote that I'm randomly typing. So I have a younger cousin who's in a wheelchair because he has cerebral palsy, and he's missing half of his cerebellum so his balance is off. Anyway, I got a picture of his Halloween costume today and he decided to go as Charles Xavier from X-men, so he's got a bald cap and two trashcan lids on his wheelchair's wheels. I thought it was adorable enough to share.