NICO'S POV
Will and I followed Brizo through the large crowd who had moved onto another song and had long forgotten Will and I's performance. Brizo let us up to a small, tin-can like trailer that was parked directly behind the stage where the concert was being held. On the front door, he had a bright yellow star that read, 'BRIZO' in all capital letters.
Will shot me a suspicious glance and I gave a weary smile to reassure him. It didn't seem to work as Will's eyebrows furrowed together in suspicion as we climbed the stairs together.
"You sure you know this guy?" Will whispered as Brizo drunkenly fiddled with his keys at the front door.
I wasn't sure. The Brizo that I had met during my days in the labyrinth was a bit more… risque than this one. Gods change form on a whim, but the man I had met was a fallen warrior. A soldier wanting nothing more than to reclaim his honor. This mess of a man was like a drunken, wannabe celebrity.
"Ah-ha!" Brizo explained as the only large, bronze key fit into the small lock on the door. After he fiddled and cursed with it a bit, the door opened with a creak and I expected to be hit with the smell of polyester, booze, and cigarettes. Instead, the well lit interior revealed a mansion like room with spiraling marble pillars holding it up, a bar, a full sized bathroom, a Jacuzzi, a swimming pool, and a large puzzle couch that sat in a pit in the middle of the grand room.
"Woah." was the only thing that came out of my mouth. Brizo ushered us in quickly complaining about the cold, and I stumbled into the humongous room.
The ceiling was painted with amazing works of art of angels swooping from the heavens and patron saints reaching out to meet them. Brizo noticed me admiring it and stated,
"Ah yes. Michelangelo painted that for me himself. Fine man, he was." Brizo muttered and I rolled my eyes at his passive nature. Meanwhile, Will was about to fall over dead from taking in all of the beautiful architecture, and art.
"It's a Tardis." Will muttered to me.
"A what?" I muttered back. Will shot me a look of shock before shaking his head.
"Modern reference. I'll tell you later." I decided not to push it and took a cautious seat on the puzzle couch next to Will.
"Yes, yes! Take a seat. Can I get you boys anything? Brandy? Whiskey? Wine?"
"No thanks." Will answered dryly.
Brizo shrugged and poured himself a glass before sitting down next to us, sprawling his arms out across the back of the white leather couch.
"Now." he put his feet up. "What do two demigods want from me?" He asked.
Will sent me a look and I returned it before answering.
"We're trying to get to Hawaii." I answered trying to pry my eyes away from the vault ceiling artwork.
"Ah Hawaii. Good honeymoon spot." He muttered while taking a sip of his drink. I blushed a bit and Will jumped to our defence.
"No, no. It's on official Olympus business."
"Ah. No time for pleasure than." He shot back and gave me a wink. I shuddered in disgust.
"I suppose you want help…" Brizo mused.
"Yes."
Brizo nodded thoughtfully and gazed up at his handcrafted Michelangelo original as if it was a habit of his to do whenever he was deep in thought. Finally, Brizo was brought down from the realistic brushstrokes and turned back to us.
"Help comes for a price you know."
"Do you take cards?" Will asked. He pulled out our solid gold Olympus card and slid it across the crystal coffee table toward Brizo. He scowled and waved it away.
"I don't want your Olympian electronic money." He complained. Will put the card back into his wallet and scowled.
"Well what do you want?"
"A kiss."
I reeled back in further disgust. My lips curling up in repulsion.
"You want us to kiss you?" I yelled incredulously. Brizo's eyes widened and he shook his head swiftly with a loud laugh like a cowbell.
"Not me! Heavens if either of you kiss me, you'll kill each other. That red chord isn't for show. It's the real deal, boys." He reminded us with a stern tone and a shake of his finger. I looked down and studied our chord. It was it's usual crimson color, maybe a bit brighter than normal. Pulsing like a living, breathing thing.
"So who do you want to kiss?" Will asked. Brizo groaned and rolled his eyes.
"No, no. I want you to kiss each other. That red chord of yours emits magic when stimulated. It's very concentrated and powerful. I could conjure up a boat easily with it."
I shot a panicked glance at Will but he didn't meet his eyes. He fiddled with the cord around his wrist without making eye contact. I waited for Will to say something but he remained silent.
"In front of you?" I asked, swallowing the lump in my throat.
"Well I can turn around if it makes you feel any better."
It didn't.
Will glanced up from his hands and angled his body to face my own. His warm hand encased my own for the second time that night. He shuffled closer to me before checking to make sure Brizo was turned around.
"It's now that big of a deal." Will muttered.
"I guess not." But I knew my voice sounded shaky and uncertain.
"After all we are soulmates." I glanced up at Will. His blue eyes like steel, and his hair swept back over his ears. I wanted to reach up and run my hands through the thick locks. Just to see what they felt like. To know if they were as soft as I imagined them to be.
I nodded and Will leaned forward before I could compose myself. His lips were soft, but cracked around the edges due to our journey in late autumn. He tasted like the air after a storm and felt like the storm itself as I tightened my grip on his hand, I felt our chord pulse powerfully in response.
"More!" I head Brizo exclaim. "I need more magic, go on blonde boy! Kiss him!" I heard Will let out a soft growl which would have been the hottest thing I had ever heard until when his hand left mine and attached itself to my messy black hair and I was pulled closer.
Will took it upon himself to open his mouth and capture my lips in a deeper kiss. I felt the warmth of the inside of his mouth as we discarded the tight lipped peck and delved deeper. His hair tickled my eyelids gently, his nose angled to fit against my own, and I heard him take a deep breath and recapture my lips.
My hand flailed during all of this. I wasn't sure where to put them. Putting them on Will's hips would be awkward considering he is so much taller than me, and I would go for the winding them around his neck but he was so close to me I was afraid I would elbow him in the ribs.
Before I could react, Will pulled back. Our lips connected by their own chord of saliva and Will swiped it away quickly in embarrassment.
I watched Will with wide eyes before glancing at Brizo who was on his knees beside us collecting bright red sparks that jumped off of Will and I's soulmate chord quickly. The chord was bright red and seemed to be vibrating.
Once the bottle was full Brizo stood and examined the contents which had settled into a red dust.
"Soulmate magic. Very rare." Brizo announced as he placed the small vial into his coat pocket.
"I thought you needed that to make a boat for us!" I asked trying to keep my glaze away from Will and his now swollen lips.
"Consider it payment. I have a ship leaving for Hawaii at noon tomorrow at the western docs. Be there." He said cheerfully before taking his now empty glass of whiskey and refilling it in his bar. I jumped off the couch and stalked toward the minor god.
"Asshole." I hissed and Will grabbed my hand. My mind short circuited and I blinked, glancing from Brizo back to Will. Will also looked somewhat upset at the stunt that the sailor God had pulled but motioned toward the door.
"Nico let' just go." Will muttered. I felt my anger deplete a bit before I nodded. I sent one last glare at the minor God before following Will out of the trailer which still looked like a small tin can from the outside.
The music had stopped, and the lights had turned off. I wondered for a moment how long Will and I had been in there. The only lights that were on now were the street lights and a few vendors that were still packing up from the festivities.
The streets were loitered with garbage from the crowd and Will and I picked around it on our way back to our motel room. The lack of people was eerie, mostly because their energy could still be felt in the night air. It felt like an invisible party was happening around us.
We walked in silence for a bit before Will cleared his throat.
"That… wasn't unpleasant." he said. I glanced up at him wondering what he was thinking. I reached down and let my hand wind through his gently.
"No." I muttered. I let myself drift closer to him as we walked along the empty street.
"So… What are we. Still enemies? Friends? Soulmates?" Will asked with a light blush on his face. I think for a second. How did I feel about Will? When I looked at him now, my stomach did flips and turns. I think about his hair, and his voice and his eyes, and our future. But I wanted us to form a relationship because we wanted it. Not because some Goddess deemed us each others boyfriend material.
"I like you." I confessed and then chuckled a bit at my own understatement. "But for now, lets just be Will and Nico." I muttered. Will shot me a glance before smiling but not dropping my hand. I wasn't sure if this was enough. I allowed myself to lay my head gently on his arm as we walked in silence.
Will opened the door and we stepped inside the dark, cold room. The room was the same as we left. Our quest information scattered on the table. The Day of the Dead flyer laying on the bedside table, and both of our backs sitting on our respective beds.
I glanced down and Will and I's intertwined hands and chuckled before unwinding myself and walking toward the my bed, only to be pulled back to Will forcefully.
"What the?" I asked. Will had the same question on his face as he examined our chord. The long, red chain which used to be at least six feet apart at all times, had shrunken to a short six inches.
"Why isn't it getting longer?" Will asked tugging at the chain lightly. I shook my head and looked up at him with worried eyes.
"What do we do?" I asked. Will sighed at ran his free hand through his blond hair in worry.
"We need to get some sleep." Will reasoned. "It's probably one of Aphrodite's tricks." That made sense to me and I helped Will push our two small beds together so we would be able to sleep comfortably.
I crawled under the blanket and Will and I positioned ourselves into the most comfortable position. We gazed at each other as we fell asleep, our hands tangled together in cheap blankets and red chains.
"These are the docks." Will said holding the map out for me to see.
"I didn't know you could read maps." I said.
"Yes, I'm very talented." Will responded and I snorted sarcastically only to be nudged by Will. Our hands were still bound together tightly and was easier and made more sense to just be holding hands all the time. This way, mortals didn't question why two guys stood so abnormally close together. Also, it was a great excuse to snuggled into Will during the cold morning. I made a mental note to sacrifice some of my next meal to Aphrodite.
The dock was gray and misty in the morning. The sluggish water bobbed the few boats in the harbor in a hypnotic motion, and the wood that made up the dock creaked suspiciously and the only sounds that could be heard were a few stray crows cawing overhead.
"Look!" I exclaimed. "There it is, Brizo's boat." I pointed to the far end of the harbor toward a small, white fishing boat called 'Sea Mist' bobbing along the dock. Even from here, we could
Will smiled and I almost died on the spot. He walked forward, pulling me with him.
"Come on. Let's go talk to him." he said. Will and I walked down the dock toward Sea Mist when we noticed that the person loading boxes was not Brizo, or even a man.
"Excuse me!" Will shouted while waving a hand high over his head. I rolled my eyes. "Do you sail this ship for Brizo?" Will explained. The figure jumped at our sudden appearance and turned around to greet us. She was older with graying dark brown hair, and steel blue eyes. Her face was small, and slightly wrinkled. Her small frame was clad in overalls, a long sleeved gray shirt, and mud boots and thick gloves.
Will's breath hitched and his hand tightened around mine.
"William?"
"Mom?"
So what did you guys think? Thoughts? Comments? Death threats?
~Hal
