Love, Dreams, Impending End of the World and other minor problems

by mel-chan1003

Nico still can't believe it. Of all the people in the world, he's dating none other than Percy Jackson. It's a dream come true. But of course, things can't always be rosy. The long awaited sequel to the Advent Calendar. Will turn into Jason/Nico/Percy/Will, but will stay Percico for a long time. M/M (M/M/M/M lol); don't like don't read. Rated M for a reason! You've been warned!

21. Chapter 21: Underworld Tours

A/N: Hello Cupcakes ;D

Next chapter will be Truth or Dare ;3
Also, does anybody know if Rick ever announced when Will's birthday is?

Because I couldn't find anything (though it's not really that important, I can just decide on a convenient date, too, I just don't like doing stuff like that much)

They are so adorable together sometimes..

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

-Tári

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Chapter 21: Underworld Tours, Flower Crowns and very interesting Make-Over's

When Jason woke up in the middle of the night, his first thought was 'Nightmare! Will!', because there was movement in the bed, and somebody was whimpering.

But when he opened his eyes, wondering why Will wasn't burning them all up again, he found out it wasn't Will at all.

It was Percy.

Percy, who was turning and whimpering and wailing, his body trembling.

For a moment, Jason almost thought the nightmares had somehow switched from Will to Percy.

But then, he deciphered Percy's mumbling of 'Nico', '...happy...', and 'the guys' and realized he was just having a regular nightmare.

Well, not that that was any better, really.

He shifted, wondering how to best proceed and whether he should wake him, but before he could decide, Will – who had apparently moved and was laying behind Percy – already started moving, wrapping his arms around him and tugging him back against his chest, face at his shoulder.

"Shh, it's alright, Percy." He said soothingly, his voice gentle, his expression sad and tired.

Jason relaxed slightly, then wondered with a frown how Will had gotten behind Percy in the first place, since he had fallen asleep behind Jason when they had gone to bed.

Weird.

But good for Percy.

Will was better at comforting Percy than Jason (as the day had shown as well).

Percy wailed quietly, and it sounded almost as if he was crying, which made Jason's heart clench painfully.

He had done so well during the day, though!

Why was he having a nightmare now?

Maybe Hades had something to do with it.

Then again, Hades didn't seem the type to torment people like that, not even Percy Jackson.

No, he really didn't seem the type.

Plus, he hadn't seemed that opposed to Percy.

And if he really had a problem with Percy as Nico's boyfriend, why would he have waited for Percy to come to the Underworld, instead of bullying him from the moment on when those two had started dating?

No, it couldn't be Hades.
Persephone hadn't seemed to care about Percy whatsoever, so Jason was certain it wasn't her, either.
And Demeter had claimed Percy was her favorite out of the three, so tormenting him would be stupid (she was the goddess of agriculture, not torture, after all. Else he might have been tempted to believe it was her way to express her fondness or something. Yeah, no).

So, that kind of ruled out any immediate gods. Maybe it was just Percy's sub consciousness.

He did seem bothered by the whole 'making Nico happy'-issue he kept bringing up.

Seriously, that guy.

"Shh, Gorgeous, calm down. What's wrong? Nico is right here, we're all right here. Come on, don't cry..." Will whispered, hugging Percy closer to his chest and burying his face at Percy's neck, whispering gentle reassurances into his ear, and Jason could see Percy shiver and lean back against him, clearly craving the closeness and physical contact.

Jason watched as Will moved, half laying down on top of Percy, talking quietly to him and rubbing his arms and sides, warming him.

Percy seemed to calm slightly, his body relaxing ever so faintly, though he was still whimpering every here and there.

But still, Jason found himself breathing out a small sigh of relief.

Percy would be alright.

Will rubbed his cheek against Percy's affectionately, telling him about how he saw Percy and Nico living in New Rome some day, finishing college and finding jobs, living together and being happy.

His hands were still moving over Percy's body slowly, stroking and rubbing and warming, giving Percy the affection and comfort he more than apparently needed.

Percy started stilling, one of his hands finding Will's, and Jason watched him squeezing it, as if trying to say thanks.

Will smiled, and Jason watched him squeezing back.

They didn't let go.

Will kept talking quietly, about the things they'd all do together in New Rome, and what Percy's and Nico's apartment would probably look like (and how he'd probably have to drag Jason over there to get the place cleaned, because they all knew how messy Percy was, and Nico tended to not be much better), and Percy started smiling, nuzzling his face against the base of Will's neck with a low hum.

Will looked surprised for a moment, but then chuckled and tilted his head ever so slightly, leaning it against Percy's, his eyes closed, his expression soft and content.

"That's right, everything will be fine. Now, finally, stop worrying, will you? You big crybaby. I know what I'm going to get you for your birthday, now. A big photo album with all the pictures of Nico making heart eyes at you because of how perfect you are. I'll name it '101 proofs I make Nico happy, by Will Solace – and probably Jason, too, because he'd so back me up on this – who had to reassure me over and over again because I still don't believe the words of somebody that doesn't lie'. You'll love it." He declared with an affectionate smile, though his eyes seemed a tad sad.

Jason inwardly sighed.

He'd participate in that book, alright?

He'd be the one adding some pictures of Will to the mix, with him making wistful eyes at Percy and Nico.

Then he'd add a sentence on the last pages, going: 'End your worries, date them both. Your best bro, Jason'.

Yep, that was exactly what he was going to do.

"And a big hooray for me, now I have gifts for both you and Jason. Jason is so getting a stapler, I'm just saying. Wait, now that I'm giving you something meaningful, I'll have to give him something meaningful, too, won't I? Damn. And his birthday is first. Percy, this is it, you'll have to help me find something for him. Something nice that conveys 'thank you for always being there for us. We love you and wouldn't know what to do without you'. Any ideas yet?" Will continued, nudging Percy slightly, who was still smiling, shaking his head slightly and turning over, which turned his back towards Jason and hid most of Will's body from view again, including his face.

Jason was still glad for it, because that meant Will couldn't see him anymore, either.

Will was thinking about Jason's birthday gift? Now?

He felt strangely honored, though he was fairly certain Will was just trying to change the topic so Percy would have something better to dream of.

Though, in Jason's opinion, Percy would have probably preferred to dream of Nico and New Rome, not of potential birthday gifts for Jason.

Then again, that would at least guarantee some laughs in his dreams, while dreaming of Nico would most likely resort to morning wood and pent up sexual desires he'd want to work off with Nico first thing in the morning.

Ok, now he could totally see why Will might be changing the topic.

"I wasn't really going to get him a stapler. Maybe as a side gift to make him laugh, though. He doesn't laugh much, does he? You'd expect he'd laugh more. I don't know, I remember he used to laugh a lot, but lately, he hasn't much. We should work on that. You up for that?" Will asked quietly, and Jason frowned.

Was Will…actually concerned about him?

"'S ok. He's jus' sad…'cause you keep acting indifferent…to 'vrything. Living in denial. He wants you happy…" Percy mumbled barely coherently into either Will's neck or his shoulder, Jason couldn't tell.

But that didn't matter right now, anyways.

Percy's words mattered much more.

What were they discussing?!

Hello? Was Percy seriously going to give him away now?

Then again, he hadn't told Will Jason was in love. He had just said Jason wanted him happy.

Which was absolutely true.

Though he did laugh.

He laughed plenty.

Well…he smiled…and chuckled.

But that was nearly the same.

He was happy.

It was just that those two were so crazy he had to worry more about them than laugh about their craziness.

One of them had to take care of the lot, after all, and that someone was simply Jason.

Nobody else would want to be the party-pooper, after all.

Will chuckled quietly.

"Right. I don't think that's it. I think he wants you to spend some more time with him. You're either all over Nico or bickering with me – which is very flattering and all, but yeah. I think he's starting to feel a bit lonely. You are his bro, after all. At least that's the term you two are using for 'secretly gay for each other but covering it up because of reasons'. I saw that butt-grab, Percy."

Jason wanted to groan and bury his head under the pillow.

Will!

No!

"Wiiiiillll~!" Percy wailed in his sleep wrapping his arms and one leg around the blonde, who cackled evilly, but surprisingly quietly (how was that even possible).

"You know I'm just joking. Now, go back to sleep, you dork. I'm dead tired. Mind if I abuse you as pillow for the rest of the night?"

Jason raised an eyebrow.

Will, asking Percy, when Percy could actually hear him, to use him as a pillow?

That was new.

"Sure." Percy mumbled back, and the two moved and shifted again, with Will's arm snaking around Percy and his head appearing again as he pushed Percy downwards slightly to move him against his chest instead.

Percy let him mishandle him, their legs entangling and Will's face burying itself in Percy's hair.

"Comfortable?" Will asked quietly, eyes barely opened, a content sigh escaping his lips.

Percy made an affirming sound, then Jason watched him squeezing Will's hip gently with one hand, before his breath seemed to even out.

Apparently, he was drifting back off into sleep.

Will smiled, closing his eyes as well.

"Good."

Jason watched them for a long moment, then looked down at Nico, who was still snuggled against his chest, the most adorable sleeping expression on his face.

He smiled, tugging him closer.

See? He had known Percy would be fine in Will's care.

He wondered whether he should tell Nico about Percy's insecurities, though.

Well, he wouldn't necessarily tell him about his sleep issues, because that was bound to make Nico feel horrible and guilty and worried beyond reason, but maybe he should think of something to say that could show Nico Percy needed him just as much as he needed Percy, so they could reassure each other.

Somehow, he realized a lot of those problems they had would probably be solved if Will and Jason weren't around all the time, because Percy had this whole issue where he wanted all four of them utterly happy, which simply wasn't possible.

But there was no way Jason would leave the guys, and even less of a way for him to tell Will to do that.

That would be suicidal, wrong, and utterly cruel, since they'd be doing exactly what Percy and Nico were so scared of.

Yeah, not going to happen.

So, instead, Jason buried his face in Nico's hair, inhaling his earthy scent and wondering what he'd get for Will's birthday.

Coming to think of it, when was Will's birthday?

.

Percy woke up with Will pressed against his back, one arm and one leg thrown over him, and Nico pressed against his front, hands clutching Percy's shirt.

Sighing contently, he closed his eyes again.

Mmh, it felt so nice and warm and comfortable.

Though, thinking about it, what was Will doing behind him? Hadn't he been behind Jason when they had gone to bed?

What...?

Memories of last night rushed through his head, with him panicking and Will being there for him almost instantly, comforting him, reassuring him.

He remembered warm hands moving over his body, stroking, soothing, warming.

Remembered inhaling Will's scent, his face buried at the base of his neck, and Will's cheek rubbing against the side of his head affectionately.

Remembered Will's gentle reassurances, his breath against his skin, his warmth seeping into Percy.

Oh.

Oh.

Well, that explained a lot.

Not exactly how Will had gotten here, but certainly why they were this close now and why Percy was feeling better than ever.

Ugh, he should stop needing the guys like that.

But, gods, Will had been so nice and kind and gentle with him.

No teasing, no making fun of him.

Kind of like he had been during the day with him.

Percy had to admit, he liked that side of Will even more than their constant teasing (though that was always fun).

He smiled contently to himself, tugging Nico closer and snuggling back into Will's warmth.

This was so nice.

Where was Jason, though?

Jason was missing.

He always added that nice coolness, and Percy missed his hands on his side, though Jason rarely did that anymore, anyways, always focusing on Will.

Percy opened his eyes again, just to find Jason lying on his back behind Nico, with his head turned towards him, gazing at him quietly.

Huh?

"Something wrong?" He asked, his voice coming out a lot groggier than intended.

Jason blinked, then put on a small smile and shook his head.

"No, just thinking. Feeling better?"

Why did that sound like Jason knew about last night?

Had Will talked to him? That didn't sound like something he'd do.

Especially not since he threw fits and lengthy rants about confidentiality.

Then again, maybe this didn't count as something private, something not to be shared with others?

Jason must have seen the puzzlement on his face, because he quickly shook his head, turning over sideways again.

"I thought Will was having another nightmare, so I woke up to help, but then saw it was you. I mean, I'd have helped you, too, but you seemed to be taken care of already." Jason explained, and Percy wasn't sure whether he should feel embarrassed or surprised.

He settled for a mixture of both.

"Was it that bad? I'm sorry for waking you. I don't know…I had this really weird dream, and...I don't know..." He mumbled, maneuvering his hand between Nico and himself so he could rub the sleep out of his face.

His dream was a bit fuzzy, but he could still remember bits of it.

Something with a set of different paths that would all lead to different futures.

He couldn't remember many details, but he knew the first path had been ok-ish, but the second one had been utter hell.

The third one had been ok-ish again, but weird, kind of incomplete - and then there was the last one, the most improbable one, but the one he had desired the most.

He still remembered how he had felt after the fourth, how badly he had craved for it, how badly he had needed it.

But then he had realized the impossibility of it all, had realized this was the most difficult to achieve, the most improbable to achieve.

And the other paths had started weighing him down, and he had become desperate, yearning for a way out, guilt flashing through him like a hundred needles pricking his skin, old and new worries coursing through his body, and everything had seemed upside down.

Yeah, it hadn't been pretty.

But then there had been Will's voice - and Will's touch -, right when he had started to really, truly panic, and everything had become warmer, softer, lighter, better.

"Don't worry about it. The conversation with his dad still bothering you? You want to talk about it?" Jason asked, but Percy shook his head.

No, that was ok.

It hadn't really been Hades or their talk.

It had just...oh, he didn't know.

Whatever.

"No, it's ok. As I've said the past hundred times you guys asked, I'm good. The conversation didn't even go that bad. The dream just got to me. Nightmare, whatever. Now, get back over here."

Jason hesitated for a moment, his expression confused and surprised.

But then he came over, anyways, wrapping an arm around Nico – and Nico alone.

Such a mean person.

Percy stuck his bottom lip out at him. "What, you don't want to cuddle with me anymore, or what? How hurtful, man. And there I thought we're best bro's." He sulked, giving Jason his baby seal face.

It had the desired effect of making Jason's lips twitch and a small smile show on his rather stern face as he sighed theatrically and put his arm around Percy and Will instead, getting closer to the group again.

Percy only now noticed, but Jason must have gotten up at some point, because his hair wasn't nearly as messy as usual, and he was wearing his glasses.

"How long are you awake already?" He asked curiously, feeling Nico shift slightly and entangle his legs with Jason's, rubbing his back against his chest, which made Jason smile even more.

There, now he was looking a lot better.

Why had Jason detached himself from them in the first place?

This better not be another one of those I'm-the-odd-one-out-things, or Percy was going to have to get mad.

"Not very long. I was just thinking." Jason replied with fake cheerfulness that instantly made Percy scowl.

What was wrong with him?

He sighed, detangling himself somewhat from Will and Nico, in order to put Will's arm around Jason and add his own to the mix.

"So, much better." He stated with a content nod and Jason eyed him amused.

"Right."

Hey, what did he sound so doubtful for?

Percy made a face at him.

Then he remembered Will talking about Jason last night, about him laughing - or not laughing -, about birthday gifts, about making Jason happy.

Had Jason been awake then, too?

Probably not, else he certainly wouldn't seem so pouty and weird.

The fact that Will kept talking about Jason all the freaking time showed that he was definitely starting to like him a lot more than he wanted to admit, after all (no matter if Percy liked it or not).

So, really, if he had heard that, he'd probably be gloating about it now.

But he wasn't.

So, yeah, he probably hadn't heard.

Did that mean Percy should tell him?

Well, how would he tell him, anyways?

Nah, that was stupid.

"You know, this is the second time you woke up to eavesdrop. Really, Jason, shame on you. And both times you catch us gushing about you. How mortifying." He muttered drily, putting his face back into Nico's hair and rubbing his forehead against the side of Jason's head, who let him do it without complaint.

Well, that was all he was going to say to this.

It ought to get the point across, anyways.

Jason would be able to read between the lines, and sooner than Percy could look around, Jason and will would have their own little forever after happy end, and yada yada.

Splendid.
Terrific.
Percy felt sick.

"Gushing? Really? First you were plotting to set me up with somebody, and the second time you two were debating what you're going to give me for my birthday. I hardly call that gushing." Jason retorted with a raised eyebrow and Percy rolled his eyes, the knot in his stomach changing from despair and hurt to annoyance.

Jason you prick, how could you not get it?

Wait, wait, he had just said he had heard them talking about birthday gifts, so he must have been awake.

Jason, you double prick, how could you not see Will gushing about you?!

"Hypocrite. This is our manly way of gushing, Jason. Talking about you when we have six thousand other things to talk about means we're swooning all over you. Now, get closer, Will is so freaking warm and I don't want to move." He complained, and Jason gave him another one of those doubtful looks, though he came closer, anyways, maneuvering his arm under Nico and Percy to get both his hands onto Percy's back, stroking over his hot skin soothingly.

Mmh, that felt nice.

Not that Will behind him didn't feel nice. That felt great, too.

But Jason's cool hands were a serious blessing.

"You're so needy, Percy." Jason chided amused and Percy grinned at him cockily.

"Yep, that's me. Percy Needy Jackson at your service, sir."

"Dork." Jason remarked with a light chuckle that made him look so adorable again, especially with his glasses and all.

"Really, I can't adapt that many additional names, man. Have some mercy on me." Percy whined with a scandalized expression and Jason snorted (aw, how cute, Will was rubbing off on him).

Will and Nico shifted, grumbling simultaneously, and both Jason and Percy instantly shushed, pursing their lips with alarmed expressions.

Then they saw each other's faces and chuckled again.

"Guys...not again...Jason, behave." Will grumbled behind Percy, rubbing his face against the back of his neck, which sent shivers down his spine for some reason.

Jason pouted. "Why me? Percy started it!" He complained quietly, but urgently, and Percy wriggled his eyebrows at him with a cocky grin.

Ha!

Will mumbled something incoherent and shifted again, then let out a loud sigh.

"You mad? How are you ever going to get Percy to stop? He's the epitome of craziness."

"Hey!" Percy sulked, and now it was Jason who grinned cockily at him.

"Yes, I'll take the brownies...muffins...cupcakes..." Will muttered behind him with a wistful sigh, then his breathing evened out again.

Percy blinked, eyes meeting Jason's, and they both looked at each other quietly for a moment.

Then they both grinned.

Aw, how sweet.

And there Will always claimed Percy was the ever-hungry one.

Hypocrite.

A cute one, but a hypocrite all the same.

.

"And these are the Fields of Asphodel." Nico explained in passing as they walked along the border to what looked like a horribly dull and depressing place, full of blank faces and empty looks.

A shiver ran down Will's spine.

Nope, he did not want to end up in there after his death, that much was certain.

"That's where you found Hazel, right?" Jason asked, eyeing the place with a small frown.

Will looked back over the gray landscape.

That's where Hazel had been all this time?

That pure and innocent creature that blushed and had to fan her face whenever things got heated (but could curse worse than a sailor, seriously, had anybody heard her curse before? She was damn cool. He liked it. If she wasn't Nico's sister, and single, and more his age, with a tad more of his humor, she'd completely be his type. But since she was Nico's sister, in a relationship, and they had close to nothing in common – yeah, no. But he still adored her.) had to stay here in this gloomy place and had still managed to retain her kind and fierce nature?

Now he definitely had even more respect for her.

And he could definitely see how Nico and her were related, because Nico had literally gone through Tartarus and had managed to stay true to himself.

"Yes, that's where I found Hazel. I was hoping to get Bianca, but…yeah…" Nico started, then trailed off, and Will's insides clenched at the flash of pain in Nico's eyes.

Percy lowered his gaze, but he seemed to take the mention of Nico's sister better than before.

It seemed they had at least managed to talk that bit out.

Now, all that was missing was that those two would finally get around talking what was really important to them and what still worried them.

If they just did that already, Jason and Will would certainly have a lot less work with those two.

Though Will completely wouldn't mind spending some more nights snuggled up close to Percy with Percy's face pressed against his neck, his breath right at his ear (Will had such sensitive ears…).

But yeah, that was more for selfish indulgence and utterly unfair to Percy (not to mention nonsensical and stupid), so that was not going to happen.

Also, Will didn't want to admit to it, but he had kind of missed Jason's arms around him throughout the night.

Not that anybody ever needed to know that.

But seriously, he had gotten way too used to Jason's body.

On the bright side, though, he hadn't had a nightmare.

It was weird.

Especially because he only really realized that in the mornings, after waking up from weird or horribly erotic dreams (since he had dreamed of a bakery last night and how he had ordered all sorts of weird sweet stuff for the guys because Percy had been pregnant (?), he really wasn't sure which kind of dream he would prefer, if he had a choice. Though, right now, he was for the horribly erotic one – it had been a lot less…weird…).

Maybe he was miraculously cured?

Yeah, unlikely.

But somehow, there must be something down here that had some sort of influence, else he was sure he'd still get them.

It was like back when Jason had just come back to Camp again and Will had suddenly been able to sleep properly.

But what had been different?

He didn't understand.

Not that he minded, hell no.

He loved it.

Though he had woken up today in the morning with his hands on Percy's waistband (though he hadn't seemed to have noticed yet, too busy chatting with Jason in low voices), so he was also beginning to wonder whether he was getting touchy feely again.

Please not.

The last thing he needed was to wake up with his hands down somebody's pants.

Not only would that lead to more than just an awkward conversation, but it would definitely get him kicked out of the bed.

Not to mention that it would go against every single one of his morals.

So, yeah, he really had to get himself under control, there.

The fact that he generally didn't even notice wasn't helping much, though.

The four walked on, past soul after soul, some standing there motionlessly, some moving about distractedly, as if looking for something.

One even got disturbingly close to them, looking at them with hollow eyes.

As if noticing his growing unease, he felt Jason's fingers on his arm, just brushing across his skin for a moment.

It was still enough to make Will glance around, just to be met by a reassuring smile from the blonde.

Hey, he was fine, Jason so didn't need to protect him or anything.

And the fact his shoulders relaxed the tiniest bit as he fell into step next to Jason (as well as the brushing of their arms together) was entirely coincidental.

Nico started telling them of his various trips in the Underworld, and the jobs he had had down here, sometimes including journeys through the Fields of Asphodel.

He also told them of quite a few souls he used to chat with, too, which Will found slightly weird, but it sounded exactly like something Nico would do.

Will glanced past Jason towards the Fields of Punishment for a moment, but then hurriedly looked away again.

He knew he definitely didn't want to end up over there.

Nico had offered them to lead them through there as well, but they had all politely declined, since none of them fancied talking to anybody there and some of the torture methods were already way too real for Will.

He couldn't really decide whether he should feel like this horrid treatment was justified for all those people, or whether he should feel sorry for them for having to suffer like this for eternity.

Though he knew if they had ended up in there, they had certainly deserved it.

Still, torture for eternity?

Will wouldn't even wish that upon his worst enemies.

Well…no, wait, he shouldn't even think like that.

Nobody deserved eternal punishment.

Maybe a few thousand years though, to get the point across.

Will raised an eyebrow at himself.

And there people thought he was a good person.

And there Will had thought he was a good person.

Nico led them further and further on, leaving the plains behind and making his way towards what seemed to Will like open plains, though then they started turning left, instead, more back towards the palace.

"Over there, if you travel for long enough, you'll get to the mountains of riches. You should see them. They're pretty much the riches of the Earth, just that they hold close to no value here." Nico explained conversationally, gesturing towards the plains; and Will raised an eyebrow, realizing all over that Nico really didn't have to worry about money.

That so didn't mean he wouldn't take him out and pay for him if he had the chance, though.

"Where are we going now?" Will asked curiously, since it didn't sound like they were going to go to the mountains - not that Will minded whether they did or not.

He found the Underworld both fascinating and terrifying so far, and he wasn't sure in which category he'd place giant piles of gems, gold, and/or whatever else it was that Nico meant by 'riches'.

They had already taken a look at the various rivers the Underworld had to offer (Will wasn't sure which one he had liked the least, they had all looked murky and strange and he was glad it hadn't been him who had had to take a dip into the Styx), and had already admired Elysium from afar (definitely where he wanted to end up in, he knew that just from looking. Plus, the alternatives all sucked, anyways).

So, really, he had no idea what would come next.

"Oh, I was thinking we could pick up Cerberus and take him for a walk to where Mrs. O'Leary and a few other non-aggressive monsters usually stay. Bob had made them such a nice place, after all, I thought I'd show it to you guys." Nico explained, a small smile hushing over his face at the thought of his Titan friend, but his eyes seemed sad.

Will hadn't really understood all of it, but when they had looked at the River Lethe, Percy had explained to them how he had managed to beat the Titan Iapetus with practically drowning him in there, and then telling him he was his friend Bob.

Will could have sworn he had heard that story before, but that had been before he had started liking Percy, so he hadn't exactly cared about any of his heroic tales (there had been too many, anyways).

But Bob apparently had become a real friend to Nico, who had spent quite some time with the Titan and taken care of him...though it had sounded more like those two had taken care of each other, keeping each other company and holding together in a world that had seemed to have turned against them.

And then Bob had gone to save Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus, and had ultimately sacrificed himself to guarantee their escape.

Will had never even met the Titan, but he had still felt like crying at the end of the story.

He glanced around at the Fields of Punishment once more, wondering whether he'd be willing to take a lifetime of torture for the sake of somebody else.

Of course, for Nico, for Jason, for Percy, he'd do anything, including eternal punishment, if it guaranteed their safety.

But in Bob's case, he hadn't done it for Nico, the person he had actually talked to, had befriended, had cared for and who had genuinely cared for the Titan in return, too.

He had done it for Percy and Annabeth, even though he had barely known them, had done it for them even though Percy had been the one practically ruining his life with erasing his memories.

It wasn't only a very sobering thought, it was also a very disturbing one, because it showed that even someone/something as cruel and vicious as a Titan had feelings and thoughts and could be so undeniably good.

Sadly, Will knew barely anybody even talked about Bob the Titan - Will himself hadn't known the story until half an hour ago, after all.

But in his opinion, everybody should know of him, should tell his tale, should think of a way to save him.

Then, maybe, somebody, someday, might be able to release Bob from his eternal punishment in Tartarus.

Will knew if he had the chance, he'd so do it.

Even though he didn't even know him.

"You can take Cerberus for a walk?" Jason asked ominously, and Will was torn out of his thoughts.

Wait, how were they supposed to take a giant three-headed dog for a walk? Wouldn't that thing more walk them?

Nico chuckled, waving off with a grin.

"Don't worry, he's quite obedient when he wants to be. We'll let him off the leash as soon as we're a bit further away from all the souls. Just so we can avoid mass panic among the dead and all."

Will exchanged a doubtful glance with Jason, who was frowning back at him with a similar look on his face.

Somehow 'quite obedient when he wants to be' didn't sound very promising.

Percy, however, was all for it, apparently, looking excited as ever.

"Oh, I haven't seen Mrs. O'Leary in ages. You think she'll even remember me? It's been forever. I was wondering where she went after she left the Camp, but I guess I should have known she'd be down here somewhere." He babbled, his sea-green eyes gleaming.

Either he had little concern about Cerberus, or he hadn't understood the meaning of a giant three-headed dog on the loose.

They made their way past the to-be-judged souls, and Will felt a shiver running down his back, wondering whether he'd be standing in line here forever as well, waiting for his final judgment.

He also vaguely wondered what his fate would be.

So far, he hadn't really done anything heroic, since healing and saving people was what his job demanded from him, not something outstanding like winning/participating/ending the wars like Percy, Jason and Nico.

Great, did that mean he'd be one of those unlucky bastards that would end up in the Fields of Asphodel?

He glanced towards his three best friends.

Alone?

He was so not looking forward to that.

Cerberus was wagging his tail, all three heads drooling and gazing at them hopefully as they walked towards him, apparently hoping for either something to eat or some affection (or maybe he knew they were about to 'take him for a walk').

And in that moment, for some reason, Will thought he didn't even look that scary anymore.

Actually, he looked kind of cute, just like an overgrown puppy with two heads too many.

That was, until Nico unfastened the chains binding the dog to its guard post, and the dog bounded towards them with a leap.

Souls screeched and scattered, and Will could only blink once before he could feel a massive paw pushing him back onto the ground, a giant snout looming over him.

Next moment, he felt something hot and slimy moving over all of him, and he cried out a very indignant 'Eww!'.

Pressed against his right side was Jason, who shuddered quite noticeably, but at least didn't cry out, while to his left, Percy practically roared with laughter, wriggling around like mad.

Apparently, this was Cerberus' very slobbery way of saying 'hi'.

Terrific. Will had always wanted dog drool all over him (not).

Will grinned, trying to suppress a laugh because he did NOT want to open his mouth with the dog still looming over him, the two other heads now fighting for a chance to greet them, too.

Judging by the sudden wailing from Percy's side, he was almost certain he knew Percy had had that realization too late.

"Cerberus! Get off them! So sorry, guys, he's just trying to show you that he likes you." Nico called over apologetically, and the dog did listen after dragging another very wet tongue over the three of them, almost plucking Will off the ground and swallowing him whole (at least that's what it had felt like).

He still couldn't help but chuckle and laugh, though he knew he shouldn't.

The indignant look on Jason's face as he got up and looked down on a very wet himself wasn't helping his restraint, either.

And that was before he turned to look at Percy, who was laughing and wailing and trying to clean off his hands on his pants enough to clean his face, spitting on the ground in front of him.

"Why do dogs always lick my face when I have my mouth open? Eww!" He cried, and Will all but lost it.

Nico patted Cerberus' side, looking at his boyfriend with a frown, his expression mingled and maybe slightly disgusted by the news of where exactly the dogs' tongue had gone.

Will laughed, looking at Jason, who was now eyeing him with amusement.

"I love dogs." Will simply stated with a shrug, as if that explained his stupid laughing; patting down his clothes which didn't get rid of the drool and kind of only made it worse, but he didn't mind too much.

Jason's lips twitched into a knowing smile. "I know." He said gently, then shuddered again and looked down at himself with a sigh, looking torn between disgust and amusement.
Will grinned at him, then a set of arms wrapped around him from behind.

"Sun-bug, take my drool!" Percy laughed against his ear and Will all but shrieked.

"Eww, Percy! Why? Why?! Use your boyfriend for that, you horrible creature!" He wailed loudly, cringing at the wetness seeping through his up-until-then-dry back and trying to get out of Percy's hold, while Percy cackled menacingly, his lips still dangerously close to his ear.

Jason and Nico merely chuckled at his dismay, neither of them coming to the rescue as Percy bent backwards, picking him off the ground and pressing his back even more against his drenched chest.

"Never, I wouldn't abuse my boyfriend like that."

"Then don't abuse ME like that!" Will cried indignantly and wriggled and thrashed, trying to get free; and Percy laughed, putting him down again and loosening his hold the slightest bit.

"Fine. Hey, want me to dry you off? It will still feel weird because it's drool, not water, but at least you won't catch a cold." He said as Will turned his head to scowl at him, ignoring the way their faces were way too close.

He might have minded, but since Percy had been tongue-kissed by Cerberus, there was no way in hell Will wanted to even think about getting closer to those lips (even if they were very nice lips).

No thanks.

Plus, both their faces were still full of dog slobber.

Percy leaned forward, rubbing his face and hair against the back of his neck.

Alright, Will's face was still full of dog slobber.

"I hate you." He stated drily, but without menace, looking around at Jason and Nico with an expression that hopefully conveyed 'Can you believe this guy?'.

By the pitying looks the two gave him, they understood.

"Yeah, I know." Percy replied with a sigh, then Will could feel his shirt and skin drying, leaving it feeling weird, as if snails had glided all over it while he had been sleeping, but at least he wasn't wet anymore.

Then Percy mussed through his hair with a cheeky chuckle and sauntered off towards Nico as if nothing had happened.

That guy.

"Glad to be of use to you, you ass!" He called after him sourly, walking towards Jason who was already moving towards him, too.

Percy blew him a kiss and wrapped Nico into a hug, who immediately looked him up and down scandalized and let out a complaining 'Nngh!', both hands firmly on Percy's chest - though he only kept him from pressing too close, not actually pushing him away.

"Don't even think about it, I am not kissing you when you just had Cerberus' slobber in your mouth!" He wailed, and Will shook his head amused when Percy started whining and pleading (and arguing that the dog slobber was long gone, anyways. Eww, Percy, you couldn't be serious!).

He looked back at Jason, glancing him up and down as Jason kept tugging on his shirt to keep it from connecting to his skin.

"Hey, Percy, get your butt back over here, you forgot to do Jason."

"I didn't forget him at all, I was going to get to that right when I'm done kissing my boyfriend." Percy retorted indignantly, but Nico started wailing again, turning his head away firmly so Percy couldn't sneak any kisses in whatsoever.

Cerberus eyed them oddly, as if trying to decipher whether Percy and Nico were playing, or whether Percy was attacking him.

When two of the heads looked ready to attack, ears flat against their heads, Will hurriedly jumped forwards.

"Hey, Cerberus, you're such a good boy!" He called with fake excitement, and the dog instantly fixed all three heads on him, tail wagging more than ever as he came running.

Oops.

"Oh great." Jason remarked drily next to him and very obviously stepped out of the way.

Traitor.

"No, no, stop! Cerberus, sit!" Will called, mild panic spreading through him as he feared another wet assault.

Two of the heads tilted and made a confused sound, but the third played deaf, the rest of the dog still bounding for Will.

Oh great.

He was so going to get plowed to the ground.

Will fleetingly stole a pleading glance at Jason, wishing that guy would be less of a coward and actually save him (not that he needed a savior, but…please…).

Jason was looking right at him with a conflicted expression on his face - which cleared the moment their eyes met.

"Cerberus, sit!"

The dog slowed to a stop right in front of Will, a small whine escaping all three heads as his rear hit the ground an instant later, looking rather disappointed, but obeyed nevertheless, submissive heads turning towards the owner of the voice - Jason.

Jason.

Jason had just told a giant three-headed dog to sit.

And the dog had freaking listened.

What.

Well, then again, it hadn't been Jason's normal, smooth voice, but his authoritative, dominant one that always sent shivers down Will's spine.

Like right now.

"Couldn't you have done this before I saw my life flashing by in front of my eyes?" Will complained with a huff, patting the dog's side and stroking under the first head's chin, which made the dog move his hind leg in appreciation and the other two whine needily.

"Well, I wanted to wait until it was certain you wouldn't be able to get him to obey on your own. Else you'd have been upset about me acting like your knight in shining armor or something." Jason retorted, moving closer as well and stroking the dog's other side.

"I don't need a knight in shining armor." Will replied automatically, then cringed at himself for being an idiot.

Jason had kind of just saved him. Maybe not from certain death (though with giant three-headed dogs one could never know), but certainly from getting drowned in dog slobber all over again.

The least he could do was say thanks – which he planned to do, of course!

But Jason merely rolled his eyes. "I know that."

"Are you two done now? Want us to leave you alone for a bit?" Percy asked, his head popping up behind the dog, and Nico's followed suit, his eyes looking them both over quickly to check whether they were unharmed.

"Oh, shush." Both of them replied, making faces at Percy, and Jason even snipped some of the dog drool on his shirt at him, hitting him square in the face – and in his mouth.

Eww.

"Eww, Jason, you are the worst! I am taking back everything I've said today in the morning! Worst bro ever! Not ok! This is it, Jason, I want a divorce!" Percy cried, spitting on the ground over and over again and wiping his face with his hands, looking utterly upset, while Nico inched away from him as inconspicuously as possible.

Will laughed, but then had to stop to frown, stroking Cerberus' flank as he practically shoved it in his face.

"Divorce?" Nico and he asked at the same time, while Jason's face went blank.

Like, that sort of done-with-the-world sort of blank.

"Yes. I want a divorce. We're so not bros anymore, man. If you throw drool at me, you definitely don't love me anymore." Percy whined, and Will wasn't sure whether to laugh or bury his face in his hands.

Nico raised his eyebrows at his boyfriend.

Jason stared off into the distance as if he was somewhere far away.

Then he cleared his throat.

"Percy, I am so sorry. But this thing between us…it's just not working anymore. And now that you have doubted our sacred relationship of best bro's, I just…I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry." He said, very seriously, and now Will's eyebrows shot up as well.

Percy's face fell and he gaped at Jason, as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"What? So you're just…just going to throw this…throw US away?" He asked stupefied, hands to his chest like he was in a bad soap opera.

Jason shook his head, his face stern.

"I'm so sorry, bro. But…my feelings for you…they're not the same anymore."

Percy put on such a heartbroken look that Will inwardly cringed, wanting to rush forward and wrap him into a hug, though he was 60% certain those two were just playing.

Right?

"Yeah…it's just…I can't look at you the same way anymore, man. Every time I see you now, I just feel like…like…" Jason tried to explain, shaking his head and gesturing with his arms.

Alright, Will was to 40% sure they were playing.

Were they playing?

Was this some sort of confession?

Sure, those two were close, but Jason hadn't seriously seemed to develop any sort of crush on anybody other than Nico (and that was well past the crush-phase, anyways).

Or had he?

"Yes?" Percy asked, patting Cerberus other side, while Jason was stroking over one of the dog's muzzles.

"I just feel like throwing dog drool at you. Sorry man." Jason suddenly finished in a completely normal voice, and next moment, dog drool flew in Percy's face.

"JASON! I HATE YOU!" Percy yelled, then took off after Jason, who cackled maniacally (and very un-Jason-like) and ran off at top speed.

Nico groaned and buried his face in his hands, Cerberus leaping to his feet and bounding after the two demigods, barking and apparently thinking they were playing with him.

Will could only chuckle.

"Those two. I did not see that coming whatsoever." He said, amused and maybe mildly impressed.

Seriously, Jason so often acted like the most mature of them, but in times like these, with Percy around, he always let it show just how much of a kid he could be sometimes.

Nico shook his head.

"The thought crossed my mind, but I didn't think he'd REALLY do it. I still didn't want to take any chances, which is why I moved to your side. I thought it'd be safer. Well, I was right. I'm such a horrible boyfriend." He remarked drily, but Will knew he wasn't really serious.

"Yeah, right. A horrible boyfriend that doesn't laugh out loud at his dismay and is so going to kiss him later, dog-drool and all be damned, am I right?" Will teased and Nico sent him a scandalized look, though his face flushed pink.

He had his hair in a ponytail again, so Will could see much more of his face than usual, which was really nice – especially when bright pink.

"I will do no such thing!"

Will merely chuckled and left him in his belief, the two of them hurrying after Percy and Jason and the dog, so they could get going to wherever Nico had wanted to take them.

This was going to be fun.

.

Nico couldn't believe the first thing he did once Percy gave up on trying to catch Jason to slaughter him (Nico hoped that had been a joke, though) was giving him a kiss.

On the lips.

Eww.

He had especially hated the way Will had laughed, loud and triumphantly, giving Nico that 'I told you so'-look that made Nico cringe even more at himself.

Percy had had dog slobber all over him!

Well, at least he hadn't done more than that little peck.

Else he really wasn't sure he could live with himself without brushing his teeth really thoroughly, for, like, thirty years straight, right here, right now.

Eww, he didn't even WANT to know where Cerberus' tongue(s) were all day long.

Eww, he really shouldn't think of this.

They had gotten to the 'park' alright, and the guys (as well as Cerberus) had loved it, but sadly, Mrs. O'Leary had been nowhere in sight.

Nico really wondered where she was, because he hadn't seen her in a long while now.

But he was fairly certain she was ok, wherever she was, and whatever she was doing.

Percy seemed so disappointed, though. Nico could only hope she'd show up soon again.

The park was really nice, though.

Bob had made it back in his spare time between cleaning up and sitting in his 'room', trying to remember his life.

There was fresh grass and some not-so-dead looking trees, some boulders and spaces for animals to hide, plenty of small orbs of light floating above them to give better light and atmosphere in this rather gloomy place, and lots of toys in a giant locked box that only human fingers could pry open.

Another really awesome feature was that only friendly creatures could enter the park (it really wasn't much of a park, but Bob had called it that, so Nico would honor that).

So they spent the majority of the next two hours playing ball with Cerberus and another very young hellhound Nico hadn't seen around here before at all (though he had a faint memory of Bob playing with something small and dark on his first few tries of this thing, so that might have been it), as well as petting and stroking skeleton kittens, the same that had been freed by Luke Castellan.

How they had gotten here, Nico had no idea, though he had the faint idea Bob had had something to do with that, too.

Percy had told him all about Small Bob, after all, and Nico wouldn't be surprised if that had been a relative of these bundles of joy and menace, too.

After those two hours of laughs and chuckles – and, alright, one more peck onto Percy's gruesome lips because Nico was gruesome and too in love to resist, sue him – they had reluctantly left, deciding to definitely come back some other time again (even with the video games waiting for them in their room), instead making their way towards Persephone's garden.

Nico only realized too late that four demigods full of dirt, three of them full of dried slobber (though Jason still looked slightly wet, since Percy hat blatantly refused to dry him after Jason's prank), might not exactly leave the best impression on Persephone, when she had just been surprisingly willing enough to share her precious, sacred garden with their unworthy eyes.

By the time this occurred to him, he was already feeling her gaze travel over the four of them, her perfect eyebrows raising ever so slightly.

But then she put on a smile nevertheless.

"I've been awaiting you. I didn't think you'd show up so…gross…but, oh, oh well, this at least gives me a reason to show you my little fashion collection." She said happily, clapping her hands together and turning away from them to lead the way further into her garden.

True, she had started on a fashion line some time ago.

Why was she so cheerful, though?

Usually, she wasn't this cheerful.

She might act the part sometimes, but she really wasn't like this usually.

Persephone glanced back at them, her eyes hovering on Will for a moment longer than with the others, and Nico started feeling weird again.

Seriously, was something the matter?

What was her deal with Will?

She caught him eyeing her skeptically and smiled, winking at him.
"Sorry, dear, just trying to get used to you bringing home your boyfriends. Kids grow up so fast. One day they're small and angsty, next, they're bringing home their boyfriends and plan to get married…"

Percy's and Will's faces turned a bright red as they started sputtering, while Jason merely eyed the goddess quietly.

Nico felt his face heat, too, and quickly picked hurried on.

"Friends. And I'm not getting married. Not anytime soon, at least." He glanced around at Percy as he said that, hoping that wouldn't come across wrong, but Percy only shot him a 'You'll see'-smile that made him both nervous and giddy at the same time.

They walked past multi-colored mushrooms and other various plants, all of which Nico didn't find all that impressive anymore, though he knew that was because this was merely the official part of Persephone's garden, the one everybody could see (assuming they had permission to enter this realm) and she had shown him her real treasures before, so he knew this was nothing in comparison.

Percy had been here before, so he wasn't all too affected either, though Nico could see him grinning at a few plants as if remembering something funny.

Then they got to the center, an orchard of pomegranate trees, and Nico instinctively reached out to hold Will back, who most definitely had that tempted look on his face a lot of people got when confronted with the sweet scent of the fruit.

Percy chuckled, though his eyes had glazed over slightly, but Nico wasn't too worried.

Again, Percy had been here before, and he had never been tempted enough to eat any off the pomegranates, so he was fairly certain Percy would be able to stand his ground this time, too.

Jason seemed curious, but still in control of himself, holding on to Will's other arm as the blonde shot Nico a puzzled look and still wanted to take a step forward.

"I won't touch?" He tried hopefully, but all three of them shook their heads and he sighed rather miserably, but at least he didn't fight them, letting them tug him onwards when they saw Persephone at a ivy covered gateway that hadn't been there a moment ago.
Yeah, that was the entrance to her real garden with her real treasures.

The guys would love it, he was absolutely sure of it.

They looked around at Nico in question, a hint of hesitation in their step when they reached the gate, but when he nodded reassuringly, they relaxed and stepped through.

He had been here before, this was safe.

Well, as safe as anything could be when in the company of a goddess.

Persephone started talking, explaining to them the flowers, fruits, mushrooms and other plants they saw, which turned more and more exotic and stunning the further they walked down the long and narrow path.

"Don't step on anything." Nico warned Will quietly, who was closest, and he could swear he heard him gulp before passing on the message to the other two.

Persephone still acted so oddly cheerful, it was almost frightening.

Then again, that gave Nico something to think about and occupied him enough to keep him from fidgeting and acting weird, so it was alright.

He even verified or explained a few things here and there about things he actually knew about, to make sure the guys wouldn't drift off, because he was fairly certain 80% of what

Persephone told them made no sense whatsoever to them.

Nico only understood because he had heard it plenty of times before (and because he might have asked various ghosts to explain a few things to him afterwards in secret).

"Those are pretty." Percy remarked, nodding towards what appeared to be blue lilies, emitting a soft, dark glow.

Of course he'd like those.

"Yes, they look beautiful, but don't let that fool you. One petal of these, added to water, holds enough poison to quench the life out of an entire army." Persephone explained proudly (proudly.) and Nico watched Jason and Percy taking a cautious step back.

Will, however, frowned and stepped closer.

"Really? So it's a water-reactive poison? How does that work out? I mean, it IS a plant, so..." He asked, looking genuinely curious.

Nico blinked.

He hadn't known Will was interested in plants - or poisons for that matter.

Then again, he WAS a medic, and Nico had already seen plenty of creams and herb-mixtures that Will had made himself in the past, so he guessed he should have...well, guessed.

Persephone smiled, stepping up to the plant and motioning for Will to come closer. "I thought you would be interested. Here, let me show you."

Nico shifted from one foot to the other nervously for a moment, but once he noticed Jason and Percy shooting him uncertain glances, he put on his confident face.

Will crouched down in front of the plant, watching it curiously as Persephone made a watering can appear out of thin air, letting it tip over ever so slightly to let a few drops of water hit the petals.

Nico stepped closer, too, eyeing the plant warily and readying himself to pull Will away, just in case.

The gods could sometimes be a bit...reckless when it came to danger and humans, since they were after all immortal and didn't have to worry about, you know, anything lethal, though it could and would still kill humans.

The moment the water hit the petals, the glow intensified, then turned to a reddish gold for a moment, before turning its 'normal' blue again.

"See? As long as it's still planted, there won't be much effect unless you happen to chew it, or touch it right when the water hits it. That is because I've made it that the leaves of this very plant work as its antidote. If you consume the petal mixed with water, there will be no rescue, of course, but if you touch it or chew it and eat one of its leaves within the next five minutes, you might just live." Persephone explained, plucking off one of the petals.

Will instantly stepped back cautiously, but his eyes still gleamed with curiosity as Persephone proceeded to let the water drip onto it now, the petal suspended in mid-air.

The petal seemed to practically burst into flames at the touch, emitting a vivid orange glow for a moment.

When the glow faded, the petal was gone.

"So it burns up?" Percy asked confused, but Persephone shook her head, clicking her tongue.

"It dissolved in that bit of water? How strong is that?" Will asked amazed, staring at...nothing?

Nico came closer and blinked at the two single water drops hovering in air.

Persephone beamed. "Very. As I said, one petal is enough to kill entire armies, if one just knows how to use it. And now, the best thing is..." She snapped her fingers, and the two drops fell down, hitting the grassy ground to their feet.

They half expected everything to wither and die, or at least burn into flames.

But nothing.

"Huh? It doesn't react to..."

"It reacts to mammalian saliva. Touching the water in its infected state will cause rashes, but nothing deadly. It also doesn't bother plants or fish, for example. But if a human or an animal consume it..." Persephone shrugged, looking disturbingly proud.

Nico had no idea what there was to be proud about, but Will surely seemed to know, his eyes sparkling. "That's not stupid at all."

"I didn't know you could do poisons." Nico put in drily as Persephone all but beamed at Will.

He didn't like how close she was getting to his Will right now.

The touching bit had already freaked him out a bit, because Persephone didn't even touch Nico if she could avoid it.

Seriously, he couldn't help but feel like the gods knew something he didn't, and it was something big.

And it had to do with Will.

He double didn't like it.

Triple didn't like it.

Will was his.

Nico halted, scolding himself.

Will was his friend. Not his.

But that was what he had meant, yes.

And as his friend, Nico was going to protect him from anything and everything, and he did not want Will involved with anything with the gods, because that usually ended up cruel and bloody and horrible and dangerous.

Nico was not going to lose Will.

Especially not because of something messed up with gods and/or monsters and/or poison and/or anything else.

Persephone sighed. "I don't. It was an experiment, I liked the colors, and I wanted to try something new. The Underworld gets horribly dull with your father so busy and you not around, after all."

Nico blinked slowly at that information.

Alright, he might have kept her company every here and there, but they hadn't exactly talked that much, much less done anything together.

She hadn't even been able to look him in the face for the longest time, much less acknowledge his existence.

Saying that he had made her time in the Underworld less dull was a bit much, wasn't it?

Somehow, Nico had the feeling his family was plotting against him to make him stay down here longer and more often.

He glanced towards his friends.

Well, as long as they would be up for it, he guessed he wouldn't even mind all that much.

Though it really was rather gloomy down here.

Wait, what was he even thinking about?

No. He was not going to get sidetracked now.

"So you made it by accident? That's amazing!" Will exclaimed, crouching down in front of the flower again to look at it up-close.

"So what are the healing qualities of the leaves? Would they help for anything else other than the poison emitted by the petals? I wonder what would happen if one researched it a bit. In the end, you made the cure for…" Will started babbling (gushing?), and Nico raised an eyebrow, looking around at Percy and Jason, who were both eyeing the blonde with similar expressions, small smiles on their lips.

Will, your inner medic-nerd is showing.

It was adorable.

Especially because he wasn't asking about how to best use the poison, but about the healing qualities, instantly thinking about how many lives he could save instead of take.

Yep, that was Will.

Persephone and Will started chatting, and she led him off towards some other plants she had created, some even with her mother's help, and the two went on and on about the various attributes of herbs and tea and what not.

"Well, those two are getting along well." Percy remarked amused, coming up next to Nico and putting an arm around him automatically.

Nico smiled, leaning against him almost immediately.

He remembered faintly there used to be a time he loathed physical contact and wanted anything but.

Now, he couldn't imagine living without Percy's touch, seriously.

"Yeah, I know right? I'm kind of glad, though. At least she's not trying to pulverize you or makes us wear flower crowns. She used to always make me wear flower crowns whenever I was in here. It was mortifying, really." Nico explained, letting Percy press a kiss to his forehead.

At least he wasn't going for another kiss on the lips.

He definitely wanted Percy to brush his teeth first.

Thinking about it, they probably should have made a quick stop back in their room and gotten cleaned up, then they would have been more presentable to Persephone as well (though she didn't seem to mind too much – and she had said she'd show them their fashion line, which she had barely even shown to Nico before).

Persephone and Will fell quiet behind him for a moment, then continued their conversation, though it sounded somewhat hushed.

Nico wasn't worried, though.

They were probably just getting some more plants to burst into flames (he'd have never guessed to use Persephone and burning plants in the same sentence, but he had definitely just learnt better).

"Flower crowns? That sounds adorable if you ask me. Wish I could have seen that." Percy said quietly, kissing the top of his head and nuzzling his face against his hair, keeping Nico close.

Jason looked amused at them, then past them towards Will and Persephone, who were by now out of earshot.

"No way. I am never putting on those things again. There's a reason why I like my hair in a ponytail, you know? It makes me look older. Flower crowns make me look five years younger than I am." Nico complained, but Percy merely laughed, gazing off into the distance, then back at Jason with a smirk.

Nico's alarm bells went off, but he wasn't sure why they would, so he ignored it.

"So, you look like 85?" Jason teased and Nico threw him a scandalized glance.

"Really? You are going to go there, Jason? I'd have expected more of you!"

Percy chuckled, rubbing over his back and keeping his back to Will and Persephone, which Nico had to admit he didn't like at all, because he had no idea what they were doing, and in the end, Will might end up hurt or something.

"Sorry, couldn't resist." Jason shrugged, not looking sorry at all, his eyes full of mirth for some odd reason, and he glanced back towards Will and Persephone again.

Alright, something was definitely up.

"No, but really, I think you'd look adorable. Wouldn't you wear one for me? Just once?" Percy cooed as Nico tried to turn around, his grip on Nico tightening to keep him as he was.

"No way. I look ridiculous. There's no way I'll let you see me in that."

"Aww, I bet you'd look great. Please? Pretty, pretty please?" Percy asked again, giving him that horrible baby-seal look again.

Oh no.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Nico opened his mouth to tell him no, and that he shouldn't even bother trying.

But then his eyes hushed over Percy's face again, over his sea-green eyes with that pleading expression, down to his little pout that made Nico want to kiss him, even though he really didn't want to because of dog drool...

"Fine. Maybe. I guess." He relented with a groan, looking down and trying to reassure himself that, just because he had said yes, that didn't mean he'd have to actually go through with it.

They were in Persephone's garden, yes, but there was no way she'd allow the guys to…

Somebody moved up behind him, and he could feel something weird getting pushed onto his head.

"You said yes! Perfect! We just got done making it." Will's voice sounded at his ear, and Nico groaned, closing his eyes in horror.

He knew exactly what that something on his head was.

He shouldn't have said yes.

They had played him.

Percy had played him.

"I feel so betrayed." He stated drily as he felt Percy and Will pulling back, both of them laughing and high-fiving each other, while Jason chuckled in the background.

Persephone said something Nico couldn't quite catch, but it didn't matter, because right now, he was standing here, in front of his friends, with a freaking flower crown on his head.

"You look adorable!" Percy cooed affectionately, trying to get closer again after he had apparently seen his fill, but Nico turned away, flustered and embarrassed and mortified, trying to hide his face.

He'd rip the dumb thing off, but he knew he wouldn't get away with it, plus, Persephone would have his head for mistreating her flowers.

"Hey, you really don't look half bad. We should have picked a bit more color, though." Will remarked seriously and Nico glared at him from between his fingers, but he was looking towards Persephone, who had an amused twinkle in her eyes as she looked Nico over.

She was probably super smug about getting him to show so much emotions and act so flustered.

Usually, whenever she had made him wear flower crowns before, he had acted utterly indifferent to them as to not hurt her feelings, as well as not giving her any attacking ground in case she changed her mind about him.

"I agree. Some pink, maybe. He looks so nice in pink." She agreed and his scowl only deepened.

"No pink. What colors did you put on me, anyways? I look ridiculous, I can feel it." He complained, putting on a pouty face as he tried to see more of the crown on his head than a few twigs and stems.

"You look great. Really, you do. And it's just greens with white roses." Jason explained with an almost shy smile, his gaze hushing between the top of Nico's head and his face.

Nico scowled at him, too.

"Now, now, we just all told you that you look utterly adorable. Ravishingly adorable. Come on, give your boyfriend a smile." Percy pleaded, trying to come closer again.

Nico eyed him warily, but let him wrap his arms around him with a sigh.

But wait…

"Only if you wear one, too. It's unfair if it's just me." He declared, his lips twitching at the thought.

"Gods yes, please, let's put one on Percy and Jason, too." Will instantly piped up, and Nico looked around to see Percy and Jason exchange troubled looks.

Ha!

"Yes. Unless you're saying flower crowns look stupid." Nico put in with a raised eyebrow, and both guys immediately looked around at him in alarm.

"Of course not!" Jason insisted scandalized, though he shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm cool with it! Sure, go ahead, put one on me, I don't mind. They're cool." Percy hurriedly declared, though it sounded more like he was just trying to get back on Nico's good side.

Keep trying, Percy.

They looked around towards Jason, Percy's expression urgent, Nico's expectant.

Jason looked conflicted a moment longer, then his gaze hushed towards Will for a moment and Nico could practically see an idea forming in his head.

"I'm only in if I get to weave flowers into Will's hair."

"What? No way!" Will immediately argued, looking taken aback and scandalized.

"Oh, that would look so pretty. You have such nice hair. Yes, perfect. I will get the flowers." Persephone chirped and the next moment, she was gone.

Wait…what?

Not to mention that this had actually worked out, but…like this?

For real?

"Yes!" Jason exclaimed, in a very un-Jason-like, triumphant way, and Percy and Nico raised their eyebrows at him surprised, while Will was still busy wailing and looking around for Persephone to apparently change her mind.

Nico decided not to point out all he'd have to say was 'no' and Jason would probably leave him alone.

Nope, since Will had utterly betrayed him and planted that devilish piece of weed and flowers on his head, he deserved to be left in the dark.

Thinking about darkness, it was always so much brighter in Persephone's garden, though Nico couldn't see any source of light at all, it was weird.

Then again, the Underworld worked in mysterious ways, anyways.

After all, there was no sun or substitute for the sun, yet they could somewhat tell whether it was night or day when outside.

In their room, Nico had to admit he could only tell with certainty if he checked the alarm clock on the bedside table.

There were only two windows, after all.

One next to the bed with a cupboard in front that was currently holding his books (his treasure), flower of hope (definitely his treasure), and the snow globe of Venice (also his treasure. Everything he owned was treasure. Nico was, in fact, a dragon. Yes.); and the other one in the bathroom.

So, yeah, with the Underworld generally dark and gloomy, and only those two windows, it wasn't very surprising they needed artificial light in the room to be able to see, no matter if day or night.

(Though he had noticed the light changed depending on the hour of the day. At first, he had thought he had imagined it, but today in the morning he had definitely seen the change. The light was much more dimmed in the early morning/late evening/night hours than during the day. Nico absolutely didn't mind.)

Nico looked around at his boyfriend, who was sending Jason a stern glance, while Jason was still grinning from one ear to the other triumphantly.

Then Percy caught his glance and winked at him with a smile. "We're going to look so pretty."

All that positivity.

Persephone came back, and with her, a pile of flowers on the ground.

"Here, take your pick. Nico, your father just called for me, so you four will have to live without me for a while. Don't touch any of the other plants, will you? I expect you all to use up these flowers until I return. Don't let them go to waste." She announced, a dangerous tone in her voice at the last part, then she was gone before they could even reply.

Oh great.

Nico gazed down at the various flowers with a sigh.

This was going to be some work.

Especially because he had no idea how to even do anything with flowers, other than let them wilt during emotional outbreaks.

"So, who wants to learn how to make flower crowns?" Will asked, more or less cheerfully, clapping his hands together and picking up the floral wire that was next to the flowers, all the while looking towards Nico hopefully.

Percy also looked around at Nico with pleading eyes.

Ugh, why him?

"Sure...I guess..." He relented, wondering whether he was going to regret this.

Well, at least he could make a really embarrassing and pathetic flower crown for Percy.

Now, the only question was whether that would be embarrassing for him or for Percy.

Oh well.

.

Will had a considerably good time teaching Percy and Nico how to make flower crowns - until Jason reminded him he was going to weave flowers into his hair.

Ugh.

Why though? Alright, his hair was a tad longer (especially since it was curly, which probably also made it easier to work flowers into), but why couldn't Jason just be happy making him a flower crown, if he already had to do something with flowers and Will's hair to begin with?

Though, he had to admit, he was more flustered at the notion than annoyed.

Will didn't like admitting to that.

He really didn't.

But he was pretty sure it showed, especially when Jason had looked at him soberly and asked whether he really didn't want to, and Will had talked his way out of it with a bright red face and stammers of 'It's ok, I guess' and 'If you must'.

Yeah, based on the knowing looks Percy and Nico had exchanged, they most definitely knew.

Meh.

So now, here they were, with Will sitting cross-legged in the grass with his back to Jason, cool fingers moving through his hair, while he tried frantically to concentrate on the flower crown he was making...for Jason.

Great.

Maybe he should at the very least make it look less pretty as revenge.

Then again, Jason was so gentle, and it did feel as if he was doing his best, so Will didn't want to be mean if Jason was actually trying to...well, to do what, exactly?

Damn, what was Jason's goal?

He had acted so excited and triumphant over something so entirely stupid, Will had no idea what to think nor how to deal with this.

It just didn't make any sense.

There wasn't really any way for Jason to prank him or to do anything stupid, plus, Jason wasn't the type for that, anyways (unless with Percy, maybe. Will would never forget that scene with the dog drool today. Jason rocked).

But there also wasn't any way this could be any sort of...pleasant (for Jason, at least)?

Like...no?

If this was NICO Jason had insisted on doing, Will would have completely understood, because, who wouldn't love to weave flowers into Nico's hair?

Well, Nico would probably loathe it even more than Will, because Nico hated getting all fidgety and flustered, just like Will hated it (it made him feel weak and vulnerable, and he didn't want that whatsoever, same as Nico didn't want that. Just that Nico didn't have any reason to worry - everybody knew he was strong and powerful and wouldn't need to prove anything, whereas Will was a sorry excuse for a demigod).

But it wasn't Nico's hair Jason wanted to work flowers into, it was Will's.

And Will still had no idea why, no matter how much he thought about it.

He glanced at Percy and Nico, who sat cross-legged in the grass in front of him, next to each other, stealing glimpses of each other's work out of the corners of their eyes and going about their pathetic first tries with admirable concentration.

Who Percy was even making a flower crown for, Will didn't know, but he looked very absorbed in his doings, his eyebrows furrowed, the tip of his tongue sticking out slightly.

Will's lips twitched.

Percy looked kind of cute.

Not as cute as Nico, of course, but cute, nevertheless.

Nico had his lips pursed, his brown eyes gleaming almost furiously down at the wreath in his hands as he added flower after flower with utmost care and caution.

So far, their crowns looked anything but.

Though Will had full faith in them, of course.

"Stop moving so much." Jason chided behind him, tugging on a strand of hair gently, and Will all but froze in his place.

Oh. Right.

Jason was still working flowers into his hair.

He hadn't exactly forgotten, but it had kind of started to feel similar to the head massage Jason had given him yesterday, so he had kind of just relaxed automatically and let his mind wander.

Bad idea.

He looked back down at the flower crown he was making for Jason, careful to move as slow as possible.

Jason chuckled behind him, but didn't say anything, and didn't tug again.

Instead, he could feel his fingers stroking through his hair, brushing against his skin every here and there, being careful and gentle as always.

Jason was always so gentle.

Will wondered vaguely whether he was such a gentle and considerate lover, too.

Wait, no. He should NOT think like that.

Especially not of Jason.

Super-small, minor crush (maybe) and all be damned, it still did not justify such thoughts.

Then again, wasn't it usually the gentle ones that were more passionate and pushy in bed?

Oh gods, what was he doing, thinking of Jason like that?

Poor Jason, he'd be so freaked out if he knew.

He tensed, concentrating hard on the left-over flowers in the pile they had to work off, trying frantically to get his mind out of that rather dangerous territory.

Not knowing what better to do, he picked some baby's breath and started adding it to his crown.

He kind of already had way too many flowers on that thing, anyways, but he decided one could never go wrong with baby's breath.

If he was being honest with himself, he was already more than done with this crown, but if he said that, Jason might stop, and he kind of might not want that just yet.

Maybe.

Also, if Jason didn't stop, he'd have to hold still with nothing whatsoever to do, and that was stupid, so he decided that was the excuse he was going to use in case somebody asked.

He glanced at Percy and Nico again, catching them both eyeing his wreath with clear envy in their gazes, before quickly looking back at their unfinished works.

Yeah, right, because they were so going to ask anything else than 'I think I messed up, can you help me out?'.

He smiled, eyeing his wreath once more, plucking off some stray leaves and petals until he was somewhat satisfied.

Therefore that Jason had his hands in Will's hair so much, he surely didn't feel him adding that many flowers.

Will decided not to question it, though.

"Can you turn around? So I can look at it from the front." Jason asked him quietly, and Percy and Nico looked up at him for a moment, taking in Jason's work so far.

Nico's eyebrow shot up, but other than that, their expressions stayed utterly indifferent, not giving Will one clue about whether he looked ridiculous or presentable.

He sighed, doing as Jason asked and turning around, which made him realize one moment too late just how close they were going to get, not to mention: Where to with his legs?

Jason seemed to notice the problem at hand, too, but he was much quicker in coming up with a solution.

Will blamed it on his still straying thoughts of Jason and gentle people and passionate lovers.

He also blamed those thoughts for the fact that he let Jason take his legs and put them over his own, animating Will to wrap them around him somewhat, which only brought them even closer.

Well, at least he wasn't sitting on Jason's lap, he guessed (instead, he was sitting between his legs, which wasn't all that better).

Wait, why was he even letting Jason manhandle him like that?

He was getting way too comfortable with the blonde, that much was certain.

Will decided to stare at the front of Jason's oversized, utterly dirty sweater, in order to avoid gazing at his face for too long.

Seriously, though, why was Jason always wearing such baggy clothes?

Maybe they should take him clothes shopping by times.

Some nice, well-fitting shirts definitely wouldn't hurt.

Not that Will really cared what Jason was wearing.

But if Jason wore better fitting clothes, he'd definitely be able to show his body off much better.

Then again, Jason wasn't the type to show off.

And who would he want to impress, anyways? Nico was already taken.

Thinking about it more and more, maybe it was better if Jason kept wearing baggy sweaters, after all.

That way, at least Will didn't have to worry about soon being the only single left.

Well, that was pretty selfish (and also not entirely true, anyways, but he didn't want to admit to the real issue here, yet).

Jason let out a small sigh, and Will's gaze flew upwards by reflex, their eyes meeting for a splint second.

Gods, why were Jason's eyes so blue?

They so reminded Will of the sky all of them couldn't see anymore from down here.

Jason smiled that typical Jason-smile of his, then his gaze returned to the top of Will's head, and Will had to suppress the urge to sigh.

Of course, his own eyes weren't anything special.

They were blue, yes, but an entirely different shade from Jason's.

It really was kind of unfair how Will couldn't even have special eyes.

But he knew better than to be bitter about that.

Instead, he let his gaze drift over Jason's face slowly (why not use the time Jason was distracted, now that he was looking up in his face, anyways?).

Jason had a rather pretty face.

It wasn't as delicate as Nico's, and slightly more angular than Percy's, but Will could only once more think of how handsome Jason actually was.

How the blonde never seemed to realize that was beyond him.

Then again, Nico and Percy played oblivious to their good looks, too.

Maybe it was just this thing that people could see beauty everywhere but in themselves.

Will wanted to laugh at himself.

Right, and what did that make him?

He hated his face.

Hated his plainness.

Hated his complexion.

Hated the way he looked like any other kid from Apollo that hadn't had the luck to come after their mother.

And, most of all, he hated his freckles.

"Freckles, what's with that face? Do you want me to stop?" Jason asked taken aback, lowering his hands as he took in the look on Will's face.

He hurriedly tried to look indifferent again, unsure how much of his inner distaste had just shown.

Seriously, since when was he not master of his body anymore?

"I'm good. Was just thinking about something unpleasant, that's all." He mumbled, lowering his gaze again to Jason's horrid sweater.

Yeah, who wore ocher, anyways?

Horrid color.

It looked even more horrid with dried dog slobber all over it.

"You thought of something unpleasant while looking at my face. That's very reassuring." Jason muttered drily, his hands still hovering to the left and right of Will's head instead of moving back into his hair.

Will shifted, not liking the way Jason was scrutinizing him whatsoever.

"Oh shush. It wasn't anything about you. Now, are you done?" He asked impatiently, moving one hand up instinctively to touch his hair, but Jason's hand was faster, snatching it and holding it in his own.

Jason had bigger hands than Will.

Not very surprising, Will had noticed that before, after all.

Still, knowing they were bigger than his own, and feeling them clasped around his own were two entirely different things.

"Not yet, but almost. Unless you want me to stop?"

Jason's gaze was searching, his expression skeptical.

For some reason, Will craved for that relaxed, content attitude Jason had had only moments ago.

Seriously, he shouldn't let his mind wander so much.

"Man, just do it. If I had a problem, I'd have said something." Will grumbled, twisting his hand to grasp Jason's instead and then tug it towards his hair, showing him he was fine with it.

At least he hoped that's what the gesture showed.

Jason looked doubtful for another moment, but then resumed his work, one hand moving through his hair, apparently checking the flowers already in place and searching for more free spots, while the other one gently started stroking Will just behind the ear on the other side.

No way.

No, not his ear.

Any other place was fine, but there…

Will closed his eyes, a small sigh escaping his lips as he tilted his head into Jason's hand instinctively, moving into the touch.

Not there.

Jason's hand halted for a moment, then resumed.

Gods, yes. No wait, no.

"You like that?"

Damn, did Jason really have to ask?

He couldn't remember whether he had ever actually called or thought of Jason as smart, but if he had, he was so taking it back hundredfold right now.

Managing to pry one eye open to glower at Jason, he found the blonde studying his face with a surprisingly un-Jason-like expression on his face.

In fact, it reminded Will a lot more of the way Percy sometimes looked at Nico.

Wanting.

Predatory.

Dangerous.

Will felt a mixture of emotions surge through him, but mostly lust and fear, both of which made him feel uncomfortable.

He wanted to move, wanted to make Jason look away, wanted to make Jason look at him differently; but at the same time, he found himself incapable of moving, Jason's fingers still caressing the area right behind his – alright, never mind, Jason must have figured it out, because the next moment, his fingers were massaging his ear, and Will was dying.

He let out a very embarrassing (though luckily rather quiet) sound, practically turning into putty under Jason's touch, and he could swear he was dropping against the blonde.

But there was no way he could stop himself.

Gods, yes.

Luckily for Jason, he didn't laugh at him or say anything, because else, he'd have most likely ended up with a few limbs less and some missing organs.

No, instead, he continued, moving his second hand to Will's other ear.

Will trembled, trying frantically to keep his face as indifferent as he could, while at the same time trying to decide between pulling away and dropping right into Jason.

His body screamed for the latter, but he was fairly certain he should be picking the former.

Jason's fingers found his earlobes, and he huffed out a small, needy breath, the only way for him to push down the whimper that had wanted to escape instead.

"Hey, what are you two doing?" Percy asked in an odd tone behind them and Will's eyes shot open, his body instantly tensing.

Jason sighed loudly, sounding utterly frustrated.

Then he frustrated Will as well with pulling his hands back.

No, please, put them back!

"Really, Percy? Was that necessary?" Jason asked sourly, picking up another flower from where he had placed his chosen ones next to him, and going back to putting them into Will's hair.

Will didn't meet his gaze, instead deciding to do something very grown-up and mature: sulk.

"What? What did I do?" Percy's voice was confused and startled, showing he was absolutely honest.

Will still huffed indignantly.

"Well, what do you think we're doing? I'm putting flowers in his hair. How can you not see that, Percy?" Jason deadpanned, and Will wanted to look up at him with a grin, but at the same time couldn't make himself do it.

So, instead, he continued pouting, staring at…oh wait, he was staring at Jason's crotch.

Hey, he hadn't exactly looked, his eyes had simply strayed there, so not his fault!

"That was not putting flowers in his hair." Percy muttered under his breath, and Will felt himself tensing.

Wait, Percy had actually noticed?

Then again, one would have to be pretty stupid not to notice somebody massaging another person's ears and that person practically turning into goo at the touch.

Ugh, Will had been way too obvious, hadn't he?

"You know what, I give up. Percy, take this sorry excuse for a flower crown." Nico announced loudly, and Will's lips twitched with amusement.

How high were the chances Nico was just saying that in order to get their conversation away from this?

That was Nico for you.

The best guy ever.

"Sorry excuse? Nico, it looks great. And so much blue!" Percy cooed and Will rolled his eyes to himself, his lips maybe twitching the tiniest bit.

He risked a glance at Jason and found him gazing at him quietly, as if contemplating something.

But then he smiled. "Yeah, you're done, too. I admit it didn't turn out exactly how I wanted, but still great. More your good looks than my skill, though. Guys, what do you think?"

He asked, motioning for Will to turn around, while Will tentatively touched the top of his head, feeling quite a few flowers.

He didn't dare move too fast, since Jason hadn't exactly secured all of them that well, and if he already had to show himself like this, he wanted to at least make sure it didn't all fall out right away again.

Jason had made an effort, after all.

And wait, what did he mean, 'more his good looks than Jason's skill'?

By the time Will was facing Percy and Nico again, his face felt rather hot.

Jason thought he was good looking?

Nah, he must have misunderstood.

Both Percy's and Nico's eyebrows shot up in surprise as they took in his new hairdo, and Will was torn out of his train of thoughts, just to be catapulted into another one about whether he was looking ridiculous or whether they were impressed.

"I have to admit, I didn't think it would look quite like this." Percy finally commented, but Will wanted to curse him, because that didn't answer his unspoken question whatsoever.

"Where did you learn to do that, anyways?" Nico asked Jason curiously, and Will inwardly ground his teeth.

Jason plucked at something on the top of Will's head, then got up off the ground and held out a hand to him.

"The cohort. Whenever we had duties in groups of two or three, we would play games or teach each other random things to pass the time. So, once there was this girl who showed me how to do that, and from that day on, I had to do it all the time for almost all the girls. They seemed to like it." He explained with a shrug, tugging Will up as he took his hand.

Well, that sounded like Jason.

Still…

"So, mind telling me how I look? Since you're not on the ground laughing, I'm guessing it can't be that bad?" He finally relented and asked, which immediately caused all three of the guys to exchange knowing glances and smirk.

Somehow, he had the feeling they had wanted to have him ask for it.

"Aw, Will, don't worry, you look stunningly…adorable." Percy cooed, and Jason nodded enthusiastically.

"Absolutely. You look great."

"I think the look suits you, though it's definitely different." Nico put in with a small grin, and Will couldn't keep the blush from creeping onto his face.

All three of them grinned like Cheshire cats.

What was this, some sort of conspiracy against him?

When had they found out he was a sucker for praise, anyways?

He scowled, trying to hide his face in his hands, but Percy clasped his wrists, tugging them up.

"Don't you dare hide, you look so cute! Let me take a picture."

"Oh hell no!" Will exclaimed horrified, but Nico seemed all for it.

"Yes! Will, please, let us take a picture. You want to see how you look, too, right? We can take one together. Me with this horrid headpiece, and you with your flowers. Deal?" He suggested, making puppy eyes at Will.

Will froze.

Those eyes.

His struggle immediately ceased, the fight leaving him.

How could anybody ever resist those eyes?

How could anybody ever resist Nico?

Percy whooped, letting go of him and getting the camera from Nico, while Jason crossed his arms in front of his chest, grinning to himself rather happily, not noticing Will looking.

Will frowned at him for a moment.

Sometimes, he really didn't understand Jason.

Of course, Jason had never been an easy read, but still, there were moments Will thought he could understand him, or knew what/how he thought.

But right now wasn't one of those moments.

Right now was one of those moments where he wished he could take a look inside Jason's mind to figure him out.

Nico came to his side, and even wrapped an arm around his side, which immediately dragged Will out of his mind and had him focus on the Italian.

Because NICO never initiated physical contact with anybody other than Percy (except when it was cuddle time in the evening, maybe).

But Nico was.

Nico also leaned against his side with a small sigh, trying to put on a smile at Percy's pleading.

Oh, photos, right.

Will shook his head slightly, looking around at the camera.

With Nico.

His expression cleared.

Photos! With Nico!

His arm wrapped around Nico automatically, a smile spreading on his lips.

Percy raised a knowing eyebrow from behind the camera, chuckling and pressing the button over and over again.

"Jason, why don't you put on yours and join them?" He called over, and both Will and Nico looked around at the blonde, who looked surprised.

"Mine?"

"Duh, the one I made you." Will heard himself saying, feeling both irritated and confused by Jason's reaction.

Who had he thought Will had made that crown for?

Judging by the taken aback look on Jason's face, he hadn't thought it had been for him, that much was for certain.

Will rolled his eyes, letting go of Nico to pick up his wreath off the ground, picking up Nico's try for Percy, as well.

"How about we all wear them? If we already made them…" He suggested, placing his crown on Jason's head, who still blinked at him slowly, but seemed oddly happy.

Percy took his from him, holding up the camera as he put it on.

"Alright, just let me take a few more pictures of you three. I want that to go in my photo album."

The three relented, Will wrapping an arm around Nico on one side, and Jason on the other.

He still had no idea how he looked.

Jason and Percy at least knew what they were wearing.

And they had told Nico what he had on his head.

It really was kind of unfair Will was the only one who didn't know.

They fooled around for a bit, Jason and Will pushing each other around playfully, before Nico interfered and pushed them both into the dirt, which made a few flowers fall out of his hair.

Very, very colorful flowers.

Will decided it was definitely time he got a good look at himself.

"Alright, Gorgeous, pass the camera. I want a few pictures with you on it, too. Nico did such a good job on your flower crown, after all." He declared, and Percy looked rather proud as he adjusted the mostly blue wreath on his head.

Nico looked flustered, but pleased nevertheless, and Will proceeded to order them around to get the best shots for pictures, though he wasn't even taking any yet.

Instead, he was looking through the ones Percy had taken.

Aright, he didn't look ridiculous.

But damn, how had Jason worked all those flowers into his hair?

They were of varying sizes, though nothing too big, and in very varying colors, all threaded into his hair, and even though the stems were showing every here and there, they stayed remarkably well (maybe because of his curls? Alright, his hair was messy, but really?).

And, well, it didn't look all that bad.

He certainly understood why Nico had said it looked 'different', because it definitely wasn't his style, but…it really didn't look too bad.

He wouldn't want it permanently, but for now, he didn't mind.

"Hey, did you break the camera? Or are you…you're looking at the pictures, aren't you?" Percy guessed, a knowing grin spreading on his face, while Jason looked a tad nervous, scanning Will's face as if trying to gauge his reaction.

Will rolled his eyes, holding up the camera to take some pictures of them.

"I was just checking whether I looked presentable. Well, now I know why everybody went to Jason for hairstyles. It's not all that bad." He said, and promptly found Jason all but beaming at him.

Ha! Perfect!

Will shot picture after picture, grinning at his guys as Percy started wriggling his eyebrows at Jason, while Nico was rolling his eyes and poking his boyfriend in the side, and Jason laughed and did the same from the other side.

Then those three were looking back at Will with broad grins, and he just adored them so, so much.

Plus, they looked even more adorable with all those flowers in their hair.

Nico's flower crown was made by Persephone and him, so, of course, it looked the most professional, though Jason's was close behind, the colors certainly suiting him (Will had done a pretty good job, if he was allowed to say it. Plus, the baby's breath that was mainly near Jason's ears had been a perfect idea).

Then there was Percy's flower crown that Nico had made, but it really didn't look all that bad, especially not since it had been Nico's first try.

And then, there was still the discarded wreath on the floor that Percy had made for whatever reason.

Will picked it up, raising his eyebrows at the various colors and flowers in it.

"I was thinking if Jason messed up you could wear that instead." Percy said sheepishly, suddenly right next to Will and taking the wreath with a sigh.

At least, he was trying to.

But Will didn't let go.

Wait, Percy had made that for him?

Percy tugged, looking confused for a moment, and Will let go, watching Percy eyeing it with a mixture of disappointment and distaste.

Then he shrugged and-…

"Don't!" Will exclaimed in horror, snatching the wreath from Percy as he was most definitely about to take it apart again.

"But…"

"No." Will growled, keeping the flower crown close and protecting it from Percy.

"But…" Percy repeated, looking confused and taken aback.

"Percy, really, you just pretty much said it's his, you can't just try to take it away from him again." Jason chided with a small chuckle and a serious shake of his head.

Will was about to argue, especially because Percy looked around at Will with wide eyes and a question mark on his face, but then Persephone materialized out of nowhere.

"Ah, you're all done. How nice. And I see there's barely any flowers left. Splendid. Not that I actually expected you to use them all, but it's good to see you've tried. Oh, yes, you look wonderful." She said approvingly, and all four of them looked around in surprise, Will still hogging Percy's flower crown.

Persephone eyed him in particular, and he could tell she approved of his hair.

He guessed that was a good thing, right?

Though the attention she gave him unnerved him immensely.

"Yes, yes, perfect. Except for your clothes. You know what, how about you let me give you a little make-over? Nico, you're excluded from the question, because you already agreed to it beforehand."

For some reason, it didn't sound like a question much, anyways.

What were they supposed to say?

No, thanks?

Yeah, not going to happen.

Plus, she was kind of right, they (with exception of Nico) still looked nasty with all the dried dog drool on their clothes.

Thinking about it, there had also been some in Will's hair.

Well, that would explain why Jason had gone through it so many times.

Wait, Jason had…eww…now Will felt bad for making him do that.

"Erm…sure…" He replied hesitantly when nobody else said anything, and Persephone's gaze landed on him once more, something odd gleaming in her ageless eyes.

"Perfect. Hang on." She said, clapping her hands.

He was about to ask what she was going to do, but then, the world already turned upside down.

Nico groaned next to him, while Percy and Jason instinctively grabbed for Will's arms for some reason, and everything turned black.

.

"So, that's how shadow-travelling feels like." Jason muttered drily once the world stopped spinning, and Will dropped against him like a log, trying to regain his balance properly.

This was shadow-travelling?

"Oh my, I forgot Nico didn't show you that, yet. Will you two be alright?" Persephone asked, looking genuinely concerned for a moment, though then she turned around and strode off without waiting for an answer.

Will frowned.

He really didn't understand the gods.

Nico threw him an apologetic glance, swaying himself slightly, his hand on Percy's arm, same as Percy's and Jason's hands were still on Will's.

Wait, why were they holding him, anyways?

He blinked, but then finally got a good look of the room they were in, and all other questions vanished from his mind.

Whoa.

They seemed to be in what was either a very small warehouse, or a very big walk-in closet, with rows after rows after rows of clothes.

Will had never seen so many clothes in one place.

Like, not even stores could compete with this.

"Whoa." Percy exclaimed, looking as impressed as Will felt.

Even Nico looked surprised, so Will guessed he either hadn't seen this place before, or it had changed since the last time he had.

"Come on, boys, we don't have all day. Who wishes to start?" Persephone called over and they hurried after her, careful not to topple over their feet or tear anything with them, though Will couldn't resist touching a few of the pieces on the hangers.

So many jackets.

So many shirts.

So many everything's.

Granted, the items mostly had floral designs and patterns on them, but still, they looked stunning.

Was Persephone doing some sort of Underworld-business with clothes to sell them in the mortal world?

Or was she just doing this for the hell of it?

Or maybe the Underworld did have some sort of store, with the latest demigod fashion, or ghost fashion, or fashion for gods or anything related?

Will had no idea, but he couldn't say he truly cared for the reasoning behind this.

He just found all of this amazing, reasons be damned.

Glancing around at Jason, he found the blonde eyeing a few pieces curiously, as well, his eyes travelling over the rows of clothes, then back towards Persephone and the others, and lastly to Will.

They smiled at each other, then proceeded hurrying after Nico, who tried to navigate them through the clothes towards where Persephone was waiting at a door.

"Alright, here we are. How about you wait with Will in there, Nico, and you two follow me?" The goddess of springtime announced, looking expectantly at Jason and Percy, who both shared a taken aback glance and nodded.

Why was she leaving Nico alone with Will?

If she was hoping for them to bond and start dating within the next some minutes it would take to dress Percy and Jason, he should probably tell her now it was pointless.

Really, Nico didn't want him like that.

Sometimes, Will thought Nico still might, just a tiny little bit.

But those were rare moments, mostly full of confusion and messed up situations.

So, yeah, there was that.

Not to mention Nico would never leave Percy.

And Will knew better than to hit on taken guys.

Which didn't mean he wouldn't playfully do so just because he could.

"Oh my, Nico, you and I, alone? Been a while, huh?" He asked with a teasing grin, catching Percy's scowl out of the corners of his eyes, so he winked at him.

"Don't worry, Percy, I'll watch over him, yeah?"

Percy's expression changed to a nonplussed one.

"Right. I think it will be more him watching over you, but keep telling yourself that, sun-bug."

Now it was Will's turn to scowl, but Percy already waved and turned away to follow Persephone.

Jason smiled at both Nico and Will, looking slightly conflicted.

Then he was gone, too.

Nico and Will looked after them for another moment, then Nico sighed and opened the door, and the two peeked inside.

It looked a lot like a sort of waiting area, with a row of chairs against the wall, and some changing cubicles at the other, with curtains and all.

The first thing they did, without even looking at each other or saying a thing, was opening all those curtains.

There was no way they'd want to be surprised by anything coming out from behind them, after all.

But luckily, there wasn't anything hiding behind any of the curtains.

Not that Will had really expected it.

This seemed to be Persephone's territory, after all, and Will was certain no monster or being in their right mind would want to piss her off.

She seemed alright, and she did seem to care about Nico, but he still couldn't read her, so he was still slightly apprehensive.

"I wonder what she's going to make them wear." He tried conversationally, and found Nico's lips twitching.

"Me too. I can't help but picture Percy in some sort of dress shirt with giant sunflowers on it."

Will chuckled.

"Well, it's not like he wouldn't be able to pull that look off. You could wrap real flowers around him and he'd probably still look good." He said with a grin, then realized what the hell he was even saying, so he quickly shut up and looked away.

But Nico didn't seem to notice anything weird, instead chuckling to himself.

"Yeah, I know, right?"

They both started inspecting the room some more, chatting about various flowers and what else they could picture Persephone putting on the guys, making them laugh and giggle and high-five each other.

Then they started wondering how long this was going to take.

It had already been, like, ten minutes, and the guys still weren't back.

"Maybe Jason made her despair because she didn't have anything to squish his broad shoulders into, and now she has to make something new just for him?" Will suggested when Nico and he both took a peek at the pocket watch Nico had given him for Christmas (seriously, best Christmas gift, ever. He loved that thing).

Nico shrugged helplessly.

"Or maybe she took them to the other end of whatever this place is, got them dressed, and they have to find their way back here on their own." The Italian suggested, eyeing the door oddly.

Hm, maybe she did that.

Maybe she did hope Will and Nico would somehow bond in some weird way while the other two were gone, and that was why she kept them far away from here to give them as much time as possible.

If so, she could forget about it.

He was not going to make a move on Nico.

Will still remembered the last time they had come way too close in the room in the infirmary, after all, and he was not going to play with fire again.

The fact that Jason's and his almost kiss crossed his mind at that moment, too, didn't help, either.

"Or she got them to the other end of this place to get them dressed, then found out Jason's shoulders don't fit in anything she has and then proceeds to make something just for him, to then get completely fed up with them and send them back here on their own." Will put in with a serious nod, then wondered why he kept thinking of Jason's shoulders, anyways.

Nico sent him a dubious look.

"What is it with you and Jason's shoulders?"

Ugh, even Nico noticed.

Will shrugged, trying to play it off.

"Well, have you seen them? They're, like, this wide." He said dramatically, holding up his hands to indicate just how wide Jason's shoulders were, though he knew he was wildly exaggerating.

Nico laughed.

"No way. They're more like, this…" He stated seriously, holding up his own estimate.

"Have you looked at him, Nico? He got wider shoulders than that!"

"Have you looked at him?"

They kept criticizing each other's estimates, nudging each other with their elbows, until it suddenly turned into a whole elbowing war.

"What are you two doing?" Jason's voice asked dubiously from the door, and both of them turned around to tell him they were measuring his shoulders, but…well, their words died in their throats.

Holy…

Will felt his world turning upside down as he took in the man in front of him.

Oh gods.

Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods.

Who in the name of Hades had had the idea to…

Will found himself grabbing hold of Nico's shoulder, who in turn grasped his, apparently going through the same surge of emotions Will was going through.

Who in his right mind had decided to put Jason in a leather jacket?

And why did Jason have the indecency to look so freaking…

There was no other way to say it.

Jason looked absolutely hot.

Gone were the baggy jumper and the loose jeans, replaced by a skin-tight, black shirt (gods, Will had been right, this suited him so, so well), much better fitting dark jeans (which made Will want to touch so, so badly, which he really shouldn't want to, but damn, those legs…could somebody tell Jason to turn around, please? Will just HAD to look at his backside in those jeans. Now!), black combat boots, and that horribly amazing black leather jacket that turned their dorky friend into a sexy, hot, breathtakingly attractive supermodel.

Oh gods, Will had to…do something.

His grip on Nico's arm tightened, mostly to keep himself rooted to the spot, and he could feel a similar surge of surprise and most definitely arousal going through Nico, his pupils dilated, his eyes fixed on Jason as if he just saw him for the first time.

Oh gods.

Will felt his mouth watering and swallowed hastily.

He hated Persephone.

He really, really hated her.

How could she do this to him?

"What? Not good?" Jason asked, apparently utterly oblivious, and he looked down at himself, putting his hands into the pockets of those damned jeans.

Will felt his heart pounding in his chest and needed to swallow again.

"That…you…that…" Nico started, apparently as at a loss for words as Will was.

"Whoa, Jason, you look hot." Percy declared as he walked into the room, sending an appreciative look at Jason's backside mostly, which made Will want to yell at him that he had seen Jason first (which was a lie, but who cared).

But then, he got a good look at Percy, and he died a little on the inside.

Why?

Why would Persephone punish him like this?

Percy was not wearing a leather jacket. He was also not wearing combat boots.

Persephone seemed to have been in quite a mood to try out various fashion styles, and while she had more than apparently decided Jason would look good in punk-like clothes, she had put Percy in what could undoubtedly be called preppy clothes.

Which really shouldn't look as good as it did.

Percy was wearing a well-fitting, but not too tight sort of blue-green dress shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, with rather nice-looking white pants (not jeans), and a belt that only accentuated his narrow hips, tipped off with a set of sandals on his feet, which really shouldn't look good, but did.

That, plus the jacket he had leisurely thrown over one shoulder, and Percy looked ravishingly amazing.

Gods, it went so well with his character, and it looked like an outfit for somebody who belonged near the sea, and Will wanted to touch, wanted to rip open that shirt, wanted to…yeah, no.

He shouldn't think like that.

His gaze drifted back to Jason, and he found his mouth watering as Jason turned around to appreciate Percy, giving back the compliment about looking hot.

Oh gods, yes, those jeans fit him perfectly.

And, by the gods, Will was going to die if he couldn't get his hands on the guy's backside, like, right now.

Horribly enough, he did feel himself moving forward, his body acting entirely on its own, while alarm bells went off inside his head, telling him this was not a good idea.

But, as luck would have it, Nico was still the best friend in the world, because he grabbed hold of Will's arm and tugged him back.

"Will, stay with me, I'm going to lose it." Nico hissed pleadingly, his cheeks flushed, his eyes wide, his pupils blown so wide one could barely see the brown of his eyes anymore.

Will was dragged out of his thoughts at the urgency in his voice and put his hand around Nico's wrist, taking in the turmoil of emotions inside him.

But before he could think of anything to say or do, Persephone appeared out of nowhere, right next to him, and took hold of his shoulder.

"You're next, sun boy. Come on."

And then, before he knew what was happening, the goddess led him out of the room, away from Nico, and past Percy and Jason, who looked at him with a mixture of confusion and amusement (probably because of his stupefied and slightly turned on expression – or maybe because he DID let his fingers stroke over Jason's thigh ever so slightly in passing, though he had hoped nobody would notice).

A moment later, they were gone.

.

"So, how do you think I look?" Percy asked, looking hopefully down at his boyfriend, but Nico still didn't seem to want to look at him, his gaze downcast with his cheeks flushed so adorably.

In fact, he hadn't looked at anything or anyone ever since Will had been herded out of the room.

Gods, Will had looked so weird, too, with his face flushed and his eyes wide, and what had been up with that expression, anyways.

And the way he had ogled Jason…Percy hadn't liked it.

Then again, he couldn't deny Jason looked pretty good.

Personally, he'd have never put Jason in such clothes, but Persephone surely had known what she was doing.

Percy surely wished she had put him in such unusual clothes, too.

But instead, he felt fairly normal, the style not that much different from any other, really.

Alright, it was different to his usual dress style, but still kind of casual, while Jason looked like he was an entirely different person altogether.

Seriously, though, not even his glasses made him look less cool.

If anything, they made him look like even more of a bad boy.

But now wasn't the time to be thinking of Jason.

Now was the time to figure out what was wrong with Nico, because he fidgeted and looked nervous and conflicted and still didn't look up.

"I…you look great…" Nico mumbled, still looking so weirdly uncomfortable, and Percy looked down at himself again.

What was wrong?

Was his outfit that bad?

Alright, he'd have never thought he'd wear light pants, and the dress shirt was definitely different, but he hadn't thought it would be bad enough to make Nico uncomfortable?

"Well, if you don't like it, I can always take it off later, so…" He tried tentatively, but then Nico's head shot up, an incredulous expression on his face.

"Don't you dare take that off, Percy!"

Percy blinked.

Nico's expression changed to horror, his blush deepening, and he hid his face in his hands, looking utterly flustered.

Percy was confused.

"Erm…ok? I was just…because…you aren't really looking at me, so I thought…" He tried carefully, and heard Jason snort behind him.

What?

Had he missed something?

Nico groaned.

"Percy, I love you, but you're so unbelievably dense sometimes." He uttered, sounding almost annoyed.

Percy didn't understand.

But before he could ask Nico what he had done wrong, he felt the Italian push against him, and the next moment, he felt himself getting pressed against the wall next to the door, Nico's lips on his own, hands moving over his front and sides.

"Gods, Percy…" Nico breathed against his lips, before nudging his tongue against them in a silent order for Percy to let him in.

He blinked, still utterly perplexed and confused, but parted his lips nevertheless, his hands shyly moving up Nico's sides.

What…was going on with Nico?

Did he like Percy's clothes now or not?

He loved it when Nico got more pushy and dominant, though, and he was so not going to refuse him anything or stop him with stupid questions.

Jason chuckled in the background.

"Somebody likes your new style, it seems."

"Love it." Nico huffed, his hands now moving up to Percy's face to tug him closer, removing the flower crown from his head to grab hold of his hair.

"Gods, you look so freaking hot, Percy. I can't…" Nico babbled, and pushed against Percy further, their chests rubbing against each other as Nico's French kiss became more and more demanding.

And as his words sunk in, his behavior suddenly made a lot more sense.

Percy couldn't help but grin into the kiss, wrapping his arms around him tightly and returning the kiss with more vigor, luring a small groan out of Nico's lips.

So, Nico liked him in these clothes, huh?

Maybe Percy should change his wardrobe up a bit.

"Nico…" He gasped when Nico started tugging and nibbling on his bottom lip, his hands still fisted into his hair.

"You know how irresistible you are? Probably not. Gods, Percy…" Nico moaned, his eyes half closed, but Percy could see the way his pupils were blown wide, his expression full of want and lust, which made Percy want to so badly get them somewhere more private.

Gods, yes.

Then Nico attacked his lips again almost furiously, and Percy sighed happily, giving in to Nico instantly, returning his kiss and moving his hands up Nico's sides to his back, noticing the shivers running down.

And then, Nico was at his neck, his hands moving over Percy's dress shirt, then suddenly beneath it, a low, possessive growl leaving Nico's lips that made goose bumps appear all over Percy's body.

Oh gods, Nico.

This was it, he was so going to change up his wardrobe.

Nico rolled his hips against his thigh, and Percy found himself gasping, both at the sensation of Nico's definite hard-on, as well as the feeling of Nico's teeth at the base of his neck.

Jason cleared his throat behind them, but they ignored him, Nico's hands moving all over his sides and chest and abs and back, before slowly moving down towards his belt.

Yeah, Percy should definitely start using belts again.

Then again, they prove to be quite some work to take off, given that Nico started to fumble with the buckle impatiently.

"Erm…guys…I really don't want to interrupt, but…could you at least take this into one of the changing cubicles? I mean…I don't really want to be here with you two doing…that, but…at least don't do it right next to the door? Will and Persephone are bound to be back anytime soon, after all…" Jason announced awkwardly behind them somewhere, and Percy let out a frustrated sigh, which turned into a small gasp when Nico bit down on his shoulder, apparently not liking his collar.

"Nico…cubicle…?" He managed to pant out, something inside him churning with guilt as he thought of how this must feel to Jason, but he couldn't stop, couldn't stop himself from wanting Nico, couldn't stop wanting more, couldn't stop Nico and couldn't make himself want to stop Nico.

Nico grumbled something, growling against his skin as his hands finally gave up on Percy's belt, sounding frustrated and impatient and fed up, and his lips found Percy's jaw, nibbling on it rather harshly and demanding.

"So that's what happens if I leave the room for five minutes, huh? Jason, do I even want to know why you're hiding behind the curtain? Please, they are more dressed than they were the last time, I daresay." Will's voice sounded through the room, and Nico made another frustrated sound, pulling away from Percy, making him let out a rather pathetic and embarrassing whine.

When he opened his eyes, Nico was gazing at him with dark eyes, panting heavily, with his hands moving up Percy's arms, both over his bare skin and over the shirt.

Percy gazed back, wanting nothing more than to get those lips back onto his own.

"Are you done now? No? Well, suck it up. Nico, you have to go get changed. Nico? Hello, earth to Nico?" Will called over, but Nico's eyes were fixed solely on Percy, as if waiting for him to say something.

And, gods, Percy wanted to say a lot, ranging from 'I love you', over 'Kiss me' to something far more indecent that he shouldn't even think about saying in a room with Will and Jason in it.

But he never got the chance to make up his mind, because Will was his usual cruel self.

"Nico, I think this is the perfect time to remind you that Percy had Cerberus' drool in his mouth and still hasn't brushed his teeth. Just in case you forgot."

That got Nico's attention, alright.

And Percy cursed the day he had laughed while Cerberus had had his tongues out.

Nico's eyes widened, realization flashing across his features, and his expression changed to one of terror and disbelief.

Then he let go of Percy, and Percy looked around at Will with the tremendous urge to yell 'Was that really necessary?!'.

But at the sight of Will, he had to admit he turned a little speechless, swallowing his indignant outcry.

Together with his tongue and all the words in the world.

Because Will looked damn good.

Persephone hadn't put him into leather clothes, and hadn't put him into Percy's sort of preppy clothes, though Percy could imagine those not looking too bad on Will either.

Instead, she must have gone for a hipster sort of look, with a light dress shirt and a brown sweater over it, topped off with a dark cardigan and black, rather nice looking pants and black boots.

He was also swirling a beanie on one finger that he probably only didn't put on so he wouldn't ruin the flowers Jason had put into his hair – the only thing that kind of didn't go with that outfit whatsoever, though it kind of did, which was disturbing.

Still, it was a big change from the usual loose Camp sweater and jeans in winter, or the t-shirt and shorts in summer, or the scrubs he was wearing the rest of the time.

Nico looked surprised as well, the arousal leaving his eyes as his eyebrows shot up at the sight of the blonde.

He looked good.

Very good.

Percy kind of wanted to play around with that cardigan, actually.

It looked so fluffy and soft.

Alright, how had his mood changed from 'Yes, Nico, please take me' to 'Gods, Will, let me play with your cardigan'?

That…was kind of creepy.

Will's expression was unimpressed, and he clicked his tongue to get their attention back to his words instead of his looks.

"Nico. Your step-mom is waiting for you. Shoo." He announced pointedly, and Nico let out a loud, frustrated sigh.

"Yes, mom." He grumbled, throwing a last glance towards Percy, raking his eyes over his body once more with an appreciative glint in his eyes.

Then he trudged out the door and let it fall shut behind him.

Percy was torn between apologizing to the guys, complaining about their renewed interfering, and running after Nico to get him to ravish him all over again.

Then he saw Jason poking his head out from behind one of the curtains uncertainly, and he couldn't help himself – he laughed.

.

When Nico got back, he was feeling horribly guilty, horribly fed up, horribly horny, and even more guilty.

Also, he was annoyed with his get-up.

Why was it that Jason got a complete make-over, looking like some sort of punk god; why did Percy get a complete make-over, looking like the impersonation of a wet dream; why did Will get a make-over, making him look like a runaway model – and Nico was merely put in a dark, looser shirt, and black, non-skinny pants with a thin black belt and chucks?

Alright, he was wearing a blazer, and Persephone had done something with his hair to make it look better in a ponytail, but all in all, he looked pretty much the same, just ten times more nerdy.

One just had to give him a couple of books and/or glasses, and he'd be some sort of nerdy kid from high school/college.

How was that fair?

Not that he wanted her to whip out flower dress-shirts or gods knew what, but it kind of sucked that his friends looked like dreams come true, and he…was kind of left to look the same as ever.

Yeah, he was not happy about that.

Though he was annoyed at himself for being so bothered by that, too.

There were other things he should think about.

His friends, for example.

And Percy.

And the fact he had – again – thrown all caution to the wind and tried to make out (scratch that, he hadn't merely tried, he had freaking DONE it) with Percy, risks be damned, Jason be damned, his step-mom and Will be damned, everything be damned…

Yeah, he definitely had to get himself back in order.

That could not continue happening.

It wasn't fair towards his friends, and it wasn't fair towards Percy, and it wasn't fair towards himself, either, because all it did was make him even hornier than he already seemed to be, and thus even more frustrated than before.

Where did that urge to ravish Percy come from, anyways?

Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around?

Wasn't Percy supposed to be the one pushing Nico against walls, kissing the hell out of him; and shouldn't it be Nico who would be a whimpering mess, begging him to continue?

Instead, Percy seemed to actually want Nico to be pushy and dominant and...seduce him?

That couldn't be right.

Maybe Nico was simply not active enough, so Percy liked it when he actually acted up a bit.

In that case, Nico should most definitely get a grip on himself, stop making out with Percy in front of his friends, and instead get more active during their quality time in the shower/bath.

Alright, now, that was a goal he could work with, right?

He sighed, twirling the flower crown in his hands.

It actually didn't look too bad, he'd have expected it to look much worse.

Then again, Will and Persephone had apparently made it, so of course it wouldn't look as bad as his sorry excuse (well, it had only been his first try, ok?).

Still, there was no way that thing was going back on his head anytime soon.

He should probably hide it just so the guys wouldn't find it (Persephone had forbidden him to get rid of it, and he had the feeling she had told the same thing to the others – which would kind of explain why Jason had still been holding his and Percy had even still worn his).

But anyways he shouldn't think about flower wreaths right now.

He should think of how to apologize to the guys for not getting his hormones under control properly.

Oh, that was going to be such a great conversation, he just knew it.

Sighing once more, he stopped in front of the door, wondering how he was going to do it, anyways.

Should he just walk in and apologize right away?

Well, he had no idea how he could possibly get the conversation to go into any direction that could ease him into it, so that was kind of the only option, wasn't it?

Alright, he could do this.

Nico swallowed, nodding to himself in reassurance, then he opened the door.

"Hey guys, I just wanted to say I'm…what are you doing?" He asked confused, staring at his three best friends.

For some reason, he felt like he shouldn't be surprised whatsoever, because up until now, every time he freaking came back from anywhere to those three, they tended to do something entirely crazy, stupid, weird or all of those in one.

But still, he was surprised.

His three best friends…were on the floor.

Jason was kneeling, with Percy somewhat laying in his lap, Jason's arms holding him in place, while Will sat on Percy's crotch (at least that's how it looked like to Nico), apparently unbuttoning his shirt.

What…?

Was he walking in on something?

All three of them were looking around at Nico with surprised eyes, Will looking like he had been caught with the hand in the cookie jar, Percy looking scandalized, and Jason looking like he wasn't sure whether he really wanted to be here.

"Should I…go again?" He asked, puzzled, and found all three of them opening their mouths a the same time.

"What? No! We were just going to…" Will started horrified, his ears turning scarlet, his hands flinching away from Percy as if he had been burnt.

"No! Nico, they were just…" Percy all but yelled, wriggling and writhing in Jason's grip and under Will's weight, looking even more scandalized.

"You look very nice, Nico." Jason said quietly, and the absurdity of the normality of the comment made Will and Percy shut up and all three of them look around at Jason in confusion.

"Right…" Nico said with a frown, glancing down at himself for a moment before looking back at his three friends.

Percy eyed Jason almost disgruntled, and finally, Will and Jason let go of him, scrambling to their feet.

"No, seriously, they were just trying to tickle me. Thank the gods you are back. You-…hey, you really do look nice. That look really suits you. I like it." Percy interrupted himself, letting his gaze travel up and down Nico's body slowly as he came closer.

Nico opened his mouth to say something, but he forgot what that had been.

Hadn't he wanted to say something?

There had been something he had wanted to let the guys know…

He couldn't remember.

Then again, Percy was walking towards him, his gaze turning hungry, though it didn't look like he was going to ravish Nico any moment.

Well, that was good.

It wouldn't do them any good if they-…oh…

"I'm sorry." Nico blurted, and Percy blinked, stopping a few steps away from him in confusion.

"Huh? What is it?" He asked, sounding uncertain, while Jason and Will looked at Nico with frowns, as well.

"Ah…for…you know…" Nico tried and failed miserably, his courage leaving him, so he just gestured at Percy, as if that explained everything.

Well, to him, it kind of did, but by the confused look on Percy's face, he certainly didn't get it.

Jason did, though.

"Oh, that. Don't worry about it. It's not like it didn't happen before." He waved off, and Will's face cleared, though Percy still frowned.

But Nico shook his head.

"No, that's the thing. I know it shouldn't happen. Ever. At all. I'm really sorry, I just…well, just look at him. He looks so…" Wait, that was not going as planned.

And why was he still gesturing at Percy with both hands, now even more vigorously than before?

Percy blinked, then he blushed.

Just. Blushed.

Will laughed. "Nico, it's ok. You two are young and in love, and…"

"Don't you start with that again, Freckles. But he's right, Nico, we're good. As long as you don't overdo it, that is." Jason cut in, mussing through Will's hair and making some more flowers fall out.

Will glowered at the blonde.

"Shush, Handsome, go hide behind the curtain or something, I wasn't done yet. Listen, Nico, we get it. And, I mean, we don't mind if you feel the need to express your love physically…"

"Oh wow, you're seriously going to put it like that?" Jason remarked, but Will shushed him again with a grin.

"Shush…so, anyways, if you two feel like you can't live without your hands all over each other – this better, Jason? – then either stay above the belt and keep your clothes on, or tell us so we can leave. Unless you want us to be there, of course. In that case, you should probably tell us that, too."

"I can't believe you just said that, Will." Jason muttered drily, putting a hand to his face, while Will looked around at him with a questioning look.

Nico felt his face burning and couldn't believe they were seriously saying any of this.

This should not need to be discussed.

He should not force his friends to say things like this.

Plus, what the hell had that last part been about?

Why would he want them around when he was making out with Percy?

Well, he could think of something he'd want them around for, but that was…no.

Just. No.

He was not allowed to think like that.

Nico was in a relationship with Percy, and Percy made him happy, and he was not going to imagine anything else and not think of anything else, because that would just give him more of those weird dreams, and he certainly didn't need those.

Nope, not going to happen.

Still, on an entirely different topic, weren't those two acting a bit like a couple?

It might have just been his imagination, but somehow, it felt like it.

Well, he wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he wasn't going to question it, of course.

It was their thing.

He glanced towards Percy, just to find him in an equally flustered state, looking at him almost sheepishly, his face still so adorably flushed.

"I…thanks, guys. Sorry. Yeah." Percy mumbled, tentatively taking a step towards Nico, who found himself smiling at the almost shy behavior and walked over to his boyfriend, letting his hands rub over his sides as Percy's wrapped around him almost automatically.

"It's fine. We can look away." Jason said with a shrug, and Will snorted.

"You might, because you're a sweetheart. I know what I'm going to do if those two don't behave. You just wait."

"Will, stop scaring them. You know you wouldn't do anything that made them uncomfortable, anyways."

"Shush, Jason, that's beside the point."

"Right."

Percy and Nico grinned, looking around at the two blondes who were throwing each other dubious glances.

Who'd have thought those two could bicker just like Percy and Will did sometimes?

Wait, what had they said?

Nico should definitely pay more attention to their words than the way they talked to each other.

He had a feeling it had been something important.

Sadly, the only thing his mind deemed important right now was the feeling of Percy's skin through that shirt of his.

"You know, I really think you look very nice." Percy purred, tugging him closer, and Nico found himself smiling, his face now warming more because of the definite undertone in Percy's voice than the mortification at the entire situation.

"That may be, but I still don't look as nice as you. You rock this look, I'm just saying." He whispered back and Percy chuckled, something Nico could see, hear and feel.

They smiled at each other, putting their foreheads together and gazing into each other's eyes sheepishly, not wanting to upset the guys with starting another make-out session.

Plus, this was kind of just as nice.

It might not be as passionate and heated, but it made Nico feel all warm and fuzzy and loved inside, just standing here with his arms wrapped around Percy, feeling the fabric of his shirt, the warmth of his body, the pounding of his heart, just as fast as Nico's.

"I love you." Percy whispered quietly, gently, and Nico felt the usual shiver run down his back that he always felt, his grin only widening to the point it almost hurt.

Gods, he surely did smile a lot more than usually, huh?

It was all because of Percy and his guys, really.

"I love you, too."

"Gods, those two can be so adorable. No wonder they are the most powerful demigods around. Other people and monsters don't stand a chance, what with all that cuteness. Now I'm not surprised I can never stay mad at them." They heard Will saying, but didn't look around.

"Why would you ever be mad at them in the first place? You love it when they're happy." Jason remarked amused, and they heard clicking.

"Touché. Now, guys, what would you like to do? Photo-shoot? Dancing lessons? Standing there a while longer making heart eyes at each other?" Will asked, and the two sighed, giving in and moving together for a small peck on the lips (dog drool be damned), before letting go of each other, looking around to find Will taking pictures of them.

At this rate, Nico was going to have to get a new photo album just for their stay in the Underworld.

Then again, that might not be such a bad idea.

Hey, he could label it something like 'Our fist vacation', or something.

Though that did kind of sound like something couple-ish, and it wasn't as if the four of them were…well, a couple.

If that was even possible.

No, Nico was fairly certain it wasn't.

He remembered faintly how Will had mentioned something about more than two people in a relationship, but he was also fairly sure that was just sexual – not to mention not exactly the norm.

And most certainly not for four guys.

Ugh, what was he even thinking about?

He should not be thinking like that.

"Actually, I was thinking…" Percy started hesitantly, one arm still slung around Nico, squeezing his side gently.

"Yeah?" Will asked, continuously taking pictures, even though they weren't even posing.

"Well, how about we start on the games? I mean, first I want to brush my teeth, but after that, I was thinking-…"

"I'm in!" Will yelled, thrusting the camera into Jason's hands and rushing out the room, before Percy could even finish his suggestion.

Jason stared at the spot where Will had been a moment ago, looking stunned and shocked and petrified, while Percy gaped at the door.

Nico found himself chuckling, closing his boyfriends mouth and moving towards the door.

"Well, I guess that's settled. It's playtime, guys." He announced, and Jason and Percy took a moment, but eventually snapped out of it, blinking and grinning, throwing each other amused glances.

"First one there gets to pick the game?" Percy suggested, and Jason laughed.

"Well, then I'd hurry if I were you. Will can be quite fast when he wants to be."

Percy's head shot around. "No~! Nico, I'm sorry, but I…" He started, wailing and looking conflicted as he reached Nico and the door.

Then he pressed his lips to Nico's forehead – and was gone.

"I can't let him choose the first game, or we're all going to die!" He yelled over his shoulder, the noise partially drowned by Will's manic laughter.

Nico rolled his eyes, grinning around at Jason, who was shaking his head with an amused expression.
"Those two are never going to grow up, are they?"

Jason shook his head. "Nope, but that's what makes them so special, doesn't it?"

Nico sighed. "Yeah…"

And with that, they followed those two dorks, which made Nico wonder how they were even expecting to get out of here.

Persephone had shown him the exit, yeah, but the way she had said it had made it sound more like she had not told the other three.

"Nico, where is the freaking exit to the place?" Will and Percy both yelled over, and Jason snorted next to him, something he had most definitely adapted from Will.

Nico shook his head.

Yes, those were his dorks, alright.

.

"I say we play this one first." Will suggested, holding up the case.

"No way, we'll never get done with that, and then we can't play this one." Percy argued, holding up a different game.

"Who wants to play that one, anyways? This is much cooler." Will insisted.

Jason rolled his eyes, watching them bicker amused.

"Are you kidding? This one got much better graphics!" Percy said pointedly, but Will only snorted.

"Who cares about the graphics, this one at least got some plot to it!"

"What do I care about the plot? I got ADHD, I can't focus on the plot, anyways!"

Now Nico was rolling his eyes, too.

"Well, that's harsh. I got ADHD too, and I can focus on the plot just fine. Maybe you're just stupid." Will exclaimed, and Percy gaped at him incredulously.

"Did you just call me stupid?"

"I call you a lot of things, 'stupid' should not be the one that bothers you most, I'm just saying." Will muttered drily, but put back the game anyways, instead pulling out a different one.

"How about this one, then? We can all play this."

Percy opened his mouth – undoubtedly to argue again -, but then closed it, contemplating the case for a moment.

Then he looked around towards Jason and Nico, who both raised their eyebrows at the same time, both with unimpressed expressions as they sat on the bed, waiting for those two drama queens to get done picking their first game.

"Yeah, alright. That will do."

"Oh wow, thank you so much for your approval, oh mighty Perseus Jackson." Will said sarcastically, and Percy glowered at him.

"Shush, and don't 'Perseus' me, William."

Will's head shot around, his expression one of utter incredulity.

"Do NOT call me that."

For some reason, it felt like he really meant that, too.

Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, guys, are you done now?" He asked loudly, keeping Percy from saying anything he might regret later.

Both looked around at him.

"Yeah, we're playing this." Will announced, and Jason got up to help with setting their chosen game for the night up.

He was kind of the only one of them with a working gaming console in his cabin, so they expected him to know most about this type of stuff.

Sadly, Jason had utterly no idea what he was doing, which made him all the more surprised when the thing was actually running without problems.

Hades had probably done something to make sure they wouldn't run into any difficulties, he was certain.

"See? I told you we can always depend on Jason." Will remarked smugly, making Jason blink and look around, but Will was shaking his shoulders triumphantly at Percy, who scowled back at him.

"I never said we couldn't, I merely said I could do it myself if I had to."

"Right."

Those two.

Still, the indirect praise felt kind of nice.

"You know, sometimes I wonder who is dating whom here." Nico uttered drily from the bed, and all three of them looked around at him with surprised expressions.

Then Percy AND Will were over there in a heartbeat, cooing and reassuring Nico Percy was all his.

…Right.

Jason raised an eyebrow at them, but decided not to say anything, instead getting the controllers and setting it all up ready for play for four people.

Oh, this was going to be a long, long night, he could feel it.

Well, at least they had had mercy and not picked a gruesome, horrid game right away.

But he guessed those were going to follow soon enough.

He glanced around at the board games.

Hopefully, the guys weren't completely serious about their claims they wouldn't stop playing until they had finished all of those fames.

He really wanted to play some board games with them at some point.

"Jason, you need any help?" Will called over, so Jason hastily shook his head and grabbed the controllers, moving over to that messy bundle of demigods that was his friends.

"Here you go. Percy, you get the one with the blue tag, Will, you're the orange tag, Nico, you get the green tag, and I'll stick to the red one. Alright?"

They all nodded, though Will and Percy eyed their controllers suspiciously.

"You didn't do anything dodgy with them, right? I swear, if I lose against Will, I'm going to-…"

"The only reason you're going to lose against me is because you suck, Gorgeous." Will interrupted him pointedly before he could finish his sentence, and Jason and Nico exchanged telling glances.

"I only set it up in the order they were plugged in. Which means Nico will go first, Percy second, Will third, and me last."

"You're always last." Percy remarked.

"That's cause he's a nice guy, unlike you, you're a git." Will muttered, and the two started elbowing each other.

Jason sighed.

"That peace between you two surely didn't last long. Pity, I kind of liked the quiet."

Both of them sent him small scowls, then exchanged a mischievous look with each other.

Next moment, they had their arms thrown around each other, grinning at Jason widely.

"No clue what you're talking about, we're best mates!" Both of them insisted simultaneously, and Jason rolled his eyes, while Nico raised a dubious eyebrow, watching them from the side.

Jason looked back at the screen, a small smile spreading on his face.

"Right. Well, best mates…it's your turn."

"What?! Percy, make space!"

"You make space!"

Nico chuckled, and Jason and he high-fived over the heads of those two adorable dorks.

Yes, this was going to be a long night.

But Jason was certain it would not get boring whatsoever.