Beginning Notes

Solace Di Angelo (ao3): What if Nico and Will go on a date then get attack by a monster?

So. Much. Solangelo. I feel like it's the only thing I've been writing about these past few chapters lol. You guys have just been suggesting so much of it, but I mean, if that's what you want, I'll definitely write it! No worries :D

Anyways, characters belong to Rick Riordan, hope you all enjoy!

Nico

As Nico sat across from Will at a small table in some cafe he didn't know, he thought about how everything was too good to be true. He'd imagined himself on a date with Will Solace at a nice cafe, eating cookies and sharing a milkshake while they smiled at each other from across the table plenty of times. But that it had actually become reality? No way was that possible. Surely he was dreaming.

'Helloooo, Nico, are you there?' Will asked, waving a hand in front of Nico's face, and only then did he noticed he'd spaced out for a little.

'Oh, sorry, what did you say?' he asked, kind of embarrassed.

'I asked what you wanted to go do after this.'

He thought about that for a little. He didn't really know anything around here, it was the first time since he'd found out he was a demigod that he'd ever been outside of either of the camps for something other than a quest.

'Hmm, I saw a park on our way here, maybe we could go for a walk there?' he suggested and Will smiled.

'Okay!'

Nico couldn't help but smile back at Will and he felt so lucky to have him. If you'd told him a year ago that he'd have a wonderful, sunshiny boyfriend who cared for him and was the sweetest person in the world, he would not have believed you. Yet, here he was.

They talked for a little more as they finished their milkshake, and then Will asked for the bill, offering to pay for the two of them.

'Oh, y-you don't have to,' Nico stammered. 'I can pay for myself.'

Will looked at him and pouted.

'But I want to be the nice boyfriend that pays for the date,' he said, 'just like in the movies, you know?'

Nico shook his head, but felt a smile tug at his lips. 'Will, this isn't a movie, but fine, if you want to pay, I won't stop you.'

The way Will looked so happy to simply pay for a milkshake and some cookies made Nico's heart swell and he thought that maybe this was a movie after all. At least that would explain how everything felt so perfect and unreal.

Once he was done, they walked out of the cafe and Nico decided he felt brave enough to test whether or not he was actually dreaming, so he took Will's hand in his and carefully interlaced their fingers together.

When he looed up to see Will's reaction he smiled and swung their hands a little to match their pace. Nico could feel the blush rising to his cheeks.

'You look so cute when you're blushing,' Will told him, and yeah, he was definitely dreaming. How could it be anything else at this point?

'N-no I don't!'

'You also look so cute when you're flustered,' he said with a giggle, and wow, if Will's giggle wasn't the most amazing thing in existence, then Nico wouldn't know what was.

'Sh-shut up, Solace,' he stammered and Will giggled that adorable giggle of his again.

'Yup, so cute. My cute, little boyfriend.'

Nico tried ignoring how warm that made his face feel, and instead tried enjoying the moment of walking through the park hand in hand with his boyfriend, without having to worry about people stopping them and telling them it wasn't allowed. Oh, how lucky he was to be able to live in a time where things had changed.

Suddenly Nico tensed and stopped in his tracks, as he heard a familiar growling sound in the distance.

Will must have noticed, for he asked:

'What's wrong, Neeks?'

He tried listening for the sound again, but it seemed to have disappeared again. Maybe he was just imagining things, so he shook his head. 'S-sorry, it's nothing.'

'Doesn't seem like nothing,' Will noted, raising an eyebrow at him.

'Thought I heard something, but it's gone. Like I said, nothing.' He tried walking away, but Will didn't follow him, so he stopped again and looked back at him.

'Nico,' Will said, his tone a lot more serious than before. 'Are you hearing voices, or do you mean a monster?'

'Hellhound, but it's nothing, I swear. Probably just imagined it,' he tried explaining, but by the look on Will's face he could tell the other wasn't having any of it.

'I'm not letting some stupid monster ruin my date with my boyfriend,' he said, crossing his arms stubbornly. 'Where did the sound come from?'

Nico shrugged. 'Somewhere in the distance.'

'Well, this is not helping, is it!'

Then to their left the bushes rustled and the both of them turned to the sound.

'It's probably just a bird-' Nico was about to say when two big Hellhounds jumped out from the bushes. 'Never mind, I guess I was right after all,' he muttered.

Will stomped his foot dramatically and whined:

'Ugh, all I want is to go on a date with my boyfriend undisturbed, is that too much to ask? Why do you stupid monsters always have to ruin everything!'

The Hellhounds didn't seem to like that comment and they fixed their eyes on Will, growling and baring their fangs at him.

'Will, get behind me,' Nico told him, unsheathing his sword.

'Oh, hell no! You're not fighting these monsters on your own,' Will said, but Nico rolled his eyes. He knew that Will hadn't brought a weapon with him, since the other boy had said that he'd only ever use one unless absolutely necessary, and going on a date didn't really call for the occasion.

'You got to pay for the milkshake, I get to deal with the monsters, yeah?' he joked.

Then as if right on cue, one of the Hellhounds pounded at Will, but Nico tackled him and pushed him aside before the monster could get to him. They fell to the ground, but they both got up immediately and Nico flicked his hands at the beasts.

'Shoo, you silly dogs. Dad is probably wondering where you are.'

At the mention of his father they looked at him with their heads tilted.

'Uhm, Nico, I don't think-'

'You heard me, shoo! Or stay here and find out how sharp this sword is, the choice is yours,' he challenged the monsters, ignoring Will.

The Hellhounds looked at each other, as if communicating something, and then sprang at the demigods.

Nico ducked to avoid the Hellhound, and then slashed at it with his sword. The beast yelped in pain, but dissolved into powder merely seconds later. He didn't hesitate and immediately ran over to where the other Hellhound had chased Will, who was now cornered and defenseless.

'Oi, over here, stupid beast!' he called, and the Hellhound turned to him and growled.

'Yeah, you, don't you dare touch my boyfriend, or I'll chop you to pieces like I did with your friend.'

As soon as he mentioned killing the other Hellhound, the monster ran at him with a speed so much faster than Nico could have ever expected. Before he could even swing his sword at the Hellhound, it had already knocked him to the ground. Nico tried pushing it off of him, but the massive beast was too strong. It opened its maw and drooled right on Nico's face, and it took him all the strength he could muster to keep the beast from munching his face off clean.

Then just as he thought he couldn't hold it much longer, the Hellhound suddenly went limp, and fell to the ground in a heap, a syringe sticking out from its back.

'Now, what was that about you fighting off the monsters on your own?' Will mocked, holding out a hand to help him up.

Nico huffed, but took his hand anyway. 'I could've easily done it if I hadn't insulted it about killing it's friend.'

'Hmm, sure.'

Nico rolled his eyes at Will's sarcastic comment but then remembered the syringe in the Hellhound's back.

'Also how come you don't have a weapon on you, but you do have a syringe?' he asked exasperated.

Will simply shrugged. 'In case of emergency.'

'What emergency would call for a syringe in stead of, I don't know, a knife?'

'This. Also, I don't like knives. But aren't you happy I saved you? Now I can be your knight in shining armour,' he teased.

Nico crossed his arms. 'You already got to be the boyfriend who pays for date, why can't I be the knight in shining armour?'

'Because you're the handsome prince that needed saving,' Will said, winking at him, and Nico could feel his cheeks flush bright red for the millionth time that afternoon.

'Ugh, I'm too tired to deal with this, let's just go back to camp,' he complained, but Will pouted at him again.

'It's literally afternoon, Nico, you're not going to go to bed now!'

'No, we're going to go cuddle and not deal with monsters. You didn't think the date was over already, did you?' he said, and to his amazement he watched as Will became flustered too. 'Aww, you're so cute when you're flustered,' he added, just to tease his boyfriend, and started walking back in the direction of camp.

'H-hey, that's not fair!' Will stuttered as he ran to catch up with Nico.

'You started it,' Nico told him, shrugging. 'Now, hurry up will you, I'd like to get back to camp as soon as possible, because I want cuddles.'

End Notes

Sigh, those darn Hellhounds always gotta ruin everything don't they?

Lol anyways, like said in the last chapter, I'm going on holidays so don't expect any more updates for about two weeks, but you can still send in your prompts if you have them. And if I disappear after that again, well... the constant updates were fun while they lasted hahaha. Okay, that's all! Hope you have a marvelous day, and I'll (hopefully) see you in two weeks! Byeee :)

(17/05/21) update: i have lots of schoolwork coming up these next few weeks so i won't be able to update like i'd hoped :(( i'll try my best if i have enough free time but i highly doubt it. the inbox is still open tho, so don't worry. i'll try to come back asap, but i actually am going to disappear for a little lol. anyways, i love you all and i hope to see you soon, when i have a new chapter dknfjdnfk