WARNING: This chapter contains explicit content. If you don't like it, sorry, but I'm not really inclined to change it so...


Chapter 6: First Attempts or The time it took three tries to get it right – and the habituation to the embarrassment entailed.

Their first attempt was a disaster.

They'd agreed to wait until they were both seventeen at their youngest. Legal age and all that, and surprisingly, despite the fervent desire on both their parts to disregard such considerations, it was one of the few things that they didn't argue about. If only Nico had known that their age would be the least of their problems. The very least.

He was glad it had been in the privacy of Hades' cabin, because at least in there it was dark enough for Nico to hide his mortified blush. Even so, as he and Will sat on the floor next to one another, Nico couldn't help but attempt to hide his face. They were barely and haphazardly dressed, backs pressed against the wall at the far end of the cabin and fidgeting in awkward silence. Knees drawn to his chest and one arm hooked around them, Nico buried his head in the even darker shadows between and hoped to the Gods that he would simply implode rather than sit in the horrifying embarrassment a moment longer. From the heat of his cheeks – Nico never blushed! Why was this happening? – such a thing didn't seem all that unlikely.

But throughout it all, throughout the embarrassment and humiliation, they held hands. Nico still struggled a little to do so in public, and yet he now clutched Will's hand like a lifeline. It was his only reassurance that what he was experiencing wasn't entirely removed from where everybody else on the face of the earth was, that he wasn't floating adrift. Because Will was feeling it too. He'd seen his face.

The silence stretched. Nico didn't know how long it had been going for. It was hard to judge time between the endless repetitions of oh Gods, so embarrassing, what was that even -? How did we -? How embarrassing! Oh Gods… His heartbeat throbbed in his ears and it sounded almost as though the crazed pace was laughing at him for his foolishness.

Finally, Will spoke. Of course it would be Will out of the two of them to speak first. Or at least to try to speak. He cleared his throat but his voice was still barely more than a strained croak. "I think we should… um…"

Then silence once more. Awkward silence. But throughout it all, they held each other's hands as their sole point of contact and only squeezed them progressively tighter between them.

Minutes – or perhaps hours – later, Will spoke again. "Nico?"

The word was a question, a request, and Nico cringed at its suggestion. He didn't want to clamber from the protective darkness that he'd buried himself in, the darkness that, even if only momentarily, hid his embarrassment from the world. But in that single word, Nico could discern Will's own mortification just as he heard the steeling of his willpower and the effort it took to attempt to patch up the situation. With a struggle, Nico turned his head slowly towards his boyfriend.

Will had his legs crossed and shoulders hunched, bowed nearly double in a pose that made him look significantly smaller than he was. He had an elbow propped against one knee, the heel of his hand pressing firmly into his lowered forehead. He was glancing sideways, however, head half-turned towards Nico so that the lingering traces of his own vibrant blush could still be seen.

It actually made Nico feel a little better to see that flush upon Will's cheeks. It meant he wasn't the only one lit up like a light bulb. Even if Will did tend to blush more easily than Nico did, it was a comfort.

Will gave a tentative, sheepish smile when he met Nico's gaze that Nico wouldn't have been able to return even if he didn't feel so horribly embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

Shaking his head and closing his eyes briefly, Nico swallowed past the dryness in his throat. "Why are you apologising?" His voice was barely above a whisper.

"Because I screwed up?"

"No more than I did. I feel like it was a combined effort on both our parts."

"Still, I'm sorry it happened so… um…"

"Disastrously?"

Will winced. "That's a little blunt."

"But true," Nico muttered, dropping his cheek onto his knees as his thoughts drifted back to what had happened that afternoon and – no, don't think about it. I don't think I ever want to think about it ever again. Ever.

Will nodded into his hand, gaze dropping down to his crossed legs. "I guess you're right." With a sigh, he seemed to visibly fortify himself, pushed his forehead off his hand and rocked backwards to lean against the wall. His head tipped back and he stares at the ceiling for a moment in silence. Then he tilted his head towards Nico once more and the squeeze he gave to his hand held the confidence, the care, the support and the empathy that was only glimpsed in his expression. Nico hoped his own grasp – embarrassing as it still sometimes felt to hold hands – was even half as supportive.

"I think," Will began with an audible swallow, and Nico got the sense that he was wrangling his embarrassment into a box to lock it away. "That we should maybe do a bit more research for next time."

"Next time?" Nico asked. He hadn't been entirely sure that there would be a next time after the events of that afternoon. He wasn't sure if he particularly wanted one either until moments ago when his mortification had begun to dampen slightly with Will's words. And research… they'd done a little bit – of course they had; neither had really known what they were doing in the first place – but it had been almost as embarrassing to explore the internet and see the pictures – oh Gods, the pictures – as it had been to try any of it out.

To try, and err stupendously.

Will's face tightened and his hand abruptly trembled slightly before he visibly stilled it. "Unless you didn't want a next time?"

Finally Nico lifted his head entirely from his knees. His embarrassment still remained, but it was a little more manageable now. All because Nico was noticeably witnessing the fact that Will was just as embarrassed as he was and, more than that, that despite his apparent optimism and disregard for that embarrassment, he needed the reassurance too. Threading his fingers through Will's, Nico pursed his lips and gave a frown that he hoped was as casual as those he normally gave. "I wasn't sure that you would have wanted to, is all."

Will visibly relaxed. He seemed to sag slightly, his head rocking on the wall. The small smile he offered Nico was filled with relief. "We screwed up once, Nico. That doesn't mean I never want to try again."

"Then that's what we'll do." Nico nodded more decisively than he felt. "We'll r-research and then we'll… try again." Nico wasn't sure how ready he'd be, how soon he would be able to try again, but he would try. It would be as much because he wanted it to work as because he wanted to make Will happy with his reattempt.

Will heaved a heavy sigh that ended with a bubbling chuckle of amusement. Or relief. Yes, it definitely sounded more like relief than actual amusement. "Then that's what we'll do. We'll just have to try again until we work it out."

"Right. Practice makes perfect is how the old saying goes, right?"

Will snorted. Each passing second seemed to relax him further, drawing the tension from him as the flush drained from his cheeks. "I never thought I'd hear you say something like that."

Nico frowned. "Why? Aren't I allowed to drop the odd cliché every now and again?"

"Not that. I just didn't expect it." Will was definitely smiling now, a smile of that mounting relief that Nico was only just feeling himself, and a faint weariness as though the emotional blow of embarrassment had been physically tiring too. With a sigh, Will slid along the wall until he was sitting more closely to Nico, legs just touching. He dropped his head onto Nico's shoulder, shifting their clasped hands to rest in his own lap. They sat in silence for another moment as Nico fought to similarly rid himself of the effects of their first attempt.

"Hey, Nico?"

"What?"

Will twisted his head on Nico's shoulder to glance up at him. His face was cast in an expression of intensity, unexpected after their light-hearted exchange. Even the smile was mostly faded from his lips. "What?" Nico asked again, slightly wary.

"Just… thanks for not taking off. I know you usually… I mean, sometimes you'd just shadow travel when you freak out about something. And I just… thanks for not leaving."

Nico wanted to object. He wanted to reply that of course he wouldn't 'take off', that he wouldn't do a runner just because he was embarrassed. But if he was being truthful with himself, which for some reason in that moment he was, he couldn't deny that Will was accurate in his description of such a flighty response. As cowardly as it might seem, Nico was realistic enough to recognise that he was indeed prone to just… leaving.

He shrugged, rocking Will's head on his shoulder slightly. "No problem. Doubt I'd have even been able to shadow travel away anyway, what with you hanging onto me so tight."

Will gave a mumbled chuckle. He likely heard the fallacy in Nico's words, but he didn't comment upon it. Nico was grateful for that, at least. Disaster though it may have been, he felt oddly as though they had become closer for the failure of an experience.


The second attempt was just as disastrous, but for an entirely different reason.

It took a while for them both to work up the courage to try again, and not just because extensive research was involved. Nico was relieved to realise that it wasn't just he who felt embarrassed for the situation; for all of his optimism and bravado, Will was definitely feeling the hesitancy too. That in itself actually helped Nico to build his own resilience.

They were in Hades' cabin again. Of course they were, for they could hardly attempt any form of intimacy in the midst of the rest of Apollo's cabin. Will might joke about it, but Nico knew he was no more inclined to having an audience than Nico was himself. Besides, Hades' cabin hardly seemed as intimidating to Will anymore; Nico could leave him inside alone for a good couple of minutes without his company before he started to get antsy. He knew because he'd tested it.

They didn't plan it exactly. It simply happened one morning when, after breakfast, they'd retreated back to Cabin Thirteen for a spell before heading down to the archery range because Will "thought he should practice every now and then". As if he didn't practice enough. Lounging on the couch together, the time had seemed just… right.

Nico wasn't even sure which of them had actually initiated it, but somehow, within minutes they'd descended into lip-locking and tugging at clothes, clambering on top of one another and grasping at bared arms and naked shoulders. Nico had never seen himself as someone to lose their sense of reality, to become lost in the moment, but with his tongue wrapped around Will's and arms locked around his neck he thought he would come close.

Of course someone would interrupt. In the cabin that literally no one just barged into, of course someone would choose that day and that moment to burst through the door.

"Nico, look who came by to visi- oh!"

Nico bodily fell off the couch, off of Will and smacked into the floor with jarring crash. He barely even noticed, so fierce was his absolute horror. It hardly helped when Will nearly tumbled from the couch on top of him and crouched beside him with a frantic question of "Gods, are you alright?" His voice was pitched about an octave higher than it usually was and, eyes widened, his cheeks shone a vibrant red warm enough to rival the sun.

Oh Gods, oh Gods, you've got to be kidding me! Of all the bloody times –

Nico couldn't bring himself to stand up. He couldn't rise to his feet to face Leo where he stood just inside the flung-open door, or Hazel and Frank whose startled expressions he'd just glimpsed in the split second before his body had tried to throw itself through the floor into Tartarus. Nico slapped a hand across him face and hunched his shoulders and just prayed that they would leave. That they'd hopefully forget everything they'd momentarily glimpsed.

There was silence in the cabin for a moment, silence in which Nico stared with wide-eyed horror at Will's own mortified expression through his fingers. Then there was a stuttering and Hazel – Gods bless Hazel and her kind heart – cleared her throat and squeaked, "So sorry for the intrusion, we should have knocked, really sorry about that, Nico, Will, we'll come by later and have a chat, just dropped over from New Rome for a day or two to say hi and –" She cut off her babbling of profuse apology and explanation and, with the distinctive click of footsteps, evidently charged through the door once more with a, "Come on, Frank, we really should have probably gone to visit Chiron first anyway."

The sound of her hasty retreat clattering across the cabin veranda was coupled with stumbles that Nico could only suppose belonged to Frank as she dragged him after her. He didn't know for sure and wouldn't dare to check.

A moment later, when Nico had almost forgotten he was there – how he could have forgotten he didn't know but somehow he'd managed – Leo burst out laughing. Nico wished he had his Stygian sword in hand so that he could lop his head off – or perhaps Nico's own head off – but he didn't so settled for burying his face further into his hands. Will looked like he was about ready to sink into the floor. His bare shoulders, the golden skin that even in his utter embarrassment Nico could still somehow admire, were hunched and his blond curls falling across his face as he dropped his chin. That was definitely speaking for itself; Will was usually the confident one, the more proactive of the two of them, yet he remained very decidedly close-lipped.

Leo's laughter was actually echoing through the cabin when Nico finally managed to claw his way from his mortification for long enough to put a stop to it. "For Gods' sake, Valdez, shut up and fuck off!"

Unfortunately, his words only made Leo laugh harder. Even so, he seemed to recognise Nico's desperation through his accusing aggression and actually responded to it with something other than playful taunts. Or at least in addition to taunts. "Alright, alright, I'll leave you two lovebirds to it. Never let it be said that Valdez was one to stand in the way of love."

"Get out," Nico reattempted, and hoped the near sob of desperation and thick embarrassment wasn't too evident in his tone.

Leo laughed once more, but then, in the distance, Nico heard the blessed voice of his sister's call. "Leo! Hurry up and get your butt out here!"

"Coming, coming!" Leo called in reply. As his footsteps retreated, however, he evidently couldn't withhold from dropping one last taunt. "Nico, Will, congratulations, mis amigos. You have my blessing. Onwards!" Then he left with a resounding slam of the door.

Nico and Will lay on the floor beside the couch in silence for a long moment. A long, awkward moment in which they both stared unblinkingly at one another. Nico, finally lowering his hand from his face, searched Will's gaze, looking for hesitancy and regret beneath the mortification. He wasn't entirely sure whether it was a good thing that he couldn't see any.

No, that was wrong. It was a good thing. It was. They had been interrupted almost before they'd begun anything noteworthy, and horrified at the thought of his little sister seeing him and Will in such a compromising position, Nico didn't regret what had happened before the interruption.

Even so, that understanding didn't stop him from reaching for his discarded shirt and fumbling it back on. He sincerely doubted that Will wished to continue where they'd left off and knew for certain that he didn't. It was just… the moment was lost. For now, at least.

"I think…" Will began, as he slipped his own shirt over his head.

"That we need a lock on the cabin door?"

"I was thinking that exactly."

"Definitely."

And that was the last they said on the matter, as forcibly discarding the incident as they had their first attempt. And, to Nico's relief, Hazel appeared to have worked some magic of some kind – maybe actual magic – to silence Leo from retelling the encounter over lunch. Maybe not make him forget, however, since Nico was certain that he was the subject of more than one leering glance from the son of Hephaestus throughout the course of the day.

But Will didn't seem all that concerned. Or at least after his embarrassment had died he didn't. It did so more quickly than last time too, as it surprisingly did with Nico, which he took to be a progression in their mental fortifications. It went without saying that they would try again.

Maybe not right away, but they would.


Nico wasn't exactly sure how the double bed came to appear in Cabin Thirteen. He hoped – sincerely hoped – that it was simply the magic of the cabin that had brought it into existence, but he wasn't sure. It certainly seemed unlikely that Hades would have gifted it to him, what with the certainty of his understanding of what would surely happen in said bed, but then the only other person who could have assigned the new bedding was Persephone and Nico doubted she would have done it even more. Persephone had never really liked Nico.

Its appearance woke Nico and Will both up in the middle of the night with a loud, cracking pop. Nico, who had only really been dozing as he tended to do more than sleep, pushed himself up from his recline upon the couch and peered across the room. Night vision kicking into gear as it always did, he immediately saw the four poster bed standing at the end of the row of coffin-beds, replacing where once two had sat and resplendent in gossamer black curtains that looked like spider webs, thick black blankets and satiny red sheets poking out from beneath the doona.

Will groggily drew himself up from where he'd been sleeping practically on top of Nico and turned to blink across the room too. It took him a little longer to realise what had changed, and Nico wasn't sure whether that was due to his sleepiness, his lack of vision or his incomprehension. When he spoke it was bordering on hysterical bubbles of amusement. "Huh. Well, that could come in handy."

The bed was effectively exchanged for their couch after that. Most nights, actually, Nico found that he and Will shared the bed. Just to sleep, though. Nothing more. At least not at first.

It was one such night that they fell into intimacy quite as unexpectedly as had the previous disastrous attempt when they'd been so rudely interrupted. Or, well… rude on Leo's part. Nico couldn't bring himself to blame Hazel and Frank was just as likely oblivious to what had happened at all. Nico didn't even know if Frank had seen anything. He sorely hoped he hadn't.

Once more, Nico wasn't entirely sure who initiated it. He found that he didn't much care to point fingers or make condescending suggestions as they lay side by side, lost in the haziness of kissing and touching. Clothes were fumbled from limbs, a process difficult to manage when neither Nico nor Will seemed particularly inclined to pause in their kissing to focus on what their hands were doing.

Nico did pause, however, when they were both fully disrobed and lying alongside one another. He couldn't help himself; it was the first time that he'd actually seen Will completely naked and he found it hard to blink for the prospect of looking away even for a split second. Drawing his eyes along his long body at his side, over the expanse of golden brown skin that flickered paler in the dim light of Hades' cabin, he tentatively stroked his fingers over Will's arm, down his thigh, across the faintly visible ribbing along his chest and up to his face. His fingers brushed across Will's cheekbone for a moment, sweeping lightly though his hair as he met his gaze.

Nico wasn't one for contact. He didn't like it, not really. There were times, like when he hugged Hazel, or when Percy ruffled his hair or Jason gave him a playful punch to the shoulder, when he didn't mind it so much. And when he was lost in a nightmare and bodily pulled from the dark depths of his terror as Will wrapped him in a firm and unwavering embrace… he liked that, too. Probably liked that most of all, and not only because of the relief he felt in escaping the conjured chaos in his mind.

But normal touching? Not really. He was making an effort to try to accommodate such casual contact because he knew that Will liked it – holding hands, or lazing in a one-armed embrace, or simply touching to touch – but it was a struggle most of the time. A struggle not to shrug Will off of him, to scowl at the genuine grin that Will beamed upon upon him each time he did it as though he actually thought it funny that Nico batted his affections away.

Well, what did Nico know? Maybe he did in some strange, twisted way.

But not now. Not when he had Will before him, for once not grinning on the cusp of mirth and poking him for attention. It felt natural to graze his fingers across soft skin, to intertwine those fingers as tightly as their eyes locked. Even more when Will drew his own hand along Nico's body, as though he were as curious and fascinated as Nico was himself for him. He didn't understand why – Nico had never really considered himself all that much to look at – but the thought barely crossed his mind. He had other things to think about, other very important things.

Even those thoughts were distracted when Will tilted his head slightly from the pillow and his eyes sharpened with focused intent. "Can I try it?"

Nico blinked at him for a moment, uncomprehending until understanding slowly dawned. And curse it all to Hades, his damnable blush arose once more. When had that even become a thing? Nico never blushed.

But he nodded after a moment, at war between nervousness and eagerness as he followed Will's direction to roll onto his belly, as Will reached towards the nightstand in search for what they kept supplied there just 'in case' and when he drew cold, slick fingers down Nico's back, his buttocks, across his thighs. Nico knew he was blushing, but that hardly seemed relevant when, a moment later, he felt Will's finger breach him.

With a shuddering gasp, Nico caught his breath. It was an entirely foreign and unexpected experience, and for a moment Nico couldn't even discern whether it was a good one or a bad one. It was just different, and weird. But then the coldness faded slightly, the discomfort eased just a little, and Will worked his finger and twisted and suddenly it definitely wasn't bad.

Nico gasped once more. His breath was coming short and uneven as he grasped the pillows with one hand, the blankets with another, and squeezed his eyed shut. He felt his back arch, pressing belly into the mattress as his shoulder curved and head dropped limply forwards. And then the strange intrusion, the strange feeling, became something entirely more when Will twisted his finger and a sparking of fireworks burst across the inside of Nico's closed eyelids.

A muffled cry slipped from Nico's lips before he could suppress it and his head dropped to the pillows, fingers tightening as pleasure shot straight to his brain. Will's probing fingers paused for a second and when he spoke it was with hesitant concern. "You alright?"

"Mm," Nico replied, little more than a groan as his head nodded fervently into the pillow. He couldn't manage anything more, not through the lingering memory of that brief touch and the heat that pooled in building throbs into his groin.

Thankfully, Will appeared to understand his reply for what it was, because his finger moved once more and grazed against the point that spurred a blast of pleasure through Nico once more. The second cry that fell from Nico's lips was louder this time, even muffled as it was, but he found he didn't much care at that moment how pathetic it sounded. His attention was focused entirely elsewhere, upon Will's fingers as he slowly, tentatively, almost painfully added a second to the first, as his other hand stroked across Nico's hip and down his thigh, as he hitched and repositioned his leg in a way that made the following probing positively sinful.

Nico knew what Will was doing. He'd read and researched and seen just as much as Will had. But it was a different thing entirely to experience it for himself and every memory of that knowledge effectively flowed from Nico's mind under Will's fingers, under the rapidly building pleasure and tightness in his gut. His felt his hips rock of their own accord into the blankets, a struggling attempt to relieve some of the intense heat and tightness growing within him. His breath became heavy, uttered in pants, and the grasp of his fingers upon the blankets would have been almost painful if he'd managed more than simply noticing their existence.

He didn't. He couldn't, not alongside everything else. Even the strangled cries of his voice barely seemed important under the intensity, the sheer, mounting pleasure.

When it exploded, Nico uttered a choked cry strangled by pants, even louder than those before. He was lost momentarily in the darkness of his closed eyes, in the sensitivity of every inch of his skin as it trembled and quivered, and was only distantly aware through the onslaught of waves of release and climax that Will slowly withdrew his fingers, that he caressed Nico's hips once more before clambering up along the bed beside him. Nico felt himself become utterly limp, effectively sprawled on the mattress, and it was only after moments of hazy come-down that, gasping, he could open his eyes and even meet Will's gaze as he lay beside him.

He was smiling. In absolute, spreading delight, Will grinned. He looked as though he'd won first prize in a competition, as though all his Christmases had come at once, and that only made Nico's lustful blush redouble in embarrassment once. He turned his head to bury it in the pillow.

Will laughed merrily, with no regard for the confusing riot of emotions coursing through Nico that were all clamouring for attention. "Did you like it?"

Nico rolled his head to glance at Will sidelong once more. Though he wanted to – desperately wanted to – he couldn't quite bring himself to even scowl. "Do you even have to ask?"

Impossibly, Will's smile widened further. He leaned forwards and pressed a kiss upon Nico's lips. "Just checking."

"Well, don't. It's unnecessary, and a complete waste of breath," Nico replied. Then, with an effort that was far too pronounced than he'd expected, he pushed himself onto his elbows, drew and arm around Will's neck and pulled him back into a kiss once more.

No, Nico wasn't all that good with contact, and he hadn't predicted himself to be terribly fond of intimacy either. Except this was with Will, and somehow, that made all the difference.


After that first time, things were good. No, they were the best. But also the worst. But then, sometimes even that worst was the best. It was all so confusing that most of the time Nico didn't know whether he felt more inclined to stab Will with his sword or kiss him passionately in front of the entire camp before dragging him off to Hades' cabin.

That latter would have been horrifying. Nico could never imagine himself doing such a thing so the urge to do so was flooring.

It was the best because it was just so damn good. Nico had never experienced anything the likes of what he did with Will. In many ways he wondered that he hadn't, shook his head over the senseless dismissal of what he'd never tried for the fact that he'd missed out on something – or several somethings – that simply felt so good. But in other ways he was glad he had; Nico couldn't think of anyone who he would have wanted to experience such profound pleasure with, anyone he would have felt comfortable with enough to do so. No one except Will.

Nights spent sleeping together in Hades' cabin often entailed tentative explorations. They were utterly fantastic, too. Nico had never considered the sheer power that gentle hands and a ready mouth could have upon a willing body. Oftentimes, Nico found himself simply staring at Will's fingers as his thoughts drifted to the day before, or the night two past. Always at inappropriate times, too, like at dinner time in the dining pavilion and surrounded by hundreds of other demigods, or as he watched Will drawing a bow and hooking his long, elegant fingers around the string with delicate certainty.

That was one of the worst parts. Worse still because Nico would sometimes catch Will looking at him with the same expression he knew he wore before catching Nico's eye and breaking out into a grin that was far too suggestive to be adorning his face in the midst of dozens of his half-siblings. Nico made a point of pinning Will with a glare before deliberately turning away from him and resolutely striving not to think about anything untoward.

It was harder than he'd expected.

The explorations of one another's bodies only unearthed more curiosities that demanded to be pondered. They'd tentatively experimented a little in the past – of course they had; Nico didn't think he would have been able to hold out until they were seventeen if they hadn't – but this was different. He'd had never considered that the act of giving pleasure, of provoking a needy or gasping or moaning response would be almost as pleasurable as that of receiving it. But it was. It was fascinating how, with a lick of his tongue or a crook of his finger, Nico could induce Will into a quivering, weak-limbed and panting mess upon his bed. Or the couch. Or up against the wall; wherever the need struck, really, so long as they wouldn't get sprung.

He hadn't quite anticipated that Will would feel just the same, either. For some reason, Nico had never even really considered the possibility of becoming intimate with another person and receiving their full, undivided attention, attention, their focus solely upon enticing pleasure from him even when mutual physical gratification wasn't attained. He made the mistake – a truly terrible mistake – of pondering aloud his speculations of a night when he and Will dozed upon the four-poster bed.

Will had turned to him, arms drawing tightly around Nico's waist, and grinned like a child who'd been given a new toy. "You spend so much of your time glaring and scowling at people, it's nice to actually provoke some other expression from you. And even better because it's entirely my doing."

Nico didn't know whether to be embarrassed, affronted, horrified or angrily amused by Will's teasing agreement. He settled for somewhere embedded in the midst of the confusing mess.

He hadn't thought it could get any better than it already was. Oh, he had his suspicions, given that they'd hardly explored everything, not having taking the final step yet, but when the peak is reached, how was one to even contemplate that a stairway to the sky climbed further still? That was how Nico felt, and it was how he continued to feel until Will proved him otherwise.

It started out as most of their intimacy did; a smattering of kisses became tongue-tied and breathless, gentle touches became grasps and stroking fingers quickly fell to diving beneath clothes and peeling them from skin. Nico was used to it enough now to hardly even feel a spark of self-consciousness when his jeans and t-shirt were discarded to the floor in a pile alongside Will's. Even less so because he was almost entirely focused upon Will himself, captivated as always by the sight of him long and lean and naked but for the leather thong of quest beads strung around his neck.

Nico wrapped his arms around Will's shoulders, drawing him closer to him as Will leaned over him. It was made easier when, within moments, Will thurst the remaining distance between them aside by bodily folding himself on top of Nico until they were stretched out along one another, smooth, warm skin pressed together and forbidding even the sliver of mellow air from sliding between them. Nico bit back a moan that threatened to spill into Will's mouth, heat flooding his groin as Will pressed himself against him.

Friction and the unconscious movements, the gentle shifts, were tantalising in what they promised as much as what they elicited. Nico felt himself pushing up against Will almost against his instruction, slipped a leg out from between them to hook around the back of Will's knee and hold him closer. The warmth, the building pleasure, the intensity of being wrapped around one another, could surely only be better if they were to climb into one another's skin –

Nico paused in his straining for contact. With a hand grasping onto Will's hair, fingers locking into his curls, he drew their faces apart until there was but an inch or two between them. Their breaths panted heavily, combining until it was uncertain who breathed out and who breathed in. As Will realised Nico was the one who had drawn a momentary pause to their kisses, he blinked hooded eyes and raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"What -?"

"Will." Nico looped a lock of hair around his finger, tugging it gently. He felt a momentary flicker of embarrassment rise within him before he banished it. "Do… do you think…?"

He didn't say anything more than that. Nico simply peered up at Will, at his eyes darkened by the shadows of night as much as by passion, the flush in his cheeks a perfect pink upon his golden skin and mouth parted slightly in the act of questioning. Then understanding dawned and his eyes widened slightly before he tugged his hair from Nico's hands to dive in for another kiss.

Nico was quite relieved to know that he wouldn't really even have to ask. That Will just knew.

Practiced fingers fumbled for the nightstand, perhaps fumbling just a little more than was usual. The entirety of the approach took longer than usual too, as throughout it all Will kept pausing to lean back across Nico and plant another kiss upon his lips. Nico couldn't find all that much to complain about for that fact except that it just seemed to take a long time.

The feeling of fingers breaching him was familiar to Nico by now. Familiar and triggering, the expectation of pleasure welling within him even without the direct stimulation. Nico pressed a fist over his mouth to stem the urge to groan, dropping his other hand down to curl into Will's hair where he knelt between his legs, one had grasping Nico's thigh and tucking it towards his chest as the fingers of his other drove into him. Striving to relax, to hasten the preparation along, Nico found himself muttering and urging for Will to just hurry up.

"Dammit, Will, just do it already."

Gods bless Will, even with the evident eagerness that he blatantly showed he didn't move faster than was possible. Fast, but not too fast. Not as fast as Nico demanded, for which the barest thought in the back of Nico's head registered he would probably be thankful for later. Will only gasped a strange sort of laugh, mumbled something unintelligible of which Nico could only make out "making this harder than it already is" and somehow managed to adjust himself so that he was leaning above Nico once more even as his fingers worked inside him. The beads of his necklace brushed against Nico's neck and he wasn't complaining in the slightest for the shift in position; it just made it that much easier to wrap an arm around Will's neck and draw him down into another hard kiss.

When Will slipped his fingers from him, Nico noticed. He felt their absence with a faint hiss of dissatisfaction, a frustration that was stemmed an instant later when, Will readjusting himself further down the bed once more, replaced his fingers with the hardness of his arousal. Grasping Nico's legs, one in each hand cupped gently behind his knees, he slowly, hesitantly, and with a sighing groan pushed into him, the slick smoothness of lube and condom easing the passage.

It felt different. It felt very different, and tight, and huge, and for a moment Nico couldn't breath. He squeezed his eyes closed, hands reaching above his head to grasp pillow and headboard both as he was overwhelmed by the feeling of fullness, the weight driving into him. He couldn't answer immediately when Will paused halfway to ask if he was alright, and only nodded fervently with teeth fastened into his lip and said something that even he couldn't hear. He didn't want it to stop, though. It didn't matter that it was uncomfortable, almost painful for the tightness, because this was Will. And it was finally stepping over the border into territory of absolute intimacy.

Nico hadn't known he'd needed it so much until that moment.

Will fully seated himself with a final thrust and paused. His hands grasped the back of Nico's knees and, as Nico struggled to open his own eyes, to blink up at him through blurred vision, he could see Will's own eyes fluttering closed. The flush was high in his cheeks, his breath coming heavily, and the tightness in his face, the near frown, that Nico was all to familiar with by now. It was one that he'd grown to love for the simple reason that Nico was the one who drew it forth and it was a visage of pure, unrestrained pleasure. His hand was reaching up and towards Will's face, a smile drawing unrestrainable across his lips even as he struggled to even out his breathing for the foreignness of their positions. He poked gently at Will's cheek.

Will's eyes fluttered open and blinked at Nico hazily. Nico somehow managed a smirk for the wide-eyed stupor that rose to combat for prime positioning in his expression. "Would you just go already?"

Will stared at him for a moment. Only for a moment, before his brilliant smile lit his face aglow. Somehow, awkwardly and in a way that made Nico feel distinctly strange, he managed to lean forwards enough to press a kiss upon Nico's lips. Then his stupefaction fell to the wind. Grasping Nico's legs more firmly, he drew his hips backwards with a stifled groan and snapped them forwards in a sharp thrust.

Nico gasped. The feeling was as different to those he'd experienced when he'd been breached by Will's hardness as opposed to his fingers. Different, but certainly not bad. For almost painfully tight though it was, almost uncomfortable, with each thrust and each snap of Will's hips, that discomfort dampened. Nico found his grasp upon the pillow above his head tighten, his back arching and head tipping backwards as discomfort fell to rising pleasure. A pleasure that only rose when Will, through whatever haziness had consumed him, reached between them and grasped Nico's own arousal. Even more when, in a sudden shift, Will's thrusting grazed upon the point of pleasure deep within Nico. A choked cry was wrenched from his lips and he didn't even care that Will paused briefly in his motions as though listening to the sound like music to his ears.

It couldn't possibly have lasted long. Couldn't, and didn't. With each forwards thrust of Will's length into him, each provocation of pleasure and each retreat before plunging in once more, the rising tide of broaching ecstasy climbed higher. Nico found himself writhing beneath the sensations, lifting his hips to press them closer, to do something for the heat and the contact and the pleasure. For the knowledge of what was between him and Will, Will and him, was simply overwhelming. The grasp of Will's hand around his hardness was almost painful despite it' deliberate gentleness for the dual attack upon his nerve endings. Higher and higher, with each thrust again and again and again and –

Nico cried out in a hoarse moan as a fierce thrust, a gentle tug of Will's hand, sent him cascading over the edge. The darkness of the inside of the cabin flashed into negatives, the throb of his heartbeat pounded in Nico's ears and he was hyperaware of every one of his nerves standing on end, every inch of his skin electrified as his toes and fingers curled. The warm stickiness of his release spread wetly across his abdomen but he hardly noticed.

Will continued to thrust in haphazard jerks of his hips for only seconds longer, groans of his own tumbling from his lips between ragged breaths. His eyes were clamped tightly closed and only squeezed tighter when, with a final thrust that bodily jerked Nico on the mattress where he panted at his own release, he loosed a sharp cry. Nico felt him pulse within him once, twice, thrice before Will's lazily withdrawal and continued undulations of his hips began once more to ride out the waves of pleasure. He collapsed with a gasping groan on top of Nico, nearly crushing the air from Nico's chest. Nico found he didn't really care – he hardly had the headspace to think.

They lay in stillness and silence but for the trembling of their bodies, the panting of their breathes. The cocoon of blankets and pillows around them felt in turns too warm and too cool. The stickiness of sweat and Nico's release adhered them to one another in a way that should have been unpleasant but wasn't. Even when Will drew out of him, Nico couldn't stand for a moment to have him move far and wrapped his legs around Will's waist to simply hold him there, his arms drawing around his shoulders.

Will turned dopily in his arms, almost lethargically, a puppet with his strings cut suddenly unable to hold himself together. He wriggled until his own arms wrapped around Nico's chest, holding them even closer than before. Nico could feel the rapid flutter of his heartbeat thudding like the flapping wings of a bird as it resonated into his own chest.

As the last of his heavy breaths faded, Will turned his head towards Nico. In blind searching, he pressed his lips against his forehead, his cheek, his jaw, and finally his lips. When they met, it was for the both of them to lose themselves in the warmth of breath, the soft press of those lips and the gentle slipping of tongues into mouths to taste the ardour of what still lingered. Nico lost himself in the moment once more, in the several moments, and found he didn't really care.

When Will finally pulled his head back – only slightly, just enough that his lips could move to speak without brushing against Nico's – it was to peer at him with a small smile and sparkling eyes. "I don't mean to sound like a presumptuous twat –"

"Really? You don't?"

"- but why did we wait so long to try that?" Will barely acknowledged Nico's interruption but for a slight widening of his smile. His pressed his lips to Nico's once more before Nico could even give a reply.

"Well, it's hardly our fault. We had a few hurdles along the way."

Will murmured a laugh into Nico's lips as he dropped another kiss. He could feel it throughout his entire body from the thrumming in his chest. "There was that," he nodded. "But this just about proves it."

"Proves what?"

"That we should never wait so long to try something ever again."

Nico raised an eyebrow, tugging sharply at a chunk of Will's hair with his fingers. Will hardly seemed to notice; he far from cared. "That's a bit of a blanket statement, don't you think? It could just about refer to everything."

Will's smile spread into an all-out grin. "Which is exactly what I meant. I have every intention of trying everything." He paused, then an expression of solemnity passed across his features that was entirely ruined by the quiver of his niggling grin. "That is, of course, as long as you agree to try with me?"

"That depends on what you have in mind."

"Hard arse."

"Have I ever claimed not to be?"

Will hummed a sound that could have been appreciation or dissent. His hand dropped to softly caress Nico's thigh once more; his sensitised skin trembled at the slight touches and Nico couldn't suppress a slight shiver. "No. And I happen to like you just the way you are."

"Well, that's a good thing, because I have no intention of changing," Nico said with a frown, tugging once more at the back of Will's head.

"Perfect," Will replied, and dropped another kiss onto his lips.

Nico held out only long enough for them to unlock their lips once more. Feeling the hint of a blush touch his cheeks, he affixed Will with a scowl. It was his fault that he blushed. Nico had never blushed before he'd met Will. "Well, that's good, because I happen to like you just the way you are too."

The grin that spread across Will's face was his widest yet.


A/N: Hope you liked the chapter. If you did - or didn't - please leave a review. I'd really, really appreciate it. Thanks!