Chapter 12:

Will Sees an Expert

There were several somethings about Nico di Angelo's hand that Will liked. It was just as cold as it looked, and wherever the sunlight touched was like white lightning rolling across his skin. It was sort of smaller than Will's own, with slender fingers. The knuckles were usually bruised, and the callouses scattered all over it just gave Will a sense of safety.

And it seemed to have its own sense of contentment, settled in Will's grip.

He'd always wondered what it might be like to stroll with Nico, hand in hand. Truth be told, every time Will had imagined the weekend they were going to the city together, he saw them holding hands. He was just never sure how to initiate it. Or too nervous. But Nico had done it by himself and just… wow it was nice.

"Will I have to get a note, Dr Solace?" Nico asked suddenly. Will glanced at him to see a small smirk on his face.

"A note?" Will repeated. Nico's eyes flashed down to their conjoined hands.

"If I have prescribed handholding from my doctor," he said, and Will was not wrong in thinking his cheeks were a tiny bit pink, "I might need a note."

Will raised his eyebrows and snorted. He squeezed Nico's fingers.

"Well, seeing as your doctor is present, I can attest to your claims personally."

"Those are some big words, Solace," Nico warned smarmily.

"Not as big as some of those Shakespeare ones," Will huffed. "I mean, I don't even understand any of it!"

Nico looked up at him, and Will was caught by the other boy's long black lashes. This thing for Nico was getting out of control. He couldn't even call it a crush anymore because it just didn't manage to encompass how he felt, exactly.

"So you've been performing Romeo with perfect delivery, but you don't know what you're saying," surmised Nico. Will blinked.

"Did you just say I had perfect delivery?" he asked. Nico looked affronted.

"Is that all you heard?"

"No."

Nico eyed him doubtfully before facing front again, headed for the dining pavilion. It was definitely past lunch time, but the buffet would still be open seeing as it was the weekend. When the two reached the columns of the eating area and rounded the corner, Will was relieved to see no one else in there. He was especially glad Percy and Jason were absent, because that might have been awkward. Will glanced down at his and Nico's hands. Cute.

Will and Nico approached the buffet bar, and Will grabbed two plates, handing one to Nico. His lips twitched in a small smile at that as he lay his plate on the bench in front of the steaming piles of food and started spooning some potato bake onto it. Will did the same with strips of brisket. They kept their hands joined the whole time.

By unspoken decision they sat at the Hades table. Normally, the boys weren't allowed to sit anywhere besides their cabins eating spot, but since no one else was there, Will wasn't bothered with it. He took the seat beside Nico, suddenly very thankful for all the times in the infirmary where he had to use his left hand only. Picking up his fork, Will stabbed a length of brisket and started eating it. Nico pushed his potato's around before selecting a bit of bacon. Will watched curiously.

"Hey, Nico?"

Nico looked up, still chewing.

"Yeah?"

Will looked down at his own plate, coaxing some more food onto his fork. "We've done all the parts of the play we need to," he pointed out, "so we gotta pick a scene to do. Any ideas?"

Nico swallowed before saying, "I like last one."

Will nodded.

"Me too." He waved his cutlery around. "All dramatic and stuff."

Nico raised an eyebrow.

"It'll look good!" Will defended. They kept eating in silence for a bit, Will thinking about his and Nico's assessment for Romeo and Juliet. The death scene was a good idea… maybe they could do it in the forest clearing they'd practiced in early on. There were some logs in there Nico could use as his open tomb.

And suddenly the image of Nico di Angelo lying down in a lily-white dress with a crown of colourless flowers braided into his hair and his pale hands holding a posse of black roses erupted in Will's head. He was so surprised he dropped his fork, brisket piece hitting the plate with a smack. Staring off into the distance, Will's face turned a dark shade of red and he covered most of it with a hand over his mouth. Oh my gods.

Will was too far gone to be saved now. His brain supplied a version of himself, wearing leggings and tunic with a sword strapped to his waist and a vial in his hand. Dream-Will bent over the catatonic Nico, fingers brushing the black hair out of his closed eyes.

Will hit the table with his hands. Nico jumped and stared at him.

"Will?" he said. Will looked down at him, his gaze intense enough to make Nico move back a little.

"I have to talk to Jason."

Abandoning his lunch and all but running out of the pavilion, Will's mind went off on a line trying to think of places one Jason Grace might be. The answer was of course wherever Perseus Jackson was, and the answer to that was going to be the most dangerous place in camp doing the stupidest thing they could.

Will set off at a run for Zeus' Fist. He realised dimly that he'd been doing a lot of dramatic running from Nico. He couldn't be helped.

Jason and Percy were indeed at Zeus' Fist doing something stupid. At least from Will's point of view it looked stupid.

"You know there's a huge hole around here somewhere, right?" he called as he entered the clearing. "And if you fall into it you won't be seen again."

"Can it, Solace," Percy grunted as Jason stepped on his face in the act of trying to climb up a particularly large boulder. Percy smacked his lips and made a face. "Jason, your sneaker tastes nasty."

"Well don't lick it, dude," Jason retorted, leaning over to help Percy up. The black haired teen snorted.

"Well don't put it in my mouth, bro," he parroted. Settling back against the warm rock, he elbowed Jason. Will raised his eyebrows.

"Still here," he called. Jason smiled at him.

"What's up, Will?" he asked, poking his head over the top of the rocks to see the Apollo boy. Will was suddenly nervous.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you," he said. Gesturing with his hands, he made a line-up motion. "And then by talking to you I could get in touch with Piper and maybe Annabeth, too."

The two shared looks that set Will's teeth on edge – smirking evil grins that made the blond healer paranoid enough to take a few steps back. Jason and Percy stood up on the huge rock, bending their knees and looking like they were about to –

"Shit!" Will yelped, and he waved his hands madly. "No! Guys! Don't jump that's the stupidest thing- you're ten meters up!"

Percy looked at Jason.

"Ready to fly, Grace?" he challenged.

"I was ready before you even asked, Jackson," Jason replied. They fist-bumped and then looked down again at Will.

"We have a medic on hand and are ready for lift off," Percy intoned. "On three.

"Three!"

The two of them jumped in sync, their knees bending and arms flying. Will braced himself for their inevitable, painful impact, and resigned himself to dragging the two morons to the infirmary and spending the afternoon treating broken legs and twisted ankles.

There was a huge thump and Will sighed in extreme exasperation. He shouldn't have even bothered being nervous around these two earlier – they'd embarrass themselves trying to embarrass him.

"So little faith," a voice suddenly said. Will stopped massaging his temples and opened his eyes to see Jason and Percy standing at his sides, grinning. They were still on both feet and there didn't seem to be any sense of pain in their expressions. They were just covered in dirt.

"For Hades' sake," Will cursed. "Don't do that." Percy wiggled his eyebrows.

"Speaking of Hades," he said, "does your visit have anything to do with a certain Hades camper say, oh, I dunno – he has black hair and black eyes and can scare the pants of you-"

"I don't think Will would mind if Nico scared his pants off," Jason added slyly. Will scowled as a hearty blush turned his ears and neck red.

"N-No!" he objected. "I just need a liaison to get in touch with Piper," He looked at Jason. "She's your girlfriend. I was hoping you'd be able to get me into Lupa's to talk to her."

Percy scratched his head. "You wanted Annabeth too, right?"

"I'm sure she'd be there anyway," Will said. "Her and Piper are pretty close."

Jason slapped Will's back happily.

"We can go right now!" he said cheerily.

"Ah-h hang on," Will interjected, "I just gotta ask first – do you know if we have to have, like, a costume for this Romeo and Juliet thing?"

Percy nodded, his grin stretching.

"Me and Jason-"

"Jason and I," Jason corrected. Percy waved him off.

"Whatever. We have ours. Jason looks really good in the leggings."

"You do, too, Perce. You have the right figure for it," Jason told him. They fist-bumped again.

"I am literally the straightest person here," Will muttered. Percy slung an arm around his shoulders.

"We're off to see the girlfriends!" he sang. "The wonderful girlfriends of ours!"

Jason and Percy signed into the visitor's book at Lupa's College, or, Camp Jupiter, at the administration centre. The lady behind the desk asked who they were after.

"Annabeth Chase and Piper McLean," Jason answered. The secretary looked at them curiously. Percy pulled Will forward.

"We need some of Miss McLean's love advice," he added, to Will's horror. Then, in a stage whisper, Percy pointed at the blushing Apollo camper and said, "Boy troubles."

The woman behind the desk gave a small giggle and handed them lanyards with the words VISITOR printed in black letters. Will hung it around his neck, glowering at Percy.

"You have to leave by two o'clock," she told them, "because the girls have to set up for the War Games at two-thirty."

"Cool," Jason said. "We have a sword practice scheduled for then anyway, so that works."

The lady waved them through. "Good luck!"

Will hid his face in his sweater. For comfort reasons, he'd grabbed the over-sized one Nico had given him on Friday night. It was nice and warm. It still smelt like him. Will smiled.

It didn't take long to find Annabeth and Piper. Percy had called his girlfriend ("Paging Annabeth Chase, it's your boyfriend here") and they were meeting on the Fields of Mars for a walk around the Terminus Boundary Line. That, Jason surmised, would be long enough for Piper to sort Will out.

Of course, the reunion began with kisses and nicknames. As the fifth wheel, Will watched all this with a sort of fascinated jealousy. He wanted to see Nico on arrival and be able to peck his cheek or hold him.

"Oh, Solace," someone sighed, "you do have it bad."

Will jerked out of his thoughts to see Piper McLean watching him. She was a very beautiful girl, with small braids in her choppy hair and soft brown skin. Will wasn't sure what colour her eyes were – they changed every time he looked. He smiled.

"Hi, Piper," he said wearily. "You can tell that easy, huh?"

"It's not hard," a second person said, coming up beside Piper. Annabeth's curly blond hair, grey eyes and tanned skin had always given Will a distinct feel of comradery – she'd fit into the Apollo cabin rather well. The two girls gave Will a short hug of greeting, Annabeth's slightly longer than Piper's. They had known each other longer, and Will had once managed to heal a rather nasty wound Annabeth had gotten in a tournament fight after the medical cabin at Lupa's couldn't.

"Of course you'd be able to tell," he said to the blond girl. She grinned.

"Good to see you, Will."

Piper touched his arm. She then grabbed Jason and tugged him along. The group started walking.

"Now, tell me," she said. "Who is it and what's wrong?"

So Will told her. He told her everything. About how he and Nico ended up as partners for their Romeo and Juliet play in English – did Percy look smug or was that just his imagination? – and how he and Nico had started getting along rather well. He went off on a long spiel about the other boy ("He has really wonderful eyes, Piper, but he's not just a pretty face. He's a lot nicer than he gives himself credit for and he's so clever and he can act really well; he's just so cute-") and finished up with his (really smooth) order of constant hand-holding. Piper was particularly interested in that.

"And you say Nico initiated it?" she asked again. Will nodded. Annabeth, Jason and Percy were listening quietly behind them. Piper nodded appreciatively, a small smile on her face. She looked back at Annabeth and said something rapidly in French. Jason, Percy and Will blinked in unison. The two girls cracked grins.

"Well, Will," Piper finally said, "it sounds like you have it even worse than I thought."

"Infatuation!" Percy trilled. Annabeth raised her eyebrows at him.

"Can you even spell infatuation, Seaweed Brain?" she challenged. Percy scuffed the ground and muttered something. Will glanced back at Piper.

"You don't say," he replied. Piper looped her arm around Will and called over her shoulder.

"Annabeth, can you, Jason and Percy just wait a moment?" She looked back at Will. "I think there's some things Will wants to say privately."

Jason nodded encouragingly, smiling. Will was glad he had the Boyfriends Seal of Approval. He wouldn't try to hit on Piper anyway, but it was nice of Jason to not get all up in his grill. Piper led him a little away.

"Will," she started, "to me, it sounds like Nico is rather interested in you too.

"I mean, I only have your point of view on this and I only have an insight on your feelings, but from what I'm hearing, Nico's not exactly shying away. I'm pretty sure – no, wait, I'm positive that your crush is mutual."

Will's jaw trembled as he grinned, his smile wider than a split banana. Electricity crackled up his spine and he felt his ribs beat against his skin as his heart rate accelerated. Nico liked him back. Nico liked him back. And he didn't like Percy. Will could have sung his glee to the heavens.

"Piper," he breathed, "if Jason weren't six feet away I'd kiss you."

Piper laughed.

"Now," she continued, "I happen to know the other thing you'd like to ask, and the answer is that I'll send them over with Jason next weekend. Is that okay?"

Emotion built up in Will's chest and he almost crushed Piper in a hug, planting a happy brotherly kiss on her cheek, completely forgetting Jason in his euphoria.

"Thank you, Piper!" he cheered. "I didn't know if you'd even be able to get them."

"I lent Jason and Percy theirs," she said, her voice gleeful. "Dad's got a whole prop room full of that kind of stuff from a past film."

Will thought back to the beautiful image he'd conjured up before of Nico in a silk-white dress and flowers. He'd get to wear it in real life now.

Will just hoped he wasn't disembowelled for it.

I'm becoming an expert in late updates. FORGIVE ME

Jasmine Out!