"You look dreadful."

Nico glared at Will, sprawled on his couch—disappointingly clothed. "I'm tired. Sorry if some of us are alive."

"Ouch." Will pretended to wince, but it was soon replaced by a grin. "Those demigods were trouble?"

"Depends." He shrugged off his jacket, tossing it at the table. Will shifted on the couch, inviting him to sit down by his side; as soon as Nico did, though, he returned to his lying position, resting his head on Nico's lap. Absentmindedly, Nico ran his fingers through his hair, trying to find the best way to breach the topic of their respective sisters.

"On what?" He paused. "Hey, are you still with me?"

Nico started, unaware that he'd nearly drifted off. "Yeah. I was just thinking."

"With your eyes closed?" Will teased. "Maybe you should get some sleep. You didn't get any rest since you almost died, and it's kind of my fault. I'd hate it if you were too tired and it put you in more trouble."

"Yeah, I should. In a moment. I have to tell you something first."

Will stared at him, his eyes inquisitive. "What's going on?"

"The demigods we met…one of them was Kayla."

A stunned, uncomfortable silence hung between them. "Kayla. My Kayla?"

Nico nodded. "She wanted to avenge you. And…now she wants to talk to you."

"Is that even possible?"

Nico didn't know what he'd expected, but this wasn't it: Will sounded…eager. "Yeah, of course. She couldn't see you, but she could talk to you and I can relay the answers. Well, strictly speaking, you could appear to her, too, but most people don't manage to do it in front of their loved ones, so I think it'd be better if I'm here just in case." He paused. "If you want to, of course. You don't have to do anything, I didn't make any promises."

"Why wouldn't I want to talk to Kayla?"

Nico shrugged. "You didn't want her to know about us, and—she's here with a friend. A daughter of Hecate. They've been friends for a long time."

"You mean—" Will looked away, his eyebrows slowly knitting into a frown. Still silent, he sat up, turning his back to Nico. "But why would she—"

"She said she didn't want to defy your dad."

"So she was lying to all of us just to save her own skin."

Nico wrapped his arms around Will's shoulders. "I guess she was trying to protect you too. If you'd known, Apollo would have punished you as well."

Will sighed. "Maybe, I guess. But she should have known I would have kept her secret. And—" he paused, chuckling to himself. "Never mind."

It was pretty much an invitation to press him on. "What is it?"

"If I'd known about other demigods, maybe we could have met before…you know."

Before he died. Nico couldn't help but toy with the idea for a moment, but he dismissed it. "Or maybe you would have been prepared to face that monster, and then we'd never have met at all."

He felt Will finally relax in his arms a little, and the boy twisted around to meet his gaze. "That would be horrible," he said, managing a weak grin. "I know it's useless to imagine what could have been. It's just—I always thought we had each other's back."

"I can imagine the feeling. I don't know how I'd feel if my sisters lied to me." Then, as his conversation with Bianca came to mind, he gasped. "That reminds me. I—sort of told Bianca about you, and now she wants to meet you. With our half-sister, Hazel."

Will stared at him for a moment, then smiled—one of these real, bright, warm smiles of his. "Does she, now? Can't blame her. I'd want to meet me too."

Nico couldn't help but gape at his sudden change of mood. "So…is that a yes?"

"Sure! It's probably early to meet the family already, but—anything for you."

Nico froze, suddenly remember Will telling him he loved him. "I—you sure you don't mind? I wouldn't want to force you."

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I'd like to meet them. But—will they be able to see me?"

"Of course. Bianca has similar powers to mine. Hazel doesn't, but she can still se ghosts. All children of Hades can."

"Okay. Just checking." He inched closer to Nico. "So, what did you tell your sister? Did you boast about last night? Tell her how awesome I am?"

He slipped a hand under Nico's shirt, running up his chest, sending shivers all over Nico's body. "Mmm. Not really. She just connected the dots. It's not like I was very discreet on the phone this morning."

"So she does know I'm good."

"Says the guy who was a virgin twenty-four hours ago."

Will opened his mouth, frozen in pretend offense. "Oh, is that really what you think of me? Because you didn't look like I was too inexperienced for you all night long."

Nico chuckled. "I never said you were bad. I'm just saying,"—he pulled Will closer for a kiss—"that you've got a lot more to learn."

Will raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm all ears, professor di Angelo. Ears and whatever else you'll need."

"What I need…is sleep." Nico barely contained his laughter at Will's disappointment. "But…I guess an orgasm could help with that. Come on, let's go to bed. I'm not doing this on a couch today." Will was up in one fluid motion, snatching Nico's hands along the way and practically pulling him along. An eager glint changed the blue in his eyes, making it more vibrant, more electric than usual. Knowing that Nico was the cause of it was almost making him dizzy with pleasure; he let himself fall into Will's arms and kissed him deeply, hungrily, like they'd been apart for months.

They barely parted on their way to the bedroom, only pausing for breath—Will had apparently forgotten he didn't need that, but Nico couldn't say he minded—and to get rid of their shirts. The rest of their clothes followed when Nico had Will pinned against the doorframe of his bedroom, as he blindly fumbled with both their belts, zippers and underwear.

When they finally reached the bed, they almost crashed on it, and Nico paused to appreciate the feeling of lying down for a moment as Will straddled him, appreciating the weight and warmth of his cock, not fully hard yet, against Nico's stomach. He reached for it, but Will caught his hand in midair.

"You know, we were rudely interrupted this morning. Maybe we should take back when we left off." There was an excited light in his eyes, but his smirk was hesitant. "I mean, if you're willing to let me try?"

It had been his first try, back in the morning, and he'd been interrupted before he could really started; his hesitation now made Nico smile fondly. "Yes, please." He was already painfully hard, his dick pressed against the curve of Will's ass, and it was all he could do not to grind up for friction. If Will didn't move soon, he'd have to take over.

Will did move, however, bending over to press a kiss against Nico's jawline, then another on his neck. He'd done that in the morning too, kissing a trail down Nico's chest, and Nico closed his eyes, reveling in the sensations.

He paused once more when he'd come all the way down, and Nico opened his eyes to meet his gaze. "Any advice?" Will asked, his voice suddenly higher-pitched than usual, his cheeks flushed bright.

Nico sat up, bringing himself suddenly close to Will's face. But he resisted the urge to close the distance, and focused on Will's question. "Here. Give me your hand." He took Will's right hand, delicately bringing it to his own cock, letting Will close his fingers around it, almost on instinct. "You don't want to start too fast. You don't even have to take it immediately in your mouth, a lot of people start with kissing, licking or—"

Before he could finish his thought, Will went down, and after one last brief moment of hesitation inches from Nico's dick, finally made contact with his lips. It wasn't much at first: brief, almost fluttering kisses, barely enough to electrify Nico's nerves and force him to use his arms to steady himself. "Okay, like that," he managed to say as Will picked up the pace. "Don't start with much. Just the head's a good start, and it'll help you get used to the feeling."

Will took his advice to heart, apparently, bringing his lips to the tip of Nico's cock and sliding down at a tortuously slow pace, engulfing him in sudden heat. He went further than Nico had advised, but barely, then bobbed his head back up, letting Nico slide out completely. He chuckled, the breath of his warm feeling incredible against Nico's dick. "It feels…larger than I expected."

"Yeah, it usually does," Nico couldn't help but say.

Will looked up at him. "Really? That was the perfect opportunity to brag, right there."

"Less talking, more sucking."

"Yes, professor di Angelo." Nico was about to laugh at him, but then Will's mouth closed around him again, and his fist, still wrapped around Nico's cock, begin to pump up and down in sync with the movements of Will's head, and he lost all ability to reason. His arms gave way, and he let himself fall back against the mattress, crying out Will's name desperately. Will moaned in response, sending vibrations through Nico and only making things worse.

Will was right: he was good, but Nico would never have admitted it straight to his face. With each movement of his head, Will took him in a little deeper, and Nico ended up matching his movements with his hips, unable to lie still any longer.

When he felt the familiar buildup announcing an orgasm, he managed to stop his own movements. "Will," he forced himself to say "if you—if you don't want to swallow, you should stop now."

He didn't, however; if anything, his rhythm became a little faster, and Nico let himself go limp, standing on the edge for a just a moment longer before he toppled over it, calling out Will's name again as he came into the boy's mouth. He froze for a moment as Nico's come spilled out, but only briefly, pumping Nico through his orgasm without once letting go.

Nico let his head fall back against the pillow, waiting for Will to come back up.

"So how did I do?" he asked. Nico didn't answer, merely pulling him down to kiss him hard, tasting himself on Will's tongue, feeling the pressure of Will's hard cock against his hip.

"Don't ever forget this part," Nico said. "It's my favorite."

"Isn't that, like, self-incestuous or something?"

Nico chuckled. "Shut up. How about I return the favor and show you why it's my favorite?"

He propped himself up on his elbows, but Will stopped him, laying a hand on his chest and pushing him back down. "Another time. I thought you wanted to sleep."

"I'm not that selfish."

He rolled off of Nico. "Maybe I want you to just watch me, then." His gaze at Nico was filled with a mischievous smile. "I just—never jerked off in front of anyone. I wanna try that."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Okay."

"Just watch, okay? Don't touch me."

That was a much more difficult request to follow, but Nico complied. He rolled on his side, a short distance away from Will, unwilling to even blink for fear of losing a single image of the show. His boyfriend wrapped a hand around his cock, stroking it leisurely as his other hand moved haphazardly across his chest, caressing in spots Nico wouldn't have thought to explore himself. At first, Will kept glancing at Nico, and as his breath shortened, his face blushed brighter and brighter—with excitement? embarrassment? a mixture of the two? Nico couldn't say.

Eventually, Will closed his eyes, laying his head on the pillow, and Nico could finally detach his eyes from Will's, admiring his boyfriend's body almost for the first time. The sun was shining right down on them, lighting Will's hair to almost look like sunlight itself. The hair around his cock was slightly a darker shade of gold, Nico noticed, and his skin was more bronzed than he'd previously noticed.

Maybe it was silly to focus on that, to linger on the Will's muscles tightening uncontrollably as he jerked himself faster and faster, but Nico couldn't help it. He was like a fine sculpture, every inch of the boy's body carved to perfection, and it was mesmerizing to watch him with his guard down.

Will came almost silently, barely announced when his breath grew fast beyond control, and suddenly he was spilling come all over his chest. Nico knew by now that it wouldn't remain very long—ghosts couldn't maintain any fluid corporeal outside of their own body—so he committed the image to memory, Will's come glistening on his skin under the sun.

He'd opened his eyes, Nico realized, and was staring right back at Nico. "You're beautiful," he said—because it was true, and because it was the only thought on his mind in that moment.

Will smiled sheepishly. "Um, thanks."

Nico chuckled, and shifted closer to him. "So. You wanted me to watch you, and now I have. What do you think?"

"Shouldn't I be the one to ask you that?" Nico remained silent, and eventually, Will sighed. "I—kind of liked it. I felt a little ridiculous at first, but—" his voice drifted off.

"But?"

"But I saw the way you were looking at me after, and I thought…maybe it was worth feeling a little ridiculous."

Nico chuckled again, reaching up to kiss Will. "You mind if I actually get some sleep, now?"

"Not at all." Nico nuzzled against his neck, closing his eyes, ready to sleep. And yet, moments later, Will asked, "So how much…experience do you have?"

"What do you mean?"

"What have you…tried? And…" he paused, and Nico heard his nervous gulp, "with…how many guys?"

"I've tried…I don't know, most vanilla stuff, I guess. Handjobs, blowjobs, anal, fingering, rimming, probably a few more. On both ends." Silence hung between them for a moment, and Nico could almost hear Will debating with himself if he should ask again about the number of Nico's past lovers. He decided to spare him. "I've only had one serious boyfriend before. His name was Mathias, he was my first—first to make me realize I was gay, first boyfriend, and first guy I had sex with. Though it took a few years to move from one to the next." He chuckled, almost embarrassed at himself. "We broke up because he and his girlfriend got back together. He offered a threeway thing, but I—didn't feel up for it."

"And that's it?"

"I'm afraid not. I was heartbroken, and my dad thought it would be funny to tease me about it at every opportunity. I don't think he really approves of my sexuality. So I decided to shove it in his face by hooking up as much as I could." Noticing Will's almost horrified expression, he added, "I wasn't that successful, but I did score a few guys. After a while, I calmed down, started dating instead of picking up one-night-stands. Nothing lasted long, though. And then, for the past couple years, I just…didn't have time for that anymore. Or any personal life, really."

"But how many?"

Nico wondered if he should lie, or pretend he didn't remember. But he did, and he didn't want to lie to Will. "Seven hook-ups total, and four boyfriends, including the first one. None of the other three lasted me more than a month, though." He took a deep breath. "If you have a problem with that, I'll understand."

"I don't. It's just—weird to think about it."

"You mean more to me than any of them." Well, maybe not more than Mathias—that was too soon to tell—but more than the others without a doubt. "I hope you know that."

Will smiled brightly at him. "I know now." He chuckled. "I'm—it's just silly. Sorry I asked. You should sleep."

"Don't be sorry. But—thanks, I will now. Unless you have something else you want to ask?"

Will kissed his forehead. "No, I don't. Sleep tight, Ghost Prince."

Nico mentally kicked himself for mentioning the nickname, before he drifted off for good.