"You're picking up strays, now, Nico?" Bianca's voice was mostly light, but she kept glancing worriedly at Cecil, over on Nico's couch.
As soon as Nico had told his sister about Cecil, she'd shadow-traveled in his apartment and taken him to the kitchen for a private conversation—as private as was possible in Nico's apartment when Bianca was having an outburst. Will was entertaining Cecil, and Nico hoped that would be enough.
"What was I supposed to do, leave him alone and homeless to grieve his family?"
"That's not—it was very noble, and I'm proud of you for that, but you can barely keep up with money as it is—"
"If money was the issue, you'd offer to help," Nico cut her off. "What's really the problem?"
"He's another demigod. The son of another god, too. With Will, Kayla, and Lou Ellen, that makes demigods from three different parents who came here already. Plus the other ghosts you met."
Nico nodded. "And? You found something?"
She shook her head. "I don't know why they keep coming here, though I'm sure there's something. But that's not the problem. Things are getting a little…troubled, in the Underworld. A few of the minor gods think the Olympians are infiltrating one of our home bases on the surface. And I'm not sure Dad doesn't agree with them."
Nico froze. The Olympians had agreed to keep their children separate—even if he had no idea why exactly, he could understand why Hades would see this as an offense. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was hoping it would just blow over. But I don't think it will, especially with another new demigod. Right now, I think the only thing between us and war is that Persephone is forcing everyone to stay calm. But if this keeps going until spring…who knows what'll happen."
"So what do we do? Send him away, and ask Kayla and Lou Ellen to leave as well? Others would probably come anyway."
Bianca nodded. "You're right. But we should find out what is bringing everyone here. Stop new arrivals at least until we can convince the Chthonian gods to quiet down."
"Okay. So…do we just stop all exorcism activity until that's done? Because that might be an issue for me."
"Not if Persephone hires you to investigate."
Nico stared at her for a moment, skeptical, but Bianca's face remained neutral. "You're serious? She's actually offered that?"
"Well, I think her exact wording was to 'make you the Knight-Servant that the Queen of Winter has deserved for so long'. Don't ask—she's been reading this new book series with faeries in it. But yes, essentially, she's told me to make you the job offer. So…will you meet her?"
"Since when are you her spokesperson?"
"I was just around the palace. I'm sure she'd have sent someone else otherwise. Nico…she sounded desperate. And you know that's not something we can say of our stepmother very often."
Her offer was worded in a way that sounded dangerously binding, but if she was desperate, maybe Nico could get a decent deal out of it. "Okay. I'll meet with her. I'm sure it's all arranged already?"
Bianca snickered. "You bet. She was already ordering people around to prepare her greenhouse."
Nico hated the place—and Bianca knew it. "I'll go tomorrow. I guess she wants me to come for lunch?" A purely rhetorical question, but Bianca nodded anyway. "Yeah, definitely tomorrow, then. There's no way I can be ready to meet with her in an hour. And in the meantime, I have a stray to take care of." He turned to look at Will and Cecil, a faint smile growing on his lips when he saw them laughing together. He doubted Cecil was already through the mourning process, but at least Will had managed to get through to him. And Will got someone else who could see him in return—all in all, Nico thought the situation had worked out for the best.
"Bianca," he said as she was about to leave the kitchen, "if they know about the demigods in New Orleans…does that include Will?"
She turned around and smiled at him. "If you're asking me whether Dad knows about you two…yes, he does. I think he's glad you found someone—enough that he won't send someone after Will, at least. Persephone may have had a hand in that, too. She asked me a lot about Will when I talked to her."
Hades knew. And he didn't mind. It was like a weight lifted off Nico's shoulders, one he hadn't even known he was carrying. "Thanks, Bianca."
"I didn't do anything, but you're welcome anyway." She grinned, and left the kitchen, interrupting Will and Cecil's conversation. "Sorry I came in a bit of a rush," Nico heard her say. "I'm Bianca, Nico's sister. Nice to meet you."
Persephone's offer bore down on Nico's mind all day after that. On one hand, he wouldn't have to work a day-to-day job that barely helped him pay the bills. On the other, he was putting himself in the service of a goddess, with all the restrictions and responsibilities that entailed. This was not the sort of deal where you could forsake reading the small print.
Nico was grateful for Will, who took care of helping Cecil settle in Nico's apartment as best as possible. Which wasn't much, since Nico didn't even have a guest room and Cecil didn't have a lot with him. Cecil had gone back to his house with Will, but they had come back almost empty-handed—the place had been thoroughly trashed. Could just one wolf have done that? It sounded too methodic for a single, isolated monster. But this wolf had been different from everything Nico had seen before.
It was only in the evening that Nico told Will what Bianca had said, about Persephone's offer and the Chthonian gods growing restless. He'd waited that they were in bed; he didn't want to get Cecil involved in this. He barely knew the guy, and certainly not enough to tell him about Underworld politics.
"So am I part of that problem?" Will asked with a concerned pout.
"I don't know the details, but I doubt it. Since my dad knows you're still here, he must be covering it up. Otherwise, the other Underworld gods would wonder why he's letting a ghost roam free." He sighed. "Cecil, though? He probably is. And your sister, too."
"But she won't leave for as long as I'm here."
Nico nodded. "And I'm not sure you could leave New Orleans. Ghosts tend to be bound to a single location; the further you go from here, the place where you died, the less stable you'll be."
Will paused, frowning. "You never told me that."
"It never came up," Nico said, shrugging.
"And what happens if I get less…stable?"
Nico hesitated, unsure Will could deal with this information. But he refused to lie to him. "You'd become the kind of ghost Bianca or I deal with on a regular basis."
Will gaped at him, eyes wide. Then he looked down, frowning again. "Is that why Bianca looked so nervous when I met her? She thought—" He sighed. "You shouldn't have let me stay with you. What if I hurt you?"
"If it ever becomes an issue, trust me, I have all the experience to manage." He reached out to cup Will's face. "I don't want you to go. I knew about the risk; I don't care. I love you." It took him a moment—and Will's startled look—to realize he'd never said those words to Will yet, but he only chuckled. "I'm serious", he added, leaning forward and kissing Will softly.
Before he knew what was going on, Will was kissing back, making Nico roll on his back and settling on top of him. Will's ardor quickly grew, and his tender kissing growing hungry as he ground into Nico's lap. Nico let out a small moan into Will's mouth, but he broke their kiss. "Not with Cecil right out there. He's going to hear us."
Will grinned. "Are you sure we couldn't try to be very, very quiet?"
Nico scoffed, half-teasing. "You tell me. You're the loud one."
"Hmm. You're not wrong." Will briefly glanced down Nico's body, and looked backup at Nico, his eyes glistening with mischief. "But I do want to make you feel good."
Nico rolled his eyes, though Will was already slithering down Nico's body, his hands sliding under Nico's shirt and pushing it up so he could press kisses on Nico's belly. "If this is about what I just said—" His breathing hitched as Will palmed his half-hard cock through the fabric of his briefs. "You don't need to repay the favor or anything."
Will interrupted his kisses, though he hooked a finger under Nico's waistband. "Of course not. I want to."
Nico chuckled, but he sat up before Will could move his plans further along. "At least let me return the favor." Will glanced up, a questioning look in his eyes, and Nico realized he'd never sixty-nined before. "Just—get yourself over here," Nico said, reaching out to grab Will's hips and turn him around. Will was still as malleable under Nico's direction, though there was a nervous tension to him, and he didn't move on his own, even as Nico pressed a few kisses over the bulge in Will's shorts. Nico looked down at him, and found Will staring at Nico with glistening eyes. "Well? Do I need to spell it out for you?" Nico said in a low, teasing voice. But if he was honest, the raw emotion in Will's eyes sent shivers down his spine.
Will startled at Nico's tease. "No, I'm just—I don't know how—I don't want it to be bad for you—"
"I'm sure you'll do fine," Nico said, teasingly hovering his fingers over the silhouette of Will's erection. "It's not that different from anything we've done before."
"Okay." Will took a deep breath, then nodded. "Let's do this."
Nico laughed softly at his boyfriend's antics, but then Will tugged at his briefs, and Nico helped him get them out of the way completely, before working to get rid of Will's underwear as well. Will immediately took him in his mouth, but Nico couldn't help but stare at Will's cock for a moment as it was presented before him, hard and flushed and desirable. And, above all, something about this, about Will being so focused on sucking that he was barely paying attention to his own cock, made him look a little vulnerable. When Nico wrapped his hand around the base of it, Will barely reacted, almost as if he hadn't noticed.
He gave Will's cock a few strokes, taking in the sight of his boyfriend's reflexive twitching and trying to get used to the warmth of Will's mouth around his cock. It had been way too long since Nico had done this, and he felt like it was the first time all over again. Like he was discovering the feeling of Will's tongue on the upper side of his shaft rather than the underside, Will's breath on his balls. He let out another moan, realized the point of this was to make as little noise as possible, and turned his attention back to Will's cock, lowering his head and taking it in his mouth.
Goosebumps traveled up Will's spine at Nico's contact, and his sucking paused, briefly erratic. Nico let out a snicker at that, still with Will's cock in his mouth, and was rewarded with a low, thankfully muffled moan from Will.
Will regained control after that, though he was still squirming under Nico's ministrations. His hips thrusted forward, taking Nico by surprise, and it was only experience that helped him take all of Will down his throat at once. It was only when he heard Will's surprised moan that he realized the movement had bee unconscious as well. He chuckled, swallowing around Will's cock, eliciting a series of whimpers from his boyfriend.
"Nico—I think I'm—"
"Shhh," Nico said, reluctantly pulling away. "It's okay."
He wrapped his lips around Will's cock again, stroking it with his hand as he moved with his head. Will had also gone back to sucking him off, moving with renewed fervor and sending Nico's brain into overdrive—but not fast enough. It took only a few moments for Nico to get Will over the edge, taking him deep down his throat once again and swallowing as Will came.
Surprisingly, his boyfriend managed to stop himself from crying out. Instead, he took Nico deeper as well, almost mimicking Nico's actions, though he didn't manage to take all of his cock in at once. Still, that and the stroke of Will's hand around Nico's base was quickly enough. Nico came breathlessly, his face inches away from Will's still half-hard cock.
For a moment after Nico came down, neither of them moved. Then, finally, Will laughed, softly, trying to make as little noise as possible. "That was—that was amazing." He sat up, looking at Nico with warm eyes.
Nico propped himself up as well, his face inches from Will's. "Yes. It was." He reached out to grab the back of Will's head, and pulled him into a deep kiss, suddenly desperate for more. He shifted his body, trying to get as much contact as possible between their skins, but nothing felt like it was enough. It wasn't even about sex—not as he'd just come down from an orgasm. He'd told Will he loved him. Even better, the world—or their relationship—hadn't immediately fallen apart. Now, Nico felt like he shouldn't ever let go of Will.