Hola! So: I am going on a one-month trip to Laos and Cambodia (I swear Laos is a real country despite nobody ever having heard of it, look it up...) I'll be doing mostly humanitarian work and also a bit of tourism because I couldn't live with myself if I went to Southeast Asia without stopping by Angkor Wat. Anyways, this means I'm going to be a very busy bee with no computer, no wifi and mostly no service either. So I'm putting a ton of chapters up all over the place to last through the month (though I guess I've dissapeared for more than a month during the school year so really, what difference does it make?) Anyways, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the premise of the Rick Riordan mythological universe or the characters of Nico and Will.


vi: do re mi

Nico and Will sat in the school gym and tried really hard to blend in- but this was a new school and they didn't know any of the parents at St. Anne's. Their daughters went to school on the complete other side of town- but they hadn't wanted to pull Daniel out just because he'd moved in with them. He was happy here and his life had already been messed up enough as it was. So there they were. At least the old foster parents weren't there- that would have been awkward.

"I think I just agreed to bring macaroni salad to the school picnic," Will muttered to Nico.

"No, you agreed to bring macaroni salad to the class potluck next Monday," Nico said. "We already told the teacher that Daniel's bringing pizzelle."

"Okay good, that's a lot better," Will said. "I'm so confused Nico, I don't know any of the other parents."

"Yeah, and usually you're a rockstar at the girls' school," Nico said. Will elbowed him.

"Everyone knows Daniel, though," Nico said. "And they love him."

"He's sort of an angel," Will said. He was smiling.

The principal took the stage and asked everybody to kindly take their seats, so they did. The Christmas show wasn't all that lavish. Classrooms had prepared little dances and reindeer, penguin or elf costumes to go with it. coalition of sixth-graders and kindergarteners read the poem 'T'was the Night Before Christmas'- each sixth-grader clearly assigned to steer one of the little ones in the right direction. The school choir sang. In between the class presentations, there were individual performers- usually a fifth grader who took piano lessons on the side, or a trio of girls who were all in the same dance class. Will was stunned when the first grade teacher organising the whole affair introduced the next performer as Daniel Brown, Grade 3, who would be playing and singing The Little Drummer Boy.

"Daniel plays guitar?" Will whispered to Nico.

"Well, there's Daniel and there's a guitar," Nico said as the applause stopped. Daniel hobbled onstage, his prosthetic leg hidden by his long pants, and sat down on a bench. A teacher helped him adjust the mic. And then he tuned his guitar patiently, and looked up at the crowd. He strummed. And then he played, and Nico had to pick his jaw off the ground. He was good. He was slow and even and confident and so, so happy to be playing. And then there was the singing, which baffled Nico beyond words. Daniel was good.

Will being a soccer dad jumped to his feet to clap, but he wasn't alone at all. They looked at each other, but kept quiet since a class of fifth graders rushed onstage to set up the cardboard set for their Nativity scene.

When it was all said and done, Daniel came to them pretty quickly.

« Congratulations Daniel, » Will said. Daniel beamed and took the high-five with glee. « You were so good! »

"You did great," Nico agreed.

"Really?" Daniel asked.

"Absolutely."

"You bet," Will said. "We could hardly believe it was you."

"Yeah," Nico said kneeling in front of Daniel. "We've never even heard you play guitar, Danny. Do you like it?"

"A lot," Daniel nodded. Nico was an absolute sucker for Daniel; there was something about his golden hair and twinkly eyes and sly smile that made him think of Will a lot. People thought that Daniel was his biological son all the time. At first it had been so disquieting that they'd had to ask Apollo if Daniel was his.

"How come you never told us you could play guitar?" Will asked.

"The last parents I told got mad because they thought I was trying to make them buy a guitar, and those are expensive," Daniel said.

Will and Nico exchanged glances.

"Well, you didn't have to be afraid of us," Will said.

"Right," Nico said. "We loved to hear you play, and we loved seeing you so happy. We'll find one for you. You won't have to share it with the other kids at school, and you can practise at home whenever you want and show us your songs. How's that sound?"

Daniel grinned a toothy smile at them and jump-hugged Nico. Nico smiled and got up, swinging the little boy's legs around.

"I think that sounds like a plan," Will said- beaming just as hard as Danny and reaching to run a hand through his hair. "Okay, big guy. Let's go say goodbye to your teacher and maybe we can go out for, I don't know, ice cream to celebrate?"

Daniel's mouth dropped open. "Ice cream? At this hour?"

Nico laughed. Those had been Will's exact words when he'd caught Daniel trying to sneak a bowl of ice cream at 9:30 once.

"It's a special occasion," Will said. "Do you know where your teacher is?"

"That way," Daniel said pointing in the crowd. It was unspecific, but Nico didn't want to point it out. The kid was getting ice cream and a guitar in the near future; he was having a good night.