November 13

Nico

The mixer had been terrible. Everyone had a good time and absolutely nothing went wrong and Roman demigods got along with Greek ones, but Nico felt like the whole evening lasted a lifetime and he hated every second of it. Large social functions were not his thing, especially with assigned seating intended to get the two camps better acquainted. Hazel had been in charge of that part, and if Nico had known what the tables were he would've definitely faked sick, even if Reyna was actually serious about the butterknife.

The praetors, senators, centurions, and Greek head counselors had all been at a table together. Luckily, Reyna had talked Hazel into seating Nico next to her, but it still meant that Nico had been at a table with Will, who he had successfully managed to avoid so far. They weren't too close to one another, and Nico did his best to not make eye contact or look in his general direction, but he still felt painfully awkward and uncomfortable. Reyna didn't seem interested in making small talk with the counselor on the other side of her, so she and Nico had spent most of the dinner talking about the highlights from the last War Game. As soon as the meal was over, the music began and most of the table left to find their dates or sit with friends, but Nico and Reyna stayed.

"You two look like you're stuck in a jail cell," Piper said as she moved to sit in the empty chair next to Nico. She and Jason had come up for the evening to see everyone.

Both Reyna and Nico glared at her and said nothing.

Piper just laughed. "It isn't that bad. Everyone is having fun! This is great. Nico, you should be happy that it's all going smoothly. And Reyna, wasn't this all sort of your idea?"

"I didn't expect to actually have to stay the whole time," she said, glaring at the people dancing.

Piper smiled and said sweetly, "Well at least you have each other. Misery loves company, right?" Then she left to find Jason and drag him onto the dance floor.

Nico and Reyna didn't move from the table for the rest of the night. Hazel and Frank joined them between dancing and talking to various campers, but had no luck in convincing them to have a good time. Reyna spent most of the evening sketching attack strategies on napkins, and Nico subtly watched Will with his date. He tried to figure out how much Will liked him. It looked like they were enjoying themselves, mostly. It might have been wishful thinking, but Nico thought Will seemed subdued and some of his smiles looked forced.

Nico couldn't help but appreciate how well Will cleaned up. He hadn't seen him in much else besides flip flops and jeans. Tonight Will had on a blazer, button-down, and dress pants that fit his lean frame perfectly and a recent haircut made him look older than the last time Nico had seen him. Nico was pretty sure he'd missed Will's sixteenth birthday, and he felt a pang of guilt.

Nico felt a little better when Will seemed to turn down a couple dances with his date in favor of sitting with Kayla and Cecil at an empty table, but when a slow song came on and Will returned to the dance floor with the other boy, Nico decided that he had stayed long enough for it to count.

He stood and Reyna looked up at him, relieved. "We can leave now?"

"You're the praetor. You can do whatever you want."

"Great point."

Nico had gone back to his bunk in the barracks and read the rest of the evening. The dance ended a few hours later, and the returning campers were all buzzing with how much they'd enjoyed it. Nico was just grateful that he had made it through the night without any confrontations or accidentally opening a fissure to swallow Will's date. The Feast would be easier - it was open to all of the New Rome inhabitants and the Greek campers were seated with their cabins. Nico would be at the main table with Hazel, since they were the organizers of the visit, along with the praetors, senators, and some city leaders, so he'd be far from anyone from Camp Half Blood. It was still more people than Nico wanted to make small talk with, but at least he could be sure it would all be about pretty neutral topics.

Nico arrived at the Feast right as it began and quickly found Reyna, Hazel, and Frank. Everyone was in their formal clothes, and most of the dinner was spent listening to speeches and poems describing the greatness of Jupiter. Between speakers, musicians would walk through the tables performing songs that celebrated the gods. During the breaks, the next courses were brought out and conversation bubbled up. By dessert, Nico was stuffed and had run out of comments about current events in New Rome. He excused himself to get some fresh air before the next orator came out.

He leaned against a column, appreciating the calm night. It seemed like almost everyone in New Rome was at the Feast. The streets were deserted and all of the shops were closed. The fall breeze was cool, but it was refreshing after being crammed at one of the front-and-center tables, surrounded by hundreds of people. He thought he could hear the conversations die down and an orator begin a new story, and he decided to wait for the next musical break to make his way back to his table.

All of a sudden he heard footsteps approaching, and leaned around the column to see Will Solace. The blond was chewing his lip, looking at the ground with an anxious expression as he walked. He didn't seem to notice Nico until he nearly ran into him.

"Oh, hi. Sorry, I didn't think anyone would be out here. Um …" Will turned, looking around at the empty street awkwardly.

"No, it's fine. I just needed some fresh air." Nico searched Will's face. He seemed agitated. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I just … well, I sort of just broke up with my date. By accident. I mean, I wanted to, but I didn't mean to do it in the middle of the Feast. I feel like a jerk. I don't think he really expected it."

Nico had a hard time not smiling, but managed to keep a straight face and simply nod. He wasn't sure what to say. "Did something happen?"

"No! No, he's really nice. He just … well, Lou Ellen and Kayla sort of set us up and it never really clicked. But I guess he thought it did? I don't know, I feel bad. What about you? I mean, how's your night been?"

"Yeah, fine. Uneventful. We're sitting with the senators. Nobody got dumped at my table, so…"

Will laughed. "Hey, too soon."

"Sorry," Nico smiled. "So, what do you think of New Rome?"

"It's huge. I can't believe we had no idea it was here for so long. I went on a tour of the university today. The campus is really nice. They even have a med school that partners with the hospital here, but I think I was the only one on the tour who cared about that so we didn't really spend much time on it."

"Well, if you're free later this week I can ask Reyna to put you in touch with someone over there. I wouldn't mind seeing it either."

"Nico … that'd be great, but … honestly, I'm still sort of mad at you. I mean, right now I know I don't sound like I am because I'm still processing how I accidentally broke up with someone, but last time we actually talked there was more yelling than anything else."

Nico nodded. He had hoped that they could just pretend like it hadn't happened, but he knew that wasn't realistic. "Will, I know. I'm sorry. About that, and about leaving, really. I was an idiot for thinking that disappearing would help and it was shitty of me to just leave without really saying anything. I think I stayed away for so long because I was embarrassed about how I acted … and then I got roped into planning this visit and it was an easy excuse to use. I was feeling sorry for myself, and you had every right to call me out on it. I'm sorry. I'm going back to camp with everyone after the Games end and I hope you'll forgive me enough to at least let me help out in the infirmary or something. I've missed hanging out with you. But, I mean, I get it if you don't want to be friends or anything."

Will was quiet for a long time. "I do have a lot of filing that needs to get done."

Nico tried not to look too excited. "Yeah, absolutely, anything."

"And there are some bedpans that need to be scrubbed really well…"

Nico was less excited about those. "Ok, I can… I can do those."

"My cabin should probably be mopped soon too…"

"Will. You're pushing it."

Will smiled. "I missed you too, Nico. I'm glad you're coming back."

"Me too."

They were both quiet for a while, absently listening to the orator in the background and gazing at the empty streets.

"Don't think I'm kidding about those bedpans though."

Nico laughed and shoved Will's shoulder.