A/N- I totally picture Piper as this edgy, free-spirited girl who's into yoga and astronomy. I don't even know, man
A soft light hit Will's eyes, confusing him as he woke up. Since when was there light outside at 5 am?
Oh.
Right.
Will groaned into his pillow at his "vacation" predicament. When he checked the clock and saw that it was 11:00 am, he almost screamed.
Which was probably good that he didn't, somebody might have called the cops. And that really would've made a mess.
But still, it was a whopping six hours later than Will normally got up. That was practically a wasted day! He toyed with the paw of Mr. Snuggles, the old teddy bear he must've pulled out sometime last night in his sadness. Logically speaking, his sleep deprivation must've caught up with him. That didn't change the fact that this was not a proper time for a studious pre-med student like himself to wake up.
However, he pondered, this probably would be the sort of time a rebellious guy like the one on the bus would get up. Will bet that Death Boy didn't have a schedule. He probably wouldn't even be fazed by a week long vacation! He would've just glared at Dr. Ginerva Griffith and quit on the spot.
Will let out a laugh at the notion. It would be so nice to have no attachments, just floating free. He could totally do that! He shot out of bed, grabbing some of his tighter jeans and scrounging around until he found a tank folded on his highest closet shelf. He proudly left his apartment and strut down the stairs, only to open the door and freeze. A gust of cool Chicago wind blew in his face, and he promptly slammed the door and ran upstairs.
Will quickly shimmied on a sweater and sunk into his couch. Maybe that wasn't his best idea, he didn't seem to be doing too well without a plan. He began sulking again, slinking over to his kitchen fully prepared to eat lots of food. He swung open his fridge door, nose wrinkling at all of the healthy food. He settled for a yogurt, popping the lid and downing it.
Only to run to his sink and spit it out a moment later, glaring at the "eat by" date that had been passed.
Will shook his head. There was no way in hell that he was being reduced to bad rom-coms and outdated yogurt. He grabbed his phone, it was officially time to call for help.
Thirty minutes later Will walked through the doors of Piper McLean's tattoo and hair shop. She was a gorgeous girl who effortlessly pulled off her choppy brown hair and subtle side shave. Piper had a dedicated customer base for her quaint store, having a great combination of an edgy eye for style and a calming, persuasive voice. This made her a fantastic counselor, she could make even the worst days seem okay with her free-spirit attitude and meditation. Will had been lucky to meet her, her movie-star dad had gotten along with his music-orientated father pretty well.
She noticed Will as soon as he walked through the door, and nodded slightly at his jeans, winking.
"Give me five minutes!" She called over to him, before turning back to primping some customers dreads. They were talking about some sort of street boxing match, which made sense. Piper was dating a guy named Jason, and the two of them would go down to a local gym to train sometimes. Neither were too serious to do matches, but they enjoyed the power of self defense and honing their body.
The door chime woke Will from his musings."Thanks! See you tomorrow night!" The customer shouted.
"Anytime, Hazel!" Piper called. She turned her attention over to Will, and smiled. "Now what are we going to do with you, you little dropout?"
"Piper," Will groaned, "That's not funny! In my pain last night I even…" he lowered his voice, "I even grabbed Mr. Snuggles!"
She let out a low whistle. "Wow, Will. You're right. I haven't seen you this low for quite a while." She paused. "Mr. Snuggles, though? Really?"
Will lightly hit her, and she laughed. "Sorry, just checking man." She sat down next to him and thought for a moment. "You know, I understand why it hurt so much. With all that pressure from watching your dad, it must be hard. You impose all of those strict rules and high goals for yourself and get so disappointed if you don't reach them. But, Will, I promise you; none of your friends are disappointed in you. Hell, you're exceeding boundaries. You don't need to prove your worth, you're already there!" She lightly bumped his arm. "Cheer up buddy. This week-off thing might even turn out to be good, you've been missing out on some fun when you coop yourself up in that hospital all day."
Will looked at her for a second, and then let out a shaky smile. "Thanks Pipes. That means a lot to me."
"In fact," Piper contemplated, "I was just about to close up the shop for the night, anyways. Let me show you around this side town a bit. Maybe we can buy you some flowers for that apartment of yours. Or maybe we can even find you a boy to make out with, no?" She winked.
Will blushed, and ended up chasing her out the door to try to put her in a headlock.
Nico di Angelo's morning started out much earlier.
His blaring alarm clock went off at 8 am sharp. It was quite loud and disorientating, so he shot up; accidentally tangling his legs in the sheets. His momentum carried him; rolling the scrambling boy sheets and all off the bed. He groaned, rubbing his head. Piedra, he muttered, rubbing the sore spot. Mornings were not his forte. Unfortunately, he didn't really have a choice. In order to pay for college he needed two jobs, so his classes were in what he considered to be a despicably early time in the morning so he could work evenings. He grabbed a bagel and banana to go while running out the door, desperately trying to shove his foot into his black military-style shoes.
Classes started at 9 o'clock and ran to 12:40 five days a week, giving him around 18 hours of college. From there he worked a vinyl and comic book store called "Knick-Knacks" until 5, which he mainly did from the pleas of the owner. Apparently they used to have some musically-orientated guy named Octavian working the afternoon, but legend has it he started acting a little crazy and the customers were freaked by the stuffed-animal body parts laying around. This lead to a prompt dismissal of the man, and a pretty desperate store owner trying to hire Nico.
Overall, the pay wasn't bad and the shop had a pretty neat vibe. Plus, most days there weren't too many customers, so he could use the gaps to study and do homework. It wasn't until the night that things livened up for him, when he would head down to the gym and box to earn some nice, if not a little shady, cash.
Nico managed to slide into his business lecture just in time, only to space out while the old professor droned on about investments. He had a habit of doodling on his papers throughout the day, coming up with new potential tattoos. By this point in his life he didn't really mind how people perceived him, he figured if they were scared off by some ink his personality probably wouldn't be too compatible with theirs anyways.
By the end of all of his classes he had a few doodles that he wanted to compare with one of his tattoo artist friends, Piper McLean. The two of them met through the gym, she was a pretty friendly person. She was also stubborn, which he grudgingly acknowledged was crucial in order to get through his frosty exterior.
Nevertheless, he thought while walking through the doors to Knick-Knacks, Piper could be stopping in today. Queso Quest had dropped a new album, and he figured she'd try to be one of the first to get it on vinyl.
He wasn't bothered by too many customers, most were quiet and knew where they were going. It was a dream job; lots of quiet, good music, fantastic hours, and fully functioning espresso machines. Nico took a special pleasure in the last object.
It wasn't until two hours later that he heard the door chime, followed by Pipers laughter. Nico peered up from his textbook and noticed some guy with her that definitely wasn't Jason. But something about that blonde hair looked familiar…
"Hey!" Piper warmly called, pulling off her coat and making herself at home by putting it on the desk. "Nico, this is Will. Will, this is…"
"Wait." Will said, squinting. "...Death boy?"
Nico lightly blushed at the embarrassing name. He hoped Piper hadn't heard, but her little laugh suggested otherwise. The boy was none other than the dork on the subway. "Yo," he muttered, throwing a wave at him.
"You two know each other?" Piper asked.
"Nah, not really." Will said. "Death boy over there scared off some people looking to take my watch on the subway."
"My name is Nico." Said boy weakly protested.
"Aw." Piper cooed over him, reaching over to ruffle Nico's hair. She was, in fact, the only one who dared to do this without the risk of a sudden death. "Are you softening up on me?"
Nico rolled his eyes, trying to ignore her. Friends were such a pain sometimes.
"Anyways," Will said, sticking out his hand, "Nice to formally meet you, Nico."
Nico nodded, taking his hand. He was immediately surprised by how warm Wills hands were, they seemed to radiate a light into Nico's freezing fingers. Piper lightly coughed, shooting them a joking smirk.
Nico rolled his eyes at her teasing antics. "You have the spotlight again, Beauty Queen," he lightly teased. "Speaking of, I have a Queso Quest album and some doodles to show you."
Will tried to follow their conversation, but he started to wander off once they started to talk about obscure artists. The store was cozy, made for comfort. It had big windows in the front, letting in a yellow light that cast upon the shelves of vinyls. There were antique chairs all over littered with blankets, seemingly made for the customers to be able to sit down and test vinyls before committing and buying. He trailed his hand down the line of vinyls, marveling at the different album covers, it really was a great store.
Will almost tripped,the result of an orange tabby cat that peered at him from his feet. Nico quickly appeared, scooping the creature up. "Careful, Herbert!" He lightly chastised the cat. "No disturbing the customers!"
Herbert merely mewed, pawing Nico's nose. Nico sighed. "Sorry, hope you're not allergic. They started showing up shortly after I started working, I don't know why."
Piper rounded the corner, laughing. "Oh, don't give him that bullshit. We both know precisely why." She leaned in towards Will conspiratorially, "He lets cats sneak in and feeds them, they're a total soft spot for him. Sometime he gets quite the army going in here, and the owner doesn't mind because they don't touch the merchandise. Never let him trick you into thinking he's as dark and brooding as he lets off."
Will and Piper laughed at the dark boy. They ended up staying at the store until Nico closed it up. Will ran around sampling the albums, Piper looked through tattoo designs, and Nico received a hell of a lot of teasing. Nico smirked while walking down to the gym. Overall, he had to admit, it was a pretty bello day.
After flopping back into his bed at the day, Will felt a lot better. Piper had pulled a miracle, calming his frayed nerves and helping him back into his carefree attitude. He was not going to let one disappointment dictate his life, and had promised to check up with her tomorrow night again. She seemed really determined to force him to listen to some of her favorite albums, and Nico had waved her on to use Knick-Knacks built in stereos. Who would've guessed what the city is filled with when you're not in school!
A/N- Nico with kittens? Ultra-chill Piper? Hazel with dreadlocks? I should really calm down ;)
So, Nico's not as brooding when with good friends. And Will is a little cute when he freaks, I see him as having a curiosity and almost kid-funny sort of side.