Percy Jackson/Solangelo Oneshots

Mermaid AU (Pt.2)

Age Twelve

"Oh my god, what is that!?" Nico screeched and hurriedly swam away. Will stood proudly on the sand with a surfboard in his hands. 

"A surfboard!" Will walked into the water and set the surfboard on top of the water. He climbed on, laid on his belly, and started paddling out towards Nico. 

"Keep that thing away from me!" Nico went under the water and Will stopped paddling. He looked over the side of the surfboard for the black tail in the water, but it was nowhere to be found. 

Over the years, Nico's tail and fins had grown larger. His scales became brighter and shades of blue and purple started to mix with black and silver. Will's hair had grown longer and curlier. He had more freckles and tanner skin. Both boys noticed the changes but never said anything. 

"Nico! It's a surfboard, not a shark!" Will yelled when he felt the surfboard rock and then the board flipped and Will went tumbling into the water. 

The water was cold, but Will stayed under and opened his eyes. With blurry vision, he saw Nico floating in front of him. He reached out to grab the boy, but Nico beat him to it and grabbed Will's forearms, dragging him to the surface. 

"Why did you flip it?" Will asked as climbed back onto the surfboard, this time straddling it. Nico laid on his belly at the front of the board, his tail still in the water. 

"You looked like you wanted to swim." Will splashed Nico and the boy splashed back. They floated in silence, both enjoying the sun and the quiet. Nico's tail moved lazily back and forth sometimes brushing Will's legs. 

"Have you told your mom about me?" Nico asked softly. 

"No," Will stuck a hand in the water, "I don't know how."

"Do you have to tell her?"

"She's my mom. I tell her everything." Nico blew a piece of hair out of his face and adjusted on the board causing it to rock slightly. Will gripped the edges to stay on. When the board settled Nico asked, "What's it like having a mom?" 

"Indescribable. You're being loved constantly." Nico hummed and slipped back into the water keeping his head above the surface. Will started lazily paddling back to the shore. He laid the surfboard in the sand then wadded out into the water toward the flat rock. 

Will had grown taller over the years and the water now reached his thighs. They had tried to measure Nico, like how Will remembered his mom measuring his height against a door, but the measuring tape scared Nico and they hadn't tried it since.  

Will lay on the rock his face turned to the sun. He heard Nico climb up the rock and lay next to him. The rock had been their meeting point for years. Will had tried to bring Nico onto the sand only to discover that the dry sand got stuck between Nico scales. Nico also discovered that Will couldn't swim forever. 

"Oh," Nico said suddenly, "I brought you something!" Will sat up and watched as Nico disappeared under the water then resurfaced seconds later with a shell in his hand. Nico handed the shell over to Will. 

It was a light orange shell with hints of white and in the center was a design that looked like a blooming flower. Will swept his thumb across it. 

"Thank you." Nico gave one of his rare, dazzling smiles. He pulled himself back onto the rock and sat next to Will. 

"I find a bunch of them at the bottom. Do you want more?" Nico asked. Will tucked the shell into his swim trunk pockets and made sure the velcro was tight so the shell didn't slip out. 

"That would be awesome! You can make so many different things with shells!" So over the course of a few days, Nico and Will started a pile of shells on the rock. They would sit there for hours, Will showing Nico how to make necklaces and picture frames and Nico caught onto the art quickly. 

"Here," Nico held up a necklace with a yellow shell and a gray shell, "I made it for you." Will took the necklace delicately in his hands. He slipped it around his neck. He flipped over the shells, memorizing the curves and patterns. 

Nico yawned, stretching his back. 

"Let's go swim." Will quickly grabbed his surfboard from the sand as Nico waited out in the water. Will paddled as fast as he could, trying to keep up with Nico, but the merman was always faster. 

"Beat you," Nico panted once the surfboard gilded next to him. Will lay on his stomach, face pressed against the board, breathing heavily. 

"How. . .do. . .you swim so. . . fast." Will took a deep breath and quickly let it out, sucking in air faster than before. 

"Humans are slow," Nico grabbed the side of Will's board, "I watch the other people at the other beach. They don't come very far out and if they do it takes them a long time." Will snorted and watched as Nico's tail floated under the board the tip reappearing on the other side. 

"We're not meant for the water," Will said jokingly. 

"Obviously. You can't even breathe in it and yet you try." Will sat up on the board letting his feet dangle in the water. The board rose lazily as it rolled over a wave, then settled again. Will took a second to admire Nico.

His eyes were closed, his face soft. Beads of water dripped from his hair and his pale hands rested gently on the board. He looked beautiful. Will reframed from telling Nico that. Nico didn't like him the way Will did. They were only friends.