The rainbow seekers guide to seeking rainbows

Will

Will looked down at his jeans with their splatters of white paint.

Beside him, Nico was laughing so hard he was about to smack himself in the head with his paintbrush and give himself some very early white hairs.

Will had zero chance of becoming a master of any trade, not with his clumsiness. Medicine was all he was any good for. He disliked math which ruled out any science-based career; he could never draw his ideas which obliterated any chance of working in design; and it was quite apparent to him now that the trades were off limits to him as well.

"You - you - " Nico burst into laughter again.

"What?"

"How do you keep flicking paint on yourself?" Will had to admit he was surprised Nico had managed to get out the entire sentence in between gasps. The latter appeared to be dying from laughter.

"I told you, I have no talent in this area of skill."

Nico choked, and he got up to search for a cup of water to help cease his laughter. His throat sounded dry, and his laugh sounded more like a cackle. Little blue sparks glinted in his hair as Nico's blue-grey tendrils coalesced into what appeared to be a puppy. Will loved the shapes Nico's colours made.

Sighing, Will looked back to the now-white-once-black chest of drawers and the plastic sheet beneath it.

"I think we're done with this, right Nico?"

Turning, Will saw the brown-eyed boy taking a sip from a glass of water, his eyes so innocently wide he looked like he had stolen a bread roll. Which he obviously hadn't, given this was his home and all, but it didn't stop Will from being very slightly suspicious of his boyfriend's motives.

"I like it."

The white chest of drawers didn't look to out-of-place with the plastic sheets beneath it, but once they were removed Will was pretty sure it would stick out like a sore thumb. They had some leftover paint, so maybe they could do something with it tomorrow. They still had most of the day, and they were meant to make their way to Apollo's at five in the evening, but he had arranged a ride.

Which gave them plenty of time to do whatever they liked to Nico's home.

"Shall we get started on the signs?" Will picked up the tube of black acrylic paint and threw it to Nico, following with a thinner paintbrush.

During Nico's work shift Will had already made the wooden panels, which just left painting and attaching them. After that, they needed to label all the clothes, and their handmade system would be complete.

"You could've given them to me once I'd finished my water," Nico grumbled.

"But Nico, that's no fun."

"I don't care whether it's fun or not. I don't want to be whacked in the face with a tube of paint, and you don't get to whine about it."

"Always so mean, Nico."

Nico laughed as he pecked Will on the cheek, going up onto the tips of his toes to do so. Will hunched his back slightly, because that was how much of a midget Nico was. Then, he scooped the black-haired boy into his arms before depositing him in front of the many panels of wood.

"What do I do?" he asked. "The colours of the rainbow? Then where would something like turquoise go?"

Will groaned. "Promise me to never, ever, ever get turquoise clothing. That would be an assault to the eyes." He shuddered. Absolutely hideous. I swear, if Nico had given me a turquoise ensemble of all things...

"Then any in-between colour?"

"We'll just use our judgement, I guess." My judgement. Will knew the irony of the statement, but he wasn't about to not include Nico's opinion. It might help, they didn't know, not yet. "Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, grey and black. I think that would be good."