Solangelo Oneshots

Nicknames

"Hey! Neeks, wait up!"

Nico Di Angelo turned around slowly, already having to conceal the small smile that had started to form when he recognised the voice. It wasn't his fault that Will Solace was so smiley and infectiously happy. The son of Hades could see Will running up to him now, with one arm waving in the air and the other holding his stomach. He came to a halt in front of Nico, bent over and panting as he clutched around his middle.

"Stitch," he explained breathlessly as he held up a hand. "I ran all the way from the infirmary."

Nico couldn't help but chuckle under his breath. He instantly reprimanded himself. The Ghost King doesn't chuckle.

"Was seeing me really that important?" he joked. The son of Apollo straightened his back and shot Nico a quizzical look.

"Yes."

Against his best interests, Nico felt a blush rising in his cheeks. Dammit, Solace. He averted his eyes, instead fixing his gaze on the ground until he trusted himself to meet Will's eyes again. It was a mistake to look up. The eyes of the counselor for Cabin Seven, were mesmerising. They were a mix of every colour of blue Nico had every seen swirled together like a never-ending whirlpool. Of course Nico noticed how they stood out against Will's millions of freckles that ran over his nose bridge and under his eyes; how they sparkled in the light of the sun and how they were filled with such tenderness and such care for him of all people. Skeletal butterflies fluttered around in Nico's stomach as he thought this. No, he told himself sternly. He cares about everybody and he's your friend. Snap out of it.

The last crush the son of Hades had had was on the hero Percy Jackson, who also happened to be his cousin, quest companion and (he supposed) his friend. It had been three months since the war with Gaia and, subsequently, three months since Nico had admitted that he used to have a crush on Percy to both Percy and Percy's girlfriend, Annabeth Chase. They'd taken it well. He'd even got a high five from Annabeth. However, didn't mean that Nico didn't regret coming out. So far, only Percy, Annabeth, Piper McLean and Piper's boyfriend and Nico's cousin, Jason Grace, knew that Nico was gay. Piper knew because she was a daughter of Aphrodite and instantly knew people's sexualities, sometimes before the person themself. Jason found out when Nico was forced by Cupid to come out in front of him. He'd been very supportive but, since Percy was told, Jason and Percy had made it their mission to stick their noses into Nico's non-existent love life and were helped a little by Piper. Piper, with her mother being the goddess of love and everything, and Annabeth, who was the daughter of the goddess of wisdom, Athena, had figured out pretty quickly that Nico had developed a crush on Will and had told the boys. He would never forgive them for that.

After he'd talked to Percy and Annabeth, Nico had been informed by Will that he had to stay in the infirmary, which Will was head of, for three days minimum. Will spent a lot of time with Nico during those three days. They talked and played board games and got to know each other. Sure Will was annoying sometimes. He scolded Nico for being antisocial or not getting those werewolf wounds checked out or not eating as much as he should. However, he was also understanding. He comforted and reassured Nico when he talked about worrying about others hating him; he listened and set Nico's head straight when he discussed not thinking his injuries were worth checking out because he thought he could deal with everything himself; he helped and was more lenient after Nico briefly mentioned that he struggled with eating because every meal felt ten times bigger after surviving on just pomegranate seeds and Will didn't even ask why he only had the seeds. Will cared. Nico was torn between finding it incredibly irritating and finding it the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to him. Either way, he was friends with Will by the end of the three days and started hanging out with him around Camp Halfblood. A little over a month later, Nico realised he had a new crush.