Learn Italian With Nicolo di Angelo!

Sono Gay

The afternoon sun dappled through the leaves, casting playful shadows on the picnic blanket spread beneath the oak tree. Will spread out his flashcards, a triumphant grin plastered on his face.

"Alright, Nico, quiz time!" he declared, picking up the top card. "Ciao! How do you say hello in formal settings?"

Nico raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Buongiorno," he replied, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

Will flipped through the cards, confidently rattling off the translations for "arrivederci," "grazie," and "mille grazie." He even managed a decent pronunciation of "come ti chiami?" and "mi chiamo Will Solace."

"See? I told you this Italian thing is sticking!" Will beamed, shuffling the cards.

Nico chuckled softly. "You're a fast learner, Solace. But there's more to learning a language than just memorizing words."

Will tilted his head, intrigued. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Nico began, leaning back against the tree trunk, "imagine you're walking down the street in Italy and someone strikes up a conversation. You can greet them, sure, but how do you respond if they ask you something?"

Will pondered for a moment. "Uh, I don't know... 'grazie' again?"

Nico shook his head with a smile. "Not exactly. Let's say they ask, 'Come stai?' (KOH-meh STY-ee) – How are you?"

Will repeated the phrase, trying out the pronunciation. "Come stai?"

"Perfetto (pur fett-oh), – perfect." Nico said. "Now, you could simply say 'bene' (beh-neigh) – good, or 'sto bene' (sto beh-neh) – I'm good."

"Okay, that makes sense." Will says, nodding. "But... how do I tell them I want to be friends?"

"You just say, 'sono gay' (so-no gay-hee)." Nico says, smirking.

"uhh. Nico?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you just tell me how to come out... in Italian...?"

Nico blushed. "Of course. Why?"

"'Cause!" Will says, mirroring Nico's emotions on his face. "I can say that with this," Will says, and leans in to peck Nico on the lips, but he turns his head away, blushing a deep crimson, and his lips catch his cheekbone. Will looks slightly disappointed.

"Nee-eeks!" Will whines. "We've been dating for 38 days now!" Will says, and Nico looks astonished.

"You... you've been counting?"

"Of course I have! I love you! But if you're not ready, that's completely okay with me."

"Grazie, Solace."

"sOLaChAy," Will mimics, and Nico looks down, seemingly offended.

"Nico?" Will asks, worried.

"What?" Nico asks, harshness lacing his voice like an untied shoe.

"You know I was simply kiddin', right, darlin'?" Will asks, putting emphasis on his usual accent.

"Si. Ti amo tuo accento, Will." (See. Tea om-oh to-oh a-chen-tho, Wheel)

"Huh?" Will asks, not hearing him say these words before.

"I said, Yeah. I love your accent, Will."

"Oh. Well, I love yours more." Will says, nuzzling his nose against his boyfriend's in a playful manner. He leaned his forehead against Nico's, and they sat like that, until someone called out from the bushes.

"JUST KISS ALREADY!" It was Jason.

"You realize we're already dating, right?" Will called, and put his hands on his hips. It looked weird, because he was sitting down, but he was fierce either way.

"Wha--" Jason said, this news clearly new to him, before calling out towards camp, "PERCY! OUR SHIP IS SAILING!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!" Percy responds, clearly astounded.

"Wait..." Jason started suspiciously. "Were you already or something...? I wouldn't wanna interrupt your fun...?"

"No, andare via!" Will and Nico shouted simultaneously, and Jason ran off.

Good. Nico thought.

"I have no idea where that came from, but..."

"You did great, Solace. Good job."

"Like I said, I don't know where that came from... or what it means."

"Ohhhhhh. Well, you just said, No, go away! right at Jason Grace, so..."

"Oh. Perfetto!" Will said, grinning happily.

"Hey, Will?" Nico asked.

"Yeah?"

"Ti amo."

"Ti amo pure."