Misery Loves Company

Arson and it's not Leo's Fault!

Nico awoke to the irritating blaring of a smoke alarm.

Now he'd spent enough time with Leo to treat every fire alarm as if it was a real, deadly, likely Greek Fire, explosion. A few too many close calls and it was just easier that way. So, he was awake and moving as soon as his brain processed the sharp noise. He touched his doorknob with the back of his hand, and when it came away cool, he deemed it safe to proceed into the hallway.

The sound of Texan cursing hit him as his door swung open, a steady stream of phrases that shouldn't be repeated. Will was frantically waving a towel at his stove, where a fry pan was engulfed in torrent of orange flames.

It would have been comical if not for the ever growing height of the molten fire, the increasing amount of smoke and the fact that he was still very pissed at the man doing the panicking.

A fire extinguisher was strewn on the island bench, its pin missing indicating it had probably been used previously and never replaced, leaving Will to resort to flapping a towel at the flames, which only aided in giving the fire more oxygen. The son of Apollo seemed too stressed to notice that though.

"For someone who's friends with Valdez, you should really make sure you have a working fire extinguisher." Nico called, noting the way Will jumped at the sound of his voice. The son of Hades had been stubbornly ignoring him for two days now since their last five 'conversations' had devolved into yelling matches.

Will was convinced he'd done the right thing in trapping Nico in his flat, claiming he needed answers for Nico's absence in order to heal or move on or whatever.

And Nico refused to give him any answers that weren't "fuck you" or something similar. Truthfully, he was terrified of what his presence would mean for New Rome. If Akhlys' monsters sought him out here and people died...he'd never forgive himself. It was easier to blame Will for an otherwise avoidable predicament.

It didn't help that his feelings for Will had never changed, despite Will having clearly moved on. It was easier to channel those emotions into anger and frustration.

"Why do you think the fire extinguisher was empty in the first place? One too many of Leo's inventions exploding here." Will retorted, still flapping away at the flames, coughing as he inhaled smoke.

"Ugh just move." Nico strode forward, pushing the son of Apollo out of the way. He reached out a hand, drawing on his Underworldly aura to send a blast of frozen air at the flames. They died out instantly as the stove was coated in a thick layer of hoarfrost.

"What the Hades were you doing?" Nico scolded, frowning down at the mess that had been made.

"Cooking?" Will had the decency to look sheepish.

"How have you survived this long?"

"Lou Ellen usually cooks..." Will combed his hand through his hair, "I'll just have to go without, I'll be late for my meeting."

"Meeting?"

"Yeah, I took time off university so now I have to meet with my professor - find out what I missed and all that." Will said.

"Go get ready, I'll cook you something."

Surprise lit Will's face, "You can cook?"

"Better than you," Nico said, almost teasingly. "But that's a pretty low bar."

Will had the audacity to look affronted despite the burnt remnants of his breakfast still in front of them. But he didn't retort, he just looked at Nico doubtfully before disappearing into his room.

Nico, in the five years past, had taken to spending his free time in the kitchens of the Underworld, listening to the spirits regaling him with tales of their past lives and the chefs' patient instructions. His bath in the river Lethe had wiped any memories of his childhood in Italy, but there was a familiarity of cooking Italian dishes that told him he must have helped his mamma in the kitchen.