Solangelo Oneshots

Nine Bullseyes

Will had never been good with weapons. 

It wasn't necessary. He was an excellent healer, he knew how to defend himself and, quite frankly, they needed medics far more than they needed fighters. Well, they needed more of both, but that was irrelevant.

So Nico had found himself stumped when Will decided he wanted to get a weapon from the armory.

"It'll be fun!" Will grinned. "I never got around to doing it as a kid. They just dumped me with the healers and then the war happened and it was forgotten about but I feel like it's a rite of passage, you know?"

"Will." Nico rested a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder. "You know you don't need to do this to belong here or to be valuable or some crap? You're worth more than violence. You taught me that."

Will covered Nico's hand with his own.

"I know. I genuinely think this will be fun."

Nico shrugged, stuffing his hands in the pockets of the Cabin 7 hoodie he'd stolen from Will that morning. He didn't see the point to it all but far be it from him to keep Will from picking out a weapon like it was a present under the tree at six in the morning on Christmas day. He kissed Will's giddy smile just because Will was beautiful and he could.

"Let's go get you some weapons then."

Will clasped their hands together as they walked over to the armory. Nico hung back as Will went inside. He felt it should be private. He also felt that the armory probably would be a tight squeeze with two people in it and lots of sharp objects.

Will burst out, not five minutes later, holding a small, rusty gun.

"Look!"

Nico instinctively ducked when Will started waving it around.

"Sorry." Will held the gun out. "Isn't it cool?"

Nico peered down at the dirty silver of the barrel of the pistol. Supportive boyfriend, he thought to himself sternly.

"Yeah! It's cool, Will," he said, hopefully reassuringly. "You should try it out."

Will half ran to the training area. Nico sauntered after, smiling to himself. Will had been a little more subdued since Tartarus. He mainly spent his time with Nico and the Cocoa Puffs (who had taken to being emotional support animals for campers in the infirmary). Nico hadn't seen him this excited in a while. It made his heart twinge and then made him turn bright red for being so sappy.

Kayla and Austin were at the training grounds sitting at the sidelines and eating their lunch away from the bustle of the infirmary and the dining pavilion. Kayla whistled when she saw the pistol.

"Howdy, Texas boy!" she called. "Watcha got there?"

Nico plonked down next to her as Will started fiddling with the safety catch.

"He's going to shoot something," Nico stated, squinting at his boyfriend.

"And you're going to let him?" Austin mumbled through a mouth full of sandwich. "Hell yeah, dude!"

Nico scowled. "I'm not letting him do anything. He's his own person. He can do what he likes."

"Even if that involves gravely injuring himself?" Kayla asked as she casually handed Nico a KitKat.

"I'd rather have the gun literally shooting his dreams than me having to do it metaphorically. He has puppy eyes, Kayla. It's very distressing."

Kayla snorted. "You are weak, Nico di Angelo."

Nico snapped the KitKat in two and bit off half of the first stick.

"I know."

Will lined up his aim much like he was using a bow and arrow. He narrowed his eyes at the target and stood perfectly still. His finger rested lightly on the trigger.

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"Oh my gods! Guys, did you see that? I got bullseye!"

A lump of half chewed sandwich fell out of Austin's mouth.

"Holy fuck," Kayla whispered. 

She stood up, marched over to Will and smacked him on the arm.

"What the fuck, dude!" she demanded. "You just hit a bullseye nine freaking times, you weirdo!"

Will rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks flushing. 

"My ma used to take me to gun ranges," he explained. "I never had to wear the ear defenders because of Apollo. I loved it but it's been a while so I thought I'd be real rusty. Guess not."

He splayed out his hands in a 'what are you gonna do' gesture. Kayla smacked his arm again and laughed.

"You have got to do that again! That was awesome! Right, Nico?"

Nico stared blankly at them both, frozen in place. 

His lips were dry and slightly parted. His eyes were as wide as Zeus' ego. 

"Nico, you okay?" Will asked, jogging over and crouching down. He held Nico's face in his hands, examining him carefully. 

"I think you broke him," Austin joked.

Nico jerked forward and yanked Will towards him. Will's yelp of surprise was muffled by their lips colliding. One of Nico's hands grasped the back of Will's neck, sliding into his hair, while the other rested on his chest. Taking advantage of Will's shock, Nico darted his tongue between Will's lips, pulling him as close as physically possible before abruptly jolting away.

Will gazed at him, lovesick and dazed.

"What..." Will cleared his throat. "Uh, what was that for?"

"I love you," Nico said, his voice shockingly steady. "So much."

Will frowned. "I know. I love you too."

Nico blinked slowly, one eyelid at a time like a lizard. He stood up quickly, nearly knocking Will over.

"I have to go," he said, briskly walking away.

Kayla burst out laughing.

-

Hey, loves! 

I love Nico finding Will using a gun attractive. I also recently noticed that I make Nico touch Will's hair a lot when they're kissing but honestly Will's hair looks super soft and Nico's going to take every opportunity to touch it. I'm not apologising.

This is my first time writing/posting from my laptop so, if something looks weird, that's why.

Ash x