Solangelo Oneshots

Violets & Grass

Nico POV
I walk out of my cabin, my mind still full of sleep. I sip my lukewarm coffee and start walking toward the dining pavilion. Some people like hot coffee. Some people like cold coffee. I personally like lukewarm coffee. Room temperature. Although, realistically, I'll drink any coffee. I'm walking down the stairs in front of my cabin, drinking more coffee, when I trip. I fall down onto the ground. I look around to make sure no one saw my embarrassing trip. It doesn't seem like anyone did. So now I check to see what I tripped on. I'm very confused at what I see. A small-ish pile of violets and grass is sitting on the top step. Who put it there? Did someone put it there just for the sake of tripping me or for some other unknown goal? I stand up and walk, my clothes dripping with coffee, to the dining pavilion.

"Just a big pile of grass and flowers!" I complain. I see a few Demeter children at the table next to ours snicker. What's their deal? Did they put the flowers and grass there? "Well," Will said, avoiding eye contact, "Maybe he had a reason." I raise an eyebrow at him questioningly. "What kind of reason?" Will shrugged. "Maybe it means something." I shake my head in mild irritation. Hate mail in the form of flowers.

"Wait. Nico, are you really this dumb?" I hear a voice from behind me. I turn and see a Demeter girl running after me. "Katie? Why are you saying I'm dumb? I will sneak into your cabin and replace your shoelaces with slightly overcooked spaghetti." Katie just looks at me. "I- what? Sneak into my cabin? Spaghetti? I don't even know where to start with that." I walk away when she's questioning my threat.

The rest of the day is a blur. I teach some younger kids how to sword fight. I go to Annabeth's Ancient Greek class. I put away gauze and unopened strep tests in the infirmary. I go back to my cabin and draw a bit. Then I go to sleep. Nothing interesting.

"Son." Hades says. I must be dreaming. However, since I'm a demigod, dreams can never really be dreams, can they? Nothing can be easy.
"Hey." I say. "Why am I here. I want to actually sleep for once instead of dream traveling." Hades squints. "Stop with that attitude. It's very unbecoming."
"Rude."
"I swear, I will chuck a pomegranate at you."
"Also very rude." As I say this, Hades throws his hands to his face in frustration. At least he wasn't throwing a pomegranate to his face in frustration. I try to leave, but since I'm dreaming, there's no UNDERWORLD EXIT door. "What did you want from me?" Hades composes himself. "You like this Solace boy, no?" "Yeah, I do. But the way you phrased it with the 'this' and the 'no' makes you sound like an old, gay, Italian man," I respond, thinking of my childhood neighbor, an old, gay, Italian man named John. He didn't exactly say he was gay, but I could tell. Gaydar, ya know?

"I summoned you here to tell you that he likes you back. The Apollo boy, not an old, gay, Italian man like yourself." Oh dang. I am an old, gay, Italian man. I mean, I'm only 15, but I'm also kinda in my nineties? I think about this for a moment before I process the rest of what he said. "Will likes me back?"
"Obviously. Did you not see the plants he left you?"
"That was Will? And what do grass and violets have to do with anything?"
"Has your stepmother not taught you about flowers and their meanings?"
"No," I say, "Persephone hates me." Hades just nods, neither confirming nor denying the statement. "Well, violets and grass represent bisexual and gay romance. So do with that what you will."

I wake up suddenly. What? Will's gay for me? I mean, he's be gay even if it wasn't for me, or bi, I guess, or he thinks I'm bi. Either way, Will likes me. How do I act on this?

Will's alone in the infirmary when I approach him. I usually go to help with restocking or setting bones, but today I have something else in mind. I walk up to Will. "Grass, huh? The violets were pretty, I have to admit." Will looks from side to side. "I don't know what you're talking about. I-" "Will. I like you, too." He smiles nervously. "Thank you." "Why are you thanking me?" He shrugs. "It felt like the right thing to do." Then we just stand there uncomfortably. "So...." I say, breaking the awkward silence, "I'm not 100% sure what couples do, or even if you consider us a couple yet. But do you.... maybe want to make out in a storage closet?" "Absolutely. Just not that one." Will responds, pointing to a seemingly random medical supply closet. I didn't ask why. It's an infirmary. When someone says to not go somewhere in an infirmary, you don't ask why. It's usually something gross. Like used needles or Enrique. I shiver at the thought. I look back to Will and smile. "Let's go."