What's the Deal?

Nico's lost in the soft brush of Will's lips against his, his face flushed. Can it possibly be true that he's actually found a piece of happiness? He pulls away and rests his head against the boathouse's wall. Will smiles at him, one hand propped against the siding next to Nico's shoulder. He trails the other along the side of Nico's face, and Nico's lips twitch into a not-quite-smile.

"Hey, Will. You gotta sec?"

Nico's almost-smile turns into a frown as Will turns to see who's calling him.

"Hey, Mitchell." He turns back to Nico. "Gimme a sec. This won't take a minute."

Nico crosses his arms, leaning back on the wall. He kicks a stray pebble with his boot, and scowls as Will and Mitchell huddle together in a whispered conversation.

Of all the times for Will to get called away, does it have to be now? It was their first officially together kiss. He exhales sharply through his nose.

Now that he thinks about it, Will gets called away a lot. At campfire last night, before Will had worked up the nerve to tell Nico he wanted them to go out, he'd been drawn into similarly whispered conversations three times, all from people in different cabins.

Nico narrows his eyes as Will flips open his doctor's bag and passes something to Mitchell, followed by what sounds like his usual professional lecture of some sort or other. Nico never listens to those. Mitchell's cheeks turn pink as he nods, and then quickly ducks away.

It's almost as if … no. Nico tries to squash the thought as Will turns back and approaches him. It's not possible Will is dealing drugs to campers, is it?

"What was that about?" Nico cringes at the tone of his own voice. He is not going to be a suspicious boyfriend. No way.

Will steps back into Nico's space and puts his hands on Nico's hips, leaning low until their foreheads brush. "Nothing important."

Damn. Nico shivers. When Will lowers his voice like that, it does things to him, things he'd rather not be experiencing in public. "Come on," he says, taking Will by the hand, and wriggling out from under him. "Let's go to Hades cabin. You promised to help with the de-velveting."

It's as good an excuse as any to get out of the sun and away from any further interruptions.

XxxX

Nico shucks the seventh pillow free of its velvet case and adds it to the pile of bed linens fast turning into a mountain on the floor. Will whistles to himself as he refits the beds with white cotton sheets from the big house. They'll have to do for now; at least until Nico can petition Chiron for funds and a shopping trip for replacements.

"Will? You in here?" calls a timid voice at the door. Nico squashes his bare pillow between his fists as Will calls back to give him a sec. Nico throws his pillow at the door as Butch Walker steps into the room. It bounces off his bulging pecs, his T-shirt so tight it's nearly bursting.

"Ah," Butch says, his voice now its usual low timbre. "That's more like the reception I thought I'd get in here."

"What do you want, Walker?" Nico demands, looking from the huge dude blocking his doorway to where Will smooths out a crease in the sheets as if he's not surprised to be interrupted by yet another camper.

"It's cool, Nico. I'll talk to him on the porch."

Butch seems to brush off the insult of having been greeted with a flying pillow and bows out of the doorway without complaint. Will follows him.

What in Hades name is going on? Nico grits his teeth. This is his territory. He has a right to know what sort of dealing is happening when it's on his turf. He stalks to the door and slams it open, the wooden floorboards blackening under his feet.

Will drops his bag and Butch fumbles, shoving whatever it was Will had given him into his pockets.

"Nico," Will says, holding up his hands in appeal.

"Don't Nico me, Solace. What kind of scheme are you running? Don't even think I don't know you're doing something you'd like to keep under wraps."

"See you around, Will," Butch says, and backs down the porch stairs. He's lucky Nico's beef is with Will. Maybe next time he'll think twice about coming into Hades cabin without an invitation.

Nico fixes Will with his eyes. He's not getting off with anymore 'don't worry about its'.

Will frowns. He picks up his doctor's bag and pulls the strap so it drapes across his chest without breaking eye contact. Smart guy.

"Nico, I'll answer all of your questions with the complete truth, but trust me when I say you don't want to have this conversation standing on your porch."

Nico breaks the eye contact and glances at the green between the rows of cabins. People are starting to notice he's losing his cool. He furrows his eyebrows and steps back, making room for Will to enter the cabin first.

Will takes a seat on Nico's newly made bed and pats the mattress beside him.

It takes Nico a moment to decide if he wants to sit or not. He feels more in control standing, but there's no trace of guilt he can read on Will's face. If anything, he looks embarrassed. Nico sits on his bed, but not where Will had indicated. He's cross-legged in the middle of his mattress and it puts Will at eye level to him.

"Okay. Why are you constantly being pulled away by other campers? What are you handing out to them, and why do they look like they're trying not to be caught?"

Will shifts and sits mirrored to Nico at the foot of the bed, his bag in his lap. He opens the flap.

"I'm the head counselor of the Apollo cabin," he says, his cheeks flushing pink. Nico narrows his eyes again, waiting for the rest. If what he hears next is anything awful, their budding relationship is over. "It's kind of a … well, an unspoken, but generally understood rule that I'm the person people come to when they … well …" His cheeks go scarlet. He takes a deep breath and lets it out, then reaches into his bag. "They're coming to me for condoms." He pulls length of foil wrapped squares out of his bag and sets them down between their crossed legs.

Nico blinks, staring at the strip of square packets. Then he looks back up, confused. "What's a condom?"

Will stares at him blankly and groans. Even his hair seems to be blushing.

Nico's not sure he wants to hear the answer, but Will puts on his lecture face and starts talking.

The End

Notes: Like it? Hate it? Tell me what you think.