ELYSIAN, the riordanverse

19

BEST FRIENDS, CRAZY GIRLS AND WILL SOLACE

'You thrive in chaos, Reyna,' The brown-eyed Italian said to the girl in front of him as she dribbled her basketball, throwing it into the hoop. Reyna laughed and nodded as the boy just shook his head.

'But,' Nico went on. 'I thrive in madness.'

'Perfect duo, aren't we?' Reyna said, laughing again, passing the orange ball to the black-haired boy. He caught it just before it hit his nose and threw it back to her.

'We are, can't deny that.'

Reyna rolled her eyes and chuckled at her best friend, 'So, Will wanted to me to ask you something.'

Nico groaned as the Puerto-Rican smirked and ran over to him, tossing the basketball to the side of the court. 'He wanted to know if you were free today at four.'

'And what happens if I say I'm not?'

The girl pretended to think for a moment, 'Well, Piper would probably murder you for...' Reyna gasped dramatically, saying, 'HOW DARE YOU, NICO? THE POOR BOY! LEFT ALL ALONE, BECAUSE YOU, YOU JUST WOULDN'T AGREE TO A DATE!!' 

Nico rolled his eyes at her horrible impression of the choppy-haired brunette.

'And of course, you would actually break Will's heart...' 

'No, I wouldn't,' The short boy said, shaking his head. 'He'll be fine. It's not like Will is going to self-explode just because I said I didn't want to hang out with him.'

Reyna sighed as the two took a seat on the bleachers, 'Nico, he's a nice boy. Just spending some time with him won't do you any bad.'

The black-haired boy groaned and buried his face in his hands, 'Alright, fine.' He knew he wasn't going to get out of this.

Reyna stood up at this, smiling. She knew that Will and him would be good for each other. His light would balance out Nico's dark. 

She ran out of the gym, grabbing a towel as Nico yelled, 'AND IT IS NOT A DATE.'

-

Cue Will Solace. The average golden-haired, blue-eyed boy. Worked in the school's infirmary, just because he wanted to help out between classes. Went to every single GSA meeting at his school, along with his sibling who just came out as non-binary. Played chess, had amazing grades and sang... Nico sighed, the boy was a marvel. 

He shook his head again as Piper screamed. 

'OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH!!!!'

That girl was crazy, no denying it.

He covered his ears as she jumped up and down, already opening up Nico's closet. 

'MY TWO RAINBOW BOYS ARE FINALLY GOING OUT!' She practically squealed, throwing clothes at Nico. She turned to the boy now, glaring at him. 

'Nico -whatever-your-middle-name-is- di Angelo,' Piper said, still glaring. 'Why do you have only black in your closet?'

'Because I like black,' He deadpanned as Piper pursed her lips, rolling her eyes at him. She sighed and handed him a somewhat white shirt, buried deep inside his wardrobe. Tossing him a pair of his skinny jeans, because the gods know that boy pulls them off, and finally... handing Nico his skull ring he wore everywhere, Piper waved goodbye at him and walked out of the room. 

Nico sighed, as he changed into the clothes. Was there really a reason for all this? He was just going to a coffee place with Will. 

And as if Piper had heard what he was thinking, she yelled from downstairs, 'YES, NICO. THERE IS A REASON. AND IT'S A DATE.'

He blushed, 'IT IS NOT A DATE.'

Piper rolled her eyes, as she picked up her phone. 'You keep telling yourself that, Nico. You keep telling yourself that.'

She scrolled through her chats and opened up Will's, sending away a message to him. Nico's almost ready!

He replied almost instantly, Oh gosh, Piper... I'm so going to mess this up. 

She chuckled at how nervous he was, No, you aren't. You're Will Solace, he's Nico di Angelo... What are you so scared for? You two are practically made for each other?

Will sighed at the other end of the messages and buried his face in his hands, laughing. Oh, I don't know. Maybe because I'M GOING TO COFFEE WITH NICO FRICKING DI ANGELO?

Piper laughed again, Yes you are!

-

Nico paced around the front of the cafe, 'Midnight Coffee'... Gosh, what was I thinking? 

His train of thought was cut off as he bumped into someone. He looked up to see that it was none other than Will Solace. 

Great. 

'Uh, hey Will?' Nico winced at how nervous he sounded. 

'H-hey, Nico,' Will winced at his stuttering. The two boys sighed as Will said, 'You wanna go inside?'

Nico nodded quickly as the blond breathed a sigh of relief. The two walked inside the small and dimly lit cafe. Walking over to a booth, the sat down as a waiter came over to them. 

'Hello you two!' she said in a chirpy tone, asking them what they'd like to drink. 

'Um, can I have vanilla latte with extra whipped cream?'

'Of course,' The redhead turned to Nico now, 'And what would you like, sir?'

Nico raised his eyebrows, he was a horrible decision-maker. 'Uh, um...'

'He'll have the same as me,' Will cut in before the Italian could embarrass himself. 

'Alright-y then! Two vanilla lattes with extra whipped cream, coming right up!' The waitress walked off, giving the two boys a soft and knowing smile. 

Will turned to Nico, 'You are fine with a vanilla latte, right?

The boy nodded in answer, 'Right... um, had a good day?'

'Yeah, had a good day. Reyna was being an idiot as usual, Percy was annoying and Leo kept pranking Annabeth,' Nico sighed. 'Good day.'

Will chuckled and smiled at the Italian. 

'You?' Nico asked as Will smiled again. 

'Good day, too. Kayla got into a fight with someone, but it's cool. The idiot was making fun of Austin.' 

'Well then, give her a high-five from me. That asshole deserved it, Austin's a great guy.' Nico said, smiling at how much Will liked his younger siblings. 

As the two made small talk, their drinks arrived. The waitress bid them a good evening and left the two to talk as much as they wanted too. 

As she watched them converse, she could almost see the sparks flying off them. The looks of complete adoration the blue-eyed one gave the other boy. And though the redhead could see that the one with the  black hair was a little closed off, she knew he would open up with time. 

Smiling, she turned back to the coffee maker and as the sun set, the two boys walked out of the cafe together, laughing, cheeks flushed, their shoulders brushing together.