Chapter Text
“Where’s your little shadow?” Jerry teases when he joins them for breakfast.
The part of him that was always pleased when someone else recognizes that Nico is his swells up and he has to smother the reaction quickly before his nosey siblings could notice anything.
“He’s on a shoppin’ trip with the Aphrodite kids.” Will answers as he takes his seat.
“I’m sorry- what now?” Kayla chokes, staring at Will with wide eyes, getting him to chuckle a little at the situation.
“He lost a bet with Piper so they're off shopping today.” Will explains easily.
He wasn’t expecting the cackling Yan dissolved into, even if the situation was a little funny.
“Oh you’re so screwed.” Yan cackles, much to Will’s confusion.
“What do ya mean?”
“The Aphrodite kids are going to dress Nico up? Plus your whole-” Jerry gestured to all of Will. “Obsessive crush thing? You’re either going to be a blushing mess or so overly obvious about your crush that Nico will definitely notice.”
Will blinked. “I don’t have an obsessive crush.” He says with a roll of his eyes, because he doesn’t. Although he might be a little obsessed with his boyfriend, but he doesn’t have a crush on him anymore since they’re already dating so it’s there for, not an obsessive crush.
“The fact that you believe that is a little insane.” Kayla says, staring at Will’s ears which had stayed the same and didn’t turn red at the tips, indicating that he wasn't, in fact, lying.
Shrugging, Will continues to eat his breakfast. Once they were all done he herded his siblings to their cabins activities and chores for the day. They were doing a deep clean of their cabin today. It was sorta therapeutic, and wasn’t really something that bothered them like it seemed to bother other camps. Maybe because their dad was the god of healing and disease, so they like clean and sterile areas? Or maybe they just like their personal space being clean and germ free.
It doesn’t really matter why they all enjoyed having their space clean, just that they do and the cleaning needed to be done so they do it.
Beds were stripped and curtains were taken down so they could wash the fabric. Pillows were taken outside to be beat up, removing any dust that clung to them. The floor was swept and the baseboards were ripped down and everything was moved to one side of the cabin so they could mop easier. It all got pushed to the other side so all of the floor was mopped before being moved to its original spots, or in some cases, the furniture was adjusted into a new arrangement that they liked better for the time being.
They took a break for lunch where Kayla and Yan switched out with Gracie and Austin after they finished eating.
“Di Angelo ditch you so he didn't have to help us clean?” Austin guessed, earning a laugh from Kayla as she shook her head.
“Nope.” Jerry sighed. “The Aphrodite kids got their hands on him.”
“Seriously?” Austin asked, a little dumbfounded. “Who thought letting them give Will’s crush a makeover was a good idea?”
“Why would it be a bad idea?” Gracie asked curiously. “Makeovers are fun!”
“Yes. Yes they can be.” Austin agrees. “But Willaim here, has a huge crush on di Angelo, so he’ll probably be a complete disaster once he sees him all dressed up.” His younger brother explains to the youngest of the Apollo children.
“I feel like him being a mess is somehow an understatement.” Jerry says to no one in particular.
“Oh it probably is, but I was trying to be nice.” Austin shrugs.
“I hate all of you both.” Will states cheerfully, leveling a smiling glare at his two brothers.
“You see this Gracie? We speak nothing but the truth and those in power lash out at us!” Austin cries dramatically, falling back onto Jerry’s shoulder with a hand to his forehead as if he were a fainting damsel in a play.
It got a giggle out of the Apollo cabin baby so Will let the overdramatics slide for the time being, keeping a mental tally to pull from for later.
“So are we betting on a stuttering mess or swooning?” Jerry asked before taking another bite of his food.
“I think he’ll compliment Nico and then they’ll confess and finally start dating!” Gracie decides cheerfully.
“That’s optimistic- what are you betting?” Jerry questions with a raised brow.
“My chores for the week?”
“Are ya askin’ him or tellin’ him, pumpkin?” Will inquired with a chuckle.
“Telling- my bet is a week of chores.” Gracie states firmly, silently asking for one of them to challenge her.
“I’ll take that.” Austin agrees. “A week of chores for blushing mess for me.”
“Sure.” Jerry nods, and Will can practically see him making the mental notes.
“Same bet but for stuttering mess.” Jerry decides.
They shake on it and all Will can do is sigh and regret his decisions that led to him being the eldest of his cabin- not that he needed any other reasons to regret being the last of the Apollo children to survive Manhattan.
Will eventually gets them to wrap up lunch so they can finish cleaning the cabin. Gracie complained that nothing was in the same space as before but got used to it fairly quickly, so it wasn’t all that big of a deal. Austin just kept teasing him about Nico, and Will can only imagine how much more teasing he’ll get once he finds out that Nico is already his boyfriend.
It wasn’t until dinner rolled around that the Aphrodite cabin made an appearance and it took Will no time at all to locate Nico. When he spotted the son of Hades, he immediately choked on his spit.
“I think that’s my win.” Austin says with a grin.
“Nuh uh. They have to interact.” Gracie states. “Otherwise my part of the bet would even have the possibility of being completed.”
Nico was dressed in all black, which wasn’t unusual, but Will had to hand it to the Aphrodite kids when it came to how they layered clothing on someone. It was practically an art-form in of itself. His shirt was a black button down, tucked into black pants that were fitted at the waist and loose at the ankles, where the fabric was tucked into a pair of combat boots. They had switched out his aviator jacket for a leather one and then proceeded to drape him in silver chains.
He would say that Nico looks good if it wasn’t for how uncomfortable he was surrounded by other campers who were complimenting him or potentially flirting with him. It really made Will wish that he had left those hickeys right where they were instead of healing them, but he plays by the rule Nico makes for him, so he can’t just leave them there, at least not in visible spots. Hm… Hopefully Nico’s new wardrobe includes turtle necks.
Standing up for the Apollo table, Will ignores his siblings knowing looks as he walks over to the small crowd of people that were trying and seemingly failing to talk to an overstimulated son of Hades.
“Hey- give him a little space.” Will suggests as he pushes through the people, making it to Nico’s side, where he was supposed to be, with relative ease.
“You can’t hog Nico all to yourself anymore Will. Not with how nicely the Aphrodite kids dressed him up.” A daughter of Demeter says while playing with the leather jackets' lapels.
Before Will could even think to do anything about the situation, the girl dropped her hand from where it was touching Nico, and that was that. Or, at least, that should have been that, but for some reason everyone was staring at him. Blinking, Will looked down at his person who was tugging on the sleeve of his sweatshirt, drawing attention to the wide eyed look Nico was giving him.
“Are ya okay?” Will checks.
“I’m fine.” Nico nods, looking back at the girl that had just been touching him, and something about that makes his skin itch. He wants to have Nico’s attention back on him, but he isn’t sure how to get it without making his person uncomfortable. “What did you do?”
“What do ya mean?” Will asks curiously, eyeing the campers who were still surrounding them but seem to at least be giving Nico a bit more space.
“You just touched her wrist and then her hand let go, and it’s still not moving.” Nico pointed out, gesturing to the girl who looked both a little scared and stunned in place.
“Right.” Will nods like he absolutely knows what his boyfriend is talking about. He sorta remembers doing it now that Nico pointed it out, but it was more of a reflex movement than an actual thought. “Just pinched a nerve ta make her hand numb. It’ll wear off. Don’t worry ‘bout it. ” He says, turning to look at the girl. “Maybe next time we’ll look with our eyes and not our hands, hm? After all, it’s not nice ta touch what’s not yours.” He states now glaring at the group at large.
Then he smiles brightly and claps his hands together. “Welp, why don’ we all get back ta dinner. Hm?” And to absolutely no one's surprise after that display, the crowd of people who had been bothering Nico dispersed to their own tables, whispering amongst themselves.
“What did ya eat today?” Will questioned as he walked Nico to the Apollo table.
Nico shrugged.
“We had smoothes when we got to the mall, then pretzels, Mcdonalds, and frozen yogurt.”
Will nodded along.
“Did you have fun today?” Gracie asks as Nico took his seat and Will sat beside him.
“It was tiring, but I do like the clothes I got.” Nico answers, fiddling with the sleeves of his new jacket.
“They suit you. I like how the chains fall.” Jerry compliments.
“You just like that they’re shiny. “ Nico scoffed.
“Hey!” Jerry calls out in offense.
“You Apollo kids just like your shiny things.” Nico states.
“Well- you’ve gone an’ draped yourself in them, so clearly ya wanted our attention.” Will says, staring his boyfriend down from where he was casually leaning against his fist.
That seemed to get Nico to fall quiet. Opening and closing his mouth as if to say something only to decide against it, looking away. The bad feeling that came from not having Nico’s attention on him was back so Will nudged his thigh against his boyfriends to check in. When Nico returned the pressure and kept their thighs pressed together Will let the matter drop, turning his attention to his siblings, but before he could, he had to say one more thing to his boyfriend.
“I really do like the new look, but I also think ya look good in those oversized sweatshirts of yours.” Will says with a chuckle.
“Sweatshirts of mine?” Nico echoed, turning to look at Will again, raising a challenging eyebrow.
Sighing, Will shakes his head, knowing that he’ll never get those sweatshirts back now that he’s called them Nico’s. Oh what a shame, he chuckles to himself. He’ll probably lose more, but that’s fine, he likes seeing Nico in his clothes too.