Chapter Text
On the other side of the jump, Nico immediately passed out into Will's arms, causing Will to drop his guitar and nearly fall over. Will cursed, carefully lowering the son of Hades to the ground next to him.
“Gods, Nico, what is the matter with you?” he shouted, at least as much to the universe as to the very unconscious Nico in front of him. He closed his eyes and sighed, running his fingers through his hair and tilting his head back, tugging on the curls. But when he opened his eyes again, he had to blink about twelve times before he could even begin to comprehend what he was seeing.
“Holy Apollo's cattle,” he murmured, staring at the incredible scene in front of him.
They’d landed at the base of a massive concrete structure. It looked like it had once been a building of some kind, but the floors and the roof were long gone, leaving only a concrete shell and some rusted metal window panes. Chunks of concrete littered the ground where pieces of the building had crumbled away, but the remarkable thing about the abandoned building wasn’t that it was so dilapidated. It was that the entire outer wall had been covered in some of the most beautiful graffiti Will had ever seen. He gazed at it in awe, taking in the colors, the breathtaking depictions of Greek gods and heroes clearly done in the style of Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the smattering of smaller doodles of Will’s favorite musical instruments and superheroes, and even some cartoonish depictions of Star Wars characters. On the corner of the building, there was a yellow, stylized sun with the word Sunshine written in Nico’s handwriting. Will couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief. He looked down at Nico, who was still out cold on the ground next to him, and ran his fingers through his hair affectionately.
“You’re still an idiot, Death Boy,” he said quietly, but he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face. He gently lifted Nico up, sliding him closer to the trunk of the tree whose shadow they’d landed in and propping him up against it. He grabbed his guitar and sat next to Nico, resting Nico’s head on his shoulder. Will gently kissed his forehead, leaning slightly into him as he strummed on his guitar, waiting for the son of Hades to wake up.
Nico did wake up about twenty minutes later, stirring for a moment before slowly lifting his head from Will’s shoulder, blinking groggily as if trying to figure out where he was.
“Well, look who’s finally awake,” Will said, grinning at him as he rested his hands on his guitar. Nico blinked at him, his expression melting into a soft smile.
“Hi…” he said, dazed by his boyfriend’s beauty in the golden sunset. Will reached into his pocket, fishing out the granola bar Nico had inadvertently abandoned earlier in the evening.
“Here, finish eating this,” Will instructed, handing the granola bar to Nico.
“Thanks…” Nico said, taking a bite. He was clearly still in the process of waking up fully, but Will was just happy he seemed to be coming back around relatively quickly this time. He watched Nico eat the granola bar in silence for a moment, then turned back to admiring the graffiti-covered building.
“...How did you do this?” Will asked finally, turning to Nico and possibly catching him staring again. Nico blushed.
“I found this place a few years ago when I was practicing my shadow traveling, and… I thought it would be perfect for your own personal graffiti park,” he explained. “We can come here whenever you want to practice your terrible art skills,” Nico chuckled, nudging Will teasingly. Will’s eyes widened, but Nico was having a difficult time reading his expression, which reminded him of how horrible he still felt for nearly ruining Will’s birthday completely. He cleared his throat, his cheeks turning slightly pink.
“Anyway… yesterday I got Rachel and the Iris cabin to help me cover it in art and rainbows and stuff. But shadow traveling all of them here and back was, um… difficult…” Nico grimaced, looking at the ground sheepishly. Will let out a small huff that Nico couldn’t immediately distinguish as annoyed or impressed.
“It's… amazing,” Will said softly, still taking in all of the artwork on the building. Nico’s heart may or may not have skipped a beat.
“So… you're not mad anymore?” he asked hopefully. Will’s head snapped back to Nico and he scowled.
“Oh, yes I am. What the hell were you thinking?! My stupid birthday isn't as important as your health! You should've just gotten me a T-shirt or something!!” Will shouted, managing to wave his arms even more aggressively than Nico usually did when he was upset.
“I'm sorry! I tried! I thought maybe if I ate more, and slept more, a-and all that… I would be strong enough,” Nico said, looking at Will like he’d failed the son of Apollo in some unforgivable way. Will had to give his brain a second to recalibrate, fully taking in the meaning of what Nico was saying.
“...Wait, is that why you've been taking better care of yourself lately?” he asked, searching Nico’s face for an answer. Nico looked down, nodding microscopically. Will looked at the graffiti covered ruins, then back at Nico, who was still looking at the ground.
“…How long have you been planning this?” Will asked quietly.
Nico shrugged, taking another bite of his granola bar. “A while…” he mumbled, still not quite meeting Will’s eyes. Will chuckled softly, taking Nico’s hand and squeezing it.
“You're… amazing, sunshine. I love–” Nico looked up and Will caught himself before he could say ‘I love you,’ but swallowed the words and gave Nico a smile. “I love it.” Nico studied him, seeming to try to figure out if he was being sincere, but finally he smiled back, and a comfortable silence settled between them, both of them losing themselves in the other’s eyes for a moment.
“Still mad!” Will said once the moment was over, crossing his arms and looking away, but trying (and failing) not to smile at the gift Nico had managed to organize for him.
“Well…” Nico said, reaching into his pocket, “Too bad.” He held a small piece of paper out to Will, who raised an eyebrow, leaning over to read it. The paper was covered in little hearts and “XOXOs” and read “Lots of kisses.” Will burst out laughing, realizing it was one of the handmade coupons he’d gotten Nico for his birthday.
“You still have those?!” Will howled, holding his stomach.
“Of course!! I need them for when I piss you off!” Nico said, smiling in spite of himself. Will burst out laughing again.
“I hate you,” he said, shaking his head and grinning.
“Liar,” Nico said with a smirk, sliding the coupon into Will’s front shirt pocket. Will rolled his eyes and pulled Nico in for a kiss… Well, “Lots of kisses.”
