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The quest was going about as well as they had expected it to. Only five had been called to go - Percy, Jason, Leo, Nico, and Will - and, really, they weren’t such a bad team. They had all almost died only eight times so far. Very nice.
Leo had immediately joked that this was a ‘boy’s trip’, which, sure, that would be fun if they were going to the beach to play volleyball and drink too much iced tea. But no, they were fighting for their lives on a quest for the gods above. Just a typical Sunday. Or Saturday. They didn’t really know what day it was anymore.
What they did know was that had found a decent shelter for the night. An abandoned boot-making factory - which was a lot creepier than it sounded - but it was a roof above their heads nonetheless. Jason and Percy had worked to ensure it was safe (it was, thank the gods) as Leo, Nico, and Will set up camp inside.
By the time the sun had fully set, the boys had set up a campfire (thank you, Leo) and ate dinner (thank you again, Leo). Now they all sat around it, telling stories about their lives and all the things they had seen.
Percy talked a lot about how much he missed Annabeth. They’d been on this quest for a few days, so that was only natural, but gods, one sad topic only slid into others. Which was how Nico was where he was now, telling the boys around him about his older sister, Bianca.
“I had planned to just keep, you know, calling on her whenever I wanted to talk to her, which probably isn’t healthy,” Nico confessed. “But then I learned she got reincarnated. So I’ll never see her or hear from her or any of that stuff again. She’s just… a whole new person now.”
“Just ‘cause she got reincarnated doesn’t mean she’s a human.” Will said.
The room was silent. All eyes were on Will, different levels of appalled and absolutely mortified.
For some reason, Will, like an idiot, kept going.
“She could be…” he looked around for a second before pointing to a speck on the ground. “She could be that bug.”
Oh, gods. Because why not make this more embarrassing, right? The tension between the demigods was thick. Percy, Jason, and Leo all stared at Nico, wondering how he’d let this go down.
“Not a chance,” Nico said, head down, voice low.
Gods, it was so over for them. Nico - poor, emotionally disturbed Nico - would summon a whole army of skeletons, rip Solace’s head clean off, and scar the rest of them for life. It would really put a damper on the quest.
“That’s an ugly bug. She wouldn’t ever be that bug.” He concluded, the smallest, tiniest, hint of a smirk on his face.
Will took it and ran.
“How could you say that?!” He guffawed. “Nico, that could be your sister!“
“There’s no way! It’s hideous! Bianca was too good of a person to come back as that nasty-“ Nico stumbled over his words for a moment, hands gesturing wildly like he was trying to summon a word. “Thing.”
“Bianca, I am so sorry,” Will said in a hushed tone, completely ignoring Nico as he leaned down to address the debatably ugly insect. “I understand it must be difficult, being a bug and all, and he really isn’t making it any easier on you-”
“Will-“ Jason awkwardly cleared his throat.
“But I can assure you, you’re handling this wonderfully. Honestly, you’re not all that bad looking. As far as bugs go, well, I’d consider you quite pretty-“
“Are you flirting with my sister?” Nico asked incredulously, trying so hard to fight the smile wanting to break onto his fake-scandalized face.
Will side-eyed him quickly, looked back to the Bianca Bug, and glanced over to Nico once again.
“I’m not,” Will replied, biting back a smirk. “I’m simply uplifting her spirits. After you, mister di Angelo, knocked her down in all of her six-legged glory.”
Madness. Yeah, that’s what this was. They were all descending into madness. There was some sort of lack of oxygen, or maybe something was off with those burgers Leo made, possibly Mr. D just stopping by to add a bit of spice to their quest. That was it. Madness.
It was Nico’s turn to speak with the Bianca Bug. “Don’t listen to him, Bianca. He’s a deviant. He’s trying to turn us against each other after finally being reunited. He’s evil, he’s-“ Nico looked up to Will, staring him right in the eyes with a disgusted squint. “He’s a no-good man.”
“No-good man?!” Will gasped around a grin. “My mama told me I’m the most perfect man to walk this earth!”
“Your mama lied!”
“How dare you! First Bianca, then my mama… Nico di Angelo, do you just hate women?!”
That one got a gasp out of everyone. Gods, how did they get so invested in this weird spat? Why was this so entertaining?!
Nico looked around, his mouth agape, at all the faces staring at him around the fire. Then, he doubled over, arms wrapped around his stomach and chin dropped to his chest.
And he laughed.
He honest to gods laughed. Hard.
Soft at first, barely there, more of his shoulders shaking in a way that made Will (and everyone else) think he’d crossed a line.
But then it got louder, looser, until it was real and happy before it died down to gasps for breath and tears falling down his cheeks.
“He’s not saying no…” Leo smirked, eyebrows raised in amusement.
“Nico, dude, that’s so messed up!” Percy scoffed in mock offense. “After all my mom’s done for you, all of my cookies she’s let you eat-“
“Stop,” Nico giggled (gods, he giggled), looking up to Percy as he brushed the last few tears from his eyes. “Percy, I love your mom.”
“Nico, we really can’t be friends if you’re so hostile towards women.” Will chuckled.
“‘M not. It’s not your mama,” Nico made sure to put on his worst southern accent with that last word (and if that made Will blush, well then, sue him). “It’s you. Well, it’s not you.”
“You don’t think I’m the most perfect man to walk this earth?” Will grasped at the front of his shirt, right over his heart, as if Nico’s implications had fatally wounded him.
Nico just shrugged. Maybe his face was flushed, maybe it was just the fire, maybe it was a side effect of whatever madness had fallen over this space.
“You think it’s you, Bone Boy?”
“No,” Nico said quickly. So quickly that, for some weird reason, it sort of hurt Will to hear. “But it’s not you either, sunshine.”
The silence was loud after that. Awkward with something in the air that hadn’t been there before. Heavy with the weight of a new nickname that sounded too sweet to be snarky.
“It’s obviously me.” Leo muttered in an attempt to break… whatever this was.
“Yeah, ok, sure, maybe you can take the title when I die.” Jason scoffed, leaning back against the wall with a smug smile.
“You mean after you take it when I die?” Percy chimed in.
“Bull. Shit.” Jason barked out a laugh. “Percy, you’re already, like, the greatest demigod of our time. Maybe give someone else a chance to shine?”
“Like me.” Leo interjected.
“Bro-“ Jason started.
“Oh, oh, I’m sorry, was being Zeus’s kid just not enough clout for you?” Leo patronized. Jason glared at him, biting his tongue so he wouldn’t laugh. Percy didn’t hold his back. “Yeah. Yeah. Maybe I deserve this, man. And you-“ Leo pointed over to Percy. “What’s so funny, Poseidon?”
“Oh, that’s-“ Percy started, his voice cracking slightly as his words fought around the laugh he was smart enough to hold back this time.
While the other boys continued their bickering, Will made his way around the fire and sat down next to Nico.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” Nico sighed. He watched the Bianca Bug as it was now crawling aimlessly around the back of his hand. “It just gets… hard. Sometimes.”
Nico didn’t know why he was opening up. He must be tired. It must be the madness.
Will leaned back and joined him in watching the Bianca Bug. He was, unfortunately, used to talking people through a tough time. For once, he couldn’t find the right words to say.
“But it’s kind of nice,” Nico continued, his voice barely above a whisper. “To think that we could still cross paths again. Even if we don’t know it. I didn’t… I didn’t think about it like that before.”
“She’d be proud of you,” Will blurted out before he could stop himself.
Nico looked over to him, eyes wide and cheeks flushed. Will didn’t dare pry his eyes away from the bug. Even Nico in his peripheral was doing something to him.
“I mean, I didn’t know her,” he said clumsily. “But still. You’ve done a lot. Gone through a lot, I’ve heard. And you’re still going strong. Getting better. She’d like that, I think.”
Minutes went by. Nico didn’t speak. He stared at the back of his hand, no longer following the movements of the Bianca Bug. The fire was dying, the other boys began to drift off to sleep, and Nico was here blinking tears from his eyes.
“Goodnight, Bianca.” He muttered shakily, voice wet as he set the insect down onto the ground. He leaned back against the wall, let out a long sigh, and used his jacket sleeves to wipe the last of the tears from his eyes.
He looked over at Will. Will was already watching him.
“I can take first watch.” Will whispered with a gentle smile.
Will’s hair looked nice illuminated by the soft glow of the dying fire. Warm, comfortable. Indulgently so, like a heated blanket and a full mug of hot chocolate after being stuck in the snow. But instead of marshmallows, Will brought pretty blue eyes to the table. Nico was beginning to think he liked those more than marshmallows anyway.
“Thank you.” For making me laugh. For saying all of that. For everything.
Nico drifted off to sleep relatively easily for the first time in a long time. And if that was only because he allowed himself to rest his head against Will’s shoulder, well then, that could be his little secret.