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[Spring]
Will’s hands were covered in blisters. He’d been living on his grandpa’s old farm for a few days now, and with all the hoing and axing and pickaxing to fix up the fields, his body was aching and his hands hurt so much that he could barely move them. Unfortunately, he still had to eat, and without any money to stop in for a meal at the bar in town, he would have to find his own dinner.
He took his fishing rod in his sore hand and started up the mountain.
Will had yet to meet everyone in the tiny town he lived in, but as far as he could tell, he’d explored just about every inch of it that he could manage in a few short days. So far, the lake at the top of the mountain had been one of his favorite views, even if he’d only gotten a glimpse of it once or twice. Hopefully it had some decent fish in it, too.
As he approached the lake, he saw a figure sitting along the shore, and as he watched, Will saw a puff of smoke rise up above the figure before dissipating. Will continued up to the lakes edge and got himself comfortable before glancing over to get a look at the figure a few feet away - dark hair and clothes, pale skin, definitely not somebody Will had met already. As the stranger took another drag off his cigarette, Will announced, “You know those things are bad for you, right?”
Will wouldn’t have noticed the stranger’s flinch if he hadn’t been watching so closely. “You know you shouldn’t sneak up on people, right?” he asked, voice low, flat, lightly accented in a way that Will couldn’t pin down.
Will smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. Um, I don’t think we’ve met, have we? I’m Will, I just moved into town. You know that old farm at the other end of the valley?”
The stranger hummed.
Will tapped his fingers against his fishing rod. “Um. And you are?”
He blew out another breath of smoke. “Nico.”
“It’s great to meet you!”
Nico hummed again, took one last drag off his cigarette, and stubbed it out in the dirt. He stood and brushed off his clothes, then turned on his heel to walk away. “Yeah. See you.”
“Oh, uh, bye!” Will called after him, then sighed and cast his line.
Will had finally met everyone in town just before he was invited to a holiday celebration. He’d never celebrated any sort of egg festival with his family, so he assumed there was some sort of regional difference, but apparently the town went all out.
Despite arriving before the start of the festival, Will was still the last to arrive, surprised to see even the late-risers of the town up and mingling in the town square. Before Will had the chance to look around very much, a girl named Hazel ran up to him with a bright smile.
“Will! I’m so glad you could make it!” she told him, resting her hands on his arms. “The egg festival is so fun, you’re going to love it!”
“What exactly does this festival...entail?” Will asked, glancing around and seeing only pastel decorations and paper mache eggs hanging from the street lights. “Is this, like, some kind of harvest festival?”
“Oh, no, not really. It’s just a little bit of a fun way to celebrate the warmer weather. Every year, the mayor hides eggs throughout town for people to find, and my brother Nico goes crazy over it every year. He loves the egg hunt, like, a ridiculous amount.” Hazel stepped back, gesturing toward Nico as if pointing him out in case Will didn’t already know who he was - which was understandable, since Will really only ever saw Nico late at night when Will was on his way back to the farm.
Will followed her gaze to Nico, wearing his trademark dark clothing and looking much more uninterested in the festival than Hazel had made him sound. “Oh, so he likes...eggs?” Will asked. It was an interesting thing to like, but if eggs were what it took to get Will on Nico’s good side…
Hazel gave him a bit of a weird look, but before she could respond, Chiron - the town’s mayor - announced that the egg hunt was about to begin, so Hazel dragged Will toward the gathering of the town’s twenty-somethings.
“I have hidden many eggs throughout the center of town,” Chiron told them. “You will have five minutes to find as many eggs as possible. Are you all ready? On your mark, get set… Go!”
Will took off, unsure of what exactly he was looking for until he saw someone - Piper, he thought her name was - pull a tiny plastic egg from a bush. Will tried to keep his distance from Nico, knowing that it would be better for them to cover more ground so that Will could give Nico all of his eggs at the end of the five minutes.
Will counted seven eggs in his pockets by the time someone blew a whistle to end the hunt, though Will wasn’t given the chance to offer his eggs to Nico before Chiron said, “Well, well! It looks like we have a winner! How many eggs do you have there, Will?”
“It’s, um, seven, I think, but--”
“Seven! Amazing! That means you win our grand prize! Now, isn’t that just beginner’s luck?”
Will glanced over at Nico just in time to see him throw one of his eggs angrily into the ground and stomp away. Will tried hard not to look upset as Chiron handed him a satchel of gold coins. At least he could finally afford to eat at the bar for a change.
[Summer]
Will had started receiving requests for his crops once he’d finally gotten the hand of growing things, and hand-delivering those fruits and vegetables gave him a better opportunity to get to know his neighbors. He’d gotten a very large order from a woman named Persephone, and almost hadn’t been able to carry the overflowing box into her home.
“Oh, thank you so much, Will!” she told him once he’d finally managed to get through the door. “It’s been so long since we’ve had so many fresh vegetables, I could never thank you enough! Let me take that for you, honey.”
“No, it’s okay,” Will said, stepping back before Persephone could take the box from him. “It’s awfully heavy, let me bring it inside for you. Can you show me somewhere I can set this down?”
“Of course, honey. You are so sweet, I can hardly believe it. Follow me.” She led Will further into the house and into the kitchen, where Will set the box down on the table. “Alright, now give me just one moment while I find your payment.”
“Would you like me to unpack these while you look?” Will offered.
“No, no, that’s not necessary. You’ve done enough already, I’ll have Nico do that.” Persephone turned toward the hall and called out, “Nico, would you come up here, please?”
Nico lived there, too? Did Will know that? He couldn’t have forgotten something like that, could he? Whether he should’ve known about Nico’s presence or not, Will still turned stiff as a board when Nico stepped into the kitchen. He looked like he’d just woken up - his hair was sticking up at odd angles and he was still in his pajamas despite it being mid-afternoon - and he looked adorable; not at all as intimidating as he usually appeared. Will felt like his heart might pound out of his chest.
“Yeah, Seph?” Nico said as he rubbed at one of his eyes. His gaze traveled across the room, and his eyes widened when they landed on Will - he thought he noticed Nico’s cheeks growing faintly pink, though Will must have been imagining it.
“Would you put these groceries away for me so I can send Will on his way?” Persephone asked.
Nico cleared his throat. “Uh, sure.”
Nico started walking toward Will, who realized in that moment that he had backed himself into a corner, and his heart rate spiked. “Sorry, let me get out of your way,” Will said, and had to squeeze between Nico and the counter to get back to the doorway - Nico’s cheeks were definitely pink now, but Will was certain his own face was bright red.
“Here you are, Will,” Persephone said, handing him a satchel of coins. As she pressed the payment into Will’s hand, she took a close look at him, cocking her head in contemplation before peeking over Will’s shoulder to get a look at Nico. “Let me walk you out.”
She led Will back toward the front door, but paused with her hand on the doorknob. Persephone spun around to face Will and clapped her hands together. “Actually, could I give you my next list now? I’m sure I’ll see you again before next Saturday, but I’d just like to be safe.”
“Yeah, of course.”
Persephone stepped away toward a counter at one end of the front room - Will had first met her husband, a man named Hades, behind that counter as he ran his business out of their home. Will had talked to him before about building a chicken coup on his farm eventually, but Will had yet to earn enough money to do so.
Persephone handed Will a slip of paper with a neatly written list. “Thank you so much, honey.”
“I’m happy to help,” Will told her. “Next Saturday, right?”
“That’s right!”
Will returned the next Saturday with a slightly smaller grocery delivery, and was once again shown into the kitchen, though rather than paying him and sending him on his way, Persephone handed him another satchel of coins and said to him, “Thank you so much, Will! You know, it’s Nico’s turn to cook tonight, and I just know that he’ll make something delicious with all these fresh vegetables! Why don’t you stay for dinner tonight?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to be a bother--” Will tried, but Persephone was already waving him off.
“Please, honey, we would all love to get to know you better. Come with me, let’s take a seat in the other room so we’re not in Nico’s way.” Persephone hooked her arm with Will’s to lead him out of the kitchen and into the hallway, though they paused outside a door. She knocked on it and called out, “Nico, you can come up and start on dinner now.” Then, she turned to Will and smiled before continuing.
Hazel was curled up in an armchair in the living room when Will and Persephone entered, and she greeted Will with a smile.
“Will’s going to be joining us for dinner tonight, Hazel, isn’t that wonderful?”
Hazel grinned, sharing a look with Persephone before telling Will, “Nico’s an amazing cook, you’re going to love whatever he makes.”
Will smiled politely back at her. “I’m sure I will.”
“So!” Persephone said, drawing Will’s attention back to her. “Tell us about the farm.”
Around an hour later, Nico called out, “Dinner’s ready!” Persephone led the way back into the kitchen and Will stood off to the side while she hurried to set a fifth place at the table. Nico turned away from the counter with a large salad bowl in his hands, and froze when his eyes landed on Will.
Will found that he couldn’t move either, not even to wave a hand in greeting or even smile properly, so the two simply stared at each other until Hazel stepped between them to take the salad bowl from Nico’s hands.
“Come take a seat, Will,” Persephone said, patting the back of one of the chairs. “I’m going to get Hades, so don’t you three start without us, alright?”
“We won’t, Mom,” Hazel said.
Once Persephone was out of the room, Will turned to Hazel and said, “If you don’t mind my asking, um, well, Nico, I noticed that you don’t call Persephone mom, but Hazel just did…?”
“Seph’s not my mom,” Nico told him bluntly.
“Nico’s dad married my mom,” Hazel explained in a much kinder tone.
Will nodded. “Gotcha.”
A moment later, Persephone returned with Hades in tow. When he saw Will, he smiled and leaned over to shake his hand. “Will, it’s great to see you! Though I hope you’re not here to tell me you’re stealing Hazel away from us.”
Will felt his face erupt in a second. “Oh, no, sir! I’m not interested in Hazel in that way.” Then, out of fear that he might have offended, Will faced Hazel and blurted out, “I mean, you’re great! It’s nothing against you, Hazel, I’m definitely interested in being your friend, but I just don’t like you like that, you know? It’s just that I don’t like...um. Girls.” Will winced at his own rambling. “Sorry.”
Hazel reached over and patted his shoulder. “Don’t be. I’m definitely interested in being your friend as well.”
“She’s more interested in Frank, anyway,” Nico muttered, shooting Hazel a teasing grin.
Hazel kicked him under the table. “Shut up! At least I’m not dating Leo.”
“I am not dating Leo!” Nico shrieked, looking more offended than Will had ever seen another person react.
Will heard Persephone sigh beside him as she and Hades took their seats. “I’m so sorry about them, Will. I’m sure you know how siblings can bicker.”
Will laughed. “Oh, trust me, I do. I have five siblings. The bickering never ends.”
“Five siblings? Oh, your mother must be a saint! Tell us about your family, Will,” Hades said.
Will started walking them through his siblings from oldest to youngest, though the longer he spoke, the further the conversation strayed from where he wanted it to return. Hazel had mentioned someone named Leo - that had to be a boy, right? Will wasn’t just getting his hopes up for nothing?
The more he thought about it, the higher his hopes climbed - Nico may or may not have dated some guy named Leo, but clearly they weren’t together now, which meant two things. Nico was into guys, and there was a very good chance that he was currently single. Will’s hopes were soaring.
...and crashing when Will looked up and saw Nico glaring at him from across the table. Seriously, it looked like he wanted to strike Will dead on the spot, or at least flick a spoonful of mashed potatoes into Will’s face. Judging by the intensity of Nico’s glare, he was fully capable of either of those options.
[Fall]
Will had a few opportunities to talk to Nico after invading family dinner, and felt like he’d gotten back on Nico’s… Not quite good side, but maybe neutral side? Was he ever really on Nico’s bad side?
Either way, when Will arrived at the harvest festival a few weeks later, he didn’t feel like Nico was prepared to kill him on the spot. In fact, when Will greeted Nico that morning, he actually replied.
“This festival is so boring,” he said, rolling his eyes and leaning heavily against the wall of a building. “It’s always the same carnival games every year, and I always beat every game in the first twenty minutes.”
Will glanced around the festival, spotting a few typical carnival games, plus a few that he didn’t immediately recognize. “I bet I could make it more interesting for you.”
Nico raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
Will stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Well, I haven’t played any of these games before… I bet I could win more games than you.”
Nico’s eyes narrowed, though there was a tiny upturn of his lips that gave Will the impression that this wasn’t some sort of death glare. “You’re on.”
Nico raced to the closest booth.
The festival ended late that night, meaning that Will and Nico had almost too much time to challenge each other to game after game. By the end of the day, they were both so loaded down with prizes that they couldn’t have played another game if they wanted to, but of course, neither had kept their original prizes.
After Nico’s first win, he’d accepted his prize of a stuffed toy frog, then immediately held it out for Will to take. “Here,” he’d said. “Something to help you remember your defeat.”
Will had taken the toy happily. “I love frogs!”
At some point, the challenges had turned away from, “I bet I could win more games than you,” and turned into, “I bet you can’t win me that stupid looking hat.”
(And yes, Will easily won that stupid hat and made Nico wear it for the rest of the evening.)
The Spirit’s Eve celebration arrived not long after the harvest festival, yet in the week or so in between events, Nico’s opinion on Will seemed to have completely flipped. He talked to Will, even when Will didn’t know how to carry on the conversation, and he smiled. It was probably the most beautiful thing Will had ever seen, and so he tried to make as many dumb jokes as possible just to keep that look on Nico’s face.
Will didn’t see Nico for the entire morning of the festival, but late that night as he entered the town square, Nico practically came running at him. He grabbed Will’s arm and started dragging him north of the square, blabbering on about some maze.
“Slow down,” Will had to tell him. “What’s going on?”
“Every year, Lou Ellen designs this maze for Spirit’s Eve, and Chiron puts some secret prize at the end, but nobody’s ever made it through,” Nico explained. “Until tonight. I’m gonna find that prize, and you’re going to help me.”
“I don’t really know what good I’ll be in a maze.”
“You’ll be great, now come on!” He continued tugging on Will’s hand until they were successfully inside the maze, passing by Jason and Piper and Leo and Percy, wandering around aimlessly in Will’s mind until they heard a scream and went running to investigate.
They found Annabeth frozen in fear at the sight of many fake yet realistic-looking tarantulas scattered across a section of the maze.
“It’s okay, they’re fake,” Will told her, setting his arms on Annabeth’s shoulders and gently turning her away from the sight. “Do you want me to take you to Percy? He’s just a little ways back.”
Annabeth shook her head. “I’ll be fine. Thank you, Will.”
She started back the way they came, leaving Nico and Will alone again.
Nico grabbed Will’s hand again. “C’mon, I feel like we’re getting close.”
He kept their hands linked as they continued onward, though he suddenly threw Will’s hand away when they came across Frank and Hazel after a few turns in the hedges. Hazel was up on Frank’s shoulders, peering over the tops of the maze walls.
“I’m pretty sure that’s cheating,” Nico called out, crossing his arms over his chest. Will stuffed his hands into his pockets to make up for the loss of a hand to hold.
Frank spun around, almost causing Hazel to lose her balance, though she steadied herself with a hand on his head. “The prize is right there, I can see it!” she told them.
“But it’s a dead end up ahead,” Frank continued. “It doesn’t look like there’s any way to get to it.”
Nico rolled his eyes. “Of course there’s a way to get to it. Lou Ellen wouldn’t make a maze that stops in a dead end. You guys are just lost.”
Hazel frowned and cocked her head in confusion. “If we’re lost, doesn’t that make you lost, too?”
“We’re not lost!” Nico grabbed Will’s arm and started dragging him away again. “C’mon, Will, we’ll show them that we’re not lost.”
A few turns later, they were definitely lost.
The noise of the celebration had died down around the maze, though that might have just been because they’d wandered far away from where everyone else had been, and it was getting hard to see by only the light of the moon shining overhead. At least it was full tonight.
Will squeezed Nico’s hand. “I think you’re lost.”
“I’m not lost,” Nico insisted, turning to face him and glaring. “And if I’m lost, doesn’t that mean you’re lost, too?”
“Lost in those eyes, maybe,” Will joked, though the teasing smile dropped from his face when he realized what he’d said. He was supposed to be joking, not flirting! Jokes made Nico smile! Apparently flirting made him look like he was going to run for the hills! “Um. I mean--”
Nico let go of Will’s hand, and he prepared to be abandoned in that maze, but then there were hands on his cheeks and a soft pressure against his lips that was gone before it had even begun. Nico stared at him in uncertainty when Will didn’t so much as flinch, though when he started to pull away, Will wrapped his arms around Nico and kissed him back.
When they broke apart, Will whispered, “Maybe the secret prize was the friends we made along the way.”
Nico snorted rather unattractively - was it weird that it made Will’s heart swell? - and shoved at Will’s shoulder as he called him a dork. Then he gasped with a realization. “We still haven’t found the prize!”
“Nico--!” but he was already dragging Will along behind him again.
With winter fast approaching, Will knew he needed to stock up on food for himself as well as for the three baby chicks he now had on his farm. He visited the Zhang farm first to buy everything he needed to keep his chicks warm and healthy throughout the winter, then made his way to the general store to shop for himself.
Piper was behind the counter, and she greeted him when he entered but otherwise left him alone to his shopping. When he stepped up to the register with his basket of groceries, Piper started chatting again as she rang him up, naturally starting off on the most embarrassing possible topic.
“So, you and Nico looked awfully friendly when I saw you in the maze last week,” she said calmly, thankfully ignoring the bright red blush that had undoubtedly bloomed on Will’s face.
“He, um, he wanted my help looking for the secret prize, or whatever,” Will mumbled back.
Piper shot him a grin. “Let me guess, neither of you found anything, but you did win a different kind of prize...if you know what I mean.”
“I don’t--” Will stuttered, “Are you implying that we--”
Piper’s grin only grew. “I’m gonna let you in on a little town secret, okay?”
“Um. Okay?”
Piper stepped out from behind the till and reached up to pull a bouquet of flowers off a high shelf. As she returned to the counter, she told him, “It’s a tradition in the valley to give someone a bouquet of flowers when you ask them out - but not just any flowers. These grow in the desert town a few miles away, blooming beautifully despite the harsh conditions. It’s sort of like a metaphor for love, you know? You’re promising to work hard on your relationship to help your love bloom when you give these to someone.
“My parents keep fresh bouquets stocked year-round just in case anyone in town falls in love. Now, I don’t expect to know where you and Nico are in your relationship, but if you’re interested, well… I do have these wrapped and ready to go at any time.”
Will’s heart was pounding out of his chest. Was he in love? Maybe not quite yet, but… With Nico, it was only a matter of time.
He sighed. “You’re a really good saleswoman.”
Piper rang up the flowers.
After dropping everything off at home, Will took the bouquet and made his way up the mountain. He walked by the lake, where Nico usually spent his evenings by himself, watching the sunset as he smoked, though Nico wasn’t there. It was probably getting too cold for him to spend hours outside anymore. He turned around and walked toward Nico’s house.
The open sign sat in the window, so Will walked inside, spotting Hades behind the counter across the room. Will kept the bouquet behind his back, suddenly bursting with nerves.
“Hello, Will,” Hades greeted. “How’s that chicken coup I built for you holding up?”
“It’s great, sir, the chicks are very happy there.” He cleared his throat. “Um. Is Nico here?”
“Yes, he’s in his room. Down the hall, first door on the right.”
“Thank you,” Will said, and made his way into the house. He took a deep breath once he reached Nico’s door, then knocked.
“Come in,” a voice called, sounding further away than Will expected. He opened the door and was met with a flight of stairs, another closed door at the bottom. He walked down the stairs, hesitating at the second door as he wondered if he should knock again before deciding against it and opening the door slowly.
Nico was sitting at a desk in the corner, typing away on a keyboard. He didn’t look up until Will said, “Um. Hey.”
Nico’s head snapped up in surprise, then he grinned. “Hey! What are you doing here?”
Will stepped into the room, once again holding the flowers behind his back with one hand as he scratched nervously at the back of his neck with the other. “Well… So, I was at the store earlier, and Piper told me about this...thing. Um. I had a different plan, I was going to do this by the lake, because I thought it would be more romantic, but--”
“Will?” Nico cut in, standing from his chair and starting toward Will. “What’s up?”
Will pulled out the bouquet, holding it stiffly in his hand. “Would you, um… I’d like to be your boyfriend.”
Nico stared at him in surprise for a silent, tense moment, before he broke out into a grin. He stepped up to Will and took the flowers. “I’d like that too.”
[Winter]
It was too cold to sit beside Nico at the lake, but the warmth from Nico’s hand seemed to spread all throughout Will’s body. At some point, they had laid back in the snow to stare up at the stars.
“You know, I think I’ve had a crush on you since that first day we met,” Nico whispered, turning his head to study Will’s profile. Will had learned how to craft jewelry that gave off a faint glow around him, allowing him to see the space around him without needing a flashlight. Or, as Nico liked to tell him, he’d turned himself into his own personal sun.
“What?” Will said, laughing. “You looked like you wanted to kill me that night I came over for dinner!”
“No way! I couldn’t stop staring at you because you looked so good, and it pissed me off!”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Nico propped himself up on one elbow and leaned over Will. “Nobody should be allowed to look as good as you.”
Will’s cheeks grew pink in the faint yellow glow. “Says you.”
Nico leaned down for a kiss that sent a shiver down Will’s spine. Or maybe that was the steadily dropping temperature around them.
“Are you cold?” Nico asked.
“No,” Will replied, though his chattering teeth gave him away. “Maybe.” He sighed and brushed his fingers against Nico’s cheek. “As much as I don’t want to leave, I think it might be time for me to head home.”
Nico pouted. “But you live so far away. It’s so cold and dark, you shouldn’t be walking all that way by yourself.”
“It’s just going to get colder and darker the longer we stay out here. What do you suggest I do?”
“Well… I live pretty close to here. You could spend the night with me.”
Will pulled Nico down for a kiss. “I’d like that.”
In the morning, Will woke up warm and comfortable, sandwiched between the wall and another body. Nico rolled over in his arms, pressing himself impossibly closer and throwing an arm around Will. He sighed in his sleep, and Will felt his heart skip a beat. He had the most adorable boyfriend on the planet.
He pressed a kiss to the top of Nico’s head, content to lay there like that for the rest of his life, but Nico started to stir. He pulled himself back until he could blink tiredly up at Will, and smiled softly. “Good morning, Sunshine.”
“Did Nico tell you that his birthday’s coming up?” Hazel asked one morning when she found Will in town. “Don’t be offended if he hasn’t, he doesn’t tell anybody. I wouldn’t have known if his dad didn’t tell me.”
Will frowned. “No, he didn’t. When is it?”
“Tuesday.”
He froze. “Tuesday? That’s not even a week away! That’s hardly any time to get him a present, and… What should I even get him?” Will spun around and set his hands on Hazel’s shoulders. “You’re his sister, you know what he likes! What should I get him?”
“Oh! Well, um…” Hazel’s gaze wandered around them as she thought, and eventually she said, “He really likes those shiny black rocks - obsidian, I think. But you can only find those in the really deep levels of the mines. It’s really dangerous down there, so it’s probably not the best idea to go looking for that.”
But Will had stopped listening about halfway through. “Obsidian, deep in the mine. Got it. Thanks, Hazel!”
And he took off running.
Nico hadn’t seen his boyfriend in three or four days, and he missed him. It made him worry that maybe Will didn’t want to be with him anymore, and the more he thought about it, the more he wished he would have told Will about his birthday. He didn’t like it when people made a fuss over him, and birthdays only ever led to fuss. But maybe if he’d told Will about his birthday, Will would have hung around a little longer. He was too nice to break up with somebody so close to their birthday, after all.
On the morning of his birthday, Nico didn’t want to get out of bed. He just wanted to see Will, but he doubted Will would come to him after so many days apart.
Maybe he could go to Will. How would Will react if Nico showed up on his doorstep and told him it was his birthday? Maybe Nico should leave out the part about his birthday. But if Nico showed up on the farm to spend time with Will...that would make them both happy, right?
Nico pulled himself out of bed and got dressed, then made his way out of the house and into the valley. He hadn’t been to the old farm since he was a kid - everybody used to sneak onto the property just to look around and hang out, because their parents never thought to look for them there. When Nico had last seen the place, it was run down, covered in weeds and fallen branches from nearby trees.
It was amazing to see what Will had managed to do with the place. There was nothing but well-maintained fields as far as Nico could see, with neatly dug rows for vegetables with hand-painted signs, and a large chicken coop near Will’s house.
Nico walked up the steps to Will’s porch and paused to settle his nerves before he knocked on the door. He didn’t hear a response, so he knocked again. Still nothing. He turned around and looked out over the fields from his new vantage point. Will was nowhere to be seen.
Nico sat down on the top step and held his head in his hands. He didn’t know what to think - he couldn’t think. He just wanted Will. And he would wait there all day if that’s what it took to see him.
He waited for a little while, then he stood and walked a few laps around the fields, memorizing all the different plants and fruits and vegetables that Will grew throughout the year. He considered sneaking inside the chicken coop to have a look around, but animals had never really liked him much, so he decided against it. Instead, he returned to his seat on the porch step.
It was only a few minutes later that he heard footsteps approaching. He tried not to look overeager, but that didn’t stop him from jumping to his feet the second he saw Will.
“Will!” Nico called out, nearly causing Will to trip as he continued forward. No, that wasn’t why… Will was limping. “Will? Are you okay?” Nico ran toward him, stopping just short of being able to reach out and touch him. “What… What happened?”
He was covered in dirt and cuts and bruises and... other that Nico couldn’t identify. His clothes were ripped and tattered, and Nico could see bloody wounds through a few particularly large gashes.
“I was in the mines,” Will told him, and Nico’s heart dropped into his stomach. The mines were dangerous, Will could have gotten himself killed by the things that lived down there! “I guess I sort of...lost track of time down there, huh?”
“I didn’t see you for four days,” Nico shouted. “You scared the hell out of me, I thought… I thought you didn’t want to see me anymore. And now you tell me you were in the mines? I might never have seen you again! Look at you! You’re--” he choked, feeling like he was falling apart from the inside out as his eyes welled up with tears, “--hurt.”
Will took Nico’s face in his hands and whispered, “Darling, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you, but I’m fine! I mean, not fine fine, but I’m okay, I’m alive! And… I got something for you.”
Nico shook his head. “No, don’t worry about me, you’re hurt. You should get inside, you’re bleeding.” He pulled Will’s hands down and tugged him toward the house, helping him up the steps when Will couldn’t manage to put his full weight on his injured leg. Once they were inside, Will pointed Nico toward his bedroom, and Nico guided him onto the bed. “You have a first aid kit somewhere, right?”
“Don’t you think I should take a shower first? Change my clothes?”
“Will. First aid kit.”
He sighed. “In the kitchen, the cabinet under the sink.”
Nico left to retrieve the kit, and when he returned, Will was rummaging through his backpack. “Let me see your leg,” Nico told him, but Will didn’t budge. “Will, please.”
“Just a second… There!” Will pulled a shiny black stone out of his bag and held it out to Nico. “For you. Happy birthday, Nico.”
Nico didn’t reach for it. “You knew?”
Will smiled. “Hazel told me. She also told me not to go into the mines but… She said you really loved obsidian, and I really love you, so--”
“You love me?” Nico cut in.
Will didn’t hesitate. “I do. I’m sorry for worrying you, darling, I just wanted to make this birthday special for you.”
Nico tossed the first aid kit away and threw himself at Will, remembering too late that his boyfriend was injured, but he wrapped his arms around him anyway. “It already was. It’s special because I have you.” After a moment, he pulled back and pressed his lips to Will’s. “I love you, too. Go take a shower. I’ll wait here for you.”
[Spring]
Nico had gotten into the habit of sleeping over at Will’s every so often. He was introduced to Will’s chickens, who actually didn’t seem to be afraid of him at all, and he got to fall asleep beside Will and listen to him talk about how badly he wanted to build a barn to raise cows.
Once it was warm enough for Will to start farming again, Nico tried to help him by feeding the chickens and watering some of the plants. On rainy days, they spent their mornings together - Nico made breakfast while Will tended to the chickens - and they would lay in bed together until one of them absolutely had to get to work. Nico had even started bringing his laptop with him whenever he spent the night so that he could stay with Will as long as possible.
He was working at Will’s kitchen table - the closest thing to a desk in Will’s house - when Will came home one evening, sopping wet from the rain, not that that stopped him from hugging Nico from behind and rubbing his wet hair against Nico’s face.
“Hey!” Nico exclaimed. “You’re dripping on my laptop!”
“Sorry, darling,” Will said before pressing a noisy kiss to Nico’s cheek. As he turned and walked away, he called over his shoulder, “I met somebody new today.”
Nico frowned. “In the valley? You’re the only new person we’ve had for years.”
Will stepped into the bathroom, stopping to grab a towel before he returned to the kitchen, rubbing at his hair. “I mean, I’ve never seen him before. He was just standing on the beach in the rain.”
“If he was on the beach, it was probably just Percy’s dad. He comes to visit sometimes.”
Will sat down beside him at the table. “It was just really weird, you know? Like, I went to introduce myself, and he asked me if I wanted to buy some fancy necklace from him, but before I could even answer, he said, oh, never mind, you’re not ready yet. Like, what does that even mean? It’s a necklace, and what does he know?”
Nico lost all focus on his work. “A necklace? Did you see what it looked like?”
Will shook his head. “He didn’t show it to me, but he said that I’ll be ready the next time I see him...whatever that means. Maybe I don’t even want whatever weird necklaces this dude is selling.”
Nico’s heart stopped. He’d heard of the necklaces that Percy’s dad sold every place he traveled. They were supposedly the most beautiful thing you had ever seen, and it was tradition in the valley to propose with one of Poseidon’s necklaces. Did he really think that Will was that close to asking Nico to marry him? His heart started up again at that thought. He wasn’t even nervous about the idea; he was excited by the thought of marrying him.
Nico smiled at him. “I think you’ll change your mind once you see it.”
Will received an invitation in the mail to the annual flower festival. Unfortunately, he was pretty bad at checking his mail on a regular basis, so he didn’t know about the festival until the morning of.
He had to race through the woods in order to get to the festival before it started, and once again, he was the last in town to arrive. He greeted everyone he passed, and when Chiron saw him, he smiled and announced the commencement of the festival.
“Everyone, find your dance partner! The dance will begin shortly!”
Of course, Will went straight to Nico.
“What’s this about dancing?” Will asked, draping an arm around Nico’s waist.
“Nothing,” Nico said with a huff, crossing his arms and leaning into Will’s side. “I don’t dance.”
“Ever?”
Nico shook his head.
Will kissed Nico’s temple. “I bet I could change your mind.”
“I bet you couldn’t.”
The music started, and Will grinned. He watched as people coupled up and ran to the center of the field.
“C’mon,” Will whispered in Nico’s ear, and tugged at his waist, though Nico didn’t budge.
“I’m not dancing in front of everybody, Will.”
“That’s right, you’re not.” He pulled Nico away from the crowd and into the woods, just far enough away that nobody could see them, but close enough that they could still hear the music. Will released him and took a step back, bowing at the waist and holding out a hand. “May I have this dance?”
Nico snorted. “You’re such a dork.”
“A dork you’re in love with.” Will wiggled his fingers. “C’mon, darling, what do you say?”
Nico sighed and rolled his eyes, though he was smiling as he took Will’s hand.