#apollo's hair is actually a super faded red/pink but the pink here was way too bright

[zahra-hydris]

I was tagged by the wonderful @avallachs (ty! <3) to make my ocs in this picrew! it’s a little limited so I decided to make those that a) actually worked and b) I haven’t talked about recently (if ever):

kaelaga • horizon series | selene  • elden ring apollo (azem) •  ffxiv | damaia • pathfinder: wrath of the righteous amarei •  dragon age | mirielle • baldur’s gate 3

tagging: @cryptcombat @katewalker @gautiersylvain @crystalxexarch @waterdeep @dataterm and anyone else who wants to do it :3

[blahblahblippyblah]

Solangelo : Secret first date

Chapter 2 of a series I am writing. I have thought out the whole plot . I just have to write it all down. Series doesn’t have a name yet.

Chapter 1 is on my page. Called First Day at Camp. I promise lots of fluff. But I’m making Nico and Will go slow. Because honesty I think that’s how it happened. Also I am definitely sending them on a quest together soon.

Spelling mistakes because I wrote this on my phone while working in the field.

*********

Nico wasn’t sure when he had finally fallen asleep. All he knew was that soon after his head touched the pillow he was in Tartarus again. The putrid acid smell of the air. The fire of the phelgathon burning in his throat, and the voices. When Nico had first fallen into Tartarus the voices of despair and pain had begun yelling at him. It was like being 3 paranoid schizophrenics at once. It made his head ring. The voices and their feelings washed into him. Driving him close to madness. Nico had talked to Percy and Annabeth briefly about their trip to Tartarus. They didn’t hear the voice. Maybe it was because he was a child of the underworld. Then he fell into darkness.

He awoke with a yelp, and shot straight up. His sheets were soaked with sweat. His hair was drenched. That wasn’t a good sing since the Hades cabin was always cold. He stared at the wall for a few seconds. He sun hadn’t risen yet, but his alarm clock said it was 4:30 am.

Great Nico thought. He would never get back to bed. Then he remembers that he had promised will that they would spend the day together. The thought instantly gave him a heat flash. He remembered how stupid he sounded when Will asked him to spend the day with hm. Nico didn’t know if it was a date, maybe it was just a thing people did to get to know one another and become friends. He didn’t really know how this making friend’s thing worked. But what if it was a date. He got butterflies thinking about it. No it wasn’t a date, Will would have said that. But they would still be spending the day together which sent some new butterflies into his stomach. Then a flood of panic washed over him.

He got to his feet and walked into the bathroom. He took a shower, making sure to scrubs every part of his body and shampooing his hair twice. He then brushed his teeth 3 times, and put on a good amount of deodorant. He tended to sweat a lot when he was nervous. He then spent quite a while trying to comb his hair. It was curly and a little long. Eventually he gave up. It always looked the same no matter what he did.

Picking out clothes was the hardest part. Everything he owned was black. It was too hot outside to wear a sweater, and his aviator’s jacket had been destroyed. Eventually he settled on his very basic black jeans with ripped knees from his last adventure, black shoes, and the ever so creative black plain black shirt with a tiny skull on the side of the tight collar. He put on his silver skull ring.

He looked out the window. The sun was beginning to rise over the lake. Well technically its morning now so he shouldn’t get in trouble by the harpies for leaving his cabin. Hopefully he could get to the dinning pavilion early to grab a piece of fruit before he lost his appetite to nerves.

The grass was covered with dew, and the sky was a brilliant shades of pink and orange. The camp looked beautiful. As he crossed the lawn in front of the other cabins he noticed Will was leaning against the Apollo cabin. Munching on a granola bar watching the sun rise.

He was wearing some faded baby blue jeans that he had cut so that they were very long shorts. His shirt was an obnoxious yellow orange and red tye dye. They couldn’t have cashed more than this. He smiled when he saw Nico.

“I didn’t think you would be up so early” Will said and Nico approached.

“What are you doing up then?” Nico asked.

“Talking to my dad” Will said staring at the sunrise with that distant relaxed look he always had.

Nico jut nodded. Demigods tended to talk to themselves hoping their parents where listening. Nico usually did it while he stared into fires. Of course Hades never answered.

“Here” Will threw him a granola bar. “Best breakfast you will ever have.”

Nico looked down this wasn’t a typical granola bar. It looked like a large clump of dried dark mud, with bits of nuts in it. It resembled something Nico definitely didn’t want to out in his mouth.

“Ummmm ill pass.”

“Come on. It’s not poisonous. I made them myself. Super demigod food that is”

Nico sighed and took a bite. It was pretty good. It tasted like peanut butter and chocolate.

“See I told you its good”

“So what do you usually do on your days off?” Nico asked.

Will looked away from the sunrise and at Nico. His freckled face broke into a smile.

“Well usually I sit in my cabin and study medical journals, but today I asked Chiron if we could head into NY”

Nico grinned.

“That sounds awesome. Can we stop by a McDonalds though if we are going into the city?

Will looked at him quizzically.

“Sure ill add it to the list” he said taping his temple in a joking way.

*

Argus the camp security guard/ part time demigod van driver dropped the off by central park.

They walked through the park. Most people were hurrying through the park as if they had somewhere to be on a Saturday morning. There were some joggers and people on bikes they moved over for. The rest of the park was filled with overexcited tourists. Will spent the walk asking Nico about himself. What he liked and more about himself. While he was in the infirmary he usually skidded these questions from Will. He didn’t like people knowing too much about him. It made him vulnerable. But Nico felt more comfortable and trusting of Will.

He spent the walk talking with Will about Mythomagic and how he wanted to get back into it. What his favourite cards where and what he use to have in his collection. Will seemed genuinely interested. He got to the talking about his figurines when he remembered the Hades figurine he still kept hidden under his bed. The last token he had from Bianca. All he had left of her was that stupid figure that got her killed and his skull ring. He trailed off and slumped his head slightly. The feeling of resentment and hurt was growing on his face.

Will noticed he stopped talking and looked over.

“What’s up?”

“nothing just thought of some stuff I’d rather not talk about”

Wills smile faded in understating. Then he smiled again.

“It’s ok. Were almost there anyway”

“Where is there?” Nico asked.

Will just smirked at him and exited a park gate.

They came out in front of the natural history museum. The building was regal. And filled with tourists.

“Ever been her before?” Will asked

“Nope” Nico replied “I haven’t really been to any museums without looking for some cursed object or a ghost”

“Well then you’re about to get your first museum tour. Led by the least knowledgeable guide, me.”

Nico smiled and followed him up the stairs. He had never been in a museum before. Scratch that, he had never been in a museum and had actually spent time enjoying it. He had once broken into the Smithsonian to talk to some spirits for some stupid quest his dad sent him on. But never mind that now.

They dodged excited children who ran around wildly while their parent walked dejectedly behind them. The first place Will wanted to go was the dinosaur exhibit. Nico was having such a great time. For once he had even stopped checking over his shoulders for monster. They stopped at a case containing a bunch of raptors claws. Nico pointed to one of the claw that was labeled as velociraptor.

“That’s not a velociraptor claw, that’s a chimera claw.”

“It says found with velociraptor bones" Will puzzled.

“I know a chimera’s claw when I see one. I almost had my guts spilled out by a chimera once” Nico said

“hhhhmmmmm, maybe a velociraptor died fighting a chimera” Will jokingly suggested.

Nico laughed. When he started laughing the tiny remains of some dinosaur arms bones began to shake.

“Hey want to see something cool?” Nico asked Will.

“Of course”

Nico led will to a corner exhibit that wasn’t so crowded. Inside was the skeleton of a micro raptor . Nico checked over his shoulder to make sure no one was around and watching then closed his eyes in concentration. The skeleton rose up and reformed the figure of the micro raptor. It looked at Nico curiously las if saying ‘Hey I was napping here’. Will laughed in amazement. The tiny dinosaur started chasing its tail.

“That’s so cool” Will said.

That was the first time anyone had called Nico reanimating the dead cool. He smiled, he had never used his powers for fun before, but will looked so impressed he wanted to show off more. He thought it was best to leave it like that. A tiny skeleton was one thing but a T Rrex coming to life probably wouldn’t work out very well in a crowded museum.

A little boy came over and pointed at the dinosaur.

“Daddy Daddy come and look. This dinosaur is alive!”

The dad was behind on his phone, not paying attention.

“Ya very cool Booby” he said not looking up.

Nico let the bones all back down.

After they explored every inch of the museum Nico started to notice he was hungry. As if on cue Will’s stomach growled. He looked at his watch.

“Wow its 5 o’clock already. I must have lost track of time” Will said.

Nico didn’t mind. He had had the best time hanging with Will and listening to the made up stories he had for each exhibit. They left the museum and started heading towards the nearest McDonalds just as Will promised. Nico order the largest burger they had and some fires. Will got a salad. Who orders a salad at McDonalds Nico thought?

As if reading his mind Will said “That stuff is going to kill you one day”

“With all the monsters we fight on a daily basis and you think I’ll die of cholesterol and high blood pressure?” Nico mused.

Will raise his eyebrow at him in challenge “Yes, yes I do” he said.

Nico rolled his eyes.

“Hey I saw that” Will said lightly punching his arm.

They sat down and Nico devoured his hamburger. Will ate his rabbit food. Once he was done he began to sneak fires out of Nico’s tray.

“You said that this stuff was practically poisonous “ Nico said as Will put another fire in his mouth.

“No I said that it was going to kill you. I however am only having a few.”

For only wanting a few Will ate almost all of Nico’s fires. He didn’t care though. He pulled the last fry out of the container.

“Do you want this death stick?” Nico asked

“Why yes thank you” Will replied mockingly.

Nico threw the fry in the air towards him. Will tried to catch it in his mouth but missed and it went sailing past him and hit the back of some annoyed looking biker with a beard. Nico quickly looked away pretending nothing had happened when the guy turned around. Will started snickering at Nico. When the big biker turned around Nico stuck his tongue out at Will who returned the gesture.

At 7 o’clock Argus pulled up to pick them up. Inside the van was Annabeth and Percy who Argus had just picked up from a visit to Percy’s moms place. When they first came in Annabeth gave him a smile.

“Hey Nico, hey Will. What were you to doing in the city today?” she asked interested.

“Nothing interesting. I just went with Nico to the museum.” Will replied calmly.

Annabeth smiled. She sat down beside Percy and gave him a knowing smile. Nico stared down at his feet trying to turn red. He felt a rise of resentment for Annabeth. What did she know what Nico was thinking. But the rest of the ride she just held Percy’s hand and her Percy and Will started talking. Nico just listened.

Sally Percy’s mom was apparently going to have a baby and Percy was really excited. He loved his step dad and was thrilled to have a baby brother or sister on the way.

When they got to camp they thanked Argus who nodded at them. They stated to head to their cabins to get ready for the campfire. Since it was the day off the campfire would go later tonight. Percy and Annabeth waved at them and ran off towards the cabins. Nico was pretty sure he saw them slip into the shadows once they reached the Poseidon cabin heading toward Canoe Lake instead. He didn’t say anything. Actually it made him smile. He was glad he was over Percy now. He was now just another friend, and he was glad he had found Annabeth to sneak away into the water with.

Him and Will sauntered towards the cabins. Will followed him all the way to the Hades cabin.

“See you at the campfire in five minutes?” Will asked.

Nico nodded and headed in his cabin. We saw Will turn around toward the Apollo cabin. He went to his closet and grabbed a black hoodie. He reached in his pocket and found that he still had the museum map. He smiled and paced it in his closet. He grabbed his stygian iron sword and strapped it to his belt. Since they were back at camp he could carry it around again. He felt naked without it.

There was a knock at his door. Nico went outside. Will was back but now was wearing a bright red Red Cross first aid instructor sweater.

“You teach first aid?” Nico asked

“Ya I got qualified last fall so I could teach campers”

“Cool, could you teach me?” Nico asked.

“Of course, ill set aside time staring tomorrow. How about after archery practice?” Will proposed

“Sounds good” Nico said trying to hide the excitement he had.

They walked in silence for a while. Will continue to stare off in the distance looking relaxed and chill like usual.

Then all of a sudden he blurt out. “So was this like our first date? Or should I take you somewhere else next day off?”

Nico stopped in his tracks and stared at Will. Will turned and smiled at him. His hand resting calmly in his jacket pockets. His freckles shone slightly in the distant campfire light. Nico didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t good at this. He thought that will might be making fun of him. Then he realised from Will’s smile that he wasn’t joking. That left him more speechless. He liked will A LOT, but he didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t make himself sound stupid, but also let will know that he was secretly hoping it was a date.

What came out of his mouth was more of an incoherent babble.

“I’ll take that as a yes then” he said smugly. Nico threw him a look.

“Don’t be so full of yourself” Nico said as he elbowed Will playfully.

“So it was a date then?” Will pushed.

Nico rolled his eyes a little. Then he looked down at his feet.

“Ya I guess it was”

“Good” said will” because I think you’re really great and funny and ……. Kind of cute”

Cute? Nico thought. He could feel himself blushing. Will smiled at his accomplishment at making Nico blush at this.

“I guess you’re pretty ok to” Nico joked.

“Only ok? I’m hurt” Will also joked pretending his heart was breaking.

Nico pushed his shoulder lightly. And walked off towards the fire will ran to catch up with him.

They sat beside each other at the campfire, still talking about things they had talked about earlier in the day while everyone else sang and laughed.

As the night went on Nico couldn’t help but smile. Will Solace liked him too.