#does that mean all the nicos are my boyfriends now | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mediumgayitalian · 9 months ago

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“Hide me hide me hide me hide me hide me.”

Nico blinks, watching blankly as Will ducks under his arm, situating himself behind the door and peeking around it. When Nico doesn’t move, he cranes his neck to look at him, face urgent, and says, “Close it, dude, hurry up!

“Solace!”

“Fuck,” Will curses.

Nico blinks again. He squints across the common, trying to suss out what Will’s staring at. It doesn’t take long. She’s hard to miss, especially in full armour.

“Are you…hiding from Clarisse?”

“Am I hiding from —” He scoffs. “No, I’m just behind this door for fun. Fucking obviously I’m hiding from Clarisse, Nico, now get with the program and close the damn —”

“Solace!”

Both of them jump. When Nico looks, Clarisse is already way closer than she should be. Before he can process enough to slam the door, and heedless of Will’s increasingly-harried oh my gods oh my gods oh my gods fuck fuck fuck fuck, Clarisse is closer, and closer, and then suddenly she’s barging inside, pushing Nico aside like it’s not his damn cabin.

Will groans. “Aw, come on, Clarisse!”

She doesn’t bother to humour him with words, choosing instead to grab him by the collar and drag him bodily out. Will does not make it easy, going completely limp and getting his clothes grass-stained beyond belief, because Clarisse tugs him along like a sled behind her, bouncing over every stone. Nico follows, on the grounds that it’s not being nosy if Will dragged him into it technically.

“You have siblings! You have a boyfriend!”

“And yet I’m choosing you,” Clarisse says easily. “I’ve already told Chiron. It’s a done deal, weatherboy. You’re chariot racing with me.”

Will groans, trying in vain to squirm out of Clarisse’s grip. “There is no reason for me to be your partner in the stupid chariot race, I am a healer, I am at camp to heal —”

She shakes him a little to shut him up. “All the more reason. You focus too much on one thing, brat. All you do is heal and study like a big nerd. You need to get out of your comfort zone.”

“Um, no way. I’m very comfortable in it. That’s why it’s called a comfort zone.”

“You could use some training,” Nico pipes up, and the betrayed look Will gives him would be more effective at making him feel bad if it wasn’t so funny. “Last time I tried to teach you how to use a sword you almost sliced off your own face, so.”

Clarisse looks at him with appraisal. “Maybe you do have some sense in you, di Angelo.”

Nico chooses to take that as the compliment it is.

“Ugh,” Will says dramatically, and finally manages to wrench out of Clarisse’s grip in order to embed the appropriate level of drama in his face-down flop to the floor.

Clarisse kicks him. “You’re pathetic.”

“Ugh.”

Notably, he stops protesting. She kicks him again, affectionately this time, and stomps away.

———

“If I work myself into another coma, I don’t have to chariot race,” Will says gleefully, shoving the bottles of nectar Nico hands him onto a shelf. He’s been buzzing around the infirmary all day, healing things he is meant to be healing with a band-aid and a stop being a clumsy dumbass, dumbass with hymns and salves. “I’m gonna try to cure cancer again.”

Kayla, walking by, reaches out and smacks him. “Try it and I’m crack your country CDs in half.”

Will turns to her, opening his mouth —

“Every single one of them,” she stresses, green eyes narrowed.

— and closes it again, huffing.

“I’ll find a way,” he says glumly.

Nico pats him delicately on the back. “There, there.” A pause. “I mean, personally, I can’t wait to watch you fall out of a chariot.”

The look Will shoots him is nothing short of wounded. “You think I’m so uncoordinated I’m gonna fall out of the chariot?”

“Gracefully!” assures Austin from across the infirmary, smiling supportively. He grins brightly when they turn to look, nose scrunching with the force of his smile. “I’m sure!”

Will’s scowl twitches in the face of his brother’s blind enthusiasm. (It is impossible not to be endeared by Austin. He is genuinely the sweetest kid in the entire universe. Nico even gets, to his horror, the occasional urge to squish him. Gently.) He sighs.

“Thanks, Austin.”

“Of course! Love you Will!”

The twitching scowl melts into a full smile. “Love you too, kiddo.”

———

Watching chariot race practices, very quickly, becomes Nico’s favourite pastime.

He sees, now, why Achilles would bring them up, unprompted, wistful look in his eye, every time Nico visited. There’s a beauty in the rawness of it; the whipping winds, wild horses. Squealing wheels and bending axels, open-backed and inches from death at all time. Dangerous, exhilarating. Humanity, at it’s most thrilling and old — some of the first tools, the first domestic animals, the first machines, all at once. It’s pure, raw excitement.

Also, Will falls out of the chariot, like, eight whole times. And there’s nothing funnier than watching him lose his shit at a splintered pile of wood that was once a carriage, helmet thrown to the ground in a fit of rage, accent so thick he’s literally incomprehensible. Nico never gets to see him like this. His stomach actually hurts from laughter on several occasions.

Slowly, though, he starts to get the hang of it. He’s smart — incredibly so — and when he stops spending half his time complaining, and the other half pouting, he actually gets pretty decent. He’s fast, after all, and quick to observe, to respond; the other teams struggle to land hits on him, in practice runs, and sabotage is difficult when your opponent seems to have an almost prophetic gift to see things coming.

He can’t, however, steel himself to hit back.

And therein lies the trouble.

“For fuck’s sake, Will, I’m not asking you to kill anybody,” Clarrise snaps. “You need to get your head in the game!”

Will’s shoulders curl defensively. “I know! I’m trying! It’s just —” He kicks at their broken wheel, in two clean pieces on the ground. “Do no harm.”

“Do some harm. Or I’m gonna kick your ass.”

Will brightens. “And then ask somebody else to be your partner?”

“No, and then make you my partner forever.”

“Oh.”

Will’s sullen face is hard to look at. He’s got those big, puppy dog eyes, round and sad and pouty. Not even Clarisse is immune. (And certainly not Nico, who finds himself halfway off the spectator’s stands and jogging to the tracks before he wonders what exactly, the fresh fuck, he is doing, and sprints right back.)

“Shit, Solace, don’t look like I killed your goddamn mother.” She cuffs him on the shoulder, sending him sprawling with a muffled oof. “We’ll figure it out. Let’s go again.”

Accepting the spare chariot someone wheels towards her, she pulls herself up, making space for Will to do the same. He doesn’t get on immediately, still looking miserable, but concedes eventually.

His forearms look kind of nice when he grips onto the rails for dear life, Nico notices. From a totally objective perspective.

The four practicing teams guide their horses to the starting line, running a few last minute checks. To avoid spilling any secrets or strategies, everyone uses the same practice-issue wooden chariot and wears the same armour, but it’s still obvious who’s who.

The Hephaestus team’s chariot, despite being standard issue, gleams like it’s brand-new. The wood is polished and looks to be altered, barely; a carved groove here, a sharper wing there. Nothing that could really be considered an upgrade, but definitely making the whole thing look smoother. The spears they hold promise a plethora of untold ability hidden within.

The Hermes chariot looks deceptively beat up. There’s a chunk missing from the top of the left side, and one of the wheels appears to be just slightly out of alignment. Upon careful inspection, though, Nico can see clear, hollow tubing attached along the rails and open to the back — definitely a quick rig of some sort. Base (not acid, Cecil had happily lectured him on the benefits of using a base rather than an acid when dissolving anything from steel to human flesh), if Nico has to guess, or maybe Greek fire.

The Aphrodite-Iris chariot doesn’t have to do much to look great. The whole thing seems to coast gracefully to the beginner line, and neither charioteer looks particularly bothered or preoccupied with the competition — if Nico recalls correctly, and he does, their goal is to win through “gay audacity”, which Nico does not understand but supports wholeheartedly.

Will and Clarisse’s chariot, by comparison, is pretty run-of-the-mill. They haven’t done much training with the Ares horses or the Apollo flying chariot, because Clarisse is primarily concerned with training Will — she knows the equipment is fine.

Lacy, standing at the edge of the track, puts a sparkly pink whistle to her lips and blows loudly. It’s not nearly as loud as one of Will’s sonic whistles, but it does the trick, and the teams are off in a blur of movement; Will and Clarisse in the lead, Hephaestus behind them, Aphrodite-Iris in third, and Hermes lagging slightly behind.

As they turn their first corner, positions largely unchanging, Nico hears footsteps from his left — Lou Ellen smiles at him as she climbs the stand, settling into the space he makes next to him.

“What’d I miss?” she asks, brushing dust off her hands.

He shrugs. “Not much. They were in the lead the last practice round, too, but on the last lap Hermes caught up.” He gestures to the heap that was once their practice chariot. “Julia had her sword at their wheels. They were on the inner ring, nowhere to move; the only way to get rid of them would have been to knock her arm, probably dislocate her shoulder. Will couldn’t do it.”

Lou Ellen winces. “Ah.”

There’s a ripping sound, followed by cackling — the Hermes chariot has finally made use of their hasty rigging, setting off an explosion behind them that rockets them forward. It has the added bonus of shaking the ground, slightly, unsettling the other drivers for just barely long enough for them to pull into third place. Far ahead, still in first, Nico can see Clarisse yelling instructions at Will, although he can’t hear what they are. His grip on the rail has tightened.

“Why,” starts Nico carefully, and based on Lou Ellen’s pinched face she knows exactly where he’s going, “does she make him — well, you know.”

Lou Ellen is silent for a good long while, watching the practice chariot race with eyes that aren’t paying attention. Hermes is gaining, but Hephaestus is gaining faster.

“Clarisse has always liked Will,” she says eventually. She meets Nico’s incredulous expression, snorting. “Well, as much as Clarisse can like people. I got here way after he did, so I don’t have any more details there than you do, but he’s never been afraid of her, and she likes that. He’s never been mean to her, either. I mean, I know she can be a bully, but people aren’t exactly light on her, to be fair.”

The Aphrodite-Iris chariot turns out to have some tricks up its sleeve — it starts to glow; barely at first, but quickly blinding. At its crux, everyone has to look away, allowing them to pull into first.

Well, except that Will doesn’t seem nearly as staggered as everyone else. In fact, he doesn’t look bothered at all — for the first time that Nico has seen, there’s something like competition pulling a crooked smile on his face. He stares straight at the still-too-bright chariot, reigns wrapped around his arms as he yanks them forward.

“Is that why she drags him away sometimes?” Nico asks. “To train?”

“Something like that. Most of his training was with —” she falters. “Well, you know who. Medicine and some archery.”

They’re both quiet for a while. Neither of them ever knew Lee or Michael well, if at all, but over time Nico has found himself almost clamming up at the mere thought of them, the way one might tiptoe around an authority figure when they have something to hide. Forbidden subjects, where before Nico simply didn’t think of them often.

“You can’t just not train, though,” Lou Ellen murmurs, eyes trained on the chariots. Hephaestus throws one of their spears, lodging it in the spokes of the Aphrodite-Iris chariot. They come to a very abrupt and very screechy halt, knocking them out of the race in any real capacity. “Not at Camp Half-Blood. She taught him hand-to-hand because she was the only one strong enough to physically drag him to the arena. Everyone else gave up after the first few tantrums — I think she was kind of amused by the challenge. Or something.”

“Or something,” Nico agrees. Privately, he thinks that there is something about Will Solace that makes you want to protect him. Not frailty — he is not by any means incapable — but something about his smile, his genuineness. The stubborn belief that people are good and kind and worthy of everything he has to give. A naivety, except someone who’s been through what he has (what they all have) cannot be naive — his hope in the world is hard-earned and well-won. It makes people want to protect his hold on it, by any means necessary.

Even, Nico reasons, ornery old fuckers like Clarisse LaRue.

The three remaining chariots start the last leg of the race — Apollo-Ares, barely squeezing out in front; then Hephaestus, quickly gaining; and finally Hermes, lagging slightly but not to be discarded. As they round the bend, Nico watches as Clarisse cuffs Will briefly on the arm, clearly proud. This is the farthest they’ve made in first so far, after two weeks of training. Will, reigns safely transferred back to Clarisse, beams at her — bright enough that Nico can see it from dozens of yards away.

With sudden, calculated speed, the Hephaestus chariot surges forward.

As if coordinated, Nico and Lou Ellen inhale sharply, leaning forward. He sees the scattered few other campers so the same in his peripherals, watching with single minded focus as the chariot levels exactly with Will and Clarisse. Nico eyes the spear nervously — of all weapons, they’re the easiest for Will to dodge, to fight off. More impersonal.

But the sons of the smartest god around would know that.

For at least a hundred feet, nothing happens. Ares-Apollo and Hephaestus stay neck in neck, every urge forward matched, every pesky road-blocking stone avoided. The finish line is dangerously close, but no one pulls ahead, nothing changes. Four shoulders remain tense, four helmets stare resolutely forward.

Then, in a quick movement, the taller Hephaestus charioteer hands the spear off to the shorter, swiftly taking the reigns, and the shorter lunges — aiming right for Will’s shoulder. Will’s quick, though, and has his own spear poised to parry in an instant. There’s a barely perceptible nudge from Clarisse, and then Will’s eyes harden, and he lifts his spear to jab right back, needle-thin tip gleaming in the late afternoon sun, right for the chink in the charioteer’s armour and then —

The charioteer rips their helmet off, dropping it at their feet.

It’s Harley.

Hephaestus’ darling; hell, the camp’s darling. One of their youngest and brightest, with big, mischievous brown eyes, contagious smiles, endless enthusiasm. Cute, clumsy Harley, the only one of Hephaestus’ children Will doesn’t have to nag to get treated, who walks dutifully over the infirmary every time he gets so much as a second-degree burn and treats each one of Will’s overcautious instructions with utmost seriousness. Who Will sends away each time with an affectionate kiss on the forehead and a prized purple sucker — who Will, frankly, favours. Who Will would never, in a million years, even consider hurting.

A dirty trick by the Hephaestus cabin.

But an effective one.

Immediately, Will flinches back, spear dropping from his hand and splintering under thundering hooves and spinning wheels. Without a second of hesitation, Harley launches his spear in the same move as before — sticking it in the wheel’s spokes, inertia sending the charioteer’s sprawling, knocking them out of the race.

Except, maybe it’s different when the chariots are so close. Or maybe the chariot was faulty to begin with. Because as soon as the spear gets wedged, the fragile floor of the chariot seems to implode — sending Will and Clarisse under the still-moving machine, instead of flying over. The horses, disoriented from the sudden change, rip free of their harness, adding more force to the already precarious tumble.

There’s a sharp, sickening crack, so loud Nico can hear it as if it’s next to him. In the brief nanosecond immediately afterwords, he closes his eyes, sending a prayer to his father: please be the axle. Please be the axle. Please be the axle.

As the Hephaestus and Hermes chariots rocket past the finish line, Clarisse lets out a shrill, blood-curdling scream.

———

Nico’s off the bench and halfway towards the crashed chariot before he can blink. He’s not the only one — he processes, barely, everyone else’s quick convergence, including the remaining charioteers — but he’s there first, diving into the wreckage seconds before anyone else is close enough.

There’s not a lot of actual debris, chariots being as small as they are, but the dust cloud from the track is so huge and the pieces of wood are so splintered that it feels like there is. As the dust settles, and he kicks some debris out of the way, he starts to see the shape of Will, kneeling, in front of a prone Clarisse and an ever-growing pool of blood.

There’s a bone sticking straight out of her thigh.

As the rest of the campers converge upon them, Will looks up and meets Nico’s eyes. His own blue eyes are dark, steely — determined, but afraid.

“I don’t have time,” is the only thing out of his mouth before he braces both hands on Clarisse’s leg, immediately starting to sing urgent hymns.

Nico understands.

“Lou, Julia, Chiara,” he barks, taking charge in absence of Will’s voice. The three girls snap forward to him immediately. “Sprint the the infirmary and tell them what happened. Austin’s on duty — make sure he doesn’t come with you, we need him to prep a surgical suite. Send everyone else and send them fast. Bring a stretcher.”

He turns to the Hephaestus kids. “Jake, Harley, start clearing the debris to make space. Damien, join them; move the big stuff first, small stuff is secondary. We need a space for Will to work and a space to lay the stretcher. Jen, Butch, Lacy —”

He barks off a list of orders, doing his best to channel the commands he’s watched Will give dozens and dozens of times. In minutes, he has the track cleared, Will’s medical bag dragged over from the stands, and everyone who is not helping stabilize out to the infirmary to help as needed.

As soon as there’s an opening, he rushes over to Will and Clarisse, kneeling by her head.

“Help is coming,” he promises, watching the glow dim and flicker in time with the rhythm of Will’s chanting. The bleeding has slowed, marginally, but he can tell from the volume of blood alone that this was an arterial hit. It’s going to take more than Will’s raw healing power, although there is a lot of it, to keep Clarisse alive and keep her leg functioning in recovery. He needs tools, he needs nectar and ambrosia; he needs the surgery suite. He needs time.

“Is it helpful for me to knock her out?”

Clarisse, of course, is still conscious. Barely — and in so much pain Nico will be surprised if she’s processing anything at all — but enough that every few seconds she lets out an agonised shout of pain, writhing and flinching so hard Will has to focus on steadying her as much as healing her.

Without breaking his song, eyes still trained on the injury, Will nods. Nico breathes, squaring his shoulders, then shuffled forward to rest Clarisse’s head gently in his lap, fingers pressed to her temples. He presses, hard enough to feel the beat of her heart — weak — through his fingertips, and squeezes his eyes shut.

He’s no son of Hypnos, but dreams are the Underworld’s domain. Are his domain, as heir and prince of the Underworld, in every way that matters, that can be counted.

He lets himself sink into careful limbo; body in physical space, mind and soul elsewhere. Not too much — he’s no use if he falls unconscious — but enough to slip into Clarisse’s mindscape, step into her subconscious.

The whole place bleeds white, hot anguish.

Nico stumbles when he first walks in, nauseous despite being nothing but his own mind. It’s been a while since he’s experienced this kind of pain, his own or not, and he has to consciously beat back memories of brimstone and rot; liquid fire, endless red, red, red.

“Clarisse?” he calls, softly as he dares.

She doesn’t respond. He’s not sure she knows how to respond, even if she could. Cautious of the memory and emotion swirling around him, he steps forward. If he focuses, her anguish is pointed — is central. She will be at the centre of it.

He has volunteered, but he’s not sure he wants to follow.

Steeling himself, he shoulders through swirling masses of pain, of hurt, of fear. It’s blisteringly hot, and feels not unlike the sandstorm he was once stranded within, in the middle of the New Mexico desert four years ago. His face prickles; he’s blinded.

He trudges forward.

“Clarisse? Clarisse! Can you hear me? It’s Nico!”

Desperately and uselessly, he wishes he had more practice. Will has offered, the few times he’s needed to anaesthetize someone, but for the most time Nico has foolishly declined. Why on Earth he would pass up a much easier mindscape to navigate through in preparation for something like this is a mystery to him. Fuck.

“Clarisse! Try to — focus on me, can you hear me?”

He forces himself forward, a few more — well, there’s no distance in a mindscape, nothing measurable, anyway. He forces himself to look up, braving the assault to his face, and try to scan his surroundings. The swirling mass is more centralized, now, almost hurricane-like and conal. He’s closer than he was before, but if he can only find…

He looks up, and almost cries in relief: weak against the roaring storm, but still present, is a flickering, golden light. A very familiar light. Nico squeezes his eyes shut, thrusting out his own energy in an uncoordinated mass — boy, is that going to be uncomfortable to extract later — and flails wildly until he finally feels the warmth of Will’s energy entangling with his own, grounding him. He opens his eyes, and suddenly everything is clearer.

Clarisse kneels in the centre of her mindscape, hands pressed tightly to her ears, eyes screwed shut, mouth open in a silent scream.

“Hey,” Nico murmurs, kneeling in front of her. It takes a few seconds, and a few moments of gentle coaxing, before she looks up.

“It hurts,” she croaks.

She’s more vulnerable than he’s ever seen her — eyes brown and big and wet, pained, face twisted and chin trembling and achingly, unbelievably young. She is nineteen years old, but in that moment she appears almost childlike. The years of warrior’s hardness has abandoned her; she is armourless.

Nico swallows the lump in his throat. “I know.”

“Help me. Please.”

“Come here, Clarisse.” He reaches out and wraps a gentle hand around hers, tugging her close. The knee jerk discomfort at close contact is barely a flicker — he is so entwined in her right now that her fear has started to bleed into his; her rawness. He needs this comfort almost as much as she does. Right now she is a person, in agony, and so is he, and it is unbearable.

He holds her until the pain slowly stops.

———

Will is in the surgical suite for seven straight hours.

“Bed,” Nico says softly, rising up to meet him as he exits. It says something about how exhausted he is that he doesn’t even protest, letting Nico place a hand on the small of his back and guide him past the on-call room, past the patient cots, past the Big House living room couches, past Cabin 7. He leads him across the common and right into Cabin 13, with its double beds and blackout curtains, with its insulated, soundproof walls. With Nico.

He helps him out of his bloodstained scrubs, peeling them off his skin and tossing them directly into a trash can. He’d guide him to the shower, usually, but there’s a — glassiness, to his eyes, that there usually isn’t after surgery. Nico chooses instead to skip it, guiding him into the sweatpants he left behind the last time he was here and an oversized The Doors t-shirt of Nico’s, and then to the spare bed he always uses, across from Nico’s. He peels the covers back for him like he’s a child, tucking him in, brushing the hair out of his eyes. He’s asleep in minutes, curled tightly around a pillow, furrowed crease not leaving the space between his eyebrows, even in sleep. Nico smooths it away with his thumb.

“Goodnight, Will,” he murmurs, brushing the backs of his knuckles across his forehead.

He watches him sleep far past what is normal, and then slips back out of the cabin.

———

“On the bright side,” Will says, squeezing the hand that has left to leave Clarisse’s arm, “you’re free from your chariot race obligation! As am I!”

Predictably, she only glowers.

“Not a chance, Solace,” she rasps.

Will helpfully gets her a glass of water, fussing over her blankets while she drinks until she bats him away. Chris watches the whole thing with great amusement, shoulders brushing Nico’s.

“He’s a mother hen, isn’t he,” he comments, tilting his head in Will’s direction, who narrowly avoids having his fingers bitten off trying to feed her a square of ambrosia.

Nico snorts. “Yeah.” He watches the fussing for a few more seconds, making note of Will’s shaking hands, his shakier smile. “He’s guilty.”

“He didn’t do anything. She doesn’t blame him.”

Nico meets his dark look, mouth twisted in understanding. They both know this logic is futile.

“Yeah, well, someone tell him that.”

“Will — stop it.” In a startlingly quick move for someone on as much morphine as she is, Clarisse darts out and clutches Will’s fluttering hands. He hesitates, wondering if it’s worth it to pull out of her hold and possibly jostle her leg. “I’m fine. And you’re still charioting.”

“You’re not fine,” Will frowns, conveniently ignoring the part of the sentence he doesn’t want to deal with. “Your femur snapped in half and tore through your femoral artery on its way out of your leg. You’re going to be on bedrest for a week at least, and it’ll be tender for a good long while besides. That’s what we in the medical business call a Big Fucking Deal.”

She tightens her hold, staring at him until he finally meets her eyes.

“Will.” She narrows her eyes. “You are still participating in the chariot race. I’m not asking.”

“It’ll have to wait until you’re better,” he says lightly. “Besides, we’re focusing on you right now.”

Nico can see in her face when she decides to switch strategies.

“Okay,” she says, stubborn glean in her eye, “then I’m asking you, as a personal request, to stay in the race. Or else I’ll drag myself onto a goddamn horse myself, killing myself in the process, and that will be on your head.”

The tactic works.

Will scowls. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

Clarisse doesn’t bother repeating herself, letting go of his wrists and readjusting her blankets.

“I am done talking now. I believe it’s time for morphine-induced unconsciousness. Please remember that I took down a drakon with my own bare hands; it is well within my abilities to drag myself out of heroin-haze and onto a chariot with no legs, let alone one. Good talk.”

As soon as the words are out of her mouth, she leans back on her pillows and passes out. Genuinely, actually passes out — not closes her eyes, not behind to fall asleep; she is unconscious. Snores ring through the air.

“Well,” Chris says carefully, unfolding his arms. “It might be time to let Clarisse rest for a while.”

Will, healer that he is, cannot exactly argue with that. Will, drama queen that he is, decides to make his fury known by stomping out of the room, a feat in flip-flips possible by him alone.

“She is so infuriating!” he shouts the second they’re in the main room, startling several people. He either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. “I put effort in! I failed! She can’t even — it’s not even about spending time together, obviously, since I still have to do it! What does she want from me?!”

Chris, like Nico, has wisely decided to let the hypothetical questions remain hypothetical and stay silent, lest his fury be turned onto them. Ten minutes into Will’s rant, Chris excuses himself to go sit by Clarisse. Nico waves him off.

“Will,” Nico suggests the next time he takes a breath, “let’s maybe go for a walk.” He glances at the group of wide-eyed patients. “I think you’re scaring people.”

Deflating, Will nods, following Nico out the door. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s go for a walk.”

The fresh air probably doesn’t fix things, per se, but as they lap around the cabins, Will seems to droop further and further, curling in on himself. The anger recedes from his features.

“I feel really shitty,” he admits softly. “Just, like, generally.”

Nico softens like a goddamn slab of ice cream on hot pavement. For the second time in three days, he opens his arms in offering, although this time it’s significantly less difficult.

“Come here.”

Without even a beat of hesitation, Will collapses into him, arms around his waist, head tucked under his chin. Nico fights the urge to wince — Will, usually, takes quite a bit of pride in his height. He likes to be the one to wrap around people, not the other way around. Nico has been indoctrinated into Will-affection, in the time since the Giant War, and if Will is the one curling into him, seeking comfort, than he is struggling.

Nico hates it when Will struggles. He always feels out of his depth.

“There, there,” he hedges, feeling a good bit like an NPC. “It’ll be okay.”

Will makes a small, wounded noise. “You don’t know that.”

“Um, yes I do, I know everything forever. I’ve never been wrong even one time in my life.”

His awkward attempt at lightening the mood is rewarded by Will’s laugh. It’s slight, and nowhere near the brightness it usually is, but it’s there and it’s genuine and that’s all Nico wanted, really.

“You good?” Nico asks softly, squeezing his arms.

Will nods. “Yes.” He hesitates. “Can I stay here a little longer?”

Nico wraps his arms impossibly tighter, aching at the quiet vulnerability in his voice.

“As long as you need.”

———

The last practice before the chariot race is nowhere near as fun to watch as the others. In fact, it’s not fun at all.

Clarisse, casted and upright, appoints her brother Sherman to race in her place, much to both his and Will’s very vocal complaints. Will’s, because he still doesn’t want to race at all and especially not now that Clarisse is out of the running, and Sherman’s because, well, when isn’t Sherman complaining about having to breathe the same air as someone or whatever.

Clarisse silences both of them with a glare. “Do it,” she orders.

They comply, stomping over to their practice chariot.

The practice race is awful. Nico is surprised, frankly, that they managed to finish at all, as badly behind as they managed. He could practically hear their squabbling all the way from the stands. For as much as Will is generally easy to get along with, he’s impossible when he’s stubborn, and worse when he’s petulant. He takes every command from Sherman like it’s a personal offence, and Sherman, being who he is, does too. Every shout to veer right or deflect an attack somehow sounds like a jab at Will’s speed, or a remark about his general intelligence. When they stomp off the track, helmets thrown in a heap with the rickety chariot, Nico is almost relieved.

“We’re going to lose, tomorrow, and I can’t wait,” hisses Will darkly, fists curled at his sides.

Nico watches him warily. “You’re not even going to try?”

“What, so he can remind me that even when I’m trying I’m a useless idiot? Not a chance.”

Nico has to almost jog to keep up with him, striding as powerfully as he is. He’s not even sure where he’s going — he seems to be, mostly, going away from the track and from Sherman, wherever that may be.

“You’re not a useless idiot,” Nico offers, when some of the stormcloud has lessened its hold on Will’s usually sunny face. “Nobody thinks you’re a useless idiot.”

Will closes his eyes, sighing. “I know.”

“And Sherman is just a generally grouchy person.”

“I know.”

“It feels very, very weird to be the optimistic and comforting one, right now.”

Will snorts, finally meeting his eyes. “I know.” He flops onto the ground, cheek resting in his knees, and pats the space next to him. Nico sits much more delicately. “I’m sorry I’ve been such an asshole lately.”

“You’ve been stressed,” Nico points out. “A little assholery is warranted.”

“I’m still sorry.”

Nico knocks their shoulders together. “I forgive you, then.”

Will smiles. “Thank you.”

For a while they sit in comfortable silence, watching the hustle and bustle of camp. Will’s presence is a comforting one, even though Nico can feel the turmoil leeching off of him. Strangely because of that, actually — sometimes Nico feels like he’s the only one who struggles out of the two of them. Will spends so much of his time smiling and joking and lecturing, hands on his hips, that Nico had almost forgotten that he doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing, either. He’s just good at faking it.

“I’ll be watching, tomorrow.” He bites his lip. “And I won’t, like, bring pom-poms, or anything, but I’ll be cheering you on.”

Will grins tiredly. “Silently and in your head?”

“Uh-huh.”

His smile softens considerably, melting into something almost shy, before he turns back to face forward.

“Well, then, damn. I guess I’ll have to try.”

———

On the morning of the chariot race, Will acts like Nico is escorting him to his goddamn execution.

“It is a race that will last a maximum of twenty minutes,” Nico says with no small amount of exasperation, “including prep time.”

Will looks no less grim. “A twenty minutes that will never be returned to me.”

Nico rolls his eyes and decides to stop humouring him.

He drops him off at his chariot with a quick pat on the shoulder, jogging back to the stands. They’re full, today, as expected, with every camper and countless others cramped into the minimal space. Nico looks at the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd, and is about to consider breaking his promise and fleeing back to his cabin before he sees a doodled-on hand stick in the air, waving wildly. He exhales in relief and heads over to sit in the spot Kayla and Austin have cleared between them.

“How miserable is he?” Kayla asks brightly, tapping her purple shoes. “He left before we woke up this morning. Assumedly to sprint around camp a few times like a feral cat.”

“Pretty miserable,” Nico answers. He reaches over to pat Austin’s head when he rests on his shoulder, knowing he’s nervous even if he tries not to show it. “A lot of it is self-induced, though. Like, yeah, Sherman is going to be a dick and it’s going to be stressful, but I feel like, in the grand scheme of things, this is among the least stressful things he’s ever been forced to deal with.”

“There was that one time he had to remove a brain tumour in the middle of the forest,” Austin muses. “I think that was probably pretty stressful for him.”

Nico opens his mouth. He closes it again.

“Demigod life is a nightmare,” he settles on eventually.

“Hear, hear,” both siblings mutter.

They lapse into silence as they turn back to the racetrack, evaluating the turnout.

Competition will be hefty.

Sherman has finally arrived, Ares horses in tow. The garish things look almost wrong next to the brightness off the flying Apollo chariot, but that may just be the tension between the team’s charioteers that’s so potent it seems to warp the air around them. Nico is vaguely surprised that they’re managing to stand so civilly next to each other, even if they could not be more visibly uncomfortable. Will, at least, tries for a smile, which drops immediately when Sherman mutters something too quiet to be picked up this far.

Nico sighs. This is going to be hard to watch.

There are about twenty other chariots lines up. Hermes, Hephaestus, and Aphrodite-Iris, like at practice, but Athena is competing too, as well as Nike, as per usual, and Tyche. In fact Nico, and by extension Hades, is one of the few cabins not participating — everyone else seems primed and ready for a chance of laurels and extra dessert. And, of course, settling personal rivalries via bloodshed, et cetera, et cetera.

The biggest competition, if Nico had to quantify it, will be Hephaestus, tricky as they were during practice; Athena, for obvious reasons; and Will and Sherman themselves will be their own worst enemy. He can’t tell if it would be better for them to fail out early to avoid racketing tension up further, or last close to the end to keep things at a healthy simmer.

In the end, it doesn’t matter. The second warning whistle goes off, and the chariots rush to the starting line — Will and Sherman at third position, Demeter to their left, Dionysus-Hypnos to their right. The stands go silent, the charioteers get in position, and with a sharp, shrill whistle, they’re off.

The first few seconds, as always, are chaotic.

In the ground with the settling dust are three separate chariots, including, surprisingly, Hermes, whose rigging backfired and sent their entire chariot up in smoke. They are luckily unharmed due to their unusually well-prepared fireproof armour, but neither Julia nor Connor seem too pleased about being out so soon.

The rest of the race continues on without them. Athena has a decent stretch of first place, but Nike is following fast. Behind them, barely a hair’s breadth of distance, is Will and Sherman, rocketing forward smoothly. Unlike Clarisse, Sherman does not care for giving Will any learning opportunities — despite the horses being Ares’, Will is on the reigns. Sherman is armed with his sword and his spear, slashing and jabbing at anyone who gets too close. Neither Ares or Apollo is big on tricks, not like some of the craftier cabins, but together they’re fast and strong and make a formidable opponent.

Or, well, they would. If they were working together, rather than two people simply being in the same chariot.

They cross into the second lap, Will guiding them across the innermost ring to move them up past Nike. They’re gaining on Athena, now, but that won’t be an easy task — challenging the camp’s wisest never is.

Kayla hisses through her teeth. “Shit.” She purses her lip at the trailing Nike chariot — they’re gaining, and they’re seething. Damien — at least Nico thinks it’s Damien, it’s hard to tell with the helmets — has an arsenal of throwing knives poised in his left hand, and as his teammate steers them steady, he takes aim. Nico has to resist the urge to shout a warning.

As the short knife sails towards the reigns wrapped around Will’s hands, though, aim ringing true, Will’s spine goes ramrod straight. Almost as if he can feel it. With an eighth of a second to spare, he shifts and jerks his hands out of the way, avoiding the knife and managing, somehow, to stay on track.

With a skill and ferocity that has Nico’s jaw brushing his toes, Will dodges all eight of the knives lobbed in his direction. In one memorable manoeuvre, he rips his left hand from the reigns, holding them in his teeth, and uses it to shove Sherman down behind the wall of the chariot right before a knife would have lodged itself in his uncovered cheek. Out of weapons, he steers their chariot right next to Nike, allowing Sherman to sever their reigns and send them rolling to a sad, victory-less stop.

Without pausing to look behind them, they race on.

Athena’s chariot has a lead, but their chariot is built for stability, not speed. They’ve accounted for every possible sabotage and built accordingly. They have not accounted for, however, stubbornness and sheer force of Will. The Ares-Apollo chariot gains on them, helmets glinting, skeletal horses gaining faster, faster, faster. Both Sherman and Malcom, Nico believes, have their spears drawn, ready, as the space between them gets smaller and smaller, to fight barbarically for first — for honour.

Nico doubts even Rachel, powers of prophecy fully restored, could predict what happens next.

Either too furious to accept a loss or simply deciding to throw the game, one of the Nike charioteers crawls out from their carriage, darting onto the live track. They scan the ground, looking for something. When they stand in the dead centre of the track, body perfectly tense, gripping something glinting in their hand, Nico gets it.

Austin gasps, nails digging into Nico’s arm. “Oh, no.”

Before anyone can say anything, they take aim. They measure once, twice, and then let the knife loose with deadly precision, knife cutting through the air with ease and hurdling with impossible power towards to two finalists chariots.

If the knife hits the Athena chariot, it will slice clean through the axle. Architectural wonder it may be, the chariot cannot withstand Celestial bronze at terminal velocity, and it will give, and the chariot will crumple. In an effort to lesson the chariot’s load, the Athena charioteers have largely forgone armour. Their fall will be painful and disastrous; as deadly as Clarisse’s, if not moreso. A hit to the Ares-Apollo chariot will be similarly as race-ending, but both Will and Sherman are in full armour. It will be bruising, but not deadly. They will lose, but they will survive.

All they need to do to win is shift, just slightly, so that the knife hits the Athena chariot.

Will, like with all the others before it, seems to feel this knife coming. Unlike the others, he glances backwards, looking at the knife, looking back at the Athena chariot. Sherman follows his gaze, and seems to realize what Will has calculated a split second after he does. He shouts something — presumably an order to move, to shift, to sabotage.

Will hesitates.

The knife hits the Ares-Apollo chariot, slicing through the left wheel.

It careens around, unbalanced, dragged into a heap by untethered horses.

The Athena chariot pulls forward to victory, the remaining functioning chariots quickly following.

The Ares-Apollo canon is left broken and humiliated only a few feet from victory, the almost-first-place.

———

As soon as they come off the track, things get messy. Both Will and Sherman are covered in dirt and grime, striped with grease from the broken wheels, bleeding sluggishly from various scraps. Sherman has his non-flailing hand clamped to an oozing wound on the side of his neck, and Will is limping.

“—and I cannot fucking believe you, Solace! All I asked for was effort!”

“Oh, forgive me,” Will says sarcastically, finally close enough to hear. “In the hustle and bustle of being shot at, I made a couple errors.”

“That gonna be your attitude in battle? ‘Oh, sorry, there was a monster chasing me so I lost all focus —’”

“Battles are not usually fought on a chariot going a hundred fucking miles per hour!”

“That’s no excuse! You need to be —”

“What, Sherman, fucking what? What indisputable flaw do I have, oh great one, that needs to be so desperately remedied?”

It’s startling when Will’s composure cracks. When he goes from bitey and sarcastic, eye-rolling from his usual distance, to right in Sherman’s face. It’s eerie to see him at his full height, no slouching, reminding anyone watching that yeah, actually, their laidback medic is six-two, strong, capable, in more ways than what they’re used to.

Sherman, in usual Ares kid fashion, doesn’t even flinch.

“Your reflexes, for starters,” he says coolly. “No matter what you do, Solace, you’re always one second too fucking late.”

A collective gasp ricochets through the gathered campers. The tension rackets up so rapidly that Nico coughs, lungs suddenly constricted. Will rears back so violently Nico is half-convinced Sherman actual punched him.

Sherman, for his part, seems to realise he’s crossed some kind of line. The cold look on his face twists into a scowl, uncomfortable and apologetic at once. “Look, Will, I just mean —”

“You don’t get to say that to me.”

Will’s quiet voice seems to echo through the entirety of the valley, cutting through laboured breathing of charioteers, pegasus neighing, even the crashing of the waves in the distant shore — everything goes silent.

Nico likes to think he knows Will pretty well. He knows what he sounds like when he’s giggly, watching his siblings argue about nothing; when he’s excitable, rambling about his newest obsession; when he can’t choose between amused and stern at whatever dumb thing Nico has gotten himself into. He knows what he sounds like when he’s exhausted, too, overworked and done with everything; when he’s annoyed, when he’s hurt and sad.

But he’s never heard Will sound so dangerous.

“Of all people.” His words are articulated, deliberate. The usual warmth of his eyes is gone. He’s completely still in a way he never is outside of surgery — no shaking in his perpetually trembling hands, no bounce to his curls, none of the constant energy that seems to constantly exude off him. Still, cold. Icy. “You do not get to talk to me about being one second too late.”

Sherman looks stricken. Guilt is written across each of his features, and for a second he steps back — as if afraid.

“Will, I —”

The son of Apollo turns without another word, striding over to the distant tree line and disappearing into the woods. No one chases after him.

No one even moves.

———

Predictably, the silence does not last long.

“You fucking idiot!” Clarisse explodes, the second Will is out of eyesight. She bats Chris’s hand away from her, and he, surprisingly, lets her go easily — his usually understanding face has hardened. She hobbles towards her brother, remarkably quick with her clunky cast, and starts truly tearing into him. “I asked you to do one fucking thing! One!”

Sherman quickly gets defensive under the scrutiny. “Well, you didn’t make it fucking easy! Just because he’s your protege doesn’t mean he’s my fucking problem —”

Nico doesn’t stick around to listen to their argument. He searches around the gathered crowd until he meets Kayla’s eyes, flicking his head towards the woods. She nods frantically. Knowing he’ll make sure they have privacy, he takes off, aiming for the same place Will went, barely slowing down once he enters the forest.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Will?” he calls, well aware he’s not going to get an answer. “Where are you?”

While there’s definitely no response from Will, he damn near jumps out of his skin when a dryad melts from her tree, shuffling towards him.

“Blond boy?” she asks, leaning close so he can hear her whisper. “Tall? Crying?”

Nico swallows. Fuck. “Yeah.”

“Headed down southeast, ways past Zeus’ fist.“

“Thank you,” he says, hoping she understands how much he means it.

She nods, then disappears back into her tree.

Following her directions, Nico jogs down beaten paths, heading in the direction that he is vaguely sure is southeast and mostly praying that he’ll find Will eventually. He shouldn’t have that much of a head start, since Nico left maybe five minutes after he did, but who knows. Will’s fast, and sometimes this forest seems bigger than it really is. It’s easy to get lost.

He searches for what feels like hours, and might actually be hours; sky darkening as the sun disappears into the lake. The temperature drops significantly. Nico is hoping that he won’t be spending the night sleeping in the dirt when he hears sniffling.

Heart pounding, he freezes, focusing on the sound. It’s muffled, sobs choked-off and sound hidden behind cupped hands. The echo sounds strange, too; it’s close, that much is obvious, but Nico almost can’t tell if it’s coming from the left or the right. Truthfully, it doesn’t sound like either.

On impulse, he looks up. Almost invisible in the branches of a large oak tree is Will, stained clothes blending in with the scratchy bark, leaves covering the rest of him.

Except, perhaps fittingly, his bright, golden hair.

Worried that calling out to him might startle him right off the tree, Nico begins to climb. He’s not great at climbing — he doesn’t have a natural sense of what is and isn’t a good foothold — but oak trees are easy. Every half-step has a branch, and this tree is old enough that the branches are thick, sturdy. He’s twenty feet up before he even realizes, barely breaking a sweat.

He pauses a few feet shy of his target, straightening until he’s standing on an almost flat branch, arm looped tightly around the trunk.

“Will.”

Will startles. He looks around frantically, struggling in the dark, until his bloodshot eyes finally land on Nico. He bursts into more tears, shoulders shaking as he sobs.

Alarmed, Nico crawls all the way up.

“Woah, Will, breathe, vita, breathe —”

He’s not sure what tree-sobbing etiquette is, but regular sobbing etiquette often involves some kind of comforting physical touch, so he goes with that. And Will, he knows, likes to be crowded, likes to be almost suffocated with the sights and touch and smells of other people, to remind him he’s not alone, even if he feels it. So Nico scoots as closely as he dares, legs wrapped around the branch, and slides one arm around Will’s back, one against his chest, and tugs him closely.

Will comes easily.

With a bit of manoeuvring, he’s tucked under Nico’s chin, shoulders hunched and shaking, enveloped entirely in Nico’s arms. He can feel a wet spot growing on his left sleeve, and honestly he should be at least a little bit disgusted, but he barely even notices. He’s too busy fighting the lump in his own throat, blinking back his own tears.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to Will’s curls. “Let it out, Will. You’re allowed.”

Will wails, a deep, choking, broken sound, and Nico loses the battle with his own tears. He’s never heard Will like this. He’s never heard anyone like this, except himself, in the echo of this same forest, years ago. It hurts like biting ice.

“It hurts, they’re gone, they’re gone, and I hate them, I hate them so much —” he heaves, dragging in breath like it cost him to say it, like part of his soul was dragged out of his vocal chords — “and I hate myself for hating them, I hate, they’re gone, I’m never —”

He dissolves into sobs, again, words breaking into nothing understandable, crying around the same repetitions over and over again. Nico hides his crumpling face in Will’s hair, wincing at every broken cry, every hitched breath, every moaned word. His heart feels like it’s breaking into a million fractals. He’s never felt so out of depth in his life.

“Let it out,” he whispers again, for a lack of anything else to say. “Let it out, sweetheart, let it out.”

For a long time, Nico had no one to hold him.

When he lost Bianca, he was by himself. And when he thought he had someone to guide him, someone to fix him, he was wrong — he was vulnerable and easy to manipulate. He had no one to hold him until he was too bitter and too closed off to let himself fall apart, anyway, and losing Bianca stayed somewhere rotten inside him, a bruise that never, ever stopped aching.

Until Will.

Last December he had cracked like an egg. He hadn’t meant to — it wasn’t even in the back of his mind — but he’d opened the door to Will’s smiling face on the morning, cold and sad as it was, and just started bawling. Some part of him, some deep, buried part, stomped it’s way from the prison Nico had kept it in and took the hell over, yanking open the floodgates, forcing him to expel every last drop of shadowy, strangling pain that had stayed inside him so long. He thought he was going to die. His entire body shook and jerked like a rowboat in a deep ocean storm, and it had been Will’s lighthouse, his endless, light eyes, his warm hands, his firm hold that had held him steady until he’d dragged himself out to the other side. It was and is the most painful thing he’d ever done in his life. And the most important.

He doesn’t think Will has had anyone to hold him, before, either. Not ‘til right this moment. Not Chiron, not his mother, and certainly not an older sibling. Will has been running on empty for as long as Nico has known him. Longer.

“Let it out,” Nico whispers again, and holds him tighter.

———

By the time either of them move again, it’s pale, early morning, and they’re damp from the dew and Will’s tears. Nico is as stiff as the tree he’s sitting on, but doesn’t dare say a word about it.

“I don’t want to go back,” Will croaks, the first either of them have spoken in hours.

Nico tucks a strand of hair behind his ear, resting a gentle hand on his cheek. “Okay.”

“We can’t stay here forever.”

“We can stay a while.” Nico pulls away slightly, just enough so that he can cradle Will’s face in both hands, tilting his chin up to meet his gaze. “I mean it, Will. As long as you need.”

“What if I’ll never have enough time?”

“Then I’ll stay with you until time runs out.” He presses a tentative, careful kiss to the centre of his freckled forehead; staying when Will shudders, leaning into it. Against his skin, he murmurs, “But you’ll have enough time, vita. You’re the strongest person I know.”

“I don’t want to be strong.”

“So don’t, I gotcha.” He presses another kiss slightly above the first, and another, resting again at the crown of his head. “But you can be.”

They stay like that until Nico’s face starts to go numb, and even then he doesn’t go far, shifting so his cheek lays on the top of Will’s skull. He ignores the slight tickle of his curls against his nose, focusing instead on the brand of his hands on his waist, the shakey but constant inhales, holds, exhales, again, again, again.

“Clarisse is my friend,” Will starts. “She was as important to me as — as Cass, before the war.”

Nico hums. “But she betrayed you.”

“All of us.”

“And you resent her for it, a little.”

Will nods. “It’s disgusting.”

“It’s human, Will, Christ.” He moves them around so they’re both sitting facing each other, Nico’s eyes firmly meeting Will’s. “I will never fully forgive Percy for letting Bianca die. Never. It’s not fair to him, and I love him anyway, and I am choosing to move past it. But I will carry that burden. Am I disgusting for that?”

Will glances away. “No.”

“Will, you — look at me.”

He does.

“Clarisse actively chose her pride over her people. So did the rest of her cabin. She’s not fully responsible for that choice, and the blame, as always, lands on Kronos’ shoulders, but —” Nico laughs, a bitter, defeated sound. “Out of all of us, you lost the most. No one lost as many as Apollo. No one burned as many shrouds. You’re allowed to be hurt, allowed to be angry.”

“I forgave them,” Will admits. “I did it publicly and called off the stupid rivalry right after the war. It was the first thing I did as head counsellor.”

“Trying to do what Michael would have done?”

“Are you kidding me, he —” Will scoffs, swiping at the tears trickling down the corners of his eyes. “If Michael were alive, and he found out I forgave them after what happened to Lee, too Diana — he would have been furious. He would stop speaking to me. If I was trying to be like Michael, I might’ve refused them treatment.”

Nico tries to imagine that for a second — Will refusing anyone treatment. It makes something sour uncurl in his stomach, something unsettling.

“You would never refuse someone treatment. I didn’t even — I didn’t think you guys were allowed.”

Will shrugs. “There are no rules to our practice. I just never made refusal an option, and the kids are too young to know any different.”

‘The kids’ — as if Kayla and Austin aren’t as old or older than Will was when he was in charge, when he held the bashed pieces of his brother’s brain as it oozed out of his skull. As he sat, exhausted, hands shaking, next to Nico, and embroidered twelve shrouds. As if Yan and Gracie are his, rather than Apollo’s.

“You forgave them so your siblings wouldn’t grow up bitter,” Nico realises. “Oh, gods, Will.”

He shrugs again, picking at his nails. “For me too. Grudges aren’t healthy.” He tries for a teasing smile. “You’d know.”

“I would.” Nico tries to smile back. It’s easier than he thought it would be, although it fades back into something serious quickly. He reaches out, linking his hands with Will’s to stop him picking before he bleeds. “You can be selfish sometimes, you know.”

“Not in front of anyone.”

“You’re admitting it in front of me,” Nico points out.

Will hesitates. “That’s — different.”

“How?”

“You get it.” He looks down, voice quiet. “You get me. I can —” He meets Nico’s eyes again, a kind of helpless smile on his face. “I dunno. You’re safe. You’re okay with me, even when I’m ugly.”

“Even then,” Nico echoes quietly. He reaches up and tucks a strand of hair behind Will’s ear again, even though none were loose. His fingertips linger, and the skin under his touch warms. “Especially then.”

“You can, too, you know, I lo —”

“I know.”

Will exhales in relief. “Good.”

He slumps forward until his forehead rests on the swell of Nico’s shoulder, breaths warming the air between them. Nico tries to match his rhythm — in, out, in, out. Hold. Out, in.

“Can we — hide here, for a little bit? Just a little longer.”

“Of course,” Nico murmurs, squeezing his wrists. “I’ll hide you as long as you need.”

699 notes · View notes

writingwithciara · 3 months ago

Text

wanna be -nico hischier-

summary: knowing he can't be her first boyfriend, nico wants to be the first for everything else. but does y/n feel the same?

word count: 2.2k

pairings: nico hischier x reader

notes:

masterlist

"nico, i just don't understand what i did wrong this time." y/n's voice came out as strangled sobs through the speakers in nico's car.

"nothing. you did nothing wrong." nico assured her as he looked out the window. he slowed to a stop just outside y/n's apartment building and waited. "come down and we can go for a ride. i know that always cheers you up."

"i'll be down in a minute." she sniffled and grabbed her hoodie. she made sure to wipe her eyes, even though nico already knew she was crying.

nico waited by the passenger door for y/n and when he saw her, he helped her get in before going back to the driver's seat.

"so, where are we driving to?"

"out of town for a few nights, if that's okay with you."

"i don't have anything packed."

"don't you worry your pretty little head, sweetheart. i have an old practice jersey and some sweats you can borrow for the night. and i'll take you shopping in the morning." he glanced at her and smiled.

"okay." she let a smile creep onto her face. "so now that i know we're going out of town, where exactly are we going?"

"atlantic city." he smiled and handed her the aux cord. if there was anything he had learned over the past few years of knowing her, it was that when she was upset, she liked to pick the music.

"why atlantic city?"

"well i was already going to go there for a few days. in fact, i was almost out of town when you called me."

"oh. didn't mean to interrupt your fun." she sulked.

"nonsense. if anything, you being here made it fun. seriously, who goes to atlantic city alone?"

"guys who need to get laid, i guess." she glanced over at him. "wait, was that what you were planning?"

"what? no. don't be ridiculous." he chuckled, but y/n wasn't buying it. "okay fine. maybe i was hoping for it a little bit. but it wasn't my main goal."

"don't let me stop you from having your fun, then." she smiled and got more comfortable in her seat. "in fact, i think i might try to find someone too. god knows i could use it."

"what do you mean?"

"it means i'm a 24 year old virgin, nico. i've had like 2 boyfriends my entire life and only 1 freaking kiss. how pathetic is that?"

"i don't think it's pathetic at all."

"you don't have to be nice about it. i know it's weird."

"okay, maybe a little." he stopped at a light. "but weird is good. if everyone was normal, the world would be boring."

"oh how i love your never ending optimism." she turned slightly in her seat to face him. "thank you, by the way. you're the only person i know who would go out of their way to come rescue me, even if you had plans."

"priorities, dove." he reached for her hand and smiled a little to himself when she squeezed his in return.

the rest of the drive to atlantic city was mostly silent. but when nico got closer to the hotel, he broke the silence & scared y/n.

"so i know you told me you didn't want to spend another moment thinking about that asshole, but i can tell that he's on your mind right now and i want to know if there's anything i can do to make you forget about him."

"nico, you're sweet. really you are. but there's only one thing i need right now and that's to go soak in a tub for an hour."

"okay. hot tub or bathtub?"

"whatever one works. i would like some company though so i'm hoping there's a hot tub."

"it's atlantic city. i'm sure there is a hot tub. but if not, i booked a suite so the tub in the bathroom is about the size of a hot tub. we could just wear our swimsuits in there."

"oh crap. i don't have a swimsuit."

"then when we get to the hotel, i'll run a bath for you and while you're relaxing, i'll go down to the shop and pick one out for you."

"nico, you don't have to go through all this trouble for me."

"that's what friends are for, right? to cheer their other friends up?"

"you're right." she smiled and got out of the car when he parked. he grabbed his bag and looked at her.

"so, relaxing tonight and shopping tomorrow?"

"you bet." y/n waited for nico to check in and when he got the key, she followed him into the elevator.

"before i forget, there's a king size bed. you can have it. there's also a couch & for this trip, i will be sleeping there."

"nico, we have shared a bed before. an even smaller bed, might i add. so sharing a king should be a piece of cake."

"okay, fair point." nico chuckled. when the elevator opened up to their floor, nico let y/n exit first. he followed her to their room and he unlocked the door.

the room was way bigger than nico anticipated. he watched as y/n walked over to the balcony doors. she opened them and stepped outside.

"this is beautiful, nico." she breathed in the fresh air and nico admired the way her hair flowed in the breeze. he didn't want to admit it but he knew he was attracted to his best friend. always had been.

he just didn't want to say anything because he knew she wouldn't reciprocate the feelings.

he must've zoned out because before he knew it, y/n was waving her hand in his face. he chuckled and looked back out at the city.

"and he's back." she smiled and leaned against the railing beside him. "what were you thinking about?"

"the breathtaking view." he glanced over at her. "sorry about that, by the way."

"it's alright, neeks." y/n looked at him. "so, i noticed there was a hot tub. wanna go down and sit in it for a bit with me?"

"yeah, sure." nico pushed himself away from the railing and paused at the door. "we need to get you something to wear though."

"oh, right. i completely forgot about that." she scratched her arm. "maybe we should just stay in tonight then."

"are you sure?" he looked back at her and she nodded. "well, if that's what you want, i can still run that bath for you and you can relax in there for a bit."

"thank you, nico." y/n sat on the edge of the bed and waited as nico went into the bathroom and ran the bath water.

"hey y/n?"

"yeah?"

"rose blossom or lavender sugar?"

"rose blossom, i guess." she picked at her finger nails and waited until she heard the water turn off. nico walked out of the room and saw her picking at her fingers.

"you alright?" he asked calmly

"what?" she stood up and walked towards him. "yeah. i'm fine." she walked into the bathroom and started taking her clothes off.

"i'm gonna go down to the shop to see if i can find a swimsuit for you. are you good here by yourself?" nico asked through the closed door.

"yes. thank you nico." she smiled and leaned her head against the side of the tub.

30 minutes later, y/n was slowly drifting off to sleep but was interrupted by a knock on the bathroom door.

"you alright in there?"

"yeah. just relaxed and a little sleepy."

"why don't you get out of the tub and get into some comfy clothes? we can watch a movie and fall asleep."

"okay. i'll be out in a minute." she started climbing out of the tub and when she grabbed a towel, she realized she didn't have anything to change into. "um, nico?"

"yes, sweetheart?"

"i don't have anything to wear tonight."

"got my jersey and some sweats for you out here. want me to bring them to you?"

"yeah. just one second." she wrapped herself in the towel just in time for nico to open the door. he was holding the clothes in one hand and covering his eyes with the other. "thank you." y/n smiled as she took the clothes from nico. "i'll be out in a minute."

nico closed the door and went back to the bed. he flipped through netflix and found a movie he knew y/n loved. when she finally came out of the bathroom, nico tried his best to not stare at her but with the way his old practice jersey hung off her body, he couldn't help but admire her. he also found it a little funny that his sweatpants were incredibly loose on her and she had to hold them up as she climbed onto the bed. she struggled a little bit so nico held her arm to help.

"there you go." he chuckled when she wiggled herself under the blanket.

"oh, this is comfy." y/n pulled the blanket tighter, causing nico to laugh again.

"you look so adorable." nico tapped the edge of her nose and she glared over at him. her face immediately turned red and she tried to hide it.

"thank you."

"you're welcome." he turned back to the tv and pressed play.

sixteen candles

"oh, you remembered my favorite movie."

"of course i did." he smiled and opened his arms. he started second guessing his decision but when y/n made herself comfortable against him, he held her close.

as the movie played, y/n watched it intently but nico's attention stayed on her the entire time. he twirled some of her hair between his fingers and and with the other arm, he slowly stroked up and down her arm. she sighed with content and turned to look up at him.

"thank you for tonight, nico. i really needed to relax and let off some steam."

"hey. no problem. i love helping you. and if anyone deserves to let off some steam, it's you."

without warning, y/n leaned up and kissed him. but just as quickly as it started, it ended. she pulled away from him and put a little distance between them.

"oh my god. i am so sorry. i just got caught up in the moment and i just....i'm so sorry." she put her head in her hands and was not prepared for what came next.

nico gently picked her up and placed her on his lap. "you do not need to apologize, y/n. especially not for kissing me." he looked at her lips and chuckled lightly. "you're so effortlessly perfect."

"i'm really not." she hid her face with her hair and nico moved it out of the way.

"yes, you are. and i know the reason you don't believe it is because the 2 guys you dated before, and every other guy in your life made you feel that way. but it's true. you're so incredibly beautiful and you have the biggest heart of anyone i know. why nobody has realized this, is beyond my understanding. but if i have to spend the rest of my life trying to make you see how special you are, then i'll do that."

"really?"

"yeah." he whispered softly and looked up at her. before she could reject the idea, nico closed the gap between them and kissed her. it started slow and passionate but quickly escalated. intensity flowed between them as their tongues battled against each other.

y/n pulled away and swiftly removed the jersey from her body. when she noticed nico staring at her, she leaned back a little more. "i-is this okay with you?"

"of course. but only if you're comfortable with it."

"you're the only person i'm comfortable with." she leaned back in to kiss him passionately. nico's hands moved up and down her sides as she continued to press herself into him.

neither of them could believe what they were about to do, but it was obvious they both wanted it more than they've wanted anything else in their lives.

as they shed the rest of their clothes, the event that started off sweet and slow quickly turned passionate and intense. y/n may have had doubts about being a virgin at 24, but now she's glad she waited. to her, there was no one more perfect to lose it to than the man she trusted with her entire life.

after an intense hour, they collapsed on the bed. the breath leaving both of them at a rapid pace.

y/n turned to face nico and smiled. "wow. that was...perfect. thank you nico."

"if anything, i should be thanking you."

"really? why's that?"

"that was the best sex i've ever had. hard to believe it was your first time."

"r-really?" y/n couldn't help but blush at his comment. "you really know how to make a girl feel special."

"i love you." nico blurted out. "i always have and i think it's pretty obvious now."

"yes. i would say so." she giggled and kissed him softly. "in case it's not obvious enough at this point, i love you too."

"good." nico moved the hair from her face and smiled. "i'm going to take you on a real date when we get back home."

"looking forward to it." y/n climbed back on top of him and kissed him again. and again. and again.

to the both of them, the night couldn't get anymore perfect.

#nhl #nico hischier #new jersey devils #nico hischier x reader

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multifandomgirl08 · 1 year ago

Text

Through Max's Eyes [Mini Verstappen Series]

Dad!Max Verstappen x Fem!Reader (Established Relationship)

Photo Credit: Pinterest

Format: Social Media

Summary: Max's Instagram posts about Y/N, and a small life update from the couple.

Previous Part → Next Part Mini Verstappen Masterlist

maxverstappen1

Liked by lewishamilton and 387,549 others

tagged: ynlnusername

maxverstappen1 This is my girlfriend Y/N who had to stay up until 3 a.m. to finish up a release for work.

Not only does she have to manage my schedule and Nico's, but she also has a time consuming job. I took her and Nico out for lunch today as a thank you for all of the things she takes care of when I'm not home.

You keep the apartment clean, take my son to school, and at the same time work a full-time job. I don't know how you do it my love...

ynlnusername You won't even give yourself credit for taking those photos? Max!

maxverstappen1 It's International Women's Day. I'm letting you have all of the spotlight.

yourbestfriend We love a girl boss moment

fan45 How do I get a Y/N?

fan26 He is simping so hard on main.

March 8, 2024

ynlnusername

Liked by maxverstappen1 and 441,858 others

ynlnusername First vacation since I moved to Monaco. Also first vacation with the boyfriend. We'll see how it plays out.

📸: maxverstappen1

maxverstappen1 Plays out? You live with me. You help me pay the bills.

landonorris Is Y/N sleeping on the couch until further notice?

yourbestfriend No, mostly because my girl is an expert at crisis management, or did you forget?

maxverstappen1 How can I, when there is a three year old living with us. Lol

fan86 I love that Y/N brings out the silly side in Max. It really makes you understand that he is so much more than a f1 driver.

fan96 I feel like Max had a secret .jpg account and it's just photos of Y/N and Nico.

July 30, 2024

verstappen1.jpg

Liked by danielricciardo, ynlnusername and 134, 757 others

tagged: ynlnusername

verstappen1.jpg Starting off the summer break right

danielricciardo Since when did you start posting thirst traps of your girlfriend?

landonorris My eyes! How dare you sir! 🫣

ynlnusername Lando, you've seen worse. Remember Barcelona. landonorris Why do you have to bring that up? I told you it was an accident. maxverstappen1 Doesn't mean that we believe you.

fan87 What is Lando talking about? Did Lando walk into Max's motorhome without knocking or something?

fan38 OMG! Max had one of these too? Following right now!

fan96 I was right! Called it!!

August 1, 2024

maxverstappen1

Liked by landonorris, danielricciardo and 538,735 others

tagged: ynlnusername

maxverstappen1 I could say something cheesy like you are P1 in my heart. But instead I think I just need to tell you how much I love you, and I love that you've welcomed me and my son into your life with open arms.

Thank you for everything that you do. Going to races, cheering me on and making my hectic schedule work so that we can spend time together as a family.

I know that Nico already sees you as his mother. I couldn't ask for a better mother for my son then you.

I love you, soon to be Mrs. Verstappen.

View all 865 comments

danielricciardo Happy for you mate. @ynlnusername he spent over an hour picking out that ring, wear it with pride.

landonorris Official mom of the paddock, I'm calling it.

fan28 How is Max who is two years younger than Pierre now engaged and Pierre still only has a girlfriend?

August 15, 2024

taglist: @karmabyfernando, @barcagirly, @sachaa-ff, @iamahallucinationnn, @musingsbyshreya, @glow-ish, @nonsensical-nonsence, @fanboyluvr

#mini verstappen series #max verstappen imagine #max verstappen x reader #f1 imagine #formula 1 imagine #social media au #f1 social media au #f1 instagram au

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child-of-helios · 8 months ago

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Calypso x Leo SUCKS, here is why

Look, I get why that sounds harsh, and it is, but hear me out.

First and most importantly, Calypso is a pedophile. We see her fall in love with 14 year old Percy, then 15/16 year old Leo. Already weird, right? And look, if we got some explanation as to why it would ever be okay for a titaness who is thousands of years old to fall in love with CHILDREN, maybe I could see past it.

BUT in the odyssey myth, Odysseus was MUCH older than a teenager. He was already noted to be an old wise king (who was old enough to feign madness from old age) at the START of the Trojan war. Now that war lasted 10 years and add to that the multiple years he spent traveling to Ithaca, and you got an old-ass man. So either Calypso was already a mature adult, or a child thirsting after some old dude. Sure, it happens, but weird. Let's not forget that Odysseus was married and very much still in love with his WIFE Penelope, but Calypso basically kept him hostage on her island and would not let him leave at all.

Now let's get to Percy, he got blamed for not making sure that the gods kept their promise??? Good sir that is a 16 year old who just got out of a WAR and had his memory stolen, of course he didn't check with the gods. ITS NOT HIS RESPONSIBILITY! He shouldn't be held accountable. Also let me remind you that Calypso wanted him when he was 14. Not a good look.

And finally, we get to Leo. Poor poor Leo. A boy who was oh-so starved for love that he took anything he could get, and that's my explanation as to why Calypso x Leo ever happened. Honestly, I adored Leo. I had a crush on him (still kinda do shhh), I won't lie. However, I also adored Annabeth but since her and Percy are amazing together, I could get behind Percabeth. But Caleo? Hell no. Sure, they have a fun dynamic, but it's more of a sibling dynamic in my opinion. I would've rather had Leo x Khione or something. Maybe Leo x Echo cause that would've been adorable. But Caleo??? No. He should've never gone back for her. Leave her to rot.

Secondly, Calypso is simply a jerk. And I'm the type of person who adores asshole characters when done right. Octavian is great because he's an irredeemable asshole AND he gets karma. But Calypso? She's a bitch and gets such a kindhearted boyfriend in return. Like I said, she tried to pressure a (married) man into sleeping with her and is simply a dick to Leo (HER BOYFRIEND) and I could understand if they were siblings, cause siblings are dicks to eachother with love underneath, but she just sucks. She immediately hated him, which she has reason to do after what happened to her, but even after that she was just horrible to Leo. I seriously don't see why he loves, likes, or even tolerates her.

In conclusion, I hate what Rick did to Leo. I adore his stories like no other (which is why I'm so passionate about this), but he really fumbled the bag here. Calypso is just not a good fit for Leo.

Personally I really do prefer Leo x Jason, Leo x Nico or even Leo x Echo. And yes it does sound weird for me to say that considering that I call Calypso a pedo, but I could see Echo not being able to age normally because of being stuck with Narcissus. Echo x Leo is in my opinion much better than Calypso x Leo.

Um sorry- that was really mean but I needed to say that.

On a lighter note I saw this really long worm which was cool! :D

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quokkacolazero · 10 days ago

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You know what I realized this morning?

Jason doesn't have a happy ending.

And I don't mean because he died, if Jason had survived, he still wouldn't have gotten one.

Just think about it, Percy and Annabeth are finally together and are going to university and during the holydays they see their families. Yeah, they still need to do a couple of quests, but this is like the calmest their lives have ever been, and a dream come true for them.

Hazel and Frank are Praertors of Camp Jupiter. Sure, that was never their plan but mostly because they could never have seen themselves doing something like this. Just look how they've grown! No longer are they the shy probatios that mess everything up, but the most important and most respected people at camp and they're really good at it. AND they get to do it together. Not to mention they've had big shoes to fill (they’re the successors of Jason Grace and Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, no pressure am I right?).

Leo finally found a family. He now has TWO moms, a little sister, an older sister, new friends, a girlfriend (even if it doesn't work out, I think they'd stay friends), a really cool home... He finally belongs and its everything he's ever wanted.

Piper had a really good ending too like, yeah, her dad lost his job, money and all his assets but this is something she accepted. Because in a twisted way, it's also a dream come true for her. Her father finally has time for her and can pay her attention. She can rediscover her roots and she is figuring herself out without her mom or Hera breathing down her neck. This is literally the best possible outcome.

Even Nico had a happier ending. He is accepted in Camp Half-blood and considers it his home. He has a great boyfriend, is learning to accept himself, has a sister he can visit and is healing.

And finally, Reyna, my Aro-Ace Queen! The girl that was always perceived as "the one that Jason should have ended up with". She defied everybody's expectations and became a hunter of Artemis with her best friend, let go of all the stress she was under and is also finally discovering herself.

But where does that leave Jason? Assuming he had survived, where would he have gone when it was all over? The boarding school? Camp Jupiter? Sure, he had all those temples to build, and he was gonna be pontifex, but that's just a job and those temples were built pretty quickly. We know very little of Jason's life, but we know it couldn't have been easy. Being raised as child soldier since he was a toddler and before that, being raised by wolves. I imagine the closest thing he has to a parental figure is Lupa. Lupa! I mean how fucked up is that? Unless he had some kind of foster parents, but I doubt it, or it would have been mentioned somewhere. What I'm trying to say is that ever since he was a toddler Jason has had this huge weight on his shoulders of being the forbidden child of Jupiter. He was trained from very early on not show his emotions, has had little to no support system and definitely no childhood. (No wonder he is "boring" and "doesn't have a personality", where was he supposed to find the time between not getting eaten and sword training?). So, would permanently going back to Camp Jupiter be healthy? He won't be able to grow there or figure himself out beyond being the son of Jupiter. Plus, he did say he belongs to both camps. But what does that mean? Would he just travel back and forth between the camps? That still feels kind of unstable. He can't even stay with his sister since she's a hunter of Artemis. Sure, his friends would take him into their homes, no questions asked, but where is his home. Where does Jason Grace belong when he isn't the son of Jupiter.

#heros of olympus #pjo #percy jackson #jason grace #trials of apollo #rick riordan #i wrote this on the way to school #i am not well #jason grace is an incredibly tragic character #pjo hoo toa #toa

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leclerc-s · 1 year ago

Text

big reputations - part five

series masterlist // previous // next

ASKING DANIEL RICCIARDO THE MOST POPULAR F1 FAN QUESTIONS

comments

user1 this interview further proves that max is daniel’s emotional support boyfriend.

↳ user2 was that ever up for debate?

↳ user1 no, but you get what i mean.

user3 oh, he’s got those stupid stars in his eyes again. this man is down bad.

user4 i love how he never brushes off questions about daphne. every single time he answers the questions about her

↳ user5 take notes joe alwyn. this is how you talk about mother daphne.

↳ user4 the shade towards joe. this fandom will never let him rest.

user6 these two are never beating the dating allegations.

↳ user7 i don't think they want to

↳ user6 oh for sure, these two want to know how far this whole thing is going to go

user8 even if they aren't dating it's such an adorable friendship

↳ user9 it'll be official when he meets ryan and blake. that's when you know they are actually dating.

↳ user8 or when she meets christian and max, oh wait.

↳ user9 that's actually a good point

user10 someone stop this man from being so down bad for daphne.

user11 i am loving that max is daphne and daniel's third wheel.

↳ user12 i'm living for max teasing daniel. you know this man does it constantly and never let's daniel rest

↳ user11 oh i know max has never given him a moment of peace.

george russell everyday i am reminded that daphne jones fans are a different breed.

lando norris i would ask why but i have been on twitter today. apparently dts is trending on netflix

alex albon charles, mate, you've got the daphne fans crying.

charles leclerc oh god, what did i do now?

fernando alonso season 1 episode 8 charles leclerc oh.

daniel ricciardo is that why we're trending? i thought old tweets of mine were found and i was getting cancelled

esteban ocon have you said things that’ll get you cancelled?

daniel ricciardo no, but it’s a genuine fear estie! max verstappen at the ‘girlies’ have joined in on our mutual hatred for zak (oscar and lando you saw nothing) oscar piastri never thought i would see the day max verstappen said ‘girlies’

yuki tsunoda added one person

yuki tsunoda speaking of daphne jones ARE YOU TWO DATING RICCIARDO??

george russell yuki who did you add??

unknown number hello, it's liam lawson. george russell oh cool.

daniel ricciardo i don't feel like i have to expose my personal life to you people. i already see you too much.

max verstappen stop being a pussy and ask her out.

daniel ricciardo how about you shut the fuck up for once?

charles leclerc in the words of arthur, 'uh oh, the girls are fighting'

logan sargeant arthur's chronically online so it doesn't surprise me that he knows what that is.

valtteri bottas have you asked her out daniel?

nico hülkenberg i have to admit this is the highlight of my year, have you done it yet ricciardo??

kevin magnussen yes, have you?

mark webber MAN UP RICCIARDO! FUCKING DO IT ALREADY!

jenson button no pressure or anything, but have you?

daniel ricciardo oh for fucks sake. i hate all of you.

liam lawson i'm so confused.

liam lawson i thought they were dating already? considering what ajdbfwei

max verstappen sorry, liam is currently out of commission.

george russell why is that so fucking threatening? what did you do verstappen?

max verstappen nothing. liam is just out of it for the next 20-30 minutes

sergio perez i have never seen max's body move so fast. i fear liam is unconscious.

carlos sainz what the hell is happening?

daniel ricciardo what the hell did you do to liam? is he okay?

max verstappen liam is okay. i pinky swear it.

daphne jones what happened?

max verstappen i was not going to let liam ruin the magnificent plan that i made. he had to be silenced.

daniel ricciardo you make it sound like you killed the poor guy

daphne jones he makes it sound like he's a mafia hitman

max verstappen i could totally be a hitman.

daniel ricciardo cat-dad verstappen could never be a hitman. mad-max however is a different story.

max verstappen i could be a hitman who loves cats. hitmen have many sides to them daniel.

daniel ricciardo do you think this man could be a hitman?

daphne jones that man could never be a hitman

daniel ricciardo could max be a hitman?

charles leclerc absolutely not oscar piastri no fucking way sabrina carpenter i'm going to need context but the answer is no

max verstappen fuck you guys. i could be hitman.

daphne jones face it max, you could never be one.

sabrina carpenter however this version of max and charles could totally be hitmen

charles leclerc how the hell?

sabrina carpenter tiktok is a wonderful place.

daphne jones i thought it was the countless twitter tags asking if you had seen it already? sabrina carpenter oh no it came up on my for you page. it was a video called f1 quotes i quote on the daily. i, of course spiralled when i saw that specific part.

sabrina carpenter my favorite driver is kimi.

charles leclerc well he's retired. so who's your favorite driver on the grid right now?

sabrina carpenter fernando alonso

daniel ricciardo wow, that's so mean.

oscar piastri i would've said the same thing just to annoy you.

daniel ricciardo look who's no longer my favorite grid son

charles leclerc what the fuck? i'm a part of this group chat too.

daniel ricciardo you're on thin fucking ice until you tell xavi off or someone at ferrari.

max verstappen you can't seriously still be bitter about singapore

daniel ricciardo OF COURSE I CAN! HE WAS SACRIFICED MAX! LIKE A LAMB TO SLAUGHTER! I CAN BE BITTER IF HE WON'T!

sabrina carpenter i think charles has no choice but to enter his reputation era.

oscar piastri not yet, he hasn't hit rock bottom yet. charles leclerc and, in the rookie's opinion, what is rock bottom? oscar piastri dnf, dns, dsq max verstappen if at any point charles gets dsq'd i will be calling oscar a psychic. daniel ricciardo WHY WOULD YOU PUT THAT OUT THERE OSCAR??

sabrina carpenter so, mom, dad, are we going to qatar??

oscar piastri yeah, mom and dad, will you be at qatar?

max verstappen they went from being two strangers to mom and dad to three children in span of a few months.

charles leclerc he's only a few years older than me, how is he my father?

sabrina carpenter you dare argue with the twitter giriles?

charles leclerc no?

sabrina carpenter then congrats, you are now mine and oscar's older brother.

oscar piastri charles right now

max verstappen he should save that energy for xavi and ferrari

charles leclerc don't tempt me to crash into you max. i'll do it. then we'll have to wait another weekend to see you crowned world champion again

daphne jones THAT'S THIS WEEKEND? OH WE DEFINITELY HAVE TO BE A QATAR!

sabrina carpenter via air max?

max verstappen who told the pop girl about air max?

sabrina carpenter once again, tiktok is a wonderful place max verstappen once again, i hate you so much sabrina carpenter stay pressed sid. i'm their child and you are simply daniel's mistress. oscar piastri what is it the twitter people say? gagged him.

taglist: @glow-ish @agustdpeach @msolbesg @spilled-coffee-cup @1nt3rnetgf @six-call

¡leclerc-s speaks! can you tell i started rewatching dts now that the season is over? i actually do cry everytime i watch episode 8 of season 1. personally, i love suzuka, but i think the fia's choices with putting tractors on the track has given it a bad history. anyways, hope you enjoyed this, it's a little sad but i never write sad stuff so this is new.

¡disclaimer! this is in no way making assumptions about the people involved in this story, this is all fake. it is a fanfiction please don't take any of what is said seriously. this is all for entertainment purposes and as a creative outlet. enjoy!

#leclerc-s #big reputations series #daniel ricciardo #daniel ricciardo x female oc #formula 1 #formula 1 fic #fanfic #fanfiction #f1 #f1 smau #f1 social media au #f1 instagram au #f1 fic

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mydearlybeloathed · 1 year ago

Text

𝐀 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐇𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐓

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: growing worried about the degree of your nail biting habit, nico ignores the advice of his boyfriend and takes matters into his own hands.

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: nico di angelo x platonic!gn!reader

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭:: 1.7k

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭: a curse word i think, nail biting

Agitated was the only word to express how Nico Di Angelo felt, watching as you picked at the hangnail currently torturing you. The two of you were sitting in a mythos lesson at Camp Halfblood, but neither of you were listening.

While you were focused on getting rid of this hangnail—biting off half your nail in the process—Nico gritted his teeth as he observed the horrible nervous habit of yours. Finally, he had enough, and swiped your wrist away from your face.

His glare was firmly planted on your face. “Stop. You could get an infection that way.” He retreated into his seat beside you, slouching over. “Plus, its gotta hurt like a devil.”

You shrugged in reply as you tucked your hands in your hoodie pocket to keep them away from your mouth. “Eh. It does. Can’t help it though.”

“I know,” your best friend said through a sigh, a tiny grin sipping across his pale face.

“Besides, I won’t actually get an infection from biting my nails, Nico.”

His brows rose just slightly. “How do you know?”

“Because,” you snapped back, messing with your nails in the confines of your pocket now, waiting for when Nico was gone to finish evening them out. “That’s stupid.”

He scoffed and looked away. “Go ask Will, and he’ll tell you it’s not.”

“He’s biased.”

“How?”

It only took one look, one raise of your brows, and the boy’s pale face was flushed as he shoved your shoulder. “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything,” you laugh, and the discussion was over. For now, at least. If anything, you’d only made Nico even more determined to prove you wrong.

He understood, of course. You really couldn’t help it. But he wanted to help you, at the very least, and if that meant scaring you into kicking the habit, so be it.

“Could you talk to them about it?” he asked—begged—Will. He was practically chasing his boyfriend around the infirmary, ranting about his deep rooted worry for their mutual friend.

Will was being patient, or, he was really trying to be, but with the previous day’s Capture the Flag game gone awry, and every bed in the infirmary holding a whining little shit camper, Nico was really testing him.

“Nico,” Will finally said, leading him into the supply room and away from the gossiping ears of those around. “I’ll talk to them, but I think you should too.”

“I have been–”

“I mean talk to them and listen too.” Will silenced Nico with a look, pursing his lips as he chose the right words. “Have another conversation about it, okay?”

Nico wanted to ask again, but anytime he brought it up, you just shut down and found an excuse to leave. Weeks went by, and Nico’s worry got the better of him. He decided to take matters into his own hands, much to the exhaustion of Will.

Coming out of the shadows, Nico entered into the throne room of Hades. The place was dim, torches alighting the walls just enough for him to make out the pillars and, most importantly, the three thorns at the end of the ling chamber.

Each throne was empty, but someone was there. He felt them, their presence, somewhere nearby. Scanning the area, Nico zeroed in on the archway leading out to the palace gardens, where all the beloved plants of the Queen were grown. Bingo.

Nico slinked outside, setting eyes on a pallidly beautiful woman tending to a patch of black roses. Her back was to him, but instantly, she rose from her knees and turned, her gaze burning into him with a malice.

Nico halted a few feet from her, hands stuffed in his hoodie pockets and his hair falling into his face. “Hey.”

Persephone looked down her nose at him. “Bastard son.” A subtle smile settled on her face. “About time you came home.”

He shrugged. “Haven’t had time, you know? Anyway, is Dad around?”

With a light scoff the Queen of the Underworld twirled her hand, sending black roots to wrap around Nico’s ankles. “No time for your stepmother? Typical. I give you and that nice Apollo boy gifts every birthday, and this is the thanks I get?”

Nico chuckled as he shook the roots off and said, “Sorry, I just have something really important I need from him.”

“Fine,” Persephone snapped. “Hades!”

A moment later Nico’s father stepped out of the shadows, frustration seeping off of him. He gritted out, “Yes, my love?”

Persephone pointed to Nico, who waved weakly when his father’s eyes found him. “Oh. Hello, boy. What do you need?”

Nico looked out of the garden, and in the distance he could see the Fields of Asphodel. “How many people have died from biting their nails?”

“Honestly,” said Hades as he and his son approached the fields, shades parting for them as they went. “To think I can just tell you off the top of my head is ridiculous. Do you have any idea how many have died?”

Nico gave him a look. “Are you going to tell me?”

“No, because it’s impossible,” snapped Hades. “You can have your look around. Surely someone fits your description.”

Nico raised his brows. “No way I’m doing this alone. You see how big this place is?”

Sighing, Hades gave his son a withered look, before bellowed, “Come forth those who have died of... What was it?”

“Nail biting.”

Hades paused, questioned his immortal life choices, and continued, “Those who have died of nail biting!”

To Nico’s surprise, around thirty shades stepped forward. Hades stuck around for the time being, having the shades stand in single file as Nico interviewed them one by one.

By the time Hades grew bored and his departure inspired the scattering of the shades, Nico had what he needed, and promptly dragged a ghost to the Overworld.

“Brooklynn,” he called for you, walking into the Big House where you’d been filing papers for Chiron--for a price, of course. This wasn’t free labour.

You smiled at him. “Sup.”

Nico was nervous about something, you noticed quickly, abandoning your work for a moment to see why he was fidgeting with the end of his jacket. “You okay?”

“Oh, yeah,” he assured. “I just had something to show you.”

As you stood there waiting, Nico called out for someone, but instead of entering through the door, they just materialized out of thin air. Startled, you simply looked from the shade to your best friend. “Who’s this?”

“Oh,” Nico blanked. “I never asked.”

“I–I’m Jim, Your Highness” said the terrified shade.

Nico nodded. “Right, this is Jim.”

Confused beyond all else, you screwed your brows together and just stared at him. “Nico, what is this?”

“An intervention,” he put simply, turning on the shade with shary eyes. “Jim, tell Y/N why you’re dead.”

“Nico!” you seethed.

The shade—Jim—shook his head hurriedly. “No, it’s no trouble, Your Highness. I–well, I–I died of a heart attack.”

Impatient, Nico waved him on. “Caused by…”

“Oh, uhm, it was septicemia.” At my puzzled look, Jim elaborated. “A blood infection.”

Nico still wasn’t satisfied, rolling his eyes and urging, “And how’d you get it, Jim?”

The gloomy shade glanced down at his hands, holding them up and saying, “Well, I had a nervous habit. Bit my nails down to the nub every day. I guess I caught something ‘cause of the constant open wounds.”

Now it all made sense. With your eyes locked on the shade, you became conscious that you were picking at a hangnail on your thumb as you stood there, peeling away skin and opening a fresh cut. “Oh.”

“See,” said Nico cheerfully, trying to clap Jim on the back, but his hand only passed through the shade. “Told you. You can die from biting your nails.”

The longer you said nothing, and the longer you stared into space, the more uncomfortable Nico got. He glanced over and locked eyes with Jim, who offered a shrug in reply. Nico sighed. “You’re dismissed.”

And the shade faded as quickly as he’d arrived, leaving only Nico and you. He rocked on his heels, watching you carefully. “Y/N?”

As his hand reache dout to poke you back to life, you swatted him away and did just that, but you weren’t as grateful as Nico had hoped you’d be. Instead, your eyes were narrowed and your fists were tight at your sides. “Nico, what the fuck?”

“I–” he stammered. “I thought this would help. Motivation to stop…”

“It didn’t,” you snapped, voice cracking. Nico’s breath hitched; your eyes were red and your chin shook. What had he done wrong?

“I… I don’t get it.”

You held up your hand, littered in Bluey bandaids fresh from Will’s kit. “I can’t stop, Nico. I’ve tried.”

Try harder, he thought, but didn’t say. “I–I’m sorry. I thought I was helping.”

“Helping would be leaving me alone,” you said slowly, swallowing thickly.

Now, Nico wasn’t great at this comfort thing, but he knew one thing for certain: leaving was mostly never the right call. Will had taught him that. Talk to them and listen too. “Y/N, I really am sorry.”

Your eyes didn’t meet his, shame crawling up your neck as you hid your hands in your hoodie pockets. “Yeah, I know. I know. Just… leave it, okay?”

“Okay…”

He didn’t bring it up again. He was always too scared of hurting you to do that. Instead, he listened, and watched for when your fingers were particularly more wounded than usual.

Nico made sure there was always a fun box of bandaids in your cabin, and he knew the Paw Patrol and Strawberry Shortcake ones were your favorite. You were never out of neosporin, and new shades of nail polish showed up on your nightstand every once in a while.

And though you never said anything about it, you were grateful, and you liked how he smiled when you painted your nails and got them to grow out a bit before it chipped away and the cycle restarted.

Occasionally, a joke about a man named Jim will come up, first by you of course, and Nico could only stand locking eyes with you for two seconds before he keeled over laughing. No one else understands, and neither of you care to explain.

#percy jackson #heroes of olympus #nico di angelo #nico di angelo x reader #x platonic!reader #nico di angelo x platonic!reader #gn reader #will solace #solangelo #percy jackson oneshot #percy jackson and the olympians #rick riordan #nico x reader #nico x platonic!reader #nico di angelo one shots #nico di angelo pjo

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uluvjay · 2 years ago

Note

Prompts 80 & 131 from the smut list (I believe it’s the 2nd list) w/ Nico plz!! Maybe it’s photoshoot/media day & reader is the photographer & goes to fix his hair & make small adjustments to his gear etc. while it’s happening

80. “What? Does that feel good?”

131. “Oh don’t mind me, I’m just enjoying the view”

Nico Hischier x secret relationship! Reader

Warnings?; smut, relationship is secret because reader is the team photographer, hand job(m receiving), oral(m receiving)

Sorry for any error! Hope you enjoy

—

Today was a busy day for the New Jersey devils, the season started in three weeks meaning all the media needed done was being taken today. Four media girls had been split up and each given an even group of guys to work with.

You had Jack, Luke, Nico, and Jesper. You didn’t mind working with any of these guys, especially Nico as he was your boyfriend.

There weren’t many people on the team that knew about your relationship but of course Jack did so he didn’t hesitate to tease you about it the whole time you worked with him today, media was annoying to him so he decided to annoy you.

After a good four hours of working with the other three guys it was finally Nicos turn to come into the little media room they had you in. You were thankful it was just the two of you in the room because after a summer full of Nico you were missing your man.

There was a knock on the door before you looked up and seen your boyfriend entering the room. “Hi honey” he greeted you after shutting the door.

“Hi Ni” you replied with a smile as he came over and gave you a kiss on your head.

He waited for your instructions before doing anything, not wanting to mess anything up.

“Okay so first we’re going to take pictures of you in your jersey, so take off your T-shirt and throw your jersey on” you told him pointing to the jersey resting on a little table in the room.

You should have been setting everything up while he got changed but you couldn’t help but stare at his back muscles flexing as he moved, and admire the healing scratch marks on his back from a few nights ago.

“I can feel you staring” he said turning around with a smirk.

“I was admiring my art work, now shush and go sit” you told him

“Yes ma’am” he saluted you before taking a seat.

You got your camera ready and began to take pictures of his front but a piece of his hair was out of place and it was driving you crazy.

“Wait, lean down here for a second” you told him before setting your camera down and making your way to him and fixing his hair.

“Am I runway ready?” He asked with a laugh

“Damn straight you are baby” you laughed with him.

You got the front and back shots of his jersey before having him sit down for his headshot, but before you could even press the button that stupid piece of hair was messed up again.

You let out a groan before once again putting your equipment down and making your way back to him again. As you stood between his legs fixing his hair he ran his hands over your body before letting them rest on your ass.

When you leaned back a little to double check his hair he pulled you right back to him.

“Nico! I have to take your picture” you laughed as he began to kiss your neck.

“Pictures can wait, need you” he said and grabbed your hand to guide it to the bulge in his work out shorts.

“Baby we can’t, your to loud” you laughed and stepped back a little.

“What if I promise to be quite?” He asked giving you puppy dog eyes.

“Fuck fine! But be. Quiet.” You told him before he pulled his shorts and boxers down just enough for his hard dick to pop out.

“Ohh you poor thing, look how swollen your tip is” you teased him and you looked down at it.

“Baby please” he whined

“So impatient” you grumbled before spitting in your hands and slowly jerking him off at.

“Ohh shiitt” he moaned quietly, head thrown back.

You sped up a little watching as he bit his lip to keep himself from crying out to loud. You moved your other hand into his pants to pull his balls out and slowly massage them as well but his hand quickly shot to grab your wrist as soon as you began.

“What? Does that feel good” you mocked him

“Yea-fuck you know it does” he groaned as you began to work him slowly. You just laughed before dropping to your knees and putting him in your mouth.

“Holy shit!” He moaned out a little too loud at the contact of your warm tongue.

You pulled off him with a pop and scolded him for his loud outburst. You put him back in your mouth, taking him as deep as you could and holding yourself there for a moment until you needed to come up for air. You took a deep breath and began to bob you head back on his cock, your hand working what wouldn’t fit in your mouth.

“Your mouths so good” he moaned out in a hushed voice.

“Fuck my face Nico” you told him and watched his eyes light up.

He put a hand on the back of your head and used the other to guide his cock into your mouth before applying it to the back of your head as well.

His first few thrust were soft but they quickly sped up and he was telling you he was close, “shit gonna come down your throat” he told you and he looked down into your eyes.

One last hard thrust and you felt warm liquid run down your throat. He moaned before slowly pulling out of your mouth and tucking himself away as you cleaned around your mouth up.

“What?” You asked as you felt his eyes intensely on you.

“Oh don’t mind me, I’m just enjoying the view” he replied with a smirk.

#nico hischier #nico hischier x reader #nico hischier imagine #nico hischier smut #jack hughes #luke hughes #hockey imagine #nhl #nhl fanfiction #nhl imagine #fan fiction #new jersey devils #uluvejay request week

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rafyki · 6 months ago

Text

Goth! Nico/ Surfer! Percy AU Part 4!

Just a little thingy about Nico talking about what happened with Jason and Leo - I added some more valgrace for you @neo-kid-funk! I hope you enjoy it! 💕💕

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

~~~~~~

“Oh my god, he was flirting with you”.

Nico rolled his eyes at his friend. Leo hadn’t been there he couldn’t know that - it had been weird, sure, but that didn’t mean it must have been flirting, right?

The only thing Nico was sure of was that whatever that conversation he had had with Percy that afternoon had been, even just thinking about it was making butterflies fly like crazy in his stomach.

“For the umpteenth time, Leo, he was not flirting with me”.

Leo got up from where he was lying on the floor with his head on Jason’s lap just to fix Nico with the most judgemental look ever.

“Let me teach you how to surf”, he said, making air quotes with his fingers. “That definitely sounds like flirting to me”.

“Yeah, ‘cause you’re such an expert in flirting, aren’t you?”

It was Leo’s turn to roll his eyes at him.

“I know we all love talking about me, but somehow I’m not the main topic right now”, he said. “Also, I am the one with a boyfriend here, Goth-boy, so…”.

Nico scowled at him. God, he hated his friends.

It wasn’t not like he hadn’t expected the teasing that would come from telling them everything, but somehow Leo always managed to go beyond his expectations for how annoying he could be.

Nico hated how he couldn’t help but think that what he was saying made sense, couldn’t help the hot burning of hope growing inside him; he hated it, he could not allow himself to hope for real just to end up disappointed in the end.

Maybe Percy was just the kind of person who went around asking people if he could teach them how to surf? Maybe it was his way of showing off? It wasn’t like Nico knew him well enough to know this.

I know he loves the Little Mermaid though, his brain very usefully reminded him. I know he looked so embarrassed when I told him I don’t want to learn how to surf.

And I know he smiled at me when I told him I would look at him.

The last thought made his face burn. He didn’t even know how he had managed to recount the whole conversation to his friends without dying of embarrassment.

The more he thought about it the more the whole conversation with Percy sounded weirder and weirder if he removed the chance that it was indeed flirting. His heart jumped in his chest at the thought.

“Come on, Leo”, Jason stepped in. He wrapped his arms around Leo’s middle and pulled him to lay against his chest, resting his head on top of his.

Nico wasn’t jealous of them in any way, but he still felt his insides twisting around in a knot at the sight. He wondered how it would feel to have Percy’s arms around himself like that, if they too would fit together so well.

Don’t be ridiculous, Nico. You barely know the guy.

“Nico”, Jason said, pulling him out of his thoughts. “We’re not saying he was one hundred percent flirting with you - but really, he does sound interested in you at least in some measure”.

Nico hated how reasonable he made it sound. It was easier to get lost in the banter with Leo, but Jason was so pragmatic it was impossible to respond back to him.

“Also, you said he smiled at you when you told him-”

“Please don’t say it out loud”, Nico pleaded, cringing at himself. He still thought that burying himself under the ground somewhere could be his best option out of this,

Jason smiled at him, Leo laughed.

“Well”, Leo said. “One thing’s for sure - at least you were definitely flirting with him”.

“I’m going to kill you, Valdez”.

“You can’t! That would make Jason sad”, Leo replied. “Also, you know you love me, Goth-boy”.

Nico hated that he was right after all.

Jason was looking at them with a fond look in his eyes.

“I wasn’t flirting”, Nico mumbled in the end. “I just- I just happened to say that. I wasn’t really thinking”.

Percy made his mind go blank, free from any thought that wasn’t about how handsome he was, how Nico wanted him to keep smiling at him, and how much he wanted to get to know him. Really, all Nico had been thinking about was that he didn’t want Percy to leave, that he wanted that moment to last for as long as possible.

He let himself fall on the floor, lying down with his arms open. Biting on his lip rings had become a nervous habit, and he found himself doing it again as he stared up at the ceiling.

“Even if you weren’t thinking, it was still a pretty flirty thing to say”, Leo said. “And you said he looked pleased at that - so really, it’s a win-win situation”.

“Leo is right”, Jason added. “As awkward as it might have been, it sounds like all in all it was good. You talked to him for a while, you flirted, he seemed interested in you - so, what is it that’s making you being negative about it?”

Nico hid his face in the palms of his hands. He wanted to scream.

“I don’t know”, he pushed out through his dry throat.

Maybe it seemed too good to be true? Maybe he was afraid that even if Percy really was interested in him now he wouldn’t be anymore once he would get to really know him? Maybe he was just too embarrassed. Or maybe he simply wasn’t used to things going his way. He really didn’t know.

He suddenly felt two warm presences around him. He moved his hands away to see Jason sitting close to him with a hand on his shoulder, and Leo laying down next to him with his head resting on Nico’s side.

“You have this horrible habit of self sabotaging yourself, man”, Leo said.

Jason nodded. “You’re allowed to have good things, Nico”.

Oh Nico hated his friends.

“Shut up”, he said, hiding behind his hands again.

“Just talk to him again next time”, Jason said.

“Flirt with him again”, Leo added.

“See what happens”.

“And anyway you’re both so bad at flirting you must be made for each other”.

Nico blindly reached out to hit Leo on the head, and smiled when he got an offended ‘ouch’ in response.

Maybe he did love his friends after all.

#percy jackson #percy jackson and the olympians #nico di angelo #nicercy #percico #pernico #percico fic #goth/surfer percico #you know this is actually the first time im writing leo #i always thought he and nico would be great friends so this is my way of making it real lmao #also ive been wanting to write valgrace for a while so #im throwing it in here especially since neo also likes them!#it's a win-win!!#anyway nico baby is a little insecure mess but we love him for it #i already have some ideas for what to write next!!#gawd im dying to write percy and nico kiss ;A;#my fics

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babydollmarauders · 2 years ago

Text

GAME WINNER — NICO HISCHIER

nico hischier x fem!reader

summary: in which Nico gets rewarded for his game winning goal

warnings: MATURE CONTENT! oral (m receiving), nico having a “captain” kink, praise, not a lot of dialogue, not proofread.

notes: this could quite literally be trash, i’ve never written any kind of smut before, so if it’s horrible then please never expect smut from me again

it’s not often that i attend road games with my boyfriend. really, i’ve only been to three previously, but i had a long weekend off work and i was missing Nico. so, can anyone really blame me for giving into my temptations and buying an impulsive flight ticket to Arizona?

now here i sit, on the edge of my seat in Mullett Arena, waiting for the puck to drop again in overtime. i watch through the glass as my boyfriend switches places with Erik Haula for the faceoff, the puck drops and Nico wins it, sliding it back to Dougie.

Dougie passes the puck back to Nico, and my leg starts bouncing anxiously as he skates down the ice into the Coyotes defensive zone. Nico makes quick work of wristing the puck past the goalie and straight into the net, and i jump to my feet, clapping for him.

“YES! NEEKS!” i cheer, observing as he celebrates the win with his teammates. my thighs clench at the sight of his smirk, his cocky attitude more of a turn on than i’d like to admit.

the arena starts to empty out and i follow behind, due to meet with Nico back at his hotel. my mind races with thoughts that i hope nobody can read across my face; my plans for the night have been solidified.

the hotel room is empty when i arrive, which by no means surprises me. i estimate at least another half hour before Nico walks through the door, giving me plenty of time. i ruffle through Nico’s bag, pulling out one of his t-shirts, slipping my own off and unclasping my bra to leave me bare, i pull his shirt down over my head. i kick my shoes off and my jeans follow, being yanked off and shoved into my own bag, leaving my ass clad in red lace.

leaving my hair and makeup, i take a seat on the bed, scrolling through social media as i wait for my boyfriend to enter. as i predicted, it’s not until thirty minutes later that i hear the beep of the key card being scanned and the door opens to reveal Nico. his hair appears slightly damp from his post-game shower, and he’s switched back into his arrival suit.

he’s captivating.

“hi, darling.” he grins, walking over and dropping his phone, wallet, and airpods onto the nightstand. he leans down, dropping a chaste kiss to my lips, but i thread my hands into his hair, pulling him closer in an attempt to deepen it. he pulls back, a smirk spread across his lips once again tonight. “what was that for?”

“i’m so proud of you, captain.” my voice is sultry, dropped low in a seductive tone. his hands grip my waist as i rise from the bed. “you did so good tonight.”

“yeah?” smirk still painted onto his face, he pulls me flush against his body, his still hardening bulge pressing against me. “you’re proud, baby?”

“yeah.” i reiterate. it takes all my willpower to pull my body away from his, distancing myself. “let me show you how much.”

my hands push against his shoulders, and he allows my weak shove to knock him back onto the mattress, sitting at the edge of the bed. i drop to my knees slowly, placing my hands on his thighs as i do so, and look up at him through doe eyes and a bitten lip.

i let my touch graze up to his length, cupping it through his suit pants, and his hand comes up to roughly cup the back of my neck, using his grip to pull my lips to his in a dominant kiss. a moan escapes my throat as he sucks my lower lip, nipping gently at it in the heat of the moment. i smile into the kiss, allowing my fingers to wander down to button of his dress pants, undoing it before slipping my hand past the waistline of his underwear to palm him.

he stiffens for a moment at the cold touch before melting back into the kiss, relaxing into my contact. i part our lips, stroking him a few more times before i glide my hand free to pull his pants down. he assists me in my endeavor, letting his now fully erect cock spring free. my hand returns to it, stroking hard and slow as my tongue slips out to wet my lips.

Nico let’s out a shaky breath and i snake my other hand up to push his shirt up, watching with intrigue as his abs flex. noticing my gaze, he makes quick work of stripping off his suit jacket, unbuttoning his shirt and letting it hang open as he falls back onto his hands. i feel my core growing slick with want as i take in the erotic scene of my making, but push my own needs to the side.

tonight is about him.

leaning over, my tongue licks against his tip, making him shudder. i hollow out my cheeks as i go down, letting his cock slip past my lips just slightly. Nico brings one hand back to caress my cheek before using it to grip my hair in a makeshift ponytail, barely able to contain himself from thrusting into my mouth. peeking up at him through my lashes, his eyes are squeezed shut, his head dropped back as his chest rises and falls in a quick rhythm with shallow breaths, and it spurs me on to take him farther. i gag as his tip hits my throat, bobbing my head as i watch his reactions.

“y/n.” my name falls from his lips like a prayer, delighting my ears as he exhales it between groans. “fuck. you’re such a good girl.”

his praise causes my heart to pound in my chest, a moan bubbling up my throat. the vibrations of it reaching his cock, urging him to finally let loose and thrust into my throat. i gag once more, but power through it, breathing through my nose as he uses his grip on my hair to start guiding my head back and forth on his length. flattening my tongue along the underside of his shaft, i reach up to grip whatever can’t fit in my mouth, timing my strokes to match the bobs of my head.

Nico mutters some curses in german, his breathing picking up as his abdomen tightens again.

“i’m not gonna last long if you keep doing this, darling.” my lips lift as i smile around his dick, peeking up again to see him watching me as he bites his lip. my jaw starts to ache but i urge on, taking him as far as i can. i continue tugging at his cock as i pull back back to inhale a deep breath through my mouth, grinning up at him.

“i want you to come, captain.” my voice is hoarse from the violation of my throat, but my words still do the trick, making him moan and push my head back down towards his erection. i lick my lips once more before pushing his cock back past them, taking him as deep as i can muster, bobbing my head up and down as i suck around him.

i can feel his pull on my hair get tighter, hear his breath being held for longer, his tell that he’s about to tip over the edge, and i reach my free hand up to trail over his bare stomach, lightly grazing my fingertip down his abs. he groans out more german curses before i finally feel him come undone, ropes of cum coating my mouth as i continue through his climax. when he’s done, he pulls my lips off of his quickly softening cock, his hand dropping my hair and making its way to my cheek as he watches me swallow.

i stay seated on the floor as i watch him tuck himself back into his pants before i climb back up onto the bed.

“that proud, huh?” he teases, gripping my thigh as he pulls me to straddle his waist.

“probably prouder than that.” i whisper, leaning in to press a kiss to his lips.

“i love you.” he mumbles, his hand gliding up and down my spine.

“i love you more, game winning goal scorer.” he chuckles at my words before flipping us over so he hovers above me, his hand trailing to my front and down to my core.

“now how should i take care of you?”

#nico hischier #nico hischier smut #nico hischier imagine #nico hischier x reader #nico hischier blurb #nico hischier fic #nj devils #nhl smut #nhl blurb #nhl fic #nhl imagine #faithlynn’s writings <3

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socialfakes · 10 months ago

Text

the devils in the details- luke hughes

chapter 1; part 4: lost at the lake house

nhl players x platonic!fem!reader

eventual luke hughes x fem!reader

nico hischier x fem!reader

the masterlist

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yourinstagram | lake house days > everything ❤ tagged: lhughes_06, jackhughes, _quinnhughes, trevorzegras, jamie.drysdale, colecaufield, edwards.73, rutgermcgroarty

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edwards.73 oh what fun times we had this summer 😃

user11 where's nico?😭 | nicohischier wasn't invited 😔😉 | yourinstagram he's with family but we will see him soon 😊

jackhughes favorite memory of the summer? go! | yourinstagram hitting you in the face with a melted marshmallow 😂 | jackhughes funny because mine is when you slipped off the boat 😏 | yourinstagram slipped is not the word i would use 🙄 | colecaufield she didn’t slip. you tackled her right off the boat and into the water 😂 | trevorzegras my favorite memory was any time y/n was nice to me 😂 | yourinstagram it was rare so enjoy it

lhughes_06 my favorite part of the summer was when everyone was swimming around for a bit and we got back on the boat and abandoned them 😂 | yourinstagram dude jack & trevor were so pissed & that is why i loved it so much 😂 | _quinnhughes so that’s why you guys came running back inside that day like you were about to be killed? | yourinstagram you bet 😂 | jamie.drysdale you’re lucky i was able to calm them down 😂 | lhughes_06 thanks for saving our asses jamie 😂

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yourinstagram | super smiley best friend and one of a kind lover 😍 tagged: nicohischier

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lhughes_06 lover?

user16 somehow knew it was nico 😏

jackhughes still can’t get over your relationship. It’s too cute honestly

bboeser 😊

nicohischier I love you 😘❤

user12 how long have you guys been together? | yourinstagram almost 2 years 😊

_quinnhughes 😊

user07 this is the first post i saw about this relationship and although I hoped for you to be with luke, I like that you’re happy

njdevils what a precious smile 😊

user13 im sorry but im in love with your boyfriend 😍 | yourinstagram me too 😊

user17 almost 2 years and you’ve kept the secret the whole time? That’s insanely impressive ☺

juliasmith he’s adorable 😊 | yourinstagram 🙄

user01 nico needs to be protected at all costs. he's too precious ❤ | yourinstagram yes I agree 😃

Liked by juliasmith, edwards.73, jackhughes and 314,209 others

lhughes_06 | wish i could go back to the umich days when feelings didn’t hurt as much 😐

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jackhughes such a happy boy surrounded by the best teammates 😊

user12 such a smiley boy. i love it ❤

edwards.73 fun times 🎉

user13 what’s the caption supposed to mean?

_quinnhughes you got this, luke. she’s just a girl | lhughes_06 she’s not though

nicohischier channel those emotions into the game and you’ll feel better. love you buddy 😊

user14 sorry to say but feelings don’t hurt any less, whether they’re the past or present. turns out you just gotta roll with the punches, pookie. sorry you’re feeling this way though. love you ❤

elblue6 come back my smiley boy ❤

juliasmith ❤❤ | lhughes_06 😊❤

user15 who’s hurting my baby? 😫 | user13 i'm thinking it may be y/n but it could be someone else | user15 oh now that you mention it, she didn’t like the post and she hasn’t commented yet when she’s usually the first to comment on luke’s stuff

user16 i miss my happy boy 😔

yourinstagram you look so cute pookie ❤

user17 guys who’s juliasmith and why does her name keep popping up everywhere?

taglist: @worldlxvlys

#fake social media #instagram au #hockey player social media #nhl #luke hughes #quinn hughes #jamie drysdale #jack hughes #trevor zegras #new jersey devils #hughes brothers #nj devils #friends to lovers

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2nd2ndalto · 1 year ago

Text

Broken

Here's something angsty. Will loses a patient. Nico comforts him.

___

“Hey Will? I’m coming in to brush my teeth,” Nico calls, pausing with his hand on the knob of the bathroom door.

The boy in the shower doesn’t answer. Nico opens the door a crack.

“Will?” he tries again.

“Yup. Okay.”

Nico closes the door behind him, hesitating. Will sounds… off. But then, he’s allowed. It’s been an especially rough day. Three new campers arrived around lunchtime, all of them badly injured. Two survived.

Will might want to talk about it later, Nico thinks. He sometimes does, once they’re alone, curled together in Nico’s double bed. Guilty sentences choked out in the dark, Will’s breath against his neck. I should have been able to do more. It’s my fault.

Sometimes Will doesn’t want to talk. Sometimes he just wants to be held, no words exchanged. It’s messed up, honestly, forcing a kid to become a field medic at age ten. But that’s the nature of demigod life.

The worst is when Will doesn’t want to stay the night at all. Sometimes he goes back to his own cabin, sometimes he finds an empty bed in the infirmary. Nico aches at the thought of the other boy keeping his hurt to himself - he only does that when things are really bad - but they’re learning to give each other space.

Nico finishes brushing his teeth, spitting into the sink. His heart swells a bit at the sight of Will’s toothbrush in the cup next to his. A spare, for the many nights Will stays over. They’ve shared a bed for months now, many more months than they’ve actually been together.

The being together - that’s new - fresh and green and blossoming, stolen kisses and fingers twined together. Nico’s well aware that most of the camp probably thinks there’s more than that going on. Let them think what they want. He’s never been happier.

Nico pauses in front of the steamed-up mirror, realizing he hasn’t heard any signs of life from the shower for a few minutes.

“Solace? You okay in there?”

Silence.

“Will?” Nico’s pulse picks up speed.

“I can’t - I feel like I can’t get it off my hands.” Will’s voice is cracked, broken, words choked out between sobs he’s clearly been trying to mask under the running water.

Shit.

“What do you mean? What can’t you get off?” Nico steps closer, one hand pressed to the mottled glass door of the shower, as close as he can get to the other boy.

There’s another long pause.

“Will?” Nico can hear the rising panic in his own voice. Should he go get Austin?

“Her blood,” Will gasps out. “It won’t come off.”

Nico’s heart sinks. Will’s hands had looked clean when he arrived at Cabin Thirteen. Will is notoriously diligent about hand-washing.

Nico keeps a hand pressed hard to the shower door, as if he can offer some modicum of comfort that way.

“Hey. Will, it’s - it’s not real, okay? It’s just - it’s just in your head. There’s no blood on you.” Nico can just make out the form of his boyfriend huddled on the floor. What the fuck is he supposed to say?

He stands there in the steamy little room, helpless, just the heartbreaking sound of Will’s sobs and the rush of the water.

“Will, do - do you want me to get someone?” Nico’s own voice nearly breaks and he frowns, swallowing hard. This is not the time.

“No, don’t.” Will’s answer comes immediately. “I don’t want - please don’t tell anyone.”

“Okay, but - Will, tell me what to do,” Nico pleads. “Please tell me how I can help.” He tries to keep his voice steady, tries not to blurt out, you’re scaring me.

“No. I’m fine,” Will chokes out, and Nico would laugh if it wasn’t all so awful. Will’s always fine, isn’t he? That’s his job. That’s the problem.

Nico can only manage another moment pressed against the shower door before he’s in motion, because gods, he can’t bear another second. All he wants to do is pull the other boy into his arms, soothe him any way he can. Offering platitudes with a door in between them isn’t helping anyone. He spares only the briefest moment for embarrassment before he’s pulling off his pajamas and letting them fall to the floor.

He pauses then, hand on the shower door, because they haven’t ever done this. And though he can’t stand to be separated from Will for the space of another breath, he still needs the other boy to have some say in the matter.

Moving to the bathroom door, he flicks off the lights, plunging the little room into complete darkness.

“Nico?”

Nico stumbles back to the shower. “I’m coming in,” he says, doing his best to hide the way his voice is shaking.

“No, you -”

“Please, Will.” He pauses, fingers tight on the door handle.

There’s a long silence and then, “okay.” Will’s voice is just barely audible over the water.

Nico steps into the steamy little space, dropping to the floor and reaching for his boyfriend in the darkness. His hand finds Will’s shoulder, and in the next second Will scoots into his arms, pressing his face into Nico’s neck, clinging, his body shaking with deep, aching sobs. Nico gathers him in, desperately hoping that maybe if he holds on tight enough he can fix this. One of his bare knees is pressed into the pebbled floor of the shower and one arm bent at an odd angle, but he doesn’t loosen his hold. His own tears fall fast and silent, washed away in the spray of the shower.

It’s several minutes before Will’s tears begin to ease and he takes in a gasp.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here. I thought I could hold it together. I wanted to see you, but I should’ve -” The words fall out in a rush, desperate, like Will’s trying to push them out before the tears start again.

“Will. Stop. I want to help. I want you here. Please let me help.”

“I don’t think anyone can help me.” Will’s voice breaks again, and he pulls in a gasp, convulsive

“Then let me hold you,” Nico says, trying for sure, steady. He doesn’t think he manages it.

Will doesn’t answer, but Nico thinks he softens a little further into the embrace. He’s pulling in sharp, quick breaths, his shoulders heaving.

“Hey. Breathe with me, okay?” Will nods against his head and Nico closes his eyes, counting, doing his best to calm his own breathing the way Will taught him to do back when he first arrived at camp three years ago. It’s pure relief when he finally feels Will match his breaths, and they spend the longest time wrapped together in the dark under the falling water. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

Finally Will’s hold relaxes the tiniest bit and Nico pulls back enough to kiss him, desperate, again and again. It’s not heat, not passion, just love. Wrenching, bone-deep sadness for the other boy. He cradles Will’s face tenderly and Will kisses back just as hard, melting into it. They finally part, foreheads pressed together.

“I love you,” Nico tells the other boy. It’s not the first time he’s said it, but he tries to pour his whole heart into the words, this time.

“I love you too,” Will whispers. “You - I - I’m such a fucking mess. I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to see me like this. I’m too much, I know I am, you shouldn’t have to deal with this, I just don’t want to lose you -”

Nico’s stomach twists. “Will, what?” He pulls back enough to look Will in the eye, though it’s really too dark to see anything but the vaguest silhouette.

“I don’t - I can’t -” Will’s voice breaks again.

“You are not gonna lose me, okay? Is - is that what you’re saying? You think I’ll leave when I realize what - how fucked up you are?” he asks, incredulous.

Will doesn’t answer.

“Will.” He pulls the other boy closer again, rubbing his back, his shoulders, anywhere he can reach. “Will I already know who you are. You’re not - I already love you. I know who you are and I love who you are, okay? All of you.”

“Are you sure?” Will gasps out between hiccuping sobs.

“Yes, you idiot,” Nico half-laughs. “I can’t believe you thought you were hiding anything from me.”

Will laughs too, a short, relieved sound.

“Idiot,” Nico repeats softly, sliding his hand into Will’s wet hair, stroking. He rocks them back and forth as best as he can until Will’s breath starts to settle again.

“I’m sorry I made you get in the shower,” Will murmurs.

“You didn’t make me do anything,” Nico says. “Now. Just hold on. Don’t move.”

He rises carefully, cautiously feeling around on the shelves in the shower stall until his fingers encounter what he’s looking for.

“Here.” Nico sits back down. “Give me your hand.”

Will does, and Nico takes the other boy’s hand between both of his, soaping carefully over each of his fingers, then reaching for the nail brush, gently, methodically scrubbing around Will’s nails.

“Nico.” The other boy’s voice is soft, sorry. “You - you don’t have to. I know there wasn’t really blood, I just -”

“I know you know,” Nico says, continuing his gentle scrubbing. He sets down the nail brush after a moment, turning Will’s hand to the spray of the water, carefully washing off the soap. “Give me your other hand,” he instructs, quiet, and Will does. Nico thinks he can feel some of the tension drain from Will’s body along with the water and soap. He carefully washes Will’s arms, up to his elbows, soaping, rinsing. He can’t see what he’s doing, but he imagines he can, running his fingers tenderly over freckled skin, soft blond hair. Firm muscle, familiar scars.

Will sighs. Nico finally brings Will’s hands to his face, pressing kisses to the back of his hands, then his palms. He leans in to press his lips to Will’s forehead.

“It’s okay,” he murmurs. Will nods, taking a shaky breath.

“I’m gonna get the shampoo,” Nico tells him. He’s not sure how much cleaning Will managed to do before Nico entered the shower, but Will doesn’t protest, just sits there quiet and compliant as Nico carefully shampoos his hair and rinses, then reaches for the conditioner. He touches the other boy with all the care and love he deserves, hoping Will can somehow soak it up in these moments, that maybe it will help him in harder moments tomorrow. Nico massages the conditioner through Will’s wet curls, fingers careful on his scalp, finishing with a wet kiss to each cheek before leaning back, guiding Will into the spray of the water.

They hold each other afterwards, still sitting on the floor of the shower, until the water starts to cool. Will is quiet, his breath slow and even. He must be exhausted, Nico thinks.

“I’ll grab towels,” Nico says, standing and pulling the door open. “I’m gonna turn the light on, okay?”

He quickly dries off, wrapping a towel around his waist. The shower door opens and Will’s hand reaches out. Nico pushes a towel into his grasp and Will emerges a moment later, similarly wrapped. His gaze flickers to Nico and then back to his bare feet, his eyes puffy and red.

Nico can’t imagine he looks much better himself. He steps forward, winds his arms around Will’s neck. Will lets out a long sigh as he returns the embrace, his hands warm on Nico’s bare skin.

Nico pulls back after a long moment, reaching for another towel to rub over Will’s shoulders, his chest. He lets his fingers linger over Will's tattoo, then carefully presses his hand to the other boy's chest. Warm, damp skin, steady heartbeat. He glances up to meet Will’s eyes. The intensity in the taller boy’s gaze makes Nico want to cower a little, but instead he rises on his toes, pressing a soft kiss to Will’s lips.

“Hair,” Nico instructs, raising the towel to Will’s head, and Will ducks his head so Nico can reach. “You’re so fucking tall,” he complains under his breath, hoping for a smile.

He gets a half-one at least, Will’s eyes welling a bit with the action.

“Thanks,” Will says, his voice hoarse.

Nico shrugs. “Any time. How many times have you put me back together, Solace?”

Will swallows, nodding mutely.

Nico gazes at him. He looks particularly vulnerable, barefoot and towel-clad in the little bathroom. Tired. Defeated. It makes Nico's heart ache.

“I’m glad you came here,” Nico says.

Will nods. “Me too,” he whispers.

“You’re staying, right?”

It’s weirdly not awkward at all, both of them standing here in this tiny room in only towels. Nico can feel an echo of warmth - Will’s bare skin pressed to his own. It’s just comfort. It’s just them. He wants them both to curl up inside the feeling and forget everything else.

Will glances away. “I don’t know.”

Nico’s heart drops.

“I should - I should probably… I’m pretty sure I’m gonna have nightmares. I don’t want to bother you with that.”

Nico scoffs. “Don’t be an idiot.”

Will won’t quite meet his eye.

“Hey.” He grabs Will’s hand. “Do you really need some space? Because I get it if you do. But if you want to stay - I want you here. I don’t need any space from you right now, nightmares or not. I’m gonna wrap around you like velcro and cuddle you all night,” he threatens.

Will smiles, a real one this time. “Okay. That sounds nice.”

Minutes later Will joins him in bed and Nico tucks them both in, cozy under pajamas and blankets. Will curls into him, tucking his head under Nico’s chin the way he only does when he’s feeling particularly broken. Nico holds tighter.

“Do you… do you wanna talk about it?” Nico asks after a long moment.

There’s a pause and then Will shakes his head.

“Okay. That’s okay,” Nico murmurs. At least he’s here.

“Hey,” Nico says after a long silence, nervous. The thought has been lingering on the edges of his mind, and he suddenly realizes he wants to get the words out before they both succumb to sleep. “You, um. You remember when I went to see Reyna last week?”

“Yeah?”

Nico presses his face into Will’s damp curls. “She um. She started seeing like… a therapist. In New Rome.”

Will doesn’t answer, but there’s a certain tension in his body that tells Nico he’s listening.

“She said it was really helping her, and she thought - well. She thought it might be good for me to try that. Too.”

Nico hasn’t allowed himself to think about it too deeply. The prospect is terrifying, honestly. But maybe something does need to change. Maybe he and Will can do a bit better than spending the rest of their lives patching each other up.

“And what do you think?” Will asks. Nico can feel the words breathed out against his sternum, the movement of Will’s jaw.

Nico lets out a soft laugh. “I - I dunno. It sounds… kind of awful, actually. But I was thinking maybe… maybe I should… look into it.”

There’s a long moment of quiet.

“If you go…” Will says eventually, soft, “maybe… maybe you could tell me how it is.”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.”

Well, I guess I’m going to therapy, Nico thinks to himself.

Nico shifts a bit, tries to make them both a bit more comfortable. He tucks his nose against the crown of Will’s head.

“Look,” he murmurs, because he wants to make sure he made himself clear, earlier, “it’s always cool if you need space, okay? But don’t stay away because you think you’re too much for me. You’re not. We can be fucked up together. Or we can take turns. Whatever. I just wanna love you.”

Will nods. “Okay,” he says, his voice breaking just a little.

Will falls asleep almost immediately, his breath slow and steady against Nico’s chest. Nico’s mind spins for a while longer before it finally settles into the now-familiar comfort of the boy in his arms, their shared breath, the smell of Will’s hair.

He wishes he could do more for Will. None of this is easy. But they’re here. And they’re together. And maybe that’s enough for tonight.

___

Thanks for reading! Reblogs are always appreciated and I love reading the accompanying tags - I never know how to respond to comments in tags, but I do read them & appreciate you taking the time to write them <3

#nico di angelo #will solace #solangelo #my writing #angst #hurt/comfort #pjo fic #rated teen for trauma I guess #technical nudity but definitely no smut

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