Chapter Text
The next few days passed by quickly. It was a stroke of luck that one of Percy’s (and by extension, Jason’s, and by extension, Nico’s) friends owned the student newspaper, the Oracle. Thanks to Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the whole school knew about the Ghost King in a matter of days. And from there, some big national paper picked it up, announcing to the whole world that the Ghost King was one of the world’s best superheroes, whose name was unfairly slandered by a supervillain.
Well, maybe Nico being the “world’s best” superhero was just Will, but as Nico’s doctor and boyfriend, Will was pretty sure his opinion counted as being professional and totally unbiased.
With Eros gone, he and Nico actually got to go on a couple dates that weren’t ruined by supervillains, and it was nice. It was so nice. Of course, Nico was still healing from his last battle, and that time he fought off a crowbar-wielding mugger even when Will told him not to because he’d aggravate his wounds, and that time he fought a possum that was hyped up on drugs and radiation (even as Will also told him not to fight that one, but to be fair, Will had been laughing so hard that Nico could probably barely understand him).
And Cecil was still seemingly terrified of Nico, usually leaving as soon as Will asked if it was okay if Nico came over. Which worked out perfectly fine for Nico and Will, who usually spent their dates cuddled up on the couch watching one of those classic movies that Nico had never seen for some reason (like Star Wars. Who hasn’t seen Star Wars? Will was pretty sure that Cecil’s theory about Nico secretly being a time traveler from the 1940s had some merit).
Which is why it was so weird when Will’s phone interrupted their movie (Tangled, which Nico had also never seen somehow) with a text from Cecil, asking if Nico was there.
“I think Cecil is finally going to talk to you,” Will said, typing back a reply.
Nico snorted. “If he asks me again if I’m in the mafia, I’m going to punch him.”
“Don’t do that, he’d probably take it as confirmation.”
They hadn’t told Cecil that Nico was the Ghost King– well, Nico hadn’t told anyone, except Jason. But Will wouldn’t be surprised if Cecil somehow figured it out, only to pin it as “less believable” than his theory about Nico being a time traveler or Nico being a werewolf. Will was starting to wonder if he should finally get Cecil and Lou Ellen together, just so Cecil would stop making up conspiracies about his boyfriend.
It was a few minutes later when Cecil arrived, hand slapped over his face. Nico and Will both stood up from the couch as he stumbled in, closing the door.
“You guys better not be naked,” Cecil said, hand tight over his eyes.
“We’re fully clothed, Cecil,” Will said, rolling his eyes, pretending like the idea of doing something like that with Nico didn’t sound totally fantastically appealing. Of course, they’d probably save that stuff until either of them owned a bed larger than a twin.
Cecil, relieved, lowered his hand. Steeling himself, he said with a determined look on his face, “Nico, I need to talk to you. Will, sorry, but you’re getting banished to the study room across the hall.”
Nico sent Will a pleading save me look, but Will just laughed, pressing a kiss to Nico’s cheek. “Please don’t punch my roommate, Neeks.”
“No promises,” Nico grumbled, glaring at Cecil, who looked slightly pale.
Will left their dorm room, stepping into the thankfully empty, closet-sized study room across the hall. He stared at the beige walls, and the whiteboard that had someone’s chemistry notes scribbled across it, and wondered what Cecil actually had to say to his boyfriend.
Well. The walls were thin. If Will just happened to leave the study room door open, and stand halfway in the hallway, who could blame him for overhearing?
Lingering in the study room doorway, Will strained his ears to hear what Cecil was saying. Which was pretty easy, because Cecil wasn’t the most quiet person.
“Look, di Angelo, I’m onto you.”
Will snorted. This was going to be entertaining.
“I’m not in the mafia, Cecil.”
“You’re in something, I can tell. I can smell it on you. And the thing is, I don’t care. You can do whatever weird, evil magic stuff you want to. But don’t you dare get Will hurt. Because he talks about you like you’re a hero, and he’s my best friend, and I’m not going to let you hurt him. I don’t care who you are, Mr. Dark and Mysterious, but if he gets hurt because of you– physically or emotionally– then you’ll be the one sleeping with the little Italian fishes. So take care of him, or else I’ll take care of you . The mean way.”
Something twirled in Will’s chest at the words. Sure, it was the least intimidating shovel talk he’d ever heard, and Cecil stood pretty much no chance against Nico unless they were operating via Home Alone logic (another classic movie he should force Nico to watch). But, hey, it was nice to know that his roommate was willing to threaten a “member of the Italian mafia” for him.
“Trust me, Cecil, I don’t want to hurt him either. He’s my hero, too, you know.”
Oh. Well. That was nice to hear. He couldn’t help the grin that rose to his face.
“Good to know. But I still don’t trust you, di Angelo. I will find out whatever conspiracy thing you’ve got going on. If I haven’t already. And that’s not even a threat, that’s a promise .”
The handle of their dorm room began to turn, and Will quickly sat down on the ratty study room couch, feigning boredom and ignorance. Cecil left the room before Nico did, looking triumphant and only a little scared as he popped into the study room. He sent an exaggerated wink at Will, hauling his backpack over one shoulder.
“Have fun, stay off my bed, and use protection.”
And with that, Cecil all but ran down the hallway, like he really was being chased by the Italian mafia. Smiling to himself, Will slipped back into his dorm room. Nico was standing in the middle of the room, looking shocked and quite possibly more scared than Cecil.
“Nico? Are you okay?” Will sat back down on the couch, and Nico followed suit, leaning into him.
“I thought Cecil was supposed to be afraid of me,” Nico grumbled. “Are we sure he isn’t the one secretly in the mafia?”
Will laughed. “Cecil’s too smart to join the mafia, Neeks. Lou Ellen and I both think he’s way more likely to join one of those cult-y wilderness camps that sell ungodly amounts of strawberries or something.”
Nico wrinkled his nose. “That’s oddly specific. Should I be worried about you joining one of those?”
“Nah, I much prefer weird cult-y military camps in California,” Will joked. “But don’t worry, I would never leave you to face my big, scary roommate all by yourself.”
“Shut up.” Nico playfully hit Will on the arm, and Will laughed harder. “You’re such a dork.”
“Yeah, but you love me anyway.”
Grabbing the remote, Will slipped his arm around Nico, who was busy burying himself into Will’s side while pretending that his ribs didn’t hurt. As the show played, Will froze, realizing what he said. He felt his cheeks heating up as he stammered out, “I didn’t mean it like that–”
“Relax, Solace.” Nico kissed him on the lips, smiling through the kiss. “I do love you anyway.”
“Oh.” The blush wasn’t going away. If anything, it was getting worse. And he could barely even think words, much less say them. Curse you, Nico di Angelo. “Sweet. I love you too, I mean.”
Nico snickered, turning his attention back to the TV. “You totally missed the opening for a Star Wars reference. I’m disappointed in you.”
“Ah, fuck, you’re right. Can I have a do-over? Please?”
Nico looked up at Will, brown eyes sparkling, and Will was pretty sure that if he died right now, he’d have no regrets.
“I love you.”
The words sent a rush of sparks straight to Will’s stomach. “I know.”
He knew a lot of things. He knew all the bones in his hand, and he knew that Cecil was probably going to give a speech about conspiracies if he and Nico got married (no, it’s not too early to start dreaming about that, shut up). And he knew that he was really, really glad that the Ghost King turned out not to be a dark villain intent on destroying the world, but instead, turned out to be the light of Will’s life.
He was so going to use that line in their hopefully-future-but-mostly-just-hypothetical wedding.