Chapter Text
Nico knew his father meant well, but Nico abhorred fancy dinners. Especially restaurant fancy dinners, where he was required to actually wear the suit and tie getup his father had custom made for him.
The Oracle was fancy enough for Hades’ taste but not so much as to Nico refusing to go. It was designed to be warm and welcoming, which Nico thought was ironic, considering his father practically oozed darkness.
It was a joint party, really. They were celebrating his father’s and stepmother’s anniversary, as well as the anniversary of his half-sister Hazel joining their family. Nico did love Hazel, which was the only reason he bothered to do something about his hair. Or so he said.
His hair was tied up at the back of his head, just long enough for it all to stay tied up. He did miss the softness of it brushing his face, but at least it wouldn’t fall into his eyes while he ate.
He dug out his phone from his pocket and posted a quick line on tumblr.
theghostking:
I really don’t like suits. Pro tip: Avoid at all costs.
“Nico, put your phone away.”
Nico looked up from his maybe not so stealthily under table messaging. His father frowned in disapproval. Hazel bit her lip to keep her from bursting out laughing, while Bianca kicked at his foot lightly, not even bothering to hide her smile as she twirled a lock of hair around her finger. Nico gave her a kick back as he pocketed his phone.
“Sorry, father.”
Hades gave a nod, before turning back to his menu, and conversing softly with Persephone.
Nico rolled his eyes.
Bianca leaned over the table to whisper, “Five minutes in and you already annoyed him. That’s a new record.”
He scowled and aimed another kick at her, but he missed, hitting Hazel instead. Hazel let out an indignant noise, throwing a glare at Nico.
One look of Persephone pulled them all back in line. However, Nico saw Bianca’s shoulders shake in silent laughter.
Nico’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He put up his menu in front of him and used that as cover to check his friends’ replies.
Goldenboy:
neeks, your wearing a suit?? pics come on!
He sighed at Jason’s reply and resisted the urge to correct his grammar.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. May I take your orders?”
Nico looked up from his phone/menu, and his jaw dropped. If the restaurant was meant to be warm and welcoming, they should have used this guy as an example. His hair was the colour of the golden morning sun and his eyes were the soft hue of an endless, glittering ocean, crashing into his heart. His smile… Nico bit his lip as his fingers darted across his phone. Damn that smile was gorgeous as he was.
theghostking:
I have a really hot waiter.
He knew Jason would eat it up. Percy most likely would, too. Leo would respond with dumbass gifs as the comments rolled in. Last time Percy and Jason had another cockfight with words, Leo had posted Michael Jackson eating popcorn while watching intently. Even Piper would likely respond on his love life, or lack thereof.
“Nico.”
“Huh?” Nico looked up. All eyes were on him. including his hot waiter. Oh, his order. “Um.” He quickly glanced at the menu while pocketing his phone again and picked the first thing he saw, plus a coke.
Satisfied, their waiter took their menus and walked off. His father looked at him funny. Was it because he ordered coke? Nico pretended that was was the reason, and not because he’d been drooling over goldilocks.
He could feel his phone burn a hole in his pocket. He ignored it.
“So, Bianca,” his father asked, and Bianca abandoned activity of making faces at him. “How are things at the Girl Scouts?”
Bianca’s face lit up, even as Nico scowled. Ever since Bianca joined that girl cult, she had no more time for him. She spent most of her free time with them, and Nico wasn’t allowed to come. At the time, she was all he had. His father didn’t yet try to connect with his kids, Persephone didn’t like him, and Hazel hadn’t joined them yet. It made him bitter. Never mind that it was years ago, Nico could hold a grudge like no one. Those Girl Scouts would never win his affections.
“It’s great,” Bianca said. “Artemis even took us camping and taught us all these survival skills.
It took some years before Bianca noticed, really noticed, what it did to Nico. She did try to divide her time more between her friends and her little brother after that. He did like having his sister back, even a little, but the resentment was still there, buried but not forgotten.
Nico started when Hazel’s hand covered his. He looked up and saw her tiny smile. He returned it.
Then of course, Hazel showed up. A little thirteen year old, shaking, scared, and alone, except for Alecto, who’d brought her to them. Nico remembered standing there, staring at the girl who they told him was his sister. He remembered Bianca standing next to him on the stairs, her hand on his shoulder.
Nobody of them moved. His father was talking with Alecto, barely sparing a glance at the girl. Nico remembered moving away from his sister’s hand down to Hazel. He remembered standing there in front of the girl, and actually being taller than her. She looked at him with her big, golden eyes. Then he took her hand.
“Come on,” he said. “You’re my sister, too.” And with that, he took Hazel up to his room, with Bianca close behind.
It was that moment their drinks arrived. Their waiter placed the drinks with their owners. Nico’s hand may have squeezed Hazel’s when he studied the strong lines of his arms. Nico bit his lip. Hazel shot him a sly look, and she pulled her hand away. He wondered why, before the blond turned to him.
When he placed his Coke in front of Nico, he caught his eyes. Those blue eyes were mesmerising. He could feel his cheeks up.
“I’ll be back soon with your food,” he promised and walked away.
Hazel leaned in close. “You like him, don’t you?”
Nico’s cheeks heated up further. “No. Shut up. I don’t.”
He ducked his head down, cursing that his hair didn’t swoop down to cover his red face. He could deny all he wanted, but he might slightly like their waiter. But that was as far as he would take it. He refused to crush on a straight guy again.
Their waiter came back then, two plates on his arms and one in his hand. He was followed by another waiter, carrying two more plates. The dishes were placed in front of them.
When the blond placed the plate in front of him, he said, “Careful, the plate is hot, too.”
Nico looked up at him. His face was close enough for him to count his freckles. Too? Does he mean the food? Maybe he missed something.
Just to be certain, he asked, “Too?”
The waiter locked eyes with him then, a mischievous glint in the blue orbs. He raised his hand and touched Nico’s shoulder. That alone caused a burst of heat to flare through him, but he said, “Tsssss.”
It took a moment for Nico to make the connection, but then he blushed bright scarlet. Apparently his hot waiter followed him on tumblr. He hid his face in the crook of his arm. Nico had no doubt he walked away with a grin on his face.
Nico pushed his chair back, scraping it against the floor. “I have to use the bathroom, I’ll be right back,” he spoke in a single breath, before he darted away.
Once in the safety of a cubicle, he pulled out his phone. He ignored all the replies on his previous comments, instead posting his own.
theghostking:
Guys he came back with my food and said, “Careful the plate is hot too.” So I asked, “too?” and hE TOUCHED MY SHOULDER THEN MADE A SIZZLING NOISE.
His face was still flaming hot, even as his friends posted unhelpful comments.
CaptainSaltWater:
BWHAHAHAHA!!!
Goldenboy:
AU%$TI^$NTB;J!! THAT SLEEK DUDE NICO HES PERFECT KEEP HIM!!!!
\-\WiseGirl\-\:
Oh my Gods O.O
Nico’s hand was in his hair, yanking out the hair tie so he could actually run his hand through it. His friends and other followers made more useless comments, which didn’t help Nico at all at the moment. He didn’t need any of that, he needed advice.
theghostking:
I’M FREAKING OUT WHAT DO I DO.
Piper was the first to reply.
BeautyQueen:
HIM
Not that Nico was very against that idea, but it still didn’t help him. He shoved his phone away and left his cubicle. He splashed some water on his face. and looked at himself in the mirror.
His hair was all messy disarray and he quickly threaded it back into a ponytail. Then he went back out to the table, after stalling for a while.
The rest of the meal passed without any excitement. Near the end Hades gave their gift to Hazel. Horseback riding lessons. Nico grinned at the look of pure joy on Hazel’s face. He was very proud that he knew what to whisper in his father’s ear.
Persephone was easy as well. Together with Hazel and Bianca they managed to find some exotic plant seeds and gave them to her in a gift basket, along with a nice bottle of wine. She even thanked them with a warm smile.
Hades went all out and gifted his wife with a lovely diamond necklace with matching earrings. They sparkled in the light when they moved. Nico looked away when they kissed. There was something he did not need to see.
And here came something he wanted to see more of.
“Can I interest you in a desert?”
Nico bit his tongue to stop him from saying exactly what kind of dessert he was interested in.
Bianca glanced his way with a smirk, before turning to the blond. Nico suddenly had a bad feeling.
“Is there something you’d recommend?” she asked.
“Well, the devil’s cake is superb.”
“Oh, that’s too much chocolate for me.” She glanced back at Nico. “But Nico does love chocolate, don’t you?”
Nico tried not to blush when the blond turned his attention to him. He averted his eyes to the table and traced his finger through the wet spot his glass had made.
Hades ordered a coffee, same as Persephone. Bianca decided on Dame Blanche, Hazel opted for a cheesecake, and Nico’s cheeks reddened as he asked for the devil’s cake. Bianca’s smug face was completely unwarranted. He did love chocolate. He did not pick it just because blondie said it was good.
He could feel Bianca’s foot nudging him again. He angrily pushed it away.
All through dessert Bianca and Hazel kept up a subtle stream of conversation, which hinted at a certain waiter. All the while Nico kept his mouth shut, his head down, and his cheeks hopefully devoid of red.
When it was time to leave, Nico had half-hearted hopes to maybe get the boy’s number. If it had been him paying, it might have worked. But it was his father who paid. It was his father who received the bill. Writing a number on that would be weird.
So all Nico could do was watch sullenly as his golden opportunity slipped away. When it was time to go, Nico did grudgingly. He slipped on his aviator jacket. As they made their way out Nico glanced over his shoulder, hoping to catch a last glimpse of his blond.
They left through the doors with Nico’s heart in his shoes. Bianca glanced back at Nico with a penetrating stare that Nico couldn’t hope to decipher. Before he could snap a question at her, she said to no one in general, “Do we have everything? I have the feeling we forgot something.” She gave Nico another pointed stare. “Do you have your phone, little brother?”
Nico bristled. Of course he had his phone… His hand went to his pocket just in case. Why would he ever leave his phone… Phone… Suddenly it clicked. Phone number! She was trying to get him to double back to get the blond’s phone number.
“Oh! I, uh, my phone, I have to, yeah. Be right back.” He darted back inside.
Nico was breathless when he reached inside the doors. Once again he tried to spot the blond. He spotted him all the way in the back, and with heart beating fast, made his way over.
His hands fretted with his hair, with the collar of his jacket, with straightening his shirt. Oh, gods, why was he wearing a suit?
The blond didn’t notice him until in the end. He turned his head and caught sight of him from the corner of his eye. When he turned to face him proper, Nico was standing in front of him.
The blond gave him a radiant smile. “Hey. Forgot something?”
Nico almost couldn’t speak. His throat constricted as he tried to think past the beauty in front of him.
“Yeah,” he finally managed. He dug into his pocket for a piece of paper. “Do - do you have a pen?”
It was fun to see him scrabble for a pen. First his hand went to his shirt pocket, where there wasn’t one, then he searched on the counter behind him.
“Here,” he said finally, presenting him with a restaurant pen.
Nico, with fingers that did not shake, hastily scribbled down his number. He folded the paper, and handed it to the boy in front of him, along with the pen, his cheeks tinted pink.
Nico had hoped to quickly walk away so he wouldn’t see the outcome, and just anxiously wait for a call or a text. That was ruined when the other immediately opened the note and read the number on it. He could see the grin start growing on his face.
If this kept up, Nico would end up with his cheeks permanently inflamed.
He looked up at Nico.
“I’ll definitely call you.” A thought seemed to strike him and he held out his hand. “I’m Will.”
Will. Now he had a name to put with the gorgeous boy that would frequent his dreams. He didn’t voice those thoughts. Instead he placed his own hand in the blond’s - Will’s.
“Nico.”
With a mischievous gleam that Nico was starting to expect, love and fear, Will brought Nico’s hand up to his mouth and pressed a kiss against it.
“A pleasure to meet you.”
Nico’s breath came out shuddering.
“Right,” he said. “Yeah, great, good.” He took a deep breath to calm himself, while Will’s shoulders shook with silent mirth. “Well, I should be going.” Nico shook their still clasped hands. “It was nice to meet you, Will.” Damn, even his manners kicked in.
Will grinned at him. “Likewise.”
Nico couldn’t look away. Those blue eyes were hypnotising since the first time he saw them. The blond hair that fell in waves over his forehead looked so soft he wanted to run his hand through them.
Will, still grinning, shot a look at their still shaking hands, before glancing back at Nico. “I thought you were leaving?”
That shook Nico out of his stupor. “I am,” he said. He pulled his hand free. “Good day to you.”
He almost missed Will’s quip of, “It’s night.”
He speed walked away, but he couldn’t resist turning around to say, “You are so annoying.”
Will had a gall to laugh at him.
His family was waiting for him. His sisters looked positively evil with their grins while Persephone and Hades had more thoughtful looks, which Nico did not like at all.
“Got it,” Nico only said, waving his phone for good measure.
“Good for you,” Bianca said airily. Hazel snorted back a laugh. “Shall we get going then? Jules-Albert is waiting for us.”
Once they were home and Nico safely in the comforts of his own room, he dug out his phone and went through all his messages. He tried to keep his expression neutral even though he felt a scowl coming up.
He made a screenshot of the number of messages and added the picture as he typed a new message in tumblr.
theghostking:
wanna know what these all say?
“suck his dick”
It was only when he was almost drifting off to sleep that he shot upright. Will followed him on tumblr. Will read tumblr at work. Will probably read his last post when he posted it.
Nico groaned and tried to drown himself in his pillow.