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Whenever Will was bored, he would take a mortal form and wander around on Earth for a little while, maybe flirt with a few humans if he was in the mood, try out whatever new food they were attempting - those food trucks were always cooking up the wildest things, and so far he hadn’t been a fan of any of them.
On one particular day, he took the form of tall, tan blond - a surfer type to match the California beach town he’d decided to visit that day - and started walking down one of the streets, hoping that something would catch his eye.
It wasn’t long before something grabbed his attention and refused to let him go. A boy was walking down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street, a backpack bouncing against his back with every step and earbuds in his ears to block out what were sure to be numerous catcalls that he no doubt got on the average day. Will felt so drawn to him that he didn’t even notice when he stepped into the street, walking in front of cars and ignoring the screeching of their tires and honking of their horns. He walked up to the boy when he stopped at a crosswalk and smiled his best smile.
“Hi there,” Will said, cranking his charm up to eleven. “I hope I’m not bothering you, but you are the most beautiful person I’ve seen all day and I have to know the secret to your beauty. Maybe you could tell me over dinner?”
The boy raised an eyebrow at him before plucking one of the headphones out of his ear with a simple, “What?”
Will felt himself deflate from an eleven to maybe a nine at most. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I, uh, I just wanted to tell you that you’re beautiful, and was hoping that I could buy you dinner sometime. If you’re interested, of course.”
The boy’s eyes scanned him once, up and down, before he said, “I’m not,” and plugged his headphone back into his ear as he started to cross the street.
Nico could say that he was used to getting hit on by strangers because it happened to him so frequently, but he was never really used to it. He’d made it his natural reflex to shoot the other person down as quickly and painlessly as possible to ensure that they wouldn’t try anything with him again - mostly because he was usually hit on by girls, who were apparently blind to the rainbow pins all over his backpack - but he was never prepared for the occasional actually attractive guy that hit on him.
Like when he was on his way home from class and the hottest guy he’d ever seen called him beautiful and all Nico could do was tell him that he wasn’t interested. What the hell was wrong with him? Why couldn’t he try to have a conversation like a normal person? Why was he like this?
He beat himself up over it for a few days until he’d finally accepted that Crazy Hot Blond Guy was never coming back, and he should worry more about studying for his test at the end of the week instead of impossibly attractive men.
Nico was studying in his favorite coffee shop off campus. He had a class in about half an hour so he’d ordered one last coffee to go and finished up the chapter he was on while he waited. He was just about to start packing his stuff up when someone slid into the seat across from him - Crazy Hot Blond Guy himself.
Nico froze. Even his heart might have stopped beating, he wasn’t sure.
“Hi there,” he said, leaning forward on the table and resting his chin in his hand, his smile just as big and bright as it had been a few days earlier. “What a coincidence that I ran into the handsomest man in town at the last place I look for him. Is there any chance he’d be willing to let me buy him a coffee?”
Nico blinked a few times, his brain struggling to keep up with the conversation - first beautiful, now handsome, and-- wait, no, he has to be talking about someone else now, right? - but before he could respond, he heard his name being called from behind the counter and he launched himself out of his seat, just for a second to clear his head from the conversation.
“Nico, huh?” Blond Guy said when Nico returned to the table, startling him slightly. “That’s a beautiful name, fitting, I’d say.”
“I, uh--” Nico set his drink down on the table and hurriedly packed up his notes and textbooks and why did he have so many pens? “Sorry, I’ve gotta--”
“Running off as soon as I get here?” Blond Guy asked with a pout, and Nico hated the fact that he caused such a thing, but there was nothing he could do about it now, when he was going to be late for class if he didn’t leave right that second.
“I have class,” Nico told him, grabbing his backpack with one hand and his coffee with the other, spinning on his heel and marching out of the coffee shop.
He was halfway to class when he realized that he didn’t manage to get Crazy Hot Blond Guy’s actual name or his phone number.
Will looked incredibly defeated as soon as he arrived in Olympus. He shuffled around, whining and complaining about the prettiest mortal he’d ever seen and didn’t stop until Mitchell pulled him down onto the couch with him, laying him down and resting his head in Mitchell’s lap.
“What’s got Sunshine all mopey?” Calypso asked as she entered the room, spotting the two gods on the couch.
“Something about some mortal,” Mitchell answered, waving a hand in the air so as to brush it off. “I haven’t gotten the whole story yet through all the whining.”
“I’m not whining,” Will groaned, throwing an arm over his face dramatically.
“Sure, honey,” Mitchell told him, running his fingers through Will’s hair.
“He’s the prettiest boy I’ve ever seen and he can barely stand to be around me,” Will complained. “You’d be whiny too if you were me.”
“If you’re that desperate to sleep with him then just like, manipulate him,” Calypso said, like it was just that easy. “Just, like, you know, have sex with him.”
Will frowned, peeking over top of his arm at Calypso with a wince. “I don’t think I want your advice on this.”
Calypso shrugged and turned to leave. “Suit yourself.”
Once she was gone, Will looked back up to Mitchell and whined, “You gotta help me, please!”
Mitchell rolled his eyes and patted Will’s shoulder. “Alright, up. We’re going out.”
Will sat up. “Where?”
“To a bar. Clearly, you need to learn how to flirt so you can get in this guy’s pants, and the best way to learn is through observation.”
Will started to complain with, “But I don’t want to--” when Mitchell snapped his fingers, and suddenly the rest of Will’s argument was drowned out by the overwhelming noise around them. It was so dark that Will could barely see Mitchell as he walked up to the end of the bar and tapped on the shoulder of a very tall man with curly brown hair.
He couldn’t hear anything aside from their introductions, and watched as Mitchell held out a hand to shake. Though instead of simply shaking Connor’s hand, he pulled him down to whisper in his ear. The next thing Will knew, Mitchell was being led away by the hand, throwing a wink over his shoulder to Will before Will lost him in the crowd.
Will huffed, and in the next second, he was back in Olympus, slouching on the couch he’d been on before with his arms crossed, impatiently tapping his foot as he waited for Mitchell to return. Seeing as he had no real concept of human time, Will didn’t know how long it took for Mitchell to return, but when he did, his clothes and hair were rumpled as though he’d either had a heated makeout session with Connor or he’d had to redress in a hurry. His makeup, of course, was still perfectly intact.
Mitchell dropped onto the couch next to him with a satisfied sigh and said, “And that’s how it’s done.”
“I don’t just want to sleep with him, Mitchell, I want to date him.”
“What?” Mitchell exclaimed, and grabbed Will’s head to pull him back down to his lap, fingers stroking through his hair once more. “Oh, you poor, sweet thing. Dating is for humans. We’re gods.”
“Yes, but he’s human, and I want to date him,” Will said for what felt like the millionth time. “But I can’t get him to notice me for long enough that he agrees to go out with me. What do I need to do?”
Mitchell hummed. “I don’t know, just… Be polite. Be charming. Introduce yourself, have you done that yet?”
“I… no, I don’t think I have.”
“Great, so there’s your first step. Try that, and see where things go from there.”
“Thanks, Mitchell.”
Will went back to the coffee shop he’d last seen Nico at in order to try to find him again. He noticed by a calendar on the wall that about two human weeks had passed since he last spoke to Nico. Will wasn’t sure whether he hoped that Nico remembered him or not.
He was lucky enough to find Nico at a table near the back of the shop, with his notebooks and textbooks and his many, many colored pens scattered across the table. Will stepped up to the table, feeling his hands starting to shake with...nerves? Was he nervous? He’d never been nervous before.
He cleared his throat and said, “Um, excuse me.”
Nico looked up - he was somehow even more beautiful than before - and Will noticed that his eyes widened slightly. He must’ve remembered Will, then. “What?”
“I’ve realized that I never introduced myself to you, and it only seems fair that if I know your name, then you should know mine, too. I’m Will.”
“Oh. Um. Okay,” Nico replied, and dropped his eyes back to the table.
“Would it be alright if I sat down with you?”
“I’m kind of busy.”
“Right, of course, sorry. I’ll leave you to it, but… Could I maybe buy you a drink first?”
Nico looked up at him again with a confused frown. “Um. Sure. Hot chocolate.”
Will’s face split into a bright smile. “Great! Can I get you anything else? A snack, or maybe a sandwich, or… I mean, you probably know the menu here better than I do.”
“Uh, a brownie, I guess?”
“A hot chocolate and a brownie, coming up,” Will said, and went to the counter to order. He watched from the line as Nico returned to his studying, and once he finally had Nico’s order in hand, he made his way back to Nico’s table. He tried to set them out of Nico’s way on the table, but there wasn’t much space that wasn’t taken up already by Nico’s things.
“Thanks,” Nico said, eyes glued to the book in front of him.
“Um, Nico?”
“What?” he replied, sounding annoyed.
“I promise I’ll leave you alone in just a second, but I do have a question I’d like to ask--”
“I’m not going out with you.”
Will grinned. “That’s not what I was going to ask.”
Nico’s head snapped up, his cheeks tinting a light shade of pink in embarrassment as he said, “Oh. Sorry.”
“Is this where you normally study?”
Nico’s embarrassment quickly faded from embarrassment to wariness. “Why?”
“Well, if you study here often, then I’d like to stop by sometime so I can buy you another drink.”
Will did his best to get the timing right, and came back to that same coffee shop the next day. He found Nico at the same table as before, though when he walked up to say hello, Nico shot him a glare.
“It’s been three days,” Nico told him. “You owe me a ton of drinks now.”
Will’s heart leapt in his chest as his emotions swung from fear to relief to excitement as he smiled at Nico and said, “Hot chocolate and a brownie again?” Nico nodded, and so Will went to order.
Once he returned, he didn’t ask before sitting down across from Nico, setting the food and drink on the table between them. Nico raised an eyebrow at him. “You didn’t ask before you sat.”
“I figure that if I’m going to keep buying you drinks then I’ll need to stay nearby,” Will told him. “Is that alright?”
Though Nico’s gaze was still focused on the textbook in front of him, Will could see the slightest of blushes gracing Nico’s cheeks. “I guess so.”
Nico reached for his drink, and seemed to startle when he looked up and met Will’s gaze. Will took that moment to ask, “What are you studying?”
“Shakespeare,” Nico answered immediately. “I’m an English major.”
“Fascinating,” Will replied. “I could probably help you study, if you’re interested. Or maybe I could take you out for dinner sometime?”
Nico hesitated before he asked, “Where?”
“Wherever you’d like.”
Nico furrowed his brow, pausing for a moment as he seemed to think over his options, and said, “The Apollo.”
“Sounds great.”
“You’re kidding.”
“What? Was that some kind of a trick? I’m not familiar with the restaurants nearby, so if that’s a shitty place, then we should go somewhere else.”
“No, it’s not--” Nico stopped himself, and took a breath before he spoke again. “It’s pretty expensive. I wasn’t actually expecting you to just go with it. Besides, I don’t think I own any clothes nice enough to get into that place.”
Will shrugged. “We could always have a sort of pre-date where I take you out to buy some clothes for our real date.”
“Why do you seem so desperate to go on a date with me?”
“I wouldn’t call it desperate,” Will replied. “I’m just...excited, I suppose. I finally got a date with the prettiest guy I’ve ever seen, I can’t just let that slide.”
Nico seemed...conflicted, but Will couldn’t figure out why. Shouldn’t he be excited to have someone so willing to treat him to a new wardrobe and an expensive dinner?
Nico started picking at his nails in discomfort. “There’s this diner down the street from here. It’s open twenty-four hours, and the food’s pretty decent. Let’s go there instead.”
Nico had the full intention of breaking things off with Will at the end of their date. Or maybe the beginning, depending on if he found a good opening. There was just something about how desperate Will had appeared during their last meeting that set Nico on edge, that maybe he shouldn’t go out with this near stranger, but it felt wrong to break things off on just a feeling. Especially when he could get a free meals out of this.
The only problem was that nothing had gone wrong. Will was sweet and funny and gave Nico a warm, fuzzy feeling rather than one of discomfort. Nico realized that he had actually enjoyed himself, and that he didn’t totally hate Will, and that he even might enjoy spending more time with him.
Will, the perfect gentleman that he had shown himself to be that night, walked Nico home, and pressed a kiss to Nico’s cheek as he said goodnight. As Nico locked himself into his house, he caught himself thinking, I’m not getting attached. I’m not even attracted to him! I’m just using him for his money at the point, but I can’t keep doing that. I have to break this off before it goes any further.
But of course, just as Nico had finally convinced himself to break things off, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He fished it out to find a text from Will that said, I had a great time tonight! I’d love to do it again sometime soon :)
Great. Now what was Nico supposed to do?
They went out a few more times, though Nico could never find even the smallest of reasons to break things off. Will was just as sweet on their fifth date as he was on their first, and he was constantly bringing Nico gifts and picking up the check after dinner, as well as paying for anything else they did on their dates.
Really, Nico didn’t mind if Will payed for everything - if he had the money, then Nico wasn’t going to stop him. But something about it made Nico feel...weird. Sort of a bad weird. And a little bit curious, too.
They were in Nico’s house, on the couch with a movie playing on the TV, though they’d stopped paying attention to it about ten minutes ago. Nico was trying to focus on the feeling of Will’s hands on his body and the connection of their lips, though his mind kept wandering. When Will finally broke the kiss to allow Nico to breathe - though he moved down to kiss Nico’s neck rather than letting himself get any air - Nico asked, “What do you do?”
Will lifted himself up so that he could hold himself over Nico just slightly, grinning down at him as he said, “Well, I’m a top mostly, but I can switch if you prefer.”
Nico’s face erupted in flames - that was not what he meant - and Will chuckled before pressing his lips to Nico’s once more, then trailed his lips to Nico’s ear to whisper, “Gods, you’re adorable.”
“No, Will, I mean--” He gasped as Will bit down on his neck. “What do you do to make so much money?”
Will snorted. He set his forehead against Nico’s and allowed their lips to brush as he said, “What’s money to a god?” He pressed his lips to Nico’s fully, though just for a second as he was shoved away almost immediately.
Nico was frowning up at him. “Are you kidding me? A god? Do you really think that highly of yourself?”
Will’s smile faltered. “Nico--”
He shoved at him again. “No, get off of me! What am I to you, some kind of pet for you to spoil?”
“No, of course not!” Will insisted, moving back to the opposite end of the couch, raising his hands in surrender. “Nico, please! I don’t think I’m a god, I am a god! I’m the god of the sun!”
“You think you’re an actual god, are you serious?” Nico demanded. When Will didn’t deny it, Nico started kicking him until he stood from the couch. “Get out. Get out right now!”
“Nico, please, let me explain!” Will pleaded, though Nico had jumped to his feet and was shoving Will toward the door. “Just give me a second, I can prove it to you!”
“Get out!” Nico shouted. “Don’t come back. I never want to see you again!”
Will grabbed one of Nico’s hands and held it just tight enough that Nico couldn’t pull it back. If he looked up, Nico would have seen tears forming in Will’s eyes. “Nico, please,” Will whispered, “don’t do this.”
Nico finally yanked his hand back and spit, “Get. Out!”
In a blink, Will disappeared. The door never opened or closed. Will never walked away. One second he was there, and gone in the next.
Nico stepped back and finally let his tears fall.
Not even Mitchell could cheer Will up. Will hadn’t moved from the couch in days, and hadn’t even said what had upset him, but Mitchell knew. This was what always happened when a god chose to date a human. Mitchell just hoped that the same didn’t happen with him and Connor.
After at least one human week of Will laying completely still on the couch, Mitchell finally gave up.
“If you’re not even going to try anymore, then I can’t help you, Will,” he said. “I have to leave, anyway. I’ll come check on you again after my date.”
That seemed to get Will interested. “You have a date?” he croaked.
Mitchell grinned. “I do. Remember Connor? I took a page out of your book and asked him out. It’s been pretty great so far.”
“I’m happy for you,” Will said, though his tone of voice conveyed the opposite.
Mitchell patted Will’s head and said, “I’ll see you in a little while,” before he vanished.
Will sat up with a groan. Even as an immortal, his body still complained after laying in one position for too long. His eyes focused on the TV across the room - something Leo had whipped up so that the gods could watch “reality TV” as he called it. Will tried not to reach for the remote, but he couldn’t stop himself.
As he turned the TV on, Will was met with the sight of Nico at sunset, sitting on his deck that overlooked the ocean.
“I don’t know how this is supposed to work,” he heard Nico whisper. “If you’re really a god, then you should be able to hear me, right? I hope you can. And I really hope nobody else can, because this is probably going to be embarrassing for me.” He dropped his head into his hands and groaned. “My neighbors are going to think I’m insane for talking to myself like this.”
Will sat up, leaning forward in anticipation, and even turning the volume up so that he didn’t miss a single word.
“I’m sorry,” Nico breathed, dropping his hands to his lap though his gaze stayed down as well. “I guess you could say that I have trust issues, and every rich guy that’s ever asked me out has turned out to be an asshole, but… I think you were the exception. I didn’t want to like you, because I thought you’d be just like the others, but you weren’t. You made me like you because you-- Because you’re you. I don’t even know how this whole thing works if you’re a god and I’m just a human - and this probably seems so childish to you, since you’ve probably fallen in love a million times and forgotten about all of them just a quick, and I don’t know if I could handle that - but… I want to try. Because I do really like you, even despite my best efforts.
“I’m sorry for freaking out on you and for yelling at you, and for everything, really. I want to try to talk it out with you, if you feel the same, but I don’t know how to get a hold of you, so… If you can hear me, then can you give me some sort of sign? Or show up right here in front of me, or something, just so I know you’re there. Please, Will. I miss you.”
Will was frozen to his seat, and he couldn’t figure out how to make his arms work. He had to give Nico a sign! He needed to do something, so why couldn’t he move? All he could do was watch as Nico watched the sun set behind the ocean.
Once the darkness had covered him, Nico dropped his head and scrubbed his hands over his face to hide the tears that threatened to fall. Nico climbed to his feet and turned to walk back into his house.
“I guess I’ll take that as a no.”