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According to Will, Christmas was the best time of year and he had loved it for as long as he could remember. For Nico, though, Christmas was one of the worst. The month of December was always rough, filled with bittersweet memories of his time with Bianca before her death. December was a jarring time, each and every year, because it brought back the feelings he felt that first year pulled out of the Lotus Casino.
It made him feel alone, even if he wasn’t. He couldn’t remember his life before the Lotus Casino so he had no good memories of Christmas to associate with the times. Frankly, seeing the cheer around Camp made his heart pang a little, even if it shouldn’t have. They were allowed to be happy of course, but he couldn’t help but feel like he was missing out.
But Will wanted that to change– he wanted them to create memories together that filled his body with Christmas cheer. So, when Will came bounding up the steps to his cabin a week before Christmas, out of breath and cheeks painted a deep red, Nico couldn’t help but stare in awe for a second.
“Can I give you your Christmas gift early?” Will breathed out. There was no greeting– no hello or “How are you Nico?”. Just that rushed out sentence where he bounced on the balls of his feet, anxiously awaiting a response.
“No.”
Will’s face fell a bit at his response, that probably not having been the response he was anticipating. “What do you mean no?”
“I mean no, Solace. What happened to Christmas traditions?” A smile crept onto his face, teasing thickly woven into his tone. It was a bit fun seeing Will squirm sometimes since they both knew it was all in good fun.
“What about a hint?” Will’s face was back to being lit up like a kid in a candy store, and his hands twitched nervously in front of him as he awaited a response.
“No.”
“But–”
“You know you’re the worst at keeping secrets, right?”
“I am not!” Will’s expression had fallen once again by now and he was gesturing animatedly to try and accentuate his point. His cheeks were puffed like a child about to throw a tantrum, and the dissatisfied look on his face almost made Nico want to give in. Almost .
He didn’t even need to give a verbal response– the eyebrow raise and frown on his face displayed his skepticism prominently. The two of them stayed in a standoff like this for a couple more seconds before falling into fits of laughter so strong that they were holding their stomachs. It was stupid, there was nothing even remotely hysterical about the situation, but here they were wheezing for breath.
He grabbed Will’s hand, pulling them into his empty cabin, and grabbed two pillows off his bed for them to sit on as well as his comforter. They sat by the fireplace, wrapped in blankets and cuddling close together, watching some cheesy Christmas movie Will had found in the Big House.
Halfway through the movie, Will abruptly stood up, threw out an, “I’ll be right back” and ran out the door. Within a couple minutes, he walked back in the cabin with a bag on one arm and two mugs of hot chocolate in his hands. “For you,” he mumbled, handing him the mug and receiving a grateful hum in response.
“What’s in the bag?” He tried to lean over to peek in, only to get swatted away by the blond.
“No peeking. Close your eyes.”
He sighed but relented to his boyfriend, not without giving him an eye roll first, though. “Gods, you’re so bossy– stupid children of Apollo. And I thought I said no gifts,” he huffed.
“It isn’t a gift. You said you wanted the classic Christmas traditions, so this is a must .” A thick plush object was pressed into his hands, making his palms feel all warm and sweaty. “Okay, now open.”
When he did, he was met with a bright red sweater patterned with snowmen, reindeer, Christmas trees, presents, and more– basically anything you could think of that screamed “Christmas!”. It was… well, hideous. That was the only word he could think of to describe it. Just when he thought it couldn’t get any worse, Will leaned over and pressed a button on the sleeve which lit up the sweater and played a Christmas song.
The sweater lit up and sang . William Andrew Solace was five seconds from becoming a dead man.
His expression must have said it all, because Will burst out into a fit of laughter in front of him, clutching his stomach and wheezing once more. “I wish you could see the look on your face right now because it is priceless.”
“Solace, what the Hades is this?”
“It’s an ugly Christmas sweater!” he cheered, like it was the most obvious thing ever.
“Well, it sure is ugly. No way am I wearing this.”
“Come on, I got us matching ones. Please?”
“Absolutely not.”
“What? It doesn’t match your Tumblr emo aesthetic?” Will looked proud of himself for that one, but frankly, Nico was just lost. “Ah, I forgot you don’t know Tumblr. Well, that would have been great if you got the reference. But I’m sorry I didn’t get you one in black, Lord of Darkness.”
Nico shot him a glare that could kill if he wanted it to, so Will was lucky he cared about him. Eyes focused on the offensive piece of clothing in his hands, he shook his head solemnly before tugging it over his head. When his head popped through the hole, he was met with Will’s bright smile and eyes filled with so much glee that it almost made him forget what he was wearing.
Almost .
Before he could say anything more, Will was putting his own sweater on and lacing their hands together. He started dragging them towards the door of the Hades cabin, which made Nico immediately dig his heels into the ground and slow their pace. “Will, I am not going outside like this.”
That made Will giggle, and in his distracted state Nico dragged them into a dark corner and shadow traveled them far away from camp. Unfortunately, he hadn’t had much time to envision where he wanted to go, only knowing he wanted to be far away, so they toppled out of the shadows and straight into the throne room of his father’s Underworld palace.
And were face to face with his father, who was staring at them with a mix of confusion and amusement.
“Oh, no,” he groaned, letting go of Will’s hand to cover his face. Just when he thought things couldn’t get any more mortifying, life once again proved him wrong.
“Nico, what a pleasant surprise! I see you’ve brought the son of Apollo with you this time.” Hades clapped as he rose from his seat, making his way over to study the two of them. Nico could sense Will trembling like a leaf next to him– which he couldn’t blame him, his father was awfully intimidating.
“We’ll be going, father. This was an accident– faulty shadow travel.” He grabbed Will’s hands again and began dragging them to another dark corner, insistent on getting out of there before his father had the chance to make a snarky comment.
They were almost to the shadows, and Will still hadn’t spoken a word, when his father spoke up.
“Nico, wait.” He sighed, turning to look at the God who now had a smirk on his face. This was not going to end well. “I like the wardrobe change.” Then loud laughter filled the room, and he was sure his face was the same shade of red as his sweater.
“You know, I was planning ways to kill Will twenty seconds ago, but now I’m a bit more inclined to kill you if I could,” he grumbled, dragging them the rest of the way into the shadows and returning back to camp.
They stumbled back into Nico’s cabin, falling on top of their previous mess of blankets and pillows. He turned to look at Will, making sure he was still breathing. His face was significantly more pale than usual, and his eyes were as wide as saucers, but otherwise he seemed to be okay. There was no aura of death radiating off him, so he was more shocked than anything it appeared.
He leaned over and brushed a golden curl from Will’s forehead, then placed a kiss in the same spot. “I’m sorry that is how you had to meet my father. But, on the bright side, he did enjoy your ridiculous sweaters.”
Will seemed to come back at that moment, and his face returned to its normal shade. He let out a heavy breath before shaking his head, and laced an arm around Nico’s waist. They adjusted so that they were lying together on the floor, heads resting on the pillows and a blanket covering them. He traced shapes idly on Will’s hand around his waist, slowly feeling the energy drain from him. Doing two jumps in such close proximity to each other exhausted him, and he was ready to take a nap for the next millennia.
“The sweater does look really good on you, you know. And I still can't wait to give you your gift.” Of course Will was still caught up in the gifts; when he was excited about something– especially gifts– it was impossible to talk him down from ruining the surprise right then and there. He gave a slight hum to show he was listening, and shut his eyes as Will pressed a kiss to his temple.
Right as he was about to fall asleep, Jingle Bells played in his ears and his closed eyes no longer saw black, rather they were now filled with flashing, multi-colored lights. Their sweaters sang and flashed in harmony, creating the perfect duet. A groan slipped past his lips as he turned over to lightly slap Will, who was giggling behind him quietly.
“You are the worst, Solace.”
“You still love me.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do. You’re on thin ice, though.” A yawn ended his sentence and he curled further into his boyfriend, letting the exhaustion take over him.
Maybe Christmas wouldn’t have to be so cold and lonely after all.