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When Nico found himself in a living room, collapsed on the floor and in a staring competition with a brown-eyed golden retriever, his first thought was 'weirder things have happened'.
It was a testiment to his life that the thought had occurred at all.
The golden retriever lay very still. Nico watched it cautiously. He wasn't in a state to fend off a gnat right now and some dogs were surprisingly vicious. Chihuahuas, for example.
"Good dog," he said quietly, slowly pulling himself up so that he was sitting. "Good dog. Stay."
The dog didn't stay. In a fraction of a second, it leapt towards Nico and started enthusiastically licking his face and snuffling in his ear.
Frantically, Nico tried to push him off whilst being as quiet as possible. His shadow-travel had gone a little bit wrong but he wasn't sure he wanted to explain that to the police.
He managed to catch a glimpse at a stack of newspapers on the coffee table (which was dangerously close to his head) and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was in English.
He'd accidentally landed in China once and he couldn't find a way to communicate to the old lady hitting him with her book that he was very sorry and he would like him leave too.
Stroking the dog in the hopes that it would calm down, Nico wiggled his toes. They still worked, which was a bonus. He didn't look like he was fading either. However, his legs felt like lead and his heartbeat was pounding in his head.
Nico held on to the dog's fur as he struggled to keep his eyes open. He heard a shout and briefly muttered 'fuck' before he passed out.
He opened his eyes a few moments later in the arms of someone who was setting him on the sofa.
Instinctively, he jerked away and hit at them blindly.
"Hey, hey!"
He glared at the man watching him. The man's hands were held up and he was crouching by the sofa. The dog jumped on top of Nico and lay down across his lap.
"Good boy," the man crooned softly. Then he blushed. "I was talking to the dog! Not to you! I'm not a creep."
"Sorry," Nico said. "The door was unlocked. I'm tired and I thought this was my house. I'll leave."
He tried to get up but the dog stayed stubbornly lying down.
"Wait!" the man said. "Nico, you can't go! You need rest."
Nico shuddered, suddenly ice cold. He could have sworn his neck creaked like a rusty hinge when he slowly turned it to meet the stranger's eyes.
"How do you know my name?"
The man sighed. "Hear me out because this is going to sound really weird."
"You have five seconds before I cut your throat."
"I know you!"
Nico scowled. "Bullshit. I don't recognise you."
"Actually, looking at your age, you should. I look different but who stays fifteen forever, hey?"
Nico frowned, taking in the blue eyes and the messy curls and the freckles splattered like paint across a canvas.
"Hey, Death Boy," the man said gently.
It clicked.
"Will Solace?"
Will smiled. "You do recognise me! I know I'm a bit wrinkly but it's nice to know it isn't that bad."
"What have you done to yourself?" Nico spluttered.
He remembered Will's lanky body and his warm grins and the sterness in his face when he lectured Nico about his health. This Will was taller and still lanky but considerably less so. He had crow's feet and he was wearing flannel instead of his usual scrubs.
"I aged," Will said. "What year is it, Nico?"
Nico frowned. "2014."
Will's face turned grim. He reached behind himself and grabbed a newspaper, handing it to Nico.
Happy New Year: Welcome to 2029! the headline read.
Nico glared at Will. "That seems awfully convenient. How do I know you didn't plant this? How do I know you're really Will?"
Will hesitated. "I don't know. I don't know how much I'm supposed to tell you about the future or if you'll remember any of it. This hasn't happened before."
Nico studied Will. He seemed genuinely freaked out. Nico took pity on him.
"It's fine," he said. "Just by being here, I already know too much. You might as well tell me more because I'm going to find out. And the gods are messed up. They'll probably erase my memories anyway."
Will winced. "I don't know what to tell you."
Nico scratched the dog's ears. "Who's this?"
"Oh! This is Obi. Like Obi-Wan Kenobi. We call him Ken too, especially since the Barbie movie came out."
Nico looked at him blankly.
"Barbie is a child's doll that they made a movie about," Will explained. "And Obi-Wan Kenobi is a character from Star Wars, which is a movie franchise I love. I haven't introduced it to you yet but I will soon and you'll love it."
"Are you sure?" Nico asked, finding it in himself to be sardonic.
Will shrugged. "You'll like it enough to let me name our dog Obi."
Nico sat up, his grip tightening around Obi's fur.
"Our dog? Are we roommates?"
"I mean... Yeah, I guess."
"Am I here?" Nico asked, glancing around as if he'd see a flash of black.
"You're asleep upstairs, which now that I think about it, I'm going to go wake you up." Will stood up reluctantly. "Uh, don't go anywhere. Please. You're safe here."
Nico nodded and watched Will, with one last look over his shoulder, bound upstairs.
Obi met Nico's eyes and thumped his tail.
"Hey, buddy," Nico said awkwardly.
He kept stroking Obi as he heard the raised voices and footsteps thundering down the stairs.
Nico turned his head and thought 'okay maybe this is the weirdest thing'.
The man - him - was wearing an expression that Nico felt probably matched his own. His hair was longer than Nico's and tied in a ponytail. He was broader and more filled out, unlike Nico with his spindly limbs and malnourished body. He had laughter lines and he was wearing an oversized Star Wars t-shirt.
"This is fucked up," the older version of himself blurted out.
Nico cleared his throat and mentally sorted through the clusterfuck that was his life.
Older Nico took a minute to process and then nodded.
"Yeah. I... We... How are you here?"
Nico tugged at his sleeves. "I don't know. I was trying to practice shadow travelling. Will - well, the Will from my time - had just cleared me to start using my powers again."
"I clearly messed that up," Will joked.
Both Nicos glared at him.
Will huffed. "That's really creepy."
"I think the most important question," Nico said, ignoring him, "is how do I go back?"
Older Nico and Will sat down on the other sofa, naturally resting against each other.
Nico had to forcefully blink to focus. It was weird to see himself relaxed. The last thing he remembered was leaving the infirmary and wondering what the Hades he was going to do now. The first thing he thought of was getting some McDonald's. Obviously that had gone terribly.
Older Nico settled against Will's shoulder, melting into him. Will rested a hand on Older Nico's knee, his thumb rubbing soothing motions.
"We should call Hazel," Will said. Nico perked up.
"Hazel's here?"
"She lives a couple of hours away," Older Nico said, "but we shouldn't call. She's so busy with Sammy."
"Who's Sammy?" Nico interrupted.
"Her and Frank's son," Older Nico said with a hint of fondness. "He's two now and a complete menace. We can't call her."
"She's your sister. She'll want to know and I'm not dealing with her outrage if she finds out after we fix this," Will pointed out.
"I want to see Hazel," Nico said firmly. "Plus, we're going to need her help. I know me and I'm incompetent."
"Hey!" both Older Nico and Will protested.
"It's true! Call her or I will."
Older Nico and Will shared a look, communicating in a way Nico had seen Percy and Annabeth do many times before. Nico felt a pang of longing.
Older Nico sighed and pulled a drachma out of his pocket. He prayed to Iris and tossed it into a vase filled with roses.
Hazel face popped up in the middle of the living room.
"Hey, guys! How's my favourite granddog?"
"Obi's fine," Older Nico said, "but we have a situation."
He beckoned to Nico, who hesitantly stepped into view.
Hazel stopped so suddenly that Nico thought the message had glitched.
The first thing he was struck by was how beautiful she was. Her curls were tied up in a messy bun with a purple ribbon and she was wearing a pink shirt reading world's best mom. Large, horned, purple glasses sat on the end of her nose.
"Hi, Hazel." Nico smiled.
"What did you guys do?" Hazel snapped.
Older Nico held up his hands. "Nothing! Apparently he shadow travelled wrong and landed here."
Hazel pinched her nosebridge. "Is that even possible?"
"It seems to be," Will said. "We're really sorry to bother you but we need your help sending him back."
"Don't be sorry." Hazel sighed. "I'll go do some reading. Frank's with Sammy anyway."
"Thank you so much," Nico said.
"You owe me a day of babysitting," Hazel replied. "I'll call you back when I've figured this out. Baby Nico, don't go anywhere."
She ended the message before Nico could protest at being called a baby.
Older Nico covered Will's hand with his own and squeezed before standing up.
"I'll go make dinner," he said, leaving the room.
Nico buried his fingers in his hair, tugging at it to ground himself.
"This must be a lot to deal with," Will spoke up. "And I know you were going through a hard time already."
"Does it get better?" Nico found himself asking, wrapping his arms around his torso.
He looked up to find Will smiling fondly, clearly reminiscing.
"It gets so much better, Nico," he said. "I'm pretty sure you're happy now. I hope you are. I'm very happy. "
"Really?" Nico frowned. "Don't you want to have a family or your own house?"
Will chuckled. "I forgot how dense you were at this age. Well, not dense. Just unwilling to believe in good things."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nico retorted.
"Nico, I have a family. I have you."
"Pretty crappy family."
Will shook his head. "I love my family. So much."
Nico's heart thudded against his ribcage. He caught Will's blue, blue eyes.
"Are... Are we..?"
Will held up his hand, showing off a simple gold band.
"Married for four years now. I proposed when we were twenty five and we had our wedding a year later."
Nico sunk into the cushions. "Fuck."
Will laughed. "You disappointed?"
"What?" Nico's eyes snapped wide open. "Of course not! You're cute! I mean, you're sweet and kind. Not you now. Not that you aren't sweet now! I just feel weird about calling a grown man cute. Not that you aren't good looking! Oh gods, kill me."
Nico hid his red face in his hands.
Will laughed louder. "It's okay. I get that this is weird. And, even if it seems strange to hear, I just want you to know that I love you."
Nico could feel the heat radiating from his face. He peaked through his fingers.
"That's... strange but nice," he admitted.
"Also, the me from your timeline has a massive crush on you," Will added. "So if he's a dork, forgive him."
Nico's lips quirked up. "I'll try."
"Dinners ready!" Older Nico called.
Will and Nico shared a conspirital look and went into the kitchen.
-
Hazel got back to them a few hours later, talking about her studies on Kronos and Hades and the Fates. She talked a mile a minute and Nico could barely follow her but the gist of it was that Nico was to shadow travel back to the spot he came from and the Fates and the nature of the world should do the rest in righting the flow of time.
Nico braced himself, facing Older Nico and Will. They were looking at him with a kind of nostalgia that was weird to witness.
"I guess this is goodbye," Nico said.
"Yeah." Will exhaled.
"I'd say hope you'll be okay but I know what happens," Older Nico joked. "You'll be alright, kid. You have a real good life ahead of you."
"Take care of me," Nico said to Will. Will grinned.
"Always do."
Nico nodded. He took a deep breath and stepped into the shadows.
-
"Nico!"
Nico blearily opened his eyes, feeling grass under his fingers and the sun on his face. His head felt fuzzy.
A warm body dropped to his side. Hands skimmed over him, checking for injuries.
"Will?" he mumbled.
"I'm so sorry," Will frantically apologised. "I thought you were ready but clearly I was wrong. Are you okay?"
For some inexplicable reason, Nico started smiling.
"I'm okay, Will. Everything's okay."