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Nico thought Persephone had hated him when he was first revealed to her. He’d had no idea until now that it had merely been disappointment in Hades. Because Persephone hated Will and Nico had never seen her show so much passion even when arguing with her own mother regarding cereal.
It wasn’t Will’s first trip to the Underworld (although that hadn’t been too perfect, either, what with both Hades’ and Will’s apprehension of the other) but unlike the other visits, Persephone was going to be there.
Will had just graduated from College and had been offered a full-time paid internship at the local hospital. Nico, in his pride for his boyfriend, had mentioned Will’s success to his father and Hades had adamantly declared that the event called for a celebratory dinner.
Nico wasn’t quite sure when his father had become quite so fond of Will. It had been somewhere between Will’s second and third visit for dinner and Nico suspected it had something to do with Will’s complaints about the children of Demeter’s infirmary habits. Hades didn’t exactly love his mother-in-law, so seeing Will express distaste for her children must have pleased him, somehow.
So, Hades had summoned Nico and Will down to the underworld and Will was finally meeting Persephone.
“So this is the Apollo sprout Nico fawns over?” Persephone asked, glancing Will up and down.
“He has a name,” Nico muttered under his breath. There’d been a time when he was afraid of Persephone, but over the past few years, the two had reached a mutual understanding that they would dislike each other without any outwardly malicious intent. It worked quite well for them.
“I don’t really care,” Persephone mused in response before shrugging. “I suppose he’s okay.”
“I’ll take that,” Will smirked at Nico. Nico rolled his eyes at his boyfriend and tugged their intertwined hands.
“Let’s just sit down. I’m starving,” he said. Will obeyed and the two sat in their usual spots at Hades’ table. Hades eagerly struck up conversation with Will about the hospital and his internship as the skeleton chef served up the main course.
Nico spent most of the dinner eyeing Persephone curiously and using the rest of his attention to stab his steak viciously.
Persephone seemed largely unperturbed by Will’s presence. She hadn’t necessarily warmed to him but there hadn’t been a single threat so Nico counted it as a success.
It wasn’t as though Nico needed approval from all his godly relatives- his feelings for Will probably couldn’t be swayed by Aphrodite herself- but there was something about Hades accepting and liking Will that made warmth swell in his chest. He was sort of hoping the same would happen with Persephone. It would feel like Nico had a proper family.
“That was delicious,” Will grinned at Hades after he’d finished, “You have an excellent chef.”
Hades shrugged. “I have many to pick from, to be fair. The recipes do get a little outdated, now and again.”
Will laughed at Nico’s father’s poor attempt at a joke which Nico was grateful to see. Hades had never been very good at humour and somehow, Will always knew when he was attempting it. It was a unique talent but Nico sort of adored it, not that he’d admit it out loud.
Unfortunately, Persephone didn’t seem as impressed by Will’s talent. Her face had soured considerably and Nico was growing worried that Will was somehow doing something to annoy her.
“Hey, Will,” Nico spoke up, “fancy going for a small walk before desert?”
“Sure,” Will agreed and his eyes lit up. He didn’t get to explore too much of the Underworld whenever he visited so was likely glad for the opportunity to explore. “Where are we going?”
“The Styx? Or maybe we could visit Persephone’s garden. You’ve never seen it in proper bloom before,” Nico suggested, taking Will’s hand again as the two made their way out of Hades’ dining chamber.
“Touch nothing!” Persephone hissed after them.
“Worried we’re going to eat a pomegranate seed and be stuck here forever?” Nico mocked back over his shoulder. Will choked on a laugh next to him as the two escaped the room.
“I can’t believe the way you speak to her! I thought you and Persephone were good, now,” Will grinned. Nico shrugged.
“We still kind of despise each other but in a ‘I suppose I don’t really want you dead’ kind of way. We’ve never been happier around each other,” he explained with a smirk. Will let out an airy laugh and leant a little closer
“Well in that case, lead the way to her garden,” Will decided. Nico pulled him along, glad they were alone for a bit. With Will’s new shifts at the hospital and Nico’s lectures taking up a lot of his time, they didn’t get to spend as much time together.
“It really isn’t as impressive as Persephone makes out,” Nico explained as they drew near, “but you absolutely have to tell her it’s the best thing you’ve ever seen if you want to get into her good books.”
Will stopped for a little and gave Nico a small, wry smile.
“What?” Nico puzzled, raising an eyebrow at his boyfriend. Will huffed a laugh.
“Nothing,” he assured, “I’m just finding it adorable how much you’re desperate for your family to like me. You acted the same when I first met Hades.”
“I’m not-“ Nico began to protest indignantly but Will silenced him by kissing him chastely.
“It’s really cute. Don’t try and deny it. I’ve figured you out, Neeks,” Will smirked. Nico rolled his eyes and poked Will in the side.
“I’m going to have to kill you: you know too much,” Nico joked, never able to deny things to Will.
“Please,” Will batted a hand through the air, lacing his fingers with Nico’s again, “like you don’t know me inside out, as well.”
Nico glanced up at him and couldn’t help smiling. Will had a point. Nico had been able to read him pretty well for several years, now.
“Here we are,” Nico snapped himself out of his own thoughts as the two rounded the corner, entering a much more colourful area of the Underworld. “Persephone’s underground garden.”
Will’s eyes scanned the array of flowers covering the ground and arching over the top of the path they were on.
“Impressive,” Will nodded. “I’m surprised they’ve survived so well without any sunlight. Aw, apart from those little guys over there.”
Nico looked where Will was pointing and noted that there were indeed a group of pansies looking rather worse for wear.
“Yikes,” Nico commented, “Persephone’s been slacking.”
Will snorted with laughter.
“I still can’t believe you actually talk like you come from this century, now. It’s hysterical,” he smirked. Nico rolled his eyes a little.
“I said ‘groovy’ one time and you all lost it but now I’m not allowed to talk like the rest of you?” he complained. Will shrugged with a wry smile.
“Nah, I just like teasing you,” he said, nudging Nico with his hip. “Anyway, we have some flower healing to do.”
Nico raised an eyebrow. Will had been working on his healing abilities lately, expanding from just humans to animals and plants, too. He’d been doing an excellent job, but Persephone had explicitly stated not to touch anything.
“Are you sure? What if Underworld plants are different?” Nico warned but Will grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the pansies.
“The worst that could happen is that my healing doesn’t work. Besides, if it does, Persephone will love me!” Will reasoned.
“And if she finds out you touched her flowers?” Nico asked, crouching down next to where Will had already knelt on the floor to access the dying flowers.
Will leant forward, his face drawing close to Nico’s.
“Who’s going to tell her?” he pointed out, his breath fanning over Nico’s face. Nico rolled his eyes and pecked his boyfriend on the lips.
“Fine. I had no part in this if anyone asks,” Nico conceded.
“Um, you’re guilty by association already,” Will argued. Instead of continuing the debate, Nico just watched with bated breath as Will extended a hand towards the pansies.
Where his finger connected with the flower, a small light began to glow, as happened when Will healed animals and flowers. Nico turned his attention to Will’s face. His pale eyebrows were furrowed together in concentration.
It wasn’t until Nico turned back to the flowers that he realised something had gone wrong.
Pansies weren’t supposed to be that tall. Or yellow.
Will had clearly noticed, too, because he drew his hand back hastily and covered his mouth, uttering a muffled swear.
“Has this happened before?” Nico asked, his voice filled with dread. Will shook his head desperately.
“Either Underworld flowers work differently to normal flowers or Apollo chose a really bad time to pull a terrible prank on me,” Will bemoaned, taking in the sight of the monstrosity he’d created in front of him.
“We have to get back to the table immediately,” Nico insisted, tugging Will’s hand. “If Persephone finds out, you’re dead.”
“It can’t be that bad, right?” Will asked, his voice airy. Nico shook his head. He didn’t want to tell Will quite the severity of what he’d just done.
Persephone hated sunflowers.
*
During dessert, Nico found himself ridiculously impressed by Will’s acting skills. He struck up conversation with Hades and Persephone just as smoothly as he had done before the great disaster. Nico was struggling to keep up. Will always joked about how transparent his feelings were but Nico had always just assumed it was because Will knew him so well.
If the suspicious looks Persephone was giving him were anything to go by, Nico was actually just transparent about his feelings. He had one particular feeling right then: fear.
By some miracle, Nico made it through dessert and his father struck up another conversation with his boyfriend. Unfortunately, Nico had allowed himself to grow distracted for a few seconds too long because the next thing he knew, Persephone’s seat was vacant.
In a sudden panic, Nico looked around the dining room, but it was futile. Persephone had left. She could find the sunflower at any given moment and Will was still in the underworld, at risk of her wrath. The friendly dinner was going to end in a dead boyfriend if Nico didn’t act soon.
“Will,” Nico spoke up, shaking his arm to get his attention. Will turned around to grant Nico a response when his eyes stopped at the empty chair.
“She won’t go there, right?” he asked, fear clear in his eyes.
“Why exactly are you two whispering about my wife?” Hades asked rather sternly, his eyes narrowed. Nico gripped Will’s arm tighter and turned to face his father, swallowing a lump in his throat.
“Does Persephone often leave the table after dinner? That’s all we were wondering,” Nico lied, his voice higher than normal. Hades raised an eyebrow and had clearly noticed Nico’s dishonesty.
“Yes, she likes to take a turn in her garden. Why?” Hades pressed. Nico froze, as did Will underneath his hand.
“We’re dead,” Will squawked quietly. As if it had been orchestrated, a loud scream echoed out around the Underworld the second the words left Will’s mouth. Nico was sweating, despite the cold Underworld air. They were dead and Nico hadn’t even told Will quite how dead they were, yet.
“This has been lovely, father, but I should really take Will home. He wouldn’t want to be late for his first shift at the hospital tomorrow!” Nico panicked, grabbing Will’s hand and starting to drag him towards the nearest shadow so they could get away from there.
“What have you done?” Hades asked, no room for argument in his voice. Nico paused mid step.
“There may have been a small accident-“ Will began to explain, when he was interrupted by Persephone's sudden reappearance.
“You,” she screeched, pointing a finger at Will. “You dare enter my house and destroy my garden? You dare turn my pansies into SUNFLOWERS? If I ever see you down in this domain again, I will slaughter you, Apollo sprout! I will give you a curse so terrible that every flower you plant will immediately wilt and die. If you so much as look at my garden again I will smite you!”
“And that is our cue to leave,” Nico announced, pulling Will hastily into the shadow and dragging them back to the mortal world.
Will’s hand fell out of Nico’s as he recovered from the jump, panting heavily as usual. Nico turned to him, ready to apologise for Persephone’s behaviour and also yell at Will for thinking it was a good idea to touch Persephone’s flowers in the first place only to pause in his tracks upon noticing Will’s expression.
Will was grinning.
“What do you look so happy about? You realise my step-mother just cursed you and now absolutely hates you, right?” Nico pointed out. Will laughed and grabbed both of Nico’s hands in his own.
“I did it,” he smirked.
“What, made a goddess extremely angry? Yes, you did,” Nico rolled his eyes, still completely confused as to why Will seemed so ecstatic over the disastrous dinner.
“Exactly!” Will grinned. “At long last, I’ve made an immortal enemy. One of the gods hates me!”
Nico blinked at him slowly before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. He couldn’t believe Will, sometimes. Only he would be happy that a goddess hated him.
“You,” Nico said, wiping a tear from his eye, “are the most insane person I know.”
Will smirked and nudged Nico’s arm, lacing their fingers together and pulling him along to walk back to their apartment.
“Maybe, but you still love me,” Will pointed out, swinging their arms happily and walking with a bounce in his step that Nico hadn’t seen for a while, thanks to the stress of his College degree. Nico smiled fondly at him, glad there was no one else around to see the soppy look on his face.
“Yeah, I do,” he agreed. Nico would absolutely be suffering a confrontation from his father regarding this, and his idea of a ‘happy family’ had sort of been ruined thanks to the blossoming rivalry, but with Will looking so happy, Nico couldn’t bring himself to mind all that much.