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“Can I kiss you?”
Nico turned his head, still processing what the golden haired boy laying next to him had just said. “what?”
The sun had just set and the only light in the cabin was the silver moon shining dimly through the curtains, but even in the dark atmosphere Nico could see that Will had flushed bright red. “I- oh my gods I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to say that it’s just you looked so good with the moonlight and it kind of just slipped out and I’m so sorry I can just go-“ he was already getting up to leave and for some reason Nico had this terrible feeling that if Will left he would never see him again.
“Will wait,” Nico sat up and grabbed his arm before he could bolt out of the Hades cabin. “you’re just going to leave without letting me respond?”
“I mean-I thought you were-do you-what?” Will stuttered out his response, looking a mix of embarrassed, mortified and, maybe, a little hopeful.
Nico carefully tugged on his arm so he was facing him and stood up from the edge of the bed, the old battery powered radio on his bedside table softly playing music, the only sound in the cabin.
“I asked if you would let me respond” he said quietly, pulling on his arm slightly, drawing him a little closer. his hand loosened its grip around his wrist and moved to interlock their fingers. He looked into Will's eyes. Will just stared back at him. Suddenly he was stuck with the anxiety that he had read the situation wrong. sure Will had asked if he could kiss him but what if it was just a fleeting impulse, and he wanted to escape before Nico got the wrong idea. Nico wanted to pull away but then he felt the hand intertwined with his, warm and nice, the hands of a healer, of sunlight itself, the ones that made him feel safe. He felt Will give a light squeeze and, for once, he let himself hope. “Can you ask the question again?”
Will looked Nico in the eyes, and they very briefly flickered down to his lips “Can I kiss you?” he asked softly, leaning so close their foreheads were touching. Nico nodded. “can you say it out loud?” Will asked.
“yes. Yes, you can kiss me.”
Will leaned in ever so slightly, stopping mere inches away. “Are you sure? you can back out if you want-“
“oh my gods.” Nico said before grabbing both sides of the face of the gorgeous, annoying boy in front of him and kissing him.
It didn't last very long, a brief press against his mouth but when Nico went to pull away Will grabbed onto the back of his neck and chased his mouth, deepening the kiss. Nico wasn’t sure how long they were like that, he’s pretty sure he blacked out at some point but he loved every second of it.
Eventually, though, he had to pull away, and he finally opened his eyes and looked at the boy in front of him, who still had his eyes closed, smiling, the soft golden glow illuminating the cabin. Wait, the lamp wasn’t on. None of the lights were. Was that coming from-?
“Holy Shit!” Will's eyes flew open, the gentle smile on his face disappearing. He started to look a little panicked.
“What’s wrong?”
“Will…you’re glowing.” Will looked down at his hands, realizing that the light in the cabin was in fact coming from him.
“Oh gods, this is embarrassing.” backed up a few steps and buried his face in his hands, as if maybe that will dim the light, “damn it. I’m sorry. it’s just something that happens sometimes. One of my gifts from dad I guess. It's a pretty stupid power to have, and so far hasn’t been very useful.”
Nico stepped forward and gently took Will's hands in his own and moved them away from his face. “It’s not stupid Will. How long have you known you could do this?”
“The first time it happened was the first campfire I went to after I was claimed. No one else noticed because of the light of the fire but when we all went back to our cabins it was pretty obvious.”
“Do any of your siblings glow?”
“So far it’s just been me. I’m sorry, I totally ruined the moment with my weird glowy power didn’t I?” Will looked at him apologetically. The way the light illuminated his skin made him look ethereal. You could never doubt he was a child of the sun when he looked like this. He really was beautiful, it was kind of annoying sometimes, but right now he looked absolutely perfect.
“No, of course you didn’t ruin the moment, are you kidding? That’s so cool! Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well- because it’s kind of embarrassing, you know? like you can literally raise the dead and talk to them and stuff, and the rest of your friends have all these really cool powers like flying and controlling water and fire and shapeshifting and stuff and all I can really do is be a night light and I figured if I told you you would think I was lame, you know, more than I already am and I just-“
“Will.” Nico couldn’t help it. he leaned up on his toes and kissed him again, a small peck. “It's not lame. Not at all. You look beautiful.”
Will blushed and. for a second, it looked like he glowed brighter. That gave Nico an idea. He leaned up and kissed him again, a little more intense. Not much, but slightly longer and deeper than the one from moments earlier. When he pulled away it seemed like his theory was confirmed. “Can I ask you something about it?”
“Sure?” Will responded
“What triggers it? like what made you start glowing right now?”
Will blushed again and the light in the cabin brightened. “well it’s…I can usually control it but it sometimes happens when I feel strong emotions.” He averted his eyes, staring at a spot on the floor. “So like when you, you know…” He trailed off but Nico knew what he meant
“So like when I kissed you?” Will nodded. Nico laughed.
“Come on don’t make fun of me-“
“I’m not, I'm not, I promise it’s just…” Nico suddenly trailed off. Will nudged him gently, prompting him to continue. “I never thought I would make someone that happy, especially, you know, like that. I didn’t think anyone would ever like me like that, much less a- a boy. Or a boy that I liked. It’s nice.” Nico felt Will tilt his chin up gently.
“Oh Nico” he pulled him into a hug. They stayed like that for a long time, Nico stood there, enjoying the warmth, the fuzzy feeling in his stomach.
“Hey Will?” his voice came out muffled against the taller boys chest.
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to stay in my cabin tonight?”
“Nico” Will said in a mock scandalized voice. “Wow, so forward, I mean, we only just had our first kiss-“ Nico gently smackedl his shoulder.
“Shut up. I was just trying to be nice. You’re basically a glow stick right now and the harpy’s would totally see you if you tried to sneak back to your own cabin. But fine, get eaten, see if I care.” Nico broke from the embrace.
“awww don’t be like that I was just joking. I would love to sleep over tonight.”
Nico felt a little flutter of satisfaction in his stomach. “Good.”
Will looked at him and smiled. “Yeah, good.”