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“Do you wanna be the little spoon tonight?” Will asks shyly, hovering near the edge of the bed that Nico’s already tucked himself into.
Nico blinks, uncertain.
“I mean, that is if - if you want to um. Sleep… together. Again,” Will adds awkwardly. “Because I mean - I know last night we said, you know. That maybe we’d like to um… do that again. But I’m probably being really presumptuous and if you don’t want to that’s totally fine and -”
“Will,” Nico pushes himself up, interrupting before the other boy can spiral any further. “I do. I do want to um… sleep… with you. Again.” he says, feeling his face heat. “But I - I don’t think I know what you mean about… the spoon.”
“Oh!” Will’s face breaks into a smile, and the tension seems to melt from his shoulders. He sinks down onto the bed. “You know, like spooning. It’s the way we were um… cuddling. Last night.” His cheeks abruptly go pink. Nico’s heart sings in his chest.
This time, this quest, is the first time they’ve done anything like cuddling. Or… spooning apparently. But now here they are for the second night in this quiet hotel room, just the two of them, and the door to cuddling seems to have been nudged ajar. Nico has precisely zero complaints.
“It’s like spoons in a drawer,” Will continues, gesturing with his hands. “So like, the person in the back is the big spoon, and the one in the front is the little spoon.” He curls his hands against each other in demonstration. “So, you know, they kind of fit against each other. Last night I was the little spoon. Although…” Will scrunches up his nose, “I guess spoons of the same size kind of… nest together in the same way so… I’m not really sure why it’s called big spoon and little spoon.”
Nico frowns. “Does that mean I can’t be the little spoon?” He’s pretty sure he understands Will’s convoluted explanation, and he’s also pretty sure he wants to be the little spoon, if that’s an option available to him.
Will grins. “No, you definitely can. You wanna be the… front spoon?”
Nico snorts. “Just get over here and spoon me, you big nerd.”
Nico’s pretty sure his whole face is red, but there’s no way he’s passing up an opportunity to be cuddled by a very willing Will just because he’s a little embarrassed. With Will in his arms last night, he slept better than he has in ages. And he woke up so warm, to the gentle rise and fall of Will’s breath, to a world that felt awash in gold. Soft, sunlit. Nico’s been worrying that it’s going to be difficult to sleep any other way, ever again.
He lies back down and turns his back to Will, feeling a little self-conscious. Will flicks off the bedside light and wastes no time in scooting up behind Nico, fitting his warm self against Nico’s back and wrapping an arm around his waist.
And oh.
Last night, Will had been distressed, and Nico had been desperate to soothe him. Nico had enjoyed that cuddling, but this is even better. Nico sighs, feeling himself melt into the warmth of the other boy.
“Okay, I like being the little spoon,” he announces.
Will giggles. “Yeah. It’s pretty great. I um… I really liked it. Last night.”
“Oh,” Nico says. “Do you - do you wanna switch?” (Nico does not want to switch.)
Will’s face presses into Nico’s hair and gods there might not be anything better than this. Nico feels warm and safe, a little fuzzy at the edges, wrapped in the familiar scent of the beautiful boy behind him. He feels Will shrug.
“No, I’m good. We can always take turns.”
“Yeah?” Nico asks, hesitant. “This isn’t just a one-night… or two-night…”
“A two-night spoon?” Will giggles.
Nico can feel Will giggling against him. He’s had the pleasure of hearing, watching Will giggle for over two years now, but this is truly next-level. Immersive. He lets himself sink back into the other boy just a little more and Will hums happily. Nico can feel the vibration in his own body.
“I’d be interested in making this a more um… regular… occurrence,” Will manages, shy.
“Okay, cool. Me too,” Nico whispers, beaming into the dark room.
There’s a long moment of silence wherein Nico’s heart feels too big for his chest. He’s just so content. It’s not an entirely familiar feeling, but he absolutely wants more of it.
The hand Will has tucked around Nico’s waist pats around blindly, finally settling on Nico’s hand. Their fingers lace together. Nico squeezes.
“D’you think every relationship has to have a big spoon and a little spoon?” Will asks, already sounding sleepy.
Relationship. Nico smiles.
“Nope,” Nico says, confident. Even though he’s never considered the matter until this very exact second. “S’like you said. We can trade off.”
“‘Kay,” Will agrees.
“Unless we find someone who wants to big-spoon both of us,” Nico mumbles after a moment, drifting ever closer to the edge of sleep.
Will’s answering giggle brings him back to consciousness, mostly. “Really?”
Nico laughs. “No, not really. I kind of like… you know. I like this being… just the two of us.”
Will squeezes him, hard enough that Nico squeaks. Will giggles.
“Tyson would make a good big spoon, though,” Nico says thoughtfully after a moment. “You know. If you were in the market for a big… double… spooner.”
Will snorts, then laughs so hard that no sound comes out, his body shaking against Nico’s. “Tyson, Percy’s brother? Tyson the cyclops?”
“How many other Tysons do we know?” Nico giggles, indignant. “Anyway, he’s really sweet. And I bet he’d be up to the job.”
“Huh,” Will giggles, still recovering his breath, “never knew you had a thing for Tyson.”
“I don’t,” Nico elbows the blonde boy in the ribs. It’s so easy when they’re pressed together like this. “I just think he’d make a good big spoon.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Will concedes. “He has a girlfriend, though. I’m not sure how Ella would feel about lending Tyson out for cuddling.”
Nico shrugs. “It’s all good. This is just platonic cuddling we’re talking about.”
Will lets out a few more snorting giggles before falling silent. He nuzzles into the back of Nico’s head and Nico closes his eyes, smiling. Last night’s cuddling was purely for comfort, for reassurance. This feels like a little… more. Definitely not in a bad way.
And of course Nico’s thought about kissing Will before, has thought about holding his hand. Somehow he never imagined this, though. It’s clear it was a huge oversight.
Will’s thumb is softly stroking against his hand, and every motion pulls Nico a little further towards sleep.
“Frank,” Will says suddenly.
“No, m’Nico, dummy,” Nico mumbles.
Will laughs. “No, I mean Frank would make a good big spoon. For double spooning.”
Nico snorts. “Absolutely not. Frank is practically related to me.”
“But he’s so big and cuddly! He’d be perfect. You should ask Hazel,” Will adds, giggling.
“I’m definitely not asking Hazel,” Nico groans, pulling away slightly. Will tugs him back in.
“Fine, fine.”
There’s another silence, then -
“Frank as Frank, or Frank as, say… a flock of owls?” Nico asks.
Will is quiet, maybe considering. “Do owls even have flocks? I don’t think I want to be cuddled by owls, anyway.”
“Yeah, good point. I think they have sharp talons. And beaks.”
“I try not to get too close to birds,” Will mumbles.
“Yeah, I know. Sorry.” Will’s had some bad experiences with birds in the past, specifically just prior to coming to camp for the first time. Nico reminds himself not to bring it up again.
“I’ve always wanted to cuddle a red panda, though,” Will says wistfully.
“Well, obviously,” Nico agrees. “But I’d feel weird about cuddling red-panda-Frank.”
“That’s a shame.”
“It really is.”
Will takes a deep breath and releases it. Nico’s own body is gently shifted with the motion of Will’s chest, and he feels Will’s warm exhale against his hair. It’s heavenly.
“How about a giant panda?” Will suggests.
“Mmm, maybe. Are we still talking about Frank?” Nico asks sleepily.
“‘M not sure,” Will yawns.
Nico huffs out a laugh. Will’s hand is so warm where it’s tangled with his.
“You think Frank could teach you how to turn into a giant panda?” Will asks hopefully.
Nico giggles. “I think it’s unlikely. Now, if you wanted to cuddle a zombie skeleton…”
Will snorts. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
They’re quiet then, Will’s thumb still stroking against Nico’s hand, the rise and fall of his chest making Nico feel as if he’s being very gently rocked to sleep.
“I like holding you,” Will murmurs.
Nico’s so, so close to sleep, but he feels his face break into a smile. “I like it too,” he whispers.
“I wanna be the little spoon again tomorrow night, though,” Will says decisively.
Nico giggles. “Okay. That can probably be arranged.”
“I’m going to say something stupid,” Will says suddenly, and Nico’s heart picks up speed. Somehow Nico doesn’t take the opportunity to shoot back a sarcastic response.
Will seems to be waiting for an answer though, so Nico says, “okay?” trying to make his voice sound as neutral as he can.
“So, sometimes when… when you and I go on quests together, or, you know. Battles, or errands. Whatever. A lot of the time I kind of feel like… the weak link.”
Oh.
“No, Will -” Nico begins.
But Will just squeezes him. “It’s okay, just let me finish,” he says softly. “I’m okay with it, mostly. We’re good at different things. I’ll never be as good at fighting monsters as you are.”
Will pauses. “You know what? Now that I’ve started talking, I’m realizing it’s stupider than I thought. Never mind. Good night.” He presses his face back into Nico’s hair.
Nico laughs. “No, you have to tell me now! You can’t just… you can’t just start with that big lead-up and then bail.”
Will shakes his head. “No, m’tired. We should sleep now.”
“William Andrew.” Nico twists around to face the other boy. Will doesn’t loosen his hold on Nico. They both seem to realize at the same second that their new position, facing each other with essentially no space between, is much more compromising, and by some silent mutual agreement they both back up a few inches.
Will sighs. “Fine, I’ll tell you. But you have to turn around again.”
Nico does.
“And just remember I told you it was stupid,” Will adds as he snuggles up behind Nico again, maybe not holding on quite as tightly as he was before.
Nico waits.
“Okay.” Will sighs. “Okay. So, like, the times when we’re fighting monsters together, or something, I feel like you’re mostly the one protecting me. But right now, doing this…” he squeezes Nico. “I feel like I get to like… protect you. A little. Even though it’s like, not really protecting and there isn’t anything to be protected from...” Will groans. “Look, I told you it was stupid.” He tries to roll away, but Nico grabs his wrist.
“No, it’s not stupid,” Nico frowns, “and I get what you’re saying. And… I think you know I like it when you… take care of me,” he adds shyly.
Will lets his fingers lace with Nico’s once again.
“But I don’t ever think of you as like… a weak link. Or a liability. It’s like you said - we’re both good at different things. But I think we… complement each other.”
“Yeah?” Will asks softly.
“Yeah.”
“Perfect. Then I can still be the little spoon tomorrow,” Will giggles.
“Oh my god, go to sleep you nerd.”
“Okay,” Will says agreeably.
Nico sinks down towards sleep again, warm and relaxed. It’s as if the tension has drained from every muscle in his body.
“Hey Solace?” he says into the silence.
“Yeah?”
There are words on his lips, he’s so close to voicing them. But then… Will already knows, he thinks. They’ve already been friends for so long, but somehow this feels like a beginning. And they have time.
“Just… goodnight,” Nico says softly.
He swears he can hear Will’s smile. “Goodnight, Nico.”