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“What about… Baby?”
“No. Absolutely not.” Will chuckled. He could have guessed that on his own.
They were in Nico’s cabin. The younger boy was sitting on the floor between Will’s thighs while the blond braided his hair. It was the first time Nico invited his boyfriend – boyfriend! Will was giddy just thinking about it – in his repair. Will had fantasized a lot about Cabin 13: he imagined it was dark, full of skeletons and cobwebs. It had fireplaces that dangerously burned in every corner. It was full of dust, old furniture, with a mysterious aura. In reality, it was just big and empty. Nico had a huge four-poster bed, like a princess. It was the only bed in the room, which made Will’s heart ache. Being with all of his siblings was one of Will’s favorite things about Camp Half-Blood, and he was so sorry that Nico didn’t have any to share his life with. Massive windows allowed the light to pour into the room. There was a fluffy orange carpet on the floor, and many grey curtains on the walls. There was indeed a fireplace, but only one, with no fire burning. And it looked more like Nico’s dresser than a fireplace to begin with.
Overall, the room was nice, if you ignored the impression of loneliness that echoed between the walls.
Nico had looked slightly embarrassed, showing Will his inner world, so he did not comment on it out loud. Instead, he suggested that they cuddle because he had discovered that was the son of Hades' soft spot. Will wondered if the reason for it was because not many people had showered Nico with affection in the last few years, but the thought made him tear up, so he buried it deep in his mind. Nico also liked it when Will was playing with his hair, which was why the medict had offered to style it. Nico had neglected his hairdresser for years, so his black curls were falling all around his shoulders. Will would never ever say it out loud, but it made him look kind of hot. He had died inside when the thought had come into his mind. Nico was still embarrassed to take his hand in front of other people, it wasn’t the time to think about how he would look without his shirt on! Small steps.
As for the pet names… Well, Will was trying to find out which one Nico would be comfortable with. But he hadn’t encountered many positive reactions so far.
“Darling?”
“Ugh… It sounds like we are forty, not sixteen.”
“Speak for yourself, I’m not sixteen.”
“You’re only a year older, Will. Don’t act all grown up.”
Will grinned. He loved the snarky comments Nico would never forget to throw at him. He took three portions of hair and began a braid on the right side of Nico’s head.
“Sweetheart?”
“It’s a bit girly, don’t you think?”
Will shrugged. “I don’t think so, but even if it sounds girly, it isn’t because I call you sweetheart that it makes you any less of a man.”
“You would like it if I called you sweetheart?”
“I would like any pet names you use for me.” Will could see the top of Nico’s ears turning red. He didn’t add anything, but he mentally saved the picture. Nico was still very much hesitant about this relationship, romance, and all related. Will was finding all his reactions - the blushes, the stutters, the questions – utterly endearing. But no matter how cute he found his boyfriend, he made sure not to show any of it. Nico had the bad habit of closing off every time he felt insecure.
“Honey?”
“Mm… I don’t know.” Will smiled. It was the warmest response he had gotten so far!
“I’ll try it sometime, see if that fits you.” And before Nico could refuse it, he continued: “Angel?”
“I’m definitely not an angel,” Nico grumbled.
“Pet names aren’t supposed to be accurate, but just cute. They’re marks of affection.” Will thrived on them. He always called Kayla “pumpkin” and Austin “champ” (sometimes “hot stuff” when his brother was acting particularly annoying, which was often). He had wanted to call Nico all the most tooth-rotting names he could think of, but he had managed to never say them around Nico. It would have scared the shit out of him.
But still. He wanted to at least find one that the son of Hades wasn’t so averse to. Because gods knew how much Will wanted to show his affection through every means he could think of.
“So, angel?”
Nico took his time to answer. “No, I’m not comfortable with it.” Dully noted.
“Dear?”
“Again, you’re only seventeen, not fifty-seven.” Will rolled his eyes. He suspected Nico was purposely shutting down all his ideas before he could even consider them.
“Sweetie?”
“No.”
“Precious?”
“No.”
“Handsome?”
“No.”
“Kitten?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Cutie Pie?”
“Do you want me to bite you?”
“Come on, let me just find one that could fit you,” Will grumbled. He tied the end of the braid with a hairband. It was nowhere near perfect, but Will was proud of the first braid he had done for Nico. He often did hairstyles for his siblings, but most of the time they had longer hair.
Will began to take care of the second half of Nico’s hair.
Nico sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m trying, I swear. It just… doesn’t feel natural to be called by those names.”
“I can stop, if that makes you uncomfortable.” Will really wanted to call Nico all of the above-mentioned ideas, he really did. But if that came at the cost of Nico’s well-being, it wasn’t worth it.
“No, no, let’s try some other. I can see that it means a lot to you. I want to try.” Will bit his lip, moved. Nico cared, he cared so much! It was a shame that not many people at camp noticed it, but Nico paid attention to every detail. It was one of the things that made Will fall for him. That among many, many other things.
Like the fact that his hair was super smooth.
Like the fact that Nico had the habit of chewing on his right sleeves without thinking.
Like the fact that his hands were calloused from hours of training, but still so soft against Will’s.
Focus, Will! Stop daydreaming about your boyfriend who is just right here. He continued to braid his hair.
“Okay, so what about… Beautiful?”
Nico stayed silent. Will maintained his work, waiting impatiently. “I don’t know, it doesn’t really suit me, I think.”
“You are very beautiful, but that’s up to you. I can put it on the ‘maybe list’, with honey, if that’s okay with you.” Nico nodded, which wasn’t practical at all when Will was occupied with his hair. One of the strands of hair slipped between his fingers. Will had to begin the braid again. But that was okay. It was calming after a full day in the infirmary. And he liked Nico’s hair. A lot.
“Love?”
Nico froze at once. Maybe it was too soon. It made Will’s stomach do funny things.
Was he in love with Nico already? He couldn’t tell. Sure, he had romantic feelings for the younger one for a long time now. Those had come unexpectantly. At the beginning, Nico was just one of Will’s patients – a particularly uncooperative one, on top of it. Then, he had learned more about this frightening and frightened boy, and he developed the irremediable need to protect him. They began to talk, not just about Nico’s wound and treatment, but also camp, the gods and their fucked-up ways of doing generally everything, pop culture references (it was mostly Will who rambled about it), and food (because, well, everybody loves talking about that, have you never noticed?). Will discovered, behind layers of dirty looks, scowls, and anger, a boy who was curious about everything, had a dark sense of humor, and was still believing in good even after being stabbed behind his back on multiple occasions. Someone who liked to draw and paint but never had the equipment or the time. Someone who offered him to spend time in a place he hated just because he noticed that Will got bored during calm days. Someone who always remembered Will’s shifts and waited for him in front of the infirmary just so they could walk together to the Big House. Someone who could raise the dead but was afraid to sleep in the dark.
So yes, Will had strong feelings for Nico. But love? It was too soon to tell. Love was precious, rare, and needed time and effort to grow and thrive. He didn’t think he was there yet. But he was slowly walking on the path.
Will put the pet name in a corner of his mind for later. It seemed to have unnerved Nico.
“Sunshine?” he suggested, tying the end of the second braid. For a first try on short hair, Will was proud of himself.
Nico snorted. “It’s more of a nickname for you.”
“I guess…”
“No, you don’t guess. It just is! You are basically a ball of sunshine, always smiling, always kind. You have golden hair and dress like a surfer every day of the year. And your dad is literally the god of the sun!”
Remember when Will was saying that Nico cared and was kind? Yes, here’s your proof. He was the cutest.
“Okay, I got your point.” He jumped out of bed to sit in front of Nico. He wanted to admire his work. And his boyfriend.
And he wasn’t disappointed in the slightest! It suited Nico perfectly. It gave him an artsy vibe, softening his moody attitude and enhancing the softness of his face.
Will liked it a lot.
Then he was struck with an idea. “It could be like in Call Me by Your Name! You know, me calling you sunshine, it’s a bit like if I called you by my name. Well, my surname.” Will chuckled. He thought it could be super fun, calling Nico sunshine when it would normally have been the other way around. Plus, Call Me by Your Name was one of Will’s favorite movies. It could be like a reference, an inside joke they shared. It was the perfect pet name!
Then he realized that Nico was completely lost.
“Like in what?”
“Call Me by Your Name. You know, the movie.”
“I don’t know this movie.”
“You haven’t watched Call Me by Your Name? But you have to! It’s like a reference for gay romance, everyone has watched it!”
“Well, I don’t exactly have the average twentieth-century gay experience.”
“Oh…” Will always forgot that Nico has been frozen in time for decades. Nico’s facial features became harder, his jaw tightening, his gaze clouding. It was one of the many invisible scars that Nico carried like a burden in his path. Will had to discover them along the way, stumbling on them, saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, opening Pandora’s box yet again. He began to fidget nervously.
“Then, we just have to watch it together. If you want to.”
Nico seemed to shake away a bad dream. “Watch a gay romance movie together?”
“Yes! It could be our first official date,” Will suggested, feeling his face warming up. They hadn’t been dating for long, only a few weeks, and Will hadn’t said the d-word until now. He was afraid of scaring Nico away. But it just felt like the right time to bring up the topic. And cheer him up.
“Okay,” Nico murmured. Will’s smile could have illuminated New York entirely.
“Oh! Oh! And we can also watch all of the queer coming-of-age film that I grew up with! Like Love, Simon. And Dating Amber. And But I’m a Cheerleader. Booksmart, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Blue is the Warmest Color, Bottoms, Challenger, The Portrait of a Lady on Fire… And the series Heartstopper, of course. Oh, it could be so fun! It would be like your average queer teen experience. But with me!”
Will didn’t remember being this excited since… A very long time. But the idea of giving – and even better, sharing with – Nico an experience of normalcy was filling him with hope. Even if Nico never said anything, Will knew his boyfriend felt like he had been missing out. He had been stuck in time for seventy years. And just after that, he had to take care of himself with only ghosts for company. Then he fought in the war – wars, plural -, he handled missions for his dad, he trained and got hurt. It wasn’t your common sixteen-year-old life. He deserved to have late movie nights watching dumb queer films which were always a bit silly but so good at the same time.
Will wanted to give him all of that.
Nico laughed. He looked like an angel with his two braids. It was a pity he hadn’t accepted this pet name.
“I would love to watch all those movies with you,” he finally said, his eyes sparkling. “Even if I don’t know what they are about.”
“Oh, just love stories. They are sweet.”
“Okay. Cool.”
“Cool.”
They grinned, their hands joined, and their knees touching. Will felt like his chest would explode from happiness.
“And you can call me that,” Nico added, his voice hesitant.
Will frowned. “Call you what?”
“Hum… Sunshine. I… I like that one.”
Nico was going to be the end of him. He was so, so, so damn cute! Will wanted to kiss him, to take him between his arms and cuddle him until he couldn’t breathe. He wanted to shout to the whole world that Nico di Angelo was the nicest, the most beautiful, the most perfect boy, and that he was his boyfriend. He wanted to show him all the best gay movies, and books, and series, and comics, and make him feel loved and accepted.
He only smiled until his cheeks hurt.
“Okay, sunshine.”
“I take it back. Don’t call me that.”
“Too late. Sunshine, sunshine, my brightest sunshine, the sun of my sky, the star of my galaxy-”
“Stop!” But the smile he had on his lips contradicted his words.
“Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine…”
Will would never grow tired of it. It rang so good in his ears. And it obviously made Nico happy. Which made Will happy.
He truly was a ray of sunshine in his life.