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Will isn’t totally certain how they all ended up in an arcade but he knows that it’s absolute chaos now. The trip had started as a last adventure ( not quest) before Percy and Annabeth left for college and it had grown into a very large outing. And the arcade was probably the worst place they could have ended up because between the charmspeak and the pickpocketing, they would never run out of tokens. Normally, Will would just pull Nico away and flirt with his boyfriend until they decided to leave but Nico had already been pulled away earlier by Hazel. Will had caught a few glimpses of him since then but he didn’t want to intrude on Hazel and Nico because he knew that she was only visiting for a couple of weeks. So instead, he was leaning against the Pac-Man machine that Cecil was playing on and talking out loud about how much of a bad idea he thought this was.
“I mean, we are so going to get kicked out of here,” Will huffed.
Cecil made a sound of acknowledgement even though he wasn’t actually listening. He was too focused on the game but Will didn’t mind and kept ranting anyways, “And this is also probably really dangerous. We shouldn’t stay here for long. A group of demigods this size is surely going to attract monsters.”
Will was interrupted as Lou Ellen walked up to the pair, clutching a stuffed pig she had won in a claw machine and smirking at Will, “Stop being such a downer , William, loosen up a little.”
“I’m not a downer and I’m perfectly loosened!” Will said, crossing his arms defensively.
“Sure you are,” Lou Ellen rolled her eyes, “You’re just mad because this isn’t as much of a date with your boyfriend as you thought it was going to be.”
“A- what? A date? Of course I knew it wasn’t a date, I mean, not really,” Will spluttered.
“Uh huh, but you were hoping that you would be able to drag Nico off to some dark corner,” she teased.
“Wha- No! I would never!” Will scoffed.
“Don’t lie, William. Apollo is the god of honesty and you’re a terrible liar,” she told him, patting his cheek.
Will uncrossed his arms and shifted on his feet, “Listen, Lou Ellen, I wasn’t going to sne-“
“Fuck!” Cecil shouted, cutting him off, “I died!”
“Just start again,” said Lou Ellen, looking a little bored.
“I need more tokens and I’ve already been caught by the guy working the counter trying to steal some from the back,” whined Cecil.
Will dug around in his pocket and pulled out two shining tokens that he had gotten earlier when he and Nico were planning to race on the car video games before he was pulled away. He held them out to Cecil, “Here, dude.”
Cecil grabbed them and grinned widely, “Thanks Will, you’re the best.”
He quickly put the tokens into the machine and started again, muttering about ‘ that bitch blinky ’ under his breath. Will chuckled and Lou Ellen rolled her eyes before focusing on Will again. She turned around and gestured for him to come with, “Come on, lover boy, I have to show you something.”
Will followed her obediently as she spoke, “I was sent to collect you and get you to stop moping,” she told him.
“By who?” Will asked.
“Percy,” she stated.
“Percy? What?”
“Just trust me, you’ll love this.”
Will snapped his mouth shut and followed her to where a big group was gathered around one of the games. He could see the top of the machine, Dance Dance Revolution lit up with neon lights. Lou Ellen pushed through the crowd to get them to the front so they could actually see what was happening and Will’s jaw dropped.
Nico and Hazel were doing the Dance Dance Revolution routine perfectly. Hazel was giggling and smiling widely, her whole body moving smoothly as she jumped around. Nico’s face was neutral and he almost looked bored but Will could see the way he was biting his cheek to keep himself from smiling widely. His hands were shoved in his jacket pockets and his entire upper body was stiff but he still hit every move, his feet perfectly in time. Will was gaping like a fish, completely unsure how to react. Suddenly, Nico and Hazel switched sides and Will watched his boyfriend smoothly spin to the other side, their eyes catching. Nico just smirked at him and it made Will flush bright red. He didn’t think that this was something that he would witness but Will was so glad he was seeing it now. Sure, it was funny to watch but mostly Will loved seeing Nico so happy . Even though he was trying to remain impassive, Will could see the way Nico’s eyes shined and how his lips quirked up every time Hazel laughed.
As the game ended, the crowd around them cheered. He heard Percy let out a particularly loud whoop as Hazel and Nico stepped off the dance stage. Hazel was beaming widely as she squeezed Nico’s shoulder lovingly. They were both trying to catch their breath but Nico walked quickly up to Will and pulled his hands out of his pockets. Nico smiled at him and Will almost combusted on the spot.
“Hey sunshine,” Nico huffed out, “How did we do?”
“Amazing!” Will gushed immediately, “That was so cool, where did you guys even learn that?”
Nico shrugged as his cheeks reddened slightly, “There’s an arcade in New Rome and Hazel and I went together for the first time because neither of us had ever been to one before. We weren’t very good at any of the other games but Dance Dance Revolution was easy.”
“That didn’t look very easy,” Will said.
“Well, we wanted to challenge ourselves so we added some stuff,” Nico joked as he reached forward slightly.
Will caught on immediately and grabbed his boyfriend’s hand, intertwining their fingers. Nico started walking away again and pulled them even further from the crowd of people that were still lingering. They were between a claw machine and Donkey Kong as Nico pulled Will closer and looked up at him, his eyes warm and shining. “I wish I had seen you more today,” Nico whispered.
Will dropped his head down slightly, “Yeah, me too. But I didn’t want to tear you away from Hazel.”
Nico smiled up at him, “That’s sweet of you, but you can hang out with us you know?”
“I didn’t want to intrude,” Will muttered.
Nico scoffed, “You wouldn’t be intruding , you’re my boyfriend and she knows that. I know-“ Nico paused and started fidgeting nervously, “I know that I haven’t always been the best with being super obvious about our relationship-“
Will cut him off, “Neeks, you don’t have to apologize.”
“I know, but just- just let me finish. But I’m working on being and feeling better about myself and us and I feel like I have come a long way. And I love you. I’m not saying that there isn’t a lot I need to work on with- with myself still but I don’t ever want you to think that I’m like,” he sucked in a breath, “embarrassed by you or by us because I’m not. I am so very not because you’re amazing. I’m just, not used to it,” he finished.
Will reached up to cup Nico’s cheek and he smiled softly, “I love you too and I’m so proud of how far you’ve come. And I’ve never thought that you were embarrassed, I know you have had to deal with a lot, with too much. And if I can help, please let me.”
Nico didn’t say anything and instead pushed up on his toes to kiss Will, his arms wrapped behind Will’s neck. Will kept one hand on Nico’s cheek and moved one down to gently hold his waist. The kiss was slightly awkward because of the cramped space and because normally Will would pick Nico up or Nico would drag Will down onto a couch (or really any surface that seemed like it would support them both) but that wasn’t entirely possible while they were in public. Nico was keenly aware that anybody could see them right now but he mostly didn’t care, his desire to kiss Will too strong. Will sighed quietly into the kiss, his lips parting and Nico seized the opportunity to run his tongue along Will’s bottom lip. Immediately, Will took that as an invitation to work Nico’s own mouth open and suddenly the kiss was getting a lot deeper than what it had started as. Quiet moans were coming from Nico’s throat and Will had moved both his hands to clutch Nico’s hips. They broke away suddenly though as they heard Lou Ellen’s voice, “William, what was it you said to me earlier about how you would never drag Nico to a dark corner?”
Will groaned loudly in frustration and leaned down to bury his face in Nico’s hair. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to though as Nico had popped his head out to the side to see Lou Ellen. Will couldn’t see the smirk on Nico’s face but he heard it as Nico said, “Actually, I dragged him here.”
Will groaned again, “You’re both terrible.”