#i know teacher nico was supposed to be a smile perfect locker how did she turn into a pure scorer helloooooooooo | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

loisinherlane · 6 years

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Title: The Shade (AO3)

Summary: Will is assigned to guide the new student from Pluto-I around school, which would be no trouble, if Nico di Angelo didn’t seem to be so reclusive.

Notes: I swear I had a normal idea for this Secret Santa . . . . And then NaNoWriMo happened, and my brain was completely absorbed. Instead, I chose three random things (aliens, school, and future)from a prompt list, and this is where we ended up. Anyway, this is my fic for @rosyredlipstick in the PJO Secret Santa Exchange @pjosecretsanta2k17. It’s vaguely holiday-themed . . . . It takes place during the holidays . . . 300 years from now. Also, this grew much longer than I intended, and I apologize if it seems to drag. It was just a lot of fun to write. Happy holidays! :)

The new student arrived in October.

It was a cold October. Will was from Texas, and he didn’t handle anything below 10 degrees. This October stayed right on the borderline, and so Will found himself riding the metro with a coat over his school uniform, which always drew looks in this city. To the native residents, 10 was chilly for October, but nowhere near chilly enough for a coat. Will didn’t care that much. So what if they stared? He was just going to school. Stars forbid he freeze standing by the doors when all he had to do was put on a coat. The other occupants of the metro could think what they liked.

In any case, a cold October seemed the perfect time for a student from Pluto-I to arrive.

Will had heard about this student for some time beforehand. Pluto-I, named so because the closest human pronunciation of their planet was that of a dwarf planet, was the newest planet in the Alliance, a strange planet with even stranger inhabitants. Noncorporeal, they were described, figures of wispy shadows that maintained no specific form--Shades. If they forced themselves into a body-like shape, their eyes were black as void--any other specific features seemed to vary. Most Shades preferred to maintain their natural form, but Will could only assume this Shade would look mostly human, if he intended to attend Montauk Youths’ Academy. That was the extent of thought Will gave to this student until the day he arrived.

Will was hanging his coat in the locker room when Lou Ellen approached him. One of her mothers was from an alien race of travelers, so her other mother said. Lou Ellen had never met her, but her skin was a dark violet, two antennae sprouting from the crown of her head, so at the very least, her other mother was some sort of alien. Unlike many part-alien students, Lou made no efforts to hide any aspects of her heritage. She kept her hair short so her antennae popped out easily. Will admired that. It was far too easy to hide from a parent’s legacy. Even in a school like Montauk, not everyone accepted alien students.

“Morning, Will,” Lou Ellen said as she placed her bag on the floor of her locker. She dug through and pulled out her tablet before shutting the locker door. She always seemed to have trouble finding her tablet in her bag, which struck Will as odd. It wasn’t like there was much to carry or even much that could fit in a school-issued bag.

“Morning,” Will replied, pulling his own tablet out and setting it on the floor. He folded his coat and placed it neatly in the bottom on the locker, his bag on top. He turned to head to his classroom only to be stopped by Lou Ellen’s body. She was much smaller, but Will thought it was her alien nature that made her so solid. With the slightest impact, he was sent stumbling back. “Um, morning,” he repeated.

Lou laughed and smoothed a strand of hair by her ear. “I was wondering what you thought,” she said.

“Vague statement,” Will replied. “I think a lot of things. What about?”

Lou Ellen rolled her eyes, smacking his arm. She rocked back on her heels, and Will stared down at her shoes. She chose to wear the skirt, even in the coldest months, and her plain black leggings had the beginnings of a few runs. “About showing the new student around.”

“The new student,” Will repeated.

“From Pluto-I,” she said. “He’s arriving today.”

“Oh,” Will said.

Lou’s lips pressed together in a circle, brows raising. “Did you not hear?”

“Hear what?” Will tried to push past her, the first hour reminder on his watch beeping.

She turned and headed in the direction of their classroom. Will followed alongside. “You’re the one who’s supposed to be his guide. An ambassador of sorts,” she teased.

Will made a squeak in his throat. “Oh? Me?” he asked, though he knew it was true. Of course it would be him. He should have figured. Why would anyone inform him of his responsibilities? He should just know.

“Yeah,” Lou Ellen said. “So I’m guessing you’ve paid absolutely no attention to anything anyone’s said about him in the past few weeks.”

Will made an indignant look. “Uh, I know he’s from Pluto-I,” he said.

Lou rolled her eyes. “Right. Okay. His name is Nico di Angelo,” she said. “He’s a year younger than us, but Shades start school a year earlier. He’s fluent in English, so lessons should be no issue. And apparently Shades are of age a year earlier as well, so he’s living on his own.”

“Nico di Angelo. Oddly human name,” Will said.

Lou Ellen shrugged, placing her hand on the glass door to their classroom. Will leaned over her and placed his hand above. The door beeped and slid apart, allowing them inside.

“Will! Perfect!” Their teacher, Ms. Hestia, beamed when he walked into the door. Will looked to Lou, who smiled and moved to take her seat next to Cecil. Ms. Hestia beckoned Will forward to her desk. On the other side stood a young man, raven black hair, skin pale and papery, with dark veins just visible even from Will’s distance. He was staring off into the air, though he didn’t focus on anything in particular. Maybe he was, actually. Will couldn’t tell, with his blank eyes--black as void.

“Will, this is Nico di Angelo, our new student from Pluto-I. Nico, this is Will Solace. He’s the son of Ambassador Apollo. If you need anything, you can ask Will,” she said. Looking back to Will, she added, “We’ll only be doing a study hour in homeroom. If you have nothing before the first lesson, you can take Nico on a tour of the school.”

“Oh. Yeah. I suppose I can give a tour,” Will said.

Nico lifted his head at that. Staring in his eyes directly, Will’s stomach twisted. His eyes really were black as void. It was as if no light reflected in them. As if he could tell what Will was thinking, Nico’s lips pressed together. “A . . . tour,” he repeated. His voice had an unfamiliar accent, light and chime-like.

“Shall we go?” Will asked, pinning on a smile.

“I suppose,” Nico said.

Will led him out of the classroom down the hallway.

“So you, um, Earth, huh?” Will asked, making a forced laugh, too steady.

Nico looked at him blankly.

“I mean, what made you decide to come to Earth?” he asked.

“My father chose Earth,” Nico replied.

Will stuck his hands in the pocket of his uniform jacket. “Oh,” he said. “Why?”

Nico didn’t answer. His eyes seemed less solid, then his whole figure--dark clouds swarmed around him like smoke, a mirage fading in the light. After a moment, he solidified.

Will cleared his throat. “Well, um. The other senior classrooms are in this hall. So if you make any friends in our grade, you’ll find them here. If you meet anyone a year younger--well, below, since you’re a year younger, aren’t you, um--”

Nico ignored Will and turned the corner. “Junior classrooms, then?” he said, gesturing down the next hall. The entire school was roughly a square. By the time they reached the freshman classrooms and returned to the corner where their classroom laid, Will felt as if Nico had been the one leading the tour. He cleared his throat again.

“So, um, out front is the lot, if you ride a bike or hover. There’s a separate lot for cars. You just scan your watch on the door, and it should route the car there. If you drive one, that is,” Will said.

“I have a driver,” Nico said.

Will waited to see if there was a punchline to that. There wasn’t. “Oh. Um, well, this door leads to the locker room. Most people don’t use it yet, but you can keep your bag or coat in there. I think it’s pretty chilly, so--”

“Chilly?” Nico repeated. His accent stretched the vowels up, like bubbles of sound. His lips almost curled up in a smile. “I think it’s nice. Like summer on my planet.”

“Pluto-I,” Will said. He mentally slapped himself. Why did he say that? Nico knew what planet he was from. He probably thought Will was an idiot. He definitely did. He made a face and turned away.

“Beyond the locker room?” Nico asked.

Will paused, then looked. “Right. Yes. Those are specialty classrooms. If you take classes like family and consumer sciences, or music, or physical education, they need specific rooms. So they’re, ah, down there.”

Nico nodded. “I’m ready to return to the classroom,” he said.

Will tried not to let out a sigh of relief. He didn’t know how much more of Nico the Shade he could take.

October passed quickly, as Octobers tend to do. Nico the Shade stayed in the background, literally. He sat in the corner and was silent that most of the time, Will could forget he’d ever transferred. With Cecil directly in front of him and Lou Ellen on his left, Will couldn’t really pay attention to anything else in class, and as soon as the bell rang, Nico left. Will didn’t even know where he ate lunch, if he did at all. As November rolled around and the first semester began to wind to a halt, Will almost forgot that he was supposed to be Nico’s guide to Earth in the first place.

Almost, until the day he returned home to see his father.

Apollo Papadopoulos, the ambassador of Earth, the face of the planet--warm, friendly, talented in all the traditional human ways of healing, music, the arts, etc. He looked quintessentially human, with his golden hair, eyes blue as the sky, warm brown skin. Will looked much like him, though his skin was just a bit darker, like his mother’s. In many ways, Apollo seemed to think Will ought to take after him. Will wasn’t the eldest child, but he was old enough to take some of the tasks of an ambassador’s son, even though he lived with his mother in Montauk instead of with his father in Delos, as a few of his siblings did, which left to bear the question why Apollo was in Montauk in the first place.

“Father,” Will said.

“William,” Apollo said. “Sit. Please, tell me about how you’ve been. How’s school?”

Apollo was seated at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in front of him. At the counter, Naomi Solace stood scrubbing the dishes. Will had noticed his mom made the excuse preferring to do dishes by hand whenever they had a guest she wished to avoid. She turned her head, dark curls bouncing over her shoulders. “Be nice,” she mouthed, though her jaw was tight. Sometimes Will wondered how his parents ever met, much less did anything to make a child.

The thought grossed him out, and he quickly took a seat opposite his father. “School? Um, I go. Every day. Except for weekends.”

Apollo laughed, like Will had made a really funny joke. Will didn’t think what he’d said was that funny. “I’m glad, William. So tell me, how is the Shade?”

Will froze. “The Shade?”

“Niko Serapis,” Apollo said. Under his tongue, it sounded oddly guttural. He paused. “Oh, I suppose he said he was going to go by Nico di Angelo.”

“Oh,” Will said. “Yeah, he goes to school too.”

Apollo stared. “I’m sure. He’s a very dedicated student. He’s already been guaranteed admission into New Rome University. They asked for a year of secondary studies on Earth, so he can adjust to the culture. He has big plans. We couldn’t refuse.”

Funny. Nico had said his father chose Earth for him. Will held his tongue on that.

“Are you friends?” Apollo asked.

Will shrugged. “Nico doesn’t seem to have friends.”

Apollo didn’t look entirely unpleased with that. “I see,” he said. “So I assume he has nowhere to spend Native American Honor Day. Naomi, would you mind hosting him?”

Naomi slammed a dish down into the sink. “Oh. I . . . suppose we could hold another guest,” she said.

“Perfect!” Apollo said. He grinned at Will. “You just need to invite him then. Make sure he feels welcome. Try to include some of his home traditions.” He pressed his hands on the table to push himself up, leaving the half-empty coffee cup and heading to the door.

“Home traditions? They don’t celebrate Native American Honor Day on Pluto-I, do they?” Will asked. He craned his head to look at his dad.

“I’ll see you soon, my son. Have a good day!” Apollo shut the door without answering. As soon as he was gone, Naomi let out a loud groan, clutching the edge of the counter and leaning forward.

“Stars, Will. I know he’s your father, but--”

“Hey, Mom, you’re the one who had sex with him,” Will countered. She rolled her eyes and threw a dish towel at him.

“So we’re having an alien over for dinner,” Naomi said as she stepped aside to let the robots clean the mess she’d left around the sink.

Will shrugged. “I think Father intends for us to host him all day.”

Naomi scrunched her nose and shook her head, pulling her hair into a bun at the base of her neck. As she snapped her hair band into place, she said, “He’s a Shade, is he? This, uh, Nico--”

“Nico di Angelo,” Will said. “I suppose. He’s from Pluto-I, but he never talks about it. He never, uh, talks.”

“Lovely,” Naomi said. She took a seat where Apollo had been and rested her head on her hands, leaning against the table. “I don’t know why he thinks he can just strut in here and order us about.”

“He’s the ambassador, Mom,” Will said.

Naomi shook her head. “That doesn’t matter. He’s always been this way,” she said. She sighed, then looked up at her son. “Well, I suppose you need to work on homework. I’ll be in the music room. Let me know if you need anything.” She rose from the seat and pressed a kiss to Will’s forehead before heading out the kitchen door.

Will sighed, watching as a bot picked up his dad’s coffee cup. “Thanks,” he said. The bot made a beep of acknowledgment. At least bots listened to him.

“So, Nico.”

Nico looked up from his honest-to-goodness hard copy book. In the month since he’d arrived, Will had forgotten how vacant his eyes were. He tried to look elsewhere, but the dark veins trailing through his face were too distracting. Will coughed, then cleared his throat. Nico raised a brow.

“You do that a lot,” he said.

Will glanced to the side, confused. “Do what?”

“Clear your throat,” Nico said.

Will paused and thought about it. “I . . . suppose I do.”

Nico nodded and looked back to his book. Will looked down. He only caught a glimpse of the cover--Harry Potter. So he liked the classics. Nico seemed to notice Will peering, and he drew his book closer to his body, wrapping his arms around as if to cover.

“I was wondering if you were celebrating anywhere for Native American Honor Day,” Will said.

Nico’s eyes lifted slowly. From a certain angle, they looked almost human, his long lashes, the fold of his eyelids. The deep nothingness of his eyes gave him away. “Native American Honor Day,” he said.

Will gave a toothy grin and shrugged. “Well, yes, um, it’s an American holiday, to honor the Native Americans who lost their lives and land after the invasion of the Europeans--”

“I’m aware,” Nico replied. His eyes narrowed, almost as if he were annoyed, and his jaw imperceptibly tightened. “I’m not American. I don’t celebrate.”

“Right. Well, you’re in America,” Will said. “Anyway, if you want, you can come over, it’s the 23rd. Here. This should take you to my house. It’s usually just me and my mom, so--” He shrugged as he knocked his watch against Nico’s. Nico stared at it blankly.

“We are off-school that week,” Nico said.

Will nodded. “Yeah. Fall break. Kind of late, but it’s easier to coincide with Native American Honor Day.”

“I’ll be there,” Nico said, turning back to his book.

Will forced a smile. “Great. So, um, it’s kind of traditional to hold a feast. Is there anything you’d like us to make?”

Will wondered if he should have asked if there were any dishes Nico would like from home. Then again, he didn’t know if they could even make Shade dishes. They probably didn’t have the ingredients, and who knew how substitutions would work. And Will still didn’t know if Shades even ate!

“Acquacotta,” Nico said.

Will paused. “Acquacotta?” he repeated.

Nico nodded. “Acquacotta. I also like arancini.”

“Acquacotta and arancini,” Will repeated once more.

“If you need recipes, I have my mother’s,” Nico said, flipping to the next page in his book.

Will pressed his lips together. “Or, um, if you want, you can come in the morning and help cook. I’d hate to screw it up, and Mom and I kind of think cooking together is part of the tradition.”

“Alright. I’ll bring the ingredients,” Nico said.

Will stood by Nico’s desk for a moment longer, waiting for a goodbye, a dismissal of some sort. Nico said nothing. Finally, Will turned away to sit at his own desk.

When Nico arrived on Native American Honor Day, Will didn’t know what to expect. There was a reason that Naomi Solace didn’t marry Apollo, beyond Naomi’s apparent distaste for the man she’d once been infatuated with. Naomi Solace did not have a clue on how to host an alien.

“Does he use a chair? Should I set a spot for him at the table?”

“Yes, Mom,” Will said as he chopped potatoes, the knife rocking back and forth on the cutting board. He watched as the blade lifted once more, sliding the next potato underneath. A bot hung nearby, watching in case Will grew too close to his fingers. Will smiled up at it. “You’re a good bot,” he said. The bot beeped.

“You said he wants to make acquacotta and arancini?” Naomi asked from her spot at the table, attempting to peel a squash. After a moment longer with the futile task, she handed it over to a bot, who easily peeled and sliced. “I don’t know how to make that.”

Will shrugged. “He said he’ll bring the ingredients. I can only assume he knows how.”

“Acquacotta. Arancini. Sounds Italian,” Naomi said, standing up and moved to the cabinet to get started on the next dish. “Why would he want to make Italian dishes?”

“I don’t know,” Will said, tone dragging. “Maybe he’s fascinated with Italy or something. He does go by Nico di Angelo. Pretty Italian name.”

Naomi shook her head. “I just don’t--”

At that moment, the bell rang. A bot zoomed to answer the door, and from his spot in the kitchen, Will watched Nico step inside. He was dressed in loose clothes, dark jeans and a sweater, but nothing else that suggested he was at all cold in the November air. Two large grocery bags balanced in his arms, and as the bot offered to take them, Nico gave a small nod of his head. “Thank you,” he said. He turned to look at the Solaces, looking distinctly awkward in hallway just before their kitchen. “Will. Um, you must be his mother. I am Nico di Angelo.”

Naomi merely smiled. “Pleasure to meet you. You can call me Naomi. Come on in. Will’s working on the mashed potatoes, and I’m making cranberry salad. As soon as Will’s done, I’m sure he can help you with your dishes.”

Half of Will wanted to complain that he couldn’t help Nico with dishes he didn’t know, but he reminded himself that he was the one who invited him over. Even if it was at his father’s wishes. Will had to play the part of a good host.

Nico nodded to acknowledge Naomi, then moved to Will’s side, looking into the bowl. “Mashed potatoes,” he said.

“Uh, yes,” Will said. He continued to beat the potatoes, watching until it grew together. “So you brought the things for your dishes?”

Nico nodded. “Yeah,” he said, staring vacantly. “How do you tell when it’s done?”

Will paused. “Huh?”

“The mashed potatoes. How do you tell when they’re done?” Nico asked. His hair flopped over his forehead, a few strands brushing over the bridge of his nose.

Will looked down into the bowl. “Well, I just… wait until it feels right,” he said.

Nico’s eyes flickered up. “Feels right?”

“Here.” Will shifted the beaters until Nico’s hand. “Do you feel how the potatoes are growing softer?”

Nico nodded. “Yeah. So this feels right?”

“I think so,” Will said. He took the beaters back from Nico and turned it off. “Alright. So what do we do with your stuff? I’m afraid I’ve never made anything like it before.”

Nico looked over to the table where his grocery bags laid. Sliding away from the counter, he reached into one of the bags, pulling out a half-eaten loaf of bread. “Hold this,” Nico said, passing the loaf into Will’s hand. His fingers curled around the loaf, and he furrowed his brow. There was no give.

“This is stale,” Will said.

“Yes,” said Nico. “Has to be for acquacotta.”

“You use stale bread?” Will asked.

“It’s the whole point of acquacotta,” Nico said. He looked around. “Where are your pots?”

Sliding past his mother on one end of the counter, Will knelt down and opened a cabinet door, pulling out a pot. He passed to Nico, who reached for the sink to fill it. Setting the pot on the stove, he turned back to Will. “A saucepan.”

Will grabbed a saucepan and handed it over. This time, Nico reached into his grocery bags, and tossing a variety of vegetables in the saucepan, he turned on the stove and turned around, leaning back against the counter and staring off. Great. If he intended to be silent this whole day, this would be the worst Native American Honor Day ever.

“You’ve made this before?” Will asked, rising to his feet again. He hoped Nico wouldn’t need any more pans.

Nico nodded. “My mother used to make it,” he said.

“I didn’t know Shades ate,” Will said before he could stop himself.

Nico snapped out of his daze, dark eyes staring over at Will. Without a warning, he let out a loud, sharp laugh. His lashes fluttered down, and he shook his head. “Shades don’t normally eat human food,” he said after a moment. “We process more, um . . . somewhat like your plants. Photosynthesis, though we use the shadows instead of light. Take our nutrients from the atmosphere.”

“Oh,” Will said. He suddenly wished he’d looked Shades up on Google. Maybe he could have found out more about them and not looked like a complete idiot. “So you could do that right now?”

Nico shook his head. “Earth’s atmosphere isn’t suited for Shades. It’s why most Shades don’t stay here for long.”

“Do you not like to eat human food then?” Will asked. He leaned on his side, the sink jutting into his hip. Peering over Nico’s shoulder, he looked into the pot of vegetables, simmering.

“My mother was human. I can eat human food just as well as I can synthesize like a Shade,” Nico said.

Will paused. “You’re half-human?”

Nico nodded, turning his head. The small waves in his hair flopped to the other side, one dark brow raising. “Yes?”

“So I suppose having a human name is . . . normal then. I thought it was just a weird quirk. Choosing a new name.” Will’s freckled cheeks flushed red.

“Nico di Angelo. That was my mother’s choice of name,” Nico said. “Well, Niccolò, actually, but my father wanted me to have a Shade name. So they compromised, two names that sound mostly similar.”

“Niko,” Will tried to pronounce, remembering what he said.

Nico’s lips quirked, and he shook his head. “Nico is the best approximation by human tongues,” he said. “What you’re saying--there’s an accent that you can’t recreate, and you make it sound bad.”

“Thanks,” Will said.

Nico stared at Will for a moment before he turned around and looked at the saucepan. He turned the vegetables into the now boiling water. “While this cooks, we can start on the arancini.”

“Sure,” Will said. “What do you need me to do?”

It was kind of fascinating how Nico knew these recipes by heart. Neither Will nor Naomi were great cooks; Native American Honor Day took about all of their knowledge. But Nico made cooking fun, with the way he moved through the kitchen easily. He absorbed all of Will’s attention. When he wasn’t being perfectly silent and still, he was funny, almost charming. He had a beautiful smile. Will acted as goofy as his father in attempts to make Nico smile. At the end of the counter, Naomi watched the two, a small smile on her lips.

“Well, at least I have you for company,” she told the bots. They beeped happily, and she patted their heads.

By the beginning of December, Will had become focused on drawing Nico out of his shell. He invited him to eat lunch with his friends. He tried to stop and talk to him after school. He even let Lou and Cecil be partners for an assignment and grabbed Nico instead. None of it seemed effective. That small bit of humanity--literally and figuratively--Nico had shown on Native American Honor Day seemed to be gone. He didn’t smile. He didn’t laugh. He didn’t seem to care one way or the other about anything.

“Have you ever gone bowling?” Will asked during their study hour. He’d convinced Nico to dedicate it working on their history project, though Will had intended to spend at least a little time socializing. Nico was focused entirely on their project. Will had the feeling that if he didn’t insist on doing parts, Nico would do the whole thing without complaint.

“What’s bowling?” Nico asked, not looking up from his tablet. His hair fell loosely over his forehead, and Will watched as the waves in his hair bobbed with each shift of his head. The more Will looked at him, the more human he appeared. The dark veins through his skin seemed less unearthly, more just a quirk of Nico’s. Actually, he was rather handsome, something like an old movie star with sharp angles and silky hair.

Will cleared his throat and mind. He glanced over to Cecil and Lou Ellen, who were occupied by their intense discussion on the Election of 2360. “It’s kind of a game. Sport-type thing,” he said. “My friend Cecil, his family owns a bowling alley.”

“Oh,” Nico said. He tapped a few more letters on his tablet, then looked up, interested.

“We’re going this weekend. If you want to join, you can. Cecil and Lou are usually partners, so you could be mine. You know, team up and take them down,” Will babbled. He tugged his bottom lip underneath his teeth, his left hand moved to the back of his neck.

“I don’t know how to do bowling,” Nico said.

Will shook his head, leaning forward eagerly. “Alright, so it’s pretty easy. It’s just . . . spinning a ball down a lane. Into pins. Knocking them over.” He paused. “Okay, that’s the worst description of bowling ever.”

Nico cracked a smile. “You’ll have to teach me,” he said.

Will stopped. “You’ll come?”

“I will,” Nico agreed. “When is it?”

“Saturday. 15:00. We usually bowl a round, then get food from the snack bar, then play another round. I’m sure we can use the first round as practice,” Will said. He knocked his watch against Nico’s. “There’s the directions. I’ll see you there!”

Nico nodded and slid his tablet over. “I found this article from 2380. I think we could use it.”

Of course. There was Nico, focused as ever on school. Will leaned his elbow on Nico’s desk, resting his head on his hand. He’d find a way to crack him. He wanted to know more about this Nico di Angelo, Niko Serapis. He wanted to know more about Pluto-I. He wanted Nico to talk to him.

He wanted to see Nico smile again.

Cecil and Lou Ellen were already at the bowling alley when Will arrived. He was surprised to find that Nico as well had arrived, taking a seat in the lane next to them. He was wearing just a sweatshirt and jeans, and Will had to press lips together at the sight. It was early December, but it was about 3 degrees, far too cold for any normal person to go outside without a coat. Even Cecil and Lou Ellen had theirs out by now.

Cecil looked up when Will approached, looking greatly relieved.

“Will! Hey. Your . . . friend’s here,” Cecil said, glancing to Nico curiously.

“Friend,” Nico repeated. “Are we friends?” He looked to Will.

Will shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “Oh. Yeah, sure,” he said, moving to the seat opposite Nico. He pulled his scarf off of his neck, coughing softly from the cold air in his lungs. His cheeks pink, he slid his coat off and hung it around the chair.

Across from them, Cecil and Lou Ellen exchanged looks.

“Nico’s never bowled before,” Will said, looking at his friends in hopes to change the subject. “I thought we could use the first round to teach him to play.”

“Sure,” Lou said, her antennae bobbing up and down. “If he’s any good, I’m stealing him. The only one worse than Cecil is you, Will.”

Cecil snorted indignantly, and Lou Ellen ruffled his brown curls, sticking out her lavender tongue.

“Nope. I invited Nico, and he’s mine,” Will protested automatically, slinging an arm over Nico’s shoulders. It was the first time he’d ever actually touched Nico, and he was surprised to find that Nico’s skin wasn’t unnaturally cold. In fact, he was almost warm. Realizing he’d had his arm around Nico unnecessarily long, Will started to draw back, just as Nico leaned a little closer, his head knocking against Will’s shoulder.

“I’m Will’s partner,” Nico agreed, eventually pulling back on his own. Will’s face felt abnormally hot, and not from windburn. He looked to Cecil and Lou, who seemed to be trying not to laugh. Will turned away and looked at the screen.

“Cecil, did you have your brothers set us up?” he asked.

Cecil shook his head. “Nope! Hey, Travis, Connor!”

The twins raised their hands from the counter, and the screens popped to life.

“It’s a bit old school here,” Will told Nico, “but I think it’s fun.” He knocked his watch against the screen, then brought Nico’s wrist over as well. “Just two.”

The screen flashed, and the bowling pins set up.

“Oh, yeah. So we also need to choose the weight for the bowling balls,” Will said. “I usually go for a 16. You can try that, and if you need, we can get a different ball.”

Nico nodded. “You’re going first,” he said, voice flat.

Will smiled. “Yeah, sure.” To their left, Cecil and Lou Ellen had already started their game. Will rose from his seat and grabbed the ball as it appeared, stepping up to the line.

“So the first thing you do is put your fingers in the holes like this,” Will explained. “Then you just step like this, swing your arm, and--” He let go of the ball, watching as it rolled awkwardly, wobbling across the lane. It knocked down one of the end pins, and he turned to Nico with a sheepish smile.

“Will is, like, the worst person to learn to bowl from,” Lou called from the other side. She took her turn, moving gracefully across the floor. The ball flew from her fingertips, landing on the lane and swiftly knocking all the pins. “Strike! Hell yeah, I’m the queen!”

“Show ‘em how it’s done, Lou!” Cecil cheered.

“You don’t get to say anything,” Lou Ellen said, spinning on her heels and pointing a finger at him. “Your family owns a bowling alley, and you only got 3 pins.”

Cecil shrugged and leaned back in his seat.

“Your turn,” Will said brightly, turning to Nico and offering the ball. Nico rose and took the ball from Will, turning it over curiously in his hands. He slid it on his fingers, then moved to the line.

“Like this?” he said, looking at Will. Will nodded. Nico took a breath, chest lifting. His arm swung back, and before Will could even process it, he tossed the ball, knocking 9 pins.

Will’s brows rose. “Wow. Not bad,” he said. “Maybe after this practice round, you can beat Lou.”

“Hey!” Lou Ellen called from her lane, crossing her arms over her chest.

“We can beat her this round,” Nico said, turning back to Will. He had a sharp glint in his eyes, something Will had never seen before. He reached for the ball as it reappeared and knocked down the last pin.

Will felt a grin tug at his lips. “Yeah. You’re on, Lou! I’ve got Nico!”

“Well, this sucks. You let me down, Lou.”

Lou swatted Cecil’s arm, and he hip-checked her in response. “I tried my best. Hey, Nico, are Shades super strong or something?”

After the games had finished, the competitive spark in Nico died down, and he looked as blank and empty as ever. Tossing their empty plates with the remnants of greasy bowling alley food in the trash, Will and Lou Ellen had started to put on their coats. Cecil, who was staying to take over the food counter, had packed his things onto his arms. Nico, who had arrived with nothing, stood to the side. “No,” he said.

“Oh,” Lou replied. “Any reason you’re so good at this game then?”

Nico paused. “I used to, ah--” He paused, then made an indistinct noise, breathy, like mist. “It’s a sport on Pluto-I. Somewhat like your fencing. So I suppose I have dexterous arms.”

“Jealous,” Cecil said, rolling his eyes. He checked his watch. “Well, I really have to head over before Priya decides I’m late and makes me pay.”

Will shivered. Cecil’s younger sister was disturbingly creative. “Good luck!” he called.

“I’ve got to run too. Mom wants to have a family dinner. See you,” Lou Ellen said, her antennae bobbing happily as she turned to the door.

“Have fun with your boyfriend!” Cecil called.

Will’s face grew bright red. “He’s not my boyfriend!” he called back. The desire to keep his eyes glued to ugly old fractal pattern on the table was strong, but he knew it would be rude to leave without a real goodbye. He lifted his head only to find Nico staring over at him. “Ha. Well, um, I should head home. Got to catch the metro, so--”

“I can give you a ride,” Nico offered.

“Oh. You don’t have to,” Will said, taking a step towards the door.

Nico shook his head and followed him. “My driver will be here soon. Just wait.”

“Oh. Well, uh, thanks,” Will said, pausing just in front of the glass. He turned to look outside, where the sleeping trees spread their limbs through the gray sky. He supposed it would have been rude to refuse again. “So bowling. You like? Bowling. You like bowling?”

“It was fun,” Nico said.

Will nodded, giving a terse smile. “Right. Great.” He shifted on his feet again. Cool air slid in behind incoming customers, and he shivered. “It’s, um, cold out.”

Weather talk. Fantastic, Will Solace.

Nico turned to look at him. “It’s not too bad. Pluto-I is colder,” he said.

“Oh. I guess you like the cold then,” Will said.

Nico was quiet. “Not so much.”

Will faltered. “You don’t?”

“Mamma was from Italy. The few times I’ve been on Earth before now, we were there,” Nico said, and for a moment, Will thought he heard a bit of an Italian accent to his speech, but, no, he was probably projecting. As Nico had said, he was raised on Pluto-I. “She always liked the heat. She rarely left our home if she could help it. Pluto-I was too cold for her.” His words carried some sort of weight that Will couldn’t seem to place. After a moment, Nico turned to look at him, his dark eyes somber. “That’s what I think it was. Humans can’t survive for extended periods on Pluto-I. Mamma and my sister, Bianca . . . they both died from unexplained circumstances. Bianca, I think, was more human than me.”

Will stared at Nico’s face, even as he turned his gaze back to the outdoors. “Nico,” he said.

“My father believes I will be safer on Earth,” Nico continued, “but since Shades aren’t suited to this environment--”

Will reached for Nico’s arm, his fingers wrapping around his bicep.

“Jules-Albert is here,” Nico said abruptly, pushing his way through the door. Will followed him out, fairly sure that they wouldn’t be speaking on the ride to Will’s.

Part of Will wondered why Nico had told him that. It was difficult to think of him as the strange Shade classmate for their senior year when Will knew that Nico di Angelo, Niko Serapis, was half-human, with a dead mother and sister, unsure if the environment of the native worlds of either of his parents’ would be suitable for his body.

When Will returned home that evening, he pulled out his tablet and began to scan through Google, Shades, Pluto-I, Niko Serapis.

Shades turned up dozens articles on the species, but most of the words were too scientific for Will to understand. He set those aside and briefly skimmed Wikipedia, which was about as helpful. Will already knew they were shadowy shapeshifters. The pictures looked significantly different than Nico, but Nico was presenting in a human form, so Will ignored those as well. Pluto-I provided little more information.

Niko Serapis was something else. The son of Hades Serapis, the ambassador of Pluto-I, and Maria di Angelo, daughter of a former ambassador of Earth. After Maria’s death, Hades had remarried to another Shade, a Mari L’Vesk, with whom he had a daughter, Hazel. It was all but publicly acknowledged that Hazel had been born out of wedlock, long before Maria di Angelo passed. Nico’s sister, Bianca, had died only a year and a half ago. Niko--Nico--was the only one left in his family with any human blood. He must have been lonely.

He must have still been lonely, even on Earth. Will tapped on another article, showing Nico beside his father, greeting a delegation from Earth. He zoomed in on Nico’s face, as cold and detached as ever. His fingertips resting on Nico’s pale cheek, Will stared at the screen until he fell asleep.

Will considered Cecil and Lou Ellen his good friends. He could, mostly, trust them not to spread gossip. Cecil’s siblings, on the other hand, were gossipmongers, so long as it benefited them, and by the next school day, word of Will’s association with Nico had spread.

“So you’re dating a Shade?” Drew Tanaka asked, plopping herself down on the edge of Will’s desk in one swift motion. Her hair was neatly braided into a crown, and she wore the pants version of the uniform with all the grace and style of her model mothers. Will simultaneously envied, adored, and despised her.

“I’m--”

“He’s kind of odd-looking,” Drew said, turning her head in Nico’s direction. She didn’t care if Nico saw her looking, which Will supposed was respectable in its own right. “Not because he’s an alien, I mean. Like . . . he just seems so not there. Not exactly the type I thought you’d go for.”

“I’m not dating Nico,” Will said.

Though Nico must have heard Drew as well, he didn’t look up until Will spoke. Something about the look Nico was giving made Will’s chest tighten, and his ears grew red. Nico’s brow furrowed, and he abruptly looked back down to his tablet. Will finally looked away only to find Drew’s face staring down at him.

“Are you going to get off my desk?” Will asked.

“Oh, sure, I’ve gotten plenty,” Drew said. She pressed a kiss to Will’s cheek, leaving a bright red mark, and Will groaned. “You’re a darling, Will, as always.”

“I’m not taking you to my father’s ball this year, Drew,” Will said. “I’m not going.”

“I know, you’ve told me,” groaned Drew, cocking her hip and staring down at him, her eyeliner as sharp as knives. “But, thankfully, you’ve made up for it in other ways. I’ll forgive you.”

Will couldn’t tear his eyes away from her as she walked away. Not because she was gorgeous (though she was), but because she terrified him when she spoke about things he didn’t know. Whatever he’d given her, it couldn’t have been good.

He was right. As soon as Ms. Hestia dismissed class, Will reached for his tablet, only for Nico to brush by so abruptly that he knocked it out of Will’s hand. His head snapped up to look at Nico, but Nico was already at the door, his tablet in his hand. His knuckles looked both pale and dark and smoky where they curled around the screen. Will glanced back down at his own, lying on the floor, thankfully not cracked. He scooped it up and headed out the door.

The hallway was full of students, wall to wall, but Nico wasn’t one of them. Will could only see a few feet in front of him as he slid between his classmates. If he was lucky he’d catch him at the locker room-- but Nico didn’t carry a bag, if Will remembered. The cold didn’t bother him. He wouldn’t have a coat. He wouldn’t stop by the locker room.

Will pressed his lips together and swallowed before he turned to head out the door. Rather than chasing Nico down the walkway, Will found Nico sitting on the bottom step. In his rush, he stumbled and tumbled down onto him. Nico made a noise with that wispy tone again, and he reeled back, hands planted on Will’s shoulders, fingers tightening as he pushed him away.

“Nico,” Will said.

“What’s your problem?” That was not the wispy tone. That was a tone Will had never heard from Nico, cold, dark, a viscous sort of sound as bitter as tar. Will’s eyes moved up Will’s body, from his perfectly tied tie, neatly buttoned jacket, to his face, brows drawn together, mouth turned down into a sneer.

He’s angry, Will realized belatedly.

“I’m-- You looked-- Um, class,” Will stammered.

Nico scoffed and pushed Will away a little more firmly, until Will landed on his butt the next step down. “What?”

“Are you mad at me?” Will asked, knowing that was the worst question to ask someone who was mad at you.

“No! Why would I be mad?” Nico asked. His voice traveled the tones naturally, less impassive than Will had ever heard him be.

“You know, honestly, I don’t know,” Will retorted, crossing his arms over his chest, partially out of a desire to seem more put together, mostly because it was freezing outside. “I don’t know why you’re mad at me, Nico. How could I? You’ve never been mad before, and I’ve been nothing but nice since you got here, so if you want to tell my dad--”

“What’s so bad about dating me?” Nico asked abruptly. As if he’d realized what he’d said a moment too late, the whites of his eyes grew large, and shades of smoky gray spread across his cheeks and ears.

Will stopped. “Uh, wha--?”

“You . . . .” Nico stammered, Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “You keep telling people we’re not dating, and you act like-- Would it be so bad to date me?”

Will stared blankly. Nico seemed to wait for something for half a second before the dark blush on his cheeks spread, and he turned away.

“Hold on. Are you saying you like me?” Will asked.

“Shut up,” Nico said, letting out a breath.

“You like me,” Will repeated as it sunk in.

“Shut up!” Nico repeated as his face grew darker.

“Nico--”

“Shut your damn mouth, and don’t touch me!” Nico shook the hand reaching for his arm off and stood up, looking so jittery Will thought he was ready to dissolve into whatever Shades normally looked like. “Just-- don’t say anything. Leave me alone.”

“You like me.”

“Would you stop saying that?”

Will finally stopped, his own cheeks growing red, not just from the cold. He lifted a hand to the back of his neck, the only part of his body that was still warm. Nico liked him. A Shade liked him. What was he supposed to do with that?

“It’s . . . Don’t make that face,” Nico said, his voice softer, though not to that same, dreamy quality he’d had before. He seemed more present, more real, than ever before, solid and harsh. “It’s not weird. I’m half-human. I can . . . I’m allowed to like people. And you’re actually nice to me--”

“I didn’t say anything,” Will said.

Nico rolled his eyes, still looking irritated. “You were thinking it. I get it, you don’t-- Whatever.”

Will sighed and pushed himself to his feet. A step below Nico, they were about the same height. “How am I even supposed to know how I feel about you? You’re always so--”

“So what?” Nico asked, his hands suddenly flashing in front of Will’s face.

“So nothing! It’s like nothing matters to you! I know people always talk about how humans are so wild and emotional, and then you show up and you’re just-- nothing ,” Will said. “Why did you even come to Earth?”

“Because my father told me to!”

Will stopped, lips parting. He stared at Nico, who withdrew, half-looking like who he’d been before, cold, distant, a Shade locked in a human body. But Will could see now. He could see the tightness of Nico’s jaw, the twitch of his lips, his tense fingers. Regardless of what he tried to present, Nico was human too.

“Your father’s an ambassador,” Will said.

Nico paused, glancing over to Will. “Yeah,” he said, leaning against the column on the front steps.

“I know how you feel,” Will said after a moment. “I mean, my dad is the one who told me to--” He stopped, realizing how Nico might take that.

Nico seemed to know what he was going to say anyway. He scoffed. “Yeah. Of course.”

Will sighed. “It’s not that I dislike you or anything,” he said.

“I know, whatever, you just don’t like me, I’m just that weird human kid, yeah, I get it.” Nico’s hands flew around as he spoke before returning to his chest as he crossed his arms.

“Shade kid,” Will corrected. Nico looked up at him. “You said human kid. But here you’re the Shade kid.”

Nico didn’t answer. He turned his head, black eyes focused on column.

“I guess people on Pluto-I weren’t the kindest,” Will said.

“It’s not--” Nico exhaled slowly. “You can’t really understand it. It’s another culture, another species. I don’t know if Shades and humans are really the best for hybrid kids.”

“What do you mean?” Will asked. He took a step up the steps, sliding closer to Nico, who spared him a quick glance.

“You don’t have your coat on. You’re going to freeze,” Nico said.

Will suddenly felt the chill of the wind rubbing his skin raw. “Oh.”

“You don’t have to take pity on me anymore. You can tell your dad you’ve done the job. I’m fine.” Nico’s arms tightened around his chest.

“You are such a pain in the ass,” Will said.

Nico looked up.

“If you acted like this, less people would think you’re creepy,” Will said. “We’re human . You don’t have to hide your feelings all the time. It’s normalto care about things.”

“I don’t know what you’ve been told about Shades, but we’re not heartless. We care about things. I was just . . . told to stay quiet. My father didn’t want me to offend anyone,” Nico said. “Apparently I’m abrasive.”

Will snorted. “Really?”

Nico cracked a smile in spite of himself.

Will took another step closer. “I don’t want to pretend I know everything you’re going through, okay? But I think things would be easier if you actually tried to hang out with people. People beside me,” he added.

Nico seemed to deflate slightly. “Right.”

“But we can, um . . . .” Will cleared his throat. “We can still hang out.”

“As friends,” Nico said.

“Not necessarily.” Will gave a lopsided grin. “I mean, it’s not every day someone tells me--”

“Shut up,” Nico said, that faint gray spreading through his face again.

“You should come over for the holidays. We do all sorts of thing on Earth,” Will said. “Mom won’t mind. The whole family comes up from Texas, ‘cause we have snow up here.”

Nico looked out ahead at the lawn, the grass they never let students even touch, like grass was some prized possession instead of a part of nature that was meant to be walked on. “We don’t have snow on Pluto-I,” he said.

“You ever seen it?” Will asked.

“No,” said Nico.

“It’s nice. I hope we have a white Christmas this year,” Will said. He smiled, leaning over the railing.

“You’re shivering,” Nico said. He lifted his hand to Will’s cheek. “You really should go inside.”

“Yeah,” Will said, the soft thump of his heart against his chest growing louder. Nico’s hand was unreasonably warm in this weather. He took a step back, shaking off the touch. “Yeah. Um, I’m going to go inside. See you, Nico.”

“See you.”

Will turned towards the door, not quite sparing a glance towards Nico as he made his way to the locker room. He grabbed his coat without much of a look at any of the remaining students, though Drew, leaning on her locker, gave him a look.

By the time Will made it outside, Nico was gone. Will kind of felt disappointed.

It was December 18th, two days before the last day of school before the holiday break, when homeroom was interrupted by a knock on the door. Ms. Hestia looked up, looking through the small window in the door, thean to Will, which gave Will a distinct feeling that this was not going to be something good.

When Apollo walked into the room, Will was sure. This was not good.

“Students of Montauk Youths’ Academy, we have been blessed with a special opportunity today,” Apollo began without any sort of introduction. Will’s cheeks began to burn, and he lowered his head. Ms. Hestia didn’t even seem to know what was going on. How could he show up at Will’s school and not even tell the teachers? “Your classmate, Niko S-- Nico di Angelo, as you all know, is from Pluto-I--”

Oh no. Will’s head snapped up, looking over his shoulder to Nico. Nico’s jaw was tight, his fingers about to break the stylus in his hand.

“His family has decided to make a visit, and you have the fantastic opportunity of meeting Ambassador Hades Serapis, his wife Mari L’Vesk, and their daughter Hazel,” Apollo said. Behind him, a tall, thin man stepped in, his features twisted into something almost annoyed.

The stylus snapped. A few snickers from somewhere in the classroom echoed, but none of the adults acknowledged them. Of course they wouldn’t.

“There’s no need for this,” he said, words diplomatic, but tone decidedly not. If Nico was abrasive, Will had an idea of where he got it from. “I can visit my son after class.”

Apollo beamed, his own diplomacy skills not quite polished enough to pick up on the signals Hades was sending. Will always thought his father had been appointed to this position because any errors he made would have been excused by his lack of awareness rather than an intentional slight. “Nonsense. There’s no need to wait. Ms. Hestia doesn’t mind,” he said.

Ms. Hestia pursed her lips. Hades Serapis looked at her apologetically. Behind him, a woman and a girl a few years younger than the students--obviously Mari and Hazel--followed. They were all dark, nearly pitch black, their skin not quite solid, hair loose and curly. They looked little like Nico, except for their eyes, and now Will wasn’t the only one who knew.

Will glanced over his shoulder again. Nico’s face was growing gray. At the front of the classroom, the girl--Hazel, gave a beaming smile and slid through the aisles.

“Niko!” she said brightly, tugging her brother out of his chair. “How do you like Earth? I’ve never seen a school like this before. Are you settling in well?”

Nico seemed to force a smile. “It’s fine, Hazel,” he said, his voice softer, as if to lessen the amount of attention on them, though with this situation, it didn’t do a thing.

“Oh, your tablet!” Hazel turned to look at Nico’s desk, reaching to scoop the tablet into her hands. “How fascinating.”

“Yes, um . . . .” Nico glanced helplessly at his parents at the front of the room. “Father, perhaps we should take this out of the school.”

Apollo looked perplexed at the suggestion, but Hades nodded, his wife looking relieved.

“Niko, Hazel,” Hades said, though those were the only words Will caught until his voice grew softer, wispier, the language of the Shades. At Nico’s desk, Hazel nodded, grabbing her brother’s hand and leading him up to the front. As they passed Will’s desk, Hazel turned to look at him, giving a wide smile, then looking to Nico. She said something that made Nico’s ears darken as well.

“Hazel,” Nico said, pushing her forward until they reached the front of the classroom. Hades and Mari quickly ushered their children out of the door, until Apollo was left flummoxed, Ms. Hestia feathers ruffled, and the class utterly stunned at the deviation from routine.

“Well . . . Let’s hope they have a good visit. Please be kind to your classmate!” said Apollo as brightly and stupidly as ever. Will tried not to cry when Apollo waved at him and walked out.

As Ms. Hestia tried to resume her lesson, Will felt the tip of a stylus dig into his neck. His shoulder lifted up to knock it off, and he looked behind him.

Lou Ellen smiled sympathetically. “I always forget your dad is . . . like that . . . .”

“I just feel bad for Nico,” whispered Will.

“He’ll be fine,” Lou said. “I mean, embarrassing as that was, he’s got a day with his family, and nothing seems to bother him anyway.”

Not true. Nico was surprisingly sensitive. Will didn’t know if that specifically would humiliate him, but he hated the thought of his dad making things difficult for Nico. If only Will could contact him. But he hadn’t synced their watches, and-- He bit the tip of his tongue, only snapping out of it when he realized Lou was smiling at him.

“What?”

Lou Ellen shook her head, antennae bobbing. “Pay attention, Will,” she said, poking his neck again until he turned around, leaving him with no answer once again.

At the end of the day, Will’s worries hadn’t quite subsided, and he hardly remembered getting his coat and walking outside. He was halfway to the metro station before he noticed the car beside him, and when the window rolled down and a voice called, “William Solace!” he nearly had a heart attack.

In the car, Hazel L’Vesk and her brother sat, Hazel’s head poking out of the window. Hazel’s hair was loose and bounced around her in the wind. She looked nothing like her brother, but she was very pretty as well; she was easier to call pretty, rather, as the darkness in her features looked much more natural.

“William Solace,” she repeated. “My brother Niko said something of a sport called ‘bowling’. You know this sport?”

“Um,” Will said, not sure how to respond.

“Will isn’t very good at it,” Nico said, sliding up beside her. For a moment, Will thought he would smile, but as soon as he caught Will’s eye, Nico bristled, turning his head away. “Let’s go, Hazel.”

“Oh, but--” Hazel looked at her brother, then back to Will. “Oh! Well, since you’ve shown Niko your sport, perhaps Niko could show you ours. He was the champion of our school at home--in his age level at least.”

“Yeah, you’re pretty good too,” Nico replied, sparing a smile for his sister.

“Of course!” Hazel grinned before turning back to Will. “Please, join us. We’ll be heading to the embassy hotel.”

Nico pressed his lips together, looking as if he didn’t want Will to come. Will was ready to make his excuses until he looked at Hazel’s face.

“I--” he said.

“Great!” she said, opening the door and sliding over her brother to the other seat. “Come in!”

Will hesitated before he climbed into the car, sitting next to Nico. Nico shifted, sliding a bit closer to Hazel, who shoved him back, his thigh brushing Will’s. Immediately, Nico stiffened. Then, almost defiantly, he crossed his arms and spread his legs a little wider, pressing Will into the side of the car.

Real mature, Will thought. They weren’t even really fighting.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, William,” Hazel said, leaning forward to look at him. “Niko’s told me about you.”

“He has?” Will asked.

Nico blushed again, the cool gray of his face stronger than ever.

“Of course! It’s nice that he has a friend here,” Hazel said. “I was . . . upset when Father decided to send him to Earth, but I can see it’s good for him. But now this is the only chance I have to beat Niko at--” She made that sound that Will vaguely remembered as the sport Nico played on Pluto-I.

“You’re not going to beat me,” Nico said, that competitive glint returning to his eyes.

Hazel grinned. “Oh, but I am, dear brother. I’ve been practicing. What have you been doing?”

“Bowling,” Nico replied, and Will had to cover his mouth so he didn’t laugh. In spite of himself, Nico let a small smile slip, and Will’s heart twisted in his chest. Oh. Right. Nico’s smile.

“Bowling? Perhaps I shall bowl the next time we are on Earth,” said Hazel. She looked to Will. “My brother has told me of your sport. It sounds very odd. If we return soon, you must show me.”

Nico’s lips quirked a little more at his sister’s antics. “Please ignore her. She’s only 14.”

“And I’m still going to beat you at --.” She stuck out her tongue, as dark as the rest of her, and Nico stuck out his, a darker shade of pink than most humans, as if it were imbued with shadow.

The driver dropped them off at the front of the hotel, and Hazel grabbed Will’s hand to pull him out. Her fingers weren’t cold, though maybe a little cool, like grasping at the air in the fridge, and Will had a distinct feeling if he squeezed too hard, her hand would disappear. Nico’s body was more solid, from what Will remembered. Nico followed beside them, waiting for Hazel to open up the door to the hotel, where she led them to a recreational room, already supplied with the tools of the trade, or sport as case were.

“Ready?” Hazel asked before she seemed to disappear--then out of nothing but a shadow in the corner of the room, she was a wisp, not even vaguely humanoid, her voice no longer making any sort of sounds similar to English. She was a real Shade, Will realized. Not shapeshifting, just existing.

Nico remained in his human form, glancing over to Will hesitantly. “I--” he started before running a hand through his hair. He responded to Hazel in the same language, then looked back to Will. “This may be a little weird for you, okay? I mean . . . I’ll have to leave my human body. But I’m not dead, so don’t freak out.”

What?

Nico stepped to the side of the room and opened his mouth, a rush of shadow flowing from his lips. His dark veins seemed to empty, and his body seemed paler, lesser, his eyes falling shut as he fell to the ground, and then there was another Shade, looking just like Hazel, attacking before Will’s eyes could adjust. Will looked to the body beside him.

Nico was right. He did look dead, slumped over like that. Part of Will wanted to scream or cry or something, staring at a body devoid of any signs of life. Did Nico use that body like a shell? Was it even a part of him? Will reached to touch it. The skin was still warm, and on the wrist, he could feel a heartbeat.

Too creepy. He turned his attention to the match before him.

There was no handbook to explain what they were doing. They moved so quickly Will couldn’t catch it, and though he had the sabers or whatever when they’d entered the room, he hadn’t registered when they’d picked them up. It was like fencing, Nico had said, but Will couldn’t see any resemblance beyond the use of swords. He’d almost convinced himself he was catching on when they reformed into humanoid-figures. Like this, Nico had the same dark skin as his family.

“You’re getting so good, Hazel,” he said in English, probably for Will’s benefit. “You’re going to be far better than me by the time you’re my age.”

Hazel beamed. “I learned from the best,” she said, wrapping her arms around her brother’s waist. She was sweet. Far sweeter than any of Will’s half-siblings, he thought, almost jealous. But considering the family Nico had, he probably needed Hazel. Anyone who could make Nico smile like that must have been good.

“Shall my driver take you home, Will?” Nico asked, sliding over to his body and flowing back in, his eyes opening with just a second to adjust.

“Um,” Will said.

“I’ll take him home,” said Nico. “Are you leaving tonight, Hazel?”

Hazel nodded sadly. “You know Shades can’t stay on Earth long,” she said.

“I know,” Nico said, his voice taut. He sighed and reached to hug her, murmuring a few words in his language.

Hazel smiled and replied before looking to Will. “It was a pleasure to meet you, William Solace. Please make sure my brother is safe on Earth.”

Will smiled. “Oh, he’s, um--”

“Father will be looking for me. This was my time with my brother, and I’m afraid I’ve overspent,” she said. “Perhaps I shall see you again. Goodbye.”

Shades must have moved faster in wisp-form, as the girl was gone in a blink of an eye, and Will was left alone with just Nico.

“Can I ask you something before I go crazy?”

Nico turned his head at Will’s question.

“What the hell was that? With your body?” Will asked.

Nico shrugged.

“I just,” Will stammered, “the rest of your family looks like they just-- Well, Hazel just shapeshifted into a human, but you like-- it’s like you came out of your body, and--” He stared, blue eyes wide as he tried to figure out how to explain what he saw.

“Oh. That. It’s-- part of being half-human,” Nico said, voice growing progressively softer. His ears grew an inky gray. “Most Shades can freely shapeshift, but, um, my human body doesn’t . . . . It’s just always there. I can take a Shade form, but I can’t stay out for very long.”

Will furrowed his brow, and Nico lifted a hand to fuss with his hair.

“Look, I know it sounds weird, but there’s an explanation from the doctors on Pluto-I, and I can’t remember all the details. My existence is weird, so,” Nico said, blowing out of his lips as he shrugged.

“Hey, you don’t have to justify it. You should know. I just . . . .” Will tried to think of something to say that didn’t boil down to, “That was incredibly disturbing, and I never want to see it again.” Because that wasn’t what he meant. Not totally. It was cool to see Shades as they naturally were, and seeing that other side of Nico was neat, but Will couldn’t get the image of Nico’s body slumped on the floor out of his mind.

“I told you I wasn’t dead,” Nico said, voice softer, hand lifting to Will’s cheek again. Before his fingers brushed Will’s skin, he dropped his hand sharply. “My mother never liked to see it either. So don’t feel bad. To her, I was this body. Seeing me outside of it, it was like seeing her child dead.”

“Oh,” Will said. He wasn’t sure there was anything else he could say.

Nico pressed his lips together. “The doctors didn’t make it any better. They told her Bianca and I would die if we left these bodies too long. We can only be out for about half an hour before systems fail.”

“Systems fail? You’re not a bot.” Will snorted, covering his mouth.

Nico’s dark eyes grew soft. Standing so close, Will thought he could almost trace irises in the blackness, maybe even see some gold flecks. “Error: Systems down. Contact manufacturer,” he said, face flat before letting his head slump over. Will let out a loud laugh, and a proud smile grew on Nico’s face.

Will shoved Nico’s shoulder. “Part-Shade, part-human, part-robot. What aren’t you?”

“Patient. Come on. Jules-Albert is waiting.” Nico stepped towards the door, and Will followed behind him. As soon as the door shut, it was like their camaraderie had evaporated. Nico was as cool and distant as ever, and Will had no clue what to say.

“Your sister is nice,” was what he finally came up with, using his few inches on Nico to catch up.

Nico shrugged. “Yeah. She didn’t want me to go,” he said.

“But your father made you,” Will remembered.

Nico’s lips parted slightly. “It’s not so bad,” he said. “Humans tend to breed with other species more often than most. I plan to study hybrid species and their health, so this is probably the best place to do it.”

Will scrunched his nose. “Breed is the worst word to use for that.”

“Why? Does it bother you?” Nico’s eyes lit up with that knowledge. Will already regretted telling him. “It’s just a fact, you know. Humans breed --”

“Dickhead,” Will said, jutting his elbow into Nico’s side.

Nico laughed and lit up the room, hair flopping loosely to one side, smile wide, lashes framing his eyes. Will hardly noticed he was holding his breath until he was forced to turn away so he could force his lungs to work again.

“You know,” Will said, “I’ve always wanted to study health as well. Medicine, really.”

“Oh?” Nico asked. At least, Will thought it was a question.

“Yeah. My oldest brother is a doctor. He used to visit and help my mom out after I was born, because Dad was already onto his next romance,” he said, raising his brows in derision. “I used to idolize him. He’s kind of busy now, but I like when he gets to visit. And I’m dyslexic. Like, really dyslexic. So school was always hard for me. For a long time, I thought that if I studied three hours and my friends studied one and still did better than me, what was the point of it all? But he told me that if I wanted to be a doctor, I was already on the right track because doctors need to know how to work at studying.”

“He sounds cool,” Nico said. Will looked up, expecting to see that polite expression he normally got when he explained his motivations, but Nico looked interested. “It’s not the same thing, but on Pluto-I, our schools are kind of . . . weird. Shades don’t really . . . sleep. But I have to, since I’m part-human. And we progress based on what we show, so my father always thought I’d fall behind my classmates. And that pissed me off. When I wasn’t sleeping, I was studying, unless Mamma pulled me away.”

“Spite is the best motivator,” Will said.

Nico smiled. “Maybe. Doesn’t leave a lot of time for anything else though,” he said.

“Is it easier here?” Will wondered. “I mean, we all sleep, so you don’t have to worry about falling behind.”

“It is,” Nico said. “I have a lot of free time. It’s . . . weird. It’s like I can actually do things. Have friends. Go out. Maybe--” His cheeks grew gray, which told Will exactly what he was thinking of, and that made Will’s cheeks go pink. It wasn’t as if he’d forgotten that Nico liked him, but that was a reminder that, yes, Nico actually wanted to date him, maybe even be his boyfriend.

“Are you going to spend more time with your family? I don’t want to pull you away from them. I can walk home,” said Will, eager to change the subject.

“Oh. No. Father will leave after his meetings, and they end shortly,” Nico said. “I’d rather return to my apartment.”

“Are you sure?” Will asked.

Nico nodded. “It’s fine,” he said. “I’m . . . still welcome at your house for the holidays, right?”

Will nodded quickly. “Of course. I invited you, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but--” Nico swallowed, cheeks gray again.

“Yes,” Will replied firmly.

Nico looked as if he wanted to say something, but he turned away. “What should I bring this time?” he asked.

“Gifts are traditional,” Will said. “But you don’t have to worry about that for my extended family. They do most of the exchanging before they get up here, so it’ll just be Mom’s and my gifts to them. Not that you have to get anything for me or Mom either; you can come over after we do gifts. Mostly, it’ll be food again. So you can come and cook, if you want? But I’m not volunteering you. You don’t have to.”

“I want to,” Nico said. “I want to do the holidays.”

Will paused. “Then you ought to wear an ugly Christmas sweater,” he said.

“A what?” Nico asked.

“Look it up!” Will said, just as Nico’s watch beeped, telling them Jules-Albert had arrived.

Montauk Youths’ Academy provided the particular benefit of casting students into hell with a Finals Day rather than a Finals Week, as m ost civilized schools did. Like all students belatedly realizing it was time to study, Will had no time to observe Nico again until December 25th, the first day of the holiday season. He told his mom Nico was coming again, and she gave a smile, nodding in a way that told him he did not want to ask what she was thinking about.

Most of the family had arrived on Christmas Eve, but they were late sleepers. Will and Naomi always got up early to do their Christmas exchange, which never took long. Like most years, Will got a new scarf and hat, and Naomi got a new supply of guitar strings and a coat.

“Why did we ever move up here, Will?” she asked, wrinkling her nose as she hung her coat in the closet.

“So you could be closer to your record label,” Will said.

“Ah, of course!” she said. “They wanted to torture me. Thanks, honey.” She reeled around and kissed his head, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing tight.

“ Mom ,” Will groaned, though he couldn’t help but laugh.

“What time is your friend getting here?” Naomi asked, rising to her feet and stretching her arms over her head.

Will paused. “Uh,” he said.

Naomi raised a brow and shook her head, curls bouncing around her neck. “Oh, honey, you didn’t tell him a time?”

“It was kind of, um,” Will stammered, remembering when he’d invited Nico. His ears burned, and he looked down at the floor. Wow, had their carpet always been so beige?

Naomi snorted and ruffled her son’s hair. “Is there anything you want to tell me?” she asked, fluttering her lashes.

Will grew redder and shook his head, glancing to where Nico’s gift laid under the tree. “Mom, it’s not--”

“Okay, Will,” she said. “I’m going to start cooking. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me. You can have the living room to yourself when he gets here--at least, until your cousins wake up and start rampaging.”

Oh. Yeah. LeShaun and Daneka had come this year. That . . . would not be good. Did Nico like kids? What if they said something about his eyes? Shit, maybe he’d be offended, and--

The doorbell rang.

Will clenched his teeth and let out a breath. “Mom?”

“Yes, honey?”

“Why did you let me invite him?”

“You’re eighteen-years-old, Will. I have no control over your actions. If you want to invite a boy, I’m more than happy to welcome him.”

“ Mom .”

Will hopped up and moved to the door. He puffed up his cheeks and exhaled before he turned the knob.

Nico stood on the doorstep, clutching two presents wrapped in white and mint green paper with bright red bows, in a gaudy green sweater strung with rainbow lights, his hair a little wavier than usual, as if he’d only just woken up. Oh, no. He was cute. Will wasn’t ready for this.

“Hi,” Nico said, his dark eyes staring at Will.

“Uh,” Will said.

Nico raised a brow. “You say that a lot.”

“It’s my favorite word,” said Will. Since when was he such an idiot? Favorite word. Nico must have thought he was stupid.

He cracked a smile and stepped inside. “Are these wrapped correctly?” he asked. “Jules-Albert helped me.”

“Oh, yeah,” Will said, giving a goofy smile. “They’re nice.”

“Cool,” Nico said. “Should I give this to you now?”

“Oh, um--”

Before Will could answer, a rumble echoed down the stairs, and LeShaun and Daneka came tumbling down.

“Will! Willy!” they called as they scrambled over to him. “Will, it’s Christmas!”

“Uh, yes. I know,” Will said. He looked to Nico. “Oh, these are my cousins. LeShaun, Daneka. This is Nico; he’s my friend.”

Daneka stared. Nico stared back.

“My sister used to do her hair like that,” Nico said, gesturing to the twin buns on her head.

“Your sister has good taste,” Daneka pronounced.

Nico nodded. “She’s great.”

“Is he your boyfriend?” Daneka asked, her little brother shyly stepping behind her.

Will shook his head. “Oh, no, Nico’s just--”

“An alien,” LeShaun whispered, eyes wide.

Nico smiled. “Yeah. I’m from Pluto-I.”

Will stared curiously. They were getting along. That was good.

“Willy, you don’t have to play with us this year,” Daneka said. She grabbed Nico’s hand, and LeShaun ran to his other side to take the other one. “We want to play with the alien.”

“Daneka, I don’t think--”

“Do you like VR?” she asked, looking up at Nico.

“Oh, yeah! Mamma used to play with us on Pluto-I,” Nico said eagerly. “Have you ever heard of Mythomagic?”

LeShaun scrunched his nose. “That’s so old .”

Nico’s face fell slightly. “Well . . . Mamma’s system was from when she was a kid.”

“Then we have a lot to catch you up on,” Daneka said seriously, her dark eyes wide. She moved back towards the stairs. “Will, can you turn on the VR system?”

Will stood frozen before he nodded slowly. Naomi peeked her head out of the kitchen.

“Stole your date?” she teased.

“ Mom .”

“Merry Christmas, Will.”

Will may not have called Nico his date, but his cousins definitely stole him. It was the first year they didn’t ambush Will at every corner. Instead, they dragged Nico into their collection of VR games. Nico joined eagerly, clearly fascinated by how far the system had come since his mother’s age. Will managed to wiggle his way into watching, though Daneka had declared he wouldn’t get a turn.

“You can have mine,” Nico offered once, but Will shook his head. It was clear Nico loved VR, and Will was content seeing the smile he had while playing.

Will was screwed.

By the time everyone started opening presents, Will had kind of forgotten he was the one who invited Nico. At least, until his uncles started in.

“This is the first time you’ve brought someone to the holidays,” Uncle Jun said as he tried to wrangle his kids into the living room for presents. “Naomi didn’t even tell us you were dating anyone.”

“I’m not-- Nico’s not--”

Jun smiled kindly. “I remember when I said that about Dante. Don’t waste your time, Will. He’s here, isn’t he?”

“I--”

Dante slid in from the kitchen, his curls pulled into a small ponytail. “Jun’s right. No need to wait. Sometimes boys can be stupid. If you don’t tell him, he may not realize.”

“You never would have realized,” Jun said.

“I knew you were something special,” protested Dante.

“I don’t need to hear your story again,” Will interrupted. “I get it, I do. But Nico’s--”

“A nice boy. Daneka might scoop him up if you don’t,” Jun noted, watching as his daughter tried to teach Nico to dance. Will turned to look at him, watching as he awkwardly mimicked her steps.

“See? That’s the smile. That’s a gay smile,” Dante said.

“Stop pestering my son.” Naomi stepped into the living room, drying her hands with a towel before tossing it back into the kitchen. “He’ll figure it out in his own time.”

“There’s nothing to figure out,” Will protested.

“Sure,” Jun said. “Kids, shut up and sit down.”

“Yes, Dad,” Daneka and LeShaun echoed, scrambling over to the couch and sitting down. Nico was left standing alone, and he awkwardly stepped closer to Will.

Naomi took pity on him. “This is your first Christmas, Nico? Come here,” she beckoned, leading him to one of the chairs. “Take a seat. We’re just giving the kids gifts. They’ll leave you alone after this.”

“Oh. Okay,” Nico said, taking a seat. He looked at Will curiously. Will stepped closer to him and plopped down on the arm of the recliner.

“I’ll give you yours after this,” he said softly. “Uncle Jun and Uncle Dante will be trying to keep them in line, so we’ll be free.”

“You got me a gift?” Nico asked, eyes bright.

Will furrowed his brow and glanced at the gifts Nico had brought. “Um, yes. Didn’t you--?”

“What I read online said gifts are typically exchanged between family members and romantic partners, though in some cultures, friends exchange gifts as well,” Nico said. He fiddled with the red hem on the sleeve of his sweater. “I didn’t know about this one. So I bought you and your mom gifts, but . . . .”

“I totally invited you for Christmas and planned to make you suffer through it without any gifts,” Will said, rolling his eyes. He nudged Nico’s shoulder, then paused, waiting to see if he heard any giggles from his family. No, they were busy with Daneka and LeShaun. Perfect. No teasing.

Nico huffed, his ears graying. “You would.”

Will made an exaggerated scowl. “Hey! I’m the nicest guy on the planet.”

Nico mumbled something, and he glanced up to Will with wide eyes, something heavy between them.

Will swallowed thickly and peered over Nico’s shoulder to the window, the dark winter evening lying ahead where there were--

“Flurries,” he said. “Mom! Mom, can I take Nico outside? It’s snowing. He’s never seen snow.”

“You’re eighteen, Will. You don’t have to ask for permission,” Naomi said, shaking her head.

Nico snickered. Will blushed and grabbed his hand, scrambling to the coat closet before he tugged Nico onto the porch. The porchlight was small, just enough to light up the chipping paint on the wooden panels. The snow was fine and thin, just covering the grass, but it was snow.

“A white Christmas,” Will said. “I was hoping you’d get to see this. As much as I hate the cold, I’d miss this in Texas.”

Nico moved down the steps and kneeled down, hand stretched out to the powdery snow. “It’s cold,” he marveled.

“Yeah, frozen water,” said Will. “Kind of how it works. I know we didn’t have weather in science or anything, but--”

“I know what snow is,” snapped Nico. “I just . . . didn’t know how it would feel.”

Will laughed as Nico turned it over in his hands until the handful melted and ran down his fingers. “What do you think?”

“It’s pointless,” Nico said, rising quickly and moved back to Will’s side.

“I think it’s pretty.” he protested. “And just wait until tomorrow. I’ll take you sledding. You’ll love that.”

“Is it a sport?” Nico asked.

Will hesitated. “Well, kind of. It’s just for fun. But we can race.”

“I’ll beat you,” Nico said.

“You’re on, di Angelo.” Will grinned and waved his fists at Nico. “. . . So how’s your first Christmas?”

Nico shrugged. “Interesting,” he said. “I’m glad I got to see you.”

Will’s face flushed, not just from the winter air. “I . . . .”

“Stop making that face. I can’t help how I feel,” Nico said shortly, turning his head away.

“I’m not making fun of you.”

Nico crossed his arms. “No, but you’re--” He let out a breath, white fog at his lips. “You’re thinking it. It’s weird. Can’t like Shades, can’t like humans,” he grumbled.

Will furrowed his brow. “Nico, that’s not what I’m saying.”

Nico huffed, his lip almost a pout. Cute.

“I just didn’t expect it, you know? When you told me, I-- Well, you were always so quiet,” Will said.

Nico didn’t say anything.

“But you’re kind of . . . . Well, you’re not bad-looking, and you, um, make me laugh,” Will stammered, face red.

“Not bad-looking?” Nico repeated, looking as if that were actually a compliment.

“You’re cute,” Will said.

Nico’s face grew gray, and he pressed his lips together into a rather unattractive face. “No one’s ever said that before.”

“Not even your mom?”

“Mamma and Bianca don’t count,” he said. “I don’t exactly look normal by Shade or human standards.”

Will shrugged. “You’re still cute,” he insisted, reaching for Nico’s hand.

“So are you,” Nico muttered. “. . . Does this mean we’re dating?”

“Oh. Sure. Yes. Um, boyfriends and all that. We can make sledding our first date!” Will said eagerly. “Is that okay?”

Nico shrugged. “As long as I still get to beat you,” he said.

Will rolled his eyes. “Whatever you want, darlin’.”

Nico’s cheeks grew gray once more. “Are you going to call me that now?” he asked softly.

“Do you like it, darlin’?” Will asked, a grin spreading across his face.

Nico scrunched his nose. “No. It’s disgusting.”

“You sure?” Will asked, now convinced Nico liked it. “Darlin’.”

“Shut up!”

“What are you going to do?”

Nico leaned closer and pressed his lips to Will’s. Will froze. Nico’s lips were warm, and the blood rushing through Will’s face was as well, fighting the cold outside. Will let his eyes close, and he squeezed Nico’s hand.

A white Christmas with his new Shade boyfriend. A nice ending to the year. Will smiled into the kiss and held Nico’s hand a little tighter.

#solangelo #megan writes

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