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thebigqueer · 3 years

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"Pick Your Fighter: Tater Trot or Will Solace?" - Solangelo - One-Shot

Summary: Nico tries to befriend a pegasus. This one is for the mythological creatures prompt for @solangeloweek !!

Word Count: 1745

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“Will, I don’t think this is a good idea.” Nico edges away from the pegasus, a nervous look flitting across his face as he does so. “Pegasi don’t usually like me.”

Will looks up at Nico, his hand momentarily freezing as he strokes the creature’s mane. A kind look overcomes his features when he notices his boyfriend’s reluctance. “I think it’s worth a try,” he says softly. “I know they don’t like you, but I don’t particularly like the idea of going on a chariot through the sky for a date, either. I don’t like how bumpy it gets.”

Nico huffs and crosses his arms. “Yeah, well, I don’t like feeling a horse’s hooves crashing against my chest when it’s kicking me away.”

Will chuckles and turns back to brushing the pegasus’ mane. “Has one actually done that to you?” he asks curiously.

“No, but I just know that if someone wasn’t around they’d probably try to throw me to the ground. They’re only nice to me when someone else is present.”

Will smiles and drops the brush to the ground, which thuds softly against the fiery green grass. Then he steps closer to Nico and takes one of his hands; as their fingertips touch, a spark of electricity races up both of their spines. Nico has to physically restrain himself from blushing, but Will lets the pink spill across his cheeks without regret.

“In that case,” murmurs Will, “you have me around. And I really want to take you up to the sky. New York City looks so pretty in the evening.” He leans in and pouts, and Nico can’t help the swelling of his heart at the sight of the blond’s expression. “Besides,” Will adds, “I think we deserve it after such a hectic week.”

Nico doesn’t argue with him. It’s only been one crazy thing after another, what with Nico’s mini quest to retrieve an item of Hermes’ and Will being stuck in the infirmary after a particularly eventful Capture the Flag game.

But Nico also isn’t excited to ride a pegasus. Heights make him nervous - what if Zeus immediately blasts him out of the sky? What if he falls and crashes to his death? He doesn’t exactly want his cause of death to be “ejection from a pegasus.”

Almost as if Will can sense his absurd thoughts, he smiles in amusement. “Nothing’s going to happen to you, Nico. I promise.” He turns his head to the creature, who is already glaring at Nico. A frown tugs at Will’s features when he notices the wariness that strangles the pegasus.

He faces Nico again and slips his hand into his boyfriend’s, using it to lead the two of them closer to the winged animal. Nico tries to drive his heels into the ground in an attempt to protest, but a wave of curiosity splashes over him. What if he really can get this pegasus to accept him? What if he really can gain another friend?

So he lets Will take him. The pegasus stares at Nico, its gaze turning fiery with anxiety, but it doesn’t move. Perhaps it’s just as interested in Nico as he is of it.

Will pauses in front of the pegasus’ line of sight, staring it down with a calm, relaxing gaze. He strokes his hand over its muzzle and smiles. Almost immediately, the creature melts under his warmth and turns its focus away from Nico.

But something releases in Will, too. His body curves into the pegasus, fitting in perfectly with the warmth of the creature’s body, and a dazed, faraway look overwhelms his eyes.

“You know,” Will whispers, talking almost as if to himself, “Silena used to be really good with pegasi. They used to love her. Any time she stepped into the stables horses would just turn her way and their wings would flap in excitement.”

Nico’s heart turns to lead at Will’s words. Despite the fact that her death had been so many years ago, just the mention of Silena’s name sends a crash of grief over him. He waits a moment to let the power of her very concept bloom and disintegrate in the air. Then, quietly, he says, “Yeah?”

Will nods, though a cloud of sadness arcs over his head. “She used to let me come with her to the stables. That’s where I learned to take good care of them.” A small sigh billows through his lips. His hand freezes its movement, and his gaze stretches into the forest, searching for something lost, trying to catch a hold of something he can’t reach anymore. “She saw beauty in a lot of creatures.”

A blanket of silence falls over the boys. Nico shifts hesitantly on his feet, and he considers holding his hand out to Will, just to tug him out of whatever spiral of emotions he’s found himself in.

But before Nico makes a move, Will turns his gaze back to him. His blue eyes glimmer dazedly, but nevertheless, he forces a wavering smile over his mouth. He’s awfully good at that. “I was scared, too, you know. When I first started hanging out with them.” Will chews his bottom lip thoughtfully. “I know you and I have different experiences, and I know pegasi don’t like you because of your whole death thing, but… I don’t know. Maybe I can help you a little. I’ll use things Silena taught me.”

Nico winces with uncertainty. “I don’t know, Will. I just don’t want to feel bad.”

Will holds his hands up in surrender. “Hey, it’s up to you. But who knows. Maybe you can convince this one that you’re harmless.”

Nico considers Will’s words. He looks at the pegasus nervously, who stares right back at him as if wondering the same thing: Can we really learn to trust each other?

Something in Nico’s heart urges him to push forward, to make a move. He locks eyes with Will again, and in a moment of understanding, the blond smiles triumphantly.

“Here.” Will pulls Nico closer, and despite his nervousness, Nico allows him to be urged forward. Will takes Nico’s hand and raises it up to the pegasus’ muzzle - not quite touching, but close enough so that Nico’s fingers simmer with the heat of the creature. Will bows his head closer to his boyfriend’s ear and whispers, “Just try to touch it gently.”

A wild look of anxiety sparks in the pegasus’ dark eyes, but there’s something determined there, too. It’s just as curious as Nico is to see if they can be friends.

Hesitance seethes in the air between Nico’s fingers and the fur of the creature. Time stills as the human and the pegasus watch each other in anticipation.

Then Nico touches the muzzle. The winged animal’s eyes flash with surprise, then melt into a puddle of obsidian softness. After a beat of reluctance, Nico finds himself drowning under the softness of the pegasus’ body. All the tension, all the anxiety that writhed within him just seconds before completely evaporates, and he’s left with only a sense of ease. Warmth encompasses his chest as he explores this new friend before him.

He runs his fingers up and down over the pegasus’ forehead, and Will lets go of his hand. Nico overflows with a certain giddiness at the realization that this majestic creature is admitting its trust to him.

Maybe he can trust it, too.

Behind him, a low laugh tumbles into his ears. Nico nearly jumps; he was almost convinced he and the winged creature were alone in the wild, but apparently they had company.

Nico turns his gaze momentarily to Will’s blue eyes. A smile flickers on the blond’s face, and a confused expression reflects across Nico’s own features. “What?” he asks, puzzled. “Why are you laughing?”

“Nothing,” whispers Will, though the sparkle in his eyes says otherwise. “It’s just that… I told you so. You’ve made a friend!”

Nico scoffs and rolls his eyes, though a small smile still cracks against his lips. “Whatever, nerd.”

Will shifts behind him, but Nico doesn’t care to turn and find out what he’s doing. He’s too busy brushing his fingers over the face of his new acquaintance, curious as to the creature’s history. It’s another few moments until Nico feels Will’s presence behind him, and he turns his eyes back to his boyfriend.

Will offers a soft smile when Nico looks at him. A golden eyebrow arches gracefully against his forehead. “Are you ready to go? I think you’ve proved your trustworthiness to this pegasus.”

Nico considers Will’s question. His body hums with a warm excitement, and a cool, comforting breeze brushes against the back of his neck.

He feels good right now. He feels at home.

When Nico turns his gaze up, he finds a golden hue threatening the blue sky; the sun begins to drown under the weight of the incoming night. If they want to leave, they’d better do it now.

Nico sighs. A comforting quiet surrounds them, filled only with the new chirping of crickets and the sound of Nico’s breathing.

After a beat of silence, the son of Hades whispers, “What’s its name?”

Will frowns. “I’m not sure if we have a name yet. I think she’s a new one.”

A new excitement overwhelms Nico’s heart, and he looks at Will elatedly. “Can I call her something, then?”

Will shrugs and laughs. “Sure, I guess.”

Nico frowns in concentration as a cacophony of names ring in his head. Various Italian names, Greek names, even names of simple objects flit across his mind, but nothing feels quite right yet.

It isn’t until after a few moments that something finally clicks. A smile slips over Nico’s mouth. “How about Tater Trot?” he suggests to Will.

The blond snorts. “That sounds kinda stupid.”

“I don’t know,” Nico murmurs in dissent. “Let’s see how she likes it.”

In response, the pegasus huffs in agreement, and Nico turns to offer a grin to his boyfriend. “Looks like she’s into it. Tater Trot it is.”

Will rolls his eyes. “All right, whatever. Are you ready to go?”

Nico strokes his hand once more down his new friend’s muzzle, then nods his head at Will. “Let’s go, then. This view better be as pretty as you tell me it is, or else I’m going to leave you for the horse.”

Will laughs and throws an arm around Nico. “Guess things just got serious between you two.”

#solangelo week 2021 #solangeloweek2021 #solangeloweek #solangelo #nico di angelo #my writing #will solace #solangelo fanfic #nico di angelo fanfic #will solace fanfic #solangelo fic #nico di angelo fic #will solace fic #riordanverse fanfic #riordanverse fic #trials of apollo #toa #rick riordan #riordanverse

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seavoice · 4 years

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anywayy my favourite thing is to think about the year between the Battle of the Labyrinth and the Last Olympian, from every character’s perspective, literally, both main and minor. Because it’s sad hours, I’m thinking specifically about Beckendorf and Silena, eighteen and gearing up for college and one foot into a new life, the year in between, the years lost, and the years promised....because, like, can you imagine? Can you imagine what they lost? Can you imagine what they thought was in store for them, and what they actually got?

Off to college in the fall, college in the city they’ve spent their entire life in, a chance for a new start without saying goodbye to the old, not really. Do they spent their eighteenth birthdays strolling along the moonlit long island beach, laughing and making plans of what they’d do after the war, because...this war was going to end right? They’re two of the oldest campers in CHB, and they’ve lost close friends, and this is a war, they’re going to lose more, but not each other. Not each other, right? That doesn’t happen in happy stories. Not now. Not after so many years of being childhood friends and crushes and girlfriend and boyfriend. This is a happy story. They’re going to win this war and they’re going to make out in the shitty jeep Beckendorf has fixed up to run like a charm, and they’re going to go off to college but we’ll come back during summers, you guys!

Because they will. They’ll come back to hang out with their friends and teach new campers...they’re going to volunteer for chores, pick strawberries and inspect cabins, and laugh with Chiron, the rare exceptions to his sad curse of losing his campers, and Silena is going to teach Pegasi riding to the wide eyed little kids, and Beckendorf is going to coax the quietest ones out of their shell and teach them how to forge their own weapons. They’ll drive back to the city at the end of every summer, a basket of the strawberries they’d grown up eating tucked between their seats, and something sweet and slow will be playing on the radio. Eighteen. They’ve made it to eighteen. This is a happy story.

This is a happy story right? Silena will tuck into Beckendorf’s side when the nights get shorter and sadder and they have to mourn a friend or a sibling or too, and she will swallow back bile and disgust and anger as she stares at her bare wrist and thinks about the scythe charm under her pillowcase, catching bits of her siblings’ conversation. This is a happy story, she’s doing this to make it a happy story, because Beckendorf and her are going to move into the apartment he’s been excitedly talking about that is dead cheap and dead close to their college. Did Beckendorf attend war councils that devolved into fights and arguments and a bunch of laughing children and he think to himself next year I’m not going to be here. And it wasn’t sad exactly, because he wasn’t thinking about monster ships and sacrifices, he was just thinking about how he would start a new routine of catching a cup of coffee with Silena after a long day of classes and how they’d be far away from camp around this time next year. Not monster ships and sacrifices, because...this was a happy story, right? So close. After summer. And there had been so many summers. This was just another summer. This was a happy story, wasn’t it?

And maybe they bickered about the pros and cons of a state of art washing machine versus a good fancy carpet. They circled the numbers in the newspapers offering the best deals on kitchenware and they used the Big House’s landline to call them up. Silena sat at her dad’s chocolate shop and pocketed the best chocolates to give to the friends at camp as her father read his poetry (he’d traded it for painting that month, a new passion project that promised a crash ending as sure as a proverb) to her between customers, and she told him, in the off-handed way daughters tell their fathers, I love you and I’ll hopefully be able to visit more often now that I’m going to start school in the fall. Her father hugged her tight, not like it was the last time, because this was a happy story, but like he loved her, because he did. Beckendorf and his mom spent a weekend watching silly sitcoms in between reviewing Beckendorf’s newest blue prints, because no one had a better eye for detail than Professor Ada Beckendorf, who taught architecture to the students at NYU. And Beckendorf promised to bring home Silena next time, because there was a next time, because the monster attacks are getting rarer mom, yeah I really do think so, because this was a happy story.

They think of getting a dog, or a cat maybe, for this hypothetical apartment in a rock solid future, shoot down the idea of a hamster on Percy’s request when he joins them on an impromptu quest. The Stolls are thinking up of couples pranks now, some new genre of hell, and Michael rolls his eyes at them, and Annabeth sends knowing smiles, and sometimes when they invite Clarisse on an outing out in the city, she blows them off midway to fight monsters. Silena teases Drew like all good elder sisters do, and hugs Lacy goodnight, and Beckendorf jokes with Nyssa and pulls Jake’s leg and hoists Harley onto the air. Just this summer. This summer with the war, and fall we’re off to college. I feel so old, Beckendorf says, and Chiron nods in that sad tired way of his and Silena says Eighteen? Who would have thought becuase, really who would have thought. Silena’s fist curls around the scythe charm in her pocket, tries to block out what Beckendorf says next because it not quite I love you, as they’ve grown used to saying constantly, but his stunned soft little I can’t believe we’ve lived so long to Chiron is sacred in a whole other way. Chiron says eighteen is not so long my boy, but it feels too long when you lose friends at fifteen and sixteen and seventeen. Silena says Can we come back next summer? And Chiron says of course, always, this is camp, this is home, this—

This is a happy story isn’t it? Silena thinks, hand raised in a wave as Beckendorf soars above them on Blackjack, promising that he’ll be back with Percy, they just have to blow up a ship on the way. This is a happy story, and it’s just one more summer in a childhood marked by summers. Come fall, Silena thinks, half a prayer and half a demand, all a promise, come fall and this is going to be a happy story.

#charles beckendorf #silena beauregard #percy jackson #pjo #annabeth chase #rrverse

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