Happy birthday Percy! Here's a teaser to the start of the next book!

Since I basically did the last two back to back though, I'd like a little more time off before I commit to finishing this one. This is not a nice way to start the book, but I'm still having a blast!

It'll officially kick off on Halloween, promise! Until then, enjoy...

PJOPJOPJOPJO

Will stood there tense in frustration. He wanted to barge into that door and promise Nico there was nothing wrong with him, but he said he didn't want to talk about it. With him. Because he'd never felt alone. Which he hadn't, he'd always had the support of his siblings in his cabin since he'd told Michal he had a crush on Connor Stoll and his big brother had told him a few very specific ancient Greek stories' about their dad. He wanted to be the one to tell Nico about those stories too, but he didn't want to keep pushing too hard.

He might know someone who Nico could talk to though.

Alex answered her door with multicolored playdoh under her nails, the lumpy mold in her other hand hadn't taken shape yet, but he'd gladly ask later.

Alex hip checked the door back shut and went back to her project while Will dithered. She had a tarp set up on the ground and an assortment of containers all half opened around her, the colors as bright and cheerful as they would be from store bought packages. Never mind they were all still casually chilling down here without air.

"Nico and Percy kill each other?" She offered as she began using a plastic knife to carefully cut up slices of green. "I'm not sure how much help I'll be burying the body out here, but I'll give it a shot."

Will swallowed and chose his words carefully, "I'd like you to ask Nico if he wants to talk, but I can't tell you why."

He felt horrible, like he was going behind his back asking the only other confirmed person on a pride flag was putting up a huge sign there was something to tell at all, and loathed himself if he was throwing Nico's secret under the bus, but if Nico just stayed in his room and refused to come out for the rest of these dang books Will would hate himself even more.

Jason was actually his preferred option, the two had been getting on as almost friends there for a minute, but his background was still a huge question mark and he didn't wish to imply Nico should share his secret with anybody else who also wouldn't get it! He'd spent the whole walk to this room wondering if 'going on a quest' was some weird code he still didn't know the meaning of. No, the guy still had to many complications to bring this to.

Thalia was to close in friends to both Percy and Annabeth to be a contender, plus seemed to have opted out of having a romantic life because of other obligations, not some inherent choice.

Magnus was a nice enough guy and had a stupid obvious crush on someone gender fluid, making him bisexual by default, kind of? He hadn't come out and said anything about it though and still seemed blushy over details, plus Nico had a predisposition not to like Magnus because of his relation to Annabeth, but was this any better?

Alex Fierro was snarky, out spoken, and very alone when she'd come in here. As flamboyantly colorful and extroverted as she was, there was a wall up Magnus had slowly been whittling away over time they'd all seen over their quiet ASL lessons.

It was a different kind of alone than Nico so clearly felt he was, and he was probably making a huge mistake-

Alex had looked up from her project and was studying him silently. "Remember how I said I didn't speak my experience for all genderfluid people," she reminded. "Whatever you think Nico's going through, I might not get it either."

"I know," he promised, "but I just, I want to, but he told me to go so, I've been giving him space since, I guessed, what I can't tell you, but I, there's a thing as too much space too. I don't want him to close off even more."

"I'll try," she surprised Will by readily agreeing, getting up right away and heading to the bathroom sink. "I'm not promising anything though, if he tells me to leave too, well, we can't force him."

"Thank you," he sighed in relief. "Just, for trying, thank you."

"No, thank you," her warm smile was a rare thing to see, not the prickly, crooked, scheming look she so often caried as she studied them, just a small simple thing that made her seem like the most relaxed gal in pink and green that could ever exist. There was a cowlick in her green hair, it fell across her multicolored eyes, making one glimmer brighter than the other like a secret just begging to be told if you brushed it all away. Will could really see why Magnus had fallen so hard for this person right then. "Nico's got a good friend in you, he's lucky to have that."

...

Alex knocked rapidly five times, sharp and loud enough to make sure she was heard, but her voice was gentle, "Nico, it's Alex. Do you want to talk, or do you want to be alone?"

She waited patiently until the door opened a crack. His face was in shadows, his dark hair and gaunt features looked like an ill omen. Alex smiled invitingly. "Will send you?" He demanded, though his tone was promising, he sounded weary, but not immediately dismissive.

"He's a good friend," Alex repeated cheerfully.

A beat of silence, a sharp exhale from the poor guy, and Nico stepped aside muttering, "can't make me feel worse." His dark brown eyes watched as Alex made herself at home, flopping onto the bed sideways, feet dangling off the side and studying the ceiling as if it were any different than any of the others. "I swear he's the most stubborn person on the planet," he still added petulantly as he closed the door with a sharp snap.

"It's not the worst trait to have, at least he knows how to balance it with that sweet, caring side that he uses on you too," Alex tilted her head just enough to keep him in sight upside down and watched him wearily walk over.

He sunk down next to her expectantly, legs crossed, and when the silence dragged on he grumbled, "is this the part where you tell me it's all going to be okay?"

"This is the part where you speak and I listen," Alex shrugged, making her slide dangerously a bit nearer off the bed. "If you'd rather wait to talk, than we can hang in silence or you can show me that Mythomagic game. I'm not going to force out whatever's bothering you."

A horrible sounding laugh grated out of Nico's throat, he blinked and tears threatened on the edge of his eyes again. He'd spent the entire silence in here concentrating on the shadows on the wall not to move, not to cause any more damage. He was exhausted. "To late for that. I, I just blurted it out!"

Alex waited some more but Nico went to twisting his ring about, the darkness in the shadowed room seemed to be growing. Alex watched them dance about the wall with intrigue, the patterns flashing an untold story to her as she said to him confidently, "If you want to take it back, you absolutely can. Just because you told Will you're gay doesn't mean you have to staple a label to your forehead, or automatically start dating him or anyone."

"I didn't tell Will," he said with a painful smile, "I told Percy."

"Oof," Alex couldn't help but wince how that must have gone, the expression even more flamboyant from her crooked angle.

"Yeah, exactly," Nico rubbed a miserable hand along his face, his ring pressing in over his sharp cheek bones. "It just came out, and he just said he's not gay like I wasn't laughably aware Annabeth's the only one for him." He sat there clearing his throat a few times before he dragged his eyes back. "Wait, how did you know?"

"Just a vibe I got from you," Alex shrugged again, slipping another few dangerous inches and rumpling up the pristine bed. "I wasn't sure until I saw, this," she gestured vaguely to his miserable state.

Nico flopped onto his back beside her and groaned. "Gods I'm pathetic."

Alex continued speaking to the ceiling too, practically hanging onto the sheets to even remain in place. "What makes you say that?"

Silence for so long she thought Nico wouldn't want to talk about this anymore today.

When Nico spoke though, his voice was a quiet whisper meant to stay at the bottom of the ocean. "I don't know what my sister would think of it." He sat up slowly on shaking arms. His voice rose into near hysteria as he continued to vent. "When Will told me he was bi, so casual, I couldn't believe my ears. The way you just said you were genderfluid, proud and strutting, I've rarely seen anything like it. Bianca and I, we come from a really different era. I was ten when I got my first crush, and barely admitted to myself why I'd never liked any girls before I got stuck in here unable to escape the fact I've had a massive crush on the most unattainable guy at Camp! She, my own sister, would either laugh at me or send me to church in disgust until I was converted."

Alex sat up too, enjoying the head rush that only increased her wish Adrian were here, he'd been so much better at this stuff helping her navigate through this, so she tried to say what she thought he would even through her tingling scalp. "I don't know your sister, but I know she cared about you a lot. She risked a dire warning and a threat all for something she knew you cared about."

He started picking at his lip, averting his eyes to the door like he wished somebody would barge in and stop him saying, "I'll never know."

Alex twined the edges of her shirt around her fingers for a few moments. She spoke without thinking what someone had once said to her long ago. "This pain will have its place." Nico coughed and wiped at his nose. Alex knew that miserable, aching feeling that left you wondering what the point of anything was and ultimately, bluntly said, "our emotions are a tangled, ugly, messy thing that we can't get a handle on five minutes after we think we've got it."

Nico laughed again, but at least this time it sounded like it was in agreement.

Alex continued more confidently, "When I first heard the word genderfluid, I thought somebody had made it up, but the more I thought about it, it made sense to me. I mean, this was after months of repeating it to myself, in my head. Why I feel like I have very male days, why I struggled for so long to be comfortable with myself. I had someone who helped me with that. He's gone now, and," her two toned eyes gleamed in the dark room before slamming shut, Nico didn't know if she was about to start yelling or crying too. When she kept speaking, he knew her confidence came from practice how to handle the world as her eyes opened back. "Now, now I'm just as confused about other things too. If it takes you weeks or months to untangle how you feel about Percy and your sister than that's how long it takes. It'll hurt, you'll be confused, but eventually, you'll be at peace longer when you reach whatever ugly truth you have to."

Nico hugged his knees to his chest. He looked tired, and sad. "I don't even know if I feel that way anymore," he spoke to his shoes. "I think I made a huge fool out of myself, and for what?"

"For yourself," Alex reminded. "If you want to avoid Percy or anybody else for a while then feel free, it's your choice," she shrugged, but it didn't feel dismissive coming from her. More like an acceptance of how the world was. "Like Will so eloquently put it though, you avoid something to long, then you're running from it."

Nico swallowed another sob, but there was a weary, very small smile on his face too as he rubbed his trembling jaw against his knees. He didn't know what feeling he was hoping to get from it but to erase his hot, itchy skin. He wished he'd just stop crying. "How did Will tell you he figured it out? Just, wondering."

"He didn't," Alex snorted. "He just asked me to talk to you but didn't tell me why."

Nico studied her, looking for the crack, a lie, he raised a disbelieving brow anyways when he couldn't find one, and then hesitated and really smiled again. "Yeah, he is a good guy."

Then they heard the shouting.

...

Nico came in to see Thalia holding Will back from killing Percy.

The blonde was a good several inches taller than both of them, but he was also suspended in place with his feet kicking in frustration that had nothing to do with the son of Poseidon as she held his arms back.

"What did you want me to do, lie?" Percy looked miserable enough to let Will take the swing he so clearly wanted. He was holding the battered purple book in his hand as the only clue why he was back in here. "I'm not in love with the guy, I just froze, I-"

"Hey!" Nico cut in, since Alex looked ready to fetch popcorn and enjoy the show, and somebody should stop this. Oh gods, now he was being the responsible one? Maybe he was growing up.

Percy flushed red and looked exactly like a deer in the headlights and Nico was the oncoming car. Thalia cautiously released Will, but very clearly thought she was fixing to have to rethink that as she stayed on her toes ready to spring as Will kept glowering.

"It's not his fault Will, he didn't do anything wrong," he was staring at Will with pure gratitude for the defense, nobody had ever so bodily defended him and it was really disconcerting to not know what to say to him other than, "I shouldn't have just sprung it on him, it's not his fault."

Will wasn't a naturally angry guy. He looked from Percy's uneasy, neon embarrassment to Nico's now calm, if embarrassed state, and let it evaporate away. "Okay, sorry Perce, I just-"

"No, I get it," Percy nodded, speaking more to Nico even as he answered, "after all the crap he's been through, I wish I'd reacted better too. I don't care you're gay man, honestly!" The book spasmed in his fingers, but he kept looking straight at Nico, almost meeting his eyes. It didn't feel shameful. Just awkward.

Nico swallowed the whole of his life just being casually dismissed by Percy saying that for anyone to hear. He wanted to deny it, or run for his life, or hide behind Will.

He didn't do any of those things. Not because Bianca wouldn't want it.

Because he didn't want that. What had it ever gotten him?

"I know," he said again. He paused, cleared his throat, and added, "um, I don't expect, well, what I said, I don't think I mean that anymore Percy. I was, it was all coming back, and I, I, don't know, I think it's, faded?" It was hard to put into words all the ups and downs of his time here, how the pedestal he'd held Percy on for so long had vanished without him fully knowing when, the grief for his sister he was finally accepting and would still be forced to live through again in the coming book...

Percy hadn't looked so confused in the first five minutes here when he had no clue who any of them were. "Okay?" A guy had never told him they had a crush on him and was over it in less than an hour, he wasn't sure if he was flattered, relieved, or should be asking where the crush went.

"We're all good, can we please move on?" Nico looked around at them all, eyes lingering on Will to back him up.

It was no surprise when he did and reminded, "we still have a card game to play! Everybody else was dismissed for bed."

"Right, yeah," Percy said with clear relief to leave, he even let the book fall out of his hand back into the pile.

...

Will had been watching him for twelve painstaking minutes now.

The silence wasn't awkward, the tension in it just made him sad. He sat right by the fridge where he'd asked for his Apollo pack and been patiently waiting ever since as Nico obsessively aligned each card on the floor to some exact degree only he could see in his head.

He had an uneasy guess, judging by all he'd heard, that this might have been the first time Nico had sat down and played a full fledged battle of this game since he'd been out of the Hotel.

Finally, when he watched him move his Hades statue a millionth of an inch into the precision direction to be straight with a card, Will cleared his throat and waved a tiny book pamphlet around that had come with his brand new case, the wrappings of which were still strewn around everywhere. "Will you go over the rules with me again, just to be sure?"

Nico looked around, the relief obvious on his face, but then he pocketed the Hades statue before coming over and sitting beside him.

For such a tiny book, the words were oddly cramped and small, making it a good fifty pages. Gods knows how long it actually took them to get through it, and Nico kept promising, "oh, that will make sense when you get to this part," ten pages later. It was just chill, and nice, and it only took about three pages for Nico to get back to that excited energy with his hands constantly in motion and nearly swatting every part of Will's anatomy by the fifth page.

By the time Nico yawned so hard it looked like his own soul was trying to escape, Will forced himself to call it quits for both of their sakes as his head kept drooping dangerously and he was in serious contemplation of using Nico as a pillow.

"Sorry," Nico muttered as he rubbed his eyes to mask watching Will tuck the booklet protectively into his pocket. "I didn't realize I was so bad at explaining this."

"You're not," Will promised at once, and he was just to tired and hadn't had coffee in to long to keep himself from saying, "I just like talking to you, remember?"

There was still a fire glimmering in Nico's eyes, he was sitting far to close for Will to be making good decisions right now when he smiled like that. "Right," Nico quietly agreed. "I suspected that when you asked about summoning minor deities for the fifth time."

"Don't underestimate Hyacinthus," Will had no clue what he was talking about as he insisted, "I bet he's going to be my secret weapon to beat you."

"You can't just use all healing moves with only one power player," Nico tried to caution again. "I'll whittle down your defenses, especially with a Hades deck." He pulled his figurine back out of his pocket and leaned forward, his jacket falling to the side enough and shirt riding up exposing a sliver of skin around his waist as he casually placed it back at the top of his deck this time where it cast a long shadow over the arrangement.

"Maybe I should use Aphrodite to counterbalance my team," Will's heart was thrumming oddly in his chest at the casual, purely game based statement. "I know you said it's even tricker to mix decks the first time, but every other card of her's causes confusion and more healing, I bet I'll win in the long haul."

"Don't forget her biggest draw back," Nico was starting to shift his weight away. Will could have kicked himself for being the biggest idiot ever. "Whatever damage you do to me I can double back on you with the right move."

"Apollo's immune to eight out of the ten disease and plagues Hades has," Will insisted clinically. "You'd have to be really, really lucky to find the right one to even make a dent."

"Your strategy is still to time consuming, if I mixed my deck too you wouldn't hold a chance," Nico said absently, rubbing his palms on his knees and stretching a bit like he was about to get up. Will had tried to talk him into using the Artemis power pack, maybe he was considering it.

"Guess I'll have to live with those consequences," Will said with no regrets. "I'm not giving up my favorite character, I'll find a way to make it work."

"You're too stubborn," Nico muttered, he still hadn't gotten up.

"And you're stalling," Will grinned, his fingers twining with each other to resist the temptation to brush his bangs away. Nico's eyelashes kept fluttering lower and lower and kept opening less each time.

"Mmm, you caught me," he agreed, barely a hint of brown now as he gazed at him. Another yawn. "You're weirdly good at that," was almost a slurred mutter before he cleared his throat and said instead, "Sorry, I'm not used to sleeping without nightm- um, dreams," he was a little more awake now, the skull ring was in danger of cutting up his eyebrow as he rubbed at his eye. "It's been, nice."

"Then get some sleep," Will said, chastising his mind for wanting to put an arm around him and have him sleep right here. Not the bed, to many implications- dang it Will! That is not friendly!

Nico's eyes were lingering on the deck of cards with longing even as he kept sinking concerningly lower against Will's side.

"It'll all be right here when you want to come back and play," Will insisted. "I won't touch a thing, I'll guard it with my life so not a single fish plays a move for us."

"Thanks Will," Nico's breath was surprisingly warm, seeping right through his shirt, his head finally losing the fight and pillowing on his chest for seven long, warm moments.

He smelled like freshly mowed grass and summer rain. His sharp, boney features seemed to slot perfectly into Will's side as his breathing began drawing out more. It was probably a cliché, Will knew exactly what his last name meant, but well, his dad was the god of poetry. So as long as he thought it only to himself, he could cherish the idea Nico looked like an angel. Will didn't dare breathe, let alone move a single inch, but despite his best efforts, he couldn't fight off a smile slowly overtaking him.

Then Nico jumped to his feet, gasping and even drawing his sword as he looked panicked about the room and then back to Will with a cry of, "sorry! Sorry!"

"For what?" Will didn't bat an eye. "I told you to get some sleep. You're just too good at following the doctors orders," he finished with a smile that hurt more than Nico could ever know. The guilt on the Son of Hades for allowing himself that small, brief moment broke Will's heart. Had he ever let his guard down around anyone?

"Right," Nico sheathed his sword, and then took a careful step towards the door, the toe of his boot had been dangerously close to Will's deck. "I'm just gunna," he gestured obviously away.

"Sleep as long as you like," Will reminded, not wanting to move an inch so the lingering heat in his side couldn't fade. It was still pretty warm in here for some reason. "I am not above poisoning somebody's food if they say a word about it."

"See, look at that," Nico was at the door now, gripping the handle again so tight the tendons showed, but his smile was so happy. "You'd be perfect for a Hades deck." His eyes flickered to the figurine he'd left on the floor.

"Maybe I'm just going to steal all the decks, be the ultimate player, find that perfect strategy even a master can't beat," he said innocently.

Nico laughed, and Will's heart fluttered like a traitor. "We'll see."