Will was dying. His stomach hurt like hell, he could barely move and his eyelids started to shut as if trying to lull him into the darkness of sleep. He mentally let out a whine, not even bothering to try and move from the bed he was currently laying on.

"You really shouldn't have eaten so much." Nico commented teasingly from where he was sitting at his desk. Will was not amused. Here he was in pain and Nico was finding humour in his suffering.

"Shut up." He groaned, rolling over so that his back was facing the prince. At least he would die in comfort. Nico's bed had to be the softest thing he had ever laid down on. Ever since the berry incident, it had become a regular occurrence for Nico to find Will in the forest (by chance) and drag him back to the castle for a meal (which was what any kind soul would do). It also became a regular occurrence that Will would forget his stomach had limits which resulted in him groaning dramatically on Nico's bed. He could feel the mattress sinking under his weight as he shifted positions and it was heaven. Screw the ratty couch in that moldy old house, Will had officially decided he was never getting up from this bed. Ever. Nico would just have to deal with it. He could sleep in the closet. Or suck it up and sleep with him. Now Will was going to suffocate himself with the pillow for indecent thoughts.

After about 30 seconds of this, Nico decided to speak up.  "Do you enjoy nearly killing yourself or do you also not know about how humans require air?"

"No, I just like to test how long a human can go without oxygen." Will grumbled, rolling back over to lie on his back.

"3 minutes."

"I know that."

"Then why were you testing it?" This, is the reason why Will can not possibly like this boy. He is snobby and arrogant and he seems to strive to make Will feel stupid. His devious eyes make him feel like he's pinned in place, his sharp tongue made his knees weak and that cocky smirk made his heart feel like it was going to burst right out of his-no. No, no no no, he was not falling for this boy. Will was a peasant. He was a prince. Will was weak and uneducated. He was strong and intelligent. Will was cursed. He was blessedly free of any magic that related to Hera and as a result he could live life freely.

Even if he did fancy Will, (which Will did not care about since he did not like him) he wouldn't be liking the real Will. He'd be infatuated with a stranger, someone who lied to him, who hid behind a mask everyday. If Nico knew the truth...well it didn't matter since their was no way of Nico ever knowing the truth. Not unless someone told him and Will wasn't very inclined to let that happen. The past few weeks that he had had with Nico had been the best of his life. Will hadn't genuinely smiled and laughed in such a long time that his cheeks hurt from doing it so much. If Nico had found out he had omitted the truth, he doubted he would be very happy. Hera was very well known for her horrid gifts after all, everyone made sure to be wary of every firstborn child. Will wouldn't be able to bear it if Nico started walking on eggshells around him.

Before Will could sink further into his lament, he felt the bed shift and suddenly he was staring up into dark brown eyes above him as Nico practically straddled his waist.

"You aren't actually dead, are you? Come on Solace, don't tell me you've gone and killed all your brain cells due to lack of oxygen." Nico deadpanned, lifting his fist to gently knock on Will's forehead. Will blinked up at the boy, feeling the blood rushing to his cheeks as he stuttered out a response.

"S-shut up di Angelo. We both know I'm ten times smarter than you."

"Says the one who was about to eat highly poisonous berries."

"That was weeks ago, let it go!"

"Make me, William." It was that comment that got Will to shut his stupid mouth. Then his stupid eyes drifted down to Nico's stupid lips and he had the stupid idea of kissing him there and then. It was then that Nico seemed to realize their proximity and for a second, Will could've sworn that his eyes flicked down to Will's lips as well. Though that was probably just Will projecting his feelings onto the situation...

Right?

It didn't matter anyways because in the blink of an eye, the moment that had seemed to pass between the two of them was broken when Nico's eyes flicked back up to look at Will. Will could feel his cheeks heating up, could see the same happening to Nico's, his pale skin turning a rather cute shade of pink. Nico suddenly lurched off of him and scrambled backward, almost falling off the bed. Will slowly pushed himself up, the both of them staring at each other for a painful amount of time. Will felt the corner of his lips twitching into a smile and before he could be internally horrified with himself, he burst into a fit of awkward giggles.

Someone kill him. Now. Please. He was utterly done with this curse, he'd prefer it if his parents had just defied Hera and gotten him turned into a cow.

As Will was trying to desperately stop his laughter, he heard a sound. It was a strange sound that wasn't in any way pretty and actually reminded Will of a pig. His giggles died down slightly as he looked up at Nico in confusion, the young prince covering his mouth with his hands as his shoulders shook with barely contained mirth. Will put two and two together and raised an eyebrow at the oh so refined royal.

"Did you just snort?" He asked incredulously. That was apparently the final straw for Nico and he burst into peals of laughter, clutching at his sides desperately as his eyes started to tear up. Will just stared at the sight in front of him in shock. If there was one thing he learned during the weeks in which he met Nico, it was that it was rare to see a smile on the boy's face. Seeing him laughing like this...Will could swear he fell just a little bit more for him. If there was one thing that Nico's laughter certainly was, it was infectious. Soon Will found himself breaking out into a grin and then cracking up as well, the two of them gasping for air as they tried to calm down.

The amusement was short-lived though, for there was a harsh knocking on the door and then someone was barging in without even waiting for Nico's answer. Will was practically panting when he came in and immediately his years of analysing people on the streets came back to him. The boy was probably a few years older that both him and Nico, his garments being much more refined than those of the usual servants. His eyes were cruel and calculating, the same colour green as pond scum. His smile was smug and held something twisted and sinister that sent a shiver down Will's spine. Will was also very disgusted to find that his two front teeth were different shades of yellow. From the haughty way he stood and the way he held his head high, as if he expected Nico to bow down to him, Will would assume that this man was a royal advisor, second in command and since Nico wasn't of age yet, more powerful than the prince.

Will's stomach churned unpleasantly and this time, it wasn't hard to smooth his features to a neutral position. Nico seemed to silently agree with his sentiments, the smile on his face twisting into a scowl.

"Lawrence." He said flatly, his limbs tensing up a bit as if he was just waiting for an opportunity to fight.  "You may have a higher power in courts but for now you are to show me respect and that means waiting to be called in before you enter."  The man-Lawrence allegedly, only sneered.

"That's true...your highness.." He said slowly, his lip curling as if he had drank sour milk.  "...but then again, I'm not the only one who's being disrespectful, am I?"

From the way Nico went absolutely rigid with anger, Will almost feared for the advisor's life. Almost. Sadly, he still continued to speak anyways.

"I mean," He started with a disbelieving laugh.  "Yelling, ignoring and running out on a meeting with the King himself. I'd have thought your tutors would've taught you better in your etiquette lessons. Guess you can't teach a dumb dog old tricks." Will managed to clench his jaw when he heard him, suddenly very envious of Nico's ability to scowl. Nico, in the meantime, looked downright murderous. He pushed himself off bed and stormed right up to Lawrence, getting up in his face despite being a good few inches shorter than him.

"Bryce-"  He growled threateningly but was cut off with a scoff.

"What? Do you deny it?"  He asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Nico went silent and Will felt like screaming at him to defend himself since he couldn't. Since he wasn't able to do that though, the anemic loser of an advisor continued anyways.  "You're the crown prince, you ought to be more proper. Not to mention you shouldn't be spending your time with this street scum."  He said in disgust, gesturing to Will.

Will was quite pleased to see this Bryce Lawrence guy glower at him when he didn't get the reaction he wanted. Ha.

Nico on the other hand, gave him quite a big reaction. If the dark haired boy looked angry before, he was absolutely livid now. If looks could kill, Bryce would've been a nameless ghost in the Underworld by now. With a surge of strength that surprised even Will, Nico grabbed the front of Bryce's uniform and slammed him up against the wall.

"You're gonna shut your dirty little mouth and get the hell out of here, you understand me? I don't care if my father sent for you or what but if he did then I'll be telling him exactly why I'm not going." He ground out darkly, shoving him towards the door. Bryce stumbled a bit before his lips curled up into his smug smirk again.

"That's if you can even work up the courage." He jeered, giving them a mocking bow before he turned on his heel and left. Nico stared at the door for a few minutes longer, his chest heaving as he tried to contain his rage. Then all at once, the fight seemed to drain out of him and he slumped forward tiredly, walking back to the bed. He flopped down onto it, smushing his face into the pillow next to Will.

"I'm sorry 'bout that" He mumbled out, his voice muffled. Will chuckled at him and poked his side.

"It's fine Ghost King." Will said, smiling reassuringly and nudging him.  "And if you wanna talk about it then I'm listening." Nico lifted his head from the pillow to give Will an exasperated look at the nickname. Then he chewed his lip, hesitating a moment before rolling onto his back with a sigh, closing his eyes.

"It's a long story." Will laid down next to him, folding his hands over his stomach as he stared up at the ceiling.

"I'm listening."

~~~~~~~~~~~~
OKAY SO I WANTED TO GET THIS OUT BEFORE NEW YEARS SO I BARELY EDITED IT I'M SORRY BUT HERE

TAKE THIS OFFERING CHILDREN, BE APPEASED

On another note, tragic back story time :DDDDD

Though I'm not going to update til next year. Sorry guys.

Ps. Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!