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Who: Nico di Angelo

zombiedude & Will Solace

sunbaths
When: After the current event
Where: Nico's Apartment
What: Will wants to meet Nico's three-headed dog so he comes over for a visit.
Rating/Warning: None

[Once they're out of ViVid, Nico immediately contacts Will, relieved to find that he's still here, and since the other demigod wanted to know where he lived, Nico gives him the address and tells him to come over to meet the dog and see if they can find somewhere nearby on the floor Will can move into. Cerberus hadn't been brought in to ViVid with Nico this time around, so Will won't be able to see him in his natural size just yet, but they can always pop into ViVid later. Nico wants to wait awhile to be sure the latest happenings are well and truly done in it before he goes back though. Thankfully, the dog hadn't ruined his shoes again while he'd been gone inside the virtual system, but he is probably going to have to get some more red rubber balls because those are mostly destroyed. He waits at the door for Will to show up, rolling the remaining few balls across the floor for Cerberus to chase after and bring back to him while he waits.]

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(Outside of ViVid, Will was happy to find that he wasn't actually dressed up in a tux. Instead, he was wearing what he had last been wearing when Nico had seen him. The green surgeon's shirt, some jeans, and a pair of flipflops. It was nice being a little more comfortable. And he had his stuff with him, more importantly.

But better yet, he was about to meet Cerberus. Something he couldn't quite get over because how cool was that? How many people even got to say that they met him? Living people, that is.

Will arrives at Nico's only a handful of minutes after the fact and knocks at the door, trying not to be too stupidly excited.)

[Nico orders Cerberus to sit and stay before he opens the door, pleased that the dog listens and glad to see that all that non-stop training when things weren't going crazy is paying off.

He opens the door and holds out one of the red rubber balls to Will.]

Here. Give him this, you'll be his new best friend.

[Cerberus is still staying even though he's gotten to his feet and is looking at Will with all six eyes, letting out an inquiring soft woof. Nico walks over to him and kneels down to be more at his level, giving all of his heads a good rub.] Cerberus, this is Will. He's a friend, okay? Another demigod.

[Then he motions with his hand for Will to come closer.]

Oh- uh all righty.

(He can do that. He gives the rubber ball a squeeze and steps inside after Nico. His eyes go straight to Cerberus and widen fractionally. Even if the dog wasn't its full size, Will could still tell without a doubt that this was the kind of monster you didn't want to cross twice.

Yet it was more of a reserved respect for the creature's power than any fear that the animal would lunge at him. But shortly after the shock of actually looking at Cerberus for the first time subsided, Will actually looked at him.)

He's- wow. He's actually really cute. Look at those faces.

(Will only began to walk closer when Nico gestured for him to. He squatted down next to Nico and held up the red ball.)

Hey buddy. You want this ball?

[Nico and Cerberus look at each other, as if silently saying Is this guy seriously calling the guardian of the Underworld cute? But then Cerberus zeroes in on that red ball and all eyes lock right on it, tail wagging excitedly now.

Nico sits back with a little grin.] Go ahead and throw it.

(Nico, really. Will finds Nico pretty endearing too. This kid's probably just going to find everything from the Underworld endearing. Well, okay, maybe not skeletons. No offense but there's nothing too cute about a skeleton no matter which way you look at it.

Excited dog is even cuter dog and Will wants to pet really badly but he's at least got common sense on his side. The instant Nico tells him to throw it, the ball is gone across the room with a precise throw.)

[Cerberus goes tearing off after it and Nico rolls the other remaining ones along so each head can pick up a ball. Once Cerberus's gotten them all, he bounds back to Will and drops all the balls at his feet, giving him pleading eyes.]

And now you're his new best friend. [He says it with a soft laugh.]

(Will practically beams when Cerberus darts after it. He smiles like an idiot when Nico rolls out even more for the other two heads and he looks over at Nico, curiosity rising up.)

So, what, is it like having three dogs in one? Does each head think separately of the other?

(When Cerberus brings back all three balls Will smirks.)

I've personally always wanted a best friend. Particularly one from the Underworld.

(He winks at Nico because apparently Will Solace feels like winking is an appropriate thing to do and then proceeds to throw one ball and kick the other two.)

Even I'm not sure about that. I think it's both? They can think separately but they also know what the others are thinking too.

[Nico rolls his eyes in good humor about Will's last comment.] Must be your lucky day. [He gives him a light, teasing jostle in response to that wink, but then sits back, content to watch while Cerberus tears off after the balls again.] I hope you know he can do this for hours.

That makes sense.

(It really does too. If Will hadn't been smiling before, he definitely was now when Nico jostled him and felt a small little flip in the pit of his stomach. It was plenty enough to draw his attention away from the dog and focus on Nico.

Will Solace. Probably the only person alive who would find a boy more suitably distracting than a three headed dog.)

Yeah? I bet he can.

(Will, stop.)

So I think I found an apartment nearby. It's just down the hall. I mean, I'm not positive but it seemed vacant anyway.

[Nico gives a nod of approval. Close enough to keep an eye on Will, but far enough away to be comfortable.] If your card can unlock it, then it's not being used.

I'll give it a go then.

(He moves to sit cross legged and facing Nico, his hands dropped into his own lap.)

So, am I allowed to give you a proper examination? You never did let me. I swear it'll be quick. Please?

(His hands fidget a bit restlessly and he holds up a finger and welp yup he has this small medic bag attached to his thigh that was impossibly discrete. From it, he pulls out a stethoscope. He gives Nico a bright, hopeful kind of smile.)

Pretty please? I won't bother you about it again until you're actually like, injured.

[That gets a very flat look, followed by an exasperated sigh.] Once, so you stop being pushy about it, but I can tell you right now, I'm fine.

You know, most people don't treat like being cared for is a personal torture.

(Will rolls his eyes at Nico's theatrics and goes to kneel directly in front of him.)

No, Will, anything but caring about my well-being!

(He pitches his voice high to mock Nico with and sets up his stethoscope properly before placing a hand against Nico's shoulder and places the cool, flat metal against his chest.)

Wanna breathe for me, Sunshine? Nice deep one?

I've gotten used to taking care of myself. [Because nobody's really cared a whole lot before.

He breaths in deep as Will asks but then lets it out in an annoyed huff on purpose.] If anyone is Sunshine, it's you, not me.

Yeaaaaah, yeah, I know. Gosh you're like a broken record.

(And now someone does so deal with it, di Angelo.

He gives Nico a rather dirty look at that huff before sliding the metal over again and nodding for him to take another deep breath.)

I'm being ironic, Eric Draven.

[If Will wasn't so persistent about it, Nico might actually thank him for caring, but right now, he's growing more and more tempted to wrap that stupid stethoscope around the other demigod's neck. This time, though, he breaths in and out regularly, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.]

I have no idea who Eric Draven is. It's not fair if I can't understand what you're referencing.

(The day Nico thanked him for helping him out would be a small miracle. And Will might be a little convinced of an impersonator at that point. Despite their conversation, he can't quite tell if Nico likes him or only barely tolerates him. Actions speak louder than words and all.)

Ugh. Totally cool comic book hero and it had this movie made afterwards. This guy's marrying this girl on the night of Halloween but they're both murdered the night before. He gets resurrected like, a year later by this crow spirit thing, and takes revenge because they did some really messed up things to his fiance before killing her.

(He leans towards Nico then but only so that he could move the stethoscope to Nico's back to get a hearing there.)

He's dark, mysterious, handsome, super angry, wears a bunch of black, and has a really justified cause.

... And you think I'm like this guy. [He is not super angry all the time, okay, he resents that. Although, he does admit he can have his moments.]

Dude, if I showed you a picture of this guy you'd get it.

(He also indirectly called you handsome, Nico.)

But yeah, a little bit. It's a compliment. Compliments are these weird things people give to other people when they want to tell them what they like about that person.

Why would anyone get married on Halloween? That doesn't seem like a good idea. There's so many ghosts around then. And I'm never going to have a fiance. And the crow is Apollo's symbol, not Hades', although if the guy was resurrected by one, I suppose that makes sense because he's the god of healing too.

... You really think I'm 'super angry' all the time? [Yes, the handsome thing he did notice, but he's just going to skip over that and try not to blush about it.] But... I guess the dark, mysterious, and wears a bunch of black description fits. [He doesn't feel mysterious, but he knows people have called him that before plenty of times.] ... So what's my 'justified cause' I'm supposed to have? [That he says with less annoyance and slipping into more of joking curiosity.]

Oh my gods, di Angelo.

(Will's just going to roll his eyes so, so much at you.)

Yeah, pretty funny the crow thing.

(He mutters that because it's not like he was trying to make a point. Dark brooding dude saved by a crow. No, that wasn't an obvious correlation or anything at all.)

Though it is pretty funny. Most people associate crows with the underworld. No one ever realizes it's my dad's bird.

(You should see how many crows follow him around on a good day. And they talk so much.)

I think I can count on one hand the amount of times you've interacted pleasantly with me so I'm going with 'super angry' all of the time. Or at least brooding. Definitely brooding.

(Will shrugs then and removes himself from Nico's personal space to put his stethoscope away.)

Guess you'll have to figure out if you have one or not.

Edited (html double whammy) 2016-03-28 06:02 (UTC)

Yeah, Hades's sacred animal is the screech owl.

[With a little thinking about why Will muttered what he did, Nico might have gotten it, dense as he may be sometimes, but that thought dies because of what else Will says.

Nico goes quiet, frowning now and looking down at the floor. Will can only think of a few times where he's had a pleasant interaction with him? Maybe... what they talked about the last time they were in ViVid didn't mean as much as he thought it did, if that's the way Will feels.] Sorry. [He murmurs the words, still looking down at the floor.] I don't mean to be. Like I said... I know, I know, it's like a broken record, but I'm really not used to people... you know... caring. Most people don't even want to talk to me or stand next to me. [And then he adds in an even quieter tone:] Thanks... for that. [For caring.]

Edited 2016-03-28 06:22 (UTC)

Yeah, I know it is.

(Of course Will knows it is.

Seeing Nico frown, Will wonders if he had something wrong. He was half expecting to be told off for one thing or another and was nearly prepared with a rebuke when suddenly Nico was...apologizing?

Yeah, Will wasn't really expecting that. Then Nico keeps on talking and Will almost wants to shake him stupid for that. What they had talked about in ViVid was important but it was pretty clear that Will wasn't the only one doubting things if Nico was still struggling with Will caring about him. He nudges Nico with his elbow.)

Don't apologize. I just figure I annoy you a lot.

(Which was actually pretty true. He shrugs at Nico, grinning a little bit.)

I want to talk to you and I'm sitting right next to you now. Lots of other people do too. People like you a lot, Nico.

(What he expects less than an apology is a thank you. His eyes flutter for a moment and then he reaches out, rubbing his hand over Nico's head.)

Idiot. You don't thank people for something that comes naturally to them.

(Except his voice is disgustingly fond.)

[That gets the start of a smile back on his face.] I know you still mean well. I don't think you have a mean bone in your body.

[He's just going to quietly shake his head in disagreement at the 'people like you a lot' comment. While it's true he has more people he counts as friends than he did a year ago, he still isn't someone people flock to to hang out with. Not like Percy or Annabeth or Will. He's been here for over six months and he can probably count on one hand the number of people he's become friends with, although that probably also has something to with it not being easy for him to get close to people. Still, he's not winning a Most Charisma award anytime soon.

When Will reaches out to rub his head, he pushes the hand away good-naturedly, rolling his eyes but with that tiny smile still there.]

So... do I pass the inspection?

Oh so I do annoy you. Not gonna deny that much, huh.

(He's grinning at Nico though. It sucked sometimes when he was trying but right now, it didn't suck at all. It was fun right now, good right now.

Thing about Nico that Nico didn't seem to understand was that the kid was just shy. Or reserved, anyway. Granted some people really were judgemental jerks but...Not being charismatic isn't a bad thing.

A smirk shapes onto Will's mouth when his hand is pushed away.)

Inspection isn't over. I was just checking the sound of your heart and lungs. Next up is your pulse then I'm gonna have to feel you for your powers cause I don't trust you to not have abused them a little bit.

(He scoots closer to Nico then and leans forward until he's on his knees and pressing into Nico's own legs a bit. He places two fingers against the vein just beneath Nico's jawline, the carotid artery and flicks his eyes up to Nico's before back down to where his fingers were. His mouth moves slightly, counting off the beats and he's focused for a full minute before he withdraws entirely. He then holds his hand out flat in the air.)

Okay, now give me your hand.