WHO: Nico di Angelo & Anakin Solo WHEN: December 27, prior to this WHERE: Solo house. SUMMARY: Nico got a message and let's Anakin know about it. WARNINGS: Anakin mentions his death in passing.
The Christmas holidays often held surprises. There was of course the mystery of the Santa presents and which ones would actually come as well as just in general gift giving. The sentient tree was a new one for this season, but still within the realm of Tumbleweed craziness. Getting a call two days after Christmas to come pick up someone from his world though, while in the realm of Tumbleweed limits, wasn’t something Nico had been expecting. Let alone who it was.
There’d been demigods who had already passed through and those who had a habit of coming and going. Percy and Annabeth tended to be prime offenders of that revolving door. But this name had never popped up before and it’d been so long, Nico had stopped considering the possibility after that initial memory update panic.
So, he couldn’t help just staring at his phone a long before, his brow scrunched in a combination of worry and disbelief. “Um… I need to go to the Bureau,” he finally breathed out.
Anakin was on the couch, his nose buried in the tablet that he'd been scrolling through, and at Nico's words he glanced up swiftly. There was something in the sense of his boyfriend that wasn't typical.
He sat up, put the tablet to the side, and swung his legs over the edge of the sofa. "What is it Nico?" The only thing he could think of was Bianca maybe. But even that didn't seem quite right. "Should I come with you?"
Nico blinked out of his stare slowly, Anakin’s question feeling like it clouded his mind more than clearing it. Because this was really a surreal moment he hadn’t expected. Even with how Tahiri had come and gone from Tumbleweed, the thought didn’t fully compute. Well, aside from-
He shook his head. “No, no. Um…” He took a deep breath, but his brow still stayed scrunched, as if he couldn’t really process that these words were coming out of his mouth. “Will’s… here?”
It took Anakin a moment to catch up with that, but Oh. Obviously he knew about Will, just like Nico knew that he and Tahiri had kissed in their home galaxy and there had been the possibility of something had he lived at home, and of course lots of demigods had been here before. That Will would show up at some point? That wasn't even that surprising, but it was still unexpected.
"Of course," Anakin said, and then he wasn't certain that made sense. "I mean, good? Like, that's good right? And you should go. Is he there now?"
Nico’s gaze came into focus, each of Anakin’s words giving him something to grab onto to pull himself into a course of action. Not to mention a helping of amusement and fondness considering, well, if the situation had been switched, he wasn’t sure he could have done that ‘of course’ without a good helping of sarcasm or wryness. A small smile graced his lips as he put his phone in his pocket. He closed the distance between him and Anakin, lightly taking the Jedi’s hands in his after a short hitch of that nasty doubt-spurned hesitation..
“It’s good. He’s here and needs someone to pick him up. And a guardian.” He squeezed Anakin’s hands, although whether it was to reassure himself or the Jedi was debatable. “If this wasn’t going to be-” Awkward. Depressing. Anger inducing. Ok, Will would have to be bad off if this led to some rage filled whatever from him, but there were too many variables he didn’t know. So he puffed out a breath to just encompass all of it. “-I’d want you there with me.”
"Right," Anakin nodded. Hadn't they gone through the same thing with Tahiri in a way? She was younger too, and needed a guardian, and well - it was going to be awkward. Anakin understood that pretty intimately because he'd also been through the same thing, and when you told someone - well you needed to tell them that sort of thing when it was personal and without that boyfriend being right there. He squeezed Nico's hands and nodded again. "It's gonna be fine, Nico, but you should go, cause it's disorienting enough when you show up without being stuck at the Bureau forever, you know?"
“Quarantine when we first got here with the old Bureau was bad enough,” Nico admitted, echoing the squeeze, firmer this time in gratitude. He just stayed like that for a moment. He basked in secure and grounded feeling that the gesture had despite what it was leading up to. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head forward to rest against Anakin’s before he took in a deep breath to steel his nerves. “Remind me about that when I get back, ok?”
Anakin squeezed Nico's hand, and then he reached his other hand forward, cupping Nico's jawline and leaning forward to give him a soft kiss. "I'll be here, go get Will, and if you guys need some time, it's okay. I get it."
Nico leaned into the kiss, thankful for that reassurance. He gave one last squeeze to Anakin’s hand before pulling back. “I’m taking the car.” It might take slower, but having some time to just gather his thoughts before getting to the Bureau could be good. Plus even if he was better with shadow travel now than he had been back home, the last thing he really needed was to text Anakin or, worse, have Will try and text him because he passed out before he could get them back to the Camp. “I’ll text if anything comes up.”