This is a little different - Nico's view point on the last fic. You have e_black and LadyBoy over on AO3 to thank for that - they provided all the validation I needed for this idea. Also - by the way, I have a tumblr! it's minty-ships, if you want to come talk to me, or just have some more solangelo/pjo content in your life!

Nico tried to keep his hands steady as he opened the face paints. Offering to help Will with his costume had been a snap decision, and one he'd regretted immediately, especially when he'd noticed the other boy's surprise, but then he'd agreed and Nico could hardly back out. That would be even worse.

"I need you to make me look terrifying," Will was saying, watching Nico. "It's a matter of pride?"

"Pride?" Nico raised his eyebrow.

"Me and Lou Ellen have an ongoing competition over who can get the scariest costume," Will explained, suddenly looking a bit awkward, and for a second Nico wondered if he was embarrassed. He doubted it, though – Will was never embarrassed, especially not around him. "Lou always cheats with the mist, though."

"Ah," said Nico, mildly. He didn't say what he was actually thinking, which was that no amount of face paint would ever make Will look totally terrifying. It wasn't the kind of things friends said, he reminded himself. At least, he was pretty sure it wasn't. "I'll do my best," he said anyway.

He picked up one of the sponges, half to have something to do and half because he kind of wanted to get this over with, and coated it with paint. He held it carefully as he moved towards the other boy, and then faltered.

Focus, he reminded himself. It's just face paint. But Will was watching him expectantly, his eyes bright blue, and the closeness-

"You might want to close your eyes," he said, wincing internally at how flat his voice came out, but Will complied immediately looking unphased.

Nico focused on sponging the paint on, letting the silence drag on comfortably and trying to ignore the fact that his fingers were millimetres from the other boys face.

"You should come," Will blurted out suddenly, and it took all of Nico's self-control not to flinch backwards, but Will kept his eyes closed, not noticing. "Out with us, I mean," he added, as if Nico might've misunderstood. "It'll fun."

Nico busied himself with the paint palette. It'll be fun… sure. For them on their own, maybe. But he barely knew Lou Ellen, and he had no idea who else was going to be there, but it was probable he didn't know them, either-

He wasn't selfish enough to force them to have to hang out with him just because Will was absurdly nice. Even the idea of turning up unannounced, of having Will declare that he was joining them, of the disappointment they'd feel- it made his stomach twist sharply.

Besides, he wasn't a fan of going out in the dark, anyway.

He turned back to Will, the brush he was using now definitely oversaturated with paint, and tried not to think about the soft flutter he saw on the other boys face as he did so. Focus.

"That's okay. I'd… rather stay in," he said, trying to keep his voice even and unassuming.

"No problem," said Will, his tone it's usual cheery one. He was quiet for about three seconds before he shifted in his seat and moved onto the next topic of conversation. "How- uh- what- ha." He paused for a second. Nico just had time to wonder if the paint was actually bothering him that much when he tried again. "So, you like Halloween, huh?"

His voice sounded surprisingly strained. Was it really that awkward to have a conversation with me? Nico wondered, before shoving the thought out of his head. He was the one who was awkward in conversations. Of course it would be hard for Will – hadn't Nico just shut down the last topic of conversation himself?

"I, uh, don't dislike it," he said, honestly, before realising that Will was probably asking because he'd offered to do Halloween makeup for him. Dumb, dumb, he was dumb. "I mean," he hurried to add in, "I haven't really celebrated it before, but-"

"You haven't?" Will's eyes flew open, and for a second their bright blue hue seemed to stare directly into Nico's eyes, rooting him to the spot. Then he remembered himself and averted his own gaze quickly, pretending he needed to put more pain on the brush. "Sorry," said Will, sounding genuinely apologetic, though Nico couldn't tell why, and then he closed his eyes again. "I just- you haven't?"

Nico was briefly thrown off. Was it really that big of a deal? "No. I don't… I don't think I did, I don't remember it," he admitted uncertainly, feeling a piercing pain go through his chest. And here it comes – the realisation, the discomfort, the disgust- the remembrance of the fact that Nico wasn't normal, that he was messed up-

"Sorry," said Will abruptly, guilt leaking into his voice, cutting through Nico's panicking. "Sorry, I didn't- I didn't think-"

He's stressed out because he thinks he's upset me, Nico realised with a jolt of surprise, and he his best to ignore the sudden butterflies in his stomach. "It's fine," he said as smoothly as he could manage. "It's not a- uh. It's fine. I don't… think they celebrate Halloween in Italy anyway. At least… not until recently."

This time, Will didn't respond, his face looking uncertain. They lapsed into silence. After a while, Nico realised Will wasn't going to break it – which meant one of two things. Either he had, in fact, realised what a freak Nico was and felt uncomfortable, or he still felt bad for his earlier comment.

Nico wouldn't have blamed him if it was the first option, but something in his gut suggested it was the second – maybe the fact that he knew Will well enough to know that guilting himself over this was something he'd do, or maybe it was wishful thinking. Either way, Nico felt the sudden urge to smooth the conversation over.

"I did kind of celebrate once in, um, boarding school," he said, internally cringing at how awkward he sounded, but he pushed on. "Not much, because, y'know, military school, but we were aloud to stay up a bit later and eat a lot of sweets, so… yeah."

He shifted uncertainly, glad that Will couldn't see him, and after a couple seconds Will spoke again. "The candy is the best part of Halloween," he said flippantly, like there'd never been an awkward moment there. "Really, it's the only good tradition."

"I don't think the costumes are that bad," said Nico gently, almost before he could stop himself. He saw Will's lips twitch up a little, and he tried to ignore the flutter in his chest.

"I told you, I'm awful at costumes," Will reminded him, amusement clear in his tone. "I didn't peg you as someone who'd be into them, either."

"I'm not that into them," Nico amended, trying not to get too flustered. "I probably wouldn't wear one, but I think they look fun."

"They are fun," conceded Will. "I just suck at them, so it's a lot of stress."

"Maybe it's 'cause you're trying to be too scary?" Offered Nico, thinking about his earlier conclusion that it's be hard to make Will look scary.

Will's face twisted into one of mock offence. "Are you saying I can't look scary?" He demanded.

Nico tried to keep his voice even. "I'm not- I'm just saying, you aren't exactly a scary person-"

"I could be!" Will spluttered.

"Sure." Nico resisted the urge to roll his eyes, before remembering Will couldn't see him anyway. He reached over and used two fingers to tilt the other boy's chin up to give him a better angle, ignoring the slight twitch that came from Will and his own heartrate picking up traitorously. "I'm just saying, maybe you'd be better off coming up with… well, not-scary costumes."

"I cannot believe that you don't think I could be scary," said Will, his faux-angry tone still clear. "My own friend-"

"I'm just saying-" Nico bit back a laugh.

"This is disgraceful-"

"Gods," Nico snorted unintentionally, but he didn't think about it. "Maybe you did inherit your dad's confidence-"

"How dare you?"

Nico bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself together, and shushed him gently. "I need you to stay still for this bit," he said, unable to keep his amusement out of his voice.

"That's cheating. This conversation isn't over," huffed Will, but he went quiet anyway. For a few seconds they stayed silent, Nico focusing on adding the details and trying to ignore how close he was to Will's lips – it's fine friends see each other's lips all the time there's nothing weird about that – and Will staying almost weirdly still.

Then Nico was done, and he moved back a little before announcing it to put space between them. "There's a mirror in the bathroom," he said when Will opened his eyes. "For you to look at it."

"Great," said Will, an emotion Nico couldn't recognise on his face, and he quickly pushed himself up and made his way to the bathroom.

After a few seconds, Nico followed a few paces behind, stopping in the doorway.

"Damn," said Will abruptly as soon as he saw himself in the mirror.

Nico's stomach twisted – was 'damn' good or bad? – he swallowed. "It'll, uh, probably look better in the dark," he said, trying to keep his tone even.

"Better?" Repeated Will, as if he couldn't quite comprehend it, and he pulled his hood up smoothly to complete the look. "Holy Styx – this is amazing."

Nico's stomach seemed to soar at the compliment, but he tried not to look to overexcited by it. "I mean, you wanted it to be creepy-"

"You're good at creepy," Will insisted quickly, and Nico's chest fluttered happily. "Maybe you are more scary than me."

Nico blinked. "Was that ever in question?"

"Where did you learn to do this?" Curiosity leaked into Will's voice. "I didn't expect you to like this kind of stuff."

Nico tried to fight down the heat that rose to his cheeks and shrugged nonchalantly. "I, uh, used to do a lot of painting at school. I was never that good at it, but I was better at that than the other subjects, because-" he trailed off, shoving his hands in his pockets. Because it didn't require him to remember anything. "It was just more fun than difficult. But I could paint some stuff, especially on skin. It wasn't too hard."

"You could paint well," said Will, before seeming to tactfully change topic. "The design-"

"It's from a Mythomagic card," Nico admitted immediately, relieved to stop talking about himself. He had no idea how to respond to compliments, especially coming from Will. He could picture the card in question – a water demon, occasionally seen in a black cloak – it had seemed fitting. "I figured it was suitably scary."

"It is," grinned Will, and after a second, Nico returned the gesture a little awkwardly. His cheeks ached at the action, but he ignored it. "You know, you could come," Will offered again, his voice sounding almost hopeful. "The invitation still exists."

Nico thought about everyone else who might be there. "I'd rather stay in tonight. But… thanks," he said carefully – he was genuinely glad that Will offered.

"Alright," said Will, agreeably. "In that case, I should-"

Nico's mood seemed to plummet, but he tried not to show it. "Yeah- yeah, of course," he said quickly, moving out of the way of the door. For a second, Will seemed to be having some kind of internal battle, and then he smiled and made his way to the door.

Half way there, he hesitated. "Nico-" he paused while Nico turned to him. "Thank you."

"Don't think about it," said Nico immediately, dismissively, shrugging. Inside, he was all over the place, but he tried to keep it together. "It's no problem."

It was normal to want to spend time with your friends, Nico reminded himself. Totally normal.