Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hazel was visiting today. Something about talking with Chiron, Nico didn't listen much.

What Nico did notice, was the fact that Hazel forgot to put her makeup away before leaving for the big house. Not that Nico minded, she'd come back after talking with Chiron and clean up.

But the longer she took in the big house (only 5 minutes had passed), the more her makeup was standing out for him. He wanted to try it. He's seen some other male campers wear it before and they've had zero trouble, he wasn't expecting to be judged if he wore it outside. But the thought of being seen with makeup on was still terrifying. Him wearing makeup stays between him, himself, and the mosquito flying around in his room.

What Hazel didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

He took her eyeliner and started trying to figure something out. How does Hazel do this to every single social event? He tried to use his finger to help make a straight line, after trying not to blink whilst putting it on his waterline. He's watched Hazel do it plenty of times, it seemed easy enough! Oh how wrong he was..

He filled in the little wing he made with the eyeliner and began searching for Hazel's eyeshadow. Which took a while since Hazel isn't one to wear that much makeup, but he found it.

After rummaging through Hazel's make up bag and finding a brush he put on some black eyeshadow (alot easier than eyeliner!), cleaning it so that Hazel didn't know he used it, and trying to figure out what else one does with makeup.. He found green sparkles. Not exactly his thing, but it wouldn't hurt right?.. He got some sparkles on his fingers and began putting a little bit on his eyes. Not alot, sparkles weren't really his thing, but enough to make his eyes stand out.

He thought whether or not to add mascara, as Hazel usually never left without it if she was wearing eye makeup. Honestly? Why not, it's not like he's planning on going out somewhere. He'll walk around his cabin for a few minutes and then do his best to wash it off once he's done decorating his face. He opened up the mascara container, put the brush next to his eyelashes, and began applying it. 

He was gonna put on a dark lipstick but he decided against it since he wasn't sure how much time was left before Hazel came back, whether he'd even like it, and that it was likely unsanitary.

He closed the mascara container, cleaned the bathroom as he'd have made a mess with the eyeshadow, and put everything away. 

Then he walked towards a mirror,

It looked imperfect, wonky even.

His eyeliner was very uneven, there were way more green sparkles on one eye than the other and he missed a spot whilst working with the eyeshadow. But he was happy.

It was a beautiful person

It felt so much like himself

And personally? He felt good.

But unfortunately good always comes to an end so he had to start washing off the makeup on his face before Hazel came back and saw he used her makeup.

Chapter Text

Percy had invited the seven, alongside Nico and Grover, to his cabin to hangout and maybe watch a movie. 

Nico now stood at the cabin door trying to prepare himself for whatever would be going on inside, as he already hears screaming.

Honestly? It's Percy it could probably be worse.

Nico opened the door and saw a big lizard on the ceiling, Leo, Jason, and Percy fighting over what seemed to be Uno Cards, and Hazel drawing something whilst sitting next to Piper and Annabeth who were painting eachothers nails.

He decided on sitting next to the girls to try and avoid getting into a bet, losing, and having to do something embarrassing infront of everyone.

"Hello." He waved at them.

"Hi Nico!" Hazel looked up from her sketchbook and smiled, Piper and Annabeth simply waved back at him as he sat down.

"Wanna paint your nails with us?" Asked Piper. He wasn't exactly sure whether she was joking or not as her face gave him mixed feelings.

"Erm.." He looked at Annabeth to make sure Piper wasn't joking, he wouldn't mind painting his nails, but he also wasn't in the mood to embarrass himself. Annabeth's face seemed to signal that Piper wasn't joking.

"Sure?" He answered.

"Alright sit down." Annabeth gestured to the floor and tossed him a pillow to sit on. "What color do you wanna do?" She gave him a box of nail polish.

"Black is okay." He took out the black colored container put of the box. Piper simply grabbed it from his hands and begun applying it to his nails.

She painted his Thumb, Pointer, Middle, Ring, and Pinky finger in order and then began doing that with the other hand. A parrot proceeded to fly towards their way which Nico hoped was Frank as the Lizard on the ceiling was now gone, the parrot proceeded to sit on Hazels shoulder while she continued drawing after petting its head.

Piper finished up his other hand.

"Alright I'm done, try not to move your hands too much until the nail polish is dry." She closed the nail polish container and put it back in the box.

Nico looked at his hands,

They looked pretty with the nail polish.

Later that night Nico stared at his hands in the mirror before he brushed his teeth and smiled.

Chapter Text

Nico liked walks. Obviously he preferred walks when both he and the outdoors were in good condition since he isn't usually in the mood for a heatstroke whenever he goes outside. Which is almost never. Getting dragged out into the heat in the middle of summer by none other than your boyfriend isn't exactly Nico's definition of fun.

But Will had other plans.

He dragged out Nico from his cabin and now they were god knows where in New York. (Nico was hoping it was New York.)

Atleast he got to wear his cool boots?

They walked around together intertwining their fingers and beginning to hold hands (neither of them will admit it but they were 100% blushing like crazy). The sun shinned, there wasn't as many people outside, and they just passed a vending machine and got some drinks. A little bit of wind would've probably made it better but Nico didn't mind since Will was happy.

The blond boy was smiling while drinking his sweet soda and fidgeting with the orange bottle cap. 

Honestly? He looked pretty.

Then they passed a Cafe with a flag Nico didn't recognize. Perhaps a pride flag (which Nico learned were a thing when he was given a run down of LGBT history as he was from the 40s and wasn't exactly educated on the topic..), maybe a country or state flag? He decided to ask Will,

"Hey Will?" Nico called.

"Yeah Neeks?" Will answered after he stopped walking.

"What does this flag represent?" The dark haired boy gestured towards the black, white, yellow and purple flag on the Cafe's window.

"Oh, pride flag!" Which meant Nicos first guess was right, "This one is Non-Binary, the name is pretty self explanatory but it's basically when your gender does not fit the usual man and woman binary. People who are Non-Binary usually use gender neutral pronouns but I think I've seen some also use gendered Pronouns?" Will proceeded to explain.

Huh.

It seemed to fit what Nico felt. Obviously he didn't mind getting called a guy but he was raised being called a guy cause that's what he is. But non-binary? Being called "They"? Neither man or woman? They liked the sound of that..

'That's my friend Nico Di Angelo, they like mythomagic.' That sounded like them.

Maybe they'll use They / Them, or He / They. The Dark haired teen wasn't sure, but they're gonna figure it out.

They'll tell Will at some point. As of now he's rambling about Star Wars, which Nico didn't want to interrupt as the blond look as happy as ever.

Chapter Text

Nico was bored. They finished training, chores. Hell, they even cleaned their cabin. (shocker.)

But there were hours left before dinner and as of now they were laying on their bed and staring at the ceiling for around half an hour by now.

They could draw, but they didn't have a single idea of what to draw. They could go hang out with Will, but he was busy with the infirmary. There was a pair of scissors lying on the floor for some reason?

Well.. don't mind if they do.

Nico grabbed the pair of scissors and tried thinking of things they could do with them whilst moving their front hair out of their eyes.

Front hair.

That answers it. The thing is, they had no idea how to cut it, so they were going into this blind. Eh, they'll figure it out.

They've seen piper cut her hair before and her curtain bangs (atleast that's what she called them) looked pretty nice. They gathered up their front hair together and twirled it together. They grabbed the scissors and began cutting it at an angle.

They were probably gonna regret this..

And regret it they did.

They let the hair out of their hands, put away the scissors, cleaned up the hair that fell on the ground, and went back to the mirror.

It looked like a nightmare. 

It did not in fact look like pipers bangs. 

And it looked like Tiresias was the one cutting their hair.

Once they were outside of pipers window they knocked and waited for her to answer. Then Piper, with half braided hair, looked out the window. 

"Hey Nico-" She looked at him up and down, "should I ask about your hair?.."

"I got bored and I had scissors next to me, help me fixing whatever the hell this is." They pointed to their hair.

A loud sigh was heard throughout the Aphrodite cabin as Nico came in.

Later they thanked Piper, as they came out of her cabin and went to look at their mirror. 

Piper styled it into a side part. Which, honestly? Suited them really well. The only problem would be figuring out how the hell she did that tomorrow morning when they wake up.

Chapter Text

Back when the war with Kronos was over, the hunters gave Bianca's stuff back to Nico before they left. Nico couldn't bare themselves to open the box. And, for a while, it stayed in their closet for years. 

That was, until now.

They found the box while cleaning his cabin and they may or may not have cried. 

They opened the box and made three piles : Clothes, things, and probably personal stuff they shouldn't touch.

They put the personal stuff back in the box and put it in the closet. Then they decided to organize the other two piles that were left. They were obviously keeping it all, but, they wanted to take some stuff for themselves. Keep a part of her with them from time to time. 

And so some stuff went into their closet, some stuff on display, some stuff into other boxes or piles. Until they came across a skirt.

They remembered that skirt. It was a flowy long black maxi skirt that Bianca wore on every single occasion. They remembered her begging their mum to let her wear it one more time before washing it. They remembered how Bianca sat in their military school dorm stiching on a patch onto the skirt for the thousandth time because she refused to get a new one. And most importantly,

'Can I pleeaasee try it on? Bea'

'Nico, you're a boy mama already said boys don't wear skirts!'

They checked if the skirt was dirty and went to the bathroom to put it on. Once they got out they looked at themselves. They looked beautiful. The skirt was perfect, they understood why Bianca always wore it. The texture was perfect, if they twirled around the skirt flowed beautifully, it didn't stick to their skin, and the waist band was perfectly comfortable.

Obviously they knew they wouldn't exactly be able to wear it much, training and all. Nor could they wear it around camp, their dignity would never recover from that.

knock knock

Speaking of,

"Who is it?" They yelled through the door.

"ITS ME!!" They heard a person they assumed was Will yell back.

It's Will, the dark haired teen thought, he wouldn't care.

Nico sat back down on their bed, "COME IN!"

Will came into the cabin and began to blush all over.

"Why, you look handsome don't ya?" He managed. He sat down next to Nico. His light curls framed his face, he was a blushing mess, and he was wearing the same exact flannel as always. "You look happy, I like that." He smiled.

"This used to be Bianca's skirt." They told him, also blushing at him (They’ll never admit that fact.)

Chapter Text

Nico had started wearing skirts around Will more often. All of the skirts were old and needed to be patched up, but Nico didn't mind, they liked having something to do in their free time. Plus the skirts were pretty and Will seemed to think that aswell.

Right now, they sat in Nico's bed while the dark haired teen sewed on a new patch for his jacket and the blonde boy cuddled them.

"Your hair is getting long." Will noticed while running his fingers through their curls.

"Hm," Nico nodded. "I guess so."

"Can I braid it? I'll be careful." Will proceeded.

"Go ahead, my hair has a ton of split and dead ends though." Nico let him know, putting the needle through their jacket after fixing the knot that formed on the end of the string they was using to attach the patch.

Will separated their hair into three sections and crossed the middle and the left strands together, then folded the right one to the middle. Again, again, and again.

"Why'd you start wearing skirts? Not that I don't like it, I love it! You look amazing, but erm.. you don't really seem like the type to like skirts I guess?" Will said, starting to blush whilst trying to correct himself.

"I don't mind. Anyway. I'm not really sure, It just sorta feels like me? It feels comfortable and.. I obviously wasn't able to wear skirts back in the 40s and I didn't know being gay was even legal until Jason told me. So I didn't really have time to experiment with clothes!" Nico quickly said as Will tied off their hair.

They finished up with their jacket and put it away.

"I'm done with your hair." Will told him smiling, honestly? He looked like he was glowing. And knowing Will, Nico was probably right.

Nico went to their mirror and moved the braid to the front.

They looked exactly like Bianca.

They would never tell that to the son of Apollo in his room, but they looked like a slightly older Bianca. They're older than Bianca now? They weren't sure how to feel about either of those things.

"Nico!" They finally heard Will and immediately looked at him.

"Wha- huh? Oh yeah sorry I zoned out.. I do like the braid though, love." Told Will, looking back at the mirror and smiling as they ran their hands through the hair.

"Are you okay?" A question you dont normally hear, unless you're visibly hurt. But Will was being serious.

"Remember how a few days ago we saw this flag and you said it was the non-binary pride flag?"

Chapter Text

Will nodded. He was a very good listener when it was necessary (or when he thought it was necessary).

"So uhm, I thought about it? Sorta? It means when you're neither a girl or a boy right?" Nico asked to make sure they werent messing up with the terms.

"Yep." The blonde reassured them.

"It suits me. I think that's the term for whatever the hell I feel I guess." The dark haired teen twirled their hair as they spoke, "They / them, it feels like me? Is that normal. But I'd prefer if people I'm not too familiar with use He / They.."

"Honestly? I kind of figured it out a while ago."

He kissed them. "Of course it's normal, love. I know plenty of people who feel this way. So, They / them right? Do you still wanna go by Nico or do you wanna pick out a different name?" He held his partner's hands in his.

Nico sounded like a good name, they liked their current name. They didn't really feel like changing it.

"Nico is okay." They smiled as they layed down on their bed.

"Alright, Neeks." He told them, laying down too and hugging them as he spoke. "We can go shopping for new clothes tomorrow if you'd like?" He asked.

"I have clothes already." Nico said.

"Ones that aren't basically falling apart!" Will exclaimed.

sigh "Fine!" The dark haired teen gave in. "Were also gonna get crafting supplies though, I spent all my string on patching up all those skirts and I want to give some of them grommets."

They'd later stay cuddling until it was dinner and they had to go eat.

Chapter Text

As Will promised, he took them shopping. Right now they stood infront of a thrift store whilst Will grinned and shinned like always.

Nico dressed very simple to make it easier to try on clothes, they wore a black tanktop, their favorite maxi-skirt and some boots.

Will wasn't really planning on buying anything so he wore his cargo shorts, a shirt with a saying Nico did not understand, and some flip flops. (He can't go without those can he?)

"I thought you said we're going shopping because my clothes are all old? What's the point of going to a thrift store?" Nico asked.

"All the other stores nearby are fast-fashion. This was the best option, plus it's a rich neighborhood so we're more likely to find good stuff.." Will fiddled with a bracelet Nico believed came out of nowhere.

"Ah." They went inside the store.

"So.. what'd you want to go look for first?" Will looked around to see where each thing was.

"I've been wanting to try on heels.." Nico's eyes wandered off as he rubbed his neck.

"Alright, let's go I think the shoe section is over there!" Will grabbed their hand and began speed walking (which they could barely keep up with) his way to shelves of shoes. "Could you check your shoe size?"

They took off one of their boots and looked for a tag.

"7 and a half." They said as they put their shoe back on. Will proceeded to pass them a black shoe with a thick heel since it was a better start than a stiletto.

"Try this?" Nico took of their shoes and put it on. (They definitely didn't almost fall face first on the floor as soon as they stood up) It felt nice, they'd probably need more practice wearing heels but it was okay.

"Maybe for formal events? I do know im not wearing it on an everyday basis but I do like it." Nico told Will.

"Alright then!" Will passed the dark haired teen the shopping cart as he looked around for something else they might like.

Nico just put the heels inside and followed Will wherever he was currently going.

"Another skirt?" Will showed them a denim midi-skirt with stars on its side.

"The denim will stick to my skin.." Nico told him.

Will shrugged, and looked for something else. He'd then found a dark red skirt with ruffles all over and black lace on the bottom. "Eh?" He grinned.

Nico grabbed it and put it over the skirt they were currently wearing as this thrift store unfortunately had no changing room.. "its perfect!" They exclaimed.

Later on they also found a leather jacket that nico would decorate once they came back to camp.

How Will bought all that despite not getting payed in the infirmary, will always be a mystery to Nico. But they came back to camp happy and they spent the rest of the day trying on the things they bought and decorating the leather jacket. Which Nico enjoyed.

Chapter Text

They've been invited to a dinner date. And they did not know what the hell they should wear.

They opened their closet and flipped through a bunch of clothes. Formal attire is always either super feminine or super masculine, so Nico had no idea what they could wear. 

What if you mixed parts of what you'd usually wear for formal events that went for different genders?

Nico rummaged through their closet and took out a white long sleeve button up. They put it on and rolled up the sleeves.

They found their newly bought long red skirt and black thighs.

Something was missing..

They saw black gloves at the bottom of their drawer. Perfect.

All that was left to do was their hair and maybe minimal makeup.

They went up to their mirror and began putting their bangs into their usual side part as they have yet to grow out enough to get fixed and cut properly. Then they brushed their curls and made their hair poofy that way.

Then they took out their only piece of makeup, a black eyeliner container they stole borrowed from Piper (Luckily for them she almost never wears makeup so she has yet to notice). They opened the container and begun applying it to their waterline. After that they did their best to smudge it without messing it up too much as they didn't exactly have any black eyeshadow on hand.

knock knock

"Come in!" They yelled. The door clicked open and Will came in.

"Hey love," Will blushed and kissed them on the cheek. "I see you're wearing the new skirt?" He paused. "It looks good on you."

Nico's face flushed red, "Thank you, Tesoro." They smiled. "I was gonna put on the heels too." 

They got the shoes and started trying to figure out how to put them on. Once they stood up, (not almost falling this time!) They walked back to Will.

"Huh, I'm pretty much as tall as you now." Nico smirked. Will was rubbing his neck whilst his cheeks turned a soft shade of red. "Well then, let's go." Nico held out their hand.

Will took it and they went into the shadows.

Nico was nervous, it was their first time wearing stuff like this in public, they already got plenty of states for dressing alternative or even just holding their boyfriend's hand. But it would be fine, they were with Will, and they were safe.

Chapter Text

The two of them wound up in a dark alley near the restaurant, so that Nico could get to a shadow and so that not many mortals noticed them in the crowded NYC streets.

They walked out, fingers intertwined, Nico telling Will how training went for them today.

As they walked, a few people looked at them. Mostly children. One little girl came up to them and said she liked Nico's sparkly skirt.

There were also adults who gave a few glances that were longer than normal, and continued whatever they were doing.

But Nico was pretty happy, they honestly could care less about how much an adult might care about something. Because so far, most adults they talked to were either stupid or pretty much brain dead.

And the kid that liked their skirt made their day. They will now cherish the red skirt with all their heart.

They now stood infront of the diner. They were somewhere in Hell's Kitchen, and apparently the name of the area made sense because that place was loud. Will didn't exactly look comfortable and was close to just shutting his ears closed and Nico could hear a person a booth over breathing, nor could they hear a single thing the waitress said.

They knew Will meant well but they were in the restaurant during rush hour.

Fuck this. Nico thought, taking Will's wrist and dragging him out of there.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know the restaurant even had a rush hour, it just opened a month ago.." He mumbled, still a bit out of it.

"Hey, it's fine. Could be worse," The dark haired teen looked around and saw a convenience store. "What about some instant noodles?"

"You know damn well how unhealthy the spice packets in those are." The blonde pointed out. "I was meaning to have a nice date night, but apparently we weren't the only ones with that idea." He thought for a second, "I know a spot with amazing sushi nearby." Will began to walk quickly.

Nico followed. And gosh was the food good, they still had no idea how Will payed, but the food was good.

Chapter Text

Nico stood infront of their mirror putting on their mascara. They put it on the waterline and then slightly smudged it to make it look like eyeshadow as the mascara was the only makeup product they owned so they had to improvise.

Knock knock

"Come in!!" They yelled out. They were starting to express themselves more androgynously around people other than Will. They wouldn't deny anything if asked, but they wouldn't say anything outwardly. And honestly? They were starting to not care about what everyone thinks. Will would be proud, Nico from 3 years ago would be terrified, Bianca.. they weren't sure what she'd think. Perhaps she'd be supportive, glad that they're happy.

Maybe she'd be disappointed.

Hazel came in. She wore a red bandana around her hair to keep it out of her face and some denim overalls. She smiled.

"Hey Nico!!" She gave them a hug. "How've you been? How was your date with Will? What have you been up to recently?" The curly haired girl rambled.

"Hi," They smiled. "I've been doing great, the date was okay, we had to go to a different place because the diner we were planning on going to go to was way too crowded, I've been patching up and decorating my clothes as of recently." They pointed to the different patches on his leather jacket. "What about you?" They questioned.

"Eh, boring Legion stuff, could be better." She told them. "Is that mascara?" She said cautiously.

"Sure, sto- ahem, borrowed it from Piper." They said.

"It looks great. But isn't that for girls?" She told them.

"I don't really feel like a girl or a boy." They shrugged, this seemed to be going way better than they expected.

"Huh," Though, they weren't exactly sure if she understood based on such a vague response.

"Say, why do you like your bandana?" They pointed at her hair.

"Cause it's pretty, keeps my hair out of the way, and it's in my favorite color." She responded.

"You wear it cause you like it. Same goes to me but instead of a bandana it's how I look and how people might call me. I could wear a skirt, I like skirts, I could wear pants, they're comfortable, but I dont like being restricted by only one option. I might wear a skirt one day but pants the next, makeup or no make up. I might even mix the two things together." They explained, hoping she understood.

They weren't sure if she'd gotten updated on history like they did nor if she knew what non-binary meant. Best they could do is explain, terminology can come later.

"Makes sense, sorta. You said it also changes how people call you?" She proceeded.

"Sure, I prefer non-gendered terms over masculine or feminine ones if that makes sense. Think, They instead of he?" They told her. Knowing she'd be supportive seeing as she already knew about them being queer. It didn't change much, but she knew.

"Alright. Anyways my dearest sibling, you're helping me not get Lavinia to not murder anybody while we're visiting."

She dragged them out of the cabin.

Chapter Text

The door creaked open, making a loud noise throughout the cabin, reminding them to check on it later, and Hazel came in holding a dark box.

The box was a black color making the sparkles around the edges, that seemed like they came from an accidental glitter spill, way more visible than they were supposed to be.

"So, I figured out some stuff. And now I have a gift for you!" Not waiting for an answer, she put the dark sparkly box straight into their hands.

"I have some questions about why the box looks like that, but I'm guessing it's better off unanswered?"  Looking for scissors whilst raiding the question.

"You are very much correct." She grinned.

"Hm," They found the same scissors they used to cut their bangs and began trying to cut off the tape. Seeing how long it was taking them it was more so fighting off the tape, but they did it and began ripping the rest off. "Woah."

They looked at the insides of the box.

"This is amazing, thank you so much!" They said, holding up one of the many silver necklaces that were inside.

The silver cold and shinning in the light of the cabin's many lamps, it made them happy.

They put the necklace on as quickly as possible and went to hug their sister.

"Of course, I made some, some are from the ground, the rest from God knows where." She told him.

"Fair enough." Feeling the freezing cold necklace on the back of their collar, he let go and smiled.

Once the girl left they completely opened the box and put all the jewelry in a bowl, and staye for half an hour just admiring the pretty jewelry,

They took out a bracelet and put it on.

They looked amazing with jewelry. Their mascara and eyeshadow blended well with silver, their black My Chemical Romance shirt made it shine even more than before.