At Your Service- A Royalty Solangelo AU

Chapter 24

TW: Violence, Blood, Death (after Nico's first set of internal thoughts in italics, that is where the violence will soon begin)

Watching the obsidian crown be placed atop the head of his sister filled him with a sense of pride he never knew possible before. She radiated power and perfection, the true crowning jewel of his family, and he could not be more excited about Hazel taking the role of their mother. 

With tears in his eyes, he watched her from across the room, milling about the political officials who all bowed at her feet. Even when the women came to ask for his presence on the dance floor, he could not tear his eyes off of his incredible sister. It was only when the man next to him tugged on his sleeve that he finally broke away from the trance. 

"What now?" He turned to Will, who was looking at him with some sort of desperation on his face. 

"Dance with me."

Taken aback, he could only stutter out an apology of confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

"Dance with me," the Hele man repeated slightly more firmly than the last time. 

"And why would I ever want to do that?"

This earned him a pointed look, "You are soon going to require a stick to beat the women off with, so you may as well consider the least of the most annoying as your dance partner. And I would gladly take that role for you."

"Fine."

No sooner had he agreed then he felt a warm hand slot into his, radiating heat from the tips of his fingers up the arm. He was glad that Will had turned away to lead him onto the floor so that he could not see the rose tint that now adorned his face, he did not need anymore teasing from the obnoxious man he had named his gentleman-in-waiting. 

The floor, of course, was crowded with bodies, all jostling one another and intruding on any hope for personal space. With a shove from an official behind him, he found himself forced chest to chest with Will, though he could not pull away as the man's hands quickly locked on the small of his back. Warmth was the only thing he could feel, dragging him closer and tricking his mind into looping his arms around Will's neck. His gaze focused on the floor, he hoped to avoid any questions from the blonde about why his breath was coming in such short increments and why his face had turned a rather vibrant shade of pink. 

"You know, we could have just left the coronation rather than having to put on this whole spectacle in front of hundreds of people," he muttered more to himself than anyone else.

Of course, Will had to hear it and chirped back in an overly sweet tone. "We could have, but why would we leave your sister alone on her momentous day?"

A twinge of guilt struck him from the fact that Will had to remind him about it, a fault of the braincells in his head malfunctioning with such close proximity to another person. "That is a fair point. But why dance with me? There were plenty of lovely ladies who wanted your attention tonight, they are quite upset about missing out. I for one, would have gladly let another the my spot."

"To be honest, I'd rather have your body pressed close to mine compared to a random woman who only wants to climb into my bed at the end of the night," he was offered a small smile when he looked up, and realized that this was his chance to play back after the whole night of Will's teasing.

"And who said I did not share the same aspirations as these women?"

The remark struck home, Will's face visibly flushing to tell him that he had succeeded. "I- what... you-"

His flustered stuttering was too funny to ignore, Nico being betrayed by his laughter that quickly poured out of his mouth. But when he looked back, Will's eyes met his with a strange expression. It was like he was melting in him.