Chapter Text
Nico
After Nico’s confrontation with Percy, as promised, he went back to Will Solace who was waiting patiently where he left him. Nico rolled his eyes as he reached the blonde, “You didn’t need to wait for me, you know. I could make it to the infirmary on my own just fine.”
Will shot him a smile that was so bright, that it seems to light up everything around him. Ugh, the same smile that seems to always reincarnate the skeletal butterflies in his stomach. Nico forced himself not to blush as Will teased, “Just making sure I don’t lose you this time.”
Nico huffed, fidgeting with his skull ring as he looked down, not understanding why this boy in front of him had such an effect on him, “Just lead the way towards the infirmary already.” he murmured.
The son of Apollo pretended to think about it by exaggeratedly humming, making Nico look back up and noticing the mischievous glint in his eyes. What is he planning now?
“You said you could make it to the infirmary on your own, right? Why don’t you lead the way? ” He immediately glared at the son of Apollo who only smiled at his attempts to scare him. Nico eventually looked away, sighing in exasperation, “You're hopeless, Solace.” And at that, he began walking towards the infirmary with Will following closely behind him, obviously trying to stifle a chuckle. Nico wanted to be annoyed, but why was it so hard to be?
As soon as the son of Hades barged into the infirmary, everyone’s stares turned to him, and suddenly, he was self-conscious. His eyes widened at the lingering look. So out of instinct, he took a step back in panic. What if they’re all judging me? I am the son of Hades after all, hero or not.
What he forgot was the fact that Will was closely following behind him. So, when he stepped back, he accidentally bumped into the son of Apollo. If it wasn’t for Will’s swift movements and perfect balance, they would’ve fallen down to the floor.
Will immediately spun Nico to face him, placing a calming hand on his shoulder, “Hey, hey, it’s okay. They’re not judging, they’re just surprised to see you here. I promise. ” How did he always seem to know what to say? Nico was in such a panic that he only now realized that Will was touching him. At that, Nico flinched away, “Don’t touch me!” He hissed. Will’s touch isn’t necessarily bad, but he was still getting used to it, and as of now, technically Will was still a stranger. Nico didn’t know anything about him soo… Was he just looking for reasons at this point?
A hint of pain flickered through Will’s eyes but Nico couldn’t be sure because it only lasted a second before Will had that smile and calmness plastered on his face again, “Let’s get you to a private room then?” He said, ignoring Nico’s last comment.
Nico looked back to the infirmary and then realized that no one was staring anymore, but he didn't think he’d be comfortable with other patients being so close to him… So, he nodded, finally choosing to trust Will, not understanding why suddenly, but it just felt… right. Maybe Will had that kind of power? Can he make people trust him because he’s a natural-born healer?
Will nodded, leading the way before shooting him another smile to lighten up the situation, “Look at the bright side! You bumping into me only means that you’re solid.”
Nico shrugged, rolling his eyes, “For now.”
Will chuckled and attempted to put an arm around his shoulder but decided against it, “Oh come on! Be more positive. There has to be some left in you.”
So, Will is a touchy person, but he’s also considerate. Nico took a mental note of that. Maybe he could work with someone so thoughtful. Before Nico could stop himself, he blurted out, “Will you be the only healer in charge of me, or would your siblings replace you every now and then?” Nico didn’t know where that came from… Actually, as soon as he finished the sentence, he was suddenly blushing… and so was Will.
Will opened a door to a room and let Nico in before answering the question, his smile sheepish, “I-, umm… Normally, my siblings and I do rounds depending on our shifts, but if you want… I could take you under my… personal care. ” Then suddenly, Will’s blush worsened. Why? Nico still can’t put his finger on it.
“I- I would like that…” Nico murmured which surprised him probably as much as it surprised Will, but when he felt his heart race he tried adding, “But only because I have trouble trusting people and I don’t know how I may act if you guys keep shifting and if I’m going to make friends I want to start with one!” He gasped and took a breath of air because apparently, he said that in one breath.
Nico then groaned at how pathetic he sounded as he sat on the edge of the bed and then buried his head in his hands, “That is… if you even want to be my friend.” He said, barely a whisper. He felt Will sit beside him, and slowly Nico looked up and met Will’s dazzling blue eyes. They were soft and patient, it has been a while since he saw such sincerity in a person’s eyes, “Of course, I want to be your friend, deathboy. Why wouldn’t I?”
Nico huffed, “Because you don’t know me and I might scare you off if I told you the details of my life so far.”
Will rolled his eyes, “Why don’t you try me then?” Nico didn’t know why he felt this way… So, open. Usually, it takes a while for him to trust a person, let alone try them out for friendship, but with Will, it feels like he wants to share all of his trauma and just break down in his arms.
Before he could do any of that though, he turned away, he trusted Will, but he doesn’t trust himself. He does have a reputation to uphold. Plus, everything was still too fresh in his memories, he feared that if he drowned in them, he might not be able to come back, even with the help of Will, “I- I don’t think I’m ready.”
Will hummed and then stood up, “Alright then.” He said so softly and with so much understanding that it got Nico to look at him, and once again, he had the same patient look in his eyes, “For now, why don’t we start with you letting me try to heal you?”
He sighed in relief then nodded. Will smiled and offered his hand, “I know you don’t like being touched, but I have to check your vitals, may I? It’s for medical purposes only, nothing else.” Nico hesitated, but he did want to live, and Will Solace just added to the reasons why.
Despite what others think, being one with the shadows actually scares him. Sure, he had some thoughts, but he never attempted them. He does value his life, some days were just harsher than others, but he did want a future, and he did want to make friends. Maybe that’s why he trusted Will.
From the first moment they met, he never saw Nico as a creep, he never judged, and on top of that, he even showed him that he cared by preventing him from shadow-traveling and making sure he doesn’t fade away, which was surprising at first, but maybe it wasn’t so bad…
So, Nico nodded, slowly giving Will his arm. Will flashed him a smile and began to check on his vitals. Will’s eyes were intent at first, then he closed them, probably digging deep into his powers to see what else was wrong. His eyebrows began to furrow with worry before he opened his eyes again. Then suddenly, Will had this serious look that said he was officially in ‘doctor mode’ as Nico would call it, “Take off your clothes please.” He said professionally.
Nico sputtered despite himself, “Excuse me, what?!” He hoped his cheeks weren't as red as they felt. That would be embarrassing.
Will rolled his eyes, “Werewolf marks, I have to check them.” He simply said. Dam, Doctor Will sure is serious.
Nico blushed in embarrassment, looking down, “Oh… I- umm…” Nico had many scars on him, and he was afraid that once Will saw them, he would finally see how much of a monster he was.
Will seems to notice his hesitation, then as if a switch in his brain has been flipped, Will’s professional look was replaced with a gentle one, “Hey, I won’t judge. You’re not the first person who walked in here with scars, and I really don’t mind. For others, scars may be a reminder of the things they’ve done, and it could even leave a mental scar, but for me, they only show how brave and strong a person is.”
And there it was again, the sudden trust that Nico had for Will. Nico took off his shirt, and he even let Will help him get it all the way out. When Will saw his chest, Will gasped, tears welling up in his eyes, “Nico…”
Nico thought this was it, he has finally scared Will away, but then Will’s arms twitched as if he wanted to hug the son of Hades, “Y-you’ve been through so much, huh?”
Nico tilted his head in confusion as a few tears dropped from Will’s eyes, making his heart clench at the sight. Seeing Will cry was painful, “Are you crying for me?” He asked, surprised.
“Am I?” Will asked incredulously as he wiped away his tears, “I guess I am. I’m sorry, I just get too emotional at times.” He fixed himself then began to observe each scar and injury until finally, his hand brushed a little at the werewolf marks, causing a spark to ignite at where he touched Nico. The same spark he felt when he first held him.
Will then stepped back, once again in doctor mode, “I have to restitch that, which means you have to go under for a while, is that… okay?”
He usually doesn’t like to sleep when no one he trusts enough is around but Will was here, but did he trust him enough? “Make sure nothing bad happens to me?”
Will smiled confidently, “As if you have to ask. So, is that a yes?” Nico only nodded, surprising himself. Will hummed and then urged him to lay down as he went out to get his supplies. Once Will was gone, Nico was left alone with his thoughts, and to his surprise, it seems to revolve around Will.
How could someone as perfect as Will want to be his friend? What did he even do to deserve a friend such as Will? Will, who was so perfect, understanding, and calm. Did the fates finally decide to give him some peace by letting him meet the son of Apollo?
You’ve actually met him before .
Came a whisper in his ear though from who, he didn’t know. Maybe Nico was finally hallucinating? Was the tiredness finally catching up with him? Then suddenly he had a flashback:
He was standing by the beach right after Percy had left to follow Bianca and the others on their quest. It was freezing out due to it being winter. Then, he saw a figure seated by the freezing beach. He was between two boulders at the edge of the beach, why he was there and why was up so early, Nico didn’t understand.
Nico approached the boy since he was still all friendly back then. He couldn’t see his features well since he had his back on Nico and since it was still a bit dark, “Hey.” Nico asked shyly. The boy looked up in surprise, and the only thing Nico noticed was how red and puffy his eyes were, and… his eyes’ color… It was… bright blue.
Nico gasped as he snapped back into the present, wondering how come he didn’t remember much of that night. Maybe because he tried to forget about his first time at camp and how naive he was back then… He tried to recall if that boy he saw was Will, and what happened, but he was so exhausted that he can’t seem to wrack his brain.
No time too, since at that moment, Will came back with a medical cart filled with materials. Nico snorted, “That’s a lot.”
Will only smiled, “You’ve got a lot of injuries. Don’t worry though, it won’t hurt!” That’s when Nico wondered… Was Will so nice to him because of that memory? And where did that memory even come from? He was sure that he buried most of his memories from his first time in camp so deep that he doesn’t remember all of it… Or in this case, most of it.
Will furrowed his eyebrows in concern once more, “Hey, you don’t have to answer… but, what got you deep in thought?”
Nico looked up at him, wondering if he should ask. Eventually though, he voted against it. So, he shrugged, “I’m just tired.” he lied.
Will obviously didn’t buy it, but he didn’t push, instead, he went into doctor mode and prepared the anesthesia, and gave Nico a reassuring smile, “Alright then. Now, let’s begin. Don’t worry, this will help you sleep. If you ever wake up before there’s food in this room, you could go ahead and rest again because that’s what you came here to do anyway, okay?” Nico nodded then let Will get to work.
A few minutes later, Nico found himself unable to resist sleep as Will was cleaning his scratches to prepare him for stitches. As soon as he closed his eyes, he found himself in a dreamless sleep which is just as well because he was too exhausted to stir himself away from nightmares.
When Nico woke up, who knows how much longer later, he felt his injured shoulder wrapped in bandages. He carefully stirred to look around the room and to avoid pulling his stitches. He noticed a plate with one sandwich by a desk beside him, then on the opposite of it, on Nico’s other side was Will sleeping on a chair, his arms crossed, and head leaning on the wall behind him.
Since no one can see, Nico allowed the smile that tugged at his lips as he shook his head, “You’re going to get a stiff neck, Solace.” he whispered. Nico sighed then turned to the sandwich and took as much of it as he could. Will would most probably kill him if he left it untouched.
Nico still couldn’t taste the food, but he hasn't been fading for quite some time now. So, Nico hoped that his taste buds would come back soon. Everything did begin to taste dull as he began fading. Once his stomach reacted, he stopped eating, not wanting to wake up Will because he puked due to eating too much.
He then looked back at Will, who, for the first time, he noticed had dark circles under his eyes, not to mention that his hair was a mess and that he was so deep in his sleep. “When was the last time you took a break?” Nico whispered, hearing the concern seep into his tone subconsciously.
Nico didn’t know why he suddenly cared this much for the son of Apollo. Is this what having friends feel like? Nico leaned down a bit to the drawer by his desk that he knew had extra blankets and gently placed one over Will, carefully so as to not wake him up.
Once Nico was content, another smile played on his lips, a smile that probably won’t be there if Will was awake or if there was anyone else here. Nico nodded to himself. Maybe I won’t be as terrible of a friend as I thought I would be. And at that thought, Nico settled back to his own bed, still feeling quite exhausted, and drowsy due to eating. He then allowed sleep to come. He slept so deeply, that people might mistake him for being dead.