Helpless parts 1-10, it's it strange how nothing's changed
Nico was finally allowed to leave the infirmary, he'd been stuck there for three days because of Solace since apparently he 'was about to turn into a puddle of darkness'. He was mainly alone for the most part which was fine with him, but the Apollo kid wouldn't leave him alone half the time, Nico knew it was his job and everything but with the amount of people in the infirmary after the war you would think he has something more important to do. Nico was on his way to cabin 13 when he was intercepted by Annabeth and Percy,
"Hey Nico, it's camp fire time. You can't avoid social situations forever, you might actually enjoy it. Come with us." Percy said brightly almost like there wasn't a war three days ago, Nico was about to decline but for whatever reason decided to go. A decision he was sure he would regret in a hours time but still he replied,
"Sure why not."
***
Nico sat down next to Annabeth, gods what is wrong with me? Nico thought to himself as more people arrived; he was very quickly starting to regret his decision but he thought he'd try to stay. Annabeth gave him a smile and leaned over.
"Nico I promise you'll love it," she said quietly hugging him. Nico normally hated being touched but now it was strangely fine; the only reason Nico stayed was for Annabeth and he did end up kind of enjoying it. Everyone was singing loudly and they all seemed happy, forgetting momentarily about all that happened just a few days ago. Then he heard Will Solace sing, his voice sounded angelic which was surprising for someone so stubborn and annoying but hey people surprise you sometimes he thought to himself. The night passed and Nico was actually happy he had come; as he returned to his cabin with Hazel, but as hard as he tried he couldn't get his mind off of Will Solace.
---
"Morning Haze," Nico said the just as he woke up.
"Here we have a true miracle occurrence the Nico di Angelo is awake before 11am is this the real di Angelo or is it really a fake." Hazel said in a teasing voice, it was nice to be back with her.
"Very funny Hazel," Nico said petting her on the head. "Anyway how much longer do I have with you until you go to back to New Rome?"
"I'm leaving today at 10pm, after campfire." She responded hugging Nico. "I'm gonna go get breakfast, cya later bro." Walking out the door, right after that there's a knock on the door. Nico opens it reluctantly and saw Solace outside the door,
"Great you haven't left yet. Can you come back to the infirmary tonight at 5 and do that every Friday for the rest of the month? I was asking Reyna and Annabeth and they said you'd shadow traveled a lot recently which isn't good for you, also-"
"-No underworldly stuff, just because I'm out of the infirmary doesn't mean I'm okay and I have a bunch of deficiencies. Solace I know, you don't have to worry, I'm not too big a fan of passing out myself. Yeah I'll come down at five, I don't see any use coming till the end of the month but you're too stubborn and I do not have the energy to argue with you today." Nico finishes his sentence,
"Okay great, that was surprisingly easy. Bye Nico I'll see you this afternoon." He says smiling as he closes the door behind him, Nico realised that he was smiling and cursed under his breathe in Italian. There is no way he liked that annoying doctor but the only thing he could think about were his bright blue eyes and how they look like the ocean. How his hair was perfectly golden and he was almost glowing in the sunlight, fuck, no, he couldn't do this again. He couldn't like anyone again, that would mean he has to tell people, what if they abandoned him? These are the times he sadly requires advice from Jason Grace.
***
Nico knocked on the door of his cabin hoping he hadn't left yet, he get lucky.
"Hey Grace, can I talk to you?" Nico asked stepping inside, Jason was (aside from Percy and Annabeth) the only one who knew.
"Yeah sure," Jason said calmly, Nico was thankful he still wanted to talk to him considering last time they tried to have this conversation Nico swore he would never talk to him again.
"Well, um.. I feel like I should tell the rest of the seven and Reyna. Percy and Annabeth already know-" Nico starts but is interrupted by Jason pulling him into a hug.
"Oh sorry, I forgot you don't like being touched I'm just proud of you." Jason say's quickly.
"It's fine, I'm trying to get used to human contact. Just I also wanted to tell you, I like this guy...and he's so stubborn and annoying but at the same time I want him to be mine. It's....Will Solace and I just...yeah." Nico finishes, slightly blushing after and rushing the part about Will Solace.
"Nico I'm so proud of you for wanting to tell them, and if any of them react badly I will personally strike them with lightning while simultaneously getting Percy to drown them. But they won't , these people love and care about you Nico they won't hurt you. As for Will Solace, well I know he's friends with Leo but not much else, I don't really see him much but he's a cool guy. Good luck mate." Jason says keeping his voice stable and calm as always,
"Thank you Jason, I guess I should go and talk to the other five now." Nico says hugging Jason, it was kind of shocking but Jason didn't show his surprise.
“Good luck Nico, I promise it’ll go well.”
“Wait, um, could you please come with me? I was going to ask Annabeth but-“
“Yeah of course I’ll come with you.”And with that the ghost king and Superman were off.
***
“Guys umm… can I talk to you?” Nico said walking up to Reyna, Leo, Hazel, Frank and Piper, finding them sitting under a tree.
“Sure di Angelo, what’s up?” Leo said hiding his shock that Nico di Angelo was willingly talking to someone who wasn’t Hazel, much more with Jason standing beside him. He looked like he was barely breathing so Jason placed a hand on his shoulder, whispering something in his ear. Nico (much to Leo’s surprise) smiled and continued, “Well….shit.., Jason I can't.” Nico says shaking.
"Breathe di Angelo."
"I fucking can't, what if they-"
"-I promise they won't react badly."
"That's what I thought about- doesn't matter."
"I know it's hard, especially after living in the 1930s for most of your childhood. Nico, are you sure you want to tell everyone, you're shaking."
"I SAW PEOPLE GET KILLED FOR IT, what....what if they hate me?"
"You don't have to tell them if you don't want to."
"I want to I'm just, scared."
"They care about you di Angelo, I swear on the River of Styx they won't hate you." Nico took a deap breath and continued.
"I'm..I'm gay.." he tenses up, waiting for someone to call him a fag and yell that he was going to burn and potentially try to kill him. After no such reaction he continued,"Also I may or may not have fallen for that insufferable doctor, Solace. Percy and Annabeth already know,” Nico turns around and hugs Jason,
“Good job Nico; damn three hugs in one day. You’re progressing,” Nico was tempted to yell ‘shut up Grace’ but decided against it. He broke the hug with Jason after he was able to keep his breathing under control, suddenly he was suffocated by a hug from Piper and Hazel
“Can’t. Breathe.” Nico muttered quietly and the girls let go,
“Thank you for telling us,” Piper said “I’ll look into Will for you.” She grinned walking off giving the siblings some privacy,
“I proud of you for telling us.” Hazel said hiding a grin,
“You don't hate me? You already knew didn’t you?” Nico asks,
“Well I had some suspicions.” Hazel said smiling,
“How? I didn’t talk to anyone?” Nico says failing to suppress his laughter,
“Younger sister magic. Also Nico why would I hate you?"
"Bianca..."
"Nico, you're my brother, I couldn't hate you. I can't imagine what you've gone through but I'll always be here for you."
"Thank you Hazel, I love you."
"Love you to bro." Hazel smiled and kissed Nico on the cheek, by then Jason was talking to Leo.
“Nico, I’m proud of you. Hope Solace likes you back, maybe impress him with Jules-Albert. If anyone hurts you because of it then I will send the Roman Legions on them. ” Reyna said, messing up his long black hair that went a couple of inches past his shoulders before leaving not giving Nico time to reply. Nico smiled, pathetic, I haven't smiled this much since I was ten year old he thought to himself.
"Di Angelo! I'm warning you about Will, his sense of humor is worse than mine and Percy's combined and do not and I mean do not ask him to sing unless you are prepared to listen to him for three hours. Also um.. good job on telling us," Leo said patting Nico on the back.
"Thanks for the advice Valdez, but I'm not sure it is possible for someone to have a worse sense of humor than you." Nico said bluntly yet still smirking,
"Good luck on Solace, Nico. Proud of you for telling us, if anyone ever gives you shit I'll turn into a poisonous snake and kill them. Everyone will think it was an accident." Frank says so seriously that Nico almost shakes, Nico has to look up to meet his eye. Frank was a foot taller than him,
"Thanks Frank, but let's try to avoid murder for now." Nico smiled, this was going much better than he expected.
"Thanks for coming with me Grace." Nico said,
"No problem Nico, I'll catch you later yeah?
***
It was almost five and Nico had embarrassingly spent the whole day thinking about Will Solace, he was stubborn and got on his nerve but he was cute in a way. Nico headed to the infirmary where Will Solace stood there waiting for him,
"Hey Nico." Wil called out brightly,
"Hello Solace." Nico said coldly, this Apollo kid could not know anything. Will did the routine of lecturing him about how he needs to eat more, his severe vitiam D deficiencies, iron deficiencies and about twenty more that could never remember.
"Okay so, I'm giving you some vitamins. Take this one with breakfast and the blue one before you sleep, also I looked through the tests you did. You have PTSD and depression, I would recommend therapy but then you would send an army of skeletons after me, pass out and potentially die and I really don't want you to die. I think we have reached a level of kind of friendship and would not like you to die right now, take one of these a day first thing in the morning with water before you eat anything." Will said walking around the room picking up three different containers and placing them on a table in front of Nico.
"Solace I'm fine. I'm not taking them." Nico spoke bluntly,
"Yes you are, doctors orders. I will be telling your sister to make sure you take them and after she leaves I'll make sure you do." Will respond firmly,
"Solace you aren't my father, I don't need you checking in on me. I won’t take them, I am fine." Nico said avoiding eye contact as the blonde boy towered over him.
"Nico di Angelo, it is my job to make sure you are healthy. I do not care whether you like it or not, you need to take the medication. I don't care if I have to shove it down your throat, I can't have you dying on me di Angelo so take the fucking pills. Please for the love of Apollo or I guess Hades just take it, I don't care how much you say you're okay, you are not. Do you know how many times I have considered putting you in the infirmary on an IV because you looked like you wouldn't last another day? Have you even eaten today Nico? It may seem shocking to you but I actually care about you, I don't want you to drop dead." Will finishes, his usual gentle voice lost replaced with a shaking yet harsh one."Shit, Nico I'm really sorry I just, I'm really concerned about you. Please just take the pills, doctors orders." Will replies in his usual gentleness.
"Okay I'll take them, I swear I'm trying to eat more it's just I forget I need to. Spending years with ghosts and then trapped in that jar I always forget I'm meant to eat." Nico whispered, he was actually trying to eat, but it just makes him feel sick.
"It's at dinner I'll sit with you and Hazel at the Hades table." said Will.
"I thought you weren't allowed to do that?" Nico wondered.
"For medical purposes, I am." Will added simply, Nico didn't argue after that. Seeing Will speaking in that harsh voice, it made him seem more real. He didn't want to admit it but after that he wanted him even more.
***
They walked to the Hades table,
"Oh hey, Will Solace right? I thought you were an Apollo kids, why are you sitting at Hades?" Hazel asked,
"Medical reasons; you're Hazel I presuming?" Will responded, after that they started talking. They got on quite well. With Will there Nico felt more pressured to eat, even then he barley finished half a plate. "It's getting better, just try to eat a bit more each day. I'll see you at campfire, yeah Nico?" Will said before walking away.
"So that's loverboy?" Hazel grinned as Nico tried to hide his blushing,
"Shut up Hazel, there's no chance he likes me." Nico responded softly, looking down. "Especially after today, I'll see you at campfire Haze." He finished before leaving.
***
"Gods Will, just tell him." Annabeth sighed,
"There's no chance he likes me back. I quite literally yelled at him today because he wasn't taking his medication."
"Will, please if Nico di Angelo was going to get scared by yelling he would not have survived Tartarus."
"I know but what if he's straight?" What if he was homophobic.....he was from the 30s...Nico probably didn't know he was bi since he was never at camp constantly. Will didn't say anything to Annabeth but the thought was in the back of his mind. Annabeth thought quickly, she didn't want to out Nico but also he didn't want Will to think he had no chance, he'd been pining over Nico for so long it was kind of hopeless.
"You won't know until you talk to him Will."
"I swear he hates me, he won't even say we're friends."
"Will, Nico does not hate you. If he did he would have made that very clear."
"But-"
"I promise he doesn't hate you Will, trust me."
"Okay Annabeth I trust you, but I still think there is no chance Nico di Angelo, the living embodiment of darkness will ever fall for the son of Appollo." With that Will walked off to the infirmary, just as Percy and Jason came running in.
"Hey Wise Girl." Percy said while kissing her,
"Hi Seaweed brain." Annabeth replied as she messed up his hair,
"I'm sorry to interrupt but I did want to tell you two something." Jason said, "Nico came out to the rest of the group today as well as Reyna. "
"Wait really? Gods I'm so proud of him." Annabeth said, she felt a strange amount of protectiveness over the son of Hades. He'd gone through so much and she was so proud of him for telling everyone.
"I'm guessing I'm still not his type? Wait there's no one I need to drown right? Because I gladly will drown anyone if required,"
"Thankfully no, but I did also offere to strike anyone with lighting if required." Jason responded as he and Percy high fived. Piper walked towards them after leaving a group of Aphrodite kids, she had a look in her eyes which Annabeth could only assume meant she was planning something.
"Guys so you know how Nico likes Will-"
"Wait what?" Annabeth said shocked.
"Nico said you and Percy already knew?" Piper said extremely confused,
"So his type is blondes? " Percy asked,
"Well um..anyways what's the chance that they get together? I need to hear your predictions, Aphrodite kid tradition except they don't know this time so I thought I would ask you guys."
"80%" Percy and Jason said in unison before Annabeth just smiled and said,
"100" and walking off.
"Anyways bye you two, I should probably go and help plan that date for Clarisse and Chris. I told Clarisse we would have it planned by campfire." She said kissing Jason and walking back to where her siblings were.
"Bro I bet I can beat you in a sword fight right now." Jason said,
"Not a chance, your on. No prep time allowed."
"Let's go then."
Percy and Jason both ran off to the forest likely going to do something extremely stupid and probably electrocute a few people but honestly no one cares as their fights were some of the most exciting things to watch.
***
Will was headed back to the infirmary until he saw a very stuck Leo laying under what looked like 3 tonnes of metal, Will could barely lift it but managed to life it up enough for Leo to get out. Thankfully he was extremely scrawny so that didn't require much lifting,
"Leo I just have one question, why were you laying under sheets of metal? Also infirmary, now. I very much doubt that you don't have a single broken bone after having something tripple your weight laying on top of you." Will asked mildly concerned yet laughing.
"Well I was carrying metal sheets to the forest on Festus so I could make a guard around everyone else when Jason and Percy fight because while it is fun to watch people also do not like getting drenched apparently. Who would have thought? But turns out duct tape was not the answer this time and a few of them fell on me." Leo explained as they walked to the infirmary.
"Duct tape has let you down, I hope you can recover from this sense of betrayal Leo."
"I don't know man I just didn't think I would ever be betrayed so deeply." They both burst out into laughter as they reach the infirmary. They walk into a room
"I'm going to take a guess and say your leg isn't broken considering you walked here but still is there any pain?" Will asked him,
"Just a bit in my arms but like that's it mate, I think I'm fine."
Will feels the bones on Leo's arm's checking for any broken bones.
"Well your definition of fine is quite different to mine considering you've broken your left wrist, and your right arm is fractured in two places." Leo cracked a smile, like he didn't feel any pain.
Will hands him some ambrosia,
"Leo, you know how you managed to make an immortal girl to like you? Specifically one that hated you?"
"If you want romantic advice you have come to the wrong person, I'll try to help but like I have no clue how I got Calypso. I think she liked me more when I stopped talking to her and I don't think that normally has the same effect on most people. "
"You're the only person I know who has managed to make someone go from hating you to loving you so I'm gonna take my chances."
"Sure mate I'll try," Leo laughed as he pulled something out of his pocket and started mindlessly fiddling.
"Well, I need to make Nico di Angelo stop hating me."
"You're gay? Was I meant to know this information pre-hand because you are acting like you have told me this before." Leo asked, looking slightly confused.
"I'm bi, it was probably before you came to camp when I came out, but basically the whole camp knows." Will said, for better or worse he thought but didn't tell Leo that.
"Yeah probably, now I'm giving you a heads up before you continue. If Nico hated you, you would be dead by now so you already have that section cleared." Leo said grinning.
"Well how exactly do I change from kind of not hating to hopelessly in love with me?"
"Mate I'm barley passed the I will kill you on the spot stage, but I guess show him you care. Jason said that's what he did and I think it worked out pretty well for him."
“Thanks mate, if you want you can leave the infirmary but no life risking events or anything that requires your hands for 24 hours.”
“I’ll try but no promises mate," Leo said laughing as he walked out."I'll catch you at campfire, yeah?"
"I'll see you there Valdez." Will nodded as Leo walked out the door likely getting himself severely injured, Will knew that he would probably get himself hurt again, Leo was like a magnetic for injuries.
***
The Ghost King finally stands up and splashes his face with some cold water as he started to clean up, no one needed to know. He would be fine, it'll go away soon enough. Every single time he had eaten since being in that jar he had thrown up, his eating had never been very stable but ever since the jar it had gotten a lot worse. When he was on the Argo II he had mostly gotten away with not eating but now with Will Solace watching over him like a hawk he would actually have to eat, Nico hoped he wouldn't realise but he probably would soon enough. Still there was no reason for him to find out any earlier than that, maybe if he got lucky it would fix itself and no one would know but Nico had learnt to not test his luck as it could always get worse. He had left the table as soon as he could and hoped that Hazel wouldn't come back to the cabin too soon.
***
"Good match Jace," Percy sighed, struggling to catch his breath after their fight. They did this a lot to fill in boring parts of the day, or to put on a show. It was also a great way to get your mind off of the last few years when you are nearly killing your friends for fun, the healers had given them many lectures about electrocuting and drowning each other many times but hey they weren't dead yet so they must be doing something right.
"Back at you bro." Jason said putting his shirt back on, "Percy I just realised. We don't have a ship name for Will and Nico, wait Will is bi right? I think I overheard someone talking about it before we went to New Rome."
"Yeah, Annabeth told me that he came out to the whole camp a few days before you, Leo and Pipes came. Now ship names....Wilco?
"Bro that's a terrible ship name, come on we can do better mate."
They both thought for a solid 10 minutes until Jason faceplamed and said,
"Bro, Solangelo, it's so simple yet so perfect."
"Did it really just take us that long to think of that?"
"We've lost our touch bro."
The two boys were laughing as they walked back out of the forest to join the rest of the camp for campfire.
***
Nico had regrettably made the decision to show up at campfire, later making the even worse one to sit with Percy Jackson. He didn't realise how bad of an idea this was until he heard Percy sing, it sounded kind of like a dying bird. Sadly Nico had a lot of experience with dying animals and thought that it almost sounded worse. The hour was going by, then Will started to sing again. Nico didn't know the song, he just watched Will. The light from the hearth made his blonde hair almost glow, his blue eyes were so bright they reminded him of the ocean. His voice was spinning though the cold wind, Nico couldn't control himself, he stared at the Apollo boy until he finished singing. He was there laughing with the rest of his cabin, Nico looked away before Will found out he was looking.
***
"Bye sis, I'll miss you." Nico said pulling Hazel into a hug,
"I'll miss you to, you'll visit New Rome yeah? Frank, Reyna and I'll miss you."
"Course Haze," Nico said kissing his sister on the forehead and pulling her into a hug. A single tear fell from her eyes as she got on the bus, heading back to New Rome.
"Bye di Angelo, it was nice getting to know you. I hope you visit soon, and good luck with the healer." Reyna said pulling him into a hug, Nico had blushed at the last part.
"Send an Iris message when you get there yeah? I'll miss you Reyna." The Ghost king said holding back tears, over their journey he and Reyna had become close. Nico walked over to where Frank was standing, "Good luck on your new role as Preator Frank. Take care of Hazel while you're at New Rome, if I hear one word that you're hurting her in any way I will make you wish you were dead." He said looking up at the boy,
"Don't worry Nico, I'll take care of her. I'll see you next time yeah." He said before getting on the bus, the sky was dark, covered in stars.
***
Nico woke up shaking, his screams muffled in his pillow. Nightmares, Nico stuck in the Jar, Tartrus, Bianca dying, Hazel hurt, the battle of Manhattan, the last time he talked to Bianca. Everything was so realistic, he couldn't control the tears. Nico checked the clock, 12:07 shit he thought to himself as he took the small pill the blonde boy had given him. He could barely swallow it, he hadn't stopped shaking. The nightmares hadn't been as bad with Hazel there but alone they were so vivid and realistic, he couldn't get the images out of his head. He opened up his bedside table and pulled out a pocket knife, another thing on the list that no one could know. He wanted to die, he was cursed, everything good in his life was overrun by fear and sadness. By the end of the night his is arms were covered in shallow cuts, they would heal soon enough and he knew they wouldn't scar, no one has to know. Nico barely slept the rest of the night, the less sleep he got the less time for nightmares.
---
Nico woke up to a loud knock on the door, he had slept in his jeans and camp shirt so he just put on his jacket and ran his fingers through his hair before opening the door. Standing there, with far to much energy for someone to have in the morning: Will Solace.
"What in the Hades are you doing here Solace?" Nico asked rubbing his eyes before spotting the sun towards the east, well it wasn't past 12, truly a miracle. "And what time is it?"
"It's 9:30 and I am here to make sure you take your meds, it's protocol to make sure it's been taken."
Nico rolled his eyes as he grabbed the container that was next to his bed as well as a glass of water that he had left there, as he swallowed he said.
"Happy now Solace?"
"I told you it's protocol, normally we get someone else from the cabin to check but Hazel went to New Rome."
"Aren't you head? Doesn't that mean you made the protocol?" Will put his finger to his lip before responding with,
"Bye Nico, I'll wait for you at the Hades table for breakfast. Oh and watch out for Piper, she is insistent on taking you shopping and Chiron already agreed to letting her take you." He said as he walked out the door. Nico sighed, well there was no chance he was getting out of something if Piper wanted him to do it. He needed a new jacket anyways.
***
Will had annoyingly made sure Nico got food, he picked up a single slice of toast and was forcing himself to eat.
"Neeks don't forget to take the other one as well."
"Don't call me Neeks." He said grumbling as he put the pill in his mouth and swallowed.
"It's a cute nickname."
"Would you like an army of skeletons chasing you? Is that cute enough?"
"No underworldly stuff Neeks, or else-"
"You're kidnapping me and locking me in the infirmary again."
"Exactly." Will smiled resisting the urge to ruffle the Ghost Kings long hair. Then Piper ran up to them,
"Nico I'm taking you shopping today. You can't stop me, I've already asked Chiron and he agrees you need more social interaction." Nico gave her dagger eyes, the Apollo kid had already left to go to the infirmary seemly please with Nico's eating. "Also you need a haircut-"
"Not a chance McLean, I do not trust those people."
"Nico it'll be fine, unless you would rather me cut it."
"No chance."
"One or the other, come on di Angelo. Son of Hades scared of a haircut?"
"Oh fuck you McLean."
"You aren't denying it...."Piper grinned as Nico thought about his options, he knew he wasn't getting away, Piper would probably charmspeak him into getting it cut anyways so there's no point resisting.
"I hate you so much McLean, either way I trust you more." Nico sighed, Piper's face lit up.
"You're the best Nico, trust me I know what I'm doing. Oh you're still not getting out of shopping by the way, you need to own something that isn't black."
"I don't think I do,"
"You act like you're allergic to colour I swear, hey you might even enjoy it."
"Impossible."
"We can go to McDonalds? I remember Percy saying something about you loving that place."
Nico considered the offer, it had been two year's since he had gone to McDonalds. He was almost certain Piper had charmspoke him considering after that offer he agreed.
"Great, I'll meet you at thirteen in an hour." Piper said before walking off to celebrate her success with Jason. Then he reaslied what he agreed to, Piper would probably find out about his eating thing. Fuck. At that point though there was no going back, 'well let's hope that Piper McLean can keep a secret.' he thought before walking to the Hades cabin and throwing up everything he had eaten. He still thought it was a miracle no one had found out, he always made sure to be in his cabin before it happened. People worry about him enough already, he didn't need them worrying even more, he would be fine, it would fix itself.
***
Nico heard a knock and went to open the door, Piper looked back at him with a smile.
"Hey McLean, please do not make me regret this."
"Trust me you won't Nico, and you do realise that people have first names right?" Piper smiled as she walked inside; Nico rolled his eyes at the comment and closed the door. As they walked inside the bathroom the Aphrodite girl pulled out some scissors, a comb and a spray bottle filled with water. "Okay so since your hair is straight so it'll be easier to cut while it's wet, I'll cut it to around your shoulders and add some layers, any objections?"
"You forced me into this, I'm hoping you know what you're doing."
"You have so much confidence in me, why are you so against getting your hair cut anyway? I'm genuinely curious."
"Reason."
"Great explanation." Piper muttered as she started brushing Nico's hair, it was soft and wasn't that thick but not thin either.
"Last time I got it cut was like two years ago, I asked for it to but cut around my shoulders and this bitch cut it shorter than Jason's saying it 'Wasn't right' so now I refuse to have it shorter than my collar to spite her."
"I'm surprised you didn't kill her, I probably would have." Piper laughed as she continued brushing,
"Well social anxiety is a real bitch." Nico smiled as he said it. The daughter of Aphrodite started to spray his hair with water and cutting carefully half an inch above his shoulder and adding layers into it. Nico stood perfectly still the whole time, neither talked until Piper had finished.
"So di Angelo, thoughts?" Piper asked,
"You're surprising good at this McLean." Nico smiled, a often a rare occurrence for the child of. Hades yet it had become more common in the last few days.
"Don't be so shocked Nico, my mother is Aphrodite, Goddess of beauty." Piper said as she handed him some hair ties, "You'll need these, I have no clue how you've survived so long with your hair out but you don't have to suffer any longer. Also Will would love it." Piper winked, Nico rolled his eyes.
"Oh leave me be McLean, but thanks for the hair ties." he said as he put them around his wrist. The two cleaned up, Piper started collecting her things and glaced at her watch.
"I'll go get ready, meet you back here in twenty minutes." She said running out of the door, giving Nico just enough time to overthink. Piper had actually done a good job at cutting it, he ran his fingers through it, pulling some part from the sides in front of his face. It was shorter than he was used to but it probably looked more decent, the longer hair had started getting on his nerve either way and he mentally noted to thank Piper for cutting it. He wondered what the Apollo boy would think; he took one of the hair ties off his wrist and tied his hair back, trying to stop thinking about it, before getting ready to be dragged out by Piper. He wore the first pair of black jeans he saw with a black T-shirt and his aviator jacket, he suspected the colour may be making less of an appearance in his closest after Piper was done.
***
The two stepped into a mall in New York that Nico could not bother to remember the name of, Piper grabbed his hand dragging him through the mall. Nico constantly reminded himself that human contact would not kill him and that it was probably a good thing Piper was dragging him along considering he had no idea where he was going.
"I still don't understand why I couldn't just shadow travel us here."
"Will threatend to kill me and Chiron if we let you shadow travel."
"Of course it was Solace, I would expect nothing less from him." The son of Hades said, rolling his eyes. The two demigods walked through the stores both trying on different clothes and Piper this time failing to convince Nico to get anything that wasn't black. All while Piper teased him about a certain son of Apollo,
"Be realistic Piper, he's probably straight anyways."
"No he's not actually, he's bi. Leo was going to tell you but he couldn't find you, apparently the rest of Camp knows." Nico's face lit up for a second before looking back down.
"There's still no chance. He is literally the embodiment of sunshine, I am the child of Hades, God of the fucking Underworld. There is no sunlight there."
"Nico he clearly cares about you."
"It's his job."
"But he checks in on you so much more than anyone else."
"Because he doesn't trust me to stay alive."
"If he didn't trust you to be alive he would have kept you in the infirmary."
"There's still no chance he likes me."
"You're the only one who thinks that Nico, he gave you a nickname for Aphrodite's sake. He doesn't do that with anyone else who is 'just a patient'"
"He did that to get on my nerve."
"Gods you're so dense, wanna go to McDonald's now?"
"Oh, sure." Nico said trying to hide the shake in his voice.
"Oh and di Angelo, Will threatened to kill me if I didn't make you eat a full meal so yeah."
"Of course he did."
***
They finished ordering, Piper had only gotten some fries and a drink because apparently the vegetarian options 'were so bad they tasted like grass'. Nico just nodded, not pointing out the fact that not ten minutes ago she was threatening him to eat a full meal today because Will would kill her if he didn't and here she was barely eating herself.
"Number 57!" Nico walked up and grabbed the tray, he breathed in deeply. He'll be okay, if he acted calm then he could play it off. He would just walk off for a bit, Piper didn't have to know. The two started to eat, it still tasted as good as Nico remember but he could barely get anything down his throat. He already felt sick but he knew he could withstand at least another five minutes without throwing up, he tried to keep conversation to a minimum putting all his energy into seeming fine. After another few minutes passed, then Nico muttered,
"Bathroom." Before walking away, he tried to keep his pace normal but already knew he was walking away too fast and Piper would know something was up. He quickly walked inside and was extremely thankful the bathroom was empty, he went into the stall furthest away from the door. He threw up everything he had eaten like countless other times, at that point he was just hoping no one would walk in. He cleaned himself up a bit and headed back towards Piper,
"Okay tell me. What happened?"
"What?"
"I know something happened, you're biting your nails and you looked sick before. Also you practically ran and you look nervous."
"Nothing happened."
"Nico don't lie, I know something happened. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Piper desperately wanted to know what had happened to the Hades boy but she knew when to stop pushing, she didn't want to charmspeak it out of him, that's purely invasive. He'll tell when he's ready.
"Come on, I want to do something I'll regret in a week."
"Which is...?"
"I'm getting my ears pierced."
"Oh my Gods, yes. That is an amazing idea; if they say you look too young to do it without parents concent, I'll charmspeak them."
"Thanks McLean, didn't particularly like the plan of asking the God of the Underworld to come to a mall in New York." Nico was relieved Piper had either forgotten to continue interrogating him or was leaving the topic for now, he had been meaning to do this at some point either way and this seemed like a good occasion.
***
Piper had to do some charmspeaking, but finally Nico had gotten them done. He decided to get doubles since he was going to regret it anyway might as well go all out, he hadn't even flinched when it happened. After that they went to a few more stores and Piper finally convinced him to get something that wasn't black, instead a very dark blue.
"I would ask if you are actually allergic to bright colours except I've seen you in a bright red shirt so that clearly isn't the case."
"I just like black, is there a problem?"
"It makes you look like the Grim Reaper."
"I was hoping for that."
"You're hopeless di Angelo."
"Finally you're giving up, took you long enough."
"Nope, simply stating facts. If I can bring a metal dragon to life I can make you look less like a ghost without the use of charmspeaking." Turns out however that she could not, maybe some tasks really were impossible.
"I'll shadow travel us back, it's not that far."
"Nico, I would get killed by your loverboy if you did that. We'll just take the-"
"That is probably more dangerous if we're being perfectly honest, also shut up."
"Never. By the way not that many people died, it was-" but the daughter of Aphrodite didn't have time to finish. A wooden club hit her over the head, Nico cursed under his breath and pulled out the only weapon he had, a small pocket knife, he knew he couldn't do much against a fully grown cyclopes. He didn't know where it had come from but that wasn't important, the monster had probably found them because of his blood, children of the big three were the easiest to be tracked by monsters. He had skeletons but there is no way he could stab it with the celestial bronze blade, Piper had passed out and was bleeding on the floor. Meanwhile Nico was struggling to not get hit by the 15 foot cyclopes, he didn't know what everyone else had seen but they didn't pay much attention. He raised a few skeletons to try and keep it in place, he felt himself getting weaker. He knew he shouldn't be doing these things but he was fine for those years he was alone, he would survive now. Piper had lost a lot of blood, he didn't know how well this would go, he had some squares of ambrosia but couldn't get it to her without dying. There was nothing else he could do, he grabbed her wrist and shadow traveled back to camp, but still got hit with the club before he was gone. His head hurt and he tasted blood in his mouth, he collapsed as he showed up somewhere in front of cabin 13.
---
"Nico, God's you scared us."
"What? Am I in the infirimry? Is Piper okay?" He said barely able to speak, coughing after each word.
"Piper woke up in an hour, you've been out for three days Death boy."
"Don't call me that, wait WHAT? I've been out for three days?"
"Try to breathe, I'll get you some water and then I'll explain." The blonde boy walked of and Nico tried to comprehend what had just happened, he'd passed out for three days. Shit, what had happened with the cyclops. Solace had returned with a glass of water and handed it to Nico after he had sat up, "Jason's been worried sick about you, I finally forced him outside today to get some food. You had a concussion and you were practically dead, I forced as much necter down your throat as I could without killing you."
"I didn't kill the cyclops, what happened after?" Nico coughed as he spoke, Will ruffled his hair.
"Neeks it was handled, but right now that isn't important. Three days rest in the infirmary, no underworldy things for 11 weeks 6 for this time, 5 for last time. I'll go and get you some food it'll probably help. Also I'll get Jason, he's hasn't slept for the past three days and would kill me if I didn't tell him instantly." Nico wanted to protest but he physically couldn't, he just nodded as the golden boy walked off. He wondered how longs Jason had been waiting and instantly felt guilty, he also desperately wanted to see Piper to make sure she was okay but right now he could barely breath. Jason ran into the room wrapping his arms around Nico,
"I was so fucking scared di Angelo, I thought you were dead."
"S-sorry.." Nico muttered,
"What are you apologising for?"
"Will told me you haven't slept for three days."
"Well yeah, I was worried about you, not exactly your fault you got attacked. Nico you don't know how bad it looked, you we're laying on the floor covered in blood with Piper on top of you. When we first took you to the infirmary sometimes you would go through solid objects like you were turning into a shadow, you had a broken arm and were barely breathing. Fucking hell Nico I'm so happy you're alive."
"Is Piper okay?"
"Yeah she's fine, just gave her a bit of ambrosia and she woke up. She's been beating herself up over not noticing the cylopese before though."
"That's what she's worried-" Nico started coughing violently before he managed to drink some water, before wincing at the pain in his ribs.
"Nico! Are you okay?" A mixture of fear and panic washed over Jason's face,
"Fine. Go back to dinner, you look like you haven't eaten in far to long."
"Irony," Jason smirked before walking out the door.
***
The Apollo boy walked in carrying two plates of food, placing one on an empty table and handing the other one to Nico.
"Neeks you okay?"
"Hurts...to...breathe." The blonde boy quickly walked up to Nico lifting his shirt and touching his torso feeling his ribs, the son of Hades flinched at the contact.
"Sorry," Will said, yet still keeping his hands on the small boy.
"Still getting used to human contact." Nico mumbled, the Apollo boys hand was warm on his skin.
"Shit, Neeks. It's broken, I should have checked but I completely forgot with the whole passing through solid objects and hoping you would wake up. I'm really sorry." He pushed on the bones a bit, it hurt but Nico showed no reaction. Then he started softly singing a hymn, Nico felt warmth rushing over his body. He exhaled softly as the blonde boy that he just realised had been faintly glowing faded, he lifted his hands off leaving Nico's skin warm. "That should have fixed it," Will said as his bright blue eyes locked with Nico's. "You okay Neeks?"
"Yeah, fine." Nico muttered realising he had just frozen, he quickly grabbed his shirt and pulling it down before starting to process the fact that Will Solace can heal when he sings and glows.
"You seem surprised," Will noted, he was as well, his healing had been less reliable after the Gods disappeared for months.
"YOU HEAL PEOPLE SINGING? FUCKING SINGING OF ALL THINGS?!?" Nico said in pure shock,
"Apollo's the God of music, healing and the Sun..?"
"But just imagine if you get stabbed and someone just starts singing."
"It makes more sense on paper okay!" Will says raising his hands in surrender, "Nico you should probably eat something, you've been on an IV for three days." Nico glanced over realising the needle was in his arm.
"I'm not hungry." Nico muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Wil to hear.
"Neeks you haven't eaten in three days, just try to eat something. It'll make you feel better, you'll need it." Nico knew that he wouldn't be able to keep anything down, but maybe if he acted right he could play it off as a one time thing, he just felt bad this time thing. Will started eating an apple,
"What happened to an apple a day keeps the doctor away?" Nico smirked, before forcing himself to take a bite of a sandwich and instantly regretted it. Will just smiled and rolled his eyes at the comment; Nico kept forcing himself to eat, no matter how sick he felt. He was hoping that Will would leave soon but doubted he would be that lucky, the Apollo kid seemed insistent on keeping him company. Will looked over to the small boy realising how sick he looked,
"Neeks you alright?" Nico just shook his head, Will quickly handed him the closest bin and held back Nico's hair as he threw up the sandwhich he had just forced himself to eat.
"Cazzo." He muttered under his breath, normally he could force himself to last a bit longer but after the last three days he couldn't handle it. Will gave him a glass of water before sitting down on the bed next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. After a few minutes he ran his fingers through Nico's hair, taking out every tangel.
"Di Angelo, you should probably get some rest, it should help you feel better. Tomorrow morning see if you can eat anything, we'll keep you on the IV for now." Nico just nodded already half asleep leaning against the blonde boy. Will lifted up the sleeping boy with ease, laying him on the bed. He was too light, he weighed 90 pounds at the very most which was dangerously underweight. Will made a mental note to talk to him more about that; he looked at the small boy laying there. He seemed so peaceful, he had gone through so much, this was the first time Will had seen him relaxed, even in his sleep. Last time he'd been in the infirmary he had slept for most of it but he always seemed ready to attack or run, Will couldn't help but smile at him. He flicked off the lights and checked his watch, 8:42, that meant he would have some time to talk to Annabeth before campfire.
***
"How's he doing?"
"He woke up today, turns out he had a broken rib and I didn't fucking realise."
"Will, he almost died. You were panicking, you helped him in the end, don't beat yourself up."
"It's a fucking broken rib not a paper cut."
"I know and normally I would be scolding you over it but this is a different situation, anyway any progress?"
"Well I mean he didn't threaten to kill me when I touched him and he talked to me so that's something I think...?"
"See he doesn't hate you!" She says punching him in the shoulder lightly,
"He's so fucking hot, how the Hades is someone allowed to be that hot?"
"Damn Solace, you're more obsessed than I thought."
"No shit. Also how do I get past the 'I won't kill you but I don't like you very much' stage?
"Try to talk to him, make him play 20 questions with you? Then he can interrogate you while you interrogate him, but also have few skips. He's gone through a lot, you don't want to force him to answer if he doesn't feel comfortable."
"Thanks for the advice Anni-Annabeth." He catches himself before using the nickname, he knows it's the one Luke always used.
"No problem Will, I wish you the best of luck in not getting killed."
"Hopefully I won't need it." he sighed with a smile before walking off to join his siblings. Annabeth smiled to herself, this would be entertaining. It was honestly painful to watch them pining over each other like this much while being so clueless about the other, it took all of her willpower to not lock them in a room together until they kissed.
---
"Morning Death boy." Will smiled as Nico got up,
"So creative, how long did it take for you to think of that?"
"Would you prefer Neeks? Or Doom and Gloom?"
"You are a child, Sunshine."
"Wow Nico di Angelo has discovered nicknames; anyways how do you feel?" It still surprised Nico how quickly Will could go from joking around to very much serious,
"I'm fine."
"Do you think you can eat anything?" Nico shook his head, as Will checked his pulse and breathing before taking out the IV needle. "Neeks I'm gonna take a blood sample, we need to see if the underworldly things have any other effects." Nico nodded but Will noticed the uncomfort on his face, he decided not to point it out but made a mental note. Nico didn't flinch at the needle but he looked like he was re-living something, Will didn't ask but wished he knew. "You feel alright to get up?"
"Yeah,"
"Great we're going outside, you need sunlight."Nico muttered something under his breath not loud enough for Will to hear.
"Aren't I on infirmary arrest?"
"Technically no, but it's either stay in the infirmary or have a healer with you at all times right now."
"Amazing," Nico grumbled following Will outside towards the edge of the forest.
***
"So Solace what exactly are we doing?"
"Down to play twenty questions?" Nico considered the offer and smirked,
"Sure." The two sat down next to each other on a log.
"Two skips each, but they get replaced with other questions."
"What's something that isn't a secret but most people don't know about you?" He was ridiculously bored and thought he could use this game to his advantage.
"I'm not actually blonde."
"Explain. Now."
"I was brunette but when I got claimed any part of my hair that was in the sun turned blonde." He pulled out a piece of his hair that wasn't normally visible, it was a light chesnut brown colour.
"Well that's shocking, you know when I asked that question that was not an answer I was expecting."
"I'm a mysterious person di Angelo, now, do you have any exes?"
"Solace I spend most of my time avoiding people."
"In hindsight that was a pretty dumb question."
"Too late, if you had to kill all the people in one cabin which one would it be?"
"Demeter. That was a bit of a violent question." He tried to play it off but his answer had been so quick and confident Nico started to wonder what had happened. "Have you ever drunk?"
"More than you would expect."
"Neeks! You're fourteen, have you ever wondered why there are age restrictions?" Nico just smirked,
"You asked Sun boy, anyways technically I'm older than that. What's the worst crime you have ever committed?"
"Love how you just assume I've committed crimes, but assult. The only reason it wasn't murder is Annabeth pulling me off."
"The fuck Solace, are you going to explain that?"
"I'd rather not, let's just say I was pretty...pissed that day."
"Well that's terrifying."
"I told you I have secrets di Angelo, who's someone you used to care about but now hate?"
"Skip."
"Is it true you liked Annabeth?"
"Really Solace? No it is not, otherwise Percy would have already murdered me."
"Had to ask, the Aphrodite cabin was trying to figure that out for two years."
"Truly incredible, can you fight with a sword?"
"Not in the slightest."
"I'm teaching you, archery will be useless in close combat. You will die in a matter of seconds ."
"You have so much confidence in me Neeks, but thanks for the offer."
"Wasn't an offer, more so a kidnapping where I teach you by force how to fight."
"Okay then...do you prefer the 1930s or now?"
"Now, better arcades."
"Great reasoning."
"What's your worst fear?"
"Pass, I would never hear the end of it."
"Can't be that bad."
"You would never shut up about it Neeks, I can guess that much." Nico locked eyes with the blonde boy, he considered the question he was about to ask.
"Do you regret coming out to all of camp?" So he did know, Will thought to himself. He didn't answer instantly but he didn't want to pass it either.
"Well, um.."
"You have skips, you don't have to answer Will." That was the first time Nico had used his actual name, Will desperately wanted to kiss him.
"I want to answer it just, thinking. I'm happy they know and I don't have to hide it but...some people aren't the nicest. Cabin four has the most for whatever reason, they seem to get joy out of making me feel like shit. Most people are nice enough, with the rest, well you get used to it." Nico grabbed his hand,
"Who. Has. Been. Giving. You. Shit? Give me a list, I will make sure they'll never do anything again."
"Neeks it's fine, I don't need you threatening them."
"I'll be doing a lot more than threats Solace, give me a list of every single person who has hurt you."
"Nico it's okay."
"Did I ask? You're a ball of sunshine, no one and I mean no one has any reason to hurt you."
"They do, there's so many people I couldn't save, I killed them. I deserve to suffer because of that, they deserve revenge on me for killing their friends." Will had tears forming in his eyes.
"Will it's not your fault they died, and either way you shouldn't have to go through this."
"Nico, are you straight?" He froze for a second, he had still been holding Will's hand but he didn't want to let go. He was warm, his thumb was stroking his hand warming up the usually freezing Ghost king. After Will had told him so much he couldn't lie, he always had a skip but part of him wanted Will to know.
"..n..no...I'm gay. Not that many people know, the seven and Reyna that's it. Please don't tell anyone." Nico shakes a bit and a few tears fell, he didn’t want to cry in front of him but he couldn’t help it. Will wrapped his free arm around Nico and pulled him closer to himself,
"Thank you for telling me, I know it's hard Neeks."
"How did you tell so many people?"
"Didn't like people assuming things, also I just...didn't want to hide I guess. Still though, I've been too scared to tell my mum, barely seen her since I'm here all year but even if I had the chance to I probably wouldn't tell her. As for the actual time well it was a while after Percy was missing, before Jason, Piper and Leo showed up, campfire, just kinda said if at the end."
"Did anyone know before that?"
"I told Annabeth first but Kayla and Austin found out by themselves pretty quickly. Who was your first crush?"
"Do not hold this against me, it was Percy." Will started grinning,
"Same, half the camp has liked him at this point I swear."
"Half of camp is pathetic."
"You're including yourself in that statement you know."
"I am fully aware, honestly I should have given up on him when I saw him talking to Annabeth the first time."
"Didn't they hate each other for a few years?"
"Hate is a strong word, I prefer to use hopelessly in love and oblivious."
"Lovely wording; I gave up when my brain started working and I realised he is straight."
"You think Percy is straight? Have you talked to him before?"
"Percy isn't straight?!"
"With the way he talked about Luke? Not a chance, and that was after he betrayed him. I can only imagine him pining over him at the age of twelve, completely oblivious, then also being hopelessly in love with Annabeth and being a helpless simp once more."
"So you are telling me Percy Jackson liked Luke Castellan, aka. the person who tried to kill him multiple times?"
"When he was twelve definitely, at least in the way he talked about what he was like before when I met him. Don't know if he realised it then, but he is not straight. You haven't seen him and Jason talk, if I didn't know how much he loved Annabeth, going to Taturus with her I would have been sure they're secretly dating."
"The more you know I guess. What's something you can do that no one knows about?"
"I can braid hair, I mean Hazel knows that but still."
"Emo Death boy can braid hair."
"Firstly, I'm not emo."
"Keep thinking that Neeks."
"Secondly, this is why I don't tell people this."
"Honestly the fact you can braid hair is adorable, also it proves that you are no where near as scary as you think."
"I could kill you right now."
"You sure about that di Angelo? Right now you can't do much without melting into a puddle of darkness, you're just a nerd that's pretending to be dark and mysterious."
"Oh shut up Solace."
"Never."
"Have you been on a quest?"
"Nope, I just try to prevent deaths after them."
"How many languages can you speak?"
"Wait give me a second, Itallian, Greek moderen and ancient, Latin, English, French, Spanish, Swedish, Portuguese, Polish, Finnish, German and Dutch. So that's twelve and a half I'm fluet in and I'm trying to teach myself Russian and Japanese." He said counting them off on his fingers
"Gods Nico, what exactly do you do with your free time?"
"Well first four are pretty obvious but Bianca taught me French and Swedish and the rest I've taught myself, writing's hell with dyslexia but I've survived. It's a pretty useful skill when you randomly show up in different countries."
"I can barely speak English properly half the time!"
"That sounds like a problem on your side Sunshine." He said messing up the blonde boys hair, Will desperately tried to hide his blushing. "Have you ever passed out because you healed too many people?"
"Yeah, happens quite a bit." Nico slapped him, not that hard but hard enough for it to hurt. "Hey what was that for?"
"You can't be overworking yourself like that Solace, you're a doctor for Zeus's sake. What help is it going to be if you pass out while healing someone?"
"It's the most effective way, plus I get more people healed."
"So let me get this straight, you risk your own health while telling people not to?"
"Okay when you put it that way-"
"Yeah it sounds bad! Please do not do that, can't have you dying on me Solace"
"I thought you were plotting to kill me anyways?"
"Exactly, can't have you dying before I kill you myself."
"Sure di Angelo, have you ever killed anyone?"
"Pass." He had become friendly with Will, he didn't need anyone else leaving him.
"Cats or dogs?"
"Do hellhounds count? I have a pet hellhound called Mrs O'Leary."
"Was that a gift from Hades?"
"Nope, from Percy."
"Wait what? I'm just going to accept that at this point."
"Good idea, I wasn't planning to explain."
"Course you weren't," Will checked his watch. "Come on Neeks, it's time for lunch, we got through ten questions each, same time tomorrow?"
"I don't have a choice do I?"
"Nope; head to the infirmary I'll get you some food."
"I'm not hungry."
"You haven't eaten for a few days, just try to eat a few bites."
"Fine.." Nico muttered before walking off to the infirmary.
***
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I really hope this helps peeps :)
