Chapter Text
Nico walked back across the green to Will after talking to Percy and Annabeth. He had finally cleared the air between Percy and himself. It felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders, like he was free from a crushing, unattainable love at last.
Will was giving Nico his signature sunny smile. His blonde hair shined in the sun and made Nico think of when he found Will and his friends trying to spy on the Roman camp. Of course, Will’s locks had stuck out like a sore thumb then. Now, they matched his sky blue eyes, tan and freckles.
Nico remembered his promised three days in the infirmary and started dreading swearing on the River Styx that he would come back. People didn’t like the son of Hades. They were scared or disgusted by him. Who would even want him, the son of death, in an infirmary full of sick people?
He finally reached Will and was brought out of his thoughts.
“Okay, Death Boy, let's get you checked into the infirmary!”
“Don’t call me Death Boy,” Nico responded automatically.
The two arrived at the infirmary after a walk full of easy bickering and light-hearted arguing. As soon as Nico walked in, heads looked up at him from dozens of cots with some curtains separating them. Out of the corner of his eye, Nico noticed a few open doors leading into other rooms. These rooms had desks, extra supplies and piles of paperwork. He immediately felt out of place. Everyone else deserved to be here, to get help, he was a murderer, not a hero.
Will continued walking while Nico was frozen in place. The older boy looked back from where he was standing. “Come on, Neeks, I need to heal you,” Will said. Nico continued on and the doctors and patients went back to what they were doing before.
Will found an empty bed in lots of sunlight and helped Nico settle in. “Let’s check out your injuries!” He managed to say this happily.
Nico decided that if he was going to be staying here for three days, he might as well get this part over with.
“I have some scratches on my arm,” he reluctantly informed Will, and proceeded to take off his aviator jacket to make the wounds more easier to treat. Will took one look and immediately started to chastise the Italian.
“Scratches! You call these scratches, di Angelo? These are lacerations! Where did you even get these and who did this horrible stitching? And that’s doctor’s orders, Death Boy!” Will glared at Nico when he rolled his eyes at the half-shouting son of Apollo.
After considering lying to Will, the patient decided on answering truthfully. What was the harm in that, anyway? “I was in a battle with Lycaon, but it’s just the cuts, he didn’t bite me, obviously. We were in a rush to get here, so Reyna did the stitches quickly.” The older boy’s eyes widened. Nico thought he was going to ask how he got into the fight, but Will already seemed to know that he was not very open to talking about himself. “You got these before the war and you shadow-travelled with the Athena Parthenos, too? You never came to me. It looks pretty bad, it’s infected.”
“Sorry?”
“It’s nothing I can’t fix,” the doctor announced.
Will started cleaning and fixing up the werewolf lacerations and the rest of Nico’s many other injuries, the son of Hades took this as the end of the conversation. He finished his work not too long after.
“I’m going to bring you food, then I’ll check out some other patients. But don’t think you can get away with having more conversations with me just because I’m busy, okay?”
Soon enough, Will comes back with what Nico thought is enough food to feed the both of them. Did he really expect him to eat all of this? Nico understood that he was skinny and malnourished from his time in Tartarus and the jar. He tried to eat more when he was with the Seven and when he travelled with Reyna and Coach Hedge, but they had had little supplies and even less time to prepare something that good. Just looking at the huge meal made him nauseous and Nico already knew he wouldn’t be able to eat it.
Nico was interrupted from his thoughts when Will put down the plate beside the younger boy. “Eat. You’re too skinny, it’s not healthy,” the blonde instructed him.
“Will,” the younger boy started, “I can’t eat this.”
“Just try,” Will asked nicely. Nico sighed and picked up his fork. Before the healer moved on to his other patients, he looked back and checked that Nico was eating three times. He poked and shoved the food around on the plate a bit. The Italian ate less than a dozen bites, then moved the unfinished meal away.
When Will returned, he asked whether Nico was done or not before taking away the dish. After what Nico assumed was Will disposing of his food, he said, “If you're not going to eat, then please get some sleep, you look like you’re about ready to pass out.”
As soon as he said that, Nico realized how tired he actually was. The past few nights he hadn’t had much rest because of nightmares. “Okay.”
Nico laid down and started to get comfortable.
“Goodnight, Neeks,” Will said, but the younger boy was already asleep.
Nico woke up to the sunrise shining through the window. It took him a second to realize that he was in a cot in the infirmary.
Surprisingly, he had no nightmares that night, an unusual event, which he was glad about. Nico didn’t show this small victory on the outside though, settling for a quick inner celebration.
He didn’t know why, but he felt like he couldn’t or shouldn’t show his emotions, not here, in the infirmary, at least. Around his friends, he guessed that’s what he should call them, Nico was just now opening up, he couldn’t even think to begin to do that here. Nico hadn’t even talked to anyone but Will, yet.
“Good morning, Death Boy!” Will said this is his usual cheerful way. When did he even get here? Wait, how did he know Nico was awake?
“I told you to stop giving me nicknames! I am the Ghost King. I could kill you, aren’t you scared of me?” Nico kept being surprised by Will’s easy demeanor around him. Was he making fun of him?
“Like I said before, right now, you can’t summon more than a wishbone without passing out,” Will answered Nico’s earlier question. The shorter boy grumbled about the current state of his powers. Taking this as an answer, Will continued, “Hopefully, your fading problem has gone away with all the rest and sunlight you’ve been getting.”
Will took his hand and Nico pulled away immediately.
“Oh, sorry,” Will apologized quickly.
The patient reached his hand out tentatively. He didn’t really like people touching him, especially blondes that made him feel skeletal butterflies in his stomach when their hands touched. Or maybe it was just his dinner last night?
The healer took his hand with a soft and warm touch, inspecting it and his forearm thoroughly for any signs of transparency. “You’re looking much better! I told you that some time with me would have you feeling so much better!” Will paused. “This doesn’t mean you get to use your Underworld-y powers until I give you an all-clear though, and you still need two more days under my care.”
“I already swore on the Styx, Solace, what else do you want?” Nico huffed and glared at the taller boy.
“Okay, fine, but I meant it, no Underworld-y powers! At all!” Will said, exaggerating the last sentence. He finished checking the rest of his wounds and changing his bandages.
“See you later, Neeks. I gotta take care of other patients,” the blonde said once he was done. As he stood up, Nico whispered, “Bye.”
Turned out, being alone in the infirmary got boring very, very quickly. Luckily, Nico got some visitors soon after. Unfortunately, it was one of the last people Nico wanted to see.
Perseus Jackson.
Even though Nico told him about his old crush, he suspected that their relationship would become incredibly awkward, hence why he instantly walked away after his confession.
At the back of his mind, Nico observed Annabeth also there.
“Hey,” Percy said. “Can we talk about yesterday?”
Did Nico want to talk about yesterday? Honestly, no. He thought it would be over and done with, not continue talking about it. Should he continue to talk about it with Percy? Yeah, probably. Well, it’s not like he really had a choice now.
“Sure, I guess,” he mumbled.
The couple pulled chairs from a nearby room and sat down.
They all sat there for a minute, not saying anything.
“So… you had a crush on me?” Percy asked, clearly still confused, even though it had been a whole day since the original conversation.
Nico answered, “Yeah, I did, but not any more.” It was getting increasingly more uncomfortable. He guessed it was okay before because it was more private, now, it was in the infirmary. Nico’s bed had curtains surrounding it and he hoped no one was eavesdropping or hearing this.
“Why? I mean- I just- well, I don’t really get it,” Percy questioned.
“You were this hero, you came to save Bianca and I. It was like a hero-worship thing, I guess. But I realize now that that was all it was. It wasn’t real love. I’ve let it go,” Nico explained.
Percy looked at him and smirked, “So, I’m not your type?”
“Oh my gods!” Nico glared at him and out of the corner of his eye saw Annabeth doing the same.
“Fine, fine. What is your type, then?”
Nico scowled, but felt himself blushing so he looked down hurriedly. “We’re not talking about this anymore!”
The three moved on to other topics, becoming more relaxed into the discussion as it continued. Eventually, the lunch bell rang and Annabeth and Percy left to eat in the pavilion.
Nico’s lunch was brought, but he wasn’t very hungry, so once again, he barely touched it.
“What was that about?” Will walked in a few minutes after the two left and sat down next to Nico’s cot.
The patient looked up, then down, then back up again before saying, “None of your business.”
Will sighed. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. I’m here, in case you do.” He gave Nico a reassuring smile that seemed to warm and light up the whole room. Nico started picking at a loose thread in his sheets nervously. Wait, why was he nervous?
“Thanks, I guess.”
The blonde studied Nico’s hands again, without him flinching away, this time. “You’re recovering well.”
The shorter boy hummed lightly.
“di Angelo. That’s an Italian last name, right?” Will asked curiously.
“Yeah, I’m Italian.”
The healer watched him from his spot beside his bed. “Have you ever been there?”
Nico started to freak out internally. He had only known Will for a few days, aside from seeing him when he first came to camp and briefly seeing him during the Battle of Manhattan. He started debating whether or not he could trust Will with this information. The voice at the back of his head reminded him that this was how to be social and you have to talk to others to make friends. He cursed his earlier self for listening to Reyna, Jason and Hazel’s advice so freely.
After what felt like hours but was actually only a few seconds, he responded, “I grew up there.”
Will gasped, “That’s so cool. I’ve always wanted to travel, but I’ve never left America.” He finished with a wistful smile on his face and a far away look in his eyes like he was imagining all the places he could go if given the chance.
Nico didn’t know how to reply to that, so he just nodded his head in understanding.
The blonde put Nico’s hand down, leading the Italian to realize that he hadn’t let it go in the first place. How long had he been inspecting his hands?
“What’s your birthday?”
Every time someone asked this question, Nico dreaded their reaction to his answer. They either looked at him with even more disgust or with pity. He didn’t need or want anyone’s pity.
“January 28th,” he said shortly.
Will’s eyes bored into Nico’s so hard he had to look away before he could blush. He refused to embarrass himself in any way. “Okay, but, like, what year?” Will prodded a bit more.
“1932,” he paused, “I think.” Nico said all of this slowly, as if struggling to remember. Well, he was, with the Lethe erasing his memory and him only getting it back within the last few years, he occasionally second guessed himself.
Will’s eyes widened, “1932? How?”
“Magic casino that doesn't allow you to age,” said Nico casually.
The taller boy nodded in realization. “I remember Percy, Annabeth and Grover mentioned that place once.”
A girl with her hair tips dyed bright green pulled back the curtain around Nico’s bed. Nico thought her name was Kayla. “Hey, Will, your break’s over,” she said, then left to tend to another patient.
The healer stood up, “See you later, Nico.”
Nico gave a small wave.
Later that day, he showered and ate some more food than he did at lunch. Will came by a few more times and exchanged words here and there.
That night, it took Nico longer to fall asleep than the night before. He tossed and turned for an hour or two before succumbing to sleep.