All the Ways to Love You

The Color of Our World (Part 2 of 3)

***

Nico di Angelo was a mystery to Will.

The first time Will saw him in the Battle of Manhattan, Nico was this amazing boy, fearlessly danced with his black Stygian iron sword. Even without colors, even in black and white, the view of Nico fighting the enemies with his sword was the most glorious thing that Will had ever seen.

Two years later, and now what Will was seeing in the infirmary was a pair of fragile eyes, eyes that have seen so many, too many.

"It...doesn't look good," Will said, studying the slightly transparent hand that he was holding. "But I think it's not something that can't be fixed."

"Do you think so?"

Sitting on the cot, Nico looked up at Will. And Will saw it there, in Nico's eyes. A vulnerable hope behind those dark eyes. A look that made Will didn't want to let go of the hand yet. A look that made Will wished that he could hold that hand a little longer and maybe share some warmth and comfort.

Will looked down again, back at Nico's hand. If he kept on looking at those eyes, he might get lost and forgot the way back. Or even worse, he might not want to go back.

(A small part of his mind told him that maybe, just maybe, instead of making him lost in nowhere, those eyes would lead him to a new world.)

Will tried to ignore the thought.

"I'll try," Will said, glancing at Nico only to flash a smile.

"Will you?" Nico asked again.

This time, Will lifted his head up, and braced himself to lock his eyes at Nico's. The unspoken question lingered behind those dark eyes.

Can I trust you?

Will nodded. He smiled, his heart fluttering gently.

"I will," he said, nodded again as he gently tighten his grip on Nico's hand. "I will try my best."

For you, I will.

***

Will Solace was something new for Nico.

And no. It was not just because during those days in the infirmary, Will spent hours just sitting next to him, telling him all these things that Nico had never heard before, all the things that Nico had missed when he was in The Lotus Hotel.

The way Will smiled softly at him, it was something new for him.

(Nobody smiled at him like that before. Like he was something...special.)

The way Will talked to him, with him, it was something new for him.

(Nobody has looked so genuinely interested to know more about Nico before as a person, not just as the son of Hades.)

Soft laughs, gentle touches that never lingered for too long, never long enough, those were something new for Nico

(Never before, anyone had made him felt this strange fluttering feeling in his stomach, a funny pleasant pull in his stomach.)

And how Will was still around, how he looked like he still wanted to be around, that was something completely new for Nico.

Then again, when he lied on his bed, head over his crossed hand, Nico find that he didn't mind.

Days changed into weeks that slowly turned into months. And every day, there was always something new that Nico learned from Will, that Nico found about Will.

How Will's smiles always started with a quirk at the left corner of his lips before fully bloomed into a bright smile. Will's weird obsession with breakfast food. The way Will hummed along to the song on the radio while absently tapping the pen that he's holding as he was working with paper works in the infirmary.