Sunshine Through the Clouds

Nico--Okay, Not So Bad

Light hit Nico's eyelids and made him roll over.

"Wake up, sunshine," Will muttered. Nico opened his eyes and slowly turned back to the side of his infirmary cot, where Will was standing, looking down.

"Don't call me that," He grumbled, propping himself up on a pillow. He looked around the room and noticed that nearly every bed was full, with bloodied, bandaged campers sprawled all over the place. Upon looking out the newly opened curtains, he realized how early it was. The sun was barely peeking up over the outline of the trees.

"Why'd you have to wake me up?" He asked, flopping back down and pulling a blanket over his head.

"I wanna show you something," Will said, although his voice was muffled due to the blanket over Nico's ears.

"Didn't you say I need my rest?"

"Yeah, three day's rest. It's day four, you can leave if you'd like." Nico shifted, not realizing how quickly time had gone by. Had it already been three days? Maybe he could convince Will to let him stay there just a little longer. Wait.

Why did he want to stay?

"I'll leave when I wake up," He said into the pillow. Nico felt something shift at the end of the bed, followed by a bounce in the mattress when somebody sat down. He knew it was Will, and waited for a drawn-out lecture about how he needed to go to free up space and whatnot, and was surprised when it didn't come. After a few moments, Will muttered,

"You want to stay, don't you?" Nico couldn't tell what he meant. Stay in the infirmary? Stay at camp? Stay alive?

"Specify, Solace," He said, flipping himself back over so he could face Will. He seriously reconsidered that action.

Will was wearing his normal 'doctor look': Scrubs over a loose Camp Half Blood t-shirt, but gods be damned if the skeletal butterflies didn't fly around in Nico's stomach. His hair was a messy golden mop, carelessly swept to the side. Freckles dotted his face and what little of his arms Nico could see. They looked like they were glowing each time a ray of sunshine hit his face, which was quite often. Did Will plan that?

He looked away and blushed, hoping Will didn't catch him staring.

"I mean, do you want to stay here, in the infirmary?" Nico considered saying yes, speaking a part of his mind, but thought better of it. He wanted to know what the Hades cabin looked like, anyway.

"Not really," He said, "Feels too 'sunny.'"

"Oh." Will looked down, as if he didn't like that answer, "I guess we can get your stuff, then, and I'll get Argus--"

"What? No, I want to stay at camp!" Nico didn't expect the words to leave his mouth. He'd been dwelling over whether or not to stay for the past three days. 'Absolutely not,' was his first thought. Then, he'd been ordered to stay by Will and was determined to book it as soon as his three days were up. He'd hate it there, surely, but, soon enough, he'd kinda grown to like the place. The way the weather was always nice, the bustling feel of the place, the relative safety, a concept so foreign to Nico. Here, he didn't have to worry about being ambushed or attacked or having to use his powers for survival. It was like...a home. Besides, somebody needed to cover the funerals.

Will threw his arms around Nico, enrapturing him in a hug. He pushed Will off, slightly surprised by how much effort he had to put in. Damn, that kid was strong. Nico shifted himself away from Will, closer to the pillow at the front of the bed.

"S-sorry," Will sputtered, "No touching, right." He got up and gestured for Nico to follow him.

"Where are you going?" Nico asked. Will didn't even turn around to address him.