Sunshine Through the Clouds

Nico--Boring Days

 For the first time in maybe twenty years, Nico was excited to wake up. He didn't even need an alarm or harpy coming in and stabbing him awake, he just shot up out of his bed before the sunrise. Why was he so excited? That was something even Nico himself wouldn't admit, but it totally-definitely didn't have to do with getting to IM Will again. Nope. Not at all.

He poked through his closet and pulled on a solid black hoodie. On brand, he guessed. And, well, one isn't supposed to just wear one solid black item and go for something else, duh, so he put on a pair of black jeans with little rips in the knees. With that, Nico was ready to eat even more pancakes. He still hadn't figured out why that seemed to be the only breakfast option around here. Nevertheless, he flung open the Hades cabin door and walked out into the early morning sunrise.

Gods, it was bright. Apollo didn't have to put in that much effort, especially at, like, seven in the morning. It was unfair. Nico squinted a little, adjusting to the not-complete-darkness, and made his way over to the lava wall. He'd gone there a little yesterday to talk with Nyssa some more. Apparently, the gears holding it together had become more damaged overnight, almost as if something had snuck in and scratched at them. He'd decided to go over and look at it this morning, maybe somebody else would be there, and hopefully get some insights.

Somebody else was there, but it definitely wasn't Nyssa. The shock of reddish hair and green-dyed edges definitely gave way to who it really was.

"Kayla?" Nico asked. She lifted her head up from where she was bent over.

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing?"

"I was here when it malfunctioned, Nyssa thought that maybe I could remember exactly where it went wrong," She frowned, "But I can't seem to figure it out."

"I mean, we've been trying to figure it out for a few days. It would be a miracle if you just...did." He leaned against a pillar and watched as Kayla worked around, poking random things and seeing what moved. She didn't have a builder's confidence, that was for sure, but she acted like she knew exactly what was wrong. Of course, she didn't.

"Oh, well," She muttered, standing up and finally facing Nico, "Ready to go call Will?" He tried not to sound too enthusiastic in his response.

"Sure."

Today, the call was a bit longer than it was the day before. After the cursory 'nobody's dead, Will's and 'how are you's, their conversation took on a new buzz.

"Y'all, look at what my ma-mom got me!" Will whisper-shouted, as if not wanting to wake anybody up. He left the frame for a split second and returned with something curled in his hand. He held it up a bit higher, so Nico and Kayla could get a better look. It was a tiny flag, not much bigger than his hand, and had a rainbow pattern along it. Nico didn't recognize what it was, at first, but Kayla was practically leaping with joy.

"I'm so glad she did! Oh, gods, that's amazing!" She shouted. It donned on him, then what it was: A pride flag. He tried to stifle a grin.

"Nico?" Will asked through the message. He looked up.

"It's...it's great!" Nico tried not to sound overly excited, but, come on. Your crush holds up a pride flag and doesn't deny what it means? You try not bouncing like Nico when a new Mythomagic deck is released!

"Anyway, what've y'all been up to?" Will asked, leaning out of frame to presumably put the flag back.

"We're still trying to figure out the whole lava wall thing," Nico said.

"Yeah, Nyssa said it's looking worse since it first malfunctioned," Kayla supplied. Will frowned.

"Hmm. Try not to get hurt until I'm back, okay? I've gotta get my boots on, so, uh, bye!" He waved, and Nico and Kayla waved back. They left the Big House and went their own ways, just as they had the day before. It was a beautiful day at Camp: The sun was just piercing above the trees, dew covered the grass, just barely. It was the kind of day that even Nico had to admit was kind of nice to just relax with.

He spent that day training some more, always on the lookout for any threats. Force of habit, he supposed. But now, he had other things on his mind. The lava wall. It didn't make sense: Monster-like scratches on the inside of it? Something was getting into Camp to be able to do that, that was for sure. He just couldn't tell what. It was only a matter of time until something revealed itself, calling somebody to fix it. Nico just hoped it wouldn't be him.

And, besides, he had things to look forward to. Will had a pride flag. He was happy about it. Conclusion: Will was so gay. Nico didn't want to admit it, but it made him happy.

He was totally gay, too.

A/N: Sorry about the short chapter, I'm just really trying to finish this and there isn't much happening at Camp ig :/

I'm going to be uploading like crazy this weekend in particular because I wanna get this almost finished before ~busy~  Will's chapter is going to be a bit longer than this, maybe, and then...action!  Ooh...I'm excited for the end.  

Chapter title art is not my own: https://alessiajontrunfio.tumblr.com/post/631978099553222656/nerd-boyfriend-i-dont-want-to-make-any