𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐒 | privation; a state in which things that are essential for human well-being are scarce or lacking.
Esmerelda had suffered through some pretty awful summer vacations before like that one time she was nearly sacrificed to a world-end...
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▬▬▬ CHAPTER TWENTYEIGHT ▬▬▬
GOOD NEWS: NICO WAS ALIVE.
Bad news: the world was still ending, but oh well.
Esmerelda was absolutely overjoyed to have Nico back, and as much as she'd like to throw some massive 'Welcome Back From Getting Kidnapped!' party for him (the Stolls held one for her after Ethan kidnapped her three years ago), she was too busy running around her bedroom like a headless chicken.
Nico had been (gently) dumped into bed by Ethan, who had sprinted out of the room to get proper food for him so she was left to fluff the pillows, enchant the comforter to make sure it was extra plushy, and carefully feed him with nectar and ambrosia.
"Is this really necessary?" Nico found himself wondering as she tried to put a thermometer scanner on his forehead. "I'm not sick, mom. I don't even think demigods can get sick. Why do you have this?"
She checked the screen and nearly had a heart attack. "It says you're two degrees!"
"You're reading it upside down." He pointed out.
"Oh." She read it the right way. "97.2 degrees then. That's... um, that's normal right?"
"I'm not sick," he protested before breaking out into a series of coughs.
Ethan burst into the room.
"I have the soup," he announced.
And then without another word, he took a spoonful of chicken noodle soup and shoved it straight into Nico's mouth.
"Be gentle with him!" Esmerelda fretted.
"I am!" He exclaimed. He turned back to Nico and went into strict parent mode. "You should take your time in eating this. If you eat too fast, you'll irritate your stomach. We'll start little, okay? That's why the bowl's so small. After this, we'll try out some fruits—some apple slices or a tangerine."
"Ensure Plus Nutrition shakes help too!" Esmerelda chimed.
Nico had been starving for days, so it was best that they had him start off little to slowly stretch his stomach back to its regular size rather than overwhelming it. She can already see Ethan's brain working to figure out a good meal plan for the kid.
The majority of the hour was spent cooing over him. Well, Esmerelda was doing all the cooing, Ethan was being his usual grouchy-but-lowkey-soft self.
Neither of them had any idea what was going on outside—they were all probably discussing what was going on with Annabeth's quest—but they didn't really care. The only thing in their mind was Nico and making sure he was okay.
The kid looked broken, and she didn't just mean physically. He looked in a greater state of distress than when he found out Bianca had died. His eyes were like shattered glass and his white skin looked so paper thin that she could see his bones jutting out from them. Ethan had given him some of his clothes to wear and she had magically shrunk the size down, but even then it was still loose on him. He looked so fragile and breakable—like all those photos of liberated prisoners-of-war from her old history textbooks.
