The rainbow seekers guide to seeking rainbows

Nico

Nico could hear sniffling through the call, and he hoped that Hazel was okay.

"N - Nico, how are you?" Hazel was stammering, and sounded quite panicky. She might've been sobbing, but it could've been his imagination running off with him. "Is the dinner g - going alright?"

"I'm fine, thank you. How about you?" Please be okay. Please be okay. Nico pleaded silently to himself that Hazel was alright. He couldn't bear to lose another sister.

"I - I'm not great." Her voice was just a whisper, and Nico could hear the rasp that came with crying.

"Why? What happened?" Nico knew that he wasn't known for being sensitive and compassionate, but he cared. He cared about all of his friends. So he tried to inject as much kindness and support as he possibly could into his voice, and hoped it was audible at the other end of the call.

"It - It's - " Hazel swallowed. "You should come. I'm n - not interrupting anything, right? Y - you can go back to the dinner, if you want."

"No, this seems urgent."

"O - okay." She took a deep breath - Nico could hear it rattle. Oh god, please tell me she's okay. "M - meet me at the construction site." Her voice steadied as it settled into the rhythm of giving instructions. "The one about ten blocks away from the café - the one you complain about all the time. Meet me there."

"Did something happen there?"

Hazel hesitated.

"I - I wouldn't be interrupting anything, would I?"

"No, of course not. We were about to finish anyways, and my social batter's about to run out." He heard a startled laugh from Hazel, and felt good that he had managed to make her laugh.

"You should bring Will." Then, she hung up, probably because her voice had sounded so strained by trying not to stumble over her words.

Nico must've looked distraught when he returned to the table, because Will's gaze turned to one of concern. He probably saw something in the colours or whatever - that's what Will always said. He said that when it came to people he knew well, he could tell how they felt simply by the colours he saw. Nico found that fascinating.

The moment Nico sat down, Will leant in to whisper in his ear.

"Nico? Is everything alright?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. But Hazel certainly wasn't."

Will nodded, apparently satisfied for the moment, although it was clear from the look in his eyes that the moment they left the place Nico was going to be subjected to an extremely thorough interrogation. Which, he admitted, was preferable to simply telling Will how scared and upset Hazel had sounded.

The rest of the dinner was uneventful - Apollo went for another round of child-embarrassing as they finished their gelato, while Kayla and Austin raced each other to see who finished first. Will seemed to be listening attentively to Euterpe who, after leaving to eat her own dinner, had returned to the piano and begun to play Bach's Goldberg Variations.

Meanwhile, it was Hazel's worry and concern that was on Nico's mind.

He hoped with all his heart that she was okay.

"Nico?"

He blinked. He must've zoned out. Nico had developed a habit of doing that recently, and although he would never come out and say it, it troubled him.

"Will?"

"Are you okay?" Will looked worried. "We're leaving now. You can go to sleep." With a wry smile, he added, "Or stay awake until sunrise. Make the most of the one time it's socially acceptable to stay up at night."