Solangelo

Chapter Four

Nico didn't seem to notice the lack of food, Will noticed, substituting it with cold coffee and energy drinks. Will had protested at first, seeing as it is the most unhealthy thing anyone can consume, but he couldn't say no to Nico and in the end, Nico was drinking cold coffee with enough sugar to kill a small animal.

He had calmed down after the nightmare but not gone back to sleep, instead watching the sun rise with Will. Some people said that Apollo kids rose with the sun but it wasn't true. Apollo kids felt a pull to the sun in the night and when day came again they felt relaxed. If anything, Will felt more sleepy when the sun came up because he felt safe. He wondered if that was how Nico felt about the dark.

It was beautiful, painting the sky a million shades of gold, pink and blue, birds waking up and dryads turning to face it. Nico's eyes turned from dark brown to a lovely tapestry of a million shades of brown and Will wanted to stare at it forever. He was enchanted by the way Nico relaxed a little and how when Nico smiled, dimples that Will never knew he had showed. He was enchanted by the way that now, being closer to Nico, he could see the constellation of freckles on the bridge of his nose, and by the way Nico relaxed, ever so slightly, when he let out a breath.

He shook himself. That was gay. Will wasn't gay. Like, he supported their rights, but he wasn't gay. He just observed a lot of details. That was it. The one good part of having ADHD. He wasn't gay.

Nico was drinking his third glass of cold coffee, the last one, Will had assured him, while Will tried to get him to stop drinking that much coffee because it stunted growth, "If you grow any smaller, you're going to disappear."
"Wow, ouch." Nico said, putting a hand over his heart and faking hurt, the smile in his voice contradicting the actions.

At 8:00pm, they headed to the dining pavilion. Nico got ready to sit alone but there were campers from both camps taking up every seat and he ended up sitting with Will, Kayla, Austin, Jason and Piper on the Hermes table of all places.

He was squashed up against Will because and trying not to fall of the seat. When he almost did, Will gripped pulled him closer, wrapping one arm around him and eating a pizza with the other. Nico wasn't used to physical contact and turned a bright shade of red. 

Jason looked at Will's hand and then at Nico suggestively and Nico glowered at him, trying to put all the 'son of Hades' fear he commanded into Jason. Jason just happily chewed on his taco, smiling like an idiot at Nico.

Piper was the first to talk, "So, Nico, how's things in the infirmary."
Nico considered for a second, "Will lets me drink my cold coffee and energy drinks, so I'm going to say, much better than most places I've been this year." The joke, thankfully, landed. If it hadn't that would have led to an awkwardly depressing silence.

They continued chatting till Will was done, finally letting go of Nico who realised that he actually missed the warmth of the son of Apollo. He shook his head. As they walked back to the infirmary, Nico slipped into his cabin, getting a bag of clothes. Will stood in the door, looking in, "Why do you have coffins?" He asked, looking at the coffin shaped beds. 

Nico hadn't been there for the renovations of the cabin and someone had thought that Hades kids were vampires, installing coffins and thick, black, drapes to keep out the sun, blood red walls making the room oppressive. He had to admit that the vibe they were going for was pulled off really well, it was very '90's vampire, but living in it was a nightmare. He said as much to Will who nodded, "I remember that. The scene was questionable to say the least." 

Nico snorted at that, trying to imagine a bunch of teenagers in bright orange shirts shoving a coffin-looking bed in through the doors of the cabin behind which you could see walls that looked covered in blood.

Two hours later, he stepped into the bathroom in the infirmary for a shower, avoiding all the mirror that showed him his reflection. Olive skin covered in scars and ribs showing, almost sticking out. Instead he focused on the soap and its smell. he didn't think about the fact that he was too skinny or that he didn't deserve to be clean, he just focused on washing the sweat out of his hair.