Nico woke up, alone in a cold bed with zero motivation whatsoever. He promised Leo he'd help him out with something involving shaving cream, confetti, and tacos, but had no inspiration or better reason to get up. He chose to ignore his promise and rolled over to go back to sleep. Before his eyes shut, he noticed a slip of paper on the nightstand next to his bed. He lifted it and unfolded it carefully. It read:
Good morning.
Eyes up.
Hearts up.
Minds sharp.
Compassion on full blast.
Nico couldn't help but smile at the note. Whoever had left it must've known he needed something like this on mornings like these. A small patch of motivation fixed a hole in his dam of emotions and he crawled out of bed to throw clean clothes on. He met up with Leo early and they spent most of the day together working on an outrageous prank, but Nico's mind was on the note and the mysterious sender the whole time.
Another morning came along with another note reading:
Gmorning.
You can fume at the world if you like.
You can also use your words, arts and gifts to let us in.
Build us a bridge to where you are.
Another smile appeared on Nico's face as he got up to start another day. He spent the day being productive and training, but like the day before, his mind could only focus on the note. Unfortunately, his focus was too far gone and he toppled over in a training exercise, scraping his palms and leaving a nasty cut on his arm.
"You okay, Nico?" a camper near him asked. He wasn't sure of her name, but he was almost positive that she was a daughter of Hephaestus.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Nico stood and clutched his arm, which was stinging sharply.
"You should go get that checked out at the infirmary. That doesn't look good."
"No, I'm good," Nico said as he dusted his hands off on his pants.
"It could get infected. At least get it cleaned."
"I said-"
The girl gave him a face that read "Don't make me hurt you."
"Okay, okay," Nico rolled his eyes and reluctantly marched to the infirmary where they seated him and Will Solace came over to have a look.
"Hey, Nico," Will said, giving a sunshiny smile. He inspected his arm then passed Nico an ambrosia square, which almost instantly helped ease some of the pain.
"Hi."
"That's a pretty bad cut. I'll clean it up and wrap it for you, but it's probably going to hurt a lot."
Nico nodded absentmindedly as his mind drifted off to the notes again.
"Something on your mind?" Will asked as he wet a white cloth with a disinfectant.
"Uh, not really. Just some notes I've been getting."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I get them every morning, but they're never signed. It's no big deal though."
"Maybe you should try finding out who wrote them?" Will suggested.
"Yeah. That's not a bad idea."
Another day went by and Nico found himself waking up earlier than ever just to see what note had been left for him that morning.
Good morning.
Imagine how you want to feel at the end of the day.
Start working towards that now.
Have a good breakfast though
Every single time he woke, there was a guaranteed kind message waiting for him. A few more days passed and eventually, he started receiving them before he went to bed.
Good night
My goodness
Look at you
Perfect
& tomorrow brings more of you
I can't wait
Nico looked forward to the notes and kept them all in a drawer where he could look at them whenever he needed to. He'd flip through them sometimes just for a smile. It took him a while, but he finally decided to take Will's advice and find out who'd written them.
Another day or two passed by, filled with Nico's attempts at discovery, but his efforts were fruitless. He was walking to the infirmary for the last time to get his bandaged changed one last time, with thoughts running through his head too quickly for him to sort them.
"Hey again," Will smiled as Nico sat down. "Any luck with that mysterious writer of yours?"
"Not yet," Nico sighed. "Do you have any idea of who it could be?"
Will shook his head. "I'm not sure. You could always try writing them a response."
"That's... actually a really good idea. I should've done that forever ago."
A few minutes or so passed as Will worked on redressing his wound. When he was done, he walked over to the sink and began washing his hands. "Well, you're all good now. Good luck with your notes," he said.
"Thanks for your help," Nico said with a small wave, before racing back to his cabin to draft a reply.
Dear stranger, Nico wrote. Thank you for your notes -they mean a lot to me and have been doing more than you could probably guess. But I still don't know who you are. If you could sign them or tell me, I could give you a more personal thank you. Thanks again.
-Nico
Nico reread the note and shook his head, unsatisfied. It wasn't good enough, but a glance to the clock told him that he probably should be in bed, so he slipped the reply on his nightstand and fell into his dreams.
The next morning Nico awoke, there was a new note lying where his own had been. Anxiously, Nico unfolded it.
Meet me by the shore tonight at 7:30.
I'll be waiting for you
Great. Now Nico had to distract himself for several hours. But that turned out to be a lot easier than he thought it would with training. It still took a long time, but 7:30 finally came and Nico was walking up and down the shore. He saw nobody and started feeling doubt -like he was being set up,
but continued to walk.
Several minutes passed, and Nico saw nobody. Defeated, he turned around back the direction he'd come in with his head hung low. Until he heard a shout not so far away, his soul was deflated, but that adorable "Hey, Nico! Sorry I'm late!" shot his hopes and head up faster than a bullet.
The figure who had called was too far away for a clear picture, so Nico ran until a face became clearer and clearer. Was that...?
"Will?" Nico asked, a small smiled playing at his lips. His heart soared at the fact that it was Will. The beautiful human who'd helped him more times than he could count and... "It was you who left the notes?"
Will nodded shyly. "I thought you could use them to cheer you up. I actually have one for you... right now," Will said as he fumbled through his pockets. He pulled out a folded piece of paper that was nearly identical to the others and held it out for Nico to take.
Those who hate us and fear us cannot bring us down.
I like you a lot. Will you go out with me?
-Will
A blush dusted Nico's cheeks and he nodded. "I'd love to."
---
This turned out longer than I thought it would but I thought it was cute so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
All of the notes Will wrote Nico (excluding the "I like you a lot. Will you go out with me?" part) are actually inspiring messages from the wonderful Lin-Manuel Miranda's twitter: https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel
They always bring me up when I'm down, so I thought I'd share them through this. Don't forget to vote and comment :D
-Cas
