Solangelo Rising

Chapter 30 (Will)

   After the emotional roller coaster of yesterday afternoon the morning seemed very calm and still. Wait a second... morning? I opened my eyes fully to see Nico still in my arms, sleeping peacefully. Oh good. I glanced out the window. Yup sunlight was coming through alright. And I had just woken up which meant my son of Apollo senses had kicked in and woken me up at dawn just like always. My stomach grumbled, alerting me to my sudden hunger for food (we had somehow managed to sleep though dinner after all). Nico stirred as well. I assumed it was from the weird squelching noises coming from my abdomen. I yawned and stretched, trying to get blood flow back into my limbs, jostling a now definitely awake and crabby Nico in the process. "Sorry" I grumbled at him. I got no response other than his particularly dark 'morning' death glare. I just smiled at him and nodded toward the door. "Food." Through his glare he got up, punched my arm (rude) and shuffled to the door. "Love you too angel" I hollered after him, jogging slightly to catch him at the door. He was still giving me that all too familiar death glare. I smirked back at him. "C'mon, lets go get some breakfast" I said, opening the door and holding it open for him, exaggerating the chivalrous action. I smirked as he just shuffled through the doorway and mumbled "coffee" under his breath. Cute.  

     By the time we reached the pavilion, I was practically dragging a still half-asleep Nico towards the Hades table. I left him there in search of a coffee mug and some plates. When I returned I found Nico flopped forehead first into the stone table, snoring slightly. I repressed a giggle at his childish cranky mood, glanced around to make sure no one was looking, and kissed the back of his head. Nothing. Next a poke to the cheek. Still nothing. Thinking, I glanced down and saw the empty mug in my hand. Smiling I asked the mug for some black coffee. It magically obliged, and I waved the mug of coffee close to Nico's face. Presto. I would have to remember that coffee = semi awake Nico for later. I was glad I didn't have to resort to dumping the entire cup of coffee on his head to wake him up, and I told him so. That earned me yet another death glare from over his coffee cup- which was already half drained. Dam that boy can down some coffee. 

   The next 10 minutes or so was devoted to cramming pancakes into our mouths. Nico had his coffee and I had my orange juice. At one point (I think in between his 3rd and 4th cup of coffee) Nico stole a few sips of my Sunny D. I pretended not to notice. I would've tried to steal some of his coffee in retaliation but I was afraid of decapitation... plus drinkable coffee to me meant dumping half a cup of milk and nearly as much sugar into it. 

     As I was musing over various breakfast drinks and their potential medical advantages, my siblings Austin and Kayla had come over to our table with concerned looks on their faces. Austin looked mildly uncomfortable so Kayla jumped in to rescue him "Hey Will, we were wondering if you were coming to the campfire tonight?" That earned them both a glare from Nico, making them jump a little. I tried to hide my inward giggling and replied with "Wasn't planning on it." They exchanged glances. Austin managed to get through a "Can you come over here for a minute, we need our head counselor for a um... small problem." I could tell he was lying, and assumed Nico's glares were unnerving them. "Sure." 

     I told Nico to stay put, with little reaction. Austin and Kayla practically dragged me back over to the Apollo table. Jeez these guys. After they had plopped me down in my regular spot, I glanced at Stella for an idea of what this was about. She just shrugged. I let my gaze focus back on Austin and Kayla "So what is this about?" They shared another concerned glance before Kayla spoke up "So why have you been skipping sing-a-long and spending so much time with... Nico?" At first I was surprised at the question. Nico is a fabulous adorable person, why would they not like me hanging out with him? Oh right. Those 2 are particularly self-centered, even for us Apollo kids. And Nico didn't exactly have a sunny superstar image. And I did suppose hanging out practically non stop with Nico instead of my siblings was rather strange behavior. Ugh since it doesn't seem like they suspected any, uh, romantic intentions behind my actions, I guess I would have to tell them a partial truth... I hate lying. 

    I tried looking nonchalant instead of, well, like I was lying- "Guys relax. I haven't been to the campfire for a couple reasons. My throat has been sore from singing healing hymns for hours straight recently. Plus I'm sure you've all heard the rumor about what happened on the beach the other day?" I cringed at the thought but I got some nods. "Listen I'm mainly trying to avoid Drew. She's always at those things and is always really loud about... everything actually. I don't want to talk about it at the moment with everyone up here, but I'll explain the rumors later." I got some more nods. I went on "As for spending time with Nico, he is a patient. After he stormed off to his cabin, I decided that being in the infirmary was a bad idea for him. He likes being alone since he's still not used to being around so many people. I'm just looking out for him, making sure he doesn't do anything stupid, like summon skeletons or shadow travel. For some reason he lets me be around him-" I paused and giggled "-probably because he knows he can't get rid of me until he's better. For instance I had to force him awake this morning just to get him to come up here to eat. He needs to gain some weight that boy, he's too thin." I supposed this was all true enough. I decided to leave out the part of how cute I thought he was or how much I wanted to ki- right getting distracted Will. I mentally chided myself.

     "Now if everything is okay, I need to get going to the infirmary. Still a few people left to heal." That got me some grunts of approval so I sauntered back over to my ball of darkness. He appeared to be done with his meal, and slightly more awake than before. "Hey." I plopped down next to him, slyly grabbing his hand under the table. That usually seems to perk him up, and now was no exception. I gave him my goofy grin. "So I gotta hop over to the infirmary for a bit want to come?" He looked like he was about to accept but instead said "Better not, don't want another accident like Mr. Mars yesterday. I'll go practice my archery... there aren't any classes soon right?" So cute, he likes archery. "Nah, there aren't any classes today, as far as I'm aware. You should be alone." He gave me a snarky look. "Well good, then I can practice kicking your butt." I gave him my best haughty look. "In your dreams death boy!" I laughed and took off towards the infirmary. Through my laughter I heard an indignant "DON'T CALL ME THAT SOLACE!"

    I'm glad I'm a fast runner.