Solangelo Highschool Au - People

23: Notebook

Will woke up, yet again, from a nightmare. He found himself curled up as small as he could be on the couch. That wasn't too surprising. As he quickly checked his surroundings and saw where he was, he felt that cushion next to him was oddly warm. And there was a new notebook in front of said cushion, on the coffee table. Open.

Will knew it was Nico's, it had to be. And he tried to resist looking at it, for privacy reasons. But he did look at it.

The notebook was fully open, with both pages covered in art, so well done that you couldn't see the lines at all.

The picture drawn was of Tartarus. Nico knew the scene well, of course, from his experience there.

The detail, it actually scared Will. He couldn't believe, couldn't imagine, that Nico had to go through that-alone, no less. And the fact that all he was seeing was two pages of a drawing of the place, and the fact that that alone was putting him on edge, made him terrified for Nico and what he'd gone through.

"Will? Ah shit, sorry if I woke you up by moving about." Nico startled Will a bit, though he was glad he showed up when he did. Will was getting far too sucked into that drawing.

"No, uh, nightmare woke me up. I'm guessing the same for you." Will vaguely gestured at the notebook.

"You'd be correct." Nico answered shortly. He quickly sat back down on the couch, setting a few pencils down and snatching the notebook up.

"I'm sorry for looking at it. I'm guessing that's pretty personal, I just... Sorry." Will told him sincerely.

"I shouldn't have left it so open. That's kind of, a way for me to deal with nightmares, the drawing. And music, that helps." Nico explained, quickly showing Will that he had his phone and headphones out with him.

"Makes sense. Sorry for interrupting that, I can just put my headphones in, watch youtube so I don't bother you at all." Will offered.

"No, you didn't interrupt at all. It's not as though I have to draw. We can talk, if you'd like to." Nico told him quickly.

"Well, I mean, I'd always like to talk to you. Especially now, after that nightmare." Will stated with a small smile.

"Great. What did you have a nightmare about?" Nico questioned.

"How was that drawing so detailed?" Will asked. He completely bypassed Nico's question, which seemed weird.

"The image of Tartarus, is... always fresh in my mind. It's always easy to remember, easy to put on the page. Because I can't really forget about it, ever. With nightmares and different things that just... make me remember. So it's easy to have the details there." Nico explained.

"Wow. That sounds like hell. I mean, it was hell, I'm sure, because it's Tartarus, but, you know. That drawing alone is kind of scary." Will responded, shifting a small bit to face Nico more.

"Is it really? I go through that so often, I didn't think just that was scary. Tartarus is terrifying, but a simple drawing?"

"Yeah, actually. You're, amazing. I mean, the fact that you went through that, alone, even, is astounding. It shows how strong you actually are because I, honestly, I could not have gotten through that." Will lamented.

"All demigods go through a lot. What was that nightmare about?"

"Of course they do, but you went through literal hell and back. That's impressive, Nico." Will avoided the subject still.

"Will."

"Yeah?"

"If you don't want to answer the question, that's okay. But tell me that. Do not just ignore the question." Nico told Will seriously.

"It was a stupid nightmare, just about Natalie and her doing some creepy shit, no worries. Doesn't compare to Tartarus."

"What creepy shit?" Nico questioned.

"Some bullshit with stalking me and trapping me in the apartment or whatever. With a touch of just old threats she's made and other shit she's done. It really shouldn't still affect me as much as it does, or at all, really, but the brain is stupid and I'm stupid and I'm not over shit, obviously-I'm sorry, I'm rambling, I'll shut up." Will went absolutely silent, looking guilty.

"You can always rant or ramble to me, Will. It's really alright. Don't be sorry for not being over something, that's not in your control. I... don't know how I could help you, to recover from that relationship, because it seemed to have affected you deeply. But do tell me if I can do anything to help that. And I will." Nico told him.

"Oh. Okay. And same to you, with Tartarus and whatever else you've gone through."

"Deal."