Three days in the infirmary

The first day

Nico

He could feel the weight lifting off his chest as he walked away from Percy and Annabeth and back to Will. It didn't hit him that he had just confessed to having a crush on Percy until he was being led to an infirmary room by Will. Suddenly panic took hold of him and he nearly collapsed, if not for Will holding him steady.

"Whoa there, Death Boy. You okay??" He helped him to sit on the cot, then pulled up a chair, sitting across from him. Nico tried to look annoyed by the nickname, but he was going through all the things he had just said to Percy a moment ago, so he probably looked terrified. "I'm fine, and don't call me Death Boy..!"

Will chuckled and shook his head. "You are anything but fine. What's wrong?" Nico frowned. "Why do you care?" The look on Will's face was like Nico had just insulted him terribly. "What do you mean why would I care? Why would I not care?? Seriously, Nico! Why do you do that?" He barely had a chance to ask "Do what?" before Will was talking again. "You push people away, you- for some reason!- think no one cares about you! Well people do, Nico! We don't push you away, or try to avoid you, YOU push everyone away! You have it set in your mind that no one could care less!"

Will took a breath and rubbed his hand over his face. "I just don't understand-"

"No, you don't understand. You CAN'T understand why. When you're me, when you're a son of Hades... You're not exactly idolized, or thought of like you're something great. Not like if you were to have Zeus or Poseidon for a father. Or any other god or goddess, for that matter. And on top of that, I.. I'm..." Nico let out a groan of frustration and propped his elbows on his knees, covering his face with his hands. Will was silent, and for what seemed like forever, they sat there in silence, save for the sounds coming from other places in the infirmary.

Finally, Will spoke, his voice soft. "You're right... I can't understand, but I want to. I want to be able to talk to you for hours and just learn everything you're willing to tell me. Believe it or not, I want to be your... friend...." There was hesitation at the end of his sentence. They were quiet again.

Nico heard the sound of a chair scraping against the floor, and when he looked up, Will was standing.

"Sorry-" Will cut him off. "No, don't apologize. I shouldn't have talked to you like that. I'm sorry." The blond gave him a weak smile, his eyes drifting to the marks along Nico's biceps, then the smile disappeared. "What in the name of the gods happened to your arms??" Nico frowned. He had forgotten about the marks Orion had left on him, but as he remembered, the pain slowly became noticeable. "Oh.. I uh, we were fighting Orion in San Juan, and-" Will held up his hand. "I don't want to hear anymore!" "But you just-" "How did I not notice that before?? Those cuts need to be properly cleaned, stitched, and bandaged." Will set to work, grabbing cotton balls and rubbing alcohol, and a bunch of other medical tools. "But I'm f-"

"Don't even think about saying you're fine." He set the tools on a tray. "Take your shirt off." Nico felt his face go scarlet. "What??" The blond rolled his eyes. "I need to work on your cuts, and I can't have the shirt material in the way. Besides, it's mostly rags now." Nico took a mental deep breath and removed his shirt, his face burning. "There we go. Now this is gonna hurt, but some ambrosia should numb the pain a little." Will got to work, re stitching Nico's wounds.

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Nico

A while later, Nico was re stitched and sore, despite the ambrosia Will had given him. The older boy was cleaning and putting his tools away.

"Now all you need to do is rest." Nico wanted to protest, in fear of nightmares that would come if he slept. "Doctor's orders." He finished with the last of the tools and put them away. "I'll be in here for the night, so I'll check back in a little while, after working with some other patients." Nico hesitantly lied down, still wide awake, with no promises of sleep to come. Will saw the tension in the younger one and frowned. "Well you'll never get to sleep, being all tense like that.. Why won't you relax?"

Before Nico could stop himself, he mumbled, "Nightmares." And regretted it instantly. Will pulled up his chair. "Don't try and make me talk about it." Nico warned. "Because I won't..." Will smiled, almost sadly. "I won't make you talk about anything. But I've had some patients with almost the same problem. Not as bad as you, though. I just learned music helps, so if you're okay with me singing..."

Nico nodded almost too quickly after the words left Will's mouth, his stomach fluttering slightly. "Uh, yeah... I mean, I-I don't mind if you sing..." Nico wouldn't admit it, but he loved Will's voice. And getting to hear him sing....

Will grabbed the guitar that had been leaning beside the bed- how did Nico not notice that?- and began strumming the cords, playing a soft tune. Nico fell asleep to the sound of Will's voice, accompanied by the guitar.