Significant Annoyance

Psychology

Nico slid into his bed and in the next moment, he was snoring quitely. Will stood there for a moment, looking at him. Nico looked certainly cute; but when he was sleeping, without all those frowns and worry lines on his face, he looked breath-stoppering adorable. He looked angelic, just like his last name.

        Will sighed and he walked over to the other end of the infirmary. Near the entrance, there was a small alcove with enough space to fit a small desk and a chair. Above the desk there were five shelves crammed with books. When the din of the cabin did not allow him to study or when he felt down, he found refuge here.

           Will got down four books from the fourth shelf. He did not believe he was actually doing this as he went through the titles.

          In general, there was nothing wrong. Those books were on psychology. But that was the problem; it was on psychology.

          Those books...those titles...those pages...it all brought back memories. Memories he didn't want to refresh. Memories he wasn't ready for. He remembered, how almost 10 months ago, he had vowed that he would never touch these books again, even though he had spent every bit of his pocket money buying these. He had stuffed this book on the farthest corner in the fourth shelf; never willing to read them again. These books were worthless. All the little tips and tricks written in these books for curing people out of depression and paranoia were a load of Minotaur dung. And this was all tried and tested.
        
            But he couldn't get Nico's expression out of his head. How broken he looked. How the raging fire in his eyes had died down suddenly. Nico needed counselling; Will was a hundred percent sure about that. There were only one thing he wasn't sure about: Was he competent for doing that? He had already failed once; that too, quite miserably. But he needed to give this a shot. He had already lost someone once; he didn't want to make the same mistake twice. So he opened the first book, Basics about Human Psychology and Common Disorders and started reading. Halfway through the second chapter, he fell asleep on the desk.

 In the morning, he was woken up by a slight push and a familiar female voice saying, "Wake up nerd." 

 Will got up and said groggily, "Whatssthematter?" 

"The only matter is that it is seven in the morning, you were snoring away in the infirmary and our entire cabin is sick with worry 'bout you." Will blinked a few times and saw it was Kayla, his sibling from the Apollo cabin.

   
          Kayla was still wearing her pajamas, but that did not ruin the effect of her glare. Judging from her uncombed hair, she straight away came to the infirmary. "Anyways, watcha reading?" Kayla asked, bending over to read the title. "Oohh...psychology? Someone changed their interests, huh?" Kayla said, raising eyebrows. 

"Times change and you have to change with them." Will said, shrugging. Kayla gave him a smile, which people usually give someone when they finally decide to move on over their girlfriend after breakup. Elder sister problems.

At that precise moment, Nico entered. He yawned and said, "Good Morning Solace. Good Morning Kayla."

"Good Morning Nico", Kayla wished.

" How was the night di Angelo? Got some sleep?" Will asked. A fraction of second later, when he saw Nico's jaw tense, he realised his mistake. But he had to get straight to the point.

"Well, that's my cue to leave", Kayla announced. "See you around guys." She said as she started to leave. "Dork." She muttered under her breath as she left, just loud enough for Will to catch on. Ah, sibling love.

***

The morning sunlight filtered through the windows. Nico woke up and groaned. He still got flashes from his later nightmare. That wasn't the first time he got a nightmare like this; demigods were used to scary dreams. But yesterday night was worse than the others. The most embarrassing part: Will Solace found him. What a bad impression. Not that he cared, but still. Will must be thinking that he was a bipolar idiot with a buttload of attitude. Life was complicated.

       Still he couldn't get out if his mind how gently Will was talking to him. Otherwise, it was as if Will was eternally pissed off at him, with snarky comments and sarcastic remarks. For the first time, they had a civil conversation. He couldn't get out of his mind how concerned and sincere his eyes looked when they were talking about Split. "It's not a big deal"

"It's a big deal if it gives you nightmares."  He had said. Oh Gods, that guy was something.

That's when he heard voices "Oohh..psychology? Someone has changed interests."It sounded like Kayla, Will's badass sibling from Apollo cabin.

"Times change and you have to change with them." Will's unmistakably calm voice rang out. Nico got up and when to the main room, where Will was sitting at desk drowned by books, and Kayla was standing here still in pajamas. He felt a pang of...what was that? Jealousy? No...Kayla was Will's sister. And anyways, Will was out of his league.

 He greeted both Kayla and Will. Kayla greeted him back. Will asked"How was the night di Angelo? Got some sleep?" Nico's jaw tensed. He didn't have to bring that up the first thing in the morning.

"Well, that's my cue to leave." Kayla announced. "See you guys around", she said as she left. But while leaving, Kayla muttered something under her breath; to be precise, she said dork.

After Kayla left, Will said: "Nico, please sit down." Nico took the chair opposite to Will. He wore the characteristic expression that doctors wear when they are about to announce something like: 'I'm sorry, it'cancer.' He had also addressed him by his first. So it looked that Will wasn't going to deliver any good news.

"Well", Will said, breaking the train of Nico's thoughts, "About last night: I did some research on that." He said, gesturing towards the volumes lying on his desk, "You are kind of ill."

"What do you mean Solace? I'm in perfect health condition." Nico said.

"Oh no", Will said, shaking his head, "I didn't mean it that way. I mean, you are like...mentally ill. You need help."

"What?!" Nico was thoroughly convinced that Will was nuts. "I am not  mentally ill Solace. And neither am I going to some asylum for counselling."

"Who said I am sending you to mental asylum? You don't need that." Will said.

Phew, maybe Will isn't nuts after all.

"...That's because I'll be doing your counselling. I think we should start from today. I don't think three p.m near the lake should bother, should it?" Will asked/announced, his sapphire eyes glittering ominously, as if he was thinking about the best ways to torture a paranoid.

Uh-oh.

Talk about jinxing your luck.

                                    ********

Hey guys!!

It was a hella long chapter. I guess it sounds a bit shitty but still...I hope you like it. Stay tuned. And please read on. 

EDITED: I sort of lengthened the chapter, and made the format a little neater so that it is easier to read. Also, I gave a small glimpse to Will's past, which is vital to the later plot. Hope you enjoy. Don't forget to vote and comment!

See ya:)))