Warming to You

The Spark

The echo of song hung in the air like the sparks that had escaped the flames. Will Solace sat by Camp Half-Blood's enchanted campfire and listened to the echos. Sometimes he joined them, other times he just let them play out in his head, filling the silence. He recalled a particularly terrible ballad sung by Percy and Piper. He began to point out that there was no way in Hades that Percy could be related to sirens when he realised the other half of his conversation had begun to doze against his shoulder. Will didn't mind so much; any contact he could share with the self-proclaimed 'Ghost King' was welcomed.

He sat gazing at the enchanted flames, lying low due to the lack of enthused campers surrounding it, when a most unexpected thing happened. The son of Hades slipped from his shoulder and lay in his lap. The fire shot up, in tune with Will's shock. Once he had recovered himself, he leaned over slowly, to see if Nico was still asleep. Had his movement been intentional? No, Will confirmed, the son of Hades had not awoken.

Holy Hera 

The  Nico di Angelo was asleep, his head in Will's lap. Will had been in awe of the guy since the first Titan War. Nico had been the second guy to ever grab Will's attention that way. He would never admit it, but Will had previously had a thing for Percy Jackson, for a short time - who hadn't? - but he got over that quick. That school-yard-type crush had been completely pushed aside when he met Nico.

There were many things about Nico that Will found endearing. Sure, he was cute, in a dark, brooding kind of way. He was also powerful, as he had demonstrated countless times; surviving alone in the Labyrinth, summoning armies of the dead to fight in the Battle for Manhatten, and shadow-traveling the Athena Parthenos as well as his companions halfway around the world in a matter of weeks. In Will's opinion, neither Percy nor Jason held a candle to Nico's power. Of course, it wasn't just the extent of his abilities, but how he used them - so utterly selflessly.

He'd been dealt a rough hand in life, but despite everything he'd been through, everything Nico did he did for others. And of course, the fate of the world, sometimes. Admittedly, he was stubborn,  seclusive, and tended to scowl at anyone who happened to pass him by. But Will saw the hope and light peeking through the dark shroud Nico had wrapped so tightly around himself. 

It, therefore, was quite a shock for Will to find that guy - the Nico - who he admired so greatly, peacefully asleep in his lap. In this state, the worry almost disappeared from Nico's face, warmly lit by the glow of the fire. Will couldn't help but notice that Nico looked simply angelic in the light of the dancing flames, just like his surname, di Angelo. 

They had been growing close for some time now, ever since the war with Gaia, when Will had forced Nico to spend time in the infirmary, much to his patient's dismay. Now, however, he saw Nico as more a friend than a patient. As much as he wanted there to be more between them, Will knew his limits. Nico hated any contact he had with other people, physical or otherwise. It had taken weeks for Will to be able to even sit next to him this way. He doubted Nico would be very impressed with the situation when he woke, but Will decided he would face the backlash when it came. It was worth it for these precious few moments he had.

Will gently stroked Nico's hair as he slept, marveling at his own actions. How many times had he seen Nico run his hands through his hair? Often when he was flustered or frustrated, both occurred very frequently in Will's company. How many times had he wanted to be the one to push Nico's ever-growing fringe out of his eyes, or tuck his hair behind his ear? Nico had a tendency to do that when he was thinking, though Will doubt he even noticed he did. There were a lot of things Will noticed about Nico that others didn't. Like even though he seemed determined to push people away, Will knew Nico was desperately lonely, and he wanted to be the one to change that. 

They sat like this until the sky faded from blue to pink, to a hazy purple. The first of the stars came and went, and the moon began to rise in the sky. Silently, baking in its brilliant light, Will prayed to his aunt crossing the sky, his father who had disappeared from view and all the God's up on Olympus for many more moments like this. Moments where Will could pretend for a time, however small, that things were okay. Of course, such moments could never last. 

The fire, which had been a quiet, soft yellow suddenly flared a dark and dangerous burnt orange, as Will heard the screech of the first Harpies coming out for the night. He needn't worry yet, the first call was merely a warning. But he did, despite how little he wanted to, need to wake Nico, and head back to the cabins. 

Will already felt guilty at what he had to do. Nico was sleeping so soundly, not a trace of a nightmare seemed to cross his face, which Will knew was a rarety. With worried consideration of the consequences of waking the slumbering angel before him, Will leaned closer, to coax him awake.

"Nico? Neeks?" Will whispered, stroking Nico's angular cheekbones with his thumb. The son of Hades stirred for the first time all night. "Hey," Will whispered," Morning sunshine." Will grinned despite himself. 

Nico, turned, facing towards Will, his eyes still shut tight, clinging to his place between sleep and awake.

"Don't call me sunshine" he mumbled at Will's torso. His dark, sleep-filled, melancholy eyes opened slowly, gradually letting in the light of the dying fire. When he was met with the brilliant orange of Will's shirt he froze, seeming to realise the predicament he found himself in. He sat up awkwardly, mumbled a clumsy goodnight and rose to leave the campfire ground.

"Wait," Will called before he could stop himself, "Uh, let me walk with you." He'd meant it as a suggestion, but it escaped him as a question. A pathetically desperate question, Will thought to himself, miserably. Nico's eyes flicked between his and the ground. To Will's amazement and sheer delight, he nodded once, curtly, and slowly turned towards the cabins, allowing Will time to scramble to his feet and follow. 

It may have been a trick of the light or a result of sitting too close to the warm fire, but Will swore that what he caught of Nico's face before he turned away was flushed a deep pink.

 A/N  Sorry if this was a little dry, the next one will be fluffier I hope, I sort of just went off on a tangent about Will's thoughts. Also thank you to @22mita for the fanart in this chapter. But yeah, until next time.