Warming to You

The Smouldering

A / N I included a lil map for you for this chapter <3

Will awoke early the next morning, staring up at the bunk overhead, still trying to comprehend what had happened the night before. He had kissed Nico di Angelo. How on earth had he managed that? He rolled over and buried his face in his pillow, blushing despite himself at the memory.

Once he got his heart rate back to a non-life-threatening level, he turned towards the window, seeing the first glimpse of the sun as it rose over Half-Blood hill. He heard his other cabin mates begin to stir, as was the way with the Apollo kids - they were all very early risers. Consequently, they also fell asleep promptly at night, often before other cabins had even made it to their bunks. Certainly before the second call of the harpies, so hopefully none of them had heard him come in late the night before. He didn't feel like trying to explain himself this early.

Will sat himself up, letting the soft covers fall erratically around his waist. He stretched away the tension that had built up while he slept, before slumping his shoulders forward, arms resting on bent knees. He was combing his long, golden hair out of his weary, dream-filled eyes when Austin dropped down from the bunk above him, startling the last of his sleepy haze away.

"God's Austin," Will said, stifling a yawn. "Little warning next time?" Austin turned and grinned at Will, already wide awake.

"You're just tired 'cause you came in late last night," he said with a wink. "Who were you out risking the harpies with, anyway?"

God's damn it, already?  thought Will. It's too early for interrogations. He rolled his eyes at Austin, who walked away chuckling to himself. Will rose from his bunk and threw on a shirt, wanting to get out of the cabin as early as he could.

He ran into Kayla on his way out. He sidestepped her awkwardly, already anticipating the string of questions forming on her lips, likely about his late arrival the previous evening, his less than presentable appearance, and the hasty exit he was making this morning, none of which he quite wanted to address. He made it out the door before she could even open her mouth and made straight for the archery range.

His thoughts had been all over the place since he had left Nico last night, and he couldn't seem to get them in check. He thought maybe getting some training in before breakfast might help him clear his head. He kept his head down, studying the loose stones as they turned underfoot.

He was just passing the first of the strawberry fields when he finally tore his gaze from the ground beneath him. His body began to turn, without his head's consents, his eyes being drawn to a pale figure walking swiftly, a wonderfully short distance away. When Will realised who it was, his heart leapt in his chest. Considering he was a 'medical expert', the sensation did  worry him slightly.

"Nico," he called out, his excited pitch cutting swiftly through the crisp morning air. The son of Hades turned, raised a hand in acknowledgment and continued on his way, hands shoved back into his jacket pockets.

Will tried not to appear too crestfallen, but he was confused. He thought he and Nico were closer now. They had gotten just about as close as two people could the previous night. Before Will had left, Nico had said to him 'See you tomorrow'. Will knew he was no people expert but saying see you tomorrow sort of implied you wanted to see them tomorrow. Nico, however, didn't seem to have read that social convention small print and seemed to be giving Will the cold shoulder this morning.

Of course, he acted like this with everyone one day or another, just turning cold with no explanation, but Will hadn't expected him to be treating him this way - not after last night.

Will watched the son of Hades stalk off towards the combat arena, and he, in turn, made his way to the archery range.

As each intrusive thought made it into his head, he acknowledged it, pondered it, and released it with arrow after arrow he let fly. He didn't even notice where they landed. He shot until his arms grew too heavy to hold his bow. Then, he collected all his arrows and fired them again. He had never been the strongest archer, and that combined with his scattered thoughts was reflected in the dozens of arrows that had been fired into the outer rings of the target the ground surrounding it. One had gone so astray, it had embedded itself high in a tree on the edge of the range.

Will sighed in exasperation and dropped his bow and quiver at the base of the tree. He circled it once, surveying the easiest path up before he began to climb. He plucked the arrow from the trunk and settled himself on a branch. He allowed his head to fall back and make sharp contact with the tree. From his vantage point, he could see the southern forest stretched out to his left, and the strawberry plants roaming the fields to his right.

Directly in front of him lay the combat arena, where he could see Nico practicing his swordplay alone. He fought against invisible opponents, sparring with unseen enemies. Just as Will had sent his thoughts flying with his arrows, Nico cut his down with his stygian blade. His aviator jacket had been cast aside and despite the chill in the air his dark fringe was already beginning to stick to his forehead. The warm light of the dawn stretched out through the morning sky, basking a prince of darkness in its brilliance.

Will stayed in that tree, as uncomfortable as it was, for what felt like hours. The sun rose over the hill, and campers began moving towards the Dining Pavilion. Eventually, Nico left to join the others, sheathing his sword and retrieving the discarded jacket. Only when he was sure he couldn't be seen did Will clamber down from the tree. He slipped off the lowest branch, jumping the remaining distance. He quickly snatched up his bow and quiver and collected the final arrows he'd left haphazardly around the edge of the range.

Will raced towards the pavilion but was still one of the last to arrive. Scanning the crowd of still drowsy demigods Will spotted Nico sitting alone like he always did, his head bent low. His fringe was falling into his eyes, but the son of Hades made no move to brush it aside. Instead, Nico was twisting the silver skull ring on his finger, his regular nervous habit.

"Solace!" Will heard, coming from a camper in the assembled crowd of demigods from the Apollo cabin, who seemed to be the only attentive table present. This shook Will from his daze, and he rushed off towards his cabinmates. He had no desire to barrel straight into in the torrent of questions awaiting him, but he had even less of a desire to be the only camper left standing.

In his hurry to join his cabin mates, Will didn't notice that the call that had startled him, also brought someone else's attention to his presence. Nico watched the son of Apollo hurry toward his table unable to keep the longing from his eyes. He dropped his head to hide the feelings he couldn't bury out of sight.

He hadn't been ready to approach Will about last night yet and had left his cabin early to get away from others so he could address his thoughts. He had gone to the arena to sort through them alone, but as his bad luck would have it, he ran into the one person he was trying to avoid. And what had he done upon seeing Will? Given him a weird, awkward wave and retreated back into his shell of social reclusiveness. He'd likely ruined the one relationship he cared about the most. Will deserved an explanation. Nico owed him that. And he would get one.

As soon as he figured out how to phrase everything he needed to say. He didn't want to ruin anything more than he already had.

As soon as the campers were dismissed Nico left briskly, returning to the arena. He fought ferociously, allowing the voices invading his mind to quieten themselves. The louder the thoughts grew, the more violent his strikes became.

"Need a real partner for a change?"

Nico cut down a final straw dummy before lowering his sword. Breathing heavily, he turned and faced the only intrusive voice he was sure had not come from his mind...