A/N: i'm not totally satisfied with this chapter since i wrote it literally six years ago, but its just been sitting in my drafts, sooo why not post it??
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NICO
Usually, Nico can determine the outcome of things.
Never would he have expected to be welcomed so openly into Camp Half Blood— and it wasn't even out of fear—nor did he ever think of anyone choosing to be his friend, despite his pushing them away.
Reyna? Sure. Jason, maybe. But Will? Will Solace? Nico hadn't even spoken to him much before he arrived at the camp for the war. All the contact they had had was from war meetings and during the actual war against Kronos.
Nico was thinking about all of this as he sat on Half-Blood hill, gently stroking Peleus, the guardian dragon. He was twice as large as he was the last time Nico saw him.
Tears lightly twinged in his eyes as he felt the nostalgia coming- remembering his first visit to the camp, feeling the betrayal of Bianca, while at the same time already missing her, being dragged along with Percy, Rachel, and Annabeth in the labyrinth, convincing Percy to bathe in the Styx.
However, he couldn't dwell on it for long. He was thinking about his blurry memories of helping Percy escape from the underworld when the sun (of which had done nothing to help Nico's sickly pale skin) was blocked by a figure, who's hand was offered to Nico.
Nico squinted up at the figure, grinned, and accepted the hand.
"What are you doing here? You should be in the infirmary!" Will scolded, reminding Nico of Bianca.
However, as he recalled what just happened, Nico couldn't seem to make himself sad. Then he felt guilty for his lack of sadness, but that vanished quickly. It seemed Nico couldn't help but feel happier around the particular son of Apollo.
Nico sighed dramatically. "I just wanted to say hi to Peleus."
Will rolled his eyes. "He isn't going anywhere anytime soon. And you will do the same."
Will hooked his hand on the inside of Nico's elbow, and half dragged him towards the big house, much like a disappointed mother drags her son by the ear.
Nico sat down on the infirmary bed he had been occupying for the past day adn a half.
"I really don't need this." Nico said, as Will rustled around in drawers, searching for something. "There are others that need it more than me."
Nico could almost feel Will rolling his eyes. "Oh please, Nico. You're just as important as everyone else, if not more. Stop thinking you're not."
Nico looked down. He didn't want to have this conversation again- about how he honestly believed that no one truly cared about him, that no one would miss him if he left.
When he was silent, Will spoke up again. "I know you probably have self esteem issues, but whatever you think badly about yourself, it isn't true. Most heroes have had that problem. You just seem to have it worse."
Nico didn't reply to this. Instead, he continued his argument. "I should be helping instead of needing the help."
Will snorted. "Where were you two days ago?"
This time, Nico felt the wave of guilt crashing upon him. Unable to keep the emotion in his voice, he responded, "I didn't think you'd want me here."
Will sighed, turning around as he spread a bright purple colored cream on a bandage. He motioned for Nico to lay down, who, grudgingly, did.
Will knelt next to Nico, gently putting the bandage on his arm.
"I'm sorry." Will said, rubbing the bandage to make sure it stayed. "I didn't mean that. You need to stay here until you're good enough to be of any use to anybody. Your body and your mind needs healing, and in situations like this, you should always put yourself before others."
Nico nodded dully, and Will stood up, opening a tube of something and squirted it onto a q-tip, then knelt next to Nico again.
He lifted the bandage, and Nico saw that the substance on it was now a dark purple. When Will touched the q-tip to the cream, it turned a dark green, and Nico felt better than he had been in days, even weeks, despite the fact that he had no idea he had felt that bad.
"Whoa." Nico muttered as relief washed over him.
Will flashed him a grin. "Awesome, right? It's meant to balance your immune system and protect it while it repairs itself, but I added a few other things so it can also help your
nervous system too. Your nervous system is probably way out of balance, which might be why you're having problems with your powers, occasionally becoming shadow or mist."
Nico's eyes widened as he thought of that. "Thank you." Nico didn't really like being cared for, since he preferred being independent, but now he found that it's actually quite nice.
Will breathed out a puff of air through his nose. "It's nothing, but you're welcome. Now go to sleep. The medicine can only do so much when you're awake."
Nico rolled his eyes, and turned onto his side to lay down better, without laying on the bandaid. "You go to sleep too." Nico murmured. "You look tired."
Will raised his head in understanding, although Nico couldn't see. "Thanks. Maybe I will."
By the time Nico had almost drifted off, Will had gone to the side he was facing to throw away the q-tip and wash his hands. As he looked back at Nico, he couldn't help but brush the hair that was in his face out of his eyes. (Which was like, all of it.)
Little did he know, even a gesture as small as that had managed to get inside the son of Hades' dreams.
