Three days in the infirmary

The Second Day

Nico

Nico awoke from a surprisingly dreamless sleep, too bright sunlight shining through a slit in the curtains, directly in his eyes.

He groaned and rolled onto his other side, his back to the window, and pulled the thin blanket over his head.

It was strange that he slept without any nightmares the night before. The soft harmonic notes of the guitar along with Will's voice had calmed his mind, Nico thought, and must have, by some healing magic of Apollo, blocked out all dreams, allowing him to sleep peacefully through the long night.

He suddenly heard footsteps, becoming louder as they got closer to to the cot. "Morning Sunshine!" Nico groaned in response, keeping the blanket over his head.

Will sighed. "C'mon, Death Boy. Get up. It's already noon." Nico made no attempt to move. Will sighed again and crossed his arms. "I'm gonna count to three, and when I get to three you better get up or I'll make you." Nico snorted. Make him?? He wouldn't dare try.

"One...." Will started the countdown..

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Will

Will crossed his arms impatiently, starting down at the lump in the cot. "One....." Nico didn't move.

"Two....." Still no attempt at getting up from the shorter boy.

"Three." Will yanked the blanket off Nico and lifted him up over his shoulder, despite his protests. The dark haired boy hit Will's back in a weak attempt to make him put him down. Will ignored this and proceeded to carry Nico outside.

"Will!! Put. Me. Down. Now!!!" Nico twisted himself from Will's arms and landed on his feet with a thump. Nico glared menacingly up at Will, but he didn't flinch or look away like other smarter people would. No, Will kept eye contact, unblinking. It lasted a minuet or two, then Nico blinked, probably in surprise of Will's fearlessness, crossed his arms and glared, annoyed. "What happened to owing you three days?"

"Oh, you still do, but i'm not going to have you shrivel up laying in bed three days straight. You need sunshine and decent exercise, meaning a walk." Nico huffed. "A walk??" Will grinned a bright smile. "You heard me, Sunshine. A walk. Now let's get started."

Will began to walk towards the dining pavilion, Nico trudging behind him. "What makes you think I won't just escape, run or shadow travel away?" Will turned and faced the paler boy, grinning. "You won't! I know you won't! And just in case you were wondering, you missed breakfast, so we're going to get you lunch. And yes, you will eat. I'm not gonna make you eat all of it but at least some. We need to get you on a healthy diet again." Will turned back forward, hearing a grumpy mumble from Nico, but ignored it.

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Nico

After walking to the pavilion and back around to the infirmary, Nico once again sat on his cot, a plate of food before him. He picked at the food with little appetite as Will made his rounds to the rest of the patients. When he returned, Nico glanced up, only to see a disappointed look on Will's face.

"Are you not hungry at all?" Will questioned him. Nico shrugged in response, continuing to pick at the food. "C'mon, Nico.. Even if you're not, you really should eat at least a little something." Nico grunted in response, keeping his gaze on his food.

He heard Will sigh in defeat. "I'm just trying to help you, Nico. But i'm not gonna force you to eat." Nico didn't look up as the sound of foot steps retreated, until he heard them no more. He let out a deep sigh and ate small bits of food that he had previously picked off, still not hungry.

When Will came beck to Nico's cot, Nico had set the plate of slightly nibbled food on the table beside him, and lay facing the window, with his back to Will. He heard footsteps make their way over to him, then leave. Soon the footsteps returned, belonging to Will.

There was the sound of chair legs scraping against the floor closer to Nico's cot. Silence. Soft guitar strings followed. Will didn't sing this time, but only hummed. It was still equally as soothing as the night before, and Nico soon drifted, once again, to a peaceful, dreamless sleep.