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If anyone asked, it was because he was terribly bored and Solace had begged incessantly. It had nothing to do with the satisfaction of being useful and definitely nothing to do with heart-melting blue eyes and curls made of sunshine. Lucky for Nico, his glares (also possibly the aura of death but what can you do) were intimidating enough to drive away any questions on why Nico di Angelo, Ghost King, Son of Hades was playing nurse in the infirmary.
After a morning of nursing 101 from Will’s much too bubbly sister Kayla, (Of course I know what a thermometer does, I’m not fucking two.) and a frustrating infirmary tour from Austin, who, for some reason, only spoke in pentameter, Nico was ready to go sleep in his cabin for a week. Instead, he was put to use as Will’s personal assistant.
“I’m running low on gloves, could you go grab a box?” Nico hopped off the stool he had been perched on, next to an Ares girl who had managed to get shards of a mirror impaled in her thigh. As he walked towards the supply closet Will called out, “Oh, Nico! Could you grab a new scalpel too? Thank you~!”
Nico barely registered that it was in ancient Greek at first. It wasn’t even the first time he had heard Greek that day. Austin had smoothly switched into it earlier when English just couldn’t properly fulfill the correct metrical feet. However, as he made his way back to Will, Nico’s ears were tuned and he was able to pick up a decent amount of the ancient language. As it turned out, the healers would slip in and out of Greek and English almost as if there wasn’t a difference.
“Did you hear? The son of Jupiter was in here this morning.”
Was that...?
“Damn, I only have afternoon shifts this week. Wouldn’t mind patching him up if you catch my drift.”
That time it was unmistakable. They were speaking Italian. Badly American accented Italian but Italian nonetheless.
Nico’s hand clenched around the scalpel in his hand as he slowly made his way back to Will.
“Well at least we’ve got Death Boy now, lose one big three, gain another.”
“True, but Solace has dibs.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t look.”
Nico numbly handed Will the gloves and scalpel, still straining to hear the conversation. “Hey! Ravi’s right, I call dibs, no flirting with my assistant.” Nico nearly jumped out of his skin when Will called out from beside him. “Oh, thanks Nico! You even got the right size of gloves, you’re a natural.” Nico was convinced Will’s smile literally lit up the room, was it an Apollo thing or was he just that attractive?
“Yeah, no problem.” Nico paused to wet his lips before continuing. “Was that Italian you were speaking?”
Will’s voice was muffled as he leaned over their patient. “Yup, with it being the language of music and y’know, our dad, it comes naturally.” As he pulled out the last piece of mirror shard, Will paused and bit his lip. Which was not super hot shut up Nico. “We never say anything super important in it but let me know if it’s too much and I’ll stop ‘kay? I know how annoying not knowing the language can be, have you ever been in the Aphrodite cabin while they gossip? I don’t recommend it unless you’re fluent in French.” Will chuckled and started disinfecting the girl’s thigh.
Nico hummed in response. Should he tell Solace that he in fact, did know the language? There was no doubt that Will would find out eventually but did he need to find out now?
“Not gonna lie, I’m pretty glad you can’t understand me. That way I can tell you how cute you are. Like your freckles, they’re so damn cute.” Nico marveled at how casual Will looked saying that, he had an air of confidence surrounding him that was pretty freaking hot.
Yeah, Nico wasn’t going to tell Will.
The next morning Nico was given the task of learning how to properly tape an ankle. You’d think it would be as easy as wrapping the tape around the ankle but Nico was finding out the hard way that there was a certain technique and pattern to it. On the bright side, Nico had found a willing practice dummy in Jason. The majority of the morning was filled with Jason’s endless chatter about everything from Piper’s new hairstyle to the logistics of mythological action figures. Nico would occasionally pipe up (I used to have a shit ton of action figures of the gods. No way. Yes way. Show me. Yeah right, I have a reputation to maintain, Grace.)
Eventually a comfortable silence fell over them, Nico still wrapping and re-wrapping Jason’s ankle.
“This is so worth getting up early for.”
“Mhm, still can’t decide if I like him better with or without glasses though.”
“Oh, glasses definitely.”
Nico was so engrossed with the conversation he didn’t notice he had stopped wrapping until Jason nudged him with his foot. “Are they speaking Italian?”
Nico nodded.
“Didn’t Frank say you sp-mmmpph” Jason was cut off by Nico’s hand over his mouth. “Yes I do, I was born and raised in Venice. However, they don’t know that.” Nico raised his eyebrows pointedly and felt Jason smile under his hand in understanding. Nico took his hand back and went to grab the roll of tape again. He was glad they were far enough away from everyone else that speaking in hushed tones allowed the two an amount of privacy.
“Are you spying on them?”
“I guess you could say that.”
A pause.
“So, what are they saying?”
Nico sighed. “Well, Cyrus, the one with the cornrows, thinks you look better with glasses but Eleana, the one in the scrubs, can’t decide which she likes better.”
Jason’s eyes widened. “They’re talking about us?”
“Uh yeah, that’s why they speak in Italian. They’re smart though, they never use names.”
“Hmm. Have they said anything about you?”
“Uh, yeah.” Nico pointedly looked away, suddenly engrossed in a wrinkle in some of the tape.
“So... what did they say?”
“Well... I-uh. Sam thinks I need a haircut. And Kayla complimented my ass?” Nico was looking anywhere but Jason. “Now...” Nico dropped off.
“Now?” Jason prodded him.
“Now they’re guessing my sexual orientation.” Nico pulled the tape particularly tight. Since confessing and consequentially outing himself to Percy (and Annabeth) Nico had slowly but surely become increasingly more comfortable and assured in his own skin. So maybe having people discuss your spot on the Kinsey scale isn’t exactly fun, but at least it didn’t send a pit of self-hate coursing through Nico like it once might have.
“Well are they getting it right?”
“I’m not really sure, I’m not exactly up to date with Italian queer slang.” Nico returned to wrapping. “ So far they’ve called me ambidextrous and Catamito?” The word rolled off Nico’s tongue like syrup, it felt weird to speak his native language again.
Jason became much too excited, practically bouncing in his seat. “I know that one!” Nico quickly hushed him, glancing back at the healers who luckily hadn’t noticed Jason’s outburst. Quieter, Jason continued. “Catamito,” Nico cringed at his pronunciation. “is actually derived from the Latin word catamitus, which, in turn comes from Ganymede, Zeus’s .. er... cupbearer.”
Nico raised an eyebrow. “You mean his gay lover?”
“Yeah, him.”
“So Kayla thinks I’m gay?”
“Probably.”
“Cool.”
Their conversation was cut short by Will coming over to inspect Nico’s work on Jason’s ankle. By the time the three were done, most healers and any mobile patients were being herded towards the dining pavilion for lunch.
Later that day Nico was standing next to Will, sterilizing various tools. As Nico placed a pair of tweezers in the sterile pile, Will glanced over at Nico, catching his attention with a blinding grin. Seriously, did anyone have the right to look that good?
“Did you know your last name’s Italian?”
Nico snorted. “Uh... yes.” He picked up an angled teaser needle. “I was aware.”
“Yup.” Will drew out the word, popping the p. “It means angel.”
“No shit, it’s literally angel with an o on the end.” Nico raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. Even without the advantage of growing up in Italy, his last name was pretty obvious.
Will chuckled. “Yeah I guess it’s no mystery.”
In an attempt to fill the awkward silence that had fallen over them, Nico swallowed and asked, “Can you say something in Italian?”
“Sure, what should I say?”
“I dunno, whatever.”
“Okay, well earlier my brother was saying you need a haircut, I kind of agree. Your hair’s getting kinda shaggy. But then again you could rock a ponytail.”
Nico had to force himself not the reach up to self consciously run his fingers through his hair.
“The skinny jeans you’re wearing are sinfully tight, oh my gods. Kayla was so right about your ass.”
Nico willed away the blush creeping up his neck.
“Did you know you have freckles? I didn’t realize until recently when you started spending time in the sun. They’re really faint but they’re there.”
Nico was about to reply when the Cecil burst into the infirmary behind them yelling something about hiding from an enraged Lou Ellen, forcing Will to leave Nico to cleaning the instruments.
This went on for almost a full week. Honestly, Nico was proud of his acting skills. He managed to make his way around the infirmary just letting commentary about everything from his fashion choices to Hedge’s son’s first steps roll right off him. He had to admit though, having Jason as a confidant helped a lot.
“So let me get the straight, Will has been explicitly flirting with you, all but confessing his undying adoration and you’re just letting him?”
“Yeah pretty much.”
Nico took a large bite of his breakfast burrito as Jason threw his arms up in exasperation.
“Well what’s going to happen when he finds out that you’ve been understanding him this whole time?”
“I haven’t really thought that far ahead.”
“Good luck man. You’ll need it.”
That afternoon Nico was put to work prepping stations around the clinic while Will and Kayla discussed their upcoming procedure. He bustled around, skillfully avoiding various objects with battle-honed grace.
“Holy shit Will, just ask him out. He's standing right there!” Nico stiffened.
“No, I can’t, he’s different from other guys! And probably straight. Like, the entire camp was confident he was crushing hard on Wise Girl-“
“Maybe he’s bi, maybe he even liked Percy you heteronormative piece of shit, but you’re not gonna know until you fucking. ask. him!”
If it wasn’t for Nico feeling like his face was going to combust and his insides fall out, he might have been more concerned for Will and Kayla’s future patient that they certainly were not prepping for. As it stood, Nico was debating his chances of survival, even if his intestines did fall out, at least he was already in the infirmary. What better place to die of embarrassment and anxiety?
Nico was so wrapped up in their conversation and his own impending doom he didn’t notice the wheeled cart in front of him. His foot, however, made quick friends with it as he kicked the wheel and sent shooting pains from his toe that had no right to be that agonizing.
“FUCK!”
“Language!” Will’s apologetic smile in Nico’s direction was just as camp councilor-y as expected, he held it for a second before his features screwed up in confusion. “Was that... Italian?”
Nico winced. “Yes?”
“How do you know Italian?” Will’s faced looked a bit terrified at this point. Kayla was slowly inching away.
“I was born and raised in Venice.”
“You’re fluent? In Italian?” Nico nodded.
“You know everything we’ve been saying?” Will buried his face in his hands.
“All about how cute I am?” Nico raised his eyebrows and smirked wryly. “Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Will’s mortification was practically rolling off him in waves.
Nico looked down at his fingers, twisting his ring. “I’m sorry.” A breath. “You were more confident when you thought I couldn’t understand you and... I guess I wanted to know how you really felt.” The last part came out quieter and slurred together.
Will was obviously flustered, he tried to speak a few times, gathering himself up but stopping each time, the words escaping him. He took a deep breath and then muttered under his breath, “fuck it.”
Nico felt Will’s hands on his cheeks before he felt his lips. It barely registered that he probably should kiss back, or at least close his eyes. Before he could do either, Will pulled away.
Nico’s view was filled with the bluest eyes he had ever seen. “Finally.” It came out breathy and warm with fondness.
“So you...?” Will looked hopeful.
“Yeah.” Nico felt himself smile.
“Okay so this is real cute and I’d love to give you two a moment but Will is supposed to remove an appendix in like ten minutes so we need to make like a tree and leave.” Kayla’s southern drawl shattered the bubble that had surrounded Will and Nico.
As she ushered Will towards the operating room, Will turned and grinned at Nico, “Later?”
“Later.”