Chapter Text
~~NIGHT~~
The infirmary was pitch-dark.
After so many days spent struggling through shadows, Nico was sick of seeing darkness. The lack of open windows, brilliant streams of pounding rain, and new moon didn't help with this.
Around him, dozens of injured demigods snored. The Battle of Half-Blood hill had dealt a heavy blow to both the Greek and Roman forces. Just when Nico had resigned himself to sneaking out for a midnight stroll (possibly escape), he spotted a line of illumination from the corner office.
Who the Hades was up at this hour?
Quietly, so as to not wake the others, Nico slipped his shoes on and grabbed his aviator jacket. His sleeves were still ruined from Lycaon's attack at the Temple of Diana, but the garment was almost like a second skin. Nothing about it was particularly Italian or reminiscent of Bianca for that matter, but he'd been through so much with this jacket... Minos, Camp Jupiter, those horrible days in Otis and Ephialtes' jar, Split, and finally, carrying the Athena Parthenos across the world.
The floorboards creaked, and he winced at the sound. Little Lou Ellen from Hecate cabin, who had suffered some sort of fatigue from magical overexertion, mumbled something in her sleep. Nico walked more quickly, keeping his footsteps delicate.
"Need to order more ambrosia... maybe I can cool it down with something?"
Oh. Of course.
Should he do it? Nico hesitated for a moment, then brought his fist up to the door and rapped on it gently. The mumbling stopped instantly.
Shuffling. The click of the door lock. A pair of watercolour-blue eyes peeked at Nico through the crack between the door and the doorframe.
Will Solace frowned. "Nico. Good to see you, but you should be in bed."
"So should you." He blurted. He wanted to clap a hand over his mouth. He was not here to make sassy comments at the son of Apollo. Why had he even come over here? He should have minded his own business and left Will alone. But there was just... something. Something that had drawn him to the lamplit door.
The son of Apollo frowned. "I've got work to do, and you're recovering from pushing yourself past the point of exhaustion for two weeks straight."
"When's the last time you slept?" Damn it. Why was he being so nosy? This was literally none of his business.
He expected Will to glare, or tell him to shut up and leave, but he just sighed. "No. You're right. I'm useless as a healer if I'm not functional."
"You're not useless."
"Sure." Will replied. "Tell you what. Since you seem so keen on staying up, walk me to my cabin before you go to bed."
"Your cabin is literally about forty feet away." Nico pointed out.
"Humor me."
So he did. He'd intended to go for a walk anyways, he told himself. Killing two Stymphalian birds with one stone.
The two boys carefully crept out of the building. The outside was as pitch-dark as it was inside. Nico could feel the slight vibrancy of the grass beneath his feet. Experimentally, he tried to deaden a patch of grass beneath his right foot.
It was like the wind had been knocked out of him. Like Favonius had dissolved his lungs into freezing air and left his brain to oxidize on the ground.
Nico slumped, suddenly unable to hold himself upright, and Will caught him in a bridal carry. Nico was expecting a told-you-so, but Will just gently set him down against the doorframe. "I'll get some nectar. Wait here."
It wasn't like he had much of a choice. His legs had pretty much stopped functioning.
Will returned a moment later with the medicinal drink. "No more Underworld-y magic for you, death boy."
"Don't call me that." But it was only half-hearted. He took a sip of the nectar that Will handed him. It was sweet, somehow bright. It fizzled on his tongue. It tastes like the sun would, he thought.
The demigods sat there for a moment while Nico finished off his nectar. Will gazed silently up at the cloudy sky. "You know what's nice about clouds?"
Nico could have sworn his heart skipped a beat. "What?"
Their eyes met for a moment. "There's always something behind them. Something beautiful. But they're beautiful on their own too."
~~DAY~~
Nico woke up to the sun on his face. This was a largely unfamiliar sensation, since he was used to either a) waking up in a cabin/Roman barrack or b) waking up in the Underworld where there was no sunlight.
"Nnngh?" Next to him, Will Solace stirred. "Oh my Gods. Did we fall asleep out here? Ha. Guess we both needed that shut-eye."
"Oh!" Nico looked to where Will was now pointing. "The clouds moved away."
Maybe it was his still sleep-addled brain, but in that moment, all Nico could think about was the light reflecting off Will's eyes.