The Solangelo Collection

Sick Day with Will Solace

Nico stood by the door of his cabin, arms crossed and tapping his foot impatiently as he waited. He was waiting, specifically, for his boyfriend to knock on his door like he did every morning so that they could walk to breakfast together. Nico didn't need Will to walk him to breakfast but it had become their own little morning routine. And Nico was one to stick to routines.

Or at least, that's what Nico was telling himself now, as he glanced at the clock that sat next to his bed.

Will was late. Will was never late. It was like he woke up with the sun, his eyes always shining while others are still trying to comprehend that a new day had started. Nico fiddled with the hem of his shirt. Maybe there was an emergency in the infirmary and Will had to go help? Maybe Will had slept in for once? Though, out of all the days for him to do that, Nico didn't think it was quite fair that it was the day that he had woken up early himself.

Maybe Will had forgotten?

Nico huffed, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation before pushing the door open and stepping out of his cabin. Will wouldn't forget, and Nico realized that he needed to push that thought away before it decided to settle in his chest.

As always, it was a bright and sunny day at camp, and as always, Nico squinted up at the sun with mild annoyance. Scrunching his fact to try and keep the sun out of his eyes, Nico began to head for the infirmary with the assumption that that would probably be the best place to find his boyfriend.

Then they could go eat breakfast together.

Pushing the infirmary doors open, Nico almost ran right into Kayla, who had her arms full of a vast supply of sunglasses and sunscreen, with a box of tissues placed precariously on top of the already unstable pile. They both stumbled back, surprised by each other's urgency.

"Oh hey!" Kayla greeted, trying to readjust the pile of objects in her arms. The box of tissues fell off the top of the pile, and Nico caught it before it hit the ground. They kept the infirmary decently clean, but Nico personally wouldn't use a tissue that had touched the infirmary floor if he didn't have to. He reached out to take a few of the items from Kayla, earning him a thankful grin. "I was about to get you. Well, at least after I delivered all of this."

"Where are we going?" Nico asked, his arms and Kayla's now equally full of sunscreen and sunglasses, as he followed her outside of the infirmary and back to the cabins. "Also, have you seen Will? He didn't come and get me for breakfast this morning." Nico paused. "Not that I need him to get me every morning for breakfast, but it's not normal for him to not show up."

"Oh shoot! I'm sorry Nico," Kayla apologized. They were nearing the Apollo Cabin now. "I forgot to tell you, and that was the one thing Will told me to do too. 'Make sure that Nico eats breakfast.' I'll go grab you some after this." Kayla paused outside of the door of the Apollo cabin and turned to look at Nico, examining him from head to toe. He shifted a bit, wondering why he was being scrutinized. "Yeah, before we go in you need to put on some sunscreen. Actually, a lot of sunscreen."

"What?"

Kayla dropped the entire pile that was in her arms, motioning for Nico to do the same before she picked up a tube of sunscreen. Reluctantly, and a little cautiously because the sunglasses seemed decently cheap and he was worried they would break, Nico also put down his pile. The tube of sunscreen that Kayla had been holding was abruptly shoved into his hands. "Okay, start putting that on and I'll find some spray just for good measure."

"Kayla," Nico started, opening the sunscreen and beginning to apply it to his face, "why do I need the sunscreen?"

"Oh, right. Because Will's sick."