The Solangelo Collection

Personal Ice Pack

As a child of Apollo, Will was hoping that he wouldn't fall victim to the sun. He had never gotten a sunburn, he woke up with the sun in the morning, and the more that he was in the sunlight, the more energy he had. Nico liked to tease Will and tell him that he was a plant, soaking up the sunlight for his main source of energy, and honestly, Will wasn't able to deny it. The sun and Will got along splendidly - except for one thing.

The sun was hot.

Will's body temperature has always been a little higher than the average person, though he doesn't know why. Maybe he has an overactive immune system, or maybe his body was actually trying to process the sun rays into energy. No matter what the reason, Will ran a higher temperature than most people, which leads to the singular problem he has with the sun. The sun was hot, and Will did not need the extra warmth, especially at a summer camp for demigods where the sun always managed to shine. However, Will seemed to have fallen into a bit of luck, as the infirmary was one of the few buildings within the parameters of the camp that was air conditioned.

Usually.

Today, the air conditioning was out. The heat was seeping through the walls, windows, and doors, settling in the building as a humid haze. The windows had been opened to try and let the heat escape with the help of fans that had been brought in, but to no avail. While a group of the Hephaestus kids worked on trying to fix the air conditioning, Will was stuck in what was once a cool paradise but was now his own humid hell.

Will was pulled from his thoughts as a black scrunchie hit him in the face. "Pull your hair back, it'll help," Kayla said, arms crossed. "If you do one of those overdramatic sighs again, I think I'm going to lose it."

"Thanks Kayla," Will murmured, starting the process of pulling his hair back. He watched Nico stoop down to pick something up off the floor, smiling slightly when he realized that Nico was moving as if his bones didn't creak like an old house.

Not that Will would ever tell Nico that's what his bones sounded like.

Nico's joints probably weren't creaking today, Will realized, because the heat usually helped Nico feel better.

"Do you want any more water?" Nico asked, walking up to where Will was sitting. He had also pulled his hair back with a scrunchie Kayla had given him, though his was yellow. Pieces of loose hair kept falling in his face, causing Nico to unconsciously tuck it behind his ear. Nico grabbed Will's water bottle off of the floor, looking at Will questioningly.

Luckily for Will, the infirmary had been relatively slow today, which meant that he had been able to sit and drink water in an attempt to remain cool. Nico, on the other hand, had been organizing all day, though Will wasn't quite sure what he was organizing.

"Thanks Neeks, but I'll get it myself. I should probably move," Will replied, standing up and taking the water bottle from Nico's hands. As he went to go get more ice water, Nico followed, his eyes following Will's movements closely. "How are you feeling so far today? It looks like the heat is helping with your joint pain," Will finally asked, holding the door to the break room open so that Nico could enter as well.

"It is," Nico replied, rolling his shoulders a tad, "I've been organizing the bottom shelves in the rooms today, and my ankles feel fine." Will nodded, filling his water bottle with ice that he knew would quickly melt anyways. "Will?" Will paused, looking in Nico's direction, who was standing with his eyebrows pulled together in concern. "Are you doing okay?"

Will sighed before giving Nico a small smile, resuming his ice scooping. "Yeah, I'll be fine. The temperature is just getting to me."

"So you're not getting sick? You're just hot?"

"Of course, I'm always hot," Will quickly replied, shooting Nico an over exaggerated wink. Nico rolled his eyes, but a small smile crept onto his face. "But yes, just hot."

As Will was screwing the lid back onto his water bottle, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. Stiffening with the expectation that the physical contact would only make the heat more unbearable, Will quickly relaxed as he realized that this was not the case. While Nico's body seemed to like the increased heat of the environment, it was like his body refused to absorb it, causing Nico to be cool. In the middle of the hottest, most humid part of camp, Nico was cold, and Will's most favorite person in the world.

Which, was usually the case.

Will sat down his water bottle and turned, taking Nico in his arms and resting his chin on the top of his fluffy mop of hair.

"You're freezing," Will stated, pulling Nico in closer. "Are you sure you're warm enough?"

"I've been told I'm cold," Nico replied, adjusting a tad so that he could wrap his arms all the way around Will's torso. "I think we balance each other out thermodynamically." Will laughed before placing a small kiss on the top of Nico's hair.

"I think you might be right."