sunshine | solangelo

δύο - 2

CHAPTER TWO
δύο

Dinner came and went. Campers returned to their cabins with heavy eyes and full stomachs. Nico di Angelo and Will Solace wouldn't be returning, not for a couple more hours.

The pair strolled to the Infirmary, currently run by two Apollo cabin members. When they noted Nico and Will's entrance, they finished up their current work and left quickly. Good, Nico wasn't in a particularly social mood.

"Grab the rags, will you?" Will asked. Nico nodded, peeling off his jacket and tossing it onto the back of a vacant chair.

Nico headed to the sink, where a bucket full of dried rags sat. Nico turned on the sink and waited for the water to cool before placing the bucket beneath the tap. There were nine people in the Infirmary. A couple of campers were missing limbs, but the majority were suffering from poison.

Nico waited for the bucket to fill, then turned off the tap before heaving the bucket to the center table in the Infirmary. He took a rag, wet it, and laid it across the forehead of one of the campers. He did the same for the rest of the poisoned patients. Will was cleaning the wound of another camper, replacing the bandage with a clean one.

As Nico soaked a couple of rags, he observed Will.

The son of Apollo was focused on his work, firm jaw clenched in thought. His strong yet nimble hands expertly cleaned the wound of the injured camper. His blonde hair hung just to his ears in straight tufts.

Will finished and looked up to Nico, sending his friend a small smile. Nico looked away, embarrassed to be caught staring. He felt his cheeks heat.

They worked quietly, and within several hours, the pair had cleaned every wound and were glad to see the next shift come in.

Nico had been caught in this same routine for the past three days. Will had made him promise to help him in the Infirmary for the next several days, much to Nico's dismay - at least that's what he told himself. If he was honest with himself, Nico liked Will. He was a good friend, good company to have around.

He had been trying to keep his relationship with Will that way, just company, just a friend. But Nico wasn't stupid. He may have been fourteen and younger, but he wasn't dumb. He knew he was slowly catching feelings. He had found himself wanting to spend time with Will. He found himself longing for Will Solace in the same way he used to long for Percy Jackson.

But Nico felt guilty. He didn't want Will to feel the same way about him - if that was even possible. Nico nearly snorted aloud. He couldn't even imagine a guy like Will Solace crushing on him.

Laying in bed that night, the only sound the cracking of the Greek fire and the rustling of his sheets, Nico was lost in thought, as he often was before he fell into a fitful sleep. He had found ever since his journey with Reyna, he had trouble sleeping. He tried not to Shadow Travel as much anymore (he hadn't done it at all since returning to Camp Half-Blood), as he was nearly out of energy.

And Reyna, Nico had begun to miss her. She was likely the first real friend Nico had. Before she departed for Camp Jupiter, the two of them spent many nights talking. The patrol harpies hadn't been enforcing curfew at the time, so Reyna and Nico would go out to the Canoe Lake and sit on the docks.

Nico had found himself trusting her more than anybody else in his life. He had bared himself to her, explaining many of the feelings and memories that he had exposed in South Carolina. In return, Reyna had done the same.

Maybe he would visit her when he regained the energy if she didn't come back to Camp Half-Blood first. He missed her.

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