Nico was now in his own cabin alone with Will "Great" he thought to himself. "As if this couldn't get any more awkward".
Will set him down on the couch and asked: "Do you have any ice?"
Nico raised his eyebrows. "Do you think I have ice?"
Will turned around to go get some from his own cabin when Nico said: "It's in the mini freezer, on top of the mini fridge."
Will opened his mouth smiling in surprise as if he was about to say something but ended up just rolling his eyes playfully and went to get the ice.
Nico thought about how technically it was against camp rules for two campers of different parents to be in the same cabin alone. Then again this rule had been broken countless times, and people might actually be happy Nico had some company for a change.
Will came back with a ziplock bag filled with ice. "Elevate your ankle and put this on top" he ordered.
Nico squirmed around so that he was laying on the couch horizontally and his ankle was elevated on one of the armrests. The only reason he was doing it was to avoid another one of Will's "Doctor' s orders".
Will gently placed the ice pack on Nico's ankle. Nico winced at the contact of the cold on his skin. "I'll be fine. I'll heal." said Nico grumpily.
Will ignored the son of Hades' comments and grabbed a chair to sit beside him.
Nico didn't say anything when Will started playing with his black, greasy, hair intertwining it between his fingers. They maintained silence for a while, Nico liked the feeling of Will running his fingers through his hair and almost dozed off.
"Feeling better now?" said Will. Nico lifted his head to look at the son of Apollo and said: "Sprained ankles don't heal in five minutes."
Will smiled. "I thought you were one of the most powerful demigods, son of one of the big three, and couldn't be hurt from a stupid sprained ankle."
Nico huffed and said "I've suffered worse," as Will continued to run his hands through Nico's locks and said: "I know."
Nico smiled and closed his eyes, falling asleep to Will gently massaging his scalp.
+++
Nico woke up with a blanket on top of him, the ice off his ankle, and an empty chair next to him. He yawned and got off the couch to check what time it was. It wasn't until he had taken a few steps that he realized he could walk perfectly. Will must have used Apollo magic or something; either that or he really did heal overnight, which was unlikely.
He heard the horn blow signaling breakfast, so Nico quickly showered, changed and headed off towards breakfast.
When he arrived Will was already munching on some waffles. When their eyes met Will smiled without showing his teeth and nodded his head friendlily. Nico responded by slightly raising his hand and waving.
He got his waffles and sat down at the Hades' table by himself. Again.
He had just begun to chew on his first waffle when Leo appeared in front of him, his mouth so full that waffle was almost coming out.
He swallowed some of it, not all, and said: "Hey, uhm, Jason wanted me to let you know that Hazel and Frank will be back from New Rome in two days."
Nico barely understood what he had said with all the waffle in his mouth, but nodded. "Uhm, thanks."
Leo gave him a big thumbs up and tried to smile, but quickly realized it was a bad idea because some waffle came out of his mouth. Once Leo had walked back to the Efesto table Nico continued eating in silence until he had finished two untopped waffles and was full enough to go back to his cabin.
As he was walking, he suddenly felt someone grip him tightly around his shoulder. "Hey Nico," said Piper with an evil grin on her face.
Nico didn't say anything before she continued "So, some of the Aphrodite kids, myself included, are organizing some match-making quizzes, I'm sure a handsome, single son of Hades like you would be interested."
Nico didn't care if she was using charmspeak, he would not be taking some stupid match-making quiz.
"Piper," said Nico slowly, "Being that you are a daughter of Aphrodite, or in any case, someone who is in a beautiful relationship, you should know that love cannot be forced. I plan on finding my partner myself, for I believe in the power of true love and finding your soul mate. Now, I do not wish to take your cheesy little test to dictate my love life and my choices."
Nico turned on his heels and walked away, leaving Piper speechless. She knew he was being sarcastic but she also couldn't go against anything he had said.
+++
Nico had sword practice and even though he really did not want to go, like always, he forced himself since it was a camp requirement and Chiron had already had a conversation with him about skipping training.
He walked into the training camp to see Percy talking to some other kids and Annabeth murdering some Ares guy in a duel.
"Hey Neeks!" said Percy, spotting him.
Nico felt the urge to turn around and leave but he commanded his feet to keep moving forward.
"Today you are going to have a small lesson with Will. I'll be teaching you guys some basic tricks."
The guy next to Percy took off his helmet to reveal a sun-kissed face with golden-blonde hair, which he was shaking to get rid of his helmet-hair (having helmet hair did not make him any less attractive).
"Uhm, Percy I suck at dueling," said Will nervously.
"Oh don't worry" Percy replied "Nico sucks just as much"
Nico grunted but followed Percy to where they would be training without saying a word to Will.
"Okay," said Percy once they had reached their area of the training field. "To warm up, you two can duel each other, it shouldn't be too high impact considering your abilities, then I'll teach you stuff based on what I see in the duel, then you guys can duel again at the end. Now, go find your weapons." Percy nodded towards the chest full of weapons and Will made his way over there, but Nico stayed behind.
"I can't fight him" whispered Nico so that only Percy could hear him.
"Trust me, you're actually probably better than him," replied Percy in a reassuring tone.
"No, you don't understand, I can't fight him." Nico said, shifting nervously.
Percy raised his eyebrows and gave Nico a small smirk "Wait is he, you know, your type?" Nico buried his face in his hands and then looked at Percy, with a look somewhere between 'Imma kill you' and 'Thanks for understanding'.
"Oh, okay" nodded Percy, a bit confused about how he was feeling. "If you tell one soul you will lose your own," said Nico threatening Percy through his teeth.
Will was approaching hearing range so Percy quickly said "Uh, change of plans. Will, you're dueling me first. Nico, you can go find yourself something other than that dagger of yours"
Nico stormed towards the chest, trying his best to stifle his anger. Of all people that could have found out it had to be Percy. He was the last person Nico would have wanted to find out, except maybe Will. He was a) His former crush and knew it, b) usually a total idiot who did nothing but save people's lives, look hot and spit out stupid puns with Leo and Jason. However, he did act pretty cool when he told him now, so Nico hoped he would stay that way and not go gossiping with all of Camp-Half blood.
There was nothing in the weapons chest that sparked any emotions in him, he was too busy being angry and scared. Out of anger, he picked up a baseball bat and marched towards where Percy was kicking Will's ass and swung as hard as he could at Percy. Nico didn't knock him out but he was disoriented and on the ground. Nico saw Will's scratches through his helmet and touched his armor. "Solace, I don't feel like dueling today, let's leave"
"But-" Will couldn't finish his sentence before Nico grabbed his wrist and was running away from their training with him. "I've never ditched before," said Will while they ran. Nico wasn't pulling him, he didn't have the strength, but he still let Nico hold his wrist.
"Well, I guess that makes me a bad boy." said Nico stopping because they were now far enough from the field. "'Cause I ditch all the time," "That makes you a very bad boy." said Will smiling. Nico was still holding his wrist.