Nico should look away. He should blink. His eyes were dry, he needed to blink, but he couldn't look away. He hadn't seen himself clearly since he was on the Black Pearl, but now, standing in the bathroom of the Jacksons' guest bedroom, staring into a perfectly clean mirror, he wished had never looked.
For one thing, he really could only see half of what he was used to. His other eye…saw nothing. It wasn't black like he had imagined, or white like a blank sheet of paper, just…nothing. It felt as though he didn't even have an eye there. What he "saw" through it was the exact same as what he saw through his nose or his arm. He didn't get why the others had such a hard time with it.
The boy fingered the eyepatch over his bad eye. It was simple, black, nylon, and no, it didn't have a skull and crossbones on it. It wasn't as though he really needed it, the eye apparently didn't look terrible. Nico just really didn't want to look at it himself.
He dragged his fingers down over the white scars on his cheeks. They almost looked like claw marks, but of course he now knew what they really were. He knew, alright. He'd lived through it three times.
He lifted his shirt, examining the scratches and still fading bruises down his chest and stomach. They hadn't paid much attention to his front side. His back was a completely different story. Nico couldn't see it, not that he wanted to, but…it was weird, having a part of your body that he knew was permanently changed, but he himself had never laid eyes on it. He guessed that it was pretty bad, considering what had happened, and how late he had gotten nectar and ambrosia.
Then he looked back up at his eyes, or… eye. Every time he looked into it, he was shocked. It was wide and scared, with sharp, jagged irises like broken glass. He suddenly felt sick, and leaned on the sink for support. Was he even himself anymore? His arms shook.
Then warmth enveloped him and strong arms wrapped around him from behind. He relaxed immediately, leaning back on the chest that quickly offered it's support. "Are you okay, Nico?" Will asked.
"I am now," he sighed. Will smiled and rested his chin on the top of Nico's head. "How do you always know when to come?"
"I'm your boyfriend," he reminded the son of Hades, "I'll always be there when you need me."
"I love you," Nico whispered. He looked back up at the mirror. Sure, the boy in it was broken, but there was someone else there too, holding the pieces together. I like this reflection better, he decided.