Two hours into playing Monopoly with the flirty Aphrodite boy that he had been sent (read: blackmailed) on a blind date with, Nico Di Angelo realized that they were completely incompatible. It had started one week ago, when he had been caught singing (very badly, might he add) in the shower, by Piper, who had just happened to have a camera ready. She believed that he needed to get out of his shell a bit and loosen up by going on a date. (Her words, not his.) So, what did she do? She set Nico up on a blind date with one of her half-siblings. Out of genuine fear of what she would do with the video, Nico had said yes. Of course, now, he would sooner post the video online himself than endure another hour of the date from hell. It's not that the boy wasn't attractive, that wasn't the case at all. The boy whose name he had now completely forgotten had brown hair, with hazel eyes and pale skin. He had on a pastel blue flower crown, with a pale blue button down shirt and white skinny jeans. The minute that he had walked in, Nico had pegged him as 'Pastel!Dan from hell'. The boy was cute, just not his type. He much rather preferred boys that had blonde hair. Also ones that were very tall, with bright white smiles and blue eyes, and a knack for healing. Yes, he much rather preferred boys like Will Solace.
However, Will Solace definitely did not prefer him, and after months of not being able to tell if the blonde-haired son of Apollo liked him- or was just being genuinely friendly, Nico had given up in his pursuit, and decided to crush from afar. Nobody else knew about his rather secretive crush on the blue-eyed boy, and he was planning to keep it that way. Should it ever get out to someone like Stoll brothers, or even Will himself, Nico would greatly consider locking himself back inside the closet and never coming out.
Nico snapped out of his daydream as the dinner bell rang, and he looked up only to see that his so-called "date" had disappeared. He disassembled the board, and walked out and down the hallway to the cabinet.
"I don't care if she posts that video on youtube, never again am I going on a date with one of Piper's half-siblings again". Grumbled Nico to himself as he shoved the box inside the hallway cabinet, and began to start back down the hallway. He passed the infirmary as he walked, and he slowed down when he saw a mop of golden curls that could only belong to the one and only Will Solace. Will had fallen asleep in a chair in the corner next to a supply cabinet, a roll of half-wound ace bandages still in his hands as he slept. Nico blushed at the boy's sleeping face, which looked even more peaceful than usual- a thought that he had previously thought impossible. Nico took cautious steps into the infirmary, and came to a halt in front of Will. He gently took the ace bandages out of his hands, putting them on the shelf behind them and closing the doors. Hesitantly, he gently shook Will's shoulder.
"Will? Will, it's time to wake up. You're going to miss dinner." Said Nico in a soft voice and a blush dusting his cheeks. Will's eyes slowly opened, and he looked around in confusion.
"Wha? What happened? I was restocking the ace bandages and then..." Will trailed off, yawning.
"You fell asleep, now come on or we're going to be late for dinner!" Said Nico as he pulled Will off of the chair with surprising strength, and led the yawning boy out of the infirmary.
As they walked down to the pavilion for dinner, Nico fought to restrain the blush on his cheeks as the blue-eyed boy next to him brushed his hand for the fifth time in two minutes. He seemed completely unaware, and still half asleep. Nico laughed to himself as Will staggered along the path, yawning and seemingly in his own little world.
Nico and Will reached the dining pavilion and went their separate ways with few parting words, due to Will's tiredness and Nico's shy-ness. Shy wasn't normally a word that described Nico. Yes, for the most part he did keep to himself, and he preferred to spend most of his free time alone, sleeping, listening to music, or training. He wasn't shy, per se, more so used to having only himself for company. He could voice his opinion if it was needed, and when it was, he did. 'Shy and quiet are two different things', he thought to himself as a plate with buttered bread, beef, and potatoes was handed to him and he scraped some off to burn as an offering.
He considered this as he ate alone, occasionally stealing glances at Will, four tables away. The last time he did, Will was looking directly at him, and he turned bright red, immediately ducking his head and pretending nothing had happened. More could have happened, but Chiron clopped up to the podium to make an announcement.
"Good Evening! As you all know, Capture the Flag is tonight!" Exclaimed Chiron, pulling a list that Nico supposed had all of the teams on it. "Tonight, it's Ares against Hephaestus! Team Ares is Demeter, Zeus, Dionysus, Hecate, Poseidon, and Hypnos! Hephaestus is Apollo, Athena, Hermes, Aphrodite, and Hades!" Exclaimed Chiron. "You all know the rest, now go get ready and be back at 6:15!"
45 minutes later, Nico and the rest of his team were on their side of the woods, finalizing battle plans that quite obviously went to shit after the whistle blew and the chaos of battle ensued.
Nico had been put on river-guarding duty, which up until that point had proved to be pretty uneventful. He listened to the sounds of swords clashing, people yelling and the stream rushing next to him. The stream, which was so loud that it took him around five seconds to process the five campers that had jumped down from the trees and surrounded him. Five seconds may not seem like a lot. But in battle, five seconds can determine your fate.
Nico gave a yelp and drew his sword, pulling a fighting stance. He deflected the sword of the first guy, clubbing him over the head with the butt of his sword. The unknown attacked crumpled to the floor, and Nico turned around to face the rest. He clubbed another over the head, and then kicked the third into a tree where he slid down, dazed. Nico grabbed his sword and threw it in the bushes, making sure that he wouldn't be able to get to it without Nico realizing. However, as he did this, he forgot about the last one, who was advancing towards him as silently as possible. Nico turned around with a sudden start and a yell, startling his attacker so much that he tripped over a tree root and fell, the blade of his sword going into Nico's stomach.
He heard shouts of "Somebody go get Will!"
Then, everything went black.