NICO

"At this rate, you're going to be demigod stew the next time there's an attack."

Nico was exhasperated. He had been trying to help Will perfect his sword skills, but Will was pretty much hopeless in this reguard. His archery skills were on point, but he had no sword skills whatsoever.

Will glared at the son of Hades. "Well, you're not doing a very good job helping me. You make a pretty crappy teacher, Di Angelo."

Nico rolled his eyes and drew his own Stygian iron sword and positioned himself. "See, Solace, you have to be in more of an athletic stance so you feel more natural slashing your sword."

Will got into an awkward recreation of what Nico had shown him.

"Like this?"

Nico let out a long sigh. He walked over to the blond and moved his arm slightly downward, and instructed him to bend his knees a little.

"That's better." Nico said. Then he realized his hand still lingered on Will's waist. He quickly withdrew, as if the son of Apollo was made of fire. He felt his cheeks burn as he looked away, but Will paid no mind.

"Alright, I think I've got it. It's gonna be me saving your butt next time something attacks." The child of the sun god snickered.

Nico snorted. "You can dream, Will."

It had been nearly a year since the battle with Gaea, and whenever Will would start acting too confident in his abilities, Nico would bring up how he saved the blond during the battle.

Ever since Nico had stayed in the infirmary with him, Will had made an effort to become his friend. He insisted on spending time with Nico whenever he wasn't in the infirmary. At first, Nico tried to push him away, though Will was quite persistant and didn't back down. As time went on, Nico started to rather enjoy Will's company. Will had been the only person who could make Nico laugh, which may have hurt Nico's face muscles, but it felt natural to laugh and smile when he was with the son of Apollo. He had a sarcastic and dry sense of humor, which Nico enjoyed thoroughly. Whenever Will was in the infirmary, Nico frequently stopped by to "wreak havoc and disturb the patients," according to Will. The blond was quickly becoming one of Nico's closest friends (though, he would never admit it).

Ever since the battle, Nico had felt more... whole. He now had let go of the secret that had been haunting him for years. Ever since he revealed this to Percy, he felt like a weight had been lifted from him. Percy acted no different around him, only making a few jokes about not being Nico's type here and there. Nico had also gained many new friends. He had Jason, Reyna, Will, and he was even becoming closer with Annabeth and Piper. Nico was finally somewhat... happy. He hadn't been happy in so long he almost forgot what it felt like. It felt... good.

Will yawned loudly and stretched his shoulders. "I think we should be getting back to camp. It's pretty late, and I have to work in the infirmary for the next few days so I should get some sleep."

Nico shrugged. "Alright. Your technique improved but you still suck."

Will feigned shock. "Nico... that's the nicest thing you've ever said too me. I feel honored."

"You should, Solace. That's the nicest thing I've ever said to anyone."

...

Nico was getting ready for bed, when he heard a voice behind him.

"Hiya neeks!"

Unmistakinably, this was the voice of Jason Grace.

Nico turned around to glare at him. "Gods Jason, do you have any concept of when not to bother people? Anyways, it's almost 10:00. You're missing the campfire. You should probably go back out so I can sleep in peace."

Jason shrugged, amusment flickering in his eyes. "I haven't gotten to talk to you in a while. You're always hanging out with that Will Solace."

Nico felt his face heat up, and he didn't even know why. He and Will were just friends. Just friends.

Jason didn't seem to notice though. He waltzed in and flopped on Nico's coffin bed.

"I'm just curious, what is it that you like about Will? He just seems, like, polar opposite from your personality"

Nico's head snapped over to glare at Will. "I don't like Will like that! Gods, were just friends."

Jason put his hands up in mock surrendor. "Dude, that's not what I meant. I was wondering why liked him as a friend. Don't summon a skeleton army please."

Nico relaxed a little. "Oh. Well, I don't know, he just insists on hanging out with me. To be honest I don't even know why were friends."

Jason nodded. "Alright, that's all I wanted to know. "

"So what did you do today, Grace?"

Jason's expression became faraway and distant. His hands tensed, as if he was fighting making a fist. "Piper and I helped work on the memorial to Leo in the Hephestus Cabin."

Nico felt a twinge of emotion tug at him. "Jason, I'm really sorry about Leo. But don't blame yourself. There was nothing you could've done."

Jason looked away. "Yeah.. Well, I'm going to take your advice and go back out to the campfire. See ya, Nico." He smiled at Nico one last time before leaving, but Nico could tell he was still upset about Leo. Nico wasn't very good at comforting people, but he wished he could help Jason.

Nico climbed into bed and wrapped the covers over him. He was reminded of when he would always climb in with Bianca in the middle of the night, and she would wrap the covers around him to make him feel safe. He quickly shook the thought from his mind. He drifted into an uneasy sleep, shaken from the distant memory.

AUTHORS NOTES:

Holy shit I'm sorry I fail at writing fanfiction. I can create the story in my mind... but I have a hard time expressing my thoughts in words. xD

Well anyways I'm hoping to update this about once or twice a week, depending on how much time I have to work.

Thanks for reading! Sorry for the shittiness of this xD