Chapter 1: Embers
- x - x - x -
The first time that I got burned, I dropped my hammer and cussed. Leo started snickering as I yanked off a glove and used it to smack at the orange embers on my skin.
"You'll get used to it!" Leo commented cheerfully before going back to his work. Yea, easy for him to say; he was immune to fire and all forms of heat. I rolled my eyes at him before turning my gaze to glare at the stinging burns on my arm. Annoyingly, I was going to have to swing by the infirmary and get something to put on them.
I started to wonder if spending my extra time in the Hephaestus cabin was actually a good decision. However, there wasn't much else for me to do.
When summer ended, most of the other demigods around camp had left. Percy and Annabeth had packed up and headed to New Rome College, Will Solace had headed back to California for his junior year of High School, and even Grover had left for a yearlong spiritual hike around the world. When September had hit, I'd found myself rather alone.
Jason and Piper were still around, but they were so couple-y that they kind of grossed me out. I swear, every time I looked away, they tried to sneak in kisses. Ugh.
Leo and Calypso were living at the camp this year too, but I didn't consider them an option at first for the same reason that I didn't hang out too often with Jason and Piper. Then one day, I had noticed that Calypso spent most of her mornings and afternoons helping what few Hecate and Apollo kids remained with their magic. I started gravitating towards Leo during the day time, bugging him in his forge. He wasn't my first choice for who to spend my time with, but it wasn't too bad. Leo was happy to chit chat with me, even if our conversations boiled down to me chastising him for making idiotic jokes.
One day, after a few weeks of me watching him work, Leo handed me a hammer and told me to make myself useful. I had never forged anything before, but I had nothing to lose by trying. That's how I ended up hammering together fence rails. It was hard work, but surprisingly refreshing. It felt good to create something.
The children of Hades don't often create things. Usually, we just resurrect them.
So, anyways, since I'd burned myself, off I went to the infirmary. The entire place was being manned by a skittish, twelve year-old girl. She seemed terrified of me immediately. She led me to the supply closet in the back of the infirmary. "Burn ointment should be in there somewhere." The girl whimpered, before turning and darting away.
I couldn't blame her for being frightened. Not only was I the son of death, but over the last few years, I'd put on some muscle and a few inches. I was no longer the sickly, small, Hawaiian shirt-clad boy that had nearly killed himself shadow-traveling a giant statue across the world.
Heck, most demigods were at least a little afraid of me. There were only a few (aggravating) souls that were oblivious to what everyone else was affected by. Like, Will Solace. Who, by the way, I was still (aggravatingly) shorter than. During the previous summer, he had enjoyed teasing me about that.
When I located the big tube of burn ointment, tucked with other similar bottles, I decided to simply take it. That way, I figured, I wouldn't have to bother the Apollo healers every time I burned myself.
I left the infirmary, satisfied.
Winter passed. Then, spring. I continued to help in the forge with Leo, which meant occasionally burning myself. I got better at not getting embers on me, but it still happened now and then. The other Hephaestus kids, while not impervious to fire like Leo, never got bothered by the embers. I supposed that it must have been a Hephaestus-skill sort of deal.
The month of May arrived quickly. Campers began to trickle in. Percy and Annabeth even showed back up to camp. I listened to Annabeth babble about her Architecture classes for about an hour before I had to excuse myself. Any more might have caused my brain to explode. Regardless, it was nice to have them back.
That particular Wednesday started out as a normal Wednesday. I was hammering away at railing, getting out the kinks. Leo was helping some newly arrived Hephaestus camper set up her work station. I was half listening to him explain to her how some of the updates he'd made to the forges worked when my hammer hit a soft spot in the metal and hot embers spewed out.
I no longer reacted when I burned myself. No, rather, I calmly grabbed a nearby wet cloth and smacked the embers off my skin. It was no big deal; I was always prepared. I reached over to where I kept my bottle of burn ointment. I squeezed it and it let out a hoarse hiss.
It was empty.
Sighing with frustration, I pushed myself up. Looks like it's time to raid the infirmary again, I thought.
"I'll be back." I told Leo, before turning and heading out of the cabin.
As I walked to the Big House, I passed several campers dragging suite cases across the grass. The American schools must have gotten out, I realized. I wonder if he's back... I gave my head a shake. No, I didn't need to be wondering about him. Everyone would show back up eventually. There was no reason getting myself pointlessly excited for any one particular person.
The infirmary was abuzz with life when I reached it. A few feet in the door, the Apollo kids had created a huge circle and were chatting together happily. For most of them, this was the first time they'd seen each other in eight months. Their excitement was almost infectious.
A few of them paused to stare at me curiously as I entered. I let my eyes scan the group for a mop of blond hair, but didn't see him. Deciding not to bother the group, I passed right by them and headed into the supply closet at the back of the infirmary.
It took a minute of digging through the medical supplies to find the burn ointment. During the summer, Calypso and her trainees had done an impressive job adding to the medical stock of Camp Half-Blood. There were cures for every possible injury or disease crowded on the wire shelves of the medical supply closet. From the common cold to manticore poison, Camp Half-Blood was prepared to handle even the most random infliction. I would have to tell Calypso good job next time I saw her.
Burn ointment in hand, I turned around and found Will Solace standing in the doorway of the supply closet, which nearly gave me a heart attack.
"What do you think you're doing, di Angelo?" Will asked, grinning.
He hadn't changed that much. With his khaki shorts, a t-shirt (with an American pop culture reference that I didn't understand), and flip-flops, Will looked almost the same as he had eight months ago. His hair even looked properly messy, like he'd ran his hands through it several times. Which he probably had, actually. Will tended to do that a lot.
It was stupid, but I couldn't deny that I was happy to see him. Eight months was a long time. "You're back." Was what I managed to say. That didn't answer his question, though. Ugh, what was wrong with me? There was no reason to feel so... flustered.
Will smiled at me. His smile was bright, just like I remembered. "Nice to see you too, sunshine." He chuckled pleasantly, "Why are you stealing my supplies?"
Oh. I should have figured he wouldn't agree with me taking supplies. Scowling, I decided not to address that ridiculous nickname and instead defended myself. "They are the camp's supplies." I retorted. He hadn't been back for two seconds, and he was already trying to boss me around.
I'd hadn't realized how much I missed his bossiness.
"My infirmary, my supplies." The healer stated, still smiling, before stalking over to me and grabbing the tube out of my hands. His fingers brushed mine for a split second and I felt the same electricity I had felt when I'd run into him out by Thalia's tree in the midst of the war, two years ago.
I covered up my embarrassment by glaring at him.
Turning the bottle over in his hands, Will stared at the label. "Why do you need burn cream?" He asked curiously.
"... no reason." If I told him, I knew he'd launch into full doctor mode. He'd probably even start giving me a lecture on proper care of my epidermis layer (which is vocabulary I only knew because of previous lectures on proper healthcare).
The annoying thing about children of Apollo is that you didn't need to tell them what was wrong. No, they were keen enough to find out what it was by themselves. I tensed as Will's eyes swept up and down my figure. Without asking first, Will reached forward and grabbed my arm.
Will never seemed to understand the concept of personal space. Annoyed, I tried to yank my arm back, but he held firm. Staring down at the burns along right arm, he asked incredulously, "How the Hades did you do this?"
Sucking in a breath, I calmed myself. Will's behavior shouldn't surprise me. I'd known him long enough at this point. "... embers from the forge." I admitted softly.
"Forge? As in, the Hephaestus' forge?"
"Yes." Eight months of frustration bleed into my next words. "While you've been wasting your time at your American school, I've been learning metalwork." Because I've been bored out of my mind. I didn't add that last bit.
"Funny, I thought you were a child of Hades?" His words were playful, even though I was still glaring at him. I never quite understood how Will could always be so happy around me. It was weird, but... I liked it. I liked it more than I should have.
"And what hobby would be appropriate for a child of Hades, Solace?" I snapped back. It wasn't like there was a particular hobby the children of Hades were good at, other than summoning skeletons from the ground. Last I checked, there wasn't a Skeleton-Raising club in Camp Half-Blood for me to join.
He was still holding my arm. Blushing, I yanked and got it back this time.
Will blinked, then laughed. "Okay, fine, whatever floats your boat." Then he leaned towards me and I found myself staring into his sky blue eyes. "But I'll be caring for your burns, di Angelo. You might now be a welder, but you're not a doctor."
"Neither are you, technically." I muttered under my breath, but I didn't resist when he grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the closet.
That's how I found myself sitting on a hospital bed, waiting for Will to find some bandages. I tried telling him that he didn't need to wrap my arms up, that I never wrapped my arms up, but he cut me off.
"Yea, I can tell. You've got marks all up your arm." As he spoke, Will was digging through some drawers. I wasn't really sure what he was grabbing. "Do me a favor: no more self-medicating."
I glanced down at my arms. Yea, I had small pot marks and scars from my previous burns, but what did it matter? Demigods had scars. It was a fact of life.
Will didn't seem ready to accept that. The wheels of his stool squeaked as he pushed it over to the bed. Several supplies tumbled out of his hands and onto the bed's attached tray. I noticed that none of the supplies were the burn ointment.
Apprehension hit me. "Will, what are you doing?"
At first, he didn't reply. I watch him fiddle with the supplies, squirting golden liquid onto a square piece of gauze. Not about to be ignored, I gave his leg a light kick. "I'm healing your scars." He finally answered.
My face contorted with annoyance. I didn't need him to heal my scars. Personally, I didn't give a flying Pegasus about my scars.
"I know you're about to argue with me," Will said suddenly, pausing in his work to glare stubbornly at me, "but this isn't up for debate. When I see something I can fix, I fix it." His stubbornness was so cute that my argument died in my throat. Of course, I still growled with frustration and rolled my eyes.
"Fine." I huffed.
His face changed and his trademark smile returned. "Good!"
I tried not to flinch too much when his hand took my arm again. At the end of last summer, I'd gotten used to how touchy he was, but eight months apart had left me feeling all nervous again every time his skin brushed mine.
The salve that he was using didn't sting too badly. At the very least, it was nothing compare to hot embers boring holes in my skin. Will wrapped each arm up with bandages as he finished with them. I looked like an idiot, with both of my arms wrapped from wrist to elbow, but it was too late to complain about that.
"You'll need to come in once a day for the next week so I can change out your bandages." Will instructed happily.
After offering me a lollipop for being such a good boy, Will released me from the infirmary. The comment should have made me angry, but instead I found myself fighting a smile.
The next day while I was working in the forge, Leo asked me why I was in such a good mood. When he kept pestering me for a reason (because apparently me smiling was as abnormal as pigs flying), I ended up threatening him with my hammer.
At lunch, I found myself eating with Annabeth and Piper. Percy and Jason were busy teaching classes, while both Annabeth and Piper were teaching classes that started right when the boy's classes ended. While they explained this to me, I found myself wondering if I should be teaching a class to the younger campers too, but then I remembered that most of them were afraid of me.
I slurped up chicken noodle soup and listened to the girls share stories. Annabeth talked about college while Piper talked about her trips to New Rome with Jason. At one point, they both paused and looked at me.
"What about you, Nico?" Piper asked. "What was the high point of your year?"
Running into Will yesterday at the infirmary flashed through my mind. No, that was stupid. It'd been nice to see him, but I wouldn't go so far as to declare that a high point. I searched my mind for something else to say.
"Um. It was very... rewarding to get the new fence erected around the strawberry fields." That was the best I could come up with. Again, the last eight months had been very uneventful.
Annabeth stared at me with confusion. It was Piper who clarified, "Oh yea, you helped Leo in the forge with that fence, right?"
"You've been helping in the forge?" Annabeth parroted, her eyes narrowing with surprise.
I shrugged. "Yea. I didn't have much else to do." Maybe that would change, with everyone coming back. I dropped my attention back to my chicken noodle soup. Steam was still rolling off it.
"But... you're a child of Hades." Annabeth pointed out slowly. She reminded me of Will yesterday.
Flustered, I snapped at her. "So? What else is there for a child of Hades to do?" Was every single person going to question me about my new hobby?
Annabeth held both her hands up in surrender. "Okay, never mind. Sorry Nico."
After a second, I started to feel bad. There wasn't any reason for me to snap at her like that. I sucked in a deep breath and then gradually exhaled. During the winter, Clovis had taught me (during one of our many dream run-ins) regulating your breathing was a great way to relax in tough situations. The technique worked pretty well for me.
Calmer, I apologized to Annabeth, "No, sorry, I didn't meant to snap at you." I sighed. "I missed having everyone around. This place is a ghost town when every leaves. Well, not a literal ghost town. Those are different." I'd been through a few ghost towns, and they were anything but quiet.
"It's okay." Annabeth smiled. Tentatively, I returned her smile to the best of my ability.
"Oh! Guys, I forgot to tell you about how Jason and I accidentally blew up a coffee shop!" Piper said suddenly, drawing the attention off me. Relieved, I listened to her story, hmph-ing and haw-ing at the right times.
When lunch ended, I decided that it'd be a good time to head to the infirmary and get my bandage change over with.
I recognized the girl standing by the door, but her name didn't come to me right away. She smiled at me and said, "Oh, hello Nico. Will said you'd be coming by."
Kayla. Her name is Kayla. During the battle of Manhattan, she'd fought alongside the rest of her siblings. I nod at her. "Yea." I'm not sure whether I need to go into detail about the burns, the scars, and Will being his usual demanding self. Luckily, she doesn't ask.
"I'll be right back." She said as she turned and headed deeper into the infirmary.
My gaze wandered. The wall to my left had a bunch of nails jammed in it, with name plaques hanging on them. Some of them were blank, while others bore names. I spotted Will Solace near the top. Kayla also had a plaque, a few spots below Will's. Last year, Will had explained to me that that was how they kept track of who was in and who wasn't. Since I'd helped out so much in the infirmary last year, he had kept joking that he was going to get me a plaque made.
"Ah, there's my favorite patient!" Will shouts from the other side of the infirmary.
Breath, I tell myself. If I focus on my breathing, I'm pretty sure I can keep my cheeks from coloring. I like being called Will's favorite patient way too much. No, I need to stay indifferent to him. I don't want an inappropriate crush ruining our friendship.
He grabbed my hand and dragged me off to the same curtained off hospital bed as the day before. Even though it was completely unnecessary, he insisted on getting my vitals before he started on my bandages. The blasted healer started explaining the importance of having a record on file, but I wasn't really listening. His hands on my arm and wrist, as he checks blood pressure and then heart rate, distracted me.
"Your heart is speeding up." Will commented with interest as his hands are on my wrist.
Panicking, I snapped at him, "Probably because of how much you frustrate me."
Something in the way that he grinned at me made me think that he doesn't believe me.
The bandages came off and a noxious smell filled the room. Will started laughing and joked about how healing doesn't always smell nice. He layered more of the salve onto each arm, before starting to wrap them back up. Before Kayla poked her head in, he had finished my right arm and was wrapping up the left.
"Will, an Ares camper got a spear jammed in his thigh." She informed him grimly.
Will groaned, "Another one? That's the second Ares kid today!" Glancing at me, Will smiled sadly. "I have to go. I'll see if I can send one of the younger kids to finish wrapping you up?"
I nodded, even though I was already considering finishing it myself. Will might have told me no self-medicating, but I hardly considered finishing wrapping a bandage around my arm self-medicating.
Will ducked out of the room. On the off chance that he'd end up U-turning and coming right back, I waited, counting backwards from one hundred. I didn't want to be on the receiving end of a lecture about how I should have let one of the healers finish up the bandaging.
It's a good thing I waited, because Will ducked back through the curtains about half a minute later.
"Don't you need to help with that Ares kid?" I asked as Will walked over to me. He seemed kind of different, but maybe I was just imagining it.
"Nah, they ended up not needing me." Will said with a shrug as he stopped only a few inches from me. Too close, I thought nervously. Dropping to gaze to the ground, I offered him my partially bandaged left arm. Thinking was hard when Will was that close.
Instead of taking my arms, his hands found their way to my face.
What the Tartarus!?
He looked very amused as he tipped my head up towards his. Every inch of me heated up and I felt angry at him for making me feel like that. I definitely didn't invite him to touch me like that. It wasn't fair for Will to make me blush like this, especially when he'd only been back two days.
Batting his hands away, I growled hotly, "Stop being weird."
His laughter was deep, beautiful. "Sorry. I couldn't resist." An involuntary shudder ran through me. He couldn't resist? What on earth was he talking about? No, I was too afraid to ask. I stared down at his flip-flops as he finished bandaging my arm.
The whole time, Will stared at me in the same way that Annabeth stared at great feats of architecture. I wasn't sure what to feel, other than uncomfortable. Will really was being weird. As soon as he was done, I jumped off the gurney, intent on storming out of the infirmary as quickly as possible.
He caught my hand before I could get through the curtain. "You're adorable when you're embarrassed." He told me, which only embarrassed me more. Internally, I was freaking out. Why was Will, after eight months apart, being so... flirty? I mean, he'd always been kind of flirty, but never like this. Never so straight-forward.
Maybe I was going crazy. That was the easiest explanation. Stealing my hand back, I ducked out of the curtains and pretty much ran out of the infirmary. Maybe I was misunderstanding Will and his damned flirtatious words.
Or maybe this was his way of showing that he liked me too?
- x - x - x-
A/N: So, this is actually a re-upload! I had to delete it due to some of the themes contrasting with my professional job.
I'll be tweaking, re-posting, and then eventually continuing the story with a T-rating. :)