a/n: So yeah, I just finished BoO, and naturally the first thing I had to do was write a Solangelo fic. And it's typical of me to think of a multichapter too :/ Updates may not be frequent because I have a busy schedule, but I have high hopes for this and I'm feeling pretty inspired, so who knows? A new chapter may appear as soon as next week. Speaking of chapters, this was a relatively short one, but the next one will be longer, I promise xx

Please tell me what you thought, I love getting comments.

Nico woke early in the morning at around eight o'clock. His head heart slightly from the bright light that was streaming into the room through the window and directly hitting him. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get the last dredges of sleep out of them, and propped himself up on his elbows.

He observed his surroundings groggily. He was in an almost blindingly white room that was sparsely furnished. There was a pale oak wooden table next to his bed that matched the floor, and on it there were a vase of flowers - he couldn't tell which type. Nico grimaced. The son of Hades and nature had been proven to be a toxic combination.

The rest of his room was empty. There was a door to the right of him, presumably leading off into the rest of the infirmary.

As Nico started to regain his senses (he was never a morning person) he remembered now where he was, but still had no idea how long he had slept for. He had no memory of falling asleep here either, but the one thing he could remember was the last person he'd seen had been Will Solace.

Awakening more at the thought of the son of Apollo, he sat up in bed and was just about to swing his legs around and go find him, the door swung open.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, Nico thought with a small chuckle, as Will Solace entered way too cheerily for ten past eight in the morning. The guy almost exploded with sunshine. Considering who Will's dad was, Nico wouldn't be surprised.

Will wore his usual attire of an orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, ripped blue jeans and flip-flops, the only out of place items being the stethoscope that hung around his neck and the clipboard he held in his hand. He sauntered closer to the bed and greeted Nico with a smile.

"Morning sunshine." Will grinned down at him. Nico resisted the urge to squint.

"Have you been watching me?" It was the only reason Will could have known he was awake. There was no other way in other than the door. Nico pictured briefly Will crouched outside the window, clipboard in hand and only his sandy hair visible, and grinned inwardly.

Will held up his hands almost defensively. "I'm just trying to keep a close watch on you, Death Boy. Make sure your vitals are stable and all that jazz."

"That explains the hospital gown," he said dully, tugging at the offensive piece of clothing he was wearing. At least he was wearing a pair of pajama pants underneath.

At least he wasn't naked.

A light blush ghosted across his cheeks and he tore his gaze back up to look into Will's eyes.

He shrugged. "Standard procedure. Which reminds me!" With a smile, he lifted up the stethoscope. "Take off your shirt."

Nico's cheeks reddened even more. "E-excuse me?" he asked.

Will had the decency to blush too. "I need to take your, um, pulse."

"Right, right," Nico said hurriedly, undoing the knots on his gown and letting it drop on the crisp white sheets.

Will placed the cool metal of the stethoscope on Nico's chest. There was silence for a minute, and Nico had to resist the strong urge to hold in his breath. Will was looking down, focused on Nico's chest and making him feel slightly uncomfortable, but then he looked up and Nico met his blue eyes, and suddenly the metal felt awfully cold against Nico's boiling skin. He couldn't ever remember a time he had felt this warm. Usually his skin was ice cold. Now it was like he was starting to thaw - and fast.

Will coughed slightly and drew away, furiously making notes on the sheet of paper attached to his clipboard. Nico took this as a sign he could tie up his hospital gown again and gladly took this opportunity.

"Uh ... is everything OK?" he asked. Will had now stopped writing and was just frowning at his clipboard as if it was giving him a very stern telling-off for writing too much.

Will finally looked up after about three seconds, and pierced Nico was a look so intense his heart nearly froze, and he seriously considered the fact that something might me seriously wrong.

"How in Apollo's name are you still breathing?" he muttered, still staring at Nico; he almost seemed transfixed.

"Will?" Nico whispered.

Will shook his head and seemed to pull himself out of his trance.

"You just need fattening up," Will said with a bright smile - but it almost seemed too bright, too sunny and cheerful. Nico had, over the years, become better and better at recognizing fake smiles.

"Fattening up and lots of sunshine." Will walked over to the window and Nico was surprised to see the curtain was only slightly open. What with the amount of light in the room he'd figured the curtains had to be wide open.

Will tugged on the curtains and opened them fully, letting a blast of light enter the room and hit Nico directly. He put his hand up to shield his eyes, and was surprised that the window was larger than he'd originally thought, and he could see most of the camp from his little solitary confinement room. The sun had already risen high and was shining a golden glow on the Athena Parthenos. She cast her shadow away from the camp. Nico was never really big on metaphors but he couldn't shake the feeling that this was symbolic. The war was over, Gaia was vanquished and life went on.

"Sunshine," Will said again with a smile, and Nico scoffed.

"They'll be plenty of sunshine if you're around," he said, and immediately regretted it. There was a reason he didn't go around saying stuff like that, because the look that Will gave him afterwards nearly made him stop breathing. Again.

"A little patch of sunshine to break through your petite little doom cloud." Will smirked.

Nico scowled. "I don't have a doom cloud," he said, realising too late he sounded like a bratty child. He also realised Will hadn't reacted to what he'd said before and gave a small sigh of relief.

Will leaned down to look Nico in the eye and gave him a sympathetic smile. "That's exactly what someone who didn't have a doom cloud would say."

"What even is a doom cloud?" Nico asked.

"I have no idea," said Will, and they couldn't help but laugh, filling the stark white room with joy.

"I'm going to get breakfast. What do you want?" Will asked.

Nico blanched. "I'm not really a breakfast person - " he began to say.

"Fruit it is then."

Nico didn't try to protest, though as Will started to walk towards the door he felt a pang run through his body, and he almost found himself wishing the son of Apollo had stayed longer. Almost.

"Wait," he said, and Will turned around swiftly as Nico said his name, "one last question: what am I supposed to do all day, sit around and count the floorboards?"

Will flashed him a Cheshire cat grin. "Ponder the meaning of life? Write some poetry? I'm sure you could squeeze a mean haiku out of your head."

"No haikus," Nico said, barely suppressing his groan.

"Haikus are badass, okay?" Will said, before a more serious expression crossed his face. "All jokes aside, my little doom cloud, you should get some rest. You've been asleep for just under twenty-four hours yet you look like you got dragged through a hedge by a hellhound."

Nico sulked a bit at that suggestion, though inside he was secretly pleased and a bit embarrassed. Was 'doom cloud' going to be his permanent nickname now? He hoped not, it was stupid. But when Will said it suddenly it wasn't so dumb.

"Were you expecting me to entertain you?" Will asked with a small smile, his blue eyes glittering. Nico blushed, seemingly for no clear reason. he cursed to himself silently.

"I have work to do Nico, and other patients to treat. I'll bring you breakfast and then I have to go. But I'll be back in the evening to sort out those nasty stitches of yours."

He turned away again and opened the door, before looking back one more time. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but evidently decided against it, and he left, closing the door gently behind him.

Nico groaned out loud, falling back down onto the plush pillow and soft mattress. His small form nearly sunk into it, like he was being swallowed by the ocean. Already he could feel the boredom creeping up on him, but he swore then and there the last thing he would resort to would be haikus.

He stared at the stitches on his arm and thought about Will coming to restitch them. His face grew hot and he groaned again, covering it with his hands.

He had to get himself under control, before he did something drastic.

Three days of bed rest could make anybody do crazy things.