A/N: I'm currently kind of obsessed with this ship so I thought I'd create a collection on ffnet of the drabbles I've been posting on tumblr. Genres will vary.

"Are you sure about this?" Will asked for what was possibly the fifth or tenth or twentieth time.

Nico rolled his eyes. "You're the one who okayed it in the first place. I told you, it'll be fine."

Will nodded, but he still wasn't reassured. It had been months since the battle at Camp Half-Blood, months since the day he'd run into Coach Hedge in the infirmary and the old satyr had told him about Nico di Angelo's shadow-traveling problem, and the son of Hades had had plenty of rest since then—one short trip across a hundred-mile stretch of land and water should be no problem.

As a healer, Will knew with certainty that Nico would be okay. He'd felt the boy's hands enough to know there wasn't enough residual darkness in him to pull him permanently back into the shadows, even if he attempted to cross the Atlantic again, and Will had made sure shadow-travel was off-limits for the past few months. When Nico had suggested this excursion, Will had been the one who told him it'd be fine.

But as a friend, Will was still worried. He remembered how sickly and gaunt Nico di Angelo had looked in the early morning light when he'd returned to Camp Half-Blood the day of the battle with Gaea, how deep the shadows under his eyes ran as he crouched by the edge of the Roman camp, how starkly the bright tropical shirt he'd been wearing had stood out again his pale skin. It had taken Nico a long time to return to full health, but as a child of the Underworld, shadows still clung to him like a second skin and Will didn't want to see them drag him down.

"I wasn't that serious about it," Will said, in a last attempt to dissuade Nico. "It's not like I've never been before; I can wait until the end of summer and catch the subway there before heading home—"

"Shut up, Solace," Nico said, and without another word, grabbed his hand.

Will would have been more than okay with that under any other circumstance, but before the touch of Nico's hand registered he felt himself flying—if free-falling forward so quickly that the air around him seemed to be trying to claw him apart could constitute as flying. His vision went black, darkness pressing into him like he was being squeezed through a suffocating tube, his ears popping like they were going to burst.

Luckily, the sensation passed quickly—Will suddenly felt solid ground under his feet again and stumbled to a stop. And then he stumbled again, because the ground wasn't solid; the sand shifted beneath his flip-flops and he dropped Nico's hand in surprise, blinking and looking around him.

He'd known where they were going, but actually being in Camp Half-Blood one moment and then finding himself somewhere else the next was still jarring. He stood at the crest of a small hill, weeds and dirt interspersed with sand that spread as it traveled downhill, expanding until it covered the area of land below. The expanse was deserted; it was a small stretch of beach between two more popular tourist destinations. Waves lapped at the shore, reaching out and retracting, the roar of the surf echoing in the emptiness; the rays of the setting sun crept across the ocean, reflecting the orange and gold of the sky back and forth until the whole scene below looked like a drop of sunlight, mixed with darker colors and then spread out and framed.

Will had been to beaches before, even this one, but not this particular area of it. He'd always loved the heat of sunshine on his face, the wind ruffling his hair and the sound of the waves, but there were always others enjoying the same things around him. There was something different about a deserted beach in the evening, something cooler and more relaxed yet just as inviting, and gazing down at the sand below, he was glad he'd let Nico take him shadow-traveling.

He turned to the younger boy beside him. "This is great, though I don't know how you can stand doing that all the time—"

He stopped short when he saw Nico curled up on the ground, eyes closed and fast asleep.

Will stared for a moment, then shook his head and chuckled ruefully. Nico had told him how the first time he'd shadow-traveled to China he'd been knocked out for a week; it looked like the son of Hades was out of practice. Will sat down next to him and rummaged through the bag they'd brought, pulling out a towel and placing it across the younger boy's shoulders; the breeze could get chilly at night. He crossed his legs and leaned back, sitting in silence as the wind blew through his hair and the sound of the surf echoed around him, enjoying the peace and quiet with Nico sleeping by his side. He watched the sun sink into the waters below, dissolving into a pool of light and shadow, and thought this was something he could get used to.

A/N: Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Let me know if you have any prompts or requests as well :)