Greetings everyone~
I'm ShadowProve13 but please feel free to call me Shadow.
This isn't my first fanfiction but it is my first Percy Jackson fanfiction, so I hope you like it :D
Enjoy, ya?
He may have mentioned this a few times by now but Nico di Angelo was not a sunshine person, let alone a morning person. So being woken up at the crack of dawn by a coughing fit was not how he wanted to start his day.
His throat felt scratchy and his nose ran slightly. No, he was not sick, not in the slightest; there was probably just something in the morning air… or so he kept convincing himself. Despite being the only camper living in the Hades cabin he was sure that a certain son of Apollo would refuse to allow him to stay in his cabin and coop him up in the infirmary for days and remind him again and again not use "Underworld-y" stuff.
"I am the son of Hades," Nico thought, reminding himself. "I don't get sick. I may break a few bones here and there but I do not get sick." With that lingering thought in mind, the dark haired teen rested his head back against his pillow and slowly drifted back off to sleep.
Nico woke up who knows how many hours later and felt like, well, shit. His head felt heavy and clouded, he couldn't breathe through his nose whatsoever and his throat… has anyone ever swallowed a combination of nails and shattered glass before? Because that's what it felt like.
Yep. Totally just allergies.
Nico di Angelo does not get sick.
He would be better by tomorrow, he told himself. He would not be subjected to stay in the infirmary by that blond again. So, his mission today was "avoid Will Solace and make sure he doesn't find out" though he had to admit that the blond had the annoying habit of finding him, no matter where he was. Apollo's son would always check up on him, making sure he was eating right and not pushing himself, even asking him for the number of hours he's slept. Honestly, the whole thing was getting on his nerves - the blond wasn't even an actual doctor for crying out loud!
Nico decided to stay at camp for the year since other than the Underworld he really had nowhere else to go. He would have gone to his father's domain but it was dreadfully boring; seriously, the only source of 'entertainment' was either watching the spirits in the Fields of Punishment or playing catch with Cerberus… that didn't last long, of course. Plus he would go back to the palace covered in Cerberus-saliva (Persephone won't even let him inside half the time when that happens).
Okay so you're wondering why Nico is hiding from Will – since Will is one of the few who stayed throughout the year it's made it easier for him to find Nico with over half of the campers gone, so that's left him with staying in his cabin for the rest of the day. You're thinking he's just concerned for the younger boy's wellbeing; that's not the case. It's like he's made it his personal life mission to 'heal the wounds' which Nico carries – has the guy ever heard of personal space?!
So yes, today was a 'stay inside the cabin' day, Nico decided that he may even clean up the place… you know, once he felt like getting out of bed.
Normally the cold never bothered Nico, even the temperature in the Underworld never bothered him – so why the hell was he so bloody cold?! He was already wearing a t-shirt and had an over-shirt on and even a lilac blanket that Hazel gave him draped around his shoulders and yet he could feel the goose bumps on his arms and legs.
"Just allergies…." He reminded himself for the umpteenth time that day. "Cleaning will warm me up…." He muttered as he lazily swiped his right leg across his bed, followed by the left. Getting on his feet, the pale Italian made his way over to the shelves and cupboard and… well, basically he likes to call it the 'junk corner' – or Hell, Hell is an acceptable word considering the morbid décor. Sure he's been to Tartarus and seen things that would send a person insane but for the love of Hades, the shrunken heads are just… there are no words to describe them, even Jason couldn't look at them any more so he hid them. He said if they spoke Jamaican then he wouldn't mind… something about a movie, he wasn't really listening.
That's when another coughing fit came around, he brought up his hand quickly to cover his mouth but knocked the shelf in the process with his elbow.
And that's what started the chain reaction of unfortunate events.
Firstly, Nico grabbed his elbow in pain and cursed in Italian. He spun around because when he brought up his other hand it knocked something off a small table to the side and his foot got caught in the blanket and lost his balance, falling to the floor. Out of reflex he grabbed the nearest object to hold on to… which was the middle wooden slab of his shelf, and the shelf wasn't stable… at all. He managed to keep the actual shelf from falling on top of him but the trinkets which adorned the shelf? Not so much.
"Figlio di puttana!" He cursed loudly in a raspy voice, throwing a miniature Iron Maiden that was the size of his palm off the crook of his neck. "Odio questo giorno..." He muttered. Lately he's gotten into the habit of cursing in his native tongue whenever frustrated or angry, most of the campers don't understand Italian which he is grateful for. He successfully managed to get up without letting go of the shelf or letting it fall, sighing, he picked up the small ornaments and was very pleased that his treasured figurine of Hades that Bianca bought him was unscratched. He discarded the blanket half way across the room as he made his way back over to his bed and placed the figurine on his night stand for safe keeping.
Nico waltzed back to the mess- well it was already a mess to begin with, he just made it messier, and started to clean up until he realised that at times like this why did he have to clean? With one swift movement of his wrist he summoned Jules-Albert, his French zombie chauffeur, who also was butler in a way. "Clean it up." The dark haired teen ordered, pointing at the morbid mess and walked back to his bed and snuggled into his sheets. It was only when his head hit the pillow he noticed the pulsing headache and groaned. "... Allergies, just... allergies." Though even as he thought that the doubt was growing bigger and he didn't want it to but he gave up on trying to convince himself as his eyelids got heavier once again and slowly drifted back off to sleep.
-ock... knock, knock, knock.
Nico groaned and held his head, one eye opened slowly and glared daggers at the door. "Can't I be left alone?!" He thought bitterly and decided to ignore whoever was knocking on his door - most likely a child of Ares looking for sparing partners, again. Nico turned on his side so his back faced the door, he reached behind his head and grabbed the end of his pillow pulling it over so it covered his exposed ear.
Knock, knock... Knockknockknockknockknockknockknocknockknockknockknockknockknockknockkno-
Nico finally snapped, "WHAT?!" He yelled, which was torture on his sore throat. Sitting up he threw his pillow at the door hitting it straight on. "Che diavolo vuoi?" He threw his blankets off his body and rolled out of bed, marching over to the door he swung it open. And there stood Will Solace, son of Apollo, grinning the bright, toothy grin he tends to wear. Nico felt his cheeks heat up, not because Will, it was the allergies. Yep. Totally just allergies.
Will let out a chuckle after taking a moment to study Nico. "Woke up on the wrong side of the bed, di Angelo?"
"Watch it, Solace." He growled and narrowed his eyes. "What do you want and make it quick, I'm trying to sleep here." The older male sent him an apologetic smile before his face turned somewhat serious.
"That's why I'm here. It's almost three o'clock in the afternoon and you haven't left your cabin, I was getting worried." The blond explained and continued. "Though I see why now. You're sick, aren't you?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"... No," Nico finally answered after what seemed to be like an hour, trying to hide his raspy voice. "I just have alle-" He was cut short by a small, yet violent coughing fit. Hand balled into a fist, he lightly punched his chest and cleared his throat. "I just have allergies, that's all."
Will frowned slightly. "That doesn't sound like 'allergies'." He said, referring to the smaller male's coughing fit. "You've caught a cold. Some of Hermes's children caught the flu and it's been spreading around to other campers." The blond stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
Nico stayed quiet for a while as he tried to do the best glare he could muster, hoping that the other male would walk away. He sighed, defeated. "Fine. I'll admit it - my head hurts and weighs a ton, I can't breathe through my nose and my throat hurts." He said through a few, small coughs. "You can give me nectar or ambrosia or even both; I don't care."
Will snorted a laugh which made Nico's lingering blush redden. "Nico, you have the flu, not dying."
The younger male turned his head to the side, hoping that his blush wasn't noticeable. "I nearly did, my shelf nearly squashed me..." He murmured but Apollo's son heard and quickly grabbed his shoulders gently and made Nico face him straight on which only made the blush darken. By the looks of it the blond was going over his body for any sign of injury. "Great, he's in doctor mode..." Nico thought. He squirmed, still uncomfortable with physical contact. "Solace, if you don't let go of me right now, so hel-" Once again he was cut short of completing his sentence by coughing. Will sighed and pushed Nico back inside his cabin, despite the protests that he could walk without being pushed.
"Go to bed and get some rest. I'll go get some cough syrup from the infirmary." Will said with a smile as he made Nico sit down on his bed. The younger male eyed him curiously.
"What? No 'three days rest'?" He asked somewhat sarcastically which only made the blond chuckle.
"Normally I would," He admitted. "But there are patients in the infirmary with injuries plus there's only a short few of us medics here at the moment so it would suck big time if we all got sick, wouldn't it?" As Will turned around he stopped half way and stared in the direction of Nico's 'junk corner' and let out a not-so manly yelp before turning around, smiling awkwardly at Nico. "U-u-umm... Nico?"
"What?"
"A-are you aware that there's... umm," Will stopped for a moment and turned back to the junk corner, just to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him and turned back to the younger boy. "Nico, why is there a zombie in your cabin... dusting?"
"Hmm?" The small Italian boy looked over to where Will was pointing. There, just like he said, Jules-Albert was dusting every nook and cranny; Nico forgot that he summoned him until just now, and well didn't give orders of exactly what he was supposed to clean up. "Oh, that's Jules-Albert, he used to be some big shot car racer or something in France," He had to pause to cough and clear his throat. "Then he became a zombie so my Dad gave him to me in hopes it would help me 'connect with the 21st century' - he's good at cleaning."
"I... I see. Interesting..." In truth, Will had no idea how to respond to that. He and his siblings get poetry (crappy poetry) from their father and Nico gets a zombie butler. A French zombie butler... He shook his head. What else did he expect from Hades? It's not like he writes poetry. "Anyway, better go get you that cough syrup." Will gave a small to Nico as he made his way out of his cabin, shutting the door behind him.
Nico sighed as his head rested against the cold wall behind him. He looked over at the zombie who was currently dusting the... dusting equipment. Everything was dusted, and he meant everything - how long was he asleep for?!
Well that's all I can write for tonight. I was playing on making this a one-shot but it's getting late now so it'll be a two-shot. I hope you all liked it and I apologise for any grammar/spelling mistakes. Ironically, I'm dyslexic and too tired to proof read xD
Hopefully I'll update in a day or so. R&R~