Prompt 1: Character A and B meet in the ER on Christmas Eve.

"Diangelo?" Nico's head perked up. He had been sitting in the ER waiting room for hours now with no help. The muggers had taken his phone and wallet, so he had absolutely nothing to entertain him, save for the tiny TV wedged in the corner, with no sound and subtitles that were so far behind Nico had made a game out of trying to remember what he had seen so he could match it to the subtitles a minute later. It was fun enough, but Nico had quickly grown tired of the same late night/early morning news show that would usually only cater to drunk bums still slumped in their armchair in front of their TVs.

Nico stood. His hope was to make it to the other side of the room without making a fool of himself. He failed. Halfway to where the nurse had called him from, a wave of dizziness hit him full force. Maybe it was the blood loss, or the concussion, but Nico suddenly found himself stumbling into a thankfully empty chair and sprawling on the floor. He groaned. His vision faded out for a moment, and when it came back there was an angel hovering above him. His head was ringed in a halo of golden blonde hair, his eyes glowing a beautiful sky blue. Freckles were splashed across his upturned nose and bronze cheeks. His pink lips were moving, but it took Nico a moment to comprehend what he was saying.

"…he's really flushed. Bring a wheelchair over here! Hey. Can you hear me?" The guy's hand cupped Nico cheek, and it was so warm Nico almost nuzzled into his palm… shit there must be something really wrong with him. He locked his eyes on the nurse's mouth, focusing in again on what he was saying. "You're going to be fine. You just blacked out, okay? I'm gonna take you back and get you fixed up. Do you need help getting into the wheelchair?"

Suddenly Nico remembered that he had actual working muscles, and was capable of movement. He lifted himself onto his elbows. "Um… no. I can walk."

The hot nurse frowned. "I don't want to risk you blacking out again. Come on."

With incredible care, the nurse snaked one hand behind Nico's back and around his waist, and offered his other arm for him to grab on to. Nico could feel his face burning tomato red as he was deposited in a wheelchair. He was wheeled down a hall and into a small room. When the nurse made to help him onto the standard bed/table Nico shrugged him off. His touch was intoxicatingly warm, and Nico didn't want to get burned. He settled awkwardly on the edge of the table, his heels bumping the sides. Not being able to touch the floor didn't help the helpless feeling that was quickly swallowing him.

"I'm Will Solace. I'm going to do everything I can to take of you until a doctor can come see you, but I'm afraid we're a little short tonight, so it's gonna be a while." As he talked, Will puttered around, checking all sorts of things, attaching a heart monitor to Nico, and shining a light in his eyes. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I was mugged."

Will blinked. "Wow. Okay. Where are you hurt? Can you specify a certain place?"

"Um… I don't know. It was all kind of a blur. I hit my head pretty hard. And one of them had a knife… I'm pretty sure I didn't like… get stabbed or anything but I might have a few cuts. Otherwise it's all just bruises."

"Have you called the police?"

"No. They took my phone and my wallet." Will typed something on his tablet, biting his lip.

"How did you get here?"

Nico shrugged. "I walked."

"On that leg?!"

"What?" Nico glanced down at his legs. His dark jeans were torn and soaked black with blood. Through a rip, he could make out a long cut, the details of which he couldn't make out behind the blood and woah there was a lot of blood. "Oh," he said blankly. He must have been really messed up not to have noticed that. Now that he realized it was there though, it was really starting to sting. Nico clenched his fists.

"We'll start there. I'm gonna bring you something for the pain, so just hang tight. That's gonna need stitches."

Will slipped out of the room, leaving Nico alone. He really didn't want to get stitches, but the cut did look bad. Now that Nico was alone, he tried to remember the details of what had happened. He had little flashes of memory: being pinned down on the concrete with a pistol pressed to his forehead, the flash of a knife, panic. Nico squeezed his eyes closed tightly, forcing deep breaths through his lungs, inflating them like stubborn balloons. It was only a few moments later when Will reappeared, rolling a cart of supplies with him. "You can go ahead and lay down," he said, his voice overly cheerful. Nico did so, laying his head gingerly on the head-rest, tilted slightly to the side to not aggravate the raised bruises on the back of his head.

Will dragged up a stool next to Nico, setting the Italian boy's arm palm up to access the crook of his elbow. He set up the IV stand, then wiped his skin with a wet cotton pad. He tied a red rubber strap around Nico's upper arm, then rubbed the inside of his arm with his calloused fingertips. Nico shivered. "Your veins are really visible," he commented, preparing the needle. "I'm going to give you morphine through this IV to help with the pain, then we'll get started on the stitches." Will inserted the needle, using his left hand to hold Nico's arm still and keeping up a steady stream of chatter. If it had been anyone else, he would have just wanted him to shut up, but from Will the talking was kind of nice because Nico's grip on himself was slipping and he really needed a distraction. The whole night was catching up on him all at once, and that combined with the morphine already fogging up his brain was making him unreasonably emotional.

Nico had slept in that morning, staying in bed until 1:00 PM. He'd been awake for hours, but he just couldn't find any motivation to get up. It was Christmas Eve. He should've been preparing to see his family and have a huge dinner and inevitably get in an argument with one of them, then go home frustrated and exhausted and not ready to see them again tomorrow morning, but all of Nico's family was either dead or on the other side of the country. He would not be spending any time with his family this Christmas. Percy had extended an invitation for him to come over and spend the holiday with his family, but Nico had told him he had plans. It was lie but he really couldn't stand the thought of watching Percy laugh and talk with his big, happy, living family. Eventually Nico started feeling really pathetic and got up to eat, only to find his fridge and cabinets empty. He'd given up and gone back to mope in bed, sleeping for another few hours before hunger took over and forced him out of his cave. He stayed out late, wandering the city and trying not to wallow in his misery. That's when he was attacked, passing through a dangerous area, slightly tipsy, and far from home. Christmas used to be the best part of Nico's year, but now it was just frustrating, a painful reminder of what he couldn't have.

"Hey um… I'm not really supposed to do this but if you want to call your family and tell them where you are, you can use my cell phone." Will finished taping the IV line down, then stared up at him with those huge, baby blue eyes.

Nico winced. He felt tears of frustration building in his eyes, but he didn't let them fall. His situation was just so unfair. He couldn't stand it. "No um… I don't need to call anyone."

"You sure? I don't want to leave anyone worrying about you if you couldn't contact them before."

Nico took a deep breath, trying to calm the stirring panic in the pit if his stomach. "I don't have anyone to call. Let it go."

Will was silent for a short moment his hands going still, staring at Nico. "Oh… I'm sorry." He swapped the IV supplies for a pair of scissors, moving down to Nico's leg. "I glad these aren't particularly nice pants. I'm gonna have to cut this leg off." Will paused for a moment, then his eyes crinkled up adorably and he let out a surprised laugh. Nico was so caught up in how adorable he looked when he laughed that it took a moment to comprehend what he said next. "The pants, I mean. I'm not going to cut your leg off, I swear." Will chuckled again. God, he was cute.

"What?" Will asked, raising his eyebrows.

Nico frowned. "What?"

"You said… You said I was cute?"

"Out loud?"

"Yeah."

Nico blinked slowly at Will. He didn't mean to do that. "Oh… That wasn't on purpose."

"The morphine can make you kind of loopy," Will explained. Nico felt personally insulted by the drug. How dare it make him call a cute guy cute?

Will then went about cutting away Nico's left pants leg to look at the cut. It wasn't as long as he had originally though it would be, but it was deep and nasty. Nico cringed and glanced away from the nurse's steady hands as Will cleaned it, and then started stitching it carefully. Thanks to the morphine, all he felt was an odd tugging sensation, and Will managed to distract him from even that. Nico couldn't tear his eyes away from him: his nimble fingers manipulating the thread expertly but gently, the natural upward curve of the corners of his full lips, like he was always thinking about something pleasant, and the soft set to his blue eyes, like there was nothing he cared about more than the now only half open wound in front of him. He was the exact definition of everything Nico would want in a boyfriend. When Will was finished, he glanced up at Nico, catching him staring and grinning easily. "Hi," he chuckled, a cheery glint in his eye.

"Hi," Nico responded dumbly. This was so unfair. He was trapped in a room with the cutest guy he had ever met, and the morphine he was on was making him act like a total idiot, but Will didn't seem to care that much… unless Nico was completely delusional. That had to be it. A god like this would never be into Nico, an actual goblin. He probably wasn't into guys. Nico was never that lucky. Was Will into guys…?

"I am actually," Will responded. He had glided on his stool up to Nico's head to examine the bump, his long fingers running gently through his hair.

"You are what?" Nico asked, dumbfounded. Was he thinking aloud again?

"Into guys. You seemed to be wondering. I'm bisexual."

"Cool," Nico said. Cool? That's the best he could come up with?

"What about you?" Will asked conversationally, grabbing an ice pack from the cart.

Nico spluttered for a moment before he remembered himself. "I'm gay. I thought I was in love with my straight friend Percy for a few years, but then I realized that was stupid and I didn't even like him that much so I got over it. I've never really dated anyone though." Ok that was too much information. Will took it in stride, nodding attentively. He probably dealt with this a lot.

"Your head looks pretty good to me. You may have a very minor concussion, but it's nothing to be worried about. You'll probably experience some nausea and dizzy spells. Can you hold this ice on your head to get the swelling down?" Nico reached out to grab the ice pack, and their fingers brushed. He felt his breath catch, his heart skipping a beat as electricity raced under his skin. He wanted to grab on to Will's hand and never let go, but he resisted the urge, drawing away reluctantly. A glance at the nurse found him blushing, rubbing his arm awkwardly. Nico knew heat was rising in his cheeks too. He pressed the ice pack to the back of his head, trying to ignore the fact that his face was probably tomato red.

The rest of the exam went similarly: awkward and stumbling, both of their faces flushed as Nico said things he didn't mean to and Will flirted shamelessly. When it was over, the blond pronounced him healthy enough to leave as long as he was careful and came back to be checked over again. As Will was slipping out of the room, he paused. "Hey um… My shift ends in a few minutes. I know you can't get a ride and my apartment is really close to here so you can come stay with me tonight if you want. No one should have to be alone on Christmas."

It was a bad idea. The last thing Nico wanted to do was get attached to this guy. But what other choice did he have? He didn't have a car, or a wallet to pay for a cab ride, or a phone to call someone to pick him up. "Sure."

The car ride wasn't as awkward as Nico thought it would be. Will turned on the radio, renditions of the same ten Christmas songs floating out of it, and Nico napped in his seat for most of the ride. When the car stopped, Nico found moving nearly impossible. He was just so warm and comfortable, combined with the exhaustion from the day. He was vaguely aware of Will coming around the passenger seat, unbuckling him, wrestling him out of his seat and supporting him into an elevator and up to the apartment. He blinked slowly as Will set him down on his bed with a cup of cocoa (where did that even come from?) and then disappeared out of his line of sight, only to come back a moment later changed into snowman pajamas and holding some sweatpants and a t-shirt. "Can you change yourself or do you want me to help?" he asked, his voice soft.

Nico made an unintelligible noise, pawing noncommittally at the clothes Will had set next to him. Will chuckled, sitting Nico up and pulling his shirt up over his head. Nico was too tired to care that he was practically naked in front of Will. When he was changed into fresh clothes, Will tucked Nico into the bed and made to go into the living room. "Wait!" Nico slurred. Will stopped, turned around to look at him, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

How was Nico supposed to say this to Will. Could he just come out and say, 'I'm really tired and feeling kind of freaked out and for some reason I'm really attracted to you so can you please stay here while I sleep?' No, he couldn't just say that.

"Y'know," Will said, a glint in his eye, "I think you might need someone to keep an eye on you. I'm going to sleep in here with you for tonight. For medical reasons, of course."

Nico smiled. "Medical reasons," he repeated. He scooted over to make room for Will, who slipped easily under the covers.

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

Nico fell asleep tucked against Will's chest, warm, safe, and happy.