Chapter Summary: Nico and Will get to know each other even more as the day winds down.

XxxX

The day passes before Nico knows what's happened. He's been so focused on Will – watching him smile, laugh – playing a quick game of horseshoes in the arena until they get kicked out by the Ares kids waiting to spar.

They end up hanging out in Hades cabin, cross-legged on Nico's bunk. Will sits on Nico's pillow and Nico faces him in the middle of the mattress.

His head is spinning. He can't remember having so much fun getting to know somebody, just wasting an entire day with them, pretending the rest of the world doesn't exist. The other campers had seemed to realize they weren't welcome, and didn't bother them much. Will has the gift of turning people away without hurting their feelings. The few times friends of his had approached, he'd given Nico a quick wink, talked to them for half a minute with a promise to catch up later, and they'd taken off without acting put out or shut down.

Will closes his hand on top of Nico's, sending a warm shiver through his arm, and the ache lingering in his bones vanishes. When he meets Will's eyes, they're almost sad.

"What are you thinking about?" Nico asks. He can't help the small twist in his gut, fearing the answer isn't something wants to hear, but he asks anyway.

"I'm worried about my dad."

Nico swallows, his pulse quickening. He's not used to this, having people talk to him about their hopes and fears. Ever since he pushed Reyna to talk, though, it's like he's wearing a sign around his neck: share your troubles here. Well, maybe not exactly like that, but he can't deny it changed how he's perceived by other people. They don't seem to shun him like they did before.

"Is it the punishment thing?" Nico asks, recalling the others talking about how Zeus had acted in Athens.

"Yeah," Will says with a sigh. "Something's off with Apollo. He basically disappeared for the whole war, then as soon as it was over, he popped into my dreams – the other Apollo campers' dreams, too. He's overly cheerful, like he's forcing a smile …" Will drops his voice. "He's not a very good actor. We can all tell he's freaked out on a huge scale."

Nico brushes his fingers over Will's hand where it rests on the mattress; his touch is soft, warm, comforting. "I saw you and Lou Ellen arguing with Clovis last night. Was it something to do with your dad?"

Will's cheeks go pink. He levels his eyes on Nico's and Nico almost wants to hide from the intensity of the stare, but he doesn't. "Yeah. I heard Clovis had been visited by Apollo too. I wanted to know what he'd seen. Basically, he just told us Apollo came and that something big is going to happen soon. Like, a huge change, but he can't remember what it is even when he tries. He says it feels like it was an accident that Apollo visited him, and he probably muddled the details to cover it up."

That makes sense. Clovis's dreams are so strong they pull other dreamers into them all the time, but Nico's never heard of a god missing the mark during dream-travel. Nico catches a hint of mischief in Will's eyes that it looks like he's trying to suppress. Nico can't resist poking it a little bit. He raises his eyebrow. "So you and Lou Ellen decided to gang up on Clovis and force him to talk?"

The blush spreading across Will's face is adorable, though Nico concentrates on keeping his own expression pointed. He's totally not getting off on Will blushing.

Then Will turns the tables on him. "Were you spying on me? Tell me you weren't sneaking around in the shadows again." He lifts Nico's hand and studies his wrist up close, as if examining its substance. It's solid.

Nico's torn between falling back into getting riled up by Will thinking he can control whether or not Nico shadow-travels, and going mushy inside because Will cares enough to be upset by it. But Will seems more upset at the idea Nico would hurt himself than if he was eavesdropping.

Nico clears his throat and Will looks at him, then puts his hand down. "I saw you from the porch," he says. And the way Will searches his eyes, Nico knows he's reading the truth in them. More than that, he feels really exposed – examined by Will, but instead of it making him super uncomfortable or chasing him away, it's turning him on something fierce.

There's got to be something faulty with how my brain is wired. Please don't look too much closer. And please don't stop.

Out loud, he's talking but not really paying attention.

"Honestly, Nico, I was more worried that you'd died than listening to his dumb stories."

"Huh?" Nico asks. "What?"

Will wrinkles his forehead. "You asked if I talked to Apollo when he gave me a ride to Camp Jupiter." He moves his hand to Nico's forehead, presses the ball of his palm in the center, then runs his fingers back through Nico's hair, gently scraping his scalp, nearly turning Nico into a demigod puddle. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Nico squeaks. He can't stay this close much longer and keep from jumping Will's bones. He pulls away and scoots off the bed. "Be right back." Then he escapes to the bathroom to get himself back under control.

XxxX

It takes him half an hour and a shower to cool off. He wonders if Will would have gotten bored and left, and then, if Will would wonder if he was jerking off. His cheeks get hot again and he curses, almost wishing he had. It might've taken the edge off.

Instead he throws a towel over his head, puts his clothes on after a quick shake to dust off the sand, and walks back into the room. Will's still there. He's lying on his stomach, legs in the air, barefoot and reading a book. He glances up as Nico finishes drying his hair and drapes his towel around his neck.

It takes Nico a second to tear his eyes away from Will's ankles and calves, and then his embarrassment spreads from his face on down. Will's reading his pirate romance novel.

"Umm," Nico says, staring pointedly at the book.

Will grins at him. "Not bad," Will says, a teasing lilt to his voice. He pushes himself up and sits on the side of the bed. "I think there's something going on between that cabin boy and the captain, though. It's pretty obvious." He hands the book to Nico and Nico tosses it on his pillow.

"You're still here," Nico says. Will reaches for him and pulls him by the hips until they're hugging, his head to Nico's chest.

"Wanted to say goodnight before I left."

Nico returns the hug, almost without thinking about it, one hand resting on the back of Will's neck, the other combing his shaggy blond hair with his fingers.

Will makes a contented purring sound right over Nico's heart and it's almost too much. Nico stares down at Will's face, snuggled against his chest and he just knows … Will Solace has him wrapped around his finger. And by some miracle, Nico doesn't mind.