Disclaimer: I don't own Trials of Apollo

TOApril day nine: "Bath Time With a Twist".

One of the less pleasant tasks that came with caring for patients in the infirmary was helping the injured bathe. It was awkward, occasionally mortifying depending on exactly how little autonomy they had, and generally a task all involved parties wanted over as soon as feasibly possible. As the head of the infirmary, it was a position Will had found himself in many times, and no doubt would continue to find himself in several times in the future, too. Hygiene was, of course, paramount to healing, no matter how much offended campers (often but not exclusively Ares) spat at him when he announced that it was bath time.

Will would much rather be wrestling another injured Ares camper threatening to gut him into the infirmary bath than deal with his current, awkward, situation. Kayla and Austin had abandoned him to his fate, citing that it only needed one person and as the most experienced (and head counsellor, which came with more soul-destroying responsibilities than perks, sometimes), Will was clearly the best-suited to it.

Apollo, still looking rather a state and certainly nothing like the confident dad Will remembered, was hovering at the edge of the room, clutching a towel tightly and eyeing the shower with something that looked a lot like embarrassment. Will just hoped his own mortification wasn't showing on his face. It hadn't occurred to him that Apollo might not know how to use basic mortal necessities (thankfully he was smart and picked up how to use the toilet without too much fuss), although as gods presumably didn't get dirty unless they chose to – and then no doubt just snapped their fingers to get clean again – it made sense.

That didn't make it any less awkward to be standing in the bathroom with his currently mortal dad, Apollo stripped down to nothing except a towel he seemed to be trying to hide as much of his body as possible with – he did seem particularly traumatised at the idea he had obtained flab in place of an idealistic yet impossibly toned godly abdomen, and Will had decided to let him have that because he was clearly using that to distract himself from everything else wrong with his body – as he explained the controls on the shower.

It wasn't a complicated shower. One switch controlled temperature, the other controlled water pressure. Apollo seemed to be understanding the explanations – Will suspected he was just as eager for the awkwardness of having to be taught basic things like this to be over – so with one reminder to use the washcloth to get everywhere, Apollo, I mean it and to wash his hair – he retreated from the room and let his dad get on with it.

The rush of running water started almost as soon as Will closed the door, staring down his unapologetic younger siblings in a there will be payback for dumping that on me way. Kayla and Austin's unconcerned shrugs – they knew he wouldn't actually get them back for it, dammit – were interrupted by a yelp of pain.

Will whirled around and knocked on the door in a panic, mind whirling with all the things that could have gone wrong in ten seconds and coming up blank. He hadn't heard him fall. "Apollo?"

"The water's hot!" came the rather pathetic-sounding cry. "Why is it hot?"

Oh gods. Will rested his forehead against the door in despair. "Did you turn the temperature up?" He'd left it on warm rather than scalding for that exact reason.

"Yes, but- I'm the god of the sun! Water doesn't get as hot as the sun!"

The protests sounded ridiculous but all Will could think of was that Apollo was going to hurt himself if he kept trying to treat his body like his godly one, which came with a fresh wave of crushing realisation that his dad's body was very much mortal right then.

He sighed. "Turn it back to where it was," he instructed. "Mortal bodies don't have the same level of heat tolerance you're used to."

The only response he got to that was the sound of running water, and he sighed. "Don't forget to wash," he repeated, falling back on his healer defaults because what else did he have? "We'll get some clothes ready for you."

There was no way Apollo was getting back into the bloodied and torn clothes he'd arrived in.

"Leave that to us!" Kayla chirped when Will stepped back from the door.

"We probably shouldn't all leave," Austin added, and before Will could protest at them leaving him with the responsibility of monitoring Apollo (even though he knew he would have done it anyway), his two siblings had torn out of the cabin, presumably in the direction of the camp stores.

"Argh!"

Will jumped and knocked on the door again. "Apollo?" How was a shower so dangerous?

"My eyes sting!" his dad wailed. Oh no. Will knew where that was going. "I'm blind!"

Maybe Will should have done a better job at explaining how to use shampoo.

"Keep your eyes closed," he called. "Finish washing your hair then you can treat it."

"Ow!"

Please, Will thought. Please do not make me go in there and do it for you.

"I hate this," Apollo was complaining. "When I get my godhood back I'll-"

What he was going to do about showers and shampoo in eyes when he was a god again, Will didn't get to find out. There was a loud crash, another cry of pain, and, heart in mouth, Will shoved the door open to see his dad in a heap on the shower tray.

"Apollo!" he hurried over, ignoring the water still falling, and knelt next to the fallen figure. Apollo groaned and tried to sit up, but Will put a hand on his shoulder to keep him still. "Let me check you're not hurt first," he insisted, his other hand coming up to cradle wet and shampoo-drenched hair as he felt for any signs of injury. "Falling in the shower can cause, uh, injuries." He refrained from going into details at the last moment, realising that Apollo probably wouldn't want to hear it.

His dad's eyes were still closed, with the tell-tale tracks of tears failing to completely mingle with the rest of the water in his face, but he still grumbled malcontentedly as Will hummed a simple tune, clearing up the bruises before they could form. Thankfully, there was nothing worse from the tumble.

"This sucks," Apollo complained.

Will didn't disagree, but, "welcome to mortality." He helped Apollo sit up. "As I'm already here," and soaked, "I'll sort out your hair and eyes for you."

Apollo pouted but didn't argue as Will unhooked the shower head and rinsed out the suds from brown curls. The water that dripped out the other side was murky, leaving Will to wonder what, exactly, he'd been through before arriving at camp, and he ended up employing more shampoo before the water ran clear.

Rinsing Apollo's eyes was more of a chore, mostly because Apollo hated the cool water and definitely didn't want to open his stinging eyes so they could be "assaulted" further. Will suspected he also just hated being mortal and having to rely on someone else.

"All done," he said when he was finally satisfied Apollo's eyes were shampoo-free. "Dry off and brush your hair. Kayla and Austin will be back soon with clothes."

He grabbed his own towel and did his best to get rid of the water on his own skin before traipsing out of the room to change into something dry.

There was no sympathy from his siblings when they returned in time to see him pulling on a fresh tee, hair straggly from its unexpected second wash. Will firmly pointed them towards the shower with their load of new clothes for Apollo and returned his own attention to drying his hair off properly.

Austin promoted himself to favourite sibling by not returning immediately after depositing the clothing, but instead clearly taking the time to make sure Apollo finished all the other morning ablutions – evidenced by Apollo's grumblings about deodorant when he finally emerged. There was no trace of the disaster that had been shampoo in his eyes, and from how neatly Apollo's brown curls seemed to fall around his face, Will had to wonder who, exactly, had been the one to wield the brush.

He didn't ask, instead setting his own brush aside – his hair felt dry enough that it shouldn't draw the attention of most of the campers, especially as the sun would finish the job pretty quickly – and joining the other three, finally ready to face the morning (and Harley's Three Legged Death Race).

I know in canon Apollo implies that he mastered morning ablutions without any difficulty at all, but that's the boring explanation, so here's the fun one.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari