Why did he say that? Why would he just tell that to Nico? Why did Nico even ask him? Who was the friend? Did a guy like him? A thousand questions raced through Will's head, but he didn't ask any of them. It really didn't matter who the friend was, there was only one person Will liked. Nico. His mind entertained the possibility that Nico's was making up the whole 'friend' thing and he just wanted to know if Will was into guys. Besides, Nico wasn't exactly the type of person to do favours for people. He would probably tell them to go do it themselves. So maybe he had a chance with Nico, a slim chance, but a chance. Either that or Nico hated gay people and wanted to make sure Will wasn't one. But he seemed pretty okay with the fact that Will had just come out to him so he assumed that wasn't the case.
In response to Nico's response he gave Nico awkward finger guns and said, "Yeah, you do that." Nico just kind of nodded and at a certain point Will did too. So they stood there nodding at each other. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lou Ellen and Cecil laughing. He wasn't sure whether it had anything to do with them, but there was a good chance. They seemed to have a sudden urge to become the 'involved parents' of his love life. If said parents were involved just to tease you, good-naturedly obviously. They really did want him and Nico to get together.
Will couldn't stand the silence. "So, the ribs. Really good right?"
Nico gave him a weird look. "You don't have any on your plate." How could Will be so dumb? He just told his crush he was gay and started acting awkward around him, way to play it cool. He wondered what Nico was thinking then regretted it. What if Nico could tell. Oh gods, if Nico realized Will would just about die. "But how are they? Maybe I'll try some."
Nico looked down at his food and noncommittally answered, "They're good."
"What are you thinking?" Will asked, "You look distracted."
Nico's brow furrowed, "Nothing!" Now he'd probably made Nico feel uncomfortable. Gods he sucked at this. Whatever this was.
"Okay, cool." Will got up to throw out the remains of his food. He tousled Nico's hair on the way out, earning himself a death glare. WIll probably should've felt scared but he was just so beautiful. Will was head over heels in love with this guy. He had to do something, he didn't know what, but he couldn't keep going like this.
Will came back and found that Nico had finished his food, and offered to put Nico's plate away. Nico said yes and smiled at Will, which was a first. Will giddily disposed of Nico's dishes and the two walked to archery together. Nico teased Will on the way but he didn't mind. The son of Hades' mood had drastically improved since the beginning of breakfast. It must've been the food, Nico never did eat enough. Will wondered how he'd even surprised up to this point, it was almost as if Nico was saying fuck you to all the basic human neccesities and living without them.
"Hey, Nico?"
Nico turned to Will, "What?"
Will decided to ask the one thing that had been nagging the back of his head for so long. "Are you into guys?"
Nico cheeks developed a rosy tinge. "Yeah, I am."
"Cool. Is there anybody who you, you know, like?" Will asked nervously.
Nico spoke slowly and thoughtfully, choosing his words carefully. "Well, there was Percy. But not anymore."
Will gave him a lopsided smile, "Yeah, you and everybody else in the camp."
"Yeah," Nico let out a small chuckle. "Did you like him?"
"Well, at a point I did. Not exactly my proudest moment." Will blushed.
"He's such an idiot."
"Yeah, but an irresistible one." This was the first time that Will felt like Nico had fully let his walls down with Will, so Will decided to do the same back. No more filters, well except for one. He wasn't ready to talk about his present feelings with Nico just yet. But it seemed like the more he talked to Nico the more of a chance Will thought he had with him. Will remembered when Nico arrived, the cheerful kid who loved Mythomagic. Will had never told anybody, but he secretly loved that game too. Nico had changed over time, but then again, so had Will. People changed after going through what was almost the end of the world twice. But Will was just as in love with Nico as he was the first time he saw him, if not more.
"I suppose." Nico gazed up at Will, with a conflicted look in his eyes, "When did you know?"
"I think I knew when I was 10." Will said, "When did you realize?"
"I always kind of had an idea, but i think it really clicked when I was 13." Wow, that was a lot later than Will had expected. He could tell that Nico hadn't always felt the most comfortable with himself, but at the same time Nico always seemed so sure of who he was, whether he had liked it or not.
Will realized Nico was nudging him and gesturing towards Chiron, who had just arrived which meant that they could begin shooting. If they didn't stay alert one of them would probably end with an arrow through the stomach. They fired their bows and Will's arrow hit dead center. Nico missed the target, but archery was never his strong suit. He was only even there because Will made him go. Nonetheless, he looked like he was enjoying himself. Will adjusted Nico's aim and told him to shoot again. The arrow was far off from the center but it hit the target that time. Nico's face lit up which made Will smile.
"Nice shot!" Chiron nodded approvingly as he walked by.
Nico adjusted his aim himself and nearly hit the target. "Yeah!" Will shouted encouragement probably a little too loudly and shot his own arrow. Another Bulls-Eye.
"Ugh, I can't do this!" Beside him, Nico groaned out of frustration him after his next few arrows missed the target entirely and Will took it as a personal challenge. "Yes you can."
"Easy for you to say, you're a son of Apollo. It's in your blood. I'd be better off summoning a skeleton to go put an arrow in the center target." Nico looked like he was actually considering doing that.
Will sighed, "No, you aren't. Your condition still isn't stable enough."
"Stop saying my 'condition'. I don't have a condition, I'm fine," Nico harrumphed
"Yes you do. It's called I-use-deadly-magic-too-much-and-am-going-to-get-myself-killed-itis"
Nico rolled his eyes, "Sounds super real." Nico's next arrow grazed the target.
Will made adjustments to Nico's posture, adjusting his grip on the bow, his footing, and his general posture. "Now imagine the arrow hitting the bulls-eye."
When Nico fired, the arrow hit the target. Not in the center, but it was a start. Nico kept practicing and actually started to get the hang of it. "See, you're a natural!" At some point Will dropped his bow and put all his focus into helping Nico. The two of them almost didn't notice when Chiron signalled that the session was over. By that time, Nico had gotten two bulls-eyes and was consistently hitting the target. Nico acted like it didn't matter to him but Will could see his lips twitch every time the arrow hit the target. After archery Will wasn't entirely sure what to do. They couldn't remember the last time the camp wasn't frantically trying to avoid the end of the world. There was always something or the other going on. Always something that meant he had to put himself and his life on the backburner. But as a healer his job wasn't to worry about himself, it was to focus on healing others. He was due to be in the infirmary soon, anyways. He didn't mind it though, he cared about all of his patients deeply.
He swung by the Apollo Cabin to play a bit of music, and calm himself down a bit. He sang the chorus of 'You are my Sunshine', strumming his ukelele. It was his favourite song, his mother sang it for him as he was growing up. Will could only imagine how hard it must've been for his mother to raise him by herself. This song always reminded him of her and how much he missed her. He loved camp and all the people in it, but he found that he was homesick sometimes.
Will took a deep breath and stepped out of the Apollo Cabin.
He entered the Infirmary to find chaos. And in the midst of it all, Nico. He had a wide-eyed look on his face and seemed almost paralyzed with fear. Will went to him to go see what had happened and in response Nico had simply pointed. There was a crack that had opened up in the floor leading to what Will could only imagine was Tartarus. Nico fainted in Will's arms, almost falling through them.
