What the actual fuck? Why was Apollo trying to mess with his love life? What did he do to deserve this? First, his dad, now this. Well, technically Nico couldn't prove that his dad was messing with his love life, seeing as Hades technically didn't know he was gay. But, still, he wasn't exactly subtle. Hades had been getting raised eyebrows since the day he saved Percy. He was so embarrassing.
So, when Will was standing outside, glaring at the sky, he joined in, cursing at his father. It took him a solid 15 seconds and an odd look from Will to realize he was speaking Italian, which was probably a good thing. He did not want Will to understand the things he was saying, it very well might scare him away for good.
Once he was satisfied, he looked up at Will who was looking in his direction. He didn't seem to be looking at Nico though, he was practically in a trance. Alarmed, he started violently shaking Will.
"Oh, um-hey! What'd you do that for?!" Will had wriggled out of Nico's grasp, and was looking at him red faced, and flustered. So much for not scaring him.
"You looked half dead! It didn't even look like you were breathing. What was that?"
"It was… nothing." Will answered, though it sounded more like a question. He gave his head a little shake, and looked more alert. Nico generally found that gesture stupid—how does shaking your head clear your mind? It would just make you dizzy and disoriented—but with Will it was kinda cute.
"We should probably get going, huh? Will said, still looking a bit bewildered.
"Yeah, but um, quick question, where?"
"Chiron said we should go back to camp, so i guess, that's the way we'll go."
"And which way is that?"
Will shrugged.
"We're lost. Shit. We're lost."
"On better news, I think we lost the monster, who- what, ever that was."
"WE ARE LOST. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WOODS. WITH A RANDOM MONSTER CHASING US. THERE IS NO GOOD NEWS."
"Okay, alright, I see your point. We're probably going to die out here."
"No shit, Sherlock."
Will took a step back, wounded, "Could you at least try to not make it seem like the end of the world-"
"It very well could be."
"Well it might help if you stopped mentioning that."
"How? How would it help? Not talking about our inevitably soon deaths isn't going to stop them."
Will glared at him, frustrated, and stalked off. Nico resisted the temptation to go after him, sitting down on a log instead.
He packed up the meager supplies that remained, and tried to put the conversation out of his head. He paced the cave for a bit, until he realized that Will had been gone for alarmingly long. Sure, they were fighting, and Will wasn't exactly the first person Nico wanted to see right now, but they were stranded in the middle of the woods. It was just the two of them.
So, he ran. He turned on his heel and sprinted after Will.
After some time, once Nico was out of breath and his running had devolved to a jog, he saw Will, leaning against a tree. His eyes were closed and Nico was unsure whether or not he was awake. He sat next to Will, without speaking and closed his own eyes. As long as he knew Will was okay, it was fine.
Nico heard leaves rustle, and saw that Will had adjusted his position to lean on Nico, with his eyes still closed.
Nico was the first to speak. "I was kinda horrible."
Will turned to him with a lazy smirk, "Oh, really? I hardly noticed."
"I'm sorry, I really am. But, we need to get back to camp or somewhere safe. Because here, it isn't."
"So, left?"
That made Nico smile a bit. After all this, Will was still hardly phased. "Sure."
They started blindly walking in that direction, for lack of a better idea.
"This is stupid, isn't it? We're so close to camp, and yet, we're lost in the middle of the woods."
"I could shadow travel us back, I'm sure I'm strong enough now."
"It could kill you!"
"It hasn't yet."
"No, d-"
He was cut off, "Take my hand"
Nico pulled Will into the shadow of the nearest tree and focused on his Cabin back at Camp Half Blood.
"This might feel a bit weird"
Then he jumped.
He found himself standing next to a queasy Will, who he just barely had time to guide to the bathroom before his vision went black.
