Nico hated the Apollo cabin.
When he'd first walked in, he'd thought a daffodil had exploded. Sunlight poured through the full ceiling skylight, blinding him wherever he was and infusing the walls with a golden glow, ensuring that the cabin was never darker than sunset. The walls were ochre, the rugs were goldenrod, the pillows were lemon colored. Besides the honey wood floor, everything was yellow, except for what was metallic, - the curtain rods, the bed frames, the knobs on the dresser - which were gold. There was always music, usually from a lyre, or a flute, or any number of Will's siblings singing anything from opera to pop music, but even when Nico lay on his bed when the cabin was empty, hymns seemed to seep from the floorboards. There was a seemingly endless supply of laughter and freckles and incredibly similar blonde heads that made his head snap up every time someone walked past. And there was always Will. Will asking him to come try archery. Will telling him he really should eat breakfast. Will trying to convince him that poetry writing could be fun, if only he'd try it. Will, Will, Will.
He wanted to leave as soon as possible.
Or at least that's what he told himself.
Nico was stretched out across his bed, the bunk under Will's (Which, funnily enough, had been the only bed available when he arrived at the Apollo cabin). Feather-light sheets and pillows with sun designs were pushed to the edges of the bed. His head hung off the edge of the mattress, and his eyes were lazily scanning a sheaf of papers he held above his face. Training... left flank from behind... War Elephant... Reyna had sent him notes on the legion's new offensive strategies, and he'd promised her he'd look over them and offer suggestions. He had a slightly different opinion about helping her now, though, after realizing that what Reyna considered tactical notes were actually the length of a short novel.
Blonde flashed in the corner of his vision, and the floorboards nearby groaned. Nico resisted the urge to see who it was. He blinked and refocused on the words in front of him. Approach from the front with two cohorts, while... the words spun around in his head; he'd been reading the same sentence for the past five minutes, and had no idea what it said. Even reading poetry sounds better than this.
The ladder creaked on the side of the bunk bed, and Nico glanced up a few seconds later, in time to see a startlingly yellow pillow fall at his face from above.
Nico scrambled away from the hurtling pillow, but it caught the edge of his face and smacked the papers from his hands. His eyebrows scrunched together in a frown, and he rubbed the tip of his ear where the pillow's beadwork had hit it. Twisting his head around, he sighed as he surveyed the notes. Fifteen pages or more were scattered and shuffled around his bed. He shifted his gaze to the ceiling, and directed a withering glare upward.
A mop of golden curls and a jubilant grin were suspended four feet above Nico's frown. "I thought that'd get your attention," Will said, unable to keep the smile off his face. "I was standing next to you for a full minute, but that didn't seem to do the trick."
"You could try using my name to get my attention, you know. It is what most people do." Nico's eyes held their annoyed look, but the corner of his mouth twitched up towards a smile.
"Alright, Nico." Will lifted his chin in mock importance. "Nico, can I ask you a question, please, Nico."
Nico's stomach did an odd sort of flip when Will said his name. He gave his head a shake and threw the cushion back at Will's pleased expression. "It's may I ask you a question? And the answer is no, I'm not interested in pegasus riding or canoeing or climbing the lava wall. I happen to be in the middle of something important," Nico waved the hand holding the stack of papers he'd started collecting, "and I was making progress until you so elegantly interrupted me."
Will smirked. Nico's expression had turned into the mock-irritated look it took on whenever Will tried to get Nico to leave the cabin and come do anything, and Will knew that meant Nico was secretly relived to have a distraction from whatever he'd been doing before. "I'm going to ask you anyway."
Nico sighed, but it was getting harder to fight the smile that threatened to cover his face. "Why do you even ask if you can ask, if you ask me anyway?"
"So, Nico," Will climbed back down the ladder on the end of the bunks, and stood next to where Nico was collecting papers. "I think it's time for you to participate in life. What sounds fun? Arts and crafts? Strawberry picking? How about-"
"I already said no. Like I said, I'm busy with this."
Will crouched next to Nico, and picked up the last sheet of paper. Nico's eyes followed the sheet as Will picked it up, and then flicked up to his face. "Nico," Will's voice had lost its jest, and his eyes implored Nico to listen. "I'm not asking anymore. If you won't pick something you'd like to do, you can come with me to translate poems. I'm behind on my work for Ancient Greek class, and you need to interact with people, so we can work on them together."
Will held the paper out to Nico, and Nico reached for it. His fingers brushed against Will's as he grabbed the paper, and a shiver went down his spine. Nico bit his lip.
"Ok, fine. Let's go translate poems."
