Chapter 4: Iris message
Nico was free from the infirmary at last. As he walked across camp towards his cabin, he looked back at the infirmary. Gods, Nico was sure he was crazy. What kind of person would miss being in the hospital?
Apparently, Nico.
Nico was almost afraid to leave the infirmary. What if Will, being as busy as he is, didn't have time for Nico anymore?
Nico's stomach did a loop thinking about what he had told Will before he left the infirmary. Nico had to admit, something like that, to his crush, was pretty gutsy. Nico had faced hundreds of armies and had been in the deepest pit of Hell, and still, Nico had never been more afraid than that split second before Will answered.

And the best part was, Will didn't say no. He didn't look mortified or disgusted by the offer. He actually smiled a little.
Nico felt like dancing or screaming at the top of his lungs, but both would send people running away, yelling for help.

Nico walked into his gloomy cabin. He stood there for a second, letting his eyes readjust. Then he threw his stuff on the floor and plopped onto his bed. What was he going to do now? He needed something to keep his mind off of Will until dinner or else he would over think it. Just laying here in his cabin definitely wasn't taking his mind off of Will.
Nico wanted to sword fight. He had been stuck in the infirmary for 6 days and hadn't touched his sword once during that time, much less practice. But then, Nico decided it wouldn't be a good idea to send Will more patients, which would probably make Will work through dinner.
Nico could iris message Hazel or Reyna. Maybe he could talk to Reyna about her invitation. Maybe catch up with his sister.
Nico pulled himself up off the bed and began to walk to the camp store. Gods, he hoped he still had a few coins.
The air conditioning in the camp store was beyond excessive. Nico felt like he's just stepped into the middle of blizzard. He instantly missed his jacket, which had been pretty much torn to shreds. He hadn't been able to find a replacement yet.
Nico shivered uncontrollably and basically waddled around the store. Finally he found what he was looking for.

Iris's rainbow in a bottle: open the cap to unleash Iris's nature-friendly rainbow. All organic!

Nico grabbed the plastic bottle off the shelf and walked towards the counter. A daughter of Hermes, who Nico didn't really know the name of, was behind the counter, reading a magazine (a dumb tabloid called Olympus's hottest). Nico was sure she knew he was there, but that didn't make her look up from her magazine. Nico cleared his throat in an attempt to catch her attention, but with no luck. Finally, with a sigh, Nico dug the money out of his pocket, set it on the counter and just walked out with the bottle.

He walked back to his cabin, stopping his tracks halfway there. He forgot to tell Jason and Piper he was out of the infirmary. "Oh well" he thought, "they'll figure it out."

He shut himself in his cabin and began to dig through his pockets again for a coin. Once he found one, he sent the bottle on the floor in the middle of his cabin and slowly untwisted the lid. A shimmering white mist slow crept out of the bottle, moving up towards the ceiling. In seconds, a glittering rainbow stood just about eye-level with Nico. Nico tossed his golden coin into the mist and said "Show me Hazel Levesque."

The mist simmered for a second, slowly fading into a new picture. He saw a lavishly decorated room with SPQR tattooed everywhere in gold. He saw a long table covered in papers upon papers with three people surrounding it, Hazel, Reyna, and Frank.
They were in a lively discussion about preparations, most likely for the feast. Frank was the first to notice Nico.
Frank had become more accustomed to Nico lately, but it still scared him half to death, just seeing Nico's head floating in mid-air. He became horrible pale for a brief moment and then managed to say "umm...guys". He nudged Hazel with his elbow. Hazel looked up for a moment and then when back to her heated discussion with Reyna. After getting a few words out, she looked back in disbelief.
"Nico?" She asked. Reyna cranked her head to see what Hazel was talking about. "How long have you been there?"
Nico shrugged a little. "Only a few seconds. I just wanted check in, I guess."
"Did you get my invitation?" Reyna asked, leaning forward a bit.
"Yep. Sure did." He gave her a watered-down glare. Reyna returned him a sly smile. They were having a silent conversation that no one else understood.

Reyna, Hazel, and Frank started continuously bragged about the preparations for the feast. Sometimes while telling Nico about the feast, their ideas would conflict and they begin arguing.
"We're still getting all the kinks worked out." Hazel apologized.
"I can tell." Nico said. "Dont worry, it'll come together."
"You're right Nico. The feast with my gold tablecloth will come together."
Hazel glared at Reyna. "I think you meant purple tablecloth."
They began their bickering again, arguing about tablecloths and colors. Frank sat there awkwardly, trying to find a median between their ideas, but he drowned out by the fighting.

Nico sat there and watched their arguing, somewhat entertained. Somehow, their arguing made him feel...happy. He was happy that they accepted him and actually talked to him. He was happy that talked openly around him instead of whispering behind his back, even of it meant bickering.
Nico was jarred out of his thoughts, by an intense pounding on the door. Nico froze for a second, terrified. Oh god, what's happening. The pounding on the door continued, and even got louder. The constant hammering was already giving Nico a migraine. It looked like the door was about to give in. Should he answer it?

He silently tiptoed toward the pounding. He might've well open it. As long as it gets the awful hammering to stop. He slowly cracked the door open. Before he could even peek around the corner to see who was there, the door slammed open, pushing him aside.
Jason walked in, piper following, and pointed at Nico. "You are sooooooooooo grounded."

Hazel, Reyna, and Frank fell silent as they watched what was happening through their misty little window into Nico's world. Nico was nothing but confused. "Wha-what?"

Jason Grace crossed his arms and started tapping his foot, his glasses sliding about halfway down his nose. "What did you forget to tell us?"

"Umm..." Nico swallowed nervously "I'm out of the infirmary by the way. And how can you even ground me? Will already grounded me from my powers. What else is there to ground me from? Plus, you're not even my parent."

"Dont you talk back to me, mister" Jason said.

"So," piper spoke finally. "Will told us he's joining you and Jason for dinner."

Nico felt his face start glowing red, probably still visable even in the darkness of his cabin.

"Oooooh, Nico's having dinner with Will?" Reyna teased through the iris message.

"Its not even a big deal! It's just dinner! It doesn't mean anything!" Nico lied to himself. He knew better. It meant something, though Nico wasn't sure what it meant. Nico wasn't even sure if Will liked Nico in the slightest. He might of just accepted to be polite. But Nico did know that dinner meant something to him.

"Whatever." Jason said. "Just know I'm watching you, Di Angelo."

Jason and Piper sauntered out the door, slamming it shut behind them.

Nico sighed in exasperation. He turned back to the iris message. "Sorry. I didn't really expect that to happen."

Frank and Hazel had disappeared, leaving Reyna alone.

"Where did Frank and Hazel go?" Nico eyed the iris message suspiciously.

"I asked them to step out for a minute because i need to talk to you. I couldn't put it in the letter. I was going to tell you at the feast, but then this opportunity presented itself." Reyna was suddenly very serious. Nico wasn't sure he liked the sound of it.

"Okay," Nico said. "Shoot."