August 7

Will

It was Nico's last day in the infirmary - his 72 hours would be up right before lunch. Will realized that he was disappointed. He told himself that it was because the infirmary was so quiet, that he'd run out of things to do with nobody here. But really, he knew that even if it was packed he'd still notice Nico's absence. It was silly. They hadn't even had a full conversation until a few days ago. But Will was drawn to something in Nico. At first he thought it was just that he needed to process the whole Octavian thing, but now that seemed like it had happened ages ago. No, as he talked to Nico more, he realized that there was more to it. Maybe Kayla was right, maybe he did have a type. He thought that after everything Matteo did, how mortified he'd been when it had all ended, that the thought of getting close to another dark and handsome brooding demigod would have sent him running. But maybe it was that he knew Nico wasn't like his ex at all - he couldn't imagine Nico playing with someone's emotions, he was too kind, too selfless to do something like that. And besides, Nico wasn't concerned with what other campers thought or following stupid camp traditions. It was refreshing, now that Will had been at camp year-round for a while, to hang out with someone who didn't care who the newest couple was or what the next prank would be or how to win capture the flag at any cost.

Will walked into the infirmary and noticed that Nico was already awake, reading Murder on the Orient Express. Will grabbed his clipboard and headed over to start taking his vitals. Nico put the book down and smiled at Will.

"So, excited to finally get out of here?" Will said as he checked Nico's pulse and took note that his weight had improved a bit.

Nico looked surprised. "What? Oh, yeah, I guess it has been a few days. I didn't realize - sleeping for a day and a half sort of threw me off."

Will glanced at him, trying not to feel too glad that Nico sounded a bit disappointed himself. "Well … don't think you're rid of me quite yet. I haven't given you the green light to use any of your powers, you know. So … that will require some supervision, of course."

"Seriously?" Nico said, whining. "I haven't done more than walk to the lake since I got here."

Will adopted his serious doctor demeanor. "And that's all you'll be doing until I say otherwise, young man. You need, uh, physical therapy. Make sure you don't pull anything or melt into goo trying to summon a skeleton dog."

Nico looked like he was about to laugh, but kept a straight face as he replied. "What do you recommend, doctor?"

"I think physical therapy twice a week until we get you up to shadow traveling again," Will said, tapping his clipboard. "I expect a month of rehabilitation, at least."

"If that's what you think is best, doctor," Nico said seriously. He dropped the act and asked, "Did you still want to practice sword fighting? Percy and Jason already decided that we're doing our classes together, but I can stay after or go early or something. You know, a trade for making sure I don't melt into a puddle when I resurrect that dog."

Will gave him a big smile. "Yeah, that'd be great. Just promise not to laugh too much at how bad I am, or else I might happen forget how to heal sword wounds."

"Deal."

Nico

As soon as he was out of the infirmary, Percy and Jason tracked him down and dragged him to the mess hall. Chiron seemed to be ok with the children of the big three eating together, or maybe he was just ignoring it until the other two boys left for the school year. They caught him up on their class schedule and started talking about strategies for the last game of capture the flag for the summer, ten days away.

Nico paid enough attention to nod or agree when it was expected, but kept glancing over at the Apollo table, eyes finding a certain blond healer all on their own. He and Will locked eyes once, and before Nico could look away and pretend that he was just scanning the room, Will smiled. Nico blushed and looked down at his plate.

"... and you should totally do that too, Nico," Percy said, turning to him.

"Yeah, totally, whatever strategy you guys want," Nico replied, not sure what exactly he was agreeing to.

Percy gave him a weird look. "Uh, cool? I'm gonna go say hi to Annabeth before our next class starts. See you guys at the wall in a bit."

Once Percy was gone, Jason looked at Nico thoughtfully. "Percy was just saying that you should come with me when I visit them at school this fall."

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know. Sure. That sounds great." Nico shoveled some food into his mouth.

Jason peered at him again and glanced over at the Apollo table. "So, uh, we're all leaving for the school year. You're still planning on staying here, right? You sure you won't get bored?"

Nico looked up at Jason and shook his head as he chewed, trying to look nonchalant. He couldn't help glancing at the Apollo table too.

"Mhmm. You'll probably end up getting to be pretty good friends with some of the other campers. I bet Piper could get her cabin to set you up with someone..."

Nico nearly choked. He managed to swallow before urgently whispering, "What? Set me up - who? I mean, why, uh, why would you think that-"

Jason laughed. "Calm down, I was kidding. I think you'll be fine. We weren't here for very long, but everyone seems really nice. I'm glad you're staying."

Nico just nodded, trying to suppress the blush that hit his cheeks. The Aphrodite Cabin, getting involved in his … personal affairs. What a nightmare. He was pretty sure his dad knew he was gay, and his friends didn't seem to care, really, but the thought of his love life becoming part of camp gossip … he didn't think he'd ever be comfortable with that.

Annabeth and Percy walked back over to the table and the four of them headed toward the training area.

As they walked, Nico fell into stride with Annabeth. "Hey, so, you do … building stuff." Nico like Annabeth well enough, but he wasn't really used to talking to her yet.

She just smiled, though, and said, "Yeah, I do that sort of thing. What's up?"

"So, my cabin, it's a nightmare. Literally, it looks like a nightmare about vampires…" and they spent the rest of the walk talking through a game plan to make some changes before the summer ended.