Notes: I'm so happy everyone seems to be enjoying it as much as I enjoy writing it! You've probably noticed that I break the chapters down into the days. I have an outline that goes right into Trials of Apollo (there won't be a chapter for every day, of course), so we'll see things be cute and sweet, get a bit rocky, and then get better again before campers start disappearing and Apollo shows up. I'm trying to pace myself so I don't get burnt out or write something that is out of character because I just want to get to the point, so I hope the plot speed doesn't drive anyone insane.

I'm doing my best to fit it in the timeline of the books and check references for camp layout etc, but if I do miss something please feel free to let me know!

August 19

Will

As he walked up to Nico's cabin, he smiled and shook his head at the parrot. When he noticed it a few days ago, glancing out of his cabin window as he got dressed, he bursted out laughing. Some of the other campers had given it weird looks, but nobody seemed to have been brave enough to ask Nico about it.

Will knocked on the door, thinking they could grab some breakfast from the mess hall before practicing sword fighting prior to Nico's class with Percy and Jason. Will hadn't completely embarrassed himself the first time around, though he suspected Nico took it easy on him. P.T. had been going well too - Nico was now able to resurrect a few human skeletons at a time before getting tired. Will figured they could start on Nico moving earth around next.

After waiting a couple minutes with no answer, Will cracked the door to the cabin open. Maybe Nico had gone to eat already? But he saw movement in the pile of blankets on the far bed, and realized that Nico was deep in a nightmare.

Will entered the cabin, quietly shutting the door and saying Nico's name softly, not wanting to startle him. Nico thrashed in his covers again, and Will moved toward him. The bed frame was covered in frost and the air around Nico was significantly more chilly than the rest of the cabin. He knew that Nico wasn't fond of touching, but Will wasn't sure how else to calm him without scaring the other boy more.

Will sat on the edge of Nico's bed and gently put his hand on Nico's shoulder, muttering soothing words. Nico rolled toward Will's warmth and curled up against him, still hyperventilating. Will moved his hand to rub Nico's back and his breathing started to slow down. After a few moments, Will felt Nico tense up again, and realized his eyes were open, staring at nothing.

"Hey, uh, sorry. You were having a nightmare or something and… well, I was going to see if you wanted to get breakfast before practice but you didn't answer your door, and I looked in to see if you'd already left - I didn't mean to intrude or anything. But then you weren't waking up and it seemed sort of bad and - sorry," Will was blushing and realized his hand was still on Nico's back. He cleared his throat and moved it. "I can leave, and if you want to skip today I get it-"

"No," Nico said quickly. "No, it'll be good to do something." He was still curled up next to Will and buried under the covers but his breathing had calmed. Will thought his eyes still had a haunted look to them but he had relaxed for the most part and the chill began to recede.

"I'll um, just wash my face and change and we can go," Nico said, not looking at Will. He grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom.

Will stood and looked around the cabin. He hadn't seen it before Nico changed things but it looked nice now, simple furniture and sparse decorations. Some of the books Will had brought Nico were sitting by the bed and there was a photo of Nico and Hazel on the wall.

Nico came back out of the bathroom. "Sorry about all of that," he said, smiling shyly. "Thanks, you know, for waking me up. Sometimes it's hard to … snap out of it or whatever."

Will just nodded. He could tell Nico felt uncomfortable, but honestly Will was impressed that Nico was able to shake it off so quickly. And it struck him as sad that Nico was probably good at it because he'd had a lot of practice… and that it was something he felt he had to apologize for.

Will gave him his best cheery smile. "So, your cabin - it looks great. I like the exterior decor. It's no femur picket fence but…"

Nico laughed, "True, it turns out there aren't really enough spare femurs in the ground around here and I didn't want to worry about trying to import."

"Right, very practical. Those over-seas femurs are just marked up way too high."

Nico laughed again. Will was glad that he had gotten him smiling. What a terrible way to wake up.

"Well, I'm almost finished with everything," Nico said, looking around. "The TV is supposed to get in this week and Annabeth wants me to pick out a rug or something - she says it'll make it feel 'homier' - but then I think that's it."

"Nice, a TV! One of my brothers has a small DVD player thing he brings over the summer. I'm sure he'd let you borrow a few movies - unless you were planning on watching more Batman reruns?"

"Nope, I actually finished those already," Nico said. "I think Chiron was relieved I'd finally be out of the rec room. So yeah, thanks, that'd be cool."

"Cool," Will said, nodding. Then, they headed toward the armory and Nico promptly disarmed Will four times in a row.