Will always wakes up with the sun. It's a curse and a blessing he supposes, since it allows for extra productivity, as Anteros always puts it, but it means getting up before absolutely everyone else in the house now that he's not with his siblings.
Nico's curled up under the blankets on Will's bed, completely still. Will supposes that would be more concerning if he hadn't already seen Nico napping on the beanbags in Apollo Cabin. All of Will's siblings, even Will himself, are all people who move a lot in their sleep. Not Nico. He's as still as the dead.
Will snorts inwardly. Hah. The dead.
He takes one more look at Nico, watching the way his boyfriend's chest rises and falls with his breathing, the small mutterings that leave his lips.
Cute.
Will ruffles his hair, stretching his arms over his head before he clumsily gets to his feet. He pads into the other room, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He almost runs into the wall, catching himself with his hand, a short laugh leaving his lips.
He makes his way into the kitchen, where his mama is leaning against the counter, a coffee cup in her hand, soft music filtering through the small space.
"Mornin' baby." His mom says, and Will hums, padding over to wrap his arms around his mom in a hug.
"Mornin' mama." He says, his voice muffled in her shoulder. "Can I have some coffee?" Her laugh shakes his body.
"Sunshine, you know I don't care. Nico still sleeping?" Will nods as he pulls back to get a cup of coffee. Anteros had gotten him hooked on the stuff at camp, even if they didn't really need it to wake up.
"Yeah, it'll probably be a while before he–"
"I'm awake." Will turns, a smile appearing on his face as Nico comes into the kitchen, his dark hair a ruffled mess.
"Morning, Neeks." He says softly, and Nico's lips quirk up just the slightest. Nico's eyes flicker to Will's mom, who seems to understand something Will doesn't.
"Nico, darlin', there's coffee or tea if you want something to perk you up, we also have all kinds of breakfast foods. I got called into the studio again, so I'll leave the house to you two until you go out." His mom kisses Will on the top of the head, and squeezes Nico's shoulder before leaving the kitchen, the smell of her perfume lingering behind.
Will looks over at Nico, who just mutters under his breath something that Will can't quite make out, before shoving himself into Will's side, resting his chin on Will's shoulder. Will can't help but laugh, wrapping his arms around Nico's waist.
"Someone is a little clingy in the morning." He says breathily, and Nico pinches his side. "Ow, ow, sorry. It's cute, stop pinching me! Nico!"
"Don't make fun of me then, idiot." Nico mumbles, though the sound is muffled from the way he's tucked into Will's side.
"Were you waiting for my mom to be gone to get all clingy?" Will teases, and Nico huffs, pulling back and rolling his eyes.
"I'm breaking up with you." He says monotonously, and Will just laughs, leaning down to press a kiss to Nico's cheek.
"Saying it in Italian doesn't make me believe you any more." Will coos, and Nico makes a face at him before swooping in, grabbing the coffee cup from Will's other hand. He takes a sip before scrunching his nose.
"Do you not take ANY sugar?" Nico says, shoving it back at Will. Will chuckles, shaking his head and taking another sip of his coffee.
"Sugar is for suckers. I take my coffee black. You want me to make you some with sweets?" Nico nods, leaning back into Will's personal space, his eyes closing slightly.
Will lets Nico lean on him while he pours another cup out, this time adding lots of sugar and sweetener, just the way his boyfriend likes it.
"Here ya go babe." He says, and Nico takes it, staring at him. "What?"
"That's a new one." Nico says, taking a sip and humming in appreciation. Will blinks, then realizes what he said.
"Oh? Yeah, I guess it is. Do you like… have a preference or somethin'?" Will asks, and Nico shrugs.
"Not really. You can do whatever you want. I'll tell you if I don't like something. You know that." Nico says, and Will nods. Nico squints for a second, his nose scrunching. "Baby. I don't like baby. Makes me feel like a child." Will barks out a laugh in surprise, and Nico elbows him.
"Sorry, sorry, you just caught me off guard. No baby. Got it."
Nico hums, taking another sip of his coffee, and Will can't help but smile at the domesticity of it all. The feeling of Nico's humming vibrating through his chest, the faint smell of the ground after a storm…
"What are we doing today?" Nico asks, and Will sighs, running a hand through his hair. He'd been up all night thinking, researching on his mom's phone about what they could do in the city. Doomspiraling when nothing was working out. "Hey, what's the sigh for?"
"I just… nothin' was working out when I was lookin' earlier, and I got really stressed and couldn't sleep well last night. I just wanna make this good for you, since you haven't had a lot of good experiences, and I feel like I should be a good host and–"
"Will." Nico says, and Will closes his mouth, a nervous flush spreading across his cheeks. Gods, he's doing it again, huh? "You do this a lot, don't you? Overthink and spiral?" Will nods, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand sheepishly. "Will, you need to learn to relax."
"It's hard to when I'm responsible for not only myself and my siblings, but the whole camp and—"
"Will." Nico says, again, reaching down to squeeze Will's hand. "Not here, you're not. Wasn't this supposed to be relaxing for you? Taking some time off to let Kayla handle things? You haven't Irised her have you?" Will shakes his head.
"I haven't, cross my heart." Will says, his words tumbling out with how quickly he says it, and Nico nods, a contemplative look in his dark eyes.
"Just something relaxing, Solace. It doesn't need to be a whole… I don't know, dramatic something. When have you ever known me to enjoy dramatics?" Will snorts, shaking his head, some of his golden curls falling into his eyes.
"Well, you did decide to date me, so there is a certain level of dramatics that you're just going to have to get used to." Will says with a smile, and Nico rolls his eyes, setting his empty cup down.
"Oh, the horror. But seriously, Will. I don't want you to stress out about this. It's not worth it." Nico says, stepping back out of Will's space, moving towards the sink, presumably to wash out his cup.
"...It's our first date." Will mutters, and Nico stops in his tracks, then turns back to face Will, blinking.
"...No, it's not?" Nico questions, and Will frowns.
"Yes it is."
"No, Will, it's really not."
"Wait, what are YOU considering our first date?" Nico flushes a bit pink, huffing and looking away from Will. He mutters something under his breath, and it clicks for Will. "Neeks, are you really considering the time you spent in the infirmary after you were cleared as a DATE?"
"No!" Nico says, but his cheeks are still red. "I was more thinking your birthday…"
"The movie night?" Nico nods. "Oh…" Will thinks about it, hands on his hips. "Well… I 'pose I can agree to that. At least it wasn't the bead painting for the summer." Nico rolls his eyes again, holding his hand out.
"Give me your cup." Will holds it closer to his body like Nico is trying to take away his first born child.
"M'not done." He says, and Nico just narrows his eyes at him before going over to the sink to wash out his cup.
Will takes a second to lean against the counter, watching Nico as he finishes the last of his coffee. He admires Nico, tilting his head to the side slightly.
Nico leans over the sink, his pretty lips settled into a frown as he concentrates. It's not often that he's still enough, focused enough that Will can really take the time to appreciate Nico's beauty. Because he is. Beautiful. There's way too many scars on the younger boy's skin for Will's liking, too many that he hasn't heard the stories about. He knows the ones on his shoulder, his side. There's a slight curl to Nico's dark hair, a gentle wave much looser than Will's own curly mess. He can see a few freckles starting to appear on Nico's skin, the way that he's starting to tan just a little bit, regaining the color that Will remembers from Nico's first days at camp. His lithe fingers, the skull ring laying on the side of the sink so it doesn't get wet. Nico mentioned before it was Bianca's, and Will gets it, fingering the sun charm on his makeshift bracelet.
When you lose a sibling, you keep hold of whatever you can to remember them.
"What are you looking at?" Will snaps out of his thoughts, blinking at Nico who is standing in front of the sink, an eyebrow raised and his arms crossed over his chest.
"You." Will blurts out, and Nico scoffs, but his expression morphs to surprise.
"Wait, seriously?" Will nods, coughing slightly in embarrassment.
"What, can I not look at how pretty my boyfriend is?" He says teasingly to try and lift the mood a bit, and Nico scrunches his nose.
"I'm not pretty."
"You're real wrong about that, Neeks."
"Pretty is for girls."
"Boys can be pretty. Girls can be pretty. Anyone can be pretty. You're pretty, Anteros is pretty, my mama is pretty. Ariana Grande is pretty. People are pretty."
"Then, you're pretty too." Will beams at Nico, who looks a little bit taken aback.
"Sure am!" Will chirps, and Nico barks out a laugh in surprise.
"Wash out your cup, idiot. We should get ready for the day." He says, and Will hums, nodding. He crosses over to the cup and hip checks Nico out of the way. "Can I take a shower?" Nico asks after a second, and Will nods.
"Bathroom is down the hall from my room. Everythin' you need should be in there." Nico nods, shuffling out of the room.
Will finishes cleaning out his cup, and he goes to make his way into the living room, towards his bedroom, when he spots something out of the corner of his eye. His gaze softens, and he walks over to the pile, reaching out for the note on top.
Just like the summers before you went to camp. - Mama
"What's that?" Nico asks, coming into the living room, already dressed in his normal dark clothing, toweling his hair dry. Will looks up and smiles at Nico.
"When I was younger, my mama used to take me to the lake park in the summers and she would sit out in the grass on a blanket with her guitar writing while I would run around and have fun. It was actually where we discovered my healing powers. I fell and scraped my knee, and it healed on its own."
Nico blinks, looking over the blankets. "We can go to the lake park. That sounds really nice actually. Just very… relaxed. Nothing for either one of us to stress over. And you can fuss over me getting enough sun like you usually do." Will laughs, shoving his boyfriend's shoulder.
"You're getting some color back, it's real nice, Neeks. Plus, you're getting all these adorable lil' freckles on your nose." Nico huffs, but he relents to Will's teasing.
"Are we gonna go or not?" Will laughs.
"I needa shower first, but yeah, we can go. I'll be back in a jiffy!" Will says, pressing a kiss to Nico's cheek before trotting off.
He takes probably the fastest shower of his life, not taking his usual time to contemplate life, the universe, and everything, as his mama would say, and steps out in no time, the warm summery citrus smell of his shampoo filling the bathroom.
"Neeks?" He calls, walking towards his childhood bedroom. Nico is lounging across Will's bed, looking around the room, his wavy dark hair falling into his eyes just a little bit. "Ah, there you are."
"Mm. You finish your shower?" Nico asks, sitting up, and Will nods, running a hand through his messy curls.
"Yep yep, all done. You just about ready to go?" Nico nods, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
"I'll summon Jules-Albert, meet you by the door?" Nico asks, and Will nods. Nico hums in agreement, swishing past Will, the back of his hand brushing against Will's, making sparks shoot up Will's arm. Will blinks in surprise, looking back over his shoulder at Nico's back disappearing around the corner.
He'll never get used to the way Nico makes him feel. At least he hopes. It's like some kind of magic, maybe only explainable by Aphrodite herself.
—
"You were joking about this being shadow travel, right?" Will asks, eyeing the car. Nico just shakes his head, a laugh tumbling out.
"Yes, Will, I was joking. Now, c'mon." Nico turns on his heel, heading down the sidewalk. He turns back, tilting his head to the side when he sees Will isn't following. "I'm being serious. It's not shadow travel. Won't exert any energy from me."
"Cross your heart?" Will says, and Nico heaves out a sigh.
"Yes, I promise. Now come on. We can't leave Jules-Albert waiting or he will get mad." Nico says, exasperatedly.
"Gods forbid we piss off the zombie driver." Will mutters, shifting the basket on his hip.
"Yeah, pissing off the zombie driver is usually the least recommended course of action, at least in my experience." Nico snarks at him and Will just rolls his eyes.
"Whatever you say, sunshine."
It doesn't take them long to get to the lake park, and Will gets a rush of nostalgia when the sweet late summer air hits him. He takes a second, just breathing in for a second. Nico stops as well, waving Jules-Albert off.
"Good?" Nico asks quietly, reaching Will's side. Will nods, a small smile starting to make its way onto his lips.
"Yeah, just a lot of good memories." He says, his voice barely above a whisper.
He remembers one in particular. Maybe a month or two before he came to camp, before the trip to New York that had put him in danger.
His mama's singing voice filtering through the air as he played with some legos, the warm summer sun filtering across his skin. Oh, how lucky he had always been, never getting sunburned, staying in the sun for hours, dozens of warm brown freckles spreading like stars across his skin. A flash of gold had distracted him, a bit of light that came seemingly out of nowhere.
Will frowns. Light. Gold. Had that been his dad? That doesn't… make sense. Apollo had never been the sort of father that kept an eye on his children, not even at camp where he could so easily drop by.
"Will?" Nico's voice breaks through his thoughts, and Will shakes his head, plastering a smile onto his face.
"I was just rememberin' something, Neeks. Don't worry 'bout it." Nico's eyebrows furrow at Will's nonchalance, but his boyfriend just waves it off, Will supposes. Nico doesn't always ask questions, which Will adores about it. Sometimes, Nico just knows he's deep in thought and doesn't want to talk about it.
Of course, Nico is often the same, Will muses. They get each other in that way.
"C'mon, let's go find a sunny patch for you." Nico says, and he reaches down to tug on Will's hand, pulling him forward. Will half expects him to let go once he's moving.
Nico surprises him.
The warm metal of the ring on Nico's pointer finger presses against Will's hand, their fingers tangled together. Will can see the nervous but determined look on Nico's face, the way his dark eyes dart from side to side. Nico's other hand twitches, adjusting the sword on his hip.
"How exactly are you concealing that thing?" Will asks, and Nico looks over at him, blinking in surprise.
"What? Oh, my sword? Hazel taught me a trick with the Mist. Could do the same with your dagger if you want." Will shrugs his shoulders.
"It's fine hidden away. If I need it, I can grab it quickly. Don't worry 'bout it, Neeks. I was just curious since no one is freaking out over a giant sword on your hip." Nico looks at Will, his eyebrows furrowed.
"You've never really been outside of camp with a weapon, have you?" Will shakes his head, swinging their hands a little bit as they walk. He's not about to draw attention to their joined hands.
"Nah, the only time I've actually been outside of camp since I started year round is… well Manhattan." Nico stops walking, and Will blinks, looking at his boyfriend. "What?"
"Will, you've been outside of camp one time in… what 4 years?" Will shrugs his shoulders, but he nods.
"Yeah, what about it? I got lotsa responsibilities. Shit to do and alla that, siblings to wrangle, wounds to heal. I don't have time for fancy trips or anything. And I'm year round." Nico shakes his head.
"I'm going to have to fix that, you know that right?" Will grins, squeezing Nico's hand.
"Does this mean more dates?" Nico squints at Will, but his expression is more playful than anything.
"Sure does, Solace." Will smiles warmly, pulling Nico over to an empty spot, not letting go of Nico's hand. It feels nice to be able to hold Nico's hand without the other boy getting anxious. "How do you guys even keep up with all that pop culture stuff then?" Will laughs, setting the basket down, starting to spread out the familiar blanket he had seen so many times in his childhood.
"Between Anteros's friendship with the Aphrodite kids, the crazy machinery that Nine comes up with, and the Stolls and their black market of goods, we can get just about anything. You'll learn soon enough. Now come sit down, people are staring at you." He says, and Nico unhooks his sword from his hip, laying it down on the blanket before plopping down next to Will. He peeks over at the basket, a frown on his face.
"What did you bring?" Will hums, laying back against the blanket, the later summer sun filtering across his face, warming his skin.
"Just some small stuff, fruits and such. Nothing too heavy. Help yourself if you wanna." He says, and turns his head to look over at Nico.
Nico looks down at him, a small smile quirking up his lips. "That looks comfortable." He says, and Will shrugs his shoulders.
"Eh, it's alright." Nico just laughs, shaking his head. He taps his thigh.
"C'mere." Will's eyes widen, and he blinks at Nico. "What? You suddenly affection adverse? Should I check you for a fever? Make sure you didn't hit your head?" Will sits up, his golden hair falling into his face slightly.
"But we're in public." Nico tilts his head to the wide slightly, dark eyes searching Will's.
"I know that."
"You HATE public affection." Will says, and Nico sighs.
"I hate people I know being in my business. I don't know anyone here. I…" Nico trails off, chewing on the inside of his lip. Will waits, letting his boyfriend work through his thoughts. "I told you that I would try, and this is me trying. I— I feel comfortable, Will. Promise." Will looks at him for a long minute.
Nico's being sincere, he can tell. It's just so different from the past, Will can't help but feel surprised. He muses over it for a second before leaning forward, pressing a soft kiss to Nico's cheek.
"Okay. I believe you." He says softly, and when he pulls back, he can see the scarlet flush taking over Nico's cheeks, accentuating the freckles. Nico clears his throat, looking away, but he pats his thigh again.
Will shifts down, resting his head on Nico's lap, closing his eyes.
"You're right, this is real nice. Infinitely better than laying on the ground." Will says, and he hears Nico snort, and then there's a familiar hand in his hair.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. You falling asleep on me already, Solace?" Will hums. He hadn't really felt sleepy before, but Nico's fingers in his hair and the warmth of sun on his skin is very slowly lulling him.
"I didn't sleep well last—"
"Yeah, I remember. That's why I said we should do something relaxing. You can rest, Will. I'm not going anywhere. I'll even eat some grapes." Will opens one eye and he can see the laughter in Nico's expression.
"Good. You needa eat more anyway." Will yawns slightly, adjusting his position to be a bit more comfortable. It's not long before he feels himself drifting off into a pleasant nap, the sound of Nico humming something under his breath lulling him off.
—
He's startled awake by screaming. He sits up suddenly, blue eyes wide. Nico's already grabbed hold of his sword, a concerned look in his dark eyes.
"Stay here." Nico says, and Will laughs, shaking his head and grabbing his dagger out of the basket.
"In your dreams, di Angelo. Now come on." Nico rolls his eyes, but he relents, and the pair of them run off towards the sound.
Something all too familiar folds out in front of Will, and his eyes widen.
Hadn't all the empousai been sent back to Tartarus after the battle with Gaea and the Doors closing?
"Fuck." Nico mutters under his breath. "Not these assholes again. Is that–"
"Demigod." Will breathes out, unsheathing his dagger. "You get the empousa, I'll take care of the kid. Got it?" Nico nods, his mouth set in a frown. "You see a satyr?" Nico shakes his head. "Doesn't matter right now, let's just focus on getting her safe." Nico nods again, and before Will can blink, he's running full speed at the empousa. Will darts off as well, making a beeline to the young teen trying to get away from the monster.
"Hey! Hey, I've got you. Get behind me." He says, and the girl whirls, looking up at him with brilliant silver eyes. Ah… he recognizes those anywhere. Even without claiming.
"What is happening?" She screeches, and Will sees the brilliant scarlet dripping from her shoulder.
"Are you hurt?" He asks, and she nods, but cowers away from him when he reaches a hand out.
"Who are you? Are you going to try and kill me too?" She cries, and Will shakes his head.
"No, no nothin' like that I promise. My name's Will, what's your name?" He asks, and the young girl shakes with fear.
"'M Valerie…" She says slowly, and Will turns his head slightly to see Nico flash by, his black sword gleaming in the sunlight. "Who's that? What is he doing? He's gonna get hurt!"
"That's my…" Will hesitates. "That's Nico. He's real good with a sword, don't worry. He can take care of the monster. Can I see your shoulder? I have a real good healer's touch, and I can help you." Valerie's silver gray eyes stare up at him for just a second longer and she nods.
Suddenly, there's a screech and a shout, and Will sees the empousa dissolve into golden dust, and Nico sheaths his sword, barely a hair out of place. He huffs out a breath and comes over to Will's side, his dark eyes staring down at the girl.
"Who's this?" He asks, and Valerie shrinks away from him just a little bit.
"Valerie. I'm gonna heal her up, give me a second." Will says, reaching out for her hand. He holds his own palm up, waiting for her to give him her hand. He always does this with first timers, a show of trust and asking for permission to heal. That is, unless they can't talk to him. The young blonde girl looks between him and Nico apprehensively, but eventually puts her hand in Will's.
He closes his eyes, searching her vitals, trying to see where exactly she's been hurt. "Just your shoulder, I think. I can heal it up real nice, if you'll let me?" She stares at him.
"How can you heal me?" Before Will can answer, he hears the sound of running feet, and a satyr appears in front of them, breathing hard. It's not one that Will recognizes, but he's pretty sure he's seen him around the camp at least once or twice.
"Valerie!" He pants, and Will shifts looking over at Nico, who just nods.
"We took care of the monster, she should be safe now." He says, and the satyr whirls, looking at NIco and Will with big eyes.
"Oh Will! And Nico!" He exclaims. Will smiles, nodding his head.
"I was just about to heal her. Are you on your way to camp?" The satyr nods, fanning himself with a hand.
"Monsters have been after us at every turn, but we are on our way, yeah." Will nods, turning back to Valerie. He starts to hum under his breath, and his skin takes on a warm glow.
"You're glowing, Will." Nico says, and Will makes a face at his boyfriend.
"I'm aware, Neeks. I have eyes, you know." Nico just snorts out a laugh, crossing his arms over his chest, his sword hanging from his hip.
Before long, Valerie's shoulder is healed up, and Will drops her hand, smiling warmly at the younger camper. "You should go with your satyr. He will explain everything better than we can." She blinks up at him before her eyes slide to Nico.
"You're really cool." She says to Nico, and Will can't help but duck his head, laughter tumbling from his lips.
"You're just pulling all the kids into hero worshipping you now, aren't ya, Neeks?" He teases, and Nico just rolls his eyes, sighing deeply.
"I didn't do anything!" He complains, throwing his hands up. Will can't help but laugh more, and he hears Valerie join in. "Solace! Stop teasing me!"
"I can't help it, Neeks, you get so indignant!" Will says, giggling.
"Valerie, we should get going. Nico, Will, thanks for helping out. It really means a lot." Will smiles at the satyr, and he reaches out to pat Valerie on the shoulder.
"We will see you back at camp in a few days Valerie." He says warmly, and the younger girl nods. She still seems a bit dazed, but she trails after the satyr, only looking back once before disappearing into the trees.
Will turns, eyeing Nico. The younger boy just stares back at him, an eyebrow raised. "What?" Will holds out his hand and Nico just sighs, taking Will's hand. Will inspects his vitals, then hums, satisfied with the results.
"Good, no injuries." He says, dropping his hand down but keeping their fingers intertwined. "You good?" Nico nods.
"Piece of cake. Nothing I haven't done before. Don't know why you were even worried." He says flippantly, and Will just shakes his head.
"C'mon. Let's get back before someone steals our spot. Hopefully no one heard anything crazy either."
—
"Mama, we are gonna be just fine." Will says, holding his mom's hands in his own.
"I know that, baby, I just worry." She says, looking down at Will with a shimmer in her blue eyes, a mirror of Will's own.
"You don't haveta worry. I'm real strong, and Nico is even more powerful. We can get back safely. He's gonna shadow travel us so that we won't even come across any monsters. And then we will be at camp, I promise Mama." Will says, frowning slightly.
His mom sighs, and she squeezes his hands before pulling him into a hug. "Please stay safe and Iris message when you can, baby." Will nods, hugging his mom tightly. He breathes in, closing his eyes. Memorizing the feeling of her arms around him, the smell of her perfume.
"I love you, mama." He says softly.
"I love you too, sunshine." She replies, and he pulls back, willing tears to not fall. "Nico, it was a real pleasure to meet you and have you spend time here. Take care of my baby, will you? He puts on a real tough front, but he's a softie inside, you know."
Nico shifts awkwardly, but he nods, a small smile on his face. "No need to worry, Ms. Solace. I'll take care of him." She holds out her arms, her eyebrow raised. Nico hesitates for just a second before he steps forward, accepting the hug. Will pretends to not notice the way Nico melts into it, the way he can clearly tell how much his boyfriend needed the hug.
"You two better get goin', right? Kayla is expecting you?" Will nods, and Nico steps out of the hug, a glimmer of something in his eye that Will doesn't ask about. They can talk about it later. "Get there safe, boys. Bye now!" Will smiles, reaching out to take Nico's hand.
He pulls his boyfriend outside, to the back porch. Much safer for them to travel out of sight, plus the big orange tree in the backyard gives Nico just the right amount of shadows.
"Now, you needa explain this to me before we go." Will says, hands on his hips. Nico laughs, running a hand through his hair.
"I think Percy described it as feeling like your face was going to peel off with how fast it is. I dunno about all of that, but I'm also used to it." Will just stares at him, and Nico shrugs. "It's safe, I promise, Will. It's not dangerous."
"But you're gonna pass out when we make it to camp, yeah?" Nico sighs, and nods.
"Yeah. I'll even shadow travel us right into the infirmary if that makes you feel better. Anteros can handle the aftermath if it affects us both too much." Nico says, and Will nods. That does make him feel better. He squeezes Nico's hand, trying to look less nervous than he feels.
'Alrighty, I'm ready." Nico grins at him, a wicked gleam in his eye, and pulls Will forwards, stepping back into the shadow.
(Percy was right. It does feel like having your face peeled off.)