"C'mon Solace, you can do better than that." Nico taunts, spinning his sword in his hand. Will frowns, his blue eyes hardening. Nico barks out a laugh, his dark eyes gleaming in the late afternoon sun.

He's got another one of Will's hoodies on, this one a dark blue. It suits him, but Will knows that if he says that, he will never hear the complaining about the lack of black in his wardrobe, as if he makes all the decisions about his clothes based on if Nico will steal them. Damn, they really need to replace Nico's jacket.

"Oof!" He hits the ground hard, caught off guard in the middle of his thoughts, and Nico laughs again, shaking his head.

"That's what you get for getting distracted when you should be focusing. Get up, c'mon." Will hisses in pain as he gets up, pushing his hair out of his face.

"You did that on purpose, didn't ya, Neeks!" He says, and Nico shrugs his shoulders. Will's hand tightens on the pommel of his dagger, and he darts forward. Bronze clashes against black iron, and Will hears a hum of satisfaction.

"Better, but you're still too loose." Nico knocks him back with another strong blow, and Will goes tumbling.

"How in the Hades do you keep doing that!" Will says, brushing the dirt off his clothes. "You're small enough to fit in my pocket, and–"

Another strong blow, but Will has the sense to parry it at least, and Nico jumps back.

"Stop calling me short." He growls, and Will can't help but laugh. "You're off balance, that's why. Even though you're taller than me, I can easily throw you off if you're off balance." Will frowns. He doesn't feel off balance?

"Lemme try again." He says, and Nico tilts his head in a go ahead gesture. Will adjusts his grip on his dagger, and rushes Nico again.

It doesn't take long for Will to go flying to the dirt again, panting, and this time Nico leans over him, a knee on his chest, the blade of his sword pointing just under Will's chin.

"Do you yield?" He says, and Will can't help the laugh that bubbles out of his chest.

"You've been watchin' too much Game of Thrones, haven't you, darlin'?" Nico rolls his eyes, pressing his knee against Will's chest harder.

"You didn't answer my question, Solace." Will tilts his head to the side slightly, grinning up at his boyfriend.

"What if I'm stalling so I can do THIS!" He flips Nico with all the force he can, mirroring the knee on his chest, this time his own bronze dagger at Nico's throat. Nico coughs in surprise, his brown eyes wide.

"Do YOU yield, angel?" Will says, leaning in close so his breath fans over Nico's face.

Nico's gaze drops just a bit, and he chews on the inside of his lip, almost like–

"NICO! WILL! Gods, can you two flirt somewhere ELSE?" Kayla stomps into the training ground, her flaming red hair lit up in the sunlight. "You're disgusting, covered in dirt and sweat. Dinner is in 15 minutes!" Will startles, dropping his dagger onto the ground at his sister's intrusion, and he stands up, offering a hand to Nico.

Nico stifles a laugh, grabbing onto Will's hand and hauling himself off the ground. He ducks down to grab his sword and Will's dagger, giving it to Will. Will hums in gratitude, sheathing the dagger into its sun and star sheath on his hip.

"Hold your horses, Kayls, I have time to shower 'fore dinner starts, and it's fine if I'm a little late, yeah?" Will says, turning to Kayla, the younger girl standing a bit aways from them, her arms crossed over her chest.

"You stink." She says, and Will laughs, shaking his head.

"Like you don't after archery class." He says, and she rolls her eyes.

"At least I have the good sense to schedule archery class so that I have enough time to TAKE A SHOWER." She ducks away from Will as he goes to attack her sides, jogging out of reach from him. "Don't you dare touch me, I don't wanna get CONTAMINATED."

"Then don't let me… CATCH YOU!" Will yells, and Kayla shrieks, taking off at a run.

"WILLIAM ANDREW SOLACE, DON'T YOU DARE!" She yells as she runs back to the cabin. She's much faster than he is due to her archery training, and his general lack of athleticism, so she reaches the cabin first.

Will laughs as he flops down onto one of the beanbags in the front room, and Kayal shoves him off. "SHOWER, Will! Neither one of us is gonna wanna clean these, and seriously, dinner is in TEN minutes now." Will heaves a sigh, standing up.

"Yeah, yeah, don't have a cow." He says, and she just rolls her eyes. "'I'll shower for your delicate sensibilities, Makayla."

"Don't call me that!"

His laugh echoes off the walls of the bathroom.

"Okay Valentina, you should stay off your leg for a few days until it heals fully, yeah? Wouldn't want to make the sprain worse." Will says, taking off his gloves. Valentina sighs, pushing her long brown hair out of her face.

"Does this mean no heels?" She says, and Will stops, turning to stare at her for a moment. She blinks up at him, her brown eyes wide.

"...Yes, Valentina. No heels." He says after a minute, and she huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. She grumbles something under her breath in French, and Will's been around Melody for long enough to understand French swear words.

"Cut that out, it's three days. At least you're a demigod that can heal fast and you can take some ambrosia. Don' make me stick you on bed rest." He says, and Valentina turns pink, rubbing her arm.

"Sorry… I promise I'll stay off of it." She says, and Will smiles.

"You know I'm friends with Drew, yeah? I'll check in with her while you heal just to make sure. Now, it's getting real late, and it's gonna get dark out, so you should head on back to Ten before the harpies eat ya." Valentina yelps and all but scrambles out of the bed, using the crutches that Will had explained how to use to her earlier to leave the infirmary, shouting something after one of her other siblings.

Will picks up the clipboard from the side of the bed, muttering under his breath as he jots down some notes about her healing, walking back to the office. It's quiet in the winter, with less campers getting in his hair with injuries.

He opens one of the filing cabinets in the office, fingers tapping over the tabs until he reaches Cabin Ten, and then Valentina's file. Will takes the folder out, slipping the new piece of paper into it, before he puts the file away, shutting the cabinet.

He breathes out a sigh, looking around. There's nothing else for him to do here, really. Anteros had spent the morning organizing with Austin and Sohee, and with Valentina's charting done… He stretches his arms over his head, yawning.

Might as well head back to the cabin. Maybe the sunbabies are up watching a movie.

Will starts the trek from the Infirmary back to his cabin, burrowing himself deeper in the light blue Senior Council hoodie covering his body. Damn, it's cold. He chews on the inside of his lip.

November. It's already so close… He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath, steadying himself. You can't fall apart this year, Will. You've fallen apart too many times.

He can't help it, he knows. Couple the bad weather with the mourning and it's the worst combination of feelings. He knows last year was worse with Nico going missing… and then PERCY going missing. The stress had taken a huge toll on him, and he remembers the fight with Anteros, the fight with Melody.

He can't be like that this year. He has to be better. Perfect. He has to be a role model for his siblings, for the camp at large.

It's not long before he arrives at the cabin, the golden sheen of it nearly glowing in the light of the setting sun. He squints, shielding his eyes from the sheer brightness of it. Thanks, Dad. He pushes the door open.

It's quiet, but he can hear the low hum of the TV. He takes off his winter jacket he was wearing over his hoodie, hanging it on the coat rack, before crossing over to the weapon wall and hanging up his dagger. He stops.

There's a black sword hanging from Nico's hook.

He turns his head, and he can't help but break out into a smile at the sight in front of him.

Sleeping Beauty is playing on the TV, but neither Sohee nor Nico are paying attention, the smaller girl curled up in Nico's lap, fast asleep. Nico seems to be asleep as well, but it's so hard to tell with him sometimes. Will picks up the remote and turns off the movie, the screen going dark.

Sohee's fingers are curled into Nico's black camp shirt, her chest rising and falling evenly in slumber. She's out like a light, and she's always been the heaviest sleeper in the cabin. It should be fun trying to wake her up, Will muses. He crosses over and gently shakes her shoulder, but she doesn't react. He chuckles softly, prying her fingers off of Nico's shirt. Sohee shuffles a bit in her sleep, but doesn't wake up. Will slides his arms under her, picking her up off of Nico.

Sohee cuddles closer to him in her sleepy state, murmuring something under her breath. He can't quite make it out, and chances are it would be Korean anyway. No use trying to decipher it. He walks back to the sleeping area, pushing the soft pink fabric covering her bed from prying eyes away. He sets her down on her bed, gently pulling her blanket over her. Will watches her for just a second, making sure that she doesn't wake, before leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.

"Sleep well, sunbaby." He says softly, before pulling the fabric back down and stepping out into the front room again.

Nico's still fast asleep, his chest barely rising and falling. Will squats down in front of the beanbag, gently shaking Nico's shoulder.

"Hey, Neeks." Nico mutters something, only slightly coming to. "You want me to take you back to your cabin?" Nico shakes his head, and Will can't help but laugh. "Nico, it's almost curfew."

"Not gonna come in the cabin to drag me out." Nico mumbles. "Never have 'fore. Percy n' Annabeth do it all the time."

"Is this you demanding to sleep over?" Will teases, and Nico opens one eye, squinting up at Will.

"You gonna kick me out?" He asks, and Will just laughs, leaning down to hook his arms under Nico's body. A short yelp leaves his boyfriend's lips, and Nico pinches Will's shoulder. "I can walk!"

"Can you? You were half dead asleep in the beanbag, you wan' me to put ya down?" Will asks, and Nico hesitates before shaking his head. He blinks sleepily as Will carries him back to the sleeping area, shifting in Will's arms when he realizes what Will is doing.

"This is your bed." He says, and Will sets him down on his feet, raising an eyebrow.

"Did you want one of the open beds? We have a few that aren't being used at the moment." Nico scrunches his nose up and shakes his head.

"No, but I wasn't going to impose on your sleep." Will rolls his eyes.

"Please, Neeks, you sleep like the dead. I've shared your bed, you can share mine. I'm honest to the gods surprised you haven't fallen asleep here before. We've been datin' what… 2 months now? Just about." Nico looks at him in surprise. "What, you think I ain't gonna remember when we started dating? It was just at the end of August, a few days 'fore my birthday."

"Your memory is insane." Nico says, pulling the fabric to the side before flopping down on Will's bed. He inspects something, pulling a plushie out from behind a pillow. "Is this a Pokemon?"

"Who taught you about Pokemon? Cause it sure wasn't me." Will says with a laugh, kicking his shoes off and climbing into the small bed as well. Nico shrugs his shoulders, playing with the ears of the plushie.

"Yan left me his Switch while he's at boarding school, and he taught me about Pokemon. I like the… black one. The fox one? I can't remember its name but it's cute." Will snorts out a laugh, taking the plush from Nico's hands.

"That's real funny, because this is Jolteon. You like Umbreon, which comes from the same evolutionary line. They're both Eeveelutions, as they're called by fans. Umbreon's Dark type, this is the Electric type. I've had this since I was a kid. My mama bought it for me 'fore I came to camp." Nico nods, chewing on the inside of his lip. "Now scootch over, get comfy. I'm near about past going." Nico stares at him, and Will sighs. "I'm TIRED, Neeks. Sun's down, it's winter, I don't have as much energy as usual."

"Fine, fine, I'm settling." Nico lays on his side, dark eyes searching over Will's face in the dark. "How do you wanna–"

Will pulls Nico closer to him, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend, resting his chin on top of Nico's head. Nico stiffens, and Will sighs. "Too much?"

"I just— You can't just— I wasn't ready! You can't just do stuff like that, Will!" Nico splutters, but he doesn't pull away, his hands instead coming up to curl into Will's hoodie.

"Nico. Too much? You need to answer yes or no, you can't just splutter and complain when I ask you. I know you got your whole thing about touch and–" Nico pinches his side hard, and Will yelps.

"Not with you. It's not… not with you. You can touch me all you want." Will looks down at him, raising an eyebrow, and Nico turns bright red, hitting Will again. "That's not what I meant! Stop looking at me like that!"

"You should be real glad Anteros is asleep. He'd pull a muscle laughing." Will says, and Nico snorts.

"Your brother is a pervert." Will shrugs his shoulders.

"That's Tero for you. He's weird. You knew this going in, that my siblin's are weird. I tried to warn you." Will says, and Nico hums, resting his cheek on Will's chest. "That's right on my tattoo, you know." Nico pinches him again.

"Didn't you say that you were tired, Solace?" Will snorts out a laugh, burying his nose in Nico's hair.

"G'night, Neeks."

"Night, tesoro."

"How exactly did this happen?" Will says, inspecting Dylan's hands. The younger boy turns a bit pink, his dark eyes shifting from side to side. Will waits patiently, turning Dylan's hands over to see all of the burns.

"...Harley wanted me to help him test something." Dylan says after a while, his voice barely louder than a whisper. To be fair, Dylan's always been that quiet, especially around him.

"Magical?" Will asks, and Dylan shrugs.

"I don't know much about it. I don't understand most of what he does anyway. And he was rapid firing Spanish." Will hums. That reminds him a lot of Leo, but he chooses to push THAT thought down. Nico'd been ranting about what he was going to do to Leo once he showed up again at camp, and Will can't help but agree.

"That's fine, your burns don't seem too bad, and they seem pretty… mortal? Nothing magical about them from what I can see. Sit down on the bed over there while I grab some stuff, 'kay?" Dylan nods, climbing up onto the bed, careful not to put his hands down.

Will watches him for just a second before he goes over to the storeroom, carefully taking out all of the materials he needs to help heal Dylan's burns.

There's a small knock on the side of the storeroom door, and Will looks up. Nico leans against the door, dark eyes trained on Will. Will looks at him in surprise, holding a basin in his hands.

"Neeks?" Nico hums in acknowledgement, but he doesn't say anything. "Did you… need something?" Nico shakes his head.

"Brought you a coffee and a spare set of hands, that's all." He says, and Will can't help the smile that takes over his face.

"Gods, I adore you. Could you take this, and fill it up with some cool sterilized water? I need it to clean Dylan's hands. He got a second degree burn from something with Harley." Nico nods, taking the bottle from Will and disappearing around the corner.

Will finishes gathering everything off the mental checklist in his head, and carries it all back out to Dylan, whose eyes are unfocused as he stares out over the beds. Dylan does this sometimes, and it's always unnerving to Will.

"Dyl?" Dylan blinks, and he turns his head to look at Will, his large almond shaped eyes curious.

"Yes?" He says, and Will smiles, setting the basin down on his lap.

"I'm gonna clean your hands now, but let's get you a small piece of ambrosia first, yeah?" Will says gently, and Dylan nods. Will breaks off a piece from the larger piece in the tupperware he had taken out and brings it up to Dylan's lips. The younger boy carefully takes it in his mouth, chewing on it quietly.

Nico appears by the foot of Dylan's bed with the bottle full, and Dylan blinks at him. "Hi Nico." He says softly, and Nico gives him a small smile in return.

"What mess did you get yourself into this time, Dylan? Something with Harley, Will said?" Dylan nods, black hair falling into his eyes.

"He needed help for the race that we are doing in a few months that he's been working on, and… it was really hot I guess. So I got burned." Dylan hisses in pain as Will starts to clean his hands with the cool water, a small whimper leaving his lips.

"Well, at least you heal quickly, yeah?" Nico says, leaning against the foot of the bed.

"Yeah, it's one of the gifts from my mom." Dylan says, his dark eyes watching Will work. Will smiles, starting to spread some cool ointment on the burns on his hands. "What is that?"

"This is some antibiotic ointment, it'll keep infection away, and it helps with cooling and healing. The ambrosia should help as well, and if you really need me to, I can heal you more with my powers." Will says, and Dylan shakes his head.

"No, no, you don't need to do that. Sohee always says I use your powers too much as it is." Dylan says, and Will frowns. Before he can react, Dylan speaks again. "Not that it's really a problem, but I get hurt a lot, and I have my own healing powers, and I don't want you to get too tired. It's not a big deal! Sohee heals me sometimes too, even without you knowing." Will looks up sharply, and Dylan's ears turn red. "Oh… I shouldn't have said that."

"How often do you get hurt, Dylan Lee?" Will says, his voice taking on an edge, and he feels a hand on his shoulder.

"Will, it's not a big deal. Sohee can handle stuff on her own too, you know that." Nico says, and Will turns to face Nico. His boyfriend raises an eyebrow, and it doesn't take long for WIll to deflate. Nico's right.

"She's really good at healing, Will!" Dylan chirps, and Will looks at the younger camper again. There's a small pout settled over Dylan's lips, and Will can tell he's trying to appease him so that he doesn't get mad at Sohee.

Will sighs. "You two really are a perfect blend of chaos, aren't you?" He says gently, ruffling Dylan's hair. Dylan scrunches up his nose, but he can't help the bright gummy smile that appears on his face, his braces gleaming.

"She's my best friend! In the whole world!" Will smiles, reaching over for the bandages.

"I'm glad she is, Dyl. I'm glad she has you. Neeks, could you help me bandage Dylan's hands? I'll take the right and you do the left?" Nico hums, nodding his head. He takes some of the bandages from Will and crosses over to the other side of the bed so he can reach Dylan's left hand.

Will can't help but watch Nico expertly winding the bandages around Dylan's hand. He;s been helping a lot in the infirmary since they had started dating, and he's gotten quite good at mortal healing. Things that don't require too much medical knowledge, too much Apollo child healing power.

"Will?" Dylan's voice breaks him out of his staring at his boyfriend's hands, and Will feels his cheeks heat up. Dylan shoots him a playfully disgusted look, and Will sticks out his tongue at the younger boy before setting out wrapping his other hand in the thick bandages.

"Okay, Dylan, you know the drill." He says once he's done, and Dylan heaves out a big sigh.

"Yeah, yeah, come in tomorrow for a check up, don't mess around with the bandages, keep it clean, don't go around doing stupid things, I know, I know." Dylan says monotonously, and Will chuckles. They've had this conversation over and over since the first time that Dylan had ever been in Will's infirmary, and it's probably been about a dozen times. More than that, if he's thinking real hard about it.

"DYLAN!" A loud voice reverbs through the infirmary, and a whirlwind of brown hair stomps into the infirmary, but not the person that Will was expecting honestly.

Sydney frowns at Dylan from the foot of his bed, her arms crossed over her chest. Dylan blinks up innocently at his head counselor, and Sydney lets out an indignant huff.

"Hi Sydney." He says, and she reaches out to pinch his calf, and he kicks at her hand.

"Do that again, and I'll drown you in the lake." She hisses out, and Will looks at her in alarm. "Don't give me that look, Will, it's how I express my affection while also being threatening when my brother does something DUMB."

"Plus, Sohee tried it once, and I just kept healing!" Dylan pipes up.

"She was joking, Dylan. I saw that, you weren't actually going to drown." Will says, and Sydney snorts.

"Regenerative healing does help though. Anyway, Dylan, I TOLD you not to help out Harley! It's dangerous, even for you!" Dylan pouts at his older sister, and she stares at him, her green eyes narrowed.

After a minute, Dylan's shoulders fall, and he nods. "Okay… I understand." Sydney nods, and turns to Will, her brunette ponytail whipping over her shoulder.

"I'm taking him back to the cabin, is he free to go?" Will blinks in surprise, but he nods.

"Have him come in tomorrow so that I can clean his burns again and check on his healing. Between the ambrosia and the fast healing you Hebe kids have, he shouldn't be but a few days out." He turns to Dylan and pats the younger boy on the head. "You'll be right as rain faster than a prairie fire with a tail wind." Dylan squints at him in confusion, but Will just grins at him.

"You talk funny sometimes." Dylan says, hopping down from the bed. "Bye Will, Bye Nico!" Will sighs as he watches Sydney usher the younger boy out of the infirmary. Not long later, something warm is pressed into his hand, and he looks down.

The coffee Nico had promised. He looks over at his boyfriend, who is watching him with dark eyes. "Syd's gonna tear him a new one." Will shakes his head. "She's just as protective of her siblin's as I am." Nico snorts.

"That is physically impossible. Drink your coffee. I dunno how you can drink that nasty Americano shit, but I made sure it was what you like. I even asked Anteros just to be 100 percent sure, since I don't like coffee like you two do." Will leans over, pressing a kiss to Nico's cheek. The younger boy flushes a dark red, pushing Will away from him.

"Thank you, darlin'." Will croons, taking a sip of his coffee. "Means a lot that you take the time to make sure." Nico shakes his head.

"Please, you'd drop dead of exhaustion if I didn't. You forget to EAT sometimes, sunshine." Nico chastises. Will rolls his eyes. He ain't that bad! Plus, if that ain't the pot calling the kettle black.

"I do too! I snack! I eat fruit!" Nico snorts out a laugh, but he grabs onto Will's hand, giving it an affectionate squeeze.

"I have sword fighting lessons in 10. Just wanted to make sure everything was okay here. I'll see you later?" Nico says, and Will nods. Nico gives him a small smile and drops a kiss onto his wrist before dropping his hand.

Will watches his boyfriend walk out of the infirmary, immediately getting greeted by a gaggle of young campers excitedly talking to him about something or rather. Will leans against the bed, a small smile appearing on his face.

A year ago, this was something he could have never imagined, and yet…

He frowns, rubbing at his arm. There's a cold chill prickling at him. Unusual. It's not the darkness, nor the cold of the weather around him.

He can't tell what it is. But he doesn't like it.