Will looks up from his desk as there's a timid knock on the door. Kayla stands up fluidly, tucking her red hair behind her ear. She pulls the door open, and Will sees the look of confusion morph into one of recognition, a smile starting to creep its way onto her lips.
"Lance! Hey." Will frowns a bit, standing up from his desk. Kayla turns her head, and she shakes it just a bit. "Are you looking for Austin?" She asks, looking back at the person in the doorway. The Ares camper steps a bit into the cabin as Kayla takes a step back.
Will's only seen him but once or twice in the infirmary, which is a surprise considering he's a child of the war god. Lance shifts awkwardly from side to side, and he freezes once he sees Will, like he hadn't expected Will to be in the room.
"I'm– Oh. Hi Will…" He sees the younger boy deflate a little bit, and Will tilts his head, blue eyes roaming over the other boy.
"Somethin' the matter? You hurt? I think Anteros is the one in the infirmary right now and—"
"No, no, I'm okay!" Lance says, holding his hands up, his dark eyes wide. "I was… looking for Austin." Will makes eye contact with Kayla, a question in his eyes. She grins, nodding. Will squints at her, but he tries to school his expression to keep from freaking Lance out.
"I think he went down to the music room with our dad. Dunno why, but yeah." Lance blinks, a deep flush appearing on his olive skin.
"Oh… with… your dad. Apollo." Lance shoots a desperate look at Kayla, who just pats him on the shoulder.
"I'm sure Austin would love to see you, even if our dad is there." She says gently, and Lance nods. He shuffles a bit awkwardly, before scrambling off, shouting a thanks as he practically runs out of the door.
Will stares at the open door for a second before he turns to look at Kayla, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Now, what was that all about, Kayls?" He asks, and Kayla bursts into giggles.
"Lance has a biiiiiiiig crush on Austin." She says between her giggles. Will's eyes widen, and he pokes his head out of the cabin, trying to catch a glimpse of the other camper, but Lance is long gone.
"On our Austin?" Will questions, looking at Kayla, and she nods. "He's just a youngin'." Kayla rolls her eyes, shoving Will's shoulder.
"How old were you when you realized that you had a crush on Nico?" She asks, hands on her hips. Will purses his lips.
"Thirteen, almost fourteen." He says, and Kayla tilts his head.
"And when did you actually start having a crush on Nico? How old were you then?" Will looks away, grumbling under his breath.
"Twelve." He turns back to look at Kayla, his blue eyes wide. "Wait, does Austin like Lance back?" Kayla just shrugs her shoulders, fiddling with a piece of her short hair.
"Dunno, we haven't had a talk about it. Figured that was your job, anyway." Will huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Thanks for that, I guess." He grumbles, and Kayla just laughs, grabbing her bow.
"I gotta teach archery, I'll be back later! Try not to have a litter of kittens about this or whatever weird American shit you say. Bye!"
—-
"Is THAT how mortals are saying the Trojan War happened?" Will snaps his book shut, a dark flush appearing on his cheeks as he sees his dad's face enter his personal space, blue eyes curious. He shoves the book under his pillow, clearing his throat.
"I, um—"
"Relax, Will." Apollo laughs, motioning to Will's bed. "May I?" Will nods, scooting back a bit so that Apollo can sit on the bedspread across from him. He can tell that Apollo is avoiding the pictures that litter the walls of Will's bed, the way he avoids the memories of the siblings that left too soon. He doesn't want to ask, so he doesn't.
"What's uh… what's up, Apollo?" Will asks, playing with one of the strings on his light blue hoodie. Apollo looks at him, some of his light brown curls falling into his eyes. Will feels much too visible under his father's eye, but there's nowhere to run at the moment.
"We are leaving in the morning, and I just wanted to… I don't know, talk to you before leaving." Apollo says carefully, like he's choosing every single word that he's saying.
Will looks down at his hands, and he sees the tips of his fingers start to glow a warm golden color.
"Oh, that's rare for my children." Apollo says, his voice pitching a bit higher in wonder. He reaches out to touch Will's hand, and the glow intensifies, the warm golden color starting to creep up Will's hand to his wrist..
"It is?" Will asks, looking up at Apollo. His father nods, his mouth set in a line, his blue eyes focused on Will's hand. Will finds it so hard to understand what his dad is thinking at any given moment. Maybe he will never understand Apollo.
"Indeed. I can only think of a few instances over the last few millennia." Apollo says, and Will nods, willing the glow to go down. "Can you control it?" Will shrugs.
"I can make myself stop glowin' easier, and I guess I can start it on my own sometimes, but it usually manifests most easily when I'm anxious. And all I can do is glow. I can't actually do anything else with it. Ain't really useful for much, but it's cool I 'pose." Apollo looks like he wants to say something, but he seems to think better of it, shaking his head.
"You often lamented not getting other gifts from me." He says, and Will looks up at him with a start. Has his father always been listening, even when Will wasn't the kindest? "I don't…remember much of my time as a god now, due to this cursed mortal brain, but I don't believe I ever had any control over which powers my children received, if any at all."
"It's real fine, I've grown to love my gifts. And my healing has made me useful so… I can make up for the things that I lack by at least being a halfway decent healer 'n' such." Will mumbles, and Apollo frowns.
"You mentioned that you have helped Nico with this light power of yours." Will blinks in surprise. When had he said that? Had Apollo seriously always been watching Will? "You two—" Apollo hesitates, thinking over his words, pursing his lips. "You remind me of someone that I once knew." Will's eyes drop down to his pillow where the book that he had been reading hides. "Not them. Though I can see why you would think that." Apollo says gently, and Will flushes a deep pink.
"Not—"
"You know of Hyacinthus, yes?" Apollo says after a minute, and Will nods. "It is hard to not see flickers of him in Nico. The same dark hair, and the same brazen loyalty. Though Nico is not as… carefree. As my– as Hyacinthus was." Will watches the flickers of emotions in his father's face. He knows that this can't be easy for his dad. He's not sure that Apollo has ever had a conversation like this with any of his children before.
"Yeah?" Will says, and he hates how raspy and full of emotion his own voice sounds. Apollo nods, and he reaches out to pat the top of Will's head, his motions jerky as he seems to second guess the movement.
"I think you will have a much better ending, however." With that, Apollo stands, all clumsy limbs, another sign of his awkward reality, of being a mortal teenager. Apollo hesitates again, then reaches out to brush his fingers against Will's cheek, and the feeling of his father's hand is warm, mortal. So unlike anything that Will had imagined being in the presence of his father would feel like. "I will return, and I will right the wrongs that have been committed. I promise."
Will watches his father's back leave the sleeping area, and he can't help the dark twist in his stomach. Something is happening, and there's nothing that Will can do to help.
—-
Nico's been in a bad mood all day. It's not hard for Will to tell when his boyfriend is practically vibrating with anger, but somehow, Nico makes it obvious to only Will. Sohee chatters on like nothing is happening, tugging on the sleeve of Nico's jacket as they walk from the dining pavilion back towards the cabins. Will walks behind them at a distance, blue eyes trained on his boyfriend's back. He can see the strain in Nico's eyes, see the distant look in them.
He knows what this day is to Nico.
He catches something out of the corner of his eye, a flash of pink from the Aphrodite cabin, and he turns his head to see Drew hanging some heart shaped garland outside of the cabin. Nico stiffens, and Will sighs. Drew catches his eye and waves Will over, a grin on her perfectly lined lips.
"Solace! Come here, I have something for you to do." Will shoots Nico a look, and his boyfriend avoids his gaze, leaning down to listen to Sohee's chatter further. Will just sighs, and picks his way over the green to stand over by Drew's side.
"What."
"You're tall. Help me hang this." Drew says, tapping the garland with a manicured fingernail. Will gives in, letting her voice guide him to where he presses the garland into place, taping it swiftly.
"There ya go. Was it really that urgent that you needed me to help?" He asks, and Drew shrugs her shoulders, flipping her curled ponytail over her shoulder.
"Why does diAngelo look like he's about to kill a man? Sohee is the cutest button ever, I can't imagine it's whatever she's chattering on about." Will sighs, looking over at his sister and his boyfriend.
"It's nothin', Drew. Don' pay any mind to him." Drew puts her hands on her hips.
"What are you doing for Valentine's Day, then?" She asks, and Will chews on the inside of his lip.
Valentine's Day.
Under normal circumstances, he's sure, this would be a big deal. But given the whole demigod thing, and then the CUPID of it all…
Will remembers the conversation that he had with Nico about what had happened, the things that Cupid had done to Nico with Jason watching. His hand curls into a fist, and Drew leans back.
"Holy Hera, Will, don't take it out on me if you're fighting with diAngelo." Will looks at her in confusion. "You're practically bristling." Will relaxes his hand, shaking his head.
"It's not that. It's just… I don' think Valentine's Day is gonna be a thing for me and Neeks. There's a lotta… STUFF about that. Stuff I can't tell you because it's not mine to tell." Will says, and Drew shrugs.
"If you ever need any help—"
"I real appreciate it, Tanaka, but you know how Neeks is." Will says, and Drew purses her lips, her brown eyes moving to focus on the quickly disappearing pair as they walk to the other side of the green, towards the golden cabin.
Drew just shrugs her shoulders. "I get love, but it means I don't get yours and diAngelo's relationship or whatever. Good luck with… all of that messy shit." Will just rolls his eyes, patting her on the shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah. Thanks Drew."
It doesn't take him long to head over to his cabin, and the door is slightly ajar. He shakes his head.
"Were y'all born in a barn or somethin'?" He calls as he enters the cabin. "Leavin' the doors open like it's nothin'?" Kayla looks up from her spot on the floor, her red hair tied into a high ponytail.
"Sorry, Austin didn't close it." She says, and Austin throws a chess piece at her. She dodges it with a laugh. "Think he was waiting for Lance or something." She makes a kissy face at her brother, who just turns a bright scarlet, looking away.
Nico's glaring intently at the chess board, his dark eyes serious as he seems to be planning out his next move. Will plops on the floor just behind him, leaning so his cheek is resting on Nico's back.
"Everything alright?" Nico asks, not taking his eyes off of the chess board. Will nods, and Nico hums, clearly feeling Will moving. "What did Tanaka want to talk to you about?" He asks, and Will frowns.
He hadn't realized that Nico had been paying attention to him in that moment. He shrugs his shoulders.
"Just wanted me to help her put some stuff up, since I'ma bit taller than her." Nico snorts.
"A little taller, sure. It's not like you're over six foot or anything, one of the tallest people in camp." Nico says with a bit of snark in his voice, and Will laughs softly, pinching Nico's side, not too hard.
"Careful there, Neeks, people will think you gotta height complex." Will says, fondness creeping into his words. "Naw, she just wanted me to help her put up the Val–" He hesitates, and Nico sighs, turning his head so that he can look at Will over his shoulder.
"You can say the word Valentine's Day, Will. I'm not going to burst into flames at the mere mention of Cupid." Austin snickers, flicking a pawn off the board.
"Your move, diAngelo." Austin says, leaning back on his hands. "What you got against Cupid, anyway, Nico?" He asks, and Nico freezes. Will frowns, sitting up so he can narrow his eyes at his brother.
"Austin, it's not real polite to ask people about their—"
"You didn't tell them?" Nico asks, his head tilted to the side. Will shakes his head, blinking at Nico.
"It wasn't my thing to tell them, Neeks. I wouldn't betray your trust like that." Will says seriously, and Austin nods.
"Will is the best secret keeper. He's never told anyone my secrets. Now, KAYLA on the other hand–" A piece of balled up paper smacks Austin in the head and he whirls, glaring at Kayla, who just dissolves into giggles. "I'm gonna get you for that, just you watch!"
"It's nothing that serious. Cupid just forced me out of the closet to Jason and made me confront my feelings about someone before I was ready to accept it about myself." Nico says offhandedly, picking at the nail polish on his pinky finger.
Both Kayla and Austin freeze, their eyes wide, the golden center almost a warm glow. Nico looks up, his dark eyes confused at their reaction.
"What?" Austin asks, his voice wavering slightly.
Kayla stands up, disappearing into the back room, shouting over her shoulder for them to wait, she was going to grab something.
"What do you mean, what? That's what happened?" Nico says, still confused.
Kayla comes back after a second, dropping a metal bowl onto the floor, along with a lighter and a card with a winged angel on the front. Will recognizes it as one of the extra cards that Sohee had spent time making for her friends. There had been a few extra ones laying around, if he remembers correctly.
"Burn it." She says, pushing the bowl towards Nico. "Sohee made extra, and I don't think she would have an issue with it."
"Burn.. what?" He looks at the card, his nose scrunching in that adorable way that it always does when he's confused.
"The Valentine." Austin says, drawing his knees up to his chest. "It's not really Cupid, so he can't get mad or whatever, and if he does, well he deserved it for what he did to you anyway."
Will can feel something getting stuck in his throat, like he feels close to tears. There's a sincerity in Austin and Kayla's eyes, an anger at Cupid for the things that he had done to Nico. Will remembers feeling the same way when Nico had admitted everything to him.
"But—"
"It won't solve your feelings or whatever, but I bet it will make you feel better at least." Austin points out, and Nico looks over at Will. Will just nods, giving his boyfriend a smile. Nico presses his lips together, hesitating, before he reaches out for the bowl, grabbing the lighter and setting the corner of the card on fire.
The four of them sit there and watch as the card disappears into ash, the light going out once everything has burned to a crisp.
Nico lets out a sigh, leaning back against Will, his dark bangs obscuring his eyes a bit.
"Better?" Will asks gently, and Nico shrugs, thinks, and then nods a bit.
"Yeah. Better."