Chapter Text
1 - Hardworking
The windows of the infirmary looked like two glowing eyes, peering at Travis from where he stood just outside the infirmary. The plaid curtains were pulled wide open in the two front facing windows and just barely he could see the best and hardest working medic Camp Half-Blood has to offer, William Andrew Solace. By the - very blurry - looks of things Will was hunched over a patient, rewrapping their arm. Will’s dictation and hard working attitude was something Travis couldn’t help but admire about the son of Apollo. The boy was freshly fifteen years old and worked harder than most adults Travis knew, even though the job of a medic was one Travis knew the son of Apollo didn’t particularly want. Still, Will worked his ass off for the people of this camp and that was something Travis had no choice but to love about the boy.
Sometimes, it was an issue. Sometimes Will would go days without properly taking care of himself, completely devoting all his energy, love and efforts into taking care of his patients. Travis could understand where Will was coming from to some degree. The blond saw all kinds of patients and Travis only knew this from all the time he spent coming in for injuries (Paper cuts, splinters, scraped knees.) or just to bug Will.
Will saw people with things as small as scraped up knees and elbows and as big as bleeding gashes. Everything from the sniffles to burns, coughs and itchy eyes to Drakon poisoning and feet swollen and bruised from Pegasus stepping on them. Will even handled giving out medications if anybody had it.
Travis didn’t know much about the medical side of things. From the one quest he’s been on, he knew he was a shit healer. Between his limited knowledge of the human body and its functions and his shaky hands and his nasty little habit of throwing up at the site of blood and gore, (despite being a huge horror movie fan. Stupid, he knows.) he wasn’t the best for the job. Still, he liked to show up and hang out there. He liked to help organize things, bug Will, help with the super minor stuff, dust and sweep, bug Will, restock supplies, do snack runs, get in Will’s way, reward himself for all his taxing hard work with one or two or three lollipops, even if Will said all the sugar was going to rot his teeth out and he’d need pretty, shiny fake teeth before he was twenty.
He pushed open the door, the hinges announcing his presence with a groan as if to warn Will of troubles ahead.
“Travis,” Will said in a sigh but it ended in a light and airy laugh that made his heart skip a beat, trip, fall over itself and go tumbling down the side of Mount. Olympus. He quickly pulled himself together and bowed dramatically, which drew Will’s eyes to him. “William.” He said in a posh accent that he knew got on Will’s last nerve.
The infirmary smelled like iron and bleach. The lights above burned a dull, dirty looking yellow color. The whole place was cramped and homey, just bordering on the edge of too rustic for medical practices to be happening here and veterinary clinic. Blue gray walls, sterile looking cabins and countertops, gray and slightly lighter gray checkered tilted floors, and an off blue curtain with some . . . interesting stains that cut off the back and the cots and the front entrance because that was so welcoming when you came in. The place gave this sort of feeling of being closed in. If it hadn’t been for the sunny Apollo boy, this place would have given Travis the heebie jeebies. All the cots were cleanly tucked together and only one other person sat there, Jake Mason, head of cabin nine.
He was slung up in an arm cast and a knee brace. He looked Jake up and down and raised a questioning brow, the brunette winced like it was a sore subject and Travis quickly avoided his gaze and landed on the most lovely, gentle set of baby blue eyes and the whole world seemed to turn to grayscale.
He doesn’t know when it happened. Sometimes it felt like this little crush had been going on for years but other times it felt like only a week but Travis was starting to have a hard time viewing Will as just a friend. He hadn’t told anybody, kept it a secret, locked it up and pushed it deep down never to be seen ever again but recently it had become an overwhelming feeling. It was becoming harder and harder not to grab someone - anyone - by the shoulders, shake them around and scream ‘I LIKE WILL SOLACE! IN A ROMANTIC WAY, NOT A FRIEND WAY’.
“What’s up, Travis?” Will asked, leaning back from Jake. “Are you here to steal my candy stash again?” He said with this little tilt of his head that reminded Travis of a dog and the comparison made Travis weak in the knees. “Me? Steal your candy stash? No, never.” He said but he was already making his way around the L shaped countertop to the little mason jar filled with candies.
Will rolled his eyes with a sigh, shaking his head and turning his attention back to Jake. Travis listened distractedly to them talking affably while he searched through the candies, mostly consisting of lollipops. Strawberry, grape, lemon, blue raspberry. He huffed and dumped the jar out on the table, picking through them until he found an orange flavored one. He unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth while he kept picking through them. He stuffed four strawberry, three lemon, two grape and three blue raspberry suckers into his shorts’ pockets and started stuffing them back into the jar, which was now considerably less full now.
“It’s looking great though, Jake.” Will was saying, “Keep doing exactly what you’re doing and we should be able to take that off in a week or so.” He said and the smile in his voice seemed to make the room just a little bit brighter and just a little bit bigger. “Thank you so much, Will. See ya tomorrow? Archery’s at four and I’ve gotta see the progress you’ve been making.” Jake said with the sound of soft footsteps, “It’s not much but yeah, see you tomorrow!” Will said and the door shut with a thud and the little bell above the door did a little ding!
The stool beside Travis pulled back and Will plopped down in it with a soft little grunt before pulling himself forward to the counter. He pulled three long, flat colorful containers full of medical supplies from a shelf underneath the countertop and set them in front of himself. He pulled a little notepad from his shirt’s pocket and a pen from behind his left ear, the barrel of the thing covered in chew marks. “You can pull up a chair but please be quiet.” Will said, his voice already fading into his soft Texan accent and his gaze already glazing over as he entered what Travis liked to call; Work Mode.
Travis reached blindly behind himself and tugged up a spare stool and plopped down. He was already taller than Will by a good handful of inches. Standing up tall and straight Will only came up right under his chin but sitting in that stool, he loomed over the blond. He bent down uncomfortably, resting his chin in the palms of his hands and watched with a soft, admiring gaze at the sight that was Will working and finally, maybe for the first time ever, took the time to properly admire William Andrew Solace.
There were so many ways to describe Will, it was hard to choose the perfect one.
Will was sunny summer days with clear, wide skies where the sun escaped the world and turned chill to warmth. The kind of nights where staying up late felt good and the smell of heat, strawberries and campfire smoke filled the air and consumed everything. The summer nights of his childhood, hiding underneath the covers of the crowded space of the Hermes cabin, his flashlight shaking in his hand and the light bouncing around on his comic book pages with nervous tremors in his fingertips from the thrill of staying up late right under Luke’s nose.
Will was the flower fields the earth spirits liked to prance around in, where they liked to hide underneath the cover of thick beds of flora with the common fauna acting as their alibis. The owls looking shiftly from side to side with the same nerve as a Hermes kid who just stole something from you. ‘Hoo? Me? I have no clue what you’re talking about! It must have been the wind.’. He was the tall, blooming sunflowers in the plant beds lining the Big House’ wrap around porch, he was the little duvet of clovers and flowers he didn’t know the names of, you know the ones. He was the little ladybugs that hid away underneath the petals and he was what the ladybugs were hiding from.
He was warm.
He was safe.
He was, in a single word, lovely.
Will was hunched over, his face glossed over in focus. His tongue prodded through the thin line of his plush, dusty pink lips. His blue eyes, the same color they paint the heavens in, stared with intense focus at the lines of his notepad and Will’s impossible to read doctor’s handwriting. His fingers shook with his grace as he emptied, cleaned and organized tubes and cups and zip-lock baggies filled with cotton pads, blue medical gloves, swabs and plenty of other things Travis didn’t have the lingo for.
His fingertips, graceful and willowy - gangly or lanky was too harsh for the soft curves of his musician hands and the gentle curves of puppy fat on his body. His thick, wavy blonde hair fell in his eyes and he blew it away. The curve of his back hunched over was smooth and rounded in a weirdly welcoming way. He wanted to drape himself over Will’s back and press his lips against the tanned, mottled column of the nape of Will’s neck and run his big hands up and down the dips of Will’s body. He could hear Will’s complaints, playful and teasing. ‘Trav, get off. I’m busy, can’t you see?’ but he would have melted into Travis’ hold.
His face was steady in the same way the great children of the big three’ looked when they were deep into battle. A graceful mix of fight and focus blurred into a nameless emotion spread over his face.
“Travis?”
Will’s gentle, accented voice pulled Travis through his wild, lovey dovey, mushy thoughts and back into reality.
“Yeah?” He said, trying to play cool despite having jumped from the startle and getting the thick, glassy textured candy stuck between his molars.
“Can you brush my hair from my face please? Like tuck it behind my ears?” He asked, holding up his gloved hands, his voice focused and unwavering and Travis’ body melted underneath his skin. He reached out, hesitated and lightly brushed Will’s hair from his eyes and tucked it snug behind his ear on the left side before he stood with a grunt and moved to Will’s right.
His heart slammed against his sternum as Will’s eyes glanced up from his project from underneath his thick, blond lashes. His stomach churned in thin, quick circles and got confused, knotting up as butterflies swarmed and tried to escape. He wondered, dreamily, if Will could feel his hot breath fanning over the side of his face. He stared too long, just a moment or two because Will laughed, a nervous winnie. “Dude, what are you looking at? Do I have something on my face?” Will asked, rubbing his cheek against his shoulder. “Oh no, you’re good.” The son of Hermes said fast, stepping back so quickly he stumbled over his feet. Awkwardly, he moved and sat back down. Once things settled again and Travis was curled back over himself on the tall stool and his eyes were starting to get heavy and he only had two suckers left in his pockets, he glanced up at from Will and to the clock, the little hands ticking in the same second Travis’ eyes met it.
10:38PM.
He blinked rapidly to catch up with the time that had slipped by without him even realizing it. “Will..” He said and even he could hear the groggy rasp in his voice and even he cringed at his accent slipping out through his words. “It’s late, dude. . .” He mumbled around his second lemon sucker, stretching out on the stool and groaning with relief when his bones popped. Will made a noise of understanding but made no move to pack up and hit the hay. “Don’t you want to sleep?” Travis asked, leaning down closer and into Will’s personal space and he had to keep himself from smiling when Will glanced at him. “Almost done.” He said, scratching something off the list. And when Travis didn’t move, Will sighed and turned to face him fully.
“I’ll meet you in your room in.. Let’s say - twenty minutes, yeah? We can have a sleepover.” He said and Travis felt the heat rise up his neck and spill out over his cheeks. “Yeah, alright. Capiche. I hear you loud and clear, Doctor Solace.” He said, pushing up to stand. “But I’ll be back for you if you aren’t there in twenty. I’m very good at keeping track of the time.” No, he wasn’t. “Alright, gotcha.” Will said distractedly and Travis left him, brain dizzy with thoughts of Will and his face heated just from remembering all the little touches they shared.
2 - Thoughtful
“Dude, this thing looks ancient.”
“It probably is.”
Connor blew a wave of dust off of a thick hardcover book directly towards Travis, who coughed and sputtered, waving his hands wildly in front of his face. “Dude, fuck you!” He whined, doubling over and wiping his nose rapidly on the back of his hand. “Language, Trav.” Will mumbled, distracted, while he turned a set of old claws in his fingers, a tag hanging loosely off one of them, in elegant handwriting read: LANDON. CASTELLAN, LUKE. 6/18/03
Travis winced.
See, this should be Travis and Connor’s punishment, clearing out and cleaning up the Big House attic that is. They’d, finally, put everything together they needed to pull off this sweet prank. (It took a long time to get their hands on four chickens, ten cans of pink Silly String and two bags of glitter.) Chiron had gotten mad - no, not mad - furious. How were they supposed to know cleaning glitter and Silly String out of horse hair is hard? Afterall, Chiron’s family are the party ponies. They thought he’d be used to it or at least know the proper techniques. Anyways, long story short, Will got dragged into it, somehow. He couldn’t remember how the son of Apollo connected to the whole thing.
Now they were all in the stuff attic, surrounded by creepy, dusty odds and ends with two boxes for trash and a crate of cleaning supplies and elbow high cleaning gloves on.
Connor was ducked down in a corner, pulling out old books that were all probably cursed or hexed or booby-trapped and thumbing through them as if he had any interest in reading texts from dinosaur times. Will was sitting in front of a shelf directly behind Travis, delicately picking up and dusting off items that looked so old, Travis feared they might dissolve into dust right in the boy’s hands. Travis sat in front of a cardboard box that smelled like the inside of a nursing home, mold and a dust bunny habitat. He picked through the items with little care before putting them ‘away’ wherever he saw fit. What was the point of cleaning off old, dusty things for them just to become even older, even dustier things in the very, very near future? He didn’t know nor did he care.
They’d been up there for two hours, they were supposed to stay and clean for four.
If he was being completely, totally, absolutely honest and now this might be shocking so you may want to sit down.
He wasn’t paying any attention at all, his eyes were glued to Will, who was looking at all these things like they had importance passed being old and a little moldy.
“Travis, look.” Will said, and Travis looked up and blinked. “Isn’t it cool?” “What is it?” Travis asked, furrowing his brows in confusion as he stared at . . . whatever was in Will’s grip. “It’s a little statue of Zeus, I think it’s carved out of marble..” He said, blowing off the dust and delicately wiping the thing clean with his fingertips. The statue was crudely done. Travis honestly thought it was an old arts and crafts project of some … animal. What animal? Don’t ask him because it looked long with arms and legs and voids for eyes. “I think it’s pretty,” Will said, “Pretty ugly.” Travis replied. Will rolled his eyes and set it down carefully on the shelf and went back to dusting.
Connor sneezed, an awful noise that sounded like a horrific mix between a trumpet, a kitten screaming for help and the odd noises that came from Percy Jackson’s mouth when he was sparring. The dude groaned a lot. Will startled in a manner that reminded Travis of a cat and Travis couldn't help but swoon. But something clattered from Will’s fingers and split down the middle. A Minotaur horn lay in three halves on the wooden floors between Will’s feet. “Oh Gods…” Will whispered, which was just about the worst curse word Travis ever heard come out of Will’s mouth. “Oh.” Connor said stupidly from across the room, blinking. Will picked up the two three pieces and stood quickly. The tag dangling off the curvy horn tip read: JACKSON, PERCY. MINOTAUR FIGHT. 6/9/05.
Will’s mouth hung open in a soft O shape and his eyes were as wide as tea plates. He gulped audibly and said something too quickly and jumbled for Travis to understand and then he was climbing down the ladder and the soft pitter patter of his feet disappeared down the hall.
Travis let out a breath he didn’t know he’ d been holding on to and turned when Connor made a humming noise. “What? Travis said, going up on the defense without even meaning to. “You’ve been acting weird.” Connor said in that annoying sing-song voice he used when he thought he was right about something. “I haven’t. I’ve been acting normal.” He said, swallowing down his nerves and turning away from his brother’s intense stare. “You have! You’ve been acting…. Goopey.” He said before sneezing again when dust blew up into his face. “So, spill the beans. Tell me what’s going on.” He said and Travis sighed. “You’re too good at this.” “I know you too well.” He shrugged, dropping the mess of books and scooting over to Travis on his knees before plopping down on his bottom with a hmph and starting to clean out the box Travis was supposed to be cleaning out.
“I don’t trust that you’re going to keep it to yourself.” He said truthfully, pulling the nasty gloves off and resting his cheek in his hand as he watched the brunette pull out a dusty dagger and press his fingertips against the sharpened point. “I’m offended.” Connor said, scoffing. “You have to promise me you’re not going to tell anybody, please.” He said, and prayed Connor could hear the desperate tinge in his voice. Connor raised his brows, glancing up at Travis from underneath his brow. “Gotcha.” He said, setting the dagger down and pulling out a thick book instead.
“I have a crush on someone,” “Really? I would have never guessed.” He said sarcastically, and Travis rolled his eyes. “I’ve known for awhile,” “And you didn’t tell me? I’m hurt.” Connor was not hurt. “And I mean like, it’s a serious one. It’s not like a silly friendship crush or whatever, it’s like… for real.” He said, wringing his hands together as he watched Connor’s surprised reaction, poorly hidden with a cough. “What? What was that look for?” He asked, suddenly self conscious. “I’m just shocked, that’s all. I never expected you to have a crush.” Connor said and Travis’ brows came together.
“Explain?” Travis asked and Connor rolled his eyes, setting the books down and pulling out a cracked and damaged skull. “You’ve never expressed interest in anybody, like ever. I thought at first maybe you were like -” He glanced up at Travis and flipped his free hand at the wrist, “but you weren’t showing interest in girls or guys so I kinda assumed you were ace or something. I mean, you just flat out ignore when people are flirting with you. Kayla had a huge crush on you, so did Austin, and that one Nemesis kid? They were flirting with you for like a solid year and you never noticed.” He shrugged, and Travis stared at him blankly. “Anyways, continue.” He said, waving Travis off.
“Alright…” Travis mumbled, folding his arms over his stomach. “Well, they’re really… something.” He said, swallowing nervously. Connor’s little speech didn’t boost his confidence. “Something?” “Something.” Travis slowly leaned back until he was laying on his back, his arms tight over his lean chest. “They make me feel… Good.” “You’re not very poetic about this.” “Shut up.” Travis groaned, raising his arms up to cover his face. “They’re kind, creative, loving, determined, sweet, caring, understanding a million other words and some that don’t exist yet! Is that enough words for you?” He said, “They make me happy and I think that’s the most important thing, they make me happy.” He said, chewing on his lower lip to cope with the flush of heat coloring his face and the too big and too wide smile spreading over his lips.
It was hard getting the words out, pushing through and picking out the words that would show his true feelings without exposing his crush as Will but still it was … weird. He’d been nursing this crush for - oh Gods, he didn’t even know how long at this point.
All he knew was he liked Will a lot and he’d drop everything for him.
And part of him was scared it was too late to tell him that.
“They’re good to be around, they make me feel ways I’ve never felt about anybody else. Their personality is amazing, their humor is topnotch and their looks are just the cherry on top of the whole damn thing.” He said, his voice drifting into dreamy sighs. “It’s getting hard to be around them without wanting to grab them by the face and smash our lips together.” “Gross.” Connor said, sticking his tongue out and gagging. “They’re good, Connor. They’re good and I want to tell them that.” He said, pulling his arms away from his face and groaning at Travis’ comment about his face looking like a baboon’s ass.
Connor let out a soft huff from the sidelines, putting down whatever odd item he’d pulled from the box to look down at Travis. “Holy shit, dude.” Connor said, “You’re like … in love.” and Travis laughed, burrowing his face into the rough, dry palms of his hands. “Yeah, yeah I guess I am.” He said, pulling his arms down.
“Do I know this person?” Connor asked, raising a brow. “Maybe.” Travis said and as if on cue, Will’s pitter patter came barreling down below and his head popped up from the attic entrance, holding the Minotaur horn, now crudely glued together in his hands. His mouth was already running at a million miles per hour as he talked about how he’d gone and given the horn to a Harpy (“Her name’s Louise, she’s very nice.”) and she glued it back together with craft glue. Travis felt the heat fluster up his chest and smooth over his face and Connor’s furrowed brows and then shock was enough to tell Travis that he figured it out.
3 - Powerful
Dusk settled over the camp. The bright and vibrant hues of the sunset turned dull and pale. Blues shifting to pinks and yellows shifting from oranges and purples and then back to blues and misty fog pouring in. The air smelt like heat and cooling campfire smoke, the quiet chatter of the crickets and muffled clash of swords was almost enough to get on his nerves but the soft, welcoming presence of Will was more than enough to drown out his temper, quick to burst and fast to become blind rage.
They sat thigh to thigh on an itchy beach towel underneath the silhouette of Zeus’ fist, watching the view of the Long Island Sound through the wide spread spaces between the pine trees. The similar thrill in his chest itched, bringing back memories of staying up late and sneaking out right under Luke’s nose and coming out here with Connor, then it was coming out here with Luke and sneaking out under the Harpies’ beaks. Will’s face was soft and relaxed in the delicate glow of the moon. Vaguely, he wondered if Artemis knew how beautiful people - Will - looked underneath her moon’s light. The thought was passing.
Will was hunched over, his usual stiff and uncomfortable straight posture finally pulled into something relaxed and gentle. His chin rested on his knee, the rounded curve of it pressing into a bandaid on his kneecap and his eyes were glossed over and Travis felt all the air leave his lungs when he saw the moon, big and bright, reflecting in Will’s baby blue eyes, a big white dot that gave his eyes this kind of puppy eyed quality, this kind of innocent and wonder that sent Travis reeling. His hair landed softly over his eyes, it curled gently and Travis had to fight the urge to loop his fingers through the ringlets and pull Will’s head into his lap. He was wearing a graphic t-shirt with a fading print of the group of dinosaurs from The Land Before Time movies, a pair of jean cut offs and Travis’ old green flannel. He fell in love with the feeling that settled over him from seeing Will in his clothing.
But the part that always seemed to ruin Travis in the most beautiful of ways was Will’s freckle, splattered all over his skin like paint splotches, shone a soft, pale yellow color the same way his Father, Apollo’s did. A quiet, blurred outline of light surrounded Will’s body, a gentle golden color and Travis had come to associate the shine with safety.
Will shone.
Will shone like the stars.
And Travis couldn’t get over how special he felt to be able to see that.
“Travis,” Will said, his voice quiet and his thin Texas accent ran shivers through the son of Hermes’ spine. “Do you want to see something cool?” and how could Travis say no?
Will reached out, almost in slow motion and pulled Travis’ hand onto his knee, palm up. He slid his hand into Travis’ palm up. He let his eyes slide shut, a soft huff of hot air fanned over Travis’ wrist and it made his skin shiver with goosebumps. A quiet hum came from Will’s throat, something quiet and familiar and relaxing. Something with a sweet, adoring quality to it. A soft, dim glow pulled Travis’ eyes from Will’s relaxed face.
Running through the lines of Will’s calloused palm, little rivers of pure, white light dribbled down towards the center from his fingertips. A pool of liquid gold, shining like a nightlight, puddled in Will’s palm. Will’s fingertips twitched and the pool expanded tenfold.
He’d seen it before, what Will was doing.
Children of Apollo had the power to harness the light.
He’d seen Michael Yew use the light as whips in the Second Titan War, and he’d seen the burn marks they left on the monsters.
He’d seen Lee Fletcher use the light like ribbons and he’d seen the way Lee made the swirl and dance.
The liquid light ran backwards and up to his fingertips and ribbons of pure, hot light poured from his nail beds. Will opened his eyes lazily and smiled up at Travis in a way that reminded Travis of a slinky old house cat that likes to sunbathe and eat all its food too fast and hide socks. Travis is convinced that’s what Will was in his last life. A ribbon of light weaved its way towards the son of Hermes. He would have flinched, moved away but he was stuck in place with a look of awe spread over his features. The rope poured closer and settled on Travis’ upper lip, right underneath his nose. He breathed in at the wrong time and in the wrong way and discovered light smells like Skittles.
“Now you’ve got a light mustache.” Will said with a light, airy giggle that made Travis’ stomach churn with swarms of butterflies. He’s honestly convinced the butterflies that live down there throw huge dance parties everytime they see Will. Travis laughed and the light tickled the tip of his nose. It weaved its way past him and danced around them in the air, moving in a slow dance that reminded Travis of the ocean. He stared up in awe, his mouth hanging up and when he glanced back at Will, the blond had the softest, doopyest smile on his face. The soft lazy smile shifted into a smirk and Will squeezed his hand shut. The ribbon broke into a million small pieces of sunshine and shot out all around them like groups of lightning bugs, floating away in herds.
“Cool, right?” Will hummed sleepily, leaning up from his resting perch on his knees to rest his head on Travis’ shoulder. “Super, better than what I got stuck with.” Travis said, keeping his eyes glued on the rising moon, too nervous to move and spook Will away. “I think the stuff you got stuck with is super cool though..” Will said, letting his eyes slide shut. “You know all that lock stuff which is really useful during quests and you’re such a fast runner and..” He let out a soft, happy noise. “What’s your favorite language you know?” He asked and Travis wondered if Will knew he was glowing. “Uhm…” He didn’t know, he loved all languages. He knew a lot too, it was hard to pick just one. ASL was simply beautiful and Greek was fun too, but Will knew Greek. “Latin.” “Tell me something in Latin..” Will said, cracking his eyes open to stare at Travis.
“Vos es fulgentem…” He said in a quiet whisper and Will smiled up at him, and for a second Travis was terrified Will might have known what he said.
“That’s so cool… You’re so cool…” He mumbled, letting his eyes slip shut again and sleep fell over Will and Travis couldn’t help but adore the surge of pride that poured into him knowing Will trusted him enough to sleep around him, a surge of protectiveness clasped onto Travis and he wrapped Will up in his arms, resting his cheek on top of Will’s crown.
4 - Honest
“Hide me! Hide me!”
Travis whisper-yelled, rushing around the corner of the Arts and Crafts door and ducking underneath the folding tables, crawling on his hands and knees to hide against Will’s legs. He wrapped his arms around his legs, right underneath his knees. Will leaned back in his chair, staring down at the taller boy with wide, buggy eyes. “What did you do?” He asked, tilting his head to the side in that way that reminded Travis of a puppy dog learning a new trick. Travis put a finger to his mouth and shushed the blond. He stammered, laughing quietly from the shock of it all and pressing his forehead against Will’s kneecaps. “I uhm, stole something from Chiron’s office and drew a mustache and devils’ horns on Mr. D’s portrait in the hallway. The one with the fancy frame.” He said, his voice shaking with the thrill.
Will’s expression morphed into something of complete and utter awe then disgust then fear. He pulled his chair up harder against the table so Will’s stomach was pressing hard into the curt edge of the plastic table and Travis was crowded back against the empty seats across from Will.
“You’re kidding me..” The blonde hissed through his teeth, his foot tapping nervously against the ground. Travis gasped, fakely offended. “William Andrew Solace, I do not kid.” He said, digging his nails into Will’s legs much to the annoyance of the blonde. Will’s legs raised up around Travis’ torso and wrapped gingerly around Travis’ slight frame. A moment passed, a hard wooden bead hit the ground and rolled, Travis stopped it. Will’s chair screeched against the concrete flooring and Will’s lovely and horribly annoyed face peered underneath the table, his fingers reaching out and patting around for the wooden bead. “What did you steal? How bad was it?” He asked through gritted teeth and Travis’ heart swelled.
Travis opened his mouth to reply but the click-clack of hooves made him promptly shut up. A set of freshly polished hooves clattered their way around the table before coming to an unsteady stop beside Will, a clearing of his throat and Will hit his head on the folding table as he pushed backwards and pulled his seat up hard against the table, wrapping his legs back around Travis’ mid section.
“William.” Chiron started, his voice stern, and Travis could hear the anxieties in Will’s rapid breathing. “Yes Sir?” The blond said shakily, tapping his fingers nervously against the plasticy top of the table. ‘Have you seen Ladon’s claws by any chance?” He asked and Travis bit down on his tongue at the tight squeeze Will’s legs provided. A silent ‘Are you serious?’. “No Sir.” Will replied curtly but his voice sounded choked up. “Do you know by any chance who might have? Or whom drew on Mr. D’s portrait?” Chiron asked, his voice as steady as steel.
Will’s hands darted underneath the table, he held them palms up and Travis reached out and pressed his fingertips hard against Will’s palms, Will’s whole frame immediately relaxed.
Travis knew it was fruitless.
He knew he’d be caught and the best robbery of the month was going to be brought to the surface with his face plastered onto the wanted poster.
He knew that when he came running to Will, son of Apollo, God of many things but truth was the thing that mattered in this situation.
Will couldn’t lie.
It wasn’t like he was bad at it (he was) or that he felt guilty when he did it (he did).
He quite seriously couldn’t lie.
Will squeezed Travis’ hands, pulling his fingertips up until their hands were interlocked, his thumbs brushing back and forth in quick, rapid movements over Travis’ bruised knuckles. Travis fell harder and deeper than ever before. Will let out a heavy exhale, a soft thump against the table and Travis knew he’d slumped forward to press his forehead against the table to avoid the disappointed gaze of Chiron.
“Yes sir, I do.”
“Who?” Chiron asked.
“Travis Stoll, sir.” Will said.
There was a hum of approval, a curt thank you and then the hooves went clopping away, his name being called.
Will let out a trembling exhale. He pushed his chair back with a high pitched whining noise and Travis crawled out awkwardly, shifting to crouch beside Will. “I’m sorry, I tried.” The son of Apollo dipped his head back, displaying a long expanse of tanned, freckled skin on display. “I really did!” He said, looking down at Travis for approval. “I’m sorry I couldn’t cover your butt.” He said, “But if you stopped stealing then we could both be in the right.” Will said and Travis laughed, moving to stretch out his long, gangly limbs. “Yeah but what’s the fun in that?” He asked, raising a brow. “Thanks, Will.” He said, clapping him on the back before he sped out of the room, hoping Chiron would catch him before the Harpies.
5 - Cheerful
“Travis, calm down! You look fine!”
Connor said from where he was standing next to Travis, pushing up on his tiptoes to spray detangler in the older’s hair. “Gods, do you ever brush your hair?” He complained and Travis groaned in reply then winced when Cecil Markowitz slapped him on the stomach. “Stop sucking in! Will doesn’t like guys that suck in!” He said in a snappy manner and Travis stuck his tongue out at him, whining when Connor pulled his head this way and that with the hairbrush. “You guys aren’t doing much to ease his nerves.” Alice Miyazawa said from the sidelines where she was thumbing through a copy of People’s magazine with an unclaimed camper. (Counselors had bets that the kid was going straight to cabin ten though.”)
“Thank you, Alice.” Travis said. “You aren’t either!” Connor said, turning back to look at the other two girls. “I’m doing more than you!” “Guys stop fighting, you’re going to give Travis a panic attack and then Will will just have to play doctor again!” Cecil complained, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Frankly, none of you are helping.” Travis said, snatching the brush from Connor and combing through his curls. “It’ll go fine.” Alice reassured, turning her gaze back to her magazine. “What if he didn’t get the memo that it’s like… A date?” Travis said, blowing his frizzy curls from his face and tucking them behind his ears. “Travis Ann Stoll.” Alice said and suddenly all his siblings’ faces were very serious, besides Cecil who was looking at him like he’d just said the stupidest thing in the whole world, knowing himself that wasn’t a very far fetched idea.“That’s not my middle nam-” He mumbled, adjusting his shirt and pulling his green flannel over his shoulders, turning around to face the hellions.
“What?” He deadpanned and Alice threw her arms up, Cecil copying her action. “What! What do you mean what!” She said, moving to sit up instead of lay on her stomach. “Travis, he has the fattest crush on you.” Connor deadpanned, furrowing his brows. “Like.. At least a thousand pounds.” Cecil said before rubbing the back of his hand against his nose with a sniffly noise. “No he doesn’t.” Travis said, blinking at them. “He likes Nico di Angelo?” “Screw Nico!” Alice said and Travis winced. “Eh, no thanks.” “Shut up! He doesn’t like Nico, besides Nico likes Percy!” “Huh?” “Forget it!” Alice said and Travis was only slightly taken aback by her weird knowledge of the camp’s romantic drama. Maybe she got claimed by the wrong God. Could Gods make claiming mistakes?
“Point is,” Connor said, moving in front of Travis and grabbing him by his arms. “Will likes you, idiot!” He said and shook Travis like a ragdoll. “Do you know how sick and tired I am of listening to you both go on and on and on about each other, Travis?” “Very?” “Very.” Connor whispered, leaning in real close. “Now put on a brave face and go get ‘em!” He said before he and Cecil were suddenly pushing Travis towards the door.
“Wait, I need that Walmart bag! I bought snacks!” Travis whined, pushing past the two shorter boys and snatching the bg from his bedside, much to a chorus of complaints from his siblings.
-
The sunset dissolved into pinks and oranges, the sun crashing into the ocean’s horizon line. A light breeze blew through, causing his skin to break out into goosebumps. His eyes were glued to the bulky waterproof watch Connor got him from the Walmart in town, his breath hitching and nerves growing with every time that passed.
Fifteen minutes late, Will was fifteen minutes late.
Will Solace is never late.
He didn’t mean to be so … Freaked out about the whole thing but his nerves were eating him alive. His hands shook as he steadied them on his knees, pressing his forehead between his legs and letting his body tense up.
He’d never been this nervous about being around Will. Has he ever been this nervous? He didn’t know. It was a different nervous from facing monsters and Gods and the children of the Big Three. Different from the anxieties that seemed to overwhelm him during the night and things got a little too quiet and it was definitely different from the nervous phang that made his heart beat a little too fast and his head spin whenever people mentioned Luke.
It was a warm, sparking kind of feeling. The same nervous excitement before going into an audition, the same kind of ringing that zipped through his body like lightning before he went out on the stage, the same kind of warmth that overwhelmed him when he was sparring or teaching the littlest campers new words in languages they’d never heard of before. It started quiet but grew into something big and bright and had its own kind of exhilaration and poise, it seemed to run on its own and he adored the rush.
Soft footsteps behind him made him stir. He sat up and straightened out his posture to avoid a long, lengthy talk about how he was ruining his body by slumping so much. Will stepped forward and, as usual, stole Travis’ breath away. “There you are!” He tried to play it cool and not like his heart was expanding to be too big for his chest and ready to burst the moment Will smiled. “I was getting nervous you weren’t going to show.” He admitted and Will’s lips twitched at the corners and - BABOOM - his heart exploded in his chest.
“Annabeth and Drew got me caught up in something.” Will said with a light laugh, sitting down next to Travis in the ever graceful and careful way he did. Travis’ eyes moved to watch Will’s draft fingertips curl into the itchy beach towel. “Yeah?” He said, darting his gaze up to Will’s big round eyes and savoring the way Will’s face flushed out a soft rosy color underneath his rich, freckled skin. “Yeah.” Will said and Travis adored the slip-up of Will’s thin, airy Texan accent.
“Did you have a good summer? Even with the crazy kids you’ve got?” Travis asked, tilting his head to the side and adoring the way Will, seemingly unconsciously, mirrored Travis’ actions. “Yeah, I mean it was more hectic than normal. I wasn’t expecting to get four new kids but they’re all pretty well behaved. What about you? I can’t really talk about crazy campers, all of them go through you at some point or another.” The son of Apollo said with a smile. “It was alright,” Travis shrugged, stifling a snicker when Will’s shoulders ever so slightly copied his action. “Believe it or not, this is one the quietest years’ I’ve ever had.” He said, fighting the urge to take Will’s hand into his own and he hoped Will couldn’t feel his fingertips twitching. “Really?” “Yeah, except for those Nike girls.” He said, shaking his head with a laugh.
Walking out of the bathroom at the ass crack of dawn with toothpaste still smeared around the corners of his mouth to those two girls having a sparring contest in the middle of the cabin was certainly an adventure.
“I know, they’re sweethearts but gosh, I’ve never seen anybody compete like that since Jason and Percy last summer.” He said and Travis felt heat rising up his neck when he felt Will’s hand inching closer. He peered down out of the corner of his eye and his heart swarmed with butterflies at the sight of their hands so close together. Something calming, almost relieving spread out in his chest at the normality of it. “Hey, it isn’t as bad as the week Percy, Nico and Thalia were all here at the same time.” Travis said, curling his fingers into the palm of his hand before stretching out. Sparks flew when their fingertips brushed at the action. “That was pretty bad, yeah.” Will said with a breathless little laugh, looking between their hands and Travis.
Travis stared in awe when his eyes moved back up to Will’s face. It doesn’t matter how many times he sees it, it won’t matter, it will never matter. Will’s honey rich skin was dotted with the stars and he swears up and down it’s the best thing Apollo’s ever done. The freckles that mottled Will’s skin glowed a gentle, pale yellow that reflected dimly on Will’s sharper features and the light slowly shone brighter the darker it got. He couldn’t stop it from coming out of his mouth. “You’re glowing..” He whispered and it sounded dreamy even to himself, love sick and dripping with adoration. Hopelessly devoted. “Am I?” Will said, looking down at himself. Travis’ couldn’t help himself, all those years of holding himself back went flying out the window with all the new information his siblings dropped on him. He reached out and tenderly, as gently as he could muster, brushed his fingertips along Will’s forearm and tricep, pressing down softly on the freckled flesh and reeling at the soft noise Will made and the way the freckles shone just a little big brighter.
“It’s cute, like a lightning bug.” He said and they made eye contact.
The sun was gone now, his twin sister rising in the sky instead and stars poking holes in the dark, blanketed sky. Behind Will, a group of campers were running around with sparkler sticks, laughing and cheering. Will’s eyes were huge and Travis’ heart welled at the reflection of the moon and flickers of the sparklers reflecting in Will’s eyes and the almost childish wonder blooming behind his irises. Swarms of butterflies danced in his stomach, making his heart pound and his palms moisten with sweat. “Will…?” Travis’ voice came out soft, his accent slipping out and it embarrassed him how strong it was. His fingertips brushed gingerly over the scarred top of Will’s hand, light touches over his knuckles before Travis took a leap of faith and settled his hand over top of Will’s.
Will let out a soft noise of surprise, his eyes darting down to their joint hands before he glanced up at Travis from underneath his lashes and turned his hand over, palm up and his fingers brushed gently over the plause point in Travis’ wrist. “Yeah…?” Will said in a whisper and Travis savored the slight tremor in his voice and the hopeful, loving look behind his baby blues. Here goes nothing, Travis thought. The swarms of butterflies finally spewing out and flying away. “I’ve been really wanting to talk to you about something.” Travis said but his eyes were glued to their hands. “But I think we’re thinking the same thing.” He said and their eyes met and the world melted down into nothing but the two of them.
Travis raised his free hand up and cupped the underside of Will’s jawline, brushing his thumb back and forth over the hinge of his jaw and settling his fingers behind Will’s ear. Will’s free hand shot up and gripped Travis’ wrist and pressed his touch there harder. Travis was hyper aware of how close they were. How he could make out each of Will’s eyelashes and count the stars scattering his skin, the rapid hot breath fanning over his lips and the shake in Will’s grasp. “Can I…?” He stammered over the other word, the word they both knew. “Yeah…” Will said and sparks exploded.
It was unclear who joined them together first, who pressed them close and kissed the other first, but when it happened, the whole world seemed to click together and make sense.
Electric sparks shot up and down Travis’ body, and where they were touching, skin to skin, felt as hot as a burning, red iron stove and this overwhelming sense of safety washed over him.
Will moved his hands and cupped the sides of Travis’ neck, brushing his thumbs tenderly back and forth over Travis’ skin and letting out a soft, happy noise when they parted.
Travis beamed, laughing loud and joyously. “I have wanted to do that for so long!” He said breathlessly, moving his own hands to cup over Will’s hands. “Holy Hades, Will.” He laughed, dropping his head forward and Travis adored Will’s soft laughter joining him. The blond leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Travis’ and without words they seemed to come to an agreement but he had to make sure.
“I really really like you, Travis.”
“I really really like you, Will.”
And this time, Will pressed their lips together.
Maybe they’d be okay, just the two of them.
“Guys I found Travis! He’s finally sucking face with Will!” Connor’s voice echoed from somewhere to the left and they parted, Will with a laugh and Travis with cussing his younger brother out.