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It wasn’t the first time Nico fell asleep in the infirmary. Really, he’d meant to go back to his cabin, but shadow travel was finicky and as soon as he showed up halfway to passing out next to the bed in the far left corner (one he was starting to fondly think of as his own), he knew there was no way Will was going to let him leave. Admittedly, he wasn’t about to protest.
Nico woke up what felt like minutes later, but the windows were fully dark so he must have slept through the evening into the night. His head pounded as he raised himself onto his elbows, looking around. The room was deserted except for Nico. He always hated when he was alone in the infirmary; it felt a little creepy, like sleeping in an abandoned hospital with the ghosts of deceased patients pressing in, a feeling Nico knew from personal experience.
The silence didn’t last for long though; the door swung open and Will shuffled in, visibly making an effort to close the door quietly behind him.
Nico mumbled something that sounded like, “Whutimzit?”
“Nico!” Will jumped, hand clutching his chest. “Don’t scare me like that.”
Unbothered, Nico collapsed back onto the bed. He still felt half asleep, somewhere between dreaming and waking. Will strode over, trademark worry already set into the lines on his face. “It’s just past midnight.”
“Why’re you up?” Nico squinted up at Will through the dark. He looked more rumpled than usual, with pronounced bags under his eyes that were usually Nico’s trademark and something akin to bedhead, only Nico knew Will hadn’t been sleeping.
Will leaned against the wall next to Nico’s bed, looking down at him with obvious concern. “Working on some stuff for Chiron. Organizing our oracle research.”
Nico hummed, eyes slipping closed again. Ever since Rachel’s power of prophecy went dark, Will and some of the other Apollo kids had been collecting information that might be helpful in restoring it. From what Will had shared with Nico, they weren’t getting anywhere. Long hours in Rachel’s cave and poring over artifacts and texts left in the attic were turning out to be fruitless.
“It’s too late for that,” Nico murmured, turning onto his side to better face Will and tugging the blankets tighter around him.
“Yeah, well, you shouldn’t be awake either,” Will said, smiling a little tiredly. “I thought you’d sleep right through the night. You’re gonna make me regret letting you shadow travel again.”
“Like you could stop me,” Nico replied, knowing full well he’d acquiesce to any of Will’s medical advice no matter how much he complained and pretended to resent the attention. The corners of Will’s mouth were twitching like he knew exactly what Nico was thinking.
A long moment of silence passed in which Nico almost fell fully asleep again. Then, there was that awful sensation of falling and he jerked awake again. He opened his eyes to see Will still standing there, looking down at him. “Stop looking at me and go to bed.”
Will laughed softly. “I can’t, I’ve got some things to finish up. I just wanted to check you weren’t fading again.”
Nico’s heart twisted a little in his chest. He curled in on himself more to distract himself from the sensation. “You need to sleep, you hypocrite.”
“I will, I just need to—”
“Come on, just lie down for a little,” Nico said, eyelids already drooping a little. “You don’t even need to go all the way back to your cabin, you could just stay here.” He wasn’t sure where this was all coming from. It wasn’t like him to insist on these things; he just assumed Will could take care of himself. He blamed his sleep-heavy brain for lowering his inhibitions. “Or whatever.”
“Or whatever?” Nico could hear the smile in Will’s voice.
With a huff, Nico opened one eye to look up at him. “You’re no use to anyone when you’re exhausted. Just lie down.” Then, without thinking, Nico scooted back towards the wall and pulled the blanket back in an invitation. Curse his shadow travel exhaustion.
“ Um, are you sure?” Will sounded nervous. “I don’t want to—”
Trying not to think too hard about it, Nico shrugged. “Sleep.”
Without another word, Will slid under the blankets next to him, keeping a safe few inches between them despite the cramped space. Nico could barely make out his features in the dark. He saw Will’s hand curled next to his chest. He almost wished he were a bit more tired so he could blame his desire to reach out and hold it on that. But after several long, slow breaths, Nico felt the rising and falling of Will’s chest match his own, and he slipped back into sleep.
Something was hitting Will’s legs. Repeatedly.
He blinked awake, taking a couple seconds to remember where he was. Infirmary. Nico. Right. He almost couldn’t believe it; a few months ago, Nico wouldn’t even let him get half as close as this. Now, they were breathing the same air. Sharing space.
Whatever it was hit him again.
Then he realized Nico was kicking him. He was almost offended for a second, before squinting to make out Nico’s still sleeping face in front of him. Nico was sleep-kicking him. Will couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t wait to tell Nico that he kicked in his sleep; this was way funnier than snoring or any other embarrassing sleeping behavior. It was also so cute . As his eyes adjusted to the dark, Will took in Nico’s sleep smooth face, totally incongruous with the aggression of his legs. Will’s stomach twisted with satisfaction when he thought about the fact that he was the only person to see Nico like this, so open and vulnerable in this moment. Will couldn’t help the fond smile that spread on his face.
Until Nico’s arm twitched and he punched Will in the stomach.
Okay, so Nico was a really restless sleeper. That was fine. Maybe he was having a particularly involved dream about fighting something. Or he was just on his guard all the time. That last thought worried Will; if Nico couldn’t even relax in his sleep, when could he? Nico shouldn’t need to feel this way. Didn’t he realize he was safe now? Without thinking, Will reached out and rested a hand on Nico’s shoulder. The muscles there were tense, on edge. Will gave what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze and felt the shoulder drop just a little. Progress, Will thought, tentatively moving his hand down Nico’s arm to his hand.
But in a sudden shift of movement, Nico was winding his arm around Will’s middle, pulling him closer. Will froze, almost too stunned to react. A wild moment of panic surged through Will that dissipated as soon as he glanced at Nico’s face and saw his eyes still closed, fast asleep. Will let out a small breath, letting his hand rest where it fell naturally on Nico’s back. This was fine, right? Everything was fine. And Nico wasn’t kicking anymore, which was probably a good sign.
Nico let out a soft, sleepy hum as he tucked his head under Will’s chin. Will had no idea how to react, except to keep holding him, heart beating so wildly he wasn’t sure how it wasn’t waking Nico up. The tension in Nico’s shoulders and back had dissipated completely, Will realized.
It took several long minutes before Will calmed down enough to start falling asleep again. He buried his nose in Nico’s hair, smelling the slightly freezer burned scent of shadow travel and the sweetness of whatever shampoo he was using now. He felt Nico’s arm around him tighten.
As Will slipped back into sleep, he couldn’t help smiling at the thought of telling Nico that he wasn’t just a sleep kicker, but a sleep cuddler as well. Adorable.
Nico awoke, wrapped in Will’s arms, to daylight streaming in through the infirmary windows, and forgot all about feeling nervous or overthinking anything. All he could see was daylight and Will.
It felt right.