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When Nico sat down at the Big Three table that morning, Jason and Percy knew something was wrong.
Percy frowned at Nico. “You look like death. And I don’t even mean that as a joke.” The son of Hades’s skin has been darkening with a tan as he got healthier after his ordeal with the Athena Parthenos, but now it was pale and sweaty-looking, and his eyes were dull with deep bags under them.
“Ha ha, you’re funny, Percy,” Nico said monotonously with a deadpan face. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not,” Jason argued. “Did you sleep?”
“Yes.”
“You’re lying.”
“Maybe. Just because Will’s visiting his mom doesn’t mean you suddenly need to be resident overthinker, Jason.”
Jason sighed in frustration, giving up on Nico. Nico began to pick at his breakfast with a slight air of triumph, though outwardly he showed no emotion. Percy stared at him, trying to figure out what was wrong. Probably just lack of sleep, but it seemed like there was something else…
“Would you stop staring?” Nico snapped. Percy started to argue back, but Nico just pushed back his chair with a huff, storming out of the dining pavilion.
“What’s wrong with him this morning?” Percy said.
“I don’t know,” Jason replied. “Hopefully he’ll feel better in time for Capture the Flag.”
Percy agreed, brushing Nico’s irritability off. Jason was a little more concerned; while Nico could often be disagreeable and easily annoyed, this seemed different. But he couldn’t put his finger on it, so Jason just resolved to apologize to Nico next time he saw him and carry on with his day.
Nico did not feel better in time for Capture the Flag.
When he’d woken up this morning, he’d been feeling tired, irritable, and way warmer than normal. Throughout the day he’d avoided Percy and Jason and skipped lunch, staying in his cabin and laying around. By the time afternoon rolled around, Nico was still tired, though less irritable, and still feeling hot. Running around in sweaty armour to find some dumb flag did not sound like fun, but he wasn’t injured and didn’t feel like making an effort to skip, so he went along to the pre-game meeting.
As they’d decided on yesterday, Nico and Percy would be in one group with Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Nike, while the other team consisted of the Zeus, Apollo, Hephaestus, Hermes, Dionysus, Hecate, and some other minor gods’ cabins. Annabeth divided up their team into positions, Nico only half-listening to the instructions. Okay, he wasn’t listening at all. He figured he’d just ask Percy after Annabeth was done. Once everyone was armoured up and had their weapons on them, Nico wandered over to the pair.
“Hey, what position am I in again?” Percy and Annabeth frowned at him suspiciously.
“Offensive, with me and some others. Weren’t you listening?” Percy questioned.
“Zoned out.” Percy continued to scrutinize him, so Nico shoved his sword at his chest. “Are we playing or what?”
“I guess.” Some Athena campers headed off to plant the flag somewhere in a tree, then Chiron sounded the horn to signal the start of the game. The offensive group headed off into the woods, splitting up to search for the other team’s flag. Nico followed along behind Percy and an Ares girl, not really feeling up to actually doing anything. Percy kept sending Nico worried glances over his shoulder, which Nico ignored entirely. Was it just him or was it really hot in this forest?
Nico didn’t notice Percy walking beside him until Percy said, “What’s up with you?” Nico jumped, Percy’s appearance beside him surprising him. “You’ve been weird all day and Jason I are kinda worried about you and…” Percy’s chatter faded into the background. Nico wished they’d just leave him alone sometimes; they could be so annoying. Wait, what was Percy saying again? Percy’s chatter had now stopped and he was looking at Nico weirdly.
“What? Stop acting like a mother hen, that’s Jason’s thing,” Nico huffed, pretending he’d listened to Percy’s rant. He was fine. Just warm. “Isn’t it hot today?” He complained, tugging at his shirt collar, a flush beginning to crawl up his neck.
“Um, no?” Percy said. “It’s pretty chilly, actually.”
“Whatever,” Nico dismissed. He was probably just heating up from the exercise.
They continued to walk in silence. Nico zoned out again, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, which was becoming increasingly difficult. It was probably the boredom and heat getting to him.
“Guys,” the Ares girl whispered, throwing an arm up and crouching down quickly. “I think it’s over there.”
Percy and Nico hurriedly crouched too, Nico slightly belatedly. They followed her gaze to the flash of red in the tree, the guards nowhere to be found. “Maybe they took a break?” Percy suggested hopefully.
“More likely they’re hiding,” the Ares camper said. “I’ll go alert the others and send a distraction to draw the guards out of hiding. Wait here and run for it when there’s an opportunity.” She quietly backed away from the hiding spot, then sprinted off to inform the rest of their team.
Nico sighed and sat on the ground. May as well get comfortable while waiting it out. Percy took a seat as well. The minutes stretched by as they waited for the distraction to arrive, the sky darkening into early evening. Nico could see Percy still worrying over him, but he didn’t acknowledge it, so Nico didn’t either. It must’ve been about ten minutes before a shout sounded from a few dozen feet away in the darkness, then rustling in the trees, then more shouts. Percy sprang to attention, Nico rising to his feet quickly. He wobbled, throwing his arms out to try to steady himself. His vision spun, but it wasn’t that big of a-
“Oh,” Nico gasped, leaning too far as his legs failed him temporarily. Luckily, Percy was near enough to save him, awkwardly catching hold of his shoulders and lowering him to the ground.
“Nico? Gods, I knew something was wrong-”
“Shut up, Percy, I’m fine,” Nico snapped, his rebuke sounding weak even to his own ears. He rubbed his forehead, propping himself up on one elbow. He took a couple deep breaths, then stood up again against Percy’s protests, his sight only blacking out for a second before the dizziness faded. “See? Now come on, we’re in the middle of a game.”
Percy did not look convinced, but he did want to win, so he followed along behind Nico. They snuck around the edge of the clearing toward the flag. “You grab it and run, I’ll cover you,” Nico whispered. Percy nodded.
On the count of three, he shot off toward the flag, snatching it from its perch and racing toward the river. Nico sprinted after him, tripping a couple of Hermes kids and blocking an arrow from an Apollo boy. Ropes were flung in his face, but he quickly cut through the Hephaestus cabin trap and continued on. Percy was so, so close to the river, barely a couple feet away, but Nico spotted Jason coming out of the corner of his eye. In an act of desperation, he threw his sword directly at Jason’s legs, making the son of Zeus dodge out of the way of the unexpected attack. Nico fell to his knees, all his remaining strength having been taken up by that one throw.
Fuck. Nico had thought the knees buckling was a one-time thing, but maybe not. He dug his fingers into the ground, mustering up his energy and staggering to his feet to see his team celebrating their win. He grinned at Jason.
“It’s a shame,” Nico said, coming over to collect his sword. “Maybe some extra training will help.”
“There were two of you, might I remind you,” Jason said, unimpressed. “Besides, you were the one who tripped.”
“But you were the one who lost.”
“…Touché.”
A heavy arm landed on Nico’s shoulders. He shoved it off, glaring at Percy. “Don’t.”
“Aww, have some spirit, Nico! We won!”
“Yay.” Though he was genuinely glad to have won, Nico was still annoyed at Percy for trying to mother him, and he had a pounding headache. “I’m going to go wash up. I’ll see you later.”
Both the other boys immediately looked concerned, but Nico silenced them with another glare and walked off. Godsdamn older brother figures.
Back in his cabin, Nico went to take a shower to try to cool himself down. The flush had now crept all the way up his neck and crawled across his cheeks and ears, giving him an intensely sunburnt look. Nico huffed, getting in the shower and washing the sweat and dirt off his body. Once he’d dried himself off and dressed in his favourite pair of sleep shorts and one of Will’s camp shirts, he flopped onto his bed, shivering in the now chilly air. Nico figured he could be allowed a short nap. He settled down into the mattress, burying his face in Will’s shirt, practically a dress on him. After rolling around in bed for a few minutes, trying to find a cool spot, Nico finally fell asleep.
It was cold in Tartarus.
Why was it cold in Tartarus? It was meant to be hot. Nico didn’t know, but he didn’t seem to know much of anything right now. He walked through the frigid air of the deepest pit of the Underworld, with no weapons, wearing only his pyjamas. He didn’t even know how he got here.
Monsters jumped out at him, only to disappear the next second. His surroundings shifted, one minute an icy plain with blank nothingness stretching out for miles, and the next a dark forest with pitch-black cacti instead of trees, the scenes ever-changing.
Suddenly, Akhlys was in front of him. How was she here? How was he here? Nico didn’t know. All he knew was fear, and the icy chill crawling up his spine and digging its fingers into his bones.
“Son of Hades,” Akhlys sneered. She slapped him across the face, a white-hot heat erupting from his cheek. She hit him again, this time his other cheek. Nico gasped, still as a statue, unable to move. The goddess of misery got right up in his face, opening her mouth to display her rotting teeth and shroud him with her rancid breath. “Pathetic.”
Nico woke up screaming.
When Jason went to collect Nico from his cabin as he did every Saturday morning after Capture the Flag, he was surprised to find Nico asleep. Normally Nico was already pulling his shoes on when Jason arrived, but today Nico was still lying in bed. This was especially strange given that last night Jason had gone to check on him after he didn’t show at the campfire, and had received no response. Jason had assumed he was sleeping then, but maybe he’d been wrong
Debating between loudly startling Nico from sleep or gently waking him up, Jason decided on the latter. After the first few near-death experiences from scaring Nico awake, he’d stopped doing it as frequently, and he guessed Nico hadn’t been feeling well the past couple days.
“Neeee-kooooo,” Jason said. “Wake uuuuuuup, sleepyhead.” Jason put his hand to Nico’s arm to shake him awake, but snatched it back at the heat radiating from the son of Hades.
“Oh, shit.” Jason put his hand to Nico’s forehead. He was running a fever, the warmth under his skin contrasting his usual cold temperature. Nico mumbled, swatting the hand away and rolling over, shifting under the blanket. Jason panicked. He didn’t know what to do for a fever! He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d gotten properly sick, let alone what to do for someone else!
A knock sounded from the cabin door. “Nico? Are you there? Is Jason there? You two weren’t at breakfast.” Jason had never been more relieved to hear Percy’s voice. He ran over, flinging open the door and scaring the crap out of Percy.
“Percy! Nico’s… sick!”
“What?”
“He’s… I don’t know, he’s really hot.”
Percy sighed, clearly having dealt with this more than Jason. “You get a healer, I’ll stay here and do what I can.” Jason nodded, sprinting off towards the Apollo cabin, and Percy slipped through the doorway. Nico was violently tossing and turning now, mumbling things under his breath, his cheeks hot and flushed.
“Oh, that’s not good,” Percy said out loud. He felt Nico’s forehead, the heat making his palm sweat. “That’s bad.” Nico moaned, seeming to agree with Percy’s statement.
Percy rifled through Nico’s first aid drawer, finding some bandages and running them under the tap in Nico’s bathroom as makeshift cool cloths. He’d been sick with a fever enough times as a kid with his mother taking care of him to know what to do when someone else was. He laid the cloths over Nico’s forehead and collarbone, making sure they weren’t too cold but weren’t warm either. Percy sighed, knowing there wasn’t much else they could do except make sure Nico was comfortable when he woke up and taken care of.
Jason burst back in with Kayla. “What’s wrong with him?” She asked. “Jason… did not describe it very well.”
Percy levelled Jason with a look. “How hard is it to say fever?”
“I was panicking!”
Kayla laid her hand over his forehead. “It’s about 101-102? My healing powers aren’t as strong as Will’s but it’s starting to be a problem,” she continued. “You got the cool cloths, those are important… has he thrown up yet?” Percy shrugged. “He might, so be prepared for that. Healing powers don’t do much for illnesses, so I can’t really do anything. He might be disorientated when he wakes up, so you’ll want to have someone always looking after him. Rotate the cool cloths. Feed him some light meals like crackers or something, and keep him hydrated. I’ll get some Tylenol.” Kayla paused. “That’s all I can think of. I’ll get the stuff now.”
She left, and Percy sighed, running a hand down his face. Jason folded his arms, biting his lip worriedly. “Jason, chill out,” Percy said. “The worst thing is the fever dreams. Otherwise, he’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, just… I don’t really know what to do for this stuff,” Jason replied. “I don’t know anything about this.”
“I’ll stay with him overnight, you can come and help in the day and take over when I need to go eat,” Percy said exasperatedly. “Relax, I’ve got this.”
Jason nodded, taking a seat on the bed opposite Nico’s. Percy pulled up a chair, settling in. Kayla came and left, dropping off medication, food, a water bottle, and a trash can in case Nico vomited. Percy and Jason chatted idly, keeping an eye on Nico, who’d remained mostly still for the last hour.
At around midday, Jason left to go get food for him and Percy. Percy threw his head back, bored out of his mind. Somehow, he’d imagined taking care of someone to be a lot more exciting than this.
As if he’d heard his thoughts, Nico suddenly started mumbling in his sleep, thrashing around on his bed. Percy shot up, leaning over Nico, who seemed to be having a nightmare. “Nooo,” he moaned, his voice low and slurred with sleep.
“Nico, it’s okay,” Percy soothed. “It’s just a fever, you’ll be fine.”
A gasp escaped Nico’s lips and he sat bolt upright, almost headbutting Percy, who dodged at the last second. Nico panted wildly, his eyes half-open and terrified. “He’s here.”
A chill ran down Percy’s spine. “Nico?” He said cautiously. Nico leapt toward him, clutching at his arms, scaring the life out of Percy. “Gods, what are you-”
“It’s-” A shudder ran through Nico, his grip tightening on Percy’s arms. “Percy, it’s Tartarus.”
The chill that ran down Percy’s spine spread throughout his whole body, every tiny hair standing on end. “N-Nico, what-”
The door opened, Jason coming back in with a couple plates of food on a tray. He almost dropped them when he saw Nico and Percy, both of them staring at each other with haunted looks in their eyes. “Um, guys?”
The trance was broken; Nico’s grip loosened and he fell forward, Percy quickly catching him and laying him back down. Percy himself was breathing harder than normal, scared by Nico’s feverish mumblings. He sat down in the chair, shaken.
“What happened?” Jason asked. “It looked like Nico was awake, but… not himself. Is he okay? Are you okay?”
Percy shivered. “Nico half woke up. He was having some pretty bad nightmares, I guess.”
“Oh,” Jason finally got it. “Down there again?”
Percy nodded. “He said, ‘He’s here. Percy, it’s Tartarus.’ And then you came in and he passed out again.”
“Shit, man,” Jason said. “I’m sorry. You know it’s just his fever dreams, right?”
“Doesn’t make it feel any less real.”
They picked at their meals quietly. At some point in the late afternoon, Percy left to go take a shower and collect his things for the night, leaving Jason alone with Nico in his cabin.
Jason was, frankly, scared. What if Nico started having fever dreams again? What if something was really wrong and he didn’t notice? Percy assured him that it would be fine, but Jason was unsure.
“Will?”
A small, weak voice came from the curled up body on the bed. Jason nearly ran to Nico, hovering over him nervously. “Uh, Will’s not here right now.”
“Oh.” He rolled over. “It smells like him.”
“You’re wearing his shirt.”
“Oh.”
A minute or two of quiet. Jason remembered Kayla’s instructions and grabbed the Tylenol, crackers, and water on the bedside table. “Can you try to eat and drink something while you’re awake?”
Nico nodded blearily, seeming too out of it to really do anything except what he was told. Jason got him to sit up and swallow two pills with a swig of water and slowly munch on a cracker. When Nico started swaying where he was sitting, Jason figured it was good enough.
“Go back to sleep now, yeah?” He said, pushing Nico back until he slumped onto the bed.
“It’s too hot.”
“Do it anyway.”
Jason changed Nico’s cool cloths and patted his head, the boy out like a light despite his complaints. How Percy had the strength to do this, Jason didn’t know; he was strung out and exhausted from barely twenty minutes taking care of Nico alone. He felt slightly guilty at making Percy stay with Nico all night, but he really didn’t want to accidentally kill Nico and Percy clearly knew what he was doing. It’d be fine.
When Percy came back with his pyjamas and freshly washed hair, Jason filled him in.
“Well, at least he’s eaten. He sounds really out of it, though,” Percy said, frowning. “Probably the delirium. We should try to wake him up in time for dinner, so we can check if his brain is fried or not and he can eat an actual meal.”
Jason’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding about the brain frying thing, right?”
“Well… as long as he’s not over 104 he should be fine. But he’s not that hot yet.”
Jason gulped, anxious at the fact that Nico could’ve actually had serious brain damage and he wouldn’t have known. Well, never mind, Jason shook it off. He’s not dead yet so just keep an eye on him.
A couple hours passed by, Jason and Percy amusing themselves by (quietly) messing around with Nico’s iPod and making fun of his music choices.
“It’s just not the same without his snarky comments,” Percy lamented.
“I know, I miss the little shit too.”
Percy snorted and shoved him, and Jason shoved him back off the bed. Percy squawked indignantly, offended. He raised his hands, about to lightly douse (read: drown) Jason with water when a groan sounded from the bed. Both of them froze, looking over at Nico. The boy in question was sitting up and rubbing his eyes like a little kid, obviously confused. “Wha’s… wha’s goin on?” He said.
“Um, how are you feeling?” Jason offered.
“I’m fine?” Nico responded.
Percy, unconvinced, strode over and put his hand to Nico’s forehead. Nico leant into it, slumping over when Percy removed it. The uncharacteristic behaviour and still high temperature proved otherwise. “You’re sick.”
“No I’m not.”
“Yes you are.”
“Am not.”
“Are too!”
“Prove it!”
Percy huffed and narrowed his eyes, determined. “Fine, I will.” He ran out of the room. Jason glanced at Nico, perplexed, but the boy just rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall with his legs crossed in front of him. Percy ran back in, holding up a thermometer. “Open up, idiot.”
Nico pressed his lips shut. Jason laughed nervously, trying to defuse the tension. “Maybe we should just-”
Percy reached out to pinch Nico’s nose shut, effectively stopping him from breathing. Nico flapped his hands at Percy to no result, opening his mouth to take a quick breath. Percy shoved the thermometer inside, holding Nico’s mouth shut. “Stop. Moving.” Nico gave Percy his best death glare, which didn’t really do much given Nico’s bright red cheeks and tired eyes. Percy glared back and Nico looked away, crossing his arms and sulking.
Jason shook, trying his best not to so much as giggle, but one look from Nico and he cracked. Jason burst out laughing, holding his stomach as Percy and Nico both glared at him.
“Why don’t you go get dinner, Jason,” Percy said flatly. Jason nodded, still snickering, leaving to go get the food.
The thermometer finally beeped and Nico spat it out immediately. “Bleh. It tastes like disinfectant.”
Percy rolled his eyes, checking the result. “Hmm… 103. That’s higher than before,” Percy said.
“Maybe it’s broken.” Nico snarked.
“Do you want to do it again?” Nico shook his head, suddenly seeming exhausted. Percy sighed, softening in the face of his younger brother (emotionally speaking). “Lay down, you’re delirious.”
“Not delirious,” Nico muttered, curling up against the wall where he sat. Percy took a seat next to him.
“You most definitely are.”
Nico didn’t seem to have enough energy to give an answer back, so they sat in silence until Jason came back with dinner.
“Temperature?” Jason asked Percy, handing him a plate.
“103.”
“Is that bad?”
“His brain is still intact, in a specifically scientific way.”
Nico didn’t respond to the insult. Percy and Jason shared a worried look.
“Don’t overeat.” Jason set a small bowl of chicken soup in front of Nico. Nico grunted a thanks, shakily picking up the bowl and spoon and taking a sip.
Like earlier in the day, they ate quietly; the only sounds Percy and Jason chewing, Nico eating his soup, and Percy tapping the bedframe with his nails. Nico stopped halfway through his soup, setting it down with a slightly sick look on his face. Jason frowned, about to say something, but Percy shook his head at him to leave it. They returned to their meals, finishing quickly, and Percy went to go deposit the plates in the camp kitchen and brush his teeth before bed. Jason came over to sit next to Nico, the younger boy leaning into his side. Jason looked down, surprised at Nico’s rare vulnerability, but took what he could and wrapped an arm around him. Jason almost fell asleep himself, but Percy’s entrance startled him back to consciousness. He shook Nico lightly, rousing him from his own near-sleep.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” Jason said. Nico mumbled a response, and Jason slipped away. “Thanks for taking care of Nico. Sorry I’m useless with sicknesses,” Jason said to Percy. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” Percy hummed, looking pretty exhausted himself. Jason patted him on the shoulder and left the cabin, closing the door behind him. Percy rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, forcing himself awake. “Come on, Nico,” he grumbled. “Bedtime.” He dragged Nico out of bed, sending him off to brush his teeth and quickly pulling on his own pyjama pants and sleep shirt while Nico was in the bathroom. When Nico came out, Percy frowned. “You look really hot.”
Nico hummed in response, swaying on his feet. Percy bit his lip. “Come on, let’s take your temperature again.” Percy sat him down on the bed and stuck the thermometer under Nico’s tongue again to no complaint, which a worrying sign in itself. Percy got Nico two Tylenol pills and a glass of water while waiting for the thermometer to beep. When it did, Percy took it out hesitantly, fearing the result.
104.
Well, his brain isn’t fried yet, Percy reasoned with himself. Just because it’s higher than before doesn’t mean he’s gonna die. It gets worse before it gets better, right? Still worrying over the temperature, Percy told Nico to take the medication and drink the water. After Nico had done so, Percy asked, “How are you feeling?”
“Hot,” Nico muttered. “It’s too hot. It’s like Hell in here.” Percy snorted. At least he’d kept his sense of humour.
“Anything else?”
“Dizzy. Achy.” Percy noticed Nico trembling, chills suddenly wracking his body. “Not well.”
“Okay, okay,” Percy mumbled. He was clearly out of it if he was this forthcoming; Nico would never admit to being sick by choice. “Let’s get you to bed.”
Nico crawled up the bed and curled up, still shaking like a leaf. Percy frowned, pulling a light blanket over the boy and refreshing the cool cloth, making sure it wasn’t too wet before placing it on Nico’s forehead. Nico leant into the casual touch, exhausted. Percy ruffled his hair before heading to the bed opposite, climbing under the covers and closing his eyes.
It took Nico a while to fall asleep this time. Though he was exhausted and drifted in and out of consciousness, he didn’t fully fall asleep until much later. He wished he hadn’t.
The Lotus Casino was much too bright; the strobe lights blinded him, making him dizzy and nauseous. He stumbled all over the place, bumping into people and being pushed around until he finally tripped and landed hard on his hands and knees on the ground, shivering. Someone grabbed his chin, forcing him to make eye contact. A horrific face bloomed in front of him; flesh curled in strips like a flower, and a single eye in the centre blinked at him. Nico tripped backwards in fear, falling through a doorway and down, down, down into the dark.
Nico jerked awake, breathing heavily. Everything was blurry and he was barely awake, but he could see a dark figure leaning over him. He pulled the blanket over his face, pretending that nothing was there. If he couldn’t see it, it couldn’t see him. He fell back into the darkness.
He was falling through the air, rapidly gaining speed as the ground sped towards him. He managed to shadow-travel to only a couple feet above the concrete footpath, slamming into the ground and sending a jolt through his body. He got to his feet unsteadily, shaking his shoulders out to try and get rid of the deep ache in his muscles. He looked up to see a wolf in front of him, drooling and snarling. Nico just stood there; he wasn’t scared or shocked. He stepped forward, staring closer at the wolf.
It had Bianca’s eyes.
As Nico’s eyes widened in realization, the wolf attacked, leaping for his chest and biting at his neck, leaving deep gouges in his arms. Nico cried out, falling to the ground and knocking himself out.
This time, Nico woke up in Croatia. Jason yelled at Cupid, something brave and heroic, no doubt. Nico rested his hands on his knees, bent over and panting. Why was he out of breath?
Cupid knocked him into a wall, his head colliding painfully with the rock. His vision blacked out for a second, then faded back in, Cupid’s blood red eyes staring straight into his. Nico was paralyzed in fear, the love god doing nothing except looking at him. Nico felt his knees going weak and they gave out, pitching him forward into the black again.
Percy hadn’t gotten much sleep that night.
It’d only been about an hour later when Nico had woken him up with his tossing and turning, mumbling things in his sleep. Luckily, he didn’t seem to be having any more Tartarus dreams, but whatever he was seeing it sure was weird; Percy caught ‘blood Cupid’ and ‘wolf Bianca’ and ‘flesh flower person’. Either Nico had experienced a lot more than he let on or he was really delirious. For the sake of his sanity Percy decided to believe the latter. He sat up in bed, pushing his hair out of his face and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He got up and made his way over to Nico, who seemed to half-wake up at his footsteps and squinted at him with fearful, unfocused eyes before closing them for a while longer.
Well, I’m obviously not gonna get much sleep anyway, may as well sit around, Percy figured. He sat in the chair beside Nico’s bed, trying not to drop off again. Nico did not look to be having a fun time; he was writhing under the blanket, his eyelashes fluttering as he hovered on the edge of sleep, sweat covering his skin and soaking his shirt.
“No!” Nico cried out, twisting around and half-sitting up facing away from Percy, hunched over on his elbows. Percy put his hand on Nico’s shoulder, and he whipped around at the touch. Percy must’ve looked scary in the darkness of the cabin because Nico started screaming, lashing out at Percy’s figure and missing by a mile.
“Hey!” Percy said, more than a little freaked. “It’s just me!” Percy turned on the little lamp Nico kept on his bedside table, casting a soft yellow glow over the bed. Nico cowered against the wall, breathing hard. He coughed once, then again, bending over and breaking into a coughing fit.
“Oh, hey,” Percy said sympathetically. He shifted over to the bed, rubbing circles on Nico’s back to try and soothe the fit. Eventually, Nico stopped hacking, leaving him weak and shivering. “Lay down, Neeks.” Nico did as he was told, more or less collapsing next to Percy. He seemed to fall asleep again, but Percy continued rubbing his back, figuring he needed the comfort.
Nico dozed fitfully, waking up from nightmares and fever dreams every so often. Percy coaxed him back to sleep each time he did with soft words and a comforting touch.
It was around 4 or 5 in the morning when Nico woke up from another nightmare. He immediately launched into a coughing fit, prompting Percy to start rubbing his back again.
“Hey, you’re okay, it was just a nightmare,” Percy started.
“No, I’m-” Nico shuddered. There was something different about it this time; he seemed more lucid, and almost urgent about something. “Percy, I’m gonna-”
Percy understood in an instant. “Oh, shit, okay-” He slid off the bed and grabbed the trashcan, pulling Nico to the edge of the bed just in time. Nico’s shoulders shook as he threw up into the trashcan, vomit hitting the bottom with an unpleasant, wet sound. Percy cringed, rubbing circles into Nico’s back again as he heaved miserably. “It’s okay, get it out.” Nico puked again, bringing up the chicken soup and crackers from earlier. He spat a string of saliva into the bin, shuddering. “Do you think you’re done now?”
Nico shook his head, suppressing another bout of nausea. “It’s okay. It’ll feel better to get it out, I promise.” Percy’s words triggered another wave of retching, nothing but bile and spit coming up. Nico gagged, unable to stop dry heaving even though he was producing nothing.
He choked on sudden sobs, tears dripping down his face into the trash can. “I’m sorry, I can’t-” another retch- “I’m sorry-” Nico devolved into apologies between heaves, not even sure what he was apologizing for or who he was apologizing to.
“Okay, it’s okay. Can you take some deep breaths for me?”
Percy’s hand was a grounding presence on his back, giving Nico the strength to try to slow his breathing down. He dry-retched a couple more times before sitting back. “I think I’m done.” His voice was rough from the throwing up. He couldn’t stand it. He was so hot and everything was just so overwhelming and the touch was so comforting and he didn’t deserve it. He broke down crying, shoulders hitching again but this time with sobs. Percy said something but Nico didn’t hear, so overwhelmed with everything that he could barely even stay sitting up. His sudden leaning forward must’ve alarmed Percy because there was a mumbled swear and then Percy was sitting beside him, letting him lean into his side and stroking his hair. Percy let him cry until he couldn’t anymore, wiping the tears and snot and vomit from his face with a tissue and pushing the trash can away from the bed.
“Do you feel better now?” Nico nodded. He still felt like shit but at least he wasn’t throwing up or crying now. Percy gave him a few sips of water and made him lay back down, pulling the blanket up to his shoulders and refreshing the cool cloth again. He made to leave to lay back down in his bed, but Nico was tired and lonely and sick and had none of the usual inhibitions he would’ve had if he was feeling normal, so scrunched his eyes shut and reached out and grabbed Percy’s wrist.
“Can you stay with me?”
In spite of his obvious exhaustion, Percy smiled gently and nodded, climbing into Nico’s bed and sitting up against the headboard. Nico laid his head on Percy’s thighs, curled up against the warmth of his legs. “Thank you,” Nico said. Having someone next to him always helped with his nightmares, and though normally it was Will who he cuddled with, Percy was pretty decent too. Percy patted his head then ran his fingers through Nico’s hair, untangling the knots that had formed there and scratching his scalp gently. Nico was pretty sure Percy said something in return, but he was already falling asleep.
Percy was woken by a knock at the door in the morning. Jason slipped in, freezing at the sight of Percy and Nico. In the night Nico had properly cuddled up to Percy’s legs, and Percy had one hand still in Nico’s hair and his other hand on Nico’s arm.
Percy squinted blearily at Jason, flipping him off. “Unless you’ve come with food, fuck off.”
“Be a bit nicer, I do have breakfast,” Jason sniffed. “You’re going to have to get up to eat it, though. How was the night?”
Percy propped himself up further, untangling himself from Nico slightly. “It was a bit rough. He had pretty bad fever dreams and threw up a lot at about 5, but then he fell back asleep.”
“And when did… that happen?” Jason asked, pointing at the two boys in very close proximity.
“He asked me to stay, so I did,” Percy shrugged. “He’s sick, he deserves a little comfort.”
Nico started to stir. He blinked slowly at Jason, then quickly pushed himself up to look at Percy, who still had one hand half in his hair. Nico appeared to sort through his memories, then decided not to bother and went back to his place on Percy’s lap. Percy just sighed with a fond expression on his face and returned to running his fingers through Nico’s hair.
“Come on Neeks, you have to get up,” Percy said. “What time is it?”
“About 8,” Jason said.
“Oh gods.” Percy threw his head back. “Why would you do that.”
“It’s a normal time to wake up! And I was worried Nico’s brain was fried!”
Percy waved him off. “He’s fine.” Jason raised his eyebrows. “Fine, okay. Wakey, wakey, Nico, time to shove a plastic stick in your mouth.” Nico groaned, but rolled over onto his back beside Percy and then sat up. Jason fetched the thermometer and put it under Nico’s tongue, waiting until it beeped to signal the result.
“See, 102. Last night it was 104, which is slightly too much brain-frying to be safe, but he’s fine now.” Jason spluttered incredulously, but Percy just shushed him. “Oh, shut up. Seriously though, how are you feeling?” Percy asked Nico.
“Better, I guess,” Nico said. “Everything still hurts and I’m still hot but otherwise fine.” Just as he assured Percy of his recovery, Nico suddenly paled and clapped a hand to his mouth. He crawled over Percy’s legs and threw up in the bin again, shuddering and beginning to dry heave. After a few seconds his trembling shoulders stilled and he was left leaning over the trashcan with a sour taste in his mouth.
“You sure you’re better?” Percy said wryly. Nico growled at him and spit, trying to get the horrible taste out. Percy got up and patted his back. “Why don’t you go brush your teeth?” Nico nodded, following his instructions and heading to the bathroom.
Jason looked at Percy. Percy looked at Jason.
“…He’ll be fine.”
“I’m sure he will be.”
Nico returned, shivering again. Jason snapped into mothering mode, making Nico lie down and rest. Jason put his hand to Nico’s forehead; it was still hot, but nowhere near the temperature it’d been yesterday morning. He ran his fingers through Nico’s fringe, smiling as the boy leant into it and relaxed his muscles. After a couple minutes he seemed to fall asleep, the fever and throwing up wearing him out faster than usual.
“He’s like a little kid,” Jason murmured.
“You should’ve seen him last night,” Percy replied. “He asked me to stay with him which, like, he would never normally do. He’s needy when he’s sick.”
Jason chuckled, still carding his fingers through Nico’s hair. Percy noticed his gaze turning worrying again.
“Don’t even worry, Jason, he’ll be okay and rejecting all touch by this afternoon.”
Jason sighed. “I’m sure you’re right.”
“I think the fever dreams were pretty bad, though,” Percy said worriedly. “He seemed terrified when I tried to help him.”
“That’s kind of expected given what he’s been through,” Jason said softly. “He looks so young when sleeping.”
“I know.”
The two boys sat watching Nico for a few minutes. He really did look his age when he was sick and sleeping. Eventually they’d have to go eat and refresh Nico’s cool cloths, but for now they just stayed with him, keeping him safe.