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The best thing Nico could say about his most recent quest for his father had sent him on was that he was at least back on time.
There had been rumors of escaped ghosts lurking around some small town on the west coast, and Hades had firmly requested that Nico go check it out, send the ghosts back to the Underworld, and report back to Hades.
He hadn't expected it to be that big of a deal. That’s what he’d reassured Will half a week ago, when he left: that he’d be fine, that he’d come back perfectly healthy, that he could do it alone, that he’d be back in five days at the most.
Well, Nico was going one for four, so he wasn’t entirely a failure. He’d ran into a monster nest on day two, losing his backpack of supplies (including the nectar squares and ham sandwich Will had made him take) and gaining a nasty cut on his leg. Between the monsters and his leg and those stupid ghosts who didn’t seem to understand that they were supposed to listen to Nico , he didn’t have the strength to make it back to New York in one big shadow jump. Which meant he’d had to do it in little ones, taking breaks in between (and, really, screw Solace for making him care about all this self-care stuff) to recuperate and check on his leg and pray no more monsters picked up on his scent.
By the time he reached New York on the afternoon of the fifth day, stumbling out of one shadow and almost crashing into a tree, wincing sharply as he put more weight on his injured leg, Nico was desperate to be home already.
He missed his bed, he missed the delicious array of foods at dinner, he missed not being in pain, he missed having someone else to talk to, he missed stealing Will’s sweatshirts, practically drowning in them while he sat in the Infirmary, distracting Will from his duties until Will gave up trying to work and just smiled at Nico, leaning down to kiss him softly.
Gods, he missed smelling like Will. That was probably such a weird thing to say, but Nico did. Will always smelled so nice, much better than Nico was smelling right now.
He flexed his sweaty, sore fingers around the grip of his sword, gazing up at the hill where Camp Half-Blood was. He was so close he could almost taste it.
And then he caught sight of Will , waiting for him by the border, and Nico felt a rush of energy he didn’t even know he had, a relieved smile crossing his face as he ran for his boyfriend.
“Will!”
Will barely had time to register the words before Nico was tackling him in a hug, forcing him to stumble backwards into the tree behind him. Even caught off guard, Will still caught Nico, because of course he did, Will always did, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy and holding on tightly, threatening to lift Nico off his feet.
Nico pressed his face into the crook of Will’s neck, smiling as he breathed in his boyfriend’s scent. Gods, he’d missed this. He’d missed Will.
“Hi, Nico,” Will breathed, and Nico could hear the smile in his voice.
“Hi, Will,” Nico whispered back, swallowing the sleep-deprived giggle that threatened to spill out.
Will smelled faintly of honey and cleaning supplies. It was a much nicer scent than the cloying smell of dirt, decay, and flowers that clung to every inch of the Underworld, or the smell of blood, sweat, and monsters that’d stalked him for most of his trip.
Will pulled out of the hug, one warm hand coming up to cup Nico’s cheek. Nico melted into the touch, eyes fluttering shut as Will leaned forward and kissed him softly.
“I missed you, darlin,” Will murmured.
Nico’s first instinct was to make a snarky comment about how he didn’t miss Will at all. But he didn’t have the energy to lie like that– the idea of pretending like he wasn’t longing for Will by the third day into the quest was just as daunting as trying to get out of bed on an early winter morning– so he told the truth.
“I missed you, too.”
Will pulled back, keeping their fingers firmly intertwined as he took in the sight of Nico’s dirty and ripped clothing. He seemed to snap into Doctor-y mode, all but dragging him into the Infirmary.
Everything seemed to blur together after that– from Kayla looking at their hands and snorting, commenting how Will had been waiting by the tree like a lost puppy; to Chiron sending Nico a knowing glance, indicating that they’d talk about Nico’s quest when Will finally released him from hospital jail; to the warm and unyielding pressure of Will’s hand holding his own.
“There doesn’t seem to be any signs of fading, that’s good, but you do look a little pale,” Will commented, a stethoscope flung around his neck as he examined Nico’s hand.
Nico shifted in the Infirmary bed Will had all but tied him down into, gently tugging his hand out of Will’s grasp. “I’m alive, aren’t I?”
“Nico.”
“I’m fine , Doctor Solace.”
Will raised his eyebrow in disbelief, but his expression softened, an analytical frown melting into a soft hint of a smile. He reached across Nico’s lap and covered Nico’s hand with his own, gently stroking the back of Nico’s hand.
Will always said he didn’t get any magical son-of-Apollo healing powers, but Nico wasn’t sure how else he could explain the way Will could just hold his hand and smile like that at him, and suddenly everything– the noise in the Infirmary, the dull sting from the cut on his leg, the weariness that weighed him down– seemed to fade away.
Nico shifted over in his hospital bed, giving a pointed glance first at Will, then at the space beside him. Will huffed a laugh before setting down his clipboard and sliding down next to Nico. Nico dropped his head onto Will’s shoulder, and within a minute, he could feel Will’s fingers carding through his hair.
“How was it?” Will asked. He’d dropped his doctor voice in favor of something that sounded a lot more like his concerned-boyfriend tone.
Nico sighed, burrowing his face into Will’s chest. “It sucked. I’ve lived through worse.”
“I wish you’d let me come with you.”
“I can’t protect you out there,” Nico said. “Besides, I need something at Camp to come back to, don’t I?”
“I still want to protect you .”
“You do protect me,” Nico murmured into Will’s chest. With a smirk, he looked up at Will, adding, “Don’t worry, Solace, all my injuries are far too terrified of you to even think about getting infected.” He punctuated the sentence by pecking Will’s cheek, before settling back down until he was pressed flush up against his boyfriend. He’d never been happier for the tiny hospital beds in the Infirmary. “What’s lined up for the Apollo Cabin tomorrow?”
“Getting up early to play basketball, probably. Archery, too, I think, and then we’ve got arts and crafts at noon. Why, what does the Hades Cabin have planned?”
“The only plan the Hades Cabin has is to steal his boyfriend away before he embarrasses himself too badly during archery.”
“Well, I’m sure the Hades Cabin’s boyfriend would greatly appreciate that.”
They lapsed into a soothing sort of silence. Will’s chest was rising and falling in a steady rhythm, and Nico found himself being lulled by it.
“I’m really glad you’re back, Nico,” Will whispered softly.
Nico could feel sleep tugging at his eyes, trying to drag him under, and wrapped in Will’s warm embrace, he just decided to succumb to it.
“Yeah,” Nico said, in his last few seconds of consciousness. “Me too.”