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Nico was doing good.
Nico was doing great, in fact. Will was proud of him. He’d been at camp for close to six months, and he and Nico had been dating for two whole months. Nico was settling in, putting down roots at Camp Half Blood, and everyday that passed was a day that Will was more sure that Nico would always come back to him.
He’d even started making friends in other cabins, like Clovis in the Hypnos cabin, or Miranda in Demeter. He also got along swimmingly with Will’s siblings, something that made the blond’s heart happy.
He was eating regular meals, sat at the Apollo table due to his doctor’s note (and obvious favoritism from Mr. D). And it is because of how well that he was doing that his absence at breakfast was immediately redflagged.
Will ate his pancakes worriedly, waving off concern from his siblings as he glanced at the Hades cabin probably more times than acceptable. Once he finished eating, he hurried to his boyfriend’s cabin.
He knocked on the door. “Nico?” he called. “You missed breakfast, love. Wake up!”
There was no response, and Will’s concern grew. He knocked again, a little harder. “Neeks!” he yelled. He waited for a response, and when there was none, he opened the door.
The cabin was dark, the morning light doing little to brighten the place up through the curtains, but Will could see that Nico’s bed, though messy, was empty, like he’d gotten out of it in a hurry. His concern grew, and just as he was about to call out or panic, he heard it.
Heaving, gasping. Coming from the bathroom.
Will hurried to the bathroom, skidding to a stop in the frame. Nico was knelt in front of the toilet, head hunched over the bowl, hands white-knuckling the sides as he vomited harshly. His clothes were rumpled, like he’d just gotten out of bed, and his hair was tangled.
Will immediately jumped into action, kneeling down behind his boyfriend and using one hand to hold his shoulder-length hair back and the other to rub his back.
“Hi,” Will said softly. “It’s okay, I’m here, Nico.”
Nico vomited again, thin torso heaving. There was a lull in his sickness. “Will,” Nico moaned miserably, sobbing right after. Will’s heart broke and he shushed his boy, rubbing his back.
“It’s okay,” he whispered as Nico heaved again. “You’re okay, baby, just get it all up.”
Nico heaved once more, but it was dry. He spit into the toilet, breathing hard as he weakly reached up to flush the toilet. After he flushed it, he collapsed back against Will, panting and breaths still broken up by pitiful sobs.
“Shhh, it’s okay, angel,” Will soothed, pushing his sweaty hair back. Nico pressed his damp forehead to Will’s throat, breath hitching as he calmed. Will felt the moment he went limp and made a startled noise.
“Okay, sweetheart, let’s rinse out your mouth and get you in bed, okay?” Will urged gently. Nico moaned weakly in protest as Will wrapped his arms under Nico’s and heaved him up onto his feet. “C’mon, prince, you have to help me a little.”
Nico was clearly out of it, face flushed with fever and eyes glassy. He stumbled forward toward the sink, Will’s hands firm on his waist as he caught himself against the edge of the sink and made a hurt noise. Will’s heart hurt for his boy, and he made a soothing noise in response. He propped Nico up with his own body and grabbed mouthwash, pouring out a capful and tilting Nico’s head back against his shoulder to get him to open up and swish it.
“Spit it out, love,” he whispered, arm wrapping around his sternum to rub soothingly at his chest. Nico’s head lolled forward and he spit the mouthwash out weakly, spitting a couple of times to get it all out.
“Okay,” he whispered again. “Good job, baby. Turn around for me, I’ll get you to bed.”
Nico whined, turning around slowly to face Will as if the motion hurt. Will stepped forward and bent his knees, urging Nico’s arms around his shoulders and wrapping his arms under Nico’s thighs. He picked him up carefully, and felt his worry increase by how limp Nico was. Will walked slowly to Nico’s bed in the other room, doing his best to not jostle Nico too much and upset him. He laid Nico gently on the bed, and Nico shivered violently, breaking out into a sweat.
“I’m cold,” Nico cried, tears starting to slip down his face. “Will, everything hurts.” Will’s heart crumpled at the clear distress his boyfriend was experiencing, and he hurried to tuck the heavy blankets around him.
“It’s okay, Neeks,” he soothed. “I’ll make you feel better.”
He reached out and put his hand on Nico’s forehead, the only part of his skin visible, and closed his eyes. He focused on the sickness, on the hurt, and imagined pulling it from his boyfriend’s body. It was working as it normally did before it felt like it hit a snag. Will frowned, pulling harder, but the sickness pulled back just as hard. Will tried for another moment before opening his eyes and removing his hand.
“I’m sorry, baby,” he said, voice full of regret. “I can’t get it. I don’t know why.”
Nico sobbed. “Maybe I’m c-cursed.”
“Maybe,” Will agreed softly. He pushed Nico’s hair back from his face. “I’m going to go grab you some light snacks, some medicine. I’ll be right back, pretty baby, swear it.”
Nico whimpered but nodded, closing his eyes and curling into a ball. Will’s heart ached and he leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead before running out of the cabin.
He ran to the Big House, running straight into the person - centaur - that he wanted to see.
He quickly explained the situation to Chiron, and instead of looking as confused and concerned as Will felt about not being able to heal Nico, Chiron instead looked resigned.
“I thought this was coming,” he sighed. Will frowned.
“What do you mean?” he asked. Before Chiron could respond, Mr. D did.
“What he means, dear Wilbert, is that your boy is finally crashing,” he said, lounging across a chair. “This isn’t a physical illness. It’s just manifesting as one. What it really is,” he continued, tapping his forehead, “is up here.”
Will frowned harder. “I don’t understand,” he said. Chiron nodded.
“What you have to understand, Will, is that Nico has been in survival mode for the better part of five years,” Chiron said gently. “A lot of bodily responses are suppressed during this time. And even though it’s rough for the poor boy, it’s good that he’s ‘crashing’ as Mr. D so aptly put it. It means he’s in a place that he feels safe, that it’s okay to be vulnerable. It means he sees Camp, the people here, you, as subconsciously safe to let his guard down.”
“So he’s not actually sick?” Will asked, voice quiet. Chiron shook his head.
“No, he’s not sick,” Chiron affirmed. “Although it wouldn’t hurt to treat him as he is. He’s probably in a lot of discomfort, and human pain relievers and fever reducers could be good for him.”
“He’ll probably feel like this for three to five days,” Mr. D added. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
“Thank you,” Will whispered. He stood there for a moment before rushing to grab the medicine Chiron mentioned and running back to the Hades cabin. Nico was shivering, still curled in the same ball as when Will left him. His heart twinged, happy that Nico felt safe, but sad that it had to manifest like this.
Will got Nico to take some medicine, tears weakly streaming down the raven’s cheeks. Will kissed his cheek before ushering him back down, climbing into the bed in front of him and pulling him close. Nico snuggled close, trembling and sweaty and miserable but hopefully a little bit more content with Will near.