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Healing. It’s a concept that Leo is familiar with, that he associates with Will. Son of healing, light, and the only person Leo bothers telling his actual problems to. Every demigod ends up in the infirmary eventually, especially the more chaotic campers like the Hephaestus siblings. The one thing Leo doesn’t expect is that Will is closer to him than anyone, rivaling even Jason and Piper. It happens so quietly that no one seems surprised that they’re always together in the infirmary after hours, talking about everything and nothing while they do their separate activities.
Will even starts insisting that Leo join him on lunches out on the grass of the hills, with a private picnic blanket and a set of things for the two of them to share and toy with: vials of medicine, herbs, parts of machinery, and a few books on those topics that change each time they meet. Leo’s always amazed at how much Will prepares for their picnics, and he starts to make Will little tools to help him as a thank-you gift. He even makes Will a little sunlight-activated clock that shows the time in both Texas and New York, which Will happily displays in the infirmary for everyone to see (even if the difference is only an hour, which no one dares to mention).
The way Will glows when he talks about Leo doesn’t go unnoticed.
On one of their picnics, Leo insists on sitting in the trees for a change of pace. Will is concerned at first, but he marvels at the temporary platform that Leo installed the night before. Up there, Leo already put books on healing methods for Will on a low table. The son of Apollo climbs up and smiles when he sees a blanket thrown over the middle that’s covered in fiery suns, maps of the galaxy, and brilliant crescent moons.
Leo is napping there, his snores floating on the cool summer breeze. He looks so handsome and relaxed while he lays down, and Will smiles while he gently leans over to put the extra blanket on Leo. A laptop is set up to play a loop of classical music, and Will settles into a comfy, quiet hum until he hears Leo stir awake.
“You know, there’s a reason your dad is the god of music,” Leo says, his grin cheeky. “Nice pipes.”
Will blushes and waves his hand in dismissal, and when he helps Leo sit up, he glances over at their set of books and trinkets with a warm feeling in his belly; the feeling he gets when it’s just right in Texas, a little humid, but breezy, with the sun bright overhead. It feels like all of his happiest feelings and memories wash over him in a wave. He gets this feeling a lot with Leo, but especially right now, with the son of Hephaestus leaning into his back as they watch the sky.
Leo moves and ends Will’s reminiscing after a while. The sun is lower now, and Will thinks to himself that he forgot the actual food for their picnic for once. When his stomach grumbles, he frowns a bit and flushes pink.
“Oh, funny your stomach mentions that, because I brought another gift,” Leo announces with a flourish. “This time, I brought a lunch box that works a lot like my toolbelt. You can summon most things, except Twix bars, but that’s just a liiittle problem I haven’t fixed yet. If you need to eat on the fly because you’re busy, you can use this. Uh, here.”
Will is wide-eyed when he takes the box in his hands. It looks like a normal lunch box, except… he notices that there’s a beautifully done drawing of him and Leo having a picnic on the lid. He bites his lip and opens it, wishing for two ham sandwiches with a quivering smile.
“Leo…” Will murmurs. “Can I tell you something?”
Leo tilts his head, which Will thinks is one of his cutest quirks. “Yeah, go for it.”
Will leans forward a bit. “This is just my way of looking at it, but I think your talent for creating is actually a lot like healing.”
His companion seems amused and confused, and Will smiles and continues. “When you create things, maybe it goes unnoticed, or you don’t feel like it means much in the end, as you said, or it ‘doesn’t get all the ladies’—”
“It doesn’t,” Leo interjects, and Will laughs, soft and empathetic.
“But you’re a lot more wonderful than you give yourself credit for. The stuff you’ve created saves people, like the Argo, and makes them happy, like my clock and my lunchbox. It doesn’t seem like a lot when you just pass it by in your head, but it’s worth so much. I’m grateful for you,” the son of Apollo admits. His eyes, usually filled with brilliant flecks of gold, are shining with assured radiance.
He takes Leo’s breath away and makes the poor mechanic almost cry.
“You’re a sap, sunbeam,” Leo mutters through the start of his tears. “Thank you.”
Will chuckles and holds his arms out. “Hug?”
Before either of them register it, Leo lunges into Will’s arms and topples him over. The two of them burst out laughing as they try to get their bearings, but they notice, quietly, that neither of them let go of each other the entire time. At some point, Leo relaxes into Will’s chest, and the two of them just rest up in the trees of Long Island Sound, quiet but at peace. There’s so much going on around them, but when they’re together like this, Leo and Will start to think that maybe, just maybe, they’ll be just fine.