Work Text:
Nico was sick. Who knew shadow traveling could overexert you to the point of illness?
Will did, apparently. He had warned Nico to stop shadow traveling so much, but Nico was stubborn and liked doing things he knew could potentially hurt him, for some reason.
He liked pushing himself.
But now, he wasn’t sure if it was worth it, as he was lying in his dark cabin, without enough energy to even shadow travel to a McDonalds.
A soft knock at the door alerted Nico to someone’s presence outside his cabin. He sat up groggily, muttering, “Here”, not caring if the person outside heard him or not.
The door was pushed open softly, and the soft trickle from light outside fell upon Will’s face. Nico resisted the urge to groan. He hadn’t told Will about his sickness for two reasons. One, Will would go entirely overprotective-boyfriend-healer mode and not let Nico out of his sight. Two, once Will had made sure Nico was okay, he would gloat in the smug way of his that he was right about shadow travel being detrimental to Nico’s health.
“So I feared,” Will leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms over his chest. “Sick as a dog.”
Nico rolled his eyes and fell back against his pillow, bringing his sheets over his head. “How’d you know?”
Will scoffed. “You thought I wouldn’t notice? Nico, I can sense any sort of illness or injury from miles away. When it’s my boyfriend, of course I’d know.”
Nico wanted to kick himself. He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten about Will’s healer abilities. He had vitakenisis, meaning he could tell what was wrong with someone by just touching them, but it was the same for just being around them. He could sense people’s blood pressure and heart rates, which didn’t bode well when Nico was trying to hide his crush from the son of Apollo, as well as if they had any sort of ailment. His senses were even more heightened if he knew the person, so there was no hiding anything from Will if you were his sibling, friend, or in Nico’s case, boyfriend.
There was a time when Nico was in the Big House, helping Chiron sort through some files, when he’d cut himself on one of the edges of the file and gotten a paper cut. The next thing he knew, Will was standing next to him, as if he could shadow travel himself, demanding to know where Nico was hurt.
Having the most powerful demigod son of Apollo as your boyfriend had its benefits, but it could also be deathly annoying in times like these.
Nico groaned and buried himself further into his bed. He could practically hear the playful roll of Will’s eyes as he shut the door behind him and walked over to Nico’s bed, kneeling next to him.
“Can I get you anything?”
“Got any magic that’ll make me good as new?” Nico muttered.
“Nothing that advanced, but I can try my best,” Will promised. He gently lowered the blankets away from Nico’s face and laid his hand on the son of Hades’ forehead. Will’s hand was warm, and it felt good against his chilled skin. He leaned into the touch, his eyes fluttering shut. Will chuckled softly and pushed Nico’s hair out of his face.
“You’ve got a little bit of a fever,” Will told him. “Hold still.”
Nico knew what was coming next, what always happened whenever Will had to heal him. He kept his eyes shut as Will pressed his hand to Nico’s skin again, and then- even more warmth. It was a soft, almost tickling sensation as Will drained some of his health and strength into Nico.
Nico noticed Will was lingering for a bit longer than necessary, and he pulled away, opening his eyes. Will was looking down at Nico, his blue eyes big and innocent, and Nico was reminded of why he loved Will in the first place. He always wanted to help people, even if it hurt him in the process.
“Too much, Will,” Nico warned. “Don’t drain yourself.”
Will snorted. He looked a bit paler than usual. “You can’t be talking, Neeks. You’re the one who likes to shadow travel knowing that it hurts you.”
Nico shrugged, which was harder laying down than one might think. “We both like to break ourselves down, then, huh?”
Will smiled softly, cupping Nico’s cheek. “And we both have to be the one to build the other back up.”
Nico rolled his eyes, but his cheeks were flushed. He chose to blame it on his fever, not the way Will’s thumb was running over his cheekbone or the way his eyes softened whenever he looked at Nico.
“Besides,” Will continued, standing up and stretching. The motion caused his shirt to ride up past his hips, and Nico didn’t try to hide the way he admired Will’s bare stomach, tan and dotted with freckles, flat but lean with muscle. “The energy I share with you when you need it is something I can always earn back with a little bit of rest. Scooch over.”
Nico raised his eyes at the order. “You want to get in bed with me? Will, I’m sick.”
“So?”
“I don’t want you getting sick, too,” Nico said pointedly.
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Will said as he squeezed himself into the bed next to Nico.
Knowing there was no changing his boyfriend’s mind, Nico sighed playfully and adjusted his position to accommodate Will. He slipped his leg’s in between Will’s, lifting himself up to then fall against Will’s chest, resting his head on the son of Apollo’s chest, right under his head. Will rested his cheek on the top of Nico’s head, planting a kiss in his hair before starting to play with the strands at the nape of his neck. The second they were situated, Nico felt instantly better, and he told himself that maybe it was worth Will’s inevitable gloating about being right about shadow travel in exchange for moments like these.
“Comfy?” Will asked.
Nico sighed happily, nuzzling his head against Will’s skin, attempting to get closer to him even though their bodies were already pressed as close as they could get.
“If you wake up sick tomorrow, it’s not my fault,” Nico set the record straight.
Will grinned. He gently took Nico’s chin in his hand and brought his lips up for a kiss. He was definitely getting sick now. “I will take full blame for whatever happens to my immune system.”
***
Will was going to kill the Stoll brothers.
They’d unleashed what was supposed to be a smoke bomb during capture the flag, but it had backfired, and something inside it had caused everyone on the opposite team to come down with some strange illness Will had never seen before.
It wasn’t fatal or anything- from what Will could tell, it was like the common cold, just… for demigods. Along with normal cold symptoms, Aphrodite campers were sneezing glitter, Demeter campers were growing plants out of their ears, and one unlucky Hephaestus camper spewed fire every time he coughed.
Safe to say, Will and the rest of the Apollo cabin were working overtime in the infirmary. Besides after the Titan and Gaia wars, Will had never seen the infirmary this crowded.
When things got this bad, Will went on autopilot. He went from camper to camper, healing them, asking them if they needed anything. Importing some of his health into others. Singing hymns to his father. Crushing herbs and using magic healing powered from the Hecate cabin.
When Will went on autopilot, he got tunnel vision. His brain became detached from his body. He had no idea how long it had been since the capture the flag game. He had no idea which of his siblings were on duty at one time. He just needed to focus on his work.
He was in the middle of running to get a cold cloth for Harvy’s forehead, because he’d started sneezing fire, as well, when someone laid a hand on his shoulder, breaking him out of his focus.
Will narrowed his eyes, preparing to yell at whoever had interrupted him, when he turned and found his boyfriend standing behind him. His gaze softened, just for a moment, but then he was all business again.
“Not right now, Neeks, I’m busy,” Will moved to turn around again, but Nico reached out and caught his wrist.
“Do you know what day it is?”
Will resisted the urge to sigh. He loved his boyfriend, but wasn’t it obvious that he was busy right now? “I don’t see why that’s important.”
“It’s Tuesday. The capture the flag match was on Saturday. You’ve been in here, working nonstop, for three days,” Nico said.
Will blinked. It surprised him that it had been that long- it hadn’t felt like it- but he chose not to show it. “I can’t be taking time off right now, Nico. Do you see how busy it is in here?”
“You need a break, Will,” Nico insisted, and Will again had to resist a sigh from escaping his lips. “Your siblings are plenty capable of running the infirmary without you. They’ve been taking breaks, too, Will- you’re the only one who hasn’t been.”
There was a reason for that. He was head medic. His siblings could have breaks, sure, but they couldn’t afford Will not to be there at any given time. What if there was an emergency? What if something happened to a camper that only he could fix?
Nico assessed Will with a look that made Will wonder if Nico could hear what he’d been thinking. “I know how much pressure you put on yourself, Sunshine. But it’s not healthy.”
“It doesn’t matter what’s healthy for me right now,” Will tried to walk away again, but as if they were spinning on a broken record, Nico reached out and grabbed Will’s arm.
He spun Will around and took him by the shoulders, planting him firmly to the ground. He looked at Will in a way that made it impossible for him to look away.
“Will. Listen to me. You are going to take a break. This is not a choice.”
Will opened his mouth to speak, but Nico interrupted him.
“I don’t want to hear it. Have you even looked at yourself lately? You look terrible, Will.”
Will exhaled lightly, annoyedly. “Gee, thanks.”
Nico rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. You just look exhausted. You’ve worked yourself to the point of sickness. Have you not noticed that you’ve been sneezing and coughing lately?”
Now that Will was standing there, not constantly on the move, he had to admit he did feel a little groggy. His exhaustion was finally catching up to him, settling into his limbs. It was getting increasingly harder to support himself, and with each passing second, his eyelids threatened to shut. Nico noticing that Will was getting sick also made the son of Apollo wonder how long his boyfriend had been in the infirmary, watching him, waiting for the moment to interfere.
Something in Nico’s expression shifted. He looked less aggravated with Will and more concerned for him. He lifted a hand to Will’s cheek, looking up at him through his eyelashes, and Will couldn’t help but lean into the familiar touch. “How long has it been since you’ve eaten or drank something, Will?”
Nico’s voice was soft now. Will closed his eyes as he tried to remember. He’d had a few sips of water, and half of a sandwich, but…
Nico sighed lightly, really making Will wonder if he could read his mind. Or maybe Nico just knew Will enough to tell his answer by the expression on his face, which was definitely racked with guilt at worrying Nico.
“Come back to my cabin with me and rest,” Nico said. It didn’t sound like an order this time. Nico waited for a response, and when he didn’t get one, he pressed his forehead to Will’s, lowering his voice even more. “Please, amore mio?”
Something inside Will broke then, and he collapsed against Nico. Nico caught him with ease, hooking Will’s arms around his shoulders and picking him up, bridal-style.
“Come here, you big baby,” Nico murmured as he adjusted his hold on his boyfriend.
“You’re stronger than you look,” Will murmured, his head lolled against Nico’s chest.
“Thanks,” Nico said in a tone that greatly suggested an eye-roll was accompanied with those words.
Nico carried Will out of the infirmary, all the way to the Hades cabin.
Will was barely aware of what happened after that. Nico gently lowered him onto his bed, and as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out.
He didn’t sleep for long before he was being gently shaken awake. He grumbled and rolled over on his side, earning a snort from his boyfriend.
“Oh, so first you don’t want to rest at all, and now you don’t want to get up?”
With more grumbling, Will pulled himself to a sitting position, resting against the headboard of Nico’s bed. There was something so intimate about the motion, falling asleep in his boyfriend’s bed and waking up to him standing next to him.
Nico sat on the edge of the bed. He held a glass of water in one hand and a plate with a sandwich on it in the other, then handed them both to Will. He nodded to the sandwich with his chin, “Eat the whole thing this time.”
Will didn’t have the energy for a snarky comeback. He ate the whole sandwich, along with the water, which earned a satisfied nod and a kiss on the forehead from Nico.
“Can I sleep now?” Will asked.
Nico laughed, and the sound filled Will with a soft, fuzzy feeling. “For as long as you’d like, princess.”
Will chose to ignore the nickname as Nico moved to slip under the covers next to him. He held open his arms, motioning for Will to join him, and the son of Apollo happily obliged. He curled into Nico’s side, his eyes closing immediately as he rested his head on Nico’s chest and wrapped his arms around his waist. He listened to Nico’s breaths, slowly inhaling and exhaling, and relished the feeling of Nico’s heartbeat. This close to Nico, he could feel every cell moving in his body, could feel the way his blood circulated through his body, and he didn’t want it any other way. It was proof he was alive. Proof he was here.
The way Nico’s fingers instinctively moved to Will’s head the second their bodies touched, playing with his hair, told him that too, but it was still a nice sentiment. Knowing that he would always be able to tell how Nico was feeling, if he needed help or healing of any kind. How he could read Nico like a book.
It was also reassuring to know that, even without powers like Will’s, Nico was still able to know exactly how Will was feeling, too, and if and when he needed a break. Maybe Will was grateful for it, even though he’d never admit it to Nico out loud.
But Nico probably already knew that, too.