Work Text:
1.
Nico watched as Will yawned, stretching like a cat basking in the lazy heat of the sun. Nico had been helping out. He was putting away bandages on the shelves while Will got some paperwork done.
Three days at the infirmary had turned into two weeks. Nico was helping out and had been doing since the third day. He'd been restless and the Apollo kids had been overrun. Nico now prided himself in his ability to stack bandages. It was repetitive and that was soothing way to stim without hurting himself.
The infirmary ran on a schedule but the patients did not. The routine was comforting to Nico's autism and the chaos within was comforting to his ADHD. He had quickly seen why Will loved working here.
Presently, Will was sitting at his desk, ticking boxes and scrawling unreadable anecdotes on papers. His head was slumped against his hand, his back hunched over and his eyes half closed. His rough hands moved like an automated machine.
Nico put away the last of the bandages as Will yawned again.
"You look tired," Nico spoke up. Will glanced up.
Nico was in a closet opposite from Will's office but Will liked to keep the door open. He said it was a welcoming gesture. That had seemed pointless to Nico until he had a nightmare and suddenly the idea of knocking on a door was so overwhelming that he was immeasurably grateful when Will spotted him instantly.
"I am tired," Will said. Nico pushed himself over, folding his arms once he stopped.
"Sleep then," he said.
"I have paperwork."
"You always have paperwork."
"All the more reason not to sleep."
Nico frowned. "That's not how it works."
"Yes it is. Trust me, I'm a doctor."
"I can tell that from your handwriting."
"Hey!" Will's face scrunched up. "At least I don't... You... That's rude."
Nico snorted. "You're so tired you can't think of a comeback. Come on. I'll walk you back to your cabin."
"Technically, you'll wheel me back," Will said as he stood up. Nico glared at him.
"The wheelchair - which you insisted I start using - grants me immunity from your annoying pedantics."
Will laughed and opened the infirmary door. They stayed quiet up until Will reached the Apollo cabin steps. He rubbed his eyes and smiled at Nico.
"Thanks for getting me back," he said.
"I'm nothing if not a gentleman," Nico said sarcastically. Will smiled wider. The sarcasm seemed to fly over his head.
"I know," he said with an attempted wink that turned into him blinking. "Good night, darlin'."
He walked up the stairs and shut the door. Nico's hands froze on his wheels.
"Darling?" he mouthed to himself.
2.
Nico scratched at his arms, overwhelm hitting him in waves. His brain was itchy and his skin was heavy and everything was bright and loud and confusing and he hated being confused.
He knew someone was with him. He knew that he knew who it was but his brain couldn't put the words together. Everything was jumbled up.
He was squeezing a stuffed toy to his chest, trying to rub his thumbs against it and feel the textures. He tried to breathe steadily through hiccuping coughs. The stuffed toy was getting wet and snotty. It was disgusting and that made him more frustrated.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.
The toy was fluffy, he narrated to himself. It was room temperature and it had the kind of fluff where it felt rougher when you pushed it the wrong way. Its eyes were cold and smooth. It had a long neck and a short head. Its legs were stuffy. Giraffes had long necks.
Breathe in.
It was probably a giraffe.
Breathe out.
"Will?"
He forced the word from the bottom of his throat to the air in front of him with difficulty. It felt sticky and heavy.
There was murming. A door opened and closed.
Nico pressed his back against the wall. He was in a corner. He felt safer in corners. He held the toy tighter and reminded himself to keep breathing.
The door opened again and someone sat opposite him. He knew it was Will even with his eyes screwed shut.
There was more murmuring and shuffling. Then blissful quiet. After a few minutes, Nico sighed and let himself untense just a little. He wiped his face and reached out blindly towards Will.
He felt a hand and took it. He kept his eyes glued shut. Will's fingers were warm and his fingernails had been chewed short.
Nico took Will's hand in both of his and traced the lines of his palm, the dips between his fingers and the bumps of his knuckles.
He opened his eyes a fraction so he could trace the freckles on the back of Will's hand.
He looked up at Will's softly smiling face and abandoned his tracing to put a finger to Will's lower lip. He pulled at it gently and it made a funny sound. Will chuckled.
"You want me to talk?" he asked lowly. Nico nodded, curling himself around Will's arm and dragging Will closer in the process.
He wanted to say something but his stomach hadn't risen from where it had sunk yet.
"Okay," Will said. "I can talk, sweetheart. You ever watched Star Wars?"
3.
Nico darted out of grasp of the minotaur, taking advantage of its lowered head grabbing its horn. He used it to swing up onto the monster's shoulder blades and lock his legs around its neck.
The minotaur growled, claws tearing at Nico's legs. The adrenaline held off the pain as Nico's jeans and the minotaur's fur were bloodied.
Nico tugged at both of the horns as hard as he could, forcing the minotaur's head towards Zeus and giving Will a clear shot at the monster's neck.
Will took it. His bullet hit an artery. The minotaur exploded into golden dust and Nico hit the ground.
He grinned up at Will. "That was hot."
"Fuck off. You're injured," Will said, his focus on Nico's shredded legs.
"It's fine." Nico waved him off. "I'm too tired to use them most of the time anyway."
"Your legs look like string cheese," Will protested.
"Yeah, because I'm a snack."
Will's eyes widened. "Nico, fuck off!"
"I'll be alright," Nico tried to offer some reassurance. "Are you good?"
"A bit banged up but fine. This is why I like guns. You don't have to piggyback monsters if you have a gun."
"That only works if you're a good marksman," Nico said, wincing as Will applied antiseptic and forcefully pushed ambrosia in his face. Nico took it.
"One of these days, babe, I swear I will murder you," Will muttered.
"With a gun?" Nico asked with a whistle. "Because what a last sight to see."
Will glowered at him. "Didn't I tell you to fuck off?"
4.
"I'm not sick!" Will protested. He immediately burst into a hacking, phlegm-filled cough. Pulling a face, he spat into a tissue.
"Sure," Nico said, surveying the scene and mentally checking off everything he needed.
Will was wrapped up in blankets in Nico's bed with a heating pad and an ice pack. He was surrounded by plushies, tissues and ambrosia. There was a thermometer on the bedside table and the blinds were lowered. The lights were dim and the white noise machine played in the background.
Nico shoved a bowl of soup at Will.
"Eat this."
"But that's sick person food!" Will whined.
"Because you're sick."
"I'm not!"
"Will!" Nico sat down at the end of the bed, placing the bowl on the bedside table. "I say this with love: you look awful. Your temperature is sky high. Your nose is bright red. Your throat is closed up. You're sweaty and shivering. My diagnosis is that you're sick."
Will grumbled. "But I have work to do."
"You'll infect the patients," Nico pointed out. "Are the lights bright enough? I know light helps you heal but you have a headache so it's hard to balance it."
"The lights are fine," Will said. "And I don't have a headache. My brain is tender."
Nico furrowed his brow. "Do your lies sound convincing to you?"
Will started coughing again. Nico reached across to hold Will's hand. Will squeezed painfully hard, tears pricking his eyes as he bent over in a nasty coughing fit. Once it passed, he slumped back and gazed woefully at Nico.
"I think I'm sick."
"I know." Nico patted his hand sympathetically. "Want a hug?"
"I could infect you!"
"We made out yesterday," Nico said. "Multiple times. If I've caught it then I've caught it."
He moved to tuck himself around Will. Will leaned into his chest.
"Sorry I'm all gross."
"You're not gross." Nico said, kissing his head.
"Mucus is coming out of me from so many places."
Nico wrinkled his nose. "Maybe you're a little gross but I still love you."
"I love you too." Will sniffed, adjusting to wrap his arms around his boyfriend tightly. "You're so sweet. My sweet baby."
"I'm neither sweet nor an infant."
"You're neither sweet nor a heart either. It's affection, not literal."
"I knew it wasn't literal. I was joking."
"Oh. Maybe we're both too literal."
Nico laughed. "Yeah, maybe. You're sweet too."
"Aw, shucks." Will grinned into Nico's t-shirt. "Thank you for looking after me, baby. I know doctors are the worst patients."
"It's alright," Nico said. "I'm a pretty bad patient too."
+1
Nico shifted nervously. The weight of his ring was unfamiliar but it induced a smile nonetheless.
His family were gathered around a table: Hazel, Reyna, Frank, Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Leo, Piper and, of course, Will.
Nico cleared his throat, tapping the table. Everyone turned to him and he floundered a little under scrutiny before he picked himself up again.
"Thank you all for coming," he said."I care a lot about you all. You better enjoy the meal because it took ages to cook."
"It's delicious!" Percy interrupted.
"Thanks, Percy." Nico laughed. "Special thanks to my sous chef, who did very little but looked great doing it."
People laughed. Will's eyes gleamed as he smiled. Nico looked away before the emotions got too much.
"To enjoying life," he continued. "To friendships. And to hopefully becoming the first demigods to reach ninety!"
"Cheers!" Jason echoed and everyone else followed suit.
As the chatter started up again, Will clinked his glass against Nico's.
"Love you," he said lowly, like a special secret. Nico smiled.
"Love you too, tesoro."