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Nico woke slowly, his arms felt numb and his bed smelled weird. He could feel the sun on him, his eyes dragged themselves open, comically hit by the thin slit of light that shone though the curtains on his window and blinded him.
speaking of slits….
Nico tiredly pulled his right arm to his other, taking off the blanket that covered his left. A razor, paired with red stained sheets, sat next to the crime scene, his bloody arm. Arm still stained with dry blood he never cleaned, the upper half of his arm on the underside, was covered in scars. Not too gnarly nor deep, only light styro. This recent lashing out was mostly just a cause-and-effect of him being stressed out, disassociated, and isolating himself from the outside world for the past week.
The Gaea war just ended and it fucked him up. He felt brave a day day later, right after confessing to Percy and agreeing to help solace around the medics cabin in camp, he was basically a social butterfly. But then a day after that high, he felt like everything had crashed down on him. He could barely move for those days. Only getting up for the most basic; using the bathroom , showering/brushing his teeth , and eating the infrequent apple or 5 grapes. Which, those had to count for something, right? He’d been glued to his Hades laptop and phone (technologies his dad had made for him to entertain him while he was in hades for a short time, his first and only gift to Nico) and had been stalking on Sh/ed twt and tumblr. Never interacting though. He saw how bad people could get under depression, so he looked at himself and didn’t see that, if he wasn’t at his worst then there’s no way he was doing any wrong. But getting back on topic, his sheets were fucked.
They already were from past “lashes out” but this was more fresh now. He had no idea how to wash it since the only washing machines in camp are in the cleaning building, so he’d have to go out holding a bloody bed sheet and even if he was able to conceal it for the travel, people would notice at one point or another. And the last thing he wanted was people “reaching out for help”.
Or atleast he wanted to believe he’d hate that.
He sighed looking at his arm and got up, dragging his feet along the cold wood in the dark bedroom all the way to the restroom. He cleaned up the scars and placed two bandaids on them. He tried his best not to, but eventually looked up at his reflection.
Fuck.
He felt disgusting and out of place whenever he looked in the mirror, a deep unsettling and uncomfortable feeling stirred deep inside of his body when he saw his reflection or any recollection of it. It felt out of place and disgusting. He didn’t know how people were able to look at his face while talking to him without gagging a little. He stared at himself for ten minutes, negative thoughts swarming and buzzing in his head like a cult of bees, causing him to disattatch from reality a bit, before successfully pulling himself away from his disassociation and walking back to his bed
He grabbed his phone and laid on his side, scrolling on his feed. He liked a post about “Matt Czerninn” a character from a game he started getting interested in, he bookmarked a post about helpful strategy’s for diying shirts, and stared at a users uploaded photos of their “scarspo”. It was the only thing he could really do when he was unmotivated but still felt the want, the desire to bring the blade back against his skin for round 2.
He scrolled 10 minutes before hearing a knock on his door. He still felt half asleep so he didn’t fully process it, but after he heard another knock he realized that was real and someone was knocking on his door. He shot up, his hair still messy and all over the place, and sheets bloody. He quickly covered them with his blanket, but forgot to cover himself up. It was probably the 3 hours of sleep that were screwing him over when he decided to walk up and open a door while wearing boxers and a shirt that exposed years worth of scars on his arms.
He cracked open the door and was blinded by the outsides rays of lights hitting him, it felt extremely embarrassing to say but he really did get used to the dark and now looking outside felt like he got flashbanged. Startled, he closed his eyes before he could see who was out there.
“Uhh hello-?”
He squinted his eyes just enough, before realized he was looking into the collar of a shirt. He looked up and his jaw dropped, the very few hues of color in his face draining.
“Why hello—!”
Nico shut the door, turning around staring into his dark room and holding his head in his hands. He didn't know who he was expecting, but he knows he really didn't want Will right at his door. From the half a second he looked at him he could see he was fully ready for whatever little adventure he had set up. He had a shirt with prints of flowers, a cardigan, khaki shorts with way too many pockets, a sun hat, and sunglasses with a camera strung around his neck. He had a stupid gleaming smile when he looked down at Nico, he looked like the embodiment of joy and hope and it made Nico squirm in annoyance. Nico was also incredibly shocked and unprepared to be seeing will at his door, a day after he lashed out on his arm (felt like a cruel joke from the gods), very apparent in his act of shutting the door on him. Will though, was a persistent bug, continuing to knock on the door. Nico knew that will was to insistent and caring to just walk away and he would continue to know until the door caved in
He sighed and cracked the door just enough to see will and just enough for will to see an eerie eye in the dark void staring at him
“What is it solace- why are you at my door so early in the morning?”
“Well, for one, it’s 11 by now, and two, I got the yes to create a little weekly group activity!”
Those were Nico’s two least favorite words, groups and activities.
“Okay. Cool. What is it and why do I have to be a part of it?”
“I’m so glad you asked! I’ve noticed that even though most campers go out and Yknow, do stuff around camp, a lot stay cooped up in their houses and do nothing at all, which does fit you from what I've seen, and that can have an incredibley negative impact on them. Soo I pitched an idea to Chiron and Mr. D and now I’m bringing most of the campers that normally stay in and doing a hike in the woods! Just to get some sun, some fresh air, and to get those legs working again. So get ready and come outside!”
Nico stared at him, he was heavily disassociated and trying to let what he said settle in his head long enough to process what it meant
“…the woods… the camp woods…. The one with mysterious plants and sometimes monsters…?”
“Actually, there’s a sector in the woods that leads up the mountains that is protected by docile nymphs and is extremely peaceful, we’re gonna go take that route and chill at one of the clearnings for a bit before coming down”
Nico slowly was shutting the door, just enough for will not to immediately notice
“Sounds….Nice, promise I’ll join next time, not feeling well, left the shower on, legs feeling weak. Yada yada yada..”
Will had other plans, grabbing the edge of the door, not pulling it but keeping it still with his surprising strong biceps
“Ya well, I lied before, Dionysus wanted me to take you, I brought the idea up and he told me, and I quote, ‘do not let that little melancholy depressed boy skip out on this, drag him out by the ankles if you have to’… obviously I didnt decide that, but, ya, you kind of have to come. So! I’d advise you to start getting up and ready soldier, We’ll be waiting out here for you”
Nico looked behind will, noticing the 5 other poor souls he acquired. He only recognized two being Clovis and Lou Ellen, and a couple he didn’t know. He sighed and looked away before grumbling a very small ‘fine’ and shutting the door.
‘Fucks his problem…’ Nico thought to himself, over and over again as he looked around his drawers for a long sleeve shirt. “Who does he think he is coming up to my door to make me do… whatever the fuck… god he's so stupid…” these thoughts were lack luster and hyperbolic, he was more frustrated at himself then anything, having to go take a walk with sore legs and a recent scarred up arm. He found a black silk button up, some dark grey tatted jeans, a few bracelets, and sunglasses for… the sun, quickly changing into them and brushing his teeth+putting a thick coat of deodorant on to mask the “I'm neglecting my health and haven't moved in three days” smell. He sighed, looking around his room while tying up his black combat boots
He stepped out, and thank god he had those black out sun glasses, he felt pathetic for the fact the sun was hurting his eyes so much.
Will was sitting on the steps that led up to his cabin doors, next to him being the other campers. He looked up at Nico, excited and smiling like a puppy, Nico looked away as will shot up. Wills smile dropped as he looked Nico up and down
“Your really gonna wear that on a hike? You know its not January right? Very heavy clothing is gonna make you pass out for sure, and dark clothes absorbs more light from the sun, trust me I know a little or two about the su -”
“Ya ya whatever solace” Nico said, putting a hand to wills chest and pushing past him. Will flicked the back of Nicos head teasingly as response and Nico glared at the son of Apollo. Will just smiled back, which was a great counter to Nico causing him to just look the other direction and walk down his steps past the campers starting to get up
“Okay great! That's everybody I guess, come on let's get to it!”
They all walked as a group, will in the front and everyone trying their bests to be in the far back, but Nico won that easily. Even if will tried to claim that the people at camp do like him, they were still scared of the son of Hades, so he was safely alone and far from the group. Nico was happy he was able to ward them off, he tried to focus on that feeling instead of the dread and bitterness knowing that nobody was gonna come to him and ask what was wrong, he was safe and even if he rather not be on this walk at all, at least it’s gives him time to maladaptively day dream and disassociate himself from the whole situation.
Will though, was a pesky little bug that was set on sticking to Nico and helping him as much as he could theoretically do.
They all walked across camp to an opening for the forest, a cleared path that led up deeper into the woods. The clearing was large and Nico could feel its docile nature, which was shocking seeing how the forest was normally, this must’ve been here a long time and Mr D just hid it from the kids to keep them from sneaking off and smooshing bums like most teenagers do, not Nico though.
The group hiked through it, alongside the trees that, at least to Nico, felt like we’re watching them tentatively. Even if they were simply just nymphs it was scary to think about seeing how Nico already had an inordinate fear of being watched.
The group seemed to be suffering as much as Nico, one or the other groaned every 4 minutes, and all of them looked out of it. Will must’ve noticed because after 16 minutes he turned his head to call out to the group
“Okay guys, while we’re walking, I don’t want you to just let your mind disappear, stay grounded! Look at the trees and maybe try to catch something interesting. We’re gonna stop soon to look around so don’t worry!”
Nico rolled his eyes, ignoring whatever hubbub he was spouting, his mind still in another world. He was really only pulled back when he noticed the touch of a shoulder to his. He snapped out of it and looked to his side, Will stood next to him, smiling warmly while looking at him. Nico had no idea how will was able to sneak on him so fast without him noticing, or why
“Hey” He said, shining his teeth at him
“…hey” Nico replied, not opening his mouth too much because he was scared they were probably yellowing hard. Nico prayed that Will was just there to walk and stare at him as the group was infront, but Will of course, had different thoughts
“Do you go to forest or parks often?” He asked
“Uhm… no not really…”
“They’re super cool! I come out to the forest sometimes to take pictures or just relax after a stressful or depressing day” Nico smiled at the thought of will having a depressing day even if he might never admit it. Will? The super confident happy go lucky being stressed and depressed? Whatever you say. At the mention of pictures though, he glanced at the camera slung around his neck down to his chest. So that’s what that was for
“Take pictures of… what?” Wills eyes lit up when he asked that, and he grabbed his camera, clicking at it and looking through it, very obviously about to show some to Nico, who’s eyes widened when he saw how happy Will got. Most of the time when Nico saw other people being happy it made him feel guilty and envious, but right now he just felt… interested, and a warm feeling bubbler inside of him
“Oh I have a lot! Mostly of nature, I’ve been doing it since I was a kid, my mom bought me this one about a year ago and it had a bunch of cool settings and-“ he abruptly stopped talking, bringing the camera down, his blue eyes turning away from Nico
“Ya that’s kinda it… I don't take pictures of much I think. This whole thing was mostly just an excuse for me to come out and take pictures honestly”
Nico noticed the shift and felt… a little sad? He normally felt upset but this time it was towards will, he didn’t like the way he stopped talking so excitedly and seemed to catch himself. He looked down at the camera and looked back up, taking a deep breath
“Can I see some? I-if your fine with that if you want”
Will turned to him, his eyes gleaming, Nico had to look away from the amount of shining coming from him and the fact he couldn’t resist smiling a bit, but he rather die then let will see that
“Yes! I mean ya of course, I have a lot I promise I won’t drown you with them or anything…”
Will leaned into Nico, showing him the pictures on his camera roll. Nico was immediately impressed, the pictures were mostly of different close up shots of bugs and plants and sometimes landscapes, all having great detail, cinematography, and coloring. Nico himself was interested in photography but never really got into it, and seeing this he was a bit jealous of will for being able to make such beautiful pieces. Nico though was not good at speaking his thoughts and just let out a small and breathy “wowah…” every three images. Nico started to feel a bit awkward being this close to Will, who bent down to show him the art on account of the height difference between him (5’5-6’1) He could feel his cheek almost right against his hair and could feel the texture of wills shirt against his silk one. He swallowed down these feelings and focused on the photos and what Will was saying
“This one I took last month in the Demeter cabins garden, I’ve been begging them not to ban me from there, but now that I’m allowed here in the woods I’m gonna be able to take so much more now. Speaking of…”
Will stood back up and walked to the front of the group, causing them all to stop in place
“Okay everybody, this is the place I wanted to stop at! You can sit on one of the logs, walk and look around, anything that doesnt damage the wild life, the nymphs will never let us come back. And don't wander too far, just enjoy yourselves”
Shoutout to the faggot reading this yes I see you