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Nico had been asleep, surprisingly enough. It was pretty late, around one in the morning when suddenly the son of Hades was rudely woken up by knocking at his cabin door.
Begrudgedly, he opened his eyes and glared at the offending door before dragging himself out of bed. His blanket slipped off the side of the bed as he practically rolled himself out from under the sheets.
Nico couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the continuous knocking.
“Coming!” He drawled, voice tinged with annoyance. He slipped his feet into his slippers and padded over to the door.
The son of Hades didn’t actually know who he expected to see when he opened the door. Maybe Chiron coming to inform him about some grave world ending thing he had just learned about that Nico needed to participate in. Maybe it was Percy and Annabeth who came over for a visit only for Percy to be impatient and had come to annoy the life out of him at this time of night.
“What in Hades could you want at one in the morning?” He paused.
Despite his lack of actual thought, he had least expected to see a messy haired blonde boyfriend at his door.
Will looked devastating. His curls were all askew due to bedhead. He was still in his pajamas, a black t-shirt that most likely belonged to Nico’s closet and ended up in Will’s, and baby pink hello kitty drawstring pants that Nico had a matching pair of due to a stupid gift prank from Piper last Christmas.
And most of all? His freckled skin was flushed and sweaty, hands shaking slightly as he tugged at the hem of his shirt, his eyes watery, a pout on his lips, and nose sniffly.
“Neeks?” Will mumbled, voice rasped yet quiet as he stared at the ravenette like some pouty puppy. “I think I’m sick.”
“No shit Sherlock. Get in here.” Nico grumbled as he grabbed the blonde by the wrist and tugged him into the cabin before he could stay exposed in the elements much longer. Christmas might’ve been over, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t still freezing.
Nico spun Will once closing the door, grabbing him by the shoulders and staring at him. He took in the sight of the blonde, his expression softening ever so barely.
He totally did not pity Will. Not even an ounce. He totally didn’t subconsciously want to coo over his sick boyfriend and have the sudden temptation to coddle Will in blankets until he didn’t look like hell itself came upon him.
“Two questions. Why are you here instead of in bed where you should be? Secondly, how did this even happen?” Nico said instead of giving in to that pout, he wasn’t soft. Will hadn’t turned the tough son of Hades soft, not yet at least.
Will frowned. It felt like he had a drum pounding in his head, it hurt to just think about stuff, especially answer questions. “I couldn’t sleep like this, and I don’t know.” He answered.
It was the truth. Will didn’t know how he had gotten sick, he usually had a great immune system. It might’ve been the fact he had partially let himself go over the timespan of winter due to the lack of sunlight and seasonal depression.
Nico gave Will a quick suspicious glance before moving his hands from Will’s shoulders to grab his hands and shove him over to the bed.
Will didn’t even attempt to struggle against Nico as he was manhandled onto the bed and forced to sit down on the edge of the mattress. Which if anyone was to ask, Will definitely would’ve claimed that Nico attacked him. Nevertheless, Nico stood between Will’s legs as he used the back of his hand to move aside sweat drenched curls. He pressed his hand against Will’s forehead, nearly recoiling away at the heat radiating from the blonde’s skin.
“Holy fuck.“ He trailed off, “You were completely fine yesterday, what could’ve possibly happened within twenty-four hours to develop this bad of a fever?” Nico sounded worried for once. And that was genuinely jarring to the son of Apollo.
“You’re seriousl-“ Will was cut off by a sneeze, his entire body jerking forwards by the sheer force of it.
Nico actually ended up having to prevent Will from face planting. Quickly, he realized just how severe Will’s state was. This wasn’t a laughing matter, and certainly not a joking one either. A stern expression etched on Nico’s features, his brows furrowing. He unconsciously moved his hands to securely grab onto Will’s hips, steadying the other boy.
“Bless you, Sunshine.”
Nico quipped once Will seemed composed rather than startled.
The son of Apollo simply nodded in response. His throat suddenly felt sore and scratchy. It was like he swallowed glass or sandpaper. Either way, it was uncomfortable. He examined Nico’s face through glossy bright blue eyes.
His bottom lip jutted out at the sight of the dead-serious look and the worry filled gaze of which Nico was giving him. Nico being annoyed with him was one thing, but being genuinely worried? That made Will feel horrible. He didn’t want Nico to worry about him, he shouldn’t have to. Will was a healer, he knew better than to stay outside a little longer in the cold because he wanted to play around in the snow. He knew better than to let his immune system get so weak.
After a few seconds of simply staring at each other, Nico cleared his throat and released Will’s hips so he could step away for a moment. The son of Apollo’s eyes trailed after Nico’s retreating form as he began to move around the room.
Nico ended up stepping into the bathroom for a few minutes. Will could actually hear him fumbling around in there before coming out with a rag in hand. He ended up shoving the rag in his pocket whilst he started filling a bowl from his mini kitchenette with cold water, and on his way he decided to swiftly snatch up an extra blanket before returning to Will’s side.
“Lay down.” He instructed firmly, he didn’t give Will an option, unmoving in his request. He placed the bowl of water on the bedside table as he waited.
And Will didn’t plan on upsetting Nico right about now, especially this late at night. A grumpy and tired Nico was terrifying. He maneuvered around the bed sluggishly, moving from the edge of the bed so that he was laid back on the pillow.
Nico hummed, pleased with Will’s lack of brattiness for once. He dipped the rag into the cool water, ringing it out before using his free hand to gently push Will’s curls back and place the rag on his forehead. Never did he think he’d be playing nurse for his boyfriend at one in the morning, but here he was. If you told Nico that he’d be tending to a fevered Will tonight, he’d call them insane before going off to double check that Will didn’t feel ill at all.
Will let out a shaky exhale at the cold rag chilling his overly warm skin. His eyes drooped, exhaustion settling into his bones with every second that passed with him lying down.
The son of Hades grabbed the extra blanket and comfortably tucked it underneath Will before leaning forward and planting a brief kiss to his cheek. He pulled away and eagerly made his way back into bed himself, shuffling around and fighting with his own blanket before finally wrapping himself up. He took a quick glance at the clock on his bedside table. It was nearly two am now, and Nico was just about ready to pass out.
“Goodnight, sunshine.” He mumbled, releasing one arm from his cocoon of a blanket just to drape the limb across Will’s chest. Rolling over onto his stomach.
As he waited for a response, Nico was met with almost eerie silence. Usually Will would at least groggily mutter a goodnight or an I love you. Slowly he lifted his head and cracked one eye open to look over at Will, he came to the realization that the sick boy was completely out for the count. Nico couldn’t help but snicker under his breath at the scene.
“Stupid blonde..”
He was interrupted with a yawn, he ended up letting his own eyes slip close with ease. Now on a normal night he wouldn’t go to sleep so easily, but then again, it was late and he was absolutely exhausted after assisting Will.
And during the night, if Nico rolled over and pulled his boyfriend to his own body? Well only the calm of the night was there to witness.