Chapter Text
Nico Di Angelo knew something was wrong the moment he stepped into the infirmary.
It wasn’t the smell-ambrosia and antiseptic always hung in the air. It wasn’t the quiet either; Will liked the place calm. No, it was the sight of Will Solace sitting upright on one of the beds, shoulders tense, hands shaking ever so slightly as he wrapped gauze around a camper’s arm.
Will Solace did not shake.
He was pale in a way that had nothing to do with Nico’s usual “you’re literally made of sunlight, how are you this white” teasing. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his smile. His stupid, beautiful, sunshine smile, was a little too tight.
Nico stopped dead in the doorway.
“Oh,” he said flatly.
Will glanced up. “Hey! Nico- uh- what’re you doing here?”
Nico stared.
Will blinked.
Nico took one step forward. Then another.
“You,” Nico said slowly, dangerously calm, “are sick.”
Will laughed, which was mistake number one. “What? No, I’m fine. Just- long night. Lots of campers. You know how it is.”
Mistake number two: standing up.
Will swayed.
Nico was across the infirmary in three strides, hands already gripping Will’s shoulders before he could tip over.
“Sit,” Nico snapped.
Will blinked again. “Nico, I-”
“Sit. Down.”
There was something in Nico’s voice-low, sharp, and final-that made Will obey before his brain caught up. He sat on the bed with a soft thump, breathing a little harder than he should’ve been.
Nico crossed his arms.
Silence stretched.
Then: “You have a fever,” Nico said. Not a question.
Will opened his mouth.
“Don’t,” Nico warned. “I swear to Hades, if you say ‘I’m fine-’”
“I was going to say ‘it’s not that bad,’” Will offered weakly.
Nico’s eye twitched.
“Oh,” he said. “So it’s THAT game.”
Will smiled sheepishly. “C’mon, Nico, you know I can’t just- what if someone comes in hurt? Or sick? I can’t just leave the infirmary-”
“Will,” Nico cut in, voice rising, “you are literally sick.”
“I’ve worked through worse.”
Nico leaned down until they were eye level. “You once dragged me to bed because I sneezed twice.”
“That was different!”
“How.”
“You were-” Will paused. “You were being stubborn.”
Nico stared at him.
Stared.
Then laughed-sharp, incredulous, just this side of hysterical.
“Oh, you absolute HYPOCRITE.”
Will winced. “Nico-”
“No,” Nico said, grabbing Will’s wrist. “Nope. You do NOT get to pull this shit. You do not get to martyr yourself for the infirmary. You do not get to ignore your own body because you’re scared someone might need you.”
“I’m not scared-”
“Yes you are,” Nico snapped. “You’re terrified of not being useful. You think if you stop for five minutes the world will fall apart.”
Will swallowed.
Nico softened, just a little, but his grip didn’t loosen. “Sound familiar?”
Will looked away.
“…I hate when you do that,” he muttered.
“Good,” Nico said. “Now you know how it feels.”
Will coughed, turning away sharply. It was rough, chest-deep, the kind that hurt to listen to. Nico’s jaw clenched.
“That’s it,” he said. “We’re done.”
“Nico-”
Nico didn’t argue. He simply slid an arm around Will’s waist, hauled him upright, and started marching him toward the back rooms.
“Hey- hey-! I can walk!”
“You’re swaying.”
“I’m FINE-”
“There it is,” Nico said viciously. “Bingo.”
They reached one of the quieter recovery rooms. Nico all but shoved Will onto the bed, grabbing a blanket and throwing it over him with zero gentleness.
“You,” Nico said, pointing, “are staying. Here.”
Will blinked up at him, dazed. “You’re…scary when you’re like this.”
“Good.”
Nico grabbed a thermometer off the counter, shoved it at Will’s mouth. “Open.”
Will hesitated.
Nico raised an eyebrow.
Will opened.
They waited in tense silence. Nico paced. Will watched him, cheeks flushed, eyes glassy.
Beep.
Nico snatched the thermometer.
“…102,” he read.
Will winced. “Okay. That’s-”
“That’s high,” Nico snapped. “That’s ‘get your ass in bed’ high.”
“But-”
“No.”
“But what if-”
“Will.”
Nico sat on the edge of the bed, hands shaking now, not with anger, but something worse.
“You are allowed to be sick,” he said quietly. “You are allowed to rest. The camp will survive without you for a day. The infirmary will survive. I will survive.”
Will’s throat bobbed. “What if someone needs me?”
Nico reached out, cupped Will’s cheek. His skin was burning.
“Then someone else will help,” Nico said. “And if you keep pushing yourself like this, you’ll end up flat on your back for a week. Is that what you want?”
Will closed his eyes.
“…No.”
“Good,” Nico said. “Because I am not doing this twice.”
Will let out a shaky laugh. “You’re really mad.”
“I’m really scared,” Nico corrected.
That did it.
Will reached for Nico’s sleeve, fingers curling weakly. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I just- I don’t like feeling useless.”
Nico’s expression softened completely. “You are not useless,” he said fiercely. “You are sick. There’s a difference.”
He tugged Will down gently this time, arranging the blanket properly, grabbing water and meds with practiced efficiency.
Will blinked blearily. “You’re…good at this.”
Nico snorted. “I learned from the worst.”
“Hey!”
“You,” Nico said, pressing a kiss to Will’s forehead, “are a menace.”
Will smiled faintly, eyes slipping shut. “Still love me?”
“Unfortunately,” Nico muttered, sitting beside him and lacing their fingers together. “Now sleep. If you try to get up, I will shadow-travel you back into this bed.”
“…Hot.”
Nico rolled his eyes, but his thumb brushed soothing circles over Will’s knuckles.
And for once, Will Solace rested-because his shadow had him.