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“Wow, traveling must be so hard for you—being like, partially deaf and stuff.”
Sure. Yeah. It was difficult sometimes, being deaf in one ear and with a hearing aid that distorted sound half the time.
But you know what is more difficult than that?
Nico di Angelo.
“Okay, I packed the BiPAP—“
“Nico.” Will interrupted. “I see the tube right there on the nightstand.”
Nico looked over. “Fuuuuck.”
“Did you ever decide on cane or crutches? Did you find the right pillows for the flight and make sure you had your snacks? Did you get mom’s present packed?”
“Will!” Nico whined, falling back on the bed. “I wanna go to sleeeep.”
“You’re the one that kept procrastinating packing until the night before.” He retorted.
He was making sure medications were sorted for the week in secure and clearly labeled containers. God forbid they had to have another whole ordeal with ‘unlabeled medication’ in their bags.
Nico slid to the floor pitifully. “I’m gonna call Percy and Jason. Or Hazel. Or Reyna.”
“You know that Hazel and Reyna would not be able to make it here in the next—“ Will looked at the alarm clock. “45 minutes before we’re supposed to go to bed?”
Nico sighed forlornly. “Fine. I’ll put the stupid tube in the stupid bag cause I need to fucking breathe…”
He suddenly froze.
“Fuck.”
***
Their flight was 2:30, so they needed to arrive at 11:30, which meant they needed to get in the car at 11, which meant they needed to be getting dressed by 10:30, which meant they needed to shower at 9:30 and 10, which meant they needed to eat breakfast at 8:30…
Will was waking up at 6, Nico at 7, because any earlier and he either wouldn’t function the entire day or… well, his Zolpidem wouldn’t let him function.
Everything was packed that he could, and it was around 8 that he finished. Nico had woken up (thankfully) (he could sleep like the dead) and done his part and was now cooking breakfast.
“Mm, smells good.” Will stood behind Nico, stealing his crutches to lean on the counter in favor of holding up his weight himself.
Nico laughed as Will purposefully pushed on ticklish spots, giggling while he was still trying to flip the omelette.
“Oh my gods, Will, you’re evil!”
Will moved one arm to be settled lower on Nico’s waist, pulling him flush. “But you loooove me!”
They finished breakfast in time for both to shower, but Nico had asked Will to help him wash his hair. Will didn’t mind, but it told him what kind of day it would be.
With all of the mercy in the world, Nico no longer made it his life goal to push until he broke and only ask for help after he was shattered across the floor. Now he asked for help when the pressure was getting heavy and he didn’t want to crack.
Still, though. Nico prided himself on being independent. Even though he was wisely conserving energy, Will was anxious seeing he didn’t think he could do it himself without paying a bigger cost.
They both showered, packed the remaining toiletries, got Nico’s cane folded and wheelchair packed, and were ready to leave on time.
“Whew. Okay.” Will settled into the drivers seat and adjusted his mirrors, ruffling his hair up when he caught a glimpse of it.
“Triple check,” He confirmed first, looking over to Nico. Nico huffed but knew it was probably wise, considering they both had ADHD…
“Neck pillow?”
“Yep.” Nico patted it at his side.
“Lumbar?”
“Yep.”
“Two extra hoodies?”
“Yep.”
“Noise cancelling headphones?”
“Mhm.” He pulled them from his hoodie pocket.
“Did you grab your bag with the snacks?”
Nico looked out the window quickly, scratching his scalp. “Uhh…”
Will put the car back in park. “I’ll be right back.”
They arrived at the airport about twenty minutes later than Will had wanted, because they had to turn around two more times for things they forgot. One was Nico’s protein shake that he had every morning for the additional definitely-non-suspicious-vitamins-and-minerals-blended-into-it-that-would-not-be-good-to-sit-for-an-entire-two-weeks, and another because Will forgot his hearing aid extra batteries.
But they made it. And it was security time.
“Hello, sir, is this who you’re traveling with today?”
“Yes ma’am.” Nico replied easily, letting her stall them at the metal detector.
“Are you able to stand briefly or do you need to stay seated?”
“I can stand,” Nico said, “But I have a metal rod in my ankle that is probably gonna set off your thing.”
“Okay, no problem.” She grabbed the chair and wheeled it around, passing it to the person who would swab it. Will was already anxious and he hadn’t even stepped through the scanner—he was ready for the hustle-bustle of getting all of their things through scanners and not letting them disappear.
Nico went through first and Will was so focused on making sure he got through without tripping he didn’t hear the man on his left asking for his backpack.
“Oh, right—sorry, I’m deaf in my left ear.” Will explained quickly and the guy laughed, clapping him on the back friendly.
“All good mate. I was wonderin’ why I was practically yelling’ and you weren’t hearing me.”
Will went through just in time to help balance Nico off his bad leg, keep track of the BiPAP and make sure it didn’t get placed directly on the X-ray tray…
“No, he can’t take his shoes off easily, are you able to do an alternate method?” Will said to the lady as she asked Nico, who was trying to shuffle his headphones on.
Will couldn’t blame him. It was loud. It was the week before Christmas, they were in the middle of the airport, and it was like every child in the vicinity decided now was a great time to cry. Will’s hearing aids didn’t help.
The attendant came over at the same time. “Here’s your chair, sir.”
“Um.” Nico squeaked. “That’s not mine.”
Goddamnit, Will hadn’t been paying attention to his chair too. It had probably been grabbed by someone else, because that was an airport issued chair.
“Oh.” The guy said. “I’ll be right back.”
Nico squeezed Will’s hand as he was instructed on how to stand so she could scan him with the wand. Both feet and his ankle triggered it.
“You said he can’t take off his shoes?” She asked.
Everything was moving so quick. Now the BiPAP was being taken off and Will was supposed to be making sure nothing got lost or fell of.
“Uh, no ma’am, he needs them to stay on.”
“Okay sir, is he able to stand while I feel and swab?”
Will looked to Nico, who shook his head apologetically. Nico was on his deaf side so he was relying more on lip reading, but Nico said “I need to sit.”
Now they were idled, with a line growing impatiently for people who needed to get through, waiting for the guy to make his way back through traffic with the right chair.
He finally came back about twenty seconds later. It wasn’t a lot but, when it was the middle of the holidays and Will was itching to make sure their luggage was fine, it felt too long.
“Sorry for the mix up sir, here’s your chair.”
Nico sank into it with a scripted “Thank you”, and no sooner than he was seated did the lady begin feeling his ankle and leg for any hidden things.
It was over within seconds, the swab included, but Will could see the overstimulation behind his eyes. He was feeling it too, but he had darted off to go see what had been done with the BiPAP.
Safe. Thankfully. But a guy was finishing throwing stuff back into one of their duffels.
“Hey, sir, what was the issue here—?”
“Massager gun. Couldn’t tell what it was through the X-ray thang’.” The guy, who was tall and burly, was not being careful with their things.
“Excuse me sir, can you please be careful with my hearing aid case-“
The man threw it in with the same carelessness as everyone else. Will winced hearing the thunk of Nico’s nebulizer hit the bag bottom against some other plastic thing. It really shouldn’t have been in there but it was another one of the last-minute remembrance things.
The foldable cane had been popped open when the guy took it out, Will guessed. He fumbled with it for all of three seconds and ended up just sticking the handle in and handing it back to Will, who watched the entire fifteen second ordeal in mild horror.
That duffel bag had roughly a thousand dollars alone in their combined various medical needs. It took every ounce of resistance in Will’s body to not immediately drop down and check everything.
Nico was wheeling towards Will, hands trembling slightly on the wheels of his chair. TSA was stressful for the both of them in different ways that neither could fault the other for.
“Push?” Will asked.
Nico nodded so Will put his backpack and Nico’s duffel on his lap, stepping behind him to help push the wheelchair the rest of the way.
When Will found a (as much as possible) quiet spot to settle himself, the time was 1:30. An hour and a half waiting in lines. Goddamn.
That meant that they had about an hour to have to wait, so Will went again and got to work.
They didn’t travel by plane that often, but the routine was pretty standard anyway. Get Nico’s legs elevated because after a four hour flight if they didn’t take every opportunity while they could they would be royally fucked, by Nico’s lovely words.
He found a bench seat and draped one of the hoodies folded against the arm rest so it wouldn’t hurt, and repurposed the lumbar pillow to help bend his knees. Shoddy at best but working.
Will gently helped Nico on the transfer, though he mostly was able to do it himself—moral support. Nico sighed when he sat down, letting the pressure ease off his hips again and also not re-traumatize his knees.
Nico destressed by playing games on his phone with headphones on, Will turned his hearing aids low to get rid of a bit of the noise too, and… oh, yeah, Nico did his normal drugging of himself before flights.
“Ativan?” Will asked when about a half hour remained until call, if their flight didn’t delay last minute. So far so good.
Nico’s knee was figuratively bouncing. Not literally because he, well, couldn’t really. But he was gnawing on his chew ring and picking at his nails simultaneously, so.
“Mm. Yes please.”
Will rolled his eyes with a grin. “I asked if you wanted to take it now, not if I would get it for you.” Will stated, while still handing it to him anyway.
“Here comes the aeroplane psssshh.” Will flew the pill right into Nico’s waiting palm, who held a deadpan expression.
“I’m not a baby just because I have flight anxiety.” He retorted.
“The fact you cried the time you didn’t take it proves to me you kinda are.”
Nico flashed him the middle finger and took the pill with water, going back to his video game. Flappy Castle of course.
”Flight 387 ready for early boarding, flight 387 to Austin, Texas ready for early boarding.”
“Theeeree’s us!” Will popped up, turning his hearing aid back to its normal level. He gathered the things they’d taken out like devices, fidget toys, and pillows. Nico was situating himself back in his wheelchair and making sure it would be ready for them to fold up for the flight.
They got to the gate and showed the proof they booked early boarding and, thankfully, faced no issues. They easily got Nico into the flight wheelchair and were careful with his own when storing it away. Always nice to see, especially after that security guy.
“Okay,” Will was fixing Nico’s lumbar pillow, who was halfway through a yawn. “Workin’ good, love?”
“I love lorazo…zaze…pam.” Nico kissed Will’s cheek sweetly. “I feel so floaty!”
“What that sounds like to me is that I need to get some food in you.”
Two denied foods and five peanut butter crackers late Nico had ‘sobered up’ and the plane was beginning takeoff. Maybe Will should’ve waited for the sobering, but it was still fine.
Nico held onto Will’s hand, but without the death grip that would leave his bones feeling bruised even despite the chronic pain. He was just relaxed and that was great.
And another trick they’d learn was to buy an extra seat so they could put their backpacks there or Nico could raise his legs. Or just fully lay down across both seats and Will’s lap if seatbelt lights allowed.
Which is exactly what they did fifteen minutes later, and Nico was out like a light. Will didn’t mind, he got about fifty new Sleepy Nico pictures from it.
***
They landed three and a half hours later and Will only had to make Nico get up twice for turbulence. The first time he did not wake up at all, and Will ended up buckling him back in. Completely dead to the world in his pure comfort.
Then the second time he was groggy and yawning but able to coordinate his motor skills just barely enough to strap himself in. While he was awake, Will had made him get up to move around to not let his legs get too stiff or blood clots form.
Not the worst flight experience. A plus side, Naomi was there to pick them up.
“Mom!” Will darted forward to meet her, mumbling “Merry Christmas,” into her shoulder.
No longer her ‘little boy’, he stood a solid half foot taller than her, yet still found himself swallowed in her warm hug.
“Ah, Will, I’ve missed you.” She replied affectionately. Then pulled back and pinched his ear down. “You need to visit your old lady more often, young man.”
Will didn’t even have time to dignify a response before she ran past him with a soft coo. “Oh, Nicoo!”
They exchanged a set of lazy cheek kisses before Naomi tsk’d disapprovingly. “You leave your boy here with all of this? I raised you better.”
Even despite the words that sounded cruel, a grin was split across her face as she took both of the suitcases. Will fake argued back, taking the backpack from Nico’s lap. “Look, I just wanted to say hi faster, he’s still groggy and huffed up, he doesn’t care. Right Nico?”
“Uh.” He had been caught zoning out. “I agree with Naomi?”
She cackled and patted him on the shoulder. He yawned again. “Car?”
“You’re so dramatic.” Will eased him gently off the curb, well practiced. Will was too tired himself to bother with the twenty feet to the ramp.
Nico stood and wobbled slightly. Will sighed with the deepest, disappointed sigh ever. “What did I tell you about eating something. Because you know, from experience, your balance gets shot on Ativan?”
“To do it and some other shit that I don’t care about… I wanna nap for like three more hours…”
“Sit in the damn seat—“
“William Andrew! Language!”
“MOM! He just said shit, why didn’t you—“
“I know you did not hear that potty mouth from me, buster—“
***
Nico was so relaxed on the way home. Will knew he had a solid two more hours before the lorazepam would wear off.
“How’s y'all's year been since y’all last visited?” Naomi looked from Will to Nico, who was sideways in the back seat with his knees propped up and head against the window.
“Grrreat.” Nico gave a thumbs up. “Feelin’ real festiv…al…ity.”
Will buried his head in his hands. “I knew we needed to ask the doctor to lower your dose.”
“I’m fine!” Nico perked up a tiny bit. “I feel sooo good. I still feel like I’m on the plane.”
Naomi smiled, the firm picture of a Fond Mother. “I was gonna run to the winery to grab a bottle of wine.”
Will raised a brow at her. “He’s not 21 yet.”
“Shhh.” She grinned with a hand to her lips. “Just a month shy, he’ll be alright.”
Will knew he wasn’t going to win that battle—and he didn’t want to, really. “Fine. After this wears off tomorrow though, they can’t mix.”
His mom pinched his cheek. “Doctor knows best.”
***
“HAHA! I win!”
It was 9 p.m., Nico’s meds had worn off, and he felt great.
They’d played four games so far and Nico managed to win all of them, including the luck based games like Right Left Center and Bunco.
“So unfair.” Will flicked Nico on the forehead.
“I’m sorry I’m just so awesome.” He leaned back dramatically.
The oven beeped.
Nico’s eyes shot open like a firecracker. “Cookies.”
Naomi threw her cards down and hurried to the kitchen, just as fast as Nico and Will were. She pulled them out and it smelled like heaven and ambrosia combined.
Nico tried to reach up to the stove to grab one and she patted his hand away. “No no, sir, you need to wait.”
Nico blushed and rolled back in the tiny kitchen, being careful not to hit the cabinets. (Again.)
When they cooled enough, Nico was the first to receive them. Naomi passed him one gently with the softest, chaste kiss to his forehead after she swiped the hair away.
He stilled completely.
“Are you okay, Nico?” She asked when he hadn’t moved a moment later. Under the hair that had fallen back, Will could see the tears forming in his eyes.
“S-sorry.” He swiped at his eyes. He tried to speak again but it seemed his throat closed because nothing came out.
His mom looked to him as if asking permission to go over. Will nodded, staying back.
She knelt down in front of him. “Love, what’s wrong?”
He sniffled, but Will could see even so far back that he had a smile on his face. He let Naomi take his hand and hold it in hers.
“I haven’t had a mother in so long.”
***
“So I told her y’all would be coming and she said, I hope you’ll have enough food in your house to feed that boy again, and—” She interrupted herself. “Nico, where’s you put the placard?”
He and Will were in the back seat together. They froze.
“You packed it, right…?” Will asked.
Nico’s eyes widened. “I thought you packed it.”
So, they walked 500-something feet up to the tree farm.
Nico really couldn’t care less, Will knew. But caring and feeling the affects weren’t the same. The parking lot was gravel, which was already Hell reincarnate on his wheels. And the lot wasn’t exactly flat either, so Will stayed near Nico where he could give him a good push when his wheels found themselves jammed between rocks and holes.
“Can we ask Percy and Annabeth to ship the placard here?” Nico asked to Will, doe eyes wide in an attempt to sway him. Nico knew he’d say no and not to inconvenience them.
Will looked to Naomi for help saying no, we can last two weeks without it, but she pointedly tilted her head in the perfect begging puppy face.
Will chuckled. “Fine, fine, I’ll IM them.”
“Perfect!” Naomi clasped her hands. “That’s solved. We’ll survive for a day or two. Now—trees!”
***
Getting the tree home was its whole own escapade. Strapping it down, obstructing vision too much on the first attempt, trying again, Nico’s knee giving out when he tried to help do a strap and finally, home.
(Will laughed when he ran over to Nico, who had fallen in the most dramatic pose possible—come on, how could he not?)
“Are we decorating now or later today?” She was mainly asking Nico.
“Um,” Nico thought. “Can I change first and see how I feel?” He asked, hesitantly.
“Of course, darling—Will, help me get the tree in.”
“Yes ma’am.” Will replied. Not before making sure Nico got his quota of water.
***
Nico admitted he didn’t think he could decorate that day, and both of them were okay with that. Naomi put one bow on it and said “She’s gorgeous.”
They watched Home Alone and Rudolph that same night, smushed in with a giant Christmas puzzle they all worked on.
Nico was almost hilariously bad at the puzzle. He would stare at a corner and move pieces but never assemble them, even as Naomi and Will had completed the entire border and top quarter.
“Finally find something Mr Ghost King doesn’t beat us at?” Naomi teased.
Nico stuck his tongue out and fell back on the couch, choosing to invest himself in the movie.
That was okay. Didn’t mean Will stopped teasing him after, though.
***
Nico put the last ornament on the tree.
Naomi smiled, features lit by the string lights.
“Perfect.”
***
“Merry Christmas Eve!”
Will walked into the kitchen where Naomi was already making pancakes, bacon, and grit. That was noticeably smaller, with her knowing Nico would find the sensory unpleasant.
“Merry Christmas Eve, baby!” She accepted his hug as he kissed her cheek from behind.
“Smells good, momma bear.”
“Oho, you flatter me, boy.” She tore off a piece of pancake for him to try, and he hummed in pleasure. “No Nico?”
“Rough night,” Will explained. He was sure his near ever-present eye bags might have been a bit more pronounced. “He couldn’t sleep. He tried to make me but I ended up staying up with him for most of it.”
“Aww, poor thing.” She cooed sympathetically. “Any idea when he’ll be up?”
“Well, I need to get him up at 9 for his meds but I don’t know if he’ll stay up or just go back to sleep, we’ll see I guess.” Will shrugged. “What, opposed to some quality time with me?” He grinned.
“No, no…” She turned a competitive eye to him. “I was just deciding how badly I’m going to make you lose in speed puzzles.”
***
Nico wheeled into the living room as Naomi narrowly won that round of puzzle.
“Noo!” Will mourned, slipping the final piece in only a second behind her. A tough race.
“Haha! Champion, as alwa—oh, good morning, Nico!”
Will looked over to see him rubbing his eye slowly, hair a rats nest on his head.
“Morning, baby bat.” Will turned to face him. “I was just about to go wake you. We weren’t too loud, were we?”
Nico shook his head, voice a bit gravelly from sleep. “Yes but you’re fine. It’s late anyway.”
Nico coughed and it rattled his entire body, bending forward slightly with the force.
Will sighed. “You weren’t on your BiPAP long enough last night. Let me go get the humidifier real quick, you go get comfy. Breakfast’s ready.”
Nico nodded and easily let Naomi help him transfer to the couch, a hand under his arm for support. Much smoother.
He grabbed the small machine from their suitcase, knowing there was a perfect outlet plug. Pouring the water in and turning it on, Nico took a concentrated effort to breathe in the concentrated mist coming from the top.
His shoulders relaxed.
Will grabbed Nico’s meds while Naomi plated food. Right as Nico finally shook himself into wakefulness, they were all gathered in the living room with an amazing home cooked breakfast.
Nico ate half of his, which Will considered a win. He went back for seconds and ate the half Nico hadn’t eaten.
“Are we ready for stockings?” His mom looked to them mischievously.
“Yes!” Will was the first to hop up and grab them from the mantle. So what if he was 23? He loved Christmas.
His had reindeer in ‘hideous Christmas sweaters’ (Also known as staples of Christmas, thank you very much, Nico), Naomi had Mrs Clause, and Nico’s was a snowman.
They learned from last year though when Nico got so upset by the texture of the stocking he couldn’t open his on his own, Naomi took it upon herself to buy a new one.
Nico saw it and held it like it was the present itself. “Naomi…”
“Oh you hush,” She patted his mid thigh. “It’s the least I could do.”
Will had already tore into the top thing. “Mom!”
She glanced over at him quickly, seeing him with the first item.
“It’s the Yoda poseable collectible I have been trying to find for months!”
“I know some people.” She hinted.
He popped up to give her a quick hug and a kiss on her cheekbone. “Thank you, momma.”
He paused. “Wait. This was like, five hundred dollars online?”
Nico was pointedly not looking at Will as he ran his cuticle over the stitching on his stocking, lip pursed.
“You look suspicious.” Will accused.
“Me? Never.” He pulled one leg up on the couch.
“Ha! Liar.” Nico only did that when he was trying to get away with a bluff.
Nico deflated.
“I may or maaay not have. Like. GuilttrippedHadesintosponsoringhalfofChristmas…”
His boyfriend was something.
***
They ended up on the couch having a lazy afternoon, a silly Christmas movie in the back that they watched for ten minutes and then proceeded to hate on for every minute after.
Will was leaning on Naomi’s shoulder while Nico was fully laid out on the blond’s lap. Exactly where he seemed to want to be, considering that he hadn’t spoken up about how Will pronounced ‘rural’ a minute ago.
But as more time went on, Will found himself the only one awake.
He turned the end credits of the movie off and let himself bask in the silence.
Naomi had her head on Will’s shoulder, and Nico was completely dozed off with a sort of peace that seemed to be rare even these days.
Will found himself smiling, even with no one to witness.
Yeah, this is definitely worth the trouble.
I can be happy with this.