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"Come on Nico! The rain is starting any second now!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming!"
Nico and Will had been on a picnic with Kayla, Lou Ellen, Zane, and couple more campers from various cabins outside the camp boarders. Some of the other campers had decided to play football on the fields right outside the border, as if there wasn't enough space within them, and Will and Kayla had to watch the game incase one of them got injured. Normally that wouldn't be a problem playing football, but they were half-bloods, and anything could be expected.
In the middle of the game, however, it has started to drip, signaling that rain was nearing. The picnic crew had already packed up their things and were up and ready to go back to camp.
Nico picked up his bag and started to kog to the border, where Will was waiting for him. Nico could hear the rain behind him, and smell the petrichor from the ground, when suddenly, there was a pain in his ankle, then on his thigh and hand, though that was more like just shock.
He was on the ground. How did that even happen? He had been standing litellary half a second ago. Nico laid there, frozen for just a moment, before a rain drop fell on his cheek, reminding him of where he was.
"Neeks, are you OK?" Will's concerned face popped into Nico's view, as more droplets fell onto his face and arms.
Nico was quiet for a moment, speechless for not having expected to find himself on the ground within half a second of being upright. "I- yeah. I think I might have rolled my ankle though."
"Nico! What happened? You were jogging and then suddenly you were on the ground! My heart totally skipped a beat," one of the campers that had been playing asked him, as Nico pulled himself back up with Will's help.
"I'm fine, it's not the first time so it's normal," Nico placated the others, pushing himself up before anyone could offer him a hand. As usual, Will shot him an exparated look.
"Lets just go back before we'll get drenched," Will sighed, motioning for everyone to get going.
>->->->->-|-<-<-<-<-<
"Hey, it's nearly dinner, should we stop training for now and continue tomorrow?" one of the younger campers raised their hand after having sparred with their pair in the sword fighting class Nico had started to teach every once in a while.
It was fun, in Nico's opinion, to teach the newer kids, even though the oldest ones were only about a year or so younger than him, and the youngests not older than nine. Will said that it was good for him to have something to do and to talk to other people more.
Nico glanced at a sun dial closeby, and determined that yes, dinner was going to start any minute now. They should probably start to stop now.
"Alright everyone, good job today! You'll have about ten-ish minutes until dinner starts! Clean up your swords and other equipment, and remember to dp your stretches!" Nico commanded the twelve or so demigods, who had all stopped their spars after hearing their instructor's voice.
After the last one had left, Nico finally stood up from where he had been sitting on a rock and watching the campers spar and giving out instructions. Nico would have participated more, but had gotten a bigger gash on his sword arm during last night's capture the flag, and he didn't want it to reopen, even though it was already almost healed, thanks to ambrosia.
He stretched a bit, his back giving an audible, satisfying pop. He went to take a step before realizing that his right leg was completely numb and didn't move from knee down, even though Nico tried. Ah. He had sat on it again, hadn't he. This happened constantly, Nico sitting on his leg and not realizing before standing up that it was numb and it started prickling like a thousand needles in a needle cushion.
Welp, he really should get going. He had promised Will to go sit with him at the Apollon table again. So, Nico half jumped, half limped his way to the dining pavillion. The feeling still hadn't returned to the leg, nor had it started to prickle yet. It was probably nothing.
That is, until he got to the correct tabke and he nearly rolled his ankle by stading on it sudeways because godsdamnit, it wouldn't move, but it did start prickling. If Nico set the foot down now, he'd have to endure pain, the prickling worsening by ten thousand times and still, he couldn't trust his ankles until well after the prickling would end.
And so Nico held his leg up, not moving despite standing not even a meter from the correct table.
"Oh, hey Nico," Kayla greeted him, sitting down with her own food. "Is something wrong with your leg dude?"
"I can't feel it so i avoid rolling my ankle again by doing this," Nico explained. That proved to be a mistake.
"You... CAN'T FEEL YOUR LEG??? Nico that is so conserning, what happened? Do I need to take you to the infirmary?" Kayla immediadly started questioning Nico, and letting him know that he probably did not word that too well.
"No- No infirmary, I am fine, I meant to say that my leg is numb," Nico placated the redhead again. "I sat on it again..."
Kayla sighed a breath of relief. "Thank the gods. And you really should stop sitting on your foot to the point of numbness."
"Yeah yeah," Nico hummed, finally sitting down after the tingles subsided. "I never notice it early enough though, so it's kinda hard to prevent."
Kayla just shrugged. "skill issue, Nico, skill issue."