Chapter Text
Three short raps on his dorm door alerted Nico to the presence of someone, probably Will as he was the only one who woke up with the sun. Stupid Sunshine Boy.
Percy was still sleeping, neck at a 90’ angle to the floor, and Jason on the top bunk, sleeping mask unraveled around his arms. Taking care not to wake them up, Nico stepped around Percy’s large head and opened the door.
‘Will! It’s so early. Like 5am. Those two are still completely out of it.’
‘It’s not that early, Neeks. You’re awake after all, aren’t you?’
Something about that nickname made Nico’s heart flutter, but he pushed those thoughts aside as he responded,
‘I’m only up cos you insist on waking me up. I am an uncompensated victim of your tendencies.’
‘Stop being dramatic, and take a walk with me.’
‘Shut up and dance with me~!’ Nico stage-whispered, with enough un-musicality that it held enough snark.
Will rolled his eyes and pushed him out the dorm.
It was a sunny day, far too sunny for Nico’s liking, as his eyes proved when they immediately squinted up.
‘Oh my gods, you’re literally a vampire. Get some vitamin D and face the sun.’ Will spread his arms out as he walked backwards, trying to absorb as much sunlight as he could in winter and in a yellow hoodie.
‘I’m always facing the sun, you’re bright enough.’
‘Glad I’m nothing but a lamp to you.’
‘You’re welcome. Lamps are extremely important.’
‘Aw~ you think I’m important?’
‘No. Shut up.’ Blushing, Nico turned away, arms crossed.
‘You’re adorable. Come here, this is a good sunbathing spot!’
‘You and your sunbathing. One day we’re gonna bathe in the snow and it’ll be great.’
‘Yeah, as if.’ Will lied down in the grass, not caring for the cold mud, as he angled his face towards the sun and melted, hair fluffing up in the wind.
‘You’re crazy.’ Nico lied down next to him, acutely aware of all the ants that could well be scuttling up and down his hair but we would never know. Gods, he needed a shower after this. He shifted uncomfortably and yawned, still a little sleepy.
‘You tired? Luckily our class is at 3pm today, so we should have some time to finish off essays and get a nap in.’
‘Still haven’t done the homework, Solace?’
‘I’ve been busy! And I bet you haven’t done any either.’
‘I’ve been just as busy as you, and we ignore how I’ve forgotten to read the chapters we were supposed to read as well.’
Will snorted. ‘So much for me not doing my homework. But I feel like I’ve got enough sun for now, so let’s get some breakfast.’
‘Not hungry.’
‘Yes you are.’
‘…Yes I am.’
Breakfast was just porridge and bananas, of which Nico managed about half a bowl and a whole banana. Will praised him for this effort, which made him way happier than it had any right to this early on in the morning.
Percy joined them about halfway through, grumbling about incomplete essays and needing to go to the sea. When he sat down, he promptly smacked his knees on the table leg and squawked.
‘Percy, you’re kind of a dumbass.’
‘Nico, shut up.’
Jason took this moment to arrive, hair much neater than Percy’s and probably had already made his bed. ‘Percy, you are a dumbass.’
Percy made to stand up, then smacked his knee on the table leg again, this time attracting the attention of the girls on the table over, giving him some weird looks.
Nico was pretty sure he heard Percy trying to pick a fight with the table leg, but then again he could’ve easily also just’ve been practicing his drama piece angrily under the table specifically to the leg.
…Maybe not, then.
Will, who was crazy and voluntarily wanted to learn medicine, was reciting about five hundred Latin phrases to Jason, who was conveniently doing Roman Latin as one of his courses.
Nico had opted for a much better course, Mortuary Science. Fascinating stuff, though truth be told he was a little jealous of Percy, who was doing Marine Science. Who didn’t like learning about sea cucumbers? It was his only redeeming talent.
That, and the fact that Annabeth was his girlfriend. Wonderful, smart, architect-y Annabeth who Nico had bit of a platonic crush on, because who didn’t.
Yes, Nico was very gay, but he still had a platonic crush on Annabeth, and maybe Piper. And a not-so-platonic one on Will.
Will, who was currently smiling at him like he held all the secrets to the universe and had bright hair that genuinely hurt his eyes to look at. Nobody could possibly have hair that bright, but somehow Will had done it. It was practically highlighter yellow.
All not-so-platonic crushes aside, Annabeth had arrived with Piper and were both making fun of their boyfriends, Percy and Jason respectively. Nico pitied them, as Percy whined exaggeratedly about his knee and Jason whined exaggeratedly about Percy.
It was about seven when everybody had eaten, and Nico decided to pack for the trip he was going on with the others, just to the university across town.
His sister Hazel, other not-really-but-why-not sister Reyna, and Hazel’s boyfriend were all there, and the only thing he had decided to definitely bring were some assorted chocolates, making sure caramel was in their as that was their favourite.
What else was important? Socks, probably. Yes, socks. That was really important for a weekend trip. Three days and two nights, Friday till Sunday. So three socks. Four, in case one got wet. And at that point, why not five?
Will interrupted his train of thought. ‘Whatcha thinking ‘bout?’
‘Socks.’
‘For the trip?’
‘Yeah. I think I need five.’
‘Five socks? How many T-shirts?’
‘None, one T-shirt can last me three days.’
‘So you need five socks but not any T-shirts?’
‘Yes.’
‘Bring at least one T-shirt. You’ll thank me later.’
‘Fine. But is five socks good?’
‘Should be, I’m bringing seven in case a dog eats one off of three different pairs.’
‘Aren’t your socks all white?’
‘They have different textures! One has ankle support!’
‘Okay Will. That sounds great. Enjoy your ankle support Will. I’m going to…’ Nico vaguely flapped his hands around and nodded, hopefully conveying the right message.
Will looked as if he understood, which was nice, and waved him goodbye, facing Jason once more to continue his onslaught of medical terms.
The last thing Nico heard was from Jason,
‘Wait, you guys have a medical term called ‘Head of Medusa?’
He was back in his dorm, where it was quiet, and opened up his suitcase, suitably intimidated by all the empty space. The chocolate, which he had hid under his bunk to save him the trouble of Percy, went in first, placed carefully against the left side.
Then socks… five pairs in various shades of black and grey. One had a skeleton hand around the ankle, which Nico greatly enjoyed.
Looking around his wardrobe, Nico found a black shirt with a skeletal butterfly on it. Or rather, the exoskeleton of one. Still cool though.
He packed it in, squeezed next to the socks, with some space left for some sweatpants and maybe skinny jeans. If he really packed it tight.
Left side now full, Nico got to work on the right, packing a dark grey hoodie, jumper and one more pair of socks just in case. He lifted up the suitcase, checking it wasn’t too heavy.
It felt fine, about seven kilograms, and he pushed it back under his bed, weight now lifted off his shoulders.
Oh gods. He still had to finish the reference reading and the essay. Weight back on. What he really needed now was seven shots of espresso to get through this.
Three shots of espresso acquired (the coffee person said the limit was three at a time, don’t argue with me take it to the boss) and Nico sat down, prepared to read.
He hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in four days, and was currently running on the constant stream of caffeine and a hug from Will.
He was ready to fight God, or become him.
It only took about an hour to finish the chapter (and a whole pack of chocolate buttons) and another hour to finish the essay. Or messily scrape together one, at least.
But it was nearly eleven now, and he was supposed to go help out at sparring practice with his dorm mates, who both sparred quite well, though not as well as him, if he could say anything about it.
Nico walked towards the gymnasium, sword swinging from his hip. Percy whistled. ‘Nico, man, you look so badass right now. I want a hip sword strap!’
‘Percy. You have one. It’s right next to you.’ All hail Jason, speaking words of wisdom.
Nico smirked. ‘Dumbass.’
‘Hey!’
The freshmen fencers were all stretching, and when Jason clapped, they all stopped and turned to face him.
‘We’re going to start with a low guard, so if everybody could get that ready, that would be great. We’ll come round to anyone who needs help, just stay put or shout, ‘kay?’
‘Okayyy...’ said all the people, dragging out the word as if in an assembly, Percy included. Jason glared at him.
The next two hours were spent like that, telling people to ‘go a little higher, no, left foot forwards, oh, you’re left-handed? Alright then. Where did you get that giant sword from? No, don’t stab him.’
However tiring, it was still fun, and Nico was very happy once he headed down to the dining hall and was greeted with the smell of hot dogs. Gods, he loved hot dogs.
Will hovered around their table, then sat down once Nico cleared some space for him. He looked as if he were dying, which maybe was to be expected considering he had just done a practice surgery on a fake patient. Will coughed.
‘You look really hot in yoga pants.’
‘Wha- thank you. Why-‘
‘Moving on!’
‘Okay. I don’t know what’s happening.’
Will choked again as Nico took off his shirt, the feeling of sweat clinging to his skin a bit too uncomfortable for him to handle.
‘Now you’re being weird, Will. What is it?’
Piper came over, noticing Will’s distress.
‘Nico, it’s just that you’re hot and have a lot of abs. And Will is very appreciative.’
Now it was Nico’s turn to splutter. ‘Who said anything about being hot? This is all weird, you’re weird, I’m going to shower now.’
‘Bet he would love to be there with you,’ muttered Piper darkly.
Will squawked.