16

    It happens like this.

    Will's camp duties will end, and he'll finally realize how tired he is. He's spent the whole day, hell, the whole week working; helping the kids out, running activities, doing shifts at the infirmary... gods is he tired. He'll think of a nap, or of relaxation back at the cabin... only for his mind to be met instead with the bustle of his siblings. Little kids with runny noses. Older ones with video games. People chatting, going about their day, transitioning between activities. Then, put out, he'll try to imagine where he might find comfort, and always, definitively, he comes back to the homey smell of the Hades cabin. This step is never left undone, nor does the pattern ever break here. In fact, the first thing to come to Will's mind when you whisper comfort is always the Hades cabin. He pictures the free, semi-elated feeling of being without responsibility. He pictures the freckles on Nico's back, the book he might be reading, the covers and the way the blinds only half block the sun, and most of all, for whatever reason, he cannot get over the smell.

    Maybe he just likes it because the smell is Nico's. Or, maybe that's not is at all. Really. Arctic Ice Shampoo, worn paper and black jeans were totally not a smell combination Will lived for day in and day out. He would assure that much of anyone who asked.

    Okay, so what if that wasn't necessarily true. The point is, and Will would assure himself of this, that he needed the quiet, steady pace that Nico provided.

     That's how, after such a long day, hell, a long ass week, he always found himself knocking, waiting, and then entering Nico's cabin without a word. The brunette never answers, simply waits to see if whoever it is cares enough to shout through the door or come in. This time, when it happened, he seemed to be wholly engrossed in the last third of a Stephen King novel. Pet Sematary.

    "Hey," Will said calmly, letting himself on his knees on the bed. Nico had chanced a look to see who came in before, but even so he elected for a second glance.

     "Hey," he whispered back.

     Will was like a cat. No personal bubble, no hesitation, and absolutely no morals holding him back when the mood passed for him to get between you and whatever you're doing. "Hey," he sighed again, pushing his face right onto Nico's thigh, the brunette's arms no longer able to rest on his knees as he read because of it.

    "Will," Nico chided, but almost stopped immediately when he saw his boyfriend's careful smile. And those tired, unselfish eyes. With a gentle huff, Nico replaced his bookmark, setting King down so he could push his fingers through the blonde mop in his lap.

     Then just like that, it happens. Will falls asleep, truly comfortable for the first time in what feels like eons. Sure, he wakes up in odd spurts when Nico shuffles down to wrap his body around him, or when Will wakes up too hot and elects to take off a layer, but otherwise he's in bed all throughout dinner and the rest of the night.

    Nico brings him food just in case, of course he does. He spends a little too long watching how Will's muscles bend and flex with his lungs as he breathes. (His shirt's disappeared, you see.) When Nico settles down for the night, too, he actually tucks his nose into the crook of Will's neck and lets a hand over the blonde's lean abdomen.

    The best part is when they wake. Well, when Will wakes anyways. He gets to watch Nico sleep, pull the younger boy into his arms, kiss his temple. He gets to feel the full strength of a potential day, the sun hitting the foot of their bed and revealing every speck of dust in the air above them. Will wonders if he looks as peaceful as Nico does when he sleeps. It's strange to imagine Nico looking down on him and having all the time in the world to stare however he likes. Will wouldn't stop Nico from staring if he were awake, of course, but Nico would probably stop himself. Did Nico like to watch him? Will liked to watch Nico.

    He likes to compare the pink-yellow tones of his skin to the olives of Nico's, he likes to find every tiny freckle that had fell over Nico's cheekbones (For some reason, this if all things is what made him blush). He likes the way the chocolate colored hair mingled with Nico's features, and the way dawn teased it lighter. Maybe this is how it happens. Falling in love.

    Maybe a morning like this, built on comfort and care and happiness was all it took. For anyone, even. Not just Will. Will already knew it had worked on him.

     "Nico," he murmured, brushing his thumb over those freckles he adored, pushing that chocolate hair back so he could see the lashes and the brows and every chance of fluttering reconciousness. "Nico, sweetheart, it's morning time. Breakfast is soon. A whole new day."

    Finally, wonderfully, Nico groaned, his nose wrinkling slightly in disdain for waking. "I know love, life is so hard," Will joked.

    "Shut up," Nico muttered back.

    "I'm hungry," Will whispered, a halfway acceptance of Nico's demand.

    "You're stupid."

    "Ouch," Will chuckled.

    One second passed, then two. Then three. Then Nico lifted his face a little, re-positioning to see Will. "I'm hungry too."

    "Do you think we missed first duty?" Will wondered. He was a little nervous to see what Chiron might have to say if they had; it was important to set an example as camp counselors. 

    "Can't have," Nico threw away the idea like Hephaestus off a hill. "Sun's not high enough."

    "I'll be the judge of that," Will harrumphed, pushing himself up by his elbow to check. After some brief consideration, "Ah, you're probably right," he said, following it up by letting his face fall. "But I think - I mean, I'm guessing, but breakfast might already be over."

    Nico groaned again. "Does that mean I have to go fast."

    "Sorry Neeks, that means ya gotta go fast."

    Promptly, flippantly, Nico rolled so that he was on his back with his arm dangling over the edge. With a shock, Will realized Nico was bare-chested too. "You took your shirt off?" he asked, entirely bemused. 

    Nico groped aimlessly for a shirt on the ground, any shirt, and replied, "It was too hot." 

    Will shrugged, smiling now, because that was an excellent excuse. Nico finally got a grip on what felt like a shirt, something white with a graphic on the front he didn't care to notice. Will didn't miss the bleary look in his eyes, nor did he miss the fact that that was his shirt. Apparently Nico hadn't, however, even with the grin on Will's face growing wider every second. In fact, Nico assumed the look was because of his partial nakedness and rolled his eyes. "Are you planning on wearing a shirt, Solace?" 

    "Uhm." How to avoid discovery? How to prevail against the bleary-eyed odds? How to assure Nico be seen in public wearing Will's shirt, and keep suspicions low in the meantime. "Ah, I don't need one."

     "You -" Nico looked as if his head might pop right off and he wouldn't think anything of it at all. "I - Are you sure? I mean, I don't mind, of course, but uh-"

    Will smiled easy this time, amused to see Nico embarrassed. Chiron was totally gonna kick his ass the moment they stepped onto the lawn.

***

A/N: Nico is embarrassed by the mistake at first, but soon he starts frequenting Will's drawers for something comfy to wear :)