One Shots, Two Shots And A Dead Drew.

Glow in the dark

Being dragged through the woods in the middle of the night to the scene of an unknown emergency was not on Will Solace’s medical bingo card this week, and yet here he was.

He and Nico had returned to camp a few days ago, and tonight Will had been woken up by a text from Nico about some kind of emergency in the woods that required his immediate attention.

“Neeks, you're starting to freak me out,” Will said, fiddling anxiously with his med pack.

“Shh! Come on!” Nico said, tugging on Will’s hand as he continued leading him through the shadows.

“What's the emergency? What did you need to show me?” Will asked.

“You ask too many questions,” Nico responded with a glimmer in his eye.

Then, the two brain cells that were currently occupying the cavity inside Will's head started comparing notes, and Will came to a realization that should have been obvious much earlier.

“You lied to me,” Will said, stopping in his tracks. Nico turned, an expression of mock betrayal on his face.

“I resent that accusation!”

“There’s no emergency.”

“Well, that’s subjective,” Nico said, continuing to walk through the woods while looking at Will with a triumphant smirk. “I happen to believe 3 AM adventures can be quite urgent.” Nico stumbled, having almost walked directly into a tree as he was talking to Will. Will, naturally, laughed at him.

“Shhh!” Nico snapped, covering Will’s mouth.

“You’re funny at 3 AM,” Will said, his voice muffled by Nico’s hand.

“Well don’t get us killed! The harpies are going to hear you!” Nico whispered aggressively.

“This whole thing was your idea!” Will hissed.

“What’s your point?!”

“You're an idiot!”

“Wanna race up that tree?!”

“I thought you'd never ask!”

Both boys promptly sprinted towards the tree, each doing more to try to prevent the other from climbing the tree faster than actually making any effort to be faster than each other.

“You are such a cheater,” Nico grumbled, scooting further down the branch away from Will and brushing the leaves out of his hair.

“Hey, last I checked, being taller than you was not cheating,” Will said with a grin, leaning back against the branch just above the one they were sitting on. Nico humphed, crossing his arms and turning away. “Aww, come on, don’t be like that,” Will coaxed. Nico scowled. Will slowly moved his arms around Nico and grabbed him. Nico squirmed and grunted in protest but Will just pulled him closer, giggling and kissing the back of his neck. Eventually Nico huffed and gave up struggling, resting his head on Will’s shoulder, albeit reluctantly. Will rested his cheek on top of Nico’s head and rubbed his arm with his thumb. They sat quietly for a while, listening to the sounds of the crickets and the owls and the soft wind blowing through the trees. Finally, Nico shifted under Will’s arm.

“Hey, um…”

Will hummed in acknowledgement, looking down at Nico and noticing a distinct shift in his tone and body language. Before, he’d been confident and playful, but now he seemed subdued and serious, nervously playing with his skull ring. Will wondered for a moment if he had said something wrong.

“I’m… I’m really glad I met you,” Nico said quietly, still looking down at his hands in his lap, his hair obscuring his face. Will smiled.

“Yeah,” he said, “me too.”