Will closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to clear his head before opening his eyes to the scene before him. His breakfast, a bowl of porridge with honey and oats, is now a splattered mess over Draco's clothes. Will felt a twinge of guilt over the way the porridge ran a sticky blobby mess over the uniform that Will knows isn't cheap. The feeling evaporates when Draco shrieks about his father throwing him to Azkaban for assault, and Will decides to save the guilt for the person who worked hard to make food he wasted on Draco, Amen.

It wasn't that the whole thing was intentional. Will feels like berating himself for reacting so strongly to BIRDS of all things entering the dining hall and causing a ruckus while delivering post. It was a stupid thing to jump over, and Will thought he was over the stupid fear, but the way so many birds of prey were swooping and swirling away made something in his chest feel tight, and Will was going to eat his stethoscope if he was going to have a panic attack in this table

His left hip burned from where a piece of it was ripped off, the wound openly gaping but bleeding slugishly as he dragged downed demigods under the rafters. Breaking off pieces of his emergency Ambrosia and forcing it into mouths closed shut by teeth hissing in pain. Forcing himself to drink Nectar till he could feel his throat become raw and scarred just to keep going when adrenaline was wearing off and the pain set in.

Will closes his eyes and inhales deeply, before taking a muffin and an apple and deciding that Hufflepuff table was a wonderful dining spot next to a son of Hades who animals naturally tend to avoid, which included birds.

"Good morning, friends!" He chimes as he slides between Nico and Hazel, who both smoothly make way for him and causing the bird population hovering over the Hufflepuff table to give the three a wide berth. It makes Will breathe easier as he nibbles on his muffin while ignoring the stares he gets.

"Hey, babe," he whispers to Nico, and he adores the way Nico's nose wrinkles as he faux gags at the pet name. "Never call me that again," the dark haired demigod hissed with his face flushing red as Will chuckles, leaning closer to him teasingly. "Aww, but I know you, you actually-"

"I thought I told you that this table is for Hufflepuff's only!"

His head whips to the authoritative voice and sees the girl from yesterday standing across the table. Her fist around her waist as she stares down at him sternly. With her chest puffed up instead of curled inward the badge on her chest gleamed. A genuine worry tied a knot in Will's stomach as he tried for his charming smile once more. The girl only sighed before moving to make it to their side, the time it took for her to reach them was enough to make it lose the intimidation, but Will wisely kept his mouth shut as she faced the trio again sans the table.

"I'll have to deduct points now at this point, there's really no reason for you to not sit in your designated table," she snapped but didn't rant, as if waiting for him to give a stupid excuse so she could deduct more points later on. Will shrugged, his fatal flaw wasn't exactly his competitive spirit, it made him a valuable healer whenever camp games got a bit too intense with the posturing...and the mauling.

It seemed Nico didn't share the sentiment though.
"Sorry, Grendel, it's just that I'm kind of shy-" Nico started, his voice soft at the end with a lilt that Will has heard before, trying to convince Chiron of letting them break the rules for the nth time. "I'm still not used to this place, and I'm bad with new places and Will and Hazel are the only people I know here and-" a deep inhale before dark onyx eyes opened wide and pleading to the Prefect, "-can he please stay here? I promise we won't make a scene."

"Well-" Grendel said, adjusting her collar in consideration as Will snapped out of admiring his manipulative boyfriend, "I guess I can consider it, but I'll have to talk with the Heads of Hufflepuff and Slytherin for it, as well as Dumbledore." She raised her eyebrow at them, before turning and sauntering away, "just stay out of trouble during mealtimes and I won't care, we'll be sorting this out with the Heads later."

They watched her walk away, definitely more confident than the conflicted girl that Will talked to earlier. "She looks like if Percy and Annabeth had a baby-" Hazel muttered, and Will and Nico looked back at her.

"Eww, why did you have to plant that image in my head-" Nico groaned, rubbing his eyes with his palms like he was trying to wipe the mental image away from his eyes. Will hummed as he thought back to Grendel, blonde windswept hair, tanned skin, piercing pale green eyes that softened at things small and cute (not that Will would ever call Nico small unless he wanted his kneecaps gone). "It wouldn't be that far a stretch of imagination, but any child of Annabeth and Percy would not be so adamant about following rules," he decides to say instead.

Hazel snorts, "Yeah, but who knows, back at the stables in Argo II-" but before she could continue, an eagle swooped down. Will felt bile rise from the back of his throat in sheer terror, and he squeezes Nico's hand tight enough that the dark haired boy ends up being the one yelping.

'Get it away get it away get it away-' his head screamed as he leaned as far away from the bird as possible, his breath coming in short panicked spurts as the bird leaned closer to Hazel, cocking it's weird raptor head from side to side as if it was doing a dangerous happy dance at finding it's next delicious demigod meal. Hazel, instead of screaming and shooing away the bird, seemed to brighten up and coo at it.
"Relax, it's just Frank," Nico whispered to him, smoothing his thumb over Will's hand until the blonde relaxed his grip with a shuddering breath. Hazel barely gave them a glance as she held the overgrown bird like a teddybear and give it a squeeze that the bird seemed more than willing to nuzzle into.

Yup, definitely Frank.

"Welp, this seems like a good time for a picnic," Hazel happily says as she broke away from the hug, using napkins to pack some fruits, rolls, some pieces of sausage, and more breakfast items that the eagle (Frank, it's just big cuddly Frank who would NEVER interrupt a chariot race to feast on the flesh on innocent half-bloods as they screamed in confusion and terror-) vaguely points with his beak.

"If it helps, I'll ask him to turn into something smaller once we head out," Nico whispered to his ear, taking the last bite out of his bread before standing and taking Will with him. Will let himself be led out, trying to block out the stray stares that followed them and instead focus on the cold rough hands of his boyfriend. It felt like running his hands through a course gravestone, and he let himself be grounded by the stern but gentle grip the boy had on his hands. Watching blankly as he snapped his fingers, and with a chilling collision of shadows, a picnic blanket appeared.

Will let out an oof as he was pushed down to it though, Nico leaning over him in a manner that would have been intimidating, if not for the concerned furrow of his brows.

"So, can we make out?" Will asks obnoxiously, just for something to say, maybe for Nico to laugh at.
"No, mind sharing why you freaked out so much?" Nico asked instead, looking more like he would prefer to get the answer by peering into Will's soul then having a conversation about feelings. Will would have preferred neither, he would have preferred keeping that irrational fear in his head, buried in happy smiles and wonderful denial.

"It's nothing."
"Will-"
"I'm sorry, but a bird is hardly any reason for us to panic."
"But you did panic about it, didn't you say it's bad for the heart to bottle up feelings? Something about it exploding?"
"Just forget about it Neeks."
"..."

Will remembers more than realizes- he's always been one hell of a hypocrite. Nico seemed to come to the same conclusion before releasing a frustrated sigh, lying on the ground next to him and leaning his body away from Will's side. "Should've known you wouldn't follow your own advice when you gave me 21st Century etiquette lessons. Can't believe I trusted you to teach me how to get along with people when you introduced yourself by taking my hand and yelling about birthing a satyr-"

"Alright alright-" Will interrupted Nico's rant. As mature as Will likes to think of himself, he knows he's easily dragged into arguments with Nico, the other boy's voice frustrating and engaging him in equal measures. Dragging out the argumentative side of him no one else was ever able to, and usually it was a thrill to experience. But right now he felt like an argument would expose that damned weakness, one of many piled haphazardly into a shape of him and fortified behind confident smiles and faux expertise, exposing the crippling fear that still haunts his dreams and makes his heart stop every time he hears a flutter of wings and ominous caws. Nico can't see the chinks of the armor that he constructed so carefully to hold back the emotional mess he hides inside it. Insecurity pulling him close and promising him that Nico would walk away too if he showed just how incapable and scared he was. What was a coward doing with someone as fearless as the Ghost King?

If (but with his luck, it was more like a question of when) he actually comes face to face with his mom in this school, he's torn between wanting Nico beside him and hoping he stays far away from the wreck Will is most likely gonna be.

"It's not you Neeks, it's not a problem with you, it's a problem with me. I'm sorry," he whispers, reaching for his hand and trying not to feel hurt when Nico moves his away.

They stayed like that, awkward and silent until Hazel finally comes, a much smaller owl hitching a ride on her shoulder. It was definitely an upgrade from the eagle, but the predatory gleam of the eyes still set Will off. Despite the tense energy between them, he moves closer to Nico as if silently begging for the bird to not come any closer. Nico doesn't react, staring furiously at a distance as if distracted by something else pissing him off.

Hazel and Frank, bless their hearts, seem to catch the feeling that something was wrong, and both decidedly sat on the other corner of the blanket. Hazel tearing bagels into bite size pieces for owl-Frank to gobble down. Will wallows deeper at the awkward loneliness he feels as Nico continues to stare at the distance and not at him. Like having a lover's spat and third-wheeling a date at the same time.

Before anything could be done for it, a shrill ringing sound was heard, and the tense couple watch as Hazel and owl-Frank press their foreheads close to one another, both breathing a sigh of relief, before Frank flew off. Without the feathery presence, Will was finally able to start wondering why the son of Mars stopped by this mission despite Hecate's insistence for secrecy for her pet world, and a new type of queasy entered his half-empty stomach.

He stood and hesitantly held out his hand to Nico, not surprised when the dark haired boy picked himself up and brushed himself off before going off ahead. Hazel stared at the retreating form of her brother and gave Will a concerned look. He waves her off, but inside he feels chilling dread taking root.

He never did well when he was left alone.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Harry felt his eyes bulge after seeing the magnificent eagle turn into a tiny owl. He hid behind a pillar and rubbed his eyes, wondering if the sleep deprivation was getting to him before he peeked out once more. The pygmy owl was clutching unto Hazel's sleeve, cooing and hooing in time to Hazel's rambling, responding with an intelligence that was all too familiar.

The exchange students had never held a wand until last week, their enunciation of magical terms horrendous and often misspelled, barely grasping basic points of wizarding culture. Yet they somehow knocked out Professor McGonagall, Sirius Black, and Made-eye Moody (so badly that McGonagall was still asking students to speak up when giving perfectly clear answers), having been in the same cabin as Luna when she passed out on the train, the whole of last night, and now the new pet. Harry's life did not come with coincidences, just cleverly written jokes about his entire existence, so it's natural that he becomes suspicious.

Harry ignored his grumbling stomach as he took out his invisibility cloak, learning from last time and keeping a distance from Hazel even with the cloak on, unwilling to test his theory of Hazel being able to sense the cloak SOMEHOW and focusing more on trying to find out more about the new bird, or person, or whatever it is that is now also in this school with the Americans.

He followed them to the edge of the forest, wondering loosely where they could have gotten a picnic blanket from, before watching closely as they enjoyed their breakfast. Hazel and the owl taking bites and pieces while Nico and Will sat tensely. He couldn't hear if they were talking at all, and holds his breath at Nico's occasional squint to his general area. He stays there until the bell rings, and the owl flies off to the owlery, followed by a pissed off Nico who leaves without a glance to him, just stomps his way back to the castle. He presses himself close to the tree line as he watches the rest of them leave, and finally breathes a sigh of relief when he finds himself alone.

"Why are you watching us!" A voice hissed, and Harry yelps at seeing dark onyx eyes staring at him furiously. Nico, who he had just seen walking back to school, was now right in front of him, the constant chill and dimness with him as he leans to where Harry hides behind his invisibility cloak. His eyes peering into Harry's own as if he could see despite the cloak, rendering Harry just as vulnerable as criminal before a hardened judge.

"I can't see you clearly, and I know others can't see you at all, so let me make this visibly clear for the both of us-" the darkness seemed to consume Harry where he stood frozen in fear as Nico leaned closer. His ghostly pale face turning haunted and skeletal, with the shadows whipping around him like a cloak of fluid fear.

"If you hurt any of my friends- even raise a finger against us- you will be begging for death as I hand feed you that same finger while it's still attached to you. Understood?"

Harry's breath started coming out as mist the closer Nico leaned in, and the bellowing exhale seemed to be proof enough of his agreement. Nico huffed before receding, taking back the darkness and bitter cold before taking his exit, cape bellowing despite the now lack of wind. He disappears behind the tree line and Harry does not attempt to check if he is still there when he turns to run back to the castle.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Nico feels his breath come out in slow, deliberate drags as he heads to lunch with Hazel. The day was going slowly, with his frustration simmering to troubling contemplation. The mysterious stalker had a familiar presence, in the same faint way that old men and women wrinkled and hobbling his way were familiar, with conversation drifting in and out of his ears of times long past. The stalker was familiar, but he was mortal, and a killable unknown is always a good one.

Nico tsked to himself as he recalls how he didn't notice their stalker spying on their group while he was talking to Will. And then contemplating how to break it to Hazel who looked so happy being near Frank again, the large teddybear bringing her a sense of security amidst the wizard balderdash. The way Will brought Nico when he wasn't being a shining example of an idiot. Even if Nico was ...confused, he didn't dare continue talking with the ears and eyes of someone else on them. But besides that-

Nico signaled Hazel to go ahead to their usual meeting spot as he heads to the toilet, doing his business first then using the convenient location to curl up and let his thoughts spiral and maybe cry a little bit. He's practical like that.

Cat curled out from his hiding spot of Nico's sleeve, seeming to have sensed their privacy and his distress to nuzzle what would constitute as it's head onto the demigod's tummy like a cat. Nico knew his naming abilities were unparalleled. Allowing the 'Obscurus' to perch itself on his lap, stretching it's form languidly to nuzzle Nico's neck before returning to roll over and expose it's belly.

He sagged as he coursed his fingers through Cat's smoking form, the tendrils feeling more solid the longer they stayed at Hogwarts. Nico exhaled as he felt more grounded, and less likely to flood the entire bathroom with darkness and shadow. When he finally opened the stall, he was unsurprised to find a ghost standing far too close to his face.

"This is the men's room, sorry," Nico said, eyebrow raising at the impatient huff the ghost released. She leaned close into his personal space, just an inch away from being considered rude. Her expression showed just how much she was holding herself back from invading his privacy, unlike wherever her haunting spot was, intrusions would not be pardoned.

Cat hissed, a dark whispery warning, it made her back off, her face twisting at the whispy form of the Obscurus. The ghost says nothing, but her silence echoed her distain, and she floats farther away before bowing politely. "I am Moaning Mrytle of the Girl's Lavatory, unrightfully slain by a Basilisk and it's master and remaining until my killer is well and truly dead, my king," her introduction sounded bland and unenthusiastic, as if she had learned a script from older ghosts and was simply getting formalities out of the way to get to the meat of what she really wanted to say. "I have urgent news to bring to you, news which I believe is worth your audience and words in which I trade for my continued haunting of-"

"You sound like a child of Nemesis-" Nico interrupts, and the ghost puffs up. "I knew they sent us a rude ghost king, but I didn't think you'd be so rude as to interrupt a lady who spent all this time and energy to bring you some critical information while memorizing the whole pompous script you divine folk seem to love so much." Nico awkwardly looks away before bowing in apology.

"Sorry, please continue."

The ghost lets out a hmph before leaning in close, cupping her mouth as if to whisper a secret, "the shifter friend of yours, he needs you and your sister's help, he found what he was looking for." Nico sighed in exhaustion before preparing to leave, only to  be pushed down again by the ghost.

"Hey hey hey! I'm not yet finished! I have more stuff to say!" She huffed, and Nico groaned into his hands before staring back at the ghost who was getting on his nerves. "What other knowledge would you share to your king," he asked, leaning forward to pinch the bridge of his nose. Myrtle preened all the same at the attention.

"I know who your invisible stalker is, and I can give him a name and offer my services in getting him to stop following you if you can get the school's poltergeist to leave me alone!" Nico's attention seeped back as he stared at the smug ghost, as if she fully understood the grip the questions had on the demigod.

"Tell me how he was able to remain unseen and it's a deal."
"Deal!"

The ghost then smoothed her cloak before sitting crossed leg on the air, "the one who's been stalking you...is Harry Potter."
"...fuck."
"Right! And they say I have no respect for privacy! Anyways, don't tell any breathing folk, but I think it's the cloak of death itself!"

Nico stared at the ghost with his lips pressed thinly together, his brows in a disbelieving but concerned furrow. "Any reason why you might think that? Any records? Incidents? Feelings?" Myrtle snorted in response.
"Oh, a ton of them! The cloak used to be held by the Potter's father before he kicked the bucket, Harry Potter would have been 1 by then and some headmaster portraits shared how the cloak was lying around in the Professor Albus' office while they went a bit too heavy on the butter beer. And it's not the biggest secret that the Headmaster has been searching for the Deathly Hallows for some time. So the cloak stayed there until some time during the winter of Harry Potter's 1st year in Hogwarts, where the cloak goes missing from the office and I started sensing a  presence hiding under a cloak of invisibility. And wouldn't you know it? The celebrity himself burst into my bathroom, shedding his invisibility cloak and leaving it on my floors, free to examine!"

Myrtle cleared her throat before reclining once more.

"None of the older ghosts are willing to admit but the cloak makes them nervous, and they're not willing to snitch on the Potter boy while he has the cloak in his hands. I, on the other hand?" Translucent fingers twirled on pigtails before cupping her face with a self-satisfied wink. "I've always known that knowledge was power, my fellow wizards just don't get how powerful they can be. My parents were muggle union reps and negotiators, you see, and I picked up a thing or two from them."

Nico nodded, finding himself more and more open to working with the ghost in the future. "The poltergeist will be dealt with, anything else you have on hand that you believe would be useful to me currently?"

The ghost stayed quiet as she stared into space, before floating down and leaning closer to Nico.
"You know what it's like to hurt, right?" At Nico's hesitant nod, Myrtle floated away with her eye glazed and lost in thought.
"You know what it's like to have something haunt you, even years after and the reaction just end up more ridiculous the longer it stays? I know you do, to some extent. Sometimes I still panic when I hear the water of the bathroom pipes creak, and it's silly, I've been haunting it for decades now, maybe more if I've really lost track of time. It still makes me shake like a leaf."

Nico swallowed thickly, thinking back to the morning, how he felt hurt at how hesitant Will was with him. He's spent his life feeling like an outsider someone people couldn't trust, son of shadows and king of ghosts. Who was he to have such a bright and warm person love him like Will did? Like he was something so normal yet so precious. The way Will wilted away from him this morning, it reopened a wound that Nico thought had healed,  he thought Will would trust him to tell him what was wrong, trust him to have his back-so why was he so dismissive? Why couldn't Nico take Will's hand in turn to assure him they were okay? The air of the bathroom darkened as the thought clouded Nico's mind.

Myrtle's form shuddered, like a poor parody of a nervous breath before floating away, "the trust you receive from others does not always reflect your character," she says in a far-away manner. She shakes her head before clearing her throat awkwardly. "So, yeah, maybe you should clear it up with him. Misunderstandings are the worst part of any romantic drama," Myrtle nods her head in a definitive way.

"What? No way, it's definitely the annoying third wheel that's the worse. Misunderstandings are- never mind, where is Frank again?"

"Oh, in the Owlery. Third tallest tower of the castle."
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Hazel felt her eyes blur and her lunch trying to escape her stomach the higher she climbed. Even with the railing being up to her chest and windows not even big enough for her to fit, she cannot push down the feeling that one wrong step will send her off to an airborne demise. She can't believe Nico left her to receive Frank's message while he was probably making up with Will and consequently making out with him. She knew her brother, he wasn't slick.

She hopes Frank has a good explanation for having to pick the owlery of all places for whatever mission he came here for.

Just as she reached the highest tip of the tower, she spots Frank in his human form leaning on a door that would have no doubt led to outside if not for the factor of magic being imbued into literally everything in this building. She could hear her legs trembling like an earthquake, except she's experienced earthquakes, much better than this.

"Frank, you better have a good explanation as to why you're here and not on good sensible ground like any sane person," Hazel hisses while still holding unto the railing like a lifeline. She tries her best to glare like Nico but ultimately drops it at Frank's apologetic look.
"I'm... getting to that, let me call him over," Frank responds, before opening the door and entering quickly, shutting it before the she could have any glimpse of the drop outside. Soft conversation drifted until Frank came back inside alone.

Wait, no, Hazel pushed forward to see the way the mist seemed to bend around something, like an indent of a person under a blanket.
"Hazel, this is Neville, he's kind of been stuck with an accident conjuring Mist and now, well-you can see what I mean," Frank explains awkwardly, waving at Neville's general direction before turning back to her. "He can't be sensed by humans, but he still alerts animals and I was able to track him here. "

Hazel nodded in understanding before carefully making her way closer. Carefully, her hands separated the air above the presence and closed her fist, dissipating the mist quickly. Though, she felt like the mist wasn't the right word for what she split away. It was minty- tingling in her hands like a little electric current or a shock of cold. She's been feeling that more and more the longer the mission has kept her here, like a little reminder that this wasn't her home turf, and this wasn't the mist she knows. She tucks that unsettling thought away and looks back to Neville and-

It was like seeing Frank for the first time all over again- there was less fat on his cheeks and he was DEFINITELY not Chinese, but the same nervous confusion and clumsy fiddling reminded her so much of Frank she felt like she was punted back into time. She tried to smile at him in a friendly way, he looked ready to puke. To be fair, so was she in this altitude.

"Frank, Neville, how about we have this talk a bit closer to ground?" She-didn't really ask but only Frank knew that as he gave a long-accepting sigh, Neville vigorously nodded, and he was looking really green-

Grabbing both of them by the sleeve, she took a deep breath, and shadow travelled them to the haunted girl's bathroom.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Nico shuffled from where he and Will stood in the same empty classroom as last night. Will clenched and unclenched his hands for want of something to do. Strategically, he knew why they had to do this; a team that works makes the dream work after all, and a team can't work when two of it's members were having a lover's spat.

"So, before I say what I'm about to say, I want it to be clear that we're not breaking up on my part," Nico said sternly.
"Wait what!" Will shot up, "that's-what- we're not breaking up on my part either! I didn't even- is that an option for this kind of thing?" Sweaty hands jolted as cold fingers softly clasped them, drawing soothing patterns until his breath calmed down. "Good, so we can agree on that, you're not getting away from me that easily, Solace." Nico said in a teasing manner, but Will could detect a hint of relief from the way Nico's shoulders relax. Will sank down into a dusty desk, shuffling to get comfortable before looking expectantly at Nico.

Will's field of view flooded with dark locks as Nico leaned his forehead to bonk with his in comfort, and Will bonks his back and feels slightly better. "So, with that out of the way, I wanna go first. I'm going to try to get all of...this-" he gestures vaguely to his chest "-out of the way all at once. And then you can be free to rebuff me during your turn."

Nico bonked his head to Will's again, but this time he let it stay, the long locks tickling Will's nose but he held his breath anxiously. "Will, I know that it's hard to trust for demigods, and I know it's especially hard to trust me when it comes to-emotional things," dark eyes stared far-away as if looking back to an unfortunate past, "I really, really suck at emotional things. And that's okay. I know you still love me despite that."

Will felt the sensation of a cold grip drift from his hands, up his arms, and to his hair where they played with his curls. He leans into that sensation. "What I'm saying is, I'm sorry for pushing you this morning. I shouldn't have when I was so stubborn to share my own problems. I guess I just felt...insecure?" He said the word like it was pulling teeth before relaxing back into Will's warmth. "Yeah, insecure. I thought you didn't trust me because I trust you, a lot. And it made me wonder what someone warm like you was doing with someone as scary as me." Nico inhaled heavily before leaning away from Will awkwardly, "welp, that's all I have to say. Your turn I guess."

Will slowly let's his arms circle around Nico's torso, giving him enough time to hit him if he didn't want to be hugged, but as the moment passes and his arms firmly circle Nico, he smiles at a reciprocating squeeze and leans back to look Nico eye-to-eye.

"Gods, Neeks, I don't know where to start," Will says, the irony of the son of the god of poetry being at a loss for words was not lost on him. "I never wanted to make you feel like I didn't trust you, cause I do. Besides taking care of yourself, you're the most competent person I know. I was- I am scared of not being enough for you, I was-" Will buried his face into his boyfriend's shirt just to stop himself from crying, just a bit. "There was an attack on camp a year before you came, it was the time Thalia's tree got poisoned so the barrier was weak, and Stymphalian birds got in-"

Will sobbed as he spoke. Nico's fingers froze on his scalp, unsure of how to coax the other boy out of his tears. In jilted, unsure movements, he wrapped his arms around Will's shoulder's and squeezed, hugging the blonde back, staying in that position for a peaceful moment until his shoulders stopped shaking. "Will?" Nico whispered, "do you want to keep going?"

A stiff nod was the response, and with a shuddering breath, he continued. "They swarmed us everywhere, and my older siblings tried to fight them off while the rest of us hid under the bleachers. It was terrifying. None of them could get a clear shot and the birds just kept coming, it felt like they were flooding the bleachers. Their beaks dug into our skin and their eyes were filled with so much blood lust, it was-" Will sniffed before wiping his nose. "It was terrifying."

"Is that why- during breakfast, the birds-" Will nodded, stomach tied up in knots as he let himself inhale Nico's graveyard scent. The soft smell of vintage cologne and wet earth bringing a sense of comfort as the arms around his shoulders squeezed him tighter.

"Will, don't ever, EVER feel ashamed for feeling this way. What you went through was scary, and you were so young, and I would know that you are one of the bravest and the kindest demigod I've ever known-" Nico gasped as Will stood, his warms arms lifting him slightly in their firm embrace, and he let out a deep exhale as he guided both of them to sit on the dusty abandoned chairs. "Will, we've both had our past experiences closing in on us. Sometime I still feel like-like I'm in that dam stupid jar again. But a good doctor-" Will scoffed in disbelief "-shush, a GREAT doctor once told me that we can't let our past deprive us of making new memories, and if we push others away then we get lonely and it's bad for our health and...stuff," Nico mumbled in a gross parody of what Will had said to him that day in the infirmary. He decides he got the message across and lightly hits Will's back, the demigod's shoulders now shaking with muffled laughter.

Will released him while holding back chuckles, and Nico grumbles as he sits on a moth-ridden plus chair. He knows from the burning of his cheeks that he probably isn't fooling anyone, but he still faces away with a huff when Will approaches him with a fond look.

"Aww, c'mon death boy, you know I'm just really flattered~" Will teased, "I mean, calling me the GREATEST doctor in the WORLD!-" a plush chair gets thrown in Will's general direction, but the demigod dodges and trots up to the other boy with a cheeky smile, invading a bit of Nico's space and waiting for his response. Nico could dismiss him, give a a simple 'no' and Will would back off and he could sulk in peace. There wouldn't even be a falter in conversation, Will would go on smiling with the misunderstanding cleared and their fight over.

Nico could, but he didn't want to, even as he pretends to hate as Will snuggles closer to him again. "You are such a drama queen~" Will sings-songs, and suddenly they are both aware of how close they are, alone, with no Chiron, strict satyrs, or annoying siblings to barge in on them. Will clears his throat as his own face start glowing a soft red light. "Well, this is convenient-" he jokes, with a breathless quality that has Nico leaning closer to hear.

And Will, in response leaned closer too-
And Nico closed his eyes as he felt a warm hand on his cheeks-
And Will's breath hitched as Nico wrapped an arm around his waist-

The door creaked open just as their mouths were a millimeter apart from each other, and they both turned to the intruding sound.

There, where light invaded the once dim room, stood a pleasantly surprised Naomi Solace, and a slack jawed Harry Potter.

"γαμήσου," muttered Will.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
N/a:
Hey guys, so I know you've all probably heard of the crisis in Palestine and want to find a way to help. So if you're willing, I found some sites that can help in supporting Palestine. Hopefully we can join in the fight in our own ways.

https://arab.org/click-to-help/palestine/thank-you/
A click will result in a 1$ donation from the sponsors of the site. It's for free too. :))

https://bdnaash.com/
https://boycott.thewitness.news/
These sites can help you search up products to see if they are affiliated with Israel and avoid them. You can also help them expand their list to include products that support the apartheid that are not listed on their database.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1AFXd7PMcu/?igsh=YjdvNGZ2YjVkYzR4
This link shows a video that informs you on how to send e-sims to the people of Gaza for them to stay updated. It also briefly explains the process of distribution as well as the price.

https://islamic-relief.org/appeals/yemen-crisis/
https://islamic-relief.org/appeals/palestine-emergency-appeal/
https://islamic-relief.org/where_we_work/sudan/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAy9msBhD0ARIsANbk0A-N7x5MdIjAZ58nYc0pTyApEB5VFxyE7M4AU2zHLGAPCY_ZYzmW2HsaAioNEALw_wcB
https://islamic-relief.org/appeals/horn-of-africa-appeal/
https://www.savethechildren.org/us/where-we-work/democratic-republic-of-congo

These sites lead you to Islamic Relief Organization to Yemen, Palestine, Sudan, the Horn of Africa, and Congo. You can donate whatever you are willing, any amount helps. Or you can learn more from their informative articles.

https://samidoun.net/category/events/
This site helps keeps you updated on any protests that you might be interested in joining to support Palestine.

Stay loud, stay strong, and above all, do not stop talking about the genocide.