Solace in Shadows {Pjo/Hoo} {Solangelo}

[truth]

Title: Solace in Shadow {bad title ik shh}

Author: PoisonPassion {that's me!}

Fandom: Pjo/Hoo

Ship: Solangelo {M/M}

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters they belong to Hyperion and this is purely non-profit.

Quick Preview: Nico sick sick denial denial Will caretaker contagion fluff fluff cuteness

Author's Notes: This is my first fic ever here on the Forum! The background on this is Will and Nico are not yet dating, but they both like each other and everyone knows it. I hope that you like it! Nico {aka bby} is my favorite character ever. I am aware M/M pairings are not for everyone, but I *will* say that you might try and read this anyways, it's mostly just friendship-type stuff.

I'll stop rambling now. On with the fic!

~~~

It started on a normal morning, when Nico knew he was screwed.

For years he hadn't gotten sick. He almost never did, and in the times he had, he hid it.

Even when he was shaking with feverish chills, he had insisted to Biana he was fine. Of course, she knew from his actions he wasn't, but he would never admit to her he was sick.

Being sick was everything Nico strived not to be.

Weak.

Pitied.

Vulnerable.

And utterly disgusting.

But now Nico was sick. He pretended he wasn't, but he knew he was.

For one thing, his throat hurt like he was drinking the river Phlegethon.

Yesterday he had felt it, but it was no more than a heavy feeling in the back of his throat.

And today- it hadn't been as bad when he woke up, but Nico was also a little - just a little - congested and had to keep clearing his throat so his voice would sound normal

Also, his head hurt. A lot.

Now it was mid afternoon and Nico was lying on the cool floor of his cabin, just wanted some hot tea and a nap.

"Nicooo!" Jason exclaimed as he threw open the door to the Hades cabin and walked in, swinging a red cloth in his hands.

Nico quickly scrambled up from his comforting spot on the floor.

"H-hey, Jason." Nico assumed what he hoped was a position of casual standing.

"We're going swimming!" Jason announced, tossing the red cloth at Nico.

He caught it and held it up. It turned out to be a pair of swim trunks.

"Isn't it a little cold for that?" Nico questioned. It was late September after all. "And - whose swim suit is this?"

"Percy seems to have some sort of plan. Wants to get in one last swim of the season, though of course I'm sure he'll still be out in the water when it's below freezing." Jason shrugged. He was already dressed in a pair of swim trunks that reminded Nico of Rei Ryugazaki, it was a purplish-blue pair, decorated with penguins. "And that belongs to Leo, he's not coming, he's sick or something. Sounds like schist."

Ah, maybe that was who he got sick from. And that did not bode well for Nico, considering how he felt already.

Pushing those thoughts from his mind, Nico made a face at the suit. "It's bright red. And is this even sanitary?"

Jason punched Nico lightly in the shoulder. "Dude, stop worrying and just put it on. I'll be outside.

Nico wrinkled his nose. "Do I have to go?" He was aware he sounded a bit like a whiny child, but he wasn't really in the mood for anything that required muscle movement.

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Hm. Well. A certain Will Solace did mention he'd come along." He teased.

Jason had been the only one Nico had actually told about his crush on Will, everyone else seemed to have figured it out on their own though. Or Jason had told them.

The corners of Nico's mouth tugged upwards involuntarily into an half smile.

"Ah, I've got you now, lover boy. See you in 5." Jason teased, then flew out of the cabin before Nico could retort.

Nico sighed. This was going to be a long afternoon. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with everyone, he was just worried they would find out he was sick. Not that he was. But Will's doctoral senses were sure to notice something was off.

Maybe the cool water would sooth his burning skin.

~~~

Hu-aktsuu..uh

Nico sneezed wetly and freely into the crook of his arm, now back in the safely of his private cabin.

Though the water had alleviated any fever he might had had, it had ultimately only made the son of Hades feel worse, it seemed.

Luckily it hadn't really hit him until about an hour ago, so no one had noticed. He thought, at least.

Snnff

Now his nose had not stopped running and he was sneezing. He never sneezed. Each sneeze scratched his throat a little more and one particularly powerful one had actually made him cry out in pain.

He took a sip of the hot water sitting on his desk.

Ahhh. The liquid slid smoothly down his throat and soothed the burning.

He was going to have to start stilfing these sneezes, or risk sounding terribly hoarse. He was already pretty sure by now if he spoke to anyone they'd be able to hear the congestion that was creeping into his voice.

He tested this aloud. "Hi, I'b Nico." He said, feeling completely ridiculous.

Damn.

He was already loosing his consentants.

Nothing a shower couldn't fix. He'd take one in the morning.

~~~

Nico awoke the next morning, feeling even worse than before.

He had woken up a couple times last night, unable to breathe because of the blockage in his nose.

It had not gotten any better with sleep, Nico knew that for sure.

He groaned and took a deep breath through his mouth. He was already dreading the day to come.

Nico was positive that if he spoke, it'd give him away almost instantly.

Lucky for him he didn't speak much.

After lying in bed for nearly 30 minutes, mouth-breathing and surviving one congested sneeze from Hades, Nico dragged himself up and clambered into the shower, sighing contentedly as the hot water hit his achy body.

The steam alleviated his stuffy nose and it soon began to run. He blew it {with a grimace} into his hands and rinsed them off with the water from the shower.

He got out, sluggishly got dressed, and blew his nose again, with toilet paper. He never had tissues because he never needed them. {when he missed Biana and his mom he had always cried into his pillow instead, to muffle the sobs}

The second noseblow made a honking sound at which Nico winced. He then had a glass of warm water, and headed off to the Big House for breakfast.

~~~

It was a muffled sound, when it reached Will’s ears, as if trying to be quiet but failing miserably.

Huh...

Huk-achmch

The blonde boy glanced up from his spot in the corner of Hades’ cabin; just in time to see Nico remove the tip of his nose from his sleeved wrist.

“Sunshine, you okay there?” Will asked teasingly. He and Nico had only just come from breakfast and were now lounging in Nico's cabin.

Nico nodded. Snnfff. He didn't trust his voice not to be congested.

Will knew that they both knew Nico was sick. Nico looked - and probably felt - terrible.

The young Italian stared blindly at the manga on his knees, which were pulled up to his chest, eyes glazed over. His nose was red and the skin beneath it looked raw. Nico's mouth, subconciously, hung open, probably so the poor boy could breathe.

As Will watched, Nico reached up with one hand and rubbed the underside of his nose with his index finger.

Nico's expression contorted into a frustrated one and he made a small noise of exasperation, before wrinkling up his thin nose and rubbing the underside again, more roughly this time.

"Tickles, does it?"

Nico let out a small sigh and nodded, now vigorously scrubbing with his finger.

"You should just let them out." Will said kindly.

Finally the son of Hades spoke. It wasn't a nice sound. "Ibt's too embarrassig."

He then blushed profusely, both from the sound of his voice and from his confession.

"Shh, we all sneeze sometimes." Will replied amiably, trying not to smile. This gods damn boy was just too adorable.

Nico looked a bit swayed by this, giving a slight nod, though clearly not all the way convinced, because now, still holding Will's gaze with his watering eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose between two slender fingers; trying desperately not to sneeze.

"Come it off, Nico, everyone gets sick." Will tried again, placing his sketchbook down and walking over to him.

Whoops. Judging by the look on Nico's face, that was clearly not the right thing to say.

"I'b NOT si..." The teen trailed off, face stuck in a pre-sneeze expression. His dark eyes darted around nervously. He couldn't sneeze in front of Will.

Suddenly, there was a pressure on the top of his nose. Will was crouched down next to him and silently sliding one finger down Nico's nose; gently, trying to coax out the sneeze.

Nico didn't have time to be annoyed, the tickle was too great now. Oh.. He need to sneeze so badly...

Hih... Uh...

The pressure on his nose increased and it was all he needed to... Huh...

Agk-shu!

The sneeze exploded messily out of him, jerking his head down, catching the sneeze in his sleeve.

Finally.

Nico breathed a sigh of relief. The tickle was gone, at least for the time being.

Wait...

The flush on Nico's cheeks deepened when he realized it.

His face was tightly pressed - not into his own sleeve - but into a white tissue being held by Apollo's son.

Nico lifted his head up quickly, sniffling deeply.

"Di imbortales, Will!" He cried out, wiping an irritated sneeze tear away from the corner of his left eye.

"Shh. There's no reason to be embarrassed." Will placed his free hand on the back of Nico's head, stroking his nails through the dark hair comfortingly, the other bringing a new tissue out from his coat up to Nico's face.

"Blow." Will instructed.

Nico shook his head slightly. "Where did you eben gedt these tissues frob?" He grumbled into the other boy's covered palm.

"I'm the camp medic, of course I have them. Now - blow. You'll feel better. Your breath on my hand tells me you're too congested to breathe from your nose." Will said again, rubbing the back of Nico's head.

Nico blushed deeply, but buried his nose into the tissue and blew.

It was wet and gurgling; Will felt the dampness through the tissue. He swiped it softly under Nico's nose and handed him another one.

Nico accepted it gratefully, pushing beyond his embarrassment. He grasped it in two hands and blew hard into in, temporarily clearing out his nasal passageways.

"Thank you, Will." Nico said, not making eye contact with the blonde as he tossed his used tissue into the trash.

"Anytime, Di Angelo." Will replied, wrapping the smaller boy into a warm hug.

"Ak!" Nico made a sound of protest, though Will's body heat against his felt very nice. Very. But he would feel bad if he got him sick.

"What, don't like hugs?" Will teased, squeezing Nico gently.

"N-no. It's good-" Nico blushed. He seemed to do a lot of this around Will. "Just - I don't want you to..." He trailed off.

"Don't want me to what?" Will asked innocently, pressing his cheek against Nico's. He was fully aware of what he was doing, that sly boy.

Nico sighed. He had been caught. "I don't want you to-"

Nico stopped suddenly, eyes wide, trying to push off Will before he...

Agsk-shuu!

This sneeze was just as powerful as the last, except this one went all over Will's face.

"-gedt sick. Oh by gods." Nico moaned in horror as Will released him, wiping mucus from his face.

"I'b so sorry, Will. I didn'dt bean do..." Nico sniffled, then coughed, trying to keep his nose from dripping. He looked like he was about to cry.

Will looked at Nico, feelings of love for Nico as well as his doctors' instincts taking over.

"Oh Nico..." Will pulled another tissue out from his pocket, cupping it in his palm. He didn't even have to tell Nico to blow his nose into it.

"That cough didn't sound good either. You should rest, before you get worse. Doctor's orders. We don't want your cold to move into your chest."

Nico winced at the word 'cold'.

"I don't habe a cold." He insisted.

"Nico, you just told me you didn't want me to get sick. The fact is, you and I both know you're sick. You have a cold. Hopefully not anything more. You don't want to get worse, right? Just- just let me take care of you. If you keep denying it like this, you'll only get worse. Do you always do this when you don't feel well?" Will was gently stroking Nico's forehead, which felt quite warm.

"I hate beig sick, Will. Snnff. I'b sorry I didn'dt tell you for so londg." Nico apologized, sniffling again, eyes closed and head leaned against the wall.

Wait. So long? It had only been since this morning, when Nico had been congested.

"So long?" Will asked, pressing another tissue into Nico's hand.

Nico opened his eyes a bit and looked at Will through long lashes. "I started feelib really sick yesterday, amb thoughd I was gettig sick two days ago." He said softly, then coughed into his tissue.

"Oh, Nico, you don't have to hide it from me." Will whispered, fingering Nico's dark bangs. "Let's get you to bed. I'm going to get you some medicine and check your temperature. You might have a fever."

Nico nodded wearily and stood up. Now that he wasn't making an attempt to hide his illness, it was clear how truly sick he was.

Will led Nico over to his bed across the cabin. It had one thin sheet on it, Will noticed, as Nico crawled under it.

"That's all you sleep with?" Will asked, lifting his chin in the direction of the sheet.

"What's wrong wit-

Agsk-shuu! Hu... Akshuuu...uh!

Nico's head jerked down farther into the crumpled tissue clutched in his hand with each sneeze.

ATCHGK-SHUU!

The third sneeze, so powerful it made Nico's head spin, tore at his throat and started him coughing, chesty and deep.

Nico groaned softly and blew his nose again. He knew Will wanted him just to sneeze, but this was painful. He wasn't sure how much more his throat could take before he lost his voice, in all honesty.

When he glanced up from his mini-fit, Will had left the cabin.

~~~

That's all I've got for now! I can leave it as is or continue, if you like. Sorry if my headcanon okatu Nico slipped through too much. It will continue to be that way forever. No regrets. Anyways - please comment thoughts/request things/etc.

[Dylan]

Firstly, welcome to the forum!!

Secondly, THIS IS AMAZING OH MY GODS

I'm looking forward to when you continue this

Edited December 27, 2014 by BringVerityTheHorizon

[SpookyBoi]

More no leaving us hanging bro!!!

[Akahana]

Looks good so far!!

[A-Place-To-Be-Me]

Agh this is perfectly wonderful and I am so looking forward to the next installment ouo

[Meala]

OH GOSH YES THISIS AMAZING!! PLS CONTINUE!! you are awesome

Solangelo <3

[Sneezy123]

Welp, I just died This is amazing

[truth]

@everyone: thank for for your compliments! ^-^

AN: this is a bit of a shorter update, but I should be posting again tomorrow.

~~~

Will came back only minutes later, carrying a folded white blanket and a bottle of medicine.

"Hey." Nico managed to get out. He had sneezed twice more while Will was gone and his throat had screamed with each one.

"Hey." Will said gently, setting the bottle down on Nico's nightstand and shaking out the blanket. "On the bed or on you?"

"Huh?" Nico's head felt thick and heavy and hot, like someone had stuffed it with cotton.

"Blanket. On you or on the bed?"

"Oh, umb, be, I guess." Will started to tuck the blanket around Nico's shoulders, but Nico swatted his hands away and pulled the blanket around himself.

"I cad do id jus fide byself." Nico protested, coughing into the air.

"But you could still let me." Will answered, mouth slightly upturned at the corners. He placed a small white pill on the nightstand.

The son of Hades opened his mouth to answer, but never got anything out.

Huh...

Ak-shgxxt!

The congested sneeze left Nico gasping for breath as he caught it in his sleeve. His throat burned so much it brought tears to his eyes.

Unfortunately, the sneeze had only managed to irritated his sinus' more.

Ag-shxggt..uh! Ag-shgxxxt...ugh!

"Damb id." Nico croaked. Not only had that hurt like Hades, but those sneezes has loosed the congestion in his nasal passageways and now it threatened to drip out into his upper lip.

Snnnff.

Will held a tissue out to Nico.

He snatched it up greedily and gave his nose a good blow, thoroughly soaking the tissue.

When he was finished, Will grabbed it from him and threw it away.

The camp medic then held out a thermometer, pulled from his coat pocket. "Ahhh."

Nico gave a small sigh {which caused him to cough} but opened his mouth obediently and Will stuck the thermometer under his tongue.

While they waited for it to beep, Will retrieved Nico's manga from across the cabin.

"Shin-ge-key No Key-oh-jin?" Will sounded out with a small smirk as he placed it on the nightstand.

Nico nodded, eyes narrowed slightly as he silently challenged Will to make fun of it.

Will shrugged. "Never heard of it. Can I borrow it fr-"

He was cut off as the thermometer beeped. The son of Apollo grabbed it out of Nico's mouth before the dark haired boy could look at it.

"Mm." Will's mouth turned down slightly as he looked at it.

"Not bad." He reported to the other boy, though his eyes held a tingle of worry in their deep blue.

Nico coughed, then spoke in a whisper. "You've god a terrible poker face, Solace."

Will let out a small laugh. "Okay - you've got me there."

"So whad was id?" Nico asked in the same hushed tone as before, eyes watering. He had to sneeze again.

"What was what?" Will asked innocently, blinking his eyes wide as he poured some cough syrup into a cup.

One finger slid under Nico's nose. "By... Temberature." He spoke softly, in a level tone, trying to stop the itch in his sinuses.

"101.2. It's not bad, but the way things are going, it's likely to go up." Will said matter-of-factly. He handed the medicine to Nico, who accepted it with his free hand.

"I thought we had agreed you would just sneeze when you had to, Di Angelo." Will said sternly, eyes on the finger scrubbing under Nico's nose.

Nico shook his head slightly and set the medicine cup back on the nightstand.

"Why not?" Will sat down on the bed at Nico's feet. He sensed this wasn't just Nico being stubborn, though it easily could have been.

"Hurts by-" Nico gave a sudden intake of breath and quickly pinched his nose shut with his free hand, squeezing his eyes shut.

Nico's head jerked forward quickly.

Ngxxt-shuh

He managed to half-stifle.

After a second, he brought them both his hands away and gestured to his throat.

"Would tea help? With honey?" Will asked, concern in his eyes.

Nico hated honey. It was disgustingly sweet.

Actually, it wasn't like he would be able to taste it.

He nodded to Will. "Please." He spoke barely above a whisper.

"I'll be right back, and while I'm gone, have that fever pill and medicine it will help your c-" Will had stood up and was making his way to the door when he stopped suddenly, a hand hovered near his face.

The moment - whatever it was- passed and he shook his head slightly before continuing out.

That was weird. It almost looked like...

Dread filled Nico's stomach.

...Will was going to sneeze.

~~~

Whelp that's all for now! ^-^

I'm not sure how my sneeze spellings are doing, though, ugh.

Also - constructive criticism is welcome!

And I apologize for the lack of sneezes, there should be more next part. I prefer more when there is a developed story around the sneezing!

[Meala]

OMG OMG OMG

THAT ENDING. YOU MINX HUIFHHRIJHKEHIHFEOJCIJRD

imv so excited for the next!! Kyaaaaa

[A-Place-To-Be-Me]

Murrhurrhurr yes, Will, sneeze away >u>

I adore your otaku headcanon of Nico <3

[animegirl13]

Omg I'm in LOVE with this story! They're so in character... YOU'RE SO AWESOME!!!!

[Dylan]

WILL OH MY GODS!! You're nailing the characters by the way

[heckyeahsneezes]

;-; I love this so much... please continue please, for my sanity (or what's left of it)

[SpookyBoi]

More please?

[Melody]

Oh my god. How did I miss this story! I've wanted something like this ever since Boo! This is utterly perfect! I love how otaku Nico is-snk reference I need more!

[Sneezy123]

AHHH DONT LEAVE ME HANGING

[truth]

A reply to this is much much over due! I've actually had this sitting around for a while and just hadn't corrected for errors. Thank you for all your nice comments, every one I read makes me so happy this sort of concludes this story, as I'm not really 'feeling it', but I am planning on an epilogue! I should update with it in a couple of days.

{btw - strong language warning}

~~~

Nearly seconds after Nico took the pill and downed the medicine, he began to feel better. He strongly suspected they were magically enhanced.

Now that his fever was gone and his mind was clearer, it became rapidly clear to him: he could not breathe.

He had been making due by taking small breaths through his mouth, but this wasn't very affective for getting air into his lungs. He had kind of an unsettling dizzy feeling about him.

Nico cleared his throat harshly and winced at the raw feeling; though it did improve his breathing.

Nico really... should ha... ve - Nico realized he was exhausted, barely able to string his thoughts together.

But he knew he would never fall asleep when he was barely getting air into his lungs.

Maybe he could - Nico's eyes fluttered shut and he pitched forward into his hands -

Ag-shxggt..uh!

- try to clear out his nose.

Well. That had been good timing. Snnf. Nico reached for a tissue and blew his nose heartily.

With a small sigh, he readjusted his pillow and let his head fall back into it.

This... was nice... it...

Will barged back into the cabin. "Neeks!" He called cheerfully. "Here's the - Oh!" Will covered his mouth with the hand not clutching a tea cup. "Sorry, I didn't mean to - snff - wake you."

" 's 'kay. Wasn't asleep yedt." Nico mumbled, dragging up his heavy head. Though he was kind of pissed off, Will was being so caring he didn't want to guilt him.

After a second his sluggish brain caught up. "You're not getting sick, are you?" Nico asked, suddenly alarmed.

"Of course not. Nothing to worry about, it's just the steam from this tea." Will waved Nico off dismissively, then reached up to rub his nose.

Right, Nico was worrying for nothing. Will couldn't possibly have gotten sick so quickly anyw - oh. Yes, he could have. Nico bit his lip guility. He probably got him sick yesterday or the day before.

Will saw Nico's shameful look and handed him his tea with a chuckle. "You're sweet to be worried, but children of Apollo rarely ever fall ill. We wouldn't be very good healers if we caught everything we tried to cure, eh?" Will sniffled again with a small smirk.

"S'pose nodt." Nico took a gulp of the tea and nearly sighed aloud in pleasure as the warm liquid made its way down his throat.

Will scrubbed at his nose again with the back of his hand. "Anything else I can do?"

"Doe, thadk you. I'd really jusd like to sleep." Nico attempted a grin, something he didn't do often. "Thadks, Will."

"No problem, Nico. You know -" Will shook his head. He looked liked he wanted to say more.

"Whadt? Snnf." Nico asked, reaching for another tissue. He was sure he'd gone through half the box by now.

"It's nothing." Will's eyes darted bashfully to the ground. "I mean-snff." He shook his head again.

"C'bon, Solace." Nico set one hand on the other boy's arm, trying to meet his gaze.

"Okay. Snnf." Will rubbed his nose again. It was starting to get a bit pink. "Er. I dunno. I just wanted you to know that I really care about you, Nico." Will's eyes flicked to meet Nico's briefly and the tips of his ears reddened.

"I - I do - I really care about you, too, Will." Nico stammered. "You know that."

"I just - man -" Will grinned nervously and sat on Nico's bed, facing him. "I care about you in a more-then-friends kind of way. Dude, I kind of love you." Will ended this statement with a half-cough-half-giggle.

That had to be the most awkward love confession Nico had ever heard. It was also the only one he had ever heard.

Will? Will loved him? As 'more-then-friends'?

This kind of blew Nico's mind because - you see - Nico was nothing. Nico was a son of Hades, a homosexual living in the wrong century, a dark and gloomy soul. He didn't deserve to be loved.

But yet - Will did love him. And he loved Will.

"Di imbortales..." Tears welled in Nico's eyes and he quickly wiped them away, trying again. "Will, oh my gods I-" Nico's voice cracked and a small congested sob escaped him.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck. Every English and Italian curse word Nico knew raced through his mind as he clasped a hand over his mouth, tears streaming down his cheeks.

This was not happening. It could not be happening.

"Will." Nico choked out, vision blurred. He threw his arms around the blonde, who had been covering his face with his hands, ears red.

Nico was an absolute mess as he cried in the healer's arms. Nico didn't cry. Nico didn't show weakness. But here he was.

"I can't tell if you're happy or sad. Snnf." Will murmured into Nico's ear.

"I'b so happy, Will." Nico clung to him, to his warmth and safety.

We had one home, now we have two.

Reyna's words came echoing back to him. But the words didn't hold truth for Nico anymore, for now he had three.

[animegirl13]

.... Aaaawwwww! So cute! Thank you for replying!

[ShadowEspeon]

Please continue! This is just soooo cute!

[heckyeahsneezes]

The feels ;-; oh my goodness wRITE MORE PLEEEEASEEE

[RemedyBane]

this is AMAZING!! please please please do more???!!

[Celest]

Oh my goodness!! This is amazing!!! Very very cute >.< Please do more ~~~

[Artemis]

OKay I love this story I love wiil+nico so much. You do great at potraying them. Would you mind writeing me annother one? I'll write you a fanficyion if you want. PLease

[Artemis]

OKay I love this story I love wiil+nico so much. You do great at potraying them. Would you mind writeing me annother one? I'll write you a fanficyion if you want. PLease

[Sharkylemon]

Please could you write an epilogue for this...? I know you wrote this year ago but it's still worth waiting for if you're going to update it?