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Percy Jackson didn't know what to think of Will Solace.
He was a nice guy, friends with everyone, even if he was a bit quiet. He generally seemed pretty confident however, it wasn't a shy quiet about him, more just calming. But where Percy's interests lie were in Will's intentions with Nico.
Originally, Percy was certain of the dynamic of their realationship. Will took great care of Nico. He was the carer of the realationship. For of course the son of Hades need to be taken care of, and who better then a son of Apollo. What could Will need taken care of more than anyone else there. And to everybody else it seemed it would evolve this way. Until one Monday Percy was looking for Nico.
Percy had walked up to the Hades Cabin, hoping to see Nico for a chance to spar, and heard somebody happily ranting inside. Thanks to the thick walls of the Hades Cabin he couldn't discern who it was, but Percy presumed it was Will. Opening the door a crack, he peeked in, just to make sure that Will wasn't overstepping Nico's boundaries, but was surprised at what he saw.
Nico was pacing back and forth, waving his hands around and seemed to be talking about how much movies had changed, most particularly Disney movies. Will was sitting on Nico's bed, one of the raven's plushies in his arms, chewing on one of the ears. He was wearing a big skull hoody and was avidly listening to everything the younger boy was saying.
Suddenly, seemingly accidentally, Will yawned so loudly Nico stopped talking. Will blushed bright red but Nico just giggled.
"Aw, you tired baby?"
Will shook his head violently and whined, face bright red.
"No Neeko, I wanna stay up" The blond pouted.
Nico giggled again and ran over to Will, peppering his face with kisses.
"You're so cute sometimes" Nico whispered, then gently pulled Will down onto the bed, covered them in the covers and got the blond to rest.
Percy tiptoed away silently. He was not expecting to see what he had just witnessed. Call him rude or presumptuous, but he really expected Will to be as confident as he was in everyday life, but here he seemed almost like a young child. Even in the way he spoke. Maybe it was some odd roleplay thingie they do? But that seemed really out of character and just kinda odd.
Snapped out of his thoughts by Nico creeping out of the Hades Cabin, a worried look on his face completly at odds with the boy who was giggling a few moments ago.
"Nico? You alright there man?" Percy called over.
Nico jumped and spun around to see Percy.
"Yeah, why?"
Percy shrugged. He couldn't very well admit that he had been spying on Nico and his boyfriend alone together, could he?
Nico looked left and right then covered his face with his hands.
"I'm just worried" he mumbled, so quiet Percy almost didn't hear him.
Percy forrowed his eyebrows
"Why?"
Nico looked up. "I'm worried about Will when I'm gone tommorow. There's no one else here and I jus- I'm anxious"
Percy had forgotten all about Nico's day out with Annabeth and Piper tommorow. Something along the lines of wanting to see him in some clothes other than "crappy ass clothes from last century. Literally"
Percy shrugged again. "I mean, I can check on him tommorow if you want. Got nothing else to do."
Nico grinned "Really? Ah thanks Perce, you're a lifesaver."
He hugged him quickly and then raced off to Cabin 7. Leaving Percy standing in shock and completely forgetting the sparring session that began his search.
~~~~•~~~~
The next day after breakfast, once Nico left Percy headed over to Cabin One.
Jason was already in there reading, so Percy flopped down on the bed and napped. About an hour before lunch he woke up, feeling like he might be forgetting something.
"Holy shit, Will!" Percy jumped up and raced out the door, only stopping to briefly calling behind him to Jason that he's going to the infirmary.
Once he got there he was greeted by silence. Except for Chiron sleeping at the desk it was completely empty.
Confused, and slightly worried now, he headed to the Apollo cabin. Empty.
Now properly worried, as this was really out of the norm for Will, he headed to the Hades Cabin. Knocking on the door he called softly "Will?"
He heard sniffling and somebody scuffling around before a small voice called out "He's not here"
Percy narrowed his eyes. Opening the door slightly he peeked inside. All he could see of Will was a tuft of bright yellow curl and a dark jumper.
Percy crept over to the bed. Willw as curled up with a stuffy in his arms, sucking his thumb, his eyes red and teard running down onto the comforter.
"Will? Ar-are you ok?"
Will looked up and ruefully shook his head, before burying deeper into the blanket.
"Go away" he whispered, still quietly sobbing. Percy had no clue what was happening, but he couldn't just leave the poor dude.
He sat down lightly on the edge of the bed. "Hey Will? D'you wanna come outta there buddy?"
Will whined and tried to shuffle under the duvet even further.
"Wh-where's Neeko?" He whispered to Percy.
"He's gone out shopping, I thought he told you?" Percy whispered back, unsure at what volume he should be talking at.
Will shook his head and burst into tears again.
"No-one ever tells me ANYTHING cause they say I'm into a little kid but I'm NOT I'm nine whole years old!" He sobbed and buried his face in the purple hedgehog stuffie he hold tightly in his arms.
That really scared Percy, becuase last time he checked Will was 16 and NOT 'nine whole years old'
"Okay....Okay. This is okay. I got this. It's gonna be fine" he mostly whispered to himself as he got up off the bed and rooted around in Nico's cupboard. Finally, he emerged triumphant. He crept back over to Will and sat down next to where he was lying on the bed.
"Hey Will? Check out what I have.... " He called softly.
Though the blond didn't stop crying he did seem to quieten down considerably.
"Wh-what?" His eyes shining with curiosity.
Percy bent down the end of the bed and then revealed the bag of twizzlers he had found stashed in the back of the closet. Will immediately lit up and stopped crying, darting forward and grabbing the packet. A grin spread across his face as he munched on the red sweets, all misery evidently forgotten.
He looked up at Percy with barely concealed curiosity.
"Who are you?" He asked, his mouth full of chewed up confectionery.
Percy's heart skipped once in fear but he tried to calm himself down. Obviously Will was in a delicate state, and it would not do to look nervous in front of him.
"My name's Percy! What's your name?"
Will seemed to think deeply before responding
"Will"
Percy nodded shakily. "Okay Will. Do you want to come with me to my cabin? Its a bit dark in here"
Will smiled big and bright and nodded, jumping up and running to the door. He stopped however, and spun back around, running to a cupboard.
"Hey bud, I don't think you should g-"
Will interrupted him "It's okay, Nico has a special cupboard just for me, he told me I can get stuff from it whenever I want"
His eyes started to fill with tears again at the mention of Nico and Percy hurriedly ran over and distracted him.
"Well, let's see what's in this cupboard then, yeah?"
Will grinned and pulled open a drawer in Nico's wardrobe. Inside was more sweets, some comfy clothes, more stuffies and a pack of cards.
"I'm gonna get my slippers, and my cards and a stuffy" Will muttered as he rummaged through the drawer, clearly familiar with its contents.
Then he gasped and spun around, badly hiding whatever he found behind his back.
"Wait here" He whispered excitedly
Percy grinned and nodded, covering his eyes. A couple of minutes later a hand tugged at the ones covering his face. Opening his eyes he could barely stifle the chuckle bubbling it's way up his throat. Will stood there in a fluffy white Unicorn onesie, smiling so hard Percy could swear he was glowing.
"Do you like it?" He spun around giggling. Percy grinned and nodded, then held out his hand to the blond.
"Come on Will, grab your stuff and we'll head to my cabin"
Will grinned and gathered up his stuff, chucking some shoes on at the door, then taking Percy's outstretched hand, chattering the whole way to the cabin.
Nobody was outside due to the cold weather so there was no-one there to comment on the Son of Apollo's strange behaviour as they walked to Cabin Three.
Arriving there, Will threw open the door and ran inside , gaping at everything, completely entraptured by the iris-message fountain and the metal hiccompicia that seemed to float in the air.
Collapsing onto Percy's bed and yawned but tried to hide it behind his hand.
"Hey Will, d'you wanna have a quick rest while I go to get Jason? Then maybe we can watch a movie or something?"
Will nodded drowsily and within a few minutes he was snoring softly under the covers. Tucking him in, Percy put his stuff in cupboard and made sure he hadn't left anything dangerous lying around (spoiler alert: he had).
Standing in the doorway, he really didn't want to leave Will alone for fear might hurt himself, but Percy knew he couldn't do this himself. Shutting the door quietly he raced to Cabin One.
Throwing the door open, he ran over to Jason.
"Dude, I need your help"
Jason looked up at the serious tone of voice the son of Posidion was sporting.
"What's wrong?"
Percy shook his head and gathered up his stuff quickly. "I don't know but Will is acting like a child. Like, I'm not saying he's acting immaturely but he legit is acting like a young child and I don't know if it's a curse of what but I'm just trying to take care of him until Nico gets back so come one"
Jason put down his book and raised his eyebrows. "Wait, has he been like, shrunk? Into a child?"
Percy shook his head and got to the door, waiting for the blond. "No, he's exactly the same, but it seems he just has a nine year olds brain in a fifteen year olds body."
Jason nodded then stood up, putting his book away, and together they set off for Cabin Three.
~~~~•~~~~
Knocking on the door lightly, Percy opened it up and went inside. Will was curled up in the corner of Percy's bunk, crying again.
"Aw shit, I just got him to stop" Percy whispered and crept forward.
"Hey buddy, I brought Jason with me so that we can do something fun! What do you say"
Will shook his head and turned away. "I want my hedgy" he whined, staring at the bag the boys had brought which was currently just out of reach on the cupboard.
Percy looked at Jason and shrugged his shoulders.
"What's he saying?" Percy mouthed.
Jason thought hard and looked around the room before hurrying to the cupboard.
Pulling out Wills stuffy he grinned and ran back over to the blond.
"Hey Will? Did you mean your hedgehog stuffy?"
Will stopped crying and quickly nodded, wiping his eyes and beaming at Jason.
"Yeah! How'd you know?" He stared up at Jason with a big toothy grin.
Jason smiled back and plonked down on the bed next to Will.
"Magic" Jason whispered in a spooky voice.
Will giggled and sat up straight next to Jason. "What's your name?"
Jason smiled. "My name's Jason! D'you wanna watch a movie? My favourite movie is Toy Story, what's yours?"
Will immediately launched into a rant on the Star Wars movies and how amazing they were.
Jason smiled and nodded along, occasionally giving his opinion on a character or telling Will to be careful not to fall off of the bed.
Percy had dissapeared a couple of minutes ago, but Jason and Will were having a great time. By the time the saviour of Olympus returned, Will was practically on Jason's lap as he listened to the Son of Jupiter act out the last capture the flag, complete with sound effects.
"Hey guys, I got a DVD player! And guess what we found Will, Star Wars!"
Will screeched and launched himself forward, wrapping Percy in a hug. The son of Posidion was almost knocked over by the weight of the blond, but battle trained reflex's kept them from falling to the ground with the DVDs.
Not 20 minutes later Will was curled up on the sofa, his head on Jason's lap and his legs going across Percy. Avidly watching the movie he didn't notice Jason stroking his hair.
Percy grinned and nudged the Roman. "Having fun there Jace?"
Jason blushed but smiled. "He's really cute! I never thought taking care of a little kid would be this fun, but he's just really cuddly and stuff. I mean, who wouldn't enjoy this.
Hearing a little snort, they both jumped and looked at Will. The son of Apollo was fast asleep, drooling a bit on Jason's lap.
Percy yawned and lay back on the sofa, seemingly coming undone with whatever spell had been put on the medic.
Feeling his eyes drift closed he turned down the TV and slipped off into sleep.
~~~~•~~~~
Nico had an incredible time with the girls shopping, getting some new clothes for himself, some presents and a surprise for Will. Once he got inside the camps borders he said bye to the girls, dropped his bags off in the Hades Cabin and hurryed to find Will, checking the infrimary, then the Apollo cabin. When he couldn't find the blond anywhere, he started to panic slightly. Wills slips were getting more and more frequent and lasting for longer and longer periods of time, especially around November.
Running to the Posidion cabin he burst open the door, ready to enroll Percy in the search, but quickly silenced himself and when he saw the couch.
Jason was at one end of the couch, moth open snoring, the remote almost falling out of his hand. Percy was at the other end, curled up into a ball, but what was most confusing was the onesie-clad blond lying across both of them.
Snoring a little bit, Will was curled into Jason's stomach, his legs resting across Percy's lap. Jason's hand was resting in blond curls, as if he had been stroking them, with the Star Wars end theme playing in the background.
Nico's hands flew to his mouth as a wide grin spread across his face. This scene was so adorable but also semi-worrying. Nico knew Will didn't want any more people to know about his, well, 'little' problem.
Shaking Jason awake without waking the others he was greeted by a relieved expression.
"Nico! Your back! Look man, I have no clue what is up with your boyfriend, but we got some things from a drawer in your cabin and we watched movies and napped a lot and..." He trailed off his stress ranting and just grinned "Solace is really cute Neeks"
Nico grinned and reached forward to lightly strok the blond curls in an effort to wake Will up. "Yeah I know"
Lightly tugging at Wills arm he whispered "Will? Will honey, come on, wake up"
The blond stirred and blinked sleepily. "Neeko? Is that you?" He mummered, reaching his arms out with grabby hands.
Nico smiled and obliged hugging the blond. "Of course hun, I told you I would only be a little while"
Will groaned and snuggled back into Jason, yawning. "Noooo, I don't wanna go"
Nico raised his eyebrows at Jason. "He's normally super shy. You must be really good with kids"
Suddenly Percy shot up, and realising Will was no longer on his lap he jumped up and looked around. "Where's Will?"
Nico smiled "You guys are super cute"
Percy collapsed back down on the sofa and groaned. "Do not talk to me right now Di Angelo. What the fuck is going on with your boyfriend!"
Nico stopped smiling and checked Will to make sure he was back asleep. Then he sat down on a chair opposite them, took a deep breath and started his story.
"Will was born in a shitty part of Texas. Homophobic, transphobic, racist, anything you can think of. And it sucked for Will. His mom was a single mom, which was looked down on by the church. Then, suddenly, Jerome came into his life. Jerome made short work of marrying his mom and getting her out of the house with a new job. But everytime will got home, Jerome would....he would" Nico's voice trailed off and he looked away as Percy and Jason's eyes widended.
"Will was brought up believing it was okay the way that Jerome uses him. Then one day, Jerome hurt him so bad he couldn't move. That's how Clair the satyr found him in the apartment. He came to camp not short after.
A couple of years later, Will started having these, well, 'episodes' where he seems to be acting around the age where Jerome was worst. After talking to Chiron he realised it was some kind of physiology thing, and not long ago he had a slip around me. Since then I've been helping Will with it. Now, around this time his slips are always the worst, so I was worried about it but he told me it would be fine. I presumed it wouldn't happen again because he had a small episode yesterday, but here we go. Now I'm gonna head back to my cabin and ease him back to 15. Thanks for taking care of him guys, I'll talk to you later"
Nico shook Will awake and led him to the cabin, shushing his protests with promises of snuggles and more sweets. Will seemed pretty happy with that to be honest.
Shutting the door behind them. Jason collapsed back on the bed. Percy called out from the couch.
"Being parents is tiring, I'm going back to sleep"
Jason nodded and buried under the covers
"You can say that again"