writing and suffering

    She thought she remembered someone had showed her a bit of magic when she was younger, no older than 10. A silly human wizard came into the shop one day. He said he had just moved into town and wanted to buy some furniture for his new home. He was very welcoming, and offered to give her a few magic lessons, if she wanted. She went to a few, learning the basics before deciding magic wasn’t really her forte. The man was understanding, not everyone was built for magic. It was a special art. He still allowed her to come over for lunch if she was ever hungry. He made an amazing, magical apple pie.

    It couldn’t have been that little magic inside of her that brought her back. She didn’t have enough knowledge to cast any spell that could break her out. She didn’t even remember casting a spell in the first place.

    What she did remember was an incredible heat, and the whitest light she had ever seen. She remembered a sudden coldness. She remembered her soul feeling like it was shifting somewhere else, like someone was guiding her out of the realm she lived in. Then, she remembered the astral plane. She remembered being dead.

    Her name was Julia Burnsides, daughter of Steven Waxman. Wife to Magnus Burnsides.

    She was alive. She needed to find Magnus.

    Julia found herself waking up in the middle of the forest, her dress burnt in places, and her boots scoffed, but otherwise fine. She stood up, testing her limbs to see if they worked. Both her arms and legs moved properly, as well as her hands, fingers, feet, and toes. Her head turned side to side. She could breathe and blink. She could walk, and she could run. She could definitely run.

    She ran past bushes and flowers, a few bunnies, deer, and half a million trees. She ran past a river that spilled into a lake, a dark cave, and a weirdly shaped rock formation. She only slowed when she found a rather bustling city, surprised that one was so close to a forest. Weren’t there usually farming towns around the woods? Sure, the city wasn’t gigantic, but she expected to run into a farmer with a large plot of land and corn long before she stumbled upon a city. Though, she was far from complaining. Maybe she could ask around if anyone knew Magnus. Maybe she could get a new dress…

    She stepped into the first general store she could find. She weaved between customers, to a small clothing section in the corner. There were no dresses, but an assortment of hooded cloaks. Julia shrugged, grabbing the first one she saw, which was colored a bright red. She figured it was the next best thing, until she could get herself a real change of clothes. The only issue was paying for it. She, unfortunately, hadn’t come back with any money. Maybe the shopkeeper would accept an IOU?

    Julia made her way over to the counter, where a middle-aged man stood, sweeping the floor around him. He looked up when she set the cloak down on the wooden counter, and a warm smile spread across his lips. He leaned the broom against the wall before turning to her.

    “Hello, miss. How may I help you?”

    “I wanted to buy this cloak, but… I don’t have money on me at the moment. And I was wondering if you knew anyone by the name of Magnus Burnsides?”

    The shopkeeper opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, someone else spoke behind her.

    “Did you say Magnus Burnsides?” The voice asked. When Julia turned around, she saw the owner of the voice; a slight dragonborn woman. Beside her stood a female orc, who appeared to be holding hands with her.

    “I did. Do you know him?”

    “I’m one of his friends! The name’s Carey. This is my girlfriend, Killian.” Carey motioned to Killian, who waved in reply. “Who are you?”

    “Julia. I was really close to Magnus before I um… Got into an accident. Do you know where I can find him?”

    “Uh, yeah! We work together. We can take you to him, if you’d like.”

    “That would be amazing. I really need to-”

    The shopkeeper cleared his throat, causing the three women to look at him. “Do you still want to buy this?” He asked, Julia working on some excuse to pay him back later. Killian moved forward, and set down a small stack of gold coins on the counter.

    “Any friend of Magnus is a friend of ours. Besides, it looks like you’ve been through hell.” She said, handing her the cloak.

    “You have no idea.”

    Carey and Killian answered every question that Julia asked, albeit selectively. It was, apparently, some secret stuff. She learned that they worked for a place called The Bureau of Balance that was, strangely, located on the moon, and Magnus helped reclaim artifacts that could destroy the world with two of his other friends. Julia felt her heart swell when she was told that he prevented the world from entering chaos. She was glad that Magnus was still going things to help people. Heck, he was saving the world! How could you not be proud of that? She was glad that he had friends he could count on, too. It must’ve been hard for him after he found out that Raven’s Roost had been destroyed. She couldn’t imagine what it must been like to come home to his town being bombed.

    She hoped he was doing okay. That’s all she wanted.

    It was a bit of a hassle to get Julia into the Bureau, an added difficulty due to the red cloak around her shoulders, and the hood pulled up to hide her face. However, thanks to Carey’s awesome rogue skills, they were able to sneak her in and up to Magnus’s dorm. When they reached the room, the couple allowed Julia to be alone, despite Carey’s small protests. (She was still a stranger, and could be a spy. Julia understood this.) Though, Killian figured that this was a private matter, and they retreated to their own room. Magnus could take care of himself.

    Julia stood in front of the door to Magnus’s room, barely breathing. This was what she waited for what felt like eternity to do. She was able to reunite with her husband.

    With a deep breath, she raised her hand, and knocked on the door.

    “Merle if that’s you-- I told you I would not go to the beach with you!” Magnus called out as he walked to the door. Julia had to hold back a snicker. When he did open the door, he looked shocked, then defensive. He moved to grab something she wasn’t able to see “Red robe? How did you get in here?”

    “Magnus! It’s me!” Julia said quickly, lowering the hood. “I just got this cloak at a general store. You friend Killian got it for me.”

    “Julia?” He whispered, eyes wide. Magnus dropped whatever weapon he had been holding, and scooped her up in the biggest bear hug she had ever received. She grabbed him by the collar, and pressed her lips against his in a longing kiss. He set her back down on the floor in favor of wrapping his arms around her waist. The two kissed until they needed air, too soon for either of their liking. When they pulled away, Magnus rested his forehead on hers, and spoke again. “How are you here?”

    “I’m not sure.”

    “What do you mean you’re not sure?”

    “I mean, one second I was dead, and the next I woke up in a forest. Can we figure out the reasoning later? I really missed you.”

    “I missed you too.”

    Magnus brought her inside his room, shutting the door behind him. Julia grinned as she sat down on his bed, and she couldn’t help but tackle him with kisses as soon as he sat down beside her. The first question she asked him was about the competition that he left to go on, and if he won or not. Then, she begged to hear all about his quests. After being told by Carey and Killian that they were life-saving, she just had to know about them. He told her all about the items that they managed to reclaim so far, and what they still needed to find. He talked about Carey, Killian Merle and Taako, and how they’d probably hear from Taako’s boyfriend later. (Magnus had even called Carey over his Stone of Far Speech, just to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.)

    They shifted positions several times as he caught her up to speed with everything that was happening. By the time Magnus had finished talking, he laid on the bed with his head in Julia’s lap as she absentmindedly played with his hair. Both were smiling so much their cheeks hurt, so happy to be reunited.

    “I love you, Jules.”

    They weren’t sure what had caused her to go evil. All they knew was that she was chasing after a couple of little kids, absolutely enraged. The superhero duo were able to get the kids to a safe place, and Chat went to distract Garden Girl while Ladybug talked to the them. It was hard to squeeze the truth out of them, they were scared and ashamed. Eventually the kids explained what happened: they had ruined someone’s garden while playing a game of football. Ladybug chided them lightly before running back to help her feline friend.

    The two had cornered her on a roof. Chat was deflecting the green stems with his baton as Ladybug activated her Lucky Charm. She blinked as a can of herbicide landed in her hand, completely baffled. Chat turned his head to look at her, an eyebrow raised.

    “Wow,” he commented, still turning the staff in his hands, “we’ve never had to kill an akuma before.”

    Ladybug rolled her eyes ask she scanned the scene. She could spray the herbicide in Garden Girl’s face, and she would drop the weapon in pain. Then, Chat could snatch up the shovel and destroy it. Then, she could capture the akuma and they would be finished, and call it a job well done. She felt bad that the girl would have to get injured, but once everything was fixed, she would be okay. Besides, she couldn’t let Hawkmoth win and take their miraculous. Who knows what kind of chaos would ensue.

    “Cover me!” She yelled as she ran towards the villain, spray at the ready. Once she was close enough, she sprayed a thick cloud of the can’s contents, the villain dropping the shovel to rub at her eyes. She grinned at another successful plan, but it was soon wiped from her face as the tendrils started to flail. One caught Ladybug in the stomach, and sent her flying. She landed on a neighboring roof, lower down than the one they were on. She attempted to land properly, but when she tried, she heard a sickening snap. She fell to the ground and clutched her ankle.

    “My lady!” Chat cried as he ran to the edge of the roof, peering over.

    “Don’t worry about me! Destroy the shovel!”

    He nodded and ran back to the girl, and Ladybug heard his cry of “Cataclysm!” as she hoisted herself up into a standing position. Using her yo-yo, she was able to get herself back onto the roof, just in time to cleanse the akuma. She half-heartedly said her catchphrases as she threw the shovel into the air, the magic fixing everything that had been broken during the battle. Exhausted, she carefully sat herself down on the roof, wrapping her hands tightly around her ankle. If only Miraculous Ladybug would fix that too…

    Chat Noir rushed to her side once the battle was over, unsure hands hovering over her. He noticed her hands gripped around her ankle and frowned deeply.  He shooed her hands away and winced when he saw her ankle was broken.

    “Ladybug.. We should get you to the hospital.” He said, helping her get to her feet.

    “I’ll be fine,” she insisted through gritted teeth, “I can get myself to the hospital. Besides, I’m about to detransform, and you know we can’t see each other out of costume.”

    “But your ankle is broken! Can’t we make an acception for this? You could use my staff as a crutch.”

    “I’ll be fine, Chat. It’s not too far away from here. I can get there by myself. You should help the girl get back home. You’re going to detransform soon, too.”

    Defeated, the blond went to help the other girl to her feet. She looked thoroughly confused, and a sudden look of guilt overcame her as Chat explained what happened. Ladybug watched as he scooped her up and leap off the building with the help of his staff. Once the two disappeared from sight, she swung her way down to the ground.

    On the ground she detransformed, Tikki dropping into her lap. Marinette produced a cookie from her bag (she recently had started to carry them around with her), and handed it to the fairy. Tikki ate quickly, a great look of concern on her face.

    “Oh Marinette! I’m so sorry! How is your ankle?” She spoke as soon as she finished the cookie.

    “It’s broken, but thankfully the hospital is close.” Marinette replied, already hobbling in the direction of the hospital. Tikki flew after her.

    “What are you going to tell your parents?”

    The twin-tailed girl stopped in her tracks, her face falling. What was she going to tell her parents? “Hi mom! Hi dad! I was fighting an evil flower villain, and I got knocked off a roof! I’m at the hospital. Can you come pick me up?” No, that would never work. She hated the idea of it, but she would need to come up with a well thought out lie to tell them. She was rather clumsy, so they would believe it if she said she tripped and fell… but over what? Where? She couldn’t have just tripped over a pebble. She could say that she fell down a flight of stairs. There were plenty for her to fall on. Hopefully they wouldn’t be too worried about her...

    “I’ll tell them that on the way home from school I fell down a flight of stairs.”

    “Are you sure they will believe that?”

    “Of course they will, Tikki. You know how clumsy I am.”

    Marinette dragged herself to the hospital, and one of the nurses called her parents. They came as soon as they can, closing up shop for her. Her mom fussed over her, giving Marinette a big hug. Her dad joined in, nearly crushing her ribs. She explained the story about falling down the stairs to both her parents and the doctor. It was confirmed she did, in fact, break her ankle with a couple of x-rays. She was given a bright pink cast and a pair of crutches, and sent back home.

    Her dad helped her up to her room when they arrived back at their home. She lied back on her bed, letting her eyes slip shut. All Marinette wanted to do was go to sleep. Surely her teachers would understand why she didn’t do her homework. Tikki flew out of her bag and nestled up by her shoulder, and suddenly a new fear struck her.

    How was she going to fight akumas when she had a broken ankle? There’s no way Hawkmoth would just wait until her ankle healed. She needed to be able to fight. She had to cleanse the akumas. When she hadn’t, dozens of Stonehearts popped up all over the place. And Chat Noir couldn’t fight by himself. It was a team effort. She’d hate to leave him helpless with a villain he couldn’t defeat. Or worse, mind controlled. He could get his miraculous stolen…

    She took a deep breath. No, she’d figure it out. Chat Noir would have to do more of the heavy lifting, and she would have to either swing around, but that would be a challenge with the heavy cast, or sit stationary somewhere She supposed she would have to call him about that tomorrow and figure out what to do. They’d work it out, they always could.

    She fell asleep to a mind full of active thoughts.

    In the morning, Marinette was able to successfully get herself downstairs and seated for breakfast. Alya had come that morning to help her get to school, having heard the news the previous day. She carried her bag for her, lightly scolding her clumsy friend about being more careful. Marinette just smiled sheepishly. If only she could tell Alya about what really happened.

    It took a little longer than usual to get to school, but they still made it with plenty of time to spare. They found an empty bench, settling themselves down on it. Every so often someone from their class would walk up to them and ask what happened, then to sign her cast. She had a handful of names and “get well soon” notes in various colors of Sharpies after only a few minutes.

    “Don’t look now. Here comes dream boy,” Alya piped up, lightly shoving her side. Marinette’s cheeks flushed pink, and she went to hide her face in her sketchbook. Adrien couldn’t see her like that!

    The blond walked past the two, a smile on his face. “Good morning Alya. Good morning… Marinette?” He stopped in his tracks in front of the two, an eyebrow raised. Marinette slowly lowered the book from her face, smiling sheepishly. His eyes trailed to her cast and he frowned. Then, as if something clicked in his head, his eyes widened. She swore she saw him blush, though she might have just been seeing things.

    “May I sign your cast?” Adrien asked as soon as he recovered, taking a black Sharpie from the stack.

    “O-Of course!” Mariette stuttered, forcing herself to shut her mouth before she said anything else embarrassing in front of her crush.

    He uncapped the Sharpie and bent down to doodle a small ladybug on the cast, filling in the black dots. For good measure, he drew a pawprint beside the bug, and sat up straight when he was done. Marinette’s eyes widened, and she snapped her head up to meet his eyes. Blue eyes stared into green, holding the gaze until Alya cleared her throat, a puzzled expression on her face.

    “Uh, Marinette. Do you think-” Adrien started, cut off by the sound of the bell ringing. “-I could talk to you for a minute at lunch?”

    “Yes. Meet me here?” She replied, confidence seeping into her voice.

    He nodded, and Nino appeared behind him, the two heading off to class together. Alya helped Marinette up, questioning her on what had happened between the two of them. The secret superheroine shrugged it off, only replying in vague answers. She was in absolute shock.

    Marinette had a hard time focusing in her classes. All she could think about was the fact Adrien knew she was Ladybug, and the fact that he was probably Chat Noir. It was hard to wrap her mind around it. How could the so-cool model be a dorky pun-making cat? Then again, she had noticed instances when Adrien would make puns, and the two were both very kind and caring. They both had blond hair and green eyes. Whenever Chat Noir appeared, Adrien was mysteriously somewhere else...

    She found herself growing more and more impatient was it grew closer and closer to lunchtime. She had been scolded a couple of times for not paying attention or doing her work, but she couldn’t seem to work on it. She tried her hardest to distract from the wild thoughts in her head, and instead to focus on answering the questions on the paper in front of her. Though, every attempt was fruitless, her mind always wandering back to Chat Noir and Adrien.

    Adrien being Chat Noir meant that he… liked her, didn’t it? Chat was always flirting with her when she was Ladybug. Did Adrien like Marinette as well? Or did he find her silly and annoying? Marinette had never really fancied Chat. He was too cocky and flirty, but she loved the soft side of Adrien. The two together was the perfect balance. And now that she knew that Adrien was secretly her dorky partner, she wasn’t really afraid to talk to him anymore. Chat wasn’t scary, and if he was a part of her crush, well that was fine with her. She could accept that.

    Finally the bell rang, and if she didn’t have the cast, she would have jumped out of her seat and ran to the bench. Though, she was forced to go slow, using her crutches. Alya carried her backpack, a wide grin spread across her face. She teased her friend all the way to the meeting spot where Adrien was waiting. Alya set down her bag on the bench, and quickly scurried off.

    “Good afternoon, my lady.” Adrien took her hand in his, bending down to kiss it.

    Marinette’s cheeks turned a bright shade of pink, it taking a minute to calm down. “Good afternoon, chaton.”

    “So it’s you.”

    “It’s you.”

    There was a small pause before the two both burst into laughter, Marinette having to sit down in fear of falling again. Adrien plopped down on the bench beside her once he began to calm down, regarding her with a warm smile. She returned the look, both of their cheeks pink.

    “I’m sorry.” Marinette giggled. “I just.. You’re the last person I expected to be Chat Noir.”

    “Why? Am I not as handsome in costume?” He teased, causing her to roll her eyes. He continued, “I suspected that you were Ladybug.”

    “Really?”

    “Yeah. Both in and out of costume you’re really kind and a great leader. Plus, the pigtails.”

    “I guess that’s pretty obvious. But didn’t you think Ladybug was Chloe at one point?”

    “The reporters thought so too!”

    Marinette opened her mouth to tease him more (“What? Did you think that I suddenly grew long blonde hair?”) when she felt her bag moving. She opened her purse and Tikki flew out, spinning in the air. Adrien grinned and opened his jacket to let Plagg out, who flew over to his ladybug friend. The two fairies hugged.

    “Finally!” Plagg complained. “It took you two forever to figure that out. I don’t understand how! She looks exactly like Ladybug!”

    “Yeah, Marinette! I would think you would know your crush well enough to recognize him with a mask and messy hair.” Tikki chimed in.

    “Tikki!” The black haired girl yelped, blushing a bright shade of red. The ladybug fairy said a quick apology, a guilty look on her features.

    “Crush?” Adrien blinked, glancing to the girl sitting beside him. She nodded quickly, but said nothing else. She supposed she still wasn’t quite brave enough to confess something like a crush. Adrien nodded in understanding, pushing off the bench. He stood and held his hand out for her, that warm smile on his face. “Would you like to have lunch with me?”

    Marinette took a deep breath, having to convince herself that she wasn’t, in fact, dreaming. That her crush was secretly a huge dork that liked making puns and asked her out for lunch. She took his hand and pulled herself up, grabbing her crutches.

    It took a long time, but after a little help from Rose, they had found an apartment. It was a bit small to Dave’s standards, since he was used to a penthouse, but it was just the right size for the both of them. One bedroom, a guest room, two bathrooms (to Karkat’s request, since Dave took “a rather fucking long time doing his damn hair, for someone who didn’t have that much.” and “some other people have to take a piss.”), a kitchen, and a living room.

    Choosing the decor didn’t take as long, but it was a rather amusing conversation for the blond. Karkat prided himself on being an expert on the matter because, after all, Kanaya was his best friend. He learned the skill of creating color schemes from her. Dave suggested funky colors for their home to mess with him. Bright green walls with dark purple trim, or neon pink trim with a soft orange walls. Karkat nearly lost his head at all the joke suggestions, but they finally decided on red walls with white trim for their bedroom and bathrooms, and browns for the living room and kitchen.

    All that was left to do was buy the furniture, which prompted a trip to Ikea. Dave explained the concept of the store to his boyfriend, joking the store was a maze, and he hoped that they would find their way out of it. And that if they weren't able to find their way out, he hoped a worker could find them in order to make it out in one piece. Karkat rolled his eyes at the comments, but smiled. Dave’s rambling was something Karkat secretly loved; he found it adorable.. Though, he would never tell Dave that, not in a million years.

    The size of Ikea was shocking to the troll. Their furniture stores surely weren’t that big. Karkat recalled a movie theatre  that size, but nothing else came to mind. A hive for highbloods? Those get fucking gargantuan in size. Feferi's might even be an equivalent to this goddamn store. Fucking privileged-ass highbloods, he threw in. Dave wondered exactly how many trolls there were on Alternia if there was a movie theatre the size of Ikea.

    “I still don’t understand what half of these Earth terms mean.” Karkat announced as they walked through the aisles. “What the fuck is a bean bag? I thought we were here for furniture, not food! I don’t even see any food around here.”

    “No, okay so, bean bags are chairs that are spheres of fabric stuffed with plastic beads that we dubbed ‘beans.’ They’re light and kind of squishy? It’s an absolute nightmare to try to explain, but you’ll understand when you see it. They’re super comfortable, you wouldn’t believe it. It’s a must. You were the coolest kid in town if you had one. Everyone would be jealous.” Dave rambled, a grin plastered to his face as he recalled the beanbag he'd conjured for his land, the comfort of the seat still something he longed for.

    First on their list was a bed, queen sized. There were plenty of beds and bedspreads to choose from. They ended up choosing the bedspread before the actual bed, since it was easier to decide on. Simple white sheets with red highlights. It matched the room nicely. Rose and Kanaya would be proud of their coordination. The bed, on the other hand, was harder to pick out. Some were too soft, and some were too hard. He was just waiting for Karkat to sit down on one and say, “This one is just right.”

    “Human beds are the weirdest beds to ever have existed in the history of this goddamn universe, and it’s only existed for a little while now. Like, where’s the slime? How do you sleep at night without it? I don’t understand your species.” The troll raved as he sat down on the bed, though his expression turned content once he was settled on the mattress.

    “The softer they are, the better. It’s like sleeping on a cloud.” Dave replied, plopping down next to the other.

    “You can’t actually sleep on a cloud. That’s scientifically impossible. Harley would agree with me here. Though, I guess this is the closest to a cloud that I could think of. If they were soft. Trolls don’t fantasize about that sort of thing.”

    “Yeah, dude, it’s a simile. A comparison using like or as. But, you like this one, huh?”

    Karkat nodded, and the two went in search of a couch, that was nearly as soft, a table, chairs, appliances, lighting, the whole nine yards. Anything wood that they bought was darkwood, since it would match the kitchen and living room. They both decided that they didn’t really need a TV, they could just watch Netflix on their laptops. Karkat had bought an abundance of pillows, more than they ever needed, so he could form a pile for “feelings jams.” They found most everything on their list, and they were about to call it a day when they found an aisle full of bean bags. Dave’s crimson eyes lit up behind his dark shades.

    “Oh fuck yes,” He exclaimed, plopping down on a bright red one that was big enough for the both of them. “Now this is a bean bag chair.”

    “We are not going to get an oversized lump for our bedroom.”

    “Come on! You can’t knock it ‘till you try it.”

    Dave held out his hand for Karkat, who begrudgingly took it. The blonde dragged him down on the chair, a small yelp coming from his boyfriend’s lips. They had to shift in order to settle properly, but once they were, Dave slung an arm around Karkat’s shoulders. A smug smile settled on his lips as the other seemed rather comfortable where they were.

    “Can we get it now ?” He asked, an eyebrow raised.

    “Fine.” Karkat replied with a roll of his eyes.

    The apartment was furnished once they got all the pieces to their home, and as soon as they put them together. Karkat ended up walking away from the room because he was so upset, and Dave called Dirk to help him finish. As soon as they were finished, Dave fell backwards onto the couch, as Dirk returned to his own home. Karkat padded back into the room, in awe at all the furniture. He noticed Dave lying on the couch, walking over to him, and lying right on top of him.

    “Oof,” Dave groaned, wrapping his arms around Karkat’s middle, “give a guy a little warning. You weigh like a hundred pounds.”

    “One thirty, actually. According to Earth measurements.” He replied, resting his head on Dave’s chest. He hummed happily, letting his eyes slip shut.

    “You did awesome with the colors. We’ve probably got the coolest house out of all our friends. You got some real skill. I gotta get Kan to teach me sometime. You could go into interior design.”

    Karkat snorted at the idea, and Dave carded his fingers through his hair. The two sat in silence for a while, never uncomfortable. Karkat listened to his boyfriend’s heartbeat, their breathing beginning to sync. He was just about to speak up and suggest they host a small party to show off their amazingly fantastic hive, when he heard a soft snore coming from the other. He had to muffle himself to keep from laughing. Karkat hadn’t realized that building the furniture had tired him out so much. He carefully sat up, looking from his place on top of Dave for a blanket to wrap around the both of them. He sighed when he saw that there was no blankets where he could see them. There were the ones on the bed, but he wasn’t about to grab the comforter.

Everything went spiraling downhill during a Tourney game, which came as a surprise because everything was going okay. They won the game, and Jay got the winning goal. Carlos had been on the field, much to his dismay, but he hadn’t been terrible. He had done pretty well. Well enough that Ben had given him a nice clap on the shoulder, with an approving nod that accompanied praise on his game play. Even the coach had given him compliments, given they were paired with advice. Words of confirmation, telling him that he was improving. It was nice to know, after all, he was better in the tech and science department rather than the sports department. Though, he had stayed on the team for a certain long haired boy.

(He considered quitting, he even told Jay that. But he was convinced by the other to stay, with a pair of puppy dog eyes that were suddenly his weakness now that he was no longer scared of them. And Jay could pull them off better than Dude could. He was still trying to figure that out.)

Carlos lingered on the field as people started to file out of the bleachers. He hadn’t seen Jay since he scored the goal. The rest of the team probably whisked him away somewhere. He let a small sigh escape his lips, and he turned to head back to the dorm he shared with the only reason he was still on the team. Jay would come back later and probably ask why he hadn’t come with a pout. And the shorter boy would say that he had a machine to work on. He would never say that he didn’t come because the way Jay looked after they won a game made his cheeks pink. It made him want to scream. (Of course he tagged along most of the time. He would be horrible if he didn’t.)

And then everything tipped. Like one of his contraptions short circuited and wouldn’t work again for a few days. That’s probably, exactly, what he was like in the moment.

Later that night he would recount the scene. He would replay it over and over in his head. He would stay up well past midnight, staring at his ceiling, then going to tinker with some parts. It would still be playing in his head, and his ears would turn the brightest shade of red. He wanted to say it happened in a blur. He couldn’t. It was crystal clear in his mind, and it felt so surreal. He doubted it happened at first. It took him a few minutes to come to realize it did actually happen. He was still trying to come to terms with it.

It all happened it a rather short period of time, but it all felt slowed down. He felt a hand smack his ass. It made him flinch and yelp, but it was a calmest reaction to being hit that he’d had since they left the Isle. Auradon was helping him, and he felt safe with the distance from his mom. There was always the slight panic that it could be her, but it never was. Not anymore.

He half expected it to be Mal. But then his familiar voice spoke up from beside him, and Carlos felt like he could faint. He turned his head to look at the taller boy, on autopilot. He was shocked, and completely out of it. Had that just happened? Was that an accident? Was it really him?

“You did a good job out there,” Jay began and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “You should come with us for pizza.”

“C-Can’t,” Carlos squeaked as he found his voice, “I, um, can’t. I’ve got a project I’m working on. Really close to finishing soo..”

“No, bro, that’s cool. I’ll see you later, then.”

Jay shook his shoulder lightly before dropping the contact and walking backwards away. And he winked. He fucking winked. The younger of the two lifted his hand in a wave, not being able to respond past that. He was completely unresponsive. A reboot, please.

As soon as Jay was out of sight, he ran back to the dorm.

That was it, he couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t figure out how to get the wires to connect correctly for this one project. He needed a second opinion, Evie’s opinion. She would be able to help him with it. Maybe she could help with the.. incident that happened earlier, too, if he was able to even talk about it. To find the courage and the voice.

He roughly stood up from his chair, which made Dude wake up and give the white haired boy a concerned whine. He gave a reassuring scratch behind the ear in return, whispering that he would be back later. He collected his invention in his arms, picked up other pieces and tools, shoved them in his pockets, and headed to the girls’ room. 2:13 am, his watch read. A perfect time for a surprise visit. Mal would be ecstatic. She might even punch his arm because she was just so excited.

He was greeted by the purple haired girl when he arrived at the dorm, after knocking about a million times. She stared at him, and he stared at her, until she shut the door in his face. He knocked again, it becoming more of a task with the contraption in his arms. Thankfully, the door opened again, revealing a disheveled Evie. Even with bedhead she was still beautiful. Doug was a lucky guy, and he couldn’t decide if he should be happy, or be a protective (younger) brother. (It was usually the first part. He really was happy that she was happy with him. She deserved to be.)

“I need help with these wires.” Carlos blurted out, before she could ask what was wrong.

“Aw, just like back on the Isle.”

“Yeah, yeah. You gonna help?”

She ushered him inside, and he set the device on the table. They both pulled up a chair and he spilled the contents of his pockets onto the table as well. They began to tinker with it, rearranging wires and adding parts. They worked for about an hour, much to Mal’s complaining. You guys’ whispering is keeping me up. This is just cruel. Both Carlos and Evie ignored her, both silently agreeing it would be small payback for things she did on the Isle. Mal could stand to lose a few hours of sleep.

Eventually the contraption whirred to life, and Carlos cheered, letting out a whoop! that got a pillow thrown at him by the daughter of Maleficent. Evie clapped quietly, a warm smile on her face. She pushed the excess parts and the tools aside, rested her elbow on the table, her chin in hand, and quirked an eyebrow at him. Oh. He didn’t like that look. It was a I know something’s wrong and you’re going to tell me whether you like it or not look.

“So. Are you going to tell me why you were up at two in the morning with one of your projects?”

“I hit a breakthrough..?” It was more of a question, than a statement. It earned him another look and he sighed. “It’s Jay.”

Mal snorted.

“Shut up! We usually do this while you’re asleep!” Carlos groaned.

“Oh, so this is a regular thing?”

Neither him or Evie responded, and instead, she turned to him. “What happened with Jay?”

Carlos’s cheeks flared a bright pink. He wasn’t sure how to word it, and dwelling on it started to make his ears feel hot. Mal looked like she was trying not to laugh, a hand over her mouth. Evie just looked more confused, her eyebrows furrowed a bit.

“I-- um. He--”

“Jay slapped his ass.”

“Mal!” It was both of them.

“What? It’s true. That’s what he was going to say.”

Carlos nodded sheepishly, and Evie stared at him, mouth agape.

“And where was I?” She pouted.

“Somewhere with Doug.” Mal answered again.

She suddenly stood up, causing the boy to flinch. She apologized quickly and ushered the purple haired girl out of the room, muttering ‘out out out’ and ‘we can’t do this while you’re in here!’ while Mal muttered ‘okay okay okay jeez!’ He watched as Evie shut the door behind her, and relaxed now that she was gone. He definitely couldn’t talk about this stuff while Mal was in the room. (Not that he didn’t trust her, but he trusted Evie way more. And she would give better advice.)

The blue haired girl sat back down next to him. He rested his head on the table and buried his face in his arms. She rubbed small circles into his back, staying quite. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Carlos spoke up, but stayed hidden. He didn’t want Evie to see how red he was. He probably matched half his wardrobe right now.

“He winked at me, E, he fucking winked at me. Does he even know that he’s doing that?”

“He winked at you?”

Carlos just nodded.

“I still think that you should talk to him. Tell him how you feel? Maybe he will loosen up on all the.. all that.”

“But he’s straight.”

“He slapped your ass and winked at you.”

The son of Cruella sat there, not daring to respond with anything witty. Or anything at all. He hadn’t tried to get his hopes up. He hadn’t tried hoping that Jay just so happened to be gay. (Ha. Rhymes.) Because he knew that he probably wasn’t. That he probably wasn’t bi or anything else either. Knowing that it was okay to be a boy who liked boys was new to him. Auradon was oddly accepting, and Ben had explained the whole thing to him one day. It was sort of scary, and a complete relief, all at once. He was glad he wasn’t alone and that it was a thing, but he was also scared that it was a thing. (What would his mom say? Hopefully he would never have to hear.)

“Yeah, okay, I’ll consider it.” He says after a moment, standing up. He gathered his things and headed towards the door.

Evie got up as well and gave him a hug and words of encouragement. Even Mal told him a short ‘good luck’ as she walked back into the bedroom. She didn’t even seem to be all that upset that they kicked her out of the room and kept her up. Maybe she was starting not to care all that much.

Carlos snuck back to his dorm, setting his things back down on the table. He was quiet, careful not to wake the other. He didn’t feel like being asked about where he was so late. He slunk back to his bed and crawled in next to Dude, who gave him a look, but went back to sleeping. With it being 3:42 am, he shifted his gaze from the dog next to him, to the boy sleeping soundly in the other bed. He looked so peaceful while he slept, his long hair falling in just the right way. His lips were parted just slightly, and he couldn’t help but think how much he wanted to kiss him.

He let out a sigh and shut his eyes.

Please don’t be straight, he silently pleaded.

Things weren’t going as bad as they could be. At least, that’s what Carlos thought. He had somehow convinced himself to ask Jay to join him when he walked Dude later that day. It was just enough time to have a near anxiety attack over what he was going to say. He had gone back to Evie for advice on how to confess and everything. Even the walk was going pretty good. The two brushed shoulders and hands every so often, and it made Carlos’s heart flutter each time. It also made his anxiety spike, and he found himself reciting the periodic table to himself to keep himself walking.

“I can’t believe that.” Jay said suddenly, breaking their silence.

“What?”

“That.” He pointed towards a couple that was headed who knows where.

Carlos’s breath stopped in his throat, and he stopped walking. Just a week ago two princes had hooked up, their parents, Carlos had long forgotten. It didn’t really matter much, though, they were both extremely happy. It had given him a surge of pride, and it made him feel sort of better about himself. To know that there were more people on campus who were like him. It calmed him down a lot, and he wasn’t so scared anymore. (He had privately told them he was happy for them.)

But suddenly he was feeling scared all over again.

He angled his gaze up to Jay’s face, which had a look of disgust on it. (And apparently he had stopped talking too, but he could barely register that.) Just like that, any hope to come out to Jay and confess shattered into a million pieces. Like glass that was dropped from his treehouse. Something that couldn’t be just glued back together and sold again. He felt weak. He felt like he wanted to cry. He forced himself to laugh nervously instead.

“Aha-- I know right? But, uh, I couldn’t get my machine working last night so I’m.. I’m gonna go see if I can. I’ll see you later, bye!”

The words were rushed and he didn’t give the son of Jafar the option to answer or argue. He hurried back to the dorm, carrying Dude rather than letting him run beside him. It was quicker and all he wanted to do was cry for a while. Maybe sleep, and never wake up again. Did Maleficence's staff still have that curse? Maybe her wheel? He would just have to convince Mal to put him in coma, basically. Sleeping for a thousand years didn’t seem so bad.

He shot a pleading text to the girls, asking them to keep Jay out of the dorm for a few hours. They had asked him a lot of questions, about how it went and what he said. He replied with a I don’t want to talk about it, shut his phone off, and flopped down on his bed. He let out a stifled sob, hugging himself. He drew his knees up to his chest and hid his face in them. He let himself cry for way longer than he would’ve on the Isle, before burying his face in a pillow (the one Evie gave him.) Tears flowed until his head started to hurt, and until it was hard to keep his eyes open. They slipped shut as he fell into a sleep that was too light to produce nightmares.

The next couple of days rolled by painfully. Evie and Mal had come to visit him later, pestering him about what happened. He ended up telling them, not even being able to cry anymore. Just stare at Dude dejectedly, and sigh as much as he used to back on the Isle. The blue haired girl comforted him, while the purple haired one looked as if she was ready to yell at Jay. (Which wouldn’t be pretty. You wouldn’t want to get yelled at by Mal. You wouldn’t want to be in the area when she was yelling.) Carlos had to beg her not to, and in the end, it was Evie to convince her to let it be. The two left with comforting words, and he decided to work on a new project. Something for Dude. A mechanical toy? Maybe. Something so that he could walk himself?

He hadn’t even talked to Jay since it happened. He just kept saying that he had to work on his project if the other tried to start conversation. He could hardly even look at him. And it hurt, badly. It hurt not to talk to his second best friend (sorry, Evie took the first position), but looking at him hurt a lot worse. His words kept ringing in his ears late at night, when he was trying to sleep. It kept him up, and he was slowly developing darker bags under his eyes that him and Evie both hated, but he had shrugged off. At least they match my color scheme, he thought. He was slowly learning to live like that, and decided that it was probably how he would live from then on.

Maybe he could talk to those princes...

Carlos was snapped from his thoughts as the door of their room was thrown open to reveal a pretty-pissed-off Jay. His eyes lingered on his chest before they focused their gaze on the science book in his hands. There was Tourney practice, and the son of Cruella didn’t show. He couldn’t. Not with Jay looking like that. It would be too much and he was trying to get over the other. He was trying really hard.

He heard the other clear his throat and he looked up at Jay, who was now standing in front of him. He made eye contact with him and swallowed. He was sort of failing. Badly.

“Where were you today?” Yep. He was angry. Why didn’t he hide somewhere?

“Here.. Reading.” Carlos gestured to his book.

“Why weren’t you at practice?”

“I was working on--”

“Your project, yeah, I know.” Jay shot a glare and crossed his arms over his chest.

Carlos winced, gripping his book tighter. He didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t want to tell Jay. He didn’t want Jay confronting him about it. He wanted to hide somewhere. If he went to the two princes, would they hide him? Maybe he could lock himself in their closet. (Ha ha.)

“I’m thinking about quitting the team.”

“What?!”

He shrugged. “I just... I kind of want to focus on science and--”

“What’s been up with you?! You’ve been acting strange ever since that walk we went on! And you’ve only been working on that thing!” Jay pointed at the device.

Because of your comment on those two guys! He wanted to yell, Because I’ve had a huge crush on you ever since we went to get Maleficent’s staff back! And you made a homophobic comment!

“You what?” The long haired boy asked, a look of shock on his face. Apparently he did say it.

Carlos froze, and bolted. It was surprisingly easy to run when you felt like something was chasing you, or you needed to get away from something. He was always shit at sports.

He ran until he started running through trees. He climbed up one, hoisting himself up on a higher up branch. He hugged the trunk, resting his head on it. He felt tears slip down his cheeks and off his chin. He was crying for the second time in a week, over the exact same thing. He ruined it, he knew he did. Jay would never want to talk to him again. He would get Carlos put into another dorm and throw dirty looks at him. Maybe even laugh at him, tease him.

What felt like forever, and a million atomic numbers and electrons later, Carlos was no longer crying. He let his eyes slip shut. He might just fall asleep, right there, in a tree in the forest. He was about to, when he heard footsteps from below. How could someone find him? He didn’t really know where he was himself.

“Go away, Evie.”

“That would be kinda hard, considering she isn’t here.”

The boy genius yelped, eyes flying open at the sound of the only person he didn’t want to see’s voice. Standing below him was Jay, a smirk on his face, and his arms crossed over his chest. He flailed a bit due to shock, but grabbed onto the tree trunk again. He glared down at the don of Jafar, biting his lip.

“What do you want?” He asked harshly, wrapping his arms around the tree tighter.

“Come down from there, tree hugger, you’ve been up there for almost an hour.” He laughed, but then dropped his voice. “And I, uh, I want to talk to you.”

Carlos hesitated. He didn’t want to come down. He didn’t want to talk to him, but if seeing him laugh didn’t make his heart skip a beat, nothing would. So, he slowly climbed down from the tree and stood in front of the taller boy. He straightened his clothes subconsciously.

“Look, Jay, I-I’m sorry--”

“No. You didn’t do anything.” Jay interrupted. “I, um. I was being ignorant. I still had the Isle’s mindset and...” He trailed off, and Carlos nodded knowingly. “And I talked to the girls, and Ben. I think... I think I’m bisexual.” He admitted sheepishly.

“What makes you think that?”

“Because according to all three of them, my feelings for you is a crush.”

Carlos stopped breathing. He blinked and stared at the other for a second. Two, Three. Then he was tugging the collar of Jay’s shirt, pulling him down, and he was meeting him halfway by standing on his tip toes. He felt Jay’s lips on his, frozen, which made him nearly pull away. But then the other responded, snaking his arms around his waist, and pulling him closer. The son of Cruella let his eyes close again, and his hands stayed where they were, a tight trip on Jay. He felt that if he were to let go, the taller boy would slip through his grasp and away from him again.

The kiss wasn’t gentle, not at first. At first it was needy and desperate, glad to finally be doing this. Wanting to do this. But as the two calmed down from their initial shock, the kiss got calmer as well. Sweet and caring. Jay rubbed circles just above Carlos’s hip, under his shirt. Carlos’s arms wrapped around his neck. It was better than he could ever ask for. One of the best things ever to happen to him.

They pulled away from each other, Jay resting his forehead on the smaller boy’s. he flatted out his feet again, no longer needing to be on his tip toes when the other was just leaning down. They stood there in a comfortable silence, just sort of, staring at each other.

“You know, I’ve wanted to do that,” Carlos breathed out, “since we were on the Isle.”

Jay laughed, a grin spreading across his face. It made him feel warm, but not as warm as the kiss made him feel.

“Me too.”

A few more days passed. The two had made it official not too long after the forest kiss. Evie had cheered, Ben had congratulated them, and Mal had smiled. Carlos had been smiling too, ever since the kiss. He was happy. Truly happy. He got to call Jay his boyfriend now, and he couldn’t think of anything else that would make him so happy.

Pda was something that took no time at all getting used to. They were already touching all the time anyway, so hand holding and kisses here and there weren’t much of a problem. Jay was nervous to throw those two in there at first, and Carlos couldn’t blame him. He was nervous too, but then again, he always was nervous.

The two were on a walk, Dude trotting ahead of them on a bright red leash. In Carlos’s other hand was Jay’s, walking in silence. It didn’t bother them much, though. It was early and the two were just too tired to try and come up with conversation. Instead, they just enjoyed each other’s presence, stealing glances and kisses. It was nice, and neither of them would trade it for the world. (Jay said stealing Carlos’s heart was the biggest game he could get. Carlos had shoved him off the bed for that.)

They watched as the two princes made their way across the lawn, smiling and waving at the two villain kids.

Her name was Aster Summers. A Daughter of Demeter. She was eleven years old, about to start middle school in the fall. Her hair was dark, which reminded him of soil. Flowers could spring from it. And it didn’t go past her shoulders. Her eyes were brown as well, but a lighter shade of it. They probably looked golden in the sun. She was pale, but he was sure her skin used to be tan, just as gold as her eyes probably looked. She was short, too, but young so it wasn’t shocking. Her smile was innocent and kind. It could put his dad out of business it was so bright.

Her favorite color was light green, and her favorite animals were bunnies. She loved the spring and summer, which didn’t come as a surprise to him. Her dad was kind, and she never knew her mom. (She had a cow when things were explained to her.) She had two best friends named Angela and Lucy, who were going to the same school as her. Her birthday was August 16th. (It was May, only the year-rounders were at camp.)

She liked cartoons and dresses with pockets. She liked flowers, and had a miniature garden at her house. Her favorite flowers were lilies. She liked apple juice and chocolate chip cookies. Her favorite subject was science and she hated history. She said it was a lot of reading and focusing, and she couldn’t do that. Same went for English. She liked recess, and always played jump rope. She wanted to be a photographer, like her dad, and was going to get her very own camera for her birthday.

Will had stayed up with her for days. He wasn’t sure how many. At least three. He hadn’t slept much, a few minutes here and there. An hour when she slept through the night. He hadn’t minded much, though. He was still able to function as a doctor, and as a person. He didn’t mind losing sleep if it meant taking care of someone who needed help.

Aster was brought, no, carried into camp by a panicking satyr. She was unlucky enough to have been attacked by a small flock of Stymphalian Birds on her walk home from school. And unlucky enough, the satyr had arrived on scene a little bit late. He couldn’t save her without her getting hurt, seeing as she had already acquired plenty of cuts and gashes from the monsters. He did the best he could, and hurried her back to camp with the birds on his tail. The campers put up a fight trying to turn the birds to dust, while Will ushered himself, Aster, and Nico di Angelo to the infirmary.

She had lost a lot of blood already, but the Son of Apollo tried his best, with encouraging words from his boyfriend. He should’ve seen it. He was able to stabilize her, but her condition was like a roller coaster. It was amazing he was able to keep her alive for so long.

In those days he hadn’t left the infirmary. Not for anyone, and not for anything. Nico and his siblings had to bring him food and clothes. They had to force him to shower and actually get up from the chair that was beside the Daughter of Demeter’s bed for other reasons than ambrosia, nectar, or bandages. He had stayed up with her until she fell asleep, and was awake before she was. He spent days just talking to her. Asking her questions. He spent days trying to keep her tied to the word with a rope of conversation. And it worked, he was able to keep her alive and talking for a while.

But the wounds weren’t healing properly, and he should’ve seen it. He should’ve known. But he chose to ignore the aura of death that hung around her like a veil. He didn’t need to be a Son of Hades to see it. To feel it. He chose it ignore it. He tried to cover her with a veil of light instead, to keep her alive. It didn’t work. No matter how much he prayed to his father, it didn’t work.

She was awake when it happened. The sun hung high in the blueness that was the sky. It didn’t feel like it, though. It felt as if dark clouds were hanging over the camp. Nico knew it was time, and so did Will.

Aster had been scared. No, she was terrified. She was scared to die. She wanted her dad, she wanted her best friends. She was scared what the Underworld was like, and Will made Nico promise that she would be okay. The Son of Hades didn’t seem to have a problem with it. Will promised he would find her dad and tell him that she was okay. Will promised to find her best friends too.

And as one last thing to keep her talking, they wrote a letter together. It addressed her dad and her best friends. It talked about some of the kids in her class. It talked about everything she ever wanted to say, but didn’t get a chance too. Or wouldn’t have a chance too. Nico copied down what she said, Will’s handwriting wouldn’t be legible. He couldn’t stop shaking. He opted to hold her hand instead.

When she could barely keep talking anymore, she closed her eyes and whispered one last thing. A question of her own.

“You promise to keep your promise?” The flower girl asked. It made her smile softly at how silly the statement was. Will wanted to cry.

“I swear on the Styx.” Both boys had replied.

Satisfied with this, she nodded once before mumbling a ‘thank you.’ Just like that, she drifted off, like she stayed up too late and she could barely stay awake any longer. She was asleep now, the only thing was that she wouldn’t wake back up.

It stayed silent in the infirmary for a while. It was just the two boys and the girl in front of them. Nico didn’t say anything, and neither did Will. The silence seemed to stretch on forever until the sounds of a chocked sob came from the healer. He buried his face in his hands and doubled over, his forehead, covered by his fingertips, touched his knees. Sobs rattled him. They shook him worse than the trembling ever could. Tears streamed down his cheeks to where his face meet his hands. It made them wet, but that was the least of his worries.

His boyfriend was on him in an instant. He pulled the crying healer up from his position and into a hug. His arms wrapped around the taller one’s waist, and Will clung to the Son of Hades. His arms were wrapped around his neck and he gripped the back of the black shirt Nico was wearing. He buried his face in a new location, which happened to be the crook of a very cold and pale neck. He was sure the black shirt he was clinging to desperately to was soaked, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care about a lot of things at the moment.

“I--” Will started, but couldn’t finish. A sharp and shaky breath cut him off. He tried to continue anyway. “I w-wanted to try and s-ave her.”

“You did try, Will, you tried hard.” Nico’s voice was smooth, much unlike his own.

“But I fa-ailed.” Another sharp intake of breath. “She’s gone.”

“And she’ll be fine. I promised on the Styx. Dad will make sure she’s perfectly fine, I promised.”

“I should’ve done-- done more. I could have saved her. I know I co-ould. I shouldn’t have l-let her--”

“You did all that you could, if you tried any harder you might’ve put yourself into a healing induced coma. There are some people you can’t save. She happened to be one of them. But don’t blame yourself because you tried everything.”

That was enough to shut him up. He tried to focus on his breathing. He tried to steady it, and stop crying. After a few minutes of trying, he gave up. He couldn’t calm himself down and hoped he would cry until his head hurt so bad, and until he was so lightheaded he passed out. Instead, he choked out a request.

“I need. I need a-air.”

Nico nodded and helped Will up, supporting him as they walked out of the infirmary. Kayla and Austin were the first who ran up to the pair. Worried looks crept on their features when they realized their brother had tears streaming down his cheeks. They seemed to glance at each other, knowingly, before dropping what they were doing and running to them.

The Son of Hades explained what happened, their promise, and the letter. He told the two to go find Chiron and tell him. They would hold the burial ceremony that night. That seemed to make Will’s sobs worsen, so the Italian excused himself to go take care of the Son of Apollo. His siblings didn’t argue, but gave their brother an awkward sort of hug before dashing off.

They walked back to the Apollo cabin (Nico lead, Will followed) and settled down on the porch. Nico pulled the healer close to him, and then they were back into the position they were previously in. Will’s face buried in the crook of his boyfriend’s neck, with arms wrapped around his waist. They sat like that until his tears stopped flowing in copious amounts, and he pulled back to wipe his eyes.

“G-Gods. I have to tell her dad.” Will whispered.

“I can do that.” His boyfriend was quick to offer, which made him smile. He shook his head.

“No I... That was my promise. You’re already going to do a lot for her. Could you come with me, though?”

“Of course.”

Will nodded and finished rubbing at his eyes, and at his face. He wiped the wetness from his hands onto his shorts, trying to take deep breaths. It worked for the most part. His breathing slowly returned to normal, and tears stopped. (He was sure if he had to face the topic in the next hour he would burst into tears again.) He let his hands drop into his lap, but he felt Nico, gently, grab them.

The Son of Apollo’s glaze moved up from the floor of the porch to his boyfriend, who was pressing soft kisses to his knuckles. A blush was spread across the smaller boy’s cheeks, and one spread over the taller of the two as well. He knew what Nico was doing. He knew extremely well what he was doing, and it made him want to cry all over again. From happiness and love of the boy in front of him.

“I-I know you’re going to start blaming yourself again later.” Nico stuttered, out of embarrassment. “But I just want you to know it isn’t your fault. You did everything you could, which was a lot. She was happy the days she was here, Will, that was because of you. She’ll be happy and she’ll be okay. I’m going to make sure of it. And dad will have to since she was Demeter’s daughter. You did amazing.”

Will nodded slowly, taking in the words the other offered him. He processed them and a small smile spread across his lips.

“I’m going to be doing the ceremony, of course,” Nico continued. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“No, I’ll go. We should go find her dad and friends tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

The two stood from Cabin Seven, and Will interlaced their fingers as they walked back to The Big House. Maybe his hands weren’t healing today, but he still had someone who thought they were. Someone to hold them.

They alternated when it came to their casual dates. Aradia chose one, then Feferi chose one. It was a nice system, always working out. Sometimes exceptions were made if there was something one of them really wanted to do, but it wasn’t their turn. Otherwise, there weren’t any complaints, and they both got to do something that they wanted to do.

Last time it had been Aradia’s turn, now it was Feferi’s. And she chose the pool.

Feferi was dressed in a pink, blue, and green swimsuit. Well, it was a bikini, the bottoms being more of a short skirt with shorts underneath. It was similar to her usual outfit, minus the black. She loved it. Aradia wore a red one piece, color matching her blood. It complimented her well.

She met Aradia at her hive, walking hand in hand with her to the pool. She brought a blue inflatable ring with her, tucked under her free arm. Her goggles were already on her face. Aradia carried towels for them, tucked under her free arm as well. Feferi nearly dragged her girlfriend to the pool because she was so excited for it.

Once they arrived, she quickly discarded the intertube on one of the chairs, cannonballing into the water. She broke the surface, giggling, and looking up at the other expectantly.

“Come on, Aradia! The water feels fintastic!”

“Okay, okay. Let me set the towels down first.”

Aradia eased herself into the water, rather than jumping into it, after the towels has been set down by the intertube. She sat on the edge then pushed herself off and into the water. But by the time she was in the water, Feferi was hiding underneath it.

“Hmm! I wonder where she went.” Aradia hummed, making a point of looking around dramatically.

The Fuchsia Blood popped up behind The Rust Blood, shouting ‘Boo!’ as she surfaced. Aradia faked terror, clutching her chest like she had just seen a ghost. Okay, well, maybe not a ghost since she was used to seeing those...

“Did I scare you?” Feferi asked.

“To death.”

The two messed around the pool for a while. Splash fights, and that Marco Polo game that Jade had taught her. Though, it got to the point where the would have to leave because Aradia couldn’t be in the water forever like she could. She was still a land dweller. No gills.

Aradia had hoisted herself back up on the edge of the pool, swinging her feet while Feferi fit in just a little bit more swimming before they left. When she was satisfied, she planted her hands on either side of the other. She placed a quick kiss to the land dwellers lips, grinning.

He glanced at the guy who slept peacefully beside him. His breath caught in his throat when he realized, yep, he didn’t have any clothes on and, yep, he was clothless himself. He was mentally popping his ‘p’s. He glanced around his cabin, noticing the clothes on the floor. The only thing that was somewhat orderly was their shoes, which they had obviously taken off before they decided to... well, get it on.

The Son of the Sea sat up, rubbing his eyes and then promptly burying his face in his hands. He was so tired and it was just so early. He thought about going back to sleep, he did, but then remembered camp actives where a thing and groaned. He also remembered breakfast was a thing and got a little less annoyed. Blue food could always cheer him up.

He must not have noticed Jason waking up because suddenly a pair of arms were loosely wrapped around his waist, and a head was resting on his back. Percy rubbed his eyes a final time before pulling his hands away from his face, glancing back at the Son of Jupiter. It was a bit of a challenge because he could only see him out of the corner of his eye, and even then he couldn’t see him all that well. He faced forward again, all too tired to change their position.

He could’ve just stayed like there forever, if the other hadn’t spoken up.

“Have you seen my glasses?”

He let out a mental sigh of relief that his question wasn’t about what happened last night. He muttered a ‘yeah’ and grabbed the frames off of the bedside table, handing them to the other. Jason pulled away to slip them on, and Percy took advantage of this, practically lying on top of him. Jason let out a grunt due to the weight. He just grinned.

“I see you’re finally awake.” Percy teased.

“I see you’re on top of me for the second time in the past twenty-four hours.”

Jason started to laugh, holding his sides when the Son of Poseidon’s face flushed a bright red color. He was quick to sit up again after the comment, grabbing a pillow and smothering the blond with it. Apparently it was wishful thinking that they wouldn’t bring up the fact of what happened that night. Even he knew that he was going to start making jokes about it himself. Jokes were better than a serious, or awkward, conversations, though. He would live. Worse had tried to kill him, and failed.

“Are you admitting that I topped last night?” More teasing.

“No..” A hesitant response.

The two had a mini argument on that night on that whole.. ordeal. It was silly and unneeded when he looked back on it, but it had been very important at the time. Important enough that they actually got into an argument over it instead of just letting it happen. Though, it didn’t really matter to him anymore. It was said and done and now they could possibly take turns. Your turn was last week! Now it’s mine! The thought made Percy shudder, and he was starting to not make sense to himself anymore.

But now it was Percy’s turn to laugh, and Jason’s turn to grumble. He placed a quick kiss on his cheek, a stupid grin on his face.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anybody.” He managed, still laughing.

“Like Hades you won’t.” Jason grumbled, but soon started to laugh again.

The both of them had laid back down, bare shoulders touching, fingers loosely intertwined. The sheets still covered them from the waist down, but now Percy lacked a pillow due to the fact he smothered the other with it. He didn’t mind, though, the bed was comfy enough, and the moment was peaceful. Neither of them said anything, but conversation wasn’t needed. They just enjoyed each other’s presence and they enjoyed the moment.

That is, until the other campers started to wake up and wreck the peace and quiet factor of it.

Percy groaned, and one from Jason followed suit. It was time to get up, and they both knew it. Just neither of them actually wanted to leave the bed of Cabin 3. They would stay there the entire day if Chiron allowed it. If they tried, he was sure the centaur would come bust down his door. That would mean big trouble for the both of them. Percy especially, since it was his cabin. Ugh.

The Son of the Sea was the first to get up. He walked over to his dresser and put on fresh clothes, as Jason complained about having to go back to his cabin to get a clean outfit for himself. Percy just rolled his eyes and threw a shirt and a pair of shorts at him.

“Borrow mine.” Was all he said before heading into the bathroom to brush his hair more effectively. His fingers weren’t the best comb.

“Oh, are we on the level of sharing clothes now?” Jason mused.

“Shut up.”

The Son of Jupiter was chuckling when he walked back into the room, and Percy shot a glare his way. It wasn’t an angry one. More of a “I’m-too-tired-for-this” type glare.

“You know you love me.”

“Yeah, I know.” Percy sighed and rested his forehead on Jason’s shoulder, closing sea green eyes. He felt a kiss being placed on the top of his head, and he smiled softly before standing upright again. “Are we teaching a class today?”

“Yeah,” Jason nodded, “sword fighting.”

That caused Percy’s smile to turn into a grin. They always showed off for the younger campers. It always made the older campers roll their eyes, but the kids loved it. Some thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Just wait until you go on quests, Percy always thought.

“Cool. So I’ll see you then?”

“You know it.”

It took him a minute to gather his surroundings. He was in the Hades cabin, obviously. He had followed Nico after the campfire, staying way past curfew. Nico had insisted that Will stay the night in Cabin 13, not wanting him to be eaten by harpies. The healer obliged, initiating a cuddling session with the other. The Son if Hades didn’t protest, and the two fell asleep like that.

Will noted that they were still cuddling. Nico hadn’t woken up at some point and moved. Instead, his back was pressed to Will’s chest, legs tangled with his, and his black hair falling over his eyes. His hands were by his head, fingers curled just slightly. His breathing was even, and Will just hoped he wasn’t having a nightmare. Even dreamless sleep was better than a prophetic dream, or a Tartarus memory. Nico had plenty while he spent three days in the infirmary, and in that time the healer had learned how to deal with the other’s nightmares. And he learned just how terrifying they were.

An arm wrapped tighter around the smaller boy, his free hand going to play with his dark hair. He tucked his bangs behind his ear, a soft smile breaking out on his features as he got to see the sleeping boy’s face. He always looked so peaceful when he slept, and when he wasn’t having a nightmare. Only Will got to see him this way, and he took pride in that. He got to see Nico at his most vulnerable. Sure, Reyna and Hazel did too, Hazel especially, but Nico trusted Will. It always made him fell good to know he was trusted.

He forced his eyes from the boy in front of him to the rest of the cabin. His shorts were on the floor, next to the bed, with a pair of skinny jeans beside them. That was the only article of clothing the two had removed before they climbed into bed and passed out. Will’s flip flops were not far from the pants pile, the same going for a pair of black converse. A small crack of light shone from the bathroom, the door mostly closed, but not all the way. It was the only source of light currently. Nico’s Stygian iron sword lay on the bedside table by the Ghost King’s head, seemingly thrown on the table.

Once the Son of Apollo was awake enough, he decided it was time for his boyfriend to wake up too. Blue eyes found themselves on the boy again, and a hesitant hand found itself gently and slowly tracing a scar down Nico’s arm. His lips found themselves kissing Nico’s temple, and then his cheek, continuing to peck the side of his face until he started to stir.

“Nico.” Hummed the healer. When he got no answer he tried again, pouting when it failed a second time.

“Nico, come on, it’s time to wake up.”

“No it’s not, Solace, you Apollo kids wake up at ungodly hours.”

“Okay, fine. Maybe it’s not but you’re leaving me kiss-less and I think that’s a problem we need to address.”

“Oh how terrible of me.” Nico retorted, sarcasm dripping from his words.

The Son of Hades shifted in Will’s arms, turning to face him. His eyes were dark and tired. His bangs had fallen in his face again, and Will had to resist the urge to move them out of his face. Nico still looked so peaceful, even if he was awake now. Will liked to say that was because of him.

Chapped lips pressed themselves against Will’s jawline, Nico not being tall enough to quite reach his lips from his position. Though, he was the perfect height to use the healers chest and shoulders like pillows. And he loved it whenever he did.

“There, happy? Can I go back to sleep now?”

Will laughed and scoped Nico up in his arms, burying his face in the soft dark hair. He mumbled a ‘no’ to answer the second question. The answer to the first question was yes and always would be yes. He was happy with his boyfriend no matter the situation. He loved him more than anything else in the world.

Tentative arms wrapped wrapped themselves around Will’s neck, the same chapped lips softly kissing the area. He pulled back just enough so their lips could connect, and they did. It was gentle and tired on Nico’s part, but sweet anyway. It wasn’t until their lungs burned with the need of air, did they pull back, a smile on both their faces. Will’s was wide and bright, Nico’s small and shy. His lips were chapped from where the other picked at them until they bled, but they were simultaneously the softest thing will ever had the pleasure to kiss, as well as his boyfriend’s skin.

“I love you.” Will was whispering.

“Ti amo.” Nico whispered back.

He loved it when his boyfriend talked to him in Italian. Sure, he didn’t know the language, but it brought Nico’s accent out more and it seemed so natural on his tongue. Sometimes the Son of Hades forgot what certain English words were, or didn’t what a word was altogether. Will gladly helped him with English when necessary. It was the least he could do, and the way Nico’s eyebrows knit together when he was trying to think of the translation for an Italian word was honestly one of the cutest things he did.

And it took him forever to figure out that Nico called him ‘boyfriend’ in Italian. It was a pleasant surprise when he found out, and he was sure he hadn’t released the boy from his bear hug for at least five solid minutes.

Nico shifted so his head rested against Will’s chest, his eyes closing once he was comfortable. Will absentmindedly played with his hair for the millionth time that morning, braiding it and unbraiding it, running his fingers through the long strands. He prayed to the gods Nico never got his hair cut short. He loved it’s length, and he loved whenever he put it back in the smallest ponytail. The first time the Son of Hades did that, Will thought he was going to swoon like an over dramatic popular girl in a cheesy movie. It just looked so perfect.

“Did you sleep well?” The healer spoke up, but his voice still remained soft, barely raised above a whisper. He earned a nod from the other so he continued. “Did you dream?” This time he earned a head shake.

Will was about to leave the subject at that, when the other asked a soft ‘What about you?’

“I had a dream,” he started, a bit hesitant, “It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad.”

“What was it about?”

The Son of Apollo mentally cursed himself in Greek. He had always insisted Nico talk about his nightmares and bad dreams, and if Will didn’t now, he would be a hypocrite. Surely Nico would understand, but Will needed to take his own advice if he expected his boyfriend to.

“It was about Lee.” He admitted. “I miss him.”

“I know.” His boyfriend’s voice was soft and caring. “But remember what I told you? He made peace. He’s okay now.”

“I know,” Will nodded, “thank you.”

“It was no problem. Talking to the dead is kinda my thing.” Nico’s small smile was back

The healer snorted and laughed softly before hiding his face in the Italian’s shoulder. Delicate fingers combed their way through his blond hair, gently tugging out any knots that had formed since the previous morning, that being the last time had had brushed his hair.

He wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that. A couple of minutes? Maybe more? But things were brought back to reality when a certain someone’s stomach made a rather demanding noise. Will had to hold back laughter, doing a pretty terrible job at it. He looked up at his boyfriend’s face, what color he had drained from it. Probably out of embarrassment. His stomach made another complaint, and Will could barely hold his laughter in.

“Don’t,” Nico had started, but it was too late, he was already laughing. “Will I swear to Hades I will shadow travel you to the middle of the Pacific Ocean.”

This only made the child of the sun laugh more. He spoke as soon as he was able to breathe again. “No you won’t.”

“Do you want to test me?”

“No. We should go to breakfast.”

His boyfriend’s only sign of protest was a groan when Will moved to sit up, dangling his legs over the edge of the bed. No doubt Nico was probably complaining about the loss of heat. The healer actually doubled as a heater for the other. The Ghost King doubled at a cooler for Will. It was a shocking contrast, but together they maintained the perfect temperature. Right between warm and cool. They balanced each other out.

Will grabbed his shorts off the floor and put them on again, making a mental note to stop by his cabin after breakfast and change before activities started. No one would notice, or care, that he was wearing the same clothes twice, but he didn’t want to go the whole day wearing the same clothes he did as the day before. It would make them gross fast, due to the physical activity exercises. Plus, he couldn’t have disgusting clothes in the infirmary. It was a sterile environment. An emergency could happen where he couldn’t change into his scrubs, and he would need to be as clean as possible.

Out of the corner of his eye he watched his boyfriend change, from one black shirt to another, and another pair of skinny jeans. These ones had holes in them, unlike the ones that were still on the floor. He watched as he put on a bright orange camp hoodie, that belonged to Will, on as a finishing touch. It was a bit obvious that it wasn’t the Son of Hade’s because a. he usually never wore any camp items and b. it was a size too big.

The Son of Apollo walked over to the shorter boy, wrapping his arms around his waist from behind, kissing his cheek. It had startled Nico, but he soon relaxed into his chest and let out a rather content sigh.

“Are you ever going to give me that hoodie back?” Will asked softly.

“No.”

“Good. It suits you.”