We Olympians (A Percy Jackson AU) || BOOK 1

Chapter 38 || Nico

A quiet groan sounded from his side of the table and Nico whipped his head around to see Percy with his hand on his temple, sipping his grape juice.

"You okay?" Jason asked, putting an arm on his cousin's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah," Percy shrugged it off. "I'm fine. Just... chewed too fast."

Even if Percy was a spy, Nico had to resist the temptation to facepalm. What was that excuse? Chewing too fast? But to Nico's surprise, Jason just shrugged, continuing to eat his food. Thalia awkwardly looked at him, chewing her sushi. Nico understood how it felt. They were full siblings reunited again, but they knew nothing about each other and didn't know what to talk about.

Shifting slightly, he looked at Hazel, who had a similar expression on her face. The whole section they were sitting in was quiet. Nico felt like it was slightly their fault. Having new people meant that you had to be slightly cautious of what you were saying. He guessed that Piper, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Leo, Clarisse, and Percy were feeling that way as they silently ate their food. Will, a son of Apollo, came over.

"Here," Will said, putting a spoon in a bottle.

"No..." Percy groaned. "Not this again!"

"It'll help!" Will sighed as if he was talking to a five-year-old.

"But the medicine tastes bad and it's not blue!" Percy complained.

"It's blue, Percy!" Will showed Percy the spoonful of blue medicine. "And it'll be over in a second. Just eat it."

Percy glared at Will. "I don't need it--ow!"

"You were saying?" Will raised an eyebrow.

Percy reluctantly took the spoon and winced as he looked at it before shoving it in his mouth. The moment he swallowed, his eyes snapped open and the sea-green irises were alight with what appeared to be disgust.

"EW! EW! EW! EW! EW!" he yelped, throwing the spoon, which hit the floor.

"Just one more spoonful--"

"NO!" Percy tried to whack the medicine bottle away from Will's hand, but Will sighed, moving his arm out of the way.

"Percy, you need to take it if you don't want a migraine."

"I'd rather have a headache than eat that gunk!" Percy pouted.

"You have my permission to make blue cookies afterwards if you do."

Percy's eyes lit up. "Okie dokie!"

Grabbing the spoonful, he swallowed the syrup before gagging slightly.

"Ew," he finally said before chugging his grape juice.

"There," Will sighed. "By the way, you're not allowed to make blue cookies until your migraine's gone."

"HEY!"

"What? You took the medicine and after it helps the migraine go away, you can have cookies."

Percy's mouth hung open while Frank snickered.

"That's just cold, Will."

"And uh... Nico, right?" Will's cheeks were tinted pink.

"Yeah..." Nico stared at the boy, confused.

"I'll... uh... I'll see you later. For uh... your injections. 9:00 PM." Will rubbed the back of his neck, turning his face away.

"Oh... uh... yeah. See you." Nico replied awkwardly before the two nodded slightly and Will dashed away. "I'm gonna go..." he said, trailing off. "Uh... feel better, Percy."

Percy was staring at him all the way, confusion in his eyes. As Nico left, he heard the seaweed brain's voice. 

___

They were in the infirmary now, Percy right beside them. He was still sipping grape juice, glaring at Will for the Sunshine Boy's trick. Annabeth was up first, her gray eyes full of panic. She stared at Percy, who got up, crutching to her side. He sat down next to her on the cot and gave her that look Nico thought he'd never see again on his friend's face. 

Percy's eyes sparkled with love as the two shared a kiss. Nico looked to Thalia, who was busy watching the scene with amusement. When the two pulled away, Percy smiled.

"It's not that bad, Wise Girl. Don't worry."

Annabeth nodded before looking at Will, who had come in with a cart with different buckets on them. One you'd find in a classroom. He took a needle out of the gray bin labeled ATHENA and an alcohol wipe. Rolling up Annabeth's sleeve, he began to wipe the area.

"Just hold still," Will said. "It'l be over in a second."

He uncapped the needle and Percy kissed Annabeth's forehead before Will gently pushed the needle in, injecting the clear liquid into her arm. With a bandaid ready, he took the needle out, taping the sponge bob bandaid on. Rolling down Annabeth's sleeve, he sighed.

"And... done!"

Annabeth got off the cot, sitting down in a chair.

"Thalia?"

Thalia sat down on the cot and tried to hide her fear, but it was evident in her face. Percy, next to her, gave her a reassuring hug. She froze at it, not sure how to react, before she hugged him back, shock still clear in her eyes. Percy pulled away awkwardly, taking a sip of his grape juice to avoid the questions Thalia might've said to him.

Will took out a needle from the bin labeled ZEUS, and injected it into Thalia's arm. When he was done, he gave her the dreaded barbie bandaid. Thalia scowled at it before she got up, sitting down next to Annabeth. Nico was next, sitting next to Percy. Percy gave him a soft, reassuring smile, before engulfing Nico in a hug.

It felt warm and comforting, just like a brother's would feel like. So Nico hugged back before Will came back with a needle from the HADES bucket. Feeling the needle go in was one thing, but making eye contact with Will was another. The moment their eyes clicked, Will didn't take the needle out. Suddenly, Percy cleared his throat and Will jolted out of the moment, taking the needle out.

"Oh sorry... I just got lost in the moment," he apologized.

"You're good..." Nico breathed, staring at him.

Percy raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he stood up. "Well," he said. "I'm gonna go to the movie theater to cry with Piper, Jason, Frank, Hazel, Reyna, Clarisse, Leo, Katie, and the Stolls because it's school tomorrow." Before he left, he turned. "You're all welcome to come if you wanna."