#tags along to help friends with their own threats and has to bury the anxiety before it rubs off on anyone

[canary-song]

Do you think Pete sees all these spiderpeople facing threats that tower over buildings, over worlds, that have power, magic, weaponry he could barely understand the scope of, and shudders?

He's resilient, and damn good at what he does, but they're in a different league - an entirely different game. He's got political corruption to battle, but other spiderpeople face truly fantastical monsters.

Do you think he felt, perhaps... unprepared, out of his depth, fragile, small, gleaning the scope of 1610's Rogues Gallery + Collider?

[itsomgitsgreenblogging]

Break My Heart: Chapter 9 (A Solangelo Fanfic)

It’s time again, for another installment of Break My Heart! This just in: ROMANTIC PROGRESSION! Also body mutilation. But what’s any activity at Camp Half-Blood without any danger, am I right?

Enjoy!

Read on Tumblr: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8

Read on AO3

Preview:

“Well you know what? We are going to change your fate then. You will take Nico on the best first date ever, then everything will be great. So let’s just do it. Mama didn’t raise no quitters. Understand me?”  

              “Okay, okay,” Will said as he put his hands up in surrender, before suddenly panic washed over him. “Oh my Gods, I’m going to ask Nico di Angelo on a date.”

              “Everything will work out. Just wait and see, after all, what could possibly go wrong?”

              “Lou Ellen, you do realize that people only say that before something horrible happens right?”

“Okay…so…I might have definitely lied,” Will admitted awkwardly. It was after Arts and Crafts, and as head counselors both he and Lou Ellen had stayed behind to help clean up. It was good because Will really wanted to talk to his friend without any of his siblings eavesdropping, and if there was anything that made them scarce it was the idea of cleaning up after themselves.

               “About what?” Lou Ellen asked as she looked up from brushing uncooked-red-painted macaroni into the dust pan.

               “I have a crush on Nico I think,” Will said as he palmed the back of his neck sheepishly.  

               “I already knew that you are a dumbass,” Lou Ellen scoffed as she dumped the dust and the discarded pasta in the trash can.

               “Hey! I just admitted my feelings! That’s a big step for me alright?”

               “You’ve been admitting your feelings every time you’ve looked at Nico for the past week. Gods, you are so dense,” Lou Ellen sighed heavily as she leaned against the broom. “Okay, okay. You like Nico. What are you going to do about it?”

               “Um…I haven’t…really…worked out that part yet?”

               “Oh Gods protect me,” Lou Ellen groaned as she face-palmed. “Will Solace, you are the biggest pain in the ass! Here’s what you do, ask the boy out on a date.”

               “But I—”

               “Nu-uh. No tip toeing around this. You, William Elijah Solace, will ask Nico di Angelo on a date. And preferably sooner rather than later. All of your awkward pining is making my hair frizz!” Lou Ellen said as she stroked down her hair in emphasis.  

               “I am not awkward pining!” Will whined, probably very annoyingly.

               “You are the definition of awkward, and you are pining. Awkward. Pining. You. Just bite the bullet and ask the boy out on a date!”

               “But he’s going to dump me! Eventually? Maybe?” Will said, as he kicked a ball of crunched up newspaper. Will was suddenly yanked down by Lou Ellen, whose green eyes nearly burned into his with sheer determination.

               “Well you know what? We are going to change your fate then. You will take Nico on the best first date ever, then everything will be great. So let’s just do it. Mama didn’t raise no quitters. Understand me?”  

               “Okay, okay,” Will said as he put his hands up in surrender, before suddenly panic washed over him. “Oh my Gods, I’m going to ask Nico di Angelo on a date.”

               “Everything will work out. Just wait and see, after all, what could possibly go wrong?”

               “Lou Ellen, you do realize that people only say that before something horrible happens right?”

               Cecil planted himself down next to Will with a huff while Will downed half a water bottle. Harley was excitedly talking to Chiron as campers began to set up the Three-Legged Race that was going to take place the next day. Will’s stomach was still doing funny flips ever since he decided he was going to ask Nico out on a date, however Cecil’s presence distracted him enough to keep him semi-concentrated on the task at hand.

               “He’s a tricky guy,” Cecil said suddenly, forcing Will to really concentrate on what Cecil was actually saying instead of just hearing words being strung in meaningless sentences.

               “What?”

               “Nico di Angelo. You know that Hermes Cabin has poker nights, we usually sweep the floor with everyone. Nico came in first among the Non-Hermes circuit, you know, the thing we had to start doing after Malcom made a threat against Travis’s life? Anyways, he won like a hundred dollars.”

               “How did Nico know about the poker night?”

               “Annabeth brought him. I guess they’re friends now, which is nice. I mean, it always sucks when your crush gets with someone else, but it’s good they worked past the awkwardness,” Cecil said with an appreciative nod. Will almost corrected him before snapping his traitorous mouth shut. Right. Only a few people were privy to Nico’s sexuality.

               Oh no, Will thought with a crippling wave of anxiety. What if Nico didn’t want to come out yet? A date with Will would definitely out him. What if—what if—?

               No, Will thought sternly. Too late to turn back now, I’ve already made my decision. The worst he can say is no. And then I’ll just wallow for a few days before working past it and hope that Nico wouldn’t be awkward with me.

               “Do you know where Nico is now? I need to…uh…ask him something?” Will asked Cecil.

               “I think I saw him going to the training fields with Ares Cabin,” Cecil said in return, looking somewhat suspicious but not saying anything. Cecil followed Will as he made his way to the training arena and all the while Will did his best to try to stay calm. He was going to be cool, he was going to just go up to Nico and ask him if he wanted to—

               Will saw Nico and almost fell on his own face.

               Nico was currently in the middle of sword training, practicing blows on a dummy. More importantly he was doing it shirtless. He had obviously gained color in the sun, and Will saw wiry back muscles pulling and flexing and dark curls pulled back into a ponytail and—

               “Will, you alright?” Cecil asked with a raised brow.

               “Oh no, oh no,” Will suddenly blurted out, his face was on fire and quite possibly sizzling. “I can’t do this too gay—I mean today. I mean—”

               “Uh, okay then dude,” Cecil said, looking as if he was ready to catch Will in case he was about to faint. “You wanna tell me what’s going on…?”

               “Is there a shovel so I can bury myself?” Will asked him miserably with a groan at his own stupidity. “It’ll just take a quick second. After this all goes horribly that is.”

               “I’ll get on that,” Cecil said as he tried to hide his amusement.

               “Solace, Markowitz! What are you doing here?” Clarisse barked as she approached, dressed in full on combat gear. She looked between them, obviously somewhere between curiosity and wanting to skewer them for interrupting their practice.

               “Sorry Clarisse. I just need to talk to Nico for a quick second,” Will apologized as he scooted to get as far away from the pointy spear she was holding as he could. “I’ll get out of your way right away.”

               “I just tagged along,” Cecil chirped.

               “Uh, Cecil…could you give me a minute too?” Will asked and Cecil stared at him.

               “Wait you are going to leave me with—”

               “Markowitz!” Ellis’ shout came from the left, and he was holding a spear and looked half ready to use it. He smiled almost sweetly at Cecil, though it looked like he was about to pop a vein, which was the most terrifying thing that Will had ever seen. “We need to talk about my twenty bucks that you cheated off me last night.”

               “Uh…we can talk if you drop the spear—?” Cecil half squeaked as he wheeled around to dive behind Will before Ellis grabbed him by the back of his shirt and dragged him away. “Will, help me!”

               “I’ll never forget you!” Will called back to him, miming waving a handkerchief. Clarisse wiped a fake tear away for good dramatic measure.  

               “SCREW YOU!”

               “Well, anyways, I’m going to go see Nico,” Will said as he motioned with his head in the direction Nico was after Cecil’s cries had faded away. Clarisse nodded her assent and let him go.

               Will finally got to where Nico was practicing, and suddenly was faced with the utter challenge of what he was about to do. How could he possibly convince Nico—

               “Hey Will,” Nico greeted, unaware of Will’s internal drama. His expression was neutral but appeared relaxed, his eyes—the strange shade that they were, seemed warm at the very least. He had placed a towel over his shoulders and was currently half-chugging a Gatorade. Red Gatorade, which tinted his teeth with the color. It was kind of funny and cute, and Will couldn’t help but feel his mouth turn up in a smile despite everything. Nico, obviously noticing, gave Will a glare before snatching the water bottle next to the Gatorade and swishing with it with spite.

               “Hey Nico,” Will said with a smile that felt rubbery with nerves before breathing in deeply. “I’ve…uh, got a question for you.”

               “Oh,” Nico said with a blink. “Oh, you mean about the Three-Legged Race?”

               “Yes—what?” Will asked suddenly, taken aback.

               “I’ll be your partner for the Three-Legged Race,” Nico told him before looking over where Ellis and Cecil were currently having a shouting match. “I don’t think I trust Cecil to keep you alive, considering he has a few people who want him at least partially maimed.”

               “I can keep myself alive,” Will argued weakly. Nico looked away somewhat, digging the heel of his boot into the ground.

               “Well, I mean, sort of. Your skills of self-preservation are questionable,” Nico pointed out sarcastically before drawing in a breath and saying, “I thought it would be…well…we were a pretty good team during Capture the Flag weren’t we?”

               “The best,” Will agreed quickly.

               “People here are still a little wary of me, but, it might be fun if I was with you. At least it’ll be tolerable,” Nico said with an aristocratic sniff that did nothing to subtract from the sincerity of the thought.

“Sure, Nico. Let’s be partners,” Will agreed before really thinking about it. It took him a moment to realize as Nico waved and returned to training, that he had utterly flubbed what he had come there for.  

               “You were supposed to ask him on a date!” Lou Ellen hissed under her breath as they walked towards their cabins after the campfire.

               “You were asking Nico on a date?” Cecil asked in surprise before shoving his hands into his pockets. “Alright, I’m only slightly less mad about getting stuck with Ellis in the Three-Legged Death Race now, where I’m definitely going to die. Thanks a lot for that Will, by the way. I really appreciate that”

               “Hey, it wasn’t my fault that Chiron caught you and Ellis arguing,” Will told him with a sigh. “And I know that’s what I was supposed to do, but obviously now I’m on Plan B.”

               “What is Plan B?” Lou Ellen asked him suspiciously.

               “Improvise!” Will said with a wave of his arms before ducking into his cabin and shutting the door behind him. He leaned against it before groaning. When he opened his eyes, he saw all of his siblings staring at him. He cursed his luck as he watched wide grins crack across all of their faces.

               “You’re asking Nico on a date?” Kayla demanded as she grabbed first punched him but then his hands and hopped up and down. “Oh my Gods, I knew it! I knew it! You do like Nico di Angelo you liar!”

               “No, no, you guys didn’t hear anything!” Will told them all sternly before covering his ears with his hands. “Lalala I can hear no gloating—Antonio stop gloating! Austin, don’t give Emma money! I can’t believe you guys were betting on my love life!”

               “I owe Lacey a drachma now,” Violet said petulantly as she punched a teddy bear for good measure.

               “Gods you guys suck,” Will said as he stomped his way to his bed and sat down. He took out the bag of M&Ms he had stashed (that tragically had no more blue ones, those had all been donated to the Charity Case known as Percy Jackson). “And no, I didn’t ask Nico out on a date because I am utterly incapable of romance. I have no romantic bones in my body—Antonio, don’t even start with that pun I know you were about to make.”

               Antonio pouted before sticking his tongue out at Will. Will made a face at him in return before leaning against his headboard, hoping they would allow him to wallow in self-pity for a few moments. As always his siblings had other ideas, and demanded that he relay them all of the information, which he did with the exception of telling them about the dream. He figured that was just one more thing on the plate that they didn’t need to know about. It was okay to keep somethings close to the chest after all. When he finished explaining everything he got his few moments of quiet before his siblings started up.

               “Well isn’t this the best outcome imaginable?” Austin pointed out as he played with his saxophone. “You’re going to be alone with Nico. You’ll have an opportunity to ask him out at some point.”

               “Do you even know me?” Will asked him suspiciously.

               “Oh come on, Will. You’re a son of Apollo. You have to have some game in you,” Emma said with a hand on her hip.

               “Ugh, do not compare me to Dad,” Will said with a shudder. “Since when is Dad’s record with lovers something to aspire to?”

               “Well I’m just saying, there are plenty of people at camp who find you cute. Be confident! You can make it work!” Emma told him firmly. “Believe in yourself.”

               “And don’t die tomorrow. That might also help you with asking Nico out on a date, that is,” Kayla reminded them.

               “Thanks for the vote of confidence guys,” Will said as he fell over with a huff.

               That night he had a bad dream that he couldn’t quite remember everything about. It had something to do with Nico di Angelo and a machete at a carnival with a half-pound of cotton candy and a jar of pennies. It was safe to say that he didn’t sleep well. He trudged through the day sleep deprived and not looking forward to the Three-Legged Death race.

               “Hi Will!” Harley greeted as he approached the race track. Harley, the littlest member of Hephaestus Cabin, was bouncing on his heels.

               “Hey Harley, I’m excited to see what you have in store for us,” Will promised him with a pat on his head. Harley beamed up at him.

               “Oh yeah, it’s going to be great! Just you wait and see!” Harley said before bouncing off to say hi to some of the other younger kids.

               “It’s good to see him happy,” Jake Mason commented with a sigh as he crossed his scarred but rather nice-looking arms. “He’s been really down since…you know, what happened to Leo. I think that’s the reason Chiron let him go all out and design this death trap.”

               “Is he doing okay?” Will asked Jake, and Jake offered a weak smile.

               “Holding up, just like the rest of us. It’s just hard…as you know.”

               Will couldn’t help but frown sadly. He had only known Leo briefly, it had been his responsibility to show him around camp and they had been on friendly terms, but even so it didn’t do the heart good to see the way he went out. And it especially hurt him to see his longtime friends mourning the loss of their half-brother. As Will had learned, no matter what a demigod did in life, they often did not deserve the fates that were woven and cut for them.

               “He’ll be back,” a voice cut in, and both Will and Jake were startled by Nico who was glaring as if something had personally insulted him. “His death was all…all weird. I felt him die, but…it was like when you miss a step and then you regain your balance. It gives me a headache just thinking about it. Mark my words, Leo Valdez will be back and causing trouble somehow and in some way, and when I see him I’m going to punch his lights out.”

               “What did Leo do to you?” Jake asked shortly.

               “Did you not hear me? He gave me a headache,” Nico scoffed before he glared at the sky as if Leo might come floating down from it like Mary Poppins. “Also he made Hazel cry, and I can’t forgive that. For that he deserves to die one more death of my construction.”

               “You are morbid,” Will said as a chuckle burst past his lips. Nico blinked before looking away quickly. Were his ears red? Will wondered if he was feeling okay. Will waved goodbye to Jake as he went to join the rest of his siblings before turning to Nico. He tried to swallow his nervousness. There was no way he would ask before the Three-Legged Death Race, he didn’t want Nico distracted. He would ask maybe after. Maybe. Hopefully. “Are you ready for the race?”

               “I’ve never done one of these before,” Nico admitted as he crossed his arms over his chest, brow furrowed. “I don’t actually know what’s going to happen.”

               “Well, we’ve got to try to run through the obstacle course with our legs tied together,” Will explained.

               “Tied together?” Nico said, really looking like he wasn’t happy about that. Will couldn’t help but deflate.

               “Is it…is that okay?” Will asked nervously.

               “Well I mean, we’re going to be pretty close then, right?” Nico asked, not meeting Will’s gaze. “Is that going to bother you?”

               “Why would that bother me?” Will asked. Though it would bother him because Nico was his crush and being close to him might make Will flustered, it wasn’t like he was going to hate it. In fact, he was worried about being too happy about it.

               “I’ve been told I give off a creepy vibe,” Nico said looking half suspicious. “Haven’t you noticed?”

               “Well, you are creepy. But that’s just part of your personality, and I like that about you,” Will promised him, before feeling his cheeks reddened. “I-I mean…yeah…”

               “Oh…okay,” Nico said slowly, swallowing before walking forward somewhat stiffly.

               Was it really going to bother him? Will thought worriedly. He knew that Nico wasn’t all that great with the touching-people thing. Will really didn’t want to do anything that would make Nico uncomfortable, but he also knew that bringing it up might be annoying to Nico. And as far as Will could tell, Nico was really trying to get involved in things in the camp. Will decided what would be best was to just be supportive. If Nico was uncomfortable, Will hoped he would speak up.

               “Alright everybody,” Harley said as he got up on the little chair that he had set up by the starting line. “Welcome to our first Three-Legged Race! We’re going to be mostly getting the kinks out this time since it’s a new activity. The goal is to get to the end of the obstacle course which is the other end of the forest! First place gets a special candy basket, curtsey of Aphrodite Cabin. Thanks guys! Please tie your leg to your partner’s with the approved knot, and no funny stuff! Me or Chiron will be checking them so no cheating! Other than that there isn’t any rules besides the standard rules of engagement for CHB!”

               There was a dramatic groan from Hermes Cabin kids as people began to line up and get their legs tied together. Will bent down and tied Nico and his own legs together with a snug knot before testing it by pulling his leg to the side a bit. Nico lost his balance for a moment before leveling an annoyed look at him.

               “What? Too tight?” Will asked him concerned.

               “No, you are too tall,” Nico said as he crossed his arms over his chest and squinted at him angrily, despite the color to his face. Maybe he had gotten sunburnt? “It pisses me off.”

               “Aw, Neeks, thank you!”

               “That wasn’t a compliment!” Nico grumbled.

               “Hey Nico! See you at the finish line!” Percy called as he waved, Annabeth just rolled her eyes and elbowed him. He threw an arm over her shoulder and Annabeth gazed at Percy with a melting kind of sweetness, Percy returned it with a fond kiss to her hairline. Annabeth batted him away, with a little color in her cheeks, before looking ready to crush some enemies.

               “They’re so cute,” Will said with a jealous sigh, clutching his heart. “I actually can’t take it.”  

               “Hey Will?” Nico asked, breaking Will from his internal reflection on the transformative power of love.

               “Yeah?”

               “No matter what, we are beating Percy,” Nico said, looking less impressed with Percy and Annabeth’s love and more ready to break some femurs if that was what it was going to take to win. That, in its own way, was rather adorable. Terrifying, but adorable. Will thought.

               “Wait—what—”

               “All contenders, take your marks! Get set, go!”

               Nico, despite his shorter stride, was a fast runner. Thankfully Will was able to mostly keep in step with him. Nico made a show off hissing at him when their arms continued to smack each other while they moved, however, that annoyance was quickly stopped when suddenly something caught Will’s eye and he yelped, hooked his arm around Nico, and ducked. They both sprawled out on the ground, but Julia and Alice were not so lucky as they got snared by a net which pinned them to a tree.

               “What kind of obstacles did they say we are dealing with here?” Nico asked as he glared forward.

               “They didn’t,” Will said slowly as he nervously looked around. “Harley didn’t even say we needed armor.”

               “I’m going to strangle that kid,” Nico said as he blew a leaf that had gotten stuck on his face away before they both got up. “Okay, let’s go before something causes us grievous bodily harm.”

               It seemed like they only made it a few steps in any direction without some sort of horrid trap springing on them. They dodged flaming banana cream pies, pissed off dryads with gardening supplies, disturbed bee hives, and Nico even pulled Will back before he fell into a spike pit. A real spike pit.  

“Oh my Gods we are going to die! We’re seriously going to die! Who in the name of Zeus let Harley do all of this? Were they on drugs?” Will demanded as he pointed at the spike pit in utter horror. It continued to stay there, gaping wide open, as if agreeing with Will’s shock and dismay. Nico, despite looking as thoroughly inconvenienced as any soccer mom waiting at the customer service desk, appeared to appreciate and approve of the aesthetic statement the spike pit was making.

“Oh, okay, so you’re fine with the lava wall, teenagers fighting each other with weapons that can actually hurt them, Gods and monsters, and the occasional prophecy. But you draw the line at spike pits? What are your standards?” Nico said with a roll of his eyes.

“Well guess what, I’m drawing the line right here. I am not moving from this spot. I am not participating in this hell race—”  

Suddenly all of the words that were coming out of Will’s throat got caught like a rabbit in a snare, as Nico grabbed his hand squeezed it and began walking them both forward at a fast trudge. Will was sure that he was still trying to say words, but literally nothing but half garbled gasps were coming out of his face.  

“You aren’t going to die,” Nico said firmly, facing forward and wearing an expression of pure determination. “Because I’m not going to let you die. Will Solace, you are not allowed to die. Just stay with me and I’ll get us out of here but we definitely won’t get out of here if we don’t keep moving.”  

“Nico...you’re so cool,” Will blurted out, probably sounding like an idiot, but he couldn’t help but be in awe of Nico di Angelo’s raw confidence. Nico pulled Will along with a completely self-assured gait despite the danger, and Will couldn’t help but keep blushing. “I...uh, Nico, my hand. You’re holding my hand.”

“Did you need it for something?” Nico asked him briskly, pointedly keeping his head facing forward.

“I...well, no, but I…” Will stuttered, his words scraping over his teeth.

“Then shut up, Capri Sun,” Nico gruffly responded. And could almost believe that Nico was just annoyed at him and was leading him through the woods by the hand out of pure necessity, except that Nico’s ears were red and his hand was sweaty just like Will’s. And just that was enough to give Will confidence.

“Nico—Nico wait,” Will said urgently, all common sense currently at the bottom of the spike pit, as he tugged on Nico’s arm. “I need to ask you something, something important.”   

“Can’t it wait until we’re out of mortal danger?” Nico asked impatiently.

“We’re demigods! Since when are we ever out of danger?”

“Well? What?”

“Do you—”

There was suddenly a scream, the kind of animalistic cry of pain and terror that made Will’s blood curdle in his veins. Nico’s head whipped to the side and his expression was alarmed, which didn’t make Will feel any better.

“Someone’s close to death,” Nico said, confirming Will’s fear as he tapped the side of head. “Life Alert. Fun little power of mine.”

“Not if I can help it,” Will said as he took a throwing knife and cut the band holding them together in one motion. Newly separated and disqualified, they both took off in the direction of the scream with Nico guiding the way.

The scene itself was grisly when Will burst through the underbrush, his brain catching details. Paolo Montes on the ground, axe covered in blood buried in a nearby tree and two rather sickening looking lumps that were Paolo Montes’ arms lying beneath it. Mitchell was ashen and shuddering uncontrollably on the ground.

Will lunged forward, pressing his pressing his palm down on Paolo Montes’ chest in the CPR position. Will felt his magic gush past his usually well-constructed and maintained barriers and push right into Paolo, reinvigorating his dwindling life force and making Paolo’s body jerk. He groaned, and breathed.

“Mitchell,” Will called quietly, looking to the demigod who was obviously going into shock. “Mitchell, are you hurt?”

“I-I’m okay, I think,” Mitchell managed to get out from chattering teeth. “Oh Gods, oh Gods his arms—”

“Mitchell, stay with me,” Will ordered, looking him right in the eyes. “I need you to get a hold of yourself. I can’t move from where I am right now, so I need your help. Do you understand?”

“Okay, okay,” Mitchell said nodding his head hard and fast.

“I need you to get Chiron now. Tell him that there is an emergency and the game is off by order of the camp head medic. I need all of my cabin members, two containers of ice and large plastic bags, and all of the traps in the forest to be unset now. Can you repeat that back to me, Mitchell?”

“You need Chiron, the game is off. Your cabin members...ice and containers, and the traps need to be unset.”

“Good job. Now go, and be careful okay?” Mitchell went sprinting away, and Will squeezed his eyes shut as he organized his thoughts. “Nico, I need help.”

“What do you need?” Nico asked immediately.

“I need you to go into my pack and grab the ace gauze and two sturdy sticks, I’ll talk you through how to make an emergency tourniquet. Do you have any nectar or ambrosia?”

“I have unicorn draught,” Nico said as he gathered the sticks and sat back down by him.

“It’ll have to do. If he wakes up we’ll give him that. After that, it isn’t going to be pretty, but I’ll someone to get Paolo’s arms. If we’re going to have any hope of reattaching then I’ll need them clean and cold.”   

“I can try to keep them from starting to rot,” Nico said as he pulled off his sweatshirt and began rummaging through his first aid pack. “I’ve never done it before, but if I can reanimate the dead, then I have to be able to preserve it right?”  

“Honestly, that’s some of the best news I’ve heard all day. If you can do that, great, if not I’m more concerned about keeping Paolo alive,” Will admitted, feeling himself start to sweat, heat beginning to build within him. He winced. He didn’t need to sing to use his magic, but it was easier, especially when most of his power was going to keeping someone alive. But he needed to give directions, he would have to tough it out for the moment and conserve where he could. Chiron would probably need him on the reattachment so he would need to be in alright shape. “Okay, we’ll get going on the tourniquets.”

“Are you sure I should be touching him?” Nico asked concerned. “What if I…speed up the process?”

“He’s already lost his arms, how much faster do you think death could possibly approach?” Will snapped at him, before giving Nico an apologetic look. “It’ll be okay, I guarantee it. You aren’t the only one with Life Alert. Now come on, and start wrapping a few inches above the wounds.”

Despite his initial hesitation Nico followed Will’s direction on creating the knot and twisting with the stick, well enough that Will was honestly considering asking Chiron to put Nico on infirmary duty more often. Will could feel the pressure that had built up in the back of his head as he had desperately held back the blood-flow release. Nico held both tourniquets easily, and Will was able to focus his healing magic to keep Paolo’s heart beating, his lungs moving air, and to keep shock from setting in. Thank all the merciful Gods that Paolo was still unconscious, Will thought wryly. Even if he could speak Portuguese, he doubted he could come up with a good explanation for this.    

“And now we wait,” Will said as he breathed in and out in a steady rhythm, the rhythm of a heartbeat, the rhythm of healing. “You did a good job, Nico.”

“He isn’t out of the woods yet, not by a long shot,” Nico added. “And I just followed your directions.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, you’re good in a crisis. And well,” Will said with a wry grin. “Now’s when the challenge is going to start. I’ve never attached a fully detached limb, let alone two limbs before.”

“And you say I’m morbid,” Nico said with a roll of his eyes, and seemed to listen as Will began to sing.

               “Nico, I did it!” Will said excitedly as he exited the Big House. Nico was standing there in different clothes and Will was still wearing his bloodstained scrubs. Weird, Will thought, as he half stumbled, hadn’t it been like noon? Why was it pink outside? “I reattached Paolo’s arms! I really did it! I—oh Gods—”

               Suddenly the world turned and Will went with it. Will tripped and sank against a post for the volleyball court, scrabbling at it to help claw his way up, but he found that his arms had apparently been replaced by overcooked noodles. Who would have done such a horrible thing? Nico went over and grabbed him by the side to haul him up straight, which was really attractive. Like Nico who was also super attractive. And Will would have told him so if he could’ve made the words go in his brain space. Had it only been a week ago, maybe two weeks, that Nico had flinched away at Will’s touch? What was with this development? How could one guy be so lucky, Will thought with a rather dopey grin.

               “Idiot, and you said I overdo it! You worked through the night and the whole day and you expect…” Nico trailed off, catching Will’s look, as he helped Will walk forward. “I can’t believe you. You are lucky that Cecil and Lou Ellen sent me over here to get you. Did you really think you could walk in this state?”

               “Ha ha, sorry Nico,” Will said with what was probably still a smile but he really couldn’t feel his face. And he was pretty sure every part of him was aching. Could hair even hurt? If it could, it was definitely hurting. “I promised you I would help you beat Percy.”

               “Why are you even still worried about that?” Nico said with a shake of his head. “Solace, you need to stop worrying about other people and take a day off.”

               “Chiron probably won’t let me back in the infirmary for a few days,” Will said as he swayed like tall grass waving in the wind and the world waved back at him. “Power fatigue is rough.”

               “Well…that’s good,” Nico said as he chewed his bottom lip. “If you have a few days off…maybe…I won that hundred dollars. Do you want to maybe go somewhere with me?”

               “Are you asking me on a date?” Will asked as he blinked furiously. Was this happening? Was this really happening? Will wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t happening because he felt like if he fell over his head would crack like an egg and sunshine and looney tunes might come out of it. Nocturnal lagophthalmos which was the inability to sleep with one’s eyes closed was a thing, and then of course son…sun? Somnambulism—sleep walking. Was Will sleep walking? Was Will even walking? Was Will even alive? Was he next level sleep walking where not only was his body moving for him but the world became a weird dream place where Nico asked him—Will Solace—out on dates? What would possess such a cute boy like him to do such a thing?

               “I—If you want it to be a date,” Nico repeated firmly, seemingly tearing his eyes off from the horizon and looking at Will, dark eyes hopeful. “If you want it to be a date, then it’s a date.”  

               “What do you want?” Will asked.

               “I…I want it to be a date,” Nico admitted as he ducked his head back down, and just like that Will wouldn’t have been happier if he could have petted a puppy at Disney World.

               “Awesome! Then it’s a date. Woah…was…was the sky always open like that?” Will asked very eloquently, before he toppled over and passed out.

[huge6s-blog]

RANDOM FACTS ABOUT THE MUN.

Repost, not reblog! Tag 6 muns you would like to get to know better when done!

Name: Kaitlyn! Please, for the love of god, never use it.

Nickname: Katy, Kat, variations; (Katydid, Katybug, Kitkat, etc.) But if you wanna call me something else, that’s fine too!

Age: 22! Simultaneously too old and a wee bab, lmao

Faceclaim: Not something I do! I could never pick just one, besides maybe my own face! (I’d thought about using Shuu Iwamine or Rize Kamishiro before, if that says anything haha)

Pronouns: Your highness/My liege She/Her! But “they/them” is good too.

Height: ~5’6”-5’7”; I can’t remember the last time I checked.

Birthday: Poppin’, obviously March 30th.

Aesthetic: Purple and black?? EGNautilus scientists tittering excitedly over adorable or exciting sea creatures. Omnipresent Mountain Dew cans, fast food and colorful kneesocks. 2AM adventures on clear nights in summer that last until dawn starts sending it’s first beams into the sky. Spacey FPS games and cutesy RPG and Pokemon games interspersed throughout. Weathered frames and tired eyes. ROBOTS… I have no idea, man. A lot of things!

Last song you listened to: “The Thief and the Moon” by Shawn James!

Favourite muse(s) you’ve written: kfkjdf. Sixes definitely counts,, Uhh. My first was a canon-divergent Eridan, who I’d played before Act 6 was even close to being a thing! And he was a lot of fun. Accidentally made a “do not that” meme that still sometimes plagues me to this day ldkfdk A dream-bubble/dead Karkat who’d been murdered in his timeline’s Gamzee’s rampage and only had one eye, he was a biiiig favorite. I loved having enough energy for that all; typing that much shittalk??? Was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done in roleplay, holy shit. Entire fucking PAGES of just these absolutely USELESS rants because that nubby little shit had so much passion for it. Fuck. I loved Karkat. A bloodswapped, cobalt-blooded Karkat who was also post-game for a pre-established timeline where trolls and humans co-existed on the same planet(s). He was a Thief of Blood and a massive asshole; at his worst, he was manipulative, isolative, vengeful, restless… But also, he was a really big dork??? He LOOOOOVED spy movies and probably popped boners regularly for Black Widow and James Bond or the Kingsmen. Fucking nerd. He fancied himself a spy; his best friend was a badass hacker, and they’d (F)LARP together as a stereotypical “you hack, I’ll infiltrate” team. Before Earth, he never cared about Christmas, but one year his richass neighbourhood started putting up flashy decorations and he got jealous, so he stole a shitton of them to make his own house look the best. He’s so… So stupid. I love him so much. And of course, jumping off the Homestuck bandwagon; I have Lv/Hadz! My dorky, sadsack pun machine. A (sort of, mostly) secret post-genocide Sans; the Bad Run™ had been reset after completion, but something went wrong, so he remembers it. Still, he’s been running for like, two years now! So he’s had a lot of time to go and bury all that as deeply as monsterly possible lmaooo. He’s distrusting, paranoid, and isolative himself; but he’s probably the most all-around good guy on this list. He just wants to get on with his life and never have to fight anyone ever again, lmfao. I… I also have a few OCs, but you’ll have to pry those out of my cold, dead hands. … Carefully. With lots of reassurance. (I’m very shy…)

What inspired you to take on your current muse (that you are posting this on): I like… Undertale. And I like Underfell enough that once the idea was presented to me, my mind kinda ran away with it, haha. It started with Hopper, my weird UF Sans! But it feels like every time I approach the AU I have slightly different ideas for it, pfft. I guess with Sixes, I wanted to step away from the skeletons for awhile! I was really excited about messing with Mettaton for it, because I… Really liked listening to the radio for awhile, haha. I thought it’d be kind of cool if instead of being really excited to be seen flaunting himself across a television set, he wasn’t so happy with how he turned out physically, and made his influence a little less directly visible. It fit in well with the seemingly common theme of conflict in Underfell, and things just really exploded from there! It’s hard to summarize in just a few short words. That said, Sixes probably wouldn’t have a blog at all if it wasn’t for tumblr user wibler’s- Sixes’ Sans!- mun coaxing me into giving it a shot! She has a lot of faith in my creative abilities. I dunno what I’d do without her support through the past few years, heheh. She’s neat.

What are your favourite aspects of your current muse: LOUD ANGRY ROBOT LMFAO Shit though, I dunno! I like writing a character who goes through the bipolar disorder motions, the manics and the depressives. I love watching him go hot and cold on characters as he flipflops through his impulses and subsequent regrets. I love that in his timeline, everyone knows him while he himself actually… Hardly knows anyone at all. He’s made himself untrustworthy, and in turn doesn’t trust anyone, either, so he hardly ever opens up beyond… You know. Angry screaming, or shameless flirting and flattery, ignoring personal space bubbles… I love that his Sans being absent kind of smacked him on the nose, because that was someone he was actually making a connection with, but tried to play it off like Sans was just another moment in his life so he kind of treated him like a dick lmao. Deadass knew the poor little dude had anxiety issues and scared him on purpose, made joking death threats, joked about flirting with his shittyass brother… Sixes was such a prick. Fuck. And he realizes that! And after ditching his family just to have a cataclysmic fallout with his other BFF, Alphys, Sans disappearing… It’s something he blames himself for. It kind of sobered him up a little to the way his actions affect people. AND DESPITE EVERYTHING, HE STILL USES HIS CAMERAS (THAT HE STOLE FROM ALPHYS IN A PETTY FIT) SCATTERED ACROSS THE UNDERGROUND AND HIS SHITTY TRAP ROOMS IN HOTLAND TO PUBLICALLY HUMILIATE RANDOM CITIZENS IN A WIPEOUT-ESQUE PODCAST ON THE UNDERNET. At least that assholitude earns him money, though! Fuck. I also reaaallly love how different AUs bring out different aspects of his character, but that’s a rant for another time or place! Hoo. I dunno, man. I could go on about Sixes for like, ever. He’s a really fun muse.

What’s your biggest inspiration when it comes to writing: I’m… I’m not even gonna lie, a lot of it is the positive feedback lmao. I don’t, uh. Do much these days, creatively or recreationally speaking, and I don’t really have a lot of friends IRL… Er, any, actually, if you’re only counting closehand. All my friends live hundreds of miles away, and it sucks. But this is… Simultaneously social and creative. I get to talk to people, and make friends, and toss creativity back and forth with people, and it’s really fulfilling. I love to be a part of other people’s creative processes! I love seeing what other people do with THEIR characters, and when we all??? Interact??? Mother of God, it’s such a treat! Everyone’s so creative and impressive and inspiring… And hearing/seeing us all go back and forth about what we admire in each other… I’m pretty happy with just being a part of writing, and telling other people that I love what they do! But every now and then it comes back around to me in little ways, and it feels really special. It’s hard to imagine anyone liking my stuff past a “they’re pretty cool I guess, yeah” sentiment, despite my glittering impression of a lot of the writers in the community; so when someone DOES say they like my stuff, even just by saying they like a drawing, or like the way I described something, I go OFF THE WALL LMAO. Straight up dissolve and slip through the floorboards a la Gaster style with how lovely it feels. Shucks… And, you know. Watching characters develop in general- whether they be mine or not- is really fulfilling and inspiring. A good cycle.

Favourite types of threads: Anything that feels meaningful! I love it when two characters make any kind of connection, despite the context. That said, typically “angst” and “fluff” style threads are a big favorite, but there has to be, like… you know. Meaning to it. It feels really… I dunno, cardboardy to just throw a muse into a woodchipper for no particular reason just to have them drag themselves to another muse begging for help or to have a chance to explain some kind of deep, edgy feeling or story. Baseless fluff has a lot more wiggle room lmao, but that can get really monotonous really quick if something more significant fails to spark somewhere along the line. Just so long as something’s getting achieved somehow, I guess! If it feels like nothing’s changed between the two at the end of the thread, it feels really unfulfilling and hollow.

Biggest struggle in regards to your current muse: URRRGH. IMPLEMENTING THE RADIO SHOW/PODCAST THING… On one hand, Sixes has kind of collected the idea that the multiverse is a very indifferent place towards the goings-on within his timeline! And, he supposes, that that suits him fine. Hurts his pride a little, but it’s something he’s just going to curl up and lick his wounds for, pfft. But still! I wish I knew how to make it a little more obvious and prominent- The same could go for his growing industry, too! I guess I’ve just been jobless too long to really have a feel for it like I should, oof… Additionally, drawing him is reALLY HARD… He’s in his classic box form most of the time because he’s really insecure about his EX form, and yet I draw his EX form more than anything because the box is frustrating to draw??? And despite it all, I’m still not sure I’m terribly happy with how his EX form looks!!! He’s supposed to be a little closer to a NEO design than initially planned, as Alphys fully intended him to be a KILLING MACHINE from the start without telling him! But he caught on early on, and they kind of bullied each other into compromising a bunch of things until he was just this “hideous” mess that neither of them were terribly happy with… So, you know. The indecision carried over to me too, evidently! Ugh.

Tagged by: nah! Just stole it was all. (from slobbyseconds/coolskeletonsdontcry forever ago, but just got around to now. kfjf)

Tagging: Anyone who wants to! @ me back if you do it, though; I love reading these things!