"No, Bianca, please!" Nico cried, reaching his hand out to her.

She took it, and smiled sweetly. "See you later, little brother. I'll be back before you know it."

~

Nico woke up yelling his sister's name, his pillow covered in sweat and his cheeks wet from tears.

He took deep breaths, looking around his room. The light from early morning shone through, and there was a light knock on the door.

"Ni? You okay? I heard screaming."

Nico swallowed, wiping his eyes. "Come in!" he shouted.

None other than Will Solace opened the cabin door and stepped through. Quietly, he sat down on a bunk across from Nico's.

"Nightmare?"

"Recurring."

"That's the worst," Will sympathized. "Anything I can do?"

"You got any magical drugs that will keep me awake from days on end?"

Will snorted, "Fortunately, no."

Nico shook his head, "Then I'm fine, but thanks for checking in on me."

Will nodded. He sat in silence as Nico threw his legs over his bed and rolled his shoulders, waking up fully for the day.

"What do you have planned?"

Nico furrowed his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"Today. Got any plans?"

Nico nodded, "Oh. Nothing in particular."

Will inched forward, putting his hands together as he rested his elbows on his knees. "Come with me then."

"Where?"

"The strawberry fields."

"To do what?"

"Pick strawberries."

Nico snorted, "No, I did that yesterday."

"For a picnic then."

Nico looked up at him, surprised. "A picnic? For lunch?"

Will shrugged, blushing slightly but he was too confident to fold. "Maybe. Or dinner, if you'd prefer."

Nico looked at him for a moment, a painfully silent moment to Will. Then, he nodded, "Okay. Seven o' clock. See you there."

Will smiled widely, his white teeth shining almost as bright as Nico's window, "See you then, Ni."

With that, he took his leave. Nico almost smiled to himself, fond of the moment. He's cute, he thought to himself before pulling himself out of bed and walking to his bathroom. He took out his hairbrush and fixed his hair up, sighing.

"Good morning to you too, son of Hades," he said to himself in the mirror, noticing the dark circles under his reflection's eyes. As he stared, his lips gently curled.

A picnic for dinner, huh, Solace?