Chapter Text
Nico didn’t know what to expect from Will after the healing incident, but nothing really changed in their relationship. If anything, it was almost like Will was trying even harder to avoid Nico, but Nico wasn't sure if he was imagining that or if his roommate consistently coming home after Nico had fallen asleep and leaving before he woke up in the morning could simply be attributed to a busy almost-finals season.
Not that he wanted to see Will, of course. He didn’t. He just wanted to know what the guy's deal was.
Which was why Nico kept looking over at him during their shared history class. The blonde was blatantly ignoring Dr. Chiron — the centaur who Nico had noticed standing in the back on the first day — in favor of whispering with Cecil and Lou Ellen, who kept glancing in Nico's direction, although Will never did. Will really should have been listening, not just because finals were starting next week, but also because Chiron was a great teacher whose lectures Nico always found fascinating. Nico, who definitely was not ignoring the lecture in favor of watching Will, couldn't figure out why the other boy wasn't interested in — he glanced at the chalkboard — the history of segregation in Olympus.
Oh, Nico actually probably should have been paying attention to this.
“—which is why animals and magical creatures now attend separate schools from human students like yourselves,” Chiron was saying. “I'm a unique case, actually.” He flicked his tail as he paced slowly at the front of the classroom. “Most of the non-human professors at Schist were asked to leave when the shift happened, but I had a great deal of tenure and a good relationship with Dr. Dionysus. He very kindly made an exception to allow me to keep my position.”
Chiron paused, looking around the room. He seemed to realize how many of his students were holding side conversations or working on projects for other classes. He sighed, taking a step back toward his desk like he was going to end the lecture, but then he met Nico's eyes, and smiled.
“I know this is fairly recent history, but I feel like I have a special opportunity here in a classroom full of human students to share a bit about the recent changes in our world, from a non-human perspective,” he was still looking directly at Nico as he spoke. “If you have learned anything in my class this semester, I hope it is that there is always value in questioning what you think you know and seeking out new perspectives.”
Nico nodded, feeling guilty that he had let himself get distracted during the majority of the lecture. He considered, as Chiron dismissed the class and everyone started packing up, what beliefs did he have that might be worth questioning? He had never really wondered before why there were only human students at Schist, and he wished he'd caught more of Chiron’s explanation. Surely the Wizard had a reason to keep the species separate, right?
Nico had gone to school with animals and magical creatures when he was very young. He remembered an owl he'd befriended briefly because she had eyes like his and because no one else wanted to sit with either of them at lunch. She'd left the small school shortly before Nico's dad had pulled him out in favor of private tutoring, and Nico had always assumed she moved away or got private tutoring herself, but he realized now he'd never asked.
He was pulled from his thoughts as he was slowly packing up his things by the sound of Chiron’s voice at the front of the room.
“Mr. Solace, would you mind staying back for a moment?”
Nico looked up and realized he was one of the last few students in the room, along with Will and a couple other stragglers. He moved quickly toward the door, where Will, Lou Ellen, and Cecil had stopped at the sound of Chiron’s voice. The blonde shot his friends a confused look, but turned and walked back toward the professor. He didn’t look at Nico as he passed.
Chiron waited until Cecil, Lou Ellen, and the other stragglers had left and Nico was almost out the door before he started speaking.
“Mr. Solace, I'm so sorry to keep you, but I was wondering if I could ask you for a quick favor.”
Nico stopped walking as the door shut behind him. He wasn't sure why he did it — he wasn't usually one for eavesdropping — but he couldn't bring himself to step away once he realized he could still hear the muffled conversation through the door.
“I heard a rumor that you recently healed another student after an incident in weapons class,” Chiron paused, as if waiting for a response from Will. The blonde must have nodded, because Chiron continued. “Are you fairly well practiced in healing magic?”
“I mean, I studied it a lot growing up, but only what I could learn from books. I've never had the opportunity to study with an actual sorcerer,” Will sounded uncomfortable, and Nico wondered if it was because of the question about his studies or the revelation that someone had apparently seen the moment he'd had with Nico by the weapons shed and was telling people about it.
Or maybe that wouldn't make Will as uncomfortable as it made Nico. Maybe Will was the one telling people about it himself.
“Do you, by chance, know any incantations for pain relief? I have a bit of a bum knee from an old injury and the pain has been flaring up again recently. I was hoping you could…” Chiron trailed off.
“Oh, I don't know, sir,” Will hesitated. “I've practiced some pain relief spells before, but surely you should see a licensed healer for something like that?”
“There aren't a lot of healers who will treat a centaur these days, unfortunately.”
Nico really wished he’d been listening more closely to today’s lecture.
“What? Why?” Will obviously had not been listening, either. “I know there aren’t a lot of magical healers anymore, but magical creature care should be part of the curriculum for any level of healing, right? Aren’t there any specialists? Or doctors who graduated from the animal schools?”
Chiron sighed. “Those are all great questions, my boy. It’s, well, it’s a little bit complicated for animals and magical creatures to get a medical degree at the moment, and even harder for us to study magical healing practices.”
“Don’t most magical creatures have a natural proclivity for magic, though? Even more so than humans do?”
“I’m surprised you know that, Mr. Solace. Not many people do, anymore.”
Nico certainly didn’t.
Chiron hummed like he was considering how much to share. “Yes, you’re correct. I’m actually one of the only magical creatures that I’m aware of in my generation who doesn’t have any sort of magical skill. But… the new, non-human schools don’t usually have sorcery programs.”
“Oh.” Will sounded genuinely remorseful about the animals and magical creatures not being able to practice magic. He probably related to them, Nico realized.
There was a pause before Chiron spoke again.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Solace. I probably shouldn’t have asked, I just—”
“No! No, of course I’ll do it,” Will interjected. “I’m just surprised you don’t have any better options. It, um, won’t be the strongest pain relief spell, but feel free to come find me anytime to do another, if you need it.”
“Oh, thank you, Mr. Solace. I really do appreciate it.” Chiron’s hoofs clacked on the wooden floor as he shuffled around, probably moving to give Will better access to his knee. Nico started to step away from the door, figuring the blonde would be coming out soon, but stopped when he heard Will speak again.
“You know, I hadn’t really decided what kind of medicine I wanted to specialize in. Maybe I’ll look into healing animals and magical creatures. I could open up my own practice for you all after I graduate.”
“That would be lovely, Mr. Solace,” Chiron sounded like he was smiling.
“I just hope I get the chance to study some more magic while I’m here. It would definitely make the whole process easier.”
“I hope so, too,” Chiron said, and then Will started softly chanting a healing incantation.
Nico stepped away from the door, then, and let himself melt into the shadow of a nearby bookshelf.
——
Later that evening, Nico found himself pacing around his bedroom. He was supposed to be studying, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Will and Chiron and the conversation he’d overheard.
Nico hadn’t had time yet to de-Will-ify his side of the room since the day before, so everywhere he looked he saw reminders of the other boy. He was familiar with Will’s things — he couldn’t count the number of times he had picked up and moved almost every item in the room this semester — but he hadn’t really stopped to think about why Will owned, and had brought to college, most of the stuff that he had scattered around.
There were the normal, decorative things: posters, knick knacks, framed photographs of Will with his family and friends — things that Nico honestly wouldn’t have minded making room for if they had belonged to anyone besides Will, considering Nico didn’t have any photos or posters of his own to decorate with — but then there were all the textbooks, and the medical tools, which Nico was only just now realizing may not have been decorative. Nico had spent so much time wondering how Will had managed to get a hot pink copy of every single one of his textbooks that he hadn’t stopped to consider why Will had so many more textbooks than he could possibly need for one semester or why they were all about healing and medicine.
Nico picked up a golden mortar and pestle that was sitting on a bookshelf and examined it. He had moved the tool so many times this semester, and each time he had wondered whether it was real gold and thought about how stupidly lavish that would be — a sentiment he still stood by, of course. But he hadn’t even bothered to wonder if Will had ever used it, and if so, what he had made with it, or who he had helped.
And that’s what it boiled down to — As stupid and prideful and misguided as he was, Will wanted to help people.
Nico thought about why he had wanted to study magic, himself.
He honestly hadn’t really considered it before arriving at Schist, figuring that no one would want to work with his particular brand of sorcery. But when Minos had told him he might have the opportunity to work with the Wizard, it had felt like a dream come true.
It’s not that Nico didn’t want to help people — he did have plenty of ideas about how the magic he was already learning could potentially be put to use to improve Olympus — but there was definitely a part of him that just really wanted the recognition after all these years as a social outcast.
And he was just one student, taking up class time that could have benefitted dozens more. How many students were there like Will? Students who had far more tangible goals, who knew specifically how they could and would help people with magic, and who weren't being given the chance to learn because of Nico?
Nico sighed, setting down the golden tools, and turned toward his desk, where his history textbook lay open. He knew what he had to do, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to focus enough to get any studying done tonight until he got it over with. Luckily, he knew that Minos regularly stayed pretty late in his office, so it was possible he could still catch him.
He stepped into a shadow, remembering how the professor had told him this morning that he wouldn’t mind if Nico just popped up right in his office for tutoring, rather than taking the time to travel into the hallway and then knock on the door. That probably didn’t apply to unannounced late-night visits, though, so Nico appeared where he usually did, in the shadow of a large bear statue that was down the hall from Minos’ office.
“—that a threat, Dr. Minos?”
Nico froze, pulling the darkness closer around where he stood next to the statue. The voice had come from the direction of Minos’ office, where there was a triangle of light spilling through an open door into the otherwise dark hallway. It occurred to Nico only then that at this time of day, when all the lights were out, he probably could have appeared anywhere in the hallway. But given the serious-sounding conversation happening on the other side of the statue, it was probably a good thing he hadn’t. He peeked around the bear and could just make out the long, stretched-out shadows of three pairs of legs, which he assumed belonged to three people standing in front of the open office door, until four of the legs shifted in unison and he realized he recognized the voice that had spoken as that of Dr. Chiron.
“No, no, of course not. I just thought you should know what students have been saying,” Minos replied.
“And you’re sure it’s the students who are worried about the way I’m teaching Olympus’ recent history?”
“Who else would I have heard it from?”
Nico didn’t know why he stayed in the shadows, other than the fact that the conversation seemed to be a serious one and he wasn’t sure if he should intrude. He could have slipped back through the darkness to his dorm room and attempted to talk to Minos another day, but something about the sharp edge in Chiron’s voice made him hesitate, wondering what the two professors were discussing. It dawned on him that this was his second time eavesdropping on the centaur just that day, but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind.
“It is such a shame, what’s been happening to the non-human residents of Olympus recently,” Minos continued. “I would hate for anyone to assume that you’ve been affected by the strange, ah, shall we say, ‘mental decay’ that’s been going around? If they did, some might start calling for your resignation.”
Something about the tone of Minos’ voice didn’t sit quite right with Nico. It reminded him of the way his father sounded whenever someone would ask him about his kids in public and he had to pretend he liked them both equally.
“I can assure you that my mental capacity is perfectly sound, sir, but I appreciate your concern,” Chiron didn’t sound very much like he appreciated anything, actually.
“Oh, all right then. Have a good night, Dr. Chiron.” With that, Minos closed and locked the door to his office, throwing the hall into almost complete darkness. He swept quickly down the hallway, passing Nico’s hiding spot behind the statue without looking up. Nico — who had never had much trouble seeing in the dark — watched him go. He knew he should follow Minos so he could ask him about reopening his basics of sorcery class for next semester, but he felt himself drawn instead to the other professor who was still standing in the hallway.
Chiron stood quietly in front of the office door for a moment longer, before turning and beginning to walk in the opposite direction, his shoulders slumped slightly.
“Wait, Dr. Chiron!” Nico stepped out from behind his statue, causing the centaur to flinch at his sudden appearance and turn around. “Sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but, um,” Nico realized he wasn’t totally sure why he had stopped the professor, or what he wanted to say to him. “Well, I was just coming to talk to Minos about something, and I heard part of your conversation. Is… is it true, what he said? About animals and magical creatures losing their, um, ‘mental capacity?’”
Chiron sighed and looked around the hallway, as if checking to make sure Minos wasn’t coming back.
“Take a walk with me, Mr. di Angelo.”