Heyo! So I wrote this fic from a request on Tumblr and decided to post it up here too! You can check it out at eranishxd !

I don't own PJO/HOO ( or the mentioned movie). Hockey AU of two adorbable dorks~

"Benefits of Being a Medic"

Summary: Will was sure he signed up to be a medic, not a guidance counselor. Still, listening to the complaints of his most frequent clinic visitor, star hockey-player Nico Di Angelo, was all worth it.

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Will was a hundred percent certain he'd signed up to be a medic, not a guidance counselor.

Another thing was he was supposed to be a medic for game-related injuries. He wasn't really sure if getting hit with a hockey stick in the face right after a final match counted, but he was pretty sure it didn't.

The medic listened, albeit a little half-heartedly, at the black haired and rather scrawny looking boy whose sprained wrist he was patching up.

Said boy, Nico Di Angelo, didn't look to have the build or strength befitting that of a hockey player. But the seemingly sinewy limbs packed a lot more punch than expected. He was an exceptional player and a great benefit to the team—so much that even medics like Will knew that. And his extraordinary gameplay was probably the only thing keeping him from getting thrown off the team.

From all the gossip going around, Will gathered that Nico was rather anti-social and wouldn't give a rat's ass for any other teammate. Ever. His temper was a paper-thin floodgate trying to hold back an onslaught of rage at any given moment, and every other member made no show of trying to hide their displeasure for their teammate.

Will however, found him to be… different. He landed at the clinic often enough, Will even considered him to be a friend of sorts. His tendency to never listen and go his own way, as the coach put it, often landed him in trouble or injury—and this time was no exception.

"It's that asshole's fault, I'm telling you!" Nico huffed. He sat on the clinic table opposite Will, letting his wrist get wrapped in a bandage. "I was going to score that goal—I swear to you, I was!—but that jackass Valdez dove in at the wrong time. He wasn't supposed to be in that position! Any other position and I would've scored but no, he had to be there!" Nico growled again, scratching at the pale skin surrounding the first strands of the bandage.

This had happened before. They would be playing a certain gameplay and Nico, never really caring to listen to debriefings, ended up going out of gameplay resorting in injury or losing a score. However, Will knew better than to point that out.

"So," he started, wrapping another layer around the injury. "How exactly did you sprain your wrist?"

Nico glared darkly at said wrist. "Valdez deserved a hockey stick to the face. Just didn't expect him to retaliate, though." He let out a cold laugh, which quickly turned into something more humorous when Will smirked.

"I bet his face was bleeding all over." The blond medic chuckled. His little quirk was rewarded with a sparkle in the other boy's dark eyes.

"You tell me," he said. "It was… Kayla, who patched him up, right?"

Will nodded. "Oh yeah. Man, you must've hit him hard enough to score a goal. I think he was even crying about his 'beautiful nose being broken forever'."

Nico cracked up again, and, for the millionth time since the hockey star's first landing in Will's clinic, the medic wondered how more people never got to know this side of him. Sure, he understood how Nico was unlikable at first, but a simple talk with him led to so much more.

He could be funny, though his humor was mostly dark, but he had a pretty crappy family life to give it some validation. Even so, he often made jokes about a lot of things. He had an interest in an old board game, Mythomagic, which was not something one expected from an 'emo-boy' like him. Will found it to be cute. He also had a special love for McDonald's happy meals.

Upon learning that, Will had bought a happy meal the very next day to give to the boy when he—sure enough—showed up to the clinic. He declined it at first, flustered and dumbfounded, but Will was persistent and they ended up sharing the happy meal together.

Ever since, Will would buy a happy meal for lunch and they'd share. On some occasions however, Nico would insist on buying when Will was perfectly fine with his self-taken duty. Their little argument went on for sometime until they'd decided to alternate on who'd buy lunch each week. This week was Will's turn.

"Looks like you're good," The medic declared, getting up from his stool. Nico followed suit.

Quickly shuffling through his bag, Will pulled out a happy meal and turned to present it to the other. "So how does lunch sound?" he asked, grinning ear-to-ear.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure." He tested his wrist, cringing visibly as he put a little too much pressure. He stopped however, when Will gave him a warning glare.

Now, glaring at Nico DiAngelo was something that was bound to land one in a clinic themselves, with the exception of the case in which you're Will Solace. For reasons unknown to many, Will could get away with a lot of social interaction with the ill-tempered hockey player without getting punched in the face.

Will liked to think he'd earned Nico's trust and became a rather good friend. Although constantly having to deal with the injuries was a pain, all the talks and interaction would make Will's time worth it. He was drawn to the boy for… some reason. Maybe it was because he was different? Or because he saw something in him that not many other people did?

According to Nico himself, during one serious talk they'd had—which left Will awake past two in the morning thinking about it afterward—the only other person he'd ever considered a close friend was his late sister Bianca. Everything was already hell in his home, and when she died things became worse.

Will had hoped that 'only other person' meant he was that other 'close friend'. He decided never to push his luck that much though.

Getting to be something like Nico's friend, although never officially declared, was good enough—for now at least.

So he listened to Nico's annoyed complaints about the turn of the previous game as they made their way through the halls. Once out the front door, Will basked in the glory of warm afternoon sunlight. For a moment, Nico watched him playfully from the side, then called for him to sit on one of the front lawn's benches.

They would sometimes eat in the stands too, but Will often found it too cold. He wouldn't say anything, but was thankful when Nico suggested to dine outside instead.

Now, they chewed their burgers and fries in silence.

No, it wasn't an awkward or tense silence. It was comfortable, really. Almost a hundred-and-eighty-degree spin on Nico's earlier mood. He liked to keep quiet during the first few moments of their lunches, savoring the meal and maybe even the company.

It took a good five minutes before Nico spoke up.

"So, Will," he started through a partially filled mouth. "You're off-duty on Saturday, Right?"

"Mhm," Will nodded, sipping his coke. The two went back to watching the cars move past them on the street for another minute or so, then Nico spoke up again.

"Do you want to, maybe, catch a movie or something?"

What.

Was he…?

Will stopped sipping his coke.

"Like… I think a new Avenger's movie is coming up. I mean… you are into superhero movies, right? Or maybe… not into them, but like, you like them, right? Uh… I just thought maybe you'd wanna watch it together or something."

Holy heck, he was.

"Um, l-like a date?" Oh wow. How smooth, Will.

He watched as Nico flushed. No chance of hiding anything with his pale skin.

"I mean, not exactly a date!" The boy hastily clarified. He looked back to the busy street as his blush only grew. Then a little more quietly, he added, "I mean… not if you don't want it to be."

Oh.

Maybe Will did have a chance after all.

Clothing choices and breath mints were already running through his mind before he even had a chance to say yes. It took him maybe a solid three minutes and a disappointed huff from Nico to snap out of his trance.

"O-of course!" He stammered, blushing a bit himself. He honestly never expected to get that lucky. "It's a date then! Friday. I'll pick you up at your place…?"

Nico looked up, his blush now hiding behind an amused and slightly wild smile. "Woah, hold on there, cowboy. You don't even know where I live. Tell you what, I'll meet you at the movie house at two o'clock, 'kay?"

The two then shared a laugh, more from relief than anything, as they finished the last of their happy meal. Things settled back into a comfortable silence. Will was definitely looking forward to Saturday.

"You know," he said, after a moment. "It's not an Avenger's movie. Civil War is a Captain America movie."

Nico gave him a quizzical look, his blush not fully settling just yet. Will found it cute. "But… they were all in the trailer, right? I mean, Iron Man and Black Widow and a bunch of others were there…

"Yeah, but it isn't an Avenger's movie. I was pretty confused too."

"Oh. Well, we'll still watch it, right?" It was probably that little hitch of doubt in Nico's voice that sent Will into a mild panic attack.

"Of course! It's settled, I promise."

And it was probably that little smile he flashed back that made Will feel that, even though he didn't sign up to be Nico's guidance counselor over gaming frustration, it was all pretty damn worth it.

Hope you liked it! Leave a review if you did thanks for reading! ^_^ (also maybe check out my Tumblr if you liked my other fics and stuff wohoo.)

Okay have a lovely day!~