The first thing Nico noticed when he shadow-traveled into the infirmary was the purring.

Soft, loud, and very much not normal.

He barely had time to process that before something warm and fluffy launched itself at his chest. Nico stumbled half a step, instinctively catching the bundle of fur that immediately curled into him like it belonged there.

It was a cat.

A very fluffy cat.

Blond, golden-furred, with bright blue eyes and a ridiculous amount of warmth radiating off its little body.

“…Will?” Nico said flatly.

The cat blinked at him, then purred louder and shoved its head under Nico’s chin, kneading at his hoodie with tiny paws.

Chiron cleared his throat from behind them. “Yes. That would be Will Solace.”

Apparently, sometime during the night, a demigod had lost control of their powers in the infirmary. Things had escalated. Magic had gone sideways. And Will—already exhausted from healing half the camp—had been turned into a cat.

A very affectionate one.

Nico listened in silence as Chiron explained that the spell would wear off once the responsible camper figured out how to reverse it. Until then, Will was… well. A cat. No memories. No speech. Just instincts, warmth, and an alarming attachment to Nico.

“It seems,” Chiron added gently, “that Will feels safest with you.”

The cat yawned, crawled up Nico’s shoulder, and draped itself around his neck like a scarf.

Nico sighed. “…Of course he does.”

⸻

By the next morning, Nico had learned several things.

One: Cat Will was incredibly warm. Like a portable space heater. Two: Cat Will was clingy to an almost supernatural degree. Three: Cat Will hated being put down.

Every time Nico tried, Will would meow pitifully and scramble back up him, curling against his chest or tucking himself under Nico’s chin, purring like his life depended on it.

Nico sat on his bed in the Hades cabin, legs crossed, a book open in one hand. Cat Will was sprawled across his lap, belly up, paws twitching as Nico absentmindedly scratched behind his ears.

“You know,” Nico muttered, “you’re even more touch-starved like this.”

The cat flicked an ear and headbutted his hand.

Nico snorted softly.

Will—cat Will—followed him everywhere. Shadow-traveling resulted in indignant meowing. Nico making coffee earned him a spot on the counter. Sitting down anywhere meant immediately acquiring a warm, blond-furred weight curled against him.

At one point, Nico woke up to find Will sleeping on his chest, nose tucked into the hollow of his throat, purring softly like he’d decided Nico was the safest place in the world.

Nico stared at the ceiling for a long moment.

“…I’m never letting you live this down,” he whispered fondly, one hand coming up to rest over Will’s tiny back.

The cat purred louder.

Somewhere at camp, a demigod was desperately trying to undo a spell.

And until then, Nico di Angelo was the proud, slightly exasperated caretaker of one very fluffy, very warm, very clingy blond cat—who had no idea who he was, but somehow knew exactly who Nico was to him.