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Jason hadn’t really had very much experience with public school trends or traditions. After he had completed Lupa’s training and made his way to Camp Jupiter, he had stayed in New Rome for the majority of his life, and thus had gotten his education from retired legionnaires who had a fondness for teaching, and occasionally lares popping in to rant about various historical events. He never had a prom or homecoming experience, or even a locker or classmates to pass notes between.
So when he opened the door to Cabin One and found a small bag of blue and black jelly beans sitting on the doorstep, the thought of it being from a secret admirer didn’t even cross his mind.
It was early in the morning and he had been on his way to meet up with Leo and Piper when he nearly stepped on the bag on his way out the door. He paused, stared at it for a few minutes, then looked around, but didn’t see anyone who might have left it there. More curiously (to him), he also didn’t see any other bags of jelly beans on any other cabins’ doorsteps ー which meant it was just for him, specifically. Confused, he picked it up and gave it a closer look. The label declared it was from a store called Sweet on America, from their Grand Central Station shop. The bag was full of jelly beans, but there were only two colors: blue and black. He couldn’t imagine why, but it did remind him of a heated debate about the best jelly bean flavor that had broken out at dinner the night before. Jason was apparently the only person in the camp that actually liked black licorice-flavored jelly beans, to which Clarisse said his opinion was “invalid” and told him to “pick a real flavor” (he had said blue raspberry was good too, which had then started a riot among the Demeter kids who apparently took issue with the idea of raspberries being blue).
Curious, Jason untied the gold twist-tie and picked out two jelly beans. Sure enough, when he tried them, they were indeed black licorice and blue raspberry. He squinted at the address label on the bag. How had someone gotten to Grand Central Station in New York City and back in less than a day? And why on Earth had they gone all that way to get the two flavors he had mentioned liking? It wasn’t even his birthday.
He turned the bag over, but there were no other notes or clues where it had come from. He shrugged to himself and pocketed the bag before heading off to Bunker Nine.
~~~~~~~
“...so, yeah, I don’t know,” Jason crossed his arms and leaned against the wall of Leo’s workshop, after he finished relaying the peculiar tale to his two closest friends. “Maybe it was just a ‘welcome to camp’ thing, because I’m visiting from Camp Jupiter for a month? I guess what the Greeks lack in rigid organization they make up for in being welcoming.”
Leo and Piper shared a look.
“He’s so smart, and yet such a dumb blond at the same time, isn’t he?” Leo shook his head with an elfish grin. Piper rolled her eyes, smiling as well.
“People don’t just give very specific gifts for no reason, or simple politeness,” Piper told Jason. “It sounds like you have a secret admirer.”
“Secret admirer?” Jason was confused.
“Yeah, you know, like leaving-notes-in-your-locker and other lovey-dovey high-school-romance blah like that,” Leo mimed gagging as he shifted through his tools. “Gods, I’m so glad I left high school behind, that stuff was annoying.”
“Hey, don’t be mean,” Piper chided. “It’s a little cliché, but that might be the only way the person is comfortable reaching out. They might be shy.” She turned to Jason and tossed the bag of jelly beans back to him. “Now you just need to figure out who gave this to you. Is there someone you think it might be? Or hope it might be?” Her eyes seemed to sparkle with a dangerous mischief.
Jason looked at the blue and black jelly beans and considered it. Well, maybe… No, no, that was ridiculous. He felt his ears redden the longer Piper kept her too-intent eyes on him, and he cleared his throat and studiously looked at the machinery Leo was working on, the ceiling, the tools on the wall… anywhere but at her. “Um. Nope.”
Leo snorted and Piper arched an eyebrow at him. “Sparky, you are a terrible liar,” she said. “Fine then, keep your suspicions to yourself. But I suggest you ask the person.”
He thought about it. “How?” he was almost afraid to ask.
Piper held up her hands in a shrug. “What do I look like, the love expert?”
“I mean, you are a daughter ofー”
“That does not make me an expert.” Piper’s face twisted like she had eaten sour candy, the way she often looked when her mother was brought up. “I don’t even want to think about what kind of hairbrained scheme she would come up with to get to the bottom of this. My advice would be a much more simple ‘just ask them’.”
Jason winced, not liking that plan of action at all, and turned to Leo. “What do you think?”
“I think the spark-plugs are shot on this thing after all. Gonna be a harder fix than I’d like,” Leo mused as he poked around inside the machine in front of him.
“Leo…” Jason tried for exasperated, but it came out more like a whine.
“Oh yeah, that,” Leo barely looked up from his work. “I’m with Beauty Queen; if you think you know who it is, just ask them. Or wait for more things to show up and give you more clues. Plus, free stuff.”
“Neither of you are helpful.” Jason sighed. He checked his watch and saw that he needed to head to the training grounds. “I gotta go; I said I would help Percy run sword practice for the new demigods.”
“Have fun, be safe, make good choices.” Leo didn’t look up, but he wiggled black-stained fingers at him in a wave. Piper squinted at him for a moment like he was a puzzle, but when she spotted him looking at her she schooled her face back into a smile and said they’d see him later.
~~~~~~~
“Do you think he saw it?” Percy leaned close to Nico as he whispered the question.
“Considering it’s not on the doorstep of Cabin One anymore, probably.” Nico glanced at the marble temple-like cabin as they passed it on the way to the training grounds.
“You don’t think a cleaning harpy took it, do you?” Percy asked, looking worried. “Or another camper? I wouldn’t put it past Connor or Travis or someone to swipe some candy if they walked past and saw it sitting there.”
Nico shook his head. “I left it there during the hour before sunrise, when the harpies had already gone to bed but it was still dark enough to shadow-travel. And he wakes up earlier than anyone else at camp. I doubt anyone else would have come across it before he did.” He spotted a familiar blond figure coming from the direction of Bunker Nine. “Also, it’s in his hand right now.”
Percy’s head turned so fast he nearly got whiplash.
“Don’t be obvious!” Nico grabbed his arm.
“Sorry,” Percy glanced around again, more surreptitiously this time. “Okay, so he has it. Do you think he knows who it’s from? What kind of note did you leave with it?”
“I didn’t leave a note,” Nico admitted.
“You didn’t?” Percy’s eyes widened.
“I panicked!” Nico hissed. “I didn’t want to freak him out. We don’t even know if he likes guyー”
“What are you two talking about so seriously?”
Both boys jumped in surprise, and Annabeth raised an eyebrow at their reaction.
“Oh, nothing,” Percy chuckled, the sound slightly too hysterical to be convincing. “Just, you know, swords and stuff.”
“Swords and stuff,” Annabeth repeated, her voice flat with disbelief. Jason finally reached their group and looked between them all, curious.
“Plans for the combat lesson,” Nico added quickly, and much more convincingly. “Actually, Annabeth, could you take my place for that? I’m feeling a little under the weather.”
“You’re one of the better sword fighters in the camp; I’m much more skilled with a dagger than a sword,” Annabeth said slowly.
“Wait, you’re sick?” Percy turned to him, suddenly concerned.
“Just tired,” Nico said, squeezing his hand. “May have overexerted myself last nightー shadow-traveling ,” he added quickly, seeing Annabeth and Jason’s eyes widen. “I shadow-traveled last night, for… some business, and maybe went a little further than I should have.”
“Really? Where did you go?” Jason asked.
“Just to the city, which he can do easily, but I guess there and back in a few minutes was not enough time to restー ow!” Percy winced as Nico stepped on his foot.
Annabeth’s eyes flicked between them, like she could sense the weirdness in the air but didn’t want to get involved. “Okay, I guess I can cover for you. Take care and get some rest.”
“Thanks.” Nico nodded. “I’m gonna, uh, just sit down over here.” He inched toward the stone benches surrounding the sparring grounds, clearly eager to escape the conversation.
Percy gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then went off to help the young demigods with getting their armor on and picking out their swords. The rest of them dispersed as well, and Nico breathed a sigh of relief. That conversation had been too close…
Nico leaned back on his hands and watched as the other veteren demigods started the sword-fighting lesson. Annabeth focused mostly on methodology and explanations of techniques, Jason pointed out the differences between Greek and Roman fighting styles, and Percy… was balancing Riptide straight up with the curved pommel resting in his palm, while the younger demigods backed away in trepidation mixed with awe. Good gods, Nico thought as a fond yet exasperated smile tugged at his lips. This was the man Nico was hopelessly in love with ー cocky and carefree, effortlessly gorgeous Perseus Jackson, slayer of Titans and balancer of deadly weapons. Nico nodded appreciatively as Percy popped the sword up into the air and caught it mid-spin to the amazed gasps of the younger demigods while Annabeth rolled her eyes. Nico’s gaze slid over to Jason, who was watching Percy with a similar sort of appreciation, and Nico wondered if he was thinking about his sword-wielding skills or the strong, lean muscles that were rippling beneath the rolled-up sleeves of his orange shirt with each impressive maneuver. Were Jason’s ears a little red? Perhaps it was the sun… or perhaps something else…
Nico stretched out his legs in the warm sunshine and watched as Annabeth corralled the group into starting the actual lesson, thinking back on the conversation he had had with Percy that started their current endeavor.
“Hey cutie,” Percy draped himself over Nico’s back like a koala, resting his chin on Nico’s shoulder while the other boy was reading a book.
“Hey,” Nico smiled and turned his head enough to draw Percy into a kiss.
“You’re in a good mood,” Percy remarked when he finally pulled back. “Something happen?”
Nico grinned. “Jason sent an Iris Message. He’s coming to stay at Camp Half-Blood for a while to work on the shrines to the minor gods. Apparently the Roman lares are objecting to shrines for Greek deities being built on Temple Hill, so Chiron gave him permission to build them here. He’ll be at Camp for a whole month, maybe longer.”
“Awesome, it’ll be nice having him around again,” Percy said. His smile softened as he looked at Nico. “You’re really excited to see him, huh?”
Nico paused, wondering if Percy could sense how his heart skipped at the thought ー and what he thought about that. He cleared his throat and tried to school his expression back to neutral. “Well, I mean, we’re friends.”
“Mmhm,” Percy hummed. It didn’t sound condescending. More like genuine agreement, both with Nico’s words and (somehow) the things he wasn’t saying.
They were both quiet for a few minutes, with Nico going back to his book and Percy continuing to rest draped over him like a particularly huggy blanket. Then, suddenly, Percy said something out of the blue that took Nico aback.
“Is it weird if I think Jason’s kinda hot?” Percy asked.
Nico froze, his fingers stilling halfway through turning a page in his book. Percy must have mistook his surprised silence for anger, because he quickly added, “I mean, not as hot as you, of courseー”
Nico turned to give him a flat, disbelieving look. He wasn’t blind; he might have filled out a little over the years, but he didn’t have Jason’s strong muscles or sun-kissed blond hair or glass-cutting jawline.
Percy floundered a little. “...Okay, but like a different kind of hot. Like… Flamin’ Hot Cheetos versus Takis Fuegos. Both good, both hot, just different.”
Nico stared at his boyfriend, blinking a couple of times as he processed that bewildering comparison. “I would love to understand how your brain works, and yet I’m afraid of what I would find…” he said slowly.
“The greatest minds have tried and failed.” Percy shrugged. “I am an emigna.”
“Enigma.”
“That too.” Percy waved off Nico’s snort of amusement, then pivoted back in true ADHD fashion. “But seriously, do you think it’s weird? That I find Jason kinda hot? I mean, obviously I’m madly in love with you, but like…” he trailed off, gesturing inarticulately.
Nico bit his lip. “No, I don’t think it’s weird…” he said slowly. “Because I… I think that too, I think.”
That had been a few weeks ago. They had left it at that for a while. Then some of the Aphrodite kids had mentioned polyamory at a campfire when they were both in ear-shot, and their eyes had met and it had felt like words passed between them without even needing to say anything. They both wanted that. They both wanted each other, and Jason. And now they were trying to figure out if he would be interested in them as well, and subtly woo him at the same time, while still leaving room to back off if it turned out he wasn’t into them… ugh, it was complicated just thinking about it.
It was a fine, precarious line to balance walking, and so far they were unsuccessful. Percy complimented his new glasses, Jason thanked him politely and said he forgot his contacts back in California. Nico showed him the library at the Big House and tried to stretch up on his toes enticingly as he reached for a book, Jason picked up the stool in the corner and brought it to him. And last night, after one of the Stolls kicked off the Great Jelly Bean debate, Percy pulled Nico behind the amphitheater while everyone was busy heading for the campfire, thrust a handful of bills at him, and told him the candy shop where his mom worked was open for another hour and had a choose-your-own-flavor jelly bean bag and that it would be a great gift for Jason now that they knew what he liked.
“It can be our poly-proposal!” Percy told him, his eyes bright.
“Who the hell proposes with jelly beans?!” Nico asked, bewildered, but he took the money anyway and disappeared into the shadows.
But then Nico had chickened out and left the bag on the doorstep of Cabin One with no note. But Percy hadn’t given any instructions regarding a note, and Nico had panicked; what if Jason wasn’t into them, like that? What if he didn’t even like guys? What if this wrecked their friendship, a thing which felt so easy and comfortable and nice , and turned it all sour and awkward? What ifー
“Hey, how are you feeling?”
The question startled Nico out of his thoughts, and he turned to find Jason had walked over and was holding out a bottle of water. His scarred lip was curved into a warm, crooked smile as he waited for an answer.
“Feeling okay, just a bit tired still.” Nico accepted the water bottle. “Thanks.”
“Always good to hydrate when you’re sitting out in the sun,” Jason said, taking a seat beside him on the stone bench and cracking open his own water bottle. He looked across the training grounds to where Percy was using his hydrokinesis to delight some of the young demigods by pulling water out of his bottle and forming it into an orb that dripped over a couple of the unsuspecting kids during their snack and water break. Jason chuckled. “Think your boyfriend is taking that a little too seriously.”
Nico rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he couldn’t deny the warm flutter in his chest at the words ‘ your boyfriend ’. It had taken him so long to come to terms with his feelings and reckon them with his 1930s upbringing, and longer still to admit those feelings to Percy. But he was so glad he did, and so happy that they were together now.
Jason took a sip of his water. “So what did you need to shadow-travel to the city for? Underworld business?” he asked. The question seemed innocent enough, but Nico was still cautious about his answer; did Jason know? Did he have an inkling of the truth and how he was involved? Or was it a genuine curiosity?
“No, just some, uh, personal business,” Nico said, rubbing the back of his neck and trying not to look too evasive.
Jason hummed and seemed to accept that. While Nico took a sip of his water, Jason reached into the small backpack he carried (trust a methodic former praetor to never show up to sword practice without a first aid kit and polishing oil…) and rooted around in it for a moment. He pulled out the bag of jelly beans, untied the twist-tie at the top, and then held it out to Nico with a smile.
Nico froze, his eyes flicking between the candy and Jason’s face. He knew, right? He had to, if this was how he chose to follow up a question about where Nico had shadow-traveled to. Right? Or, did he not? But if not, then what…?
“Someone left them outside my door. I don’t know who, but I figured, well… Might help get your blood sugar back up? After shadow-travelling?” Jason offered, looking a bit uncertain now that Nico was just staring at him.
“Oh, right.” Nico quickly pulled himself together. He reached into the bag and picked out a couple of the black jelly beans. “Um, thanks.”
“No problem.” Jason’s lips quirked up as he noticed the flavor choice. “ Oh, how interesting… Are you that committed to the all-black aesthetic, or do you secretly also like black licorice yet chose not to say anything last night while Clarisse was leading the camp in roasting my tastes?” he asked slyly, nudging Nico with his elbow.
“I know better than to get on Clarisse’s bad side.” Nico chuckled and popped one of the jelly beans into his mouth. “But yes, I do like licorice flavor. Reminds me of anise, a spice and candy popular in Italy.”
“Huh. Well, that makes two of us, against a camp full of licorice-haters,” Jason said. He looked down at the bag thoughtfully, and Nico wondered if he was starting to put the pieces together.
“Jason!” Annabeth called from across the training ground, and they looked over to find her holding onto the top part of a very long spear that one very ambitious ten year-old was attempting to wield. It seemed like the weapon might have toppled the kid if not for Annabeth’s hold on it. “Could use your expertise over here for a bit,” Annabeth told him, with a tired expression that clearly said there had been one near-miss incident with the spear already.
“Coming!” Jason got to his feet, then turned back to Nico with a smile and set the bag of jelly beans on the bench where he had been sitting. “Help yourself to more of these. Don’t want you passing out from low blood sugar.”
“Thanks,” Nico smiled a little awkwardly. He had bought them… he guessed sneaking a couple out of the bag before shadow-travelling back to camp had been unnecessary after all.
As Jason walked away to go rescue Annabeth from having to explain why this demigod child could not wield a spear twice as tall as their own tiny body, Nico found himself thinking that Jason was either extremely oblivious and hadn’t worked it out on his own, or he had worked it out and was just extremely in denial. Either way, it seemed that Nico and Percy would need to step it up a notch. But how…?
Just as Nico was contemplating it, Percy came sauntering over to where Nico was sitting. His lazy smile brightened into an excited grin when he saw the bag of jelly beans sitting beside Nico. “He knows?!” Percy asked in an excited whisper.
Nico sighed and rolled his eyes so hard his head tipped back. “No. At least, he hasn’t let on.” He finished rolling his neck and straightened up again, looking at his boyfriend. “He’s just an insufferably sweet, infuriatingly oblivious idiot who cares about my blood sugar.”
“Of course he’s too nice for his own good,” Percy plopped down on the bench beside him with a theatrical groan. He looked across the training grounds, to where Jason was trying to persuade the new demigod to trade the eight foot-tall spear for a much more appropriately-sized poleaxe. Nico knew that look; gears were turning behind those seaglass-green eyes, calculating a plan of action like he was preparing for a battle. “We need to do something big. Something obvious. Something that he has to notice, more than the candy.”
“But what?” Nico huffed in frustration.
Percy was quiet for a minute. “I’ve got an idea,” he said slowly. “What ifー”
“Break’s over!” Annabeth clapped to get the young demigods’ attention. “We’ll be starting the demonstration, then moving on to sparring. Make sure you clean up your water bottles; you do not want to make the nymphs angry by littering, trust me.”
Nico poked Percy in the arm. “Tell me. What are you thinking?”
“It’s a little crazy, but…” Percy trailed off, his brow furrowing as he considered it.
“Seaweed Brain, get back over here!”
“I gotta go,” Percy said. He turned to Nico. “Just trust me, okay?”
Nico nodded. He would trust Percy with his life. The son of Poseidon’s methods might be unorthodox, but always well-intentioned and usually paid off.
“Love you.” Percy gave Nico a quick peck on the cheek before running across the field to rejoin the group. Nico picked out a small handful of jelly beans and wondered what on Earth he might be up to.
The demonstration part of the lesson involved a sparring match between Percy and Jason, with Annabeth providing technical commentary so the kids could see the differences between Greek and Roman fighting styles in action. As two children of the Big Three gods, they were evenly matched in power and skill, and as friends who had sparred before, they were both comfortable going all-out without having to worry about actually hurting each other. The fight was mesmerizing to watch, with both of them spinning and thrusting and parrying in a dizzying dance as sparks flew along their clashing blades. Neither seemed to be able to maintain the upper hand for very long before the other stole it from them, only to have it stolen back in return.
And then, It™ happened.
It happened so suddenly, he barely saw it coming. The glint in Percy’s eyes flashed only a second, and Nico thought Percy had spotted an opening; he had, just not entirely related to the match. He blocked Jason’s strike and spun in close, grabbing a fist-full of purple t-shirt and leather armor and hauling him in to slam their faces together. At first, Nico thought Percy had just headbutted him in the face (a very rude and underhanded move in a friendly spar), but then he realized Percy had kissed him. He was kissing him, still. Oh gods, were seconds passing or years? It felt like time had frozen.
Jason’s sword fell from his hand in shock, the weapon dissolving into a Roman coin that dropped to the ground just as Nico’s jaw did the same. Gasps went up among the kids watching the match, and Annabeth muttered “ oh for gods’ sake… ” under her breath. The kiss only lasted a second, then Percy pulled back and looked Jason up and down with an almost tangible hunger, flashing him a cocky, meaningful grin before he spun away and raised his arms in victory.
“Always use every tool at your disposal, kids!” Percy declared. “Including distraction!”
“Do not do that,” Annabeth warned, rubbing her forehead. She went on to lecture the kids ( and Percy) that kissing your opponent was a very good way to get yourself stabbed, whether it was a real fight or a practice one (“it’s called consent ; you need to ask before you kiss someone…”). Meanwhile, Jason was still standing, frozen as a statue, stuck in a mid-combat bracing pose, his eyes wide and shocked. He finally shook himself off and reached down to swipe up his IVLIVS coin from where it lay on the ground. His fingers came up to touch his lips like he couldn’t quite believe what had just happened, and he looked at the back of Percy’s head with an inscrutable expression. Then his gaze shifted over to where Nico was sitting, watching the scene in his own stunned silence. Their eyes met, then Jason looked away quickly, his ears turning a bright red that was definitely not from the sun. Nico was just glad his own overgrown hair hid his matching blush.
After calming the excited kids, the older demigods paired them up and started sparring practice. Making sure each pair didn’t actually hurt each other took most of their concentration, but Nico noticed Jason keep sneaking looks at Percy, and occasionally at Nico. He always looked away quickly, but Nico couldn’t be sure of why ー whether he was realizing the attraction between them, or if he was embarrassed and uncomfortable, or if it was just because of the multitude of armed children running around with swords. In any case, Jason left immediately after practice was called to a close. He didn’t even come back to get his bag of jelly beans from the bench, instead just high-tailing it away from the training grounds. That made Nico a little sad to see. Thankfully, Jason didn’t look angry, exactly (confused, perhaps), but he left before Nico could make more sense of his expression.
Percy jogged over to Nico, who got to his feet as he approached.
“That was maybe not the craziest thing you’ve ever done,” Nico told him (he could probably fill several books with the crazy stunts Percy had pulled over the years). “But it was pretty high up there.”
“You’ve gotta admit, it did get his attention.” Percy shrugged with a crooked grin.
“And literally everyone else’s,” Nico retorted. He looked down, fiddling with the gold twist-tie on the candy bag.
Percy’s smile slipped. “Hey, are you okay? Are you upset? Or mad that I kissed him?”
Nico’s shoulders tensed, despite his denial. “...No,” he muttered, his voice sharp.
“Really?” Percy looked concerned. “Because you seem mad. Your face is all red, andー oh…” Percy realized suddenly, and a slow grin spread over his lips. “You liked it, didn’t you?”
Nico hiked up his shoulders and ducked his head, willing his blush to disappear. Curse his pale skin…
“You did!” Percy grinned slyly. “You liked it, huh?” He pulled Nico in by the waist so he couldn’t run away, and turned up the teasing like the absolute menace he was. He even ducked down to kiss Nico, despite the younger demigod doing his best impression of a turtle hiding in his shell, and his ears only got more red when he realized those same lips had kissed Jason not even an hour ago (an idea that made his chest feel warm and fluttery, like there were butterflies trapped in his ribcage).
Percy tipped Nico’s face up and smirked gleefully against his lips as he kissed him over and over again. “You liked seeing me kiss him? And thinking about you kissing him? Or picturing both of us kissing you? Like the middle layer of a tasty Italian lasagna?”
A startled laugh burst out of Nico at that last part. “Oh my gods , you are ridiculous !”
“What? You don’t want to be a lasagna?” Percy grinned, hugging him.
“What does that even mean ?!” Nico barely managed to get the words out between giggles and snorts.
~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, halfway across the camp, Leo was also bursting out in uncontrollable laughter, and Piper was trying very hard not to follow suit.
“ It’s an honest question! ” Jason crossed his arms and glared at his friends, frustrated and embarrassed by the laughter. “He kissed me on the mouth, but what if it was, like, platonically? Or just as a distraction so he could win the match?”
“Jason, who in their right mind would make out with someone just to distract them?” Piper asked him. “In combat , even just practice? That’s insane.”
“It wasn’t making out!” Jason said defensively. “It was just a kiss! And if anyone is crazy enough to do it, it’s Percy!”
“Dude, bro, my guy,” Leo managed to get out between laughs. “Not even Percy is that crazy.”
“His boyfriend was sitting right there !” Jason pushed his hands through his hair. He still couldn’t believe it.
“Again, Percy is not that crazy,” Piper said. “He knows not to piss off di Angelo, and he would never do anything to hurt him.”
“So why did heー?”
“ Which means ,” Piper bowled over his protest, her eyes sparkling deviously. “That whatever game they’re playing, they’re both in on it.” When Jason stopped his pacing to stare at her, dumbfounded, she went on. “They’re both into you, Sparky.”
Jason felt like a ventus had just slammed into him at full force, knocking his breath from his lungs. “But... why ?” He couldn’t believe that either of them would be interested in him, let alone both of them, together.
“Hey, no.” Leo pointed a screwdriver at him sternly. “Self-deprecation in the romance department is my thing. Being Mister tall-blond-and-handsome is your thing. Stay in your lane.”
Jason stared at him for a moment, then turned to Piper and gestured empathically at Leo. “Okay, so why is it platonic when he says that, but what Percy did wasn’t platonic?”
“Because I didn’t kiss you on the mouth, dude,” Leo told him. “And before you ask, no, I wouldn’t, because that’s not platonic.”
Piper just wordlessly held out her hands toward Leo, like he needed no other explanation.
Jason crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall of the workshop, staring at the soot-stained ground and feeling like he didn’t quite have all the cylinders firing in his brain. Little things from the past week kept coming back to him, incidents that he had thought might be flirting but had brushed it off because of course they couldn’t be flirting with him, they were together, and he was just being silly ー deluding himself into thinking they would want to include him in what they had, just because he had some deeply-buried desire to be with them. But… maybe that wasn’t as delusional as he thought.
He pushed away from the wall. “I need to go talk to them,” he decided.
Piper nodded and shot him a thumbs-up. “Sounds like a plan.”
That was ironic, Jason thought as he left, because he had never felt more like he was rushing forward without any semblance of a plan whatsoever.
~~~~~~~
“He hates us,” Percy said for the umpteenth time. “I just know it. He hates us.”
“He does not hate us,” Nico said, also for the umpteenth time. He wasn’t pacing a circle into the floor of Cabin Three like Percy was, but he was fidgeting with the bag of jelly beans nervously where he was sitting on Percy’s bed. The longer Jason stayed in the woods, the more anxious the two of them had become.
“Then why did he storm off like that?” Percy asked. “Why haven’t we seen him in the past… how long has it been? Three hours?”
Nico checked his watch. “Forty minutes.”
“Same thing.” Percy ran a hand through his messy hair with an agitated huff.
Nico resisted rolling his eyes. He had to admit, the anticipation was making it seem like much more time had passed than had really had. “And he’s probably just surprised. I mean, that was sprung on him pretty suddenly. How would you feel, if I came up and kissed you out of nowhere like that?”
Percy stopped to think about it, then gave him a slightly dopey smile. “I’d wonder if it was my birthday or something.”
Nico snorted and shook his head, amused by that typical response from his boyfriend. “If I did it before we got together,” he clarified.
“Oh,” Percy considered that. “I guess I would be confused, yeah.” He looked at the corner of the cabin without really seeing it, his eyes unfocused as he thought some more. “I shouldn’t have kissed him, should I?”
Nico lifted his hands in a shrug. “Can’t really change that at this point. And you’re right; it did definitely get his attention.”
“Yeah,” Percy let out a sigh. “Just hope it’s a good kind of attention…”
Nico nodded in agreement. The last thing he wanted was to scare Jason off before they had gotten a chance to talk to him (gods, they were dumb… why hadn’t they just talked to him in the first place? Hindsight was twenty-twenty… curse demigods and their tendency to jump headlong into things without thinking first).
Percy finally stopped his pacing and instead came over to sit next to Nico on the bed. But where Nico was sitting with his back against the wall and his legs straight out, Percy opted to curl up beside him with his legs tucked off to the side, his arms around Nico’s waist, and his cheek resting on his shoulder. Nico worked an arm around his boyfriend’s waist and patted his side comfortingly, still tossing the bag of jelly beans in his other hand in a combination of ADHD fidgeting and nerves.
They weren’t sitting there long before they heard a knock from the door of Cabin Three.
Percy lifted his head and looked toward the door. “Come in?”
The door eased open and Jason poked his head inside. In the span of a second, his gaze took in their position and his expression shifted from surprised to confused and back to a careful neutral. “Oh. So you two are still together?”
“Yeah?” Percy squeezed Nico’s waist. “Why wouldn’t we be?”
Jason stepped inside the cabin and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, you,” he pointed to Percy, “kissed me, and you,” he pointed to Nico, “seemed pretty shocked when he did that. So, I thought…” he trailed off, crossing his arms and shifting his weight uncertainly. “Okay, so, was it like… a joke? Or a prank or something?”
“No!” Percy yelped. “Not a joke, dude. We’re bros! I wouldn’t make fun of you like that!”
Jason squinted at him critically. Nico dragged his hand down his face and bit back a groan.
“Calling him ‘bro’ and ‘dude’ is not helping our case, skater boy,” he muttered, lightly knocking Percy on the forehead with the bag of jelly beans.
Jason’s sharp blue eyes tracked the movement of the bag. “You left that candy on my cabin’s doorstep, didn’t you?” he asked slowly, as if having just realized it. “You shadow-traveled to the city last night, and that’s why you were tired today.”
“Yeah,” Nico admitted, feeling slightly like he had gotten caught doing something he shouldn’t have (though he wasn’t sure why he felt that way).
“It was my idea, to see if you’d be interested in us,” Percy explained.
Jason tilted his head. “How was I supposed to know it was you two?”
Nico and Percy looked at each other, only now realizing a critical flaw in their Secret Admirer plan. It always seemed to work out so nicely in movies…
“Blue and black aesthetic?” Percy hedged, holding up his hands in a bashful shrug.
Nico let his head fall back against the cabin wall with a thunk . Jason pushed his glasses up to pinch the bridge of his nose, but a fond smile tugged at his lips.
“You couldn’t have left a note or something?” Jason asked, raising an eyebrow at them.
“Well…” Percy started.
Nico threw his hands up. “I panicked!”
Percy gave Jason a pointed look and gestured to Nico as if to second that explanation. Jason shook his head with a sigh, but he looked more fondly exasperated than actually upset.
“So what would you have said, if you had left a note?” He asked carefully. “What… what were you hoping for? Or are hoping for?”
Percy and Nico exchanged a look that lasted only a second or two, but seemed to last much longer. The silence in the cabin was heavy and seemed almost electric, crackling with anticipation and nerves.
“We were wondering if you’d want to join us,” Percy said, finally taking the plunge. “As in, date us. All three of us, together. Like, a…” he trailed off, his brows furrowing in concentration. “Is there a word for it?”
“Three-people couple?” Nico hedged. “No, no, ‘couple’ is distinctly two…”
Percy snapped his fingers. “Thruple,” he said decisively.
“That is not a word,” Nico said, and the baffled look Jason was giving Percy seemed to indicate he agreed with that.
“Is too!”
“You can’t just make up words.”
“It’s a word! Google it!”
“You’re just making up more words!”
“Google is definitely a wordー”
“Alright, alright,” Jason held up his hands. “So you’re asking if I would want to date both of you? A relationship of three people, like a trio?”
“Yes, a thruple,” Percy said.
“I’m going to agree with Jason; trio sounds way better than thruple,” Nico said.
“One is an established word based in at least two romance languages,” Jason added. “The other is something you may or may not have made up yourself just now by smashing two words together.”
“Oh, I like him.” Nico flashed Jason a grin.
Percy stared off into the distance. “My boyfriends are already ganging up on me.”
“He isn’t even your boyfriend yet, and he’s already putting you in your place.” Nico nudged him slyly.
“Oh he is, don’t worry. Yours, too.” The little white scar on Jason’s lip twitched as he smiled. “So, I already got a kiss from Percy. Any chance I can get one from you, too, Nico?”
Nico’s heart did a funny little flip in his chest. He grinned and slipped off the bed, crossing the cabin to where Jason was standing. Jason met him with a hand on his cheek and the other hesitantly resting on Nico’s upper waist, like a proper gentleman about to politely ask for a dance. Instead, he tilted Nico’s face up and kissed him ー a chaste yet lingering peck on the lips.
“I want a kiss, too,” Percy said, sliding off the bed behind them.
“You had your turn,” Nico told him, then leaned in for another kiss. He felt the soft puff of air across his lips as Jason chuckled into the kiss and pulled him closer.
“That doesn’t count! He didn’t know!” Percy protested (it was practically a whine, despite what the son of the sea god might claim). He came up right next to the others and had the audacity to tap his foot, making Nico laugh so hard he broke the kiss.
Jason turned to Percy with a spark of a challenge in his blue eyes, and pulled Percy in by the back of his neck. It wasn’t quite the same sudden harsh kiss that Percy had pulled on him during sparring, but it also wasn’t as soft as the one he had just shared with Nico. Nico’s heart skipped a few beats and he bit his lip as he watched them.
Jason pulled back after a few moments. “There, you happy?” he asked Percy.
“Very,” Percy grinned, and Nico couldn’t help but agree. Then Percy’s gaze flicked over to Nico, then back to Jason, and words seemed to pass between them silently in the instant that followed. Before Nico could ask what they were up to, both of them were swooping in to plant a kiss on either cheek, prompting a startled little laugh out of him.
Percy snaked an arm around Nico’s waist. “ Lasagna ,” he whispered right in his ear.
Nico burst out laughing at that, while Jason just looked baffled.