Chapter Text
"Jason, hold my hand."
Those were high up on the list of words Jason was not expecting. He could almost see the loading screen that must be showing on his face, just going around and around not getting anywhere but promising something will appear soon because what the hell?
He pulled his hand into his chest to protect it and leveled Percy with a stare.
The other boy was, unfortunately, completely serious. His dark brows were drawn firmly over his eyes with his bottom lip is sticking out slightly, effectively managing to look like a baby animal and a Roman centurion at the same time. So yeah, Jason grabbed his hand.
What he could possibly be thinking when they were literally doing nothing but sitting peacefully at a campfire-- Jason had no idea. But he trusted him. Weirdly.
"Hey! Hey Nico!" Percy called, waving his free hand around.
Why was he calling attention to them? Jason felt confusion turn to irritation when Percy's grip merely tightened on him, refusing to let him go. It was worth mentioning that Percy Jackson had a rather strong grip and somehow his hand was warm and soft despite the callouses on his palm-- and his long slender fingers were doing something that made them fit perfectly in between Jason's fingers and made Jason feel like something was caught in his throat.
He yanked himself from that train of thought and instead followed Percy's gaze to Nico di Angelo who was standing across the fireplace. Nico blinked like a small animal suddenly confronted and lifted his hand in a wave, pulling his shoulders in tight. Jason smiled despite himself at the awkwardness in that gesture. He watched the moment in which Nico spotted their joined hands and felt a blush rise to his own cheeks. Nico himself seemed confused and then rolled his eyes, smirking at Percy and looking away.
Jason pulled his hand back as soon as Percy's fingers gave a sign of relaxing. "What kind of game are you playing, Jackson?"
Percy snickered, unfazed by Jason's borderline dangerous tone. He shoved him gently with his shoulder, a friendly gesture Jason had come to expect from him. "Calm down, sparkles. This is all part of my genius plan I thought of twenty seconds ago."
Jason ignored the sparkles comment for now. "Are you messing with Nico again? That's not cool, Percy. I told you to give him some space, especially now that he's with Will and--
"Shhh! Listen to me I'm being helpful!" Percy leaned toward him suddenly and Jason had to frantically school his features into something cool and unimpressed before he let something slip that was definitely not cool onto his face. "Okay, so yesterday I was at the infirmary because this punk cut my leg open during training and--
"Wait, what? Open?"
Percy shushed him again. "That's not important! Stop interrupting. Anyway, I was waiting for someone to come fix me up when suddenly I hear Nico's squeaky voice yelling at someone."
"His voice isn't squeaky." Jason mumbled, wary of interrupting but not being able to resist because now Percy was flat-out lying! Nico's voice was not squeaky and the little Italian would not hesitate to kill someone if they said otherwise. Especially if that someone was Percy.
Percy's lips quirked. "C'mon, you've heard him when he gets all agitated. His voice breaks a little. It's hilarious. Anyway, I heard him like that and went to make sure he was okay--
"I thought your leg was hurt?"
"Yeah, I had my T-shirt tied around it as a tourni-something so it didn't bleed everywhere."
"A tourniquet. So you got up, half-naked and crippled just so you could go eavesdrop?"
"Ugh, shut up, Jason!"
"Alright, alright, sorry." He was not sorry. That was a very stupid and very Percy thing to do.
Percy gave him a warning look, brushing some hair behind his ear and wow his hair was getting long wasn't it? Jason wondered when he was going to cut it.
"Nico and Will were arguing about PDA. Apparently, Will wants to hold hands and other cute shit but Nico doesn't want to and Will was complaining and Nico was getting defensive and it was all very messy so I went in and demanded someone fix up my leg. Will helped me but they totally knew I heard. Nico left the room all stompy and teenage-y but before he left I told him I would help but then Will laughed me off because apparently I lost too much blood and didn’t know what I was saying."
Jason processed all of that, trying for his own sanity to ignore the part about his leg. How serious was that injury? Should he be worried? "So, you're helping them... how exactly?"
Percy grinned and lowered his voice now that other campers started to filter in, taking seats next to the crackling fire. "By being gay in public. I was going to tell you before they came but I didn't get a chance.”
Jason blinked at him. "... by being gay?"
"Yeah."
"... that doesn't make any sense."
"It totally does!" Percy threw up his hands and then quickly lowered them, glancing around furtively. Failing to be inconspicuous by shuffling even closer, practically sitting in Jason's lap.
"Look, Nico's shy, right?"
"Okay." Calm down, Jason. Why was his heart beating so fast? He could see the campfire reflected in Percy’s pupils and feel his breath on his face.
"That's why he doesn't wanna be gay with Will even though Will wants him to. You know, like kissing and hand-holding and stuff."
Jason frowned and tried to think. "I think there's more to it than just being shy, Percy. I mean he was born in a time--
"Okay, for whatever reason!"
"Fine," Jason said slowly, rubbing his forehead and backing away. Percy smelled like hot choco. "But why does that mean that we have to... uh, 'be gay?'"
Percy groaned. "Come on Jace, catch up. To show Nico that it's okay! It’ll make him more comfortable if they’re not alone."
Percy was staring at him, a lip caught between his teeth like he was waiting to hear his results for a test.
Jason sighed and pushed up his glasses. "That's actually really nice of you, Percy." Now. He wasn't saying that this was a good idea or that he'd actually go through with it, he was just acknowledging that it was thoughtful, despite it being concocted out of blood loss.
Percy blushed and waved him off. "Cool. So you're in."
"I didn't say--
"Hi, guys!"
Jason almost jumped out of his skin when Percy curled an arm around his waist. He turned reflexively and found himself uncomfortably close to Percy's torso, soft and radiating enough heat to make Jason's knees melt if he wasn't already sitting down.
"Hey, what's up?" Percy said with easy confidence, seemingly completely unaffected.
Jason wanted to punch him. "H-Hey."
Nico and Will were standing in front of them, clad in the same bulky Christmas sweaters Percy and Jason were wearing to both protect them against the cold and also because it was fun to match, as Percy had put it.
Will was puzzled, a bit taken aback at their closeness. You and me both, buddy, Jason thought grimly. Nico however seemed to have caught on, giving Percy an exasperated look.
"We just thought we'd check up on you, Percy," Will said, putting his confusion aside. Jason was glad Will hadn't outright asked because he wasn't sure he could handle whatever bullshit excuse Percy would ramble out. "I did your stitches kind of rushed and I just wanted to make sure the ambrosia did its job correctly."
Percy drummed his fingers against Jason's side and squeezed.
Jason almost choked. He had made a mistake.
Nico and Will's happiness was not worth this torture.
"Oh no, I'm fine,” Percy reassured. “It still aches a bit but not more than normal. I don't think it'll scar much either, actually."
Jason was relieved to hear that much, at least. He shifted a bit to make their embrace more comfortable. If he was going to put up with this he was at least not going to hurt his back doing it. The movement caught both of their friends’ eyes but Will was determined to ignore it, continuing to ramble on about what kind of cleaning and medicine Percy should apply to his wound.
Nico, on the other hand, met Jason's eyes straight on and smiled, a shy grateful little thing. Jason softened and gave the younger boy a nod.
Okay, so maybe this torture was a little bit worth it. And maybe it wasn't all that bad. Percy's arm was strong and his body helped to fight off the cold. The closeness also sent a thrill racing up his chest, a happy feeling that came from touching someone else after a long time without soft human contact like this. There was also something else, something charged that Jason refused to acknowledge.
"Alright, come by the infirmary tomorrow so I can check on it. And remember, avoid exerting yourself too much; you don't want to rip the stitches. That goes for you too, Jason."
Huh? Jason looked up at the mention of his name, not sure how this had anything to do with him.
Will blinked, his freckles starting to glow, quickly backtracking from something. "...because you're always fighting and uh, challenging each other to stuff. Not because you'd be uh, physically exerting Percy in any other way."
Oh.
Percy snorted because of course he thought this whole thing was hilarious. He used Jason’s shoulder to muffle his laughter while heat climbed up Jason’s neck. Nico looked upwards as if sending a prayer.
Will turned to his boyfriend sheepishly, the blush still high on his cheeks. "Was that grammatically correct?"
"Oh my gods," Nico muttered. "Let's go. Thanks, you guys."
Nico ushered them a couple of feet away and draped a blanket over the ground before settling in. Will hesitated before sinking down next to him. After an awkward beat, Nico rested his head on his shoulder.
It was a small gesture, something that someone could have mistaken as friendly if an onlooker cared enough to ponder it. But Will lit up like someone had handed him a thousand dollars and there was a peaceful smile on Nico's face.
Ok, it was definitely worth it.
And if Jason was a little too into their game of pretend, well, no one had to know.