Chapter Text
Jason was lying on his bed, thinking over the mess with Cupid that had happened that day, when he heard a knock on the door.
Jason opened the door to see Nico crying a little bit.
“Hey.” He whispered, opening his door wider. “Do you wanna come in?”
Nico nodded. No matter how Jason had acted at first when asked to save Nico, he cared about the son of the Death God. Sure he had been a bit stand-offish. And rude, and cold, and honestly not that nice, whenever they had talked before, but he still cared about him, though before it had been more like how he cared about the other people in his legion.
Nico came in and sat on Jason’s bed, hugging his pillow.
Jason didn’t push, just sat down next to him and waited.
Finally, Nico started. “Did you mean it?”
“Mean what?” Jason tilted his head. The only real conversation he could be talking about was Cupid, and he had said quite a bit then.
“What you said with Cupid.”
“I said a lot of things, frater carissime.”
“The part with- what?”
“Latin term of endearment. Means dear brother.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Okay, okay” Jason raised his hands and conceded. “Anyway, what did you want clarification on?”
“What did you mean by it being okay for…” he trailed off and clung tighter to his pillow. “Men to like men?”Jason frowned. He had thought what he was saying was obvious. Was it not?
“That? Just that it’s not a bad thing. Hasn’t been for a few years. Sure some places and some assholes might give you shit for it, but that’s okay, as long as you got some friends on your side to keep you afloat. I know Camp Jupiter won’t give any fucks. Rome was bisexual as fuck.” Jason chuckled, remembering when he accidentally walked in on Reyna and Quinn hooking up.
“Bisexual?”
“Yeah… when you like two or more genders.” Did he not know this?
“There are multiple genders!?”
“Duh.” Jason paused for a moment. “Nico… How do you not know this?” He racked his brain, trying to think of anything.
“I’m from the 1940’s.” he said, finally letting go of his death grip, heh, on the pillow.
“You are?”
“...Yes. Me and my sister, Bianca, who is dead now, were born in 1930 and 1932 in Italy. She was two years older than me and left me, when I was ten and in a whole new century, to join the Hunters of Artemis.”
“Okay, that was a jerk thing to do, but we can unpack your sister's behavior later.” Jason sighed and turned completely. “Why didn’t you say you were from the 1940’s?”
“I thought you knew.” Okay, that was fair.
“Nico, you are standoffish to me every single time we have ever talked before now. I had no way of knowing you time traveled.”
“Actually, I was put in the Lotus Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, which is a Time Warp, by my father after Zeus killed our mom when they made the oath.”
“Okay, however you got here, if I had known, I would have taken the time to explain it to you.” Jason grabbed a small whiteboard and sat down.
“What do you want to learn about first?”
“What are the different se- se-”
“Sexualities?”
“Yeah, that.”
“Okay, so first up, theres gay, which is generally used as an umbrella term, but more specifically means men who only like men. Lesbian is the opposite. Women who only like women. Fun fact, the word lesbian and sapphic, both words encompasing that, came from a women named Sappho from ancient Greece who was just really fucking loved her girlfriend. She was a poet. Sadly we don’t have all of her works salvaged.”
“Oh.” Nico frowned.
“Yeah. Being gay was pretty much the way Greeks and Romans were.” Jason chuckled. “Sorry, I should have explained better.”
Nico smiled softly. Then he looked off.
Jason frowned. Shit. He needed a quick change of conversation. “You know what I don’t get?”
“What?”
“Okay, well, when I asked if I could get the scepter, he said I couldn’t wield it. Like, bitch, I said fucking nothing about me weilding it. Only take it.”
“Holy shit, I didn’t even notice. You think we could have gotten it without me being fucking outed?”
“Probably. Sorry I didn’t realize sooner.”
“Hey, you said you were bi.”
“Yeah…” Jason frowned
“Have you liked any guys?”
“Yeah, a bunch.” Jason leaned back. “That’s how I found out, idiot. What was your gay awakening?”
“My best friend when I was five, I thought was the cutest person ever.” Nico leaned his head back. “I told Bianca. She said I couldn’t tell anyone, because I would go to hell.”
“What a shitty way to talk to your five year old brother,” said Jason.
“I don’t think she knew any better. That’s all she had heard from the sermons in church, or anyone else, ever. She wanted to protect me.”
“Mmm. Still.”
“Yeah. But she’s the only one I had for so, so long.”
“And then she left you.”
“Umm, yeah. I guess.” Nico turned. “Do you like anyone now?”
“Yeah, do you?”
“... Yeah. Anyway, who is it?”
“Boy or girl?”
“Boy.”
“Leo.”
“Leo? As in Leo Valdez?”
“Yes, that Leo.”
“Not to be rude, but why?”
Jason blew out a breath. “You know how Hera gave Leo and Piper fake memories?”
“Duh.”
“Well I think she gave me fake memories too. I just… can’t have them. And I think they involved Leo. And me.”
“But that’s fake.”
“It is, it is, and it’s grossly using my friends, but as I’ve gotten to know him the feeling has grown. Doesn’t matter though. Leo could never like me. Unlike with Piper. I’m pretty sure she only likes me because she can’t remember not liking me. ”
“Then why don’t you break up with her, if you don’t like her that much.”
“Her mom is the goddess of love, I’m pretty sure she’d curse me to be unlovable.”
“But if you don’t love her, you’re basically stringing her along. Which will be worse when the break-up does happen. Whether it’s you getting divorced, or just a break-up when you go your separate ways. Because if you continue this way,you’ll get trapped in an unhappy marriage.”
“Why are you so good at this? You’re the most emotionally constipated person on our team.”
“I watch a lot of RomComs. I want to see people happy where I can’t be.”
“That’s sad.” A beat. “You said that you liked someone. Who is it?”
“A boy back at CHB.”
“Which one?” Jason leaned forward.
“Will Solace.” he muttered, so low Jason could barely hear it.
“Will? The Healer? Son of Apollo? Not bad taste. Big jump from Percy though.”
“I used to think Percy was the coolest person ever, as I’m sure you could tell.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, after he broke my heart, I realized it wasn’t a real crush so much as hero worship warped into a crush.”
“Oh.” Jason reached over and patted Nico’s shoulder consolingly.
“Anyway, while I was in the infirmary post-Battle of Manhattan, I met Will, and he was just so perfect.” Nico sighed. “Doesn’t matter. Not like he likes me. Or ever could.”
Jason smiled to himself, thinking back on how he had overheard Will complaining to his sister, Kayla, about how his ‘Four year long crush didn’t even like him. Kayla had pushed abd the crush was Nico. So he guessed Nico had a shot. “Why do you say that?”
“He’s so happy and cheerful, and, I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m kind of gloomy.”
“Only kind of?” teased Jason.
They both sobered.
“You know,” said Jason finally. “I’m sorry about saying we should leave you behind.”
“No, I get it. I mean, I was keeping your life away from you, even after you knew where you were from. And I wasn’t the nicest person to any of you three. I just felt like you were replacing Percy. And I may not have a crush on him, but he’s very important to me.”
“Yeah, no I get it.”
“Like, even before CHB, I was kind of cold to you. And everyone that wasn’t Hazel, once I brought her back.”
“Yeah. Still, I’m sorry, that wasn’t cool of me. Just know, you’re a part of my legion now. I’m protecting you.”
“Your legion?”
“Oh, I kind of started to refer to the Argo II crew as ‘my legion’.”
“That’s weird.” said Nico, laughing.
“Yeah, it kind of is.” said Jason, laughing as well.
The two’s giggles bounced down the halls, reaching where Leo was sitting in the engine room, crying, knife to his skin, wishing his life could have worked out better. After all, his memories were different then Piper. He was a mess up. It would be easier this way.