Work Text:
Jason was never the type to be nervous. Well, outwardly nervous.
But right now, as he was walking towards the arena, where he knew for sure only Percy would be, he felt like his heart would drag him the rest of the way downhill.
Even then, he glanced back over his shoulder, gold-framed glasses glinting in and out as the clouds continuously passed over the sun (whether it be from his mood, he would never know). Blond hair ruffled lightly in the wind.
Piper gave him a double thumbs up, looking simply pretty in her black tank top and jean shorts. But he didn’t get that fluttering anymore, not from her.
He smiled stiffly, and continued his trek downhill.
He hadn’t even seen Percy yet, and he was already slightly light-headed and felt like his heart was going to murder him itself. Gods, just picturing the other teen made tingles go up his spine.
It was going to happen, though. He was going to, at least attempt to, confess to the son of Poseidon. Maybe ask him out, if Jason could find the confidence within himself.
Normally, Jason was never this nervous. But apparently he wasn’t always Mr. Confident, either.
The arena got closer and closer, and he still couldn’t think of how. How he would tell the other teen.
Hell, they were practically adults. Percy was eighteen, Jason was seventeen. And yet Jason felt like a damn middle school girl, with his jittery heart and all that.
He reached the arena. Shit, shit, fuck. He still didn’t know how he was going to do it.
Instead of his legs faltering, like it felt like they were going to do within the next few seconds, they continued to carry him into the arena.
Until he paused near a column. And he admired Percy Jackson, demigod son of Poseidon, controller of raging sea storms, and absolute hot-as-fuck badass.
The guy— Percy, that is— spent a lot of his time in the arena. Making sure his skills were sharp, he would probably claim.
Jason felt like maybe part of it was when Percy was having a bad day. Being reminded of his failures. He noticed Percy really went there whenever Annabeth was even mentioned. Nevermind at camp herself.
He remembered when Percy had gone to him, of all people, the night it had happened. The night Percy and Annabeth split. The very thing nobody had foreseen. Jason wouldn’t be surprised if even the Fates hadn’t seen it coming.
He remembered how empty the boy had sounded, near tears and yet his voice had been hollow. Jason knew he’d been hurt. He didn’t understand what had happened, why Annabeth had done that.
Jason had made a mistake. It had happened while he started hanging out more with the boy. Even after he had his own, much less painful split with Piper.
He’d fallen for Percy. Simple as that. Yet his feelings were so far from simple, Jason didn’t know if he would ever get them sorted. He just knew that any time Percy got close, he felt tingles go up and down his spine. He could never prevent himself from looking at the teen’s lips.
He desperately needed a map sometimes, whenever he would get lost in those eyes, on the sparse freckles that dotted Percy’s face and body. Oh gods, that was cheesy.
But it was true. He felt happy, nervous, exhilarated, everything at once, as he stood there.
The son of Poseidon had no shirt. Just jeans, scuffed-up sneakers, and his camp necklace. It gave Jason full view of his muscular back and arms, the way his lithe limbs rippled with power.
Jason let loose a shaky breath, unable to tear his eyes away.
Percy’s ashy-black hair whipped this way and that as he darted around the dummy he was whaling away on. He moved as if he were battling a real opponent, lower back muscles and probably his unseen abs flexing with each taut movement.
Jason knew Percy was muscular, and had even seen the other guy shirtless before, but oh man, that was before he had taken an admiration for the brunet.
Jason knew that lots of campers admired them both, but he’d always felt ever so slightly... lesser, compared to Percy. And Annabeth. But that was in the past. Kind of.
Jason couldn’t really help his feelings. He felt slightly naseaous sometimes, when he thought about Percy and how happy he seemed with Annabeth. Had seemed.
Of course it wasn’t wrong. But it made him guilty that he had been jealous of a perfectly happy couple, and when he himself had Piper at the time.
Piper was probably the first one to pick up on Jason’s feelings, actually. She might’ve even known before Jason himself had known.
Jason kept watching the son of Poseidon, until finally the other teen took notice of him.
He stood there, trying his best to keep his face neutral, trying not to let how nervous he was shine through, as the shirtless (fuck fuck fuck he was so attractive) demigod approached him.
Percy stopped directly in front of him, and Jason could not prevent his eyes from scanning over the teen, despite his best efforts.
Tan skin covered in a sheen of sweat, a few droplets sliding down his temple. His eyes were bloodshot, for some unidentifyable reason, but it really brought out the green of his irises. There were a few dark freckle spots dotted around his distant eyes, eyebrows drawn taught. His full lips were turned downwards in a soft frown.
Don’t look down, don’t look down, Jason begged his eyes, to no avail.
Percy’s torso was covered in light scars, though some were deeper. Jason, again, realized just how muscular Percy had gotten during his years at Camp Half-Blood. His muscles were soft yet appeared sharply contoured, shifting in and out of high definition as the clouds continued to flow across the sky.
Jason forced his eyes back up as Percy stopped in front of him. Had he really been checking the boy for that long? He was going to pretend like he hadn’t.
“What are you doing here?”
Jason bit his lip, considering an answer to Percy’s not-unfriendly question.
“I... wanted to check on you,” Jason murmured. It wasn’t technically a lie. Piper’s plan to urge Jason on was only half-assed, as Jason had already planned to check on the man.
The frown on Percy’s face deepened a little. Jason wanted nothing more than to make that look go away, to make Percy happy again. Really, that had sort of been what he’d been doing, as Percy always seemed a bit uplifted when they were together.
“You didn’t have to. I’m doing okay,” Percy said, voice a bit sharp yet husky. But Jason didn’t miss the tiny hitch on the word “okay.”
And he took the small plunge and confronted the teen. “You’re clearly not okay. You’ve been down here every day for two months. You’re overworking yourself, and you’re not eating enough.”
Jason cursed himself for how mean he’d sounded. He massaged his temples, willing in vain for the weather to stop adhering to his emotions. Gods, he wasn’t thinking enough. Stupid big mouth.
Percy just stared, darkened eyes constantly shifting, as if he was anticipating what Jason would say next.
“I’m sorry. I’m worried, okay? I just n— I just want to make sure that you won’t hurt yourself, not anymore,” Jason attempted again. What exactly he was attempting, he wasn’t sure. “I... will you let me help you?”
Percy gently rubbed his chest, where his heart was, shifting his grip on his sword.
“If you want to help, do it on my terms.”
Jason raised his eyebrows, but nodded. He absently rubbed the scar stretching over his lip, staring at Percy.
“Spar with me.”
Jason drew his eyebrows together. “Why?”
Percy shrugged, and Jason saw a little spark in his pupils. “Why not?”
Jason nodded slowly, and let Percy lead him up to the sparring square.
Jason took the familiar Denarius out of his pocket, the coin glinting a rusty gold in the sunlight, and flipped it.
When he caught it, he caught the hilt of his Imperial Gold double-edged sword. He couldn’t really recall how long it had been since he’d brought IVLIS out.
“That never gets old, does it?” Percy said, tone a bit lighter.
Jason knew that Percy was trying to seem okay for his sake, but he didn’t buy it. However, he knew the son of Poseidon could get quite worked up, so he let it go. Just a bit, though.
“Ah, shit... okay... Roman fighting style,” Percy murmured to himself, trying to stance himself in the same way Jason was tensed.
They exchanged a few blows, both swiping and parrying the others’ attacks.
Jason felt alert, felt the back of his neck bristling with tension. His fighting instincts were pleasantly kicking in, and he could see which way Percy tensed so he could block.
It was really difficult to not become mesermized by the way every region of Percy’s muscular torso shifted as he moved. Jason simply felt his breath leaving him. Stupid son of Poseidon, dazing him with his very existence.
“You’re pretty fit. Come here a lot?” Percy said, and Jason nearly froze because it felt a lot like the brunet had read his mind.
“Focus, Jackson,” Jason said, trying hard to contain his blush. “Besides, you can’t even see anything.”
“Then change that,” Percy retorted.
He delicately lifted the hem of Jason’s shirt for a second, tip of his blade just barely grazing the blond’s skin, before Jason swatted it away with the flat of his own blade.
Jason sometimes grew tired of Percy’s flirting. Somehow, when the guy was depressed, he seemed to come onto everyone, more than usual. Not in an uncomfortable way. Or at least, Jason didn’t feel uncomfortable.
“Watch it,” Jason warned, despite himself. He grew a bit competitive when sparring. It was a desire to prove himself that simply fueled his skills. “You might hurt somebody, if you keep playing like that.”
“How do you know I would hurt someone?” Percy jabbed, literally.
He lunged forward with his blade, way faster than Jason expected, and he just managed to deflect the blade. It skimmed against his forearm, leaving a small, long-ish red line.
It stung, but it wasn’t collateral damage.
“You were saying?”
“Ooh, somebody’s getting confident,” Percy teased, once again circling Jason.
“Says you. You’ve been flirting with me non-stop since we started this.” Jason punched himself mentally, why did he have to say that?
Percy paused, raising an eyebrow, and Jason’s knees went ever so slightly weak.
He snapped himself out of it before Percy caught him off guard again.
Percy let a loose smirk slip onto his face, features almost devilish, in a handsome way. That’s it: he had mischief written all over his expression.
“What exactly do you mean by this?” Percy gestured around. “This, the sparring? Or this... I dunno.”
Percy shrugged, and Jason found himself lunging, while the other teen was distracted.
Percy’s eyes widened, and he slid to the left, but not before Jason caught him. His blade left a small nick on Percy’s shoulder, and the aforementioned shoved Jason away with Riptide.
“Sorry about that,” Jason said.
“Don’t be.”
“Why?”
“You see these?” Percy stopped pacing, and raised his arms.
Jason knew he was talking about his scars. He couldn’t help but step closer, almost too close, as he stared around at the small blemishes in the teen’s tan complexion. There were thin, white lines, dotted across Percy’s arms, and then deeper, sunken lines across his chest and stomach.
He was so close he could feel Percy’s gentle exhales on his face, as they stood there in silence.
Jason was tempted to reach out and trace Percy’s scars. He wanted to be close to the teen, closer than what merely-innocent thoughts held. To be lost in those deep-sea eyes without being ashamed. To just lose himself to the son of Poseidon.
But instead, he skillfully held his sword to Percy’s throat, faster than than the brunet could react.
Jason smirked, scar on his lip stretching, as he leaned in so he was almost nose-to-nose with Percy. “I win. Never let your guard down.”
But of course there was a flaw.
Something knocked into Jason’s legs from behind, and he fell backwards, Percy following him. Apparently, the cheater brunet had swept his leg out at the speed of light.
“Godsdammit!” Jason cried out, as the edge of Riptide was held to his throat, mirroring what he had been doing just a second before.
Now it was too quiet. Percy was breathing slightly heavily. Jason, too.
Jason realized the teen was straddling his stomach, and became all too aware of the warm weight on his abdomen. He was too aware of the way Percy trembled ever so slightly. Or the way one tan hand was placed beside his head to steady the son of Poseidon.
There was the salty smell of sweat and a hint of cologne that Percy must have been wearing before taking his shirt off. Jason was glad to know that depression hadn’t taken a huge toll on the boy’s personal hygiene.
Jason gulped, and he knew Percy’s eyes traced his Adams apple for a moment because of the way those green irises flicked downward.
“Percy... there was... uh... another reason I came down here,” Jason began, wondering, if not now, if he would ever get another chance to tell Percy.
Percy’s eyebrows knit together with confusion.
Jason pushed Riptide away, sitting up, while the brunet slid one graceful leg off, resting himself beside Jason. The blond didn’t miss how those viridescent eyes never left him.
“Um...”
Shit. How was Jason going to do this.
“Jason? It’s okay if you’re nervous,” Percy said, hesitantly reaching out to place his hand on Jason’s. “Take... take your time.”
In doing so he leaned forward, and once again they were almost nose-to-nose. Jason was becoming lost in those eyes, and feeling of that warmth over his hand.
He sucked with words. And he decided, right then and there, if Percy was going to punch him, let him.
Jason leaned forward and shut his eyes as he met that slight frown with his own lips. And oh gods, Percy’s lips were soft. And warm.
He tasted like vanilla (did Percy wear chapstick? He probably does), and saltwater and he tasted like everything Jason was expecting—
Percy was kissing back. He was kissing. Back. Moving his mouth softly with Jason’s.
Jason felt something bloom up inside his chest, stronger than he had felt with Piper. It felt like happiness and anxiety, and love.
The blond pulled away, savoring that feeling of Percy’s unwillingness to let go, keeping his eyes shut. He breathed deeply, feeling emotion swell up inside of him.
Jason opened his eyes. Percy’s face was that of surprise. He was touching his lips, and Jason felt a slight warm sensation traveling back and forth across his own.
Percy’s eyes were full of sparks that Jason hadn’t seen in a long time.
The son of Zeus removed his glasses to wipe at his eyes, momentarily blinded by feelings. He felt lightheaded, in a floaty sort of way. He had kissed Percy fucking Jackson. He had done it.
Jason breathed deeply again, and met eyes that looked like the vast Arabian green sea. They looked clear, as Percy was leaning forward, a slight dazed look on his face.
Everything else around them was blurred. Percy was the only clear thing Jason could see. The only thing in his world. (Totally wasn’t because of Jason’s nearsighted eyes. Totally not.)
“So...” Jason began, and cleared his throat, mouth dry. “You— you feel the same...?”
Percy nodded, lips parted. He was looking at Jason like he, Jason, was the only thing that existed in Percy’s own world.
“Gods... you have no idea how much I... I wanted...” Percy didn’t finish, instead swallowing down his words.
“Me, too,” Jason agreed.
Wow. He had thought that had been whipped for the son of Poseidon, but Percy looked more starstruck than he himself felt.
A sudden clapping startled them both, and they whipped their heads around to see the source.
Nico di Angelo was clapping somewhat slowly, staring at the pair with a small smile on his face. Piper was standing beside him, pumping her fists in excitement.
“It’s about time,” Nico said. “It was extremely frustrating to watch you guys dance around each other for the past month.”
“Yeah,” Piper agreed. “There were many, many times where I almost shouted at you guys to ‘just kiss already!’”
She jabbed a finger at them. “Maybe I should’ve, so you guys could’ve gotten it over with sooner.”
Percy and Jason both were blushing, both of them happy and embarrassed and exhilarated.
Jason risked a glance at Percy and found the son of Poseidon already staring at him, so he hurriedly turned his head away again, face turning a slightly deeper pink.
“Oh c’mon, blondie. Stop being shy, you’re the one who kissed me!” Percy exclaimed, indignant look crossing his face.
Jason cleared his throat, meeting Percy’s eyes, feeling his heart swelling in a pleasant way. Then he noticed a mischievous gleam in the brunet’s eyes that immediately made him think, Uh oh.
Then Percy kissed him. Short and sweet, but somehow different from their first. This one was shorter, but more passionate, probably because Percy was the one kissing him now. But it left Jason breathless, face now red and lips slightly puffy.
There was whooping from Piper and Nico, and Jason smiled dazedly.
“There. Now c’mon, imma show you what you’ve been missing while you were hopelessly pining.”
Percy stood and pulled Jason up along with him, muscular arms flexing in a tantalizing way that made Jason have to avert his eyes.
“Ooh, look at the lovebirds go,” Piper teased.
Jason, once he reached them, very gently shoved her shoulder. He was a blushing, bubbly mess, happiness obvious in his face.
Nico clapped him on the back. “So who initiated the first kiss?”
Percy jabbed a finger playfully into Jason’s chest. “This dude. Mustered up the courage all by himself. Even flirted a bit before.”
“Oh, shut up,” Jason complained, punching his— could he call Percy his boyfriend?— “friend” in the shoulder.
“You know it’s true,” Percy teased, voice sing-songy.
“You were flirting long before I started to,” Jason shot back, as if it were even an argument.
“Yeah, what about it?” Percy winked, and Jason fought back a smile.
“Alright, well, you two lovers go to your thing,” Piper said, pushing both boys in the direction of the cabins.
Jason and Percy didn’t need to be told a second time.
Percy linked his fingers in Jason’s, and pulled him toward the Poseidon cabin, eager to get up to new things with his new boyfriend.