Chapter Text
Jason woke up to a lapful of Percy Jackson.
He had to admit, it was one of his favorite ways to wake up, even if he had been rather rudely awoken. But he blinked awake to Percy, warm and sleepy, pressing soft kisses to his neck.
“Good morning, baby. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Percy just hummed, not coming out of his spot tucked under Jason’s chin. Jason smiled, sitting up a bit so that Percy was properly on his lap. Percy’s soft noise of protest before he was settled back on top of Jason’s thighs made his heart clench painfully–a common occurrence around Percy.
“I’m sorry that I’m leaving early,” Jason guessed, and the way Percy stiffened let him know he hit the nail on the head. They were supposed to fly to New York together in two weeks to visit Percy’s family for Christmas, but Jason had some… other things to attend to before then. While they weren’t codependent, two weeks was a long time to be without someone that you lived with and adored. Jason wasn’t really looking forward to their separation either.
“S’okay,” Percy finally mumbled, voice still thick with sleep. “Besides, I don’t have to fly anymore this way.” He finally lifted his head out of the side of Jason’s neck, his green eyes sparkling. Jason laughed, pressing a kiss to the top of Percy’s head. Since moving to New Rome, they had definitely pushed their luck with flying. While Jupiter still wasn’t the biggest fan of Jason, they had discovered they could get away with about one flight a year as long as they were together. Jupiter didn’t want to blast his own son out of the sky (or perhaps more likely, didn’t want to piss off his wife who was a big fan of Jason), so Jason’s only job on flights was to try not to cry from how hard Percy gripped his hand the entire time.
Because Jason was heading to New York early though, Nico was going to make a special trip down to shadow travel with the two of them separately. Nico had grown leaps and bounds more powerful after the Giant’s War, but it still took a lot of effort to shadow travel so they tried to minimize his trips as much as possible. Jason was going to owe him big time after this one.
“Well, as long as you don’t have to fly, I guess you can let go of me and let me get dressed, hmm?”
Percy pretended to consider for a moment. “Hm. That depends.”
Jason mentally ran through a list of what they had in the kitchen. He was pretty sure they hadn’t used the last of their pancake mix, and there might have been three eggs. A meager breakfast, but he was certain that was what Percy would ask for. “Anything, baby, you name it and it’s yours.”
“Make me breakfast?” Percy asked sweetly, and Jason puffed out his chest in victory. It made him all tingly inside to know that he knew Percy that well. A smaller part of his brain that he tried to push back most of the time growled in victory at the thought of being able to provide for Percy. He placed a kiss on Percy's temple, willing his thoughts to stop being so possessive.
“Of course. Pancakes okay?”
“You know me so well,” Percy placed a sloppy kiss on Jason’s lips, giggling as he did it. Their eyes met, and Jason grinned widely. Percy’s eyes narrowed slightly with mischief in retaliation, and he licked a wet stripe down Jason’s cheek. Jason yelped, tightening his grip on Percy’s waist.
“Oh, you’ll pay for that.”
“Promise?” Percy was grinning cheekily, and Jason glanced at the clock. Shit. Nico was going to kill him if he came over to their apartment and caught them in the middle of something. The problem was Percy Jackson was cheeky and terrible and brilliant, and Jason loved him so much it was hard to breathe.
“Later, baby,” Jason promised, his voice turning sweet. Percy nodded in understanding, leaning forward again to nuzzle under Jason’s chin.
“My Jason. My Jay,” he said softly, placing a gentle kiss to Jason’s collar bone. Jason thought about the small velvet ring box he had hidden, and to his horror he had to fight back tears. If the next few days went according to plan, he would be Percy’s forever.
“My Percy,” Jason answered softly, one hand coming up to tangle in Percy’s hair. “Now get off me, brat, or I won’t have time to make you breakfast at all.” Percy leaned into the touch, sighing, but eventually nodded, clambering out of Jason’s lap. Jason watched him pull on a pair of sweatpants (he was only human, after all) before sliding out of bed himself. They brushed their teeth side by side in the bathroom like an old married couple, Percy pressing a mouth full of toothpaste to Jason’s just to hear him squawk.
Jason made his way into the kitchen while Percy took a shower. Luckily they had pancake mix coming out of their ears, some blue food coloring, and even some bacon in the freezer. Jason wouldn’t consider himself a great cook, but he had picked up several things from Sally over the years. He hummed while he cooked, and he was turning off the stove top by the time Percy came up and hugged him from behind.
“Smells good,” Percy said quietly, placing a kiss to the back of Jason’s neck. Jason smiled. Percy pulled away, going to get two plates from the cabinet so that Jason could plate up the food for both of them.
Jason had just handed Percy a stack of blue pancakes and bacon when Nico Di Angelo appeared in their kitchen without ceremony. He barely even stumbled, which was a testament to how powerful he had become in the past six years.
“Nico!” Percy said brightly, setting the plate down immediately to squeeze the living daylights out of Nico. The son of Hades grumbled a bit, but accepted the hug. “How are you? How’s Will?”
“You better eat those, Perce. I made those for you out of the goodness of my heart,” Jason cut in, gesturing to the pancakes Percy had abandoned. “Hi, Nico. Doing okay?”
Percy shoved an entire half of a pancake in his mouth without ceremony, sticking his tongue out at Jason while his mouth was still full. Jason pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I don’t know how Jason puts up with you at all,” Nico said in awe (and maybe disgust–or terror) instead of a greeting. “That was honestly impressive, and not in a good way.”
Percy pouted. “You aren’t here to judge my breakfast eating. And you didn’t answer my question.”
Nico sighed, stepping away from Percy to take a seat at the kitchen counter. Jason gestured to the food still sitting on the stove, but Nico shook his head. “Will is fine. Med school has been a bitch for him so far, but he is almost done with his undergrad. He has been a terror this week because of his finals.”
Jason hummed. “He’s a senior, isn’t he?”
“Yep,” Nico said, popping the p. He reached over and grabbed a piece of bacon off of Percy’s plate, who gasped in mock outrage and tried to slap his hand away. Nico was faster, and he bit into the bacon triumphantly.
“I’ll get you for that,” Percy whined. “That was mine.”
Jason watched them squabble while making a plate of his own. Watching the two of them together always made his heart swell–Nico was like a little brother to the both of them, and seeing two of his favorite people together always made his stomach do backflips. He slid two extra slices of bacon onto his plate and sat by Nico.
They made pleasant conversation after that, Nico swiping both pieces of bacon off of Jason’s plate when he wasn’t looking. Both times, Percy fixed Jason with a knowing look that Jason couldn’t really place. Percy took Jason’s plate from in front of him when they finished, pressing a kiss to his cheek with a soft “thank you.” Nico pretended to gag.
“Are you ready to go?” Nico asked while Percy did the dishes. “You have… everything you need?”
They both glanced at Percy, who was humming obliviously. Jason nodded. “My backpack is in our bedroom. I just have to grab it then I’ll be good to go.”
When he came back into the kitchen, backpack slung over both shoulders, Percy was talking to Nico in hushed tones.
“Please be careful with him,” Percy was whispering quietly. “And take care of yourself too. If you need to stop before you get to camp or something, please do it. You two both mean the world to me, I don’t want anything to happen.”
“We’ll be fine,” Nico said, squeezing Percy’s shoulder. “We’ll IM when we get to camp, okay?”
Percy nodded, then smiled when he looked up and saw Jason standing in the doorway. Nico darted out past the two of them, and Jason was thankful for the privacy.
“Hey,” Percy said, his green eyes sparkling. Jason swallowed.
“Hey.”
Percy snaked an arm around Jason’s neck, pulling him down the few inches so that their lips met. Jason sighed into the kiss, wrapping both arms around Percy’s waist. He never wanted to let go. Percy pulled away first though, and used his free hand to cradle Jason’s face.
“I love you,” he said softly, sincerely. “I’m going to miss you. Be careful, okay?”
“You’re everything to me,” Jason answered. “Of course I’ll be careful. You know me.”
Percy rolled his eyes, but accepted, leaning in for another kiss which Jason freely gave him. “You be careful too, okay? And IM me if you need anything at all.”
Once Jason nodded, Percy buried his face into his favorite spot–the small of Jason’s neck where his neck met his shoulder. “Don’t go,” Percy said softly. “Just stay with me. Fuck those kids.”
Jason shut his eyes. He had known Percy would plead with him. “I have to,” he replied just as quietly. He hated lying to Percy about what he was going to be doing in these two weeks, but it was the only way. “I told Chiron I would. And I happen to like those kids, and I know you do too. I can’t let them down. It’s only two weeks darling. Then we’ll both be at your mom’s house and we can cuddle on your lumpy twin size mattress and drink hot chocolate.”
Percy was silent, but placed a soft kiss to the base of Jason’s neck. He knew it was an acknowledgement, Percy’s way of saying I hate this but I love you so I won’t say it–this time. Jason just ran his fingers through Percy’s dark curls, not wanting to rush him. He needed this time with Percy, too.
“Okay,” Percy finally said, pulling away. “It’s just two weeks. We went longer without seeing each other when I was a freshman. We can do this.”
“We can do this,” Jason echoed, kissing Percy’s forehead, then kissing it again. He shut his eyes against the tears. Nico would never let him hear the end of it. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Percy whispered, and kissed him one last time before pulling away. “Now take him before I change my mind,” he called out to Nico, who laughed and reappeared in the kitchen doorway.
“Delightful to see you as always Percy,” Nico said as he wrapped both arms around Jason’s elbow. “I’ll come get you in two weeks, okay?”
“Stay safe, you two,” Percy kissed Jason on the cheek then ruffled Nico’s hair. Nico scowled–Jason knew he hated it when Percy did that–he was 20 now, but he liked Percy enough that he didn’t verbally protest.
“Aye aye, captain,” Jason saluted Percy with mock seriousness, and the last thing he heard before getting whisked away was the sound of Percy’s laughter.
They landed in the Hades cabin without any issues at all. Jason was grateful for the immediate privacy, and dropped down onto the couch he and Nico had dragged in there a few years ago. The place seemed a lot more homey now, but it wasn’t getting a lot of use anymore with Nico and Will both away at university. The reminder of the summers they all used to spend in here made Jason’s stomach clench.
“So,” Nico drawled, finally breaking the silence. He had grabbed two sodas out of the mini fridge he kept in there–for emergency fuel after shadow traveling and definitely not for smuggling in contraband, doctor’s orders of course–and threw one to Jason. “I cannot believe you are asking for Percy’s mother’s blessing for your engagement. It’s like you were the one born in the 40’s or something.”
This was why he had to lie to Percy, even though it was so hard. He wanted his proposal to be a surprise, but he still wanted to talk to Sally Jackson before popping the question. That was the real reason for his early trip to New York, and all the secrecy. He prayed Percy didn’t try to IM Chiron or anything before he talked to him.
“Hey,” Jason protested Nico’s jab without much heart. “It’s not that old fashioned. Lots of people do it. Besides, it’s just polite. What if she’s not okay with me marrying her son?”
“It’s not her decision,” Nico pointed out, ever the realist. “The only answer that matters is Percy’s. You know that.”
“Of course I do, and Percy would gut me if I even suggested otherwise. It’s just,” Jason swallowed, willing himself not to cry. “I never really had parents? And then Percy’s come along and treat me as one of their own. I need her approval before I propose to Percy. Maybe it’s stupid.”
“It’s not stupid,” Nico leaned over, squeezing Jason’s hands. “I understand. If Will and I ever get married, I would want his mom’s approval too. I know what it’s like to have no one, and then suddenly you do. It’s scary, and strange. You’re doing amazing. Although I wish you weren’t torturing both you and Percy by coming down this early. Why couldn't you just catch her alone after Christmas dinner or something and ask her then like a normal person?”
“I want to do everything right,” he said, slumping down on the couch. “And that includes talking to his father. I wanted to give myself a bit of extra time, you know, just in case that goes south.”
Nico’s eyes almost bugged out of his head. “You’re going to ask his father.”
Jason just shrugged. He didn’t see what the big deal was. Poseidon hadn’t ever had a problem with the two of them dating, and he wanted to cover all of his bases. “Yeah. But only if it’s okay with Sally first. Her opinion matters the most to Percy.”
“I will not be responsible if you get drowned or shattered into a million pieces,” Nico warned. That made Jason laugh.
“No, I wouldn’t expect you to be. I’ll be okay. I’m more scared of Sally, honestly.”
“You have nothing to be scared of with her, okay?” Nico’s tone softened, and he sat next to Jason on the couch. “She adores you. She knows you love Percy. She won’t say no to you.”
“No, probably not,” Jason agreed. “Still a bit nerve wracking though.”
Nico hummed. “Finish your Dr. Pepper. Then we should IM Percy and tell him we got here okay.” The two of them snuck over to the Poseidon cabin–even though it was winter and very few campers were here at the moment, getting spotted would mean getting dragged into conversation with everyone and neither of them wanted that. They slipped inside and Jason automatically relaxed.
The two of them had redone the inside of the cabin last summer–with Poseidon’s permission and Annabeth’s help of course. Instead of bunk beds, the cabin just had one queen sized bed in the middle of the room, with a smaller double in the corner for the rare occasions Tyson was visiting camp. They had attached a small ensuite as well so there was no more need for the walk of shame over to the community showers. Now that they were adults and only visited camp occasionally to teach sword fighting lessons or help Chiron, they chose not to listen to the rules of not being alone in a cabin together.
(Besides, the Zeus cabin never got any easier to live in. The statue was always imposing, and always, always, watching. He had started sneaking into Percy’s cabin to sleep before they were even dating, and now that they had a proper bed in here, they both lived in the Poseidon cabin full time when they were at camp. Thank the gods Poseidon didn’t mind when he found out. There were plenty of perks that came with being the only demigod child of a god, and this was certainly one of them.)
Jason threw his bag down onto the bed. It would be a bit weird staying here without Percy, but it wouldn’t be for too long. He dug a drachma out of the bottom of the bag then stepped over to the fountain.
It was only a minute before Percy’s face was staring back at them. Percy let out a groan when he saw where they were. “I am so jealous that you are sleeping in that bed tonight. Most comfortable bed I have ever slept in, I swear.”
“Hi Percy, yes we made it okay, thanks for asking,” Nico said, rolling his eyes. “Gods, you’re annoying.”
“Hey,” Percy protested. “Clearly you guys made it okay. You’re in my pad.”
“Never call it that again or you will regret it,” Nico deadpanned. Jason stifled his laughter behind his hand. He was supposed to be on Percy’s side. Percy pouted, and sighed dramatically.
“Fine. I’m glad you both made it there safely. Say hi to Chiron for me will you? And all our kids?”
Our kids. They had worked with all of the young campers that summer, teaching them swordfighting. It still gave Jason butterflies to hear Percy say that though, no matter the context. He swallowed and nodded.
“Will do, baby,” he said, and Percy blew him a kiss before cutting off the connection. Nico punched him in the shoulder.
“I could literally see your brain rewiring when he said our kids. That was so embarrassing, Grace, I don’t know how you’re ever going to show your face again.”
“Shut up,” he groaned, flopping onto the bed. “That’s enough out of you or I’ll call Percy back and tell him about what happened at Chuck E. Cheese’s last summer.”
Nico’s eyes narrowed. “I would tell him you’re planning to propose and ruin the big surprise before you even opened your mouth.”
Jason sighed. He knew when he had been beaten.
***
Jason supposed it was a bit of an old fashioned thing, asking for your partner’s parents’ blessing before proposing. But Jason couldn’t help it. He loved and respected Sally and Paul, and he knew how much they both meant to Percy.
“Come in, darling,” Sally ushered, and Jason immediately warmed, his nerves slightly beginning to ease out of his body. He loved Sally Jackson with every fiber of his being–and he knew she truly considered him family. Still, it wasn’t every day you had to ask your boyfriend's super-cool mom who’s opinion meant the world to both of you if she was okay with you marrying her son.
Jason allowed himself to be ushered over to the couch, where Sally sat beside him and immediately pulled him into a hug. His lack of speech didn’t seem to deter her, and she pulled away from the hug, holding him at arms length to inspect him.
“We weren’t expecting you for another two weeks. Is Percy alright? Are the two of you okay?”
“We’re fine,” Jason answered immediately, not wanting to worry her. “He doesn’t know I’m here, actually. I had Nico bring me on his way to camp. I wanted to talk to you about something–alone.”
Her eyes sparkled knowingly, and Jason had a feeling she already knew exactly where this conversation was going. That didn’t make it any easier.
“You know you can always talk to me about anything, sweetheart. Now, what’s on your mind?”
Jason adjusted his glasses nervously. “So. I just wanted to ask you–I adore Percy. He’s it for me, I’ve never loved anyone more than I love him and I never will. He is everything I have ever wanted and also what I didn’t even know I wanted until I had it. I would go to the ends of the earth if it just meant seeing his smile. We’ve been together for three years now and it’s truly been the best three years of my life.” He took a deep breath. “I want to ask him to marry me.”
“I know how much you love him, honey,” Sally held out her arms, and Jason melted into the hug. “I think it’s a wonderful idea. Are you worried about how he will react? Is that why you’re asking me? Because if you ask, I have no doubt he will say yes.”
Hearing that made something unknot itself in Jason’s chest. “Not really. I mean, I know he’s a guy too, and it’s rather traditional. But he respects your opinion so much and so do I. I guess–” he blushed. “I wanted to ask for your blessing to propose to him.”
“Of course you have it,” Sally said warmly, pulling away from the hug to squeeze both his hands. “Anyone with eyes can see that you and Percy are perfect for each other. You’re already part of our family, but now it will just be official.”
Despite himself, Jason blinked back tears. “Thank you. I cannot tell you how much this means to me.”
“I consider you a son, too,” Sally admitted softly. “I want what’s best for both of you. And I truly do think this will be best for both of you. Do you have a ring picked out?”
Paul and Estelle came home later that evening to the two of them still on the couch with the ring between them.
“Finally going to make an honest man of my son, eh, Jason?” Paul laughed once he spotted the ring. Jason blushed, and nodded tentatively.
“If that’s okay with you.”
“Of course it’s okay with me,” Paul said at the same time Estelle came running over to the couch, climbing up onto Jason’s lap without any preamble.
“You and Perce are going to get married?” Estelle squealed, grabby hands out to see the ring. She was six now, and the older she got the more curious she got. That was how children worked, Jason supposed. He adored her though, thought of her as his own little sister. He loved seeing Percy with her too–the way his boyfriend was around children always made his heart flutter. He couldn’t help it.
“Would you like that, little starfish? If Percy and I got married?”
She considered this for a moment. “Would I get to be your flower girl?”
Both Sally and Paul laughed, and Jason smiled, ruffling her hair. “Of course you would. You would make the best flower girl in the whole world. But–” at this, he leaned into her, whispering theatrically. “It’s a secret. You can’t tell Percy yet, okay?”
“Like a surprise party!” she grinned. “I like keeping secrets. I will not tell Percy.”
“Just like a surprise party, baby,” Jason looked over at Sally and Paul, who were both looking at him with an unreadable expression in their eyes. Jason swallowed, moving to stand, but Sally grabbed his wrist.
“Have you two talked about kids?” she asked him quietly while Estelle ran off to play in her room, Paul leaving the two of them alone to continue their conversation. “You’re still young, but that’s important. If you are going to be together forever.”
Jason hummed thoughtfully. “In a sort of far-off way. I know we both want them someday. Percy had always been scared of bringing a child into our way of life though. We hate the idea of putting someone in danger because of who we are.”
She nodded. Jason noted that she, too, had probably felt similarly when she fell for Poseidon. “Even if you decide to adopt instead of having a surrogate, you are both so powerful that living outside of New Rome could cause problems. It will be a tricky situation. But you two are both so strong. I know that if you decide to have children you would never let anything bad happen to them.”
“Thank you,” Jason said suddenly. “For everything. For talking to me today and calming my nerves over this–and for raising Percy into the man that I love. And then again for letting me date him.”
Sally threw her head back in laughter, carefree. “If you think I let you do anything in regards to my son, you clearly don’t know him well at all.”
Jason laughed too. “Well, you know. Thank you anyway.” He felt embarrassed saying that out loud, but if she let onto that Sally didn’t mention it. She wrapped Jason up in a warm hug, and he allowed himself a moment to bury his face into her shoulder.
“Now,” she said, pulling away. “What are you going to do about his father?”
Jason swallowed. He did want to ask for Poseidon’s blessing. His opinion mattered to Percy just like Sally’s did, but he was almost as scary as she was when he was mad. He had been mostly supportive when the two of them began dating years ago, but marriage was a whole different ball game.
The problem was that everyone knew that asking for your boyfriend’s godly father’s blessing on your engagement over the phone was so not cool. Jason couldn’t just IM Poseidon and say, hey, what’s up P-dog, I know you hate my dad’s guts but can I marry your son? Cool, awesome, give the wife and kids my love. He would have to find a way to talk to the sea god in person. Somehow.
He ended up going into Percy’s childhood room and shutting the door behind him. Sally had knowingly gone into her and Paul’s room as well, giving him the illusion of privacy. Jason took a deep breath. This could go south very, very quickly if he wasn't careful.
“My Lord Poseidon,” he said quietly, kneeling by Percy’s bed. “Hear my prayer. I need your help.” He bit his lip, closed his eyes, then added: “It’s about Percy.”
The room was silent for several moments before the scent of the sea filled Jason’s nose. He blinked a few times, and Poseidon was standing in front of him, looking rather disheveled. He had clearly run a hand through his hair several times, and his terrible Hawaiian shirt was open. He wasn’t even wearing shoes.
“Where is Percy? Is he alright? Is he safe?”
“He’s fine,” Jason was quick to reassure, standing up to meet Poseidon’s eyes. “He’s still in New Rome. But I needed to talk to you about him–alone. It’s important.”
Poseidon’s eyes flashed and Jason gulped. “You knew I would come if I thought there was a chance my son was in danger. You purposely mislead me. Now, what could possibly be important enough that you would do such a thing?”
His arm reached out, clearly about to summon his trident, but Jason held out a hand and yelped, “I want to ask your blessing to propose to him!”
That stunned Poseidon for a second, enough that a trident did not appear in his hand. “You mean a lot to him,” Jason went on. “I know he loves you, and he would never marry me if you weren’t okay with it. I respect you, and I would never marry him if you weren’t okay with it. So I wanted to ask for your blessing. Because I adore him, Lord, and I want him to be my husband.”
Poseidon considered him for a long moment, and settled into the armchair in the corner of Percy’s room. It made him look like he was lounging on a throne. Jason felt sweat drip down his back.
“I know how much you care for my son, so I will not murder you for calling me here under false pretenses.”
Jason lowered his head, relief spreading through his chest. “Thank you, Lord Poseidon.”
“As for his hand in marriage–I will grant you my blessing. On one condition.”
Jason hated conditions, but unfortunately (for all of them, he would soon realize) he loved Percy more. “Anything, Lord. I’ll do anything.”
The god of the sea smirked, and settled back onto the chair. “How do you feel about a quest? For old times sake?”