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The club isn’t that bad. Jason likes the songs that they’re playing.
The lights are too bright—and he knows later on, Leo’s gonna make a comment about how he acts like an old man. Jason doesn’t go out much. He’s partial to staying at his apartment in his sweats and reading a good book.
However, Piper asked him to be DD tonight, which is why he was willing to leave his comfy abode at one in the morning.
He rubs the sleep out of his eyes, pockets his keys, and waves at the club bouncer, Mike Kahale. Mike flashes him a small smile and nothing more. He doesn’t ask for Jason’s history—which is good. Jason doesn’t think he has the energy to chat.
Piper isn’t answering her phone, so he goes straight inside and towards the bar.
“Hey!” Percy says—while he makes a dozen drinks at once. He grins at Jason, suddenly ignoring the crowd of people sitting in front of him.
“Hey,” Jason breathes, but doubts that Percy can hear him. He debates on what to do—before settling on one of the stools.
Percy slams a drink in front of him, making a sound so loud that Jason is surprised when the glass doesn’t break. “I need your help, man.”
Jason readjusts his glasses. “What?”
“Bring this drink to Nico.” Percy pushes the drink close, and some of the alcohol actually splashes on Jason’s shirt. “I’m busy.”
“Is that even legal?” Jason tugs on his hoodie strings. “I mean—I don’t have my liquor license. I don’t even work here, man.”
“Dude,” Percy says. He rolls his eyes and completely turns until he’s facing Jason. “I don’t even have my liquor license.”
Either the music is too loud to hear Percy’s statement, or the nearby bunch doesn’t care what their bartender has just said.
“Shouldn’t you—” Jason doesn’t finish his sentence. He recoils when he sees one very drunk and aggressive-looking girl scowling in their direction.
Percy reaches over the bar to grab Jason by the shoulder, which gives the latter a big whiff of vodka and rum. The stench is dizzying—Jason has to step back and recollect himself.
“You see that guy over there?” Percy gestures to a far corner of the bar. “He won’t care. Tell him I’ve got his tab running.”
“But—”
“Dude.” Percy slaps him on the shoulder and uses just enough force to turn Jason around. “You and your ugly glasses make you look well over twenty-four. Like, fifty, maybe.”
“I do not look like—”
“Jaaaaason, pleeeaaaaase?”
Which is how Jason finds himself with an alcoholic drink in hand—a fourth of which makes an ugly spot on his jacket—and stumbles in the pointed the direction. He’s about to go back and ask Percy where he’s supposed to be going—but realizes he doesn’t need to.
The supposed guy is sitting directly where Percy pointed. He’s smaller than the both of them—all long limbs and very little meat—but that doesn’t make him any less attractive. Jason can’t help but compare himself to ‘Nico.’ Nico’s got club clothes on—tight dark pants and a stunning leather jacket—while Jason is just wandering around like an old college student in his sweatpants and purple fraternity hoodie.
He’s about to walk up and introduce himself, but someone beats him to the punch.
An even scrawnier dude walks up to Nico, one drink in bony hand. This guy looks more like a scarecrow—shaggy blond hair, raggedy old sweater, and an ugly smile to boot.
Nico jumps, startled as the other guy sits beside him. His demeanor twists, obviously not happy with the sudden company.
Jason waits. He isn’t sure if it’s courteous to just walk into the conversation, but the longer he stands there looking lost, the more uncomfortable Nico looks.
He sighs. Then—with the only ounce of impulsiveness that he has, Jason walks over and swings an arm around Nico’s shoulders. “Hey, babe.”
Which probably isn’t a good idea. Nico immediately shakes out of his grasp and scowls at him.
Mister Scarecrow gives Jason the evil eye and he shrugs.
“Sorry that took so long,” Jason says, undeterred by Nico’s scowl. “Percy’s busy over there making other drinks, so he said just to bring it myself.”
The scowl disappears for a moment, but now Jason’s embarrassed that he marched over here in the first place.
Nico stares at him tentatively.
“Hey, the name’s Jason.” Jason extends a hand out to Mister Scarecrow, who looks annoyed. “You aren’t by any chance hitting on my boyfriend, are you? Because I don’t like that.”
“Jay,” Nico suddenly says—and Jason jumps from how velvety his voice sounds. “You know I don’t like PDA.”
“Sorry,” Jason says, and he genuinely means it. His ears are red with embarrassment because he isn’t usually this impulsive. That’s more up Percy’s alley and he realizes it should probably stay with Percy. “You know me, I just can’t keep my hands off of you.”
Great. Now he sounds awkward and creepy.
Regardless, Nico stares him down, a little frown across his lips. He arches an eyebrow, looks over to Percy, and back to Jason, like saying, ‘Do you really know him?’
Jason nods swiftly and shoves his hands in his pockets.
“That’s okay,” Nico mumbles. “We’re…still getting used to each other and everything.”
“Yeah. I’ll be more conscientious in the future. Promise.” Jason sighs loudly, his heart skipping a beat in his chest. It’s 1AM and he decides he would have been better off asleep.
Mister Scarecrow sizes Jason up—which is hilarious, because Jason has to be a good six inches taller and three times Scarecrow’s size. He frowns and cocks his head towards Nico. “You didn’t tell me you were seeing someone.”
“I just met you two minutes ago,” Nico points out. He grits his teeth and leans into a startled Jason. “And now my boyfriend is here. Please leave.”
“But you didn’t tell me that you had a boyfriend.” Mister Scarecrow starts growling.
“Well now you know,” Jason points out. Even though it isn’t his place, he wraps a protective arm around Nico’s shoulders and nods his head towards the door. “Or do you want me to get the bouncer to kick you out?”
Nico subtly inches to the right, but keeps a grip on Jason’s sleeve. “Or he could take you himself. Right, Jay?”
“I could.” Jason eyes Nico again, and realizes there’s a little madman glint shining in his irises. Pretty irises—but this isn’t the time to dwell on that. “So would you rather have me, or Kahale?”
Scarecrow doesn’t look happy with the ultimatum, but he thankfully storms off.
“Thank you,” Nico mumbles, and he takes the opportunity to put at least two feet of distance between them.
“No problem. I—I really am sorry about coming onto you.” Jason winces from just mentioning it. He shoves his hands in his pockets and chews on his lip. “Guess I’m no better than him, huh?”
“No—you’re a lot better.” Nico’s entire demeanor twists and his gaze falls to the ground. Jason can’t help but think Nico looks a little humiliated.
“That guy’s a creep. Just—let me know if he does it again, okay?” Jason asks.
“Yeah.” Nico looks like he’s debating something in his head, but he slowly looks up again and meets Jason with a timid smile. “Thank you. Again.”
“Okay. Well. Bye,” Jason mumbles.
“Bye.”
Jason starts to walk off. He comes back when he realizes he’s still holding Nico’s rum and coke.
Nico blinks at him owlishly.
“He, uh—” Jason points blindly towards Percy. “He really did want me to bring you this.”
“Do you know him well?”
“Sort of.” Jason’s heart does another somersault, grateful that he has an actual excuse to talk to Nico. He doesn’t know why, but he likes it. “He and I are—”
“JASON!” Piper and Leo show up out of nowhere, grabbing him by either arm.
Leo surprises him by jumping on Jason’s back. “Dude! Dude! Duuuude! You’re like, a tree!”
“How many drinks did you let him have?” Jason arches an eyebrow at Piper, who only laughs.
“Like, one.” She rolls his eyes and digs into Jason’s pocket to find his keys. “You ready to go?”
No, Jason thinks in his head. His eyebrows furrow together, and he looks back to Nico—who again, looks very startled by the newfound company.
“Um,” Jason mumbles, “I’m DD tonight.”
“Ah.” Nico cracks an uncomfortable smile.
“Do you need a ride home?”
“No, I’m—I’m waiting on my sister. Thank you though.” Immediately, Nico’s demeanor twists until his lips are back into a flat line. Jason doesn’t miss the way Nico’s eyes subtly flicker over to Percy before Nico looks even more serious. “I should go find her.”
He grabs his drink and looks ready to leave. Jason steps in front of him, careful not to drop Leo from his back and to not touch Nico.
“Let me buy you a drink next time,” Jason offers. “I’ll keep the weirdoes way.”
“Coming from the guy who just called me babe out of nowhere?” Nico snorts.
Jason smiles despite himself.
“Fine.” Nico sighs, pretending to look mad, rolls his eyes, and nods slowly. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“Cool,” Jason says.
Very cool.
*
The next time Jason is at the club, he’s in better clothes. Piper makes him wear a tight v-neck and even tighter pants. Reyna fusses and tells him to take his glasses off, and Leo decides to remind him that Jason hasn’t been laid in eighteen months.
So, with a flustered sigh, Jason lets his friends sweep him away and they go back to the bar/club, with Jason half-struggling to walk in his jeans.
“Dude,” Percy says, “your ass looks killer.”
“Thanks.” Jason rolls his eyes and hands Percy his keys. His pockets are too tight to fit them.
“You and Nico have fun time the other night?”
“Who?”
“You know—my friend from two weeks ago.” Percy grins at him. He takes the time to lean over the counter. It isn’t busy since it’s just a Wednesday night. None of the college kids have come to get drunk and go nuts.
(Jason decides not to comment on that, otherwise he’s going to get another old man jab from both Leo and Percy.)
“The one that you were hitting on?” Percy continues. “You were grabbing him—like this.”
“Dude—when’s the last time you showered?” Jason wrinkles his nose and backs away as Percy tries to spoon him. But he realizes who Percy is referring to. “You mean the guy you made me bring a drink to?”
That was two weeks ago. Jason was tired, and embarrassed after a messy night of trying to save a cute guy from going home with an annoying scrawny creep.
“You two looked like you really hit it off.” Percy flashes him smarmy eyebrows.
“Wait—you came to the club all jank and you managed to bone a guy?” Leo slaps Jason on the back and shakes his head in disbelief. “Nice.”
“I didn’t bone him.” Jason nudges his best friend off and shakes his head at the statement. He flushes red at the thought, and Leo only laughs again.
Piper smacks their neighborhood elf upside the head. “What Leo means is—thanks for picking us up the other night.”
“And if you got some action between the time of getting out of the car and us finding you, then we feel less guilty for humping like rabbits in the back of the car.” Leo elbows Piper and sniggers.
“You weren’t humping each other—you were humping my laptop.” Jason rolls his eyes. “Piper was up front with me, remember?”
“Wow.” Leo strokes his imaginary beard. “I feel like I got off better two weeks ago than I usually do.”
Again, Piper smacks him. “You and your tech.”
“I was helping him out. This creep wasn’t leaving him alone—so, I—we pretended we were a couple.” Jason doesn’t divulge more information than that. Not only does it sound weak, but Jason was so tired the other week that he hopes he didn’t do more than cuddle.
“Speaking of creeps—you’ve got one staring at you. Two o’clock.” Piper grabs him by the arm and subtly gestures towards a larger looking guy with muscles bigger than the circumference of his head and a tattoo of a rainbow on his arm.
Rainbow Guy takes off his shades and licks his lips at Jason.
Jason twitches. He fastens an arm around Piper. “Please dance with me so I don’t get pulverized.”
“What, you don’t wanna get plowed?” Percy actually looks surprised.
Rolling his eyes, Jason squeezes Piper’s arm a little tighter and can’t believe he’s whimpering. “Please?”
She laughs and agrees to anyway.
They dance for a while. Jason gets stuck in a Liper sandwich, his best friends laughing at him as he tries to get lost in the beat, but ends up looking more like an awkward giant shaking his arms like a chicken. Piper laughs, Leo shoves, and Jason shoves back.
Eventually, someone catches his eye. Nico walks into the club—this time wearing a sleek black button up, gray jeans, and converse. He seems to look around uncertainly and—despite how far away Jason is, he sees a tiny smile curl over Nico’s lips.
“That your man thing?!” Leo has the courtesy to shout over the music.
“No!” Jason shouts back with a laugh, but he keeps looking on anyway.
Percy throws a busser towel over his shoulder, leans over, and greets Nico with a smile. Jason wonders of Percy is gonna go through the whole spiel of Nico and him hitting it off really well, and decides it’s none of his business what Percy and Nico decide to do.
During some part of the night, Piper taps on his shoulder. “Your man thing is getting hit on.”
She points to the stool where Nico hasn’t moved from—and Rainbow Guy is right next to him, inching closer because Nico keeps trying to scoot away.
Jason stops dancing in an instant.
“You gonna go all Superman on him?” Leo jests. He doesn’t get a reply—Jason’s already at the edge of his toes, strolling over to Rainbow Guy and Nico before he can help himself.
“Nico, I’ve been waiting for you!” Jason steps out of the crowd and awkwardly dwells in front of the pair. Percy is long gone—helping Annabeth on the other side of the bar, where a group of twelve has gathered.
Nico looks surprised—and suspicious.
“Hey, man. Jason.” Jason places himself between Rainbow Guy and Nico, one hand resting on the counter. He extends the other, and Rainbow Guy is back to giving him creepy eyes. Ergh.
On the other hand, Nico’s eyebrow dart into the air and he looks surprised. “Jason. You…look different.”
“Yeah.” Jason feels nervous, which he hopes translates well. “I’m sorry…about that fight we had.”
“Fight.” Nico’s eyebrows furrow together. Now that they’re close, Jason can’t help but admire how the sleeves are rolled up and how just a smidgen of Nico’s chest is exposed. “Oh—that one.”
“You look nice,” Jason says. He turns around, until his back is to Rainbow Guy, and focuses on Nico’s eyes. Those startling, madman eyes.
“Yeah.” Nico studies him. “So do you.”
“I really am sorry.” Jason’s voice is soft, but it cracks when he realizes Nico knows he’s staring. “Do you wanna try this again?”
Through the loud noise, he hears something shatter. He looks to Percy for a moment—and finds Percy trying to pick up pieces of broken glass, now laughing at their expense.
“Yeah,” Nico mumbles. He looks reluctant—but then he places a hand on Jason’s forearm and slides it down to curl their fingers together. “Yeah, we can try again.”
Rainbow Guy grunts, getting both of their attention. “I didn’t want baggage with this hookup.”
“No hookup,” Nico grumbles, but says loud enough for both of them to hear. “I’m already hooked.”
“Same.” Jason smiles goofily—a real, silly smile, and squeezes Nico’s hand. “I’ve found the pond I want to swim in for the rest of my life.”
The corner of Nico’s lips breaks, and he looks ready to join the laughter. Percy’s cackling, clearly reading in on their conversation very well, and is getting weird looks from his customers.
It’s enough to turn Rainbow Guy off. He huffs, and disappears—clearly bothered by their emotionally deep and committed fake relationship.
“Pond?” Nico doesn’t let go of his hand immediately. Instead, he chuckles, and it’s the coolest sound Jason’s ever heard. “Seriously?”
“Very serious.” Jason nods curtly and smiles back wryly. He peels his hand away from Nico’s, even if his heart and mind are screaming to hold on as long as he can, and shoves them in his pockets.
Nico gives him another onceover. “You look…different.”
“Piper—my friend and another one of ours—they thought I’d been cooped up in my apartment too long.” Jason decides not to mention the whole, eighteen months without getting laid part. He smiles coyly and tries to give this another shot. “And you said that before. The whole, ‘looking different’ thing.”
“Yeah, well,” Nico mumbles, “the last time I saw you, you were decked out in sweats and looked like you were sleepwalking.”
“I—” Don’t really have an excuse for that. Jason knows most people don’t go to a bar dressed to fall asleep. Unless you’re Percy—who could come to the bar naked and his boss would still make him work. “You want that drink that I promised you?”
Suddenly Nico looks uncomfortable again. Jason mildly panics.
“This is strictly a business transaction,” Jason assures. He twitches in spot before taking the seat besides Nico. “I promised it to you two weeks ago, remember?”
“I should be buying you a drink,” Nico points out. “That’s twice that you’ve saved me already.”
“I don’t drink.” Jason smiles weakly. “But the thought is appreciated. I’d love a dance, though. Um.”
“I’m starting to think the only reason you come to my aid is so that you can use it as an excuse to talk to me.” Nico arches an eyebrow at him, again suspicious, but he doesn’t look mad.
“Oh, he is.” Out of nowhere, Percy appears, slamming a rum and coke by Nico’s side. He grins at Jason and winks at Nico—and both flash their bartender a dirty look. “So, you two getting along?”
“Getting there,” Nico says dryly. He glowers at Percy but Jason sees no resentment in it.
“Glad to see you’ve made a friend,” Percy says. He arches an eyebrow. “Seriously, man. You come every night, every time I work, shrug off all the other guys that hit on you—someone might think you’re trying to hit on me or something.”
Oh. Jason’s eyebrows furrow together and he tries not to let his disappointment show.
“Where do you come up with this conclusion? How does any of that get linked together?” Nico scowls, and this time it looks real.
“Just saying. Now, my man Jason here, is pretty awesome if I say so myself. And I do say.” Percy slaps Jason on the arm. “Doesn’t Jace have a great ass?”
Jason groans and presses a hand to his face.
“Please tell me you two didn’t date,” Nico grumbles.
“Drunk make out session. Lasted for like, ten whole seconds, then Jacie Gracie here shoved me off.”
“I wasn’t drunk. He threw himself on me at a party and then assaulted my mouth when I dropped him off at his doorstep later. That’s how we met. And now we’re roommates.” Jason smirks at said roomie, and jokingly punches him in the shoulder.
Nico cocks his head back to Percy, clearly judging him.
“I get handsy when I’m drunk,” Percy says brazenly, and it’s the only explanation that he offers.
“Why are we friends?” Nico asks flatly.
“So I can blatantly hook you up with my roommate.” Percy moves to slap Jason on the shoulder again, but the latter dodges just in time.
“Percy!” Annabeth calls, and she glares at him from across the bar.
“Com~ing!” Percy winks at them again. “You two better bang each other!”
He gives Jason smarmier eyebrows, and disappears.
Bang Bang plays on cue, because that’s just how Jason’s luck works. He feels his cheeks heat up.
“Should I be embarrassed because I know him, or should you be embarrassed because you live with him?” Nico looks a little red himself.
“We can split it fifty-fifty,” Jason breathes. “He’s a bit of a handful.”
“Agreed.” Nico’s nose wrinkles, and Jason’s back to thinking about how he’s in attractive company.
“We can ignore him altogether, if you’d like.” Jason shrugs and slowly detaches himself from the stool. “I can—”
“Can you stay?” Nico grabs Jason by the arm once more before he realizes what he’s doing. His face flushes red, and he recoils, looking more embarrassed than when Percy called them out on hitting on each other. “I’d rather not—I mean, if I could help it, I don’t want to get hit on again.”
“Sure.” And then Jason sighs with relief. He can’t think of a better way to spend his night.
*
Three days later, Jason swings by the club again to drop off Percy’s house key.
“Thanks,” Percy says. Then he grins. “He’s not here, just so you know.”
“Who?” Jason turns a little red, caught red-handed while looking for Nico. They’d had a blast the other day. When he talked to Nico earlier that week, the time had gotten away from him.
Nico is fresh out of college, having spent the last three years studying in Italy. He’s a card designer, creating a game series based off the Greek Gods, called Mythomagic. At some point in the night, Nico said that Jason looked like the ideal Zeus and asked if he could take a picture of Jason as a reference.
More than flattered, Jason obliged and they eventually traded numbers.
They’ve been texting all week.
On cue, Jason looks at his phone, and smiles when he sees a text message.
Nico D: You going to the bar tonight?
Jason G: Already there =)
“You have his number?” Percy leans over the counter, until Jason’s sure his feet aren’t even on the ground anymore. “I don’t even have his number!”
“How do you two know each other?” Jason leans away from Percy and pushes his glasses up the ridge of his nose.
“Old family friends.” Percy’s demeanor twists slightly and then he shrugs. “I knew his sister for a while. We went to camp together—or, like, she sort of visited this summer camp that I went to, too.”
“That’s a very involved story.”
“Thanks.” Percy looks proud of himself. “Anyway—I try to look out for him.”
“So you two have known each other a long time?” Jason tried to ask the other night, but Nico was reluctant. He wasn’t the type of person to share a lot of information—even when he wanted to. Jason knew what that could feel like.
Nico’s gaze kept wandering back to Percy in the middle of their conversations, a line appearing between his eyebrows as they furrowed together. The only promising thing that came out of Wednesday night was that Nico would smile at Jason and laugh in that velvety-tone that he was infatuated with.
“Sort of. We’re…” Percy wrinkles his nose. “We’re like, long-lost brothers who’re trying to get to know each other again—only, without the blood related part.”
“Sounds complicated.” Jason checks his phone out of habit. He tries not to let it disappoint him when there isn’t a reply. “How come he never comes by our apartment?”
“He’s not big on social interaction.” Percy’s demeanor twists before he readjusts his stance behind the counter. “Usually he comes here, sits at the bar, and we talk in between customers.”
“Yeah. Doesn’t seem like the type to party.” Jason sits a little taller in his seat when he hears his phone go off.
Nico D: I might come, too.
Cool. Jason grins.
“Am I going to see your love blossom through the next few days before you two admit you like each other?” Percy snickers.
“We haven’t known each other that long.” Jason flushes red, but he can’t deny how big he’s smiling. He quickly texts Nico back and pockets his phone before Percy can find more reasons to make fun of him.
“You here by yourself?” Percy decides to question instead. “That’s new for you.”
“I came to drop of your keys, Jackson.” Jason laughs and obliges for Percy anyway. “Piper and Leo decided that they want a night to themselves, so they’re staying in.”
It’s surprisingly slow for a Friday night. The owner of the club started to put an extra bartender on the floor during the weekends to help manage the crowds, so Percy has to run around less than he usually does. It’s probably better that way—while Percy knows his liquor well, he’s got a talent for breaking glasses and gets distracted by bartender tricks.
“Then why does, Jason ‘I’m a Blanket Burrito Until Noon’ Grace have such nice clothes on?” Percy’s lips stretch deviously. “Don’t tell me you two are actually on a date right now.”
“If we were on a date, do you think I’d be sitting here by myself talking to you?”
“Hurts, man.” Percy wipes an imaginary tear away from his eye. He chortles before handing Jason a glass of Pepsi. “He usually comes in after midnight and just chills. I’ll let you know if he comes in.”
“I never said I going to wait for him.” Jason pushes his glasses up.
Percy shoots him a look, and he flushes pink.
As the night goes on, Jason sees no sign of Nico. He starts a tab for soda, orders a chocolate sundae—and politely declines any offers to dance. The longer Jason listens to the music, the more painful his headache gets. Percy makes sure to dissuade any drink offers that come his way, so Jason doesn’t have to deal with the alcohol.
Then, one girl slides into his lap. Literally.
Jason yelps when she rubs against him, nearly dropping his third Pepsi.
“Sex on the Beach?” she coos.
“I…what?” Jason’s eyebrows furrow together.
He’s gobsmacked, but apparently his reaction is exactly what she’s after. Jason admits that she’s pretty—half-Asian, he’d guess, with hair that smells like nutmeg, perfect makeup that goes hand-in-hand with Piper’s skills, and an ensemble that—while Jason wants to look away, he appreciates the cut and tailoring of her leather skirt.
“Want to buy me one?” she asks. She giggles in his ear, making him shiver, and wraps an arm around him. “Or would you like to have some?”
“I, uh—” Jason doesn’t know where to grab, where to not touch, and where not to look. He didn’t come to the club/bar to get laid—which sounds stupid now that he thinks about it because 75% of the people who are here do come to get laid, and now he doesn’t know how to respond to her.
(Part of him starts thinking about how nice the fringe on her suede boots look, too.)
“What are you doing to my boyfriend?”
Jason jumps and the girl bobbles in his lap. He readjusts his glasses, looks to the side—and sees Nico frowning in their direction.
Nico arches an eyebrow, his eyes reading, ‘What did you get yourself into?’
‘Please help me,’ Jason hopes his eyes say back.
Percy unceremoniously pops up out of nowhere, points a finger at Nico’s presence, and mouths, ‘He’s here!’
“Your boyfriend?” Makeup Girl’s jaw tightens and her attention splits between Nico and Jason. Her breath already reeks of alcohol, movements a little loose. Jason breathes her in and tries not to cough. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but there’s no way this delicious boy is bending over for anyone but me.”
“I bend over for him.” Jason’s voice cracks and he jabs a finger at Nico. Nico goes from fake jealous boyfriend to hiding a grin.
Luckily, Makeup Girl doesn’t care. She harrumphs and glares at Nico. “And who’s riding him right now?”
“Not on purpose,” Jason squeaks. His glasses fall, askew, and he readjusts them.
Still, Nico looks like he’s going to burst into laughter on the ground more than anything else. (Percy already has, and his customers are leaning over the counter to see him doubled over in giggles.) Despite that, Nico waltzes towards them until he’s standing beside Jason.
The party lights reflect in his dark eyes and highlight the contour of his narrow face. Nico looks good, back in a leather jacket from the first night they met and a pair of long black boots. He studies Jason, the madman glint accompanied by a twinkle of mischief.
“Hi,” Jason says weakly.
“Hi,” Nico grumbles. He rolls to the tips of his toes and presses a kiss to Jason’s lips.
More than that.
A real, heated kiss that totally catches Jason off guard.
Nico cups Jason’s jawline, squeezing it beneath his feeble palms, and kisses Jason until Jason can feel sweet heat behind it.
Jason moans into the kiss because while it’s unexpected, it’s twenty times better than Makeup Girl breathing alcohol onto him. He’s picky about who’s on his mouth, and Jason thinks he’s been at the receiving end of too many drunk make out accidents (i.e. Percy Jackson, Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, Travis and Connor Stoll, and several others) in the past year while trying to play helpful DD, and Nico doesn’t taste drunk at all, which makes this more acceptable and then—
—then Nico is off of him, Jason’s mouth is cold, and all he sees is the red blooming Nico’s cheekbones.
Makeup Girl is scowling again.
“Unless you want a threesome,” Nico grumbles, “I suggest that you detach yourself from my boyfriend.”
Jason’s mind is dizzy, but he’s pretty sure Makeup Girl looks ready to punch Nico.
“Fine,” she says. Then—she latches her own lips to Jason’s mouth.
Holy—
It’s disgusting, tastes terrible, and her nails dig into the back of his neck like claws. Then she grinds, and the rocking forces Jason’s glasses off.
“Let me know when you want to drop him,” she breathes, eyes narrowing at Jason. Makeup Girl slides off of him and back into the crowd of dancers.
“Did she just—?” Jason looks over to Nico, mortified.
“You…” Nico smirks, then shakes his head with amusement. He pulls out his phone, fiddles with it, and holds it out to Jason so the latter can see his reflection. “You have her lipstick on your face.”
“Oh.” Jason carefully takes Nico’s phone and grimaces at the stain of red all over his mouth. He takes a napkin from Nico, muttering a quiet thank you. Jason makes a startled sound when Nico continues to put the glasses back on his face.
“Sorry about that kiss,” Nico mumbles. It takes seconds for Jason to start blushing again. “She seemed pushy.”
“Nah, I’d rather—you were definitely better than her.” Jason inspects his mouth one last time and hands the phone back to Nico.
Their hands brush against each other, and he flushes pink. Nico stares at him inquisitively, and Jason’s so red that he’s surprised that steam isn’t coming out of his ears.
“You sounded happier with me than her.” Nico’s lips curl into a smirk.
Jason clears his throat, eyes ducking to the counter. “Yeah, well—I—would much rather bend over for you than her.”
From the corner of his eye, he sees Nico turn red from the insinuation. Jason hides a smile in his sleeve.
“You look different,” Nico notes, deciding to change the subject before it delves into embarrassing flirting. “Again.”
That’s probably true. Despite his profession, Jason’s never cared about what he dressed like. He’s got a hoodie on akin to the one he wore the first time that they met, and a blue v-neck that he’d probably wear by itself if he was looking to get laid. With that and his glasses on, Jason bets he sticks out for looking too ordinary in a crowd full of gaudy people.
“Just got off of work,” Jason explains. “Percy forgot his key at home, so I swung by to give it to him.”
“Oh.” Nico looks disappointed. “So you’re not staying long?”
He actually planned on leaving if Nico decided not to show up tonight. Jason decides to omit that detail, his heart fluttering a little as he scoots aside. “Not if you want to keep me company.”
Nico looks delighted about that, albeit a little shy. “You…work as a designer, right?”
“Yeah. Clothing designer for Venus Designs.” Jason smiles nervously and nurses on his Pepsi. “Piper’s mom owns the business. I’m looking to start my own soon, though.”
“You…don’t look like you’re a designer.” Nico’s gaze narrows, and he stares at Jason peculiarly.
Which Jason gets a lot. “I look like I’m built for sports, right?”
To that, Nico looks embarrassed for being called out. His demeanor scrunches, cheeks red, but his lips stay in a flat line.
Nico doesn’t like physical contact unless he’s the one instigating it (like that kiss, Jason thinks dazedly) and he doesn’t speak more than necessary.
So, Jason takes his natural habit to ramble and rolls with it. “I played a lot of sports in college and high school. But I was also on the debate team, a Mathlete, Glee Club, Home Ec and—a lot of other stuff.”
Again, Nico stares at him peculiarly. Like he’s grown a second head.
Jason shrugs. “My stepmom and my dad wanted to mold me into a model human being. Some time in college, I finally cracked and realized that instead of meeting their expectations, I’d rather be expressing my creativity. Clothes are crafty. I really like it.”
“That’s…noble of you.” Nico nods his head curtly. He takes the seat beside Jason, finally relaxing. “Must’ve been hard to steer away from what your parents wanted for you.”
“Not as hard as you’d think.” Jason’s stomach twists just thinking about it. “But at the same time, roughest time of my life.”
Nico snorts.
Wait.
Realizing that this might not be proper bar talk, Jason bows his head and laugh. “Sorry, I—I didn’t mean to get all heavy on you.”
“S’fine,” Nico says, and leave sit at that. He fiddles with the ring on his finger, looking at the edge of wanting to say something, and sits back in his seat. “Rough, huh?”
“Percy says you two’ve known each other for a long time. Old family friends and what not.” Jason racks his brain, trying to find a good way to steer their conversation.
“Yeah, I…” Nico sighs, still stuck in his head. He doesn’t look as confident as he did ten minutes ago when he had his tongue down Jason’s throat. Instead, he glares Percy’s direction, looking tired, and then says, “I can’t get rid of him.”
It doesn’t hit Jason right away what Nico means. But he sees the glare on Nico’s face now—knows the little frowns and smiles that Nico usually sends Percy’s way, and knows there’s more to that than what Nico wants to express.
They’re a past there, in Nico’s intense gaze. Jason doesn’t know what to take away from Nico’s words, but he doubts Percy’s even aware of this. Of the reason why Nico comes almost every night.
“He’s really not that bad,” Nico says finally with a sigh. “He just…”
“Leaves you with a headache?” Jason offers.
And Nico smiles.
“You wanna dance?”
“What?”
“Wanna dance?” Jason says again. He stands to his feet, body jittery. “C’mon, you owe me one.”
“I owe you one?” This time Nico’s lips contort into a wry smirk.
“I’ll buy you a drink afterwards,” Jason says.
“You still owe me the first one.”
“I’ll buy you two.” Jason grins when he sees Nico’s lips contort into a wider, less tentative smile.
“Quite the risky business deal that you’re making.”
“I have good credit.”
“And arrogance, apparently.”
Jason shrugs. He holds his hand out. “I’m insured, too.”
Nico shakes with laughter, but he takes Jason’s hand anyway.
*
It takes a few more encounters, but Nico agrees to hang out with Jason outside of the bar. They’re sitting in his apartment, with Annabeth and Percy—who’ve got the night off, Leo and Piper, Hazel and Frank—Nico’s sister and brother-in-law—and Reyna—who’s now making out with Jason’s sister in the corner, and that is a sight Jason cannot unsee.
In one way or another, everyone else is paired off, giggling and taking swigs from whatever liquor is sitting on the table.
Jason strategically shoves Percy away when his roommate offers him a blowjob (even managing to get his belt unbuckled), and he laughs as Annabeth drags Percy away.
“Why do you allow Percy and alcohol to be in the same building?” Nico asks. They commandeer the couch for themselves—the rest of their gang is shouting over a game of Cards Against Humanity in the kitchen. “You don’t even drink.”
Nico’s a little tipsy, but he isn’t as loose as the rest of the apartment. It makes him a little more open and a bit snarkier than usual.
They’ve spent the night throwing ideas around—new clothes for Jason to design, new designs for Nico to illustrate—and at some point, Jason mentions that he might be interested in doing fashion based off the Greek gods—until the whole Percy jumping on top of Jason and asking for anal part.
“You’ve known him as long as I have.” Jason shrugs, flipping through the designs in his book. “And alcohol is alcohol—just because I don’t drink it doesn’t mean none of my friends can’t. This way they all have a DD when they need one.”
“I suppose.” Nico doesn’t have that problem. He apparently lives across the street from the club, so he walks there after drawing and pitching ideas all day to his fellow colleagues.
Jason and Percy, on the other hand, live three blocks down. While a car isn’t necessary to go from the car to their apartment, little can be said about what Percy hasn’t broken around the neighborhood.
“There’s a guy on Project Runway who did his fashion week with the Rise and Fall of Julius Caesar,” Nico says, changing the subject. He takes a small sip of his beer. “You could do something inspired by that.”
“Yeah, but I’m talking about the Greek Gods.” Jason flips to a blank page and begins a sketch based off of Aphrodite. “I mean—they’re the Gods! They’re a classic. Not a lot of people pull them off correctly—you either get something too traditional looking or clothes that look like Disney swallowed them and they came out the other end.”
Nico sniggers. He leans into Jason, unintentionally brushing their arms together as he lets Jason look at his iPad Mini. “You’re pretty passionate about this.”
“It’s my profession,” Jason points out. He chuckles, trying hard not to breathe in the scent of Nico’s hair—and failing, and swipes through the gallery he sees labeled Mythomagic. “Just—look at this. You’re making a card game based off of Greek Mythology. That’s going to be epic, like—”
“If you’re going to call Mythomagic the next Yu-Gi-Oh!, I may have to leave you,” Nico retorts. He glares halfheartedly at Jason, who laughs.
“Then I can’t save you when some guy comes onto you again.”
“I wouldn’t be able to do that for you either, you know.” Nico rolls his eyes.
“Then we’ll have to reunite and consummate our relationship again.” Jason grins coyly, and Nico nudges him in the shoulder with a wry smirk.
In the past month since they met each other, Jason can’t count how many times he’s been to the club where Percy works. He’s lost track of how many times someone’s come onto him or Nico—but he thinks they finally have the system down to a tee.
“I never said I’d put out for you.” Nico shakes his head and sighs with dismay. “You men.”
“Oh, babe,” Jason says mockingly, “you know I like what we do post-coitus more than anything else.”
Nico tosses his head back with a laugh. “You did not just say post-coitus.”
“You didn’t like it when we used the word cuddle, remember? That’s why we started fighting.”
“Post-coitus though? Seriously?”
“I’ll make it up to you next time we see each other at our place,” Jason teases. He laughs. “Promise.”
Sitting back against the couch, Nico eyes Jason with amusement and laughs quietly again. “You sure I’m the tipsy one?”
“Very sure. I’m a very good DD since I’m so boring.”
“I’ll let you know if I need a ride home.” Nico eyes him with that madman glint in his irises and continues to nurse the bottle of beer in his hand. He chuckles softly. “Do me a favor and only squeeze my ass once the next time we have to make out.”
“Will do.” Jason’s lips curl into a soft smile and he feels his cheeks flush. He looks away, hoping Nico hasn’t noticed. “You know, not everyone thinks we’re actually a couple.”
“Then we’ll have to go on a date. Look convincing.” Nico snorts. “You’ll have to bring me flowers.”
“And chocolate,” Jason chimes in. “I’ll have to bring you to a classier place than a bar.”
“It’s a dance club with a bar,” Nico points out.
“I’ll make sure there’s red wine stocked at the restaurant,” Jason goes on, “since I know the way you like it.”
Nico snickers and entertains the thought. “You need to wear that baseball tee, too. That thing always makes me forgive you easier.”
“What, do I screw up a lot?”
“Not as much as him—” Nico uses his bottle and points to Percy, who suddenly screams, YAHTZEE~ “But you do have the same living quarters. He’s rubbed off on you. I guess that’s what upsets me. I date you and I feel like I’m dating him.”
Jason scoffs, but his petty jealousy only lasts seconds. “Then I guess I’ll have to make you date me then.”
“You?”
“Yeah, me. You know—moonlit dinner and stargazing at the park away from noise, since you and I both hate crowds—”
“I do hate crowds.”
“—and after all that food, we’ll have to go walking and talk about our lives—”
“You’ll have to get me drunk first.”
“That’s what the elegant red wine’s for.” Jason grins and Nico rolls his eyes. “And then we can go back to my studio, when it’s all dark and—”
“Consummate our relationship?” Nico smirks wryly.
“Maybe,” Jason murmurs, and he watches Nico’s cheeks glow pink from the alcohol. “We could…watch movies and…snuggle.”
Nico’s lips flatten into a straight line. He suddenly looks sober—thoughtful, and he stares into space. The corner of his mouth curls into a smile and he laughs softly under his breath. “Sounds lovely.”
“Yeah,” Jason agrees. He taps on the couch nervously and looks up to Nico again. “So, would you like to?”
One of Nico’s eyebrows shoots into the air.
And suddenly Jason realizes he said that out loud. “Oh, I—”
He was speaking hypothetically, even if that date has been planned for two weeks now.
“We don’t have to—I mean—” And the longer Jason stutters now, he deeper whole he digs. Shit.
“You…really wanna do that?” Nico’s voice softens to its usual tenor and he meets eyes with Jason.
Jason’s heart skips a beat. He rests his arm against the chair. “I mean…if you’re up for it.”
“Really.”
“You’ve—you and I have known each other for a month now, and we have everything in common. I—don’t want to overstep my bounds, but…” Jason chews on his lip until it swells, and he sighs. “I think you’re really cool.”
Now he wants to hide his head under the carpet because that’s probably the worst confession in the world. And when he looks at Nico, he sees those eyes flash with panic for a moment. Nico still hasn’t said a lot about himself—other than he’s crazy for his sister and loves his brother-in-law, and that Percy means a lot to him, but they’ve never gone past that emotionally. Jason knows what Nico likes to eat, what he loves to do for a living, what his favorite TV shows are—but casual talk is only half of it.
And it’s taken a solid month before Nico actually trusted him enough to lean into him like this outside the bar.
“I’m sorry,” Jason says before he can help himself. He feels himself developing a migraine. “That was…”
“Why?”
What? Jason blinks and looks back up to Nico. He doesn’t know if it’s because he’s not wearing his glasses at the moment—but Nico looks annoyed at the apology.
Nico sighs and rubs his own forehead. Then—he leans into Jason again, tucking his head on Jason’s shoulder after he sets his beer down.
The gesture is so intimate that it goes past their faux-flirting and fake pet names. Jason’s heart leaps higher than when they kiss to steer other people away.
“This,” Nico mumbles, “isn’t a conversation I want to have when I’m fuzzy-headed.”
“Oh. Then—”
“Ask me again in the morning,” Nico decides. “Okay?”
Jason’s heart is still pounding in his chest, but the words calm him down a little. “Are you…sure?”
“Yeah.” Nico moves the iPad mini away from his lap and looks utterly relaxed. “I’m comfortable now.”
Jason sighs. He can’t help smiling a little. “I’m comfortable too.”
Anything left unsaid can wait for the morning.
“I can show you my blanket burrito if you want,” he offers.
Nico laughs.