Trigger
A PJO drabble
by mew-tsubaki
Note: The Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan, not to me. Oh, and this pairing was discovered by my bestie, BlueMango, so it'd be nice to give her a little mention if you write them! Thanks! Read, review, and enjoy!
- ^-^3
Nico di Angelo was a brave soul. And now, Jason felt, a true friend. It hadn't only been accepting Jason's trust in him but trusting Jason not to spill all his secrets after the encounter with Eros. But it hadn't been just that, either.
What Nico had done… It had imparted some bravery to Jason, as well.
Granted, Nico might not ever say anything to Percy, but Jason… His situation was a little different.
He was grateful for Piper's friendship, but Jason couldn't indulge her in anything but friendship. He hadn't the heart yet to tell her about all the memories that were coming back to him these days, about New Rome and his life in Camp Jupiter. Maybe the bravery he'd borrowed from Nico would help him tell her…maybe after the war…maybe after Jason figured out his alliances…
However the bravery would serve him, it gave Jason courage enough to go to his room on the Argo II and stare at his window, willing the image to change. It didn't, because that function had broken a while back and Leo still had yet to repair it.
Jason stuck his hands in his pockets, rifling through them. Did he—? His hands closed around the coin and he pulled it out. He did. He had a single drachma.
The son of Jupiter looked around his room and found a water bottle. He opened it and squirted a jet upward, and then he used his powers to surge a small blast of air through the watery arc. The water turned to mist, and the demigod tossed the coin into it. He asked to be shown a certain someone, and—to his surprise—it worked. He figured the Romans doubted their former friends would've even liked to spy on them, at least via the means of an Iris message. Lucky for Jason, the company hadn't blocked that magic.
In the background, he spied Reyna and Nico, who stood with Athena's statue. Far behind them was the boundary line of Camp Half-Blood, with Greek demigods standing their ground but not advancing. In the foreground was Dakota, who stood absentmindedly listening to the bickering of…
Octavian.
Jason half-smiled. Well, at least those he cared about were alive and well.
Octavian dismissed Dakota and the others, and he walked away from Reyna and Nico, as though Octavian was now praetor and the sole leader of the Twelfth Legion. Jason didn't approve of Octavian having jumped the gun and initiating the conflict between the camps, but…the Roman in Jason understood Octavian's actions. If someone was your enemy, then best to surprise your enemy and attack first.
On the other hand, Jason also hoped Octavian would finally listen to some reason, since Reyna and Nico had completed their quest. Octavian knew that Jason trusted those two—that should've been enough to convince him.
Even if Hera had robbed him of his memories, Jason had gotten them back. He remembered everything about his time in Camp Jupiter before. He remembered Octavian.
Would Octavian believe him now if he returned and confessed everything? Would Octavian remember Jason?
Jason had half a mind to call out to Octavian, but he hesitated. He didn't want Octavian to get the wrong idea and put further distance between them, because Octavian already thought that Jason had clearly allied himself with those against Octavian. But that wasn't the case at all. After all, you don't watch over someone you don't care about.
At that thought, Octavian turned and looked almost directly at Jason, but the link must've been placed just enough out of sight that Octavian didn't see him. Perhaps the augur thought he'd sensed Jason, but he definitely brushed it off as he sat down with his back to the Iris message and picked up his pilum and began to polish it.
In a way, Jason was glad. He'd rather wait and explain everything in the end, without weapons and without anyone else around.
He'd rather wait for Nico's bravery to rub off on him a little bit more, so that Jason could be honest and say he'd missed Octavian, the stinker—the bad-in-company, ill-tempered, stick-thin, blond, lackluster fighter of an augur who could only be honest and true to himself in front of a certain son of Jupiter.
Yeah, he missed him more than someone who's just a friend should.
- ^-^3
URGH. I need to work on a full-fledged Octason fic. T-T But I still like this. I don't ship Percico, but Nico just gave me a good springboard for this Octason drabble… I like bros!JasonNico, too. -w- Anywho, please swing by the Aphrodite's Rejects forum for more about this pairing and other cool pairings in the PJO fandom that need more love—you might be surprised!
Thanks for reading, and please review!
-mew-tsubaki :]