So, I like stories that are about interactions that you don't often see in the books, and let's be honest, how many Piper/Percy friendship moments are we likely to have? That's where this came from. Anyways, onto the important stuff. I change my mind daily on whether I prefer Jasper or Leoper, but for this we're going with Jasper. And the entire time I was writing this, I had "We are going to be friends" stuck in my head. I'm still tapping my foot to the beat.
Disclaimer: I don't own it. Any of it. Whatever it is.
To say that the Argo II's landing in New Rome went smoothly and calmly would be an understatement. Actually, it would be an outright lie.
First, the Argo II almost flattened the entire forum, which was enough to send Terminus and most of the ghosts into a panic. Then, everyone noticed the (rather frightening) dragon head on the front of the ship, which did not help matters. Nor did it help that Octavian was screeching incoherently at the top of his lungs; random phrases like "doomsday" and "never trust a Greek" and "huge mistake" and "I need a teddy bear" were doing nothing to calm the skittish Romans.
After that, Annabeth almost started the second Civil War when she sprinted off the ship and tackled Percy to the ground. Normally she would never do anything that rash, but she just couldn't help herself when she saw her idiot boyfriend grinning at her like the Seaweed Brain he was. For their part, the Romans went from panicking because their Praetor was being attacked to averting their eyes awkwardly as said Praetor and the blond stranger who had tackled him began kissing passionately on the ground.
Finally, Leo got so excited when he saw Reyna and Gwen and all the other fine females that he accidentally set his hair on fire. This led to more chaos, screaming, and the unnecessary use of a fire extinguisher.
If Jason hadn't been there, the entire scenario probably would have ended with a lot of bloodshed and an "I told you so" from Octavian, but the son of Jupiter was able to calm everyone down and convince them to hear him out. After several speeches about cooperation and alliances from Jason and Percy (whose red face complemented his hair, which was now sticking out at odd angles), the Romans agreed to treat the Greeks as guests for now. They would allow the Greeks to leave the Argo II docked until the morning, at which point a formal decision regarding Gaea and the Doors of Death would be made. As the majority of the Romans dispersed, Percy grabbed two of them and dragged them towards the ship.
Piper hadn't payed much attention to all of this. She knew that her persuasive speaking would be needed tomorrow, but for now she just had to stay out of the way and not do anything overtly offensive (like tackling a Roman leader to the ground or setting her head on fire). So she let her mind wander, and after a cursory appreciative glance at the buildings of New Rome, her gaze settled on Jason. Jason, her friend and the boy she loved, who was now walking slowly towards a stern looking girl with dark hair. As Percy and Annabeth began introductions, Piper watched Jason and this girl head off towards the surrounding buildings.
"…And this is Piper McClean, daughter of Aphrodite." Annabeth's voice snapped Piper out of her troubled thoughts and drew her attention for the first time towards Percy Jackson.
She could tell immediately that none of the stories about him were exaggerations. He was tall and muscular, with wild black hair and even wilder green eyes; Piper could easily envision him slaying monsters and fighting titans. But for every story of Percy Jackson' heroic deeds was another story of how humble and kind he was; she could see that side of him, too, in the sincere smile he gave to her as he shook her hand.
"I hear you're the new Counselor for the Aphrodite cabin, something about threatening Drew with a catapult?" Percy asked, his smile turning into a grin as Piper nodded and blushed. "That's pretty cool. Drew always struck me as a total bi…" Annabeth punched his arm. He just laughed and turned to introduce the two Romans, a big Asian guy named Frank and a smaller girl with golden eyes named Hazel. Piper knew she should probably be paying more attention and asking questions, but she couldn't help but ponder what was going on between Jason and that dark-haired girl.
Piper, Leo and Annabeth were being given the grand tour of Rome; they had just passed the Baths when Percy turned to his Roman friends and said, "Why don't you take Wise Girl and Leo to the Forum? There's something I want to show Piper." Everyone looked as confused as Piper was, but did as he asked.
Percy looked at her with a knowing smile. "You seem pretty distracted. Trust me, if there's anything I'm an expert on, it's being distracted."
Piper tried to come up with a reasonable explanation for not paying attention to what was going on. "Sorry, I just…I was…I was just…" she stuttered, cursing her persuasive skills for failing her now.
"You were just wondering what Jason and Reyna were talking about?"
"So that's Reyna?" Piper asked as her face fell, having her worst fears confirmed. "Wait, how did you know…?"
"I'm not that oblivious. Plus, Annabeth might have mentioned something. " Percy sighed, "I'm not going to lie to you, Reyna really missed Jason. They weren't dating, but it's traditional for the two Praetors to get together. On the other hand," Percy added quickly, as Piper's face fell even further, "She can't have been too attached to him because she offered me the spot of Praetor right away. So I guess what I'm saying is, don't worry so much. They were close, but definitely not that close. And after seeing the way he looks at you, if you two aren't together by the time we defeat Gaea I'll eat my shield."
"I'll hold you to that," Piper laughed. She felt a bit better, but she still didn't quite understand what Percy's motivation was. "I have to ask though, why did you tell me this?"
He looked at her for a moment before replying. "Well, for one thing, I always hate it in those chick movies that Grover makes me watch when the guy and the girl take two hours to get together when it should have taken about 30 seconds," he joked, but then turned more serious. He stared off into the distance as he continued. "Besides, having just regained my memories and all, I really wish someone would have had a heart to heart with me and told me exactly what was going on. It would have made everything so much easier, and saved me a few gray hairs." He chuckled to himself as he said this, almost like he was making a private joke.
He pulled himself out of his reverie and smiled at her again. "Come on, let's make sure Leo hasn't set anyone important on fire."
As Piper followed after him, she felt happier than she had been in a long time, and not only because she had discovered she still had a chance with Jason. She watched as Percy slung an arm around Annabeth and laughed at something Leo said, and she knew that she had made a new friend.
Well, there you have it. That just seemed like such a Percy thing to do, surpirising everyone by having a chat with the last person they would expect him to. Anyways, please let me know what you think! Also there's a poll on my profile about who you think Leo should end up with, check it out!