A/N: Hello Cupcakes
Giant sorry for the VERY late update, this chapter was driving me crazy, and the more I pushed, the slower it went.
(Work is killing me, please bear with me until it gets better - which SHOULD be soon!)

Big sorry to everyone who has messaged me and I haven't replied yet, I just couldn't find the time so far.
(Thanks for the encouragement, though. It really helped a lot)

As for future updates, I can't vouch for things to go back to weekly updates anytime soon, I just know there will be updates, and I'll be as quick about them as I can be.

On another note, the chapter is finally done :D
Big thanks once again to my amazing beta-reader(s) :3

Hope you'll enjoy the chapter,
Tári

P.s.: There's Italian in this chapter, if anybody finds mistakes, please send me a note and I'll fix it. I did it to the best of my knowledge (which isn't much, I only picked up Italian last year and my understanding is limited to children's books...) and used google for comparison and help, but I know how that can work out sometimes (or rather, not work out)
So don't hesitate to correct, no matter if it's wrong word usage, phrasing, grammar, or simply something no Italian would ever say that way because it's too English or whatever.


Chapter 28: Good mornings, Goodbyes, and it's going to be ok

When Percy woke up in the morning, Jason and Will were snuggled up under Nico's Christmas blanket, talking in hushed voices, and Jason had his face pressed against Will's skin, just between his neck and shoulders.

This wouldn't really have bothered Percy, if it wasn't for the fact that Will giggled quietly and let him, his freckles glowing and standing out golden against his tanned skin.

Alright, what had Percy missed this time?

Why was Will such a little ray of sunshine, and why was Jason all lovey-dovey?

Not that anything surprised him after having them snuggled up in the pillow corner yesterday morning already, and them both staying in the pillow corner alone last night (though that had been mostly Jason's insistence, since Will had been asleep at the time).

(So much for not making a move on Will, by the way, Jason. Were you even trying to fool anybody with that?)

He wanted to huff indignantly, but stopped himself, instead deciding to watch them a tiny bit longer, in hope for answers.

Sadly, he could barely even hear them.

He thought he heard Will whisper, "You're such a sap, Jason. Go to sleep. We agreed two hours ago you'd go to sleep first." Percy squinted in the dim lighting and spied Will with a broad, giddy grin. His bright blue eyes gleamed with adoration and mirth, not seeming tired in the slightest.

Jason rolled his eyes, his glasses hanging so loosely on his nose it was a miracle they even stayed on his face, but he didn't seem to care. Jason's grin matched Will's, and he gazed down at the other blonde as if he was all the son of Jupiter ever wanted to look at.

Something inside Percy twisted and clenched, but he ignored it, instead trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Not that he really thought they'd notice him.

They were so close, and their eyes glued to each other; Percy doubted anything else existed in their little world right now.

So, they'd been up for a while already, huh?

And then they just started to get all cuddly and cute?

That didn't sound like a likely scenario for those two.

Especially not Will.

Plus, hadn't Jason insisted that Percy and Nico should keep the bed to themselves tonight?

If those two liked their pillow corner so much, why were they here now?

And why were they so far away from Nico and him?

If they already had to come here, they might as well come closer.

Percy made a face, scolding himself inwardly.

What was he, twelve?

He should be happy that Will was in a better mood.

Although, at this rate, he was certain he'd have preferred that good mood to come from playing board games with Jason again instead of being all over each other in bed, right next to Percy and Nico, no less.

"We agreed on no such thing. You said I should go to sleep first, yes, but I told you there's no way I'll do that if there's a chance to…" Jason replied quietly, and Percy strained his ears to catch the rest, but couldn't.

Damn it, why did Jason have to bury his face in the crook of Will's neck so much that Percy couldn't hear anything more than incoherent mumbling?!

Judging by the blush spreading on Will's face, it was something important, too!

Why was Will letting that happen, anyways?!

Percy watched sourly as Will closed his eyes, grinning from one ear to the other and made a small squealing sound when Jason suddenly blew a raspberry on his neck.

Percy's scowl deepened when Will's hand moved to hold onto the arm Jason had wrapped around him tightly, keeping him there.

He looked so…happy.

Jason's glasses slid off his face, but neither of them picked them up when they landed next to Will on the Christmas blanket.

In fact, Percy wasn't even sure they had noticed in the first place.

What were they doing?

What was this?

"You're impossible, Jason." Will muttered when the blonde stopped, but he didn't seem upset whatsoever, instead nuzzling his face against his skin affectionately once more.

He should have sounded exasperated or annoyed, but his voice was gentle, soft and adoring, as if he had just said 'I love you' instead – and Percy froze, staring at them, his heart beating wildly in his chest.

Jason lifted his head slightly, gazing at Will with the gentlest expression Percy had ever seen, a small smile playing on both their lips.

They looked so…in love.

What had Percy missed?

Had something happened last night?

Had they…were they…a couple?

"Talk about yourself, Freckles."

For some reason, the way Jason emphasized 'Freckles' made Will's face flush crimson, and he shoved him playfully with a small wail.

"Don't you dare, Jason! I swear, that's…you're…oh gods, you're the worst…" He whined quietly, while Jason let out a small, very uncharacteristic cackle and followed Will insistently as the blonde turned his back to him and started shuffling away, as if half-heartedly trying to escape.

"Aw, come on, I told you I liked it. I really don't see why you're embarrassed about that, of all things…" He cooed, wrapping his arms tightly around Will once more and burying his face at the back of Will's head, hiding it from view in the blonde curls, effectively making anything else he might or might not have said inaudible.

Percy frowned, at an utter loss. What were they were even talking about?

Will huffed indignantly, still looking adorably flustered when he turned his head sideways from where he had buried it in the pillow.

"Shush. I swear, if that's what you're going to think about each time you call me 'Freckles', I'll definitely not let you call me that anymore. Pervert."

Pervert?

Percy stared at them in an utter stupor.

What?

Jason chuckled, shaking his head slightly – or maybe he was merely nuzzling his face further into Will's hair, who knew.

"That's mean. You can't just expect me to not think of that, Will, not after…"

Gods, what? What had happened?!

Percy inwardly grumbled and tried to move closer somehow. He was almost desperate to catch the rest, or get super hearing out of nowhere, anything that would let him hear...

Will made a flustered sound that was something between a squeak and a hiss.

"Shh, keep your voice down, you crazy fool. Percy and Nico could wake up any moment. I can only tell how close they are to waking up when there's physical contact, Handsome." The blonde explained, and Percy momentarily panicked, letting his eyes fall shut and trying to act utterly asleep once more, just in case the two decided to come closer now.

So Will really could tell whether they were sleeping or not when he touched them?

Then what about the past times when Percy had acted asleep?

Oh, wait, Will hadn't exactly touched him then, had he?

"They're asleep, don't worry. They were so concerned about you last night that they only managed to fall asleep a few hours later, after acting asleep and watching my every move to make sure I didn't molest you. So, yeah, I'm fairly certain they'll be knocked out for at least another hour," Jason retorted, hoisting himself up slightly onto his elbows.

Will immediately let himself roll onto his back, gazing up at Jason with that warm, affectionate gleam in his eyes that made Percy's chest clench ever so painfully.

He didn't dare risk opening his eyes any further than the fraction of an inch, preferring to see blurred images of his friends rather than being found out and not being able to continue spying on them.

Percy so didn't want to be caught, after all.

And, wait, how did Jason know he and Nico had still been awake, watching the two of them in the pillow corner?

They had settled into bed utterly normally!

Alright, maybe they had been ever so slightly tilted, to actually grant a good view of said corner, but, come on! They had done their best to be as inconspicuous as possible!

Jason shouldn't have noticed a thing!

And since when was Will comfortable with being beneath anybody, ever?!

"Oh really? Well, they needn't have worried." Will muttered, sounding slightly bitter for a moment, and Percy frowned, opening one eye a tiny bit further, trying to catch a glimpse of his face, but Will had turned his back to them, instead hiding his face at Jason's chest as Jason dropped back down.

Jason's lips twitched, and Percy could see the love in his eyes from here, no matter how blurry and small his vision was.

He could also see how Jason adjusted to the new position, his arm loosely around Will's side, stroking his back at a slow pace.

...Why didn't Will ever let Percy hold him like that?

Jason smirked at something else the blonde said, and inched even closer, entangling their legs.

Show-off.

One day, Percy was so going to…to do what?

Hold Will like that?

Jason held him like a lover, how would Percy ever be able to do that?

Stupid him, getting all jealous again over things he shouldn't be jealous about.

"Go to sleep, Jason." Will ordered again, loud enough for Percy to hear.

"No. You go to sleep. I'm not going to waste a single second of this." Jason persisted, and Percy had no idea what 'this' was supposed to be, though he really, really was dying to know.

"You're crazy. Come on, I can feel you're tired. And I know you know I'm tired, too. Don't you want to make sure I get my beauty sleep?"

"Well, it's not like you need it. Look at you, all beautiful and stunning." Jason claimed, smiling a million dollar smile, while Will pulled back to look up at him with an expression that Percy assumed must be confused and/or incredulous, though he still couldn't see.

He wanted to see so badly, though. Why couldn't Will face him again?!

What was Jason saying?!

This was SO making a move on Will!

"You…that…I…oh, shut up. Stop saying stuff like that. Dork." Will exclaimed, and Percy guessed it must have been a flustered expression, since he definitely sounded flustered.

Jason's smile merely broadened.

"You know you like it. Who'd have thought you liked praise so much?"

What…?

Will made a high-pitched sound in the back of his throat and pushed Jason away insistently again, turning his back to him and thus granting Percy the much-yearned for glimpse of his face.

A very, very flushed face, with his freckles standing out like the stars in the night sky on a clear night, far away from the city.

He looked absolutely adorable.

Percy caught himself wondering faintly whether he'd be able to trace star constellations onto his skin too, or whether he'd find entirely different patterns.

Sadly, it wasn't his fingers that gently stroked over Will's shoulder and neck barely two seconds later, but Jason's.

Percy was about to roll his eyes, but then he outright scowled when Jason's face went back to its apparently new favorite spot in the crook of Will's neck, with Will letting it happen without complaint.

He just huffed and muttered something under his breath that Percy couldn't catch, just like he couldn't catch Jason's reply.

Seriously, what were they doing?

Alright, the four of them had gone way past the point of society's general view of what friends did, but this was seriously a bit much, wasn't it?

Or maybe they were dating.

Who knew what had happened last night?

Maybe Will had had a bad dream and only Jason had been there to comfort him, and they had ended up confessing their crushes on each other?

This was exactly why Percy had wanted them all to stay in the pillow corner with him!

He strained his ears as best as he could, but right when he thought he might make out a couple of words again, Will moved and turned his back to him. The two blondes put their heads together, only their hair visible, and their words were once more utterly indistinguishable.

Mean.

Unfair.

Cruel.

Percy was going to die from curiosity.

What had happened last night?

What could possibly make them get so comfortable and lovey-dovey with each other?

Were they really dating now?

Please no...

Percy winced at his own thoughts, guilt gnawing on him.

No, wait, of course it would be great if they were dating.

And finally happy.

Yes, yes, absolutely…

Percy wanted to behead some dummies.

Preferably a lot of them.

An army of dummies.

And some monsters.

Tons of monsters.

Yes.

Scowling, he turned his back to the two lovebirds and wrapped his arms around Nico sulkily, who sighed in his sleep and half-heartedly returned the hug, patting his side as if in reassurance.

Percy buried his face in his boyfriend's hair, trying to ignore the pain in his chest.

He wasn't very successful.

Maybe he should indeed have a talk with Nico.

Then again, if those two had found their happiness, there was no point in that whatsoever anymore, was there now?

Percy closed his eyes tightly.

Next time, he would insist on them all sleeping together, no matter where, no matter how.

But for now, he had to find something to do until Nico woke up, or until those two went back to sleep, or decided to get up, or whatever else they intended to do.

This day was off to a good start, apparently.

At least for Jason and Will.

.

"What do you mean, you're 'good where you are'? I thought it was your idea to get breakfast!" Percy complained, and Nico closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.

Oh gods, Percy, don't pick a fight with Will now.

The situation was already weird enough as it was, he didn't want to see Will getting pissed off.

Especially since he seemed in an utterly terrific mood.

A disturbingly terrific mood.

While being squished by a sleeping Jason, who was half draped over the blonde and had his head buried between his neck and shoulders, his fingers entwined with Will's in plain view.

No, Nico wasn't going to assume anything.

He also wasn't going to question anything.

He had woken up earlier to find Percy sulking and acting asleep, and Will staring up at the ceiling with one of the brightest smiles Nico had ever seen, so Nico had already done the unspeakable and asked 'What's up?' – which had first scared the shit out of Percy, then shocked them both into stunned silence as Will didn't seem startled whatsoever, instead turning his head to them with a big smile and wishing them a good morning.

No startled expression, no trying-to-get-away-from-Jason, no...nothing.

He hadn't even pulled his hand away from Jason's in any way or tried to cover anything up whatsoever.

Instead, Will had stayed exactly like that, looking happy and content and happy, smiling at them brightly, as if today was the best day in existence.

Nico was pretty sure that had been the most unnerving moment in his life.

Apparently, it had been the same for Percy, because his boyfriend had seemed utterly dumbfounded for a very long moment, before he had quickly proceeded with asking Will questions like 'What have you two been up to?' and 'Isn't that a bit close for platonic cuddling?'.

But Will had only replied with shrugs and 'This and that.', 'You think so?' and affirmative or noncommittal sounds, so…yeah.

All in all, Percy and Nico still weren't any wiser as to what had transpired to make him grin that brightly, not to mention why Jason was draped over him like that.

But Nico had decided to just accept it and drop the matter.

Unlike Percy, who kept trying to ask 'Are you two dating?' in the weirdest and most abstract ways possible.

Nico wasn't even sure how he knew, but he just knew that was the question Percy was so desperate to get an answer to.

He didn't know why Percy wanted to know so badly, but at the same time, he kind of wanted to know, too, and Will's evasiveness (no matter if it was intentional or not) only unnerved him even more, so he let Percy ask away, hoping Will would have mercy on him at some point.

Because, come on, Will was bound to have realized by now what Percy wanted to know, right?

Or maybe Percy should really just straight out ask him.

Or maybe Nico should have mercy and ask for him, because he was fairly certain the only reason Percy hadn't asked already, was because he had hinted at them dating and pissed them off plenty enough times to not dare ask in vain even one more time.

Good, at least he seemed to have learned his lesson.

But…that had been then.

Now, Will had told them breakfast would be great, and Percy had instantly jumped at the idea, getting up and urging Nico out of the warm and comfortable bed, too – just to find out Will seemed to have no intention whatsoever of leaving Jason's sort of embrace.

Alright, Nico could see why Percy was upset.

But…maybe complaining like this wasn't the best way to go about the matter.

Luckily, Will merely chuckled.

He really was in a splendid mood, huh?

"Perce, I said breakfast would be great, I never said I'd get breakfast. How about you two go and get something? Jason only just fell asleep maybe an hour ago. I really want him to get some more rest and don't want to risk him waking up just yet. Plus, I'm perfectly comfortable here, it would be a shame to get up now."

Well, that was direct.

And wait, what did Will mean, Jason had only just fallen asleep an hour ago?

How long had those two been awake?

No wonder Percy was dying to find out what they had done, now Nico really wanted to know, too.

Then again, what would he do with that information?

It wasn't as if they would actually do anything that Percy and Nico couldn't guess, so, really, it wasn't a big deal, right?

They had probably just talked or played some games in the pillow corner.

Or had a pillow fight.

Or something similar.

Nothing big.

Nothing bad.

Nico should stop reading too much into everything for no reason whatsoever.

And by the looks of it, Percy should, too.

Then again, Will was acting kind of strange, wasn't he?

He shook his head at that thought, deciding to wait and see – just as Percy opened his mouth with an expression that told him he was undoubtedly either about to complain even more or about to seriously start a fight.

"Come on, Percy. He's right, if Jason didn't sleep well last night, we should respect that. You know how light he sleeps, he'd wake up instantly if Will moved right now. Will, any particular wishes for breakfast?" He asked hurriedly, tugging Percy by the sleeve of the hoodie he had thrown on as soon as they had gotten out of bed.

Percy let him, his head shooting around to look at him with a momentarily surprised, then conflicted expression, as if he wasn't sure whether to go along with what Nico was saying, or continue complaining.

A moment later, though, he seemed to almost deflate, the fight leaving his eyes, and he gave a short nod to let Nico know he admitted defeat.

Nico felt a tinge of unease surge through him at the sight, something nagging at the back of his mind, and he let his hand slide down Percy's arm to his hand, tentatively taking hold of it.

He didn't want Percy to be upset.

He was just trying to avoid an argument…unnecessary drama…fights between them in such confined space, when things had been going too well the past weeks…

Percy instantly squeezed his hand gently, a small, yet still somewhat…sad?...smile hushing over his face.

"Hm…nah, anything will do. But get Jason something…hmm…actually, can you guys get us pancakes? Pancakes would be awesome." Will called over quietly from the bed, though he was staring up at the ceiling thoughtfully instead of at them, and Nico saw his hand now moving ever so gently through Jason's hair, stroking – no, caressing – him.

Something inside Nico stirred again, but he pushed it down forcefully, his grip on Percy's hand tightening slightly, though he tried not to make it too noticeable.

But Percy still stiffened next to him, and he looked around hurriedly to check whether Percy had noticed, after all, and what he'd think, and whether he was going to be upset, or disappointed, or both, or-…

Percy was staring at Will's hand just as Nico had been, his expression between uncertainty and borderline panic, and, as ironic as it was, Nico found himself relaxing slightly.

Then he frowned, wondering what Percy's expression was for.

"Sure. Pancakes it is. That might take a while, though, just as a warning." He said hurriedly when he realized he was expected to say something, and he tugged on Percy's hand again.

He was eager to get out of the room and away from the weird scene in front of him, to think it over, to calm down, to talk to his boyfriend, to get his mind out of the hell it was working itself into.

"Take all the time you need. As I said, I want Jason to sleep a little while longer." Will said in a carefree, light voice, and Nico glanced over his shoulder one more time, catching sight of him with his eyes closed and an utterly content smile on his face, one hand still holding Jason's, and the other still in Jason's hair, now playing with a few strands.

Nico's heart clenched, and he swallowed. He turned away and ushered Percy out of the room, preventing Percy from turning back and commenting further on their friends' choice of sleeping arrangements.

"Come on, let's…let's give them some peace…" He mumbled stupidly once the door was shut, and Percy shot him an odd look, instantly scanning his face for an indicator to his probably more than apparent discomfort.

Worried Percy might interpret it the wrong way, Nico opted for a small smile, but he was fairly certain it looked more like a grimace than anything else.

Percy's expression instantly softened, his hand squeezing his again as they started walking away from his room.

"I suppose you're right. Though, I'm telling you, they had plenty of peace. I've been awake for a while already, and those two were wide awake for most of the time. I really wonder what happened last night. You should have seen Jason; he was all-…never mind. It doesn't matter, I guess." Percy started rambling, then suddenly stopped, looking so horribly uneasy again it made Nico's stomach twist.

He found himself moving closer slightly, pulling his hand out of Percy's in order to put his arm awkwardly around Percy's midriff instead, to get them closer as they moved down the long and dark hallway.

This made walking a lot more awkward and weird, but Percy's arm instantly moved around him as well, so he guessed it couldn't be all that bad.

"Jason was all what? No, tell me. I'm curious too, you know? I mean, last night Will seemed intent to sleep as far away from all of us as possible – what, with him almost deliberately falling asleep in the pillow corner – and now, he's…like this."

He wanted to say 'glued to Jason', but he was worried that might sound like he was jealous, and he didn't want Percy to think that.

Plus, it wasn't as if he was jealous.

The whole thing just made him…uneasy?

But it was nothing, it would pass, everything would be good.

"I know right? I mean, sure, we all got closer over the course of the past months, but this? Jason was all over him the entire time, being all snuggly cuddly, and Will just…just let him. Why is that? What could have possibly happened? Are they dating now?" Percy asked, looking slightly disturbed as he spoke, and Nico let out a low sigh.

"I agree, this does seem a bit odd. Who knows, maybe they are…dating…" He felt his chest clench again and cleared his throat quickly to keep his voice from cracking or otherwise betraying him.

"I mean, it's not like that would be a…a bad thing. They do seem to…erm…like each other. In a way. And…I'm sure they would…would make a good couple…" He added hurriedly, trying to sound as positive and unbothered as possible.

Percy came to an abrupt stop, staring at him in what could almost be considered shock.

"You…" He started, then his whole body seemed to slump in defeat again, realization washing over his features.

Nico could feel the dread coursing through him and he gulped, wondering frantically what Percy was going to say.

Had he realized Nico was still into them?

He must have.

Nico was always way too obvious.

"I…yeah. I suppose so. I mean, they sort of fit together, I guess? And Jason's a good guy, he'll…erm…" Percy tried, but then seemed at a loss for words, looking anywhere but at Nico.

Nico frowned slightly, trying to make sense of Percy's expression, his words, the way his body was hunched slightly, the way he seemed so…what was it?

Disappointed? Defeated? Heart-broken?

Did he know?

Or did he not?

If he knew, why was he saying this?

So he didn't know?

But then why did he look like this?

Nico didn't understand.

He also didn't like it.

His Percy should never look this crestfallen.

Shouldn't it be Nico's job to cheer him up and make him happy?

Wasn't that what boyfriends did?

Being supportive, attentive, comforting?

But how was he supposed to comfort Percy if he had no clue what he was so upset about in the first place?

If Nico started talking about his still existent crushes on the guys out of nowhere just because he assumed, and it then turned out that Percy hadn't been thinking about that at all (maybe he had forgotten…though that was probably just wishful thinking on Nico's part), Nico didn't even want to picture that.

But there had to be a way to comfort him.

Nico should really ask Jason for help on how to best comfort Percy.

Which was pretty pathetic, given that he was Percy's boyfriend, not Jason.

(Though those two did have that bromance-thing going on that Nico was never going to understand.)

He pursed his lips and tried to collect his thoughts, stepping forward to put his hands on Percy's arms, gently stroking up and down awkwardly.

"I suppose. But let's not assume, ok? I mean…you know how they are. And Will did claim hundreds of times there was 'no way' they'd end up dating. Let's just have breakfast, get some pancakes, wait until Jason wakes up…it's probably nothing. You'll see, in an hour or two, we'll be laughing about all this, yeah?"

He wasn't even sure what he was trying to say.

Did he even have a point?

Didn't sound like it.

But Percy did seem to relax slightly, and Nico could even detect the hint of a smile on his gorgeous face.

"Yeah, you're probably right. It's just…a lot would change, I guess…and…erm…you know…I was thinking…" Percy first started more or less confidently, but suddenly started looking uneasy again, and that conflicted look was back.

Nico really didn't like that.

Now he also finally figured out why.

It gave the impression Percy was scared.

Scared of how Nico would react, scared of saying the wrong thing, while there shouldn't be a wrong thing to say.

It just felt…wrong.

"Yes?" He asked, probing gently when Percy trailed off awkwardly, staring off into space as if contemplating whether he should really continue.

Nico started rubbing his arms up and down again, stepping closer, hoping to convey to Percy he could come out with whatever it was he wanted to get off his chest.

It wasn't as if Nico was going to get angry.

Seriously, he couldn't think of anything Percy could possibly say that would upset Nico enough to justify this hesitation.

Unless Percy wanted to break up.

In that case, Nico would get upset, but not as in angry-upset, but as in devastated-upset.

No, he seriously hoped it wouldn't be that.

Percy let out a long sigh, his hands moving to Nico's hips as he looked down to meet his gaze.

"I was just thinking maybe we could make the pancakes ourselves. That way, Jason's sleep is guaranteed for another hour, unless Will wakes him up before then." Percy said with a small smile, though it didn't reach his eyes, and Nico had the very distinct feeling this was not what Percy had been so hesitant about.

He halted for a moment, studying Percy's face and wishing he could be like Jason a bit more and know from just a glance what was wrong.

But he wasn't like Jason.

He had no idea what was wrong.

"If that's what you want." He said cautiously, and watched Percy's gaze flickering to the side for a moment, before he shrugged, moving his hands over Nico's sides gently.

"I don't really mind either way. Just thought it would be a nice idea. I also really like the idea of being alone with you for a while. Just you and me, in the dining room…" Percy's voice was quickly turning into a low purr, and Nico blinked at the sudden change as Percy's smile went from small, weak and fake to genuine and predatory.

Percy chuckled, and this time it sounded real.

"Don't worry, I won't try anything indecent. I really do like the idea of being alone with you for a bit, though. With the other two around all the time like this, one kind of starts to appreciate such small moments of privacy, huh?"

Nico raised an eyebrow against his will, resisting the urge to point out that it was mainly because of Percy that the other two were around most of the time.

Percy caught his look and laughed.

"Don't say it. Just don't. I know what that face means. Come on, there's breakfast to get."

He still didn't seem entirely ok, his eyes still looked rather dull and sad, but Nico decided to drop the matter for now, letting Percy wrap an arm around his shoulders and tug him along towards the dining room.

He'd talk to him later.

Whenever they'd have a quiet moment, with just the two of them, and no pressure or growling stomachs.

Yeah, that sounded good.

Nico could sit Percy down and…talk?

Alright, he'd have to think that through once more, and ask Jason for advice beforehand, because just the thought of sitting Percy down and randomly beginning any sort of serious conversation seemed alien to him.

He didn't even start serious conversations when it was about himself, that was usually also done by Jason saying the right things, in the right way, to make him spill.

After all, he had tried this approach with mentioning his insecurities about 'what he was and wasn't allowed to do' to Percy, back when they had been in the car, all those months ago – and that hadn't really worked out as well as he had hoped, had it now?

So, how he was supposed to find out what bothered Percy was still a giant question mark in his head.

But he'd manage.

"I love you." He said quietly, but determinedly, and Percy glanced around at him surprised for a moment, before a soft smile spread on his lips, the same way it always did when Nico told him those three small words.

"I love you too, Angel." Percy replied gently, and Nico could feel his own lips forming the same smile he always had whenever Percy told him those words, too.

It was truly astounding how good three simple words could make you feel.

He doubted he'd ever get used to this.

They might not have been dating for 'long' yet, but…it had been three months already, and he still felt as in love with Percy as ever.

That had to count for something, right?

Which reminded him…

"Oh! Persephone leaves today, doesn't she?" He blurted without thinking, probably entirely ruining the mood they had just established.

Great.

Good job, Nico.

He looked at Percy apologetically, but his boyfriend was still too busy blinking at him, taken aback.

Then, he laughed, tugging Nico closer for a moment as they kept on walking.

(Percy looked so utterly beautiful when he laughed. Nico was never going to get used to that, either.)

Well, maybe Nico hadn't ruined the mood entirely, after all.

They started talking about Hades and Persephone, and how Jason still hadn't managed to find something suitable to offer Hades, and tons of other meaningless things, but it helped ease the tension between and inside them.

By the time they reached the dining room, Percy seemed utterly at ease again, laughing freely, and his eyes gleaming again so wonderfully, Nico found himself tugging him down by his collar to press their lips together in a quick kiss.

Percy grinned against his lips and hummed contently, gently stroking a wild strand of hair out of Nico's face when he pulled away again, his gaze warm and loving.

It reminded Nico a bit of how Jason looked at Will sometimes, though he wasn't sure whether those two were this far, yet.

Then again, he also remembered times Will had had a similar expression on his face when looking at Nico, so maybe Nico was interpreting too much into it in the first place.

"Do you think Will is going to play SingStar with us today?" Percy asked thoughtfully, and now it was Nico's turn to blink confused at the sudden change in topic.

Then he laughed when he saw Percy making an incredulous face.

He leaned up to give him another peck, then he pushed the door open.

"I'm sure he will, darling."

For a moment, he halted, surprised at his usage of an actual pet name.

Percy seemed surprised, too, though his stunned look only lasted the fraction of a second longer, before he started grinning from one ear to the other, looking proud and smug and utterly adorable, his cheeks flushing slightly, and his eyes gleaming.

Nico was just going to assume this reaction came from his 'darling', and not from him reassuring Percy that Will was going to play with him.

"Good morning to you two, also. Had a nice sleep?" A rather bored sounding voice greeted them from the table and the two spun around.

They were surprised to find Hades sitting alone at his usual place, though he was wearing rather…normal clothes, for once.

"Dad?" He asked confused, while Percy muttered a quick 'Good Morning', looking mildly uncomfortable.

Even if things between the two had somewhat levelled out by now, they were still the ones that had the least conversations with each other – unlike Will, who had somehow managed to strike up conversations (as well as arguments) with all of them; or Jason, who was on fairly good terms with the three gods as well (except when it was for the peace-bringing business, apparently).

But, yeah, Percy got along well with the other two, as well. Just not with Hades.

Sadly, it seemed that Persephone and Demeter weren't around right now, for whatever reasons.

Had they already left?

But they had said they'd do so in the afternoon?

That was why the four of them had promised to have lunch with them?

Ugh, gods were so complicated, sometimes.

And why was his dad wearing jeans and a rather bland, dark sweater?

Not that the look didn't suit him, but…it was weird.

Nico had never seen him in anything but formal attire, always either in godly robes or a suit that seemed more expensive than what the richest lawyers could ever afford.

Hades waved a hand, motioning for them to get over there and sit down.

Nico and Percy exchanged a glance and walked over hurriedly.

"Did Persephone and Demeter already leave?" He asked, but Hades shook his head with a sigh, leaning back in his chair.

"No, they're packing. Don't ask me what or why, but that's what that wonderful creature of a mother-in-law said, anyways." His dad said with utter distaste, making a face.

Nico stared.

As did Percy, for that matter, his eyebrows raised so high they were hidden from view behind his ever growing fringe.

(They should all seriously get a haircut sometime soon.)

His father was acting rather…strange.

So…human.

It was disturbing.

"Umm…ok." He said lamely, looking around at the dishes spread out on the table.

Seriously, though, what was he supposed to say to that?

'Sucks to be you?'

'Maybe they want to grab some of the decoration skulls to have something that reminds them of you?'

'Why don't you just kick Demeter out already and 'kidnap' your wife once more, if you're so desperate for some alone-time?'

Actually…

Nico glanced over at Percy, who was still staring at Hades with a stunned expression, though he did seem to feel Nico's gaze, as he met his eyes only a moment later.

Nico tried to have a silent conversation with him, the way Jason usually managed to do it.

Judging by the way Percy's stunned expression now turned confused, he was failing miserably.

Still, Nico tried his best, nodding his head ever so inconspicuously at Hades as possible, so he wouldn't notice.

Come on, Percy, this is your chance!

Percy looked between him and the god, his eyebrows still knit together in confusion.

Then, suddenly, realization flashed across his features – only to have him look even more confused, staring at Nico as if he was crazy.

What?

Ok, what had Percy understood?

Oh gods, he better not have misunderstood anything.

Maybe Nico should have tugged him closer and whispered into his ear or something.

Then again, that would have made Hades notice and thus ruin the entire point.

Percy shot him a last dubious look, then he turned towards the god, clearing his throat.

"If you want, we could try to humor your mother-in-law for a while, to…you know…give you some time with your wife…?" His boyfriend, his wonderful, wonderful – but so horribly STUPID – boyfriend suggested hesitantly, and Nico was fairly certain his head had never snapped around faster.

What?!

Percy, NO!

Why?!

All Nico had wanted was for Percy to say something comforting, something to get Hades' good grades, to put them on better terms since they'd probably spend some more time down here…

Why did he have to offer…this?

This was madness!

Did he not know what he was offering?

Had he seriously just said he'd try to keep Demeter away from Persephone and Hades, so those two could do…whatever it was they wanted to do (Nico didn't want to know)?!

Demeter would kill them.

And Hades.

And everybody involved except her daughter (though maybe her as well).

That was like…like…like telling Percy he'd have to spend a day by himself while Jason and Will kidnapped Nico to someplace secret and far away.

No, that wasn't quite right.

It would be like somebody telling Percy he'd have to spend a day by himself while that somebody kidnapped Nico, Jason and Will and kept the three of them locked away somewhere.

Yeah, that was about right.

Percy would murder anything in his path to get to them, Nico was certain.

And Demeter would, too, once she found out they were just trying to distract her and keep her away from her daughter and Hades.

(No wonder Persephone had never had any children. With her mother around the entire time, Nico was surprised to have caught them in an intimate moment even once. Wow, now he almost felt bad for having interrupted them back then. Then again: eww.)

Hopefully, his father would say no.

Nico looked back to the god, but his hopes were instantly squashed as he saw his dad considering Percy with a doubtful, yet thoughtful expression.

Then the god leaned forward.

"You're aware of what you're offering, Jackson, right? Well, I must say, I'm surprised. At this rate, I might just have to overthink my opinion of you. Maybe."

Wait, what?

Did this mean Hades took him up on it?

No!

How were they even supposed to keep Demeter busy?

He looked back at Percy, and Percy was looking at him with big eyes, confusing him for a moment before he realized he had moved his hand to Percy's thigh and squeezed the hell out of it.

Oops.

He tried to look as inconspicuously urgent as possible, which apparently was impossible to do, since all it accomplished was making his face hurt, his dad smirk and Percy look at an utter loss.

"Erm…" His boyfriend said hesitantly into the silence, and Nico racked his brain for something to say or do to fix this in any way.

But with the offer already in the room, he as Hades' son couldn't exactly say that wasn't a good idea and that they wouldn't do it.

In the end, Hades would make Percy do it on his own, and Nico intended to grow old with a living Percy, thank you very much.

So, he had to find some sort of excuse.

Anything.

Nico concentrated hard.

Percy shifted next to him.

The silence stretched on.

Nico found nothing he could use.

Ugh.

"Well, as Percy said, we can try. Don't expect too much, though. For all we know, she might expect something like that and not fall for it at all." He finally reasoned, looking at his father even though he really didn't want to.

Hades had his elbows on the table and his chin resting on his hands, studying them with a gleeful expression.

Sadistic bastard.

Percy let out a breath he seemed to have been holding, relaxing slightly, though Nico wanted to glower at him for bringing forth this situation in the first place.

Seriously, that guy.

How had he ever survived the past years with the two wars and Tartarus and the impending end of the world?

Good thing everything was peaceful, more or less, right now.

Then again, now Percy also had Nico, Jason and Will with him, so they should be enough to avert any danger and damage…he hoped.

But with all the monsters lying low, and everything rather quiet, he guessed he didn't have to worry much about such things right now.

However, what he should worry about, was how they were going to get out of this, else they'd both end up dead before their time had come.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll figure something out. In fact, I believe she has been meaning to have some time alone with you two, anyways. Something about 'preparing you for the real world' and 'you need to know how to grow your own crops if you want to get anywhere in life'. You know, the usual." Hades said with a dismissive wave of his hand, a definite hint of amusement and glee in his eyes, and Nico inwardly groaned.

Just great.

Percy now looked guilty, glancing sideways at Nico with a guilty puppy-eyes look that conveyed much more than the mute 'I am so sorry this is happening'.

Nico felt his expression softening, unable to be mad at Percy, even though this just plainly sucked.

He guessed it was partly his own fault, too.

Alright, he had only wanted Percy to say something nice and understanding to Hades to show him he cared, and thus show Hades what a great guy he was, but Nico guessed he should have went about letting Percy know of this great plan in a different way.

Meh.

He sighed, moving his hand back to Percy's thigh to stroke over it gently, hoping offhandedly that he hadn't actually injured him earlier.

"Oh. That's great, then. We'll let her know once we see her, then. And, well, we need to talk it over with Jason and Will, I guess."

Ha! Maybe they could get away if Will and/or Jason claimed they weren't feeling too well!

Nico just started feeling victorious, when his father chuckled quietly.

"I'm sure they won't mind you being gone for a few hours. It will give them some time to…sort things out." He said with a small (and rather creepy, yet disturbingly characteristic) smile and a knowing look that made Nico's skin tingle unpleasantly.

What?

Did Hades know about whatever had happened last night between Will and Jason?

Oh gods, he did, didn't he?

Why? How?

Was it something big?

Something important?

Wait, did this mean Will and Jason had actually left their room?

Had they been someplace in the Underworld?

Was that why they apparently hadn't slept?

And wait, did this mean they were dating?

Hurt flashed through him and it took all his willpower not to wince, but then he was distracted by Percy stiffening to a board next to him.

"You…they…sort what out, exactly?" His boyfriend asked, his tone not hesitant, but horribly demanding.

Oh gods, Percy, no.

Hades raised an eyebrow at him, and Nico instinctively shifted closer, drawing his father's attention away from Percy, just to make sure there wouldn't be any accidents.

But Hades neither seemed surprised, nor perturbed by Percy's rather harsh tone, instead smirking ever so slightly.

Nico couldn't help but notice that Hades also suddenly didn't seem disgruntled or upset whatsoever anymore, either.

Great.

At least Percy and Nico had succeeded in lifting his spirits - at the cost of their own peace of mind.

(But that wasn't very surprising, considering the gods never particularly seemed to care about the humans involved in any sort of situation, as the past clearly showed.)

"You should eat your breakfast. It seems you'll have a busy day, and I'm sure you'll need the nutrition. Unless you wish to ruin your sun-boy's good mood?" Hades said, fixing Percy with a malicious look that made Nico want to groan out loud, especially when Percy looked like he was ready to pick a fight once more.

But before Nico could say or do anything, Percy let out a small sigh and looked around the table with a grumpy expression, grabbing a bowl and the cereal.

Nico wondered faintly whether Percy only decided to let this pass because he knew it would upset Nico, because Hades was Nico's dad and Percy wanted to rather be on these terms with him than worse – or whether it was the fact that Will would be upset.

Not liking where his thoughts were going, he shifted and imitated Percy, grabbing some toast because it was closest.

"So, how are we going to let her know we want to…spend time with her?" Nico asked, maybe hoping faintly they'd have to wait for Demeter to show up, which might not happen until the two goddesses needed to leave, after all.

"I am sure she'll come if you call for her. How you go about it is your decision." Hades said with a shrug and Nico sighed.

To be expected.

"We wanted to cook pancakes." Percy mumbled, and Hades' gaze shot back to him, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

"Are you trying to talk your way back out of it?" He asked, not exactly sounding angry, but definitely challenging.

Nico once more groaned inwardly.

Just. Great.

Hades leaned back, adapting his earlier grumpy expression once more, undoubtedly about to act like a freaking spoiled teenager again – but Percy cut in before he could say anything.

"No. Of course not. I stick to my word." He said hastily, then added a 'Like I always do, if you haven't noticed' under his breath, which Hades either didn't hear (unlikely) or simply ignored (probably).

"Good, then. That means you'll-…"

"But we did however already decide to cook Will and Jason pancakes, since they were busy doing whatever-they-were doing all night long, and now need to catch up on their sleep." Percy added pointedly, purposefully interrupting Hades, though the god let him, leaning back once more and crossing his arms in front of his chest.

He studied Percy with narrowed eyes, as if contemplating his words, and he might have looked imposing, if it hadn't been for that plain sweater that was still so very unusual for the god.

Nico looked back at Percy, who was watching Hades intently, pretty much daring Hades to oppose him in some way.

But all that happened was that Hades' lips twitched in apparent amusement.

"Alright. Specially cooked pancakes for the two, it is. Very well."

Nico sighed, slumping in his seat and noticing he had put far too much jam on his toast.

He didn't even like jam all that much.

Glancing over, he saw Percy relaxing slightly and looking down at his untouched bowl of cereal with slight distaste in his features.

True, Percy didn't like cereal much.

Which was ironic, since Demeter had kept claiming he was the one who had eaten most of that stuff.

Probably thanks to his mother, Nico guessed.

Nico poked his thigh gently, and Percy glanced sideways at him with a questioning expression, so Nico motioned for them to switch food.

He didn't mind cereal, and as far as he knew, Percy liked jam, so why not make use of that and save them from an even more unpleasant breakfast?

Funnily enough, Percy understood that just fine, unlike Nico's earlier try at a mute conversation.

Then again, he really couldn't blame Percy.

Not after thinking about it some more.

They switched, plate for bowl, and neither of them looked up to check whether Hades was watching or not, instead shooting small smiles at each other.

Percy's hand even stroked over his thigh ever so quickly, the touch tentative and timid, before he turned to start eating, and Nico mimicked him.

They ate in relative silence, only disturbed by Hades' sudden disgruntled huff as he complained about the 'discomfort of human fashion' – with which he meant his jeans.

Jeans.

Nico was fairly certain this was one of those moments Will would have loved to witness and record.

A god getting fed up with wearing jeans.

Nico glanced up at Percy, just to have him looking his way right in that moment, grinning and mouthing 'Will would love this' – showing they had probably thought the same thing.

Both bit back their chuckles as Hades shot them a stern, searching look, as if daring them to laugh at his dismay, though Nico could tell Percy wasn't going to hold out for long.

Once he was 'about to laugh', Percy generally did end up laughing.

So, Nico saved him from the looming early end that would await him should he succumb to his desire to laugh – which was to say, he leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek, effectively stopping the suppressed giggles as his boyfriend turned to look at him with surprised, wide eyes.

Though the expression quickly changed into a relieved, pleased one, and the next moment, Percy's hand was on Nico's thigh again, this time stroking over it the way he usually did, not like the hesitant, tentative touch from earlier.

He also leaned down as if to kiss him, but then seemed to change his mind with a quick glance sideways at Hades, settling for pressing his lips against Nico's forehead for the shortest second Nico had ever witnessed.

Meh, they'd make up for it later, he was certain.

"Don't you two have breakfast to finish so you can get back to your room to feed your boyfriends?" Hades said in a bored tone, and Nico felt himself tensing at the term all over again, while Percy merely looked unimpressed, though he did eye Nico with an odd expression a moment later, anyways

"They're not our boyfriends, dad. We're friends. I'm dating Percy." He grumbled pointedly, shifting and wondering faintly why Percy's shoulders slumped again the way they did quite a lot lately (though it might just be Nico's imagination, too).

Hades sighed. "I know. But one can always hope."

Nico glared at his father for saying something like that when Percy was literally right there, but Percy didn't seem bothered by the obvious I-don't-like-you-vibe Hades was sending out right now.

In fact, he found his boyfriend frowning at Hades with a puzzled expression, as if Hades had said something weird.

Hm, whatever.

His father was right.

They had a breakfast to finish.

Then they'd have to cook pancakes and bring them to Will and explain to him where they'd be for the rest of the day (or until noon, he had no idea, actually).

Oh, how Nico was looking forward to that.

Not.

He sighed, wishing they could have stayed in bed with the other two as well, maybe sneak closer to form their usual big bundle of heat and comfort.

Will had looked so nice and warm, too, he almost envied Jason.

Nico sighed wistfully once more, then drowned his sorrows in the bowl of cereal as he wolfed down his food, glancing sideways at Percy to see him turning his head away hurriedly, grabbing another slice of toast.

Well, this day was off to a weird start, that much was for certain.

Hopefully, things would turn out alright, though.

Maybe Demeter wouldn't come when they called, and they would get to spend the day in bed with the other two, after all.

One could always hope, right?

.

When they got back to their room after what Percy considered one of the worst and most awkward breakfasts ever, they found Will fast asleep with his arms and a leg flung around Jason, the Christmas blanket somewhere around their feet as if Will had taken personal offense at the fabric and kicked it there unlovingly and cruelly.

He probably had.

Percy huffed out a breath while placing the requested plate of pancakes on the bedside table to the right of the bed, letting his eyes travel over their mostly exposed bodies ever so quickly.

Just to check for any signs as to what had happened last night.

Not that Percy was overly curious or anything.

Well, yeah, he was.

He was desperate to know.

Still.

Even though he knew he shouldn't be.

He couldn't care less, he just desperately wanted to know, and there was that.

But they seemed perfectly fine.

No hickeys, no bruises, no anything.

Other than some darker marks along Jason's shoulder blades, but, well, those weren't exactly new.

Percy had noticed the past days that Jason had been carrying marks like that, so he assumed Will must have clawed his back at some point.

Maybe while crawling over them all, since he tended to do that a lot.

Or maybe he had had a bad dream and they all simply hadn't noticed, now that there wasn't that urgency anymore that had come with Will's horrid nightmares before.

So, yeah, Percy wasn't very concerned about those.

Plus, Will was so insistent on the top/bottom-issue, he was pretty sure it would be Will having marks afterwards, since Jason would have to be on the receiving end (Percy wished that would rule out the entire option, but, well, he was pretty sure Jason would do close to anything and everything for Will at this point).

But Will was utterly unmarred.

Of course he was.

Why wouldn't he be?

It wasn't as if those two would actually do anything, after all.

Percy felt his skin tingle and turned away, catching Nico eyeing the two with a definite hint of worry and discomfort in his gaze.

Percy wished he could say something comforting or reassuring, but sadly he had no idea what to say nor whether it would be appreciated.

Plus, he really had no idea what Nico was bothered about, since, again, his boyfriend seemed to enjoy sending out mixed signals.

Like earlier, with Hades.

Percy still had no idea whether Nico was actually angry at him or not.

He really hadn't said much, to be honest.

Then again, they hadn't had much chance to chat, what, with the god all sulky.

And on the way back, Percy had been too busy fuming and feeling disappointed, because…well…that god!

Gods, that GOD!

Not only had he shocked the hell out of Percy when he had just suddenly been there, in the dining room, during breakfast, when they had definitely agreed on lunch together – he had also somehow managed to get Percy to completely misunderstand whatever Nico had tried to tell him (he actually still had no idea what Nico had actually wanted him to do), which had of course resulted in this mess.

And, not only did they have to spend the next however many hours with Demeter to keep her away from her daughter and Hades, no, but he had also ruined Nico's and Percy's morning plans with letting a couple of skeletons (or whatever else he had summoned, Percy didn't even want to know anymore) to make them the pancakes.

To 'speed things up a bit'.

Great.

That had been Percy's last hope to somehow get them out of the whole thing with Demeter.

They could have taken their time cooking, and then they'd have had to stick around to make sure Jason and Will ate up, and then they could have slowly made their way back, and maybe only spend an hour or so with the goddess of agriculture…but, of course, Hades had had other plans, and now they'd have to suffer.

Just great.

Couldn't Hades have just appreciated his offer but not actually taken him up on it?

Percy knew he had messed up.

One didn't just go around offering gods things like this.

But, well, he had thought…he had thought Nico had wanted him to.

It had made sense in his head, after all.

That Nico looked at him so urgently because he hoped Percy would offer help, be supportive, try to improve the fragile, kind of non-existent bond between his boyfriend's father and himself.

Apparently, he had been wrong.

More than apparently.

Obviously.

Gods, Nico probably really was mad.

"How are we going to let them know where we are? Just write them a note?" Nico asked with a light frown, and Percy was torn out of his thoughts, blinking slightly.

True, with Will asleep, they couldn't exactly tell anybody they'd be gone for a while, uselessly risking their necks because Percy proved to be an idiot once more.

(He faintly wondered whether that would ever get better. Who knew, maybe he'd wake up one day and just…not be an idiot anymore? Oh well, one could always dream.)

"I guess so, unless you want to wake one of them…" He said with a shrug, and Nico instantly shook his head.

"No, let them sleep. They seem to…need it. Anyways, can you…you know…write it? I'll get changed into something more suitable, since I am fairly certain we'll end up somewhere far away from here, where it' probably going to be a lot colder." Nico explained hesitantly, gesturing at the thin, black sweater and casual skinny jeans he had thrown on in a hurry earlier (he looked adorable and Percy wanted to touch and undress him slowly, letting his hands roam every inch of skin, push Nico down on the bed – or the pillow corner, Percy really wasn't picky – and…alright, those were not thoughts he should be nourishing right now).

"Erm, sure." Percy said hastily, as Nico already moved over to the wardrobe to pick out some clothes, then hurried off to the bathroom with a last ghost of a smile into Percy's direction.

Was he mad?

He probably was.

This was far from how he had probably wanted to spend the day, after all.

And now that the other two seemed utterly knocked out, they could have made such good use of the time alone to do some couple-y stuff.

Whatever that might have been.

But now, they had obviously been robbed off that chance.

Because of Percy, of course.

He sighed, waiting until the bathroom door closed with a small click, before getting up to collect pen and paper (he decided not to write with Riptide, not when the pens were right in the drawer next to the bed).

Alright, what to write?

Percy made a face, sitting at the edge of the bed and staring off into space, faintly remembering similar emotions rushing through him back in December, when he had written notes for Nico daily.

Just that this time, he wasn't leaving love notes.

Though he wondered faintly how Will and Jason would react if they woke up to something like 'Dear boyfriends from hell, I love you to bits, but you're cruel as fuck, freaking us out with only sticking to each other like that. Nico and I have run away in our pain and misery. You'll never find us. XOXO Percy'.

Yeah, no.

All jokes aside, though, what was he supposed to write?

Well, he knew what to write, but how?

How should he even address them?

With Nico, he had opted for a somewhat formal 'Dear Nico', but that had been because he had been anonymous and not wanted to freak him out or sound weird.

However, he was pretty sure Will would make fun of him for the rest of his life if he wrote anything like 'Dear Will and Jason' (because Will would never stand for being named second, he was certain) or 'Dear friends'.

Percy sighed, turning the pen in his fingers and turning his head around to gaze at the two blondes.

They looked so happy and peaceful, it was heartbreaking.

Then again, it kind of wasn't, at all.

It was nice.

Percy liked seeing them so relaxed and at ease.

Their sleeping faces were so adorable, too.

Especially Will, with all his freckles (Percy still wanted to count those).

The heartbreaking thing was that they were like this with each other, instead of with Percy and Nico.

But, well, that was just Percy being stupid again.

He sighed once more, returning his attention to the paper before he did something even more stupid and crawled back into bed to those two.

Though he did wonder faintly whether they'd accept him and tug him closer, or reject him and shove him away to keep to themselves and their safe haven.

Percy dreaded the answer, so he pushed the matter aside for now, focusing on the structure – and the emptiness – of the paper.

Alright…what to write…

Percy clicked the pen a hundred times, then realized Nico could come out of the bathroom at any moment and would probably expect Percy to be done by then.

What was he even doing, acting like this was such a big deal?

He was just supposed to write them a simple 'We'll be back later', not some elaborate love confession or anything.

Annoyed with himself, he leaned forward and started scribbling, cringing at his messy handwriting.

Yeah, well, with Nico he had actually bothered writing readable, but that didn't mean he had to pour the same effort into something simple like this, right?

At least that's what Percy told himself, though he noticed he did make said effort and tried his best to write as clean and nice as possible.

'Hey guys,

I messed up. We have to keep Demeter from cock-blocking Hades and Persephone until noon.

Better don't leave the room.

Pancakes are on the nightstand, courtesy of Hades' staff (I took a bite to make sure they aren't poisoned, so you should be good).

Hope you get all the rest you need and that everything is okay.

Enjoy the peace.

Behave.

Don't do anything too weird.

Pray that we make it out of this alive (or I, at least. I think Nico is safe. At least I hope so. Yeah, pray for us both, just to make sure).

See you guys later (hopefully).

Your pal, Percy.'

He scribbled, wincing when he wrote 'boyf' instead of 'pal' at first, and crossing it out so hard the paper almost tore.

Yeah, he had a hunch that joke wouldn't be very appreciated by either Nico, Will, nor Jason.

Jason would slaughter him if he thought Percy was trying anything, after all.

Especially since things seemed so rosy between Will and Jason right now.

Yep, Jason would definitely slaughter him.

Not that he had any reason to.

Percy rolled his eyes at himself and read over the note once more.

Yeah, alright, seemed decent enough.

It did sound a bit too serious, though, didn't it?

He contemplated his writing for another long moment, then gave in.

'P.s.: In case I do meet my demise, please make sure my shroud is blue.'

It wasn't much, and he decided to leave out the obvious 'take care of Nico for me', because he knew they'd do that even without him saying something.

But, yeah, now it looked better.

Not all so serious.

Or maybe it still was, but in that case, at least he'd have a pretty shroud, he guessed.

He shrugged, folding the note in half and turning to place it in Will's hand – then he hesitated, wondering whether that might not come across wrong.

It had taken him three weeks to get up the courage to place a note directly in Nico's hand, and that had been a simple 'I love you'.

Not to mention it had been one of those heat-of-the-moment things, anyways.

This was like leaving a love-note with Jason and Will before embarking on some horribly dangerous quest.

Or a note with a telephone number after a one-night-stand (at least Percy had heard that some people did that sometimes).

In either case, it sounded pretty…domestic? Intimate?

Sure, Percy didn't mind one bit, but what would they think? And Nico?

Maybe he should put it on the pillowcase next to them.

No, that was just as bad.

The night-stand?

What if they didn't find it?

He could tape it to the door…no, wait, he couldn't, because they didn't have any tape.

Unless he wanted to rewrite everything onto one of the sticky notes.

Great, then he'd need three or four of those.

No, that was stupid, too.

Gods, why was this so difficult?

He huffed out an irritated breath and leaned over the bed, gently prying Will's hand open and placing the folded note in it, just to get the whole mess over with.

Maybe they shouldn't have written a note at all.

Who knew, they might actually be back before those two woke up in the first place, after all.

Percy wanted to pull back and get off the bed, but then got distracted by Will shifting and closing his hand around the note – stroking ever so gently over Percy's retreating hand with his fingertips.

He halted, watching Will shift some more and wondering whether he'd turn around or wake up.

But then, Will stilled again, tugging his hand away to bury it somewhere between Jason and himself, and thus taking the note right along with him.

Well.

Maybe Percy should have placed it on the pillow next to them, after all.

Now, if Will let it go, they probably wouldn't even see it.

Percy contemplated for a moment whether he could somehow get his note back from wherever Will's hand had gone, but then he heard the bathroom door opening and decided against it, instead hopping off the bed just as Nico came back into the room, looking all dressed and nice…and a bit confused.

Oh.

He had probably expected Percy to hurry up and follow him.

Oops.

Great, this day surely was off to a horrid start for him, wasn't it?

First Jason and Will were acting like lovers, then Will was being extra cryptic on utter purpose (at least in Percy's opinion) and Nico acting weird, and then the whole issue with Hades, and them having to spend time with Demeter.

Ugh, Percy really just wanted to lay back down and wait for the day to be over, actually.

But, well, he supposed he had gone through worse, what, with the wars and all.

So he'd survive this easily.

"Did you write the note?" Nico asked, coming over and studying him from head to toe with a light frown, probably wondering what Percy had been doing all this time, since he hadn't even gotten changed or anything.

Yeah, that's what Percy got for racking his brain like that over something so simple and stupid.

"Yeah, all done. Sorry it took a while. I'll hurry up changing, then we can leave, ok?" He said hurriedly, pulling clothes out of their closet at random and trying to be as quick as possible.

For a moment, there was silence behind him, then he could feel Nico' hands on his sides, and halted.

"Are you ok?" His boyfriend asked, his voice oddly gentle, and Percy turned his head to glance at him.

"What? Yeah. It's just…I'm sorry for getting us into this mess, Nico. I really didn't mean to. I thought…I don't know." He started, then backtracked.

He wanted to say he had thought that's what Nico had wanted, but the more he thought of it, the less it sounded like something Nico would want.

Plus, it sounded way too much as if he was trying to blame Nico for it, and he really wasn't.

"It's okay. I'm sorry, too. I just wanted you to try sympathize with him so he has to admit you're a good guy. But, well, I guess I'm not as well-versed in wordless conversations as Jason is." Nico retorted with a snort, though the bitterness in his voice wasn't lost to Percy.

His eyes hushed over to Jason, who funnily enough shifted slightly and turned his head minimally at the mention of his name, though he still seemed to be fast asleep, his breathing even and calm.

What?

What was that supposed to mean?

Jason and he didn't have any sort of 'wordless conversation'…oh.

Well, maybe sometimes.

But that was mostly because Jason tended to be able to look right through Percy, reading him like an open book and giving him these looks that simply couldn't be misunderstood.

Maybe it was because of their bromance.

Or maybe Jason was like that with everybody.

Percy's stomach churned and he had to control himself to not make a face at that surprisingly unpleasant thought.

He turned towards Nico completely, tempted to just drop the pile of clothes in his arms so he could tug him closer and kiss that expression off his face.

"No, you were great. I just had a stupid moment, that's all. You know how I am sometimes. I hope you're not too upset. I really didn't mean to get us into this…mess."

He was repeating himself, wasn't he?

Yeah, today wasn't his day, that much was for sure.

Nico shook his head, reaching out to stroke a strand of hair out of Percy's face, though his fingers almost got stuck in the unkempt hair.

"It's ok. I'm not upset. I admit I was, but more at myself than you, anyways. Hey, at least we'll have something to do to keep us busy while these two…sleep. Or something." Nico started, then trailed off awkwardly again, both of them looking sideways at the bed, where Jason and Will were, still all wrapped up in each other and oblivious to the world around them.

Percy still wished they could just crawl back into bed with them and be done with it all.

Nico's hand moved to the side of his face, stroking over his skin gently, and Percy leaned into the touch with a small smile and a sigh.

"Ok. Who knows, maybe it won't even be all that bad. I mean, sure, there's a high chance we're all going to die because she finds out, but, well, when are we ever safe from the gods?" Percy tried with a small chuckle.

Nico chuckled as well, getting on his tiptoes to give Percy a quick peck.

"That's the spirit. Now, go get changed, slowpoke. Unless you need me to help you."

Percy raised an eyebrow, already moving to go to the bathroom, but halting again at the last part, studying his boyfriend's face.

Then, his lips split into a broad smile.

"Oh, you know, some help might not be all that bad…" He started innocently, but then wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Nico sent him an unimpressed, but amused look, already moving to follow him.

"You're unbelievable sometimes, Percy." He stated drily, placing his hands on Percy's hips and ushering him towards the bathroom, making him grin even wider as his heart thumped happily in his chest.

"Only sometimes?"

Nico snorted, pushing him into the bathroom and closing the door behind them, before moving towards him again, barely giving him enough time to put his clothes down on the small space next to the sink.

"Always, but that's not something to be proud about, cuore mio." Nico whispered against his lips, before pushing him against the sink and tugging his face down to seal their lips into a much more satisfying kiss than the peck earlier had been.

Percy grinned triumphantly, instantly reciprocating and moving his arms around his wonderful, perfect boyfriend.

"I love you…wait, what did you just call me?" He asked with a light frown, pulling away to blink at Nico confused, while Nico's eyes widened and his cheeks flushed the prettiest pink yet.

"Ah…erm…nothing." He mumbled hastily, and Percy was all the more confused.

"Did you just give me an Italian pet name?" He asked, partly stunned, partly bewildered.

He barely even heard Nico speak Italian, where had the pet name suddenly come from?

Nico's blush deepened, and he avoided Percy's eyes for a total of three seconds (which felt agonizingly long, might he mention), before he gave a small nod.

Percy's heart seemed to leap right out of his chest.

"Can you say it again?" He asked, probably sounding way too eager, but he didn't care.

Nico still seemed adorably embarrassed, but when he looked at Percy and saw him practically pleading, Percy knew he had won.

Nico's shoulders relaxed, and his expression softened slightly as he smiled and gave another small nod, before leaning forward and giving him another small kiss.

"Cuore mio." He whispered against Percy's lips, and, while Percy had no idea what that meant, it sounded wonderful.

He loved it.

"Again?" He pleaded, trying to bribe Nico with a few more quick pecks and kisses, first to his lips, then the corners of his lips, then along his jaw towards his neck.

Nico chuckled quietly, his hands moving under Percy's sweater and over his bare skin, making him shiver and tremble even more.

"Ti amo tanto, cuore mio. Sono pazzo di te." Nico whispered, then moaned when Percy started nibbling on his neck, though he quickly turned the tables again, pushing Percy back and claiming his lips once more, his hands still roaming Percy's body insistently.

Had Percy ever mentioned how much he loved it when Nico was being more dominant and confident?

Because that was the best thing ever.

Same as hearing him talk Italian.

Gods, Percy had no idea what Nico was saying, but he was fairly certain Nico could cuss him out all day long and he wouldn't mind whatsoever.

Whatever it was he was saying, it was the most beautiful things he had ever heard, and he never wanted Nico to stop.

"Sei tutto per me. Sei tutto ciò di cui ho bisogno. Con te voglio invecchiare. Ti amo, cuore mio. Percy." Nico indulged him, making shivers run down his spine even more as they started kissing in earnest now, with Nico moving even closer and Percy wishing they could be the ones in bed right now, instead of Will and Jason.

"I love you. Ti amo. Love you so much, Nico." He whispered back, though it sounded lame.

But Nico didn't seem to mind whatsoever, smiling against his lips happily before deepening their kisses some more.

Maybe this day wasn't all that bad, after all.

.

"Oh, boys, it's so nice of you to help me out a bit with my work. So nice, indeed. Always knew you were a good kid, Nico. And you, Percy, this is exactly why you are my favorite. Now, now, hurry on along, work doesn't do itself." Demeter chirped unusually happy and content, while Percy and Nico exchanged pained, miserable looks and tried to speed up their work on the giant, so far empty field Demeter had taken them to as soon as they had called for her and told her they wanted to spend some time with her alone before she had to leave with her daughter, and whether they could help her somehow (or at least something along those lines. Nico had ended up having to do most of the talking and buttering her up into believing them. Torture, but a necessary one).

Maybe they should have gone about this differently.

Who knew, maybe they could have said they needed her help picking out new cereal, or convinced her to take them to…a wheat museum or something (did something like that even exist? They wouldn't be surprised, that much was for certain.)?

But this…this was the worst.

And Demeter had ensured them she had plenty more fields that needed tending.

She supposedly wanted to teach them how to farm properly, so they wouldn't need to eat that 'bioengineered bullshit', as she had called it.

At any rate, it was freezing cold, and they were sweating due to the effort and strength they had to put into the whole ordeal of 'softening up the ground to plant the seeds better', which made them freeze even more and made them all the more miserable.

The fact that Demeter kept 'correcting' whatever it was they were doing didn't help improve their mood, either.

"Now, now, if you keep bending over like that, you'll have a bad back by the age of thirty, Perseus." Demeter called over from where she was hovering over the ground (which was already freaky enough), checking on their already worked on patches with a stern expression.

Nico glanced at his boyfriend, just to find him scowling deeply and glaring daggers at the goddess when she wasn't paying him any attention, mouthing what looked like 'Yeah, and you can suck my-…' – thinking about it, Nico decided he didn't want to know what Percy was saying.

As long as he wasn't saying it out loud, everything was fine.

And Nico had to admit he kind of enjoyed the view of Percy bent over like that, but he probably should neither look nor think that way right now.

"Was there something you wanted to say, Perseus?" Demeter asked, looking up from where she was inspecting an apparently overlooked patch of soil.

"Just that I should have made out with Nico much more back when I had the chance." Percy grumbled sulkily and Nico snorted and choked at the same time, looking scandalized.

Percy!

That was a goddess! She was bound to have heard that!

Percy looked scandalized for a moment, apparently realizing the same thing, and they both exchanged horrified looks, readying themselves for a undoubtedly shocked or disgusted or upset Demeter.

But, instead, the goddess of agriculture cackled.

"Should you now? Oh, I don't think so. You might think you have stamina now, young lad, but just you wait until you've been farming for real for a while, building up those muscles and getting in shape the real way, not with flinging around your puny weapons. I know what you're thinking, that you're good now, and everything is great, but wait till you're rolling in the hay after a satisfying year with good harvest. I guarantee you, you'll not only feel ecstatic about your splendid crops, but also about your-…"

"Alright, alright! I understand, I'm sorry, I'm working!" Percy interrupted Demeter's speech hurriedly, bright pink in the face and looking more flustered than Nico had ever seen him, though he knew he looked no better.

Just…what.

Demeter eyed them both with an amused and rather smug expression, and Nico had to avert his gaze hurriedly, feeling utterly out of his comfort zone.

Why…?

And Demeter, of all people.

This was just…

"What? Did you think I'd have a problem with your frickle-frackle? Boys, I'm centuries older than you, I've heard, seen and done things you couldn't even come up with in your wildest dreams. So, take it from somebody who's been there, and-…"

Nico dropped everything he was holding in favor of burying his face in his hands, trying so very hard to ban the pictures from his mind.

He did not want to see his…grandmother?...in any sort of compromising situation with anybody or anything, not in his mind, not in real life, not anywhere, not ever.

Percy made a strangled sound next to him, apparently a reaction to whatever else the goddess of agriculture was saying, and Nico was immensely glad he was too busy trying to block it all out to really catch anything else.

"This is all your fault." He hissed over, and Percy made a small, despairing sound, looking at him with the most pitiful expression ever, apparently still listening to whatever Demeter was saying now (Nico was trying very, very hard to block her out, even half covering his ears and trying to solely concentrate on the ground in front of him and Percy next to him).

"I know. Please kill me now."

"Forget it. Suffer." He shot back with a snort, then caught what must be the worst euphemism for anal sex in the history of mankind, and considered burying himself in this field right along with the seeds they were supposed to plant here afterwards.

Yes, this was definitely the worst day ever.

He glanced over at Percy, finding Demeter standing next to him and thrusting what looked like a giant rake into his hands, before ushering him over to a different patch and ordering him around, all the while explaining to him how great this will be for his constitution and self-respect.

Not to mention his 'future performances in the bedroom', which made Nico snort out a laugh against his better judgment.

Obviously, Demeter instantly noticed him standing there uselessly with his hands still over his ears, and he was at her mercy not a whole second later.

Yes, this was definitely the worst.

In the most bizarre way ever.

.

When Jason woke up, Will was snuggled up against his chest, sleeping with the most relaxed and pleased expression on his face that Jason had ever seen.

For a long moment, he just remained in that position, gazing at the freckled face with a soft smile and relishing in the closeness and comfort.

Then he remembered what they had done last night, and his insides went for a rollercoaster ride.

Oh gods.

That…had that actually happened?

Or had Jason dreamt it all?

He must have dreamt it.

Jason gazed down at Will's sleeping face, remembering in vivid detail how Will had looked up at him with clouded, lust-filled eyes, in the pillow corner, as well as on that blue towel on the bathroom floor, their hands everywhere, their lips mashing together as if it had been all that had kept them alive.

No, that had been real, alright.

Utterly, perfectly real.

Jason felt a giddy sort of euphoria rush through him.

That had, hands down, been the best night of his life.

Of course, it had all started out awkward enough, and he took full blame for letting things escalate that way due to his horrible inability to get the right words out, but…gods, it had been so great.

Will had been so great.

Not that Jason had ever thought that wouldn't be the case.

But he'd have never thought it would be anything like that.

The way they had kissed, the way they had touched, the way Will had somehow figured out exactly what Jason liked and wanted and needed

Jason trembled at the memory and started stroking over Will's back, remembering how it had felt to pull him closer, to seal their lips, to grind their bodies together, to feel Will's searing heat as things had spiraled out of control more and more.

Then he remembered Will with his back pressed against the door and his legs wrapped around Jason, kissing him over and over and over again, making Jason lose his mind until all he could think, see, hear, smell, feel was Will Solace.

Gods, Will had felt so great.

Jason wanted nothing more than to feel him again, feel his hands on his body in that insistent, deliberately arousing way, feel his body rubbing against his own, skin to skin, wanted him to grind against him…

Ok, that was probably not something he should be considering right now.

Jason shifted slightly, causing Will to frown in his sleep and snuggle closer, letting out a soft sigh.

Jason's still rather sleepy and unhelpful mind obviously immediately supplied him with the memory of Will moaning and groaning and crying out beneath him, his noises the hottest thing Jason had ever heard in his life.

No, seriously, he had never thought anybody could make such beautiful noises.

He had never even thought he'd be into that sort of expressiveness, especially since he himself was rather quiet (usually, at least. Last night had been an exception, because Will had just been so…there were no words for it).

After Will had said he 'liked it loud', Jason had obviously thought about that sort of thing every here and there, though not in that much detail.

He had always come to the conclusion he'd probably get worried about his partner being in pain, though.

But this…Will hadn't sounded as if he had been in pain, at all.

He had sounded as if Jason was doing everything right and he was utterly enjoying it, which had kind of only egged Jason on further and made him want to hear even more.

He had never thought he could get hooked on certain sounds.

But he totally had been.

Still was.

He wanted to hear Will moan again.

Wanted to feel him beneath him, writhing and grinding and needy and wonderful.

Wanted to feel him on top of him, in charge and smug and attentive and demanding, showing Jason he knew every single sensitive spot on his body and wasn't afraid to use that knowledge to blow Jason's mind in the best ways possible.

Jason smiled to himself, closing his eyes and burying his face at Will's hair, his mind slowly making its way out of the gutter as he became more and more awake.

Instead of focusing on the sex (yes, that had been sex, and nobody could tell him otherwise), he started remembering the sweet kisses afterwards, the way Will had held him tight, breathing heavily and with the most beautiful, absolutely blissed out expression Jason had ever seen in his life, making him both euphoric and disturbingly proud of himself.

He remembered the way he had contemplated whether he'd get away with just staying on top of Will forever, in that bathroom, for once not giving a damn about any responsibilities, or peace contracts, or Camps, or…pretty much anything, really.

All that had existed in that moment had been Will and himself, and it had felt like paradise to him.

Jason remembered trying to tear himself away from Will, just to end up pushing him against the door all over again, practically begging for 'five more minutes'.

How badly he wished Will would have said yes to dating him.

Jason's euphoria momentarily dampened, but he was still too high due to the fact this had actually happened, to really let it get to him just yet.

Hey, at least he had tried, ok?

And as a matter of fact, Will hadn't actually seemed all that opposed.

He had definitely not been upset in any way.

For a moment, Jason had even thought he'd say yes.

It had definitely looked like it.

But then, he had suddenly looked so uncertain and almost scared, and Jason would be lying if he said he hadn't expected the rejection that had followed.

Then again…it hadn't really been all that much of a rejection, had it now?

Jason took a deep breath, inhaling that scent of summer that Will always emitted.

He remembered being high on that scent, too.

It had been like a drug, really.

Though Jason guessed he couldn't really tell, since he had never been drugged (at least not that he knew of).

He thought of Will's words, the way he had looked at Jason with that deep regret in his eyes – not at their doings, but at his own words, as if he couldn't believe he was letting this happen, as if he couldn't believe he wasn't taking Jason up on it.

Jason had no idea why he had said no.

He had looked like he had wanted to say yes so badly.

Hell, he had even said he wanted to say yes.

Why hadn't he?

Jason had wanted to ask, had wanted to pry, had wanted to know so badly.

And he had a hunch Will would have actually told him if he had indeed pushed the matter.

But then, he had looked into Will's face, had seen the uncertainty, had seen the fear, and he had just…he just hadn't been able to do it.

It wouldn't have been right.

Jason knew that, though he couldn't deny he also felt as if it would have been a lot better if he had pushed the matter, just this once.

Just to get those answers he so badly craved for forever already.

One moment of pushing past Will's comfort zone to make him spill, so they could work things out together and build something new and whole and perfect…

But Will had looked so scared.

Not necessarily of Jason, but…but of whatever he wasn't saying.

It was something big, Jason knew that.

Something important.

With Will, everything seemed to be big and important, apparently.

Then again, with Will, everything always seemed a hundred times more fun and amazing and perfect, so Jason decided that evened it all out.

Will had said no now, but who knew, maybe he'd change his mind one day.

Especially since he had been the same giddy mess Jason had been after their make-out session.

(Who'd have guessed Will would be just as cuddly and needy as Jason was for closeness and comfort after climax?)

They both hadn't wanted to call it a night, that much was for certain.

And that had to stand for something, right?

If Will had actually been opposed to 'them', then he would have gone straight to sleep, or at the very least not made that much of an effort to stay awake – and he wouldn't have tried quite so hard to keep Jason awake along with him, either.

Yes, he had definitely noticed that whenever he had started to doze off due to his tiredness and exhaustion, Will had started shifting or had said something stupid, or funny, or cute, or utterly random, just to keep Jason from falling asleep.

Jason was eternally grateful for that, too, because it had given him the chance to enjoy the moment as much as possible.

Will felt wonderful in his arms, had he ever mentioned that?

So soft and warm and amazing.

Perfect hot water bottle.

Or blanket.

Blanket was better.

Jason's personal blanket.

Yes, perfect.

Water reminded him too much of Percy, and it was way too early in the morning for him to think of Percy, and Nico, and reality, and responsibilities, and…pretty much anything that didn't have to do with Will and Will being in his arms, and the world being okay just the way it was for now, here in bed.

In other words, Jason was utterly in love, and he had no intention of not showing it.

Maybe he should tell Will.

Who knew, what, with their misunderstandings they kept having, Will might think Jason had only asked him out because of their doings, out of responsibility or guilt.

Though, if that was the case, the first thing Jason would have to do was make sure to show Will he definitely wasn't that sort of person.

But Will should know better, anyways.

Will was smart.

Will was also delirious and as oblivious as Percy sometimes, though.

But, well, he knew Jason was demi, so he was bound to realize Jason would have never even let anybody this close, nor gotten this close to anybody else, if he hadn't been having rather strong feelings for said person.

In fact, Jason had been a tad surprised last night, himself.

Sure, he had been all for the kissing, but the fact he had so easily and willingly laid himself out for Will to ravish had inwardly stunned him, even slightly confused him.

With Piper, he had felt comfortable enough for kissing after getting to know her over the course of…time ('Gaea's war' sounded kind of mean), but it had taken him forever to really feel comfortable and ready for anything else – which had probably been one of the reasons their break-up had been so easy in the end, truth be told.

She had been patient enough, but he guessed they had both been a bit too careful with each other's borders.

Will, on the other hand…he had just kind of plowed right through any border Jason might have had left (though he couldn't even remember whether he had even been not-ok with anything Will had been doing at any point last night), completely blowing him away.

Quite literally, too, because, gods, Will could suck.

Okay, now that was getting creepy.

Jason shouldn't reminisce about Will's blowjob skills when they had just decided a few hours ago that they wouldn't be going out, and that there probably wouldn't be a second time.

Also, Will had stated even before they had done anything that this was never going to be mentioned again.

So, yeah, he was fairly certain this was not something he should be thinking about right now.

He usually wasn't the sort of person to picture things like that, anyways.

But, well, he dared anybody not to think of Will's head bobbing up and down on their dick with his eyes fixed solely on their face as if it was all he ever wanted to see - not after knowing how amazing it felt.

That definitely counted to one of those things Jason would never allow himself to forget.

Along with plenty of other moments from last night.

Again, best night ever.

Will shifted again, rubbing his face against Jason's chest with another small sigh, and Jason couldn't help but grin down at him.

What wouldn't he give to have this every morning?

Maybe with more sleep at night, though.

Then again…

Will shifted some more, then turned his head, opening one eye to glower up at Jason.

"Keep your perverted thoughts to yourself, Handsome. I'm trying to sleep here."

Oops.

"Good morning to you too, Freckles." Jason said, his broad grin still in place, and Will studied him with a disgruntled look for a moment.

Then his expression softened and a small smile spread on his lips as he nuzzled his face against Jason's chest again.

"Good morning, I guess. Probably not morning anymore, though. We fell asleep in the morning, after all."

True, true.

They both let out small sighs, shuffling closer again, and Jason started stroking Will's back up and down once more.

For a long moment, there was silence, in which Jason stared off into space, wondering faintly where he had put his glasses, while Will seemingly attempted to fall asleep again.

Then, Jason frowned slightly, wondering whether it was even okay for him to be this close now.

They had kind of agreed to remain normal friends, after all.

Would he usually do this sort of thing if they hadn't sucked each other off last night?

Well, yeah, he would, but the better question was probably: Would Will have let him do this if it hadn't been for last night?

He contemplated that for a moment, then inwardly shrugged, continuing his ministrations.

Who cared?

Will seemed to like it, so he might as well do it for as long as he could.

"Pancakes." Will suddenly said, disturbingly loud and clear, compared to his earlier, rather drowsy voice.

"Hm?" Jason asked, not quite following.

"Pancakes. I sent Percy and Nico to get pancakes."

Oh.

Wait, now that he thought of it, it was kind of weird Percy and Nico weren't around, wasn't it?

Great, and there Jason had always thought he was reliable and a leader and could be trusted with the safety of his people.

Apparently, he didn't even notice his other two favorite people in the world weren't in the room to be part of the best morning (or whatever time of day it was) of his life.

Kind of a shame, though.

He'd have liked to share this moment with them.

Then again, that would mean he'd have to share Will, and the bed, and his warmth and love and comfort.

Eh, maybe not.

He was feeling rather lazy and uncooperative right now, to be honest.

Not that he'd mind them in bed with them, though – as long as they came here by themselves, didn't steal Will from him, and brought their own share of warmth, love and comfort.

"I'm sure they'll be back soon, then." He mumbled, wondering faintly what they must be thinking of Will and Jason this close and wrapped up in each other.

Percy would probably skin him later.

Not that Jason was going to tell him anything about last night, hell no.

That wouldn't be necessary for Percy to rant at him, anyways.

Though Jason couldn't find it in him to care whatsoever right about now.

Will made a small noise, shifting again and acting as if he was going to get up.

What?

Already?

No~.

Jason let out a small, complainant sound and tried to keep Will close, which caused Will to halt in his movement and look at Jason almost incredulously, before letting out a loud snort-laugh.

"You're impossible. So clingy." He said pointedly, and Jason made a face and let him go, though he really didn't feel like it.

Was that bad?

'Clingy' sounded bad.

'Clingy' reminded him of the countless talks the people at Camp Jupiter had had with him around, whenever anybody had complained about any of their partners.

'Clingy' meant they wouldn't leave them alone and it would be a bother.

Was Jason being a bother?

Will frowned as he pulled away with a sigh, and the next moment, the blonde practically dropped on top of him, flattening him into the mattress.

"Hey, what's with that face? I didn't say I didn't like it. It's just surprising. Then again, it probably shouldn't be. You're such a sap. Come here, it's not technically 'morning', after all." Will declared, and the next moment, Jason could feel soft lips on his own, and all his worries were forgotten.

Well, rather than forgotten, they were blown out of his mind, just to then get replaced by a few very disturbing new worries.

Like, for instance, he hadn't brushed his teeth since yesterday evening.

Also, Percy and Nico could show up any moment.

For all he knew, they could be in the bathroom right now and would only have to unlock the door and look towards the bed, just to find Will and Jason kissing (not that that was very likely, since Will had said they were out to get them pancakes).

Not that he let any of this stop him from kissing back and moving his hands to Will's hips, holding him in place on top of him as the blonde cupped his face, stroking over his cheeks with his thumbs the same way Jason remembered doing a lot last night.

Gods, he could get used to this.

If every morning started this way, he'd die at age thirty due to an abundance of happiness.

Or he'd simply have a heart attack, because his heart was most definitely racing again, and he doubted it would ever stop, so that was bound to kill him at some point, right?

Will moaned against his lips softly, and Jason's thoughts spiraled right back out of control as he recalled Will's noises and movements and actions from last night all over again, making Jason move against him further, trying to deepen their kiss further.

Still, much too soon, Will pulled back again, gazing down at him with dilated pupils and his lips wonderfully pink and swollen from their kissing, and Jason wanted to say and do so many things, ranging from declaring his love to pushing Will down into the bed and ravishing him all over again, Percy and Nico be damned.

However, all that came out his mouth was a weak 'You're a great kisser', which had Will looking mildly confused for a moment, before a cheeky grin formed on those wonderful lips.

"Of course I am. Told you so, after all, didn't I?"

Jason rolled his eyes, his hands still on Will's hips, though the blonde didn't seem to have any intention of moving from where he was straddling Jason.

Which was also something that Jason wouldn't mind happening a lot more often.

They smiled at each other for another moment, just happy and content, relishing in the warmth and comfort of each other in this proximity.

Then, Will sighed and lowered his gaze, stroking over Jason's arms as he slid off his lap, much to Jason's dismay, though he let him go without complaint.

"We shouldn't be doing that. Really shouldn't. You're too addictive, Jason." Will complained, and Jason huffed in reply.

"Sure, blame it on me. Whatever makes you happy, Freckles."

Now it was Will's turn to roll his eyes at him, nudging his arm with his fist in what was probably supposed to be some sort of half-assed punch.

"You make me happy." The blonde grumbled under his breath, sounding almost bitter about it, but Jason was too hung up on the fact that Will had just actually said that.

"I do?"

"Shut up." Will grumbled, his freckles glowing again as he turned his back to Jason insistently.

Not that that helped in any way, since his back was full of freckles, too, that seemed to love glowing just as much as the ones in his face did.

Jason felt a renewed burst of euphoria rushing through him, accompanied by a giddy excitement he had never really experienced in this way nor in this intensity before Will.

He wasn't even sure what brought forth this surge of emotion inside him, whether it was Will's words; or the fact he had said them out loud, apparently utterly aware of what he was saying; or whether it was the way his freckles started glowing as he seemed to get more flustered by the moment – or maybe it was just because Will was Will.

Jason didn't know, but he didn't try to find out, either, instead following Will and wrapping his arms around him from behind, placing a soft kiss to the side of his neck.

Just one, ok?

He placed two more on the soft skin.

Meh.

"If it helps, you're addictive, too." He tried to say, but it came out a lot deeper and seductive than intended.

Will huffed.

"Oh wow, and there I really thought you'd say I make you happy, too. Now I'm disappointed."

Jason chuckled quietly, nuzzling his face against Will's so, so warm skin.

"That, too. I thought that was obvious, though, so I didn't say anything."

"Likely excuse." Will retorted, but he was grinning, keeping his eyes closed as if that would make this any more acceptable.

They both knew it wasn't.

Will had said no dating, so they'd have to stop this, and sometime soon, too.

Jason didn't even want to think of it.

He sighed, burying his face at Will's neck again.

Somehow, in his mind, that was exactly where his face had always belonged, it had just taken him until last night to find out.

"Can we stay in bed the entire day?" He asked, sounding quite a bit like Percy when he desperately wanted something, even in his own opinion.

Will merely snorted.

"Aren't we already doing that? What time is it?"

"I'm not getting up to check." Jason immediately insisted, and Will huffed again.

"Sap."

"Love you, too."

It took him a moment to realize what he had said, mainly because it had come so automatically.

Which was partly because he meant it, and partly because they always said such things in a teasing/joking sort of way.

That had been before last night, though, so Jason had no clue how Will would interpret it.

He wasn't sure what he'd prefer, either.

On one side, he wasn't ashamed of his feelings, and he did want Will to know.

On the other side, this was not how he had wanted to confess said feelings to Will.

Then again, it wasn't as if Will wasn't able to guess already, anyways.

He waited for any sort of reaction from Will, but the blonde remained quiet, making Jason worry more about whether he had even heard in the first place.

Even if Jason hadn't intended to say anything that could be taken as a confession, that didn't mean he didn't want some sort of answer from Will, no matter if it was a good or bad one.

But the silence stretched on.

Had Will fallen back asleep?

Jason weighed his options for another moment, then gave in and pulled back slightly (and very, very reluctantly), to check Will's expression.

The blonde was awake, worrying his bottom lip and staring at nothing in particular, seeming lost in thought.

It didn't look like a very promising expression.

In fact, it looked as if he was thinking of how to best tell Jason he didn't feel the same.

Jason forced the disappointment and hurt down, knowing he shouldn't have expected anything else.

Though…last night…somehow, he couldn't help but think (hope?) Will did like him at least a tiny little bit, as more than a friend.

He wouldn't have done something like that with just anybody, right?

No matter if they had had free wishes or whatever.

No, Will wasn't that sort of person.

(Then again, neither was Jason, yet Will had apparently seriously thought he had requested a blowjob from him.)

And he had said he would date Jason if he could.

That had to stand for something, right?

Jason's arms tightened around Will ever so slightly, his face moving back to its rightful place at Will's neck, and he felt the blonde instantly leaning back into the embrace.

This had to stand for something, too, right?

Even if Will didn't feel as strongly for him as for Percy or Nico for example, he still felt something for Jason, right?

"I think…" Will started slowly, and every fiber in Jason's body seemed to perk up, clinging to the not yet formed words as if it was a matter of life or death.

Apparently, Percy and his overdramatizing had rubbed off on Jason at some point.

Nice.

Of all the things, it just had to be that.

Not his perfect bedhead, or the ability to not look like a zombie after an all-nighter of video games, no.

It just had to be his habit of overdramatizing everything.

Will took a deep breath, and Jason instantly forgot all about Percy and just what he'd tell him next time he saw him, in favor of concentrating solely on the sun in his arms right now.

"I think I'm ready to go to Elysium."

For a long moment, Jason kept staring at the tanned, freckled neck with a blank expression, trying to place that rather unexpected statement.

…what?

Elysium?

What did he mean?

He wasn't going to die now, right?

No, seriously, if Will told them now he had some sort of incurable disease and was about to die, Jason was going to kill somebody, and it wouldn't be Will.

The someone also probably wouldn't be mortal, either.

Well, that would probably save him the trouble with the peace-contract, though.

"I mean, I promised Michael, after all. In a way. And I first played with the thought of just…not going…especially not after our last visit. But now…I think it wouldn't be that…that bad…" Will explained hesitantly, reluctantly, but Jason found himself relaxing immediately, despite the odd tone.

Oh.

That.

No incurable disease, thank the gods.

Should he ponder the fact he had just contemplated murdering the gods out of nowhere just because of the faint (but sadly ever so possible, what with the Fates) possibility of losing Will?

Probably.

Somehow, his usually peaceful and diplomatic nature seemed to be non-existent when it came to Will.

He'd probably be the first to tear the person apart who laid a hand on his Will.

Which was weird, because it was usually Percy to rush into things without second thought.

But with Will, and Will in danger, Jason knew there wouldn't be a second thought.

He probably shouldn't tell Will that, though (else he'd think Jason was babying him again or something) and hope the day would never come where Will would get hurt.

That definitely meant he had to hurry up with his peace-contract.

If he had ever needed a motivator, this was it.

"If that's what you want. Do you want to go today?" He asked quietly, wondering faintly how Percy and Nico would react to the news.

Percy probably wouldn't want to let Will go, given how he had been the last time.

But that had mostly been due to the shock of suddenly seeing three people he had thought he'd never see again, so Jason was sure he'd be able to convince Percy to be ok with it.

And Nico had already agreed on coming again when they had left last time, so that should be good, too.

"No. Or…no, no. I don't really want to get up today. Just wanted to tell you, so I'll actually go through with it." Will mumbled, and Jason frowned slightly, wishing once more that Will wouldn't be as much of a mystery as he was.

"That bad?" He asked tentatively, and was glad Will didn't instantly freeze up or anything.

Instead, he sighed loudly, snuggling back against his chest.

"Oh, you have no idea. But I guess I do owe him a…talk."

Jason noticed the way Will started shifting slightly, his shoulders tensing ever so slightly.

But he wasn't entirely avoiding Jason or changing the topic, so…

"About what?" Jason dared to pry, pressing his lips against Will's neck mainly to feel the warm skin against his, though it also let him feel his quickened pulse.

Was that because of whatever he had to talk about with his brother, or because of Jason being this close?

He wanted it to be the latter.

He wanted Will to like him as much as Jason liked him.

He wanted them to be together so he could kiss him and hold him like this every day, all day long.

Jason was becoming way too selfish these days, by the way.

Probably because the guys kept indulging him all the time, treating him as if they adored him as much as he adored them, holding his hand and/or not minding physical contact (aka hugs and cuddles) during the day whatsoever.

Will shifted again, now clearly nervous.

"It's…it's nothing, really. Just…something I told him a long time ago." Will mumbled, and Jason waited, wondering whether he was going to elaborate.

To his surprise, Will actually did.

"The day before he…before he died, we had a sort of talk. About various things. Stupid things. You know, those crazy kinds of conversations you have the day before a battle, when you think you could all be dead by the morning?"

Jason did understand, but had no idea what Will was talking about, otherwise.

But he knew better than to ask or interrupt him in any way, especially since Will seemed to be willing to share at least this tiny bit with him.

"But then, things had kind of…escalated, and I ended up telling him…telling him something that I shouldn't have. A secret, of sorts. I hadn't intended to ever tell anybody, though I admit I had been playing with the thought of at least telling him of…about the-…the secret. Which is probably why it happened, but whatever, that's not important."

Jason found that very important.

He also wanted to know just what that 'secret' was supposed to be, if it made Michael insist on talking it over again even in afterlife, and managed to make Will look like somebody was reading his death sentence.

"Fact is, I told him, and then I saw how…I saw how shocked he looked. How disgu- disgruntled. Displeased. Bad. You know? I had kind of expected it, but it still…I don't know. I guess it hurt, I guess I got scared. Anyways, I pretty much saw his expression, turned around and ran for it. Don't say anything, Jason, we can't all be brave heroes like you, after all. I was young and naïve and a coward back then, and I'm not proud of it, but there's nothing I can do about it now." Will started rambling, more sounding uncertain than annoyed or bitter, and Jason inwardly cringed, nuzzling his face against his neck again.

"I'm not judging you, Will. And I'm not as much of a 'brave hero' as you keep making it sound, you know? For all I know, I'd have probably reacted the same way." He replied quietly, but Will only let out a weak snort.

"You wouldn't have. Trust me. You wouldn't have even gotten into that situation, like, ever. But anyways, that's kind of what happened. I didn't want to hear what he had to say on the matter, and he wanted to desperately talk about it, so, needless to say, I avoided him the rest of the night and the next day. Little did I know it would be the last time I'd see him alive." At the last part, Jason could feel Will slumping slightly, his voice becoming thick, and he instantly pulled Will closer, stroking over his side with one hand in what would hopefully come across as comforting – with this angle, it wasn't all that easy.

Will let him, merely snuggling against Jason's chest slightly to get more comfortable, and Jason could hear and feel him take a deep breath.

This had to be so horrible for him.

"So, now you think it'll be easier to talk about it?" He asked carefully, trying to continue on their conversation so they could leave it behind and switch to something more positive that could cheer Will up again.

Will chuckled quietly, though there was no amusement in his voice when he spoke.

"You wish. If anything, it's even worse than before, because I…well, I generally refuse to even as much as think about…that. It was already horrible when Leah suddenly started talking about it, especially because I definitely hadn't wanted her to know."

Had Jason mentioned the fact that he hated not knowing in the slightest what Will was talking about?

The thing was that he couldn't ask, because he knew Will wouldn't say – if anything, he'd probably even retreat instantly and never speak of it again.

But he also knew Will wanted – maybe even needed – to talk about this so badly.

The fact he was even saying this much showed that much, already.

So Jason had to swallow down his curiosity and frustration once more, trying to console himself with the fact he was still holding Will in his arms like a lover.

"Then why do you want to talk with him now?" He asked, hoping that was an acceptable question.

Judging by Will's sigh, it was borderline ok.

"I don't. But…I kind of owe him at least that much. Plus, I don't think I'll ever be readier than now, and now we're already in the Underworld and all." Will replied, and Jason guessed that made sense.

In a way.

Maybe.

He wouldn't know, because he still didn't know what this was about.

But the more he thought about it, the more he was starting to believe this had something to do with whatever it had been that had freaked Will out so badly at Camp Jupiter.

It was just the way he seemed so reluctant to share, even acting scared at the mere notion of confiding in anybody about anything, and only speaking in riddles.

Just like he had done at Camp Jupiter, once he had found out about Aurum and Argentum.

Or maybe Jason was reading too much into it.

After all, just because he had never seen Will so unsettled before, didn't mean the two cases in which he had been had to be connected in any way.

It kind of wouldn't make sense, either.

Unless it really was something about the war.

Maybe Will had indeed given information to the wrong people, but had found out about it and confided into Michael that day, just to see how upset Michael was about the whole thing.

Jason would almost believe that.

But this was Will.

Will wouldn't sell out anybody to anything, and was way too smart to be charmed or forced into submission.

Plus, then the matter would already be somewhat settled, anyways, right?

Even though Jason didn't know Michael, he was fairly certain nobody would still give Will a hard time over a war long won.

Also, the more he listened to the bits and pieces Will threw their way, the more Jason had the impression whatever it was had actually hurt Will, not the other way around.

Jason's stomach twisted at the thought, and he dearly hoped he was wrong.

Which probably wasn't very nice, given that this meant he'd rather have Will be the cause of somebody else's pain, rather than Will being hurt in any way.

Then again, hadn't Will said something about his secret not being harmful to anybody, and that he hadn't hurt anybody?

There, that settled the matter.

If those two things were connected, that was.

But…well…in a way…maybe it would fit, after all.

At least it sounded that way as he turned over Will's words in his head, comparing them to the conversation they had overheard between Will and Reyna.

Both things were apparently about Will's past.

He had talked to one person about it, and it hadn't ended well.

He didn't want to talk about it.

That sounded like it really could fit.

But sadly, it didn't help Jason one bit.

"And…you know…" Will started hesitantly, and Jason was torn out of his thoughts as the blonde shifted slightly.

"Hm?" He hummed when Will didn't continue for another moment.

"It's just…now I actually feel like I can have that talk with him. Without freaking out about it, I mean. Plus, I think this is something I have to do, no matter whether I like it or not."

"Because it's bothering you?" Jason asked, and Will huffed, sounding frustrated.

"Apparently. Not consciously, but…I've kind of been dreaming badly. I'm sure you noticed, given that you…" Will's voice trailed off and he cleared his throat pointedly, and Jason put on an innocent expression, even though Will didn't look his way.

"So, that's because of Michael? Or because of whatever it is you don't want to tell?" He pried, and heard Will huff again, though he could also see the corner of his mouth twitch, which he guessed was because he was ignoring Will's hint at Jason's 'help' the past nights.

Yeah, well, Jason had mixed feelings about that, and since he didn't know what exactly Will's view on the matter was (since he had kind of taken advantage of him, no matter what Will might claim now), he wasn't going to say a thing about it.

"I don't know. Both, I guess. It doesn't really matter."

It didn't matter, huh?

Somehow, Jason had the feeling that was quickly becoming Will's new favorite sentence.

It didn't matter.

It wasn't important.

He was fine.

Three lies.

And this matter caused Will to use all three, in the course of, what, half an hour?

For Jason, that made it matter all the more, made it all the more important, and showed him Will definitely wasn't fine.

So, what could Jason do about it?

Nothing, of course.

This was it, he was going to have a chat with Nico and Percy and look for a way to get Will to confide in them.

Maybe, if they worked together, if they told Will some of the darkest bits of their pasts, maybe he'd realize they wouldn't see him any different, that they'd still care for him all the same.

They'd gone through two wars, they probably wouldn't even flinch at whatever Will had to tell them.

"Ok." He said quietly and let out a small sigh.

No point pushing Will now.

Plus, this 'morning' could be much better spent than with upsetting and frustrating conversations.

Will let out a matching sigh, moving back against him some more and entangling their legs again.

"Not today, though. Let's just stay in bed all day. Can't wait for those pancakes." Will mumbled, and Jason smiled against his skin.

He definitely wouldn't mind staying like this for the rest of the day.

Or the rest of his life, for that matter.

"Sure. And don't worry, they'll be back soon."

Percy would probably do all in his power to get back to them as soon as possible in order to butt in and get between them.

He was surprised there hadn't been an argument or anything, anyways.

Then again, maybe he was used to seeing Will so close to others, and they all did cuddle a lot.

Maybe the two hadn't even noticed anything was different between Will and Jason.

Then again, nothing really was.

They were still just friends.

Jason made a face, placing a quick kiss to the side of Will's neck.

Just friends.

He so didn't want this to end and return to that.

"I hope so. And I hope they bring tons of pancakes." Will mumbled, and Jason's lips twitched at the wistful sigh he let out along with the word 'pancakes'.

"Somebody seems hungry."

"You have no idea." Will huffed, and then he turned over to face Jason, with his eyes closed and a content smile on his lips.

Lips that were coming closer and gently placing themselves on Jason's for a quick, chaste kiss.

Oh gods.

Yes, Jason could so get used to this.

This was so addictive.

He definitely never wanted this to stop.

Will pulled back slightly, but Jason tugged him back towards him, brushing his lips against Will's again for another peck – which only made Will smile broader and hum contently.

This was so perfect.

Everything about this moment was.

The two of them, in bed, so close and wrapped up in each other, and those gentle pecks to show their affection and quench their need for intimacy and closeness and warmth and love and comfort.

It was everything.

It was not enough.

He wanted every day to be like this.

He wanted Will to be there every day, in his bed, or any other bed, but the two of them together, together-together.

Wanted to kiss him without dreading it would be the last time.

Wanted to hold him without worrying he was going too far.

He wanted the good days with them laughing and joking and having the time of their lives, no matter if outside or in bed or anywhere else; and he wanted the bad days with petty arguments and snide remarks and the make-up cuddles and sex that would follow.

Damn, Jason was a hopeless cause, wasn't he?

He was definitely in too deep.

Will had already called him clingy earlier, Jason so didn't want to know how Will would react if he knew of all the things Jason was dreaming of.

All the things he kept wishing for.

"You know we should stop this." Will mumbled as he nuzzled his face against Jason's chest, placing a gentle peck to his skin, and making him remember how Will had traced patterns there with his tongue last night (which had felt amazing, by the way).

"Don't wanna." He grumbled, tugging Will closer and making him chuckle, though he wasn't pushing him away in any way, instead snaking his arms around him.

"Me neither."

Jason's heartbeat sped up again, and he knew Will could feel it, too, since his ear was practically against Jason's chest.

He couldn't make himself care, though, too hung up on the fact that Will sounded as if he really meant it.

"Then date me." He whispered, though he rather wanted to yell the words, along with all the others he kept to himself (for now).

Will sighed.

"I can't."

Jason had expected as much, though it still hurt.

Will placed another gentle kiss to his skin.

"I'm sorry. I guess I'm really horrible for keeping this up, but refusing to let us be, huh?" The blonde said bitterly and pulled back, much to Jason's dismay.

"I just don't see why not. But I'm not going to force you to anything. If you say you don't want to, then you don't want to." Jason muttered, trying to sneak back closer to Will.

The rational part of his brain that still worked somewhat right told him he should let it go, should let Will pull back, should pull back himself and walk away and finally make the cut they both kept insisting on.

But the rest of him happily pushed down that part and wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms back around Will and seek solace and comfort in him.

Solace.

In Will Solace.

Nice.

"You're too kind for your own good. Self-destructive fool. Of course I want you. It's just that I can't have you. We wouldn't work out in the long run, and I don't want to lose you as a friend."

Will said it in that absolute sort of way.

As if there was no alternative, no chance for things to go differently.

Jason wanted to argue, but knew it would be pointless.

Right now, at least.

So, instead of complaining and contradicting Will, he merely sighed and pulled him back into a hug, draping his body over Will's smaller and slimmer one.

"If you say so." He said, letting Will know by his tone that he didn't agree, but would leave it at that for now.

Will sighed, letting him squish him without complaint.

"Five more minutes?" Jason forced himself to ask, creating another time limit he knew he wouldn't want to keep.

Will sighed.

"You know we have to stop. So this will be the last five minutes. For real." He said pointedly, though Jason liked to think he was trying to convince himself more than Jason.

"Fine." He relented, though he really didn't want to.

Needless to say, the five minutes came and went, and the two of them were still wrapped up in each other, seeking comfort in their embrace, scared of letting go.

Why did life have to be so difficult?

"Time's up." Will whispered quietly after what definitely had to have been more than five minutes.

"You don't know that." Jason insisted, hoping the alarm clock was so far away they'd never find it and could remain here forever.

"I counted the seconds in my head and took your pulse while at it. Your heartbeat is off. At this rate, I'm seriously going to have to change up your diet to more whole grains and vegetables. Ever thought you might have Tachycardia?" Will mumbled, and Jason needed a moment to catch up with what the hell he was even talking about.

Then he chuckled.

"Will, that's just because I'm with you. My heart is fine." He insisted, burying his face in Will's hair and allowing Will to press his ear against his chest, listening to his rapidly beating heart.

"And what the hell is Tachycardia?" He added, unable to help himself.

Will chuckled, his fingers tracing over Jason's chest so nicely again.

"It's when your heart isn't able to efficiently pump oxygen-rich blood to your body, resulting in shortness of breath, fainting, lightheadedness, dizziness and a fluttering in our chest."

The way Will spoke made Jason think he was reading it out loud out of one of the books that were all over the place back in the Apollo cabin and infirmary.

For all he knew, Will knew them all by heart.

Actually, he probably did.

Medic nerd.

Adorable medic nerd.

"You're really something." He muttered, and Will chuckled again, poking his side to make him jump.

"And you're still ever so clingy. Shoo with you. In the bathroom or something. We have to stop this, or the guys will be back and we'll still be all over each other." Will declared, nudging him a bit here and there and trying to push him away without pushing him away whatsoever.

Jason rolled his eyes, looking Will straight in the eye.

"I fail to see the problem with that."

"Jason!" Will exclaimed loudly, now really pushing him back ever so gently, though Jason knew it wouldn't move him even an inch if he wasn't already pulling back reluctantly as it was.

"Yes, Freckles?" He teased, and Will sent him an exasperated look, before a dark gleam appeared in his eyes.

"Don't start with that again, blondie."

Hey.

Hey, that was mean.

Jason schooled a nonplussed expression.

"What? Jealous that I'm blonder than you?"

For a moment, there was silence, in which Will stared at him, seeming speechless and shocked.

Then, Will blatantly shoved him out of the bed.

Jason probably should have seen it coming, he guessed.

"I'll pretend like I didn't hear that! I'm very much blond, you ass. Just because you are lighter, doesn't mean you're blonder. The incredulity." Will huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking away pointedly, acting as if he was upset.

Jason merely laughed, winking at him when he knew Will was watching out of the corners of his eyes.

"Aww, don't be upset. I think you're perfect, just the way you are. Especially with those freckles on your-…"

"Begone, you offspring of the devil!" Will interrupted him with a bright red face and threw Mrs. O'Leary Jr. at him, though Jason managed to avert the plush toy at the last moment, laughing and making his way to the bathroom.

"That's not what you said last night, sweetheart." He teased with another wink, and had to avoid a pillow next.

"Not another word, I swear!"

Will looked so adorably flustered.

Jason could get used to that, too.

Especially since Will usually was the one making everybody around him flustered, while staying ahead of them at all times and acting indifferent.

This was a lot better than that.

He reached the bathroom, just to hear what sounded like Will hurrying out of bed, and steps sounding behind him.

"Ah, wait…" The blonde exclaimed, and Jason looked around, finding Will rushing towards him, more stumbling over his own feet than anything else, which made Jason reach out automatically.

"What?" He asked, but Will shook his head, looking up at him with an almost shy look on his face

Then, the blonde pushed himself upwards and placed a small peck on Jason's lips.

"Last kiss. Just…to call it an end, you know?" He muttered, not meeting Jason's eyes as he looked around the room with great interest.

Trust Will to start feeling uncomfortable now, after having spent most of the night and a good portion of the day doing nothing but being affectionate with Jason.

Jason smiled, his hands clasping Will's arms as he tried to pull back.

"That was your last kiss?" He asked, and knew Will picked up on the challenge behind the words.

"What, think you can do a better job?" Will shot back almost instantly, his bright blue eyes gleaming, and his pupils dilating already.

"Want to find out?" Jason purred, and for a moment, a memory of him chasing Will around Nico's cabin, daring him to kiss him, came to mind, back from December.

Will's lips twitched, their faces already moving closer.

"I already know." The blonde whispered, his voice barely audible.

Then, he tilted his head, and Jason brushed their lips together in the softest kiss he had ever given, as well as received.

Yes.

This was it.

Will sighed, returning the kiss and practically melting in his arms, coming closer and allowing Jason to tighten his grip on him, slowly deepening their kiss and trying to soak up every ever so small detail.

From the texture and shape of Will's lips, to the taste and feeling of his tongue against his own.

Not to mention the way their bodies moved against each other fluidly, chests and groins rubbing against each other, and Will's leg moving between Jason's as he pushed Jason against the bathroom door behind him.

Oh gods, yes.

Will moaned against his lips as they both adjusted their angles, the kiss soon escalating into something far more heated and passionate, instead of soft and gentle, but it was exactly how they wanted it to be.

It was everything.

It wasn't enough.

Will was heating up, his skin nearly scorching Jason's, but he liked it, trying to pull Will closer, while at the same time trying to touch him everywhere he could, to memorize the feeling of his skin, to commit it all to memory forever and ever.

Jason let out a small gasp as Will's hands dug into his sides wantonly, his teeth tugging on Jason's bottom lip, and he knew this would have to end soon before it escalated to something far beyond kissing.

Unwilling to take that step yet, though, he moved and flipped them around, with Will's back pressing against the door, and Jason attacking his lips as if there was no tomorrow.

Their last kiss.

It hung over them like a death sentence, all doom and gloom and misery, but they were quickly finding themselves too drunk on love and pleasure to let it get to them just yet.

He mashed their lips together, over and over and over again, their faces never further apart than the smallest fraction of an inch that was necessary for them to gasp for breath.

Jason had no idea how long they stood there, kissing, biting, tugging, losing themselves in each other.

All he knew was that it wasn't long enough before they were both pulling back, albeit reluctantly, both of them panting hard and trying to catch their breaths.

And Jason wanted nothing more than to kiss Will again and again and again.

Why did they have to make a cut?

It just wasn't fair.

Fine, they couldn't date (for reasons Jason didn't know nor understood), but couldn't they settle on something else, then?

Friends with benefits?

Right now, he didn't give a damn how not-ok that would be, he just wanted to be able to remain this close to Will.

Will pulled back further, still gazing up at him with wonder, amazement, love, and what looked like utter regret.

For some reason, Jason knew if he pushed now, Will would probably cave in and say yes.

Jason had no idea why he didn't.

Probably because Leah's 'Too manipulative!' reverberated through his head at that moment.

It was true, too.

He'd be forcing Will, even though he knew Will didn't want to – or couldn't, as Will kept putting it.

But what was he supposed to say?

Other than 'I love you'?

He gazed down into those beautiful blue eyes, his fingers caressing the side of Will's face, and Will leaned into the touch, still staring up at Jason as if he really, truly loved him.

The thought made his heart flutter, and he remembered what Will had said earlier, about his heartrate.

No, he wasn't sick.

Just madly in love.

"You know…" He started, while still thinking of what he could possibly say right now.

Something that would get them out of this moment, he guessed, since they were meant to stop this.

He was meant to go into the bathroom, and let this come to an end.

"Hm?" Will hummed, his eyes beginning to darken, the regret taking over again, along with what looked like pain.

Jason wanted to pull him back into his arms and kiss that look away, replace it with utter bliss like last night, or the sweet contentment earlier.

Instead, he stroked down Will's arms, slowly letting go.

"…technically, I'm son of Jupiter, not the devil." He said, and effectively broke the magic of the moment, watching Will look up at him incredulously.

"What?"

Then, realization washed over his features, and Jason smiled when he saw Will's lips twitch and the mirth returning to those beautiful eyes of his.

Will snorted out a laugh and shoved him back slightly, stepping away from the door in favor of ripping it open and ushering Jason inside.

"You know what, get out, you horrible being. Also, that's basically the same thing, so your argument is invalid. Shoo with you. Ugh, how can I put up with you?" He rambled, but Jason didn't take him seriously for even one moment, instead chuckling and letting himself get pushed into the bathroom.

"You know you love it." He teased, and Will shot him a dirty look, though his fingertips did trace over Jason's skin ever so faintly before he pulled back completely, showing him this was as difficult for him as it was for Jason.

"Shush. You should stop being so self-destructive."

Mean.

"Not my fault. You're rubbing off on me." He shot back, and Will very blatantly rolled his eyes.

"Go, before I'm rubbing something else."

Well.

"Says the one standing in the bathroom with me." Jason pointed out, though he would have liked taking Will up on that rather alluring offer of his.

Realization washed over Will's face, and the blush returned to his cheeks, making his freckles glow again.

Somebody seemed to have forgotten they were meant to leave.

Jason smiled, resisting the urge to reach out for Will.

This was it, huh?

As soon as Will would be out of that door, they'd have to return to being just friends.

No more touching, no more kissing, just friends.

Will looked up at him, and Jason liked to think the somber expression on his face was because he was thinking the same thing.

Oh, how he wished…

But he knew Will wasn't ready.

Maybe he could wait for him.

Maybe there'd be a day when Will would say yes.

Maybe all Jason had to do was be patient for a little while longer.

Or a long while longer.

Then again, he'd have done that, anyways, wouldn't he?

Wait for Will?

Hope for more?

Even if he waited in vain for the rest of his life?

Yeah, sounded about right.

"I guess I'll be going, then." Will said quietly, and Jason nodded slowly.

"Probably. Leave me some pancakes in case Percy and Nico come back, okay? I'm starving." He tried conversationally, though he knew his voice was a tad too 'conversational' to come across as authentic.

Will huffed, though the smile on his face didn't reach his eyes.

"What? Nah, you don't need food."

Jason smiled back, though it was mostly fake.

"Wow, how mean. Have some mercy on a poor guy with a weak heart, man."

Will snorted, and Jason could see the tension leaving those slim, freckled shoulders.

"Weak heart, my ass. You're fine. But…I might just leave you a bit of my pancakes, ok? Because I'm so nice and kind, you know?"

Jason gave him his best unimpressed look, while Will walked backwards out of the bathroom.

Stay with me, he wanted to yell.

"Yeah, right. Shoo with you, and let's hope they didn't drench them in syrup or something." Jason called after him, instead.

Will snorted, hands on the door, his head still poking in, and his eyes roaming Jason's body one last time.

"Hey, they're the best when they're drenched in syrup. You just have shitty taste."

Jason wanted to grin at that, but forced himself to huff out an offended breath instead.

"Sugar is bad for you." He called after him, and heard the blonde laugh as he closed the door.

Then, the sound was gone, and Jason let the smile slide off his face.

So, this was it, huh?

He lowered his gaze and took a deep breath, before turning towards the shower, ridding himself of the only piece of clothing he was wearing, and looking over to the corner where the two of them had laid last night.

One of their towels was still there, too, half shoved under the cupboard.

He was torn out of his thoughts when he heard something small and light fall to the ground and looked down, finding a folded piece of paper next to his boxer shorts.

Huh?

Frowning, he picked it up.

Had that been…inside his boxer shorts?

Great, when had that happened?

And what was it, anyways?

It didn't look like one of the post-it notes they had used for their games.

In fact, it looked more like one of Nico's love notes from the Advent Calendar.

Oh gods, they'd slaughter him if he had one of those stuck in his boxer shorts all of a sudden.

Unfolding the paper, he immediately made out Percy's handwriting, and his heart sank.

But then, he read the first lines, and he frowned, instead.

Wait…what?

.

"Can you explain to me why Percy put-…" Jason started when he emerged from the bathroom after forever, but broke off again almost immediately, and Will looked up, trying to decide between going through with shoving that giant piece of pancake into his mouth, or letting it drop back onto the plate and acting as if he hadn't just attempted to do just that.

He let the pancake make the decision for him, sliding right off the fork and flopping back onto the plate with a splash of syrup.

Nice.

Jason stopped, staring at Will, and Will stared back, resisting the urge to let his gaze wander over a rather wet and disheveled Jason, who must have taken a shower (which explained why he had taken so long).

How was he supposed to act normal with him if all he wanted to do was lick up each and every droplet of water running down that muscled chest?

And that wasn't the only thing he wanted to do, either.

They had a silent standoff, and Will knew Jason was struggling, too.

Gods, what had they done?

They had already ruined it, hadn't they?

Will wasn't stupid, he knew there was no way they could go back to how things had been before.

For all he knew, Jason would stop touching him entirely – and he could already wave goodbye to nightly cuddles, too, for sure.

Will wouldn't blame him.

If anything, he'd be the one initiating for all of it to stop, to not run the risk of leading Jason on, only to end up hurting him.

There was no future for them.

As cruel as it was.

And it was so, so cruel.

Especially since it really did seem as if Jason liked him.

Like, seriously liked him.

Jason Grace. Liking him.

Will wanted to laugh at the absurdity, and cry at the cruelty.

Jason couldn't like him.

But even if he did, what would it change?

It would only make everything even worse, even more cruel, and even more impossible.

The only person Will had ever really thought he could actually be with was Nico, and now he was even doubting that, given how experimental and dominant Nico was becoming, even if he wasn't noticing that himself, yet.

Jason took a deep breath, and Will's mind snapped back into focus, his gaze automatically moving down those broad shoulders and chest to Jason's abs, only reluctantly moving on to whatever it was Jason was holding in his hand.

"Do you have any idea why Percy put a note in my boxer shorts, saying he and Nico will be…gone for a while?" Jason asked, his tone light as he walked over towards the bed, which didn't seem like such a great idea to Will, given that Jason was still very much half naked, with only that towel around his hips.

Not that Will didn't already know what was underneath, anyways, but maybe that was what made it all the worse.

Jason didn't seem to care, flopping down next to him as if it was the most normal thing in the world, and the next thing Will knew, Jason had snatched away the plate with the pancakes from Will's lap, instead pushing a folded note into his hands.

"And stop eating all the pancakes by yourself, you cruel ass."

That got Will out of his stupor, that much was certain.

He huffed, adjusting his position next to Jason and shifting away ever so slightly, to avoid brushing against the blonde and falling right back into his arms again.

"I was going to leave you a bit, you know?"

"Of course. You'd have probably eaten it all and then hidden the plate, and if it hadn't been for the note, I'd have never known there had been any pancakes at all." Jason said around a forkful of pancakes, though he winked at Will, so Will knew he wasn't being serious.

He was too distracted to really pay attention to his words, though, since he only just now noticed Jason was using his fork.

Just like that.

Alright, in all fairness, the four of them had shared forks quite a few times, especially with Nico and all, but…now

Gods, this was going to be so difficult.

How was Will supposed to not cave in and beg Jason to date him, after all?

To ask him out again?

Or better, why couldn't Will just turn to him, tell him he had changed his mind, and ask him out, himself?

Will forced himself to look away from the drop of syrup that stuck to the corner of Jason's lip as he chewed, instead concentrating on the note in his hand he still hadn't read.

Well, this explained why the pancakes had been on the bedside table, he guessed.

He had only noticed them when he had sat back down on the bed after he had left Jason in the bathroom, and only because he had wanted to put Jason's glasses on said bedside table.

Will had wondered where the other two were, since they had already been back with the pancakes, but when he had checked the time, he had realized it would have been far more worrisome if those two hadn't been back by then, given that it had already been shortly before 11am.

Soon, it would be lunchtime.

He'd have to hurry up in the shower to get done.

Then again, that would mean there was more time where Jason and he would sit around awkwardly, trying to redefine the boundaries between them.

He forced himself to focus, his eyes still hushing over the very first line Percy had scribbled, even though all it said was 'Hey guys'.

Will took another deep breath, instantly inhaling the scent of freshly washed Jason Grace, and he wanted to curse the gods for ruining his life.

Then again, without the gods, he'd have never met Jason, so he guessed he shouldn't curse them quite that much.

Nah, they deserved it.

He shook his head, and finally managed to read the text in front of him – just to snort out a disbelieving laugh.

Percy and Nico had to do what?

Oh gods, what had they done this time?

There Jason and Will weren't watching for five minutes (or a few hours…), and those two got themselves into a mess with the gods.

Why wasn't he surprised?

Will read on, raising an eyebrow at finding out the pancakes had been made by the Dead/Undead, but also not surprised about it, all the same (though the fact Percy had 'tried them to make sure they weren't poisoned' was kind of sweet…if Percy was being honest and hadn't just wanted to eat them himself).

'Behave.'

Well…

'Don't do anything too weird.'

If Percy had said that to his face, Will would have probably looked anywhere but at him and coughed in an attempt to act as if he hadn't heard, which would have immediately given them away.

Good thing this was just a piece of paper, then.

Will frowned slightly at the heavily crossed out word before 'pal' in particular.

What had Percy written there?

He had made quite a few mistakes throughout his writing, but only this one was made unreadable, while the other errors had merely been crossed out once or twice lightly.

Oh well, it had probably just been something stupid, anyways.

"He's such a drama queen." Will remarked loudly when he read the last part with the shroud, and looked up at Jason, just to see him gazing at him distractedly, taking a long moment to realize Will had spoken at all.

What was he thinking about?

Will probably didn't want to know.

Or he did, but it would only complicate things.

"That he is. We can never leave them alone, it seems. I wonder what he did to get them into that mess." Jason finally managed to reply after taking his time to chew and swallow, before taking another bite.

Will caught himself staring at his lips again, so he quickly averted his eyes, instead looking back down at the note.

"Probably something really stupid."

Silence.

Will started worrying his bottom lip, contemplating whether he should say something or just get up and go to the bathroom.

But what could he possibly say, anyways?

"You…you think they'll be ok?" He asked, turning the note in his hands awkwardly, while debating whether or not he should dare to look around at Jason.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. Percy wrote they'd be gone until noon, so they're bound to be back soon. Think they'll come here first or should we wait for them in the dining room?" Jason asked in a conversational tone.

Will envied him for being able to act this…normal.

As if they hadn't been all over each other most of the night and morning.

As if he hadn't asked Will out.

As if he hadn't been rejected.

As if they were just two friends.

It was exactly what Will had wished for.

Will hated it.

Loathed it.

Despised it.

But he had no right to complain.

All of this was his fault, after all.

"I think they'd want to come here first, but probably won't be able to. And even if, I would rather wait for them there and have lunch. Also I'd like to spare myself the wrath of the gods, rather than wait here for those two without them showing up, upsetting the gods," He replied with a shrug, putting the note on the bedside table, just to realize something.

Percy had written them a note.

Like, for real.

Percy.

Who was dyslexic and hated writing unless it was a note for Nico saying something cheesy.

Had written them a note.

Just to tell them he'd be gone with Nico for a while.

So they wouldn't worry.

Will could only shake his head, though he had to admit he was feeling rather…not exactly flattered, but something along those lines.

They had received a note from Percy.

That was something special, wasn't it?

Definitely something he wouldn't do for just anybody.

Will felt something inside him stirring, and his chest warming, and decided it was definitely time to go to the bathroom now.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Hey, Will..." Jason agreed with a sigh, then his voice suddenly changed and Will's head all but whipped around, the 'Yes?' leaving his lips much too quickly to be casual, but he had no time to cringe at the lack of his acting skills (had to be Jason's fault, since this always seemed to happen around Jason, and Jason alone).

Because, the moment he turned his face towards the blonde, he was confronted with Jason's – his? Their? – fork hovering inches from his lips, a piece of syrup-drenched pancake stuck to it.

"Too much syrup." Jason explained, his eyes hushing between Will's, scanning him, reading him, gauging whether this was okay or not, after last night.

Will's mind wanted to work at triple its normal speed, and shut down entirely at the same time. Will couldn't do anything but open and close his mouth a few times, his eyes wide and blinking at Jason in surprise, needing a moment for the words to sink in.

Then, he urged himself to put on his cockiest grin yet, leaning forward to wrap his lips around the fork, and trying not to think of what else he had wrapped his lips around since yesterday's dinner.

"As I said, you have shitty taste. What would you do without me, hmm? I don't mean to brag, but it was I who picked out the not-so-drenched bits for you, trying to get most of the syrup before you could complain." He stated smugly, though he really just wanted Jason to know he had actually really intended to leave Jason some food, and had taken his preferences into consideration.

Jason was too busy staring at his mouth and swallowing hard, though, and Will had the distinct feeling he wasn't the only one getting a little distracted.

Which wasn't good.

He needed Jason to treat him like a friend solely, because Will would definitely melt instantly if Jason did anything but.

And they couldn't have that, because Will wouldn't be able to follow up on anything.

Ugh, how he hated his life sometimes.

It was all just so unfair!

He really wanted to have that 'talk' with Michael now.

Well, maybe not right now-now, but soon.

It wasn't as if he was hoping for a miracle that would solve all his problems and enable a relationship with Jason Grace, but…he wasn't sure.

He was hoping it would at least solve something.

Of course, he wanted to do anything but talk about this whole matter, especially not with his brother, especially not after his last try, not now, not then, not ever.

Having Leah confront him about it had been one of the worst things in his life, even though she hadn't said all that much, and he had been too busy sobbing like a baby to really say anything, neither confirming nor denying anything she said, but letting her hug him and comfort him, which had probably been all the confirmation she had needed.

Michael's outburst in the very beginning of their (entirely unexpected) reunion had been horrible, too.

Will remembered the utter horror and dread surging through him when he had rushed to the window to slam it shut and close the curtains, hoping against hope the guys hadn't heard a thing.

Luckily enough, they hadn't, else things would be a lot different now.

But, yeah, he guessed he did owe Michael that chat.

No matter how much he disliked it, despised it, loathed the mere thought.

Maybe it would at least make his bad dreams stop.

Because he was fairly certain it would get even more difficult to not succumb to Jason when he found himself rutting against him on a nightly basis again.

Even if he'd probably really like that.

"Your sacrifice is greatly appreciated. Anyways, are you going to get ready? Or will you accompany me to the dining room in those very fashionable boxer shorts of yours?" Jason's voice pulled him out of the gutter, away from picturing things he shouldn't be picturing, and back into cold, cruel reality.

He looked down at his boxer shorts, feeling the embarrassment creep up his neck, but then Jason's knee bumped against his, and his fluster was gone in a heartbeat as his eyes fell on the bare leg.

"You're one to talk, you know? At least my choice of clothing doesn't run the risk of dropping to the ground at any moment" He shot back.

Will looked up and caught Jason staring at his underwear for a moment too long to be innocent or subtle.

"Don't say a thing." Will warned, just as Jason opened his mouth, a dark gleam in his eyes that sent shivers down Will's spine and gave him a rough idea what Jason was thinking about right now.

Nothing he should be thinking about, that much was certain

Will felt hot and cold at the same time, and jumped up, unable to take any more.

The tension was getting too much.

"I'll be in the bathroom." He excused himself hurriedly, and saw Jason nodding out of the corners of his eyes, watching with aching heart how the blonde lowered his head slightly, looking borderline sad.

He didn't want Jason to be sad.

He wanted him happy and content, like how he had been when they had cuddled earlier.

But there was nothing Will could do about it.

Nothing he could fix.

Even though he was head medic and supposed to be one of the best, he surely sucked at the whole fixing part.

Will made his way towards the bathroom, remembering how he had rushed after Jason when he had been in Will's place earlier, remembering how they had kissed each other as if their lives had depended on it.

He let out a small, desperate sigh.

This was going to be so, so difficult, wasn't it?

Then again, when were things ever not difficult?

Maybe it simply came with the demigod-business.

Or maybe it was just Will having rotten luck (again).

Jason didn't come after him, but it would have been weird if he had, so Will wasn't surprised in the slightest, though he did feel a little lost once he closed the door behind him, finding himself all alone in the giant bathroom.

Somehow, he had forgotten about the size of this place in the matter of one night.

When Jason had been in here with him, it hadn't seemed quite as big and empty and reverberating and weird.

He missed Jason already – in the bathroom, of course.

Anything else would be weird

No, but just having Jason around right now would make everything so much better.

He loved the space, but he hated the emptiness and coldness of it all.

Jason being here would solve all that instantly.

He didn't need to be there in an intimate way or anything, just his company in an entirely platonic way.

But, yeah, not going to happen.

He'd have to be happy about each and every physical interaction with Jason from this point onwards, too.

Gods, this was such a mess.

And, sadly, it seemed to have been all Will's fault.

Why wasn't he surprised?

Will sighed, brushing his teeth listlessly and staring at his reflection in the mirror, glowering just because he felt like it.

Hopefully, Percy and Nico would be back soon.

He was sure they'd be fine, they were strong and tough and stubborn, after all, so they'd definitely make it through whatever it was Demeter would make them do.

Though he still hoped she wouldn't be too tough on them, and that they'd come back in one piece,unharmed.

Will still didn't know whether his healing abilities would even work in the Underworld, after all, and he definitely didn't want to have to find out.

Sighing, he stepped into the still wet shower, and his thoughts immediately jumped back to a certain blonde, picturing him standing in here just earlier, naked and wet and perfect.

Dangerous thoughts.

Will cursed himself, but other wisely didn't stop his mind from happily sliding back into the gutter.

Come on, who could resist Jason Grace?

And the shower smelled so lovely like him, too.

Will sighed, realizing once more how bad he had it for the blonde.

Then he realized it was his fault that he couldn't have Jason, that Jason had actually asked him out and all, and Will had been so, so stupid to say no.

Frustrated, Will turned the water up to the max and set it to even hotter than usual, letting the water scorch his skin for a moment before relenting and adjusting the temperature again the tiniest bit.

This was going to be so, so hard.

.

When Jason and Will finally got to the dining room, they were five minutes late, because Jason hadn't been able to find his glasses.

Which was embarrassing, since Will had apparently placed them neatly on the bedside table, with Percy's note right next to it, in plain view for everybody to see/find.

But, well, Jason kind of hadn't known that, and had assumed they'd still be somewhere in the bed – which had resulted in him basically taken apart the entire bed, even crawling under the bed in search of them.

That was also where Will had found him when he had emerged from the bathroom after forever, only a towel around his waist and the hot steam of a shower-done-right emerging from the ajar bathroom door like a cloud (all of which Jason had seen from where he had been crammed under the bed).

(Gods, Will had looked so hot.)

And maybe he should have actually told him what he was looking for, or explained in more detail just why he was under the bed, but…he might have made their usual mistake of saying things too vague.

'I'm just looking for…you know…' might have not been the best thing to say, especially not when 'my glasses' wasn't even all that bad or insinuating anything weird whatsoever.

But that's what he had said, and he had kind of assumed Will would understand, since Will had acted as if he had understood.

The fact that Will had gotten dressed in record speed behind him and then proceeded to help him without any questions asked had kind of confirmed that thought, too.

But…apparently, Will had assumed Jason was looking for something else – Jason still wasn't entirely sure what.

Because, after searching forever, and running seriously late, Jason had flopped down on the bed with a groan and said 'We should just go, it's not like I'm that blind, after all'.

At which Will had stopped in his tracks.

Had looked over to him in slow motion as realization dawned on his face.

Had walked over slowly, deliberately, that look of 'Are you freaking kidding me, Jason Grace?' burning into Jason.

And had picked up the glasses that were right there.

Right. There.

Jason wanted to bury his face in his hands in shame all over again.

But, as luck would have it, he didn't seem to have to explain this to anybody, because they were absolutely alone in the dining room.

"Did they change the time?" He asked, glancing around at Will who was standing next to him – a tad farther away than usual, maybe, but close enough not to make everything even more awkward.

They'd need time, he guessed.

Time, and perfect self-control, because, so far, he had wanted to wrap his arms around Will and bury his face in his neck roughly 30 times already, all in the matter of less than an hour.

Yes, lots of time and self-control.

Will shrugged next to him, and Jason caught himself staring again, so he quickly looked back at the already set table.

(Sometimes, he wondered whether the food was simply always on this table, just waiting for them to actually come around and eat it. But since that implied the gods tampered with the food they were eating, he didn't voice out these thoughts.)

"I'm not surprised. Nico and Percy are probably still busy, and Nico's dad is most likely enjoying his last alone-minutes with his wife, I'd assume." The blonde said, walking up to the table and flopping down in his usual seat.

Jason sighed.

"Guess you're right." He said, following suite, and sitting down next to Will, just to wonder whether that was such a good idea.

Of course, they kept switching places every some days (except Will who mainly stayed in this seat, to be honest), but maybe Will would prefer some space?

He glanced sideways at him, and found Will looking at him uncertainly as well, though he didn't say anything.

This was going to be so difficult.

Earlier, Will had seemed so confused still, and Jason had felt the unease and conflicted thoughts radiating from him, so he had acted accordingly and focused on coming across confident and as if this wasn't a big deal at all.

And Jason knew Will had needed him to do that, to be the pillar that held everything up and gave him a chance to collect himself.

But he to admit he had been kind of relieved to find Will a lot more like his usual self, and a lot more collected, when he had come out of the bathroom.

"Of course I'm right. When am I ever not right?" Will said, trying to imitate his usual unimpressed voice, but it didn't quite have the same ring to it.

When was Will ever not right?

Well, Jason could think of a few things, alright.

Like the whole issue with 'We wouldn't work out', without even giving them a try in the first place.

Not that Jason was actually going to voice that.

Instead, he sighed again.

"Yeah, yeah. So, do we eat, do we wait? What's your opinion, Freckles?" He asked, mainly to opt for a conversation to kill the silence that kept daring to take over.

It took him a moment to realize he had used 'Freckles', though.

It had come naturally, ok?

Judging by the glare Will shot him, the pet name certainly hadn't gone unnoticed by him, but Jason acted nonchalant, anyways.

It wasn't as if he had actually intended to insinuate anything.

Ok, Will's freckles on his dick were permanently imprinted to Jason's mind, but that didn't mean he was constantly referring to those whenever he was using that pet name.

He halted, thinking that statement over, just to pointedly look away.

Well…whatever.

"What are you asking me for, blondie? Aren't you the praetor and leading figure, here? Shouldn't you be the one making the battle plan for me to follow?" Will shot back, and Jason rolled his eyes.

Blondie.

Right.

"I preferred 'Handsome' more." He grumbled under his breath, before clearing his throat.

"What?" Will asked, but Jason shook his head quickly.

"Nothing. Anyways, why don't we give Nico or Percy a quick call? Who knows, maybe they forgot the time, or can't convince Demeter to-…" He started, but then was interrupted by a ruckus behind them, coming from the ajar door.

They both raised their eyebrows at each other, turning their heads towards the noise.

The next moment, the door was shoved open harshly, and Percy and Nico came rushing in, looking disheveled, exhausted, sweaty and…had Percy taken a mud bath?

"Guys! Guys, I'm so glad we're back. Guys, I'm so happy to see you. Oh gods, oh gods, I'm never becoming a farmer!" Percy wailed loudly, hurrying over to them before they even managed to stand up completely, and throwing his rather dirty and not very nice-smelling arms around them both, pressing them against his also very dirty and not-very-nice-smelling chest.

Jason was glad he wasn't the only one frozen in shock, though Will snapped out of his faster, hugging Percy back slightly and patting his back as Percy fake-cried against their shoulders.

"There, there. I'm sure it wasn't all that bad." Will tried, and Jason forced himself to nod, exchanging a pointed look with Will before they both very subtly averted their noses.

No offense, but…yeah.

"It was. It was horrible." Nico declared behind Percy, looking disheveled and exhausted and sweaty as well, but not as bad as Percy.

At least they didn't get the impression he had rolled in the mud, too.

"She wouldn't let us go. It's all my fault, because I was an idiot. And then, I was even more of an idiot, and she…and she…" Percy started, and a shiver ran down his spine, clearly palpable even for Jason, though he wasn't the one stroking his back up and down.

Poor guy.

There Jason was, worrying about how to act around Will, while Nico and Percy seemed to have gone through much worse.

He surely was a lousy friend, especially since he had not even noticed their missing at first, then not worried about them being gone for so long, and then hadn't thought much of whether or not they'd be okay.

At least they were still alive, he guessed.

He was still a lousy friend.

"Come on, let's get you two seated. Or do you first want to get back to Nico's room?" He tried, but they both shook their heads, and Percy reluctantly pulled away from them – and only to pull Nico towards him (and them), apparently.

"I'm never becoming a farmer. I don't care how lousy our sex is going to be, Nico, I'm not going to do this for a living, forget it." Percy declared, and Jason and Will both frowned, exchanging confused glances.

What…?

"Percy, shut up. It was your own fault she started with that." Nico shot back, sounding tired and slightly upset.

"Everything was my fault. I'm so sorry." Percy whined into Jason's shoulder, and now Jason actually found himself stroking over Percy's back, too.

He'd like to say it was because he didn't know what else to do, but that wasn't entirely true.

Percy really seemed upset.

"Percy, stop apologizing. I told you a hundred times already to stop apologizing." Nico snapped back, sounding unusually edgy.

Uh-oh.

Jason shot another alarmed look at Will, who was now tugging Nico closer hurriedly with a slightly concerned look in his eyes, stroking over Nico's and Percy's backs.

"Now, now, no fighting. How about we talk about this later, when we're back in Nico's room, and concentrate on getting some food inside you first? You're both starving, I can feel it." Will tried hurriedly, and Jason nodded, trying to animate Percy to move and let them out of their weird embrace.

But Percy didn't seem to want to let them go whatsoever.

In fact, both Percy and Nico merely made noncommittal sounds in the back of their throats, looking miserable and worn out.

"Will is right. Come on, you should eat. I'm sure the gods will be here any moment, then we can have lunch, say our goodbyes, and get you two in the bathtub. Sounds good?" He suggested, rubbing his hands over Percy's back and feeling him shiver slightly, rubbing his face against Jason's shoulder.

It faintly reminded him of how Will had nuzzled his face against him today in the morning, but he had no time to reminisce about that for very long.

"Bathtub?" Percy asked, perking up slightly, and Jason shot Will a pointed look, who made a face and shook his head immediately as he probably guessed what Jason wanted to ask.

Then, before Jason had the chance to convince him otherwise, Will turned his face away curtly, ending the discussion before it had even started, and stroking up and down Nico's back insistently instead, who slowly seemed to get comfortable with the idea of holding onto Will right now for some peace of mind.

(Was it weird how Percy and Nico were clutching them instead of each other, more than obviously seeking comfort? Probably. Did Jason find it weird? Weirdly enough, no.)

"Yep. Just you and Nico, and some alone time in the bathtub. Sounds good?" He tried to make it sound as great as possible, but felt Percy's shoulders slumping slightly.

Ugh.

"Oh."

Jason stared at Will's profile, mutely pleading for him to look at him and have a heart.

Please?

Pretty, pretty please?

Will started tensing next to him, and Jason could see his jaw clench and unclench.

Then, the blonde looked around at him with an utterly frustrated look, and Jason relaxed.

"That sounds like a great idea. How about we have that SingStar match afterwards? And I can give you two a nice, long massage to loosen up your muscles a bit, if you want. Sounds good?" He offered, and Jason wanted to kiss him.

Partly because he could see both Percy and Nico perking up slightly, and partly because he really wanted to taste those lips again.

Self-control.

Right.

"SingStar?" Percy asked hopefully, the same moment Nico let out a rather wistful sounding "Massage?" that made Jason smile – and Will, too.

Yes, he could definitely see that twitch of his lips, even if Will tried to look indifferent no second later.

"Yes. Now, lunchtime." Will announced loudly, and pushed both Percy and Nico away from himself and Jason, sending a last 'You owe me'-look towards Jason, who merely looked at him with an innocent, but grateful expression that made the blonde roll his eyes.

They both ushered the two still rather disheveled demigods to their respective seats, then hesitated, uncertain whether they could actually start with lunch without the gods being there.

The whole point of meeting up at this time was to have said lunch with the gods, after all.

Just as Jason was about to suggest to at least start, they could hear another round of voices from the door, and the three gods in question entered – and almost as loud and dramatic as Percy and Nico, too.

The loudest of all being Demeter, who seemed utterly furious, while Persephone snapped back at her, clearly irritated.

Hades was utterly quiet, walking ahead of them and making sure his wife didn't collide with the table as they made their way around it, looking fairly unimpressed even as he nodded at them in acknowledgement.

Though his outfit had Jason blinking confused and wonder about his eyesight.

Since when was the god of the Underworld wearing regular jeans and rather bland sweaters?

Well, it probably didn't matter, but it was definitely disturbing to suddenly see him like that.

He guessed even Hades got sick of looking dressed-up and formal?

Jason couldn't catch whatever Persephone and Demeter were saying, the words too fast, too loud, and too intermingled to really make out, though he had a hunch Demeter had come back to find Persephone and Hades in a more or less compromising situation.

At least that's what it looked like, with Demeter so livid and ranting, Persephone so irritated and defending herself, and Hades just sitting there with the smallest hint of a smug, pleased smile on his face that reminded Jason faintly of how Nico tended to look after some alone-time in the bathroom with Percy, when he tried to cover up and not let it show just how much he had enjoyed said time in the bathroom.

"You two have finally made it out of bed, I see." Hades started conversationally towards Will and Jason, and Jason felt Will tense next to him, while Percy and Nico both looked around at them, their uncomfortable expressions only intensifying.

Jason swallowed, the thought 'Does Hades know? Do the gods know?' sounding through his head over and over again, making his skin crawl and his mouth dry as he thought frantically of how to handle the situation.

"Yes. It was a long night, so we caught up on some sleep. We weren't aware you would want us around for breakfast?" Will supplied, his voice a tad higher than usual, but Jason hoped the others wouldn't notice.

Judging by the way Percy's eyes narrowed and Nico's eyebrows furrowed, they had noticed, though.

Demeter saved them by snarling loudly, making everyone but Hades jump in their seats (Persephone included).

"Hey! Don't think you can just extract yourself from this conversation, lad. How dare you make me see my daughter like that, with my own two eyes?" She ranted, and Jason saw Hades rolling his eyes to himself, sending his mother-in-law a look so hostile Jason knew that if Demeter wasn't immortal, she'd probably be dead right now.

"Then maybe you shouldn't have looked. Or actually knocked. That's what one does to not disturb others in their privacy." He said pointedly, grinding his teeth ever so slightly, which made Percy shift closer from where he sat next to Jason.

Though whether that was an attempt to hide himself behind Jason or to put himself in front of Jason, Jason didn't know.

Not that he cared, either.

(In all honesty though, he felt like he'd rather be the one protected right now, than the one who'd have to do the protecting.)

"Mother, I am old enough to take care of myself! Seriously, you're acting impossible." Persephone put in before Demeter got to say anything to Hades, though she looked as if she had plenty to say.

"When is she not acting impossible?" Hades muttered sulkily, and Persephone sent him an irritated look.

"Stop whining. It's your own fault. You should have gotten the boys to distract her much sooner."

Well, damn.

Percy made a rather pathetic, high-pitched sound next to him, and Jason found himself moving forward (and closer to Percy) instinctively, conveniently getting in the way of Demeter's direct view of Percy.

Not that that would actually stop the goddess, but it was intent that counted, he guessed.

He also guessed he'd always end up being the one protecting them, but he had a feeling he shouldn't be surprised about that.

But Demeter didn't jump up and pulverize Percy and Nico.

She also didn't turn to glare at them, or yell or scream or throw a very god-like tantrum.

Instead, she laughed.

"As if he was man enough for something like that. You married a coward, Persephone. Hiding in his realm and waiting for the end like the idiot he is, and yet he is still trying to get you to stay here with him. As if I'd let it happen. Not with me. Not under my care." Demeter all but bellowed, and Jason shot Will a puzzled look for a moment, but Will looked as confused as he did, even shrugging a tiny bit as he leaned forward to look past Jason and Percy towards Nico.

But Nico didn't seem to know what that conversation was about, either.

Though he also didn't seem to pay that much attention, instead eyeing Percy worriedly, who looked as if he was going to be sick.

Jason couldn't tell whether that was because of the sudden shock at being found out, or because he might have actually bathed in mud and swallowed a few mouthfuls or something, and his stomach was now disagreeing.

Or maybe he wasn't even sick and only looked like that because of all the grime and dirt on his usually pretty face.

(Not that Jason thought Percy had a pretty face or anything. Though, in all fairness, he did look rather…handsome…ish…)

Poor guy.

Jason wished he could help him somehow.

"Mother, be quiet. It was my choice to stay this long, and if I had my way, I'd stay even longer. I'd rather die fighting, than cower in Olympus like the rest of the gods."

Ok, wait, what?

Hades caught them looking, and lazily lifted an arm to tug on the sleeve of his wife's dress, conveniently exposing her shoulder and making Demeter's nostrils flare.

(As if they had never seen shoulders before. Seriously, the gods sometimes.)

Persephone looked around with a frown, the irritation plain on her face as she fixed her sleeve, but when her eyes rested on the four of them, her expression instantly cleared and she fell quiet.

Great.

So…what had that been about?

Judging by her reaction, it had to be important.

Then again, Hades would have interrupted her sooner then, wouldn't he?

But anyways, who was hiding in Olympus?

As far as Jason was aware, the gods had all retreated after the war, yes, but he hadn't heard anything about any of the gods 'cowering in Olympus', whatsoever.

And he had to know, since he was the one having to travel across the entire country to get all those damned signatures and all.

If any of the major gods was showing signs of weakness, he'd have never gotten as many signatures together as he had, because none of the minor gods would have willingly followed them, and thus not signed the contract.

Plus, he now knew by heart how much they loved to tear into each other, and badmouth each other, and gossip pretty much all the time.

So, maybe this was nothing, after all.

Just Demeter over dramatizing everything, and Persephone trying to one-up her.

Jason decided he'd still think this over at a later time.

Maybe, once he had Hades' signature (and thus, Persephone's and Demeter's, too, hopefully. That had been the deal, at least), he could try to find out more about this issue with whatever god/goddess he'd encounter next.

"Whatever. It is not important. We have already agreed to leave today, anyways, so I don't see why you're making such a fuss, mother. Now, boys, why aren't you eating? You need your nutrition. Perseus, Nico, you two have been working on the fields for so long, I'm certain your fragile human bodies must be starving." Persephone continued as if nothing had happened, and Demeter huffed annoyed, while Hades merely smirked to himself, looking at nothing in particular.

Jason glanced sideways at Percy and Nico, and found Nico moving almost automatically, piling things on his plate without really checking what it was.

Will wasn't going to be happy about that.

Jason looked at Percy, but Percy was staring down at his lap, seemingly confused and conflicted.

What?

Jason followed his gaze with a light frown, just to blink.

When had he put his hand on Percy's thigh?

Why had Percy not moved it?

Why was it still there?

He pulled his hand back, flashing Percy an apologetic smile when his eyes shot up to Jason, still seeming confused, though Jason had to admit he was glad he at least didn't look all that sick anymore.

"And you two need your nutrition, as well. Especially after last night." Persephone added, and Will, the poor, innocent soul, spit his water across the table, while simultaneously choking on it.

Jason jumped slightly, and instantly went to pat the blonde on the back, trying to control his face muscles as his brain worked in a frenzy, his entire body feeling Percy's and Nico's stares.

He was not allowed to blush now, he was not allowed to blush now, Persephone knew nothing, everything was good, nobody would have to know

Not that Jason would really mind, but this was definitely not how he wanted their nightly endeavors to become known, especially not to Percy and Nico.

Plus, Will had probably rejected him because he hoped for something with those two, so that would be counter-productive for him, too.

"Dear, I told you not to do that anymore. You're freaking the Jackson kid out for no reason whatsoever. Also, it seems you're killing your favorite." Hades said in an utterly bored, nonplussed tone, waving his hand dismissively towards Will, who was still coughing and beet-red in the face, his freckles glowing vividly.

Jason wasn't entirely sure whether this was because of the choking, or Persephone's definite hint at knowing what they had done – though he had a fairly good hunch, alright.

Couldn't the gods just mind their own business for once?

Unbelievable.

"What? All I'm saying is that they have had a tiring night behind them, and that your sorry excuse for pancakes is not going to be enough to patch them up. And Perseus, get yourself together, this isn't the end of the world yet." She continued loudly, snapping the last bit at Percy with a snap of her fingers, and Jason glanced around at Percy to find his eyes fixed on Will and Jason, hushing between them, a look of utter panic in his gaze.

What?

There was no way Percy could know.

Even if he guessed into that direction, he'd never truly think they'd done any of the things they had done last night.

(Jason could barely believe they had truly happened, himself, after all.)

He opened his mouth to say something, hoping to find the right words to defuse the situation, and get them away from this topic, but Persephone cut in again, leaning forward and putting her elbows on the table, her ageless eyes gleaming dangerously.

"So, how about some spaghetti? You know, some 'Bella Notte'?" She suggested, a knowing smirk playing on her lips, and Jason felt Will tensing.

"Actually, I was just going to go for a simple sandwich. How about you, Will?" He heard himself speak, which was weird, because he couldn't remember forming the words.

Plus, who ate sandwiches for lunch?

But it seemed to have been the right thing to say, because he could feel some of the tension leaving Will's shoulders as he took a deep breath, pulling his hand back from where it had dug into Jason's leg in his panic, though Jason only really noticed that now.

Apparently, his observation skills were failing him.

He really had to catch up on some sleep later.

"I'll have whatever Nico's having, thanks. Maybe next time. Yeah." Will stammered, tripping over his words slightly, and Jason inwardly winced at the realization just how freaked out Will seemed to be about this.

Was that because he was simply as uncomfortable as Jason about the gods knowing things that weren't any of their business?

Or was it because he was ashamed of their doings?

Did he regret it?

He hadn't left that impression earlier.

Then again, that had been in the comfort of each other and still a bit of that heat-of-the-moment-flair.

Maybe things had changed now?

Will looked at him, his blue eyes full of worry and uncertainty.

No, Jason doubted it.

Will looked more as if he expected Jason to have some major issue with it.

That was good, then.

Well, not good, but…whatever.

He could still feel Percy's eyes burning into him, and decided to once and for all end their misery.

"Next time, we really shouldn't start playing in the middle of the night, should we now? Bad decision." He said with a small (though fake) chuckle, and finally urged himself to pull away from Will again, moving back onto his seat properly and thus closer to Percy, who was still attempting to read the answers to his unspoken questions right off their faces.

Jason didn't look around, instead concentrating on various things like his hands, the table, and the food.

It felt weird, lying like that.

Rendering that moment Will and he had had to something simple and meaningless like 'playing'.

It had been so much more than a simple accident or some sort of game.

So, so, so much more.

But he knew from the way both Percy and Will relaxed that this had been necessary.

"Oh, absolutely. Now, Nico, what are you…what the hell? What do you think you're eating there, young man? Forget it. I will not have it. I'm your doctor, you're not eating all that greasy, unhealthy stuff under my care. Gone with that, gone!" Will started out with a fake laugh similar to Jason's, then looked over to Nico to probably get away from their current conversation same as Jason was trying – just to apparently get the shock of a lifetime.

Jason could only push back into his seat hurriedly as Will all but lunged across him and Percy to get to Nico, who flinched hard and surged back as well, his expression wild and his fork still raised with the very first bite he still hadn't even taken.

Will started grumbling and cursing, pointing to various sections of Nico's plate and ranting about things like hidden, harmful sugars, carbohydrates, and terms Jason had never heard of before.

Though, in all fairness, he was pretty sure Will knew they had no idea what he was actually talking about.

Plus, Jason had to admit he was slightly distracted by the fact that Will's backside was basically right there in front of him, looking awfully nice in those chino pants he was wearing.

Gods, it should be illegal for his butt to look so good in these pants.

Couldn't Will just wear normal jeans like everybody else?

An image of Will in Nico's skinny jeans flashed through his mind and he hurriedly turned his head sideways towards Percy to not get caught staring.

Percy, however, was staring at Will, his eyes hushing over the blonde's face, his body tense, his hands up as if to hold Will should he lose his balance, since Will merely had a hand placed on Percy's thigh to keep himself up, the other one still busily pointing at Nico's food.

Something in Percy's expression seemed…off…but Jason couldn't tell what exactly it was.

It didn't matter, either, because Will suddenly pulled back, snatching the plate away from in front of Nico, who had merely mumbled some feeble excuses and claimed he hadn't even eaten anything yet (not to mention the three very subtle hints that Will was neither his 'doctor', nor his mother, that Will had conveniently ignored).

"Yeah, yeah. I know you need your nutrition after that work-out, but how about you go for…hang on…" Will waved off, placing the plate in front of himself instead, and beginning to put various food on his original plate, which seemed to now be Nico's.

Right.

"Here. Looks a lot better, doesn't it?" Will chirped, reaching across Jason and Percy once more to place the plate in front of Nico, who merely looked uncomfortable and nodded, trying very hard not to look at the gods – who were, as Jason only now noticed, watching them with curious, amused expressions and dangerous gleams in their eyes.

Will seemed to notice Nico's discomfort, because he suddenly froze while pulling back, his eyes studying Nico's face as he looked anywhere but at them.

Jason watched him watching Nico, watched him glancing towards the gods, and watched him coming to a solution, the unease falling from his face as he put on an almost perfect mask of the usual, unperturbed but determined Will Solace.

"Yes, now, Percy, your turn." He said loudly, and Percy's eyebrows shot up as he leaned backwards further, looking utterly puzzled.

"What? Uh…sure?" He said hesitantly, but Will was already grabbing hold of his plate and started selecting various food for him, as well.

Jason smiled, watching how the back of Will's neck turned crimson, betraying his act and showing just how uncomfortable and flustered he was about all of this.

That was the one thing that made him intentionally reach out for Percy's thigh again, giving him a quick squeeze and instantly gaining his attention.

And, while Percy seemed utterly out of his comfort zone and didn't seem to know what was actually going on, he seemed to be perfectly capable of interpreting Jason's pointed looks and catch the meaning behind the unsaid words.

In fact, a moment later, Percy's expression cleared and he gave a small nod, before looking hesitant and shooting Jason another look, which Jason guessed meant something along the lines of 'Are you sure?'.

Jason's lips twitched and he gave a small nod.

Percy looked back at Will quietly, thoughtfully.

Then, he cleared his throat and grinned.

"Well, would you look at that? I'd have never thought Jason would get competition when it came to the mother-figure of the group." He said loudly, and Jason watched pleased how Will immediately shot Percy a genuine look of exasperation.

"Well, one of us has to make sure you guys stay alive for longer than the age of thirty. And since you never listen to Jason, it just has to be me, doesn't it?"

Percy huffed with a big grin, accepting the plate without complaint, though Jason could see quite a bit of vegetables.

Nico was watching them with a light frown, quietly eating his food, though Jason could see the slight twitch of the corner of his lips, showing that he knew they were trying to mask the awkwardness of the moment.

"So, that leaves you, blon- Handsome. Any specific wishes?" Will asked, clearing his throat hurriedly as he seemed to have wanted to refer to him as 'blondie' again – which, funnily enough, made Jason's heart thump loudly in his chest, filling him with a completely nonsensical feeling of hope and relief.

Well, he guessed this did mean their doings last night were still on Will's mind, and that he wasn't ashamed of them or trying to make it seem like they had never happened.

Or maybe Jason was reading too much into it.

He heard both Percy and Nico complaining about how they didn't get a say in whatever Will had picked out for them, and watched Will roll his eyes with a small chuckle when Percy insisted on 'equal treatment' of all of them, but Jason was too busy studying Will's face to pay much attention to that.

Will took his time, but eventually looked into his eyes, his expression becoming affectionate for the most fleeting moment, the same way it did sometimes when he looked at Nico.

And Jason took his answer from that, smiling and relaxing into his seat once more, a peaceful calm settling over him.

"Anything you deem fit, Freckles." He said with a genuine smile, and Will smiled back almost automatically, before turning towards the food on the table again with an expression fit for waging war.

Jason smiled, the day suddenly not seeming so bad, after all.

He felt Percy's eyes on him again, and sent him a questioning look, but Percy instantly averted his gaze again, his eyes hushing over Will with pursed lips for a moment, before settling on his own plate as he decided to start eating.

Oh, Percy, trust me, you don't want to know.

Jason was never ever going to tell him, that much was certain.

He accepted Will's plate with another smile, relishing in the way Will's cheeks flushed slightly as he grinned back, his freckles standing out so wonderfully again.

It didn't matter that Will had rejected him.

It didn't matter that Will liked Nico and Percy, and Jason didn't care how much more he liked them.

Because, when he looked at Will, even right now, with the gods there, and Percy and Nico there, and this awkward moment….he could still see the affection in Will's gaze, the signs of 'I like you' in his eyes, his freckles, his face, his posture.

And for Jason, that was more than enough.

It definitely made him realize he was going to wait for this bundle of sunshine, even if he'd end up waiting forever.

"So, Hades, by the way, I was wondering. Would it be ok if I went to Elysium once more to talk to my brother?" Will asked, and Nico and Percy dropped their forks in stunned surprise, much to Jason's amusement.

And apparently Hades', too, since he shot them a look full of mirth before leaning forward and fixing his attention on Will.

"Elysium, hm?" He said, dragging out the words as if contemplating that option, but his wife nudged him into the side almost instantly.

"Dear, we've had this conversation. Do it." She hissed pointedly, and Jason couldn't even bring himself to be annoyed about them knowing way too much again.

"Wait, wait, what? What? Are you sure?" Percy cut in worriedly, looking around Jason at Will, but Jason moved into his line of view the moment he felt Will tensing.

"Perce, don't worry. We talked about this earlier, and he said he thought it over, so I see no problem with it." He said calmly, and Percy's expression instantly turned conflicted and suspicious again.

Yeah, well, Jason would definitely have to think of something he could tell Percy and Nico so they'd stop looking so worried and uneasy.

What was it with them, anyways?

Sure, he knew they liked Will, but if they didn't come out with it, they couldn't really expect neither Will nor Jason to really do anything about it, could they now?

So, in a way, they were entitled to do as they pleased, and be as secretive about it as they wanted.

Then again, the last time that had happened, Percy had run from their room and it had all escalated to Will being stuck in bed in immeasurable pain for several days.

Yeah, Jason would definitely have to think of something to tell them, no matter how much he hated the thought of lying to them in any way whatsoever.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Plus, I think it wouldn't even take all that long, so I'd be back after a few hours, no problem. You won't even notice I'm not there." Will said behind Jason, and Jason nodded – until the full meaning behind those words sunk in.

"Wait, you're going alone?!" All three of them exclaimed in similarly stunned voices, and Will blinked at them, seemingly taken aback at that not being obvious.

Before he could say anything though, they all got distracted by Hades, as the god of the Underworld suddenly started laughing.

.

After the strangest lunch Nico had ever had, he and Percy wanted nothing more than to disappear into their room, jump in the shower, rinse off the grime and dirt from their time on the field, and drop dead into bed.

Of course, nobody let them do that.

In fact, they couldn't even escape to their rooms, because Persephone and Demeter were taking their sweet time saying their goodbyes to them, as if they were celebrities, and the four of them their greatest fans, begging them to stay.

They weren't.

Will looked ready to bolt when Demeter patted him on the shoulder, telling him in a low voice he should look into farming as well, sometimes, because the sun would do him some good (which was just…seriously…Demeter, why?) and Jason and Percy looked no better, smiling politely as Persephone stood in front of them and told them about how late she was running for being up in the upper world, and that she expected them to not give Hades too much of a hard time while she was gone.

Though Nico did hear her saying 'Not that you'll be staying that much longer, of course,' in a lowered voice, which made him wonder just what the gods knew and what they didn't.

It was really unfair, how they seemed to know everything about them, but if it was about an upcoming war, all gods suddenly lost all abilities to actually say or do something useful.

But he guessed if they wanted fairer treatment from godly figures, they had been born into the wrong mythology.

Oh well, nothing for it, he guessed.

Demeter finally let go of Will, and Nico squared his shoulders slightly, hoping they could (finally) get away now.

But the moment he wanted to open his mouth and wish them his best and all that, Persephone clicked her tongue, moving past her mother towards Will, who sent her a slightly scandalized look, probably dreading she was going to go and pat his shoulder, too.

She didn't.

Instead, she looked over her shoulder towards the three of them and winked.

"Don't mind us, boys. I just need a little moment with our sun boy here." She said, already taking Will's arm and leading him further away from them, making Nico's stomach plummet and his mind work at full blast.

What was she doing?

What did she need Will alone for?

He opened his mouth to complain, noticing he wasn't the only one clearly uneasy about the exchange, since Jason and Percy watched Persephone with narrowed eyes and hesitant expressions, as well.

Before he could say anything, though, Demeter cut across him, fixing him with a knowing look.

"Now, now, let's give them a moment, shall we? You kids be good, alright? No funny business. And Perseus, I'll be expecting to find you growing those plants we've been talking about. Remember, the soil behind your cabin is perfect for-…"

"Yes, you've said. I know. I'll…look into it." Percy muttered hastily, looking even more uncomfortable as he shifted from foot to foot and refused to meet the goddess's eyes.

Nico couldn't blame him.

They had had to go through a lot of Demeter's ranting and rambling, and they had both ended up somewhat agreeing on at the very least keeping a garden at one point in the future.

It apparently wasn't enough to appease her, if she started with the whole 'growing things behind your cabin'-thing again, but Nico hoped she'd be too busy taking care of the rest of the world to really pay attention on whether or not they'd have basil growing behind their cabins or not.

Or whatever else it had been she wanted them to grow.

Could have been broccoli, too.

Or beans?

Well, something along those lines, anyways.

He shifted closer to his boyfriend, reaching out to take his hand gently, and found Percy only too willingly grab hold of him, squeezing his hand tightly for a moment, before stroking over the back of it with his thumb softly.

Poor guy.

He still looked so horrible, too, with all the dirt and mud on him.

Sadly, that had even been partly Nico's fault.

Not entirely, of course, since Percy's stance had been utterly off, and he'd have probably fallen, anyways, but…well, Nico should have probably looked behind him and checked whether the coast was clear, before actually wreaking havoc on the soil in front of him and at one point pulling his rake so far back he hit Percy straight in the back with it, making him topple over and kiss the rather wet and dirty ground.

Nico remembered apologizing almost as many times as Percy had done so far, helping his boyfriend off the ground and trying to get him to spit out the mouthfuls of mud.

Luckily enough, Percy hadn't seemed seriously injured, though (Nico had checked, even pulling up Percy's sweater and jacket and all, much to the annoyance of Demeter, who had wanted them to get back to work asap, saying 'the kid will be fine').

Next to a small bruise forming, he should be ok – once they got to take their freaking shower, of course.

He still looked dirty as hell.

Though Nico didn't exactly mind, knowing he looked no better.

Jason glanced over at them with a questioning look on his face, though the unease wasn't letting off, and he kept looking towards Will and Persephone out of the corners of his eyes, Nico noticed.

Not that he was any different.

One ear was trying to concentrate on Demeter (who was ranting at Hades again for whatever reason this time), but his other ear was straining to maybe catch some of the conversation going on between Persephone and his Will.

Of course, it was futile.

Percy shifted next to him, scratching some of the dried mud off his arm with a mildly disgusted expression, and now Nico was the one stroking over the back of his hand gently.

"Don't worry, we'll be able to leave soon, cuore mio." He whispered quietly, reassuringly, before realizing he was happily using Italian again.

No~!

Seriously, damn those stupid dreams in Italian these days!

As if he hadn't already had enough problems with whatever his dreams were about, now they were also happening mostly in Italian, and apparently, it was slowly getting to him.

Maybe it was a sign he was trying to hide his dreams from the guys even while he was sleeping.

He should probably worry about that.

Or maybe it was just a sign his Italian was getting rusty and he should practice more.

Percy's head shot around, and Nico could see his pupils dilating slightly as a small smile formed on his lips.

Then again, maybe it actually wasn't all that bad if he talked a bit Italian every here and there.

Percy did seem to like it.

And for some reason, Nico didn't feel as stupid giving him Italian pet names, for some reason.

Who knew, maybe this was the solution for everything.

(Well, for the pet-name-issue, at least.)

"Was that Italian?" Jason asked curiously as he stepped closer to them, though his eyes kept hushing over to Will, who looked struck by whatever Persephone was telling him, eyes wide and his mouth slightly open (Nico was dying to know what all that was about. Persephone hadn't even taken him aside or anything, so he really couldn't understand what she wanted from his Will).

"Yes, he's been indulging me. Jason, he sounds so freaking hot when he's talking Italian, I swear. Nico…please…?" Percy cooed, then gave Nico one of his best baby-seal faces, while Nico cringed and scowled.

Seriously?

In front of Jason?

Now?

Wasn't this a bit…erm…

Wow, hadn't Nico just thought he'd be able to give him actual Italian pet names with other people around without problems?

He glanced towards Will again, who was looking down and saying something back to Persephone quietly.

Then he looked towards Demeter and Hades, who were glaring daggers at each other and not noticing a thing that was happening around them.

Alright, if they weren't paying attention…he guessed it was ok, then.

It wasn't even the pet name thing that was actually an issue, but Nico's Italian had seriously become a tad rusty because of disuse.

But, well, neither Percy or Jason knew Italian, so he shouldn't make too much of a fool of himself.

He cleared his throat and concentrated on Percy's face, so he wouldn't run risk of it looking as if he was talking to Jason or anything.

The last thing he needed was worrying Percy he was giving everybody Italian pet names now.

"Ti amo piu che si potrá mai sapere, sporcaccione. Scusami per quello che é successo." He said quietly, figuring Percy would want him to say more than just a simple pet name.

Percy beamed, nudging Jason's side excitedly over and over again and whispering 'See? See?! I told you! He's so hot, I swear, just look at him, just listen, gods, Jason…' under his breath, while Jason shot him a funny look, but didn't seem to mind the rough treatment to his side, and Nico could even see his lips twitching slightly.

"I agree. Will's Italian sounds similar, actually, though he has a different accent. But do you even know what he just said?" Jason asked, though his grin gave away that he knew the answer to that already.

Percy shrugged, saying something about not minding not knowing, but Nico was too distracted by the other part of Jason's sentence.

Oh gods.

Will knew Italian.

He had completely forgotten.

Then again, Nico hadn't heard him speak Italian except that one time on Valentine's Day, so he wasn't that surprised it hadn't crossed his mind anymore.

Though, a moment later, he wondered how Jason could still remember that.

Had Will talked to Jason in Italian?

Why would he?

Nico frowned to himself.

Did it really matter?

No, no it didn't.

"He probably said you stink and need a shower." Jason declared matter-of-factly, pulling Nico out of his thoughts a he saw Jason and Percy poking each other in the stomach, acting like the bunch of fools they were.

Nico could only shake his head at them.

"No way! Nico wouldn't say something like that…would you?" Percy retorted, then turned to Nico with an almost uncertain look, and Nico frowned at him.

For a moment, he wanted to say 'Of course not, I don't care how you smell, I love you all the same.', but then he decided he'd rather not have everybody else hear him say something that cheesy.

"Percy, mi é indifferente, ti amo comunque. Sorridi per me?" Nico said instead, unsure himself whether the last part was a question or a request.

Percy and Jason both stared at him, probably trying to figure out what he had just said.

Then, Percy nudged Jason's side again.

"There. He said 'Ti amo'. That means 'I love you'. See? Whatever he's saying is nice." He declared, grinning over at Nico, and Nico found himself smiling back, glad his wish had been fulfilled, even if Percy hadn't understood.

"Well, it's Nico, what did you expect?" Jason retorted with a small laugh, and the two were at each other again.

Very mature.

Nico looked back towards Will, just to find the blonde pocketing something with a conflicted expression, nodding somberly at whatever Persephone was saying as the two of them started walking back towards them.

Huh?

Had she given him something?

If so, what?

Why?

What was going on?

"Stai bene?" He asked, then slapped his hands to his forehead as he realized he was still talking in Italian.

How embarrassing.

He heard Jason and Percy laugh quietly as they moved over to Will almost instantly, and when Nico dared to look up again, he found Will grinning at him with an odd gleam in his eyes.

"Sto molto bene, grazie. Sei molto carino."

Nico felt his cheeks heating.

What?!

Had Will just called him cute?!

Nico faintly wondered what Will thought he had said.

It probably wasn't that.

Will winked at him, and suddenly Nico wasn't all that sure about that anymore, either.

"Hey, not fair, you can actually understand him! Wait, does that mean you can tell me what he said?" Percy first complained loudly, then suddenly seemed all for it, looking at Will hopefully.

Hey.

"You do know I'd translate it for you if you really wanted me to, right?" He asked, wondering whether he had not said so already.

Or did Percy really think he wouldn't tell him just what he was saying?

Percy sighed.

"I know, but I kind of don't want you to go through the trouble?" He started hesitantly, and Will snorted.

"Wow, how nice. You're just going to use me so Nico doesn't have to translate his own sentences? Mean."

Jason chuckled quietly, eyeing Nico with an odd expression, as if he was reading him again.

"Plus, I think Nico would totally be up for telling you just what he's saying, himself. And…" Jason lowered his voice and leaned towards Percy's ear more, and Nico tried to hear what else he was saying, but sadly, Persephone had joined the argument between Hades and Demeter, rendering Jason's words inaudible to him.

Damn it.

What was he saying?

Will seemed to catch it, though, his eyebrows shooting up as his eyes hushed over to Nico with an amused, and somewhat appraising expression.

"I agree." Was all he said, though, which didn't exactly give Nico any ideas on what the hell Jason was saying.

When Jason pulled back, however, Percy's ears were quickly turning red, and he looked back at Nico with an almost yearning expression.

"Really?"

"Absolutely." Both Jason and Will said in unison, and Nico wanted to scowl at them, but then got distracted by Percy biting his bottom lip, which he very rarely did, but which always got to Nico in ways it shouldn't.

"It's not nice to talk about me when I'm right here and can't hear." He complained sulkily, though he knew he was nobody to talk, since he had pretty much done the same thing a few moments ago, talking to them in a language they didn't know.

"Aww, it was nothing bad, I can ensure you. Just something that will show Percy, that-…" Will started, but then Persephone clapped her hands together loudly and they all looked around at her.

Hey, Nico had wanted to hear that.

What had they told Percy?

"Now then, boys. Time for our blessings." Persephone announced, and Nico's thoughts came to an abrupt halt as he stared at her with a frown.

What?

Blessings?

Since when did they give blessings?

Just like that?

For free?

No deadly quests or them proving themselves worthy of any blessings?

He shot an uneasy look towards Jason, who met his gaze at the same time, mutely asking what this was, but Nico could do nothing more than shrug slightly.

Will and Percy exchanged a look as well, but they didn't seem as bothered by this as Jason and Nico were.

Well, it was probably nothing.

For all he knew, this was their way of trying to improve their relationship with the demigods, to avoid another Luke or the like.

Though then they should maybe simply change their general treatment of mortals/demigods, instead of trying to overdo it with Nico and his friends.

Then again, who was he to complain about free blessings?

Persephone nudged her mother, and Demeter stepped forward, clearing her throat unnecessarily.

"Blessings, right. So, boys…may your soil always be healthy and your harvest rich. May you never go hungry and find safety in my midst. May you keep your crops from the dark, and give them what they need. May you find the light within you, for only then you can succeed. Sow hope in times of despair, and you shall reap more than you think. Nourish the ground you build on, and you shall watch your opponent sink…I wish you all the best on your path, and be my blessing well received." Demeter said in a high, almost melodic sort of voice, her form glowing in golden-brownish hues, and her words seeming to reverberate inside and outside Nico, making his skin tingle and his stomach clench as he felt the oddest sensation washing over him.

This was…strange.

Of course, he had never received a god's blessing before, but he would have never thought it would feel like this.

He wanted to look over at Percy and the other two, but somehow, he couldn't stop staring at Demeter, until the glowing finally subsided and she looked more like herself again.

For some reason, he couldn't even clearly remember her words anymore, but at the same time, it felt as if they were still sounding inside him, echoing through his body, etching themselves into his very being.

Then, Demeter nodded with a self-satisfied expression, and the moment ended.

Wow.

Nico looked over towards his guys, and found Will staring at his hands in stunned shock, probably feeling as weird as Nico was, while Percy and Jason merely exchanged an odd, mildly uncomfortable look, but didn't seem all too bothered by what had just transpired.

The silence was stretching on, so Nico cleared his throat hurriedly, feeling the need to do something, say something, smother the silence.

"Thank you." He said quietly, glad his voice came out normally.

Not that he had really worried her blessing might have some altering effect on him, but one could never know.

"Don't mention it, kiddo. Just take good care of your crops, and everything will be fine." Demeter said, though, at 'crops', she gestured towards Percy, Will and Jason, so he wasn't entirely sure whether she meant them or actual plants.

If she meant them, she didn't have to worry.

He was never going to let them get to harm.

Over his dead body.

Persephone brushed past her mother, rubbing her hands excitedly and looking at them as if this was the moment she had been waiting for her whole life already.

Which didn't bode well with Nico, but who had ever cared?

"Yes, yes. You and your agriculture, mom. Time for the real blessing, here."

That made Nico even more uneasy.

Persephone closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Then, she spoke, and her voice was entirely different from before, just like Demeter's had been.

"My blessing shall be, that you will find shelter in need, and let there be spring in your hearts, to enlighten your steps, and guide you on your path. May you be safe from misery, and help others prevail, so you can end the endless, and be true to yourselves. Beware the liar, and trust your trusted, only when gone is the dire, can victory be fostered." She finished, and Nico stared at his hands, which were glowing in a mixture of yellow and green, and reminding him faintly of spring.

Again, the strangest sensations washed over him, and he felt as if he should be on high alert due to whatever she had just said, but the words were already slipping from his mind, only the meaning anchoring itself inside him.

It took longer than with Demeter until it finally wore off, and then, Persephone still gazed at them with a slightly off expression.

"You four are bound by choice, rather than fate, but don't let that fool you. Your bond is stronger than any I've seen before. Only when you're together, will you be able to meet the world's end and succeed. Each of you is important, may it be to each other or the grand scheme. I can't give you the blessing I'd most wish to grant, but you have my best wishes at heart." She added quietly, somberly, so contrary to any of the ways she had acted before, that Nico wasn't sure this was even the same person anymore.

In fact, the oddness of her voice and stature threw him off so much, he barely registered her actual words.

"And on that note, I believe it's time for you to go." Hades said, his voice loud and clear, cutting through the haze that seemed to have settled over the room, and bringing them all back to their senses.

Nico moved, confused for a moment about what he was supposed to do, and he saw his friends reacting similarly.

They all kept glancing towards Persephone, but she wasn't looking at them, her posture slightly hunched, and in Nico's opinion, she looked somewhat weakened.

He wasn't sure how blessings worked, but he hoped she hadn't actually done too much right there.

Did blessings tire gods out?

He heard his guys muttering 'Thank you'-s, and Jason wished Demeter and Persephone safe travels, even though none of them knew whether that would be well received or not.

Demeter and Hades had come up behind Persephone now, hands on her shoulders, and Hades nodded his approval, making a shooing motion with his free hand.

They filed out the door, confused and slightly disturbed, but also awestruck, and Nico looked back one last time.

"I told you not to do it, Persephone. You know she won't forgive you for this." He heard Demeter scolding quietly, and Nico slowed down ever so faintly, straining his ears.

Will next to him did the same.

"It was necessary." Was all Persephone replied, her voice sounding frail, but determined.

Hades seemed to notice them eavesdropping, because Nico saw him look their way sternly, and the next moment, the door slammed shut in their faces.

What had that been about?

What had Persephone done?

Who wouldn't forgive her for what?

Man, this was like that shit with Gaea all over again.

(Good thing she couldn't pose any more trouble, though.)

"That was…intense." Will muttered next to him as they walked back towards their room, still too struck to speak much.

"Indeed. This felt nothing like the time I had my dad's blessing." Jason mumbled, and Percy made a confirming sound.

"Then again, that was in battle. So that might be a little different." The blonde added, and Percy once more made an affirmative noise.

Nico glanced towards him, wondering why he wasn't actually talking, but Percy was staring off into space with a frown.

"Percy?" He asked quietly, but Percy didn't react, looking utterly lost in thoughts.

Nico tried again, now even more worried, and Will and Jason looked over.

"Hey, Perseus, your boyfriend is trying to talk to you." Will called loudly, and Percy's head shot up, looking around at them startled and almost tripping over his feet.

"Hm? What? Oh, sorry, Nico. I was just…" He mumbled awkwardly, gesturing with his arms and then looking guilty.

"What is it?" Jason asked before Nico could, and Percy fidgeted slightly.

"I was just thinking…do you reckon they mean there's a new war coming? I mean, when do the gods ever give anybody any blessings? For free? Just like that? I don't know. I can't remember clearly what they said, but it sounded kind of weird, don't you think?"

Nico felt his insides churn at the thought, and he found himself glancing towards Jason, who still wasn't even halfway done with his peace contract.

Jason seemed to feel his gaze, sending him a reassuring look.

"Hey, let's not interpret too much into this, alright? Of course there'll be another war someday, but that doesn't mean it will happen anytime soon, ok? So, let's not worry about that now." Jason declared, and Nico had to admit the firmness of his voice and the certainty in his words helped ease his tension a bit.

But only a bit.

A small hint of doubt remained.

After all, hadn't Persephone mentioned something about 'the end of the world' during dinner before?

"You're probably right. Sorry. I guess I'm just a little paranoid after witnessing two wars." Percy said with a small, humorless chuckle, and something inside Nico clenched painfully, memories of the battles zooming through his mind.

"Anybody would be, Perce. But Jason is right, let's not worry about that now. How does that saying go? 'Speak of the devil and the devil shows up'. And we wouldn't want that, would we now? So, who's up for a SingStar match? Or will I have to woo Nico all on my own?" Will asked, his tone changing from serious to happy-go-lucky within seconds, effectively pulling all three of them entirely out of their brooding clouds.

Bless that guy.

Oh, how Nico loved him.

Wait, no, he didn't.

He platonically liked him.

Guiltily glancing towards Percy, he found Percy making an unimpressed face.

"Wooing my Nico? I don't think so. Apollo's offspring or not, I'm going to sing you into the ground, sun-bug." He declared war on Will, and Nico had to roll his eyes at their sudden drop in maturity all over again.

"Ha, don't make me laugh, Perseus. What are you going to do, screech into the microphone until the system fries?" Will teased, and Nico shot Jason a telling look.

Jason met his gaze with a matching expression.

"Hey, that's mean! Also, for all you know, I might be a great singer! I'm son of Poseidon, after all. Which makes me related to sirens. So I could be part siren, ever thought of that?" Percy retorted, and Will made an exaggerated 'Ooh'-sound, which made Jason and Nico simultaneously roll their eyes.

"'Part'-siren would still make you screech into the microphone, Perce. But I shall look forward to your performance, oh mighty siren. I'll let you know if I want to drown myself due to sheer amazement, or in utter horror of your voice, alright?" Will teased, and Percy huffed, stomping off towards their room.

Ugh, great.

"Well, first we're taking a shower, though." Nico called after him, and Will and Jason sent him knowing smirks, with Will even wiggling his eyebrows.

Ugh, those perverted idiots.

He scowled at them, but then Percy was already looking around, all annoyance at Will forgotten and replaced by that hopeful, hungry gleam again.

"You sure you want a shower? I could do with a bath, too." He purred, and Nico both felt the tinge of arousal at the sound of his voice, and the heat rising in his face due to embarrassment.

He couldn't believe Percy said this right in front of Will and Jason, who were exchanging those knowing looks again.

Though he also noticed Will looking at Jason rather regretfully only a moment later, when Jason had quickly turned his face away again.

Hm, weird.

"We'll see. But a shower would be quicker." Nico replied, beginning to make his way towards their room again, and his guys followed.

"Which is exactly why Percy wants a bath." Will said with another wiggle of his eyebrows, and Percy chuckled quietly.

"Guilty as charged."

Nico rolled his eyes, grabbing hold of his boyfriend's hand again and threading their fingers together.

Well, he wouldn't mind a bath, but…

"Aren't you a tad too dirty for a bath, though, Perce? I'm just saying, you'd probably want to rinse off in the shower before attempting a bath, man." Jason pointed out, and Nico pursed his lips as he watched Percy gape at Jason, looking almost offended – though his ears turned red again, showing he was a tad embarrassed, too.

"Gee, thanks, man. First you tell me I stink, now you tell me I look like shit? Not cool."

Nico sighed, catching Will biting his lip so as to not start laughing.

He still did, though.

"Hey, just calling it like it is. Come on, you know I don't care, I'm just trying to prevent you from swimming in mud after you just got out of it." Jason declared matter-of-factly, and Percy let out an affronted huff.

"What?! I'm not that dirty! Jason!"

Jason laughed, a teasing gleam in his eyes, though Nico had the vague impression he did have some sort of beef with Percy, though it didn't seem anything too serious.

"That's what you say, but have you looked into a mirror, lately? All your good looks are gone, as if they had never existed. Just like your musical talent."

Had Jason just said Percy was good-looking?

"Jason!" Percy exclaimed utterly aghast, and the next moment, he pulled his hand out of Nico's to chase after the blonde, as Jason started laughing and running off.

Those dorks.

"And there I thought Jason was more mature than that." Will mused with a soft smile on his face, watching the two fool around further ahead.

Nico eyed him from the side, studying the gentle expression and wondering once more what had happened last night, between Will and Jason.

"He is, but I think he just likes humoring Percy sometimes."

"You just had to pick the dorkiest guy there is, huh?" Will teased, poking him in the side, and Nico let out a rather embarrassing sound that almost resembled a squeak, taking a step away from him.

"I…I guess?" He mumbled, glad they were 'walking', so he couldn't give away his unease by fidgeting or shuffling from one foot to the other.

"He's not that bad, actually. I mean…erm…well, in a way, I'm glad he can be like this. So carefree and childish and all. It's special. Especially after all he's been through." He added, feeling the need to verify he did not think Percy was actually exceptionally dorky or all that much of an idiot.

Percy was a lot more than that, and Nico loved it all.

Will chuckled next to him.

"Don't worry, I know. I was just joking. He's a nerd, and a dork, but I think that's just his way of coping with life. He's had a lot coming at him, but he managed to fight his way through it, and I think he likes to pretend he's still the carefree, happy kid he probably used to be at some point, especially for those around him. People call him stupid all the time, but if you think about it, he's anything but." Will said quietly, and Nico hummed in agreement, thinking of all the things Percy had accomplished by now.

He definitely wouldn't have been able to do even half of the things he had done, if he hadn't been as smart as he was.

Though it was a tad weird to hear Will talking so seriously about Percy.

Then he frowned.

"You think he knows that, though?" He asked, and Will looked around at him, studying his expression.

Then he shrugged.

"He should. Though he does call himself stupid a lot. Want me to give him a pep talk?" He offered, but Nico hesitated.

Shouldn't it be Nico's job as Percy's boyfriend to reassure him and tell him stuff like that?

"Hey! If I remember correctly, I did tons more stuff than you did, Grace! Bow down to my awesomeness, you sorry excuse for a demigod! You merely finished off a Titan or two, I was right there with the big guys!" Percy exclaimed loudly in front of them, wildly gesticulating with his arms as Jason hovered in the air a few feet above him, laughing and waving off, looking smug.

"Bow down to you? Come up here, Jackson, and we'll talk."

"You need your daddy's powers to stay out of my reach, you coward!"

"Says the one making faucets explode in public baths because their friends are sharing a changing cubicle." Jason called back unimpressed, still smirking smugly.

Will and Nico just stood there, staring at the exchange in front of them with unimpressed expressions.

"You know…" Nico started, both of them watching as Percy started trying to climb up the side of the uneven stone wall, all the while cursing and yelling various things towards Jason, who called back similar nonsense.

"…I don't think pep talk is really necessary." He finished, and Will huffed.

"Damn right. Jason is already doing it all for us, isn't he?"

Nico nodded.

It did seem that way.

"Can't say I'm surprised, though." He mumbled, still watching the scene in front of them

"Me neither. He's awesome like that." Will said with a small, wistful sigh, and now Nico did glance sideways at him, catching the small, almost bitter smile hushing over Will's face.

"Are you two ok?" He asked hesitantly, hoping this wasn't too personal or direct.

Will chuckled, though he didn't look around, his gaze fixed on Jason up in the air.

"We're great, Neeks. Don't worry about it. Last night was…we had some revelations, he and I. But everything is good. I'm just…I'm just an idiot, that's all. And he's too kind for his own good."

Nico pursed his lips, looking straight ahead at his boyfriend and Jason again, watching how Percy was now a good foot up the wall, though he didn't seem to dare to go any higher, instead holding out Riptide with one hand and waving it around 'threateningly' at Jason, who was hovering next to him, close enough to catch him should he fall, but far enough away not to be in danger.

They were still mocking each other, though they were both grinning now and seemed at disturbing ease.

Nico glanced back towards Will, and dared to step closer, carefully reaching out to stroke over his arm.

"If you…if you need to talk or anything…" He started, and Will's head shot around at him, his eyes widening slightly, before he put on a quick, easy grin again.

"Hey, no worries. Told you we're great. Thanks, though." He replied hurriedly before Nico could continue, and Nico hastily pulled his hand back, hoping he hadn't overstepped any line there.

But the moment he did, Will clasped his hand in his own, smiling at him reassuringly.

Nico tried very hard not to notice how much warmer Will's hand was compared to Percy's, though he failed to pull his hand away, either.

Will still smiled at him, and his thumb stroked over the back of Nico's hand, similar to how Percy sometimes did, but at the same time, entirely different.

While Percy's touch seemed more like a soft caress, Will's seemed more like a soothing massage…

Nico tried not to think of that too much.

"So…" Will started, and Nico realized in utter horror he had been staring at Will's lips without even registering them properly, half his mind on their hands, and the other half on Percy and Jason yelling at each other all over again.

"Yes?" He asked hurriedly, eyes snapping back up to Will, just to catch him eyeing him with definite mirth in his gaze.

Oh gods, had he noticed?

What would he do?

Would he tell Percy?

This reminded Nico of that one time in the infirmary all over again.

It also reminded him of that one moment they had had back on his birthday.

At least, this time, they hadn't been about to kiss or anything.

Though that wasn't as much of a relief to Nico as it probably should have been.

"…want to bet I can get Percy to abandon his mission and get over here before we can say 'Elysium'?" Will asked, and Nico blinked, torn out of his thoughts and worries all over again.

What?

Oh.

"Erm, sure?" He agreed hesitantly, wondering faintly what Will had in mind.

Will grinned broadly at him, his eyes gleaming.

This was either going to be very funny, or horribly embarrassing.

"Watch this." Will said with a wink, then turned towards Jason and Percy again.

"Hey, Perseus! Nico says he's pregnant!"

Nico gasped and pulled away from Will, staring at him in utter horror and disbelief.

What?!

The next moment, there was a loud crashing sound in front of them, and Jason's wild laughing echoed through the Underworld, while Percy was in front of them in a heartbeat, cupping Nico's face.

He must have jumped.

He seriously must have, because Jason was still up in the air and clutching his stomach in laughter.

"What?! Babe, are you ok? What do you mean, you're pregnant? I didn't think that was possible? Plus, we were using protection!" He exclaimed, and Nico could feel his face heating even more than should be possible.

Oh gods, he hated Will.

He tried to shoot a death glare towards the blonde as he searched for the words inside his unhelpfully blank mind, but the blonde was roaring with laughter, not even capable of looking at them properly.

For a long moment, Percy and he were completely quiet, staring at each other while the other two laughed themselves to death (not literally, though they'd deserved it right now).

"You're not pregnant, are you?" Percy asked quietly, and Nico shook his head, torn between yelling 'No!', and smacking Percy's forehead for even assuming that was a possibility.

"Good. Because I have no idea how I'd best take care of you. Would we still be able to travel? Would the Underworld be good for you? Would I have to take you to New Rome right away to keep you safe? Know what, I'd do that. Better safe than sorry. Yes. Pack you up and get you there so you're all good. Money is going to be a problem. I can ask my mom to lend me some, but I'll have to get a job real quick. Maybe they'll take me in one of the fast food places. Or a restaurant, they let you take left-overs with you sometimes. Not that I'd let you eat left-overs, those would be for me. You'd get deluxe food. Only the best. I'd make it work." Percy started rambling, still cupping Nico's face and stroking over his cheeks as he stared off into space, apparently going through a whole list of things he'd do and not do.

Nico would find that notion very sweet, if it wasn't for the fact that he couldn't ever get pregnant, and Will and Jason were still right there.

"Percy…" He started quietly, moving his hand up to put it on Percy's arm.

"Yes?" Came Percy's immediate reply, instantly stopping his monologue about how he'd 'baby-proof the place'.

"I'm not pregnant." Nico stated seriously, and Percy pursed his lips, nodding slowly.

"Right."

"I can't get pregnant." Nico informed him unnecessarily, and Percy nodded again.

"I…I know."

"You don't have to take me to New Rome, or find a job. You don't even have to think of that." Nico explained hesitantly, and Percy's cheeks turned pink under all the dirt on his face.

"Oh."

"Yeah…"

"Oh gods, Percy, you're the best. But seriously, I have to admit, I'm impressed. You didn't yell 'I'm not ready to be a father!' or anything. Instead, you went about it like the mature hero I knew you were, thinking of how to best take care of your lover and offspring. Respect." Will announced next to them, making them both jump slightly, especially when Will clapped Percy on the back with a grin.

Percy made a face, still pink in the face, though he now turned to scowl at Will.

"Don't make me chase you up a wall or something, sun-bug. You really scared me, there."

Will chuckled and held his hands up apologetically.

"Aw, come on. It was funny. And now we all know what a great dad you'd be."

"Will, I can't ever bear his kids." Nico pointed out with a frown, wondering why they all liked to forget that kind of crucial detail.

But Will waved it off dismissively.

"There's always adoption. So not the point."

Nico huffed, looking past the two of them towards Jason, and hoping for some support there.

"Nico would look great with a kid, though. Just imagine him carrying a child around. He'd never put it down." Jason mused, coming up next to Will and Percy, and Nico felt utterly betrayed.

"Oh, he definitely wouldn't. He probably wouldn't even let us touch it. And Percy would only be allowed to hold it to change diapers or something." Will agreed with a laugh, winking at Nico, but Nico merely scowled at the lot.

That was so not true!

If Nico ever happened to be in charge of a small and helpless human being, he would not hold it all the time and carry it around and act like an overprotective mother.

That was absurd.

How would he do the rest of the housework and all the things that would have to get done to guarantee that thing's safety and comfort?

"You're all idiots." He stated drily, pulling away from Percy's hands still on his cheeks, and stomping off towards their room.

"Aww, Neeks, we didn't mean it like that!" Jason called after him immediately, and he could hear the three of them following him hurriedly.

"Hey, nothing wrong with being a loving parent, love!" Will insisted with a laugh, patting Nico on the back as he fell into step next to him.

"Nico, don't listen to them. We have plenty of time to consider kids at some point in the future, and I don't care whether you put the kid down or not, that's all your choice."

Nico wanted to groan.

Could they finally switch the topic?!

Why were they talking about kids?

Percy and he were only dating for three months, this had to be far too soon to talk about kids!

(This reminded him of his birthday all over again, and how flustered he had felt.)

"You're so adorable when you're flustered." Will announced next to him, and Nico was about done with the world.

"You're all the worst!"

"Aww, but you love us, anyways, don't deny it."

Uh-oh, bad.

Nico wanted to look around alarmed, wanted to pull away from Will, wanted to point out that he did not love them, only Percy, but then Percy was already shoving Will away playfully.

"Shush, leave him alone, you tease. Go molest Jason or something."

"Hey. I do not molest Jason."

"You don't?" Jason asked, and Nico caught Will throwing a wild look into Jason's direction, but the blonde merely laughed, shaking his head at him slightly, a mute conversation passing between them that didn't make sense to Nico.

Then, Percy suddenly jumped next to him.

"Hey, did you guys even read my note?"

Jason and Will snorted simultaneously.

"Of course we did. You think we'd have stayed in our rooms and waited patiently until lunch if we hadn't? We'd have gone looking for you to make sure you didn't get into any trouble, duh." Will pointed out, and Jason made an affirming noise.

"Yeah, though I have to wonder why exactly you put it in-…"

Percy cut him off, though, looking relieved.

"Good! I have to admit, I was worried you wouldn't find it, because Will moved his hand right after I put the note in it, and I wasn't sure whether he'd not lose it somewhere in bed." He explained hurriedly, and Nico frowned slightly.

Well, this explained why he hadn't seen Percy's note anywhere.

Why had he put it in Will's hand, though?

Nico would have just left it on the bedside table or something.

He looked around, just to see Jason and Will looking slightly taken aback.

"You…you put it…in my hand?" Will asked, and Nico could see his eyes hushing over to Jason ever so quickly, before his face started heating, his freckles glowing golden on his tanned skin.

"Hm? Yeah, I did. Where did you two find it?" Percy asked curiously, and Nico watched as a rather gleeful, but oddly satisfied grin spread on Jason's lips, while Will looked unusually flustered and embarrassed.

"N-Nowhere. Just…in bed."

"Mhm." Jason hummed, grinning from one ear to the other, which earned him a sharp look from Will, though with the blush and the glowing freckles, any threatening effect he might have wished for was sort of lost.

They were acting weird.

Where had they found the note?

They made it seem like such a big thing, but he couldn't think of any strange location they could have found the note in.

Under the pillow?

At the end of the bed?

Maybe they had found it on the pillow next to them and had made fun of Percy acting as if he was leaving them his number or something.

Probably something along those lines.

Something inside Nico churned uncomfortably, but he pushed it down.

No, this was Will and Jason.

Everything was good.

Will had told him everything was good.

And while Will had acted all lovey-dovey with Jason earlier (and Jason had, too, in a way, even if he had been asleep at the time), the two of them acted fairly normal now.

So they weren't dating, after all.

Or maybe they were?

No, they'd have said.

Jason was bound to have announced that first thing upon seeing them.

Nico was utterly certain of that – until he frowned a moment later, wondering just why he thought Jason would do such a thing, and doubt settled over him again.

"I can't believe you seriously thought Nico was pregnant." Will suddenly said, probably to get away from the topic, if his still ever so evident blush meant anything, and Nico scowled at him.

Seriously?

Couldn't he move the conversation to something else entirely?

"Oh, shut up." Percy snapped back, though without bite or venom.

"Maybe it's because Nico glows with happiness so much. You know what they say about the glow." Jason mused, and Nico scowled at him, too.

"Ti odio tutti." He grumbled, and Will acted scandalized, clutching his heart in mock hurt.

"Aww, you don't mean that, sweetheart!"

Damn, he had forgotten Will could understand him.

"What did he say?" Both Jason and Percy asked instantly, and Will pushed out his bottom lip, giving them pouty looks.

"He said he'll keep the kid all to himself." He said gravely, and Nico fought the impulse to either run away or strangle that cruel ass.

That was not what he had said!

"What?!" "Nico!"

Nico groaned.

Just what had he done to deserve this?

.

How had they deserved this torture?

Jason pondered that as he and Nico exchanged pained looks, while Will and Percy screeched into their microphones, apparently trying to one-up each other at doing their worst SingStar performance ever.

Why?

It had all started so well, too.

Percy and Nico had retreated to the bathroom as soon as they had been back, and while Jason had initially feared Will and he would sit in awkward silence until Percy and Nico would return, the blonde had surprised him by getting busy with the console and the games, getting everything up and running and making light, meaningless conversation with Jason.

There had, of course, been differences to their usual, easy behavior around each other, but nothing too noticeable, so Jason was kind of pleased.

When Percy and Nico had come back, Will had already been waiting impatiently, fiddling with the red microphone and passing Percy the blue one – just to have Percy complain that he had probably 'tweaked with them in some way' and switching, rather taking the red one, instead.

Yeah, well, ok, maybe the beginning of the game had already been sort of questionable.

But the singing had been ok in the beginning.

Will had offered Percy to go first – which Jason had found nice, but Percy had somehow interpreted as challenge and hadn't wanted to hear a thing about it, which had resulted in Will going first and obviously showing off.

(He really did have a nice singing voice, Jason could only repeat that. Though Jason had also noticed his voice cracking every here and there, showing last night's happenings still had some slight after-effect - which should probably not make Jason as proud and satisfied as it did.)

Then it had been Percy's turn, and while it may not have been perfect, it had sort of been better than what Jason had first expected.

This had continued for a while, and everything had been fine.

Sure, Percy had complained and wailed a lot, because Will had relentlessly beaten him each round, no matter what mode they had played on, but all in all, it had been pretty fun to watch them and listen to their more or less frantic tries to sing better than the other.

But now, they weren't even really singing anymore, were they now?

Jason shared another pained look with Nico, feeling as if this must be the hundredth time they had done so, already.

What were they supposed to do?

Interrupt them?

Ask them nicely to stop?

Beg for mercy?

They watched as Percy threw his arms in the air in despair, lunging forward to rip Will's microphone out of his hands when he saw that Will was still beating him, even though they were both screaming intelligible words that sounded like anything but the original song.

Then, Percy screeched into Will's microphone, while Will laughed loudly and let it happen, laughing even louder when Percy's scream actually got Will a few more points than he probably would have gotten otherwise.

"This is torture. How do we deserve this, Jason?" Nico asked somberly next to him, and Jason could only shake his head.

"I have no answer, Nico."

Will was back to screeching into his own microphone, and Percy tried a new tactic of shoving his own in the way, but that only made Will 'sing' even lousier.

Jason wanted earplugs.

"You should have tired Percy out more while you had the chance." Jason stated drily, and Nico snorted.

"I'm starting to think the same thing."

For a moment, the two fell silent, and a smirk spread on Jason's face.

As expected, a moment later, Nico jumped and started stuttering, going bright pink in the face

"I mean, not that I'd…that's…oh gods, Jason, what the hell are you even implying?!"

"Shh, we're singing over here!" Both guys hissed over at them, both of them covering their microphones with their hands and looking positively offended, which made Jason and Nico gape and stare at them.

Seriously?

They were doing nothing but screaming!

How could anything Jason or Nico said possibly affect their score or performance in any way?

Percy and Will glowered at them a moment longer, then returned their attention to the screen and resumed their 'singing' once more, and Jason exchanged another pained look with Nico all over again.

Seriously, how did they deserve this?

"Maybe we should have agreed on joining in." He mused, but Nico immediately shook his head.

"I am not singing. Forget it."

Jason snorted.

No matter what Nico might say or think, he was fairly certain Nico could sing better than he could, any day.

"It's not like they're really singing, anymore." He put in pointedly, but Nico still shook his head.

"That's different. I'm not going to sing. You'll all laugh."

Oh wow.

"I wouldn't laugh. I can't sing for the life of me, so why would I laugh at anybody else's performance?"

Nico shrugged, and they both watched Percy and Will howling as they saw the results, with Percy stomping his foot in utter frustration about losing again.

"Bianca used to sing for me sometimes." Nico muttered quietly, and Jason could see Will turning his head ever so slightly towards them, showing he was following the conversation, even if he was still playing around with Percy.

"That sounds nice." Jason said cautiously, after waiting a moment to see whether he'd say any more.

"It was. She was a good singer. Back when we were in the Casino, she sang Italian lullabies to get me to sleep. It was pretty embarrassing." Nico told him in a casual voice, though the way he shifted slightly indicated this was much more to him than casual conversation.

Jason moved closer slightly.

"You think so? I'd have loved it if my sister had done that for me." He said quietly, and Nico's lips twitched.

"I know. Now I think so, too. But back then, I cursed her for being so embarrassing and kept telling her she didn't have to baby me. Do you ever look back at your younger self and realize just how stupid you were?"

Will huffed out a loud breath, apparently utterly agreeing with Nico, and Jason caught Percy glancing over at Nico with a slightly concerned look on his face, indicating he was also listening.

Seriously, these guys.

How did they manage to seem so busy, selecting their next song and mocking each other and all, while also simultaneously eavesdropping?

It was a mystery.

He refrained from making a face at them, instead thinking about Nico's question for a moment, going over his old decisions and his old self.

Of course, there were plenty of things he'd have loved to know sooner, and moments in his life where he deeply regretted his rather immature decisions at the time, but at the same time, he doubted that was comparable to anything Nico had experienced so far.

"I think it's normal to go through times like that. One can only grow and mature so fast, Nico. Sure, there will be things you regret, and memories that will make you cringe afterwards for your views at the time, but doesn't that mean you've grown as a person?" He tried quietly, and Nico stilled next to him, apparently letting his words sink in and turning them over in his head.

Will, as Jason noticed, also stilled, listening intently.

Percy was busy acting busy for the two of them, adjusting the settings and making a show of zapping through the songs and causing havoc in the shelf as he pulled out all the SingStar discs to 'read the back for the titles', though his eyes didn't follow the lines of text whatsoever.

Jason took a deep breath and was about to continue, but then Nico surprised him by leaning against his side, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"You really think so?"

Jason smiled, and caught Will and Percy exchanging a soft look, Percy even glancing back at him with a definitely grateful and appreciative expression.

He didn't seem bothered by Nico getting all close and touchy-feely with Jason, at all, even when Jason felt Nico's hand on his thigh, and put his own arm around Nico, tugging him closer.

"I know so." He said confidently, and Nico chuckled quietly, turning his face into his shoulder and nuzzling against him with his eyes closed.

"Thanks, Jason. I don't know why that suddenly came to mind. I mean, there's so many things I need to talk about, with you, with Percy, with everybody, but…I don't know. This suddenly popped up in my head and wouldn't go away."

Jason's eyebrow shot up at the revelation that Nico 'needed' to talk with him/Percy/everyone (not that he hadn't already assumed something, but still), and he could see Percy's suddenly uneasy and alarmed face (that idiot. It wouldn't be anything bad…Jason hoped…), but all he did was stroke up and down Nico's back slowly.

"I'm glad to be of help. And you know you can talk to us about anything and everything, whenever you're ready."

"Hm." Nico hummed in reply, and Jason smiled, rolling his eyes to himself.

"You know, you're almost as bad as Will sometimes. We offered him to come out plenty of times, yet he always retreats right back into his shell and tries to take on the world all by himself." He said, watching Will out of the corners of his eyes, pleased to see him gaping at him, looking positively offended.

He even looked as if he was going to say something and give himself away, but then Percy nudged him and shoved some of the games into his hands to make him be less obvious about eavesdropping.

Nico snorted loudly.

"Yeah, well. My best guess is that he's been alone for too long to know how to rely on others. Sure, he has his siblings, and Lou Ellen and Cecil, but it took him this long to tell us anything about his past. How high are the chances he told anybody else any more than us?"

Jason's eyebrow shot up.

Well, that was one way to look at it.

He glanced towards Will again, only to find him very busily studying the backs of the cases he was holding, talking rather loud about the next song he was going to beat Percy at.

Though now it was Percy mostly giving them away, studying Will with an odd expression on his face.

"Not very high. I wonder, does that mean we're special?" Jason asked, trying to suppress his smile when Will threw him an utterly offended look, as if to say 'Well, DUH!' – which was exactly what he had wanted to see.

Like balm for his soul.

While Will seemed to be very taken to praise (oh yes, he was. Jason had seen him fall apart beneath him just due to a few very honest but very simple compliments, and he was never ever going to forget that), Jason enjoyed knowing he was somebody in someone's life.

Well, not just anyone's.

Their life.

Guess it was one of those 'Don't want to be the odd one out anymore'-things.

(Though he absolutely knew he was the odd one out and nothing could change that.)

"Duh. Of course we are. I don't know about you, but has Will ever been overly affectionate with anybody who wasn't us?"

Well.

Jason knew that was true, but hearing Nico say that was still a bit of a surprise, ok?

Will made a small sound, and turned his back to them, shoulders tense.

Aww, Will.

Nico was too forcefully oblivious to know about your crush on him.

Or on Percy, for that matter.

(Or on…him. Jason could feel his heart thumping loudly in his chest at that thought, a stupid smile hushing over his face before he managed to push it down.)

Then again, he might actually have noticed something between Will and Percy, at least his occasional, slightly disconcerted glances indicated that.

(Thinking about it, Nico might have noticed something between Will and Jason, too, so Jason could maybe ask him indirectly at some point, just to check that he really was reading the signs right.)

"Well, true that. It's funny how he's the most open and outgoing of us, but if you think about it, he's the most distanced." Jason commented, and Will threw him an exasperated look that said as much as 'Would you finally stop talking about me?!'.

Jason acted as if he didn't see that.

Nico chuckled against his shoulder, snuggling against him slightly and rubbing his forehead against his shoulder.

"Oh please, Jason, you know that's just acting. Even Percy knows that, and he likes to act oblivious most of the time."

Jason glanced towards Will and Percy, and found Will glaring daggers at Percy, daring him to say anything on that topic, while Percy was holding up his hands in a surrendering motion and acted innocent.

Then, Will glowered at him instead, and Jason could see his freckles glowing with embarrassment.

Yeah, it was probably mean of them to talk about him when he was right there.

Though Nico didn't exactly know they were listening, so Jason couldn't blame him.

"Of course I know it's acting. And while it's impressive, I wonder if he'll ever feel comfortable enough to drop the acting and just be himself. What do you think?" Jason asked cautiously, watching Will's reaction out of the corners of his eyes.

Will's eyes widened slightly, then he averted his face, away from him, away from Percy, looking conflicted and uneasy.

It wasn't the most promising expression, just like today in the morning, but Jason liked to think Will was at least considering the option.

And that had to stand for something, right?

"I don't know. It's his choice. I know we'll be here for him either way, no matter what he decides to do, so there's that." Nico replied quietly, and Jason smiled, knowing this was the most perfect thing he could have possibly said.

Will still had his face averted, but Jason knew he had heard.

Percy had finally abandoned all pretense of being busy, sitting on the ground with his elbows on his thighs and his chin on his hand, watching them with a thoughtful expression.

For a moment, Jason wondered whether that was because of the conversation, or because Nico was so very close to Jason on his own accord for once.

But then, Percy caught him looking, and he shot him a soft smile, momentarily throwing Jason off and making him blink in confusion.

Then, he tentatively smiled back, still stroking up and down Nico's back, and nodding his head towards the motion ever so slightly – not trying to show off or point it out, but to actually get Percy's opinion on it.

Because, seriously, he was getting confused with what was ok in Percy's book and what wasn't.

So far, anything and everything they did seemed ok with Percy somehow, but technically speaking, that shouldn't be the case.

Unless Jason had indeed read those signs right, too.

But it was probably too early to really think about that just yet.

After all, Nico and Percy had only been dating for three months, he doubted Percy was willing to share his Nico with anybody just yet.

Percy knitted his eyebrows together in response, apparently needing a moment to catch on, though he did seem to understand a moment later, his face clearing as he huffed out a small laugh and waved off, pretty much giving him the 'go ahead, man' that Jason had half expected, even if it still made him wonder just what was going on in Percy's head sometimes.

Well, fine by him.

"So true, so true. Hope he knows that, too." Jason said, unable to suppress his smile as Nico shifted even closer, now practically curling up against his side.

He glanced towards Will, momentarily wondering how he'd take this closeness, but Will merely sent him an exasperated look, before smiling serenely at Nico, no trace of discomfort or unease in his gaze.

"Me too. Though you could mention it sometimes." Nico muttered, and Jason chuckled.

"Me? Why me? Why don't you do it, yourself?" He replied, and he could feel Nico grinning against his arm.

"Because he's wearing your sweater, so he clearly likes you more."

Jason's head snapped up, the same moment Will's snapped downwards, both of them staring at the light blue sweater he had changed into earlier (due to Percy getting mud all over his other one).

Oh gods, Nico was right.

Will was seriously wearing his sweater.

He had thought earlier it seemed a bit loose on Will, but hadn't exactly stopped and pondered why that was.

Will's face lit up like a traffic light, while Percy had to bite his fist not to laugh out loud, definite glee and mirth in his eyes – and Jason just knew he'd tease Will for the rest of his life for that.

Jason cleared his throat, thinking hurriedly of something to say, though his mind was spinning with the thought of Will – accidentally or not accidentally – wearing his clothes like that, and the possible reasoning behind it, and what this could mean, and how he wanted to see it happening more often, and…

His eyes fell on Percy again, and a slow grin spread on his face as he realized a little something.

"You know, I'm sure he's just doing that because he can't fit yours properly. Plus…your boyfriend is doing the same."

Now, it was Nico's head that shot up, and Percy to gasp and look down at himself in horror.

But yes, there he was, sitting on the ground in one of Jason's newer, dark blue sweaters that were actually a tad more form-fitting than the rest of his clothes, though he had never worn it in front of the guys yet.

He knew it was his, though, and he knew it had been on his pile of clothes in the closet.

Percy looked scandalized.

"I only put it on because I thought it was mine!" He called over, effectively giving away his eavesdropping, and Jason rolled his eyes to himself, while Will snorted out a laugh and was now the one with the hand clasped over his mouth.

Nico stared at his boyfriend quietly for a long moment.

Then he looked back at Jason.

"I stand corrected. Jason, give me one of your sweaters, too."

What?

Jason blinked, while Will and Percy started bickering back and forth as to who had the better reasons for their mishap.

Will insisted the sweater had been on his pile (which was a lie) and that it looked like one of the very old and baggy clothes that had been handed down from his siblings (he made it sounds as if his sweater was centuries old and falling apart. Rude), while Percy said he had thought it was the sweater his mother had gotten him last year, because it supposedly had the same shade, and he had thought somebody had mistakenly put it on Jason's pile (which kind of gave away that he had consciously grabbed something out of Jason's part of the closet. Nice.).

He hesitated a moment longer, kind of expecting either of them to rip off their sweaters and/or offering Nico to wear the one they were wearing, but they just kept on bickering, so he reluctantly pulled away from Nico entirely and got up.

Percy and Will looked around at him, glowering and still calling each other names and declaring war for the future SingStar rounds (oh great, there'd be more? The Fates had it out for him, it seemed), but Jason still didn't see them taking off the apparently offending garments.

In fact, when Percy snapped at Will that the blonde could fit twice into that sweater and still make it seem baggy, Will didn't react by tearing it off, but instead he hugged himself and thus the sweater, scowling so hard Jason thought he might tear a muscle or something in his perfect face.

"Hey! His clothes aren't that bad, Jackson! Watch your mouth! Just because he doesn't feel the need to show off his physique like you do all the time, doesn't mean you have the right to badmouth his style!"

Hm, hadn't it been Will to first mention to Jason he had a horrible fashion style and should wear more form-fitting things?

Jason turned his back on them with a small sigh, pulling out one of his smaller sweaters and wondering if maybe he should actually decide to get himself some new clothes.

Persephone would have probably been delighted to help him out with that.

Well, there was still Piper, who had always wanted to do that for him at some point, especially after they had broken up, so there was that (though he assumed she had wanted to do it while they had been dating, too, but felt it would come across wrong to pick at him for it).

Then again, his clothes were comfortable, and he liked them that way.

They kept him warm in the winter, and relatively cool in summer, didn't need ironing or any special care, didn't get in the way while fighting, and he didn't have to mourn them should they get too damaged during such fighting.

Jason made his way back towards Nico, holding out the purple sweater to him and only realizing now Nico might be bothered by the color.

Nico did usually only wear dark hues by choice, or the Camp shirt if he had to, after all.

But Nico took it without complaint, pulling it over his own, thinner sweater instantly, and looking smug and somewhat satisfied with himself and the world.

"There. Now we're all wearing your sweaters." The Italian stated unnecessarily, and Jason could feel his lips twitching, glancing around at Percy and Will, who were fighting over the controller and tried to select their next song, the selection jumping between various titles.

"Does that mean you're all mine now?" He asked unthinking, and while Nico froze and blushed, Will looked around with a pained, regretful expression, momentarily making him want to drop everything (good thing he wasn't holding onto anything right now) and rush over to him.

But then, he saw Percy turning his head with an almost exasperated expression.

"You wish. If anything, you're all mine, because I'm better than you. You're just the donor of baggy, disturbingly comfortable clothes, Jace."

Wow.

Rude.

Jason made a face at him, but then got distracted by Will huffing and shoving Percy playfully.

"Eww, I don't want to say anything, Gorgeous, but I think I'd rather be Jason's than yours."

Jason's heart thumped loudly in his chest, and he could see Nico freezing out of the corners of his eyes, his expression becoming guarded as he looked between Will and Jason.

But Jason was too high on the euphoria spreading through him at those words.

Of course, he knew Will wasn't actually serious, and the fact he felt the need to say that more indicated that he'd much rather be with Percy than with Jason, but…it still sounded so very nice.

He'd love to believe it for real.

"But let's be honest here, I'm the most awesome of us all, so you're all mine." Will then stated cockily, and Jason couldn't help but smirk.

Of course.

He so wouldn't have a problem with that.

"Oh really?" Percy drawled, and Will shot him a challenging look.

But then, suddenly, Will started grinning.

"Yep. Also…Perseus…"

"What?" Percy asked immediately, eyeing Will suspiciously from the side.

Jason saw what was happening on the screen and smiled to himself, knowing where this was going.

Percy should practice his multi-tasking.

"My song next." Will announced with a triumphant smirk, and Percy's head snapped around, watching in horror how Will selected his favorite.

A loud wail filled the room, and Jason chuckled, glancing towards Nico, who was gazing at Will and Percy with a fond smile and seemed more or less relaxed again.

"They're such kids sometimes, huh?" Jason asked and flopped down next to him again, though Nico sadly didn't lean back against him.

"Sure are. But that's what makes them, them, isn't it?" Nico said fondly, and Jason's eyes fell back on Will, who had his back to them and was singing more or less seriously into his microphone, while Percy started fake-sobbing and screeching into his again, to somehow tune Will out.

"Indeed. It's special. Just makes you love them all the more." It took him a moment to realize he had said that out loud, a small, wistful sigh accompanying that statement, and he found Will glancing over his shoulder back at him, meeting his gaze with a surprised one of his own.

For a moment, he even stopped singing.

But then, he turned his face away again and resumed, and Jason smiled to himself, just as Nico let out a loud sigh next to him.

"Don't I know it."

Yeah.

He let himself fall against Nico slightly, and Nico leaned his head back on Jason's shoulder, probably not even realizing what he had just said, nor what he was doing.

But that was ok.

Jason kept gazing at Will's back, then switched his focus to Percy, who was looking at him mildly disappointed, but looked away the moment Jason met his gaze.

Jason didn't think much of it, just watching them, his hand moving back to Nico's back to resume his earlier stroking, now with the added layer of fabric.

It was ok.


Italian phrases used (to the best of my knowledge and with occasional help from google, though I make no claim they are correct):

Cuore mio – My heart

Ti amo tanto, cuore mio – I love you so much, my heart

Sono pazzo di te – I'm crazy about you.

Sei tutto per me – You're everything to me.

Sei tutto ciò di cui ho bisogno – You're all I need.

Con te voglio invecchiare – I want to grow old with you.

Ti amo, cuore mio – I love you, my heart

Ti amo piu che si potrá mai sapere, sporcaccione – I love you more than you'll ever know, dirty/dirtbird/muckraker (said in an adoring way, though. Not an insult.)

Scusami per quello che é successo – I'm sorry for what happened.

Percy, mi é indifferente, ti amo comunque – Percy, I don't care, I love you anyways.

Sorridi per me? – Smile for me? (Said like a question, though it's not formed like one)

Stai bene? – Are you ok?

Sto molto bene, grazie. Sei molto carino. – I'm great/very well/very good, thanks. You're so cute.

Ti odio tutti – I hate you all.