PJatO || Jercico || PJatO || Jercico || A Fish Out of Water || Jercico || PJatO || Jercico || PJatO
Title: A Fish Out of Water – And his Own Wolf and Vampire
Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus
Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.
Tags: polyamory (m/m/m), supernatural creatures, fluff, courting
Main Pairing: Nico/Jason/Percy
Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Jason Grace, Thalia Grace, Hazel Levesque, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Will Solace, Annabeth Chase, Grover Underwood
Summary: Percy, leader of the Long Island vampire clan, and Nico, alpha of the local pack, had been at their flirt-fight over the territory for long enough, even without the cute merman who washed up at the beach. Neither expected Jason the merman to bring them together.
A Fish Out of Water
And his Own Wolf and Vampire
Percy sighed, lifting his wine-glass filled with blood up into the moonlight. His brows were furrowed as he looked out into the woods. The clan, his clan, had lived here for decades now. It was his territory – well, granted, it had been his sire's territory before, but Luke had kind of ditched the clan when he fell in love with some fancy pompous British vampire and then moved to London with him, leaving Percy and Annabeth in co-charge of the clan. Which was fine by Percy; while he was the kind of person to inspire others – inspire their loyalty – he wasn't really into the financial side of taking care of two dozen people. So Percy was happy to lead at his best friend's side.
Or, at least he had been happy – until the werewolves moved in next door. Well, 'next door' might be a stretch when someone was living in the woods. One day, they just popped up. A whole pack of werewolves, roaming the woods and just... living there. Like this hadn't been the clan's territory for decades now! They thought Luke leaving was an invitation for them. Though Percy still wasn't entirely sure why or even how, actually. What was it to werewolves?
"Are you moodily glaring at the woods again? I swear, you have been watching too many bad vampire movies, Perce. Come downstairs, Clarisse brought back a whole deer. Beckendorf cooked it. Meat that goes along with the blood! C'mon, big clan leader."
Percy turned to see his other best friend standing in the door, a grin on his lips. Pouting, Percy put his glass of blood down and instead walked over to Grover to join him in going downstairs.
"Shut u—up. I'm the clan-leader now. I have an image to uphold."
"You're a dork is what you are. That's why we all love you. No one wants a dark, moody brooding kind of vampire. We wouldn't have accepted you as our leader," Grover pointed out amused.
"I'm just... C'mon. I've been clan-leader for like five weeks and now we have a werewolf-problem."
"...You know, it'd be less of a 'werewolf-problem' if you would actually... kick them out instead of flirting with the alpha every time we encounter them."
Gasping, Percy turned toward his friend, elbowing him. "I am not flirting with that arrogant, sexy werewolf! Him and his stupid accent are not seducing me!"
"...You just... called him sexy," noted Grover reluctantly.
"Well, that's just facts. Like, the sky is blue and such. Doesn't mean that I'm flirting with him. Stop looking at me like that. Shut up about it, Grover. I am taking care of the werewolf-problem."
"I'll believe it when I see it," Annabeth called out as they approached the dining room.
/break\
Nico growled, baring his fangs. He was pacing the treeline, where the forest made place for the summer camp. A summer camp. What respected vampire lived in a freaking summer camp? That was just pathetic, really. A castle! A mansion! Something, anything, but not a... summer camp.
"Stop growling at air. Are you pouting because your pointy-toothed boyfriend isn't there."
"He is not my boyfriend," Nico snarled annoyed.
His best friend and second in command simply chuckled at that. She was a beautiful black-furred wolf, slick and smooth fur. Unlike Nico's, which came slightly curled, just like his human hair.
"Oh, come on. The entire pack knows you're into the snarky vampire. The one with the 'deep green eyes', to quote you. And don't even try to sell me on you being annoyed by just how bright his eyes. I'm not buying that bullshit. You are crushing on him so hard, it's sad."
Nico continued to grumble to himself as he glared over at the Big House, the house where the owner of the camp was supposed to live and where the counselors should be staying, if this actually were an actual summer camp. A summer camp. Nico truly couldn't get over that. It was ridiculous.
"Bia said they left. Why are they still here," Nico grumbled under his breath.
"Your sister said that their leader left. Apparently, only he left. And the clan got a different leader instead. Aka, the one you keep making googly-eyes at," Reyna countered unimpressed.
Once more, Nico glared at his best friend and second-in-command. He was not making googly-eyes at Percy Jackson. The vampire was a pain in his ass. Stupid, sassy, snarky, sexy vampire. With that smirk and those eyes and that ass. No. No, Nico was not interested in the vampire. At all.
"Whatever. Let's get back to the pack. It's time for our full moon hunt," ordered Nico.
Thankfully, Reyna dropped it and simply followed her Alpha back into the woods. Their pack had moved here, because it was secluded. Humans had been avoiding these woods due to the vampires for decades now and when Nico's older sister Bianca had told them the leader left for England, Nico had kind of concluded that this meant the vampires would all leave and this territory would be free real-estate for the wolves to take. They had moved in, just to realize the vampires were still very much here. Only that Nico did not back down either; they weren't going to leave again now.
/break\
"Damn it, Jackson, stop poking the potentially dead fishboy with a stick!"
Percy very slowly looked up to make direct eye-contact with Nico before he continued poking said fishboy in the cheek with a stick. The werewolf made a slightly distressed sound at that.
"My potentially alive fishboy. I do what I want. Gotta check if he is alive."
"Not by poking him with a stick, you weird leech!" Nico exclaimed annoyed.
"What? You wanna check his pulse? Where? He got gills where we have our artery in the neck."
Nico narrowed his eyes at him, knowing exactly that Percy was right, which made Percy grin in a slightly smug way. The wolves stood behind Nico, the vampires behind Percy. And in the middle between them laid the potentially dead or alive fishboy. Pretty blonde with a pretty six-pack and a long, purple fish-tail as his lower half. Percy had never seen anything like it.
"This is a merman. Not a fishboy. And Percy, please, do stop poking him with a stick."
"Aw, Annabeth, you're a spoil-spot," Percy huffed and dropped the stick. "What do we do with the fishboy – sorry, merman? I mean. Where does he come from, what's he doing here, how do we check if he is alive, do you think he tastes like fish or human?"
"He clearly washed onto the shore from the ocean," Nico grunted.
"Wow. Gee. So helpful. Thank you, Captain Obvious," countered Percy unimpressed.
"Shut up. Why do you want to know what he tastes like, creepy leech?"
"Oh, you shut up. I'm just curious. I mean, he's half fish and half human so what would his blood taste like then? Fish or human? Or something wholly different? It's a valid question."
"How about everybody without a medical degree steps away from the unconscious stranger? Or at least uses their excessive muscles to carry him somewhere where someone with a medical degree could take care of him?" A blonde wolf stepped forward with a pointed look.
"Will's right. We aren't getting answers out of him while he's unconscious," conceded Nico.
"...Oka—ay. Fi—ine. Wait, you have an actual doctor in your pack? That's handy," asked Percy.
"Yes. I'm amazing. Now please, someone not me carry the patient somewhere."
"You literally have werewolf strength yourself," pointed Percy out.
"Yes. But where's the fun in that? I want a show. Some hot hunky vampire do something."
Percy snorted, though he felt personally addressed at that, so he went and scooped the unconscious merman up in his arms bridal-style. "Follow me. I assume you don't also hide a real hospital in your woods. We, at least, do have an infirmary at our camp."
"Oh, wow. An infirmary. In your run-down, haunted summer camp," Nico's voice was dripping with sarcasm and snark as he followed. "And stop showing off, I could carry him as easily."
"Oh yeah? But I didn't see you picking him up, did I?" Percy countered unimpressed.
"Please, stop the pissing contest," Reyna groaned annoyed.
"Ye—es. Agreed. You have to put up with that too?" Annabeth asked, falling into step with Reyna.
"All the time. All that growling, that seeking out your clan leader to do a metaphorical cock-measuring contest. I swear, if they'd just... actually whipped them out, we may all be saved from this unnecessary bickering because they'd get it done behind closed doors, in a bedroom."
"Your word in god's ears," Annabeth heaved a sigh. "Hi, I'm Annabeth."
"Reyna, second-in-command of the pack," Reyna offered with a smile.
/break\
They had found an unconscious merman at their shore. Just, washed ashore like driftwood. The pack had smelt it during their hunt, the vampire leader must have spotted him from his window because the Big House was facing the shore. Vampires and werewolves gathered around the merman and couldn't agree who got to keep him, so here they were all, in the vampire summer camp where a werewolf was giving him medical care. Definitely not where any of them had seen themselves today. While Will was tending to the merman, Nico stood at the window of the infirmary, his eyes wandering over the outside in awe.
"Not as run down as you expected it," a smooth voice whispered close to his ear.
Nico startled a little and turned to glare at the cheekily grinning vampire leader. "I... admit that I'm a bit... surprised. This looks like a shit-hole from the outside, how does it look like this?"
"Magic. I mean, literally. Friend of the pack, Alabaster, is a warlock. He put a glamour on the camp way back in the day, make it look extra run down and haunted. And then the clan started renovating and repurposing this place for ourselves. But it'd be a bit suspicious, a beautiful, modern summer camp just standing empty. It had to look the part. And even more so, super withered and worthless to scare people off. Rumors of the haunted summer camp have been keeping us safe for decades."
"...Why a summer camp?" Nico asked reluctantly after another moment. "I mean-"
"-it should be a castle," both of them ended at the same time, Nico looking at Percy surprised and Percy grinning pleased. "Yep. It should be, you're right. Alas, being a vampire ain't the same it was two centuries ago. Also, America, really lacking actual castles. Luke, our clan-leader, used to work here back when it was still an actual summer camp. Then the owner moved away and it did lay empty for... a long time. But it's pretty perfect for a clan, you know?"
"How?" Nico asked with a doubtful frown.
"Look at it. Big House for the clan-leader. We got a whole infirmary. A dining hall over there. And the twelve cabins for campers? All renovated into actual houses; pull up a wall here, add plumbing and a bathroom there, better isolation. Each couple, or family, got their own house. It's perfect, like a tiny, protected village that just needed a make-over."
At that, Nico fell quiet. His gaze wandered through the summer camp. The cabins, truly with a few modifications, each would be a nice house. This was a village, for all intends and purposes.
"Why don't you give him the grand tour so you two are out of the doc's way?" Annabeth suggested.
Her and Hazel from the wolf-pack were helping the doctor take care of the merman. When Nico opened his mouth to argue, Hazel shot him a pointed look. Okay, yes, Will liked his peace when he was working and this was definitely not peaceful. Besides, it probably was a very good chance to take a closer look at the interior of the clan's territory.
"Sure. Lead the way, bat boy," Nico sighed, motioning toward the door.
"Oh, shush it, puppy dog," was Percy's counter, looking rather unimpressed.
The fact that Nico growled did not help his case. Percy just smirked knowingly at him and then stepped out ahead. The surroundings quickly distracted Nico. It was quite beautiful, each of the cabins had been remodeled and had an individual touch to it – one even had a garden on the roof, ivy growing along the walls, another was a pale pink, one looked more hardcore, in dark-red and with a deer skull over the door, crossed axes fastened behind it.
"As you see, beautiful houses for everyone. The infirmary here where we just came from. Over there behind that cabin are the forges – yes, some of our members are quite talented. We make a lot of what we need ourselves. Here's our dining hall – yes, we eat. Actual food. It's more for fun though, what we do need is blood. And here is my humble abode."
"Actually is pretty humble for a vampire clan leader," admitted Nico curiously.
"Specially since I share it with Grover and Annabeth," Percy continued as they entered the Big House. "Now that I'm showing you my home, I think I'm allowed to ask a question too."
"...Sure. Shoot," Nico turned to side-eye Percy warily though.
"Why are you here. I mean, what are you doing in our territory?"
"It's not your territory," Nico growled. "We're in the woods. Which have been wolf territory for decades. The former pack, my sister is in it. They move a lot, but my sister told me that your clan-leader left. She suggested the territory to me and my pack, because we're still young."
"O—Oh, Thals' pack. Thalia is like Luke's best friend. Yeah, her pack left so—o long ago. Huh. Okay. I think I get where the confusion came from then. Only Luke left, not us. We're still here and we're not going anywhere, so you gotta stop growling at us when we enter the forest to hunt."
"Well, you need to stop acting like we have no right to be in the woods," countered Nico.
Percy made a thoughtful face at that before he sighed. "Okay, fine. Maybe it is time for a truce. Luke and Thalia made it work back in the day. I'm sure we can too."
"Nico! Percy! The merman is waking up," Hazel came rushing in with Grover.
Nico and Percy exchanged a quick glance before they hurried along after the two. They had to improvise in the infirmary, considering this one was a merman and needed to keep wet. They had carried in a huge metal tub filled with sea-water, thanks to all the super-strong supernatural people around. Inside the metal tub was the handsome merman, slowly blinking and looking around.
"Hello—o, gorgeous. I have a billion questions for you," declared Percy eagerly.
Beautiful deep-blue eyes looked at him in confusion. "Pointy."
He was pointing at Percy's smile, or more precisely at Percy's teeth. It made Nico burst out into laughter, while Percy scowled just a little bit. Even though Nico's laugh was nice.
"I like that, I'll keep that one," said Nico with a smirk.
"Yes. Pointy. I'm a vampire. Dunno if merpeople have a concept for vampires. This one over there is a werewolf, that means a human who can turn into a big fluffy puppy-dog. Wait. Do merpeople have a concept for dogs? Oh. Oh, you are from a world without dogs. That's awful."
Nico's face went through various emotions the longer Percy talked, going from amusement to irritation to befuddlement and curiosity. So the dog-jokes weren't because Percy hated dogs...?
"Dogs. I know dogs. I saw them at the beach. Dogs are nice," the merman whispered softly.
"Yes," Percy agreed with vigorous nodding, looking rather pleased. "Dogs are very nice. You are clearly a merman of taste. Now, would you mind telling us your name? And, possibly, what you're doing here? Like, was there a big storm or something? Did you get hurt? Because... merpeople, not really regular visitors of our beach, you know?"
"Jason... My name is Jason. Can I stay here? This looks nice."
"Uhm... I... don't know what to say to that. Anybody?"
"You said you wanted to keep the merman! Now he asks to be kept. Doesn't that make you happy, Pointy?" Nico asked with a smirk, elbowing Percy teasingly.
"You wanted to keep the merman too!" Percy countered, an offended look on his face. "I think that's shared custody! So give your input on what to do with the merman."
The merman – Jason – was simply watching them, blinking his big, blue eyes as his head turned back and forth between them. He still seemed rather disoriented and confused.
"How about everybody clears out and lets my patient rest?" Will suggested pointedly. "Out."
After another glare from him, the room actually cleared, including their leaders. Percy kept shooting a look over his shoulder at the bossy werewolf before giving Nico a look.
"Yeah, he's bossy. I know. You made a mistake inviting him into your infirmary. This is now his infirmary. Doubt you'll get rid of him again," Nico grunted with a half-shrug.
"Now this, this is really an invasion of my territory," Percy grumbled a bit.
/break\
Invasion was the right word for this. Ever since they found the merman, the wolves seemed in their territory... every single day. And actually inside their territory. Will and his team got very at home in the infirmary, their cook Frank invaded the clan's kitchen and got very excited about the stand-of-the-art equipment they had. Nico could usually be found by Percy's side, not that the two of them noticed that (though the clan and the pack very much did). Most of the time Nico was over, the two of them could be found by the side of the merman, asking Jason a hundred questions a minute. Thankfully enough, the merman really took to the two and to their questions, because he had a million questions himself. The three spent hours together in the infirmary, talking about their worlds, which also improved the situation between the pack and the clan, because for the first time, their clan-leaders actually learned about each other's worlds too.
"Okay, okay, okay, you are actually a prince but chose to run away because our world looks pretty. That. That sure is a choice, huh," Percy grunted and shoveled ice-cream into his mouth.
The three had six containers standing in front of them on the table they had put next to Jason's bath-tub. The blonde held onto the rim of the tub with one hand, arm laying on it, the other hand reaching out to scoop some of the mint-chocolate chip. Naturally, Jason had expressed curiosity about local cuisine. And both Percy and Nico were very eager to feed the merman all of their favorites – which could not clash more if they had actively tried. So there was a long list of foods to work through. Not that Jason minded, the blonde looked very happy trying everything.
"I like that your ice has taste. Ours is just frozen water," Jason noted pleased, licking his spoon. "And yes. Kind of a prince. Not really though. I'm not the queen's son. And the queen has tried to, ah, assassinate me for a while. I know my older sister has fled the ocean many, many years ago. I came to follow her. She told me I could find her here, at this shore."
They had been so busy asking about merpeople in general and the world down there, they had kind of never really gotten to Jason's personal history in the past week.
"Mh. What's your sister's name? Maybe we could help you find her," offered Nico after a moment.
"Thalia," was Jason's reply that made both vampire and werewolf fall silent.
Nico and Percy exchanged a wide-eyed look and, just to have something to do that required him not to answer, Percy stuffed his mouth full with more ice-cream. Nope, Thalia was a werewolf, that was Nico's responsibility. Percy wasn't going to touch that one.
"Uh... I want to say it's just a coincident, but then there was a wolf named Thalia here in the woods until a couple years ago..." Nico poked his spoon into the ice-cream repeatedly.
"You know my sister?" Jason perked up a cute way, blinking rapidly.
"Potentially. No promises though. But I have... means of contacting her pack. It may be a couple days to weeks though until she gets here, her pack travels," warned Nico.
"It's okay! I enjoy the company here greatly!" Jason smiled at them both. "I can spend more weeks here while waiting for my sister. Thank you, for everything."
It was kind of cute how Jason just assumed he could stay a couple more weeks. Not that that wasn't the case, of course he could stay. Percy greatly enjoyed the blonde's company and he kind of also enjoyed that the merman was a great excuse for him to have Nico over.
/break\
Jason really didn't know what all the fuss was about. He'd wanted to go to the human world ever since he was a little guppy, but everyone kept telling him how dangerous it was, what kind of monsters humans were. So the only thing that had pushed him over the edge was when he gained more attention, being the illegitimate son of the king and being off mating age now; people hoped to get into the royal linage that way. Which had prompted the queen to send assassins after him. That was what had ultimately chased him out of the ocean. He had never expected the human world to be this accepting! And those considered 'monsters', at that. No, the vampires and werewolves just took him in, gave him a home to live and introduced him to all the human things – food, animals, plants, art, history, anything. Especially their leaders, Nico and Percy, were very welcoming.
They were also very pretty. The wolf had these dark eyes and dark curls and sharp cheekbones. Though his wolf-form was as impressive, he was huge and fluffy, were soft to cuddle, as Jason and Percy agreed on. And Percy! With the bright green eyes and the cheeky smile and the pointy teeth. They were both very nice to look at and also fund to be around.
"Who is a good boy? Who is a very good boy? Yes, you are," Percy cooed teasingly.
Jason didn't quite understand their dynamic. Everyone around them claimed that Percy and Nico had been rivals or something like that. If Jason had been asked, he'd have said they were mates. They bickered like a mated pair, they thought alike, they seemed to lead together. Far as Jason could tell, wolves and vampires were here together and they followed both Nico and Percy.
"Stop growling. You are a very pretty wolf," chided Jason as he petted Nico's head.
Nico wouldn't turn into a wolf for them if he minded the teasing. And the way his tail was wagging told Jason that he seemed to enjoy the petting and the attention. Percy was all over Nico, hugging and hogging the huge wolf, burying himself in the fur. Jason would like that too, but he couldn't. He needed the water. Though sometimes the extremely strong vampires would carry him outside and around so he could see more of the camp and the forest, occasionally also a trip to the ocean.
"Your sister is en route to arrive any day now," Percy whispered, resting his head on Nico's head. "What... are your plans for... after? I mean. Do you want to leave with her? Because clearly she found a way to leave the water behind so you could too, probably."
Jason blinked a couple of times, poking his spoon into another canister. "I... don't know. I like it here. Could I stay, if that is possible? I want to see Thalia again, but from everything you told me, she has her own life out there with her pack. I don't... think I want to be out there just yet. I do want to see the world! A lot of it! At one point. But there is still so much to take in."
"Sure," both Nico and Percy said at the same time before looking at each other and blushing.
Jason grinned, very pleased by that, nodding to himself. These were his humans now. He had decided so, a few weeks ago. They weren't mate, but Jason would like for that to change. He would like them to be mates and to be his mates. Once he figured out how to leave the tub.
/break\
"My baby brother, I can't believe you are stupid enough to follow me out here. I'm so glad you live. I'm so glad you found the right shore. I missed you," Thalia was hugging Jason tightly.
Jason smiled as he returned her hug just as tightly. "I missed you too, Thals. And I like your friends. I've decided to keep them, stick around here. If you don't mind."
"Well, I mean... I don't know if my life-style really is for you anyway. So if... if you are safe here right now? If you are happy here? Yeah, Perce is a good guy. And... Bia's little brother is supposedly a good pack leader. Though last I heard they were at each other like cats and dogs. What did you do to make them so... docile? You tamed the feral bastards."
Jason peeked over Thalia's shoulder, a smile spreading over his lips as he saw Nico and Percy, sitting quite close together, close enough their thighs and shoulders touched, as they talked to their people and to Thalia's pack. They were outside, Beckendorf had set up a huge barbecue to celebrate their guests, a beautiful bonfire going on too. It was odd to Jason that people said such a thing had never happened before Jason had arrived here.
"These are my feral bastards now," Jason confirmed with a nod. "Can you... How have you turned human? And can you show me? I want to be able to walk too. Relying on them carrying me is a bit depressing. I want to walk around, see things. Teach me."
"There's nothing to teach. The one who found me when I washed ashore, Luke. He had a lot of helpful friends, among them a warlock. Alabaster used his magic to allow me to change my shape. The magic was vague enough to allow me to shift into a wolf too and I ended up joining the pack."
"O—Oh. Call your friend's friend and ask him to do that for me too?"
Thalia sighed and ruffled his hair. "Long as you promise to not get into trouble."
"Me? Trouble? Never. I promise I'll just... stick around here, with Percy and Nico."
"That is the recipe for a disaster," Thalia noted pointedly.
Jason hugged her again at that, which only made her sigh. The two talked for hours about their lives, though at some point, others from the clan and pack wanted to talk to Thalia too. Jason told her it was okay; he was here now, she could talk to him any time. All he could do was smile and watch her laugh with her friends. He himself didn't remain alone for long, because Nico and Percy gravitated over toward him, sitting down on either side of his tub.
"How do you feel? Was it... good, talking to her again? Will you stay?" Percy asked nervously.
"You're cute when you worry," Jason smiled and leaned in to kiss his cheek, startling and flustering the vampire. "I'll stay. I told her, I want to stay here because I'm happy here. And because you two are my feral bastards. Though I don't think she meant it as fondly as I do."
"You... think we are your feral bastards? And that's fondly?" Nico sounded confused.
"Yes. I found you. You found me," declared Jason proudly. "Right?"
He now leaned over to kiss Nico on the cheek, which caused the wolf to make a confused whining sound and look as flustered as Percy. Yes. They were his, they had found him. He was going to stay here, with them, and he was going to make a good life for himself.
~*~ The End ~*~
Author's note: Figured I'd switch the supernatural around a little, since the most obvious choice is merman!Percy, vamp!Nico and werewolf!Jason - so let's flip them around for funsies! I hope you liked that too ;)