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Title: Blue Blossom Board – Writer's Month 2023
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: m/m, mortal AU, fluff
Main Pairing: Jason/Percy
Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Jason Grace
Summary: Prompts: blossom + on an island. There was a cute blonde Californian surfer boy opening a surf shop on Kaua'i. Percy, one of the lifeguards at that beach, is near instantly smitten.
Blue Blossom Board
Writer's Month 2023
Percy Jackson had grown up in New York City and his memories for the city were very mixed. For the first half of his life, he'd lived with an awful stepfather. But in his teenage years, life had turned around and his mother had married a wonderful guy who loved them both. Perhaps it were these mixed emotions that had made him decide to move away after graduation, and to explore his roots on his biological father's side.
His father, a native Hawaiian from Kaua'i, had been a summer fling for Sally Jackson, a tourist in New York, and she had never known how to track him down again, only knowing his first name. It had been in middle school that Percy got to meet him for the first time and the man was so enthusiastic to meet his son. The distance between Kaua'i and New York made truly getting to know the man harder though. To get to know Poseidon Kaimana, as well as Percy's stepmother and half-siblings, Percy had decided to move to Kaua'i – and he hadn't regretted it once.
The island was beautiful. It was a dream come true. And though not all of his half-siblings met him with the same level of warmth, over the years, he had grown close to them all now. His stepmother Amphitrite didn't resent him either; her and Poseidon had been broken up when he'd met Sally – that break-up had been what had brought him to New York.
Life was good for Percy here. He had finally forged real bonds with that side of his family, he had become a lifeguard which meant he got to work at the beach all day and the sea was his one true love. Which brought him to maybe the one thing he was missing. Romantic love. He had his family, the friends he had made here, and he had his beloved sea. What he was still looking for was a partner to share all of this with though. He'd only had casual flings so far, nothing ever lasted.
That was, until a cute, blonde Californian surfer boy moved to Kaua'i to open a surf shop at the very beach Percy worked at. The first time Percy laid eyes on the cute blonde, he was so distracted that he got hit with a beach volleyball at the back of his head.
"Holy shit," the blonde yelped surprised, dropping his surf-board when he saw. "You okay, dude?"
Percy winced, rubbing the back of his head. The beach volleyball players ran up to apologize and collect their ball, but Percy was still staring at the blonde. He hard electric blue eyes and a little scar on his lip that moved when he talked. Wait. He was still talking to Percy.
"Hey? Hey, you okay? Do you need a doctor? Maybe you have a concussion?"
"What. No," Percy grunted and shook his head, a little embarrassed. "I'm fine. Very fine."
"Yeah, you are," the blonde muttered beneath his breath.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing," cute blonde cleared his throat. "Maybe you have a concussion after all."
"I know what a concussion feels like. This isn't a concussion. I'm good."
"You should at least sit down. Sit down. Come."
He directed Percy toward the little surf shop and Percy had a hard time declining being led away by a cute guy. Inside the shop, Percy was gently pushed down onto a chair and he got to watch the blonde walk away (great view on that), just to come back with a cold water bottle.
"Here. Drink something. I know jackshit about concussions, but drinking is always good?"
Oh. Cute guy was cute-cute. Not just physically good looking, but also sweet. To get out of speaking, Percy uncapped the bottle and took a helpless, long sip from it. The blonde remained standing next to him, looking at him with concern still.
"Thanks," Percy offered a smile, feeling much less embarrassed and more calmed. "I'm Percy."
"Right," cute blonde blinked, looking a bit embarrassed. "I'm Jason. Jason Grace. Sorry. My manners. It's great to meet you, I've seen you around a lot."
Percy perked a little at that. "Oh?"
"Uhm, I mean, yeah. You're one of the local lifeguards, while I was setting up the shop, I noticed you. I mean, all of you lifeguards and the others who are regular at the beach."
Right. Percy blinked a couple of times. Now that he was sitting still and the cute guy – Jason – was standing so close to him, he really could drink in the sight. Broad-shoulders, cutest smile, the wild, slightly too long blonde hair. Looked good for running his fingers through.
"Thank you," Percy cleared his throat. "I… I should get back to work. It was nice meeting you."
"Yeah. Yeah, totally," Jason smiled brightly. "You know, feel free to come by some time."
"Mh…" Percy's eyes trailed around, settling on Jason. "I think I will. See you around, Jason."
/break\
After a bad breakup, Jason had slipped into a funk for a while. Until, one afternoon at the beach, he realized he needed a fresh start. Change of scenery. More or less on a whim, he had moved to Kaua'i. Last summer, he'd been on vacation there with his best friend Leo and he had fallen in love with the island. So maybe, if he lived there, things could always be as good as they were last summer. Which, looking back at it now, was stupid and naive.
However, thankfully for him, it had worked out. He'd moved to Kaua'i and he had opened up a surf shop. And then Jason had met him. An absolute dream of a man. Lifeguard Percy, with the blinding smile and sparkling, sea-green eyes and the delectable abs.
And then the cute lifeguard got hit with a volleyball in the back of his head and Jason finally had the opportunity to talk to him, after watching him longingly from afar ever since he'd moved there.
"Hey, Percy," Jason smiled, trying not to look too smitten. "I got your coffee."
Ever since the volleyball incident, Percy had started coming by for his morning coffee. Every morning, Jason got to look at Percy and talk to Percy just a little bit. They never had time for long conversation, but over the weeks, he picked up so many bits and pieces about Percy's life and he wanted to learn more. Wanted to spend more time with him.
Percy offered the brightest, most blinding smile. "Thanks, Jay."
Jason nearly dropped the coffee. Only nearly though, so he was grateful for that much control. There Percy stood, wearing a skin-tight surf suit, holding a surfboard. The suit was blue and Jason had to emphasis the fact that it was skin-tight. Yes, he surfed, he owned a surf-shop, he knew what surf suits looked like. However, putting that on Percy? Hadn't occurred to him.
"Yo—ou…" Jason trailed off, unsure what words should follow.
Look pretty, his mind supplied. Percy grinned at him, lifting the coffee up to take a drink. Jason used the opportunity to instead look at the board. It was a gorgeous board, definitely custom made. Blue, different shades of blue – a dark-blue streak in the center, followed by lighter blue and white curls at the rim of it. At the tip of the board sat an azure-blue hibiscus blossom.
Finally, Jason's brain kicked in again. "...surf."
Lame. Especially with the unnaturally long pause. Jason winced, embarrassed by himself. Why was he this way with people he liked? Leo had always loved making fun of him for it and if he were here, he would be laughing so hard. Well, probably not. Mostly, he would pity Jason's sorry ass.
Percy pressed his lips together, trying and failing to suppress a smile. "Great observation skills. Yes, on my days off I like to surf. Actually, I was in a couple competitions a few years back."
Well, that got marked down as 'google later when alone'. Jason nodded, more unsure what to say.
"So… how did that not come up yet? I mean," Jason motioned around his shop. "You know?"
Tilting his head, Percy smiled amused. "You have a cute shop. Felt… I don't know, I thought it may sound intimidating if I went 'hey, so yeah, my dad's Poseidon Kaimana, the owner of the biggest chain of surfing supplies, who sponsored me in a bunch of competitions'."
Jason nodded slowly. Yeah, that would have been an intimidating blow to his ego just having opened up his shop days ago. Now though, weeks in, happy here, also knowing Percy a bit better, it felt… still intimidating, but not as overwhelming.
"How about you meet me on the waves during your lunch break?"
Jason looked up at that. "What? Yeah. That sounds great."
"Awesome," Percy nodded pleased. "It's a date then."
Only after Percy had left did Jason mutter to himself. "Wait. A date? A date-date?"
/break\
Percy's heart was racing when he left the surf-shop. He'd really said it. After a lot of teasing from Triton, about not having the balls to ask a cute guy, he had finally dared to ask Jason out. The nerves started to subside once he was in the water though. Absolutely nothing calmed him down more than surfing, especially that one moment of total silence in the tunnel of a wave. It was breathtaking.
"He—ey! Hey, Percy!" Jason waved at him as he came running up to him. "I brought drinks and sandwiches. Since it is my lunch break and I also thought… you know… a date… should feature some food, right? I mean, a date-date, right?"
"Date-date. Yes," Percy bit his lips. "Food sounds good though. I've worked up an appetite, but you're also not supposed to go in the water with a full belly, so… surfing first?"
Jason nodded so fast, Percy feared his head would fall off. Pleased, Percy reached out to offer him a hand and lead Jason into the water. For the next half hour, Percy got to share this great joy with Jason. He'd watched the blonde surf before and he sure was talented. After a while, both were just drifting in the more shallow water, laying on their respective boards and staring up into the sky.
"Your board is gorgeous," Jason commented suddenly. "It's… unique."
"Oh yeah. My dad, he started out crafting boards by hand as a kid. His favorite uncle taught him," Percy smiled faintly as he remembered. "And though he made an empire out of it… When I started surfing, and showing talent, he… sat down, the old-fashioned way, and made it for me."
"That's… amazing," Jason swallowed. "I'm kinda envious of that. Me and my dad… not so close."
"Oh, we weren't either," Percy huffed as he pushed off his board. "We only met when I was a teen and it was… a rocky start. Surfing, that… was the first time we really connected."
Jason nodded as he followed Percy back to the shore. And just before the two of them sat down at the little picnic setting they had set up before heading into the water, Jason grabbed Percy by the neck and pulled him into an impulsive kiss. Before he could let go, Percy grabbed him though, deepening the kiss slowly. Finally. Jason had wanted to do that for so long.
~*~ The End ~*~
Author's note: It's Writer's Month! And though I am too busy to manage all 31 prompts, I want to fill as many as possible! And we're off to a good start with some Jercy, because for some reason these two prompts IMMEDIATELY made me think "Jercy surfer AU" ;D