Jason woke up shrieking.

He sat up as fast as he could, heart racing.

He had been having a nightmare, he was sure of it, but couldn't remember what it was about, only that it had been incredibly terrifying.

That happened to him sometimes; some of his dreams were as clear as clean glass, others were dark and murky distant memories.

But if his thudding heartbeat was anything to go by, he was glad he'd forgotten the nightmare.

He lay in bed for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling, trying to calm himself. When he realised he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep, he swung his legs out of bed and promptly tripped over a pair of jeans that were sitting innocently on the floor.

Rubbing his head as he got back to his feet, Jason yawned widely. He was just stretching when he heard a yell echoing down the corridor.

Jason considered that the shout could just be Percy and Leo attempting to make breakfast again (don't ask), but then it came again, loud and raw.

So, Jason couldn't help but tiptoe out of his room and head down the corridor.

There were no more screams, but someone was… whimpering?

And it was coming from behind Nico's door.

Jason paused out in the corridor.

He had never been in Nico's room - the son of hades barred anyone from entering (he was incredibly private). But the whimpers persisted, and Jason couldn't stand to hear anyone in pain, and Nico could be in trouble, so he gently nudged the door open.

Nico was lying in bed, tangled in his sheets as he thrashed. His face was covered by a sheen of sweat. And he was clutching something white and fluffy in his fist.

Jason crept closer to the bed, then crouched down so he was at Nico's eye level. He considered what was the best way to wake him up, but couldn't come up with a good enough idea, so he just tapped his shoulder and called his name.

Nico shuddered into the real world after the third time Jason had implored him to wake up.

He looked around the room wildly, eyes flashing, looking like a cornered animal.

"J-Jason?" he choked out, after noticing the blonde haired boy next to him.

"You were, um, having a nightmare, I think," Jason said awkwardly, cheeks heating up.

"R-right," Nico stammered, flushing.

Jason realised suddenly that he was still crouched down, way too close to Nico. He stood up quickly, and felt dizzy for a moment, before regaining his balance.

Something tumbled out of Nico's arms - the white fluffy thing he'd been clutching.

It was a toy rabbit.

Nico's eyes widened as he watched it fall. He jumped out of bed and scrabbled to pick it up, ears burning.

"Nico," Jason said slowly, a grin rubbing at the corner of his mouth, "What's that?"

"what's what?" Nico growled, diving back onto his bed and sitting cross legged, glaring at Jason.

"I mean, I know what it is," Jason was properly grinning now. "Did you steal one of Frank's toys?"

Nico dropped his gaze to Jason's feet, which were still bare, and said nothing.

"Frank will be so lonely!" Jason laughed. "You know how much he loves his stuffed animals."

"It's not frank's," Nico snapped. Jason laughs petered out.

"Oh," he said instead.

"It's mine," Nico snarled. "His name is Sir Barnaby."

Jason couldn't help it. He doubled over, laughing until he was wheezing.

"What?" Nico glared at him again. "What's so funny?"

"Sir Barnaby?" Jason managed to choke out.

Nico nodded coldly. Then the corners of his eyes sparkled with tears, and he hurriedly swiped at them.

Jason stopped laughing again.

"He- he was a present from Bianca. She won him while we were in the Lotus Casino on one of those grabby games," Nico said lowly. "She gave him to me one night when I couldn't sleep and had to join her in her bed. She said he'd… he'd keep me safe," Nico's voice was barely louder than a whisper. "She said… when I slept with him, she'd stay safe too."

A tear slid down Nico's cheek. Jason looked on in horror. Percy had told him about Bianca's noble death. Oh gods, why had he laughed at Nico?

There was a pause, which Nico broke by sniffing loudly.

"I'm- I'm so sorry," Jason said quietly. "I wasn't trying to hurt you or anything-"

"It's fine," Nico replied roughly. "Whatever."

"He's really cute," Jason offered after another moment of silence. Nico gave him a grudging, tired smile.

"Yeah? he needs a little bit of a patch up," he showed Jason that the toy was missing an eye.

"I'm sure Annabeth can help you out," Jason grinned.

"No way am I telling Annabeth about Sir Barnaby - she'd only tell Percy, who would tell Leo, and he'd never let me hear the end of it. The son of Hades, still sleeping with a stuffed rabbit," Nico's voice cracked at the end of his sentence, his weary smile slipping off his face. Jason wanted to give him a hug so bad.

"If Leo ever made fun of you because of Sir Barnaby, I'd punch him in the face," he replied with confidence.

"Thanks, Jason," Nico rolled his eyes. "Violent as ever." But he was grinning again.

"Um, alright, I'll leave you to it," Jason said, backing away to the door.

"Thanks, though," Nico said suddenly. "For, um, waking me up."

"That's okay," Jason shrugged. "I'd had a nightmare of my own."

Nico nodded shyly.

"Night, death boy," Jason said quietly, slipping out the room and heading back to his own.

Strangely, he got back to sleep very quickly after that.