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flowers-in-bloom13 · 5 months

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A valgrace oneshot that I of course wrote at 1am

. . .

Summary/notes:

A short valgrace oneshot.

basically Leo get nightmare, Jason calms him down, major character death! :D

Don't ask about the timeline.

also idc that basically none of this except major character death is canon . this is fanFICTION I can do what I want.

Word count: 878

. . .

"I think I'll miss you the most"

It was a dark, stormy, rainy night aboard the Argo 2.

Leo awoke from a nightmare, sweating, his heart beating quick. he sat up instantly. ''that's the third one this week. .'' Leo said aloud.

he tried to calm himself down, taking deep breaths like his mother, Espranza Valdez, used to tell him to do when it was thundering outside. . . just like it is now.

he managed to calm himself down. ''I wonder why I keep having these nightmares. . .'' he said.

. . .

it had been a week since Leo's last nightmare.

''hey, Pipes?'' he asked Piper Mclean. ''yeah?'' she replied. ''I've been having these nightmares recently. . . I haven't had one in a week though, luckily''

''awh'' she frowned. ''what are the nightmares like? is there any recurring theme in them?''

''yeah. there is.'' Leo shifted uncomfortably. ''that might be a sign from the gods.'' Piper mentioned. ''do you mind telling me what it is?''

''sure..'' Leo spoke. ''It's- It's Jason.''

''Jason? what about him..?'' Piper exclaimed. Leo looked up at Piper. ''in the nightmares he.. he dies.''

''he dies?!'' Piper exclaimed a little too loudly.

''yes he does, now don't be so loud. I don't want the others to hear'' Leo said. ''especially not Jason. and especially if it really is a sign from the gods like you said.''

''okay, okay. I'll try to be more quiet''

''is there a recurring way he dies..?'' Piper asked.

''yeah..'' Leo replied. ''impaled. impaled by a spear.''

'' oh ''

''yeah. . .''

''oh gods.'' Piper said. ''I hope it's not a sign from the gods..''

''so do I.'' Leo replied. ''but I have a feeling it is..''

. . .

Leo had another nightmare. the same one he keeps getting - Jason getting impaled and dying.

Leo awoke once again like he always did after that nightmare, short of breath, heart beating quick and sweating.

Leo sat up instantly like last time. his hand clutched over his heart - right where Jason would be impaled.

''that was...that was worse '' Leo said to himself aloud.

Leo was panicking more then usual though now. he knew when Jason will die, and knows he will die - there's no stopping it.

Leo started to panic more. his bestfriend was going to die.

Just then, Jason walked past and saw Leo panicking, his hand clutched over his heart.

''hey, you okay..?'' he asked in concern. ''you seem to be panicking.. quite a lot''

Jason's voice made Leo jump.

''o-oh yeah. I'm fine..'' Leo laughed nervously.

''no. no you're not, Leo.'' Jason said, concerned for his friend.

just looking at Jason's face made Leo tear up. he wouldn't see Jason's handsome face again, his death date was coming up soon.

a tear trickled down Leo's cheeks. Jason looked sympathetic for his friend.

Jason walked over to Leo's bed, sat down and held Leo in his arms.

''you wanna tell me why you're crying and panicking so much?'' Jason asked. ''It's perfectly fine if not.''

Leo contemplated wherever he should tell him or not.

''I've been having these nightmares, recently.'' Leo said. ''not just normal nightmares but.. in-'' Leo started sobbing.

Jason looked down at Leo concerningly. worried for him.

''hey, hey, It's okay, Leo'' Jason said. ''it's not like anyone is dying.'' the irony of that sentence was almost enough to make Leo laugh.

''well...'' Leo said, trying his best not to meet Jason's eyes. ''You are.''

''what?''

Leo managed to look up at Jason despite the tears in his eyes. ''you're going to die, Jase.'' ''you'll be impaled with a spear.''

''What- I-'' Jason said. ''how... how can you be sure?''

Jason looked in disbelief.

. . .

Leo sobbed in Jason's arms. Jason held Leo tightly.

''hey, Jase?'' Leo asked between the tears. ''can.. can I kiss you?'' he looked up at Jason

Jason looked surprised, he even managed to blush a bit between his own tears. ''sure..''

Leo smiled softly and leaned in closer to Jason until their nose's were touching almost.

Jason kissed him.

eventfully Leo pulled away. Jason and Leo managed to smile through the kiss.

''I think.. I think that was the best kiss I've ever had'' Jason said

''and how many kisses have you ever had?''

''..very few...''

''well at least I'm still the best''

Jason managed a weak laugh.

Leo was surprised Jason could laugh after being told he was going to die. Leo laughed too.

''I think I'll miss you the most.'' Jason said. ''obviously I'll miss everyone, Piper, Thalia, Percy, etc but.. I think I'll miss you the most.''

Leo didn't know what to say. ''I'll miss you so much, Jase'' Leo brushed Jason's cheek with the back of his hand.

then, Leo awoke.

Leo both loved and hated that dream. well... it was more of a memory.

he loved it because it reminded him of Jason. he hated it because it was only a reminder that he'd never kiss those lips again, he'd never see that face ever again, he'd never hear that warm, comforting voice, he held by those arms ever again.

Leo especially didn't need that reminder today. it was the one year anniversary of his death.

him, Piper, Thalia, Nico and Reyna are going to his grave to place some flowers by it and catch him up on everything that's happened in the past year.

. . .

End Notes:

I'm not the best at writing romance so sorry about that.

the ending COULD have been happy. but then I asked (idk what to refer to her as) to choose either 1 or 2. one was happiness and 2 was saddness and death. she chose 2. her response was ''BITCH NO''

it was going to be tooth rotting fluff but then after wrting like 5 words i decided on angst and then i had 2nd thoughts and then asked (BHDHFEVUFCKEBIVEVYWGHBVGKG) and then sadness and angst ensued.

comments are always greatly appreciated <3

My username on AO3 is "W_itch_With_A_B"

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scaramarii · 6 months

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"Like they were dead stars"

FANFIC TIME WOOOOOO

this is a wip

*** means different chapter. The pov may change. It isn't limited to Leo and Jason lol

● means new event

title is actually a reference to how one character is described and how i'll end the fic

TW: death, swearing, child ab*se, underage drinking, my bad attempt at graphically describing gruesome shit (y'know, maybe i should make an ao3 account)

***

Leo hadn't meant to get himself stuck in a different dimension. He most certainly did not mean to mess with a magical book (who the hell puts a magical book where innocent demigods can reach it?). And he did not mean to get kidnapped by a bright pink and blue dragon and its rider, who seemed to be attached to their cloak and mask.

"So..." Leo tried to think of something to say. "Do you normally kidnap random demigods?"

The rider shook their head, but provided no other answer.

"Antisocial much?"

They sighed, took a pad of paper out of their cloak pocket, wrote something, and passed it to Leo. They'd written "fuck yourself."

"Okay, you don't like to talk. That's fine. But you don't need to be like that!" Leo could tell that they were grinning under that mask.

The dragon aimed itself downward, and landed on cool blue grass. Its rider slid off and offered Leo a hand. He pushed it away and fell off of the dragon.

***

"Woah." Leo stared at the house in front of him. It was black, with a slight multicoloured glow to it. The biggest window was shaped like an eye, and was stained green and blue.

The dragon person looked at Leo and shrugged. It's not as impressive as its library, they signed, tilting their head.

"Still cool."

They flipped Leo off.

●

Leo's captor/random person dragging him to a random house in the middle of nowhere knocked on the door.

"Hi!" The person who answered had curly white hair, vitiligo, and moth antennae. He was wearing a pastel blue sweater and blue jeans.

"You look cool," Leo blurted.

The guys blood red eyes had a soft kind of look to them. "Thanks." He looked at the dragon guy. "Who's your friend?"

Leo could practically feel the person rolling their eyes.

His name is Leo, they signed. How did they know his name? He hadn't told them.

"Oh." The moth person smiled at him. "I'm Silk."

"Hi, Silk." Leo had a feeling that Silk was the type to get jealous.

"Silk, let those two in," someone said from inside.

"Sure."

As Leo walked inside, he tripped over a shoe, and would've fallen on his face if the person who'd practically kidnapped him hadn't caught him. "Thanks."

A woman who looked like Reyna but more athletic looking and taller and with pointy ears and a burn scar under her eye poked her head around the corner. "Hi."

Hey Raine, Leo's companion signed.

"Who's that?" Raines ears twitched.

Before his kidnapper person could sign anything, Leo elbowed them. "My name's Leo."

"Well, welcome to Terria, Leo. I'm sure Myst randomly kidnapping you gave you a good look at this hellhole."

"Mist?"

"M-y-s-t. That's not his real name, but everyone calls him that when people who don't know him are around. Also, please take off your shoes."

"Okay."

***

Jason couldn't believe that he'd done that. Flying on a dragon? That wasn't new. But randomly kidnapping his friend? That was.

"Something tells me that you're gonna be stuck here for a while." Raine picked at her jeans. "I guess I could let you stay here for a bit."

"Okay then," Leo said, standing awkwardly.

Raine poured herself a glass of wine. "Make yourself at home. If you make a mess, clean it up. If you break something, that's fine, and Silk, for fucks sake, stop glaring at Leo."

Jason slipped out the door, and took off his mask. He glared at its stupid smile, and attempted to crumple it up. Of course, that just made his hand hurt, so he threw it to the ground and stomped on it instead. "I'm so fucking stupid," he grumbled as he trudged through the woods. "I should've just left him alone. I shouldn't have done anything." Jason started cursing in Latin. His voice was full of resentment. "I messed this up. If he finds out, he's gonna hate me."

"Do you need a moment?"

Jason flinched. Silk was standing behind him. "Uh, kinda?"

Silks antennae twitched. Jason couldn't help but find him a little attractive, but that didn't mean anything. "Alright then." Silk slashed his hand across the air, and disappeared.

Jason sighed. It was bad enough that he'd come back to life in a different world. He didn't need to lose his friend. Well, he didn't know if friend was the right word. I'll figure things out. LATER.

●

When Jason got back to the house, Silk was interrogating Leo.

"How did you get here?"

"Book."

"Why would you mess with a book?"

"I have no fucking idea. Oh hi Myst."

Jason refrained from telling Leo the truth. It's not gonna hurt to hide something from him, he thought. Jason waved and ran upstairs.

***

Within the span of two hours, Leo had:

Messed with a magical book.

Got transported to a dimension called Terria.

Been kidnapped by a person named Myst.

And interrogated by a moth person.

Not as weird as some other things that had happened to him, but still weird.

While Myst was running through the woods and being a menace, Raine had given Leo a history lesson on Terria, and how his very existence was a crime and shit like that. He had a feeling that she'd get along with Annabeth.

"So, demigods are illegal here," Raine had said.

"Huh?" Leo had been confused, because he'd never heard of a law against demigods.

"Basically," Raine had waved her hand around as if to add a border to her statement. "Terrian demigods are way too powerful. The monarchy was scared of being overthrown. So they made a law to kill all Terrian demigods on sight."

"But I'm not Terrian."

"Humans can't tell the difference, and no one actually follows that law. I'm proof of that."

That had been the end of the history lesson. Afterwards, Raine had led him to the room where he'd be staying, and left him alone.

The only thing on Leo's mind was Jason. Jason fucking Grace. He'd found his way into Leos heart and stayed there, despite him being dead. It didn't help that he'd broken up with Calypso just last week.

Suddenly, a paper airplane hit Leo on the head. He looked up. Myst was standing in the doorway.

You okay? Myst may not have been talking, but he managed to convey his concern. He still had that creepy mask with the weird smiley face and his black cloak on, despite it being like 70 degrees in the house.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why are you suddenly being so nice?"

Myst shrugged and left the room. Weird, but okay. Leo had so many questions, but he had a feeling that Myst would just flip Leo off.

***

Jason sighed as he sulked in his room. He hated not knowing what day it was, or even what month it was.

Ah yes. The consequences of my actions. How nice. Whatever. Complaining wasn't going to do anything.

He wanted to despise whoever brought him back, but he couldn't bring himself to hate them. He had no idea what their intentions were.

Jason stared out his window at the starry sky, the moons shining brightly. He sighed, and went to sleep. Almost immediately, he was plunged into a nightmare.

●

He was only two when it happened. He only remembered all the details because of how horrible it had been.

Jasons mother had just gotten home from a long work day. She was not in a good mood, as usual. Just 30 minutes before, Jason had tried to eat a stapler, and she was not happy about it.

"WHY WOULD YOU TRY TO EAT A GODDAMN STAPLER?!" Beryl Grace yelled, her face twisted with rage.

"I-I'm sorry," Jason said, his vision blurry with tears, and the cut on his lip throbbing.

"Do you think I raised you to be an idiot?" His mothers voice was deathly calm. "Do you think I had you just for you to pull this shit?"

Jason tried to respond, but his voice failed him.

"You piece of shit. You want me to look bad, don't you? What kind of mother would let her kid hurt himself?"

Jason vigorously shook his head. "I'm sorry!"

His mothers fists clenched, she grabbed the collar of Jasons shirt, and threw him to the ground. "Get out of my sight. I don't want to see you until dinner."

"But-" Jason had started to get choked up again.

"Are you talking back to me?

"N-no!"

Beryl grabbed a glass on the counter, and threw it at her son. It sailed over Jasons head and shattered against the basement door behind him.

●

Jason woke with a start. He was shaking, and tears were already streaming down his face. The scar on his lip stung as if he'd just gotten it.

"It was just a memory. I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about." Jason tried to comfort himself, but his words sounded like lies. He felt a lump in his throat as he tried to calm himself down. Deep breaths, deep breaths. Everything is okay. That is definitely not a lie.

"Shut up me." Jason couldn't help but feel a little scared. He didn't like feeling so vulnerable in a place where he was supposedly safe. He'd had dreams like that before, but who could he talk to? He wasn't able to tell anyone. He was supposed to be strong, and he couldn't show fear. And at Camp Jupiter, they saw feelings as weaknesses. Anyone who was expressive and emotional would be shamed, no matter what was going on. So Jasons only way of coping was destroying small insignificant things. Notebooks, boxes, pencils, etc. It didn't help, but it was all he could do.

Rain started to fall from the sky, with no warning whatsoever. That had been happening whenever Jason got moody. He started whispering the words "I'm fine" over and over again, like a chant.

Lightning flashed.

Thunder rumbled.

The rain got heavier.

And soon, Jason could barely hear his own thoughts over the pouring rain.

***

Leo woke to the sound of thunder and rain. He sat up and checked the time. It was 5:32 in the morning. Leo realized that he'd already forgotten what day it was. When had he gotten here? Oh right. July 22nd.

He got out of bed and snuck into the hall, making as little noise as possible.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice, saying "I'm fine" over and over again like a chant. It was hard to hear over the rain, but he knew who it was.

Leo tip-toed over to where the voice was coming from, and knocked on the door.

Leo could hear cursing in a different language after a moment of silence. Eventually, Myst opened the door.

"Jason, I know that it's you."

Myst looked around, and then pointed to himself.

"Bitch, who else would I be talking to?" Leo reached up and snatched Jasons mask, his hood falling off.

Jason looked almost unrecognizable. He was thinner, paler, his hair was longer with some darker strands, and his ice blue eyes had a dim look to them, as if they were dead stars. The only things Leo could recognize were the scar on his lip, and the quiet sadness in his eyes. He looked as if something had scared him.

"Hey." Jasons voice was hoarse. He did not seem to be in the mood to talk.

"When did you come back?"

Jason winced. "I... kind of lost track of time..."

"Well, so you don't forget, it's July 23rd."

Jason looked bewildered. "Well shit."

"What?"

Jason inhaled. "I MISSED OUT ON PRIDE MONTH."

Leo couldn't help but laugh. "Dude, you died and came back to life, and that's what you're worried about?"

"Shut up, Valdez."

***

Jason rapped his fingers against the cool metal bedframe. He couldn't dwell on old memories. It would just break him.

Just focus on the rain, he thought. It'll make you feel better. So obviously, he focused on anything but the rain.

Something about his mother made him anxious. He knew she was dead, he'd even seen her ghost. But just the memory of her sent him into to fight or flight mode. He'd been seeing her in his dreams ever since she'd abandoned him. Jason used to joke about why his mom had left him, but that got him one too many looks of concern or pure disgust.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. Jason attempted to regain his composure, but ended up cursing in Latin as he threw his cloak and mask on.

When he opened the door, Leo was standing there. Jason didn't know why, but something about the other boy made him anxious. Jason wasn't scared of Leo, but something about that guy made him feel slightly panicky, and he had a strange urge to kiss him on the lips.

"Jason, I know that it's you." Leos chocolate brown eyes had a glint to them, almost like he was trying to drag all of Jasons secrets out of their hiding place.

Jason looked around and then pointed to himself. He knew Leo was talking to him, but he wanted to waste as much time as possible before Leo could pull off the mask.

"Bitch, who else would I be talking to?" Leo then snatched the mask off of Jasons face, making his hood fall down in the process.

Shit shit shit shit shit. Jason felt even more panicked. I'm gonna say something stupid. Gods fucking damn it. "Hey." He tried to sound happy, but clearly, his voice had other plans.

Leo stared up at him, a stunned expression on his face. Jason probably looked like a mess, but he didn't care. He hadn't looked in the mirror in... well, he didn't know.

"When did you come back?" Leos tone make Jason wince.

"I..." He tried to shove that panicky feeling down, but just made it worse. "...kinda lost track of time..."

"Well, just so you don't forget, it's July 23rd."

Jason took a moment to process that. "Well shit."

"What?"

He inhaled, deciding that saying something dumb was better than freaking out right in front of Leo. "I MISSED OUT ON PRIDE MONTH."

Leo laughed, filling Jasons chest with even more of that panicked feeling.

"Dude, you died and came back to life, and that's what you're worried about?"

"Shut up Valdez."

Leo grinned. "Something's telling me that you missed me."

Jason looked away. "No... I actually enjoyed being away from you." He had a feeling he was blushing.

"Why is your face so red?"

Jason suddenly felt overwhelmed. He was panicking, wondering if he would slip up and admit his feelings to Leo. "NO IT ISN'T," he yelped, and slammed the door.

●

Jason set the hair dryer down. "I am so going to regret this later." He sighed, and left the bathroom.

When he entered his room, Leo was there, arms crossed.

"Did you eat anything?" Leo sounded unbelievably stern.

Jason once again felt a little panicked as he tried to respond, but no sound came out. He settled on shaking his head.

"So you would rather dye your hair pink than than eat something."

"Uhhh," Jason said. He couldn't figure out what to say without sounding stupid. (And he'd dyed his hair red, not pink.) He decided to just use sign language. Sorry that my priorities are off, he signed, earning an amused grin from Leo.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just go get food," he said, tapping his leg.

Jason shrugged. Fine.

***

Leo attempted to build up the courage to confront Jason about why he'd slammed the door on him, but he was even more confused about why Jason had looked so shaken. It could've been a bad dream, or a memory, or...

"Leo."

Leo looked up from his little invention that he'd been disassembling and rebuilding over and over again. "Yeah?"

"Okay, you're alive." Raine closed the door.

Leo still couldn't get over the fact that she was 6'2. How did she survive without hitting her head against doorframes? And who decided they were called doorframes? And why was it called a door?

Leo smacked the side of his head. He looked at the thing he'd made. It just looked like a mess of metal and gears with a handle. In other words, it looked like shit.

●

The day went by quickly. Jason had been interrogated by the demon known as Silk Erdmann about how he and Leo knew each other. Raines girlfriend had visited. And Jason had burned himself while making mac n cheese.

Leo stared at his room. It felt weird to be in a different world where the sky was orange and there were three moons.

A knock on his door startled him.

Leo opened it, and Jason was waiting with... wait, was that Nico?

"Hey Leo." Jason nudged Nico.

"Hi." Nico did not seem to appreciate Jason doing that, and pushed him away.

"Sooo, uhhh..." Leo really had no idea what to do. "Come in I guess?"

Jason practically dragged Nico in. "Nico needs better people skills," he said.

"No."

"Oh shut up."

Leo snickered. "So, what's up?"

"Nothing much." Nico picked at his nails.

Jason smirked. "Guess what I got," he said in a sing-song voice.

"Oh for fucks sake Jason, stop talking like that."

"What do you have?" Leo tilted his head and pulled on a strand of his hair.

Jason reached into his backpack and pulled out a bottle of liquor. He grinned mischievously.

"Oh my gods. Jason, why do you have that?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"No questions!" Jason looked impossibly close to laughter.

"Something tells me that one of us is gonna get drunk and pass out." Leo drew a circle on the floor with his finger. "Spoiler alert, it's not me or Nico."

Jason laughed. "Oh please. I'm better than that."

"Do you two want to be left alone? Because I can leave if you want."

"Nico, shut up." Jason playfully pushed Nicos shoulder.

"Not until you tell Leo."

"Tell me what?"

"It's nothing." Jason smiled, but there was something off about it. Almost like he was anxious about something.

●

It turned out that Leo was right about Jason getting drunk and passing out.

Leo found a pack of UNO cards under his bed. "How 'bout we play UNO?"

"What the heck is that?" Jason and Nico asked in unison.

"Nico has an excuse to not know what it is, but how have you never heard of it?"

Jasons face reddened. "The wolves weren't exactly sitting down and playing cards."

Leo explained the rules to him and Nico, holding back laughter as Jason asked more and more questions. "Can you explain that again?" "What the heck does that mean?" "Why do you have to say that?"

After what seemed like millennia, they finally understood what the game was about. Nico was constantly winning, with Jason jokingly insulting himself. After Nico won for the fifth time in a row, Jason started laughing until his face was red and he was lying down and covering his face.

"There is no way you're already drunk." Leo tilted his head at Jason.

In one quick move, Nico snatched up the bottle, only to discover that it was emptier than it should have been. "Jason. Did you seriously just drink over half of this shit?"

Jason grinned sheepishly. "Maybe?"

"Oh my fucking gods." Nico shook his head in exasperation.

"I have a problem." Jason said "problem" like how Wall-E said anything. He started giggling. Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, former praetor of Rome. Giggling. Leo hadn't heard of anything so strange.

Jason sat up and leaned against Leo. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. He tried to calm his breathing. He's drunk. It probably doesn't mean anything.

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Something tells me he likes you."

Jason made a weird sound in the back of his throat. "Noooo I don't," he said.

"Dude, you're drooling."

"No I'm not," Jason said, clearly drooling. He nestled his head in the crook of Leos neck.

"Should I leave?" Nico had a glint of amusement in his eyes.

"If you want, I guess." Leo ran his fingers through Jasons hair.

Nico smiled, then winced as if smiling caused him physical pain. For all Leo knew, it probably did. "I'll leave you two be." Nico stood up, and left the room.

Afterwards, there was a moment where Leo wanted to kiss Jason on the forehead, but he wouldn't appreciate that. Suddenly, Jason spoke.

"Mmmmmmmmmleo."

Leo looked at Jason. "Yeah?"

"Leo." Jason said Leos name like it was the most important thing in the world.

"What is it?"

Jason waited for a few moments. "I love you."

"W-what did you say?" Leo felt slightly panicked.

"I love you, Valdez." Leo could tell that Jason was smiling.

"I..." All this time, Jason had liked him? Then again, it could've just been him saying things randomly. "Jason?"

Jason did not respond.

"Dude."

Still no response.

Leo rolled his eyes, moved, so Jason was lying on the floor, and looked at the blueprint he'd sketched out a week prior. He turned on the lamp on his desk, bathing the room in a dim orange light. As he was about to sit down, he heard Jason mutter something about cats in his sleep. Leo decided to give him a blanket.

He stared at the notes he'd jotted down. Leo had been in a rush when making it, so his handwriting was messy. The blueprint was a smaller version of Festus, but without all the pointy and dangerous bits, so Harley would be able to play with something other than the tools scattered around the Hephaestus cabin. Maybe I can use this in a different way... Leo had a feeling that the brightly coloured dragon in the yard would want a friend.

"Hey Jason?" Leo said it loud enough to wake Jason up.

Jason groaned. "Whaaaaat." His tone made it sound like Leos voice had interrupted a nice dream.

"What's the dragons name?"

Jason grumbled something about Leo being annoying. "Her name's Mochi." He passed out again. Leo rolled his eyes.

He carefully dragged Jason into the bed. The floor wasn't very comfortable, and Jason would probably wake up with a neck cramp and a hangover if he stayed on the floor.

Leo then realized how weird that sounded. "Shit. Percy's a horrible influence." He brushed the thought aside and started working on the dragon.

As he worked, his eyelids felt like lead. Leo had to force them open so he wouldn't fall asleep. Eventually, that failed, as when he was done with the mini dragons skeleton, he barely managed to move it out of the way before he passed out.

***

The first thing Jason was aware of was his splitting headache. The next thing was that he didn't remember falling asleep in a bed. He sat up, feeling slightly dizzy. He hadn't had any nightmares, which made him uneasy. It was like the calm before a storm.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead." Leo was leaning against the doorframe, an amused grin on his face.

Jason stared at him. He suddenly realized that he was in Leos room. Meaning he was in Leos bed. "Did you-?" He couldn't finish the thought.

Leos expression went from grinning to amused surprise. "The floor isn't really the best place to fall asleep." His warm brown skin, chocolate brown eyes, and elfish features made Jason feel like fireworks were going off in his chest.

"Ummm..." Jason hoped his face wasn't red.

"Are you okay? You look like you're about to pass out."

Jason got up quickly, only to stumble. He blinked the spots out of his eyes. "I'm fine."

Leo snickered. "Yeah, okay Sparky."

"I haven't heard that in a while." Jason suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline. "Did I say anything weird last night?"

Leo looked away. "No, you just sounded crazy."

"Leo."

"Shut it."

"Repair boy."

"Fuck yourself."

Jason had the urge to say "only if you watch," but he refrained from saying it.

"Cat got your tongue?" Leo asked smugly.

"Ha! In your dreams!"

●

Raine needed time to scheme, so Leo, Nico, and Jason got the house to themselves. For some reason, Nico decided that he was just going to pace around and periodically look out the window, as if he was nervous about something.

"Dude, why are you acting so weird?" Leo pulled a wrench out of his tool belt and started to spin it like a pencil.

Nico looked at Leo like he'd just set off a bomb. "It's nothing."

Jason tried to tune them out. It wasn't like he didn't want to hear them talk, it was just that he had a headache, and everything seemed louder than normal. He grabbed a pair of headphones off the coffee table.

Of course, trying to tune everything out was a mistake.

After a few moments, Jason heard a crash. He jumped up, tossed the headphones onto the couch, and rushed to where the noise came from.

When he got there, Leo had a look of shock on his face.

"What-?" Jason then looked at Nico.

Nico seemed to have been hit by a vase. The right side of his face was bleeding. There were ceramic shards scattered across the floor. He sat up, clearly dazed.

"Oh gods!" Jason grabbed Nico by the shoulders. "Are you okay?" Dumb question, but he wasn't really thinking.

"Yes?" Blood dripped from Nicos mouth.

"No you aren't. Leo, make sure he doesn't die."

"O- Okay," Leo stammered.

Jason rushed to his room. When he'd come back to life, he'd been messed up so badly that it made it possible for him to use technology without attracting monsters. Of course, it also messed up his ability to fly. He grabbed his phone and called Raine.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up." Jason felt a surge of adrenaline and a lump forming in his throat as he looked at the phone.

After what felt like hours, Raine picked up. "What's going on?"

"A vase fell on Nicos head and I don't know what to do," Jason said, his heart pounding.

"Did it break?"

"Yeah."

Raine cursed in Terrian. Jason was pretty sure she'd just cursed her mothers name. "I'll be there in a second." She hung up.

Jason quickly put down the phone, and ran downstairs. Nico was sitting down, holding a wet paper towel on his face. Leo was pacing around, clearly confused on what to do.

"I called Raine. She'll be-." Before Jason could even finish his sentence, Raine just appeared without any warning.

"Jason, clean up the mess that the vase left. Leo, you help him. Nico, I might have to knock you out."

Nico shrugged. "I've done that to myself before."

"I'm not even gonna ask."

Jason grabbed a broom and paper towels. "Leo, come on." Jason grabbed Leos hand and dragged him over to where the vase hit Nico.

***

After that mess, Raine left the house after making sure Nico would be okay. That left Jason and Leo alone.

Jason was clearly upset by what happened. He was fidgeting, and picking at his gloves. Leo didn't blame him. He was also shaken from what happened. But there was still one thing he couldn't understand. When the vase had hit Nico, it looked like someone had thrown it.

"Did- did you see exactly what happened?" Jason resorted to tapping his leg.

"No, I didn't." Leo glanced at Jason, attempting to avoid staring at his lips.

"Alright," Jason said, his voice shaky. Then, the unthinkable happened. Tears filled his eyes, streaming down his face. He buried his face in his hands, sobbing.

Leo flinched at that. He couldn't remember ever seeing Jason cry. Sure, he occasionally got teary-eyed, but those moments never lasted long enough for anyone who wasn't studying his face closely enough. And Leo had experience with staring at Jasons face.

"I should've been paying attention!" Jason sounded like a dying cat. He started yelling some things in a language Leo didn't recognize. He assumed that the other boy was cursing.

"Jason." Leo waited for Jason to calm down.

He just kept sobbing.

"Jason." Leo put a hand on his shoulder. "What's been bothering you?"

Jason looked at Leo. "What- what do you mean?" he asked through tears.

"When I found out you'd come back, you sounded like you were trying to calm yourself down after something. What was it?"

Jason looked around. "I- well- it's just- I had a nightmare," he stammered.

Son of a bitch. "I've both seen and heard you after nightmares, and you do not act like that. Tell me the truth."

Jason had a look of shame and embarrassment on his face. "It was about my mom." He sniffed. "But... that's not everything."

"What do you mean?"

"I... well, you'd make fun of me."

"No, I wouldn't. Tell me."

Jason took a few deep breaths. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." Leo looked Jason dead in the eyes. Jason seemed to be shaking.

"Oh my gods..." Jason looked at his feet, as if he was ashamed for what he was about to say. "Leo... how do I say this? You take up half of my thoughts. You... well, you're you. And I know you don't feel the same way, but..."

Leo knew where this was going. But he wanted to hear more of what Jason had to say.

"But I need to tell you this. I can't keep this to myself anymore." Jason took a deep breath.

"What is it?"

"I love you."

"That sucks for you," Leo blurted out.

Jason groaned. "Someone kill me." He smacked his forehead.

Leo felt like screaming, crying, laughing, and or smacking Jason in the face all at the same time. He had a feeling he needed time to himself so he could set himself on fire without burning the house down.

"Leo?" Jason didn't look at him. "You okay?"

Leo bit the inside of his cheek. "Yeah. I- well- I like you too." His nose caught on fire, and he quickly patted the flames out. "But, I feel like it's a little too soon to actually start dating. I literally just broke up with Calypso."

"Oh." There was a hint of jealousy in his voice. Jason had always seemed a little weird when Leo talked about Calypso, but he'd dismissed it as him wondering why his relationship with Piper didn't work out the way Leo and Calypsos had.

Mochi suddenly poked her head through an open window. She snorted, looking at Jason.

Jason sighed as he got up. He walked towards Mochi, and set his hand on her snout. "Hey, Mochi." He scratched her chin, and she purred like a cat.

Mochi snatched Jason up by his hood. She tossed him outside, and shut the window with her tail.

***

Jason face planted on the grass when Mochi tossed him outside. He sat up, brushing a few leaves out of his hair. He heard the window snap shut, and Mochi nuzzled his head with her snout.

"Hey, Mochi." Jason mustered a smile.

Mochi smacked him in the face with her right wing.

Jason flinched away, and snickered. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry! I won't leave you alone for that long again!" A puff of smoke escaped Mochis nostrils. She snorted, a proud expression on her face.

Jasons smiled faded. He scratched Mochi under her chin. It felt like there was soap in his eyes. He blinked more tears away, holding back a sob. Nico could have been okay if Jason had been there. He wanted to melt away into a lonely puddle, remembering the gash the vase left on Nicos face. Best case scenario, he'd be blind in his right eye permanently.

Mochi sniffed at Jasons face, and curled up beside him. What's wrong? she seemed to be asking.

Jason forced a laugh, and buried his face in his hands. He groaned, and wished he could go back to when he'd been disguising himself. "Myst" seemed less like Jason and more like another life. Hell, it kind of was.

Mochis head suddenly snapped up. She snarled, smoke curling from her nostrils.

"Is something wrong?" Jason stood up, scanning the area. He didn't see anything other than trees and glowing blue soul flowers.

He then heard a sound like a twig snapping. Jason slowly drew a dagger from his belt, careful to not drop it.

He silently approached the woods, gesturing for Mochi to stay put. Jason paused as he heard bushes rustling. He turned in the direction the noise was coming from, and gripped his dagger tightly. He dashed into the forest, hoping he wouldn't get lost again.

●

Jason hopped over a log and hit his ankle, cursing in Latin at the sudden pain. He paused to look around, listening for any sudden noises. All he could hear were crickets chirping and the sound of those strange creatures he'd found on his first day in Terria.

#valgrace #jason grace #leo valdez #valgrace fanfic #fanfic #what's a fanfic if you don't torture people?#jason grace x leo valdez #RUIN THEIR LIVES >:D #gay lil demigods <33 #i think i have a pacing issue but honestly i don't care at the moment #i def will in the future but i just dont fucking care rn #I SWEAR SILK ISNT GONNA BE JEALOUS THE WHOLE FIC #HE GETS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT #current wip

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yonemurishiroku · 11 months

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I have read so many Solangelo Jasico Percico fanfics but barely any of them matches the sweetness of Travis freaking Stoll kissing Nico’s hand and calling him the sweetest princess in the kingdom

in that one one-sided Valgrace fanfic wth.

#for the record travis doesn’t even like nico romantically in that fic. he’s just being his flirty self 😭😭😭#i love hermes’ children so much #pjo #hoo #nico di angelo #yone rambling #toa #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #fanfic talk again bc what’s new anw?#percico #jasico #solangelo #travis stoll #valgrace

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flowgeeksout · 8 months

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Ever read a fanfic in a public place idk say like your maybe new psychiatrist because your last one died a day before your appointment with you and it is the only thing keeping you sane is fanfiction.

#asking for a friend #fanfic #jegulus #maraduers #harry potter #rosekiller #pipabeth #valgrace #hedric #spideypool #spideytorch #parkner #parley

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jasongracesluvr · 23 days

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Good morning valgrace nation… would you like some food?

EAT (comment and kudos pls :3)

#jason grace #leo valdez #valgrace #valgrace is real #heroes of olympus #valgrace truther #valgrace angst #valgrace fanfic #valgrace nation #valgrace my beloved #percy jackson #percy jackson and the olympians #hoo pjo #pjo hoo #pjo fandom #jason hoo #hoo leo #riordanverse

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verlierer-is-lost · 2 months

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Now that my Valgrace fanfic is done, here’s the link:

#valgrace #leo valdez #jason grace #valgrace fanfic #hero of olympus #heroes of olympus #heros of olympus #hoo fandom #hoo fanfic #hoo leo #hoo jason #leo x jason #jason x leo #heroes of olympus fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 #rick riordan #the lost hero

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sentient-stove · 6 months

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“Wait, him?”

Who else did the other think Frank was talking about? Hazel only had one brother.

“Yep.”

Leo tore out the paper he was sketching on, crumpling it into a ball before throwing it at the trash can at the edge of the bleachers. It made it in and only then did the upperclassman look at Frank, mouth screwed into a frown. “He’s a mall goth.”

“Okay so?”

“I’m straight.”

“Half the school literally watched you make out with the captain of the swim team and the captain of the track team for homecoming game last year.” Frank countered. “You’re a bisexual bitch.”

“Woah big guy, no need to insult me.” Leo held up his hands in surrender. “One—”

“Technically two,”

“Technically two make out sessions in front of peers does not a bisexual bitch make. Plus Percy was definitely high when we made out and his girlfriend is the better kisser.”

Frank actually did not want to know that information. “I’ll pay you twenty dollars per date.”

“Babygirl that won’t even cover gas prices. Say I take mr emo to a movie. That’s thirty bucks for two tickets, additional ten for a large popcorn and you know we’re gonna want to split a slushie since the cinemax has the cola flavor the gas stations don’t. That’s another eight bucks. Nah, I want seventy-five per date.”

“No way.” Frank automatically responded. “That’s way too much per date.”

“Enjoy not being able to kiss your girlfriend while I collect all the sports captains then.”

#leo valdez #fanfic #heroes of olympus #hoo #percy jackson #pjo #nico di angelo #valdangelo #seaspark #just the smallest hint Lmaooo #blink and you'll miss it #valgrace #frank zhang #ten things i hate about you au #wip hell #honestly probably won’t write much more than this one section for this au

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jakejeffreyperalta · 1 year

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me deciding what dynamic i will have the same two characters indulge in every single night when im choosing a fanfic to read

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thebigqueer · 3 months

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"Crooked Glasses" - Valgrace - One-Shot

Summary: leo & jason confess their feelings for each other in an arcane-themed alternate universe. Word Count: 5620 TW: blood, violence, gore (sort of). Read on AO3

Jason knows it’s probably a bad idea to be playing with Leo’s newest stink bomb. He has no idea how it works, and it’s possible he might just trigger it, but he doesn’t really care. He needs a distraction.

They’re in the training room, for whatever reason. Leo didn’t really give Jason much explanation other than, “I’m bored. Come with me.” And Jason, being Jason, didn’t think twice about following. It’s a natural instinct at this point — Leo tells him to do something, and he’s already on his knees, ready to do whatever it is Leo tells him. It should embarrass him, but he’s too desperate for any moment alone with him to care.

Leo’s on the other side of the room, in the corner with the punching bag and a few other various machines. Jason can hear him clanging around, probably trying to be interested in doing something, but Jason hopes he gives up. They only just came back from their latest haul an hour ago, and he has no energy to do anything but sit here and play with Leo’s bomb.

So he’s not surprised when, eventually, Leo calls, “Jason!”

Jason suppresses a groan, fixes his glasses, and looks up. “What?”

“Fight with me.” Leo gestures to the machine next to him, which has painted faces and bright lights whirring now that Leo’s turned it on. Instead of waiting for an answer from Jason, he immediately starts putting on boxing gloves from a box on the floor.

“Leo, I’m tired.” Jason shakes the bomb in his hand. “How do you turn this on?”

“You’re just afraid you’re gonna lose,” Leo jeers, throwing over a grin. As he starts tightening on his next glove, he stalks over. “What could you possibly be tired from?”

“Being around you all day.”

“If it weren't for me, you’d have no excitement in your life, Sparky.” Leo slides down next to Jason, nudging him with his shoulder playfully, and Jason’s heart pounds at the touch. He buries his gaze back into the stink bomb, if only to try to hide the blush raging across his face right now.

At this point, he’s decided there’s no use denying his crush on Leo. It’s been there since they were fourteen, maybe even before, and he’s learned to live with the ache in his chest at every sight of him and the ringing in his stomach every time he said something flirtatious. After all, if he can’t get rid of it, he might as well accept it as a part of him.

For a good portion of his crush, he was sure that Leo had no idea. He was convinced that in all his time staring longingly at him from across the room, he’d never notice. But it’s not like he entirely hated that, though — he liked where they were in their friendship, and he didn’t see a point in ruining something that mattered so much to him. Besides, he never was good with crushes.

For example, when they were twelve, he had a small thing for Piper. But that got shut down real quick when, during one of their sleepovers, Piper crawled over to him and, staring at him with her big eyes, asked him if Thalia liked girls. That was when Jason realized she might not like him back.

There was also Luke when he was thirteen. Jason, Leo, and Percy worked with the pawn shop owner in the Lanes, where they met him. Jason was pretty sure he wasn’t the only person totally gutted for him, based on the way Leo and Percy would blush around him, too. It’s not like any of them actually had a chance, because Luke was already nineteen and had a girlfriend, but that didn’t stop the boys from dreaming about him. It was all fun and games, trying to battle each other for even a glimpse of a smile or the smallest laugh — until Luke got arrested for a disruption on Topside. So maybe it was better that he never got the chance to confess.

There was also Percy when they were fourteen, but that was smaller than most of his crushes. If anything, Percy was just a distraction from Jason’s raging feelings for Leo. There was that one night, when the four of them — Jason, Piper, Leo, and Percy — were in the training room, with a bottle of beer that Percy had stolen from his step-dad. Jason and Percy were alone, sitting and watching Piper and Leo drunkenly try to spar each other, when Percy leaned his head against Jason’s shoulder and joked about how stupid Leo looked. Jason doesn’t know what did him in — maybe it was something in the drinks, or maybe it was something in the way Percy’s eyes looked like buttons of the glimmering sea trapped in his eyes. Whatever it was, he couldn’t take back what he did next — he kissed him.

At the time, Percy kissed back. But the next morning Percy told him he had a crush on Annabeth, and that was when Jason started wondering why he was cursed with liking people.

But now, at sixteen, Jason doesn’t feel so nervous with Leo. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s more comfortable with rejection. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s more mature now.

Or maybe it’s the fact that he’s pretty sure Leo might like him back.

Leo has always been flirty. When he casually smirks at Jason and tells him how handsome he looks; when he bites his lip suggestively and tells Jason that no, he doesn’t mind if he changes his shirt in front of him; when Jason asks what’s for dinner and Leo responds, “Not sure, but I know you’re the desert,” Jason doesn’t make much of it. Sure, an occasional blush and an attempt at jokingly flirting back, but Jason knows he doesn’t mean it. Besides, he isn’t special. If Jason had to count the amount of people Leo had made out with just in the past year, it might take both his hands.

But lately it’s been different. There’s a softness in Leo’s eyes when he catches sight of Jason, a more soulful smirk when he offers that they sleep in the same bed, a hopefulness when he asks Jason if he wants to come with him on his next haul.

It’s possible that it’s really just all in Jason’s head. But he doesn’t think he’s imagining the way Leo’s leaning against him now, his bare shoulder brushing against Jason’s own. He doesn’t think he’s imagining the way Leo’s ankle is locked into his. He doesn’t think he’s imagining how close Leo’s lips are, so close that if Jason bowed his head even a bit, he might just be kissing him.

Jason looks away, if only to distract himself from how pretty Leo’s eyes look. He starts shaking the bomb in his hands again. “How do you work this thing?”

Leo rolls his eyes and pushes Jason’s glasses down the bridge of his nose, and he laughs. “Stop playing with it!” Leo demands. “Unless you want to smell bad. Then by all means, do it.”

“Fine.” Jason holds it out for Leo to take back, but Leo only raises his eyebrows and holds out his box-gloved hands. Jason snorts and fixes his glasses. “I’m not going to spar with you, Leo. My neck still hurts from last night.”

“Aw, does he have an owie?” Leo throws off one of his gloves and presses his hand to the side of Jason’s neck, pouting. “Does he need a widdle bandage?”

“That’s weird,” Jason says, but he’s laughing. “Don’t talk like that.”

Leo switches back to his normal voice, but his words bubble as he brushes a finger against Jason’s cheek and says, “You look so cute when you blush, though.”

Jason hesitates before responding. This is one of those moments, again — he knows Leo’s just trying to get a rise out of him. But this time, Jason decides maybe it’s time to start playing his game. He turns to meet Leo’s eyes and, tilting his head, he says, “Then all you have to do is just keep sitting next to me.”

A wave of pride surges through Jason’s chest as Leo’s eyes widen. He wishes he could just frame the blush on Leo’s cheeks and pin it to the wall. He’s quiet for a moment — which Jason considers a pretty epic feat considering Leo never shuts up — but the warm blazing in his eyes and the flushed smile against his lips send Jason’s skin aflame, prickling with anticipation.

Jason sighs, then leans his head back so it rests against the wall. “I feel like we need to talk.”

Leo leans his head back, too, so that he’s following Jasons’ gaze. “About what?”

“I think you know.”

“Jason, just because we’re best friends doesn’t mean I can just read your mind.” Leo taps his head. “Sometimes even the most intelligent people need things spelled out for them.”

Jason lets a beat of silence pass between them. There’s an eagerness in Leo’s eyes, a sort of excitement that has Jason’s own heart thumping. He takes a deep breath, and then, with all the courage he can force out of himself, he murmurs, “Just friends?”

Now Leo’s eyebrows jump in surprise, and he bites on his bottom lip to suppress a grin. “I don’t know,” he says, leaning closer. “Is there something else you had in mind?”

“I think I might have had a couple.”

Leo opens his mouth to say something, and Jason steels himself for whatever response Leo has — but then his face falls and he snaps his gaze to something in the corner of the room. “Did you hear that?” Leo whispers.

Jason’s heart falls in his chest, and he sighs. So much for confrontation. “If you didn’t want to talk about it, then you—”

Leo throws a hand over Jason’s mouth and starts looking around more nervously, a frown carving itself onto his features. “No, I’m serious,” he whispers. “I feel like I heard a… shift. Like metal.”

Now Jason’s own eyebrows scrunch into a frown, and he tilts his head, trying to hone his ears on any sort of noise he can. For a moment, he hears nothing — until, there, he hears a low, frantic whispering…

And it isn’t coming from Leo.

Jason’s eyes widen, anxiety surging through his veins, and he lets out the smallest squeak. Leo takes his hand off Jason’s mouth, his frown deepening, and he leans forward, trying to listen closer. The whispering continues, and while Jason can’t decipher what’s being said, he’s pretty sure it’s coming from behind one of the machines in the far right corner.

“Do you think it’s Piper or Thalia?” Jason asks.

Leo shrugs. “I’m not sure. They’re supposed to be out at the Night Market.” He squints his eyes and cranes his neck up and down, trying to look for some sort of glimpse of the intruders, but after a minute he just shakes his head and glances at Jason. “Better to be on the safe side. Could be thieves.” He throws off his other glove, leaving both his hands now clad in their wrist wraps, and opens his hand. “Give me the bomb.”

Jason nods confidently, but it’s only a mask to hide how fast his heart is beating. Not just out of anxiety — though that is a big part of it — but rather, because of the determination in Leo’s eyes and the straight set of his mouth and the clench of his fists. The sight of him, so rigid with confidence and courage, makes Jason’s stomach ring with a nauseating yearning. There’s no time Leo looks more attractive than when he’s ready to beat someone’s ass.

Jason drops the bomb into his hand. Leo juts his head towards some of the “weapons” to the corner nearest to them, and Jason realizes he’s telling him to get something in his hands.

He tiptoes over and grabs a bat, and when Leo sees that he’s now properly equipped, he offers the barest nod. He pulls up his fingers and starts counting down: Three, two, one…

And then he launches the bomb.

It lands with a soft clang near the machine in the far corner. For a second, everything’s quiet. Jason briefly wonders if maybe the bomb is defective.

But then a low hissing starts through the bomb, which turns into full blown jets of terrible gas — and then the screaming begins. Two boys jump up from behind the machine, coughing and sputtering and stumbling as fast as they can away from the stink bomb, and Jason would grin if he weren’t so freaked out by them.

Jason raises his bat higher by reflex, and next to him he can feel Leo tensing up, throwing his fists into defensive positions. Even from this far away, his nose burns at the scent of the gas, probably made of some science-y gas that Jason has no idea how to pronounce. His glasses start fogging up, and he has to lower his bat for a second to clean them.

As the haze clears, the figures of the intruders become clearer. One is tall and bulky, with buzzed black hair; the other is lanky and skinny, with curly hair that flops with each cough. At the sight of them, Leo grits his teeth. “You guys. What the hell do you want?”

The beefier one, who Jason realizes is Sherman Yang from the building just a few blocks down, starts to step forward. He coughs a few more times, and then, in a raspy voice, he says, “Relax, Valdez. We’re not here to hurt you, so you can lower your baby hands.” Sherman points a look at Jason and smirks. “And you can lower your bat.”

Leo shakes his head at Jason. Jason only holds onto his bat tighter.

Sherman shrugs. “Suit yourselves. I—”

“Answer the question,” growls Jason. “What do you guys want? How did you even get in?”

“Come on, Grace,” the other boy — who Jason realizes is Connor Stoll — says, rolling his eyes. “You guys make breaking in too easy.” Connor raises his eyebrows at Leo. “Don’t you remember who taught you to pick locks?”

“If you wanted to come in so bad, you could have just knocked.” Leo crosses his arms, so Jason lowers his bat, only a little bit. “What could be so necessary that you had to break in?”

“We’re not here to pick a fight,” Sherman says, and his muscles loosen as he puts his hands on his hips. “We were just looking for something, but since you’ve caught us, might as well ask you.”

“What is it?”

Sherman’s eyes narrow as he steps closer. Leo’s fists rise again, determination reborn in his eyes, and Jason takes that as his cue to raise his bat. Sherman only smirks. “Word on the street is your mommy’s got her hands on some shimmer. We were looking for a fix.”

Leo’s eyes widen ever so slightly, only hinting at his shock. Other than that, though, there are no other tells — at the very least, his reaction could be taken as just a flinch of surprise.

But Jason knows better.

The only people Leo told were Jason, Piper, and Thalia, and he swore to them that they had to keep it a secret. “She didn’t actually tell me until I found a few jars of it,” Leo explained a week ago, his voice shivering as it came out. “But she said she wasn’t using it; she’s only experimenting with it, trying to see what chemical properties it has.”

“Do you believe her?” Piper asked, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Leo looked at Piper, and at the sight of his dark eyes glazing over in fear, Jason’s stomach sank with guilt. “I don’t think I can afford to not believe her.”

It’s not really that she’d had much of a history with drugs in the past, Leo explained to them. Sure, the occasional pipe, but that’s as much as Leo really knew about it. And anyway, she liked to experiment with new chemicals or discoveries at her machine shop when she could get her hands on them. So when shimmer started cropping up, and with barely much information about its effects or how it worked, naturally she was interested in experimenting with it. At least, that’s what Leo was choosing to believe.

“Did you ask her where she got it?” asked Thalia, her eyebrows furrowing.

“Yeah, but she wouldn’t tell me.” Leo took a deep breath, and then he leaned back on his hands and exhaled. “But I trust her. I’ve never had a reason not to.”

At the time, Jason felt a little frustrated. If Leo could have so much trust in his mother, why couldn’t she have the same in him? And why was she hiding the shimmer, anyway? In Jason’s experience, that was the most suspicious thing a parent could do. Why didn’t she just show Leo right away, so he was aware?

Maybe a part of that frustration also came from Jason’s jealousy. The fact that Leo had the privilege to trust his mother so much even when she was acting so suspicious… Jason could never relate. His dad left him and Thalia when they were younger, and their mother went into a life of drinking and sabotage, to the point that she died alone in a bathtub. Their parents left them to fend for themselves, so the fact that Leo’s mother was risking a bond so strong with her son over a science experiment… it just didn’t sit right.

But now, as Sherman’s eyes gleam hungrily at him and Leo, Jason understands why she was so quiet about it. The less information, the better.

“Look, man,” Leo says, stepping forward, his eyes locking onto Shermans. “I don’t know where the hell you heard that, but it’s not true. And anyway, why do you care? Do you know the kinda shit that could do to your body?”

“If it’s not true,” Sherman mutters, thudding closer to Leo, “then why did I hear it?”

“I don’t know,” Leo bites out, and even though he’s at least a head shorter than Sherman, the blazing in his eyes makes even Jason nervous. “But if you don’t step back, the only thing you’ll be hearing is the ringing in your ears when I crack your head against the wall.”

“Look,” Jason calls, and everyone’s gaze turn to him. “Even if it were true, we don’t have anything here. We don’t mess with that. So you can leave and find someone else to get your fix.”

Sherman’s eyes glaze over, and for a second, Jason allows himself to believe he’s finally bored him enough to make him want to leave. But then a revitalized energy broils in his eyes, and he throws Leo to the side and starts walking towards Jason. “That’s cool,” he says, shrugging. “We can do this the hard way, then.”

Jason starts to step back, his heart hammering in his chest. He doesn’t like the hunger in Sherman’s eyes, the cruel grin slicing across his face.

Connor, who’s been quiet up until now, lets out an exasperated sigh. “Man, come on. We can just search the place, and if there’s nothing we can just leave. They’re just kids, anyway.”

“Yeah,” Jason mutters, trying his hardest to keep his voice from breaking. “Doesn’t it look a little pathetic for someone your age to be messing with sixteen-year-olds?”

“Does it?” Sherman cracks his knuckles, and Jason can only think of it as a foreshadowing of the sound his own bones will make soon when Sherman slams him around. “That’s too bad.” Then he whips his gaze to Connor. “We asked nicely, Stoll. If beating them up doesn’t get an answer out of them, then we can leave. Not like they’ll be able to talk, anyway.”

Sherman starts to turn his gaze back towards Jason — and then lets loose a piercing howl when Jason cracks the bat against his left arm.

His face burst with red and he claws for his arm. In the time it takes for him to recover from his shock, Jason’s already back at Leo’s side with his bat raised again and a new rush of adrenaline flooding his veins. Leo offers him a hint of a smile, and all Jason can think about is how anyone would need shimmer when just the sight of him is enough to send him into a frenzy.

“Oh, you think that was funny, don’t you?” Sherman growls, turning on them again. “Don’t worry, I’m going to have a nice laugh, too.”

He charges.

But Leo’s quick on his feet. As soon as Sherman throws out a punch, Leo dodges and kicks him in the ribs. While it doesn’t make him fly away like Jason wishes it would have, he still stumbles back, and that’s as good a win as any.

Sherman straightens and scowls at Leo, then throws a look at Connor. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Don’t just stand there!”

Connor catches Jason’s eyes, and regret flashes across his face before he rushes towards him. Jason raises his bat to strike Connor, too, but this time he doesn’t have the element of surprise — as soon as he starts to bring it down, Connor gets a grip on it, stopping its momentum, and throws it to the side. Jason’s bones shiver with each clacking of the bat, and he looks at Connor in newfound fear.

“Sorry, dude,” Connor mutters, then slams Jason against the wall. His head rings with pain when it collides with the cement, and his glasses slide down the bridge of his nose, but he barely has time to process any of it before Connor throws him to the ground.

Jason groans, his head pounding and his shoulders aching. The lights above him shine too bright, and he has to squint up at Connor, who towers over him as he waits for a sign that Jason’s alive. In the distance, Leo cries out, but Jason’s powerless to stop it; he’s too busy not trying to get murdered himself. He just hopes Sherman has enough sympathy to not kill anyone tonight. It would be really sad if Leo got killed before Jason could even kiss him.

Connor bends over Jason, hands on his knees, and tilts his head. “Come on, dude. Just tell us where it is, or where to find it. We need something. Then we’ll stop.”

“I don’t know anything,” Jason spits. “And the fact you’re so desperate for it is just really embarrassing.”

Connor shakes his head in shame and sighs. He opens his mouth to speak, but whatever he wants to say, Jason beats him to it. “Why do you let him bully you like that?” he demands. He’s really just stalling, trying to gather his strength and think of a plan.

“He’s not bullying me,” Connor scoffs. “We’ve been best friends forever.”

“If he’s not bullying then how come you just do whatever it is he says?” Jason tries to raise an eyebrow. “What happened to earning pride, Connor? Are you really making a name for yourself if you just do whatever it is he says?”

“Man, don’t talk like that.” Connor rolls his eyes. “You sound like some prissy councilor. It’s really not that deep. We’ve just been friends forever.”

“And you’ve known me and Thalia since we first came here. Doesn’t that count for something?”

“None of this is personal. This is just how Sherman is.”

“So you just let him bully you because it’s just how it is?” Jason claws himself up, trying not to hiss through the pain, and the fact that Connor doesn’t seem to acknowledge is only a good thing. “Might as well call yourself a Topsider with that attitude.”

The betrayal striking Connor’s face is all the distraction Jason needs. He pounces, his hands colliding with Connor’s shoulders as he forces him to the ground. Connor wriggles under his weight, and it takes all of Jason’s strength just to keep him down. He catches sight of the baseball bat, which is only a few feet away, but then he looks down at Connor, whose eyes echo with betrayal and frustration, and Jason considers the chances — stand up to get the bat and risk Connor escaping, or keep attacking him?

But in the time that it takes for Jason to make his decision, Connor’s gathered all his strength and shoves Jason off, this time making it his turn to pin Jason by the shoulders. A new rage flames in his eyes, and he opens his mouth to say something, but then Jason kicks Connor in the stomach, yanking any and all words out of him. He grunts and tumbles to the ground, and Jason takes his chance to scramble away and reach for the bat.

When Connor gets back up, holding his stomach, he glares at Jason. “Got your toy? Good. It’s only a fair game.”

Then he charges towards him, arms outreached, his face bubbling with rage. At the last second, just as Connor is about to grab for Jason’s neck, Jason jerks out of the way and extends his leg to trip Connor. He slams face-first into the ground, a sickening crunch following after him, and when he turns onto his back, Jason sees that his nose is a little crooked, blood leaking from his nostril. Guilt starts trickling through Jason’s veins at the sight, but he pretends not to notice it as he leans over Connor and presses the bat against his shoulders. As Connor’s eyes widen, Jason starts dragging the bat so that it digs into his throat. Jason wishes he could say he’s proud to finally have bested him, but Connor’s gasping and blubbering only make Jason’s heart pulse with regret.

“Do you really want to see how the rest of this goes?” Jason asks. He means it to come out as a growl, but it only sputters out of him, like a dying machine trying to exhale its last breaths. “Worst case scenario, you could be lying dead on my ground. Up to you.”

Connor glares at him, and Jason’s about to say something again when, behind him, Leo calls, “Jason!”

Just like that, all of Jason’s attention is violently twisted away. He whips his head at the sound of Leo’s voice, and it takes a moment for his eyes to make sense of the scene before him — Leo stands with a foot over Sherman’s lumpy, unconscious body on the ground, panting and running a hand through his sweat-lined curls. There’s a bit of blood spattered on his face and knuckles, and some dripping off a cut at his temple, but for some reason, the only word that comes to Jason’s mind is godly.

“It’s cool,” Leo pants, nodding towards Connor. “Let him go. I think we’ve reached an agreement.”

Sherman just groans underneath Leo’s foot.

Jason wishes he could have gotten to see Leo beat the Sherman Yang. Not that he’s surprised — testing Leo is the dumbest decision anyone could ever make — but he would’ve loved to proudly announce that he saw every detail of Leo beating his ass.

Jason offers a slight nod, then bares his teeth at Connor. “Consider yourself lucky.”

Then he punches Connor across the jaw and releases his hold on him. Connor rolls over and spits out blood and a tooth on the floor, and Jason briefly wonders how they’re gonna clean all this when they leave.

“Come pick up your friend,” jeers Leo.

Connor struggles to his feet and narrows his eyes at him. He crawls his way to Sherman and, after several minutes of tripping, groaning, and bickering, he gets the two of them onto their feet. Sherman leans against him, one of his legs crookedly bent underneath him and an arm around Connor’s shoulders to keep balance. Now that he’s upright, Jason has a better view of Sherman’s face, and he’s just glad he’s not him right now. His teeth are stained with blood, and a gash on his forehead makes Jason want to rub his own head in sympathy, not to mention the swelling in his cheekbones.

Connor and Sherman limp towards the staircase, but not without a whole lot of threatening on Sherman’s end. “I'll get you for this, Valdez!” he exclaims through his bloodied lip, and Jason has to move out of the way to avoid any of the blood splattering onto him. “Just you fucking wait.”

Jason and Leo watch as Connor tries to drag Sherman up, and it takes another several moments before the thudding on the stairs stops. Jason swears he hears something shatter upstairs, but he figures that’s a problem for later.

Finally, after what feels like ages, a door slams upstairs, and Leo exhales. Jason’s attention turns back to him, and with a start, he notices the exhaustion weighing on Leo’s eyes. Leo runs a hand gingerly against the right side of his ribs, and his breath hitches as he runs over a spot at the center. His right eye is swollen, and next to the blood splattered over his cheek (which Jason is pretty sure is Sherman’s) a bruise starts to form. Another trail of blood leaks from the cut at his temple.

Jason’s chest rings with guilt for him. He fixes his glasses on his nose — which have, by some miracle, not shattered — and walks over. He lays a hand gently on his bicep, and at the touch, Leo looks up, pain sizzling in his eyes. “You alright?” Jason murmurs.

Leo takes a deep breath. “Yeah, I will be.” He does his best to straighten himself and smirks. The pain in his eyes gives way to glimmering adrenaline, and Jason can only hope that he doesn’t hear the way his heart is beating at the very sight. “That was eventful.”

“Yeah.” Jason huffs out a laugh. “I can’t believe you beat up Sherman. He’s literally so much taller than you. And stronger.”

“Are you surprised?”

“No.” Jason smiles. “I think I’ve gotten used to you impressing me.”

“Don’t say that.” Now Leo steps closer, his eyes simmering with electricity, and some of that energy must transfer into Jason because he swears he can feel his blood singing. “It’ll make it harder for me to impress you.”

He locks eyes with Jason. And then, after a beat of silence, he rests his hand on his chest.

Underneath the weight of his palm, Jason’s heart ticks like a bomb; if Leo moves his hand even a little bit, he might just explode. Despite all the pain in Jason’s body — the overwhelming ringing in his head, the throbbing pain in his shoulders, the pulsing in his back — all he can feel is the warmth of Leo’s hand over his T-shirt.

Jason’s gaze is glued to the hand on his chest, and he has to force himself to look back at Leo again, but that only makes matters worse. Leo’s eyes, so big and brown and brilliant, like stars captured in dense amber, swallow him whole. Even with all the scars and bruises and blood mapped onto his face, Jason decides that he’s never looked so mesmerizing.

“You have something on your here,” Jason whispers. He raises his hand and brushes his thumb against Leo’s cheek, wiping away most of the blood. Even though he gets most of it off, it still smears across his skin.

Leo smiles, but doesn’t move his eyes away from Jason’s. “We should frame it,” he murmurs. “‘Sherman Yang’s blood.’”

“Yeah,” Jason breathes.

Leo squints at him, then reaches for Jason’s glasses and fidgets with them. “They’re crooked.”

Jason smiles. “No, they weren’t.”

“No.” Leo returns the smile. “They weren’t.”

And then he kisses Jason.

Jason’s brain sizzles into static. All he can hear is the ringing in his head and his heartbeat echoing in his ears, and he’s certain that he has a concussion, because his senses are completely overloaded. He swears he can taste sound.

But he comes to senses quick enough. He closes his eyes and lays his hands on Leo’s waist. Leo wraps his arms around Jason’s neck as he tugs him closer, and he smiles against his lips. Jason loves the way he has to get on his tip-toes just to kiss him properly. He loves having to hold him just to make sure he doesn’t trip. He loves kissing Leo, period.

It’s better than he could have ever imagined. He might just have to thank Sherman for this.

But just as Jason’s getting used to this, Leo pulls away, and it takes all of Jason’s power to not just pull him right back in.

“Is there anything you want to tell me, Jason?” Leo asks coyly, brushing his hand against Jason’s neck.

Jason smiles, then takes Leo’s hand and rubs his thumb — the one not covered with blood — over his knuckles. He runs over all the calluses and cuts and scars raised above his skin, and he has to fight the urge to kiss all of it. “I do, actually,” he murmurs, chewing on his bottom lip. “I think I like you. And I think you like me, too.”

“‘Like’ is a strong word,” Leo says, squinting in feigned contemplation. “I would say ‘tolerate,’ maybe.” Then he tilts his head. “But if you keep kissing me like that, I might reconsider.”

Jason kisses him again. “What about now?”

“Well, scientifically-speaking, you can’t have a theory without—”

Jason kisses him again, if only to make him shut up.

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