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Nico is beautiful in his softer moments, there is no doubt about that. When the edges of Nico’s lips are turned upwards just a fraction, Jason can feel his heart melt. The sound of Nico’s giggle never fails to make him blush, and his doe eyes, big and brown, and plush lips make Jason want to pull him into a kiss and never let him go. Soft voices, gentle touches, brief and light, spending the morning after a sleepover bathed in spilled sunshine: Jason enjoys those moments with his friend. He really, really does. But that’s not when Jason realized he loved Nico di Angelo.
His affection for him began to build during their time together on the Argo II, after the… incident with Cupid. When he was forced to interact with the rest of the crew, Nico would always seem to find a way to situate himself between Jason and Hazel, even though the two themselves rarely spent much time together. He didn’t say or do much, but he made himself known. It set the seed of friendship to grow between the two of them, culminating in that moment with the goblet.
Nico drank from the chalice, then offered it to Jason. "You asked me about trust, and taking a risk? Well, here you go, son of Jupiter. How much do you trust me?"
Jason said nothing but did not hesitate. He took the cup and drank.
Time passed, and the war was finished. The Seven, Nico, and Reyna had all found peace and resolution, though not without strife first. Annabeth and Percy moved to New Rome, Leo died and came back to life with a new goddess girlfriend, with whom he moved to the mortal world with, and Jason and Piper’s relationship crumbled. It had been held together by wartime need and Hera’s misdeeds; outside of that, the two found it hard to function as romantic partners. Piper eventually moved off too, following Annabeth and Percy. That left Nico and Jason, who had promised to work on the new godly statues, at Camp Half-Blood.
As two children of the Big Three and twice-over war heroes, naturally, when it came to quests and tasks, things Chiron deemed too insignificant to warrant an entire prophecy for, they were selected. It gave them a lot of time to get to know each other. Awkward silences bled into the tellings of funny tales and personal stories. Jason learned what little Nico remembered of Italy and the Lotus Hotel, and Nico became the first person Jason came to whenever he was able to recall something new from his past, before the Wilderness School. That’s not to say that their time outside of the camp did not come without its battles, because that, as either of the two boys would tell you, is not true. In fact, it was during one of those fights that Jason came to the realization that he was in love with Nico di Angelo.
It happened two springs after the Second Giant War. They were bound to win because together they never lost in combat. However, the torrent of vicious birds came in waves. Jason recalled a myth or lesson about monsters like these guarding Are’s temple and made a mental note to sacrifice more food to the god as soon as possible because these monsters were surprisingly aggressive despite their small, raven-like size. Their black metal gleamed in the sunlit, open field and their feathers shot off them like knives, aiming to pierce the demigods’ skin. Thankfully, there were no civilians in this rural setting to upset, so all they needed to worry about were each other, the flowers scattered across the green, dewy grass, and, of course, the ravenous monster bird-warriors attempting to spear them with sharp metal.
Jason’s gladius sliced through the damp air, smacking and cutting through the creatures. He ducked and jumped and spun, trying to avoid the birds or gain better position against them. Heads, wings, and feathered-off tails flew every which way around them, toppling onto the natural ground, but, still, the monsters continued to rain down. Eventually, once the blanket of birds began to thin, providing gaps within their ranks, Jason was able to catch sight of Nico once more.
Jason swore his heart skipped a beat and all the momentum within him froze. Nico looked almost crazed with the fury of the battle. His smile was wicked and mischievous, like the devil himself, taking delight in the fight. His long hair fell into his face, falling out of his loose ponytail, and covered his barely-sane eyes, now more black than brown. Not to say that the boy was careless, for he was laser-focused. His face held a playful expression, but his body moved like that of a dancer. If you removed his Stygian Iron sword, as dark and soul-sucking as hell itself, and the jabbing movements of his arm, he could truly pass for a ballerina. As ridiculous as it sounds, every time Nico moved it held grace. His side steps translated to slow leaps and the turn of his body, hunting for the enemy, into a pirouette. When he leaned away from the monsters, he showed off all the stunning shapes of his body, how the curve of his spine contrasted against his sharp bone structure. He was a warrior. Just like Jason was raised to be since the age of two, but he fought with his own style. His own technique.
“Oh, my gods,” Jason breathed, feeling drowned and drunk with emotion, right before getting knifed in the arm by a metal feather. “OH, MY GODS!” He repeated, slightly louder and higher.
“Jason?” Nico turned to look towards his friend. His face sunk once he saw Jason’s wound. With a reinvigorated fury, he and Jason, who was now relying heavily on his healthy arm, managed to kill every last monster. When the last one fell, giving a dying, mechanical wheeze, Nico ran over to Jason, guiding him to the ground with a gentle touch. He tore through the bag slung over Jason, hands gliding against his back, before pulling out a small ziplock full of ambrosia. He took a chunk of it off and handed it to Jason. “How’s that feeling?”
“Not too bad, don’t worry about- Ow!” Jason interrupted himself when Nico pulled the feather out of his bicep.
“Stop complaining and eat that,” Nico said, pointing to the godly food. Jason did as told. Afterward, they fell quiet. For a moment, they caught their breath. Eventually, though, something else tinged the air between them. “Jason,” Nico asked, voice softer than usual. “Is everything alright?”
I’m in love with you. “Yeah, I’m cool. Why?” I think I loved you ever since you asked me if I trusted you.
“Nothing, just… The energy seemed off?” Nico’s voice lilted at the end. He shook his head, bangs rocking with small laughter. “Gods, I sound crazy.”
“You don’t sound crazy,” Jason reassured him, fiddling with his glasses to deal with his nerves. “But, really, everything is fine.”
And so, they continued on with their quest. The whole thing did seem kinda off after that, just as Nico had said, despite Jason’s efforts. It was just difficult for him, realizing he had such feelings for his closest friend and then immediately having to fall back into pretending like he had no such revelation.
Things got better after they got back to Camp Half-Blood. However, another problem soon emerged. See, with Jason and Nico essentially being each other’s sole companions and company at the camp, they tended to spend a lot of time together. So that meant, in regards to training, the two boys often sparred together. Not that Jason didn’t enjoy those sessions with Nico, it was nice working with somebody he could use all of his strength and powers against, but… but…
Jason got really fucking hard whenever they fought now, and it was becoming an issue.
On Zeus’s name, he tried everything to prevent it. He had conjured every possible grotesque image or tragic event in his mind when he and Nico sparred, but it did nothing to stop the increase in his heart rate, the rush of blood downwards. As of recent, he got out of the fights early by playing dirty. He pulled every mean trick to get Nico to the ground and get out as soon as possible to deal with his… situation.
That didn’t work today though.
Nico came up to him on a clear, autumn day. He suggested that it was the perfect time for sparring, for the weather was nice and most of the campers had gone back home. Jason agreed out of social obligation and shook with nerves as he followed him to their patch in the woods. (They couldn’t fight each other in the arena like the other campers. Its simple infrastructure couldn’t handle their control of the sky and her lightning, of the underworld and its power.) The space was easily found. It was a mile away, quickly found through flight and shadow travel, and it was the only blank spot within the thick thatches of forest. Trees surrounded the large circle cleared away by past battles fought between the two powerful demigods.
Jason held back a sigh upon seeing it. He descended from the sky into the plain ground just as Nico pulled himself from the shade of a pine tree. The boy, dressed in full Stygian Iron armor, pulled his black sword from his belt’s side and swung it in a large, teasing circle parallel to his own body as Jason landed. “You sure you’re ready for this, Grace?”
No. “Any time and any day of the week, di Angelo,” Jason taunted in return, pulling his gladius out effortlessly. Its gold shone next to Nico’s own weapon, just like Jason’s Roman armor did.
Nico got that grin on his face again - fuck - that one that promised only trouble, and summoned two undead warriors, skeletal with only thin skin covering them, clad in clunky, protective attire. He and the zombies lunged, thrusting their weapons forward. Jason leaned away from the attack, swinging his gladius horizontally to knock their weapons down in a line.
The undead ran off, but Nico merely jumped back, taking a deep breath and leaning his head away from Jason. The angle showed off the tendons of his neck, how his Adam’s apple bobbed with each breath, the slight gleam of sweat on his tanned, olive skin and- Gods. Jason’s fingers began to gather electricity. Time to get out. He needed to leave. Now.
They volleyed hits back and forth for some time, each looking to gain the edge on the other. The clangs of their weapons filled their small part of woods, resonating off the trees and the sky. Nico soon fell back and, with a look so devious Jason shivered, he fell into the shadows again.
Jason held back the urge to heave a breath of relief, instead falling into his warrior persona. The Roman drilled in him circled the perimeter, knowing Nico could jump out at any second, feeling the energy spark throughout him. When the boy finally appeared, it was right before him. Perfect. Jason shot down lightning right behind Nico, making him trip forward to the ground. The boy looked up at him with pleading eyes on his hands and knees, reminding Jason exactly why he had to play dirty in the first place.
With the flick of his wrist, Jason pointed the tip of his gladius down at the boy. He opened his mouth to speak something both consolidating but declaring of his victory before four hands gripped onto the tight fabric of his shirt and pulled him backward. He toppled and looked up to see the very two zombie warriors from before who he thought had run away.
“Oh, you’re sneaky, di Angelo,” Jason accused, voice tight.
“Uh-huh,” Nico said, uncaring, lifting his hands from the ground and scooching forward. He placed himself with knees to the forest’s floor on each side of Jason’s torso, bent over with his sword against Jason’s throat. “Yield.”
“Uhhhhh,” Jason said intelligently, attempting to squirm from Nico’s hold on him without slicing his neck. He tried to focus on the electricity and the winds around him, but to no avail, and each passing second just made Jason’s mind run wilder (Nico looks so fierce right now. His hair is all crazy. Sweet Zeus, he’s right on top of me. I could pull him into a kiss right now, put my hands on his hips and grind up against-) “Yeah - Okay, fine! Fine! I yield! I yield. You win.”
Nico laughed but it sounded hollow. “It’s not gonna be that easy, Jason.”
Jason’s mind took a second to catch up to what was said to him. “Wait, what? Huh? I said you win - Nico, let me go-” He began to wiggle again but froze once more as soon as the black metal was pushed with more pressure onto his neck. Even though Jason knew he must be imagining it, he swore he could feel the hot cold trickle of blood down his skin. He forced back a whimper. (Oh my gods, Nico di Angelo is going to single-handedly make me develop a knife kink).
“Not until you tell me why you’ve been acting so weird recently,” Nico demanded. Jason’s mouth went dry as he went to deny the claim, but Nico carried on. “Don’t argue with me on this! Ever since that quest last spring you’ve been - off. And… And I need to know what I did to cause it.” His voice faltered in the end. He turned his head and ducked it, not letting Jason see the emotions undoubtedly flickering across his face.
Acidic guilt ate away at Jason. “Nico, you didn’t do anything-”
“Stop that! Be honest! Stop being such a martyr and tell me the truth!” Nico shouted, turning back to him. His eyebrows were scrunched up and his nostrils were flared and - Good Gods - he had that warrior face back on, like he was willing to fight anything and anyone. Jason held back the urge to fidget again and kept silent. He searched for words and found none that would 1) release him from this unintentionally-erotic torture and 2) answer Nico’s question and reassure him properly that he did nothing wrong. Nico’s face gained a ruddy color as he continued to yell. “Look at you, Jason! You won’t even answer the question. I can take it. I just want things to be normal again - Gods!”
And then The Exact Thing Jason Wanted Not To Happen happened.
Nico, driven by frustration, tossed his sword to the ground beside Jason. He threw his hands up in the air with an irritated grunt and then brought them down to place his head into his palms, sinking the rest of his body down along with them. Jason watched in absolute horror as Nico’s eyes went wide and his jaw dropped as he felt Jason’s very hard erection right up against his ass.
Fuck.
“Oh,” Nico uttered simply, realization dawning on his face. With his ass still on Jason’s dick for some reason, he started, “Jason-”
“Don’t,” Jason said, eyes squeezed shut. He took a deep breath, mind flitting through every word in his vocabulary to try to find something to get him out of this situation: an apology, an explanation, an excuse, a promise, anything.
“Is this like a - uh, like - is this why… Why you’ve been acting so strange?”
Jason nodded, taking special care in just moving his head.
“That’s, okay, yeah. That makes sense-” Jason couldn't stop thinking about how he’d really rather be anywhere else but here as Nico kept talking. Or how he wished it wouldn’t be rude to cover his ears and curl into a ball. Despite the internal conflict Jason was facing, Nico barrelled on with his speech, “- Right. Okay. Cool - Yeah - yeah, I’m - I’m just gonna-”
Then, Nico kissed him.
It was - Okay, it was kind of awkward at first, because it took Jason a few seconds to catch on, so Nico’s lips were just sort of sitting on top of his, insistently pushing against them. And then Jason realized: Holy Hera, Nico di Angelo is kissing me, Jason Grace, right now, and I’m literally as motionless as the kids in the Hypnos cabin.
Jason’s hands shot up from the ground and onto the boy’s hips. He opened his mouth the slightest bit and swallowed the startled sound from Nico’s lips. He relished in the slide of their tongues together, each nerve ending sparked by the brush of Nico’s full mouth against his; even the one-time clink of their teeth was endearing. His grip on Nico’s sides was solid, the varied pressures pushing him up and down, the almost innocent imitation of the illicit act wrenching a groan from Jason. He swore the slow grind between them would drive him crazy.
Nico pulled up from Jason with a light, teasing smile and the spit-shined glint of his bottom lip. Gods, how Jason wanted him. “I was worried when you pulled the dead fish act on me. Thought maybe you just had a thing for Stygian Iron.”
“Naw,” Jason said. He meant to sound cool and collected, but the words came out breathless and strained. Wanting. “I do have a thing for your sword, though-”
“Oh my gods, that was terrible. What a garbage pun,” Nico joked, interrupting himself by pulling Jason up for another kiss. Jason could feel his lips getting tired, but he couldn’t help himself. Jason kept his mouth on the boy, letting it drift to the side of Nico’s jawline. With some maneuvering, he rid Nico of his Stygian Iron armor, and let his hands travel up the boy’s skull shirt.
Nico made a quiet sound. Goosebumps formed on his skin as it was exposed to the cool autumn air and Jason’s soft touch. Each centimeter his fingers traveled upwards increased the pace of his breathing proportionally. Nico’s fingers tugged at the fine, small hairs on the nape of Jason’s neck as he began to circle his thumbs around his nipples. “Jason,” he begged.
“Get this off,” was his simple reply after tugging on the bunched, black fabric. Nico tore it off in a second, throwing his head back when Jason’s mouth found his neck. Jason’s head felt fuzzy, making it was hard to focus, but he still bit and sucked lightly.
“Jason - fuck - that’s so gonna show.” All Jason did was hum his assent. He dropped his head from Nico’s neck, looking up and down his torso. Nico swallowed as Jason’s fingers traveled down from the sides of his chest, tracing the contours of ribs and old battle scars, to his faint happy trail. Nico shuddered.
“Gods, Nico, you’re so beautiful.” Jason couldn’t help but keep the awe out of his voice, only admiring Nico further when red spotted along his torso and cheeks. His fingertips brushed the edge of Nico’s black jeans and then halted. “Nico, are you sure-?”
“Yes - duh - Obviously,” He snapped, pulling off Jason’s shirt and armor. Nico wetted his lips, and Jason held back a shiver at Nico’s touch against his abs, following the outline of a jagged white line along his skin. The ghosts of pasts battles were threaded along both of the boys’ bodies, shared between the two of them.
“We match,” Jason said, voice soft.
Nico chuckled, but it was bitter. “They look better on you. Your scars make you look like a leader. Mine, well, they make me look weak-“
“Not true,” Jason denied. “Every mark left behind… It means something. It has a story behind it, and knowing you-” Jason’s pulled the zipper down on Nico’s jeans and slipped his hand through the hole. He felt the shudder that ran through Nico’s body as he groped him through his boxers. “-it was something brave and graceful and heroic.”
“Jason,” Nico rasped. Jason held back a devilish grin of his own and continued the undulation of his hand, feeling the wet spot of precome against his fingerpads. He wrapped his hand around the clothed length, stroking it through the fabric. Nico’s leg jerked against the ground and something hot ran through Jason as he imagined the sensation. The rough material teasing the line of pain and pleasure, hot and intense. “Jason, stop teasing.”
“Mm-hmm,” Jason hummed, continuing it on for a bit more, just to see the slight shake of Nico’s inner thigh before moving on. He pushed Nico’s pant legs further down his thighs, calves, pulling them away from his body and somewhere onto the forest floor. Then, he wrapped his arms around Nico’s hips (so small compared to him, Jason would think him breakable if he didn’t know Nico like he did) and pulled him up towards his chest. Nico gave a little yelp that turned into a stifled moan when Jason pulled his hard length out of the slit of his boxers.
Nico made a small noise in the back of his throat that only inspired Jason further. He pulled the foreskin back over the head, running his thumb over it. Desire burned deep within him at the pearly white fluid that came from the tip of Nico’s cock. Jason pumped up and down the shaft. Slow, deliberate, teasing. Jason knew how mad he was driving Nico. He could see it in the boy’s slight twitch of his hips, in that full bottom lip caught between his teeth. “Jason,” he pled, whispered. “Please, please - Fuck!”
Jason craned his neck forward, suckling on the head. He felt dizzy with the taste and smell of a man post-fight, and he wanted more of it. His hands were hard and tight against the other boy’s ass, bringing him closer and closer, encouraging Nico to give in. He dipped his tongue into the slit and thrilled at how Nico squirmed, how his chest rose up high and fast with shuddering breaths, how he seemed gone with pleasure. “Jason,” Nico keened, burying his hands in his thick thatch of blond hair. In response, Jason just took more of him in, massaging the shaft with his lips and swirling his tongue around the circumference of it.
Nico cried out, bending over and pulling Jason’s head further down. “Oh Gods, Jason - I can’t - I’m gonna -” So Jason pulled his mouth off the boy with a pop and jacked him off hard and quick, lubed messily with his own spit. “Fuck,” Nico grunted as he came. He threw his head back, rocking hips towards Jason as his cum splattered across his face, cheek, the lens of his glasses.
Nico sighed as he reached the end of his climax, shoulders sinking. His brown eyes met the other’s baby blues, and a pulse of heat ran through Jason at the contact. Then, with a delicate, gentle touch, Nico placed his thumb against the height of Jason’s cheekbone, pressing his cum into his skin, before placing it into his mouth. Jason shivered as he sealed his lips around the finger, suckling down the salty, bitter taste, and did so for the rest smeared along his glasses. Nico brought his piano hands up to stroke Jason’s hair, tousled from its former handling. “Good boy,” he murmured, and Jason sunk further into his state of arousal.
Jason could hardly think, could barely keep his eyes half-lidded, as he saw Nico transform with more dominance. He loved Nico needy, but, Gods, Nico in control was the warrior that made his blood pump and his heart race. Nico scooted down, lining up his hips with Jason’s once more, and kissed him slow and sweet. Jason whined at the attention, intense feeling sparking against his blowjob-swollen lips. “Let me take care of you,” Nico whispered in a way that would’ve been warm, if not for that roguish look in his eyes. With the same grace that Jason was entranced with before, Nico slid his hand down Jason’s body, brushing against his nipples and abs. Jason bore his neck, needy and desperate, when Nico pulled Jason out his boxers. Nico’s hand played with Jason’s cock, tracing bluish veins along the thick, long shaft and toying with the head. “You’ve got such a pretty cock, baby.”
Jason’s chest heaved, a deep blush blooming across his face, torso, arms. “Nico, Nico, please,” he begged, quiet and dreamy.
“Please what?” Nico asked, tone simple despite the grasp he now had around Jason. Jason squirmed, drowning in the feeling of Nico’s tight grip around him, in Nico’s voice, in his presence. “Do you want me to make you cum, Jason? Do you want me to suck your cock?”
Jason tried to find words but found it impossible, nodding instead. He kept his eyes on Nico as he lowered his mouth, not to his cock, but to the jut of his hip bone. Oh so gently, he sunk his teeth into the taut skin, the pressure making Jason tingle. When his mouth rose once more, a red mark was left, bound to be blue, black, and bruised by the next day. With wet kisses, his mouth trailed down the “V” of Jason’s hips to the area between his legs. Ignoring his cock entirely, Nico licked along the seam of Jason’s balls. Oh, Jason knew Nico was teasing him, but it felt so good. He bit his lip against the sensation, forcing his eyes open and his gaze down even though all he wanted to do was throw his head back with a groan. His balls got tight with the continued attention, and Jason almost sobbed when Nico stopped, holding back the urge to thrust forward. That is, until Nico proceed to lick up the length up his shaft, flicking the tip of his tongue when he reached the top.
“Gods, you’re so needy,” Nico said, holding Jason’s hips down with his hands. “You want it so bad, huh?” Jason flushed harder with his own confessional nod. “It’s okay, Jason. That’s okay.” Then, Nico’s mouth sunk down on him, finally, warm, wet, and soft, up and down the length of him. Jason threw his head back and his body up into Nico, a groan escaping his lips like it was punched out him. He fought against the pleasure rising up within him, the suction and the look of Nico with blood-red lips around his dick, but lost it when Nico’s hand slipped down from his hip to that space below his cock, fingers pushing up against his perineum. The tension within Jason was released, and, crying out Nico’s name, he fell, feeling the waves of his orgasm rocking through him. “Nico,” Jason sobbed as he felt the other boy’s mouth work around him.
Jason sunk once more into the forest floor, the twigs and leaves upon it now making him realize just how disheveled a picture the two must’ve made: mostly naked and entirely sweaty and red. He sat up as Nico pulled his mouth off the head of his cock, keeping the suction the whole time and his lips sealed. “Nico…” Jason said again, trying to find the right words against the conflicting peace and nerves within him.
Nico answered any questions he may have had with another kiss. Jason opened his mouth, expecting tongue when he did so, and instead getting a bitter shock. Nico pushed the cum into Jason’s mouth, moaning as he did so. When Jason swallowed it all, Nico grinned all predatory again.
“Fighting is fun, Grace, but I think I like this better.”