huntingrays - Tumblr blog

huntingrays · 24 days ago

Text

abandoned wips collection

i have a lot of valgrace fics that will likely never be finished. however, i wanna post what i have of them and also tell u how it would’ve ended since i do still like them, i just don’t have the motivation for them. also, remember these are unedited. and some are over a year old, so may not be my best work. i’ll try to in go of order from short to long (but won’t be completely accurate)

Title: Paw-Some Boyfriend

Plot: Leo gets turned into a kitten. Crack treated seriously (700)

Fic:

“I have good news and bad news.”

“What’s the good news?”

“Demeter was helpful and gave us the information we needed.”

“And the bad news?”

“Jason’s boyfriend became a lot cuter.”

Jason was wondering how that could be a bad thing before Percy reached into his jacket and pulled out a small kitten with brown fur. He started wiggling wildly in Percy’s grip, meowing in protests. His meow was small and high pitched.

The kitten looked only to be a few weeks old, maybe four or five. However, he seemed small even despite his age. He looked no bigger than Percy’s hand and could likely fit perfectly in his palm.

Piper gasped in excitement. “No!” She exclaimed, voice thrilled.

“Wait… Leo is the kitten?” Nico asked, taking a sudden interest in their conversation. His words quickly caught the attention of everyone else.

“Percy, can you please explain why the hell my boyfriend is now a tiny kitten?” Jason asked.

“Well, this guy,” Percy gestured to the cat still wriggling in his arms, “had a little mishap and set fire to a tree she liked. She was able to quickly put it out, but in retaliation she turned Leo into a kitten. She considered him relatively harmless in this form. So… Leo is now a furry friend.”

“Oh, he’s adorable!” Piper cooed. She walked over to them and crouched down, petting Leo on the head. “Can’t we keep him like this?”

In response to her question, Leo flattened his ears and hissed at her. It didn’t help at all since even his hiss sounded adorable. She laughed and cooed again.

“How long will he be like this?” Jason asked. As cute as Leo was as a kitten, he wanted his boyfriend back sooner rather than later. He wanted a lover he could hold, not an animal he had to pet.

Percy shrugged. He handed Leo to Jason. The moment he held Leo against his chest, he crawled his way up his shirt and perched himself on his shoulder, curling up next to his neck. “No clue. She said anywhere from a couple hours to a few days.”

“But why a kitten so young?” Annabeth asked. “Wouldn’t he be an older cat?”

“Maybe it’s because of how short he is,” Nico suggested with an amused snort. Leo’s head whipped over to him and he hissed at him.

“I think we should keep him like this. It’s a massive improvement,” Frank commented. Leo hissed at him too.

Jason sighed and pulled Leo off his shoulder. He held him to his chest again and Leo looked up at him before burying his face against his chest. “Come on guys, be nice to him. There’s no need to tease him so much.”

Piper whined. “Come on! You can’t let him get away with his pouting now! Don’t give in to his cute, fuzzy face.”

Jason looked down at the small, furry creature in his arms (it was still strange for him to think of him as his boyfriend) and couldn’t let their teasing go on. “He’s had a long day. Give him a break for the time being.”

Piper narrowed her eyes at him. “Oh, you’re definitely going to fall victim to his kitten shenanigans. I’m calling it now.”

Jason resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I’ve been with Leo for months. I know him incredibly well. I’m not going to let him get away with anything.”

Jason would only later realize how wrong he was.

Leo tried to make the best of his situation but it was clear he was pretty miserable.

First of all, there was the teasing from Nico and Frank. Now that Leo was a (cute) kitten that couldn’t fight back, they decided to use this time to crank up their teasing of him. Nico in particular took this in stride.

However, they also forgot who they were messing with. Leo wasn’t going to take this lying down. Leo realized very quickly on that he had a strong set of lungs on him. If he wanted to, he could let out a long, loud meow. He used this power against Nico. Honestly, it was a bit amusing to see Nico walking around covering his ears while a tiny kitten followed him, yowling at the top of his little lungs.

This tactic didn’t work on Frank. He’d either turn into an animal with poor hearing or just straight up ignore him. Leo hated both of them. So, he went with a different form of revenge.

Leo’s revenge? Hazel.

Hazel had a soft spot for kitten Leo. She found him to be absolutely adorable and couldn’t help but pet him.

Ending: Didn’t have much of a plan other than Leo being a menace, even as a little kitten. That’s it, that’s the whole fic. And also he would get turned back into a human at the end.

Title: Bf Jason (some wips have simple titles of what the fic is)

Plot: Leo wants a bf. Jason volunteers to be his “boyfriend” for… some reason (1.5k)

Fic:

Leo: i want a bf :(

It wasn’t an uncommon message for Leo to send his friends. In fact, it was a common text that he often sent to the group chat. They were very tired of his gay longing.

Piper: oh my gods! we know!

Nico: can i kill him?

Back when Leo thought he was straight, he would frequently long for a girlfriend. His friends had been tired of his longing and his denial over his sexuality. After a long crisis and figuring things out, he finally accepted himself for who he was, which his friends loved. However, his longing for a relationship never ceased. Every few days, he’d feel the need to vocalize his desire for a relationship. They were all very tired of it by now.

Will: it would be best if you didn’t. i’m too tired to help you hide a body

Nico: dam

Will: also, he is our friend

Nico: but he’s so annoying

Will: but we love him

Piper: debatable

Nico: debatable

Leo: you’re all the worst

Leo: except will

Leo: ily will <3

Nico: back off

Leo: chillax death boy

Leo: i’m not into your sleep deprived med student

Leo: my heart belongs to one man

Piper: pls don’t say zuko

Leo: fire lord zuko <3

Piper: smh

Leo: hater

Piper: i wish we could make zuko real so we could shut him up

Leo: <3

Nico: nah zuko wouldn’t be into him

Leo: </3

Leo hated all his friends. Well, Will was fine. He hated Piper and Nico. Also, he hated Jason for not defending him. Where was he? He was supposed to be his handsome knight in shining armor.

Leo: jasooooon

Leo: they’re bullying me :(

Piper: don’t defend him

Piper: he deserves this

Leo: nu-uh

Piper: yeah-huh

Leo: lies

Leo: slander

Leo: i’m just a little guy

Leo: a little guy who needs a big, strong man to defend him.

That’s when he got a text from Jason. He sent it directly to him, not to the group chat.

[ Jacey <3 ]

Jason: I’m here. Can you open the door?

Leo: nooooooo

Jason: Why? Open up

Leo: but i’m so comfyyyyy

Leo: open the door yourself

Leo: i gave you a spare key for a reason

Jason: Oh. Right, I forgot

It wasn’t long before Jason arrived at his bedroom. Leo tossed his phone aside and rolled so he could properly look at his best friend.

“Jason,” Leo whined, “why didn’t you defend me from their bullying? Also, why are you here?”

Jason let out an amused breath. He sat down on the bed near Leo. “I think you’re fighting a losing battle, Valdez.”

“That’s why you’re supposed to defend me!” Leo protested.

“Maybe you should accept defeat by now.”

“You’re so cruel,” Leo complained. “Also, you didn’t answer my other question.”

“Well…” Jason glanced away from him. He looked around before looking back at him. “You tend to get clingy after your moments of… what does Piper call them? Gay longing? Anyway, I thought you’d want someone around.”

That was true. Leo was a pretty physically affectionate person, but he was only comfortable being so with those he was comfortable with. Jason was one of those few people and it worked well since Jason loved physical affection.

However, there was a downside. The downside was that Leo was in love with Jason and Jason had no clue. So, even though he adored being affectionate with his best friend, it did terrible things to his heart.

Leo let out a long, dramatic sigh. “I don’t understand. I mean, I’m a pretty likable guy, right? I know I’m not the epitome of beauty but… I’m not ugly, right? So why can’t I get a man?”

“Maybe it’s because you almost never go outside due to working on your projects?” Jason suggested.

Leo waved him off. “Nah, can’t be. Is it because I’m short?”

“There are plenty of people who like short guys.”

“Really? I can’t imagine dating someone shorter than me. Like Nico, for example.”

“Well, not everyone in the world has your type. Also, Nico is not shorter than you. He’s an inch taller.”

“Wait, really?! But Pipes said I was a tiny bit taller!”

“I hate to break it to you, but she loves lying to mess with you.”

“That bastard! I’ll get her back for this,” Leo said with a scowl.

Jason chuckled. He reached a hand out, ruffling Leo’s hair. “I’m sure you will. Anyway, I think you just haven’t met the right person yet. Anyone would be lucky to date you.”

Leo pouted up at him. “I’m so tired of hearing that! I just want Mr. Perfect to hurry up and find me already.”

Jason laid down next to him. “Why do you want a boyfriend so badly? You weren’t this intense about it last year.”

“I don’t know. I’m just… so lonely. Like, I have you guys and I’m happy about that, but there’s certain things that friends don’t do that I want. I want that kind of love so badly. It makes me ache,” Leo complained.

Jason reached a hand out. He gently brushed away a curl that had fallen in his face. Leo felt his face burn hot. “Like what?” Jason asked, voice as steady and calm as ever.

“Um, well,” Leo stuttered, thrown off his rhythm, “like… like cuddling, dates, kisses, things like that. Like, I love Percy and all but I would never want to kiss him, y’know? So, I just want a boyfriend. I want someone who loves me and will do cute couple things with me. I keep seeing videos of gay couples on TikTok and it makes me jealous.”

Leo thought that it was unfair that other gay people got to be happy and in love when he was single and had been for years. He was bitter, gay, and lonely.

“So, you just want something to do those things with?” Jason asked, an odd note to his voice.

Leo nodded. “Yeah, I guess so. Why?”

“Well… what about me?”

“What?” Leo asked, feeling like his brain stopped working.

“What if I’m your fake boyfriend?” Jason suggested again. “We could do all the things that you want to do. After all, I’m comfortable doing all those things with you. This way you get what you want and our friends get free from your pining.

Logically, it made sense. Well, it made sense for Leo to accept the deal. After all, he was in love with Jason and wanted a boyfriend. It sounded like a win-win. However, he knew how these fake dating situations ended. He knew he would end up falling deeper in love with Jason and would wind up way over his head and he’d likely lose Jason as a friend. Also, why was Jason making such an offer? He didn’t seem to gain anything from it.

“What do you get out of this?” Leo asked, suspicious.

Jason laughed at his suspicious tone. “Me? I get a fake boyfriend as well. To tell you the truth, I’ve been feeling a little lonely these past few months. It would be nice to have someone I can cuddle with and spoil. We both get to be happy and content. How does it sound?”

Leo didn’t understand why Jason needled a fake boyfriend. After all, he was handsome, charming, kind, honest, and perfect boyfriend material. Even if he was a little lame and a huge dork, that didn’t detract from how amazing he was. He could easily get any man or woman he wanted. It confused him that Jason remained single throughout the whole year. It puzzled and perplexed him. He simply thought Jason didn’t want a relationship, but that couldn’t be the case if he was offering to be Leo’s fake boyfriend. Jason was such a confusing weirdo.

Leo couldn’t think of any valid reason to refuse, so he slowly nodded. “Fine… but you have to take me on a date as soon as possible! I have standards for a fake boyfriend. Also, we should probably discuss things further there.”

Jason gave him a smile so dazzling and pure that it confused Leo. Why was he so happy? He was helping Leo, not the other way around. He didn’t have time to ask about it, though, because Jason short-circuited his brain by leaning over and kissing his forehead. “I’ll spoil you as much as you want. Are you free tomorrow?”

Leo nodded (unable to speak) and a bright flush covered his cheeks. “Great!” Jason chirped. “Then I’ll pick you up later tomorrow. We’ll have our first date then.”

What had Leo gotten himself into?

When Jason told him they were going on a date, he expected something simple like going to a pizza or ramen place. After all, they were college students. However, he forgot Jason was rich (and so was Piper). So, he panicked when Jason told him to dress nice for their date. Nice? How nice? Leo hadn’t dressed fancy since his aunt’s second wedding! He wasn’t that tall, but he knew he couldn’t fit into the tux he wore when he was ten. Besides, he didn’t even bring that tux with him when he moved in with Piper.

Ending: gee I wonder what could happen in a fake dating au! yeah, they get together. And Jason agreed bc he likes Leo. I lost interest bc i already had a fake “dating” fic and my prev fic (where one thinks they’re dating and the other in unaware). So I didn’t need this one too

Title: Doubt Comes In

Plot: Leo Orpheuses Jason (900)

Fic:

When Leo first began his mission, he’d been confident. After all, even though nobody had succeeded, he knew there was a first time for everything. After all his crappy luck in his life, he deserved a few things to go right.

However, he’d ignored the previous story too much. He hadn’t considered that there was a reason the story had gone the way it had. He hadn’t considered the reason it was a tragedy.

Leo loved Jason dearly. He’d never loved anyone the way he loved Jason. Even though they never dated, he still loved him. He was his best friend who had stolen his heart. Also, he was his best friend who unintentionally caused him immense pain and grief due to his passing.

Everyone in Leo’s life tried to help him move on from his closest friends like Piper and Reyna to those who didn’t even know him well like Sally Jackson. They all tried to offer him friendly advice, but he didn’t listen.

They weren’t there when Jason played Wii games with him. They weren’t there for the times Jason took care of him when he was building the Argo II. They weren’t there for their late-night talks on the ship. They weren’t there when Jason stayed by his side every day when he was recovering in the infirmary after the battle - after using the cure. There weren’t there in those months before his death when it was just the two of them and he’d notice Jason’s longing glances and lingering touches. They hadn’t been there when Leo realized that he loved Jason and that Jason just might love him back.

He’d never done anything about his feelings. At first, he excused his lack of action due to wanting to give Jason time to recover after his breakup. When he noticed Jason and what he presumed to be his interest, he had been too scared to ruin their friendship.

Leo regretted his inaction after Jason died. Not only had he died and he lost his best friend, but what-ifs constantly plagued him. He mourned both his best friend and a relationship that never happened.

He tried to move on. He tried to overcome it and move on with his life, but it seemed impossible. This grief he felt for Jason was like nothing he’d ever felt before. It was constricting and all-consuming. It was all he could think about and feel.

It wasn’t fair. Jason’s situation wasn’t fair. Why did Apollo get to live and be a god again while Jason died? Jason survived two wars and defeated a titan with his bare hands, so why did such a minor quest take him out? Jason was only sixteen. It pissed him off. Honestly, a part of him wanted to go to Apollo and make him feel how he felt. He was glad gods couldn’t die so that meant they could suffer forever. However, he didn’t. That didn’t make his hatred for the god fade any. He knew Apollo felt awful about it, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care that he’d changed. Apollo broke a vow and that took his Jason away from him. He would never forgive him.

Jason was gone and it was all Apollo’s fault.

Since no god bothered to remedy that, he decided to do what only a mortal could and bring Jason back.

Piper was the only one he told about his plan. He was expecting her to be on his side and ready to bring Jason back, but instead, she looked concerned.

“But Leo,” she began, frowning, “nobody has ever brought someone back from the underworld.”

“Didn’t Nico do that with Hazel?” Leo brought up, crossing his arms over his chest.

“That’s different,” Piper protested. “She’s a daughter of Pluto and he’s a son of Hades.”

“I thought you’d be all for this plan! Don’t you miss Jason? He’s our best friend!”

“Of course I do!” Piper exclaimed, her voice sounding harsher than she intended. She sighed before softening her voice. “Gods, of course I miss him. He’s our best friend and I still love him dearly, even if it’s just platonic now. But Leo… I don’t want you to get hurt. Don’t you know the story of Orpheus trying this? It didn’t go well for him. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I don’t want your grief to get any worse than it already is.”

Even though Leo would normally be glad that Piper worried about him, his current emotional state was messed up. He instantly felt defensive. If he was a bird, his feathers would be puffing out, trying to make himself look bigger and scarier than he was.

“I have to do this! Pipes, I’m at my breaking point! You don’t understand, I have to do this. If I don’t at least try, I’ll regret it forever. I’m going to do this and nobody can stop me!”

Leo regretted shouting the moment he saw tears glistening in Piper’s eyes. She furiously tried to blink them away and put on a brave face, but the tears were stronger and pushed past her eyes, weaving their way down her face. Once the first fell, all the rest followed and all too soon she was sobbing.

Leo’s anger melted away. He immediately pulled Piper into his arms, worrying over her. He was an idiot! He was an idiot and couldn’t ever do anything right.

“I don’t think I could handle losing you again,” Piper whispered.

Leo felt his heart breaking. He loved Piper dearly. She was the only precious thing he had left. He never wanted to hurt her.

“Pipes, I’m so sorry,” Leo apologized. “I never meant to hurt you. You’re the most important person to me. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt the most important person to me - the only one I love who’s still alive. But… I have to do this.”

Ending: Didn’t want to write a whole Orpheus Leo fic, so i wanted to write the scene in my head. Basically, Leo is successful and gets out. He’s scared for a few seconds after stepping into the sunlight that he messed up, but then he feels arms wrap around him. Yay Jason is fine! But Leo closes his eyes and refuses to look at him bc he’s scared. But Jason eventually convinces him and he does so. They hug and then also kiss yaya! but yeah there’s other fics that are doing this but much better so i feel no need to complete this

Title: Passion

Plot: Jason gets jealous and assumes it’s because he’s his father’s son (3.7k)

Fic:

Jason wouldn’t admit it, he took pride in not being like his father. Though he was a powerful god, he wasn’t well liked in the world of gods, mortals, or demigods. Not only that, but his two closest friends (Leo and Piper) seemed to hate his guts. Though that hatred mostly stemmed from his terrible parenting.

Despite their differences, he was beginning to realize something: he truly was his father’s son.

“Will Kevin be stopping by later?” Piper asked Leo.

Jason hated Kevin. However, his friends didn’t know that, so he did his best not to scowl or show any indicator that he wasn’t pleased with this topic of conversation.

“Nah, he’s busy getting in some training today,” Leo explained. “It’ll just be the three of us.”

‘Good, that’s how things should be,’ Jason thought.

Kevin was a fairly new camper at Camp Half Blood. He was a son of Ares and had only been at the camp for a few months. However, it was pretty obvious he developed a crush on Leo within that short span of time. Practically everyone at the camp was aware of his crush on Leo, but Kevin was a coward that didn’t do anything about his feelings.

All their friends liked Kevin. According to them, he was kind, funny, and treated Leo right. However, Jason didn’t like him. He wasn’t sure why. He was a fine guy, but he hated his guts for some reason. It was probably because he thought nobody was good enough for Leo. Also, Kevin hadn’t confessed, proving he’s a coward. Leo deserved someone who was brave enough to admit their feelings and do something about them, not some coward like Kevin.

Jason wondered how Leo felt about Kevin. He never really said anything to indicate his feelings for the guy. He knew Leo liked guys - he came out to them ages ago - but never said anything to hint at if he liked Kevin or not. Jason hoped he didn’t. He could do so much better.

The three of them were planning to hang out today. The three of them rarely hung out when camp wasn’t going on, so Jason was looking forward to it. Though, their lack of hanging out was due to Jason living so far away. Piper could see Leo whenever she wanted (which made Jason feel a little jealous).

Leo and Piper lived together. Sometime after Leo broke up with his ex-girlfriend, he went to live with her and has stayed with her ever since. Tristan was even working on officially adopting Leo and making him part of the family. Leo stayed with them, but visited the Waystation once every two weeks, usually on the weekends. He loved it and the people there, but couldn’t handle being there too often. He needed his main support system nearby, which happened to be Piper (and later Tristan and even Shel).

Meanwhile, Jason wandered around before ending up being taken in by Coach Hedge. Gleeson and Millie happily took him in. It was strange having a semi-normal family caring for him (the semi being because Gleeson wasn’t exactly normal). They took care of him and loved him. Jason was thankful and helped them in caring for Chuck. It wasn’t what he ever expected to happen, but he was thankful to have them.

Leo visited him around once every month since it was a long flight on Festus. Jason always looked forward to his visits. He especially looked forward to seeing Leo right after he arrived. It would be late at night and he would arrive looking so sleepy and criminally cute. Jason would sneak him into his room and drag a half asleep Leo into his bed. Most of the time, they ended up falling asleep cuddled up to each other. In the morning, Gleeson would playfully scold Jason about sneaking a boy into his bedroom but never tried to stop them. He adored everything else about their visits, but the arrivals always stood out to him. They were stored in a special spot in his brain.

Piper couldn’t visit often. Jason and Piper were both in school, so they couldn’t exactly skip to fly halfway across the country. The only reason Leo could do it was because he wasn’t attending public school. It didn’t help him and how he learned, so he didn’t bother with it. Tristan considered homeschooling him until he learned he knew how to do college level math before he was ten and could build a warship in six months. He figured Leo had nothing he could learn from school. He simply taught him some basic life lessons like how to do taxes and other skills he’d need in life.

The only time Piper visited (or he visited them) was when she had a break from school. However, those weren’t that often, so he didn’t get to see his two best friends at the same time often. That’s why he looked forward to going to Camp Half-Blood. He loved being around the two of them.

Today, they decided to do some baking before walking around camp and just talking. It sounded like a wonderful day to Jason. Though he’d honestly be fine with any plan as long as he was with his two plans. Well, almost any plan. He’d be fine with any peaceful plan with his friends.

As they walked into the kitchen at Camp Half Blood (they’d gotten permission earlier to use it, but honestly a lack of permission wouldn’t have stopped them), Leo let out a dramatic sigh. “I still don’t know why you two want to bake. I’m the only one in this trio that can cook.”

“Cooking is an important skill. You can teach us!” Piper said.

“We’re eager to learn from you, Chef Leo,” Jason said.

“Yeah right. You guys just want free sweets from me!”

That wasn’t true. Jason wasn’t a big fan of sweets. He just wanted to spend time with his two best friends.

They ended up making some simple chocolate chip cookies. Leo tried to step back and simply instruct them on how to do things, but he’d end up getting frustrated when they didn’t understand what he was saying and would just do it himself. It wasn’t their fault they couldn’t eyeball measurements like he could. Jason wondered if that was due to him being a son of Hephaestus or a genius. Jason was leaning towards genius.

The cookies had turned out wonderful, warm, and gooey, just how Piper liked them. They had a few before heading off to walk around.

“I need to find us a way to communicate better. I don’t have the funds to Iris call whenever something funny happens. I try to remember to tell you but then I forget and then remember the moment I’m halfway home,” Leo complained.

“It’s a shame phone calls attract monsters,” Piper said. “It would be nice if you two could call. That way, Leo would stop annoying me.”

“Hey!” Jason laughed as Leo and Piper began bickering. It was crazy that two people who’d only known each other for a few years could act so much like siblings. Honestly, Jason was jealous of their bond sometimes. He wanted a close bond like that with Thalia. They’d been getting closer since he came back to life, but there was still some awkwardness and distance between them, especially since it was hard to get a hold of her when she was on a hunt.

Jason spoke when their bickering died down. “I’m sure you can think of something, Leo. You as a genius, after all.”

Leo looked down at the ground, cheeks going pink. “Jacey, if you keep complimenting me, I’m going to get a big ego.”

“You’re amazing. If anyone deserves to have one, it’s you.”

“Okay, cut it out you lovebirds,” Piper said. That comment reminded Jason of something he hadn’t considered before. Piper never teased Leo about Kevin. She didn’t hate him, but she hardly ever mentioned him and didn’t insinuate anything about the two of them. It was strange, especially since she teased Jason and Leo about acting like a couple. It wasn’t his fault that Leo was amazing and cute and he adored him.

“Speaking of lovebirds,” Leo began with a teasing trill, “tell Jason what you told me! About Shel!”

It was strange. Jason used to date Piper, but he wasn’t jealous of her current partner. Maybe it was because he loved her, but not in a romantic way. He doubted he ever romantically loved her. Yet, he loved her and thought she deserved the best. If her happiness came from a girl named Shel, he was happy for her.

“Ah, that,” Piper said with a light flush. “We were discussing college and we decided we want to attend the same college.”

“Really? Well, I hope you two get accepted into the same school.”

“Me too,” Piper said with a soft smile. “We were discussing if we should get a dorm room together or get an apartment. We haven’t decided yet.”

“Moving in together… you two are practically married at this point. Make sure not to make premarital eye contact!”

Before Piper could reply, Leo yelped in surprise. Jason’s gaze snapped to Leo, reaching for the new coin sword that Leo made for him. Luckily, he wasn’t in danger. Unluckily, Jason now had to deal with Kevin. He kept the coin in his hand, wishing he had an excuse to use it.

Kevin was hugging Leo from behind, enjoying it way too much.

“I thought you had training today?” Leo asked.

“We’re taking a break so I thought I would surprise you,” Kevin replied in that annoying voice of his.

“You should ask for consent before touching someone,” Jason replied. He was glad he could sound as annoyed as he wanted. Nobody would raise an eyebrow if he was standing up for his friend. Though, he had to acknowledge he was a bit of a hypocrite. He often hugged Leo without permission, but he had blanket permission from Leo to be as affectionate as he wanted.

“Aww, Emilio doesn’t mind, do you?” Kevin asked. Jason bristled at him using his full name. He didn’t understand why it bothered him so much. Was he trying to subtly imply he was a worse friend because he didn’t use it? Or was he using it because he felt special? Well, he should learn that he isn’t special. Also, Leo loved Jason way more than Kevin.

“I don’t mind, but you should be careful about startling me,” Leo said with a small laugh. “You might end up with a knife in your eye and sword through your gut.”

“They worried you might get hurt or something?” Kevin asked in his dumb, lazy drawl. It was stupid. He didn’t even have a southern accent. “They don’t have to worry about you. I’ll protect you.”

“Like hell you will,” Jason snapped before he could stop himself. “He doesn’t need your protection. He already has me. I’m his protector.”

Kevin raised an eyebrow at him. He took a moment to take him in before pulling Leo closer to him. There was the ghost of a smirk on his face. Did he know this pissed him off?

“You? Protector?” Kevin asked. “You don’t have to handle such a task anymore. I’m a son of Ares. I’m sure I can do a much better job at keeping him safe.”

“You? Better than me?” Even though Jason didn’t have a lot of confidence in himself, he did when it came to his ability to care for his friends. “You’re just a son of Ares. I’m a son of Jupiter. I’m a former praetor of Camp Jupiter. I killed a Titan with my bare hands. I fought in the war against Gaea. I am more capable of protecting him than you are.”

Kevin let out a hollow laugh at that. He narrowed his eyes at Jason. “You couldn’t stop him from sacrificing himself. You expect me to believe you can protect him?”

Before Jason could reply, Leo elbowed him in the stomach. Kevin hissed in pain and let go of him. Leo whirled around to face him, glaring at him. “Don’t you dare talk about matters you don’t understand! Jason already blames himself enough for what happened. We don’t need you harping on his case as well. Jason couldn’t have stopped me from doing what I did, but his attempt would’ve swayed me more than any attempt you could try. Honestly, I’m offended that you think some man could stop me from being a hero.”

Kevin looked down at the ground, cheeks going red in embarrassment. He rubbed the pack of his neck. Jason tried to ignore the flash of pride going through him about Leo standing up for him. A childish desire to stick his tongue out at him arose inside him, but he ignored it. He needed to act with dignity and decorum. “I’m sorry, Emilio.”

“Also, can you two stop doing this weird competition over Leo?” Piper asked. “He’s his own person who can protect himself.”

Leo waved off her comment. “Actually, I don’t mind two men competing over me. I love feeling desired. However, I do have a problem with pointless bickering with no action. Why don’t you two just fight it out?”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Jason said, flipping his coin and effortlessly grabbing his newly transformed sword. He kept his gaze fixed on Kevin. “What do you say? Willing to battle? Or are you a coward?”

Kevin didn’t back down, but he saw a flicker of fear in his green eyes. “Fine with me. Winner gets to be Emilio’s protector.”

Jason turned his gaze to Leo. “Is that okay with you?”

Leo gave him a soft smile (one that made his insides flutter) as he nodded. “Fine with me.”

With that, the trio plus Kevin headed to the arena. Jason was brimming with nerves, ready to show Kevin who was truly worthy of protecting Leo. He felt nerves coursing through his body as they walked. Jason wasn’t nervous - he knew the only people he could lose a fight against were Percy, Annabeth, and Leo - but he was nervous about what Leo would think. Leo seemed fine with it, but would he change his mind when they started fighting? Would he be rooting for Jason? Would he be impressed by how intense his desire to protect him was?

When they got to the arena, Kevin walked off to find a sword to borrow since he didn’t have one of his own. While he was doing that, Leo walked over to him, leaning in to whisper into his ear. “Win this for me, okay?” He asked. He pulled away, gave him a coy smile, winked, and then walked away with Piper to watch the fight from a safe distance.

Now Jason had to win. Now it wasn’t just for his own ego but because Leo asked him to. He couldn’t deny him that, especially not when his insides were flooding with warmth, his face feeling even hotter.

Before he knew it, Kevin had a sword in his hand. Jason easily stepped into a fighting stance, brandishing his sword. Then, the next thing he knew, they were going at each other.

The fight was embarrassingly short. It was only a minute long. Jason had to admit that Kevin was strong. He never doubted that since he was a muscular son of Ares. However, all he had was strength.

It reminded Jason of an episode of Pokémon he watched with Leo. Growing up in Camp Jupiter, the only entertainment he had (that wasn’t provided by the camp) were comic books he found while off on quests. Leo was agasht by this and made it his goal to catch Jason up on “all the iconic media”. He considered it a crime that Jason hadn’t seen Pokémon, so they watched all of the first season while Jason was recovering after coming back from the dead.

He couldn’t remember too many details of the episodes since, for a lot of them, he was too distracted by Leo’s body cuddled up against his own and how nice his hair smelled. However, he did remember one episode clearly. It was the one where Ash was challenging Surge. In the episode, Ash was (for some reason) determined to win with his Pikachu against Surge’s Raichu. In the end, he ended up winning by using Surge’s Raichu’s lack of speed to outspeed him. It was a smart strategy, but one Ash wouldn’t have realized without Brock.

Kevin was like Raichu. He was all strength. While strength was good, you couldn’t use raw force to win a fight. All it took was a smart move, a fake out, and then a well timed strike before Kevin was unarmed and then on the ground, a sword pointed at his throat. Pride flooded Jason’s body and he grinned down at the shock and embarrassed boy.

“You lost. Seems I’m the better protector after all,” Jason commented.

He stepped back, turning his sword back into a coin. He turned his gaze towards the audience, his gaze meeting Leo’s.

Leo was gazing at him, his eyes full of pride and happiness. When their eyes met, he gave him a soft smile. His insides erupted in nerves again. He was happy. He was proud. He was proud he made Leo happy and proud. He was Leo’s protector. He could keep him safe. He could make him happy.

Leo was his.

Then everything paused. His high came crashing down as his thoughts dawned on him. The wonderful feeling was replaced with a ugly, guilty one. Shame washed over his whole body, leaving him feeling colder than any weather possibly could.

Where did this possessiveness come from?

“Jason, this feeling didn’t come out of nowhere. I’m sure you can figure it out,” Will insisted.

The day after the duel and the ugly feeling, Jason went to Nico. He figured his friend had a lot of experience with many different emotions, so maybe he could pinpoint where this was coming from. Since Will was there when he went to visit his cabin, Will was offering his advice as well.

Jason let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. He was sitting on a bed in Nico’s cabin, the couple sitting on the bed next to the one he was sitting on. Will was facing him while Nico was looking through his Mythomagic cards.

“But it did! One minute I was feeling happy and the next I felt shame over my possessive thought. It came out of nowhere. Sure, I had been protective of Leo, but it had only been that up until that point,” Jason explained. “I don’t want to possess Leo. I don’t want to scare him away because of my thoughts.”

Will’s lips pursed momentarily before he gave him a sympathetic smile. “Well, maybe that was the only instance you noticed it because it was so prominent. Think about it. You probably felt some form of this before.”

Jason took a moment to consider his words. Had he felt this before? He wasn’t sure. It was hard for him to understand his feelings. He needed a guide by someone more knowledgeable than he was.

However, when he thought about it, his feelings regarding Kevin’s feelings and affection towards Leo came to mind. His other friends didn’t feel the way he did. Hell, Leo’s other best friend Piper didn’t even seem to feel the same way he did. There was a reason he felt so strong but others in their lives didn’t.

But what was that reason?

“I guess I have. I don’t like Kevin. I’ve never liked Kevin. I’ve always wanted Leo to be happy, but when Kevin began to show interest in him, I got so… possessive. I know a relationship would make Leo happy, but I don’t want it to be with Kevin. I don’t know why,” Jason admitted.

Will sat up straighter, a sparkle in his eyes. “I’m sure you got this. You care about Leo. Suddenly, when I guy shows romantic interest in him, you care so much you get possessive. So, this means?”

Jason thought it over. He wished Will would just tell him what he obviously knew it meant, but he wasn’t. For some reason, he wanted Jason to figure it out on his own. For some reason, he didn’t want to clearly say the reason.

Then it clicked and horror dawned on Jason.

“Oh.”

“You realize why, right?” Will asked, an excited smile dawning his features. Even Nico looked over, intrigued written all over his face.

“Yes, I do.”

“That’s great! I can’t believe it took you so long to realize-”

“I’m becoming my father.”

Will paused. Then blinked at Jason. “What?”

It all suddenly made so much sense. Though Jason never said so, he was proud that he wasn’t like his father. Even despite never saying it, it was clear to all he was close to. That’s why Will didn’t want to say anything. Not only did he not want to upset Jason, but he had his own grudge against Zues. After all, his father might’ve died because of the god.

He couldn’t believe he’d been so blind. The possessiveness he felt, it was all because he was his father’s son. After so long of not being a thing like his father, it was only a matter of time until that changed. He couldn’t deny his parentage forever. Sooner or later, it would show itself, whether he liked it or not. Jason was hoping to only get his powers from his father, but he didn’t seem to be that lucky.

“I got so possessive because I’ve gotten that trait from my father. I understand now. My father is the king of the gods, which is why I wanted to prove I was stronger than Kevin. It makes so much sense now. I can’t believe this…”

Despite Jason’s correct guess, Will buried his face in his hands with a groan. Nico shook his head, turning his attention back to his cards. “I told you, he’s a lost cause. Just let it be.”

“But it’s so frustrating! He’s so close!”

Jason wasn’t sure what to do with this new revelation.

Ending: Yeah this was originally going to be for valgrace week. Day 3 i think? But lost all love and passion for it right at the sentence above. Jason didn’t know what to do and neither did i. The rough idea i had was Jason finds out Leo is sad, goes to comfort him and make him feel better, feels proud when he makes him laugh bc Kevin could NEVER, realizes he has feelings, finds out not long after that Kevin wants to confess, and goes to confess himself before Kevin can (bc he’s better than Kevin). Basically that. And lowkey they are freak4freak. Like possessive Jason and Leo who is into like. Like Leo didn’t do anything on purpose, but that he loved Jason being all possessive over him and is okay with it continuing. Idk I just like possessive charas and wanted an excuse to write that (but with the other being okay with the possessiveness).

Title: Please Please Please

Plot: Leo gets a new boyfriend. Piper is overprotective and concerned. (3k)

Fic:

“I want to tell you something, but you guys have to promise not to freak out.”

“When have I ever freaked out over something?”

“Literally all the time.”

Leo had a point, but that didn’t mean Piper had to accept it. It was hypocritical for him to talk when he was a bigger drama queen than she was. Every time he was invited to their little girls' night, he’d be more invested in the drama and gossip than she was.

Still, she tended to get a bit overzealous whenever Leo was involved.

Leo was her best friend. She honestly felt like he was her annoying little brother. She loved him dearly and tended to get a bit overprotective of him. She was his ride or die. If he disliked someone, she disliked them. If someone hurt him, she’d want to hurt them on his behalf. If he was sad, she’d be there to comfort him. She also knew he felt the same towards her. They would always be there for each other. They’d been inseparable ever since they met in high school.

“What is it that you want to tell us? We promise we won’t freak out,” Annabeth promised, giving him a smile.

It was their usual friend group hanging out, composed of Annabeth, Hazel, Leo, and Piper herself. Also, Annabeth had brought along Percy, her boyfriend. Piper didn’t understand what was so cool about him, but he made Annabeth happy so she supposed he was alright. She thought she could do better, though. Their other friends seemed to also like him. He was like Hazel’s big brother and - though they hadn’t liked each other at first due to Leo’s ex-boyfriend - Leo and Percy now got along really well. He fit in well with their little group and Piper was tempted to invite him to some girls nights. Not all of them, sometimes Annabeth needed some time along with her girls (and Leo, who was an honorary girl). However, he could tag along every now and then.

“Well,” Leo drawled, fiddling with his phone in his hands. Piper suddenly felt uneasy when she saw the lovesick puppy grin he had on his face. He went on excitedly, “I’ve been seeing a guy.”

The room went silent and still.

Piper could feel her mind racing as anxiety coursed inside her.

Leo didn’t have the best history in the love department. The reason for their shock and Piper’s anxiety was due to his last relationship.

Years ago, back in high school, Leo started seeing this boy after having a major sexuality crisis. He seemed absolutely head over heels for him. She hadn’t met the boy, but she was happy for him.

Then, it began to happen. He began to distance himself from Piper as well as their other friends. They tried to talk to him about it but he always brushed them off, saying it was fine.

It all came to head around the start of college. During the stress of studying for winter exams, she was interrupted by a knock on her apartment door. When she opened it, she’d had been shocked to be met with Leo sobbing at her door.

When she’d gotten him inside and calmed him down, he explained everything that happened. Basically, the guy had been a piece of shit. Back in high school, he’d manipulated him and isolated from his friends so he could have more control over him. He must’ve known Leo was an easy target, being one of the few queer people in their school and not having any familial love or connection. He was desperate for someone to love him back - he was convinced that nobody, and especially no guy, would ever love him back - that he fell hard for the first guy who showed any interest in him. However, his boyfriend decided that he was done with him and that Leo wasn’t fun anymore. He’d dumped Leo, leaving him for some girl he told him not to worry about.

Though Piper had been upset and hurt by Leo not listening to her, but she understood why he’d done that. Leo fell hard and fast for people. When he finally met someone who he thought loved him, he thought he was the one. He was sure he’d met his soulmate and any problems that came up were how he was or things they had to work through. He’d thought he loved him and that he was right, that he should listen to him and not his friends. The guy had convinced him that his friends didn’t understand and were toxic. He convinced himself that he did something wrong, that he deserved the treatment he got from his boyfriend. In the end, the shitty ex was to blame, not Leo who was a victim in all of this.

They’d made up that night. After hearing Piper explain her side and hearing that his friends only wanted what was best for him, he promised he would listen to them more often. He apologized and said that it wouldn’t happen again. After that night, Piper promised herself that she would protect Leo. She didn’t want anything like this to happen again.

After that, Leo went down a long road of healing. Now, he was doing much better. However, he hadn’t dated anyone since his ex. He’d had one night stands, first dates, and even a quick situationship, but never anything beyond that. He’d told Piper about all those, but he never told all of them about seeing a guy. After all these years of nothing, they were surprised and a little nervous.

Percy, who was a great guy and hadn’t been around to see how fucked up Leo had been after everything he went through, grinned at Leo. “Hey, that’s great! What’s his name? How long have you two been together?”

Leo gave Percy a smile before looking at each of his other three friends in turn. His face was serious and upset. “What’s all the silence about? I thought you guys, of all people, would be happy for me! Instead, only Percy seems to give a dam about my dating life.”

Annabeth was the first to recover. “I’m sorry, Leo. We’re just surprised and a little concerned. It’s been so long that we didn’t know what to think.”

Hazel nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we didn’t mean any harm. We were just shocked and a little concerned. But we want to hear about this guy!”

Leo looked over at Piper, who hadn’t spoken yet. She mulled over her words before letting out a small breath. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

Leo threw up his hands in exasperation. “What, do you not trust my judgment? This guy is different, I swear! He’s a sweetheart!”

“That’s what you said about your ex-boyfriend!” Piper snapped back, regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth.

Hurt flashed over Leo’s features. “You don’t trust me. You don’t trust my judgment.”

“It’s not that!” Piper quickly exclaimed, wanting to defend herself. “It’s just… it’s been so long since you’ve dated. I’m worried. I don’t want you to fall too quickly and get hurt again.”

“You guys haven’t even met him! Don’t jump to conclusions before ever meeting him!” Leo protested.

Piper was about to speak again when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She looked over and saw Annabeth giving her a stern look. ‘You’re not doing yourself any favors,’ the look seemed to say. Piper sighed and let her protests die.

Annabeth was right. Leo was her best friend and she needed to trust him more often. She shouldn’t jump to conclusions without proof. Also, acting like this would only drive a wedge between them and could cause him to fall deeper into a (potentially) toxic relationship. She hoped Leo was right and he found a gem of a man. She’d only accept perfection from him.

“How about we all meet him?” Annabeth suggested. “We can plan a group outing and you can bring him along so we can meet him.”

Leo looked at all of them. “Will you all be nice and give him a chance?” He asked, gaze lingering on Piper.

The other three agreed. Piper let out a sigh before nodding. “I’ll play nice, but just know I’ll be judging him harshly.”

Suddenly, Leo let out a snort. “I’d like to see what you could possibly have to complain about him.

[ A/N: I put myself a note to add a moment of Piper and the girls getting ready (where Hazel advises Piper to play nice since Leo seems to really like this guy, but forgot to add it in. So adding this context ]

They had a little trouble planning a group activity they could do to meet him. They wanted to have fun but also get to know him as well. Percy suggested the carnival but Leo shot that down. According to him his boyfriend - Jason (what a dumb name) - didn’t do well in loud places. Most of their other group activities (drinking, gossiping, and watching bad movies) didn’t seem good enough for them to get to know Jason. They were stuck until Piper mentioned the pride event. It would be fun, wasn’t too loud the last time they went, and there were plenty of quieter places if he needed a moment away. They all seemed to like the idea and happily agreed.

Piper felt a tad bad since she did have ulterior motives. The thing was that Leo’s last boyfriend refused to be seen in public with him. So, she wanted to see if this new boyfriend would be willing to be seen with him not only in public but at a pride event of all places during pride month. She wanted to put him to the test.

So far he wasn’t winning any points in her book. According to Leo, he was going to be late since he was “busy fighting fires”.

“Why are you giving me that look? He’s literally a firefighter,” Leo told her after her derisive look she gave him when he explained the reason behind his boyfriend’s late arrival.

“Prove it,” Piper shot back, crossing her arms over her chest.

Leo took out his and showed her a picture of a blond man in a firefighter uniform.

“That…. could be photoshopped,” she weakly pointed out.

Leo rolled his eyes. “Can’t photoshop the fact that I’ve visited him at the firehouse and FaceTimed today before he had to hang up due to an alarm. Please play nice today. He’s a great guy.”

Percy snatched away his phone to look at the picture of the mysterious boyfriend Jason. “Damn, you managed to get a hot firefighter? How did you manage that? How did you even meet him?”

A horrified look crossed over Hazel’s face. “Oh gods, please don’t tell me you caused a fire.”

Leo scoffed as he took his phone back and stuffed it in his pocket. “Of course not.”

Hazel let out a sigh of relief.

“Annabeth caused the fire.”

“What?!” Hazel, Piper, and Percy exclaimed.

Leo laughed (while Annabeth looked embarrassed) and explained the story. After a long day of work, Leo decided to walk Annabeth home (they worked together) and unwind with her. So, they went back to her apartment. During their hang out, Annabeth wanted to heat up some leftovers but forget what could and couldn’t be put in the microwave. It caused a fire that went on for a few seconds too long. They managed to put it out, but the smoke alarm in the apartment complex was faulty and caused the fire alarm for the whole building to go off. So, everyone had to leave and Annabeth felt embarrassed.

When she explained what happened to the firefighters, Leo made a joke that caused one of them to laugh. That guy happened to be Jason. While another firefighter told Annabeth about microwave safety, Leo struck up a conversation with Jason. They ended up clicking really well and Jason asked Leo for his number before leaving. The next day, he asked Leo out on a date and the rest is history.

It didn’t take long after his story for Jason to arrive. When Leo saw him, he beamed and rushed over to him, jumping into his arms. The guy grinned as he lifted Leo up, happily spinning him around. She could hear the two of them laugh as they embraced.

Once they pulled away from the embrace, Jason tilted Leo’s head up and kissed him right then and there. Well… he certainly wasn’t ashamed to be seen with him in public. That earned him points in Piper’s book. Still, she didn’t trust him yet.

Once they pulled away from the kiss, Leo grabbed his hand and dragged him over to their group.

Jason looked like the guy from the picture Leo had shown them. He was tall and buff with windswept blond hair, blue eyes, and a small scar on his lip. Piper didn’t want to be mean or stereotype, but he looked like a straight jock. She knew looks could be deceiving, so she hoped she was wrong and he was a kind guy who wasn’t playing with Leo’s heart.

“Guys, this is my boyfriend Jason,” Leo introduced. “Jace, these are my friends Hazel, Annabeth, Percy, and Piper.” He pointed to each of them as he introduced them.

Jason looked at each of them as they were introduced, but then his gaze flicked back to Percy. “Wait, Percy? Percy Jackson?”

Percy seemed puzzled for a few seconds before recognition dawned on his face. “Holy shit, Jason Grace? Seriously?”

Jason grinned and pulled Percy into a quick hug, which he returned. “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again today.”

“You two know each other?” Leo asked, mildly surprised.

“Please don’t tell me you caused a fire as well,” Hazel muttered, worried about all her friends being secret pyromaniacs.

Percy laughed, shaking his head. “No, no. We met back in college! We were on the same swim team. Our coach got so tired of us because of how competitive we got.”

“It’s not my fault you thought you were better than me,” Jason replied with a grin.

Percy scoffed, grinning back. “I was better than you. You’re just a sore loser.”

“Who got first at nationals?”

“That was one year! You were a newbie and had beginner's luck. I got first the year after that!”

“I bet I could beat you right now.”

“Oh yeah? I highly doubt it.”

“Let’s go. I’ll prove it.”

“Right now? Fine. You’re on. Just remember when you lose that-”

“Can you guys stop comparing dick sizes and get back to the original reason we’re here? We came to meet Leo’s boyfriend, not to watch you two race each other,” Annabeth scolded them.

Leo, who loved adding fuel to fire, wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s arm and grinned coyly at her. “You’re just trying to protect Percy from embarrassing himself. I know my man could kick your man’s ass any day.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes, not taking the bait. “What I know is that my boyfriend is a reckless idiot who gets way too competitive.”

“Also, how would you guys compete against each other right now anyway?” Hazel asked. “Are you going to jump into the nearest lake?”

Percy and Jason exchanged a silent glance. Annabeth sighed. “See?”

“You’re a firefighter. Shouldn’t you know better than recklessly jumping into random bodies of water?” Leo asked Jason.

“I was trained for how to save people from fires. I’m not sure if you know this, but water is the opposite of fire,” Jason joked.

Leo rolled his eyes. “I know that, smart ass. But like… don’t you guys have to do water rescues sometimes? Like if a plane crash lands in the ocean? Or if a cruise ship goes down?”

“I think you watch too much television,” Jason retorted. Leo huffed and pouted but couldn’t protest since it was true. “Also, my department isn’t even near an ocean so we don’t really have to worry about many water-related incidents.”

“Also, your man walks into fires for a living,” Percy pipes up. “That’s like… one of the most reckless things you can do.”

They talked for a few more minutes after that before deciding to go into the event, walk around, and view all the booths.

Piper subtlety watched as Leo dragged over to a booth to look at pride pins. Leo was a big fan of pins. He had a whole backpack that was absolutely covered in them. While Leo looked at the gay ones, Jason looked at the bisexual ones.

So, he seemed to be bi like Percy and Annabeth. She made a mental note of that. That gained Jason a point in her books. She wasn’t one of those biphobic idiots who thought bisexual people were more likely to cheat. That was a stupid mindset and completely untrue. Instead, she hoped Leo’s inner Charlie had found his Nick in this Jason guy.

She needed to talk to this guy to get a read on him. She strolled over casually but checked to see if there were any sapphic pins since she enjoyed the occasional pin as well. There didn’t seem to be any so she frowned but brushed it off. It sucked, but the sapphic flag wasn’t very popular. A few of the lesbian ones were cool, but she didn’t want any of them. She felt like she wouldn’t be true to herself if she got one. Piper liked remaining unlabeled. Technically, she referred to herself as sapphic since she knew for sure that she liked women, but she kept everything vague besides that.

Extensive labels were never something she liked for herself. She grew up her whole life feeling like she never quite “fit in” with any particular box. Growing up as a woman of color, she was always told over and over again by others what about her didn’t make her a woman, such as having features that are “too masculine” or by not dressing in a certain way. She ended up hating femininity as a result of that. Though she now resolved her relationship with femininity, she still didn’t like labels. They felt too restrictive for her. Also, many people had their own opinions on what they meant and what you had to do to fit into those labels. So, if she had to label herself, she liked ones that were open and more vague, like referring to herself as sapphic. After all, it was true since she liked women. Apart from that, she didn’t bother with labels.

When Leo had wandered off to look at a stall further away, Piper struck up a conversation with Jason.

“So, you’re bisexual?” She asked. “Can I ask how long you’ve known?” She wasn’t suspicious of his sexuality, just wanted to get a read on this guy.

“I’ve known since high school,” Jason replied. “It wasn’t really anything climatic or world changing. I ended up going to prom with a male friend - we went as friends, not dates - and realized I wouldn’t have minded being his date. That’s what caused me to have a minor crisis before accepting it in college. Now, I’m out and proud and with a partner teenage me dreamed of.”

Ending: Please Please Please you’ll always be special to me 😭 basically, I struggled a lot with this. Didn’t know what you could do to hang out as friends and get to know someone (that’s fun and interesting to write). Dinner seemed too boring, with movies it’s rude to talk during them, etc. I think i had decided pride thing plus coffee or something? But didn’t like that. Then months later i asked for ideas on here and got birthday party. So had a mental idea to change all this to have them plan a surprise party for Leo and invite Jason to help and get to know them, but never got around to changing this. No idea what the plot was, but would end with Piper realizing Jason is good for Leo (a green flag of a man) and after Jason brings an asleep Leo home and tucks hun in bed, she gives her blessing. I really liked this idea bc, in modern/no power valgrace fics, Piper always knows Jason before hand (usually they dated before). But like… i wanted a fic where she DIDNT know him and was very protective of Leo (and unimpressed with his taste in men). I just think it’s an interesting idea that made me giggle. Also outsider POV fics are always fun.

Title: Magic Fabric of Our Dreaming

Plot: Soulmate AU where you have dreams of your soulmate through the eyes of their friend. After years of no dreams, Jason finally has one. (10k)

Fic:

“Shit, shit, shit!” Hissed the unknown girl Jason was currently viewing the world through. Whenever Jason imagined how his first dream would go, he always imagined his soulmate and their close friend would be having a peaceful, fun time together. In a perfect world, they would discuss Jason and what his soulmate thought about him. It seemed whatever God was out there decided that Jason Grace, whom his friends jokingly called the boring fun police (he was merely responsible), had a soulmate whose friend gave him a chaotic first impression. Jason, who wanted to be a firefighter after he finished college, was viewing the world through the eyes of his soulmate’s close friend, who was panicking as she grabbed the fire extinguisher and frantically put out the fire blazing from a tray in the oven.

After a few beats and several frantic curses, the fire was put out. The girl sighed in relief as her shoulders slumped in defeat. She didn’t seem surprised that whatever she’d been baking had burst into flames. Instead, she took out the tray and placed it on the counter, staring at the burnt mess. She had the feeling of someone who flunked a test they hadn’t studied for. Even though she wasn’t surprised, she was still disappointed and upset. Jason had completely forgotten he’d feel the emotions the person felt through the dream.

The failed baking attempt instantly reminded Jason of an experience that some of his friends – Percy, Nico, and Rachel – had gone through. The three of them, besides Percy, had never baked a day in their life but decided they absolutely had to bake brownies at 3 AM as a break from cramming for finals. It resulted in what they referred to as The Great Brownie Debacle of ‘22. It had been utter chaos. Luckily, nobody had gotten hurt, but all of them had been banned from the kitchen for the rest of the year. Jason still had no clue how they managed to cause so much chaos, especially making brownies. Jason wondered if his soulmate knew about the situation – if they had a dream from Jason’s friends' eyes about him walking into that wild scene. He figured his friends and his soulmate’s friend would get along swimmingly. What wonderful kitchen disasters they were. Jason thought he might be a bit cruel to assume his soulmate’s friend was a terrible baker due to one experience, but in his defense, his first introduction to this girl was this.

“Pipes, you wouldn’t happen to know why I smell smoke, would you?” A new voice suddenly asked. The girl turned, looking at the boy who had spoken.

Jason, like any normal person having their first soulmate dream, instantly assumed this was his soulmate. Statistically, the first person introduced in the first dream was most likely to be the person’s soulmate. In Jason’s experience with his friends, only Nico and Will’s situation had been an exception. With them, Nico often stuck close to his older sister (who was now studying abroad), and that caused Will to not know which of the siblings was his soulmate. Also, there had been a time when Nico was convinced Percy was his soulmate. However, he wasn’t and now Nico and Will were very happy together. Jason just hoped Percy would meet his soulmate soon, so they wouldn’t have to listen to him talking about her so much. He often bemoaned the fact that dreams of her were rare, but they were certain it was due to how sleep-deprived Percy was. You can’t have soulmate dreams if you don’t sleep.

Jason’s soulmate wasn’t what he expected. When Jason had let himself have hope – before he accepted his soulmate-less reality – he always imagined his soulmate would be a girl. She’d always be a girl, someone who was kind, funny, beautiful, and would light up a room. Though not all soulmates were romantic, he always wished his soulmate bond would be. Sure, Jason was bisexual and he was well aware of this, but he assumed, due to how he tended to prefer girls, that his soulmate would be one as well.

Jason was dead wrong, but he wasn’t upset about it. This guy wasn’t what Jason had expected, but in a way that showed him he hadn’t known what he needed. He felt he preferred this stranger over the girl he’d made up in his head.

Though it was hard to tell from the perspective of this girl – ‘Pipes’ he’d called her – it seemed his soulmate was on the shorter side, based on the fact that he was just a bit smaller than the girl. Either he was short or she was tall. Jason was guessing the former since her line of sight was shorter than what Jason was used to and he was well above average height.

The boy had curly brown hair; deep brown eyes that seemed to have a twinkle of mischief; a round, babyish face that he must’ve never grown out of when he was younger; and pointed elf-like ears.

He was looking at Pipes with a raised eyebrow, headphones hanging around his neck, blasting music way too loud. Jason didn’t recognize the song, but he thought it sounded a bit like K-pop. Jason didn’t know any K-pop groups besides the obvious big two. Maybe he could ask his soulmate to introduce him to some songs. Out of their friends, only Will listened to K-pop, but he listened to practically every group, so his recommendations could go on and on.

He was messing with the string of his hoodie, twirling it around his finger. He had his nails painted black, but the nail polish was very chipped. The polish on the index finger of his left hand was completely gone. Jason was guessing the boy, who seemed very fidgety, had picked it off.

Jason’s first impression of the boy was that he was very cute and very different from Jason. He supposed he shouldn’t be too surprised by getting an ‘opposites attract’ soulmate, like Nico and Will. Still, it was a shock to him. He wasn’t complaining, though. After so long of no soulmate dreams, finally having one was a dream come true (literally). The fact that his soulmate was cute was a huge bonus.

Instead of answering her friend, Pipes just gestured to the tray as if it was a grand prize his soulmate had won on a game show. “Happy Birthday!”

The boy strolled into the kitchen, laughter bubbling out of him once he saw the state of his baked surprise. His laugh was even cuter than he was. He looked at his friend, placing a hand over his heart and a fake touched look crossing his features. “Aww, Pipes! How’d you know charcoal was my favorite?”

Pipes waved as if it was no big deal. “Please, I’m your best friend and foster sister! I know you better than you know yourself.”

The boy – Jason needed to come out with some nickname for him – gazed at the burnt cake in disbelief before looking over at Pipes, both amused and puzzled.

“You haven’t set foot into a kitchen a day in your life. Not only that, my birthday isn’t even today, it’s the seventh. What compelled you to bake me a cake the day before my birthday?”

Jason couldn’t see her face, but he could tell she was feeling a bit sheepish. The girl’s feelings filled Jason, even in a dream.

“Well, I’m going to be busy that and nearly the rest of July, so I thought I’d make you a cake and we could enjoy and celebrate your birthday today,” she explained.

Jason’s soulmate looked confused still. “Okay? Still doesn’t explain why you attempted to burn our apartment down. You could’ve just bought a cake.”

Pipes crossed her arms over her chest, huffing. “I didn’t try to burn our apartment down!” The annoyance faded after her quick retort. “It’s just… do you remember when we sat together and you told me all about your past?”

“My tragic backstory? Yes, I do.”

Pipes rolled her eyes but went on. “Well, when I was thinking about your birthday, I remembered how you said you hadn’t had a birthday cake in years, not since the days when your mom would bake one.” His soulmate’s expression faltered at the words, looking saddened, touched, and surprised all at the same time. “So, I figured if I just followed a recipe, then I could make you a cake. I’ve always had a cake, even when my father was too busy to celebrate my birthday with me. I thought, ‘How hard could it be?’ I just wanted to give you such a simple thing. I figured it couldn’t be too difficult, it was just following instructions,” Pipes looked at the burnt mess, sorrow filling her chest. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t even do such a simple thing for you.”

Jason’s soulmate placed a hand on the cheek of Pipes and she looked back at him. He was looking at her with a soft expression filled with fondness and love. “Piper, I’m touched, but I never needed a cake in the first place. Back during the birthdays I celebrated with my mom, my favorite part wasn’t the cake but was that I was celebrating them with my favorite person. Even if you won’t be here tomorrow, all I wanted was to celebrate my birthday with my favorite girl.”

It took Piper a few seconds to process his words. Then, she teared up and threw her arms around the boy’s shoulders, pulling him into a hug. He quickly returned the hug, laughingly softly as he rubbed her back. “Don’t get all teary-eyed on me! Come on now, I’ve told you several times that you’re one of my favorite people.”

“I know, I know, I’m tied in first place alongside your ‘unfairly hot’ soulmate, but it’s just… hearing it now makes me emotional.”

Jason wasn’t sure how to process all these emotions between the two of them alongside the mention of Jason himself. Judging by the air quotes and the way Piper said his name, she didn’t find Jason unfairly hot herself and that choice of words came straight from his soulmate himself. Also, not only had his soulmate had dreams before this of Jason but also they hadn’t even met and he was already one of his favorite people. It was… touching.

It touched him but also made him realize that while he hadn’t had soulmate dreams, his soulmate had. How long had he had them? How much about Jason did he know? Did he know about Jason’s assumptions that he didn’t have a soulmate? How did he feel about them? Jason felt bad despite knowing he did nothing wrong. He wanted to meet his soulmate and hold him in his arms, apologizing for being so bad at sleeping that he didn’t have any dreams.

“Come on, let’s just order a cake and spend the rest of the day hanging out. Annabeth just filled me in on the latest gossip regarding her soulmate. I still can’t believe that guy is real. You have to hear about what he’s just done. Also… please never try to cook or bake again. Just leave that to me. I’ll be your pretty little housewife while you’re my hard-working, rich husband.”

Piper snorted before agreeing with a nod. “Alright. Though, I hope you’ll agree to teach me one day – to take me on as your padawan. But yes, please tell me all about what that ‘seaweed brain’ has gotten up to!”

Jason’s dream faded as his soulmate took the arm of Piper and led her to the couch to discuss the soulmate of this Annabeth he mentioned.

Jason lay in his bed for a few minutes in silence after his dream, his brain racing as he tried to process what had happened. When his brain finally caught up with him, he sat up suddenly, his hand shooting out to grab his phone. With a quickened pulse and shaking hands, he opened up the group chat and texted a code they all agreed upon but barely used: they needed to have a group meeting ASAP.

____

“I bet you’re all wondering why Jason has gathered us all here today. I, for one, sure am.”

Despite calling the group meeting, Jason was the last to arrive at Rachel’s house. Jason was typically incredibly punctual and had never called a meeting before, so this was all very unlike him. He looked around at all his assembled friends, which included Percy (who had spoken), Rachel, Nico (who was FaceTiming Bianca and Will), Thalia, and Reyna. They didn’t look panicked or worried (he’d called a meeting, not an emergency meeting), but they did look curious, which only increased due to Jason being late to his own meeting.

“Jace, what’s going on? Is everything alright?” Thalia asked, a softness to her voice that was reserved for Jason and Jason alone.

“Alright? Look at him. He’s nearly bursting with happiness. This is good news,” Nico pointed out.

Jason nodded in agreement. He looked around at each of his friends before beaming. “I had my first soulmate dream.”

There were a few beats of silence before exclamations of both shock and congratulations.

For as long as Jason had known about soulmates, he’d wanted one with all his heart. The thought that there was someone out there who was fated for him, that was the other half of his soul, appealed to him. He’d wanted to meet this person and treasure them. He’d longed for it more than he longed for anything else.

However, as Jason grew older and older, he never had a single soulmate dream. Still, despite this, he hadn’t given up hope. He looked up everything he could about the soulmate bonds and dreams, hoping that it was just something like a medical issue or how he was sleeping. That hadn’t been the case, though. He had read that, once you meet your soulmate, dreams tend to slow down, but they don’t stop, so it couldn’t even be a romantic drama moment of him meeting his soulmate before when they were younger but didn’t remember. When he turned sixteen, he put the thought of soulmates aside and concluded he didn’t have one or that his soulmate died young.

He’d met Reyna when they were six years old after he got adopted by the Jacksons. Reyna had been their next-door neighbor and, though she and Percy were friends, she and Jason just seemed to click. They got along swimmingly and became fast friends. She protected him from bullies when they were younger and he provided support to her, especially when they were older and she confided in him about not having any soulmate dreams, to which he shared his secret that he was in the same boat as her. After that, there seemed to be a sort of tension between them. Jason could be oblivious but he could tell that Reyna had feelings for him. Despite their close bond and how well they worked together, he just didn’t have feelings for her and wasn’t interested in being with someone who wasn’t his soulmate. Jason never brought it up and Reyna never did either. As the years passed, their friendship stayed strong. Jason sensed that Reyna’s crush had faded away and now she was comfortable with not having a soulmate, though she had commented at times that she wouldn’t mind having one.

In their group, many of them had differing soulmate situations. Despite being the youngest of their group, Nico had managed to meet his soulmate within his first year of college. Now, the sophomore was in a happy relationship with Will. Bianca, Rachel, and Reyna all didn’t have soulmates. Jason had been a part of the no soulmate crew until today. Thalia had met her soulmate, Luke Castellan, years ago. Percy hadn’t met his soulmate yet but their friend group was already tired of him always bringing her up. Jason couldn’t remember much about her, but Percy already seemed infatuated with her and couldn’t wait for them to meet.

Now there was Jason, who had been without a soulmate until now, after ending his junior year and going into his senior year. Despite years of swearing he wouldn’t be like his brother, Percy, he knew that after only one dream, he was already infatuated with his soulmate.

He just wished he knew the guy’s name. He hoped Piper would mention it soon. Although, his hopes weren’t high. Despite the world knowing about soulmate dreams, people didn’t often bring up people’s names in conversation with them. There was also a rumor that if you used your friend’s name while talking to them, their soulmate wouldn’t even have a dream about that interaction. So, names weren’t often thrown around. Besides, most people used nicknames and it was odd for a close friend to randomly use someone’s name in the middle of a conversation.

“Jason,” Thalia spoke up, “are you sure it was a soulmate dream? I’ve heard about a condition that causes people to hallucinate soulmate dreams. I know how much you want a soulmate. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

Jason didn’t take her question to heart. He knew how much his sister worried about him.

“I’m certain. Neither the dream nor my soulmate wasn’t like something I could dream up. It was real.”

“So, what was she like? I’m curious if you’re saying she wasn’t like anything you could dream up,” Percy said.

“He. My soulmate is a he,” Jason smiled. “He’s a guy.”

Nico perked up at his words and Will made a cheering noise through the phone. After so long of them being the only queer soulmates in the group, they must’ve been happy and interested about there being another one.

Percy seemed a bit surprised – Jason had often talked to him about his ideal soulmate, who he always envisioned as a girl – but recovered quickly. “So, what’s he like? Learn anything from the first dream?”

Jason mulled over the information he could glean from his first dream. “Well… he’s cute, I think he likes K-pop, his birthday is exactly a week after mine, his best friend is his foster sister, he seems to have a sad past, he seems sarcastic yet sweet, he thinks I’m hot, and his best friend is terrible at baking but seems to really care about him. I can’t believe I learned both her name and nickname but not my own soulmate’s name.”

Percy sighed and nodded at that. “I’ve been there before. I only learned my soulmate’s name a few weeks ago. After I meet her, I’ll find out who this Leo friend of hers is that called out her name and give him whatever he wants.”

“I get what you mean. I barely even know my soulmate, but I already want to give Piper a basket of whatever since she’s so sweet for my soulmate.”

“Why do you think it took so long for you to have a soulmate dream, though?” Reyna asked. Her tone wasn’t accusatory, just genuinely curious. Her crush on Jason was long dead. Now, Jason was just like her weird brother that she cared about dearly. Jason was also curious about why, after all these years, he finally got his first dream.

“There could be many reasons,” Nico said with a shrug. “The soulmate system is very complicated. Back when I was a teenager, I struggled with my mental health, especially with my depression. I couldn’t cope well with it back then, so I dealt with it by isolating myself. Back then, Will’s dreams of my life stopped. He was worried I had died. It could be something similar?”

“I doubt it, though it could be a factor,” Will suddenly said. “Jason said he went his whole life without a dream, right? This soulmate of his likely just hasn’t had a close enough friend for all this time. You said he’s a foster kid, right? The foster system isn’t pleasant. Though we won’t truly know until Jason meets him and introduces us to him.”

That was true. Though Jason didn’t want to interrogate him, he did want to know what his soulmate went through and why he spent so many years without a soulmate dream. He wanted his soulmate to be able to trust him and confide in him. He didn’t know what happened to him, but he wanted to protect him and make sure it never happened again.

“I just hope I’m able to meet him soon,” Jason muttered with a sigh. “I waited more than twenty years for a soulmate dream, I doubt I can wait much longer to meet him.”

“I have a feeling we both will end up meeting our soulmates soon,” Percy suddenly said. “I don’t know why, I just have a feeling.”

Jason hoped Percy was right. Percy’s gut feelings were scarily accurate.

____

Several days had passed and Jason hadn’t had another soulmate dream. He wasn’t worried about never having another one, he was sure he would, but he was worried about his soulmate. He hoped that he was okay and wasn’t isolating himself or anything like that.

He was in a peaceful slumber, without a dream, when he was suddenly awoken by a slap to the face. He jolted up, his eyes snapping open, and was greeted by the face of Reyna, who was blurry but seemed… anxious? Excited? He wasn’t sure, she was too blurry.

Before he could even open his mouth, Reyna picked up his glasses from his nightstand and shoved them onto his face. Jason huffed and adjusted his glasses as he sat up. He looked over at his clock, sighing internally when he saw it was 5 in the morning.

Jason knew Reyna well enough not to ask stupid questions like ‘Why are you up at this ungodly hour?’ or ‘How did you get into my apartment?’ or ‘Why did you slap me to wake me up?’. Instead, he groaned and asked her what the hell she was doing there. Jason would need to check his schedule, but he was almost certain that Reyna didn’t have an appointment to slap him awake.

“It happened,” Reyna sounded breathless and Jason wasn’t sure if it was because she was excited or because she ran here. It could be both.

A sarcastic response was on the tip of his tongue but he bit it down. He spent too much time with his brother. If Reyna wanted sarcasm, she surely would have gone to him.

“What happened?” Jason asked.

“My soulmate dream. I had one. I dreamed of my soulmate.”

That woke Jason up immediately. He let out a slow breath, taking in Reyna’s expression and her disheveled appearance.

“Are you serious?”

Reyna simply responded by nodding.

“Well, I’ll make us some food and we can discuss this over breakfast, okay?”

Reyna nodded again, smiling softly.

“Sounds like a plan, Grace.”

Jason wasn’t an expert chef, but he could cook a decent meal. After Sally had adopted him, he was behind with many social skills thanks to the odd woman who his mom left him with, so Sally had done her best to teach him life skills, manners, and other things he’d need in life. One of the skills Sally taught him was how to cook. He was no Sally Jackson, but he wasn’t a disaster like some of his friends.

Jason made them some pancakes.

Jason placed a plate of pancakes in front of Reyna. “So, you also have a soulmate now too? What are the chances of that?”

“I imagine they’re very slim,” Reyna responded with a shrug. She picked up a fork and knife and began cutting her pancake up. “Imagine if our soulmates knew each other as well, that they were best friends like us. I think the chances of that are close to none.”

“So, how are you feeling? What’s your soulmate like?” Jason asked. He wasn’t sure how Reyna would feel about finally having a soulmate. While Jason had always been a bit of a hopeless romantic, hoping to one day dream of his other half, Reyna never seemed like that. From the few times she’d opened up about her situation, it was hard to glean how she’d feel about her situation changing. When they were teenagers, she seemed upset about not having a soulmate but accepted the reality. Recently, she seemed at peace with the idea and said she didn’t need a soulmate, that all she needed in life were her dogs and friends.

Reyna let out a heavy sigh. She fiercely stabbed one of the pancake pieces but didn’t eat it. Instead, she just pushed it around on her fork, glaring at her plate. “I don’t know. I mean, my soulmate seems great. She’s kind and pretty and has a close relationship with her best friend. They’re both such huge dorks but I suppose they’re funny. I don’t know how to feel, though. A part of me was content with my life, was content with not having a soulmate. However, there’s this smaller part of me that’s so overjoyed, that teenage girl that wanted someone who was destined to stay with her and understand her.”

“I get what you mean. As much as I’ve always wanted a soulmate, I also got used to not having one. Also, the idea that I could choose someone to be my other half in life - whether it be a partner, friend, or sibling figure - was freeing. After all, some people wind up with toxic soulmates. You’re not guaranteed a good second half,” Jason said.

Reyna nodded. “I don’t think I even want a romantic relationship, soulmate or not. She seems nice and pretty, but… I like my life just being my dogs, our friends, and myself. I know I could have that and a partner, but I don’t want that. I’ve been on a few dates and I just don’t think that’s for me. But what if my soulmate wants us to have a romantic relationship? Then what?”

Most people would tell Reyna that the soulmate system was perfect, that her other half would want the same thing or be willing to compromise. However, Jason knew better than that. He’d heard the horror stories of people who had other halves that were toxic or abusive, or the cases of soulmate pairs that had completely differing goals in life or needs in a relationship. That’s not even acknowledging the fact that you’re 3 times more likely to be killed by your soulmate than a stranger.

“Well, you lived your whole life without a soulmate, haven’t you? If you two can’t work things out, then you don’t need her. I would recommend giving her a chance once you meet her and having an honest conversation, but in the end, it’s up to you. It’s your life, not your soulmate’s.”

“When did you get so wise?” Reyna asked. “I remember when your first reaction to seeing an object you didn’t know was to attempt to eat it.”

Jason groaned, covering his face with his hands as Reyna laughed at the memory. “Ugh, don’t remind me of that. You better not tell my soulmate about that when you meet him.”

“If I don’t tell him, then Percy will. Would you rather have your childhood memories told through me or Percy?” She asked.

“You’re asking me to choose between the lesser of two evils. If I had to choose anyone, I would pick Sally. You both will paint me in such a bad light.” Jason knew Reyna would tell him about the paint incident and Percy would tell him about the outlet accident. He would prefer his soulmate not hear about either of those. He didn’t know much about his soulmate, but he had a suspicion he would join Percy and Reyna in teasing him. He didn’t need to be teased any more than he already was.

“I’m not letting either of you meet my soulmate,” Jason concluded. “You’re all monsters.”

Reyna huffed out a breath. “You can’t hide him from us forever. We’ll eventually track him down.”

“Please, Nico is the only one with any detective instincts with you lot. Percy has had soulmate dreams for over ten years but still hasn’t managed to meet her. He didn’t even know her name until recently,” Jason shot back.

“Exactly. We’ll use Nico’s detective skills. Percy will be around for his street smarts. Honestly, Nico likely already knows him and has brunch with him every Sunday.”

Nico somehow seemed to know everyone. When their friend group began to form, whenever someone new joined the main group, Nico already had developed a friendship with them. He seemed closed off and introverted, but he was friends with everyone at their school. Thalia hadn’t even attended their school in years, but Nico and she already knew each other before Jason introduced her to his friends. It was beyond Jason how Nico had met his long-lost sister. Jason was going to be upset if he found out his soulmate was only one Nico connection away from him. Now that he thought of it, he should ask Nico if he knows any short, cute Latino boys.

“Also,” Reyna added, “even without Nico and his infinite connections, I could just wait until he visits you and then break into your apartment. We can discuss the push-pin fight over breakfast.”

Jason wondered how his soulmate would react to waking up and finding Reyna just standing there in his kitchen with breakfast, ready to divulge all of Jason’s embarrassing childhood memories. Considering Reyna was his best friend, his soulmate likely already knew about Reyna and her habit of breaking into the places of her friends.

“I’m screwed either way, aren’t I?” Jason bemoaned.

“I thought that was obvious from the start.”

With that, Reyna began to eat her pancakes. Jason turned his attention to his coffee, knowing he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep after this, even if he tried. Once he was up, he was up, his body refusing to fall back asleep.

The kitchen was silent, filled with only the sounds of them eating. With how long they’d been friends, they didn’t need to fill any silence, they were comfortable in each other’s presence. Jason thought if he tried to make small talk with Reyna, she would stab him with her fork.

“I hope he’s a good person,” Reyna suddenly said after a few minutes of silence. Jason looked up from his coffee mug. “I hope he’s an amazing person, someone who’s worthy of you. You deserve the best soulmate there is.”

Jason felt himself smile at that. “He is.” He barely knew his soulmate, but he knew that much.

____

There were only three things in life that Leo hated: needles, politicians, and himself. His worst nightmare would be himself as a politician who had to take shots every day.

Leo had been having soulmate dreams ever since he was six years old. After Leo had his first dream, about a blond boy that seemed cute yet confused, he’d asked his mom about him. His mom had told him about soulmates and the dreams people had about their soulmate, through the eyes of a close friend. Leo had been stoked and excitedly told her all about his dreams from then until she passed away when he was eight.

After his mom’s death, Leo’s soulmate dreams were one of the few happy moments in his life. He didn’t have his mom to tell his dreams to, so he began writing them down in a journal, along with the ones he could remember having when he was younger. Leo still writes down his dreams. He has several journals full of his dreams and his observations about his soulmate and his friends.

When he was a teenager and had the dream about Jason admitting he didn’t have a soulmate, Leo had been crushed. When he woke up after that dream, he’d allowed himself to cry for the first time in years. One-sided soulmate bonds weren’t common, but they did happen. It seemed fitting for Leo that nobody in the world would ever be unfortunate enough to be stuck with him.

He’d struggled with the idea of his one-sided bond for years. Recently, he’d gotten happy with his life from his best friend and foster sister Piper to his new friends Annabeth and Hazel. College was a pain but he did enjoy studying what he loved. He still struggled with the knowledge, he wished he would stop having dreams but also desperately craved them. Then, out of nowhere, he had a dream about Reyna telling Jason she finally had a soulmate dream. He was happy for her, especially since he knew who her soulmate was (none other than his own best friend, what were the chances of that?). Then, Jason implied that he suddenly started having soulmate dreams.

It was a lot of information to take in. He had to get used to his one-sided bond for years only to find out his soulmate started having dreams all of a sudden? It made his thoughts fly. On one hand, he was happy but on the other he was worried. Why did Jason not have dreams for years? Why now all of a sudden? Was Leo even his soulmate? What did Jason think of him if he was? Would he even want to date him? Would his friends even like him?

Leo had dreams of Jason and his friends for years. He knew them all very well.

Jason Grace was the son of an actress named Beryl Grace. She ended up giving him away at a young age, which caused his older sister to run away. When Jason was six, he was adopted by Sally Jackson, causing Percy Jackson to become his brother. Jason ended up becoming friends with Reyna after he moved into the Jackson household. Jason met Thalia again years later when he was a teenager. Now, he was at college and shared an apartment with Percy.

Jason Grace was a dork but an amazing dork at that. He was kind, honest, caring, hardworking, oblivious, but an all-around great guy. That wasn’t even mentioning how good-looking he was. Not only did he have a great personality but was also insanely handsome. It wasn’t fair to people like Leo who only had their humor going for them.

Not only was Jason great, but so were his friends.

Percy Jackson was Jason’s older brother. He cared deeply about his family and was incredibly loyal. He talked a lot about his soulmate and seemed to adore her, whoever she was. Percy wasn’t the brightest book-wise, but he had great street smarts. He was a funny guy that Leo could find himself getting along with.

Reyna was an amazing person. She deserved to be Jason’s soulmate. Reyna was smart, strong, and a natural-born leader. Also, she was insanely pretty. Leo could tell Reyna had feelings for Jason at one point. Even though her feelings had faded, Leo’s insecurities around it remained. If Jason hadn’t returned the feelings of Reyna, then what chance did Leo have? She was more than he could ever be.

Nico was a close friend of Jason’s. He seemed reserved and emo (and a little creepy, he had a weird habit of appearing out of nowhere without making a sound), but he was very social. Jason was the first person Nico came out to and Jason was very supportive of him. He was the number one supporter of Nico and Will’s relationship. It was sweet and made Leo feel a tad melancholy. Nico was sarcastic yet funny and Leo felt envious of his bond with Will.

Thalia was Jason’s older sister. She was badass, cool, yet sweet. She cared about Jason dearly and was emotional when she found out her little brother was alive and well. They started forming their relationship again in their teen years and seemed to have a strong bond now. Leo had been so jealous of their relationship both before and after Piper became his foster sister. Now that Piper and he had a strong, close bond, he wasn’t as jealous but he still envied their bond.

Leo didn’t know Rachel, Will, and Bianca as well, but they all seemed nice. Leo had a feeling he would get along well with Will.

Leo’s mind went back to what Reyna had said when she said she wished Leo - or someone else if Leo wasn’t even Jason’s soulmate, but that hurt too much to even consider so he didn’t for now - was someone that deserved Jason. He wondered how disappointed Jason’s friends would be when they met him.

During Leo’s years in foster care, he learned a lot of hard truths. One of those truths had been that Leo wasn’t a very likable person. It took until Piper, who hadn’t even liked him when they first met, to finally get a good friend, one who cared about him. Leo tried desperately to get people to like him only for him to only get a genuinely good friend who actually gave a shit about him in his college years. Piper, Hazel, and Annabeth assured him that he was a great guy and friend but Leo didn’t believe it just yet. It was hard when all his life said otherwise.

Jason’s friends were going to take one look at him and see he didn’t deserve Jason. Leo already knew he didn’t deserve Jason but thought it was obvious since their bond was one-sided. However, now that he knew that it wasn’t, he wondered how the system could make such a huge error.

Leo felt sorry for Jason. He deserved someone better than him.

Piper entered Leo’s room, without knocking like usual, and paused when she saw Leo lying on his bed, hugging the plushie Piper had gotten for him close to his chest.

“Are… you okay?” She asked. Her tone made it clear that she did not think he was okay.

“I’m an awful person,” Leo moaned, wallowing in his misery.

Piper thought Leo was joking around, evident by her joking reply. “You’re realizing that just now?” She teased.

Leo knew she was joking, but it stung nonetheless. He began to cry, causing Piper to panic. She rushed to his side, running a hand up and down his arm, not knowing how to comfort him. “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay? Do I need to fight anyone?”

Leo let out a watery laugh. He shook his head. “No. I’m… not worthy of my soulmate. His friends want him to have a soulmate who’s worthy of him but… I’m not. They’re going to hate me if they ever meet me.”

Piper sighed. She gave his arm a firm squeeze. “Don’t talk like that. You’re more than worth him. If he or his friends can’t see that, then they’re idiots,” she told him, her voice both firm and comforting.

He sat up, turning his full attention to Piper. His fingers fiddled with the fluff on his plushie. “Then why did he only start having dreams now? That’s a sign from the universe that I’m not worth him! The soulmate system isn’t perfect. That’s why Jason hasn’t had years for over twenty years.”

Silence rose between the two of them. Leo was certain he got his point across before Piper grabbed his wrist, dragging him out of bed. “We’re having a meeting. I need our friends to knock some sense into you.”

“Piper-”

“No objections! I won’t hear anyone slanding you and that includes you!”

Leo wanted to wallow in his self-pity and misery and now he was forced to have an intervention with his friends. How dare they be such good, caring friends. What assholes.

It took ten minutes for Annabeth and Hazel to arrive after Piper called them. By then, Leo had cleaned up and made it look less like he’d been crying. Despite cleaning up, Hazel pulled him into a hug the moment she arrived. Leo sighed and hugged her back, patting her back.

After Annabeth arrived, they sat around in the living room all with hot drinks Piper made for them. Piper and Annabeth had coffee, Hazel had tea, and Leo had hot chocolate. Piper knew their drink preferences so well. It was one of the several things that made her an amazing friend.

“Piper gave us a basic overview of what you’re feeling. Can you give us some more details?” Annabeth asked.

Leo sighed but nodded. He told them everything, from his dreams to his insecurities to the dream he’d just had. He told them all of it. He only took breaks to drink his hot chocolate, not wanting it to go cold. By the time he was done talking, they had all finished their drinks.

“So, you think you’re unworthy of your soulmate because he hasn’t had dreams until now?” Annabeth asked, her voice gentle. “That and your self-esteem issues?”

Leo nodded, placing his empty mug on the coffee table. “Obviously! Why else would he not have dreams until now?” He asked.

“Because life has given you a shit deal!” Hazel burst out.

They turned their attention towards her. Hazel was such a sweetheart that Leo was always surprised whenever her fiercely protective side came out along with her swearing like a sailor. She was the kindest girl he ever met but you should never mess with those she loved. If Leo had to choose between facing an angry mother bear or an angry Hazel, he’d choose the bear.

“Life has been so unfair to you. You’re a good person who deserves better than what you were given. You’ve had the worst luck until now. The kindest people deserve more than what life has given them. Your worth isn’t dependent on how many dreams your soulmate has had, okay? You’re a good person and you more than deserve him,” Hazel firmly stated, getting emotional the more the spoke. She reached a hand over and grabbed Leo’s, squeezing it. Leo felt himself tearing up as well.

The four of them had all become friends due to sharing trauma and feeling unloved and unworthy.

Piper and Leo were the first to become friends. When she was a teenager, an article came out about her and her relationship with her father, accusing him of being a bad dad and neglecting his daughter. He was a very famous actor so this news made him look bad.

Instead of doing a publicity stunt with his daughter, he and his team thought the best way to resolve these rumors (that were partially true) was for him to take in a foster kid. They decided on Leo since taking in a ‘troubled foster kid’ would make him look even better. Leo didn’t give a shit, since it meant he had a roof over his head. He had the roof of a rich man over his head. He could use that as an advantage, to get ahead in life.

At the start, Tristan gave Leo extra attention since he was new and he needed his cooperation. Piper hadn’t been happy about it and decided that Leo was the enemy.

Piper wasn’t mean to him, but she didn’t bother to ever speak to him. Leo told himself that he didn’t care since he was only trying to survive, not make friends. He kept telling himself that, but that didn’t make it true.

If he was honest, he always wanted a sister. He hadn’t had a positive female figure in his life ever since his mother died. Even when he was a kid, he’d always wanted a sister or any type of sibling. He’d wanted someone in his life who could understand him and what he went through, someone who was family. Family had always been important to him and he lost that after his mother died.

He didn’t want to annoy Piper, so he suppressed his wishes and desires. They went on with their lives but they weren’t siblings or even friends, just two people who happened to live in the same place and avoided each other at all cost.

Eventually, the two of them went off to college and wound up in the same college. Tristan bought them an apartment for the two of them to share. Piper seemed upset that she still had to share a living space with Leo, but she sucked it up and continued to ignore Leo.

It all changed near the end of freshman year. Piper was taking chemistry but was going to fail if she didn’t raise her grades. She talked to her teacher who told her that Leo was one of the best students in the class. He was the only person she knew in the class so she begrudgingly went to him and asked him to tutor her. Leo saw this as an opportunity for them to become closer and become at least civil, so he took it.

He never could have predicted that choice would change his life.

The two of them began studying together. Leo would explain the material in his own Leo way, the way he understood it. Surprisingly, his way of thinking worked with her as well. The information began to click with her and she understood and began to figure information out herself.

After their first few successful tutor sessions, they began to hang out together. They ended up clicking, getting along much better than they ever did before. They made up for their years of ignoring each other and became friends. Later, after Leo confronted Tristan for how he treated Piper and Piper supported Leo with his insecurities in his soulmate bond, the two became inseparable. Now, Leo had a person he wouldn’t trade for the world. He loved Piper more than anything and he knew she felt the same.

After that, he met Annabeth and Piper met Hazel.

Annabeth had felt neglected as a child, which caused her to run away from home. She got taken in by some older teenagers and they became her family. Recently, she reconnected with her birth parents and began to restart their relationship.

Hazel had a bad mother and grew up in a racist neighborhood. People at school were terrible to her and bullied her. Her mother had been kind at first but grew to be a greedy woman who resented her. Eventually, after moving, they went caving and had an accident. Hazel’s mom didn’t make it but Hazel did. She spent the next few years in a coma. When she woke up, she had to come to terms with her mom’s death and how much had changed in the world.

They all became a close-knit friend group that loved and supported each other. Leo wanted the best for them and hoped they all found their happiness and their soulmates.

“Hazel is right,” Piper spoke up. “We all know you and we know what a great person you are. You were given a shit deal in life, we all were. However, you overcame the pain and now you can be happy and let yourself have this happiness. Your soulmate and his friends are going to love you as much as we do. Well, they won’t love you as much as me since that’s impossible, but they’ll come close.”

Leo felt himself smile at that. He gave Hazel’s hand a squeeze in return before he took a deep breath in and out. He knew they were right but it was hard to accept sometimes. After years of self-hatred and insecurities, it was hard to let it all go. He was trying his best to learn to love himself, but it was a long, difficult road.

“I just… don’t understand. Why hadn’t he had a dream for so many years? Why did he think he didn’t have a soulmate?” He asked, confused and desperate for an answer.

“Well, isn’t it because you haven’t had friends before Piper before?” Annabeth asked.

Leo tilted his head. “What? No. I’ve had friends before.”

“But were they real friends?”

“I… think so?”

“Did they ask you questions about yourself?”

“Well… no.”

“Did they ask how you were doing?”

“No…”

“Did they take care of you?”

“No, but I can take care of myself.”

“Did they ever help you out?”

“Okay, I get it!” Leo said, tired of coming to so many late realizations in life, like the fact that he never had a genuine friend before Piper.

Annabeth gave him a gentle smile. “I’m guessing it’s because you lacked a genuine friend before Piper came along. After you two became friends, it took you a while to open up to her and then to meet us. I’m guessing it took so long because you needed to have someone you could genuinely love and trust for your other half to get the dreams. I think that’s why Piper’s soulmate hasn’t had one either, because she never had many friends who genuinely liked her for who she was before you.”

Annabeth’s words were kind, but the realization that washed over Leo wasn’t. The pieces began to click and slide into place and a horrible conclusion came to him. He let out a slow, shaky breath as he accepted a truth he never wanted to.

He looked at Piper. “Do you know what this means?”

She shook her head, confused.

“Piper, we’re losers.”

Horror dawned on Piper’s face. “Oh gods… you’re right. We’re fucking losers! Oh gods…”

Annabeth and Hazel both seemed surprised by the direction the conversation went. Hazel moved her hand from Leo’s to his shoulder, squeezing it. “Hey, no, you guys aren’t losers! You just… hadn’t met the right people yet.”

“We’re losers and our soulmates are stuck with two dweebs as soulmates!” Leo bemoaned.

Piper got up and began pacing back and forth, her hands behind her back and her face pinched. Leo buried his head in his hands, looking like a middle-aged man going through his third divorce.

He couldn’t believe it. For so long, he thought the reason behind what he thought was a one-sided bond was that he wasn’t worth his soulmate. It turns out he was just a friendless loser with trust issues. Leo felt so sorry for Jason. He suffered through years of thinking he didn’t have a soulmate because Leo was a lame social reject.

Annabeth sighed. She exchanged a look with Hazel. They loved their friends but they were incredibly dramatic.

____

Soulmate dreams didn’t come the moment a person made a true friend. In most cases, it came weeks or even months after that. Due to that happening, the first soulmate dream will be recent, but the ones after that don’t have to be. Jason was having a dream from around a month ago.

He’d had a few dreams since his first one. He had always been in Piper’s body, but he saw two other friends of his soulmate, both girls. He didn’t know their names yet.

This was the first time he was having a dream from someone who wasn’t Piper, someone who was a guy, a friend he hadn’t met yet.

He could instantly tell he was at a pride event, which meant this likely happened in June. The boy was talking to someone. They handed him a water bottle and he took it before walking off.

He walked a good ways away from the event, over to a boy sitting on a big rock on the sidelines. Jason instantly recognized him as his soulmate.

As the boy reached his soulmate, he felt a jolt of sympathy go through him. His soulmate was sitting on a rock, dressed up in a pride outfit. He had a rainbow crop top on and some black shorts that had a rainbow flag running up the sides. He had a rainbow bandana tied in his hair and his nails were painted two shades of green, white, blue, and purple. However, that wasn’t what caught his attention. What did that was his scraped-up knees, his bloody knuckles, the cut on his cheek, and the blood dripping from his nose. He’d clearly gotten into a fight. He was currently glaring at the ground, not giving a shit about the blood dripping from his nose into his thighs.

Jason had seen his soulmate in many different states of emotions, but true anger had never been one of them. As cute as he was, he looked fierce when he was genuinely pissed off. It was genuinely scary. Jason wouldn’t want to mess with him when he was mad.

“Piper should be back in a few minutes. When she’s here, we can clean you up. Here, you should stay hydrated,” the boy said as he handed him the water bottle.

His soulmate tried to open his water bottle but he was unable to. He kept trying for the next ten seconds, his anger bubbling up steadily. Suddenly, it burst over and, before the boy could offer to help him, his soulmate suddenly threw the water bottle. It landed with a dull thump into the grass a few feet away from the two.

His soulmate buried the heels of his hands into his eyes, letting out a pitiful cry of both anger and anguish. It was a heartbreaking sound.

The other boy didn’t seem surprised. He simply walked over to the water bottle and picked it up, unscrewing the cap as he walked back to the other. He handed him the water bottle again. “Don’t be such a jerk to the water bottle. It didn’t do anything to you.”

His soulmate looked up at him and huffed but took the bottle. He downed nearly half of it in one go. When he was done, he handed it back to the boy, who screwed the cap back on before placing it down next to the rock his soulmate was sitting on.

His soulmate let his gaze wander. When the boy followed his gaze, Jason felt his stomach drop and anger rise inside him. Inside the pride festival, there was a small yet loud group of religious protestors.

Some religious people were against not only queer people but queer soulmate bonds. They seemed to think only men and women had romantic bonds and that romantic queer bonds didn’t exist. It was infuriating.

“I hate them,” His soulmate muttered, causing the boy to look at him. “I hate them so much. Why can’t they let us have this? Why did they have to come here? Why can’t we have one thing? Why do they have to ruin everything?”

His soulmate’s anger rose as he took til it finally bubbled over and he started to cry. The boy crouched down in front of him. He brought a hand up and wiped away his tears. His soulmate batted the hand away, looking away as he furiously wiped his tears away, sniffling.

“Hey, you shouldn’t let them get to you,” the boy told him, his voice soft and gentle.

“Why not?” His soulmate snapped back.

“Because if you do, that means they win.”

His soulmate blinked in shock and confusion. The boy went on. “Well, they came here to try to convert people and ruin the fun you guys have. If you let them get to you, that means they win. You need to keep having fun and rub it in their faces. Come on, you’re the most annoying guy I have ever met. You’re really going to stop that because of some people being jerks?”

That brought a grin slowly to his soulmate’s face. “When did you get so malicious, Frank?” He asked.

Frank smiled back. He reached a hand up, gently brushing one of his curls out of his eyes. His soulmate blinked in surprise. “You’re a bad influence.”

His soulmate scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I’m a wonderful influence.”

Suddenly, Piper showed up with a bag in her hands. Frank moved out of the way so she could crouch down in front of him. He watched closely as Piper cleaned the blood off his face. She made sure she was careful as she patched up his injuries as well. After she was done, she let out a sigh and stood up. “Can you not get into any more fights during our time here?”

His soulmate slowly stood up. He seemed to take a few seconds to gather his emotions before he beamed at Piper. “No more fights? Trying to make sure I won’t embarrass you by taking you down?”

Piper wouldn’t let him taunt her and get away with it. Without any warning, she tackled him to the ground, his soulmate squawking in surprise. He recovered quickly and the two began to wrestle on the ground. Frank tried telling them (half-hearted) to stop but they didn’t listen to him.

Neither of them won. They both ended up panting in the grass, completely worn out.

Frank let them catch their breath before grabbing each of them by the arm and dragging them up. “Come on. Let’s get back before you two completely wear each other out.”

Before Jason woke, he got one last look at Leo’s face. He looked beautiful in the sun, the light illuminating him in a way that would’ve made his breath catch in his throat if he saw him in person.

He felt a heart skip a beat, but it wasn’t his own.

Then, Jason woke up.

He took a couple of minutes to sit and think over what he dreamed. He formed a few opinions.

The first was that he didn’t like this Frank guy. He understood that it was normal to crush on people who weren’t their soulmates, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel jealous over some guy crushing on his soulmate. He was a normal guy and he felt jealous sometimes.

The second was that he wished he could hold his soulmate close and protect him from the bad things in the world. He wanted to be able to meet this guy. He knew he couldn’t protect him from all the shit the world had to offer, but he at least wanted to hold him when the world rained hellfire down upon him. He wanted to make sure he was okay after a bad day. He didn’t want to see his soulmate in pain secondhand and have to watch as some other guy comforted him.

The third was that he wanted to know this guy’s name already. He hated referring to him as ‘his soulmate’ in his head. It was true, but it seemed weird.

The fourth was that homophobes were the worst. He already had this opinion but this only solidified that. Going to a pride event was one thing but getting into a physical altercation with a guy there? That crossed a line. It especially crossed a line for him since that was his soulmate. Nobody was allowed to beat him up.

With a small sigh, Jason got out of bed. He would need some time to think things over after that dream.

“Be glad we didn’t drink with Hazel and Annabeth. Annabeth gets weirdly emotional while drunk and Hazel can’t hold her liquor well.”

Frank let out a sigh. “Still, I wish I didn’t have to carry Piper back.”

“I can’t carry her! Look at my scrawny body!” Leo exclaimed.

“Short and scrawny. Do you have any redeeming qualities?” Frank teased.

Leo stuck his tongue out at him. “I’m incredibly sexy and irresistible.”

Frank didn’t reply after that.

The three of them - Frank, Piper, and Leo - had gone out drinking. Piper had panicked upon seeing a cute girl and didn’t know how to flirt so she challenged her to a drinking competition. The girl had been a heavyweight so Piper had lost but she ended up getting the girl’s number so maybe she won in the end. Leo had been amused by the whole thing but now was less amused since they had to drag Piper home. He loved Piper but he didn’t like dealing with her drunk. He was glad Frank was around to carry her home.

The walk back to Piper’s apartment was mainly silent.

Ending: This fic is over a year old. If i had to rewrite now, I would change so much. Basically, the idea I had was Frank thinks Leo is his soulmate, Leo helps Frank realize it’s actually Hazel, Leo goes to a party and panics bc he sees Percy, he blacks out, he wakes up in his bed with Percy next to him (who’s shirtless) and panics, Percy wakes up and explains what happens (he meets a v drunk Leo, they talk and bond, Percy brings him home, Leo gets sick on his shirt (which is why he’s shirtless), gets Leo to bed, then Leo cries and begs him not to go so he goes to sleep there. Relief and they laugh. Then, Percy leans over him to grab his phone on the nightstand (he left it there) when Piper bursts in. After, Leo has to explain the misunderstanding. But Jason has a dream of the misunderstanding and not the explanation. Gets mad. Goes to Percy like “you asshole! You slept with my soulmate!” Friend group is all :0. Percy is confused but soon realizes and explains. Then later they both (Percy and Jason) get to meet their soulmates! Yay! This fic is old so kinda cringed and ashamed by it, but it’s so long that I decide to share

And those are all the discontinued fics i have! There were like… a few others but they were either only a few words or one was so ugh that I cringed and HAD to delete it. But hope you enjoyed these! And sorry they’ll never be finished. I just loved them and wanted to share.

Also! If you’re inspired and wanna write something based on an idea I shared or if part of a fic inspired you, go ahead! We love creativity and inspiration here! :D

#valgrace #leo valdez #jason grace #piper mclean #color is based on who’s pov it’s from :)

40 notes · View notes