𝐂œ𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐬é𝐬 [Percy Jackson]

148

Hadrian couldn't bear the look on Percy's face as he kicked him out of his cabin.

He remembered the feeling of jealousy, clouding his brain, he remembered how it all narrowed down to Percy and Annabeth. Ugh. He wanted to reassure him, tell Percy he only thought about him, that he and Jason were just friends.

Still, he stayed quiet as Jason entered his room and Percy exited.

Jason sat at the foot of his bunk. "I was about to go on duty. Just wanted to check on you first."

Hadrian nudged Jason's leg with his foot. "The guy who got run through with a sword wants to check on me? How are you feeling?"

He gave Hadrian a lopsided smile. His face was so tanned from their time on the coast of Africa that the scar on his lip looked like a chalk mark. His blue eyes were even more startling. His hair had grown out corn-silk white, though he still had a groove along his scalp where he'd been grazed by a bullet from the bandit Sciron's flintlock. If such a minor scrape from Celestial bronze took so long to heal, Hadrian wondered how he'd ever get over the Imperial gold wound in his gut.

"I've been worse," Jason assured him, "Once, in Oregon, this dracaena cut off my arms."

Hadrian blinked. Then he hit Jason with a pillow, "Shut up."

"I had you for a second."

Hadrian didn't want to out Percy, but at the same time, sitting in silence with Jason was so awkward, he was tempted to blurt out that he was seeing someone. Sort of. Right?

"I never thanked you." Jason's expression turned serious. "Back on Ithaca, after I saw my mom's... remnant, her mania... When I was wounded, you kept me from slipping away, Hads. Part of me..." His voice faltered. "Part of me wanted to close my eyes and stop fighting."

Hadrian breathed out slowly, "Me too" He admitted, "It's like I saw her and I thought.. well, she's my mom, everything's going to be fine now. But it wasn't. It hasn't been fine for a really long time"

"Exactly" Jason buried his face in his hands, "It's just... I have my mom's DNA. The human part of me is all her."

That reminded Hadrian of a dialogue from Infinity war. Infinity war reminded him of Kira. He focused back on Jason.

"What if I make the wrong choices? What if I make a mistake I can't take back when we're fighting Gaea? I don't want to end up like my mom— reduced to a mania, chewing on my regrets forever."

"We are not our mothers" Hadrian said with more confidence than he had. Jason needed reassurance, not practical answers, "You're not your mom, you're not your dad. You're your own person Jason, and you're a pretty good one"

Hadrian was about to lean in for a hug when there was a knock on his door.

Leo leaned inside. "A party? Am I invited?"

Jason cleared his throat, no doubt remembering the last time Leo had walked in on them. "Hey, Leo. What's going on?"

"Oh, not much." He pointed upstairs. "The usual obnoxious venti trying to destroy the ship. You ready for guard duty?"

"Yeah." Jason leaned forward and ruffled Hadrian's bright blue hair, "Thanks"

After they had left, Percy snuck in. Hadrian could feel and hear the annoyance in his movements. He remembered being thirteen, having to look for signs that his mother was angry, expecting the punishment that came. But this was Percy.

Hadrian watched him make his way over to him. "Do Romans like chats? I wasn't at Camp Jupiter long enough to ask them"

"Nah" Hadrian shrugged, "We just made out for like five minutes"