Superman

Perfect

DH: We will say this once and only once-

OW: In every chapter.

DH: We do not own Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus

-DDLDHoW- 

I love him...I hate him...I love Percy...I still love Percy... But he broke my heart... Nico Di Angelo scowled and leaned against the railing of the Argo II.

His long, black hair hung in his dark brown eyes and he irritably blew his bangs out of the way.

They immediately fell back into place and he growled. Ever since meeting Eros in Rome with Jason Grace, he had been more antisocial and temperamental than usual. Every time he had looked at the blonde airhead, he had seen him watching him with pity in his eyes.

Pity.

Nico almost spat. He hated being pitied. Especially by Jason Grace.

He couldn't stand the older son of Jupiter - or was he younger, considering Nico was from the nineteen thirties?

Everything about him was just so fucking perfect. His golden hair that never seemed to be out of place, his flawless healthily-tanned skin, his electric blue eyes, his muscular body, his life at Roman and Greek camps as a son of Jupiter. Even the scar on his lip was perfect.

While Nico was just...not.

His black hair was in desperate need of a cut, and his skin was still pale from the damn jar that he had been imprisoned in. His physique was scrawny from self-deprivation of food and the only article of clothing he wore that wasn't black was his brown aviator jacket. As a son of Hades, he wasn't exactly welcomed at either the Greek or Roman camp. With his stygian iron sword and skull ring, he radiated fear and his dark brown eyes - which were probably his only defining feature - were encircled by even darker bags from lack of sleep due to nightmares about...Tartarus.

He couldn't even close his eyes without picturing the red-skied hellhole, the burning fire of the river Plegethon going down his throat, the sulphuric air, monsters being reborn everywhere...

He shuddered and drew his aviator jacket closer around him. Nico Di Angelo was broken and Jason Grace was perfect.

"Hey, Nico."

"Jason." Nico didn't even have to look to know who it was. Jason was the only one who talked to him other than his sister since Percy and Annabeth had returned from Tartarus.

He heard footsteps near him and looked up to see the older boy lean against the railing next to him, his muscles obvious through his Camp Half-Blood t-shirt.

"So how are you?" Jason asked after a moment.

Nico narrowed his eyes and glared down at whatever was beneath the dark clouds below him. "Cut the crap and just tell me what you want, Grace."

Jason stared at him in shock for a moment. "What?"

"Anyone who talks to me always has something that they want to get out of it." Nico's glare intensified and some mortals shivered below, unknowing that they were under the glare of the son of Hades. 

Jason continued to stare at him in silence for a moment before chuckling and looking up at the stars. "You know, not everyone wants to get something out of you. Some people just want to help." Nico looked up at him in surprise. The blonde boy smiled slightly and pointed up. "See that constellation? That's Ursa Major, the big bear. And over there beside it is Ursa Minor, the little bear."

Nico glanced up at the sky. "How do you know all of this stuff?" Not giving Jason a chance to answer, he smirked. "Nevermind; I forgot. You're Mr. Perfect. You know all."

Jason glanced at him, concealling the hurt in his eyes from the comment. "I never said that I did. I just-" He cut himself off and looked down, blushing slightly. "Nevermind; it's stupid."

"Jason Grace doing something stupid? This I have to hear." Nico smirked again.

Jason sighed. "When I was a little kid, I wanted to be an astronaut so I studied constellations a bit. When I was with Lupa, I slept under the stars a lot and since my first night there, I've never seen as many stars... and believe me, I've looked." He cracked a small smile. "It was when I didn't know the difference between stars and plannets, so I always thought of how many worlds - galaxies even - there must have been to have so many stars." He chuckled. "It always made me feel kind of small and insignificant, you know?"

Nico opened his mouth, ready to respond with 'why would I care?' or 'you're right, that is stupid'. But instead he found himself saying, "Yeah... I know the feeling."

It surprised him and he could tell that it surprised Jason, although he hid it well. Jason smiled at him and stood up. "Come on; it's late and you look like you need some sleep."

Nico snorted. "I'll be fine. You go and get your beauty sleep, Cinderella." Jason blinked slowly. "It was a joke, Grace."

"I know..." A small smile crept onto his face. "I just didn't think you were capable of telling jokes."

Nico scowled. "Whatever... go and sleep already..."

Jason laughed slightly and Nico felt his skin tingle slightly. If his eyes were the most defining thing about him, Jason's laugh was the most defining thing about him.

It was deep without sounding forcedly so, and seemed to roll off of him in waves. It was infectious - Nico was struggling not to chuckle softly by that stage - and it came easily; the blonde was used to laughing.

"Goodnight, Nico," Jason said once his laughter had died down. He turned to leave, throwing Nico one last smile.

Nico watched him leave, feeling a small tug in his gut.

Because he couldn't hate Jason Grace. It was impossible.

He loved him.