dontvotemeout | Room 507, Sunday Afternoon

Jason had woken up intending to have a nice, boring Sunday, but those plans had been set aside when he got a call from Bruce. He was going to have go to home in the next few weeks, and Bruce had a long list of things he wanted Jason to be ready for when he got back to Gotham. For now, that meant reading, so Jason was sprawled out on his bed, trying to absorb the information in front of him without falling asleep or skipping past the boring but necessary details to get to the good stuff.

[For that shadowy guy!]

Current Mood: bored

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

dontvotemeout

"So, why'd you let yourself get roped in, if you weren't looking for dates?" Jason asked, very grateful that he had candy in his hands to focus on.

From:

deaths-demigod.livejournal.com

"I don't know," Nico shrugged, wondering why Jason was staring at his hands like that. "It was kind of an impulsive thing. Like, sure, why not talk to a bunch of people really fast, get in my monthly quota so Luke can't call me antisocial again."

From:

dontvotemeout

As easy as it might have been for Nico to lie, Jason's instincts were telling him that Nico was telling the truth. Of course, that was what he wanted to believe, but he was going to go with his instincts nonetheless. "You really weren't looking for dates? Just conversation?" he asked, taking a chance on glancing at Nico.

From:

deaths-demigod.livejournal.com

"That's what I just said," Nico replied slowly, still not quite getting what Jason was after. "I wasn't looking for sex either, before you ask."

From:

dontvotemeout

"I...don't know if I was going to ask that, actually." He hadn't gotten that far in his thought process, to be honest. After a moment, he added, "Do you want to look for dates? Or am I being stupid right now?"

From:

deaths-demigod.livejournal.com

"I don't think you're stupid," Nico told him, Jason being one of the smartest people he knew, keeping in mind Nico knew two Percy's. "But I'm starting to feel like I did something really wrong going on those dates, no matter how harmless I thought it was."

From:

dontvotemeout

"No, hey, you didn't do anything wrong," Jason said, shaking his head. "If you think the dates were harmless, then they were. Like I said, I'm just being stupid." And jealous, but he wasn't going to say that out loud.

From:

deaths-demigod.livejournal.com

Yeah, Nico definitely didn't think he should tell Jason about how he'd spent three minutes completely in love with Hank from class after that. "Okay. You really don't want me to date, huh?"

From:

dontvotemeout

"No, that's not what I meant," Jason said quickly, despite how the thought of Nico making out with other people made his stomach feel a little tight. That seemed like the answer Nico wanted him to give. "I don't have any right to say that. I want whatever's gonna keep you happy, you know? That's why I was being stupid, I shouldn't have even asked."

From:

deaths-demigod.livejournal.com

"Oh, okay." Nico thought he understood even less now, if that was possible. But if Jason wanted him to do what would make him happy, well, he could try that. "Um, do you wanna go on a date with me, Jay?"

From:

dontvotemeout

Now Jason was confused too, and it took him a second to figure out how to respond. "You...want to go on a date with me?" he asked. "I meant...you can do that with other people, if you want. Instead of with me. If you want." Because what Nico wanted kind of was his main concern, if he was going to keep him happy.

From:

deaths-demigod.livejournal.com

"You don't have to try and pawn me off on other people," Nico said, looking away because Jason didn't need to see the hurt likely written on his face. "You can just say no."

From:

dontvotemeout

Somewhere along the way, this conversation had gone completely off the rails, and Jason wasn't sure how to start getting back to what he'd actually meant to convey. "I don't want to pawn you off onto other people. Honestly, I kind of don't want you to go on dates with other people either," he said, finally admitting that thought. "But I don't want to stop you if that's what you want, 'cause I don't want to make you mad."

From:

deaths-demigod.livejournal.com

Didn't want to make him mad? Nico was totally confused and now a little worried that Jason was afraid of him. "What does mad matter? I just asked if you wanted to go on a date with me. I don't care about other people."

From:

dontvotemeout

Jason had a feeling that trying to clarify things further would only make their shared confusion worse, and really, hearing that Nico didn't care about other people did a lot to make him feel better. "I've never really been on a date before. Not a real one, at least. But, sure, I'd like to go on one with you."

From:

deaths-demigod.livejournal.com

"Good, because I thought you were rejecting me," Nico said, visibly relieved. "And really, um, that would kind of suck worse than a trip to Tartarus right now since I kinda thought you wouldn't hate trying it with me."

From:

dontvotemeout

"I wasn't rejecting you!" Jason said. "I thought you were rejecting me." Maybe this was why he'd never been on a date before.

From:

deaths-demigod.livejournal.com

"No," Nico shook his head emphatically. "I thought asking you out would clear that up. But I kinda have to wonder now, are you...you know, afraid of me?" Because that might be the most horrible thing ever, thinking Jason of all people would fear him.

From:

dontvotemeout

"Of course not," Jason said, trying to think back on what he'd said. "What makes you think that?"

From:

deaths-demigod.livejournal.com

"You said something about worrying about making me mad..." Which really kind of freaked him out just because he tried so hard not to be scary like his family (no matter how much it annoyed his father).

From:

dontvotemeout

"'Cause if I make you mad, you won't want to hang out with me anymore," Jason explained. "And I like you, so I don't want to piss you off."

From:

deaths-demigod.livejournal.com

"First, I swear I'm not that big of a jerk that if you pissed me off once I would cut all ties with you," Nico said, trying not to be offended, but it was a little hard. "Second, I don't think there's anything you could do that would make me never want to hang out with you. Third, um, you're kind of my favorite person to be around." He could have sworn they had this talk before, though it might've been in his ADHD-ridden head.

From:

dontvotemeout

"You're my favorite person to be around too," Jason said with a relieved smile. "I don't think you're a jerk. And I know you don't think there's anything I could do to make you not like me, but...I still worry, and I think I'm always going to worry, so you might have to remind me that that's what you think."

From:

deaths-demigod.livejournal.com

"No, I am kind of a jerk," Nico said, thinking of how he held grudges and threatened people. "I just try not to be that way with you. God, I swear I didn't know bringing you candy would mean like, deep and awkward conversation." And him turning pink and feeling completely embarrassed by the strange ache in his chest that was not related to anything he'd eaten.

From:

dontvotemeout

"You're not a jerk to me. You never have been," Jason said, sighing softly and leaning against Nico, barely resisting the urge to put his head on Nico's shoulder. "It wasn't the candy. It was me thinking about you on dates with other people. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make things awkward."