LIVING FOR THE OCTAGON CONTENT

blind dates and other surprises

pairing: octavian x gn!reader

summary: your siblings set you up on a blind date and it's with none other than octavian. but somehow, he doesn't seem so bad…

“if you knew i'd be the one they'd set you up with, would you have even come?”

octavian and you sat next to each other on a bench, awkwardly staring into the distance. this wasn't how you had expected your blind date to go. you hadn't even expected octavian, of all people, to be the one your siblings set you up with!

“i–”

you weren't quite sure. perhaps you wouldn't have. octavian wasn't very well liked in camp jupiter. everyone feared him, but nobody liked him.

“i would've at least showed up. it wouldn't have been fair to keep you waiting, without saying a word”

octavian acknowledged your answer with a little huff. you couldn't tell if he was amused by your honesty or if he was angry at you.

“you know, you're free to leave. now that you know it's me, i don't expect you to stick around”

octavian sounded sincere. but it clearly pained him too, that you had insinuated that you wouldn't have shown up if you knew it was him.

“i'm sure you and your friends can have a good laugh about this…”

octavian muttered under his breath through gritted teeth. you probably weren't supposed to hear that part. but you couldn't ignore it.

“i wanna stay with you…”

those words left your lips before you could even realize what you were saying. octavian's head whipped around and his cold facade dropped for a moment, as he looked at you with genuine surprise. but it only lasted for a moment, before the bitterness returned to his face.

“why? you never liked me, so why do you want to spend time with me now?”

octavian clearly thought you had ulterior motives. but the truth was that this was the first time you had seen octavian as a person who had emotions like everyone else. he was hurt that your friends had set you up on a date with him, just to laugh about it later. he probably knew that nobody liked him, which was why he tried so hard to be feared and respected. so that he didn't feel like a nobody. like the person everyone laughed about behind their back.

“i want to get to know you…”

you couldn't tell octavian that you had seen right through him. it would only wound him further and you didn't want to make the situation any worse. for once, you wanted to see octavian smile.

“you… you're the first to feel that way”

octavian huffed and shook his head softly.

“but it's true! i don't think i would've felt that way, if we hadn't ended up here. but maybe it was fate that you were the one i'd be set up with…”

octavian glared at you and you quickly thought you might've said the wrong thing. but as you kept looking at each other, you noticed his face slowly but surely turning red. he was flustered and didn't know how to react to it…

“i don't believe in fate” octavian stated and stood up, his eyes set on the horizon. “but… i believe in forging my own path. and if my path crosses yours, then perhaps i could tolerate that…”

you chuckled and got up, taking octavian's hand. the boy turned around, his face softening as you smiled at him.

“you could've just said ‘i want to get to know you too’, silly~!”