Human Shadow

human shadow

Jasico Bingo Challenge #4!!

Prompt: Myth Retelling

Many years ago, during the creation of mankind, humans were two beings connected. With four arms, four legs, and two heads, lovers roamed the earth eternally intertwined.

From up in Mount Olympus, Zeus feared the creatures would become too strong, and with the crack of lightning, he split them in two. Devastation reigned over those connected by their love, separated and searching for each other amid the crowds that had never felt quite so lonely.

There was one particular creature like this that Zeus feared. It was stronger than most, because its love was stronger than most. It crawled and climbed to its other half century after century, but Zeus always intervened.

These twin flames lived a million lives. They chose rebirth each time Zeus collected his thunder and zapped them into despair. Within each life they were reborn into, they tracked each other down.

Somehow, the lovers could never remember each other's faces. However, the feeling of their skin was akin to a dream. The mere sensation of the other was enough for them to recognize, sending sparks of memories up their souls and to their minds.

Nico swore up and down that since he was young, living in Italy, he remembered a boy he almost couldn't live without.

The night his mother told him they were leaving for America, they shared a rushed hug of desperation, trying to memorize each other.

Of course, the river Lethe made quick work of helping Nico forget everything possible about this boy.

Everything but what was ingrained in his heart and soul since the dawn of its very existence.

When he met Jason, something about him felt familiar. Nico had long abandoned the search for his long-lost lover, but it pounded on within his destiny to find him. He thought nothing of the familiarity, moving on with life like the feeling never happened.

One night, in the big house of Camp Halfblood, Nico and Jason both reached for a pencil at the same time during a meeting. Their fingers brushed, but no one noticed.

The familiar spark of separation zapped them, making them retract their hands. They both stared at each other for a moment before sitting back in their chairs and holding their tongues for the rest of their meeting.

Nico tried to keep the feeling out of his chest, but he felt like a magnet compelled to Jason.

The memories came flooding back. Sentiments from centuries long passed overflowed their senses. Neither paid any attention for the rest of the meeting.

After it ended, Nico rushed back to his cabin. The feeling felt so familiar. He sat down, but only for a second.

He could've sworn he could still feel Jason's arms wrapped around him.

He stood again and reached for the doorknob. Sneaking out of the Hades cabin was always easy, and there was a small path behind all the other cabins that could lead to the Zeus cabin.

Nico almost didn't have a mind of his own  anymore. The urge to seek Jason out and hold him close overtook any doubt or worry he could possibly have.

While walking, head to the ground as he was boggled by his mind, Nico crashed into something.

He looked up to see Jason, looking just as surprised as he felt.

"I was just looking for you," Jason said quietly, trying not to alert any lurking harpies.

"Me too-" Nico started, before being cut off.

Jason wrapped his arms around him tightly.

"It's good to have you back."

This is also on AO3:

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Jasico Bingo Challenge #5!

Prompt: Domestic Fluff

Nico always hated doing the dishes. Something about the chunks of food and boiling water made his skin itch just to think about it.

When he and Jason moved in together, it was made pretty apparent that Nico had an outstanding lack of cooking skills, so he started doing the dishes after dinner to make up for Jason always having to cook.

He hated it every time. However, he never brought it up. He didn't want to make Jason feel bad about him doing the one chore he despised almost every day.

After dinner one late Friday night, Nico tied up his too-long hair into the most pathetic ponytail he'd ever seen and turned on the sink.

Jason, tired from drawing alters all day, padded over on the cold tile and stood behind him. He wrapped his arms around Nico's waist and stooped down to rest his head on the smaller demigod's.

Nico laughed to himself and leaned into Jason's touch. "You're touchy tonight," Nico mumbled, scrubbing a plate. They should really invest in paper plates.

Jason muttered something inaudible. Nico examined the graphite that was almost always on Jason's hands. He should also invest in getting Jason to take more breaks.

Reaching over to place a dish on the drying rack, Nico stifled a sigh. Jason's warmth against him wasn't enough to make this suck any less.

"Thanks for always doing the dishes, Neeks. I know you hate it," Jason muttered, kissing Nico's cheek.

Nico scoffed. "I don't hate it," he said, embarrassed he'd been found out.

"Nico, baby, when you do the dishes you look at them like you're trying to kill them," Jason laughed.

Nico scrunched his nose before laughing along with him. "If you knew I hated it why don't you do it," he laughed, having to put down the dish he was washing to laugh.

Jason laughed more, holding Nico tighter. "You look cute when you're angry," he said.

Nico feigned offense. "You're such a jerk!" he said between giggles, hitting Jason with the wash rag.

After calming down from his laughter a little, Jason decided to add to the offense. "Also, I really like when you tie your hair up. You always do when you do the dishes," he said, still chuckling.

Nico threw his hands up, laughing again. "You could've just asked me to put my hair up!"

"In my defense, I didn't think you would if I asked."

"You're right, I wouldn't. But still!"

Somewhere between laughter and fake arguing, the dishes got done and they retired to their bed.

"I will never forgive you for this betrayal," Nico said, a smile still playing on his lips. He lay with one arm wrapped around Jason's back and the other tangled in his hair.

"You love me," Jason said, tired.

"Not anymore."

They fell asleep soon after. Nico's fingers were still pruny from the dishes, but at least they were also rubbing Jason's scalp.

This is also on AO3:

Jasico Bingo challenge!!

Prompt: Mythomagic

Nico's silvery laughter filled the vacant Zeus cabin as he put down another card, effectively winning the game with room to spare.

Jason groaned for the hundredth time, only making Nico's laughter swell.

Usually, Jason would complain about Nico's competitiveness, but he hadn't heard him laugh like that in months, so he let it slide.

Winters were hard for Nico. Not only was the world riddled with death and incredibly overstimulating for someone alerted of every death in his vicinity, but it was also close to the death of his sister.

Jason decided to smile and let his bragging go on. "I don't get it," Jason said, adjusting his glasses, "how do you keep winning?"

Nico shrugged. "I guess you just suck."

"Am I better than Frank?"

Nico laughed, not answering. He chewed his lip before examining his winning cards and the ones Jason lost with.

Nico scooted next to him, allowing Jason to snake an arm around him. Touching Nico was like petting a cat, it would either bite, run, or let you be. Jason was happy to confirm it was the last option this time around.

"You're too focused on offense. You don't have any defensive cards in play. Show me your hand," Nico said fast, the Italian in him making no room for a break between sentences.

Jason held out his palm. Nico laughed, earning a confused look. "No, I meant the cards in your hand. Not your actual hand," he chuckled, letting his hand fall over Jason's. He didn't intertwine their fingers but instead played absently with Jason's hand.

Jason provided Nico with a clear sight of the cards he had in his left hand. His deck wasn't as elaborate as Nico's, as it was comprised mostly of borrowed and new cards, but it was enough to at least compete with him a little.

"You should've played your siren when you played the Poseidon. They can offer you defense for three turns and you could've played your hydra afterward," he said, examining the cards.

Jason didn't understand half of what he said, but he nodded anyway. He liked it when Nico talked. You could practically see the years of trauma and turmoil melt off him as he babbled about his favorite game. He looked like a normal teenager, aside from his collection of scars and bruises that constantly littered his pale skin.

After a few more rounds and slightly less harrowing losses on Jason's part—which he was undoubtedly proud of—the sun began to set.

Jason could tell he was actually improving at the game. He got close to beating Nico several times before Nico checked his phone and sighed.

"Alright, one more round, then I'm going back to my cabin. Make it a good one," Nico laughed hollowly. It was the kind of laugh he did to fill gaps between words and make himself less threatening. Jason wished he knew he didn't have to do that around him.

They each threw down their first god cards, Jason with Boreas and Nico with Demeter.

Pretty soon, the game looked like it was about to be a tie. Jason, desperate to win at least once, devised his plan.

Nico had made a rule early on that if you fully remove a card from your hand, even if you choose not to play it or even set it down, you had to play it. The only expectation was if the text was small and you were moving it closer to read it.

So, as Jason watched Nico smile, putting his hand on a card that might make or break his final move, he came up with his plan.

Right as Nico was swapping his hand between two cards, Jason leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to his cheek.

Nico jumped, pulling his hand away from his deck, the card still between his fingers.

His face turned red quickly, contrasting his dark hair violently. He stared at Jason, mouth open in a mixture of surprise and amusement.

"You unbelievable jerk," Nico laughed, staring at the card as if it had personally slaughtered his whole family.

Jason practically cackled as Nico slammed down Bounties Harvest, possibly the worst card in the game.

"You're such a cheater!" Nico laughed. He sounded much younger than than usual. His typical aloof and unbothered nature got lost as he pointed his finger at the perpetrator.

Jason moved his army forward, finally winning the game. He moved Nico's HP tracker to zero for him, practically having to wipe tears out of his eyes from the laughter.

"I'm never playing mythomagic with you again," Nico said through laughs.

"We both know that isn't true."

"Don't test it blondie."

I also posted this on AO3:

My card:

I remade Keith's weird desert shack from the first episode of Voltron in the Sims 4 but I yassified it (click for better quality)

I didn't plan on posting this, but I thought it was silly so here you go

So basically I made the outside as similar to his cannon house as possible, but I went buck wild on the inside because they only showed it for like 5 mins

Jasico Bingo Challenge: Cuddles

“I wouldn’t call that cuddling,” Nico says, arms crossed defensively over his chest. “I would call it sitting near one another.” 

Across the infirmary, awaiting medical attention from the busy Apollo kids, Annabeth rolls her eyes. “He had his arm around you.” 

“You put your arm around me all the time,” Nico rebuts. 

“You were leaning on him!” 

“I was tired!” 

Annabeth slumps sideways in her cot and stares at him, unimpressed. 

Nico refuses to budge. Cuddling is not resting your head on someone when they offer to let you nap on them! Cuddling is, like, prolonged, sideways hugging, or something. He and Jason do not cuddle, and even if they did (which they do not!) they wouldn’t do it at the campfire, for Hera’s sake. 

“Fine,” Annabeth concedes without averting her intimidating gaze. “What about when you two took a nap under Thalia’s Pine? That was definitely cuddling.” 

Heat rises up to Nico’s ears. He turns around to face the countertop, littered with empty bandaid packaging and unportioned nectar. “It was not, and you’re weird for remembering that.” 

“You’re weird for refusing to admit you like cuddling with Jason,” Annabeth says. She’s long since perfected that I’m right, you’re wrong, shut up tone, the one that makes Nico bristle. 

“How does that make me weird?” he grumbles, slicing even squares into the pan of nectar. “I spent the last, like, four years of my life doing everything I could to avoid human contact. How is it weird that I wouldn’t want to admit to something like that.” 

For a few moments, Nico almost mistakes Annabeth’s silence for a victory. He finishes with the nectar and turns back around, ready to gloat and everything, and is instead met with the worst possible thing: Annabeth Chase wearing her planning face. 

“No,” he says immediately, putting a hand out, as if he can physically ward off whatever bullshit he’s about to get dragged into. “No.” 

“I think we need an outside opinion.” 

“I think you’re concussed, do not go spreading my personal business to camp!” 

“Not camp,” Annabeth flaps her hand at him, and does not refute the concussed accusation. “But definitely some trusted individuals, who have insight into your cuddling habits.” 

“I’m not above getting on my knees and begging you to drop this,” Nico says. He’s fully serious. He will do it. Anything to stop this from going any further, anything. 

Annabeth glances him up and down, like she’s sizing up how serious he might be. 

He clasps his hands together. 

She flops back in the cot. “Nope. I’m too invested now. I think I’ll ask Hazel, first-” 

“Dude-” 

“-and then Connor, he knew you when you were a baby, he’ll have some good insight.” 

Nico buries his face in his hands and groans. 

Annabeth Chase gets her concussion treated, then turns around and runs back to her cabin to draft an honest to the gods survey to hand out to what she deems as a trusted, reputable group. 

Any group with Connor Stoll and Percy Jackson in it is anything but reputable, in Nico’s mind. As soon as he hears that Annabeth’s really gone off the freaking deep end about this, he finds the darkest corner of camp and hunkers down to hide. 

The best thing to do when Annabeth’s got an idea? Weather it. She’ll either find her own solution, or she’ll lose interest. Nico hopes, for his reputation's sake, she doesn’t get any further than the distribution. 

Upside to this shitshow: Nico has time to clean his cabin, finally. A valid reason to tell Will that he genuinely cannot come do archery practice today, a valid reason to kick any and everyone off his porch, lock his doors, and play CDs on his radio as loud as he can tolerate. 

It is, unfortunately, one of his most productive days as of late, and as Nico lays on his newly-swept floor, sweaty but satisfied, he almost forgets the whole situation occurring at the hands of one stubborn daughter of Athena. 

Almost. 

“Nico?” 

Three knocks on the cabin door. 

“I can hear your music, I know you’re in there. If you want me to go away, that’s totally fine, I just- y’know, want to make sure you’re okay. I’ll leave you alone in a minute.” 

Nico rolls over, squishing his face into the hardwood for one deeply satisfying moment. Then, with all the reluctance of a man who is going to face embarrassment head on, he pulls himself up and trudges to the door. 

Jason, at the very least, has the decency to look worried rather than amused. He’s got his hands in the pockets of his shorts, his head tilted off to the side, his glasses off-center like they always are. He’s frowning, kind of. He looks like Mrs. O’Leary when Nico tricks her into thinking he’s got a treat for her. 

“I’m alive,” he says, as dry as he can manage. The CD skips. 

“That’s good,” Jason says. “I, uh, hear Annabeth’s keeping herself occupied.” 

Nico’s temple pulses with something not-quite-achey, but nearly there. 

“Just- come in,” he huffs, stepping aside. Dammit. “If anyone’s going to explain it, I would really rather rip the stupid bandaid off.” 

“Laughing at me feels kind of insulting, going to be honest,” Nico mutters while Jason hunches over himself, cradling his stomach, downright howling. 

“She’s- She’s up in arms- about cuddling!?” 

“I don’t know! I don’t know, Percy’s stupid bullshit is rubbing off on her and she’s losing braincells, Jason, she’s losing her mind. We need to find something new for her to build so she stops trying to instigate shit in my private life!” 

Jason slumps sideways onto the floor, half-laughing, half-panting. His leg presses solidly to Nico’s like this, sitting side by side against his bed. 

Nico turns his head up and away and forces himself not to notice. 

“She just cares about you,” Jason says. He stays down. Nico can practically feel how hard Jason’s heart is pumping from all that laughter. 

Jerk. 

“She cares about drama,” Nico says, though he knows it’s not totally true. Piper has gotten her more involved in the social life of camp, which is a good thing, really. Nico thinks it’s really cool that Annabeth has been able to come out of her own shell, after spending her whole life trying to prove herself, trying to be above everything, better than, the best. 

But does she have to do it at his expense? 

He rubs his hands over his face and sighs. 

Jason sits back up. 

“Are you really that upset about this?” he asks, his voice softened into a tone Nico got used to hearing in the days post-Cupid, the tone of a hero. “I know it’s still hard for you, to be comfortable and everything-” 

“I’m not upset about it,” Nico says. Admitting it makes his cheeks flush, but it’s the truth, and Jason has more than earned that with him. “I’m just…embarrassed.” 

“Awe, why’s it embarrassing? I mean, I get from your perspective, y’know, why you might find that embarrassing, but even if taking naps and stuff is cuddling, it’s not like it’s hurting anything,” Jason says. Then, softer, maybe hesitant, he adds, “right?” 

Nico’s heart tugs annoyingly into his ribs. “It’s not hurting anything, Jason, I’m not…I don’t know. I just feel a lot of things, I guess? And it’s a lot of, like, I-I don’t know how to react, when people poke fun at something I’m still- still getting comfortable with. I like being comfortable with you.” He pokes at the rips in his jeans and continues to ignore how much of Jason is pressed up against his side, how natural it feels to just sit with him like this. 

“I like that you like being comfortable with me,” Jason says, his own version of teasing, though one that Nico knows and understands and likes. He knows that Jason’s reassuring him by prodding at him like that. 

The next track on his CD starts to play—Jason turned the volume down, but didn’t shut it all the way off. They’re both too awkward in pure silence, but sitting together when there’s other background noise that means they don’t necessarily have to talk has become a staple of their hang-outs. There’ve been many an afternoon where Nico sets up on the floor of the Zeus cabin with his new, growing Mythomagic collection, while Jason sketches out temples at his desk. 

They’re so comfortable around one another, nowadays. 

Nico brings his knees up and nestles his chin on them, frowning at the opposite wall. 

Are they maybe too comfortable? If other people are starting to look at them interacting and put weird labels like cuddling on it? Isn’t cuddling something people who like each other do, anyway? Friends don’t cuddle. 

Nico feels his ears burn hot at the implication. Is that what Annabeth was trying to say? Does she think Nico likes Jason? 

He brings his arms up to cover his mouth. He chews on his lip. 

…does, Nico like Jason? 

 (to be continued)