Altprompt1 - Tumblr Posts

Jasico Week 2024 - Day 2

Words: 1,212 Rating: General Audiences Type: Oneshot

Description: Jason doesn't know what a nickel allergy is, but he does know the bracelet Nico gave him kinda itches.

Sidenote: This fic was written for @jasico-challenges Jasico week 2024 event!

Full fic under the cut!

Jason never wore jewelry. It was half because he didn’t have any and half because he could never seem to find anything that looked quite right on him.

His frame was too broad for delicate pieces, and his personality was too soft for anything big to look natural. So, he settled on nothing.

Nico was quite the opposite. He had a ring on his hands and a bracelet around his wrist all hours of the day no matter what. Jason could agree that he just didn’t look himself without something to decorate his outfits.

It wasn’t a huge surprise when Nico gave Jason a simple bracelet for their anniversary. He was known among their friends for gifting jewelry and shiny things in general, much like a crow.

They had been curled up in Jason’s college dorm. Nico shadow traveled from camp, despite Jason’s reprimanding for using his powers when not totally necessary.

When presented with the bracelet, Jason studied it carefully. It was a simple golden chain with a heart-shaped charm in the middle and Nico’s initial carved into it. Nico held up his wrist, providing a clear view of his own. His was silver, with Jason’s initial where his was.

Jason grinned, allowing Nico to help his inexperienced hands put it on, and didn’t take it off for weeks.

There was the problem.

Weeks. Jason had gone weeks without looking all too closely at his arm, just looking at the bracelet.

One night, after slaving away on a model due for his architecture class, he found his hands covered in glue. He walked through the dorm halls until he got to the bathroom and briefly took off his bracelet to wash the glue off his hands and wrists.

That was when he saw it, a ring of red irritated skin. Jason pulled his wrist to his face to closer examine it. He pulled up his glasses as if that would help.

After a few seconds of staring, he decided it was nothing, put his bracelet back on, and walked to his dorm.

Jason was not a smart man.

He fell asleep, and the next morning started the way back to camp via every form of public transportation available for fall break. Could he get a driver's license? Yeah. Was he going to do that anytime soon? Probably not.

He got to camp at an awful hour of the night and proceeded to essentially break into Nico’s cabin and crash out next to him, hardly taking the time to change into his pajamas. Nico was dead asleep but didn’t seem to mind the cuddling. He woke up briefly to press a kiss to Jason’s cheek, but the second his boyfriend quit moving around, Nico was out again.

The next morning, Jason opened his eyes to Nico also awake, wrapped around him and playing a game on a gameboy with dubious origins. He pulled him closer, burying his face in his chest.

Nico laughed, the sound reverberating his chest against Jason’s ear. “‘Morning,” Nico said, stooping down to kiss Jason’s head. Jason could hear the smile in his voice without even having to look at him.

Jason grumbled in response and would’ve fallen right back asleep then and there if Nico hadn’t dragged him out of bed for breakfast. Nico got dressed, Jason did not.

They walked out, blinking against the morning sun, and reached the breakfast line. A few people greeted Jason, telling him how much they missed having him at camp. He was too tired and poorly dressed to have much comment but did his best to match their energy.

They sat down at the Hades table. Seeing as Jason was a guest, he could sit wherever he wanted. Also, he’d be damned if he came all the way to New York only to be forced to eat breakfast away from his boyfriend. The harpies could eat him whole for all he cared, he would sit where he damn well pleased.

Nico finished his food and played with Jason’s hand absently as he waited for him to finish his. It was a subtle routine. Nico liked to keep his hands busy, and he quite enjoyed non-extreme PDA, so hand-holding evolved into Nico toying with Jason’s hands from time to time.

Nico’s hands suddenly stopped, and he leaned down to examine Jason’s hand. After a few minutes of careful scrutinizing, Jason was starting to miss the sporadic nature of Nico’s physical touch.

“What?” Jason asked, attempting to rub sleep from his face. Nico held his hand down so he wouldn’t retract it. “What’s going on with your wrist?” Jason looked down, following Nico’s gaze. “Oh, I dunno. It just started doing that.”

Nico reeled back, looking up at his face. “And you didn’t…I don’t know…think it had something to do with the bracelet?” Jason returned his eyes to his breakfast with a shrug. “It’ll go away.”

Nico examined a little closer, taking off the bracelet and laying it on the table.

“Does it itch?” he asked. Jason sighed. “Sometimes. It’s fine though. It does that sometimes.” “When you wear jewelry?” Nico asked.

Jason sighed again, a little louder to get the point across. Then, he realized Nico’s question wasn’t all that dismissable. He wracked his brain for a moment before concluding that his answer was affirmative.

“Yes,” Jason said slowly. Nico snickered. “Jason, light of my life, my love, you have a nickel allergy.”

Jason looked down at his wrist again. “I do?” Nico nodded. “Mhm. The bracelet was not real gold.” “It wasn’t?”

Nico laughed again, this time slightly louder, as if that was a funny statement. Jason furrowed his eyebrows, but couldn’t help the smile that crept up his face.

He shook Nico’s leg. “What? What’s funny?” “Nothing, nothing,” Nico said, ending his laughter. Jason shook him again. “Why’re you laughing?” “It’s just-” Nico started snickering again. “You seriously didn’t think anything of it?”

Jason threw up his hands in feigned annoyance before returning to his oatmeal. Oatmeal could not save him from his giggling boyfriend, though.

A few weeks later, when Jason came back to camp for winter break, he spent the whole thing in Nico’s cabin.

About halfway through an Italian movie Jason did not understand but was happy to be a part of, Nico suddenly stood. “Oh, I forgot. I got you something,” he said, walking over to his desk and digging around for a minute. He returned, plopping back on the floor in front of Jason’s school-issued Chromebook. “Hold out your arm,” he instructed.

Jason did as told, pulling his arm from under the pillow he was lying on and holding it in front of Nico.

“Close your eyes,” Nico said again. Jason obliged like he always did when it came to Nico.

When he opened his eyes again, a bracelet made of purple thread adorned his wrist, no nickel to be seen. Nico held up his own wrist, showing his black matching bracelet.

Jason smiled. “Did you make these?” He asked, examining the slightly botched threading. Nico nodded, slight hints of embarrassment playing in the red of his cheeks. “Yeah.”

Nico opened his mouth to speak again, but Jason tackled him in a hug before he could get the words off his tongue.