Jason Grace Is The Most Oblivious Man Alive - Tumblr Posts

Jasico Week 2024 - Day 4

Words: 1,859 Rating: General Audiences Type: Oneshot

Description: 3 times Jason Grace thought Nico Di Angelo was a god, and the 1 time he realized he wasn't.

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

Full fic under the cut!

Jason Grace had only met a few gods in his life. Though, he could say with utmost certainty that Nico Di Angelo was a unique one. 

Nico had blown into camp one day with no real explanation. He just showed up with Lupa’s blessing, got his branding like it was no big deal, and went on his merry way. He introduced himself as the Ambassador of Pluto, as if that made any sense of it all, and blatantly ignored most of his Camp Jupiter responsibilities with no real repercussions. 

Jason was convinced he was a minor god of sorts. He could almost feel Nico watching from over his shoulder like he was keeping an eye on things. 

Jason remembered the first time they met. He remembered how everyone seemed to walk a wide circle around him, but Nico didn’t act bothered in the slightest. 

It had been a normal day. Jason was going about his business when Reyna came to inform him of a senate meeting regarding a new ambassador. Of course, he got there as fast as he could, but Nico had beat the two of them to it. 

He remembered walking into the senate building and seeing him standing there. He was ghostly pale but in a porcelain kind of way. Thick black hair sat in perfect ringlets around his face, curling up like the camp’s statue’s wings. A blank expression cast on his face, and Jason couldn’t help but notice how the shadows in the room almost seemed to lean towards him. 

Jason stepped forward to introduce himself, taking notice of Nico’s robes. He held out a hand. “Jason Grace, praetor.”

Nico looked him up and down sideways before taking the handshake. “Nico Di Angelo, ambassador of Pluto.” His hand was deathly cold but oddly soft. 

Jason tried to distract himself by thinking about literally anything else. No matter what, his mind wandered to Nico. 

The meeting began, and Nico immediately the main topic of discussion. He was asked to walk to the stand and explain himself, which he did without complaint. 

He stood behind the stand, robes hanging off him a little too perfectly in Jason’s opinion. He elbowed Reyna. “Do you think he’s a demigod?” he whispered. 

She elbowed him back. “If you would shut up and listen, maybe we’d know.”

Nico’s eyes flicked to the two of them before focusing back on the rest of the faces in the room. “My name is Nico Di Angelo,” he said for the millionth time. “I was asked by Pluto to represent him and his children here at Camp Jupiter.”

He paused, looking around at the uneasy faces. A ghost raised his hand. Jason attempted to pay a normal amount of attention to the way the light caught Nico’s dark eyes as they flicked over to him, but he found himself staring for a second too long. 

“How do we know we can trust you?” The ghost asked rather unceremoniously. Nico shrugged. Reyna decided that was not helping his case, and stood to give him a hand. 

“Pluto has given us express confirmation that he would like Nico to represent him. Unless, of course, you’d like to challenge a god?” she said, putting on her ‘praetor voice.’

Nico didn’t seem too bothered by the whole thing, standing there with the light shining in from the columns. The shadows in the room gave away his underlying emotions, as tendrils of smoky darkness played nervously in the corners. Nico noticed Jason looking and quickly unclenched his jaw, the shadows falling flat. 

This kid had to be a god. Jason was sure of it. 

A few days later, Jason was determined to prove his theory. He stood in the Principia, talking with Reyna as if they weren’t in a giant, ornate room. Jason wasn’t sure when he got so used to the elaborate structures all around him, but they seemed so normal now. 

“So,” Jason started, studying her face. “What do you think of the new ambassador?” 

Reyna looked over, brow furrowed. “He’s fine.”

Jason crossed his arms. “Right.”

Reyna snickered. “What?”

“I was just asking your opinion. What, I can’t get my fellow praetor’s opinion?” he defended, waving his hands around a little more than necessary. 

She raised her eyebrows. “Right. What do you think about him.”

Jason crossed his arms again, looking everywhere but at Reyna. What did he think of Nico?

“Isn’t he…I don’t know,” Jason raised his shoulders. “Doesn’t he feel like he’s different from us somehow?”

Reyna shrugged. “He’s just not a legionnaire. It’s fine.”

Jason groaned. “No, he’s different.”

She raised her eyebrows. A smile played on her usually straight lips. Jason groaned again. 

“How so?” Reyna asked. 

“He’s just too…you know.”

“I don’t know.”

Jason sighed loudly. He decided he’d just come right out and say what he was thinking. 

“Do you think he’s a god?” Jason asked bluntly. 

Reyna sputtered. “No? Why would you think that?”

Jason began his wild hand motions again. “I don’t know! He just looks too…godly.”

Reyna snickered. Jason felt his face heat up. He wasn’t used to the feeling and decided he wasn’t fond of it. 

“Well, he’s sparring down in the coliseum,” Reyna said. “You can go be a creep and stalk him if you want, but I have some actual work to do.”

She turned on her heel, walking away and chuckling to herself the whole time. Jason wasn’t sure what was so funny to her, but he did know he was about to go find out more about this guy. 

Jason stood on the edge of the coliseum’s training area. His eyes followed Nico as he sparred with his sister, Hazel. While it obviously wasn’t a fair fight, considering Hazel had just come to camp, it was an interesting one. 

Nico was clearly trying to teach her something, as he stopped every few seconds to share some information with her. However, his fighting style was still clear through the watered-down movements. 

Jason had never seen anything like him before. He weaved in and out of the shadows, allowing Hazel to block his attacks. He made a mental note to tell Hazel she had improved a lot later, but for now, settled his eyes back on the ambassador he was investigating. 

Nico looked impossibly more divine when he battled, like something right out of an old painting. His hair was pulled up off his face with a hair tie, but some still hung in whispers around his neck and face. He had hardly broken a sweat, but the sun still glimmered off him radiantly. Jason was about to lose his mind. 

Nico had to be a god. There was no reason for any mortal to look that way, Jason had never even seen somebody quite like him. 

The shadows clearly belonged to him. They trailed behind him as he jumped and ran through them like smoke. They seemed to cling to him as if they knew him as an old friend, hanging off his clothing and mingling with his hair. He sliced his black sword, clearly not aiming to hurt his sister but still putting up a challenge for her. 

Nico deemed her as successful in whatever task he was presenting and stopped his onslaught of slashes to let her catch her breath. He said something briefly, then turned and began his walk to Pluto’s temple on Temple Hill. 

Jason considered following him but noticed a few people staring and decided to instead go clap Hazel on the shoulder and tell her good job. 

Jason wasn’t done speculating, though. 

A few days later, after a senate meeting, he watched as people filed out of the senate building, one of which being Nico. He looked over to make sure Reyna wasn’t watching and ducked out of the building himself. 

Jason was a bit ashamed to admit to himself that he was currently following Nico, and in a rather stalking manner at that. However, the man was curious and that just couldn’t be helped. 

He watched how Nico walked, soft footsteps hardly making a sound against the pavement. His robes, as always, fit him way too well. 

Jason was walking quite a ways behind him, but decided he had a question to ask and picked up his speed. 

Just as he was right behind Nico, hand outstretched to put on his shoulder, Nico checked beside him for people watching. He managed to not see Jason and turned the corner just behind a tree. 

Jason reached out, but his hand didn’t hit anything. He looked behind the tree, and Nico was nowhere to be found. 

The shadows looked oddly ruffled but settled back into place under Jason’s examination. 

He stood there, dumbfounded, before concluding that Nico had used whatever godly powers he had to zap himself right back to the underworld. 

Jason knew he was a god now. He had to be. No other demigod was capable of doing that, not even a child of the big three gods. He had to be a god, and Jason was sure of it. 

Days passed, and Nico became the only thing he ever thought about. 

He walked through the Forum, mulling over his thoughts. Reyna didn’t believe him and seemed thoroughly amused by his notions. So, Jason decided to keep his ideas to himself about Nico’s divinity. 

He ducked into the library, deciding to read through every single book about the gods they had and see if he could find any hints as to what Nico was, and ended up finding the biggest hint of all. The man himself. 

Nico stood beside a particularly large bookshelf, hand on his hip as he stared up at the tallest shelf. He jumped, but couldn’t reach the book he was aiming for, hand brushing it desperately. 

Jason bit back a laugh and walked over to assist like the Good Samaritan he was. 

He leaned over Nico, who turned around to face him. “Praetor,” Nico greeted. 

“Ambassador,” Jason tipped his head. “Need help?”

Nico’s eyes flicked back to the bookshelf. He looked embarrassed. “That would be appreciated.”

Jason reached up and pulled the book down, offering it to him. Nico took it, studying it in his hands. 

Nico looked back up at him. “Thanks.” 

“Are you a god?” Jason blurted out, unable to stop himself. 

Nico’s face changed from embarrassed to confused. He raised an eyebrow, holding the book in one arm. “No?” 

Jason looked him over for hints of a lie. He didn’t find any. “Oh. Are you sure?”

Nico snickered semi-discreetly. “Pretty sure.”

Jason leaned forward slightly, inspecting the face he deemed too perfect to be human. “Really?” Jason could feel his cheeks burning. 

“On the river Styx. Just a regular demigod like you.”

Jason nodded, embarrassment matching Nico’s. 

“Well then. Enjoy your afternoon, ambassador.” Jason turned on his heel, deciding that if he walked fast enough back to his bed he could bury his face in his pillow and scream the memory away. 

He left a very confused demigod in his wake and realized as he walked back that Nico wasn’t a god. He was just pretty.