Room 507, Sunday Afternoon

[dontvotemeout]

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!]

Comments

[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?"

[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."

[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?"

[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.

[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."

[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."

[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."

[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."

[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."

[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.

[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.

[dontvotemeout]

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

[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).

[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."

[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.

[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."

[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.

[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."

[deaths-demigod.livejournal.com]

Nico took the opportunity to drape his arm around Jason's shoulders and give his arm a squeeze. "No, it's okay. I wouldn't have realized you might want that sort of thing from me if you hadn't gotten annoyed. I mean, I did try asking you out before, it just didn't take, so I kinda of thought you only wanted the other stuff, you know?" What was it about Jason that made him so stupidly honest?

[dontvotemeout]

"I didn't think you wanted that sort of thing from me either," Jason said, looking up at Nico again. "When did you try asking me out before? Was I actually listening to you? How did I miss that?"

[deaths-demigod.livejournal.com]

"Oh, like, way before anything ever happened," Nico admitted. "Back when we had a three minute date and maybe homecoming or that time you groped me in the laundry room. I don't remember really well." And he hadn't explicitly asked, he's sort of said it was something they should do and assumed that would work, sadly it had not.

[dontvotemeout]

"The laundry room was when I decided to show you my costume," Jason said, smiling as he remembered that. "I probably didn't realize you meant an actual date. I didn't even think you liked me that much then."

[deaths-demigod.livejournal.com]

"I was attempting to keep it to myself," he shrugged, embarrassed. "But your costume was kinda too hot to even try to pretend I wasn't interested. That said, it might be my own fault we never talked about...dating." Why was it such a weird word?

[dontvotemeout]

"I never said anything about it either," Jason said, because yes, it was a weird word, and a weird idea too, that Nico would want that. "But I'd like to try a date. I mean, I'm up for just about anything with you."

[deaths-demigod.livejournal.com]

"And again it's the blind leading the blind sort of deal," Nico told him. "Because I don't really know how any of this is supposed to work. But I don't want you thinking I want to be with anyone else, 'cause that would be stupid."