tushanshu_logs | time it took us // to where the water was

[Percy opens his mouth, because he'll accept that he's wrong, sometimes. But the look on Jason's face coupled with his tone completely takes him by surprise]

You haven't?

_{( Jason abruptly clears his throat and his shoulders tense. )}

Roman gods don't interact directly with their children very often. And my dad has to follow the rules he sets. As an example.

That's bullshit. [The words practically explode out of Percy, but the outrage is on Jason's behalf, not at his reaction] They're stupid rules. And the rules he sets are what made everything about this situation possible to begin with. Your dad can spare the time to threaten to smite me on more than one occasion, but he can't drop by to say hello to you? What's up with that?

You've met my dad.

_{( The words tumble flat out of his mouth, with no inflection whatsoever. But sparks jolt from his fingers, and a small bolt of lightning runs down his sword and hits the dirt with considerable force. Jason barely moves.

It's just so utterly, immediately unfair. Percy got to live with his mother, know her. Percy got to meet his father. Percy got to meet Jason's father. Jason's sister spent months of her life searching for Percy while she forgot her brother even existed. Percy's camp looked for him while Jason's assumed if he was weak enough to disappear, he wasn't worth the effort.

Stop it, he tells himself desperately. There's no point in this. And yet he has to clench his fists to keep from letting another lightning bolt loose, and suddenly he can't meet Percy's gaze. He looks up at the sky and glares openly at it. )}

Forget everything I just said. I don't understand them at all.

Edited 2013-06-23 06:50 (UTC)

[There's a pause in which you can practically see Percy going o o p s. He opens his mouth, shuts it again, and feels like crap. So much for having a handle on his temper, these days.

He can't even apologise, because...other than his delivery, what's he supposed to be sorry for? Sorry the gods suck? That isn't something even Percy can claim as his fault]

It - I mean, it was Zeus. [It's clear he's trying to salvage something here] And it wasn't me seeing him so much as it was me ending up in front of all of the Twelve. The first time he made it really clear that he wanted to kill me a little bit, and the second time he asked them to vote on it.

[There's a pained sound] I'm sorry, man. [He says it anyway. It's not pity, just the simple honesty that's characteristic of Percy. He clears his throat] Anyway, I'm probably not...the guy you want to talk about this stuff with.

_{( Jason just holds up a hand, eyes stormy but face carefully neutral. )}

It’s fine. I mean, I’d probably rather face Medea again that all Twelve at once. And anyway, what they do isn’t your—our—fault. _{( The joke is stale on his lips, and he can’t help but imagine what that scene must’ve been like. Does Percy look like his dad? What had he said to him? Was he proud of him, did he approve, or was he like Jason, groping around in the dark and hoping that he was doing the right thing even though he didn’t know, never knows, just hopes and falls back on what’s supposed to be right…

Jason sighs. )} I don’t talk to anyone about this.

_{( Not even Piper, even though talking to her is sometimes the only thing that keeps him calm. Not even Thalia, maybe especially not Thalia, because being Zeus’ child had never been a legacy she’d shouldered in the same way as Jason. )}

[Percy rubs the back of his neck] Yeah. Actually, now that I think about it, most of them don't like me. Annabeth's mom voted to have me dead, too. [This is Percy trying to make you feel better, bro. But his tone becomes more serious now] Yeah, I know it's not. But I didn't have to - go off like that. I wasn't thinking.

[Telling Jason that his dad came to his birthday party one time is definitely not on the to-do list. He picks his next words careful, in contrast to his previous word vomit] Maybe you should. I mean, not me, obviously, but to someone. You don't have to just accept this this is the fair and right and only way they could do things, you know? [He sighs, making a face] Great, I sound like my mom.

Would that be that bad? Sounding like your mom, I mean.

_{( He says that kind of ruefully. Percy's mom seems pretty smart. Jason stretches his arms over his head, still staring at the sky. The movement seems to unclench the tension in his back, and his muscles release all at once as he drops his gaze back down to the ground. )}

I don't just accept it, you know. But there's not a lot we can do about it, especially not from here.

[The comment gets Percy to smile like an actual dork, because his mom is the best] Yeah, okay, I guess it's not that bad. But it's the principle, you know?

[He falls quiet, absently capping Riptide back into a pen.] I don't know, the fact that we're even talking right now is proof that things can change, right? I mean, yeah, He - Ju - Heruno threw us together, but she couldn't force us to fight together instead of against each other. That was us. And if we can do that, why not change other things? [Because Tartarus something whisper in the back of his mind. Percy kicks that aside. Jason's not in Tartarus, after all]

_{( Jason raises both his eyebrows at the Heruno comment, opening his mouth to comment before decidedly shutting it again. But he almost--almost!!--laughs. Eventually he just crosses his arms over his chest and shakes his head. )}

Things are changed, already. The camps know about each other. The gods--some of them, at least--have helped us. When this is all over, things can't just go back to how they were.

_{( And he looks at Percy and thinks about Tartarus and just swallows, before deciding this is going to end well, with all 7 of them alive. )}

I guess it's just up to us to decide how they change.

[Percy catches that almost laugh, and just grins. For a second or two, he thinks that maybe he and Jason actually be friends, instead of just awkwardly coexisting in the same spaces.]

They won't want to change. You - we can't let them talk their way around this one. [His expression tightens a little at the way he stumbles over his pronouns, but he doesn't say anything about it. He casts around for another topic of conversation as well.]

Oh, um - you should know. Your Camp missed you. I mean, they were really, you know, Roman about it. But they did. [A beat] Except Octavian. That guy's an ass.

We.

_{( Jason repeats that firmly. He is utterly determined, and the fact that Percy and Annabeth are alive and well on the turtle means that he doesn't have to face facts anytime soon. )}

And Ocatvian's worse than an ass. He's... selfish. And petty. And everything a legionnaire isn't supposed to be.

_{( Jason shifts, then smiles. )} Your camp's better at feelings, I think.

[It's Percy's turn to look away now. He's usually the guy who'd be insisting on that we right away, but like they've been talking about - things have changed a lot.]

Yeah. We. [But not that much. His tone is just as firm.

Well, for a moment or two. A second later, he sounds more plaintive than anything else] And he guts perfectly good panda pillows, too. [Percy is the manliest] But no, I think I get what you mean. He acts like he's doing things on behalf of the Legion and New Rome, but he's really just out for himself. It sucks that he's so good at talking, because Reyna was doing a really good job.

[Percy shouldn't be so pleased with himself, but he totally is] Yeah, we're a kind of leap before looking bunch. It's home, but I still think there's a lot we could learn from Camp Jupiter. The other way around, too.

Panda. Pillows.

_{( Jason repeats that, too, not quite decided on whether he even wants to ask that question. Of course, he’s seen Octavian at work, but usually it’s puppies and teddy bears. Things that go for maximum childhood trauma.

Then he just shakes his head. )} Reyna’s what Octavian claims he is. She’s actually committed to the legion, she’s probably the least selfish person I’ve ever met. I think if she could’ve stopped… everything… she really would have.

_{( Talking about Reyna shouldn’t be this weird. But Jason had always been a bit nervous around her. They were both distanced from their peers, but in very different ways. )}

Right. If we can keep everyone from trying to kill each other.

[Percy gives a serious nod, unaware of the potential humour here. He fucking loved that panda okay] Yeah! I managed to keep that thing through two months of being chased by the worst customer service reps in the world, and then he gutted it like it was no big deal.

[He coughs a little, because yeah, he definitely figured that Reyna is dedicated to the legion] I think she'd do anything to protect New Rome. Octavian'd just do anything to protect himself and his ego.

[He blows out a sigh] Honestly, I don't think people really want to kill each other that badly. While they've got Octavian fanning the flames, maybe, but between all of us - the Greeks'll listen to me and Annabeth, and Rome - you're still their leader. They're not about to just forget that me'n Hazel and Frank got your eagle back, either, and if Piper can Charmspeak us out of getting possessed, she can take on a few angry demigods. We just need to get in a position where they'll actually hear us.

Yeah. He'll do that. _{( Because Ocatavian is the world's biggest asshole. And if canon was kinder we'd know exactly how well he and Jason knew each other but it isn't so I'll just make stuff up shush.

And then Jason just looks up at the sky for a moment and feels guilty, because while their mission is obviously massively important he can't help but feel that he's abandoned much of his duty to New Rome and left Reyna to shoulder it. If anything happens to her...

He shakes his head to dislodge those thoughts. )} Yeah, I mean. We're right, they have to listen. It's just a matter of getting them all in one place, hopefully without swords, for ten minutes.

[And now Percy is grinning. Because there's a small voice in the back of his head (which sounds remarkably like Annabeth) telling him that it won't be that simple, that sometimes being right doesn't mean that everything turns out right. But Jason, surprisingly enough (to Percy, at least) isn't agreeing with that voice.

Maybe the blonde Superman isn't so bad after all] Exactly! I mean, they're going to take care of getting themselves to the same plac on their own, we just have to deal with the whole weapons thing. And dumping the Athena Parthenos in the middle of a battlefield is probably enough of a statement to get people to shut up and pay attention.

It'll either shock them into peace or they'll climb over it to get at each other.

_{( Hopefully it'll be the first option. Hopefully. )}

You think? Romans don't really go for Athena stuff right? Not unless she's, I dunno, weaving or something.

_{( Jason looks a bit abashed, and the shrugs. )}

Minerva is pretty different, from Athena. And for war, Romans have Mars and Bellona.

_{( He pauses, purses his lips. )}

You'd think we--Romans--would really go for wisdom and warfare, together. But I guess the old grudge was more important that something that would make sense.

It's been way too important on both sides for way too long. [Percy sighs] But we'll fix it. Because that's too important not to.

[He rubs his neck a little awkwardly, but there's a relatively friendly (if sheepish) smile on his face] Good match, man. [He gestures with Riptide, just in case Jason thinks he means the conversation or something. Because he totally doesn't xc]

_{( Jason looks up for a moment, almost slightly confused, and then returns the smile with a grin. )}

Yeah. We should do it again sometime. _{( To see who'd win...! )}

[Percy's grin slams right back onto his face] All right, you're on. Maybe I can teach you how to loosen up a little. [Das gay Percy]

time it took us // to where the water was

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