maverickk

NOW for like. my plan for the au and why they're fake dating: the romans are already pretty paranoid and big on trust and the whole "us vs them" thing, especially with octavian drumming up paranoia within the ranks. romans are also pretty superstitious with the whole fifth cohort thing. so i also want to just. turn the dial up on all of that.

so basically, the fifth cohort is cursed and jason "washed the curse away" for a bit but when he was kidnapped, the curse came back full force, right? then percy does the same of restoring rome and the fifth cohorts glory and honor, and he becomes praetor. and everyone is waiting for the second shoe to drop, especially considering the whispers of him being a greek. so cj doesn't fully trust him.

cj's options for praetor were octavian or percy. and they both have pros and cons but the romans do end up going with percy since he was powerful on the battlefield as well as powerful off of it, so he was like the perfect mix of reyna and octavian bc while octavian is a powerful speaker, he's not the best fighter. he can hold his own and defend his people, like he's capable enough, but his strength and power doesn't come anywhere near percy's who very easily meets reyna's skill and prowess on the battlefield. then in the senate, octavian is a powerful speaker while reyna isn't the best with her words and remains rather quiet and blunt. but percy is a great speaker and is able to meet octavian's silver tongue with his own. so percy is lifted onto the shield despite octavian's family history and ties and allegiance to rome.

HOWEVER. percy still isn't roman in their eyes since everyone (the lares and octavian) whispers of how he's a greek, and he, again, doesn't have reliable family history within rome. so the romans are still wary of him despite giving him the position of power. and reyna notices it and sits percy down and is like wait hang on i have this scene written out actually in my rough draft here:

“They do not trust you,” She said rather bluntly. Percy blinked a little and glanced behind her at her dogs before meeting her gaze again. “The camp?” He asked. She nodded once. “You were their best option. A lesser of two evils.” She paused and added, “No offense.” Percy shook his head and waved off her words with a little raise of his fingers before setting them back down on the table, “None taken.” “You are a son of Neptune, you are new to camp, and you have a mysterious past,” She listed off. Percy opened his mouth to explain that he knew his past now, but she simply raised her hand to silence him. He closed his mouth and let her continue. “And…if they knew your past, it would not do you any favors. Octavian…he and the Lares have already drummed up enough paranoia. He has reignited the old whispers of treacherous Greeks from the east plotting on Rome’s downfall.” Percy shifted uncomfortably in his seat at her words. He knew she didn’t mean it like that, she was simply describing the ongoings of camp and the beliefs and fears permeating the ranks, but they still made something in him bristle. Her first two fingers tapped lightly against the wood of the table, her lip moving oddly as she chewed on the inside of it. Her dark eyes flickered as she stared at him, silent and considering, before finally continuing. “Octavian also drummed up enough apprehension regarding his…methods of campaigning for praetorship, that when you performed well in the senate and in battle…you were lifted on a shield. The feat of killing a Giant using Terminus cushioned your election. But the trust has not yet solidified. Octavian has you beat with a reliable family history and allegiance to Rome. Not to mention, he is not a child of Neptune.” Percy held her gaze, her waiting for him to get it and him waiting for her to continue. Finally, he began to chew on the words himself, “You’re saying there’s a chance of Octavian…overpowering me.” Reyna nodded minutely as if that was only part of her point. “He is a trusted ally to Rome. He is our augur. He communes with the gods. You are a praetor. That is all you are. While you may outrank him, he has more of a reputation and he has more connections. If he disagreed with whatever proclamation you made, he could theoretically…” “Fuck me,” Percy finished without decorum. Reyna’s lips twitched even as her eyes retained their shine of severity. “In so little words, yes. He could fuck you.” “It would undermine my authority as praetor,” Percy continued with a sigh, “He knows I’m not Roman. He knows I’m Greek. If he undermines me then he gets control over the legion anyway. They’d follow a strong, trustworthy augur rather than the weak, new, mysterious praetor.” Reyna nodded, “You’ve done well so far,” She assured, “You’re able to combat him in the senate and challenge his authority there. He would not be able to combat you on the battlefield and he knows it. So…” “The people are his advantage,” Percy finished again, his shoulders drooping a little as some invisible weight settled over them. “The Lares are already scaring some of the people in this camp and Octavian’s reading of war on the horizon is not helping. Reigniting the old rumors of barbaric Greeks spells out disaster if our theory is true.” Percy’s leg resumed bouncing a lot faster now. “He could turn at least a portion of the legion onto Camp Half-Blood instead of Gaia. He could incite a second bloody civil war instead of focusing on our real enemy. We’d be divided by infighting and, outside of the blood we’d spill between each other, Gaia would easily wipe us out. It’d be a bloodbath.” Reyna leaned forward on the table a little, her hands folded in front of her, “You need the people’s trust. It shouldn’t be hard,” Her lips twitched a little again and it took Percy a moment to realize she was giving him a small smile, “You’re a rather genuine guy. Even my sister didn’t kill you after you…severely pissed her off.” Percy shrugged faintly in agreement as he remembered the way Hylla dug her blade into his throat.

so they're like. octavian could steal power from percy if the trust between him and the romans isn't solidified and octavian's words would hold more sway over the people and octavian could turn the legion or a portion of the legion onto chb and it would be a bloodbath. so reyna is like "you need their trust, you need to forge this bridge with them that octavian cannot overpower. you need to take his advantage from him"

and reyna's proposition is fake dating because, as my rough draft continues from there:

“So…you’re suggesting I go around and make friends with all two hundred and some residents of Camp Jupiter until they trust me more than Octavian?” Reyna’s eyes flickered again, her smile thinning out almost awkwardly as she shifted in her seat. Percy’s head tilted a little as he studied her. She was definitely awkward now as her eyes seemed to be focused just under his eyes. He shook his head absently, “No, that’s not what you’re suggesting. What is it?” Reyna cleared her throat and rolled her shoulders as if to straighten them out which was rather useless since her posture was perfect. “Well,” She began, her words a bit slower, “there are…expectations in regard to…traditions. Between…praetors. It could, subconsciously, reaffirm certain…beliefs in their minds for when they look at you.” Percy stared silently, turning her words over in his mind and thinking back to the little traditions he knew of Camp Jupiter, more so the traditions regarding praetors which was an even smaller collection of knowledge. All he knew about praetors was that they were in charge through elections and tended to… “Oh,” He murmured, his cheeks heating slightly. Reyna’s gaze slid to the wall behind him and he cleared his throat as he hedged awkwardly, “I mean…I…I remember more of my past, you know, and I wasn’t wrong about my…my girlfriend back home…” Reyna sighed softly but shook her head, “You misunderstand me. I mean…” Her fingers tightened in front of her and she seemed to force her gaze back to his to say it outright like a true Roman. “If we were to behave with certain romantic undertones, the people of Camp Jupiter would see their two praetors following an age-old habit for our positions. It could make you appear more Roman in their eyes. Not to mention, I’ve been at camp for years. They look up to me and trust me. If they see me trusting and leaning on you, it could further reaffirm your position in camp. For their eyes, we would be heading toward a romantic relationship, but behind closed doors we would be nothing more than partners, co-praetors, and friends.” “An act,” Percy summarized, his cheeks cooling a bit, “You’re suggesting we act like we’re…in love?” “Crushing,” She corrected, “Pining. It would be much too quick for love. But attraction would be plausible. It typically happens between praetors anyway.”

so it starts off rather innocent but of course like all fake dating aus. it escalates. but we'll linger here for a bit. so the idea is to play into the superstition/tradition of praetors falling in love to subconsciously make the people view percy as roman bc if he's following an age old tradition of rome, then maybe it's fate that put him in the position of praetor and they can't argue against fate so percy most certainly belongs there. especially with reyna who is typically more closed off and restrained, but if she is visibly showing interest in percy and relying on him then that would further show the romans that hey. reyna who is like the pinnacle of roman-ness is taken by percy. and if roman incarnate is feeling some type of way about percy. then he must be acceptable at the very least.

it's a very well thought out plan that was just going to last until jason and the others got back. bc jason still has a bit of standing within camp FOR NOW. cj is already sort of fracturing in their stance on jason, but a majority of people are still holding out hope for him while the others who are buying into the dangerous greek rhetoric have assumed that if jason isn't dead, then he probably turned traitor and is with the greeks. which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but it'll definitely shake up some of the romans from trusting him which is important.

in my fic i mentioned at the top, i had rome already distrusting jason when the argo ii arrived, but with this au i kind of wanted to make it a bit slower to fracture. but like the fifth cohort and jason's closer friends are holding out hope for his return and defending him from the rumors that he turned traitor. HOWEVER!!! eventually when the argo ii arrives. jason walks down hand in hand with a greek - piper. and that is when the trust is severed. if he just happened to be amongst greeks, people would've distrusted him and side eyed him, but he still would've been roman. he would've been a bad roman to percy being a good greek, but he still would've been roman. but with him being hand in hand with a greek, that makes him greek in their eyes the same way percy being with reyna makes him a roman in their eyes.

SOOOO the plan is immediately thrown out the window and pereyna exchange this silent look bc the plan was for jason to get back and rebridge with the romans and pereyna stop their little act to avoid percy "deceiving" the romans so they don't lose trust in him either, but if jason can't rebridge with the romans, then their only hope at this point is percy. percy is the only bridge between cj and chb right now. so pereyna can't. stop. their. act. bc percy needs to be roman now more than ever. octavian can not steal this power from percy now bc jason can't be there to overpower octavian. if they fumble this, it's definite war.

FURTHERMORE!! percy can't have a greek girlfriend. so, similar to my fic, percy has to largely ignore annabeth's presence when she first arrives and play into the act heavy with reyna which leads annabeth to thinking that what happened to jason, happened to percy and he found his piper at cj and forgot all about annabeth. miscommunication ftw LMAO i don't get all the hate for that trope honestly it's fun sometimes

and it's not until like later that night (i want to somehow avoid the firing on cj, i think. idk i haven't thought this far ahead yet lol) that percy can finally get annabeth behind closed doors and like fall to his knees with apologies and pleas for forgiveness while he and reyna explain everything to her and she knows as genius battle strategist that this is their best and probably only hope in avoiding a civil war. so she has almost no choice but to cosign it and allow the ruse to continue while she reverts back to his best friend rather than girlfriend. oh wait yeah i forgot to mention that frazel are in on the plan too btw they don't think percy is some two timer cheating bastard. they're aware of the plan and assisting by starting the pereyna rumors in the beginning to get camp noticing them. hm. maybe frazel somehow get a message to annabeth so she isn't that tore up in the beginning...i guess i'll see how it plays out lol

pereyna never actually confirm anything to camp initially bc they don't want to make percy seem like a "deceiving treacherous greek" so they just do things that toe the line between platonic and romantic to get people whispering while still being able to come out later and be like "haha you guys are so silly we're just friends :]" like plausible deniability.

Reyna stared at him for a moment, taking in his rather awkward proclamation before nodding in agreement. “Very well,” She said, “We shouldn’t have to do much - lingering glances, passing touches, sitting together at meals. Let the rumor mill do the work for you. Have your friends in the Fifth Cohort fuel the rumors. Tell them things in confidence about me. Hint at certain feelings. You do indirect communication well. Use it. Let them say it for you, that way you’re never really lying and can’t be held accountable for their childish rumors.”

but with jason dating a greek, they have to double down hard to solidify percy's position. so mayhaps a kiss. a roman kiss in front of people. like percy has to do the roman thing and grab reyna and lay one on her so he's like. taking charge and going for what he wants like a good roman would do. bc at that point, they need to do all they can to avoid war even if they have to risk the idea of percy being treacherous bc the only way they'd find that out would be if they're already at war so a reputation hit is the last of percy's worries or they successfully avoided war and if they successfully avoided war then a reputation hit would be a small price to pay for peace

um. i don't know what happens after that LMAO

take this cute little subtly loaded exchange instead

“Right…” He murmured and gestured toward the hall where she just came from where their bedrooms lay, “I should…” He lifted the bundled up toga wordlessly. She moved out of his way and allowed him passage. Just before he could reach his room, she called out, “Probably best you don’t behave like a flustered schoolboy around me either. Just…just pretend I’m your girlfriend.” She was out of the principia before Percy could manage to turn around to look back at her.

uhhh i would assume following the plan change and annabeth cosigning it, she's just like a cuck now LMAO like just watching her boyfriend flirt and be a bit intimate with another woman but on the other hand he's always like overcompensating for it behind closed doors like he's really guilty about it question mark... bc if it's just an act then why is he so guilty?? but on percy's end of things, he can feel things stirring which is why he's so guilty and trying to repent with annabeth. i think maybe she'd be smart enough to put two and two together there. maybe?

lmao what if she does something similar to what i had her do in my perachabeth fic "evening the score" where she kisses rachel as revenge for perachel kissing but has Realizations. what if she sees percy's guilt and doesn't understand it yet and decides to try and ease his burden by also holding and kissing reyna however he did that day but she also has some Realizations. meanwhile reyna is in heaven bc these two baddies are passing her back and forth BAHAHAHAH

is it obvious i don't know how to resolve this? all i got is the tension in the beginning and a dream sighhh

or maybe reyna decides to go out of her way to get to know annabeth as a way to try and ease the potential strain the fake dating could be putting on percabeth's relationship since it was reyna's plan in the first place and she feels a little guilty for messing with their relationship (bc she's sort of been on the other side of it with the jeyna-jiper thing where she's been in annabeth's shoes regarding that if you squint so she doesn't want annabeth to feel the pain and betrayal and grief she felt in regard to her and jason's almost relationship being discarded in favor of jiper). so she gets to know annabeth on a more personal and intimate level while percy pouts to himself in the other chair, now being the emotional cuck as he watches reynabeth bond and form a genuine relationship similar to the way pereyna formed a geniune relationship behind closed doors at cj before the argo ii arrived which is why he's so guilty bc it's not just an act to him atp. he genuinely feels something for reyna but he can't allow himself to indulge in that.

but reynabeth are also forming a similar bond together until they're basically sharing percy in public vs behind closed doors. until reynabeth also feel that pull and draw to one another. maybe that's when annabeth puts two and two together on percy's guilt and overcompensation bc she's starting to feel something similar toward him as she and reyna grow closer. and that's when she eventually whispers one night to him on the argo ii that she wouldn't be upset if there were something more between pereyna, she just wants percy to be honest with her. and percy is so steeped with guilt that he tells her he might feel something more, but he swears that every action between them was purely for the act, not because he was acting on his feelings.

and she just tells him that she wouldn't be mad if he acted on his feelings with her bc. she kind of wants to too. i have absolutely no idea how they'd bring that up to reyna tho. ggs chat we might be cooked. nooo let me lock in.

so reyna is feeling something for both percy and annabeth but maybe thinks that's a long shot in the dark and that she's meddled in their relationship more than enough already so she definitely won't be the one to bring it up. it has to be percabeth that confess it to her. uhhh let me focus on the war for a bit and see what that produces

so i wanted to avoid the firing on new rome - maybe hazel as a daughter of pluto notices yknow. the spirit possessing leo. and they're able to do something about it before anything happens. esp since he looks like sammy, i don't think hazel would look away from him for long and she'd be able to notice the sudden shift in his behavior when he's suddenly possessed. so the argo ii and the greeks remain in cj for a bit longer for war and peace talks and trying to forge an alliance with octavian at the helm of the dissidents who don't trust the greeks just yet. and percy for the most part has to try and talk them into it as the remaining bridge between the groups which only ramps up pereyna's act to give percy's words more weight

god i don't remember the ancient laws when it comes to cj. it was like illegal for reyna to travel to the ancient lands, right? so the senate would not be fans of the argo ii heading to greece and rome. but maybe if its a quest for a great prophecy that they have to sign off on, they'd think differently? but they have to talk the senate into allowing the quest which is why they spend so long in cj before finally heading out east. but then reyna would have to stay back, wouldn't she? she would have no reason to go...unless that's cj's clause. they'll sign off on the quest as long as their beyond trustworthy praetor reyna goes on the quest as well. like hell would they entrust this quest to a bunch of greeks and jason who has entrenched himself in the greeks. even if frank and hazel were going on it after just saving camp - hazel is still a daughter of pluto and frank was like just claimed and just granted the rank of centurion, they have no idea what he'd actually be like in that position so the trust isn't all there yet.

percy would be going on the quest which would ease their stress a bit but it's still jason, piper, leo, and annabeth - FOUR greeks - versus percy, hazel, and frank - THREE romans. they want reyna on the quest to make it 4v4 and make the argo ii crew even between greeks and romans. but then again the act wouldn't be necessary once they're on the argo ii without cj as their audience. but they still have to live in close proximity to one another which leads to the bonding and growing feelings.

leo complains that he only built the argo ii with a set amount of rooms and reyna joining them now means she has no place to stay. so annabeth gives up her room and jumps at the opportunity to sleep with percy in his room instead bc. it's been months. she misses her boyfriend. let her have this, coach hedge.

the quest of the seven continues mostly the same, just with reyna now? reyna watches percabeth fall into tartarus and she is TORE UPPP over it but she helps lead the rest of the seven to greece to meet them on the other side. hmmmm.......they get out of tartarus and reyna instinctively lays one on one of them bc she was just so relieved that they're alright that her emotions got the better of her before awkwardly pulling back and apologizing while her eyes bounce between the two of them just drinking in the fact that they're alive and well and here. and percabeth notice it and exchange a glance before nodding like. yeah it's reciprocated. and then they just consume her and make her part of their relationship so she's used to it before they (post canon) ask her officially to date both of them and she's all like "oh i couldn't" still thinking that she's meddling and straining their relationship and they're just like. babe. you've already been our third for months. this is just us trying to make it official. just say yes.

question mark...