#teamapollo

‘Well, someone’s hungry,’ Jason said with an easy laugh, and it took a moment for Percy to register that the disturbing sound came from his stomach. Traitor. What a way to ruin the moment. Jason reached out to smoothen the crease between his eyebrows when Percy frowned, chuckling slightly as he said, ‘Wanna rock some cupcakes up?’

‘I’m thinking about burgers. And a glass of Coke.’

Jason hummed in acknowledgement. ‘I’d like a cupcake right now.’

‘And to the café we go.’ Percy groaned when his limbs popped and cracked as he stood up, before leaning down and offering Jason a hand. Jason took it with a smile, letting Percy heaved him without being much of a help himself and bursting into laughter when Percy pouted and kicked him playfully on his side.

‘Way to be a gentleman, Grace.’

‘Well, you always play the damsel-in-distress, Jackson. I thought you could man up a little.’

‘Says the guy who begged to be mine in bed last night.’ He laughed when Jason’s cheeks flushed pink, before yelping helplessly when Jason grabbed his waist and almost effortlessly carried him by his shoulder like a sack.

‘Be grateful I still love you, idiot.’

|||*|||

‘Percy, they don’t have any blue ones,’ Jason noted as his eyes raked over the various baked goods on display.

‘Impossible. That would be legit criminal.’ He couldn’t help but pouting like five years old, resorting to smile a little when Jason tenderly kissed it off, his arm half-draped on Percy’s shoulders. ‘We could always ask for one.’

Nodding slightly as he considered the odds, they made their way to the counter together, passing by young man carrying a tray of croissants. The cashier agreed to place an order, so long as they would wait for twenty minutes. Percy was about to protest when Jason proceeded to pay without much of a blink of an eye, to which Jason just waved him off with an absentminded ‘My treat.’

Percy sighed. As Jason deal with the keeper, he resorted to play with the short strands of golden hair at the back of Jason’s neck to pass the time, his lips wrapped around the straw of his Coke and his eyes aimlessly taking in the surrounding of the admittedly cosy café. Maybe it was the timing that seemed always perfect when he messed up, or just his sheer luck after all, that when he turned around in a mindless twirl (because he had nothing to do), he collided with the croissants boy from earlier.

The collision resulted in the sound of a clanging tray, a groan, a long string of swears and ugly profanities and Percy’s Coke ultimately spilling all over the guy’s salmon pink apron. Whilst Percy tried to consider whether he may or not be spilling his drink on purpose due to the dude’s ugly mouth, the commotion had every eyes within ten metres staring through their bones. He could hear Jason’s soft ‘oh, dear’ in the background.

‘…for the love of Nemesis, what an excellent way to ruin my fucking apron, asshole.’ Initially confused by the goddess’ name, Percy was about to shot back his own version of vulgarities when he heard the word Nemesis, his eyes widening as he began to take in the unnerving appearance of the boy in front of him. This dude must be another demigod.

It turned out that the dude’s mouth was not validly as ugly as the words spouting out earlier; just a pair of innocent chapped lips curled downwards in a familiar scowl, situated under a delicate nose and, as Percy flitted his gaze higher, an eyepatch and a single hazel eye, which was also widening in recognition, his eyebrows raised so high it almost disappeared under the boy’s fringe. It was a face vaguely kept in the back of Percy’s memories, a face of loss and regret that he failed to save years ago.

Realisation hit Percy so hard he wondered why he was still standing. ‘E – Ethan?’ He tried slowly, the single name burned strange in the back of his throat.

The boy made a keening sound as if he was an animal cornered, ducking his head down as he set off away passed Percy. Despite his mind still in overdrive, Percy’s fingers reflexively caught on to the boy’s wrist, effectively stopping him from walking. The boy, Ethan, he was sure of it, refused to meet Percy’s eyes, eyebrows set in a frown suggesting his appeal to escape.

‘Ethan.’ Ethan.

The barest moment of hesitation, and then, almost inaudibly slow, ‘Jackson.’

An oof exited from Ethan’s lips as Percy pulled him into a tight embrace, Coke stain and all, his lips whispering, ‘Ethan, Ethan, Ethan,’ all over again, his voice breaking from the way the name slips out forming into meaning, into a shape, into a person very much alive in his arms, skin warm from work despite the cold October evening, chest heaving with suggestive exhaustion, scent a hint of salt and confectionery, very much alive.

Ethan. Alive. Ethan is alive. The idea sounded bizarre, but it was all he needed.

He hadn’t remembered the tears, but he remembered the way his lips moved against the pale skin of Ethan’s neck as he whispered what he should’ve said back when the chasm had formed underneath the same injured body. ‘I’m sorry.’

|||*|||

‘I don’t understand. What are you saying sorry for?’ The tone was sullen but if anything, Ethan’s face didn’t show it. Or maybe it was just Percy, the idea of Ethan in front of him still fragile that he didn’t remember how Ethan had really spoken.

‘I don’t know. Only that it felt like the right thing to say. I’m sorry.’ For everything. For nothing. For the loss of your eye. For you being abandoned by your mother. For your mother being abandoned by Olympus. For not saving you when you’re about to fall. For burning your shroud when you are very much breathing, alive and healthy in front of me right now. For –

‘If anything, Percy, it’s me who should be sorry. I… I betrayed you, after all, so…’ Maybe it was because of the unvoiced shame and guilt in his frowning face, or the way his voice shook uncomfortably as he almost stood up, did Percy clutched tightly onto Ethan’s wrist again with unsaid determination.

Jason had politely left them some time alone, lounging at one of the booths, as he went across the street to the bookstore, giving a soft peck on Percy’s cheek with a silent, please be careful. If the way Percy and Jason interacted bothered Ethan, he didn’t show it.

‘Stay.’ He can’t help but adding a silent, ‘Please?’

Ethan scoffed softly, but he made no effort to take his wrist back. ‘Some of us have jobs, Jackson.’

That alone sent a thrill of admiration running through Percy. He can’t really contemplate the idea of having jobs just yet. And here was Ethan, miraculously surviving the fall that was hinted to be of his mother’s doing, miraculously surviving alone until he graduated from high school, miraculously juggling jobs and classes at the university, miraculously surviving life alive. He didn’t know what had gotten through him lately, but the word alive had never felt significant before until this moment.

‘Just five minutes.’

Casting a wary look to his side, Ethan made an apologetic face at the girl behind the counter, who just smiled and waved him off. They were silent for a minute, Ethan still frowning slightly and Percy still gawking at him like there wasn’t a second passed worth letting go without Ethan in his sight. ‘Stop staring, you’re freaking me out.’

Breaking out of his staring reverie, Percy settled for a chuckle and reached out between Ethan’s brows, his thumb smoothing out the worrying creases gently, much like how Jason did to him. ‘Stop frowning, you’ll get wrinkly before you even reach thirty.’

‘Ten years are still a long way to go.’

It didn’t escape Percy of how soft Ethan’s skin felt against the pad of his thumb, how smoothly it curved down to his nose much like a delicate piece of porcelain. His eyes, or technically his right eye, was narrowing down to focus on his hand, and Percy can’t help but chuckled at the hilarious sight. Not to mention adorable. ‘Jason does this to me every time my face pulls a Nakamura expression.’

‘Fuck off.’ There was no heat in it. And then, ‘You two seemed to be very close.’

‘Well, that’s how boyfriends’ supposed to be, right?’

‘He reminds me of,’ he paused to take in a deep breath, ‘Luke.’

They both shared a pained smile. And they both knew how much they missed the son of Hermes, though grieving felt like something that wouldn’t change anything. Percy chuckled awkwardly. ‘He even has a scar, though it’s in a different place than Luke’s. Guess I had a type, huh?’

‘Classy choice, Jackson.’

There was something in his voice, how it was hesitant and longing, that Percy started to suspect that Luke and Ethan were more than just leader and subordinate back then. He vaguely recalled how Luke had mentioned Ethan’s name just before he died, how it was all regret and protect, of wanting to make sure that no one deserve a fate as ill and torn as them.

‘You’re staring again.’ This time it wasn’t Ethan. Percy noticed it as soon as he felt a comforting hand resting on his shoulder and the usual scent of clear breeze and rain that had always accompanied Jason. He smirked. ‘Jealous much?’

As Jason laughed and punched Percy playfully on the shoulder, he noticed how Ethan was directing his eyes very much purposely to the frayed edge of the menu booklet. One part of him wondered if Ethan really had a similar taste like him, if the lightly flushed cheeks, just barely there, and his once again furrowed eyebrows were of any indication.

The chiming sound of a bell rang off. ‘Ah, how convenient. Our cupcake’s done, Perce,’ Jason noted pointedly, already making his way to the counter. ‘Finally,’ Ethan sighed exaggeratedly and yawned. ‘Now that’s just plain rude,’ Percy countered, his voice a bubble of laughter.

‘Well, there you go,’ Ethan was still saying, tying his stained apron neatly again as Jason returned with a medium-sized box. ‘Now get out of my hair, and don’t come back.’

‘You wish.’

‘Shoo.’

This time, Percy finally leave, but not before striding over to Ethan and hugging the air out of him again for the umpteenth time. Jason was looking at him with a fond and knowing gaze, and for the record, Percy didn’t actually made a sassy comment to go with. He kissed the corner of Jason’s lips and sighed, his heart fluttering pleasantly.

Ethan’s alive and that’s all he needed.

|||*|||

He could’ve sworn that he didn’t meant that kiss to happen.

True to his words, and not to mention his stubbornness, Percy came back to the café on a regular basis. Sometimes he would drag Jason along, even if that means walking half a mile just for a brief greeting, but if Jason was willing, that smile ever-gracing his scarred lips, Percy’s taking all the chances he has.

If he was patient enough, he knows that the annoyed and exasperated façade that Ethan had so valiantly maintain will crumble over time. Percy didn’t, and can’t, pride himself as being observant due to his short attention span, but just a glance to Ethan and he was lost. It’s one of those rare moments when he barged into the café bringing in assignments that he would finish in a word or two, sitting down and just watched the way Ethan would duck his head to arrange trays of lasagne, smiling conspiratorially bright at the adoring children who came every Friday afternoon, and running his fingers through his dark hair as he sighed in sated exhaustion. And when he spotted Percy, he would roll his eyes and gave him a half-hearted glare, which Percy suspected had been tiring to keep up every time he came.

Today, his excuse included a self-sponsored origami project because he was bored and had ran out of ideas for excuses to come over. Buying would be an absolute no, he’s usually broke and fed off his mum’s dinner every day, and too much cupcakes would make him fat.

The bell chimed a familiar tune as Percy strode past the door, thinking of how he would bug Ethan this time as he fiddled with the layers upon layers of coloured paper sitting snug in his arms, his bag already full of books and junk food.

Ethan spotted him immediately and gave a sideways glance, trying, and failing, on putting heat behind his eye.

Percy waved cheerfully and proceeded to sit on his usual booth before dumping all items on the table. Just as he was about to arrange them to a much appreciated state, a shadow loomed over him with an awful attempt of a decent throat-clearing. Feigning surprise, he looked up and chirruped a happy, ‘Ethan, my man. How’s it going?’

‘Don’t feed me that shit,’ Ethan muttered, though without any heat as usual. He was carrying a tray filled with two cups of latte and a box of baked goods, his lips sporting a small smile that he’d always gave to Percy once a blood moon, which is to say, not always. ‘Bagels? My treat.’

Might as well, huh? ‘This is quite a lot, Ethan.’

‘We’re sharing. You’ve come right into my break. We have half an hour.’

For his credit, Percy’s good at sharing. Setting the tray on the table next to Percy’s bag, Ethan dumped his ass onto the seat and sighed with his usual mildly-exhausted way. And it was during this moment, with his gaze farfetched through the window and the outside world, would Percy finally peek a glimpse of Ethan and his delicate face, framed by dark tresses of hair complimenting the thin undercut below, his slender neck elegantly twisted from how he was glancing to his side, his arms limp on either side of his slim-built body. His eye was unmoving, a mysterious shade of hazel bouncing off the sunlight.

‘So, what are we going to waste our time on, today?’

‘Origami, Ethan-san!’

This time, Ethan snorted a little, his softly-curved nose crinkled up in mock disdain. ‘Of all things, Percy. I thought you’re taking marine biology?’ he chided with his eye narrowed down. Percy took his turn to sigh exasperatedly. ‘Can you be fun for like, once? Without any references to those evil books and their nasty thicknesses?’

‘You’re becoming more and more Grace than I’ve expected, those smartass words and all.’ Percy stuck his tongue out at him because he was very much matured in handling stupid most-probable-crushes. Without much protest, Ethan took a piece and began folding and pressing, his long fingers handling the paper almost as fluid as sewing. He was frowning again, which Percy was refraining hard from thinking it’s cute. On the other hand, Percy resorted to pout, unable to feel jealous because of the truth that he didn’t know shit about origami. He took out the origami handbook he borrowed from the library and proceeded to make a paper airplane.

‘Well, I can see that mine is a crane. What’s yours, exactly? Can you make it more of a plane than a wreck?’

‘Oh, shush, this can totally fly,’ Percy said as he made flying motions with his blasphemous monstrosity of a paper, smugly nudging it into the tip of Ethan’s nose, complete with exaggerated sound effects. As predicted, Ethan would flicked it way, and then rarely enough, his lips betrayed a giggle. ‘Aha!’ Percy felt strangely victorious. ‘What a day to be blessed of hearing your laughter, Ethan-san.’

‘Gods, you sound stupid even now.’

He didn’t realised exactly how the distance between them had been lessening inch by inch until their close proximity was impossible to ignore. Something at the back of his mind kept nagging him to do something but he didn’t know what. He just leaned closer to Ethan, his chin tilted in a challenge.

Undeterred, Ethan narrowed his gaze before turning his attention back to another blue piece of paper, his hands deftly shaping the fibrous piece into creation. This time, it was a simple boat-shaped origami, its tiny sail peeking in between its hull. 'This, Jackson, is a patrol ship. And not only is it functional, it emits a proper sound,' Ethan was saying with mock grandeur, moving the little boat across the table up Percy's arm. 'Beep. Beep. Beep. Bee – ngh!'

It was a dumb move, but he couldn’t care less.

Percy caught Ethan's lips in between his with surprising ease, a hum resonating at the back his throat when they contacted upon soft skin. His hand grabbed purchase at the short hairs at the back of Ethan’s head, fingers relishing the soft tingling feeling that seemed to radiate warmth Percy felt down to his stomach. And for the better part of it, Ethan was kissing him back. For just a few seconds, Percy had forgotten how the rest of the world feels like, just a pair of lips tethering him to the ground and a pair of hands clutching his hoodie like a life-line.

And then there was a grunt and just as sudden as Percy had kissed him, Ethan pulled back. His eye was wide, swirling with emotions that Percy could only decipher as surprise and fear. ‘What the fuck?’ he drawls, but it was all white noise in Percy’s ear. How wonderful were the lips that uttered those words, how perfect they had felt against his own.

‘What about Jason?’

And then Percy started, his expression mirroring Ethan’s. Jason. He had forgotten him, had gave in to his own idiotic desire over the one boy who had accepted him into his heart. Percy felt that whatever resolve and courage he had before were crumbling down, replaced by something akin to fear, and shame.

Ethan was frowning again, his eye looking anywhere but Percy’s. ‘I can’t do this. I have to go.’

‘E – Ethan.’

‘Until you fix whatever you’re having now with your boyfriend, please don’t come here again.’

The skin where the paper ship had sailed across was still burning when he stormed out of the café.

|||*|||

Jason was bent low over his book, hands sifting through the pages, lips pursed in concentration. When he heard Percy approaching, he looked up and the ever-present smile widened in acknowledgement that Percy had come. Had always come. The sight alone broke something inside Percy, who knew that it wouldn’t be the only thing that would break this evening.

He didn’t deserved this man. Loyalty felt more of a lie to him right then.

Jason must have sensed something troubling Percy when his face gradually transformed from one of happiness to one of question, his eyebrows raised in curiosity. ‘Hey, what’s wrong?’ That tone was calculative in the way that comforted Percy, and attentive in the way that the pang of guilt constantly thrumming in himself increased in pace. He couldn’t hold it in much longer.

‘I fucked up.’

To the very least, Jason’s face was amused. ‘Nothing’s new, there,’ he says, tone neutral in indication for Percy to continue. Patting the surface of the small couch lightly, Jason beckoned Percy to sit down next to him. His azure eyes, beautifully accentuated by those gold-rimmed glasses, was half-lidded when he leaned in for a small kiss. Percy evaded it halfway, his fingers stopping Jason’s lips from getting closer. It took a moment for Jason to realise that Percy was trembling, his sea-green eyes glassy and devastated. Fazed, Jason brushed Percy’s choppy fringe aside gently, his eyebrows furrowed with concern.

‘Jason, stop.’ The tender gestures was the last straw, and Jason looked even more surprised to see that single tear rolling down. His voice shook terribly.

‘I kissed Ethan.’

With that, Percy burst into an avalanche of emotions, guilt and sorrow and self-hatred cascading down all at once. He rubbed his face with a hand, swearwords and apologies all jumbled into irregular sentences, breaths hitching every five seconds. It was a terrible sight for both of them. ‘Jason, fuck, I’m so sorry.’ He couldn’t bear the notion of Jason and him as a separate item instead of Jason-and-Percy, but unfaithfulness pays for the worst.

Percy was all but ready for the eventual rejection, his gaze focused hard to the edge of the coffee table, ignoring the pleasant warmth of Jason’s presence. For him, it was no longer welcoming. When the silence was becoming more unbearable by the second, Jason asked, not unkindly, ‘Are you done?’

What was his problem?

A chuckle spilled out of Jason when Percy gaped at him, his strong calloused hands settling themselves on Percy’s shoulders as he leaned in for a proper kiss. By that time, Percy’s mind was too numb for even a proper interaction, mouth moving awkwardly against Jason’s swift tongue. He blanked off when Jason’s thumbs came up to wipe at his wet cheeks, Jason’s face looming above his with a calm expression.

‘Tell me how you feel about the kiss.’

So Jason wanted to fuck, in a figurative sense, with him now. ‘Jason, aren’t you –’

‘Tell me how you feel.’

Percy glared at him for taking this so calmly without much of a flinch. By now, he had figured out that Jason at the very least wouldn’t even have the sense to talk to him. ‘I feel bad for cheating on you.’

‘No, Percy, how you feel when you were kissing him,’ Jason insisted, raising one eyebrow in a curious look that freaked him out. This is it, he thought, he’s using my words against me so he could leave. Might as well get this over with. He squared his shoulders up to his ears, shame lacing his trembling voice. ‘It was… nice. Warm and good,’ and he would like to kiss Ethan again some time, even if he was undeserving of both of them. ‘Fuck, just get this over with.’

‘Perce. Percy, look at me,’ Jason commanded, his finger tilting Percy’s chin to face him. ‘So you like him?’

What was Jason on about, with that tiny, unnerving smile and a look that suggested mischief and bordering to… hopeful? Percy couldn’t even bring himself to have the decency to cry. He sighed in defeat, long and insufferable. ‘Yes.’

‘Good, because I like him too.’

‘…what?’ Percy looked at him the way Jason looked at him when he did something insane. Jason gave an insufferable sigh and rolled his eyes, pulling Percy closer into his arms, closer into another sweet kiss. When Jason pulled away, the new idea sprouting from the top of his brain was so absurd that he laughed in the incredulity of it. But then, the grin plastered on Jason’s handsome face suggested exactly the same. ‘He’s an amazing person you really cared for, and actually had the will to care for you even when you’re being an idiot; I can’t helped but be charmed.’

Percy laughed in surprise at Jason’s dreamy look. ‘Badass seemed to be your type too, huh, Grace?’

‘How can someone look that hot in an eyepatch, huh, Jackson?’

‘Are you for real?’ He giggled against Jason’s insatiable lips, his heart swelling for the fact that he really was undeserving of Jason. That guy’s just a fucking angel, and Percy knew he couldn’t escape. ‘Cupcake tomorrow?’

‘Sure. If they still have no sense in selling blue ones, I’m suing.’

|||*|||

‘Fuck,’ Ethan exclaimed loudly when two pair of lips assaulted his cheeks. A middle-aged woman glared at him from behind a basket of garlic breads, her beady eyes squinting suspiciously at them. Turning around, he raised an eyebrow at Jason and Percy, who were looking at him with the mirth of two little kids waiting for candy.

Percy leaned closer. ‘We’re planning on taking you away and never to return.’

‘If you’re comfortable having more than one person keeping you.’ Jason smiled timidly, and Percy could’ve sworn that the lightly flushed pink of Ethan’s cheeks was not there without reason. Taking his chance, and treading into the uncharted waters that was Ethan Nakamura, Percy continued, ‘And you still have to teach me origami, so I’m taking no for an answer.’

‘And what do I get in return?’ Ethan asked, one eyebrow raised, though his lips were straining to keep all emotions in. In what manner exactly, it was beyond Percy. He only knew that when he clasped Ethan’s hand in his, Jason doing so on the other side, the true answer would be, ‘Us.’