#this is a drabble from that one valgrace except

[reddamselette]

Jason was resting against the headboard of his bed, his glasses low on his nose as he read with a book pressed on his thigh. The dim lighting from his lamp provided illumination, a fuzzy warm glow like the sun was peeking through the blinds of his window during sunrise.

It was well past midnight. His room was the only window barely lit up, the city was asleep as was every other person within the apartment he resided in. Jason assumed Thalia had already gone to bed, no longer able to hear the muffled talking and shouts of laughter each time they’d been on the phone with a friend.

He sighed as he threw his legs over the edge of his bed, closing the book along with him as he stood up and made his way over to his desk sitting in the corner near the window. Jason took off his glasses to rub at his eyes, he finished the book but he had a five page book report left that was due the next morning before lunch. He didn’t know when time was lost on him, he might’ve been busy but at the moment, sleep was all he could think about.

Just before he would leave his room to wash his face and make a cup of tea, he heard a thud.

It was a fleeting thing and he would’ve thought it was a mere figment of his imagination had it not happened again.

Jason turned around and stepped closer to his window, pushing the curtains apart only to reveal someone on the other side of the glass. Someone who was known on the news and the talk of the public, a hero with a spider front and center on his chest, never one to stay too long and was always one to keep an identity hidden.

Against his better judgment, he unlocked the latch to his window and pulled it up, allowing the hero to stumble in with a muffled grunt that quickly turned into a wince.

Jason closed the window and shut the curtains, carefully directing the other to sit at the chair of his desk.

He had never seen Spiderman up close before. However seeing the real thing compared to what he had seen on the media was always a different experience. Others think he was old enough to be in his twenties but to Jason, the hero couldn’t have been younger than he is.

“Why in the world,” Jason started in a whisper, “would you randomly ask someone who you don’t even know for help?”

Spiderman laughed, a breathless sort of sound that reminded Jason all too much of someone who stole his heart. His body shivered involuntarily like he was shocked. He might’ve been.

“Why in the world would you let someone—ah, shit—let someone you don’t know in your room?” The hero asked in turn, a lazy tilt of his head to the side as he pressed a gloved hand to his torso. “I..I think I can trust you.”

Jason huffed and he left the room. Only to come back minutes later with a few things, a first aid kit and rubbing alcohol.

His information on first aid and injuries were only built on what Will would mention, what he’d share from the medical program he was enrolled in. As he knelt down beside the hero, gently pulling away his hand to check the wound, Jason knew it wasn’t fatal but it was nasty under the fabric of his suit.

“Lift up your shirt,” Jason muttered as he set the things beside his knees, opening the lid to the alcohol and used the washcloth to absorb some of the stinging liquid.

“Usually you would have to—“ The hero hissed as he slowly peeled his shirt up and over his side, revealing warm and tan skin covered in blood. “Take me out on a date first before asking me that.”

“Hold still, you’re bleeding everywhere.” Jason could only imagine the questions and concerns if he left his room unattended for Thalia to see. They’d think he was related in life threatening situations, might’ve gotten mugged or something other that wouldn’t have been possible unless he left the safety of his room that late. Thalia always did have the talent of stressing themself out.

Although, Jason had a feeling that if they knew he opened his window to a stranger—nevermind that they’re a hero—they would explode.

Those thoughts were quickly drowned out, a flash of lightning to something that had struck out in Jason’s mind. “What did you mean by you think you can trust me? I could’ve been a bad guy for all you know.”

The hero curled his fingers into a fist as he released a strained breath of air and Jason murmured an apology, carefully dabbing the washcloth laced with rubbing alcohol around the wound. Will would’ve been proud, really. “I-Is it safe to say that I doubt it? I’ve had my—my fair share of bad guys and none of them read Wuthering Heights before bed.”

“What if I happen to be an extinguished criminal then? Get inspiration on my wrongdoings or whatever from whatever I read?”

“Maybe it’s a good thing this isn’t a comic book, otherwise I think—I think I would’ve had to deal with the Joker or something.”

Jason huffed under his breath, shaking it head as he cleaned up the last bit of blood around the wound, hoping he disinfected thoroughly yet he felt like even the slightest of it went a long way. He set the washcloth down and grabbed a gauze pad, pulling off the thin sheet of paper as he stuck it to the hero’s side, doing it in such a way to avoid anything suddenly getting into the gash.

“My best friend says the same thing,” Jason said after he began unrolling the bandage around the hero’s torso.

Spiderman lifted his head to look at Jason through his mask but the blond was concentrated. His brows were furrowed and his lips were pursed in the way that no one but him would notice. “Do they?”

Jason didn’t answer for a moment as he tidied everything up, packing away the bandages and such into the first aid kit then closed the lid to the bottle of rubbing alcohol. His knees ached by the time he stood and he placed it onto his desk next to his book. “Mm. My older sister says he’s a bad influence though.”

“I am not a bad influence—“ He paused and he coughed weakly, then he sighed just as Jason nodded to himself and took a seat on his bed directly across. He hesitantly raised his hand, hooking his fingers around the material of his mask to pull it off.

Brown curls popped and fell around his face, frizzy and hardly taken care of, some strands stuck to his forehead due to sweat. It was a rough fight Leo went through, he didn’t know how he managed to escape.

He had several small cuts to his cheek, his lip, his jawline. A bruise forming high on his cheekbone near his eye but hazel irises remained the same and he was otherwise unscathed and embarrassed. “How did you know?”

Jason had guessed. He had his suspicions for a long while, since their sophomore year. They were halfway through junior year now, events and trips piled one after the other and they were busy as ever. He vaguely recalled the sudden absences of his best friend—his tia needed something or he left something at home—with rushed apologies as he ran like his life depended on it.

And it had.

And it seemed to make Jason fall in love with him more. The boy he loved since middle school. The hero he looked at like he decorated the sky in stars, pulled the very reins of the chariot holding the sun.

Jason couldn’t help it. There were dangers of him knowing yet he wouldn’t mind at all of being Icarus. He would always fly too close to the sun if it meant spending his entire life with Leo, he thought.

“Your excuses aren’t very convincing, Leo.”

[reddamselette]

valgrace except it’s two days before new years. modern au for drabble purposes.

jason left america to visit italy. he and reyna haven’t seen each other in a while so after christmas, he had booked a flight, said his goodbyes, and boarded the plane. leo had stayed, driving from new york to texas with will so they can both see their mothers, introducing the women who just hit it off so well leo and will were a little nervous about their influence on each other.

it wasn’t all bad. just embarrassing childhood photos and stories leo had to suffer through before he and will went on tangents about the kids they’re counseling at camp.

during the days, jason and leo still kept in touch. they texted every single detail about their adventures to one another, even the littlest details. like how the ruins in rome would have annabeth with heart eyes, cafes here and there she would also like as well. sometimes they’d call to help each other pick out clothes, which colors would look good with which, reyna and will’s running commentary in the background.

they would just talk and talk that there wasn’t a moment they weren’t on the phone.

then leo and will drove back to new york on new year’s eve. the counselors set things up for the kids who didn’t have homes to return to, spend time with the others but within every hour closer to midnight, leo checked his phone. jason was supposed to come back but there was nothing. no phone calls, no texts, just silence.

needless to say, leo was anxious. and he was stressed.

and as they’re ready for the countdown, crowded by the bonfire with fireworks and food and drinks and games at the ready, leo’s name is called five seconds in.

he whipped around to search for the direction it came from because even in the loud chanting, the laughs and the giggles, leo can hear jason’s name anywhere. he spent so much time committing that soft voice to memory, the smile, how he’d say leo’s name.

and he runs off.

he runs like hell is on his heels and collides into jason who meets him halfway, arms around each other as the fireworks are set off and the clock strikes midnight.