Please imagine this: Luke comes back from the dead and he has to catch up with everything that happened. He meets Jason is really wary about him and the Romans at first because "what the fuck. What the actual fuck yOU WERE RAISED BY WOLVES AND TRAINED FROM WHAT AGE ON?!" and even after he gets closer to them (especially with Jason) he still says that he doesn't trust the Romans, although there is litterally the strongest Roman demigod aka Jason Grace sitting in his lap.
Coming back from the dead brings a whole lot more questions than the people who were there to learn about it. From Camp Jupiter to Gaea, Luke was able to absorb as much as he could from the demigods who didn’t hate his guts, at least. That’s to say - there are still some among them who are wary about him, and for a good reason too.
Meeting Thalia’s brother was the other huge shocker since Thalia never once mentioned about her family. Every reminder of it brought pain in her eyes so Luke elected to avoid prying so that she could have her peace. Then, he learned about the customs of Camp Jupiter, including where Jason was trained by wolves since the age of two and has been serving the camp ever since he ‘graduated’ from the Wolf House.
What the fuck?
This brings to mind that Jason might not have the experience of some ‘normalcy’ (not that the life of a demigod brings the right to boast about being normal) and the first clue came from Jason literally ripping his teeth into a lump of raw meat, chewing on it as though it was a cooked chicken. While Luke was trying to digest the sight, everyone else minded their own food as though it was normal.
What has this crazy world come to?
“Hey,” Jason called out softly from his place in Luke’s lap, effectively snapping Luke out of his thoughts. “Do you want to mingle around?” He gestured towards the crowd formed by demigods from both Camp Halfblood and Camp Jupiter.
Luke scoffed and bit back the sarcastic remark he would’ve made if it were anyone but Jason, Thalia or Annabeth who were asking. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m not exactly famous around.” He leaned forward and perched his chin on Jason’s broad shoulder. “I’m good here.”
“Are you sure? I’ve been told I’m not quite interesting company.” Jason only turns his head slightly, enough to feel the touch of Luke’s skin against his nose. Jason notices that whenever the demigods from Camp Jupiter came over, Luke becomes less inclined to join the fun.
“If that matters to me at all, I wouldn’t be your boyfriend now, would I, wolf boy?”
Contrary to what Jason or anyone thinks, Luke quite enjoys the peace and serenity that Jason brings. Jason is quiet, but not enough to fade into the background. He’s easily one of the strongest demigods around, and his title as Pontifex Maximus meant that he’s going to get recognized even when he keeps quiet. It’s only so that the kids from Camp Jupiter are far more disciplined to hound Jason every minute of the day while titles don’t matter and the boring sort much to Camp Half Blood. That didn’t mean Jason’s presence isn’t noticeable - far from it.
“Luke.” Jason’s voice grows serious, though it doesn’t hold the tone that Luke is in trouble - like the time he casually gave Connor and Travis ideas for a prank, which he honestly didn’t know they were going to pull on Jason and Percy. “Are you uncomfortable with us Romans?” His voice grows softer this time as though he’s approaching a delicate issue that might cause Luke to clam up.
Luke shrugs his shoulders and holds Jason tightly to him. “Not uncomfortable as much as I don’t trust them. I don’t trust a lot of people.”
“You know that it doesn’t make sense when you have me on your lap, right?”
“And you weigh a good ton, wolf boy,” Luke purrs into Jason’s ear teasingly and smirked when he feels Jason’s skin warming up from the act.
“I’m serious,” Jason grumbles with his cheeks tinted red, and he pulled himself away slightly so that he can turn around to face his boyfriend. Both of his hands are on Luke’s arms as Luke encircled them around Jason to keep him from falling off. “I’m not looking into forcing you into anything but… is there a chance where you’ll try to get to know them? Maybe?”
Luke doesn’t know what to say when he’s looking into Jason’s eyes that seemed so hopeful, like this meant a lot to him. Unlike Jason, Luke only mingled around outside of his circle before when it served a united purpose. Other than looking after the newcomers of Camp Half Blood and working with the Seven on some occasions to steal from a near impossibly accessible place, hanging out with the Romans hasn’t been in his priority list.
Yet he seems to be fighting a losing battle when it reminds him how much this would mean to Jason. Jason hardly makes any requests as it is, unless it’s for the benefit of others. His selflessness, despite what he had been through, had always been an enigma to Luke - and yet a bigger part of Luke finds it frustrating that Jason always decides to do a thankless job and gets twice the pain in the process. He almost wanted to rip his own hair out, trying to get Jason to become a little bit more selfish. Hence, it’s really difficult to say ‘no’ when Jason is making such an earnest request for his own desire for once.
“Fine,” Luke finally says after he expelled a huge sigh. “I’ll try. But if nothing good comes out of it, I’m not going to push it.”
As expected, Jason beams like a thousand suns he is and pushes himself forward to wrap his strong arms around Luke, who slowly rests his own hands on Jason’s muscular back. No matter how much you tell him that his hugs are often in the form of a golem’s crushing attack, Jason’s excitement overrides his caution when handling these good-willed embraces.“That’s more than what I could ask for,” Jason murmurs happily. Luke wanted to point out that this isn’t exactly a demanding request that would warrant such a reaction of full gratitude - but he prefers to keep Jason’s moods happy. “Come. I’ll introduce you to some of my closest friends.”
“Wait, we’re doing this right now?” Luke tries to argue when Jason hops off his lap and easily pulls Luke onto his feet.
“Of course. They aren’t going to be staying for long.” Lacing his fingers together with Luke’s, Jason makes his way towards the crowd with Luke in tow.
Brushing his fingers into his hair, Luke sighs into the air. He had hoped he could have more moments of silence with Jason before meeting the Romans, who might or might not also hate his guts. Regardless, seeing how Jason navigates them through the crowd excitedly, heading towards Reyna and Thalia, Luke suppressed the small feeling of dread and puts on his sociable, charming mask - and smiles at Jason’s back.
