Nightmares (Jercy Oneshot(s)) ✳️

Mom and Paul

Jason was putting dishes in the sink as Percy hummed to some music. He flicked a few fingers and the water from the sink had taken shape. They surrounded the dishes and began scrubbing them clean when the Beyoncé music changed. It was interrupted by a short bout of lyrics from a Disney movie Jason had yet to watch. Percy paused and looked at his phone.

"It's mom," he said. Jason smiled and waved him off.

"Go, I'll do it. Send Sally my love and tell Estelle I'm going to her recital next month." He told his husband. Percy returned his kind gesture with a kiss while he flicked water at him. Jason playfully shoved him and watched as Percy put the phone to his ear.

"Hey–" he walked out and Jason grabbed the sponge from the counter.

There was a line of dishes still piled in the sink. Spaghetti and different types of nachos were piled into the drain. A few forks and a knife was settled in the plastic cups. Jason didn't mind the neon-colored plastic cups, their real glass cups were kept away because they kept braking. Then again, usually glass cups don't stay in one piece when Leo throws them at walls for "science."

Jason got to work, trying to ignore the chill down his spine as his fingers touched some half-eaten plate. A gnat or two joined his headspace, flying around and trying to get a taste of four-day old dishes.

Jason bit his lip, not used to the silence. If Percy hadn't gotten a call from Sally, he'd be singing to Beyoncé as Jason cleared the table. Once he had finished clearing the table, they'd prance around and split dish duty. This "dish duty" usually entailed cleaning up a shattered, wet plate with a broom, but it was loud. The music, laughs, and sounds of broken dishes usually filled the space that was left abandoned when Percy walked out of the kitchen.

Jason didn't dare think of singing. He felt his face go sour just thinking of doing some sort of kitchen solo. While he didn't mind doing a kitchen duet with Percy, his own singing was some kind of self torture. Nico once compared it to a dying cat, which Jason can't say he was wrong.

Jason had gone through the plates and was working on cleaning out the cups when Percy came back. He went through the door quietly. Jason almost didn't notice him if he hadn't been wearing sneakers on a tile floor.

"Hey babe, how's your mom doing?" Jason asked as he put a cup on the drying rack. He wiped another with a dry rag as Percy didn't answer. He was holding the phone with white knuckles, and his lack of response made Jason nervous.

"Perce—?"

"It was Estelle." Percy said. He sounded raspy, and his eyes looked irritated. His skin was flushed and he stopped walking. He stood in one spot, staring at the towel in Jason's hands. Jason rested his elbow on the sink's edge and leaned onto the counter.

"Oh! Wait, doesn't she have her own phone? The one that can only call with WiFi? Why is she calling from Sally's phone?" Jason felt like the answer he was waiting for gave him more questions then answers.

"Cause mom– she– mom couldn't."

Jason had taken pride in admitting he could read his husband quite well. After 3 years of dating and 5 years of marriage, he considered himself fluent in most things Percy does. It was rare, if ever, that he was at a loss of what was going on with him. He was used to reading him like an open book.

Now it felt like the pages were burned beyond recognition.

Percy's shoulders were hunched, a dent in his mouth confirmed that he was biting the inside of his lip. His lips were cracking and he'd tremble every few seconds. Jason put the dishes back and tried to keep eye contact with him. Percy didn't look him in the eyes, instead he was persistent in looking at the dark blue dishes rag.