Chapter Text
Luke was a beautiful mess.
The reason?
The god between his legs, having fun marking what was his by sucking at his neck and collarbone, even though no one else had ever laid a hand on Luke. Almost every night for the past few months, Mercury had made sure to leave him a breathless, trembling mess before sleep. His lover had turned it into a hobby by now, one Luke didn’t really mind, if he was being honest. He knew Mercury was feasting on his reactions, only this time the god had decided to torture him a little, keeping both of their clothes on while pressing against him, intent on teasing him slowly.
That part wasn’t new. Every time Mercury felt he wasn’t getting the attention he thought he deserved, he liked to bother Luke, as if Luke had ever neglected him. He’d probably get along with Hermes before ever neglecting Mercury.
“Not so hard,” he grunted in pain when he felt Mercury break the skin just below his collarbone.
Mercury lifted his gaze to meet Luke’s with eyes that said, “Don’t tell me what to do.” Then he made things worse, rolling his hips against him, and that small movement was enough to make Luke forget the pain and pull him closer by the waist, deepening the friction.
Still, Mercury’s mouth softened when he returned to his self-imposed task. Not by much; it still burned like hell, but every mark he left lingered vividly for days.
Once, the bites on Luke’s upper thighs had taken weeks to fade, an odd sign of good humor from the god. As revenge, Luke had refused to sleep beside him for the next two weeks.
Sometimes Luke wondered how it was possible that, years ago, he couldn’t even stand to look at him. Having the god as his host had been unbearable, no matter how unwilling he’d been. He even wondered if staying in New Rome had ever been his own choice, or if he was simply trapped by the “fence too high to climb” that Mercury represented.
It’s not impossible, you just don’t want to leave.
That reminder came often, and it was true. Mercury had long stopped sabotaging his escape attempts. After all, it had only taken him one year to make Luke lose all interest in leaving his side.
Horny bastard. I still remember when…
“You’re dissociating again.”
Luke blinked and looked up at Mercury, who, much to his annoyance, had stopped moving to face him, in that unnerving way that used to terrify him to the core. Mercury didn’t look angry, just quietly intrigued, despite his expressionless face.
“You do that a lot. What were you thinking about this time?” His tone carried a convincing sort of curiosity. At least he no longer demanded answers; he only asked for them, and might even get one.
“Nothing important,” Luke replied simply, holding his gaze.
The god’s dark brown eyes studied him with suspicion, but he let it go.
“Are you going to start already, or should I wait until I’m old before you touch me again?” Luke said after a comfortable silence in which they just looked at each other, leaning in until their noses brushed.
Mercury let out his first smile of the night before kissing him.
Luke didn’t waste a second. He took advantage of the warm closeness to slide his hands under the god’s shirt, touching everything within reach of that sculpted body.
Luke leaned against one of the gym courtyard’s columns, still drifting in and out of consciousness from sleep. It was barely six in the morning, and all he wanted was to be back in bed with Mercury, sleeping in to recover most of his strength for that same afternoon after another busy night with the god.
Luke didn’t even know where he’d found the strength to pull himself out of Mercury’s arms. It was even more impressive that he’d managed to walk all the way to the legion’s main training area. He wouldn’t deny it, he’d wanted to stay for once and not argue with him, and he would have if he hadn’t promised Jason that he’d personally help with his training.
And well, Luke was weak when it came to Jason. The boy reminded him too much of Thalia and Annabeth to ever say no to him.
Annabeth. The last time he had thought about her was on her birthday a few weeks ago.
“Luke!”
At the familiar, cheerful shout that could only belong to Jason, Luke pushed aside every trace of sleep and, in record time, straightened up to look in the direction of the voice. Jason was running toward him, practice sword strapped to his side, his bright electric blue eyes shining in that same way they had when Luke had first seen him fight, when he had made Luke promise to teach him someday. That day had come.
Luke let out a quiet laugh as the wind around Jason made him look like a little tornado. He was so excited he probably didn’t even notice how his powers stirred with a hint of wild energy.
Once Jason reached him, Luke could see even more clearly how the boy could easily compete with an Apollo kid for the light that seemed to radiate from him. The sight made Luke’s heart skip with fondness.
“Are you ready?” Luke’s tone was gentle and, above all, awake, unlike how he actually felt inside from the exhaustion.
Stupid Mercury.
“Of course I am!” Jason exclaimed, as if being awake at six in the morning wasn’t the sworn enemy of every other kid, and in this case, of Luke too.
Luke liked seeing this side of Jason, in contrast to the serious boy he always tried to be. Key word, “tried,” because unlike what you’d expect from a kid his age, Jason was a true little gentleman with a big heart. Luke couldn’t help but compare him to Jason’s favorite CareBear, Generosity Bear.
The following hours went by, as usual, very quickly, and with them also went Luke’s will to stay on his feet. Maybe if he hadn’t gone from training one kid to supervising eight others, who had all “coincidentally” found out that Luke would be on the field today, he might still have had some energy left.
Luke knew that this coincidence was Jason’s doing, but he had no proof.
It took a great deal of willpower not to pinch Jason’s cheeks when the boy puffed them slightly in protest after seeing the others start joining them two hours after they had begun.
He had told them that was enough for the day, except for Jason, when he heard more than one stomach growling with hunger, which made him wonder what time it was and whether he would have time for a short nap before his meeting with Mercury.
"Will it be the same tomorrow?" Jason asked once they were alone, as he arranged some of the extra tools used during training.
Jason looked quite disheveled; his hair was dull from all the dust he had gathered each time he fell or was knocked down, and his clothes confirmed it, looking much more torn than when he started. Of course, they were just for training.
"Mmm... yeah. We’ll keep going over more ways to keep you from mutilating your fingers," Luke said casually as he shamelessly swapped out some of the sharper, non-training-safe weapons for others that were less likely to cause mutilations or infections.
The unsafe weapons he usually wrapped in towels before hiding them, and when night fell, he would return to stash them properly. Maybe he would hide them again on top of Mercury’s temple. Last time, Mercury hadn’t really cared, nor the time before that, nor the one before that. Actually, he had made it clear he didn’t care as long as Luke didn’t get caught. But considering Jason had found them by accident last time and, as a result, had to return an entire arsenal to its place, even though he hadn’t tattled, Jason had made it clear that he didn’t approve of stealing from the legion, which Luke found rude.
Luke wasn’t stealing from anyone; he was just making sure no one got seriously hurt by accident, taking those weapons secretly for an indefinite amount of time. Jason, even though he saw him do it, said nothing, but he kept insisting it was still stealing.
He was lucky that, at most, Luke only wanted to pinch those still baby-like cheeks of his.
"I meant the time. Tomorrow at six again?" Jason’s tone was more cheerful this time, a contrast to his earlier exhaustion.
Luke felt a chill run through his whole body and set the weapons aside.
"No."
Maybe his tone came out harsher than he intended, because when he saw Jason’s sad expression, he quickly added
"I mean, I can’t tomorrow. I’ll send a satyr to tell you the time when I have a free moment. I’m going to be busy all weekend, so maybe Monday," he explained quickly; the last thing he wanted was to see Jason sad, especially because of him.
His answer seemed to help, as the boy smiled again.
Luke had said goodbye to Jason as soon as he heard the boy’s stomach growl, staying behind to finish hiding the weapons.
He leaned against a pillar near the armory, closing his eyes, wishing only to collapse in the first corner he could find and sleep. But he knew that later he would have to endure a lecture from Mercury about how such behavior was unacceptable coming from someone like him. In that, Luke was guilty; he couldn’t say no to a kid who somehow reminded him of his two sisters.
"Still want to go out, or would you rather stay in bed?"
Luke opened his eyes to look at the obvious owner of the voice, and as he expected, saw Mercury with his usual go-to-hell expression.
Mercury looked as he always did, like a man in his twenties, dressed in a short-sleeved white shirt, the first two buttons undone, black dress pants, and matching boots. As the cherry on top, he held a large coffee in his right hand.
Luke didn’t bother hiding the glance he threw at the slight opening of Mercury’s shirt, even though he already knew what was underneath… and more. After admiring for a few seconds, he stepped closer and took the coffee, taking a quick sip before saying.
"Let’s go out. Give me time to shower and take a short nap," he said with a yawn as he stretched his neck a little. Maybe his response sounded a bit desperate, though he told himself it didn’t.
Mercury simply turned around and started walking toward the exit. Apparently, he intended to make him walk. Luke grumbled as he hurried to follow, as if the bastard couldn’t just teleport them.
He decided to stop complaining and just walk while finishing the coffee, ignoring the ache in his muscles, the one he had been trying to overlook since waking up. Some of it came from the few hits landed by those training with him, but most came from the god he was now following.
Although, to be honest, most of it was the god’s fault. More than it should have been.
