Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rebecca frowned at Simon with a look in her eyes that said ‘you are so stupid’.

“You somehow managed to get involved with the most widespread demigod movement from a whole different pantheon.” she said. Her black wings, only partially there, ruffled behind her. If she wanted, she could make them fully hidden in the Spirit Realm, or bring them fully into the Mortal Realm. Simon’s were currently fully out, stretched out as he groomed his wings, since his consistent time in public meant they were hidden too often.

“Yes, I know it’s stupid, but still. I had no way of knowing Clary was a Nephilium.” he responded as he adjusted his wings.

The Spirit Realm, sadly, was a dangerous place to keep your wings. It was kind of the equivalent of binding your wings down to your back. It was tight, cramped, and made it so painful. Being partially out was the equivalent of putting a blanket over your wings.

“Okay, true, but the second you realized she was involved with those death attracting people,” said Rebecca. “At least tell me they have a lot of spirits.”

“Oh yes, the amount of spirits.” Simon licked his lips. “It could keep us… busy for a while.”

“Oh, well, there’s that. So, are you still coming to Camp this year?” asked Rebecca as she tucked her wings back into the Spirit Realm.

“Of course. Though I fear they might want to come along.” Simon sighed and walked to his room. “Please keep all routes closed.”

“Of course.” Rebecca raised her hand and let the shadows tie in on themselves so that no one could creep in through them. Then she locked all the doors and windows. They were children of the God of Death, and they would not be found out by children of an Archangel. No, not even children. Legacies.

She left the house, closing the door tightly behind her, tying it shut and then falling easily through a shadow in front of the house to the Underworld.

“Hello Father.” she said as she nodded to the handsome man in front of her, flexing her black wings, that matched his, easily.

“What is it?” he asked, turning to look at her and shrinking down to her size. As she and Simon were his only kids, he was very attentive with them, moreso then most gods.

“Simon, he got involved with the Nephilim,” said Rebecca. “Turns out Clary and her mother were hiding from whichever movement was trying to kill a bunch of people in their world.”

Thanatos nodded deeply. “The motion of death has crept closer to your brother.” he said after a moment.

“Oh aftés oi ilíthies klironomiés .” she cursed. “Why would they get mortals involved?”

“You and Simon aren’t mortal.” said Thanatos, reaching over and working his hands through Rebecca’s wings to readjust them.

“As far as they know we are. Yet they let him get involved.”

“Your brother is very stubborn. It is likely that he got himself involved.”

“I have a feeling it comes to Clary. She probably insisted he be allowed into their world.” Rebecca sighed. “He’s still napping at home, so I should get back to him. Mom’s at work and all that, so I gotta make sure he’s fine before the Nepilim come to suck him into another drama.” She fluttered her wings and turned to Thanatos. “Goodbye Dad.”

“Goodbye Becca. Tell Simon hello.”

Rebecca nodded and fell through a shadow back to the outside of her house. As she did, she shoved her wings back into the Spirit Realm.

She walked back into the house and sat down, spinning around casually. “ Ilíthioi Misángeloi . Always doing reckless things and sucking innocents into their drama.” Not that she or Simon were innocent. Anyone they knew could attest to that.

~~

In Simon’s personal opinion, getting kidnapped by vampires was, all things considered, a one star experience.

“You got kidnapped… by vampires?” asked his mom, frowning at him. “Vampires? The undead? You are the children of the dead.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like I can just tell them that. They did smell of death though. That wasn’t great, being surrounded by all that.”

The scent of death was like dopamine for the two kids. It was a good thing. Probably meant to encourage them to help spirits. However, being surrounded by too much death meant they would get a Thanatos kid to a state of being high, as well as being more aggressive, competitive, and having lower impulse control.

In other words, being surrounded by vampires was dangerous for Simon for different reasons then you would think.

“I’m sick and tired of you being in danger because of these Legacies.” Elaine said. She took a drink and then turned to Simon. “If this keeps up I will send you to Camp year round.” she said, and Simon knew it wasn’t an empty threat.

“They’ll probably assume he was kidnapped.’ said Rebecca as she paced back and forth in annoyance, her wings fluttering behind her, fully outside of the Spirit Realm.

“I doubt anyone but Clary would care. They don’t particularly like me. They think I’m a stupid mundane who’s getting involved in this despite not understanding.” Simon pouted. “I’m not. I’m a fucking child of death. I could best any of them.”

“I know Simon.” Elaine assured him. “And they cannot know that. They may have the… down world. But they are blind to the ways of our people.” Elaine was also a granddaughter of Dionysus. Which was probably part of why she managed to pull such a powerful god. Twice.

“They’re blind in so many ways.” said Rebecca. “They do not want to know about us, so they ignore it. The Mist even covers their eyes.”

“It’s disgraceful for their heritage. That they can be blind to all the monsters, when they claim to be the ones cleansing the world of them.” Simon agreed, jumping up to sit on the counter, leaning back as his wings spread out.

“Please call on your father, I need to yell at him for letting you do this.” said Elaine.

“I mean, you also let him.” said Rebecca dryly, raising her eyebrow.

“Your father has more power in this situation then me.” pointed out Elaine with a sigh. “He has told me of your closeness to death, and he still let you continue.”

“You knew about it!”

“I cannot change death!” said Elaine angrily. “My grandfather is wine and madness. His connection to death is in his human eating cult following. I cannot change death! Your father can do that. He can change death.”

Simon sat back, sighing in annoyance as he flapped his wings. “I’m going for a fly.”

“Don’t be seen,” said Rebecca.

“I won’t, I’m not stupid.” Simon pulled on a choker that made him invisible, then jumped through the window easily. He wasn’t a rookie at this. Getting past harpies at camp was much harder than hiding from the blindness of mortals.

He swept his wings out as he soared through the sky, wind tousled his hair. He needed to avoid death today, so unlike usual, he veered away from the graveyards and hospitals that he normally hung out in, turning to the library instead. People still died at the library, but generally less than you would think.

He stopped above the top of the library and leaned back, letting his wings lazily flap behind him, keeping him hovering.

The wind was comforting to him, reminding him of the cold of the Underworld. Simon flapped his wings harder, jerking up to the sky so he soared in the clouds, feeling the old of the water that strung his skin as he flew through it.

He needed to be safer now. Be more careful on his death.

~~

Simon puked in his room, a bottle of nectar held loosely in his hand.

“Simon?” asked Rebecca as she walked through the house. She walked in and saw him crouched over the bucket. The acrid scent of bile and blood mixed with the warm and comforting scent of nectar.

“Oh Dad, Simon, what happened?” she asked, crouching by him, and then catching the dopamine inducing scent of death clinging to him. “ O theoí mou .” she whispered. “Tell me it’s not what I think.”

“It is,” said Simon, laughing sadly. “I’m so high right now.”

“Should we tell mom?”

“No, she’ll be disappointed in me.” Simon said.

“Do you still have your powers?” Rebecca asked as she slit her wrist with a knife, squeezing it into the vial of nectar. She shook it aggressively, pressing it to Simon’s lips.

“Yes.” said Simon, flexing out his wings, then swiping his hand through a shadow to the other side of the room. “I have my powers.”

“Good, okay, we can figure this out,” said Rebecca. “It’s okay, we can figure this out. Den peirázei, boroúme na to katalávoume .”

Simon continued crying.

He hated this, he was a monster, an undead. His entire existence was a defiance of his father. He hated it.

Rebecca carried him to his bed and tightened the curtains. Simon’s wings wrapped around his body, holding himself tightly as he sobbed into them.

Rebecca hummed, singing softly to him.

When she finished and Simon was asleep, she smiled and stroked his wings softly. Then she stepped away, boxing the scent of death into his room. She grabbed some candles and lit them to clear her nose of the scent.

She paused as another presence made itself known in the room. “Hello Dad.”

“Simon is dead.”

“I know. He is undead.” said Rebecca, turning to him. “A vampire.”

Thanatos nodded slowly. “Of course he is. Simon has never been likely to die peacefully.”

“No, he never would.” Rebecca nodded in agreement with her father.

Thanatos sighed. “There are ways to let him live in sunlight for when you attend Camp. I will go looking for an easier way to do it.”

Rebecca nodded. “He will forever be involved with the Nephilim now. We can’t untie him from that world.”

“I don’t think we could have either way.” Thanatos sighed, sitting down quietly. “Simon is very… head strong. Keep an eye on him. He will likely be joining the Clan, so keep track of him.”

“I will.” said Rebecca with a nod.

“Good girl.” Thanatos nodded, vanishing from the room with ease.

Rebecca nodded as he vanished and then turned to the window, her wings flexing behind her. “Stay safe Simon.” she whispered. “Don’t get involved with too much of their world.”

~~

Simon spun the Stygian Iron sword he was practicing with, cutting down the dummies around him in the training room. He had locked the door and didn’t want any Shadowhunters, as they liked to be called, to walk in on him in his demigod mode.

There was a knock on the door and Simon quickly hid his wings and turned his sword back into his necklace.

He opened the door to see Jace standing there.

“Hello Simon.” said Jace. “Why would you lock the door?”

“Because I didn’t want you bothering me.” said Simon dryly, though it was true. “Come on in.”

“Thanks for letting me into a room in my own hou—” Jace cut off when he saw the dummies sliced cleanly in half. “By the Angel, did you do that?”

Simon panicked briefly. “Em, yeah, I did. It was kinda tough but I did my best to try.” And wasn’t that a fucking lie. He’d been on many quests before. He’s killed hundreds of monsters, from completely humanoid to completely devoid of any humanity at all.

“Wanna spar?” asked Jace, grabbing some wooden weapons. “No powers.”

Simon smiled and grabbed them as well. “Very well, let’s go.”

Jace smirked, thinking it would be an easy win. Simon was a vampire, yes, but he didn’t have any control over his powers, and he was a mundane before that. He was weak.

He lunged forward to Simon, using his ordinary tactics. To his surprise, Simon ducked under him, twisting to strike up at Jace’s stomach and push him to the side.

Simon then lifted his leg into a roundhouse kick, hitting the side of Jace’s neck and knocking him to the side, hissing in pain.

“I said no powers.” said Jace as Simon dropped down on top of Jace’s stomach, bringing the weapons down to crack at least one rib and wrap his fingers around his neck.

“I didn’t use any.” said Simon with a casual sigh, sweeping his hair to the side, giving a stunning smile down to Jace.

Jace felt his face heating up. Because he was just beaten by Simon using no powers and no training. For sure that was why.

Definitely not any other reason.

Chapter Text

Simon dropped from the ceiling, his wings lashing out as he drifted down to the floor, not bothering to hide anything. The gym was closed, as it was 2 am in the morning, so he used this time to exercise with his wings out.

Rebecca was lifting weights in the corner, and she gave a small huff as she dropped them, her muscles taught across her body. It was no wonder that Travis Stoll was infatuated with her. She walked over to where Simon was working on the punching bag, his hands wrapped in bandages that were doing a shit job of protecting him from injury.

“Simon, stop.” she said. “I’ll call Will.”

Simon’s head snapped up. Will was one of his best friends, and as such was incredibly protective over Simon’s health. When he found out he was a Vampire, he almost committed a murder trying to find some cure.

“Fine.” he said, moving away. He fell back to sit on one of the benches.

“What has you all up in arms?” asked Rebecca, sitting back.

“Ugh. Jace has been all weird about me.” He said, sticking out his tongue in barely concealed disgust.

“Like, flirting? When you’re literally in a relationship?” Rebecca was disgusted.

“Okay, to be fair, I haven’t exactly told anyone about me and Perce, and I flirted and slept with a couple girls, but still. As far as he knows, I’m straight.” He and Percy had an agreement. Since they were apart a lot of the time, they were allowed to sleep with other people during said months, as long as it was exclusively physical and no romantic relationship happened.

Regardless, it had been long spoken of and agreed upon. However, Jace did not know this. As far as Jace was concerned, Simon was sleeping with, and possibly dating, Isabelle Lightwood, his adopted sister.

And he still had the audacity to flirt with him? Shameful, in Rebecca’s opinion.

“Mhm, well, is it flirting?” she sat next to him and leaned back, staring up at the sky.

“Yeah, but also no. Like, I think he just flirts… aggressively, but he’s just nicer with how he is. Still aggressive, but nicer.”

“Are you gonna sleep with him?” Rebecca moved to start doing sit-ups, since she was here to exercise, not just gossip, as much as she loved it.

“I dunno.” Simon shrugged. “He is a one-stand type of guy, so it’ll probably be easy to explain I’m in an open relationship.”

“I mean, he might think he’s gonna get a relationship. I mean, you did ‘date’ Izzy and Maia.”

Simon rolled his eyes. “Not my fault they thought sleeping together meant dating. Not to mention when they had the audacity to be offended I was sleeping with multiple people.”

“Did you clarify it was just sex?”

“I mean, no, but I thought it was obvious.” Simon huffed.

“No offense Si, you know I love you,” Rebecca stood up and pulled Simon up as well. “But you are very bad at emotions. At least, those of other people.”

“Mmm… true.” Simon sighed. “I wish I could see Percy again.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you, he’s visiting for a while.” Rebecca said, pulling up her hair into a ponytail.

“Wait, what?”

“Oh, yeah, he IM’d me last night when I was in the bathroom and told me he and Rachel were coming to visit because of her dad and vacation or something.”

Simon got up, flexing his wings. “Holy shit, I need to get ready then.”

“Mom doesn’t want him in the house after last time.” Rebecca reminded him, wincing at the memory of when Percy and Simon had last met up in the Lewis House. Percy’s orgasm had been so mind blowing that the bathroom had exploded. He was no longer allowed in the house.

“Oh… I’ll bring him to Magnus’.” Simon said, shrugging. “He lets me live there when life gets too tough in a ‘mundane household’.”

“So when you and mom get in an argument because of working with Dad?”

“Yeah. Basically.” He shrugged. “Or when I just need to get out of the house.”

“Smart. Have an on demand warlock.” She chuckled and then walked back to the house. “He’s coming on Monday.”

Simon flew to the Institute and rested on the peaks. In the morning, he’d show up at Magnus’ and pretend he got kicked out. It was easy enough. He had been ‘kicked out’ three times. As far as anyone knew, his mom would get suspicious of him, he’d be kicked out, and then he’d use some magic tokens Magnus would give him to convince her he was fine when he was ready to go back. He always gave the devices back, obviously. Not like he needed them.

He pulled out his phone, realizing he probably should tell his mom she had kicked him out and he was going to Magnus’, though he immediately deleted the text saying that from his phone. Didn’t want anyone snooping and finding the truth. That would be annoying.

Simon slept coiled in the spires of the not-actually-abandoned church that housed the institute.

~~

When Simon woke up the next morning, he messed up his hair a bit so he looked properly messy.

He flew over to Magnus’ house on a slow drift, as it was only almost dawn and he didn’t want to get there too early. It would be inconvenient if Magnus found him too annoying to keep around. And also kind of heartbreaking, but he wasn’t going to bother examining his issues with attachment and how quickly he got attached to a dude that couldn’t even bother remembering his name.

When it hit just after dawn, he knocked on the door to Magnus’ apartment, his bag over his shoulder.

Alec opened the door a few minutes later, yawning. When he saw a frankly pathetic looking Simon standing there, slightly dirty and with his normal ‘Just got kicked out’ bag over his shoulder, he immediately pulled him in and grabbed a kettle to start making hot chocolate.

Simon was shivering, because it had, annoyingly, rained last night. And while he had Misted himself dry, he was still cold as fuck.

Magnus walked out of the bedroom, wearing his plush robe that Simon definitely hadn’t fallen asleep in once. It was so nice.

“Alexander.” he purred, wrapping his arms around Alec’s waist. “Did you tell whoever it was to leave?”

“Turn around.” was all Alec said, and Magnus turned to see Simon sitting on the couch.

“Ah, Sherman! Good to see you.” said Magnus. “Again?”

“Yeah. My boyfriend said he was coming over to visit for a while with a friend, and he may or may not have used magic to tell me that.”

“Is your boyfriend a Warlock?” asked Alec, interested.

“Kinda.” said Simon. “I never asked.”

“Why not?”

“Never relevant.” He shrugged. “He’s my age though. Don’t worry. I haven’t been groomed or anything.”

“Who’s the friend?” asked Magnus, carrying over the hot chocolate and a bowl of oatmeal before going back to continue making breakfast.

“A Mundane who has this weird ability to see the Downworld and can see the future.” Simon said, trying to avoid mentioning anything that might implicate his true nature. “I didn’t know that for a while. Not until I was a vampire.”

That was a straight up lie but they bought it, which was convenient. Kinda stupid though.

“Her family is really rich, so she got him to come and visit me.”

Suddenly Alec’s eyes widened. “Wait, you’re dating someone?”

“Umm… yeah.” Simon pretended he thought it was obvious, even though he’d been spending most of his time hiding it.”

“But what about when you were dating Izzy and Maia? Were you cheating on him as well as them?” he sounded defensive, which was fair.

“No? I was just sleeping with them. And I didn’t say we were dating, why does everyone seem to think that I did?”

“Well they certainly thought you did.” said Alec, sitting next to him.

“Okay, maybe I’m a bit bad at communicating things.” said Smon with a sigh. “Rachel and Percy are coming on Monday, and now I’ve been kicked out. Again. Not to mention they got banned from my house. Mom doesn’t remember why, cause I erased her memory, but she knows he’s not allowed.”

“Monday’s in three days.” muttered Magnus.

“Yeah. So can I stay here until Monday? I can stay with Rachel and Percy at a hotel, but I’ll have to impose for a couple days.” Simon smiled weakly.

“No, Rachel and Percy, did you say?” Magnus started glancing at Simon.

“Yeah.” Simon wasn’t sure whether or not to be offended Magnus got their names right but not his.

“They can stay here,” Alec said for Magnus. “I, for one, would love to meet them.” The way he said it sounded angry and Simon wasn’t sure why. Eh, it didn't really matter.

“Thanks guys.” Simon said, smiling softly into his hot chocolate. “You guys are the best.” And the easiest to manipulate, though he didn’t say that out loud.

Alec tossed him a book from a bookshelf. The book was specifically designed to be easier for dyslexic people to read.

How they figured out he was dyslexic, he wasn’t really sure. But he was thankful. He just had to double down on making sure no one found out he could read, write, and speak Ancient Greek with 100% accuracy and fluency.

“Sleep in a bit.” said Magnus, leaving back to his room. “I don’t have anyone coming in today, so your room should be set up and you can chill in there.”

“Thanks.” said Simon, going into the usual room he slept in, with his name written on it in sparkles.

Inside was a bookshelf of books made for dyslexia, some movies, a computer and his school materials, since he had online college classes, and a large bed. Which was odd since he normally had a twin bed, but this was a queen, and had a pull out bed underneath. Simon chuckled. Magnus really had gotten ready for Percy and Rachel to show up.

He changed into a set of pajamas from his bag, tossed the bag into the closet, and fell asleep in the bed, locking the door and flexing his wings behind him.

He could only wait for Monday to come.

Chapter Text

On Monday, Simon was sitting in his room, reading the Odyssey in the original Greek, and humming along to some song on the radio.

There was a knock on his room door and Simon quickly sheathed his wings and tossed the book under his pillow.

The radio turned off with a quick glare and he opened the door to see Alec standing there. “Your boyfriend and the girl are here.” he said, sounding displeased.

“Is that a bad thing?” asked Simon.

Alec shook his head. “Nothing, just… go see them.”

Simon nodded and ran over to the living room, seeing Percy sitting down, sipping from a water bottle and Rachel drawing in her sketchbook, wearing her signature paint splattered overalls.

“Aquaman.” he said, falling forward onto Percy’s lap, kissing him lightly.

“Hey, my Daylight Dork.” Percy kissed his nose. “How are you?” Percy rubbed on Simon’s back, right at the conjecture of where his wings were then they were in the physical world.

“I’m good. Got kicked out again.” he gave Percy a look. He’d already IM’d Percy and Rachel to fill them in on the cover story, but Percy tended to forget cover stories easily.

“Aquaman?” Simon heard Alec ask.

“It’s a nickname. Percy’s a really good swimmer.” explained Rachel. “That’s just one of their many nicknames for each other.”

And thank the gods for Rachel’s quick thinking. Simon would not have thought of that so quickly, with how amazing it felt to be held by Percy again. He almost let his wings out, wanting to feel Percy’s amazing fingers groom them, but he caught himself before he could. That would ruin a cover over a decade in the works.

“Now.” said Alec, sitting down.
Simon got off of Percy’s lap and sat down on the seat next to him.

Magnus passed them a cup of water to drank, and Percy declined.

“Please move babe.” said Alec, moving Magnus to sit on the armrest of the seat. “Now, Percy. When did you meet Simon?”

“Summer Camp.” responded Percy easily. “I arrived when I was 12 and he was… also 12.”

“I’ve been attending since I was 8 though.” added Simon. “Rachel, we met her on a… field trip for the Summer Camp. Percy almost stabbed her on accident, and the rest is history.”

“Do you love him?”

“I have since I was 13 and he brought his brother to camp,” said Simon. “His brother isn’t… traditionally attractive, but Percy never acted like he was lesser, despite what many others at the Camp thought.”

“I was talking to Percy.” Alec said to Simon with a weird softness in his tone.

“Of course I love him.” said Percy, almost offended. “I’ve loved him since I was 12, though I didn;t realize it yet, and saw him standing above me after I slipped in the rain and thought he was the prettiest boy I’d ever seen.”

“Oh… Percy, I didn’t know that,” said Simon softly. “I always thought you liked Annabeth. Especially after the Love Tunnel Incident.”

“Oh, that.” Percy laughed lightly. “You know that was all in the sake of the… agreement.”

“Love Tunnel Incident?” asked Magnus suspiciously, looking at Percy.

Simon giggled, unaware of Magnus’ strong protective glare to Percy. “Oh my god, yeah, our friend Annabeth and Percy had made an agreement with this dude, and he wanted them to get something from where he had been having an affair with a married woman. Unfortunately it was in an abandoned amusement park inside the Love Tunnel. So they had to go in, but the woman’s husband suspected them and had set up a tripwire activated live stream that would stream whoever it was.”

Magnus relaxed a little bit. At least there was that.

“I actually still have a recording of the Livestream…” Simon trailed off, realizing that would reveal the truth. “Nevermind.”

“How did you get toge–” Alec was cut off when the door opened and Jace burst in, looking around the room, eyes landing on Percy. His eyes widened.

Jace didn’t consider himself jealous, of course. Sure he was a bit jealous when Alec started dating Magnus, until Alec explained that dating Magnus did not mean he stopped loving Jace and he would always be his parabatai and deepest form of love.

But when Alec had told him that Simon had a boyfriend, he almost destroyed the entire training room. He’d had a crush on Simon for a while, and he knew he wasn’t entitled to Simon, but still. It hurt. Hurt so bad.

His only consolation was that he was sure that Simon’s boyfriend was probably not more attractive then he was. Not that Simon couldn’t pull someone like that, but it soothed Jace.

But now he saw the boyfriend. And he was hot. He looked like a trained fighter, lond agile fingers, scars over the knuckles. His long shaggy black hair was pulled behind him in a ponytail. He had long scabbed over scars and brilliant blue-green eyes.

“Hello.” The man said, and oh no, his voice was pretty too. “I’m Percy, Simon’s boyfriend.”

“This is Jace.” said Simon, and the way he said it clearly meant that he and Percy had discussed him. Jace felt a little ashamed. He had been flirting with a taken man, and with such a perfect boyfriend too.

“Ah, Jace.” Percy smiled. “Hello Jace, Simon talks about you.”

“It’s true,” said the redhead sitting on the couch next to them. “Hi, I’m Rachel, the rich friend who funded this reunion.”

Jace stuck out his hand to shake hers. “Are you an artist?” he asked, noticing the paint splotches.

Rachel looked down. “Huh? Oh, yeah. I am.”

“She's incredible.” Simon said, and Jace was almost jealous that Simon thought so well of her, though he had no reason to feel that way. “She’s like our Summer Camp’s own version of Clary. Or maybe Clary is the Institute’s version of Rachel?” he laughed.

Rachel laughed with him. “Well don’t offend your friends too much.”

“It’s fine.” said Alec, still glaring at Percy. Jace knew that Alec had been feeling very protective of Simon since he found out about the boyfriend. Alec may have liked to pretend that he didn’t care that much about Simon, same with Magnus, and that they only tolerated him, or at the least cared enough to let him stay over whenever he needed it, but Jace knew that they cared very deeply for Simon. He could feel it through the bond.

“What’s your last name?” Jace asked Rachel, curious.

“Dare. Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Yes, I know, R.E.D. the jokes have been made.”

“You’re from the Dare family?” said Magnus in surprise.

“Umm… yeah?” she tilted her head in confusion.

“I think your mom visits me sometimes for spells and talismans.” said Magnus, tapping his fingers softly, pulling up a log. “Yeah, she does.”

Rachel paused, thinking. “Oh, yes, you’re the reason she keeps going on trips to Brooklyn. I just assumed she was pulling a Zeu– er, having an affair.” she laughed and Percy and Simon did as well, as if this was some big inside joke.

“Well.” said Simon, standing up. “I need to show Percy and Rachel to my room, so if you’ll excuse us briefly…”

Jace watched Simon and his two friends, one of which was his boyfriend, leave to his room, sitting down on the bench and putting his face into his palms.

Simon pulled Percy and Rachel into his room. “Okay, I’ll be sharing a bed with Percy, and Rachel, you can sleep on the pull out beneath it.” He locked the door behind him and flexed his wings, laying down on his stomach and pulling out the Odyssey.

Percy sat on his back, just above his ass, and started to run his fingers through Simon’s fingers.

Unlike with Eros’ kids, Simon and Rebecca’s wings were not orgasmic to the touch, but feeling Percy’s skilled fingers fix the misaligned feathers felt so good.

“Mmphm.” Simon muttered, pushing his face into the blanket to cover up how good it felt. Rebecca disliked grooming him, so it had been a while since it had been done properly, and it was so good. Not quite in a sexual way, but it felt like tension was dropping from his muscles. Or really, it felt like perfection.

Rachel chuckled as she pulled out her sketchbook, drawing easily in the pages, the comfortable scratching filling the room. Simon started reading aloud, in Ancient Greek, from his book, and Rachel’s drawing became like background noise to the words as Percy ran his finger though his feathers.

It was perfect.

If Simon had the ability to purr, he would be from the pure relaxation he was feeling.

There was a knock on the door and all three of the people inside snapped their heads to door.

Rachel flipped her sketchbook from the obviously Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter stuff to a more anatomy focused theory piece, while Simon swapped his Odyssey and another book. Percy switched to just massaging his back while Simon hid his wings, pressing the heels on his palms to the knots of his back.

Rachel left her sketchbook down and walked over, unlocking and opening the door. “Hi, umm…” she said to the girl who was on the other side.

“Hi, it’s Clary.” she said. And Simon’s head snapped up. “Simon’s best friend.”

Rachel laughed a little. “Umm… no. Nico and Will are Simon’s best friends.” she corrected. “But sure, come on in.”

This was true. Nico and Will were Simon’s best friends. They knew everything about him, no big, life altering secrets, like being half greek god. Then Rachel, then a few other people, blah, blah, blah.

However, if he wasn’t counting people in the Demigod and Mythological part of his life, then yes, Clary was his best friend. Which, he wasn’t going to mention, because that was a whole tangled web of shit going on.

“Who are Nico and Will?” asked Clary, walking in.

“Friends from Camp.” he explained, getting up and walking over to pull her into a hug.

“So this is your boyfriend?” she said, looking over Percy, and Simon saw the telltale signs that she found him attractive. He wasn’t jealous. 90% of people did. Though Simon did know quite a few people who weren’t, even those attracted to men, they just weren’t their type, but he had learned to recognize the look of someone finding his boyfriend attractive.

“Yep. Meet Perseus Jackson, my beloved Percykins, and long term boyfriend.”

Percy smiled at her, nodding calmly. “So you’re Clary then…” he said, continuing to smile at her and moving over to shake her hand.

Clary shook his hand weakly. “Wow… You aren’t what a pictured…”

Percy frowned. “Is that an insult to Simon?”

“No, it’s just… Simon always seemed like he’d date someone just as nerdy as him. I figured that would be what happened.”

“Oh, I was in Algebra in 6th grade and I was in Chemistry in seventh. I am very much a nerd, I’m just also a bit of a jock and I’m into weapons and fighting and stuff.” Percy chuckled. “You know how it can be, I’m sure.”

“Ah, yeah, I hear you.” Clary giggled. His calluses were rough and she was not against admitting she found it hot. She would never make a move on Simon’s boyfriend, of course. Or anyone’s boyfriend but especially Simon’s. But still. He was hot. Like, hot hot.

“Now, are you also here to threaten and interrogate me to make sure my intentions with Simon are pure? Because Alec and Magnus already did that.”

“No they didn’t.” said Simon obliviously. “They just wanted to know more about you.” He chuckled in his slightly self-deprecating way.

Rachel and Percy met eye’s and she rolled her eyes fondly. She went back to drawing on her anatomy study.

“So that's why Alec and Magnus said you were like the Summer Camp’s version of me.” Clary said, looking over her shoulder.

“Oh, no, I believe you’re the Institute version of me. I am the original.” she said, winking to Clary with a strong smile.

“Sure, sure.” said Clary with a laugh, unaware that Simon and Percy both agreed with Rachel, as she was perfection and had been a closer friend, all things considered. They simply had a stronger relationship with her after all they’d been through together.

Not that Simon didn’t love Clary, platonically of course. It was just a different feeling to how he loved Rachel. Not less. Simply different.

“Wanna trade some art tips and show me what’s in your sketchbook?” asked Rachel, smiling deceptively. She was just curious about this new art friend. Definitely didn’t want to see if she had any sketches of a winged Simon or any hints of the connections to CHB or CJ that she would need to Mist and take. That would be silly.

“Of course!” said Clary, happy to have an artist friend willing to see and properly appreciate her art.

Rachel smiled to him.

“Umm, Percy, Magnus and Alec did a quick background search on you and… were you a wanted criminal at any point?” Clary asked.

Percy snorted. “Oh, god, I almost forgot about that. Let me fill you in.”

“Oh?” asked Magnus. “Please come out to the living room, we invited some people over to meet you.”

Jace sat between Izzy and Alec, looking as Simon came out, Percy and Rachel behind him, giggling slightly.

“So, you found my warrant,” said Percy slowly. “Which one?”

“It said you were 12.” said Magnus, frowning. Jace’s hands were twitching, ready to fight Percy if Simon wanted him to. If he showed any discomfort.

“Oh, that one.” Percy smiled. “I have been wanted… God I don;t know how many times. The one when I was 12 was because of a miscommunication. People assumed things about me, and I was wanted for blowing up a bus and the St. Louis Arch, until it was cleared up. I’d been kidnapped. It was on one of my camp field trips.”

There was a pause as everyone looked at him. Jace almost felt bad about wanting to fight him. He didn’t, but he almost did.

“I… I don’t remember everything that happened, but most were incidents like that. Misunderstandings. When I was 16 I went missing for eight months.” Percy took a deep, deep breath. “I was kidnapped and had amnesia, then went on an international country trip to Europe.”

Simon hugged Percy as he spoke.

“That’s basically it.” said Percy, looking up, smiling. “Good memories, good memories. I don’t like discussing the amnesia and kidnapping. But the rest of it you can feel free to talk or ask.”

It was silent for a long moment.

“Do you want to make cookies?” Simon asked, kissing Percy’s nose lightly. “Percy’s mom has the best recipe for these incredible blue cookies.”

“Blue cookies?” asked Jace in disbelief. He had never heard of something stupider.

“I can see your disbelief.” said Simon. “But trust me, they are so good and Sally is a goddess in the kitchen. Or, not a goddess, but I think she is for sure blessed by Hestia or something.”

And, well, that was enough to convince Jace. If Simon liked it, it couldn’t be that bad.

Simon smiled so widely when Jace sighed. “Fine,” he said. “Let’s see these apparently perfect cookies. That are blue, apparently.”

And the smile was so big that Jace didn’t even care if the cookies were good or not. They would be perfect.

Everything would be perfect.

It had to be.

~~

As usual, Percy was an expert at following his mom’s recipes, and Simon couldn’t help himself from eating some batter off the spoon.

Percy slapped him lightly. “Don’t eat the batter.” he teased softly.

“Like you don’t.” Simon snapped back, leaning over and kissing Percy.

Percy smiled and turned to where Jace was putting blue icing between the cupcakes. “Thanks for the idea Jace. I’m going to have to tell my mom.” he said warmly. Jace just nodded silently. He didn’t really care about Percy or his mom, but he wanted Simon to have the best, so it evened out.

Percy put another cookie tray in the oven and walked to the living room, sitting down after he set the timer.

Simon sat down next to him, smiling.

“I swear, these cookies will make you feel like you’ve gone to Elysi– er, Heaven.” said Rachel. “Every time I visit Mrs. Jackson I need to have some.

Simon nodded. “Plus, Percy sells them for a tidy profit at CJU.”

“CJU?’ said Alec in confusion.

“Oh, it’s the college I go to,” said Percy. “I’m studying Mythology and Legends, with a minor in Marine Exploration.”

“Interesting combination.” noted Izzy dryly. She was not very impressed with Simon’s boyfriend, as she was very fond of Simon, regardless of if they ever dated.

“The marine part is because of my dad. He wasn’t gonna let me go unless I took something marine related. Family business and all that.” This was only slightly stretching the truth.

“Percy.” said Clary. “Where do your parents live?”

“My dad lives in an undisclosed location, even to me. I just go there sometimes, no one tells me the address. His staff pick me up and bring me. My mom lives in Manhattan.”

“Oh, are they divorced?” said Magnus apologetically.

“Nah, I’m one of my dad’s affair babies. They met for one summer on the beach and I was born in August a little while later.” Percy responded. “Practice safe sex y’all. Mom was broke until she sold a statue so she could go to college when I was 12.”

“What statue?” asked Clary, perking up. She did love art after all.

“The Poker Player by Sally Jackson.”

“Oh, that Sally Jackson.” said Magnus, recognizing the name. “I didn’t connect the dots, that’s incredible.”

“Yeah, that reminds me, I always wondered what the statue was.” Simon said, looking at him.

“It’s my ex-stepfather.”

There was an awkward beat of silence.

“You mean… modeled after your ex-stepfather?” said Clary hesitantly.

“No.” said Percy, then the oven dinged so he went to the kitchen to get the cookies out of the oven and bring them out.

He put the iced cookie sandwiches and the normal cookies out on the table and Simon and Rachel immediately snatched some up.

Percy pulled out a vial of blood and passed it to Simon, who poured a small bit on his cookie so he could safely eat the heavenly cookies.

Percy smiled at his boyfriend. He knew the others didn’t approve of him, but he had all the time in the world, or at least this small vacation, to win them over.