CATHARSIS, jason grace¹

VALENTINE'S DAY SPECIAL ₊˚⊹♡

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A FEBRUARY 14th AU

˚₊‧꒰ა❤︎໒꒱ ‧₊

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡ AERA WAS HAVING AN MID-LOVE-LIFE CRISIS. Today was Valentine's Day and the daughter of Aphrodite was this close to bleaching her hair blonde and moving to a different country under a new name. Since New Years when they had last seen each other, Aera had wanted to ask Jason to be her valentine, but there was never a good time. She had gotten sick off of Mr. D's signature "demigod-friendly wine" during Camp Half-Blood's annual New Year's Eve party and Jason had spent the rest of their winter holiday taking care of her.

Now that their break was over, Jason was attending this all-boys boarding school on the west coast and Aera was attending this all-girls boarding school on the east coast. Whenever they Iris-messaged each other, one of them was always busy with something. For example, Aera had a facial appointment, Jason had a calculus test. Or Jason had plans to go meet some god to discuss plans for new temples to honor the more forgotten deities and Aera had plans to go meet some god to exchange immortal beauty secrets and keep them alive in the 21st century.

Both demigods had very heavy jobs to shoulder, but what was more challenging was that they both had to do it without the other by their side.

Aera and Jason had barely managed to set aside enough time on their hectic schedules to meet up in person on Valentine's Day. Aera was through the roof (but still gracefully) excited to see her boyfriend for the first time in a month. At the same time, she was also immensely anxious. She had wanted to buy a gift for Jason, but even sitting at her princess vanity mirror in her best thinking ballgown for two hours straight, looking otherworldly radiant, wasn't enough for her to think of something to get him.

In her defense, Jason wasn't exactly the easiest to purchase gifts for. Clothing-wise, that style-inept brute preferred functionality over style (which means he probably would not appreciate Aera dropping seven grand on a designer leopard-print suit for him, though she could see him totally rocking that).

There wasn't much that Jason ever needed and he never asked Aera for anything. He was so low maintenance it was almost aggravating. Jason was the type of guy who religiously equipped a 100-in-1 shampoo, conditioner, body wash, cleanser, and lethal celestial bronze cylinder in one, despite Aera's fruitless efforts to convert him to a 11-step Korean skincare routine.

When they went out on dates, Aera had tried to pay attention to all the things Jason liked and what fascinated him, but the only thing he ever seemed to be interested in was her, which, believe it or not, Aera could now see was a problem.

"Just say your gift is you then," Piper suggested when Aera sent her an emergency Iris-message distress call a week before V-Day. "I mean, you've already been wrapping yourself with a bow and giving yourself to him for Christmas and his birthday. Jason won't care if you do it again for Valentine's Day."

"It's not about the actual gift, Pipes," Aera said, blowing on her wet nails so they'd dry faster. "It's about the principle."

"You?" Piper snickered, nearly choking on the bagel she was eating. "Have principles?" Piper threw her head back and let out a maniacal laugh. Aera was glad she wasn't physically there for her new Chanel dress to fall victim to the spray of bagel that came out of Piper's mouth. Her sister so did not care for table manners sometimes. Piper was what they called, barbaric af.