Work Text:
It was two weeks on the road, two great weeks, granted, before Percy decided to test his snuff when it came to combat. Something something getting his ass kicked by two dudes when they escaped the castle, blah blah blah.
Jason, obviously, insisted that it was because of the dagger. Why would he reasonably be able to go against two city guards with swords defending himself with nothing but a dagger? Percy, on the other hand, insisted that he’d need to know how to if he was ever in that sort of situation again.
Honestly, the thought that Percy cared enough to even think about that kind of thing made Jason sort of happy. It could also be that Percy didn’t want any dead weight, but he decided to ignore that and instead imagine that it was pure concern for his safety. They had started to get close over the past few weeks, after all.
Foraging, hunting, sleeping under the stars, hopping from town to town. It didn’t escape him how Percy still seemed guarded at times, evading more personal questions or answering in ways that were frustratingly vague but not obviously so enough to confront. Not that he would have, though. Jason could respect his want for privacy, and the last thing he wanted was the tables to be turned on him.
He did, however, learn a good bit of very essential (non-essential) knowledge about Percy. He committed them to memory when mentioned, like a little list that he’d be able to refer back to. Percy’s favorite color was blue, he loved the summer time, he was very close with his mother and loved her dearly, he grew up in a small village, and he had trouble reading, just like Jason, to name a few.
It hadn’t been long, but he liked to think that they were at the level of ‘good friends’. It was also becoming clear that they could both learn a lot from each other while they were traveling. Jason was sort of hopeless at setting traps for animals to his lasting embarrassment but knew probably way too much about plants (the time Percy almost ate a poisonous mushroom probably took at least five years off of his life).
Jason chuckled at the memory, only to be brought back to his current predicament by the stop of his horse. It had followed Percy’s lead at their arrival at what seemed to be a clearing of sorts, and ah, shit.
It wasn’t that he didn’t think he could beat Percy in one-on-one combat, it was just that he didn’t didn’t think he could. Make sense? Eh, it would probably be fine.
They took their time, taking care of the horses, setting up camp, and gathering firewood for when it started to get dark. Jason had even almost forgotten about the threat invitation to combat when Percy cleared his throat.
“You ready for that lesson yet?” He was obviously excited, and Jason really hoped that he wasn’t about to give him an easy win.
He laughed. “Bold of you to assume that you’ll be the teacher here, Perce.”
“That’s brave, coming from a guy who couldn’t handle two guards a few weeks ago,” Percy shot back. Their banter had, to Jason’s delight, not just been a one-off of their first encounter, and it led to some very interesting conversations.
“It was the dagger,” Jason groaned.
Percy just chuckled. “Well now you’ve got a sword like a big boy. Let’s see what you’re made of, yeah?”
Jason huffed good-naturedly, going to get the sword they had… liberated from one of the guards during their first escape. It was nothing special; not as nice as the ones in the royal armory and certainly not as nice as Percy’s, but it was well-balanced and sturdy.
Speaking of Percy’s sword, it was… something else. Jason had gotten a few chances to observe it up close, with Percy’s permission, of course, and it was fantastically made, beautiful and perfectly balanced. Jason, unable to mind his business, had asked where Percy could have possibly gotten it, and Percy just said that it was a gift.
That was really specific and not vague at all, and cleared up any and all of Jason’s burning questions. The sword was even engraved; Anaklusmos, though Percy didn’t care to explain that either. Wonderful.
With weapons now in hand and everything else done, the two moved away from the rest of their camp.
“Let’s see what you can do, pretty boy,” Percy smirked.
They got into position across from each other. Jason planted his feet shoulder-width apart and brought his sword up in front of him, perpendicular to the ground. Percy did the same and, at the same time, they brought their swords down, like an extension of the arm, angled away from the body.
A few seconds of complete still passed as they sized themselves up. Both were tense, ready.
It was Jason who struck first. He grabbed the hilt of the sword with both hands and charged heads on, opting for an opening show of brute force. He didn’t, however, sacrifice form for this. He watched his footing, almost instinctive after years of training.
Percy, however, didn’t seem perturbed by this first attack. He moved out of the way of the sword in a fluid motion and blocked it, pushing it away from himself. The force of this counter unsteadied Jason, who scrambled to block an incoming blow to his side, now wide open. Okay, so no easy win.
Jason wasn’t easily intimidated, though. He parried downward, feinting up before slashing at Percy’s legs. His opponent jumped back gracefully, and they locked eyes for a second before Jason continued on the offensive. He made a few quick blows in an attempt to find a gap in Percy’s defenses, each of which were blocked with precision and strength.
Then it was Percy’s turn to attack. The blows seemed to come towards Jason from every side at once, and he felt his heartbeat rise as he realized that ‘ah, shit, I might actually lose this’. Every move he tried to open Percy up for a blow was blocked expertly before, for just a second, his cockiness seemed to get the best of him. ‘Your hubris, your downfall,’ Jason thought to himself as he smirked and went for it.
Percy only just noticed what was happening and parried the blow, but his guard was shaken. Jason went back on the offense, and this time it seemed they had finally matched in ability. Swing after blow was blocked, feints were only noticed in the last second, and both opponents had started to grin in response to the energy running through them.
Jason, however, was the one to mess up in the end. Percy had started attacking with more force than before, and Jason let himself be pushed back bit by bit. He didn’t even notice the log behind him before his heel hit against it, but by then it was too late. With a yelp, he fell backwards, his backside and back hitting the ground hard.
Jason’s sword fell out of his hand as the fall also knocked the air from his lungs and he tried to push himself back up. Suddenly, the tip of Percy’s sword appeared at his throat, and Jason let his head fall back with a breathy laugh. “You win,” he gasped. “Looks like I still have a ways to go.”
”Looks like you need to watch where you’re going, more like,” Percy laughed. The game was over, Percy had won, and he held out a hand to help Jason back to his feet. Jason wasn’t going to take his loss lying down, however, and, grinning, he grabbed Percy’s hand only to pull him down. He kicked one of his legs up and pushed the sole of his foot against Percy’s chest, flipping him over and onto the ground behind him.
Jason scrambled up and, careful to avoid the weapons now lying around, pounced onto Percy. “Now who’s the master, huh?” he asked, feeling as mischievous as a boy stealing cookies from a jar.
”Still not you,” Percy grinned and shot up, pushing Jason over and landing himself on top. Within seconds, they were rolling around on leaves, pine needles, and dirt, laughing and trying to gain the upper hand.
This match ended with Jason as the victor, on top of Percy, pinning his arms down by his head. Both were still smiling, breathing hard, and, for a second, time seemed to stop as their eyes met. Percy’s eyes really were beautiful. And his lips…
When Jason realized what was happening, heat licked up his neck and made his face red with embarrassment. Chuckling awkwardly, he practically threw himself off of Percy. Gods, what a situation to land yourself in… and with such an attractive-
‘No,’ he thought to himself, ‘Jason Augustus Grace, you will absolutely not go there. In fact,’ he added, ‘you will not even think about going there. You are so not going there that you are actively going in the other direction.’
”Well, ah,” he started, “good sparring.” He was turned away from Percy, unable to face him just yet, his face still on fire, and dusted off the dirt from his clothes. Had he turned around at that moment, he might have caught a glimpse of Percy’s equally red face as he also turned away, so only their backs were facing each other.
Percy, at that moment, was actually going through a very similar mental struggle as Jason. Unspoken, they both vowed not to mention this… aspect of their sparring probably ever again, if they could help it. “Yeah,” he replied, “good. Your fighting is too. Good, I mean. Not too good, just… good. Great, even.” Fuck.
”Thanks.” Jason swallowed. “You too.”
Then, in silence, they both collected themselves and set to work doing miscellaneous tasks around the camp. This would most certainly not have any impact on the two of them and most definitely did not make them aware of desires they may or may not possess.
Of course.