Jason was greet by a soft kiss to the lips from something he couldn't see.
"Percy," He chided gently. The prince, and dare Percy imply the term 'lover', just smiled and let the Mist around his despite.
"Surprise?"
He just got a chuckle in response before the two proceeded into a lesson on sword movement. Percy's blade, though a bit unbalanced, quickly became a blur of metal as Jason instructed technique tactics. But, just as last time, they both found themselves on a stone bench in close proximity. The kisses were tender, and the fingers brushed against exposed skin. The night dragged on, and Percy held Jason's hand as he showed him the different levels of the coliseum.
"So you sit all the way up here?" Jason looked around the velvet curtained balcony. Percy sat himself down on the granite ledge of the balcony.
"Sometime alone, but yes. This is reserved for the royal family, one of the sections at least."
Jason's fingers brushed against the plain chair, then he strided over to Percy and pressed against him, using his arms to keep Percy from falling over.
"You're spoiled." Jason breathed, pressing his face into the the nape of Percy's neck.
He laughed softly, smiling. "I know I am, but not as much as I am right now."
Jason looked up at Percy, blue eyes filled with amusement. "Is that so? If you think this is spoiling..." He paused, then kissed Percy's jaw line. "Wait until you experience the rest of tonight."
------------
"You're uncharacteristically happy." Rhode broke Percy's daydream, causing a confused scowl.
"What on earth do you mean by that?"
Rhode placed her book on the table. "You're smiling, for one. You don't typically smile while sitting at a table. As well as that, you're humming more often, there is a spring in your step, and you've got some discolouration on your collar bone."
"That has nothing to do with anything."
"Did you meet someone last?" She batted her eyelashes and leaned forward.
"Maybe a certain blond haired gladiator."
Percy sighed, putting his head in his hands. "It's not against the rules."
Rhode gasped. "Perseus!"
"What? You asked!" He defended.
"So you actually... like..." Percy got the implication and nodded, smiling innocently. "Wow... that really is unlike you."
"Hey!" He protested, sitting up straighter. Rhode started laughing.
"I still love you, baby brother. You seem happy, but what happens when..."
"That's an if, Rhode. He's got a pretty good chance of making it." Percy picked at this food. "He has to."
"Percy, you of all people would know that the ideology of that is useless. You should just go to the cros-"
"I already did" Percy's voice turned sharp. Rhode paused.
"So what did you take then? The path the ensures his life with you?"
"That's the issue - I didn't like any of my paths. All of them involved death... North and South were Jason's death."
"And... what about the East and West?"
Percy frowned, then took a deep breath.
"They were my deaths. So I challenged my own goddess, told her I was going to make my own path."
Rhode watched her little brother with an unreadable face.
"Has anyone ever done that?"
Percy shook his head. "And succeeded, never happened. Plenty have opposed the paths, but we all end up taking them - one way or another."
Before she could say anything, a guard knocked on the wall.
"Your carriage is ready, My Lord and Lady."
Percy nodded and sighed, getting up from the table and following the guard outside.
With each win Jason got, the more Percy's feelings got torn.
Yes, he was extremely happy with the man - his own father didn't know about the relationship, Jason was incredible at a multitude of intimate activities that ventured off from soft kisses, and the stories of Britannia were lovely to the ears. But, there was that haunting feeling of the dark future, of that chance that Jason could slip up one time and Percy's life would fall into a pit of despair as he watches his lover be dragged off to a mass grave.
When the count of men dropped down to the final 16, Percy couldn't withstand the boiling feelings.
-
He told Jason, who was now watching him with confusion.
"You went to the crossroads... because you were confused on how you felt about me?"
"Your were a... startling sight, I've never seen a man as pleasing to the eyes and heart as you are. And... I'd never felt affection before, not romantically."
"And... In two paths you could have taken, I died?"
"Yes."
"And in the other two, it implied your death?"
Percy nodded.
"But because you walked away, you have no idea which one will happen?"
Jason received another nod.
He went silent, Percy watching the gears in Jason's mind turning.
"Are you mad at me?"
"What?" Jason blinked in pure surprise. "No, why would I be mad at you?"
"Because I kinda sorta kept a very important thing away from you."
"I'm not mad at you, Percy." Jason cupped his lover's face. "I can't get mad at you, not for that."
Percy let himself relax in Jason's hands, closing his eyes. Soft lips met his own for a moment, and the world brightened just a little.
"Want to talk more into the details?" Jason whispered. Percy nodded, feeling the hands drop from his face.
"Yeah."
Unbeknownst to the two love birds, a cheerful goddess was watching them from Percy's balcony, twirling a ribbon in her hands while her keen eyes twinkled with knowledge.
YOU ARE READING
Cobblestone Swords
Romance[ jercy ] - English! ❛ Percy's never cared for the annual tournament his father holds every year, but a certain blond haired gladiator makes him think twice about his feelings. Of course, this leads to a series of events that could, or could not, en...
