The Legend of Percy: Book 1 - Finding Purpose

18. Hiding in Plain Sight (Helping Get the Prince)

"So, Jin. I'm in a little bit of a tight spot at the moment." Percy said, still sitting at the table. He was looking at the girl in front of him very seriously.

"What's wrong?" She said, although he could tell her attention was only half on him.

"I'm being chased by some very bad people." At that she looked very shocked, now fully turning her attention to him. "And as you can see, I kind of stand out."

"Mmhmm," she said, looking at his face. Percy gestured to his clothes. "Oh right, yeah. I have a robe if you want to borrow it. It's kind of shaggy and worn though."

Percy smiled kindly, "Even better. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it." She brought out a dark green-grey piece of clothing of some kind. Well, that'll definitely let me blend. And it's better than having holes in my clothes.

Jin offered it to him, to which Percy wrapped it around himself. He then felt another set of eyes on him, although this seemed much more curious than it was surveilling. Percy casually looked around to see a head drop down from a window. The head wasn't covered though, and it looked a lot like a kid. Interesting.

~~~

The day was coming to an end. Jin had obviously tried and failed to gain the attention of Lee the waiter, Percy laughed to himself at that. What royalty wouldn't gain some good experience working in hospitality. Maybe Azula could work as a waitress. THAT would be entertaining.

To Zuko's credit though, he didn't seem to be stuck up about it. He wondered if that was at all due to his uncle's influence.

Both Jin and Percy stood to leave, after spending most of the rest of the day in the tea shop. Percy watching the girl hopelessly fail at flirting was both enjoyable and incredibly cringeworthy.

"So, where are you going to go?" Jin said, curiously. She didn't seem to mind how Percy had visibly shrunk his posture and the robe was covering most of his face in shadow. The sunset and darkness of the evening doing the rest.

Percy had seen the young man who'd been snooping outside the tea shop and was looking down the direction of that alley. He thought he saw some movement on a roof top at the back of the tea shop, but he could've been mistaken. Maybe some spikey brown hair, that was all.

"I don't know really. I don't particularly have any place I can go." He said, nonchalantly. It was true. He wanted to continue his exploring away from the eyes of the Dai Li.

"Well, we've got an extra mat back at my home?" She said. It was obvious what she was offering but he didn't really want to be rude.

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to trouble your family."

"Nonsense. My family are refugees. I'm sure they wouldn't mind taking in another." She said, as she started dragging him in the direction where he assumed was her house.

Despite his protests, she kept going. Percy was supremely thankful and appreciative though. It wasn't as though they hadn't talked. They had had a pleasant enough discussion whilst sipping on their tea. Mixed in with some mildly amusing teasing about her not-so-subtle crush on Lee. Percy had to keep reminding himself not to call him Zuko, or even worse, Zuzu. That would've ruined everything. But back to his main point, it was all too trusting of these people to take him in, in such a vast city too. It reminded him of the good heartedness of his mother, and that made him feel more comfortable in accepting these peoples' generosity.

Percy had managed to stay relatively close to the shadows of the building, and with the fading light, hiding his face was much easier. This did cause a questioning look from Jin but she seemed to accept it.