Man Down

Chp 6: Jason Grace

Contact in the Tavern

Leo snuck around the corner of the alley, coming back and tilting his head to give the all-clear. Jason and Frank hefted their packs more securely onto their shoulders and casually walked out of the dingy lane like nothing in the world bothered them.

Jason's hood covered his striking blue eyes, as to not be recognised, but Frank and Leo were just wearing their regular travelling kit. All three had travel packs containing their most treasured items. Which was saying, not much was in any of them. Spare clothes, food just in case, a pouch of gold and copper for every one of them and some personal items each.

Leo swaggered ahead of them, making finger guns at some of the dockside ladies and smirking. They would giggle and whisper to their friends, but no one would confront them.

The trio made it to the tavern with little difficulty, and Jason asked Leo and Frank to wait at a corner table while he went to go find the resident dunk, a friend of his named Dakota. Yes, he was a drunk idiot, but he was a drunk idiot with favours he could pull in.

As Jason walked over to Dakota's usual spot, he heard a roar go up at the other side of the bar. He turned to see what caused the commotion and saw Leo and a determined-looking woman trying to out-drink each other. He sighed. Of course, he had to go and get drunk. Perfect.

When he reached the small corner table, he found Dakota slumped over a tankard of beer. Jason groaned and heaved him upright. Dakota grumbled something about getting another drink and Jason face-palmed. "No Dakota, no more beer. It's me, Jason. I need a favour" Dakota didn't reply. "Come on man, you owe me! Please, I just need a small ship. That's all." Dakota looked at him pointedly, before slumping in on himself. Jason gave a sigh of exasperation when he gave a little snore.

Jason walked back to where he left his friends, face in his hand in annoyance. He wasn't looking where he was going and therefore bashed into someone coming out from behind the bar. Jason tumbled and landed on his back. The person he had crashed into tripped and landed on top of him. They struggled around for a moment before Jason was on his back, face-up, and the other man was face to face with him. Noses touching.

They were both panting slightly because of the tumble, and Jason blushed at the intimacy. Their gazes locked, and he noticed that the man on top of him had stunning, aqua green eyes that - Jason was sure - reflected the sea exactly. His dark, almost black, hair was just long enough to fall in front of his eyes in a fair imitation of fluffy seaweed. But one of the most striking features on his face was a tiny scar, a nick on the bottom left corner of his chin. It was hardly noticeable, and it had faded so much that it was almost the same colour as the skin around it, tanned with sun and wind.

In that instant, he knew exactly who this man was. He was Perseus Jackson. Pirate King of the seven seas.