Chapter Text
Jason could feel a headache coming on. The pressure had been steadily building behind his eyes all day and was finally coming to a head. He pried his jaw open and rolled it a few times in an attempt to ease some of the tension running up through his temples. It didn’t help much.
The day had been a long and difficult one, but really, his morning had been sabotaged from the off by his own mistakes from the previous day. The day before had also not gone his way, and by the time Jason had crawled into bed he was so exhausted he went out like a light the second his head had hit his pillow. He’d been so tired that he had inadvertently slept right through breakfast this morning.
Jason had awoken dismayed to find it was already mid-morning and had practically sprinted out of his room, gut clenching with the irrefutable shame and embarrassment of having slept in. The fate of the world was literally in their hands; Jason didn’t have time to sleep in. The others had laughed at him, though not unkindly, when he had skidded onto the deck, still tugging his shirt on haphazardly. Piper had tried to explain that they had left him to sleep since he had worked a late shift at the controls the night before and they figured he “needed it” and the rest of them “had it covered”. Jason tried to accept the gesture for the kindness they had meant as, but he couldn’t help feeling mildly irked by their making the decision on his behalf.
He was sixteen now. He didn’t need a nap to get through the day. Jason was used to late nights and early mornings, he could last longer than any of the Greeks, he was quite sure. Even Frank and Hazel were still new to the Camp Jupiter regime, so maybe they weren’t as robustly used to it as Jason, but Jason hadn’t had a late start in fourteen years. He could handle it.
To prove his point, Jason had immediately insisted on being given a task; eager to feel useful again. He kept himself busy with his mounting To-Do list and forgot completely about missing breakfast until his stomach started growling around lunchtime. Unfortunately, by then he was knee deep in the rigging and wouldn’t have dreamed of abandoning it in a messy tangle of unsecured rope. When the others began to abandon their posts one by one and head below to the mess hall, Jason remained at the mast and continued to tie his knots until the rigging was secured and as neat as any rigging had ever been.
By the time he was done with the rigging, the others were beginning to drift back to their various duties and Jason realised that he had missed his window for lunchtime entirely. That was okay though, he had plenty of other things to be getting on with. There was always dinner.
Over the afternoon, Jason helped Percy scrape barnacles off the sides of the ship – Percy below the water level, and Jason above – handled a hefty load of laundry with Piper, and took another shift at the navigation console to afford Leo a much needed break. The issue of food once again went to the back of his mind.
As evening crept in, a ratty flock of harpies were doggedly following the ship. They mostly stuck to circling overhead like vultures – which the rest of the crew had found unsettling enough on its own – but took occasional joy in swooping down to dive-bomb the crew. When the others had had enough of dodging talons and of the smell of the harpies’ filthy wings, Jason had waved them all below deck and taken to the skies to chase the emaciated creatures away. Whether because they had orders from Gaia to disrupt the demigods’ quest as much as possible, or because they were just that desperate for food, the flock of four kept circling back after brief moments of reprieve. Jason wound up spending most of the remaining hours of daylight circling the crow’s nest to ward the creatures away. Only after many hours and reducing two of the flock to dust did the remaining harpies finally give up and drift off into the night to try their luck with fishing.
Now Jason was alone on deck with only the quiet sound of water lapping at the sides of the ship and the smell of salt on the wind for company. And his headache, of course. It could have been worse, he supposed. The screeching of the harpies had not been doing his headache any favours.
He should have just cut through all four on sight, he thought critically. He had wasted hours chasing the creatures around the sky. They hadn’t made it easy on him, and he had been outnumbered, so of course they had given him the run around, but even so, he should have been able to deal with them a lot faster. He was privately glad the others had all retreated below deck and were unaware of how embarrassingly long it had taken the son of the sky god to scare off a few mangy harpies.
Jason rubbed his knuckles between his eyebrows with a grunt. All the flying in circles had left him drained, and scanning the darkened clouds for any sign of movement had left his eyes strained and aching. He was looking forward to tapping out for the night, as much as he loathed the phrasing, but he stood resolutely in place by the control panel, unwilling to leave the area unsupervised and the ship undefended.
His stomach had made itself known vocally a few times as he stood sentry and nursed his headache, but Jason was less interested in the complaints of his empty stomach, and more in the complaints of his aching limbs. Tension radiated along his shoulders and down his spine and he was looking forward to getting off his feet for a little while. Jason fought back a yawn and rolled his neck, forcing his heavy eyes to stay open. It was ridiculous that he should feel so tired after such a late start to the day. It didn’t make any sense. He had had more sleep than anyone. Jason slapped his cheeks a few times, the sound echoing out over the still waters.
He had no idea what time it was when Coach Hedge eventually came tottering up the steps, but he felt like he had been keeping watch forever. His face and arms were numb with the cold ocean breeze, a stark contrast to the tropical temperatures of daylight hours. Coach Hedge faltered when he rounded the mast and noticed Jason standing silently by the navigation array. Jason blinked back at him.
“Grace, what’re you doing up here on your own?” Hedge asked gruffly.
Jason looked out around the ship. He turned back to Coach Hedge and shrugged. “Keeping watch.”
Hedge let out a throaty bleat and bristled. He marched over to take up position behind the controls and shooed Jason away.
“Well, it’s late. Go to bed,” he barked.
Jason nodded and marched swiftly over to the stairs. He had never been so happy to be ordered to go to bed in his life. He shuffled down the hall as he finally gave in and yawned widely. All his joints seemed to unlock along with his jaw, and he sagged where he stood, suddenly feeling tired all the way to his bones. Jason’s stomach rumbled once more in protest as he passed by the mess hall. He barely spared the darkened room a glance, however, keener to lay eyes on his cabin instead. His brain was still buzzing quietly with the rest of the To Do list that he had had to put on hold when the harpies closed in. He really ought to push on with them now that he had handed the wheel – or Wii controllers – over to Coach Hedge, but he just didn’t have it in him tonight.
He’d pick up his remaining chores first thing in the morning. As soon as the sun began to rise. The very minute. How long would that leave him to sleep? Three hours? Two? Jason ground his teeth as shuffled into his cabin with a sigh, finally laying eyes on his pristinely made bed, the crisp white sheets the most inviting thing he had ever seen. Ah well. He’d enjoy it however briefly he could.
Jason sat down heavily and toed off his sneakers lazily before laying down heavily. He closed his eyes as began mentally writing his To Do list for the morning. If he got up and started early enough, he’d be able to clear the tasks he was carrying over from today in time for breakfast. His stomach gurgled mutedly in agreement with the plan.
He relaxed heavily into his sheets, soothed by having a concrete plan of action. He’d sleep off his funk now and raise his game in the morning. Catch up on the work he’d let slip. Then breakfast.
Work…Then breakfast…
Then breakfast…