Chapter Text
Jason wasn’t above sitting on the floor in the hallway, despite everyone’s jokes that he was a neat freak and germaphobe. Sure, he’d rather be in a cushioned, plush, sanitized seat, but he would survive the floor.
Especially when he desperately had to shower.
He should’ve known it would be hard to have seven teenagers and one bloodthirsty satyr share three bathrooms, but he never thought it would get this bad. Nonetheless, he had just finished washing and soaping the whole deck, was covered in sweat, grime, and bubbles, and there were no open bathrooms.
Which is how he found himself sprawled on the wooden floor right outside the bathroom door.
It was, for once, quiet, without the chatter of his friends or the yells and clashes from battle.
Jason took a deep breath and tried to focus his thoughts in the silence. It was rare that other voices weren’t distracting him, and it allowed him to take in the softer, subtler noises that were always going on in the boat. Pipes running, water pumping, air ventilating, and…
After living on a giant boat for months, Jason had grown accustomed to the subtle sounds of daily life from his companions. Especially the specific echoes of someone gagging and coughing over the porcelain toilet bowl.
He felt a pang of sympathy for Hazel. Even if she tried to hide it with the bathroom fan, he could still tell she was throwing up in there, and a lot. Jason half wanted to go in there and comfort her, but he didn’t know if that was his place. And if she was trying to cover up the noise with the fan, then it might be best if he pretended he couldn’t hear it at all.
It wasn’t lying. It was just… acting.
Jason, lost in his thoughts about lying by seeming ignorant and his own morality, was startled by the bathroom door turning. The doorknob clicked once and twisted open while Jason quickly stood up and readied himself to be comforting and not suspicious at all.
But instead of a frazzled and defiant Hazel behind the door, it was Percy Jackson.
Jason froze where he was standing, his mind blank with shock. Percy looked like he always did: his black hair was rumpled, his sea green eyes were bright, and his face was calm and confident. Jason was brought back to his first quest with Piper and Leo, when Percy Jackson was like a glorious leader whose name haunted his every move. Now, it was once again clear to Jason why everyone loved the guy.
He stepped out of the bathroom, and thanks to the tight hall spaces, was face to face with Jason.
Jason wondered if he had imagined those sounds. After all, it was Percy in the bathroom. He was the last person Jason would expect to be throwing up.
“Jason?” Percy’s voice snapped Jason back to reality and he realized he’d been standing like a Medusa-ed statue in the hallway for much too long. “Are you okay?”
“Uh, yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, just… zoned out a little. Thinking about… the prophecy.”
Jason threw in his get out of jail free card that they all had — a prophecy promising his death was always a safe excuse. But still. It was embarrassing enough to act like an idiot in front of Percy, the boy everyone looked up to, who was offered literal immortality from the gods and turned it down. Jason didn’t want him to think he was weak and scared as well as a moron.
But he was so sure about what he’d heard in that bathroom.
“All good, man. Happens to all of us.” Percy clapped Jason’s shoulder casually and turned to walk away. Jason vaguely felt like pulling him back and questioning him, but about what?
Jason’s eyes followed Percy as he walked down the hallway, swinging his arms slightly. Before he turned the corner, he wiped his mouth on his long sleeve. Then Percy’s dark mop of hair was out of sight.