Jason had never been clumsy in his life.
His feet were never too big and goddamnit, Thalia had taught him the ballet she had learned at class when they were little. He was as graceful as his surname until the day he needed it most.
SMACK .
Jason groaned, rolling over and attempting to regain his breath. A black haired head rolled the other way, gasping uselessly. The other person coughed twice before they could inhale, flopping on the hard floor like a fish out of water. Both boys caught their breath together, and Jason looked up.
The boy had dark hair, messy around his ears, and eyes that were dark but not black - a rich, molasses brown. They were wide and round, framed by black smudges that insinuated he hadn't slept in days. Jason smiled apologetically and sighed.
"Jesus, I thought you were an infected, dude." he grinned, clambering to his feet and offering a hand. The boy took it, hauling himself to his feet.
"I guess you got lucky." came the small reply, the other boy's fingers sliding from Jason's quickly. 'Not a PDA person then.' The blond thought, raising an eyebrow. The smaller boy raised a shoulder and dropped it sheepishly.
"Oh, I'm Jason." Jason offered, smiling. The boy, his eyes thick and dark as treacle, did not smile back.
"Nico." It took a second for Jason to process the word thrown at him, but he smiled as soon as he got it.
"You off to London like the rest of us then?" Jason asked, indicating to the platform. One lady in her eighties or nineties was sat on the cold metal seat holding a single plastic bag and a wicker basket filled with peppers. The boy - Nico - blinked twice at her and shook his head in confusion.
"Uh, yeah, London." He nodded, watching the train draw closer. 'INFECTED FREE!' it proudly announced. Jason wasn't sure whether that meant the train did not have infected on it or if the people with said virus travelled without parting with any cash. Nico was halfway to the train doors already, dragging a black suitcase with a butterfly sticker behind him. The blond suppressed a laugh and the old lady muttered something quietly to herself, hauling herself to her feet.
"Oh, fuck off." Nico snapped, somewhat playfully. "It won't come off. It was my sister's."
"Oh, okay." Jason said quietly. He had learned not to pry into family issues, what with the virus killing off 80% of the population or whatever. His mom had died that way, and she wouldn't be the only one.
Nico pushed the handle in and grabbed the case itself, pushing it up into the train car before hopping on himself. Jason, his rucksack slung over one shoulder, pulled himself in too. Nico was sat in a compartment of four with his bag next to him. Jason gracefully accepted the seat across from the dark haired boy. Nico, his eyes closed and hands still, did not notice him.
The kid - Jason supposed he was maybe seventeen or eighteen, a year or so younger than himself - was so skinny Jason could've gotten a paper cut off him. His hands and wrists looked like they could snap at the slightest touch, and the blond was pretty sure that the lines on his black t-shirt were ribs. 'Jesus, when was the last time this kid ate?' Jason wondered in his head. He had the potential to be cute, with his big brown eyes and smile that gave him crinkles, but he looked like he had gone a month without eating or sleeping.
"What's the tattoo of?" Jason asked on a whim, and Nico opened one eye.
"How did you..?" he started, and Jason laughed.
"Just a guess. Most people have them nowadays." he explained, showing the inside of his left forearm. Seven black lines, and the letters 'SPQR'. Nico raised an eyebrow.
"Camp joke." Jason said, smiling a little. "We all got one after... well, after Haze got infected." he smiled a little sadly.
"So, what's yours? I'm curious." Jason grinned. His smile faltered a little when Nico stood up.
"Aww, did I.." hid voice trailed off as Nico pulled the shirt over his head and turned around.
A beautiful pair of wings stretched across his back and down his arms, each feather unique and gorgeous. Jason caught his breath.
"Hurt like hell." Nico said and Jason could hear the smile in his voice. He put the clothes back on before Jason could see anything other than the tattoo. They sat in silence for the few hours of journey. Nico was engrossed in a book, scribbling on the pages every few lines, underlining and punctuating and commenting. Jason, listening to Stravinsky on world class headphones, watched him.
"You're killing me." Jason said as Nico underlined a word twice. He didn't move.
"What?" Nico muttered distractedly, tearing his eyes away from the page.
"Defacing a book, sir. I can't cope." Jason smirked. Nico rolled his eyes.
"A Level English. I got an A star. Wanna go to uni... I guess that's why London. Only place left with schools. I didn't even realise I was annotating." he gave an annoyingly cute breathy laugh, and Jason smiled.
"So, English? That's cool. I'm, uh, less intellectual." he reached into the rucksack at his feet and pulled out a soft music case. Nico frowned at it.
"Clarinet?" he guessed, and Jason made an annoyed noise in the back of his throat.
"Soprano sax. My alto's in London with my mum." he grinned at Nico. "I'm quite good."
"Modest too." Nico snorted, circling something absent mindedly. Jason glanced at the title.
"'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'?" he laughed. "Oh, my God, Nico, that's so gay." Jason immediately regretted commenting at all - Nico looked equally offended at the use of 'gay' and the putting down of the book. The dark haired boy sniffed.
"No, it's good. I like it." he said quietly. Jason groaned.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have, I... I'm... ugh!" he slammed his fist on his knee, making Nico flinch." I hate it when people say that! Years of it and, ugh... I get that you're..." he said the last part quietly. Nico didn't look up from the book.
"Who said I was?" Nico retaliated, angrily underlining a section. Jason put the music back on, sighing. Great. Just great.