Dark Tides

"Open up, Everett! We know you're in there! Open up with your hands in the air or we'll blast you out!"

Percy had been completely passed out, snoring in his makeshift bed on the floor. It wasn't much more than a few extra sheets and a pillow between him and the hard wooden floor, but since he let his mother take the bed and couldn't fit in it with her, the floor would have to do. It wasn't so bad for a person who was as exhausted as Percy was at the end of the day. However, the peace didn't last for long, when the urgent yelling and the banging on the door startled him awake.

He scrambled to his feet and grabbed his shirt, struggling to pull it back over his head with the paranoia of what could have possibly attracted the authorities to his home, especially if they were that angry. It was precisely why he constantly feared seeing someone he knew from the seas. It would have been so easy to give his name. However, when the door swung open, the armed military that Percy expected wasn't there. Instead, it was Luke standing there, laughing his head off. Percy glared at him and shoved him back, but Luke just laughed harder.

"Don't do things like this to me, you know I panic," Percy grumbled, pushing his hair back out of his face while he waited for Luke to catch his breath.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't expect you to take it as seriously as you did," Luke said, wiping a tear from his eye as he held back his laughter. "You should've seen the look on your face. Really makes me wonder what you did to make you so paranoid of going to prison."

"Don't worry about it," Percy said, fixing himself up so he didn't look like he'd just woken up, though it didn't make much of a difference.

"Your mother wouldn't let me in," Luke said. "She says my aura resembles that of a sickly cow, whatever that means. I waited until she left before banging on the door again."

"Left?" Percy frowned. "Left to go where?"

Luke just shrugged, leaning against the door frame. "Probably out to buy her secret voodoo tools."

"She's not supposed to go places alone, she might collapse without anyone there who cares enough to pick her up again," Percy sighed. "Well, what are you so urgently banging on the door for?"

Luke grinned, looking more weasel-like than ever. Percy wasn't taking him seriously at first, but when Luke wasn't telling him, Percy's curiosity got the best of him. He began to fidget a bit, waiting impatiently for an answer.

"Do you really want to know the good news?" Luke teased. "News that might make me your new favorite person."

"Tell me."

"Do you really want to know?"

"Luke."

"How badly do you want to know?"

"Dammit, Luke, if you don't spit it out in the next five seconds, you know I'll punch you in the nose!"

Luke held up his hands in surrender and chuckled. "I found you a job. A well-paying one, at that."

Percy didn't believe it at first, but when he saw that Luke was dead serious, his jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

"You didn't..."

"Oh, but I did," Luke laughed. "You can thank me later."

"Where?" Percy questioned.

"One of the high-and-mighty families has a man who keeps their gardens looking as primp and proper as they do," Luke explained. "The grass really is greener on the other side. And you, my friend, are the one to make sure it stays that way."

"Gardening?" Percy said, wrinkling his nose.

"Landscaping, dear Percival," Luke corrected. "It's job, not some silly hobby. If you want to feel like a man, make yourself sound like a man."

Percy rolled his eyes, though he was still incredibly grateful. Luke pushed off the frame he was leaning on, fixing the collar of Percy's shirt and starting to walk away.

"Come on, if you don't take the job, I will," he called. "Hurry up before the man changes his mind."

Percy blinked and stood there in shock for a few moments, but quickly fixed himself up and grabbed his boots, pulling them on while hopping on one foot to run and catch up with Luke. His friend grinned and led him out towards the tavern, where he'd met said employer.

"Wait a minute," Percy said, stopping in his tracks and narrowing his eyes at Luke. "What's in it for you?"

"Pardon?"

"Why would you just go out and find work for me, unless you expect something in return?" Percy asked.

"It's called a favor," Luke smirked. "Why does everyone seem to think I'm out to get them?"

"A favor? Just a favor?"

"Yes, yes," Luke said, rolling his eyes. "Both my parents are dead, Percy. With a little extra money, you have the chance to save yours. For goodness sake, I'm doing this because you're a friend."

Something in Percy's gut still said to keep away from Luke, but he had no reason not to trust the poor man. Luke had never done anything to hurt anyone. He just had a suspicious vibe around him. Percy shook the thought from his friend walking up by Luke again.

"Sorry," he muttered. "Force of habit."

Luke smiled and nodded, leading him into the stuffy old tavern and pointing to a grumpy looking man sitting at a table, who looked like he'd been impatiently waiting for a while now. Percy followed Luke as he sat down across from him at the table.

"This is him?" the man grunted.

"Indeed it is," Luke nodded. "Mr. Daly, I'd like you to meet Percival Everett. Percy had several other opportunities lined up in front of him, but I convinced him to abandon those and take you up on your kind offer."

"Right," Percy said slowly, listening as Luke coated every word he said in thick sugar.

"He loves dirt," Luke said, as he rambled on about Percy's skills when it came to plants, even though the skills didn't exist. "Can't you see? He's covered in dirt and grime already. Doesn't worry about getting his hands dirty, this one. Don't be fooled by those broad shoulders, he really is quite gentle with flowers. His favorite flower is a petunia-"

"Shut up, ferret," Mr. Daly snapped suddenly, glaring at Luke. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to sell him to me, like some kind of slave. I want to hear the boy speak for himself."

He then turned to Percy, who shifted slightly in his seat. He didn't have the faintest idea of what a petunia even looked like. He just sat there in silence, until Mr. Daly sighed and asked him questions to answer, since he clearly had nothing to say on his own.

"Can you tell weeds apart from other plants?" he asked.

"Yes, I suppose I can."

"Good, because weeding is all you'll be doing, anyways," Daly grunted, dropping a few coins on the table to pay for his drink before standing up and gesturing for Percy to follow.

He did, turning to mouth a quick "thank you" to Luke, who returned it with a half smile and a nod. Two days later, Percy was working with Mr. Daly in the gardens of one of the grandest estates he'd seen yet. Even Emily's home seemed simple compared to this extravagant mansion. He ended up on his hands and knees to yank out weeds, listening while the ever-grumpy Mr. Daly gave him the basic idea of what it was like to work there.

"I'll pay you every three weeks," he said as he examined the plants to make sure they were healthy. "You'll come through the back door every morning at dawn, and you'll stay until I dismiss you. If I catch you slacking, you're out quicker than you can say 'I'll do better', you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Percy muttered, doing his best to keep his head down and continue working.

He didn't take kindly to those who gave him orders, but in the past, he didn't have to take kindly. He was the one who gave orders, after all. Now, he needed to do whatever it took to get paid. He wiped sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, leaving dirt smudged on his face. Though at that point, there were few places where he wasn't covered in dirt.

"Don't you dare go anywhere unless I tell you, or unless I'm there with you," Mr. Daly continued. "And whatever you do, stay out of the Harrington family's way. We're at the bottom of the ladder here, and they don't take kindly to the help who don't know their place. You don't know what suffering is until you've made an enemy of the nobility."

Percy nodded as he worked, his mind drifting off to why the name Harrington sounded so familiar, other than the fact that he was now a servant to their servant. He and Mr. Daly worked tirelessly until the afternoon sun began to go down, and they finally had a moment to sit down and rest. Percy never thought much of gardens, but now he couldn't help but wonder why on Earth people insisted they be so massive, as well as why a family would hire only one person to tend a garden that huge. He sat in silence with his eyes closed and his head leaned back against the stone wall behind him, while Mr. Daly stood beside him and dabbed at his bald head with a sweaty rag.

"Not bad for a day's work, Everett," he said. "Perhaps you're not as useless as I thought."

Percy resisted the urge to say something snarky back to him, turning his attention to some voices that were coming down the gravel pathway that Percy had just smoothed out. It was a two men. One of them, probably a part of the family Percy served considering he wore such fine clothing, was fuming mad and dripping wet. The other seemed like a manservant, who was struggling to keep up with a comb in hand, every now and then reaching over to try and fix the angry one's hair.

"You were a perfect gentleman to the end, in front of the ladies," the servant said, half-jogging to keep up with the nobleman's long, angry strides.

"A perfect gentleman," the man growled, swatting the comb out of his face. "Of course I was. Have I ever been anything else? If it weren't for that metal beast, she'd be swooning at the sight of me by now. I'm tired of waiting, Julius. And I- Will you get that damn comb out of my face?"

The servant drew back suddenly, and the infuriated man looked in Percy's direction, catching him staring. For a moment, he just glared at Percy in a way that would have gotten him a black eye, had it been anyone else. But Percy just looked away, keeping his eyes on his feet until the man and his servant disappeared inside the house. Mr. Daly was the one to glare at Percy now.

"What did I say about staying out of the Harrington's way?" he snapped.

"He was the one glaring at me," Percy muttered.

"I'm telling you this for your own good, boy."

"I'll be fine," Percy smirked, leaning back and closing his eyes again.

"Yeah? What makes you so sure?"

"It's not the first time a pretty blonde has glared at me like that."