Amelia sighed as she glared out of the cell in the Brig, her shoulders hunched angrily as her large eyes watched the large alien pace back and forth, guarding her and the other prisoners. Doctor Doppler, who had panicked at first, was now just sitting on the small cott, looking down at his hands with large, dopey sad eyes. Arrow was still pacing, his general anatomy not doing well to sitting down to rest. They had been locked up for an entire day at this point, unable to do anything other than listen to the Pirates work on their ship repairs, to get ready and go grab young .
She had not really gained too much insight on the boy, other than that he seemed to work well and had gained a friendly rapport with Mr. Silver. She knew he had a history of causing trouble, unfortunate given his bright mind. She had examined the map in private many times during their journey so far, and she had never been able to figure out how to open it, for that young man to figure it out was quite extraordinary.
The sound of the door to the brig opening caught her attention, her large ears perking up and twitching as the strage, small form of Birdbrain Mary walked down to talk to her mate, her hand-feet scratching on the stairs as she hopped along.
"Your food will be down in a bit Handsy." She said up at the large Densadron. "Not the best food, but it'll keep ya awake."
"Who's cookin?" Hands asked, his voice a deep rumbling, sounding annoyed with the situation.
"Dogbreath." Mary sighed. Hands snarled a little and crossed his four arms, leaning against a wall.
"I hate his cooking. Though, the Cap' I mean Silver was always the best."
"I know what ye mean, Hands." Mary sighed, hopping up on to a barrel to be more eye level with hands. "I miss 'im too."
"I just don't get it." Hands sighed. "Even if Silver is dead, why is Scroop suddenly Captain? Turnbuckle's the next in line ain't e'?"
"Hush! Ye don't wan t' let Scroop hear ya say that." Mary hissed. " 'is temper's even worse than Silver's these days. An' I don't know. 'E's been clashing heads with people ever since this trip started. Always been a sadistic one…"
"I don't like it, Mary." Hands sighed. "But we aint got a choice. Scroops as likely to kill one of us as e' is to kill one of them" He motioned to the cage. Amelia wasn't moving, her ears high as she listened in carefully to the conversation, her eyes on Doppler, who had gone stiff at hearing the topic.
"Well we'll see, ey?" Mary said, giving hands a comforting pat on the arm. "Maybe when we get to that planet, Silver will be there, and e' can put Scroop in 'is place? Even Scroop's afraid of 'im."
"Assuming he's able.." Hands sighed but nodded. "We'll see. Ye should get back t' yer own work Mary, and I need to keep an eye on them. Best not talk this stuff anyway."
"True enough." She gave a jagged smile before hopping down and making her way back up to the deck. Hands sighed again and paced back down the hall. Once he was far enough away, the Doctor slid over next to Amelia, whispering softly.
"Did you hear that?" He asked, his voice shaking. "Silver's a part of them too?"
"More than that, Doctor." Amelia sighed. "Seems he was their original Captain. I knew there was something off about that smooth talking Ursid…"
"And Jim's trapped on that planet alone with him!" Doppler practically whined. "Good heavens..."
"I actually think Mr. Hawkins is safer where he is, than when he gets back on this boat, Doctor." Amelia hummed. "Silver is still playing his game, it seems, he won't out himself to the boy. Their close relationship, no matter how fabricated on Silver's part, might just be what keeps him alive…"
"That's...not what worries me." Doppler sighed, causing Amelia to look at him with a questioning glance. He looked down at his hands, as if ashamed, before continuing on. "Jim has a history of causing trouble, even breaking the law. Not only that, but I think he's desperate for someone to be close too, he shut down after his father left...Silver is a smooth talker…"
"You're worried the boy will join them?" Amelia muttered, worriedly. Doppler nodded.
"I don't want to think it. I know Jim is a good boy, a smart boy, but...he has a history of making some bad mistakes…"
Amelia frowned, her ears twitching as she thought about the Doctor's words. The boy did have a reputation for messing up. But still, to join a pirate crew? Surely not…
"Well, either way I don't suspect it will become an issue, Doctor." Amelia sighed, patting the dog-like alien on the shoulder. "These louts will likely kill Silver, if he isn't dead already, and make Mr. Hawkins a prisoner, just like us."
"You're probably right." He nodded, looking down at his hands. "I just...I have a bad feeling about all of this."
"So do I, Doctor...so do I."
Jim was awake before any light had returned to the sky. He blinked tiredly and pulled the blanket tight around his bare shoulders as he yawned. He could already hear the gentle humming of Silver's leg as the cyborg walked over from the fire, holding a bowl in his hand.
"Mornin Jimbo." He said with a crooked smile. "I thought ye'd be out longer, t' be honest."
"What time is it?" Jim asked, sitting up and taking the bowl as Silver handed it to him. Inside looked like some sort of soup. "What's this?"
"Soup." Silver chuckled. "I managed to catch a couple o'...they looked kinda like rabbits. No salt or nuthin, but it should fill ye up. As fer the time...not sure. I t'ink a bit before dawn."
"Hmm." Jim nodded and sipped the strange soup. Despite the lack of seasoning, it tasted like heaven compared to the rations they had been sharing up till that point. Silver sat himself down beside Jim as he also sipped at his own "bowl" of soup, grumbling slightly as his limp arm jabbed his side in an awkward manner. Jim frowned and set his bowl down, pulling the solar sail close around him as he leaned in to look at the gears and gyros in Silver's shoulder. John raised an eyebrow at him and smiled, chuckling and shaking his head.
"Don't worry about it, Jimbo. I'll get it fixed once we're back on the ship." He hummed, his mechanical eye scanning down the lad's body, looking down at his bare legs.
"Just let me look." Jim mumbled, his lips setting into a stubborn pout. John shook his head again and sighed, relenting to let him look at the arm. Jim's fingers danced over the mechanics in his arm lightly, carefully testing the joint and gears as he went. Suddenly there was a sharp pain as something popped in his arm, and a small spurt of sparks shot out of his arm. Silver let out a slew of curses as he turned with a Jerk, looking at Jim as his arm jerked suddenly.
"Sorry!" Jim hissed, but the smug grin on his face betrayed the words. John frowned a bit and looked at his arm, wiggling his mechanical fingers. They were sluggish, and it definitely needed more work on it, but it was moving.
"Well aren't ye a clever Lad…" Silver laughed, wrapping his arm around Jim's shoulder, pulling him up against him. Jim smiled and shrugged a little.
"Eh, I probably should have looked at it earlier." Jim chuckled. "I managed to re-align one of the gears, but it still needs more extensive work later…"
"Ey, I can move it again." Silver chuckled. "I'd say that's pretty good."
John made note of how Jim's cheeks turned pink before he continued to sip his own soup. The two of them sat there for a short while, eating their breakfast and watching the slow snowfall outside as the sun slowly started to rise, casting a pinkish hue over the white landscape. Once they had finished eating Jim slipped back into his clothes and did his best to wash out the metal they had been using as bowls. Afterwards, much to Silver's displeasure, Jim began insisting that he check on his wound.
"I'm tellin ye' I feel fine, Lad!" Silver grumbled, crossing his arms over his broad chest, looking down at the human.
"Well it's better to be safe, isn't it?!" Jim barked back. "Just let me check on it! If it's all good then it's not like I'm gonna have to do anything more!"
"It's fine, Jimbo!" He huffed back, his cyborg eye turning a dangerous shade of red. Jim clenched his jaw and his hands balled into fists.
"Do you have any clue how much you scared me, Silver?" Jim practically growled. "You wouldn't wake up! You were so fevered I thought you would burn up! Just let me check the damn wound, so that doesn't happen again!"
John closed his mouth at that, pressing his lips together into a thin line. Jim's eyes were surprisingly hard as they glared up at the old Pirate, and John couldn't help but sigh and nod.
"Fine. If it'll keep ye from worrying, then fine." He grumbled back , shaking his head. Jim sighed and nodded in return.
"Just sit down."
Silver scoffed and plopped himself down onto the floor of the cave, glaring at nothing as Jim carefully removed the dried bandage off of Silver's wound. The young man carefully cleaned around it and examined it closely. It still looked nasty, but there was no new necrotic flesh, or sign of infection, and parts of the skin were starting the process of scarring over.
The Lad worked deftly and carefully, looking over the wound and then carefully replacing the bandages, wishing that he had some clean ones to re-dress it with. Once finished Jim just sighed and pressed his forehead against Silver's back, closing his eyes. Silver raised an eyebrow and turned his head to look back towards him.
"How's it look, Jimbo?"
"Better, but still not good." Jim mumbled. "No infection that I can see...but."
"Just a nasty lookin injury?"
Jim sighed and nodded against Silver's back. The cyborg sighed as well and shifted around, pulling Jim close against him with his mechanical arm. Jim didn't fight it, he just leaned against the older man, resting his head on his round belly. John gently rubbed Jim's back, his organic hand gently pushing hair out of the lad's eyes.
"It's okay, Jimbo." He spoke softly. "I'm sorry fer bein such a stubborn old git. I promise ye, I'll be alright."
Jim was silent for a long while, and just sat there with Silver, his eyes looking out the mouth of the cave, watching the slow snowfall.
"You think they'll be much longer?" He asked eventually, shivering slightly as a cold breeze blew through the cave.
"Hopefully not." Silver sighed. "Amelia gave us a rough estimate, and with it bein me crew doin the repairs, I know they can work well and fast."
Jim nodded and closed his eyes, breathing in the smell of Silver as they sat there a little longer before Silver nudged him gently.
"What's wrong, Jimbo?" The Cyborg's voice was soft and deep, almost tender as his eyes watched the young man.
"Nothing…"Jim sighed. "I'm just tired of this planet." Silver chuckled and nodded, pulling Jim closer and on to his lap, were he wrapped the Cabin Boy in to a tight hug,
"Aye, me too Jimbo." He hummed. "Don't ye worry though, we'll be outta here soon enough, ey?"
Jim sighed, leaning against the Ursid as he watched the snow falling outside the cave, shivering slightly in the cold breeze. Silver sighed and hugged the lad even tighter, keeping him pressed against his chest.
"What's gonna happen, when we get back on the ship?" Jim asked, yawning quietly. Silver sighed and rubbed his back.
"Well first we'll see how things are." He said. "If everything seems to be going smoothly, ye and I will continue on as we have been."
"And if things aren't smooth?" Jim asked. Silver shrugged.
"Then we take whatever steps we need." Silver smirked and leaned forward, giving Jim a light kiss on the shoulder. The cabin boys reaction was priceless, he shuddered slightly, his ears turning pink. Silver chuckled.
"Don't worry, lad. I'll make sure yer safe from me crew." He hummed. Jim nodded and sighed, closing his eyes. "You tired, Jimbo?"
"Hm, just a bit." The young man sighed, letting himself lean more against Silver. John frowned slightly, his organic hand raising to press against Jims forehead.
"Yer runnin a small fever lad." He sighed, looking out at the snow. "Not too surprisin…"
"I'll be ok." Jim chuckled. "If it's just a fever and feeling kind of tired, it aint that bad."
"True." Silver sighed. "Still, I want ye to get lots of rest today. I'm healed up enough to keep a watch."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, you just close yer eyes and take a rest now Lad." John chuckled, happy that Jim wasn't protesting as the boy stretched and curled up in his lap, his slim frame fitting easily on Silver's large legs. The pirate hummed and wrapped both arms around the cabin boy as he sighed, looking out into the snow.
Jim had only barely started to settle when Silver's ear gave a small twitch, his brow furrowing as he listened. It was faint, but through the blowing wind he was able to hear the soft rumble of a longboat engine. He cast a glance quickly to the box they had used to communicate with the captain, knowing it would lead a rescue to them, but something felt off. He looked outside, his mechanical eye whirring softly as it zoomed out and switched to look for heat signatures. Not far off, near the crash of their own boat, he could see the red and orange shapes hopping off of a boat. He recognized the three shapes, Birdbrain Merry, Hands, and Scroop. His teeth clenched in his jaw as he carefully shook Jims shoulder, preventing the boy from fully drifting to sleep.
"Sorry Lad." He muttered quietly as Jim frowned, clearly annoyed. "Seems rescue is here…"
Jim frowned back, sitting up more, examining Silver's face.
"What is it?" He asked the pirate, his voice soft.
"Me thinks the Captain isn't in charge up there anymore." Jim shuddered as the near growl in Silver's voice. The Ursid glanced down at him, his eyes hard and serious. "Grab your knife Lad. There might be a scuffle."
Jim didn't hesitate to nod and slide off of Silver's legs, moving to grab the knife as Silver stood and made his way to the mouth of the cave to greet the approaching shadows.