Alright, 10 years in the making, and here it is! An update!
Really quick though, I want to say a few short things:
1. Those of you who commented - both after I posted the note, and just in general, going back all of these years - are just the sweetest. I can't believe that I wrote something that stuck with you like this, something you read and enjoyed, something that some of you keep coming back to. That is just... wow. I cannot put into words how much you all mean to me. Thank you so much for supporting this little hobby of mind, and for giving people to share it with. You're all wonderful, and I hope the Etherium gives you nothing but good things.
2. For those of you that asked, I am doing well! Life has certainly thrown me several curveballs over the last decade, but overall, I'm in a good place. I moved across the country, I'm pursuing a degree in Creative Writing, my job is paying for my school - overall, things are going well, and I hope I'm moving into a place where they'll get even better. I hope you are all doing well too! I know these last couple of years have been insane, so I hope you're all managing and doing well.
3. Okay, now about the story - this chapter is a little weird. First of all, its over 36,000 words. So like... almost half a novel. It's a LONG one, folks. I suggest getting a snack (or maybe even a meal), some coffee, and bunkering down because this is A LOT. It's the least I could do after making you guys wait a decade, but it does mean that the flow is a bit strange in some places. If I was a sane person, I would have broken this into chapters, but I'm clearly not, so I didn't. It does pick up immediately where the last chapter left off - the one where they were planning the trip to Ciaran, Henry was around causing trouble, Tabitha and Jim were fighting, etc.
This chapter has everything: action, fighting, heartbreak, the tiniest dash of ~spice~ to keep it interesting.
I hope to the stars you all enjoy it. Have fun!
Tabitha groaned and leaned back against the edge of the washbasin, resting her head against the edge as she closed her eyes.
Within hours of Jim leaving, she'd somehow become so sick she could barely stand. She'd spent the better part of the day on the washroom floor, trying to keep down broth, or bread, or even water, but nothing she consumed would stay in her stomach.
"Again?"
Tabitha hazily opened her eyes to see Abigail standing in the doorway holding a bucket and surveying her adopted daughter worriedly.
Tabitha closed her eyes again and gingerly shook her head, scared to even move lest it make her nausea worsen. "No," she mumbled. "Nothing's coming up."
"Well I'm not surprised at this point," Abigail said softly, kneeling down and gently dabbing Tabitha's face with a cool, damp rag. "You're sure you aren't sick? This really does seem like an illness or something, and – "
"No," Tabitha disagreed, weakly pushing herself upright. "No, it's just stress, and… everything that's been going on the last couple of weeks. Henry, and the… messed up sleep schedules… not eating regularly…"
"Darling, you've got to take better care of yourself." Abigail helped her sit up, adjusting Tabitha's messy braid and retying the ribbon to keep her hair out of her face. "You're a doctor – I know the academy taught you better."
Tabitha gave a small smile. "I know, I just… I just let the stress eat away at me too much, I guess… I'm sorry." She looked up at her apologetically. "Thank you for taking care of me."
"Of course," Abigail smiled, gently placing a kiss to her forehead.
A gentle knock at the door interrupted as Sarah slowly swung the door open. "Oh, Tabitha… I'm so sorry this happened, dear… Come on, let's get you into bed."
With the two mothers almost completely supporting Tabitha's weight, they managed to carry her weak frame down the hall to her old room, get her changed, and tuck her into bed. Other than a few weak moans when her nausea returned due to all the moving around, Tabitha made no objections and barely felt like she was conscious for the whole ordeal.
"There," Abigail whispered softly, laying her back against the pillows. "Just rest, okay? You'll feel much better when you wake up. There's water right here on the table beside you, and this old bucket if you feel ill."
"That's right – don't hurt yourself trying to make it to the washroom if you feel sick again… Oh, let me get Morph - " Sarah headed out to the hallway and called for him, and the small pink blob came zipping in, nuzzling against her cheek. "Hey little guy. I need you to stay here with Tabitha while she isn't feeling well. If she needs anything, you come get me or Abigail – alright?"
Morph cooed sadly as he zoomed over to Tabitha, looking her over before laying down to rest against her chest, giving Sarah a small salute of agreement as he did. Tabitha smiled a little and reached up to pet him.
"One last thing, dear – take this " Abigail added, gently sitting next to her and opening a small glass vial.
Tabitha winced, and turned her head away. "I can't keep anything down…"
"It's just herbs, darling. Put them under your tongue, let them dissolve – you'll feel better before you know it," she smiled softly. "And they'll help you get some rest too."
Tabitha sighed but opened her mouth and obliged before almost instantly letting sleep take over. Morph yawned and nuzzled in to go to sleep too. Sarah helped Abigail adjust the blankets slightly before they made their way back into the hall, leaving the door ajar so they could hear her if need be.
"Something isn't right here," Sarah spoke first, keeping her voice low.
"I agree," Abigail nodded worriedly. "Silver told me about once when Tabitha got food poisoning as a child with him – she worked through it, never let on she was sick. He didn't even know until she vomited while trying to serve dinner."
"Stars… so what is this? Jim seemed fine this morning, and no one else here has had anything like this."
"Well, then… maybe it isn't something contagious."
Sarah looked up quickly and held Abigail's gaze. Abigail slowly raised her eyebrows and Sarah's eyes widened. "You think she's – "
"I don't know, but I do know I'm not going to suggest that to her unless she comes to that realization herself. From what Jim and Silver have told us, we know it's a sensitive subject for her…"
Sarah sighed heavily and rested her hands on her hips, shaking her head. "Of all the times for Jim to go on a voyage without her."
Jim really wasn't in the mood to be a captain, not after the last couple of weeks he'd had. He was thankful that this voyage was a small crew of people he knew and fully trusted, so there wasn't much to go over. It was really just giving out assignments and then getting to work running things.
"Oh, but before I forget – " he added at the end of his short spiel. "You should all thank Tabitha when we get back, because she upgraded the engine and the thrusters. We can do this trip in almost half the time we originally expected – I'm guessing 10 days there, 10 days back, with 3 days at most on the planet. Which puts us returning back by – "
"Your anniversary?" Graham queried, arching an eyebrow.
"Yes." Jim said coldly, in no mood for Graham's teasing. "Given everything that's happened between myself and Tabitha, and the fact that it was her idea to make the upgrades, I think the least we can give her is a nice anniversary gift."
Commodore Aldamae shot Graham a pointed look to not make any more jokes about it, and Graham sighed.
"Fine. That's all I have for now. Let's… get to work," Jim dismissed them with a half-smile. He watched them walk away to their posts and sighed, heading over to take the first double watch in the crow's nest. He wasn't going to be able to sleep anyway – might as well make himself as useful as possible.
"Lad."
Jim stopped with his foot on the ropes of the mast and turned around to see Silver staring him down from the helm.
"Ye'll be alright," Silver assured him calmly. "It's jus' over t'ree weeks - it ain't that long. You and Tabby are the strongest couple I've ever seen… Ye'll both be jus' fine."
Jim's shoulders fell as he released some tension he didn't realize he'd been holding onto. He stopped and thought about it for a second, thought about what Silver had said, tried to think of a way to thank him… but he had to settle for an appreciative nod before climbing his way up to the crow's nest.
Tabitha stretched out the next morning and groaned as she blinked her eyes open blearily. She grimaced at the taste in her mouth and immediately reached over for the glass of water, downing the whole thing in a matter of seconds. Morph had moved over to the pillow next to her and was still sleeping soundly as she arose.
She still felt a little weak, though it felt more likely that it was just from not eating rather than from whatever had kept her in bed the entire day before. Miraculously, her nausea seemed to be completely gone, and not only that, a full appetite seemed to have taken its place. Taking her time, making sure she wasn't pushing or overestimating her strength, she swung her legs out of bed and slowly stood up to make her way to the washroom. After cleaning herself up a little, she pulled her clothes from the day before back on and made her way down the back hall to the kitchen.
Abigail looked up from the counter where she was chopping vegetables as she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. "Tabitha – " she gasped, rushing over to her. "Darling, we told you not to get up – "
"No, no – I'm fine, really," Tabitha smiled at her and Sarah, who had also turned her attention away from the breakfast she was making and was rushing over to get ready to support the young girl. Tabitha held up a hand to stop them both. "Really, I feel… fine, actually…"
Sarah stopped and looked her over. "Fine? You were too sick to stand yesterday – you don't have to put on a brave face for us. I know the boys are gone, but Abigail and I can still run the inn if you're too tired or weak – "
"I promise, I'm fine," Tabitha laughed softly. "But… I will admit that I am starving."
Abigail glanced over at Sarah and then smiled at Tabitha. "I'll fix you something easy – make sure you can keep that down before we do anything more, okay?"
"Thank you," Tabitha smiled as she took a seat at the table.
"So… you still think it was stress that made you sick?" Sarah questioned, earning her a subtle, but wide-eyed look from Abigail that went unnoticed by Tabitha.
"I-I suppose," Tabitha shrugged. "Either that or it was just some 24 hour bug. Has anyone else been sick?"
"Not unless someone on Jim's crew is right now," Abigail said as she slid Tabitha a plate with some toast on it.
"Must be the stress then…" Tabitha concluded, biting into the toast and sighing in relief. Food was good.
While Tabitha ate her breakfast, Abigail and Sarah were having a silent conversation of just glances and subtle head movements, something akin to Abigail shaking her head at Sarah and Sarah surrendering and nodding subtly in agreement. This silent conversation about Tabitha's current condition was interrupted by the woman herself.
"Do we have any purps?"
Sarah and Abigail both turned to look at her confusedly, glancing at each other and then back at her. "I thought you didn't like purps," Sarah said first.
"I don't – er, usually I don't…" Tabitha's brow furrowed in confusion as well. "I don't know…"
Abigail stared Sarah down, silently begging her not to address the craving. Sarah nodded in agreement and picked up the basket of fruit from the counter and passed it to Tabitha. "We do have some, dear. In fact, they're almost getting too ripe now. I was going to bake muffins with them if no one ate them today."
Tabitha thanked her as she finished her toast and reached for the biggest purp available, smiling as she took a bite and slowly began to chew, while the mothers shared another questioning glance with each other.
In a way, Jim was almost thankful that the crew was so small - it meant the ten travel days passed quickly because they spent every second of the day either working or asleep, which left very little time for Jim to obsess over Tabitha, how she might be doing, the last few weeks between them, what this meant for them going forward, how much he missed her, what they would have to say to each other when he got back –
"OY! Montressor to Captain James!"
Jim dropped the pot he was scrubbing as he jumped. Maybe he was wrong about how much time he spent obsessively thinking. "Yes, Graham?"
"Don't get mad at me – I said your name 4 times," Graham huffed as he descended the galley steps the rest of the way. "Silver's about to dock us. Are you ready?"
"Yeah, on my way." Jim wiped his hands down and straightened his clothes a little bit, following Graham onto the deck.
Commodore Aldamae stopped them as they ascended the top of the stairs. "James, you have the ownership paperwork for the ship?"
"Yeah, in the stateroom. I'll go grab it – "
"No need," the commodore interrupted. "Hide it, and hide it well. If we hand that paperwork to a dock worker here, you may not have a ship anymore."
Jim's brow furrowed. "Wha – someone's gonna steal the ship if we leave it docked here? Is anything legal on this planet?"
"Just about, lad," Silver interrupted, coming down from the helm to join them. "Relax, ya think I ain't made friends in all my years spacin'? I'll take t'e longboat over – t'ere should be someone workin' the dock I can bribe to keep the ship safe so long as we don't park it t'ere."
Graham looked between Silver and Jim. "We're leaving the ship in open space?"
"I know it's not safe, nor particularly good for the ship, but what other option do we have?" the commodore explained.
Jim sighed heavily, hanging his head and resting his hands on his hips for a moment. "Fine… We leave the ship here. This planet doesn't have much commerce traffic, so not much chance of it being noticed by people coming or going. I'll disable the tracker so we don't show up on radar, and we'll secure the sails so it's less likely to be noticed. We take the longboat from here to the planet, Silver bribes what is hopefully a friend, then we take turns coming back in pairs to check on the ship as often as possible – so long as we can do it without drawing attention to ourselves or the ship. Agreed?"
With a murmur of agreement from the other three men, they set to work readying the ship to be partially abandoned. Jim sent Graham to disable the tracking while he secured what few things of value or importance they had in the hidden safe of the Captain's quarters before grabbing his belongings and meeting down at the longboats.
Despite everything going through his mind, Jim did find a moment of amusement in looking at the way Graham and the commodore had dressed. Silver had told them to dull themselves down, make themselves easy to blend, nothing to catch a thief's eyes – and while he and Jim had to change very little about their appearance to meet these criteria, the same could not be said for the other two men. Commodore Aldamae was not only out of uniform, but also displaying no shiny golden buttons on his jacket, or freshly polished boots, or pressed pants and shirt – all signature aspects Jim was certain he had never seen him without; instead he wore old, worn boots, dark pants and a dirty old shirt, all covered by a black cloak which, when combined with the black wide brimmed hat, gave him a strange, off-putting aura that Jim felt certain no one would want to test. Graham's normally very fitted pants and crisp top were replaced with baggy old pants that Jim was pretty sure someone had left behind at the inn years ago, and a shirt that -
"Is that my shirt?" Jim asked incredulously, turning him around to get a better look at him.
"Well, yeah. Where else am I supposed to get an old, dark, ugly shirt that fits me?" Graham asked, holding out his arms to display the shirt better.
"Lad, just let him wear it," Silver interrupted before Jim could speak. "It ain't gonna hurt anything… but that ring on yer hand might."
Jim lifted his hand and surveyed his wedding ring before meeting Silver's harsh glare. "I'm not taking it off, Silver. It's small – no one will notice it."
"Jimbo, I know ya love t'e lass, but yer puttin' all of us in danger wearing t'at t'ing – "
"Then I'll keep my hands in my pockets – how's that?"
Silver and Jim held each other's gaze, Silver wondering if it was worth it to try to fight him and Jim wondering if maybe Silver was right. "Fine," Silver finally spoke. "But ya keep yer hands in yer pockets like t'at moody pup ya were when I first met ya."
Jim sighed as he boarded the longboat and took a seat. For the first time, he spared a glance over at the planet of Ciaran – a dark ball, not a single star close by. From here, he could see the pinpricks of light on the planet – fires and lighted windows – and he decided that it was no surprise people picked such a dark, cold planet to do such dark, cold deeds.
After recovering from her brief illness, Tabitha tried her best to keep busy around the inn, which was easy for the most part. Working meant less time worrying about Jim, praying that he and Silver and everyone were safe, trying to imagine if Ciaran was as dangerous as it had been made out to be, wondering how long it would be until she saw them all again –
"Delivery!"
"Tabitha, dear, can you get that?" Sarah asked as she came out of the kitchen juggling plates on her forearms and hands during a particularly busy breakfast rush.
Tabitha snapped out of her obsessive thoughts and approached the deliveryman. "Hi Jova – what do you have for us today?"
"Looks like, ah…" The alien headed back outside with Tabitha, flipping through his clipboard with two of his six tentacles and pushing his glasses up with another one. "Fish and vegetables."
"Perfect. Were you able to get the extra purps as well?" Tabitha questioned as she looked over the crates and signed the paperwork.
"Aye, but barely. You know they're not exactly in season right now," he chuckled. "I'd try to make this lot last if I can."
Tabitha laughed politely, but she did have a fleeting thought about how many purps she had been going through lately. What was it – 3? 4 a day? Some days it felt like that was all she wanted to eat. She wondered if she'd be able to make this lot last even if she wanted to.
"I got the vegetables!" B.E.N. called to Tabitha as he rolled out and grabbed a couple of the cases. "I'll be back for the rest of them!"
"Perfect, I'll start on the… fish…"
Tabitha approached the containers filled with large, fresh greyfish. She'd always been a bit unnerved by how their half-dozen cold, dead eyes stared back at you, but she usually just tried not to think about it. This time, however, it wasn't the sight of them that bothered her, but the smell. Of course fish always had a disgusting sort of scent, but now it felt like the most putrid thing that had ever entered her nostrils. Instantly, she felt her stomach churn, and her throat and jaw begin to tense as the nausea rolled through her body.
"What is it?" Javo asked as he approached Tabitha and looked the fish over. "Something wrong with 'em?"
"Oh, stars – " Tabitha mumbled as she threw her hand over her mouth and raced to the edge of the inn, barely turning the corner before she vomited over the frozen ground.
She panted and leaned against the building, but her body gave her only a second to prepare before she was vomiting again. She didn't have to stand there long – heavily propped against the wall, pale and drenched in an ice-cold sweat – before she heard footsteps running up behind her.
"Tabitha? Tabitha! Are you alright?!" Abigail questioned frantically as she ran up with Jova, rushing over to her and wiping Tabitha's sweaty face with her apron.
"She alright? Should I get Jim?" Jova asked concernedly, watching Tabitha but keeping his distance.
"J-Jim's not here," Tabitha panted weakly. "I-I'm so sorry, I don't know – the fish. Something about the smell – "
Even the thought of the smell was enough to make her nauseous again, and she barely pushed Abigail out of the way before she was once again voiding the contents of her stomach.
"Oh, my dear," Abigail said, holding her and rubbing her back concernedly. "Jova, could you please ask B.E.N. to get the rest of the shipment inside? Tabitha, come on, let's go around back and get you cleaned up."
Tabitha groaned weakly in agreement, leaning into her adoptive mother as they made their way to the back of the inn, letting themselves in through the kitchen door.
"Heavens, is she alright?" Sarah called from the stove, stirring a pot with one hand and flipping a pan of meat with the other.
"She'll be alright. I'm going to get her into bed," Abigail answered as she led Tabitha towards the hallway.
"N-No, no – I'm fine," Tabitha argued, pulling away from Abigail and moving back towards the kitchen. "Y-You two need the help. I can help – I'm fine."
Abigail sighed. "Tabitha, you're white as a ghost and you just – "
"I-I can't keep doing this to you two though – it's not fair. I was already out of commission one day last week, and now…"
Tabitha tried to keep arguing, but she also realized she couldn't really stand on her own, resulting in her weakly stumbling closer to the wall and leaning her weight against it.
"Darling, go lay down," Sarah said reassuringly. "I ran the inn by myself for 5 years – while managing Jim as a teenager, mind you. Abigail, B.E.N., and I can handle this – I promise."
Tabitha wanted to argue, but she couldn't seem to string together a coherent sentence in her head. When Abigail gently shifted her close and began to lead her down the hallway, Tabitha just went, moaning weakly as she was laid down in her old bed again, closing her eyes and trying desperately not to recall the smell of fish anymore.
The longer Jim stood on the dock, the more unnerved he felt.
From the second they'd glided up, he felt like he was being watched, but as he looked around the dark dock and the road just behind it, all he could make out were vague outlines hunched around makeshift fires, cloaks covering their heads, or bodies leaning back into shadows, and just once, a pair of glowing eyes peaking out of a window with shutters ajar. The doorways were all darkened, and their was very little foot traffic at... whatever time of day it was.
"Great vacation spot, huh?" Graham mumbled to Jim, crossing his arms as he too surveyed the area suspiciously.
Commodore Aldamae stepped in front of them and blocked their view. "Stop looking around like that." He spoke slowly, his voice low like he didn't want to be overheard. "You act suspicious, you will be suspicious. Don't make yourself a target."
Jim sighed, already annoyed by the ship situation, and now this. "And how exactly am I supposed to watch my crews back if I can't look around?"
"That's not what I said, James. I'm telling you to be less obvious."
Jim sighed in frustration, but as he opened his mouth to argue, Silver returned.
"Alright, the ship's safe. Or, well… 'least as safe as we can hope for around here," Silver informed them, shoving a small bag back into his pocket. "Found t'e old friend I was looking for – says he'll keep an eye on t'e ship, alert us if anything goes awry."
"Uh-huh. And how much did that cost you?" Graham asked skeptically, glancing toward the pocket Silver had just put the satchel back into.
Silver stared the boy down. "Enough to make it wort' his wild. Not as much as losin' t'e ship would cost us."
"And you're sure we can trust this guy?" Jim questioned, skepticism dripping from his voice.
Silver turned his attention to the young man. "Ya don't think I'd trust yer ship – an' our way home – with just anyone, now do ya lad?"
"Well, considering we're on one of the most lawless planets this side of the Nexian Galaxy, trusting our ship to a pirate – "
"I never said 'e was a pirate."
"Oh, he's not? Then how do you know him?" Jim snapped back. He almost instantly regretted it though. The look that crossed Silver's face was one of confusion and slight hurt, but it was instantly covered by one of frustration.
"What's t'is about now, lad?" Silver questioned, raising his voice a little.
"Perhaps, whatever is going on here can wait until we get to where we're going," Commodore Aldamae interrupted.
Jim and Silver stared at each other for a moment, then Jim started to open his mouth to say something, hesitated, then closed it again, turning his eyes away. Silver looked him over for another moment before giving in. "Follow me," he gruffly mumbled to the group.
Graham stood with brow furrowed, letting Silver walk in front, he and Jim following a few paces behind, with Commodore Aldamae behind them. "Hey – " he whispered after they'd gotten onto the road. "What was that all about?"
Jim sighed and shook his head. "I don't know, it was out of line. I just… I can't shake the feeling like something's going wrong. And I don't know if it's with Tabitha, or with the ship, or with this whole plan as a whole, but something's just… off."
"You know what I think? I think you need to get some sleep. When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?" he asked. Jim tried to remember, thinking back over the voyage and the last few weeks with Tabitha before they'd left, but Graham answered his own question. "Exactly. It's been too long. Look – tonight, just… go to bed, get some rest. We're here now, stop worrying. Tabitha is with her mom and your mom, the ships only at risk for a couple of days, and we'll be back to Montressor in less than two weeks."
Jim thought about it and realized Graham had a point – they were here now, best he could do was rest up and stay alert. "Yeah, I guess some solid rest wouldn't hurt. We probably all need it."
"Yeah, speak for yourself – I've got other plans tonight."
"Other plans?" Jim finally looked over at his friend and saw him smirking. Following Graham's gaze, he saw a young woman a few yards in front of them, smiling seductively and looking Graham over, her dark hair fell just above her shoulders in messy curls. Her bright red lipstick matched the gaudy dress that left very little to the imagination, but whatever was left, Graham was clearly imagining it.
"Hello, love," she hummed softly to them, as they got closer. "Need a date for tonight?"
"No, he's all good," Jim answered quickly.
"Maybe," Graham smiled, ignoring Jim completely. "I could use the company."
"Graham – " Jim hissed next to him.
Graham looked back at him. "What? It's been a while for me."
"What – less than three weeks?" Jim scoffed. Graham's brow furrowed in confusion, and Jim rolled his eyes. "Leina? The flower seller on Crescentia?"
"Oh yeah," Graham laughed softly and bit his lip. "Yeah, that was a good night."
"Hmm… I bet I could make tonight even better," the woman hummed, running her hand over Graham's arm and leaning in to breathe softly against his neck. "Come on, love… I only cost what you can afford."
"Whoa, hang on," Graham chuckled and pulled away. "Sorry, love. I don't pay."
The woman sighed and moved her arms behind her back to flaunt her chest more. "Pity. I could make it worth your wild."
Before Jim could interrupt this exchange again, someone else had reached out and grabbed the woman's arm. They looked up to see Commodore Aldamae standing there with a firm grasp on her. Slowly, he pulled her arm from behind her back, revealing the bag of gold in her hand. Staring her down sternly, he pried it out of her fingers while she simply stared, amazed that she'd been caught. The commodore turned his attention back to Graham with the same scathing glare and handed him the bag.
"I believe this belongs to you."
Graham patted his pocket, reached his hand in, then looked back at the bag, quickly snatching it out of the commodore's hand. He didn't usually embarrass easily, but something about almost getting robbed by a prostitute and being put in your place by an elder like the commodore all in the same interaction was enough to keep Graham in silence, only able to muster an awkward glare towards the woman.
Jim reached out and grabbed Graham's shoulders, giving a silent look of thanks to the commodore before turning Graham back on the path towards the inn. Silver, who had apparently stopped a few yards ahead, was watching Jim and Graham cautiously, trying to crane his neck to see whom they were talking to. He watched them as they moved on, waited a moment for them to fall in step, and then continued on the road.
Jim glanced back to see the commodore say something to the lady before letting her arm go and watching her scurry off down the side street she'd been standing at the edge of. The commodore straightened his coat, glanced around and began following them, so Jim turned his attention forward again
The pair traveled in silence for a couple of minutes. Jim occasionally glanced over at his friend, but Graham refused to do anything but stare straight ahead. For a few minutes, Jim was inclined to just let the incident go, to not speak of it anymore for now… but he couldn't help himself. A few streets down from where they'd had the interaction, he finally shook his head and let a breathy chuckle escape him as he tried to keep quiet.
Graham's response was instant, a sharp head turn and an even sharper glare. "Shut. The hell. Up."
Something about it only made Jim laugh harder, shaking his head. "I can't believe you tried to hit on a floozy and almost got robbed."
"Oh yeah. Laugh it up. Ha ha – AH!"
Jim barely had time to turn his head as Graham was grabbed before he too found a strong arm wrapped around his torso and a hand clasped over his mouth. Jim kicked and fought as they were dragged into the alley, frantically looking around to see what they were up against. A tall, arachnid alien was holding Graham, and Jim seemed to be held by some dark green, wart covered creature with at least 6 arms. Another shorter, pale pink alien with at least a half dozen eyes popping out of the top of his head was standing at the edge of the alley, popping one eye around the corner to look for something as he brandished a gun from inside his coat. Jim's eyes widened as he realized what it was he was looking out for.
Biting into his captor's hand as hard as possible, Jim managed to get him to let go long enough to shout, "COMMODORE, DON'T!"
It was too late – Commodore Aldamae came up the street at a full sprint, obviously chasing after them. As soon as he was in view, the short alien fired, laughing maniacally as the Commodore fell to the ground. The commodore collapsed, gripping the gunshot wound in his calf as he cried out in pain. Jim's mouth was almost instantly covered again by another of his captor's arms. Graham struggled and managed to pull his arms free enough to sharply elbow the arachnid just underneath his ribs, forcing him to let him go. Graham pulled his own gun from the back of his pants just as the shorter, multi-eyed alien turned towards him, but everyone froze as another gunshot flew between the two of them.
"Well, well," a sultry, familiar voice said from the shadows. "You boys put up a bit more fight than I expected."
Jim and Graham's eyes widened as they watched the woman they'd spoken to not five minutes earlier step out of the shadows, holding a gun on them and smirking. Her dress was now tucked up to her belt on one side to let her move more easily, and the belt at her waist was turned now to show the holster that she'd previously had hidden behind her back. Jim wasn't sure who was more stunned – himself or Graham.
Graham had almost completely forgotten about his own gun, completely aghast at the series of events that had just transpired. "What the fu – "
Unfortunately, him being caught off guard gave the arachnid ample opportunity to grab him again, knocking the gun out of his hand as he secured him and covered his mouth. Commodore Aldamae eyed the gun, but as he tried to make a grab for it, the smallest alien beat him to it, holding it up triumphantly and laughing in his face.
"Well," the woman smiled, looking them over proudly. "This has been fun… Boys – their pockets."
Jim and Graham struggled again as hands and claws were shoved into their pockets, taking out the satchel of gold they were each carrying. The commodore held his hands up and sighed in frustration as the small alien pointed the gun at his chest and rummaged through his coat pockets.
"Oh, and um – don't forget that ring the uptight one has on," she smirked, turning her attention to Jim. "Kind of hard to miss though, isn't it?"
Jim's eyes widened as he balled his hands into fists as tight as he could, frantically trying to pull away. How did she even know about it? And then he realized – he'd pulled his hands out of his pockets to grab Graham and lead him away from her.
Realization aside, he'd be damned if they were going to take his wedding ring off him while he was still alive.
After a moment or two of struggling, the woman rolled her eyes. "Just break his wrist, Harry."
"Oh. Right," Jim's captor mumbled, and before Jim could react, his wrist had been snapped backwards, forcing his hand to go limp. Jim cried out in pain into the alien's palm and watched in horror as the ring was slid off his finger. His own shouts and interruptions were interrupted by a steadier, much stronger voice.
"Ye'll be handin' t'at ring to me now," Silver said, standing at the edge of the alley, his own guns drawn on Jim's captor and the woman.
Jim stared at Silver in both fear and gratitude, but immediately it became clear that something wasn't right with him. Silver's face had gone from the stern look to a look of complete confusion as he stared down the woman. Jim glanced over at her and realized she was wearing an equally inexplicable look – wide-eyed, liked she was staring at a ghost.
"Nessie?" Silver spoke softly.
At this moment, it became clear that everyone except Silver and this woman were confused and lost. All of them stood looking around in utter confusion, glancing to their counterparts before looking between the woman and this man.
"You know him?" the shorter alien asked the woman, keeping a gun loosely trained on Silver.
The woman didn't answer - she closed her mouth and stared at him before sparing a quick glance towards the hostages.
"Nessie," Silver spoke again, his voice steady. "T'ese are my friends."
Something about the way he said "friends" made Jim think he was hinting at something. Nessie looked unsure for only a second before setting her shoulders back. "Keep the gold you lot found, but put his ring back on. It seems I have some unfinished business to attend to, and I don't want to spoil the deal before it starts."
Her three sidekicks seemed skeptical, but none of them wanted to argue with a full satchel of gold each. They released Graham and Jim and pushed them away. Jim pulled away and pushed the ring tighter onto the ring finger of his injured hand before kneeling down to help the Commodore sit up. Graham moved towards Silver's side, his brow knitted tightly as he stared down the woman but refused to speak.
Vanessa looked at her men. "You're on your own tonight. I'll be in touch. Now leave us."
Jim wasn't sure how Vanessa managed to get power over a group like that, but clearly she had it because they headed the opposite way, into the darkness of the alley before disappearing around a building at the other end.
"You're Vanessa?" Graham finally snapped, staring at her in some strange mix of frustration, confusion, and awe.
For the rest of the day after the fish incident, Tabitha was in bed, sick to her stomach and unable to keep down even water or bread. She apologized continuously to Abigail and Sarah, but they would hear none of it, insisting she stay in her old room at the inn so they could keep an eye on her and take care of her if needed.
"I'm sure it's just a… relapse from the other day," she mumbled as she slowly laid back against the pillow, allowing Abigail to gently wipe the sweat from her brow with a wet cloth.
Sarah looked at her and arched an eyebrow, but decided against pointing out that an aversion to certain smells didn't usually cause a stomach flu to "relapse."
"I'm sure you're right," Abigail commented softly instead, tucking her adoptive daughter into the quilted bed. "So this time, you're going to stay in bed today and tomorrow. No arguments – " She insisted as Tabitha's eyes flew back open and her mouth opened to protest. " – about this. You'll stay in bed a couple of days, and I'm sure you'll feel good as new then.
Tabitha muttered an annoyed agreement since she wasn't up to anything more. With a soft kiss to her forehead, Abigail and Sarah left the room and let Tabitha get some rest.
And rest she did. Tabitha remembered waking up a few times over the rest of that day and the next one, but for the most part, she found herself deep asleep – obviously recovering from whatever illness had been plaguing her, she assumed.
The day after that, in the hour just before dawn, she finally felt like she had to get up or she never would. With a long groan, she pulled herself up and stretched out her muscles as much as she could. She felt groggy, like her head was in a fog she couldn't quite shake off. After slowly pushing herself out of bed, she made her way to the washroom and drew a bath, praying the water would reawaken her body and ease her stiff muscles.
After half an hour of soaking in the warm water, she sighed and gave in. Her muscles felt better, but her mind was no more conscious now than it was when she first woke up. After drying off and getting dressed, she made her way to the kitchen and found Abigail already awake and getting coffee ready for the inn's visitors.
"Good morning, dear," she smiled, keeping her voice soft as she took in the sight of Tabitha and sensed she was still not fully recovered. "How are you feeling?"
Tabitha sighed and ran a hand through her damp hair. "Fine, I suppose… not sick." She grabbed a mug from the cabinet and turned back to Abigail. "Could I have some of that?"
"I suppose…" Abigail hesitated, looking Tabitha over as she poured the coffee into her mug. "You really should try to eat something. You've barely had anything besides toast and a couple of purps yesterday."
"I know, I just feel like my mind is so hazy right now. I'm hoping the caffeine will wake me up…" She surveyed the food options they had available – eggs, bread, meat… nothing that interested her. She sighed and grabbed a purp. "I know it's just because I've been asleep the last couple of days, but I just feel like I'm… out of it."
"I'm so sorry you're still not feeling up to par." Abigail watched as Tabitha looked over the foods – she surveyed everything with clear disinterest, reacting only to the fish by wrinkling her nose and swallowing thickly, before spotting the fresh purps and grabbing a couple of those. Abigail decided not to comment on her choice. "Maybe you should rest today too."
"No, no – I can work," Tabitha assured her. "I feel like I… need to be doing something. I'm tired of just laying around here. I want to help, I want to distract myself from – "
Abigail had gone back to making the coffee as she listened to Tabitha talk, but she looked up again when Tabitha stopped so abruptly. "Tabitha?" For a second, she didn't know what had happened… but then a choked sound escaped Tabitha and her hand flew to her mouth. In a few gliding steps, Abigail had crossed the room and embraced her warmly, pulling her to her chest and stroking her back. "Tabitha, what is it?"
"I just miss Jim so much," Tabitha sobbed against her chest. "W-We spent so much time fighting before he left, I feel like I-I barely even got to apologize, and it was all my fault…"
"Shh, darling that's not true… It wasn't your fault. There was a lot going on, everyone was stressed about this trip… and Henry's visit was very poorly timed… but Jim will be home very soon. They all will be, safe and sound. Everything will be just fine…"
Tabitha continued to cry softly and Abigail continued to shush and gently calm her. Sarah entered the kitchen a moment later, tying her apron around her waist before stopping mid-stride and staring worriedly at the two of them. Abigail looked up at her and shook her head slightly, assuring her it was nothing concerning. Sarah raised her head and nodded once in understanding – she'd been emotional during this stage too.
After much confusion and many angry remarks - and a lot of time convincing Commodore Aldamae to go to anywhere with a woman who'd just shot him - the group finally agreed to get off the street and head to Vanessa's place. It luckily wasn't far from where they were currently located, and a few blocks later, they found themselves at the door of a rundown old building. While Silver was focused on carrying the commodore inside and getting him bandaged, Jim – who was holding his injured wrist close to his torso - and Graham stood on the sidewalk and surveyed the building before them with the same skeptical look. On just the front of the building, at least one window was shattered – presumably done by a gunfight judging by the blasted holes in the wood surrounding the window. Several of the dark boards the building was made up of were cracking, or had already fallen off altogether. The roof was leaning at a drastic slant that Jim was sure meant the whole building might collapse at any moment.
"Nice place," Graham mumbled to Jim. Unfortunately, his comment was overheard by Vanessa as well, who turned sharply and shot him a sharp look.
"If ya'd like to pay to fix it up, I'd be happy to take yer money," she snipped.
"Hmm. Is that why you tried to rob me twice?" he shot back. "'Tried' being the operative word, of course."
Vanessa clenched her jaw and shot him a look so dark that even Jim flinched a little before elbowing Graham with his good arm. "What?" Graham looked at him, clearly offended.
"Leave it alone," Jim muttered through gritted teeth, trying to remind him that he was speaking to their host and Silver's friend. A strange look crossed Graham's face as he watched Vanessa head inside before he followed as well.
Jim took one more glance to them and then back to the inn before following their lead. "I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't this…"
Though Jim had only been about ten seconds behind Vanessa, by the time he walked through the door and closed it behind him, he turned to see her already engaged in a quiet argument with the man behind the bar.
"No – No, Nessa," the man was insisting, slamming one of the steins he was cleaning down onto the counter. "Silver, fine, but the rest of them?"
Jim tried not to look like he was eavesdropping and turned his gaze towards the rest of the rundown bar. There were only three patrons as far as he could see in the dimly lit room – two men who sat opposite each other at a table in the corner playing some sort of card game, and one man who was either passed out or dead on one of the stools at the bar top, his body slumped over the counter and his hand still grasping a nearly empty glass. Jim took a couple of more steps in and joined Graham at his side. "Where's Silver?"
His question was answered as Silver appeared in a darkened doorway at the back of the room, crossing the floor quickly over to Vanessa and the barkeep. "Thank ye, John," he said as he passed him a half empty bottle of alcohol and a few blood-soaked rags. "Looks like he'll be alright, jus' a bit slow on his feet for a few weeks."
"No problem for an old friend," the man – who Jim now figured was Vanessa's brother John - commented as he took the supplies back, pausing and looking down as one of the wadded-up rags jingled slightly. Jim watched out of the corner of his eye as John unwrapped the rag, his eyes widening as he looked back up at Silver.
"I figure that'll cover t'e cost of our room and board," Silver spoke lowly. "…an' t'en some."
Vanessa leaned over the counter and stared at the amount that he had given, her jaw dropping in defiance. "What?! No, Silver – "
John's hand flew up from behind the bar and quickly covered Vanessa's mouth. "Thank you. Your old room's open, and you can have the rooms around it as well."
Silver tipped his hat and looked at Vanessa, giving her a small smirk as she huffed angrily, pushing John's hand away and storming back towards the hallway Silver had emerged from. Hesitantly, Jim and Graham approached Silver's side and Graham spoke out as he watched Vanessa strut off. "What was all of that about?"
"Ah, she was tryin' t' be nice an' let us stay here free o' charge," he said softly. "John made t'e point t'at if word got out about t'at t'ough, no one would ever pay t' stay here again."
"I'm surprised anyone's paying in the first place," Graham mumbled quietly to Jim.
Unfortunately, not quietly enough. Vanessa had reentered and approached the group from behind just in time to overhear it. "Ya wanna buy the place and run it yourself? Be my guest," she spat as she shoved some bandages at Jim.
"Oh, uh, thanks," he mumbled awkwardly in the middle of the bickering, taking the wraps and starting to wrap his left wrist with his right hand before Silver stepped over and did it for him.
"Why the hell would anyone want to buy this place?" Graham asked.
"They wouldn't. That's the problem," John interjected, shooting Graham a furious look as he bitterly polished another glass.
Silver interjected to try to defuse the situation. "So yer tryin' to sell t'en?"
"We're just trying to stay afloat," John explained. "This place isn't exactly cheap to maintain, and business isn't exactly booming. Ever since our pap finally kicked the bucket – "
"Yer pap passed away? I didn't – "
John continued without acknowledging Silver's interruption. " – we haven't had a reason to keep the place. Except to keep a roof over Vanessa's head."
"I keep telling him I can make do, I can fend for myself – I don't need this old building to keep me safe," Vanessa said, shooting her brother a look as she joined him behind the counter.
John took a deep breath through his nose and set the glass down hard. "And I keep telling her that I promised our parents to keep a roof over her head and protect her."
The pair looked at each other, exchanging looks that made it clear this was an ongoing battle. After a moment, Vanessa turned her attention back to the others and noticed Graham looking at her. "Ya got something else to say? Want to insult my home some more? Want to act a little more ungrateful?"
"Ungrateful?!" Graham shouted, starling the man at the bar awake. "You ju – "
With lightning speed, Silver reached over and pushed Graham behind his back to silence him. "T'e lad's just tired. I'll show 'em to bed."
"What?! No!" Graham objected. "She – "
But the rest of his objections were cut off as Silver grabbed him and roughly shoved him out of the room towards the back hallway, leaving Jim standing alone by the bar with the siblings. "Uh… " Jim began, casting a confused look towards the doorway Silver had pulled Graham through before looking back at Vanessa. "Sorry about that. Um, thanks for… the place to stay. And, you know, the bandages and… whatever."
"It's our job, Jim. And the least we could do for Silver's friends," Vanessa said with a slight smile.
Jim nodded, before giving them a small wave with his uninjured arm and turning to follow Silver and Graham. He didn't see them in the hallway, but he could hear Graham's voice shouting from one of the back rooms.
"… her fault that we ended up like this in the first place!" Graham continued shouting at Silver, not even sparing a glance towards Jim as he entered and quickly shut the door behind him. "She robs us, she gives orders to get Jim's wrist broken, she gets the commodore shot, and I'm ungrateful?! Who the hell does she think she is?! Is she going to replace the money her little cronies stole?!"
"T'at money was t' pay fer room and board, and t'at's all covered now. If it's t'at important t' ya, t'en I'll replace it," Silver said pointedly. "But t'ere's more goin' on here t'en you know, lad. Ya calm down a sec, and I'll explain it all to ya."
"John doesn't know that Vanessa is the one who attacked us, does he?"
Graham and Silver both stopped and turned around at Jim's sudden interruption. Graham blinked, wondering how he'd managed to think that, then looked to Silver to see if it was right. Silver looked just as baffled, narrowing his eyes in confusion. "How'd ya reach t'at conclusion?"
"Well the way you yanked Graham out of the room before he could out her was my first clue," he explained. "But it's like she was saying – she's trying to prove to John she can be safe on her own out there. If he knew about all that, he'd have put a stop to it already."
Silver released a heavy breath. "Aye, he don't know."
"What?" Graham asked in shock, turning back to look at Silver.
"And it ain't our place to be tellin' him," Silver continued, shooting them both a look. "T'e lass only told me on t'e way over here t'at he didn't know and t'at we shouldn't mention it. She says she's tryin' t' get some money t'gether – I assume to help out t'is place, but I didn't get t'e chance to ask her any more. So let's leave it at t'at for now. Keep yer yaps shut – t'is is between Nessie and John."
"Silver! She attacked us," Graham argued, clearly not eager to accept this so easily.
"An' she stopped once she found who ya were, t'en tried to give us a place to stay and bandages free o' charge," Silver rebutted. "Leave it be, lad."
With a final harsh look at both of them, Silver turned to leave. "Jimbo, your room's t' the right, mine's t' the left. I suggest ya both get some rest."
Silver had barely stepped out of the room before Graham had turned to Jim. "Can you believe this?! I can't believe he's taking her side."
"He's not taking her side, Graham – he's trying to protect her," Jim reasoned. "Look, we don't know everything about this girl. We don't know what she's been through, what her dynamic with John is. All we know is that John seems a little overprotective, and she's doing what she can to earn some extra money – it's not like she's got a lot of options out here."
Graham took a moment and then sighed reluctantly. "Fine. I won't say anything. But she better not start with me. I'm tired of her jumping all over me every time I say something to her."
"Then maybe you should try being nice to her," Jim suggested as he turned to leave.
"Why would I be nice to a girl that tried to rob me twice?!"
Jim rolled his eyes as he opened the door. "Goodnight, Graham."
The next few days passed for Tabitha in a similar rhythm. She felt exhausted all the time, with the occasional random bout of nausea or vomiting (that she had now learned not to tell Sarah and Abigail about, lest they put her back on bedrest). She had no appetite for most of her favorite foods, but the strongest craving for purps almost constantly. She'd also resorted to drinking more coffee and tea than she ever had in her life to keep her awake and out of the brain fog she seemed to be in constantly. Unfortunately, throwing back cup after cup of caffeine did not seem to be helping her sleep schedule, which she realized as she got up to use the washroom for the third time one night.
Despite keeping the nausea and vomiting a secret for the past few days, both mothers had still insisted she sleep at the Benbow so they could keep an eye on her. She kept getting the feeling they were walking on eggshells around her, waiting for something to happen, but every time she tried to figure out what the issue was and why they were acting like that, her train of thought would derail into nothingness – she could barely focus on day-to-day life, let alone try to dissect their behavior towards her.
As Tabitha traipsed down the hallway to the washroom, she heard one of the other doors open and turned to see Abigail standing in the doorway of her own bedroom with a lit candle. "Tabitha?" she asked softly. "Are you alright?"
Tabitha nodded sleepily and pulled her robe tighter. "Just using the washroom."
Her brow furrowed as she looked her over. "I heard you get up a couple of other times too… Are you sure you're feeling okay?"
"I am, really," Tabitha insisted, smiling slightly. "Just… too much caffeine I guess."
Abigail looked her over like she wanted to say something, but then she just smiled. "Alright. If you're sure… but let me know if you do need something."
Tabitha watched her start to head back into the room, and she almost didn't say anything, but then she decided this was her chance. "Mom?"
"Yes?" Abigail asked, opening the nearly closed door again and stepping back into the hall.
"Do… " Tabitha didn't even know how to ask… or what she even wanted to ask. "Do you think – I mean, do you know… " She sighed and decided to just be honest. "You and Sarah have been acting really weird around me. Why… What's going on?"
"Darling… "Abigail smiled gently and approached her, tucking her hair behind her ear. "We're just worried about you."
"Are you sure that's all it is? It seems like you two… I don't know, I… I just get the feeling there's something else."
It took all of Abigail's strength not to say something, not to suggest what the issue was. For a moment, she thanked the stars that Sarah was still asleep, because she definitely would have taken the opportunity now to tell Tabitha their real concern… but Abigail didn't think it would bring Tabitha peace to know. "We just want you to be okay, and since we don't know exactly what's wrong, we want to keep an eye on you. Surely you know this is doesn't seem like a normal stomach bug or something."
"No, I know, I…" Tabitha sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I've just been too exhausted to reopen my medical books and research what else it might be. And everything I had memorized is just… I don't know. My brain just feels so cloudy and my thoughts are all… scrambled. It's like I can barely hold a thought in my head."
"You're going through a lot right now," Abigail reassured her, stroking her cheek softly. "You've been through a lot of stress, and now you're physically unwell – it makes sense that your head would be a bit overwhelmed by everything. The important thing is that we know it's not something horribly serious – you're up and walking around, you're eating and drinking. Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll figure it out soon and all will be well."
Tabitha hadn't realized that she'd need to be reassured, but hearing that felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She smiled a little and nodded, leaning in to hug her. "Thanks, mom…"
Abigail smiled and hugged her back tightly, kissing the top of her head. "Of course. All will be well soon."
Silver was the first to wake up the next day - a lifetime of short, sleepless nights would do that to you. While he waited for Jim and Graham to wake up, he spent the morning taking care of the commodore and going back to check on the ship, which was thankfully safe and sound. When he finally returned, Vanessa had just woken up and was taking care of a small group of customers that had just arrived, which gave him the chance to talk to her, to learn a little bit more about what had transpired in their time apart… or try to at least.
"Look, he passed away almost two years ago, and John and I have just been tryin' to keep food on the table since then," Vanessa snipped at Silver's incessant questioning of her life as she poured drinks for the customers that had just come in for a morning pint. "We let the staff go. It's just John and myself – which is more than enough for the handful of people that come in here every day. We take shifts when we need to, but normally we just close up at night for a few hours, get some rest, and do it all again."
"Uh-huh," Silver listened as he searched the cabinets for something he could cook. "And when exactly did ya start… goin' off on yer own?"
Vanessa shot him an impatient look, moving over to him and keeping her voice low. "You know how John is. He barely trusts me alone in the inn – he's never gonna let me leave. My only way out of here, away from all this, is to get us both out of here. I just gotta get enough for us to live off of for a few months, and then we can leave this hellhole once and for all."
Silver understood the means, but he didn't agree with the method. "Lass, ya know it ain't safe out t'ere. Who – "
"It sounds like you're confusing me with your other girl," Vanessa snapped back harshly. "I've lived here my whole life, and I've taken care of myself. I didn't need somebody to come in and put me under their wing and save me."
Silver stopped and stared at the girl who had gone back to not meeting his gaze as she hastily wiped down the counters. Grabbing her shoulder, he roughly turned her around and stared her down. "What's t'is really about, Nessie? Ya mad cause I left ya here?"
She pushed his arm away. "Yes. No. I'm not – " Vanessa held his gaze and took a long deep breath through her nose, then she swallowed and turned back towards the counter, bracing her arms on it and sighing. "I'm sorry, it's not… I'm not mad at you. I mean, I am, but I have no right to be."
Silver stayed quiet, sensing there was more she had to say. After a pause where she seemed to zone out for a few moments, she finally continued.
"It's been hard since you left, Silver…" she said softly, seeming truly vulnerable for the first time since he'd arrived. "A lot harder than it used to be. I… I know I told you to leave. I know that I said to go find Jim and Tabitha, and I'm glad you did, but… "
"I should've taken ya with me."
Vanessa laughed and shook her head. "No. That's not what I'm saying. Besides, at that time we still thought I was the one inheriting the inn – I couldn't have left." She looked up at him. "Let's just say there's been some times where I wish you'd been here."
As Silver looked her over, he tried to desperately to figure out what she meant, what had happened. Before he could continue with any more questions – though he wasn't even sure where to begin – Graham walked in, stretching and pulling his shirt on.
"Morning," Graham greeted them. "Any food?"
"Workin' on it now, lad…" Silver muttered, still keeping an eye on Vanessa as she turned to refill drinks.
Graham's brow furrowed, following Silver's gaze and looking over at her as well. Vanessa, sensing his stare, turned back to him and leaned into her hip. "Ya got something to say?"
Silver almost laughed at how quickly all vulnerability Nessie had had a moment ago seemed to vanish. Graham glared back at her. "Not to you."
"Good," she responded finitely.
As she pushed past his shoulder to return to the kitchen, Graham's jaw dropped and he looked at Silver for backup. Silver sighed and held up a hand to tell him to leave it alone. Graham sighed impatiently. "I'm going to wake up Jim."
By the time Graham got Jim up, and Jim got ready to join his friends, the group of morning patrons had left, leaving the building once again empty of customers. Figuring this was as good a time as any to start catching up with each other, Silver prepared them some food with what little ingredients they'd had available. John managed to get Commodore Aldamae out of bed and reclined in a chair at one of the tables to sit. The commodore still seemed pretty bitter about the experience as a whole, and now that Silver had made him swear a vow of silence to John about how he'd really obtained the gunshot wound, he decided he wanted to know as much about these people and what was going on as possible.
The group had a lot of catching up to do. Vanessa didn't want to recount her story to everyone, figuring Silver was the only one that mattered, but John gave in and told a quick version of how he'd inherited the inn unexpectedly over Vanessa, and how business had suddenly dwindled shortly after, though they hadn't entirely been sure why.
The bulk of the storytelling came from Silver – Jim and Graham occasionally chimed in with bits of information, but Silver was by far the best storyteller among the whole bunch, so they figured it was better to just let him tell it. Besides, Graham couldn't help but notice how enraptured Vanessa got when Silver began telling the story of Ivan and the Reddend Fortune. For some reason, he made a small mental note that it was the first time he'd seen her smile. By the time they all finished exchanging all their stories, it was getting late in the evening, and yet not a single other customer had come by.
"Hell, no wonder you didn't come back sooner," Vanessa smirked as she took another swig of her drink and leaned back in the chair. "Sounds like you've barely had a moment to catch your breath since you left."
"Still, could've written ya at least," Silver admitted a bit sadly.
"Right, because the mail service work so well out here," John laughed wryly as he cleaned up their dishes.
Vanessa shrugged and looked over at Jim, who was rubbing his injured wrist a little, checking to see how the swelling was. "Ya think ya can still handle the ship with an injury like that?"
"Hmm?" Jim had zoned out at some point during the story of Tabitha's family fortune and began once again worrying obsessively about her, praying she was doing okay. "Oh, uh… yeah," he half smiled when he realized what she'd asked. "I'll just make Graham pick up the slack."
"Oh ha ha, very funny," Graham laughed sarcastically before smirking. "Think a better question is if you're still going to be able to handle Tabitha with an injury like that – we're still trying to get back by your anniversary, right?"
Vanessa laughed a little as Jim blushed and kicked Graham underneath the table. "When's your anniversary?"
Jim stopped glaring at Graham and turned his attention back to her. "January 1st."
"Oh – " Vanessa blinked in surprise and sat up straighter. "Oh, that's… soon…" Vanessa calculated in her head the time it had taken for them to get here, and the current date… then whipped around to look at Silver. "You're leaving… what - tomorrow?"
Silver sighed and looked at her. "Lass…"
A scoff escaped her as she pushed to her feet. "I should have known," she muttered picking up more of the empty plates and glasses and turning to Silver. "You never were one to stick around, were you?"
Commodore Aldamae spoke up for the first time to defend his friend. "Vanessa, that is out of line. Don't blame him. This whole trip – all of this – was for him to check on you."
"Vanessa – " Jim interjected before she could say anything else. "I was the one who set the dates for when we'd leave. My wife – Tabitha and I have… had a lot going on recently, and we have another job lined up to begin soon."
"Alright, 'nough," Silver stopped Jim, knowing the heartfelt stuff wasn't going to impact her, and she needed to hear it from him. "Look, lass, I am sorry t'at it took me so long t' get back, an' I'm sorry for whatever it was ya went t'rough while I wasn't around, but I'm gettin' ya out o' here t'is time."
"What?" she blinked in shock, setting the dishes back down.
"Ya wanna get out o' here? Ship out wit' us," he explained. "It'll get ya away from all t'is, free t' do what ya want. Besides, we need t'e extra help on t'e ship right now what with Anthony laid up."
The commodore mumbled an annoyed hum as he shot Vanessa an accusatory glare.
"I…" Vanessa stared at Silver in complete shock. "Are you serious? What about John? Where would I go after I left here? What would I do?"
"John could come too, o' course," Silver explained calmly. "An' ya could go wherever ya want, lass… or we could set ya up wit' a job at t'e Benbow, I'm sure. Wit' Jimbo and Tabby fixin' to be gone, Sarah will need t'e extra help."
"Are you… You're really – you mean it?" she questioned, turning and landing her sights on Jim. "You're okay with this?"
Jim chuckled. "He didn't exactly clear it with me, but yeah. Like he said, we need the help on the ship, and my mom needs help at the inn if you're interested. You've got the experience, I'm sure she'd take you."
Vanessa let out a shocked sigh and pushed her hands back through her short hair before turning and looking towards the kitchen door as she heard it swing, watching John walk back towards them. "John, Silver – "
"I heard him," he stopped her. John looked around at the group, his eyes lingering on Silver for an extra moment before he sighed and looked back at Vanessa. "You should go. This is your chance."
"But you'll come to," Vanessa said quietly as she approached him.
John hesitated, reaching out and rubbing her shoulder. "We'll talk more later. Alone."
"We can give you guys some space…" Jim quietly offered.
"No – it's fine," John said, holding up a hand to stop him. "I just need to think about it."
Without another word, John turned and headed back to the kitchen, leaving Vanessa standing there looking a little shocked and confused. Just as Silver opened his mouth to check on her though, she shook it off and turned back to the table, her stern façade back in place once again as she started to pick up the bowls and glasses. Her attention was still elsewhere though, because as she started to hurriedly pull two of the steins into her hand and pick them up, she lost her grip completely, dropping half a pint of beer over Graham before the cup shattered to the floor, sending Graham shooting up to his feet.
"Shit – damn it – " she cursed loudly as she set the other dishes back down, pulling a rag that was tucked into her belt out and throwing it on the ground.
"You did that on purpose," Graham mumbled under his breath, only half way joking.
Vanessa glared up at him. "Why the hell would I have broken one of our mugs on purpose?"
"I don't know – anything to torture me apparently?"
"Torture you?" she laughed. "Aren't you an academy graduate? You think a girl being mean to you is torture?"
Something in Graham faltered for a second, but then he smirked. "So you admit you are being mean to me?"
"Yeah, no shit. The way you talk about my home? The way you act like you're better than all this? Sorry it's not a damn palace, your highness – not all of us grew up in the luxurious life you apparently lead, getting to go to one of the best private schools in the galaxy, space around to wherever you please, getting mommy and daddy to pay for everything – "
"You don't know a damn thing about me or my family," Graham shot back, his voice low. Clearly, she'd struck a nerve.
"Oh really? What part of that was wrong?"
The two were inches away from each other now, bitterly holding each other's gaze while the rest of the group stared at them, completely caught off guard. Silver was the first to finally move, but just as he reached his arm out to push them away from each other, Graham beat him to the punch, harshly turning away and storming out of the room.
The room was silent for a few seconds, then Vanessa turned back to look at them. "I'll get a broom," she said casually, like nothing had just happened.
Silver watched her walk away and then glanced over at the commodore who met his eyes with the same knowing look. Jim was completely flabbergasted and didn't know where to start.
"I, uh… I think I'm going to check on Graham and then… head to bed?" he mumbled confusedly as he stood up and looked at Silver. "So, we're… all good to leave tomorrow?"
"Aye, but let's plan to leave in the evening," Silver answered. "Give Nessie time t' talk to John and get her affairs in order."
Jim nodded and started to leave, but stopped short. "Damn. Someone's gotta go check on the ship tonight," he remembered, sighing and running a hand through his hair. "Let me get Graham and we'll – "
"Oh no ya don't," Silver stopped him. "I'll be t'e only one checkin' t'e ship. I'm not sendin' t'e two best hands we got out t'ere alone."
If Jim was being honest, he didn't want to go out there anyway – especially not with one useless arm – so he took Silver up on the offer. "Fine. I can help the commodore rebandage and get back in bed."
Commodore Aldamae nodded. "I'd appreciate it. Thank you."
Jim nodded. "Let me just… check on Graham first…"
With a nod of approval from the commodore, Jim turned and headed down the hallway towards the rooms they were staying in, knocking gently on Graham's door before going in. "Hey…"
Graham was halfway through changing out of his beer-soaked clothes, pulling on a fresh shirt and tucking it into his unfastened pants as he glanced up at Jim and stayed silent, turning around to grab his belt.
Jim sighed. "Look, she didn't know about your family – "
"Then she shouldn't have said it," Graham snapped. "She thinks – she thinks that she knows me. She thinks she knows everything about me – she'd got me pinned into some… some stuck up, academy brat stereotype, like I'm Landon or something. She has no damn idea what I've been through, what my mom – "
Graham cut himself off and just stopped for a second, but Jim didn't push him. Graham had told him about his past only once, in their second year at the academy… He'd never spoken of it again since then. Jim wasn't even sure the rest of their friend group – including Tabitha – knew what he'd been through.
When Graham started to thread his belt through the loops and still hadn't said anything, Jim spoke up softly. "Graham… Just try to see it from her perspective. Think about how we must look to her when she's lived her whole life like this… Think about how it must feel growing up as a girl on this planet with only a younger brother to keep you safe… And it's not exactly like you've been innocent in all this – you've kind of been antagonizing her."
Graham straightened out his clothes and pulled his boots back on, rinsing his other clothes out in the small sink that was installed in his room before hanging them up to dry, the whole time refusing to acknowledge Jim's point. "Do you need someone to go with you to check the ship?"
Jim sighed. Apparently, the conversation about Vanessa was over for now. "No, Silver's going. He didn't want us going alone. I told him I'd help the Commodore rebandage instead… Look, can't you just be nice to her?" he added as an afterthought.
Graham sighed, but didn't give an answer either way.
Silver returned in the early hours of the morning after checking on the ship. By some miracle, it had remained untouched and seemingly unnoticed, but Silver decided to tip his friend at the dock a bit more anyway, just to keep it that way. He reentered the inn expecting to find the bar area empty, but there was one other person there, sitting alone in the dark, obviously just as surprised to see him as he was to see her.
Vanessa jumped up and turned around, and Silver was pretty sure he saw her quickly run her sleeves across her face. "Stars – you gave me a damn heart attack."
"Sorry, lass – wasn't expectin' anyone t' be up." He watched her carefully as slowly approached her - her eyes were definitely puffy. "Why ya sittin' alone in t'e dark?"
She let out a heavy sigh and leaned back against the bar. "I was just trying to… think for a minute."
Silver didn't say anything else, but he did pull out one of the stools and take a seat, leaning back against the bar next to her, looking out at the darkened tables rather than at her. Vanessa glanced over at him and knew this was his way of saying she could talk if she wanted to… she just wasn't sure she wanted to.
"John's not coming," she finally said, swallowing thickly. "He said he doesn't want to leave. I-I don't get it. How could he not… How could he want to stay here? But he says this… this is all he's ever known, and he feels connected to it. To this place, this bar, this… this hellhole? He feels connected to it?" She turned around and rested her elbows on the bar, running her hands up through her hair and hanging her head. "He says he's not like me - he's not trying to run from his past, he's trying to make something better out of it."
"Lass, just cause ya wanna leave don't mean yer runnin – "
"No, that is exactly what I'm doing," she interrupted, jerking around to face him. "I am running from my past. I want to get as far away from my past as possible. Stars, every time I stand in here it feels like I can barely breathe! All I can think about is watching my mom die in that bedroom, and dad pour himself another drink at the bar, all the times I protected John when he was too young to understand all of this, all the times that I was – "
Vanessa stopped so abruptly it startled Silver. Her hands were shaking as she ran them through her hair once again, pausing for a moment to grip it in her fists as she took a deep, shuddering breath and looked at him.
"I think you should know... what happened. After you left."
Silver didn't like the way her tone made the whole energy of the room change. He didn't like how low her voice was now, how soft she was speaking – like she didn't want to hear herself say the words, let alone him.
"He came back."
"Who came back, Nessie?" he questioned as he turned toward her more, like he wanted to shield her.
"Hook." Silver's jaw immediately tightened at the name, but she continued before he could speak. "He came here – he was asking all these questions about you, about where you were going, about Flint's Trove – everything. I wouldn't answer him. I didn't tell him anything. Some of the things I didn't even know the answers to. He didn't like that. He grabbed me and threw me to the ground behind the counter. John was out buying supplies, and Hook knew that – he waited until I was alone, no one was here."
Silver cast her a look of sympathy that made her skin crawl, and she knew exactly what he was thinking. "He – "
"No, he didn't do that… Surprisingly," she interrupted before he could get the words out. "He just bloodied me up pretty bad. I lost consciousness, and John found me later. I lied and told him someone had tried to rob the place, caught me off guard while I was behind the counter. Business declined right after that. Hook started hanging around here more, bringing his crew, causing problems… trying to force me to give him information, threatening our livelihood by ruining the business. John didn't know who he was, so he didn't understand what was going on, and I couldn't tell him and put him at risk too. He just figured everyone knew to stay away from that guy... which was true, so I just let him believe that's all it was. People stopped coming. Marge almost quit over some of the things his crew said to her…"
Silver listened in absolutely fury, then he sighed as he realized something. "T'at's why ya snapped at me yesterday – why ya said ya were mad. I led him here. T'at's how he knew about ya… an' I wasn't here to protect ya."
"You didn't lead him here – I saved you, remember?" she smiled tensely. "But yeah. I've… I figured that's the only reason he showed up here."
"Lass… t'ere ain't… a damn t'ing in the Etherium I can say t' fix t'is… but ya gotta know how sorry I am," Silver said lamely.
"Thanks, but I don't need your apologies. I don't blame you, I just…"
Silver watched her pause again, watched as she walked a few steps away and looked around, keeping her back to him. Her hand reached up and pressed to her eyes for a second before she finally took a shaky breath and looked back at him.
"Silver, I've got to get out of here."
"Aye, lass, ya do," he agreed, and watched her shoulders sag in relief as he validated how she was feeling. "Look – John's a big lad. He can handle himself. He wants to stay here – t'at's his business. Was he mad at ya fer wantin' to leave?"
"No, not at all. He said he knew it was a long time coming – he only got mad when I kept begging him to come with me… Silver, I don't want anything to happen to him."
"Lass, ya ain't gonna lose him. Leavin' don't mean ya can't come back – I came back, didn't I?" he joked with a small smile, nudging her chin.
Vanessa smiled half-heartedly, but she didn't tell him that's not what she meant. She didn't explain that she hadn't told him the whole story… Silver didn't need to know all of that yet.
"So…" Silver continued, moving around the bar to pour himself a drink. "How is it ya found yerself as t'e leader o' t'at gang out t'ere?"
Vanessa laughed dryly and held out her empty mug towards him. "They were customers in here a few times, I got to know them… as well as you get to know anybody out here. I came up with the plan – I go out, seduce the guy, start to lead him somewhere private, and they jump him and take his money before it goes anywhere else. I split the profits with them, and I didn't have to get my hands dirty."
She explained everything so casually that Silver wasn't sure how to respond. He couldn't exactly say he was happy that she'd become so lawless, but then again, what other option did she have out here.
"You're proud of me and you know it," she taunted, smirking at him a little.
Silver chuckled and shook his head. "Well, ya always did have a head fer business," he smiled, clinking his glass against hers. "But I t'ink it's best we get ya off t'is planet, before ya turn full pirate yerself. Get ya back to the Benbow, help ya settle down – "
"Whoa, settle down?" She stared at him and shook her head a little. "Silver, I'm not gonna settle down just because I leave Ciaran. I'll help at the Benbow for a little while if they let me, but I'm not gonna stay there. I'm not interested in being tied down – to anyone or anywhere."
"Eh, neit'er was I," he said pointedly, arching an eyebrow.
"Yeah. And I'm happy that worked out for you. But I'm serious. What - you think I'm gonna marry someone? Come on," she scoffed, finishing off her drink.
Silver laughed heartily. "Alrigh', ya make a fair point… but never say never, lass. Ya don't know what's outside o' t'is planet."
"Yeah, exactly – that's what I have plans to find out. I plan to see it all. Alone."
He listened to the girl and sighed. It sounded all so familiar. A story he'd heard a thousand times – a story he'd told himself when he was young. "Ah, ya sound jus' like me when I was your age..."
"When was that – a hundred years ago?"
Silver playfully pushed her away, leaving them both laughing as they cleaned up the bar.
Getting ready to leave the next day went faster than they expected. They hadn't needed to restock much, and Silver had already bought the few things they did. No one had much to pack. Silver decided to take the Commodore to the ship first and then come back for the rest of them, figuring they would draw less attention that way. The only thing that really had to be done once he returned was for Vanessa and John to say their goodbyes.
"You're sure you don't want to come, John?" she questioned one last time as everyone began pulling their coats on.
"I'm sure," he smiled and pulled her into a big hug. "Maybe I'll join you next time. You gotta come back and see me sooner or later, right?"
"It'll be sooner," she said quietly into his chest as she hugged him tightly. "Stars, I can't believe I'm leaving you like this."
"You're not leaving – I'm kicking you out," he smirked, pulling her back and giving her a stern look. "Get out of here. Go live your life a little. Heaven knows you've earned it."
Vanessa bit the inside of her lip and threw her arms back around him.
Jim smiled a little as he watched her. He knew she wasn't all tough, but it was still nice to see a little of her softer side. Graham watched too, and was surprised he felt a little bit of sympathy for her. Apparently, it registered on his face because Jim elbowed him and gave him a questioning look as he questioned, "You okay?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, just tired," Graham muttered back, looking down to zip up his coat.
John finally kissed Vanessa's head and released her and she smiled at him. John looked up at Silver. "I don't expect you to babysit her, but if you could just keep an eye on her."
"I'll do what I can, lad," Silver smiled. "An' ya know where t' find us."
"Benbow Inn, Montressor. I got it."
With a few polite farewells, the group grabbed their bags and started out the door. Silver decided he should walk behind the group this time, so he could keep an eye on all of them as well as their surroundings. Jim waved to John, thanking him one last time before heading out. Graham held the door and stood there waiting for Vanessa to leave while Vanessa stood there watching Graham and waiting for him to leave.
"Ya gonna go, or you wanna stay here and work with my brother?" she questioned.
"I'm going – I'm just holding the door open for you," he said, gesturing towards the open doorway.
Her brow furrowed. "Why? I can hold a door."
"I was trying to be polite."
Vanessa arched a brow and looked him up and down skeptically. "Hmm. First time for everything I guess," she mumbled as she followed Jim out.
Graham bit his tongue and shot her an annoyed look behind her back before following her out. Silver glanced up at the stars and said a silent prayer that his suspicions about the two of them were wrong.
They made their way back to the dock quickly, keeping a steady pace through the streets and alleys, careful not to linger too long. Vanessa more than once thought about looking around or looking back, but convinced herself not to. She'd seen the place more than enough times in her life. She didn't want to commit it to memory any more than she already had.
Once they retrieved their longboat at the dock, Jim loaded in to get it started up, throwing his bag to the side. Graham stepped in next and held his hand out for Vanessa… only to have her completely ignore it and step in next to him. She looked up just as he shot her an annoyed look. "What?" she snapped at him.
"I was holding out my hand to help you step in," he said impatiently.
"Help me step – do you think I'm a child? It's one foot off the ground," she said, gesturing back to the small step from the dock to the longboat.
"Nessie, he was tryin' to be nice," Silver chuckled as he got in and took a seat at the back.
"Well, it seems insulting."
Graham rolled his eyes and sighed as he took a seat. Jim's 'just be nice' suggestion was going well.
Silver chuckled. "Jus' have a seat, lass."
Vanessa looked at the longboat – Jim sat at the narrow seat at the back, Silver at the narrow seat at the front… and Graham in the seat in the middle. He looked up at her and gestured vaguely to the space next to him on the bench. Taking a deep breath through her nose, she sat next to him, facing the opposite direction, so her eyes were on Silver and Graham's eyes were on Jim.
Nobody said much at first. Jim arched an eyebrow at Graham who shot him an impatient glare as if to say 'this is all your fault.' Silver was still keeping an eye on their surroundings, and Vanessa was staring at the dock and the planet as it slowly faded behind them. She took a deep breath, pulled her jacket tightly around her, and closed her eyes. She'd seen enough.
"You cold?"
She opened her eyes again impatiently and turned to look at Graham. "What?"
"Are you cold?" he repeated. "You can have my jacket if you want."
Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Nobody wants to wear your dirty old jacket, Graham."
"Okay, what the hell is your problem?" Graham finally snapped, turning his body to face her.
"My problem?" she questioned, turning towards him as well.
"You tell me I'm being rude, and that's why you're acting like a bitch to me. I try to be nice to you, and you still act like a bitch! What the hell do you want from me?"
"I don't want a damn thing from you!"
Graham glared at her and turned back around. "You know what? Whatever, Nessa."
"It's Va-nessa," she snapped as she turned back around as well.
The pair didn't say anything else to each other, leaving Jim and Silver sitting there in confusion once again. Jim shot Silver a questioning look to ask him he knew what was going on with them, and Silver subtly shook his head and rubbed his eyes with his fingers, still praying he was wrong.
Jim pulled into the longboat bay and tossed Silver one of the ropes to hoist them up, tying the boat down before throwing his bag over his back, grabbing the edge of the skiff and swinging out. Silver and Graham followed suit next before Vanessa attempted to follow them, a little awkwardly since she had never done it before.
"Put yer legs over t'e side and jump forward – t'at's t'e easiest way," Silver coached her.
Jim stopped and turned back when he realized she was struggling. "Sorry about that – I should have let you out before I tied it up so you wouldn't have to jump down."
"It's fine, Jim, I got it. Just glad I decided to wear pants today," she said as she handed Silver her bag and then jumped down, muttering something to herself. "Step up one foot and he offers help. Have to jump down more than half my body height and he doesn't say anything."
Graham didn't hear all of it, but he caught enough to know it was about him. "You said you didn't need a damn thing from me."
Vanessa rolled her eyes and took her bag from Silver. "Jim, why exactly are you friends with this guy? I think you could do better."
Despite the tension, Jim let out a small laugh that was cut short when Graham slugged him in the arm. "Ow! Geez – I didn't say it!" he called after Graham as he stormed up on deck. Jim and Vanessa followed behind him, leaving Silver alone for a moment.
"T'is is gonna be a long trip home…" he theorized as he threw his own bag over his shoulder and followed them.
Silver hadn't exactly been wrong, but it wasn't just for the reasons he thought. Commodore Aldamae was recovering okay from the bullet wound, but it was taking longer than they'd initially expected with the limited access to medical supplies they had on board, so he was still completely on bedrest. Jim was growing more impatient to see Tabitha and more worried about her by the day. He knew this was something they had to do, but he also had the feeling that he just needed to get back to her as soon as possible. Vanessa was thankful to be away from Ciaran, but the ship wasn't exactly giving her freedom – Silver had given her a thorough tour when they'd first boarded, and then she'd been thrown into double duty shifts right away. Thankfully, she picked up on everything pretty quickly, and she actually enjoyed the work, but she still felt like she needed some space, some time alone. Graham was so tired of being around Vanessa, he felt like he was going to explode if he didn't get off this ship and get some time away from her. Everything he did seemed to piss her off, even things that weren't directed towards her.
"Stars, could you chew any louder?" Vanessa asked him as she stared at him in disgust over dinner one day.
Graham paused with a mouthful of fish and stared at her before intentionally chewing even louder.
Silver knew the pair of them had only two possible endings with the way tension was growing between them. At this point, he just wished they would pick one because he was getting as irritated with them as they were with each other.
"Ow," Graham coughed as Silver slapped him over the back of the head. "What – I'm just eating. Sorry the princess over here can't handle anything that's not to her liking."
"Don't call me a damn princess," she snapped back as she pushed herself up and headed over to grab more food.
"Graham – " Jim grabbed his attention before he could say anything else. "Just… stop. Please. Just for once."
Graham threw his arms up. "Always my fault that's she's upset…"
He stood up and walked over to the counter too where Vanessa was cutting off more bread. Graham looked over at the serving plate and noticed there was only one section of fish left… at the same time Vanessa happened to notice as well. The two glanced at each other, then back at the fish before they both lunged toward it with their forks, succeeding only in knocking it to the floor.
"What the hell – now look what you did!" Graham shouted at her.
"What I did?! I got up for seconds first! That piece should have been mine!"
"Yeah? Well, when you told me you didn't need anything from me, that included both my chivalry and my manners. You wanted it? You should have grabbed it faster."
"Alright, both o' ya!" Silver shouted as he too stood up and picked up the fish, throwing it away. "Yer both actin' like spoiled pups, and now yer ruinin' good food over it."
"It's his fault!" Vanessa shouted.
"I don't see how you acting like a bitch is my fault. What – are you on your cycle or something?"
Vanessa glared at him for a second, and she'd suddenly had enough of that stupid smirk on his face. Graham didn't even realize what she was planning until her fist made contact with his jaw.
"Shit!" he shouted, rubbing his cheek. "What the hell, Nessa?!"
"My name is Vanessa," she spat through gritted teeth. "Get it straight."
Graham shook his head. "You stuck up, conceited – "
"Conceited?!"
" – child. You act like brat every time you don't get your way! Every time someone says anything that you don't like, or does anything that you don't agree with, you're either jumping down their throat or throwing punches. Welcome to the real world, sweetheart – it doesn't revolve around you!"
"You think I don't know that?! You narrow-minded, irritating, spoiled asshole – you have no idea what I've been through. What, you're so used to just flirting your way through every woman you come in contact with that when that doesn't go your way, suddenly your sooo much better than them?!"
"That is not – "
"ENOUGH!" Jim snapped, slamming his hand on the table as he stood up and marched over to them. "I'm sick of this – both of you."
"Well if she didn't – "
"He never even – "
"Stop it!" he demanded, picking up an authoritarian voice he didn't often use among friends. "You two have been at each other's throats for over a week now, and I'm tired of listening to it."
"She started it!" Graham butted in.
Jim shot him a glare that told him to keep his mouth shut, then pushed them towards the galley steps. "Walk."
"But - "
"I didn't - "
"I am the captain of this ship," he snapped, cutting off their objections. "Now walk."
Graham and Vanessa made their way up to the top of the stairs, both silently fuming at each other and now at Jim. Rain was just starting to fall from the sky onto the deck in front of them, but Jim made them stand there getting wet anyway.
"Now," Jim began, his voice tensely calm. "You two need to cool off. Maybe the rain will help with that. Vanessa, you're in the crow's nest. I'll be out to relieve you later. Graham, you're at the helm. Silver will relieve you. Otherwise, neither of you is to leave those positions, touch each other, speak to each other, or even look at each other unless there is an emergency onboard this vessel. Do I make myself clear?"
Graham and Vanessa refused to make eye contact with each other or Jim, but they did both mumble a small, "Aye, captain," before heading off in opposite directions. Jim stared them both down, making sure they made it to their respective positions without attacking each other again, when he heard the familiar heavy footsteps come up behind him and he sighed.
"I don't know what's wrong with those two, but I hope they get over it soon," Jim sighed as he ran a hand through his damp hair.
"Ya really don't know what's wrong wit' em, lad?"
"You mean other than the fact they're both stubborn and obnoxious? No."
"James Hawkins," Silver smirked. "I thought you were smarter than that."
"What?"
"How do ya t'ink a pair like t'at's gonna work t'ings out?"
Jim thought for a second. "Murder seems to be a definite possibility."
Silver laughed. "Well, t'at may be t'e case… but t'ere's always t'e other option."
Jim's brow furrowed as he looked back at Silver, who arched an eyebrow and waited for him to understand. Jim's eyes widened as he shook his head. "What? No. No way. There is no way…" He looked back out at the two of them. Vanessa still looked to be seething, but then he noticed her cast a look down to the helm where Graham was standing. Graham's grip on the wheel was tight, his eyes focused on the navigation system… except when they occasionally strayed up towards the crow's nest.
"Son of a bitch," Jim cursed as he realized.
Graham couldn't remember a time in his life that his thoughts felt this overwhelming and hard to decipher. The rain had finally slowed to a slow sprinkle about half an hour ago, but he was already soaking wet, completely drenched down the bone from spending his entire night out in the rain, but that wasn't what was bothering him. He was tense and filled with rage and anger and pure frustration over Vanessa – everything about her, everything she had said to him. His mind kept repeating every word she'd said back to him in a never-ending cycle. He tightened his grip on the wheel and stared out at the clouds, trying to find a single star to focus on, to distract him, but it didn't help. It didn't matter. All he could think about was her.
"I'm sorry I punched you."
Graham jumped and turned around so fast he almost got whiplash. "Stars…" he breathed in relief when he saw it was just her. "What?"
"I'm sorry I punched you," she repeated, though she didn't sound as sorry this time.
Graham surveyed her - her normally loose brown shirt was clinging to the subtle curves of her body. Her black pants were dripping onto the deck, and looked like they were holding so much water they might fall off if her belt hadn't been cinched so tightly around her hips. Her curls were mussed and tangled, a few stray pieces of her hair clinging to her forehead. Graham didn't want to take his eyes off her, but he did, giving her only a short acknowledgement of, "Fine. Thanks."
As he turned back around to the wheel, her jaw dropped. "Um… do you have anything you'd like to say to me?"
"No, not really," he called back over his shoulder.
Her eyes narrowed as she stormed over, thrusting the ship into autopilot and pushing his shoulder around for him to face her. "No apology? Nothing? For accusing me of being on my cycle? For calling me a brat?"
"If I had been wrong, I would have apologized, but so far, I don't think I was," he smirked, taking the ship back out of autopilot. "Besides, I don't hear you apologizing for calling me an asshole, or narrow-minded, or spoiled, or accusing me of trying to flirt my way through women – "
"Well, like you said – if any of that had been wrong, maybe I would."
Graham tensed his jaw. "What the hell do you mean that I flirt my way through women?"
"The first conversation we had, when you first landed on Ciaran, you flirted with me. And as soon as you realized what was actually going on, you didn't treat me with any decency whatsoever."
Graham's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me right now?! You came onto me out there!"
"I was trying to do my job!"
"You were trying to rob me – don't act like that's actually work."
"On Ciaran? It is," she spat.
Graham continued on. "I stopped flirting with you because you attacked us and got our friend shot! He's still on bedrest if you haven't noticed!"
"Yeah, and I'm really sorry about that! Why do you think I tried to let you stay at the inn for free? The inn that you continuously insulted and acted like you were too good for!"
"You hated that place just as much! You jumped on a ship the first chance you got!" he shouted. "And you're mad that I pointed out the place was kind of a dump?! The whole planet was kind of a dump! And, oh – before we get off topic – keep in mind that I kept the secret about how we really got injured from your brother, so you're welcome for that."
"You did that as a favor to Silver, not to me," she scoffed.
"Either way, it saved your ass and kept you on good terms with John before you ditched him."
"I did not ditch him! He told me to leave!"
"And what the hell does any of that have to do with me allegedly being narrow-minded - What the hell does that even mean?!"
"Because you don't know how to treat me like a person, Emerson! All that supposedly 'nice' shit you did was you treating me like I'm incompetent because I'm a woman!"
Graham stopped and stared at her, putting the ship back in autopilot and leaning against the wheel. "That's what you think?"
"You're telling me if I was a boy, you would have held out your hand like that? Offered me your coat? All that shit?" she shot back.
Graham stared at her for a few minutes… maybe she actually had a point. Vanessa held his gaze for a second and when he said nothing, she started to storm off.
"You're right," he stopped her, grabbing her arm and pulling her back in front of him before she could shake him off. "You're right. I wouldn't have done that if you'd been a man. I'm sorry… but none of that means I see you as incompetent."
"Yeah, right," she rolled her eyes.
"Vanessa, I get it, okay?" he retorted. "I get that you grew up on a planet where you had to be tough all the time. I get that you didn't have parents looking after you. I get that you've been carrying a pistol on your hip probably since you were in grade school. I get that everyone on that planet has tried to take advantage of you in one way or another, and you've had to be on the defensive for your whole life because of it. I get that. But stars, Nessa – the whole Etherium isn't like that, okay?! Some people are just trying to be nice. The academy trained us on all this chivalry bullshit, and we trained right alongside women like Tabitha, who has kicked my ass more than once in hand-to-hand combat. Maybe I was being nice to you in way you're not used to, but that doesn't mean I think you can't do those things, or that you're weak, or that I can take advantage of you, or any of that shit. Even if I had at first, you've made it pretty damn clear that's not the case – "
Vanessa didn't remember making the decision to, but all of a sudden, she had moved forward and kissed Graham. She'd pushed herself into him, and the two of them had slipped backwards into the wheel. Graham had never been so caught off guard in his life, but luckily, he was good at adapting quickly to new situations. Within a second, he had wrapped his hand around the back of her head and was kissing her just as deeply until she frantically pulled back from him.
The two just stared at each other for a second. Graham was half worried that he'd done something wrong, while Vanessa was just trying to figure out what the hell she'd done at all.
"Why did you just kiss me?" he asked after a few seconds of silence.
"I - I don't know." Vanessa was still trying to figure that out. "I… That was all I wanted."
"…to kiss me?"
"No," she sighed impatiently and looked at him. "For you to just talk to me - not flirt with me, or be mean to me, or do all that polite bullshit - to just treat me like a normal person. An equal."
"Vanessa, you're not an equal to me," he said quietly, watching her brow tense and her mouth open to argue before he added, "You are so much better."
Vanessa and Graham stared at each other for only one more second before they both reached for each other, pulling into an embrace and kissing deeply. Graham's hands held the back of her head, tangling into her wet curls, while his other gripped her soaked shirt in his fist. Her arms wound around his neck as she pulled her body closer, pressing every inch of herself into him. After a moment, he turned them around and pushed her up against the wheel so his hands could move along her curves. A quiet moan escaped her and she tried to convince herself that it should have been embarrassing, but her body said that it wasn't. Her body said there was no reason to stop this except that -
"Jim's in the crow's nest and Silver's going to be up here any minute."
Vanessa had rambled off the sentence so fast that it took a second for Graham to process what she'd said. "Oh... Oh, shit, you're right," he mumbled as he backed away, sparing a glance up at the crow's nest to see Jim thankfully facing the other direction. He started to breathe a sigh of relief, only to have it interrupted by the sound of a mechanical leg making its way up to where they were. Vanessa quickly rearranged her shirt - which was useless because it was soaked and rumpled anyway - and Graham unnecessarily smoothed his hair, mostly because he was pretty sure at some point her fingers had tangled their way into his drenched locks.
"Nessie, what're ya doin' down here?" Silver asked as he found the two of them, his brow furrowing. "T'ought Jim told ya t' stay away from one anot'er… Not fightin' again, are ya?"
"No," Graham said at the same time Vanessa said, "Yes."
"Er – " Vanessa glanced at Graham then back at Silver.
"We're, uh… well, we were, but…" Graham stumbled to explain. "Vanessa apologized."
Silver looked between the two of them suspiciously. "Uh-huh."
"Right, I did," Vanessa said quickly. "I apologized for punching him."
"And I apologized for calling her a brat," Graham added.
"Well, no, not exactly," Vanessa mumbled, shooting him an annoyed look at the lie.
"So you're here to take over?" Graham asked without acknowledging Vanessa's comment. "Great. I'm getting pretty tired and I want to get out of these wet clothes. Have a good night, Silver."
Surprise flickered across her face for just a moment before she masked it. She curiously watched Graham as he casually made his way down to the deck and across the ship. After staring after him for a moment, still trying to process everything that had happened in the last couple of minutes, she looked back up to see Silver looking amused.
"Ya gonna follow him?"
Vanessa was pretty sure she felt her cheeks heat up, and she prayed that it was dark enough that Silver wouldn't notice. "I'm going to bed too, if that's what you mean."
Silver chuckled and stepped over to the wheel. "Well, alright t'en… G'night, lass."
Vanessa mumbled a goodnight as she headed down the steps and across the deck. "I hate that that man figures out everything," she mumbled with a glance back towards Silver.
As she got to the staircase to make her way down the steps to the crew's quarters, she decided to pause for a second and take stock of what she was feeling, leaning back against the wall and letting the last few drops of rain drip down on her face… What the hell had she done? Did she even want this? Why was lunged at him like that? More importantly, why had she liked it? A few hours ago, she'd been about ready to kill him, and now…
Before she could finish her train of thought, it was derailed by someone tapping her on the shoulder. She jumped around to face Graham. He didn't say anything, just nodded up towards the officer's cabins before making his way up the steps and opening the door to the first mate's quarters. Vanessa slowly found herself following behind him, stopping in the doorway and holding eye contact for a moment before she walked in and listened to him quietly shut the door behind them. She glanced around at the accommodations – the desk, the couple of chairs, the dresser, the bed - took a deep breath, and turned back around to him.
Graham had already pulled his wet shirt off and tossed it over a chair. He looked back up at her, looking her over with an expression she didn't recognize. She almost passed it off as desire or lust… but she knew it wasn't. She knew it was something more than that, she just refused to think about it and instead stripped off her own shirt and tossed it over the other chair.
Neither could tell you who made the next move, because neither of them cared enough to take note of it at that moment. Hands frantically skimmed over wet skin to get each other's clothes off. Lips strayed from lips, to necks, to chests… Graham tilted his head back, panting for a moment.
"L-Let me just hang the clothes – "
Vanessa didn't let him finish before she'd pulled his mouth back to hers, moaning eagerly and pulling her leg up around his hips. A rough groan escaped him as he gripped her hips, walking them closer to the bed and falling into it with her.
Another week or so had passed, and Tabitha was still confused about what exactly was ailing her. Some days, she was so sick she couldn't move without throwing up, and others, she'd never felt better. The only constant symptom seemed to be her incessant craving for purps, which was especially odd since she had never enjoyed them much before.
"Dear, you really should try to eat something else," Abigail pleaded as she watched Tabitha eat her fifth or sixth purp of the day – the mother had lost count. "Maybe something with a little protein? What about a sandwich?"
Tabitha crinkled her nose a little at the idea, but she knew her mother was right. She really did need to try to eat something with more sustenance, especially since she'd been so sick. "Alright, fine…" she sighed reluctantly as she started to pull together the ingredients to make something. "I'm sorry, I know I've been eating way too many of these. It's just all I've really had an appetite for."
"There's nothing wrong with that, dear. We just want to make sure you're taking care of yourself," Sarah reassured her, stroking her back and smiling before turning back to the dishes.
Abigail kissed Tabitha's forehead and then turned to Sarah. "I'll start closing up the front. It looks like the last table just finished."
Sarah thanked her as Tabitha threw together a sandwich she had no interest in eating. She forced herself to take a bite out of it, but she let her mind drift back to the purps. As a kid, she'd hated them. It wasn't until she started dating Jim that she'd even found them tolerable, and she was pretty sure that was only because Jim ate them so frequently, and she'd learned pretty quickly that if she wanted to keep kissing him, she'd have to get used to the taste of purps.
Tabitha stopped midbite, her eyes falling to the half-eaten purp she hadn't finished yet. Was that why she was craving them? Because Jim...
Sarah noticed the way Tabitha was standing so tense and still, and she was worried the sandwich had made her ill. "Tabitha? Are you alright?" she questioned as she cleared a spot in the sink in case she needed to throw up.
Tabitha set the sandwich down and teared up. She started to nod, to insist that she was okay, but then she stopped and shook her head as she choked up, rushing into the front room to find Abigail.
Abigail's head jerked up when she heard the door swing and heard Tabitha crying. "Tabitha - darling, what happened? What's wrong?"
"I-I just realized - " Tabitha barely managed to choke out before she leaned into Abigail's arms and sobbed.
Abigail's eyes widened. Tabitha must have figured it out. She'd been praying that the girl would reach the conclusion on her own, but she felt bad that it was happening now while the girl's husband still wasn't home. "Shh..." Abigail soothed, holding her and stroking her back. "It's alright. We're all here for you. You're not alone..."
"I-I know, but that's why the - the purps - that's why - "
"I know, I know, dear... shh..." Abigail continued to hold her, gently stroking her hair, trying to calm her. The purp cravings must have been what finally clued Tabitha in. "It's alright. You can eat as many purps as you want, if that's what helps."
"I-It doesn't help now! Now it just makes me think of Jim!"
Now Abigail was confused. She thought the purps were cravings because of her... situation, but Tabitha seemed to be suggesting... "Dear, what was it you realized?" Abigail asked as subtly as possible.
Tabitha sniffled and wiped her eyes on her sleeves. "I-I just realized that's why I've been craving the purps - b-because Jim always ate purps, and it makes me think of him."
Abigail realized the girl was as clueless as ever.
Tabitha looked at her mom. "Wh-Why? What did you think I meant - "
"Nothing, dear - that's why I asked," Abigail answered quickly, pulling her back into a hug before she could ask anything else. She silently thanked the stars that she hadn't blurted out anything to give her suspicions away completely, but prayed that Jim would return home soon.
Jim didn't know what exactly had happened, but he knew something had definitely happened between Graham and Vanessa. Neither one of them seemed to look at each other or speak to each other at all the next day… but it wasn't out of anger. The tension between them was completely gone. Jim hadn't noticed them together the night before, (but if he was being honest with himself, he'd been pretty wrapped up in his own thoughts and probably hadn't been paying enough attention to anything). Neither of them were acting like anything romantic had happened between them. Vanessa seemed cool and collected, and Graham didn't have the usual cocky attitude he got after a one-night stand, so Jim wasn't sure. When evening rolled around and Jim still hadn't been able to figure it out, he figured it was time to ask someone who was sure to know.
"Hey – " Jim called out to Silver as he started to head down to the galley to prepare dinner. "Did… Did you see Graham and Vanessa last night?"
"Aye," Silver answered.
Jim waited a second, waiting for him to elaborate – surely Silver knew what he was asking. "And…?"
"And I don't know what t' tell ya, lad. Last I saw, Nessie was headed down t'e the crew's quarters and Graham was in t'e first mate's cabin."
Jim blinked in confusion. "But they're both so…" He didn't know what the word was.
"Why don't ya just ask 'im, lad? He's yer friend," Silver reasoned.
"You know, I'm not actually sure I want to know," Jim sighed as he rubbed his neck. "I'm just glad they've seemed to have calmed down."
In fact, for the first time since they'd left Montressor, everyone seemed to be more relaxed then usual. They were almost home, they were in safe skies, and whatever was going on with Graham and Vanessa was at least somewhat resolved. Silver took the calm that had fallen over the ship as the opportunity to begin retelling some of his favorite spacer stories - ones he only slightly exaggerated, of course. Jim had heard them all before, but he still got a kick out of them, so he leaned back and listened. Vanessa had heard most of them as well, but she loved every minute of it, and Graham loved the way Vanessa's eyes lit up while she listened.
"I've got a question," Vanessa chimed in at the end of a story.
"Go 'head, Nessie," Silver replied, swigging back a sip of his drink.
"There was one guy who came into the inn about a year ago… Stars, I don't know what was going on with him. Not drunk, but not right in the head, that's for sure. Kept rambling on about seeing this creature – it's usually in spacer legends. He said it was called a tillasylph?"
Graham chuckled. "Are you sure you don't mean a terrasylph?"
Silver blinked in surprise. "And where in the stars did ya learn about terrasylphs?"
"Same place we learned everything we didn't learn from you - August," Jim replied as he leaned back. "You should have seen him when he first started at the academy – it was like he sat down every spacer in the Etherium and asked them what kind of legends they could tell him."
"It's a creature of some kind," Graham continued. "Fairly small, maybe 3- or 4-foot wingspan. Its body is mostly covered with scales, but its wings and tail are made up of iridescent feathers. Said to be very beautiful, almost hypnotizing because of the way they reflect the light. It's a good luck omen – it shows itself to spacers to let them know they're nearing home. Seeing one means you'll survive your journey, no matter how distraught or stranded you may feel when you see it."
Vanessa shook her head. "No, you're telling it wrong. And it was tillasylph, not terrasylph."
Graham smirked and put his legs up on the table. "I thought you were asking for the story."
Vanessa's eyes narrowed as she leaned over, pushing his legs back to the ground. "I was asking Silver if he knew about it since he's spent so much time spacing. But it's not for spacers, it's for their lovers. The tillasylph – " she said pointedly, shooting a look at Graham, " – is like you described, but it appears to women – usually - whose lovers or husbands are in space. It's a good omen to let them know they'll be returning."
"Oh really?" Graham chuckled. "And how does the sylph know how to find these lovers of random spacers?"
"Probably the same way it knows how to find the random, desperate spacers you claim they appear to," she snapped back.
Silver looked between the two of them and chuckled. "Maybe it's t'e same story – hell, maybe it's t'e same creature. It's just a legend. Even if t'ey are real, I ain't heard 'o one bein' seen since well before t'e lot of ya were born."
Graham turned his attention back to Vanessa, holding her gaze as a sly smile spread across his lips. "I've seen one."
Jim choked on his drink with a sound halfway between a laugh and scoff. This had to be some sort of grand scheme of Graham's to get Vanessa's attention, though Jim wasn't sure it would work out the way the man anticipated. Yet sure enough, she took the bait.
"Stars above – " She rolled her eyes and cast a look at Jim. "Maybe we should check the ship's air levels. I think at least one of your crew member's brain's is suffering from a lack of oxygen."
Silver chuckled, but then hesitated for a second, looking Graham over with a thoughtful expression. "When did ya see one lad?"
Graham held his smirk and his gaze on Vanessa a second longer before looking to Silver. "The last night before we got to Ciaran, when I was on the watch."
"Oh really?" Vanessa asked incredulously. "And who is this love of yours it's supposedly letting you know you'll return to?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Graham responded deeply, leaning over the table towards her.
For the smallest moment in time, Vanessa's eyes widened at the way he looked at her, but it was so quickly replaced by an impatient sigh and the brisk movement of her standing up that Silver and Jim almost didn't catch it. "I'm going to bed unless you need me on duty right now," she said to Jim.
Jim shook his head and fought back a smile. "No, go rest. It's Graham and I for now, and you and Silver can take over later."
Vanessa nodded and headed out and Silver finished his drink and stood up. "T'ink I'll try t' get a few hours o' sleep as well."
As he followed Vanessa out, Jim immediately snapped his attention back to Graham. Graham had been watching Vanessa leave, smiling a little to himself before he turned back and saw Jim's looks and his smile instantly fell. "What?"
"What the hell is going on with you two?" Jim immediately questioned.
Graham looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"Wha – yesterday the two of you were about to kill each other and now you're… what, friends?"
"Yeah, we just… we talked it out, apologized to each other," Graham shrugged a little and stood up to go do the dishes.
"So you didn't sleep together?"
Graham set his plate down and hesitated before turning to look back at Jim, opening his mouth to answer before closing it again.
"So you did sleep together," Jim guessed as he stood up and carried his own dishes over.
Graham stared at him for a minute, bracing his hand on the counter and leaning into it. "Okay - do you remember when you got back from your honeymoon, and you refused to tell me anything that had happened because you said it was between you and Tabitha and it was none of my damn business?"
Jim almost wanted to argue that that had been because he and Tabitha were married, but he knew that wasn't the point. In any case, Graham's rhetorical question had answered his own, so whether Graham wanted to tell him or not, Jim knew what had happened… and he wasn't sure it was a good thing.
Jim sighed and hesitated for a second, watching his friend as he dried off the last of the plates they'd used. "I think you should be careful."
"Fine, I'll take that into consideration," Graham said a little impatiently. He really didn't want to talk about any of this. How was he supposed to talk about it when he and Vanessa had barely talked about it? "Shouldn't we get to our shifts now?"
"Hey – " Jim grabbed his arm and moved in front of him when Graham tried to walk away. "You barely know this girl. Look, I know you've had one night stands before, but not with girls who are going to be sticking around and working with you. If she's going to be living at the inn, you two better be on the same page. I'm not going to go back to dealing with the two of you at each other's throats because one of you misunderstood what you were getting in to."
"Won't you and I both be on that voyage with the new financier you booked anyway? I'll barely be around her."
Jim stared at him sternly. "Graham, I'm serious. I know you, and I know this isn't how you normally act around women. I saw the way you looked at her tonight. I'm not stupid. If this isn't a one-night stand for you, you need to make sure she knows that. You need to figure out what you want out of this."
Graham shifted his weight uncomfortably, a little caught off guard that he'd been obvious enough for Jim to notice. "Look, Hawkins, I don't know how to tell you this, but not everyone is trying to throw themselves into some kind of relationship as soon as they meet a girl, okay? Whatever we are, it's none of your business."
Before Jim could object or interrupt anymore, Graham brushed past him and jogged up the steps to take his place at the crow's nest. Graham climbed the ropes quickly and pulled himself into the nest before letting out a heavy sigh and leaning against the wall, closing his eyes for a second. Jim was wrong. This was a one-night stand… or maybe a four or five-night stand, but in any case, that's all. He didn't have feelings for Vanessa other than… whatever it was he'd been feeling since he met her, which he guessed was loathing. And that loathing had turned into… passion, and that's why they'd…
Graham cursed under his breath and rubbed his face. Taking a deep breath, he looked back up and noticed someone walking across deck out of the corner of his eye. It was her. His eyes followed as she walked from one side of the deck towards the other, stopping just below him and then slowly turning her gaze up to him. Graham looked at her but didn't move. He needed to see what she would do first.
Vanessa looked up at him and smiled a little, like she was thanking him for something. He couldn't help smiling back. As she turned and kept walking, making her way down towards the crew's quarters, he knew what he wanted.
He wanted her.
Vanessa was surprised at not only how quickly she fell asleep, but how well she slept. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept so deeply, or if she ever had. All she knew was this was the first time she'd felt somewhat relaxed in years, and despite the uncomfortable cot and thin blanket, it was the best night's sleep she'd ever had.
Or it was until someone woke her up.
She groaned when they gently shook her shoulder. "No, it's not my turn for watch yet," she muttered as she glanced at the clock on the wall.
"You're right, it isn't," Graham whispered back to her. "I just wanted to know if I could join you."
Vanessa's brow furrowed as she rolled over and looked at him. He was sitting on the edge of the cot, smiling at her as he reached out and brushed her hair out of her face.
She pushed his hand away and sat up. "You think just because we slept together last night, you can come wake me up and get it whenever you want?"
"What – no!" Graham leaned back and looked at her. "No, I don't think that at all. I was just asking if I could sleep… next to you."
"Oh," Vanessa said lamely. She hadn't expected that. He just wanted to… be with her? Why? She glanced at the small cot and then back at him. "You want to sleep down here with me? Just sleep? That's what you woke me up for?"
"Well, I didn't think it was right to just assume it was okay," he explained. "But yeah, I wanted to be with you. If that's alright." He paused for a minute, watching her and waiting. "I can go. Or we can move to the first mate's cabin if you want more space – "
"No – too tired," she relented, scooting over to one side as she laid back down, pulling the blanket back for him and closing her eyes as she waited for him to lay down.
Graham watched her for a moment before he kicked his boots off and lay down next to her, fixing the blanket over them and watching her face. He was worried he'd pushed too much – maybe he shouldn't have come down here. Maybe she only agreed because she was tired and wanted to get back to sleep. Maybe this really was just a one-night stand for her and he was the only one who wanted something else.
"Jim said we'll be back to Montressor by tomorrow evening," he began, talking simply to ease his own nervousness. "He'll be back in time – "
Vanessa covered his mouth with her hand. "You said you came here to sleep. Shut up and do that."
As she pulled her hand away, she tangled her legs through his and moved closer to him, taking a deep breath against his chest as she settled in to go back to sleep. Graham looked down at her, cautiously wrapped his arm around her… and relaxed. His fingertips gently combed through her tangled curls as he closed his eyes and drifted off with her.
Jim waited almost half an hour over when Vanessa was supposed to relieve him in the crow's nest before he finally gave in and climbed down. A part of him was a little frustrated, but he was also less than twenty hours away from seeing Tabitha, and that thought alone had him so pepped up that he couldn't be that upset.
"Hey – " he shouted to Silver as he crossed the deck. "Has Vanessa been out here?"
"Haven't seen her since dinner," he called back. "Prob'ly overslept – want me t' check?"
"Nah, I got it," Jim waved as he headed over towards the steps and down to the crew's quarters, freezing as he got to the last step.
The crew's quarters stayed pretty dim thanks to the limited portholes in the room, so even with the light beaming outside, Jim could just barely make out the outline of two bodies sharing the small cot he knew Vanessa had been sleeping in. He sighed and moved a little closer, wanting to verify what was happening there before he decided what his next move was going to be. Jim approached slowly, his body angled away as he tried not to study them too hard – he was expecting to see some amount of nudity, he just prayed it wasn't much. When he realized they were both still fully clothed, his brow furrowed a little, and he had to take stock of what was actually happening here.
Both of them were still fully dressed, minus their boots. Graham hadn't even unbuttoned his shirt like he usually did. Vanessa's arm and leg were thrown over his body as she stayed pressed to his side, her face tucked into his neck as she breathed deeply. Graham had one arm wrapped around her back and the other draped over his eyes to keep out the one small beam of light that was hitting across his face.
Jim reached out to gently arouse Graham, deciding maybe it would be best if he was the one to wake Vanessa up (she didn't need to know that Jim was ever down here) but he stopped short, letting his arm fall back to his side. A second later, he turned and silently made his way back up to the deck.
"She not down there?" Silver questioned worriedly as he saw Jim reappear and approach him at the helm.
"No, she is," Jim retorted. "With Graham."
Silver shook his head and chuckled. "Guess t'at answers t'at question… Told ya, lad."
"Yeah… " Jim mumbled as he rubbed his neck with his good hand, lowering his gaze to the ground.
"Ya wake 'em up?" Jim looked back up at him and shook his head and Silver's brow furrowed curiously. "Why not, lad? Ya want me to do it?"
"No – no, I think… I think we should let them sleep," Jim explained, looking at Silver worriedly. "Unless you think it'd be better to separate them."
Silver was pretty sure he understood what Jim was really asking – if the two of them were going to end up together, or if this budding relationship was doomed to die from the start. "Hard to say, lad…"
Jim nodded a little. That was exactly how he felt. "Just, um… " He took a deep breath and stretched his arms as much as he could. "Just let me grab some food, take a quick shower… I'll be back to take over watch."
"Aye. I'll keep an eye on t'ings 'til ya get back."
Jim thanked him and headed off to the captain's quarters, praying that all this would end well.
Vanessa woke up first, stretching her arm above her head as she turned and squinted at the light coming in through the window.
Light. A lot of light. She jerked up in bed and stared out the window. Either they'd been traveling at hyper speed, or she'd overslept, because at the rate they'd been moving when she went to bed, she definitely should have been back on watch before they were this close to a star.
"Shit," she cursed as she looked at the clock and realized it was the latter. She slept way over her time to take over from Jim.
"Huh? Wha?" Graham mumbled sleepily as he felt her pull away, groaning as he opened his eyes and looked at her.
"I overslept. I was supposed to take over the watch hours ago. Jim's going to lose his shit." She frantically began pulling her boots back on, cursing as she tried to untangle the knots in the laces.
Graham chuckled. "Are you kidding? It's Jim. I'll take the fall if he tries to give you a hard time."
"And what – tell him we slept together? Yeah, no thanks," she snapped as she stood up and began fixing her shirt.
Graham's brow knitted together as he sat up and watched her. "Why do you care if they know? I think they've already got their suspicions – "
"Yeah, I know they do, but it's – " Vanessa stopped moving so much and looked at him. "I just don't want everyone in my personal business. It doesn't concern them, and they don't need to know."
Graham nodded gently in understanding. "Okay. Okay, that's fair… I won't tell them anything."
Vanessa wasn't used to someone being so patient and understanding, and it kept catching her off guard. She kept expecting to have to argue more. She kept expecting this to be difficult, but it was… easy. "Thanks," she mumbled softly, looking down as she tucked her shirt in and straightened it out more.
Graham smiled as he stood up, reaching out cupping her face as he started to lean in, only for her to pull back suddenly like he'd completely caught her off guard. "I-I'm sorry – " he apologized.
"I already told you I'm late. Why are you trying to kiss me right now?" Vanessa questioned impatiently.
Graham blinked a couple of times and laughed, shaking his head and sitting back down to pull his boots on.
"What?" she nearly shouted at him. "What's so funny?"
"Vanessa, I just wanted to kiss you," he smiled as he stood back up and began rolling up his sleeves. "I don't know why – because I like you, because I think you're gorgeous. What kind of answer are you looking for here?"
Vanessa stammered silently for a second as she looked at him. After a moment he chuckled again and started to head up on deck.
"Wait – "
Graham stopped, smiling amusedly to himself as he turned back around to face her and arched an eyebrow. She quickly crossed the floor and grabbed his shoulders, standing up on her toes to give him a quick kiss. Or it should have been quick. She'd forgotten how hypnotizing it felt once her lips were on his, how every time she touched him, she wanted to pull herself into him until they melted into one. She'd forgotten how good his hands felt when they ran up through her hair, how gentle his touch was against her back, how content she felt in his arms –
"Ahem."
Vanessa and Graham pushed away from each other hard and turned to look towards the person who'd cleared their throat. Jim was standing at the top of the steps, trying desperately (yet failing) to hold back a smirk as he looked at the two of them. Vanessa felt her cheeks flush, but she tried to keep as cool and collected as she could as she looked up at him. Graham watched Vanessa's cheeks go pink and he moved his hand up to his face, rubbing his fingertips over his top lip to cover up a smirk.
"I was just coming to check you were still alive, Vanessa," Jim chuckled.
Vanessa laughed as casually as she could. "I'm sorry – I overslept. It was my fault."
"Don't worry about it, it's okay. I'm sure we all need the rest," Jim smiled and shrugged a little. "I've been too excited about getting home to sleep anyway… We do need both your help with the solar sails now though."
"Yeah, I'll be right up," Vanessa nodded.
Graham nodded and looked up at him too, clearing his throat and putting his hand down. "Yeah – yeah, we'll be right there."
Jim looked between them one last time and then turned to leave. Vanessa sighed and rubbed her face, but Graham broke down into a quiet laugh, which only earned him a sharp glare from her. He looked over at her and smirked. "Hey, you kissed me – this was all your fault."
Vanessa shoved him pretty hard into the wall of the stairs, but she did have to fight back a smile as she headed up the steps.
By the time they reached Montressor that night, Jim could barely stay still. Even at the helm, he was constantly checking the navigation, looking out at the planet, looking back to the navigation, surveying everyone else on deck, straightening out the wheel more –
"Dude – " Graham said, throwing a hand onto his shoulder. "You've been without her for three weeks. Thirty more minutes isn't going to kill you… Take a deep breath."
Commodore Aldamae had managed to get himself out of bed, insisting he was well enough to walk off the ship and to the Benbow. His spirits did seem a bit higher, though he was still having to use the railings for support, and he couldn't quite handle stairs yet. "Mr. Emerson is right," he called up from the lower deck. "You'll see your wife in just a few minutes."
"Won't she be asleep?" Vanessa asked as she climbed down from the mast. "It's kind of late now."
"If she is, I'm waking her up," Jim answered as he guided the ship towards the edge of the dock outside the Benbow.
Graham smirked. "Alright, take it easy, lover boy."
Jim would have normally told Graham off, but at that moment, he was putting all his focus into guiding the ship with one hand.
"Ya got it lad?" Silver asked, holding out an arm for help if he needed it.
"No, I got it," Jim said confidently as he slowly but easily guided it precisely into place, halting it and powering the ship down as he looked over and smirked. "Easy."
Silver chuckled and pressed the button to lower the gangplank. "Always was a showoff."
"Alright, let's get off this ship!" Graham exclaimed as he headed down towards the gangplank. Silver chuckled and went over to help the commodore, letting him throw his arm around his shoulders to support himself on the walk down.
"Vanessa – welcome to the Benbow Inn," Jim smiled as he walked down with her to join Graham. "I hope you find the accommodations suitable."
"Well… " Vanessa looked over the new Benbow – the polished boards of the well-kept exterior, the clean curtains visible through glass panes, the shiny stones of the walkway and front steps – and gave an unimpressed shrug. "It's alright, I guess."
Jim's brow furrowed a little in surprised as he looked over at her and saw her smirking. The girl could joke – maybe she and Graham were a good match after all.
Sarah and Abigail were finally finishing up the last of the dishes from the large dinner rush they'd had. Tabitha had been made to retire early. Earlier in the day, Sarah and Abigail had tried to prepare her a small treat of purp pie to wish her a happy anniversary, but it had backfired completely - as soon as they'd said the words to her, she'd broken down crying and didn't stop for hours. That breakdown combined with the dinner rush had the poor girl looking dead on her feet, so they'd insisted they could take care of the dishes while she headed off to bed.
"That's more visitors than I've ever seen for a night in January," Sarah sighed as she stacked the plates back into the cupboard.
Abigail smiled and hung up the ladles. "At least they tipped well," she laughed, looking up and catching a glance out the window. "Oh, no…"
"What?" Sarah asked worriedly, moving back over to join the woman at her side.
"There's more people here. Wait – " Abigail moved closer to the window and pulled back the curtains, her eyes widening. "That's Jim's ship. They're home."
Abigail rushed back into the front room with Sarah close behind just as Silver threw open the door for himself and the Commodore.
"Alrigh', Ant'ony – we made it – t'at's it. I'll sit ya down now," Silver was reassuring the Commodore, who looked like he'd overdone it on the walk.
"Oh, heavens – " Sarah said worriedly as she surveyed the two of them, quickly looking behind them for the rest of the group.
"John – "Abigail breathed in relief, barely waiting for Silver to set the commodore in a chair before she had flung herself at him, throwing her arms around him and latching on tightly.
Sarah spotted Jim next and let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, thank the stars – Jim, your hand!" She rushed over and began looking him over worriedly, looking at his bandaged arm before surveying him from head to toe. "Are you alright? What happened? What's wrong with your arm?"
"Mom – mom!" he laughed as he pulled her into a hug with his good arm. "It's a broken wrist. I'm fine…" He pulled back and kissed her cheek. "I just wanted to say hi. But I need to get out of here before B.E.N. wakes up - I've got to get back to see Tabitha, and I don't want to answer the ten thousand questions he'll have before that."
"Oh – " Abigail pulled away from Silver at the mention of the girl's name. "Well, B.E.N.'s not here – he and Morph are at the Doppler's helping with the kids – but, Jim – "
"Okay, then I'm leaving to go see my wife. It's only our anniversary for a couple more hours, and I promised – "
"Jim, she's not at your house," Sarah interrupted to explain, stroking his cheek. "She's asleep here, in her old bedroom."
Jim looked between the two women worriedly. "What – why? I-Is she okay?"
"She hasn't been feeling well," Abigail began softly, not wanting to scare him. "She's alright, but she got sick right after you left – "
Jim's eyes widened, and he didn't wait to hear another word. He rushed away from them through the kitchen door to go check on her. Sarah sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"Is t'e lass alright?" Silver questioned worriedly to the both of them as he stroked Abigail's back.
"She's fine. She just… oh – " For the first time, Sarah looked up and noticed Graham and Vanessa standing just behind everyone else. "Oh, I'm so sorry – Graham – " She reached out and hugged him, looking him over for injuries in much the same way she had Jim. "Alright, well it looks like you all made it out alive."
"Some more so than others," the Commodore spoke up as he adjusted his positioning on the couch. Abigail moved back over with Silver and began checking over the wound, figuring out what supplies they would need to care for it.
"We're alright, Mrs. Hawkins," Graham said to Sarah, sparing a glance back at Vanessa.
Sarah looked at her and smiled kindly. "You must be Vanessa."
Vanessa had stood back awkwardly for as long as she could, not wanting to interrupt or draw attention to herself with everything else that was going on. "Yeah – er, um… yes, ma'am…"
To Vanessa's surprise, Sarah wrapped her arms around her the same way she had done Jim and Graham. Vanessa's eyes widened at the unexpected embrace, but she swallowed and hugged her back anyway.
"We're happy to have you here. I'd love to hear more about the journey, but I'm sure you're all exhausted right now, so let's get you settled… Abigail, what was the final count on the occupied rooms?"
Abigail looked over at her and she covered her mouth. "I think there's only one room still open."
"Oh, stars," Sarah mumbled as she put her hands on her hips and looked around at the group. "Alright, Anthony, that room will be for you."
"Thank you, Mrs. Hawkins," he gritted through his teeth as Silver worked on rebandaging him.
Sarah continued. "I'll tell Jim to take Tabitha home, and Vanessa, you can take her room – "
"Oh, no – don't send her home if she's not feeling well. I… I can go back and sleep on the ship or something. It's fine," Vanessa assured her. She did not want to start her time in this place by being a bother or inconveniencing people.
"Actually, Mrs. Hawkins, don't worry about it – I'll take care of it," Graham spoke up.
Sarah's brow furrowed. "Graham, the girl needs a place to sleep."
"I'll get her one, don't worry," he laughed lightly. "She can sleep in my room." Sarah arched an eyebrow and he elaborated. "She can sleep in my room, and I'll sleep in the lounge or something. Or I'll sleep back on the ship."
"What? No – I don't want to kick anyone out of their rooms," Vanessa argued.
Sarah watched Graham and Vanessa, watched the way they looked at each other, and knew instantly what was going on. "Oh, okay, I see… You two can work it out amongst yourselves then – Graham, I trust that you will make sure our guest is comfortable. If anybody is sleeping on the ship, it better not be her."
"Of course not, ma'am," Graham assured her. "I'll make sure she's comfortable."
Vanessa shot him a wide-eyed look but Sarah had seemingly chosen to ignore the comment. As Sarah turned to go check on the commodore, Vanessa elbowed Graham.
"Ow! What?" he laughed. "I work here, remember? I'm just doing my job – making sure our guests are comfortable."
"Yeah, uh-huh," she agreed sarcastically as she followed him back through the kitchen, down the wooden hallway with a few closed doors on either side.
"That's Silver and Abigail's room," Graham whispered as he pointed to one of the doors. "That one's Sarah's. This door leads to the washroom, and that one down near the end is Tabitha's – or used to be before Jim built the house for her. And this one is mine."
Graham pushed open the door and held it for her, gesturing for her to come in before closing it behind them. The room was fairly small, but it had enough room for a large bed, pressed into the corner between the back wall and the wall to their right. A window facing out toward where they'd docked the ship was positioned on the wall next to the head of the bed. On the left wall, a tall dresser stood with a few picture frames and odds and ends stacked on top of it. A small table also sat beside the bed, but it held only a small photo and an old notebook with some pages sticking out of the edges. Vanessa approached the table and picked up the photo, studying the image of Graham from a few years ago posed next to an older woman with the same brown hair as him.
"You mom?" she asked as she held up the photo.
Graham nodded as he walked over. "Yeah, that's my mom. That's the day I started at the academy."
"Is she…" Vanessa trailed off and looked at him, assuming he would know what she was trying to ask. He didn't. "Alive?"
"What? Oh, yeah! Yeah, she's alive," Graham laughed as he took the photo and sat it back down. "Alive and kicking, don't worry."
"Where is she then? Does she live around here?"
"No, she's back at our home on Senlib," he explained as he tossed his bag onto the bed.
"Your home? I thought you lived here."
"I – Well… sort of. Technically, I was only supposed to be staying here when I was between voyages with Jim, but Sarah's needed more help lately, so I've been sticking around more. Not to mention last time I went home, my mom was trying to fix me up and get me to settle down with any eligible girl she could find," he laughed as he began rummaging through his bag, unpacking some of the smaller items and putting them in their place. "In any case, Sarah decided I spent enough time around here that I deserved an actual room."
"Huh," Vanessa answered. "Makes sense… So where's your dad?"
Graham stopped moving abruptly and slowly turned to look at her. "He's not around." Vanessa realized she'd hit a touchy subject and that she shouldn't press it, so she didn't ask for elaboration. For some reason though, Graham felt like he should continue… He'd already heard most of her life story from Silver – maybe this would help even things out. "My dad was a drunk too, and… he was abusive, to me and my mom. My mom tried to step in and protect me, so she usually got the worst of it, but… not always…" Graham spared a sideways glance at the picture again for a moment. "Guess his anger finally got the best of him, because he died in a barfight when I was fourteen – the year before I started at the academy. His life insurance paid for my tuition."
Vanessa felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. "So all that stuff I said about you being spoiled…"
Graham cracked the smallest hint of a smile. "Yeah, not exactly the case… Guess you were right about my parents paying for everything though."
Vanessa didn't laugh at the dark joke the way she normally would have. She felt horrible. "I'm sorry I... said all that."
"Hey, it's okay," he shrugged and relaxed a little bit. "So you want to take the bed and I'll go sleep in the lounge?"
She looked back at him, caught off guard by the sudden change of subject. "What?"
"I'm a man of my word," he smiled. "If you want the bed, it's yours. The couch out there is pretty comfortable – I don't mind."
"Graham," she sighed and crossed her arms. "I think you already know the answer to that."
He looked at her as she smirked at him and he chuckled. "Well, I never know with you."
"Yeah, well, get used to that," she retorted as she sat down and began taking her shoes off. "Don't want you getting too comfortable." She stood back up, quickly stripping her shirt over her head and tossing it on the bed before looking around and sighing frustratedly. "Damn it, my bag – I left it on the ship."
"Do you really need it right now?" Graham smirked as he approached her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Vanessa wasn't entirely surprised when his arms encircled her waist, or when she felt his lips trail down her neck and shoulder as he brushed her hair to the side… but she was a little caught off guard when his hands started to unbuckle her belt and pants. She wasn't used to this. Graham felt her tense up in his arms so he froze as well, waiting for her to make the next move.
"What are you doing?" she asked, the anxiety clearly present in her voice.
Graham kissed her cheek and slowly slid around her side until he was in front of her, letting her look him in the eyes. "I think you already know the answer to that," he smirked, trying to keep the mood light hearted.
She let out a breathy laugh and relaxed, and he went back to working loose her pants, letting his lips trail along her shoulder and neck. She wasn't used to letting guys handle her in such a slow and seductive way. Her experiences had been almost entirely the opposite. However, for reasons she didn't really understand, she trusted Graham. He was not only patient and gentle with her, but –
"O-Oh – " she gasped as his hand moved between her legs.
- stars, he was good at it.
Graham smirked as he picked her up and laid her down in the bed, straddling her legs as he threw his own shirt off. Before he could do it himself, her hands were frantically working his belt and his pants undone and attempting to push them down his hips.
"Vanessa…" he groaned and hung his head as she touched him in much the same way he had touched her.
Vanessa smirked. Maybe she didn't mind that this was the only place he used her full name.
Jim slowed down only slightly outside Tabitha's bedroom door, opening it and gently closing it behind him, not wanting to startle her or make her feel any worse than she might already. The light from the moon and distant stars shone in just enough to illuminate her in bed, laying on her stomach, her hair splayed across one of the pillows while she gripped another tightly to her chest. Jim grinned to himself and slowly approached the bed, taking a seat down next to her as slowly as he could.
"Tabitha…" he whispered softly, gently brushing his hand against her cheek.
Tabitha made no movement, not even a change in her breathing – she must have been deep asleep. Despite Jim's claims that he was going to wake her up as soon as he arrived, he felt selfish thinking about doing it now, especially knowing that she hadn't been feeling well. That didn't mean he was going to let her sleep alone though. He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her forehead and smiled, turning around and stripping off his boots and socks and – after a few moments of struggling – his shirt as well. As slowly and carefully as he could, he started to lay down next to her.
Apparently, the slight shifting of the mattress was enough to rouse Tabitha – she groaned and rolled over onto her back and Jim froze, watching her as she slowly blinked open her eyes and looked at him. "Jim?"
Jim smiled at her. "Hey, love."
"Oh – Jim!" The words had barely left his mouth when she sat up and threw her arms around him, pulling herself into his lap and holding him tightly.
"Happy anniversary," he chuckled softly as he wrapped his good arm around her and held her back just as tight, pressing his face into her hair. Stars, he'd missed her. He was able to relax for only a second though until he felt her chest shudder and he pulled back to look at her. "Tabitha? Hey… " He surveyed her worriedly when he realized she was sobbing, cupping her face and kissing her softly. "Tabitha, it's okay - don't cry..."
"I-I'm sorry. I'm just so happy you made it back - a-and on our anniversary, a-and… I'm sorry, I can't help it - " she choked out, leaning back against him as she broke down crying into his chest. As she attempted to wrap her arms around her back, she realized the awkward way Jim's was holding one of his arms. Her hand skimmed over it and felt the bandages and she pulled back with a loud gasp. "Jim, your arm! What – "
"It's okay," he reassured her, still worried about how she was feeling, both physically and emotionally now. "It's just a broken wrist – no big deal."
"It is a big deal!" Tabitha raised her voice a little, sniffling and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand before looking at him in panic as she thought about the rest of the group. "What about Silver? A-And Graham – oh god, I've got to go check on – "
As she started to push herself out of bed, Jim wrapped his arm around her waist. "Wait, wait, wait – " he gently stopped her and pulled her back to bed. "Take a deep breath… Relax. Everyone is okay. Silver is completely fine. Graham is completely fine. Anthony has a gunshot wound to his calf, but it's been healing fairly well so far."
"A gunshot – Jim, I've got to check on that, I'm a doctor – "
"I know you are, but Silver's already mended it – he just needed more medical supplies than what we had on board," Jim explained. "Besides, I'm more worried about you."
Tabitha looked at him. "Me?"
Jim looked her over, looking for any sign of her illness. "Abigail said you'd been sick, and that's why you were staying here at the inn… She said you got sick right after I left. You've been sick for almost a month? What's – "
"I'm not sick," she reassured him, pushing his hair away from his eyes and smiling. "I haven't been feeling well, but it's just been the stress of… everything, I'm sure. Some days I've been completely fine, and I worked up here like I usually do… and some days, I couldn't stop throwing up, or I would just be incredibly tired…" She looked at him and smiled reassuringly. "It's nothing serious, Jim. I'm sure. Just the stress, and having such a messed up sleep schedule right before you left and all of that… That's all."
Jim's shoulders sagged in relief and he leaned in to kiss her deeply. "I love you."
"I love you too. Now…" She reached out and began unwrapping the bandages on his injured arm. "How did you break your wrist exactly?"
"Uh…" To be honest, Jim did not want to get into the whole story right now of everything that had transpired on Ciaran. He was exhausted, and with the adrenaline that had come from worrying about Tabitha now wearing off, he felt like he wanted to lie down and sleep for days... so maybe he'd just leave out a couple of details for now. "We were mugged right after we got there – that's when the commodore was shot." Like the detail about how Vanessa was the one that mugged them.
"Guess Silver was right about you getting attacked…" She ran her fingers gently over the bones in his arm and wrist to check how it was healing, making sure they were lining up properly. "Seems to be healing well… Why did they break your wrist though? Weren't you guys wearing disguises – why did they attack you in the first place?"
"Disguises don't hide everything," Jim admitted as he held up his hand and wiggled his ring finger just slightly.
Tabitha's eyes widened. "Your wedding ring?"
He nodded as he fixed the wrap back around his arm. "I was trying not to give it to them."
Tabitha shook her head. "You idiot. They could've…"
He knew how the sentence ended in her mind, and it was a lot worse than just a broken bone. "But they didn't," he said softly. "I'm okay."
Tabitha wrapped her arms back around him tightly and he pulled her close, holding her and stroking her hair reassuringly. They stayed like that, resting in silence for several minutes, just happy to be back in each other's arms. It was long enough that Jim was starting to doze off, so when Tabitha said something else, he had to pull his eyes back open and try to focus. "Hmm? What?"
"What happened with Vanessa?" she repeated. "Was she there? Is she okay?"
"She was there, and she was fine. She actually came back with us," Jim explained.
"She's here?! Why – Why did she leave? What about her brother? Is she going to stay – "
"Tabitha – " Jim laughed softly and put his hand to her mouth. "I love you more than anything else in the Etherium. I swear to you that I will tell you every detail of the trip and answer every single question you have… but right now, I have something else in mind for our anniversary…"
Tabitha gasped softly as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her neck. For a moment, she closed her eyes and leaned back, letting him start to move down her chest… but then she lifted her head back up and gently pushed on his chest. Jim blinked in surprise, and she smiled gently. "Jim… You have a broken wrist, and you look like you haven't slept in days."
He let out a breathy laugh at being called out like that. "Well, the wrist I think I can manage with," he smirked. "But you're right… I just came off a triple shift, and I haven't slept in almost two days."
Tabitha smiled and leaned forward, softly pressing her lips to his as she ran her hands over his arms. "Having you home… that's all I need for our anniversary."
Jim smiled in understanding. Much as he loved his original idea, he really was exhausted, and the idea of falling asleep next to Tabitha right now was more enticing than anything else he could think of. He kissed her forehead, and the two of them settled in to the bed, switching sides so he could wrap his good arm around her and hold her close. She pressed close to him, draping her arm over him and holding onto him, breathing him in deeply as she relaxed. Jim was already falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, but he did manage to mumble:
"I never want to go on a voyage without you again."
Vanessa woke up a lot earlier than she'd expected, but then again, she had gotten plenty of sleep the day before. As she opened her eyes, she realized it wasn't even quite morning yet. Or she was pretty sure it wasn't. She'd forgotten to ask what time sunrise normally was on Montressor, but considering how quiet the inn sounded, she figured it was before dawn. As she rolled onto her back, Graham's grip around her waist went slack and he too rolled over, mumbling incoherently and nuzzling his head deeper in the pillow.
She looked him over and smiled a little, softly running her hand down his chest for a moment before pushing herself up. In the dim room, she rummaged around through their discarded clothes on the ground and found her pants, but not her shirt. After a few minutes of searching yielded no results, she sighed and pulled on Graham's discarded shirt instead. It was his room – he could grab a new one when he woke up, she reasoned. Besides, she needed some food, and no one else was likely to be awake yet to see her anyway.
Vanessa closed the bedroom door as softly as she could behind her and tiptoed her way back down the hallway to the kitchen. She felt a bit awkward thinking about rummaging around someone else's home and business for food… but she felt more awkward thinking about waking someone up just to ask for a snack. The first couple of cabinets she opened revealed only plates and dishes, but as she moved around the room, she noticed a wooden table piled with an assortment of fruits and vegetables, most of which she had never seen before. Produce on Ciaran had always been fairly limited, since not much grew there, and most merchants were hesitant to import to a planet like that.
"You must be Vanessa."
Vanessa sprang around, her hand flying to the hip where she normally kept her pistol when the voice startled her. In the doorway that she'd walked through a few moments before stood a girl about her age, her brown hair messily pulled back into a high ponytail and her loose white shirt untucked from her brown pants. She wore only socks instead of shoes, and looked like she hadn't been awake very long either. She let Vanessa survey her for a second and gave her an apologetic smile for startling her.
Vanessa relaxed and gave an awkward smile back. "And you must be Tabitha."
Tabitha nodded and approached her. "You looking for food? I know you guys got back pretty late last night."
"Yeah, I was just, um… I was just looking for a snack. I didn't want to wake anyone," Vanessa explained as Tabitha came over and grabbed some small, misshapen purple fruit off the table and took a bite. "I can pay for it, of course – "
"What? No," Tabitha laughed. "You don't have to pay for anything – you're our friend. What are you in the mood for?"
"Oh. Thanks, um…" Vanessa hesitated, looking back at the produce and then back at Tabitha. "I'll take whatever."
Tabitha glanced at the produce and back at her and realized what the hesitation was about. "These are javvafruits – " Tabitha began, holding up a brown, circular object. "The taste is kind of bitter, but they're a really good source of protein. Jim and I usually make sure to stock up on them for voyages. This orange spiky thing is a pattyl. It's really sweet – normally one of my favorites, just kind of tricky to peel. Easiest if you cut the spikes off first and then peel it. Oh, and the purple things are purps – " She added, holding up the purp she was eating. "They're Jim's favorite, and they're local to Montressor. They've got a sort of… tart taste when they're ripening, and once they're ripe, they're really juicy, but the flavor is more mellow. The rest of the stuff is mostly vegetables we put in stews and things like that – not stuff I'd recommend eating alone."
Vanessa listened and nodded, intrigued by the variety before her. "I'll just keep it simple for now," she said as she picked up a purp, polishing it on her shirt before taking a bite. "Huh. Not bad."
Tabitha smiled as she took a seat at the table. "Don't worry. Sarah or Silver will be preparing a big breakfast later – you won't have to live off fruit."
Vanessa laughed a little and sat down across from her, looking her over. "You know… You look exactly like Silver describes you."
"Really? You look pretty close too… Just your hair's a little shorter than I imagined," Tabitha commented.
The two looked up as the hallway door swung open again and Silver entered, pausing in surprise when he saw the two of them. "Both o' ya up already?"
"Silver – " Tabitha sighed in relief as she rushed over and hugged him tightly.
Silver let go of the door to catch her, smiling and lifting her off the ground slightly as he hugged her back. "It's alrigh', Tabby… Told ya we'd make it home alrigh'."
"Yeah, except for Jim's broken wrist and the commodore's gunshot wound," Tabitha retorted as she pulled back.
Vanessa winced as she heard Tabitha's comment. "Sorry again for that, by the way… How's he doing?"
"What?" Tabitha asked as she pulled away from Silver suddenly and looked at Vanessa. "Sorry? Why would you – "
Vanessa froze, looking to Silver for help. Tabitha also jerked her head back towards Silver. "Lass, hol' on – let us explain."
Tabitha's eyes widened as she looked back and forth, he glare finally falling on Vanessa. "You shot the commodore?! What the hell – "
"Tabby, hol' on now – " Silver stopped her and turned her back to face him before she could lay into Vanessa. "Listen, now - t'is was a long trip fer all of us. Vanessa didn't mean t' hurt Anthony or Jim - "
"And you broke Jim's wrist?!"
"Well, not me exactly..." Vanessa mumbled, pushing her hair back nervously.
"She'd already made it up t' us. We'll tell ya everyt'ing else, but let's wait 'til everyone else wakes up as well. Jimbo and Graham'll have plenty t' say I'm sure, and Sarah's gonna have even more questions t'en you."
Silver chuckled and gently pushed Tabitha into a chair, but Tabitha's brow was still furrowed, both skeptical of this girl who she was supposed to consider a friend and annoyed that she'd have to wait even longer to hear the full story.
"Why don't ya tell us about what's been goin' on at t'e inn?" Silver continued as he moved over to the stove and began firing it up. "Abby and Sarah said ya 'aven't been feelin' well – ya doin' alrigh' now?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Tabitha sighed and went to go grab another purp, too hungry to wait for breakfast to be made. "I already told Abigail and Sarah it was just the stress of everything. I spent a few days throwing up on and off, sick in bed, exhausted… and then some days I'm just fine. It's been kind of weird, but I don't think it's anything serious."
"Ya sound like my friend Marge when she got knocked up," Vanessa commented offhandedly.
Tabitha froze and Silver nearly dropped the pot he'd just retrieved from the cabinets, both of them staring at Vanessa like she'd just shot someone again.
"Wh… " Tabitha's face was pale and she could barely formulate words. "What?"
Vanessa held up her hand to have them hold on as she finished chewing the last bite of purp. "Yeah, she was just like that," she explained, wiping her sticky hand on her pants. "Poor thing spent a bunch of days too sick to eat, too sick to even get out of bed really. We even let her stay at the inn a few times when she didn't feel well enough to make it home. And then other days she'd be just fine – maybe a little moody… Damn, she did cry a lot – I'd almost forgotten about that."
Tabitha listened and took a shuddering breath. Her heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest. Her eyes turned to Silver, who was watching her with a concerned look on his face. "I-Is Abigail awake?" Tabitha whispered.
Silver nodded. "Aye… Tabby, ya… ya think yer…?"
Tabitha didn't answer. She didn't know how to. She ran out of the room and down the hallway, barely knocking on Abigail and Silver's bedroom door before she threw it open and rushed in. "M-Mom – "
"Tabitha – " Abigail jumped up from the vanity and put her hand on her chest. "Good grief, dear – what's wrong?"
Tabitha took a shuddering breath, barely suppressing her panic and excitement. "P-Pregnant? Am I pregnant? I-Is that why you and Sarah have been looking at me like that? I-Is that what's going on?"
"Oh, darling…" Abigail smiled a little and walked over, stroking Tabitha's back as she led her over to the bed. "Yes, Sarah and I suspected it was a possibility, but we didn't know for sure, and we didn't want to mention it and upset you or scare you, especially with Jim away… Take a deep breath. We'll figure it out, okay?"
Tabitha sniffled and nodded as she tried to take a deep breath. "S-Sorry, I don't know why I'm… " She couldn't finish the sentence before she choked up again and kept crying. "V-Vanessa just mentioned it so casually when I was talking about my symptoms, a-and it caught me so off guard… a-and I feel so stupid for not thinking of it sooner!"
"Tabitha, dear, you said yourself that you've been stressed and overwhelmed," Abigail reassured her, grabbing a handkerchief to dry her eyes. "Besides, I doubt this is something you learned about in your training as a doctor."
Tabitha shook her head and sniffled. "No. N-No, we didn't. I-It's not the sort of thing you'd normally encounter on a ship…"
"Exactly." Abigail smiled and kept stroking her back, letting her catch her breath. "Now, I know some of your symptoms, the ones Sarah and I noticed – your morning sickness, the way certain foods have made you feel ill, how tired you've been, how much you've been crying, how you told me you haven't been able to focus – "
"A-All of that is pregnancy symptoms?" Tabitha questioned in surprise and watched Abigail nod reassuringly. Tabitha kept thinking back over the last few weeks, over how else she'd felt, and she gasped. "The purps! That – That wasn't because I was missing Jim, it's – "
"It could be a craving because you're pregnant, yes," Abigail replied. "Now let me ask you a few more questions just to be sure…"
Jim awoke at some point to the smell of food. His stomach growled loudly and he groaned in response. He didn't want to get up yet, but his stomach seemed to be demanding he do it anyway. Trying to ignore his hunger pains, he rolled over towards where Tabitha should have been only to find the bed empty. "Tabitha?" he mumbled as he pushed himself up and looked around the room. Normally, he would have just assumed she was visiting the washroom or already up for the day, but knowing that she hadn't been feeling well, he felt compelled to get up and check on her. Grabbing his shirt, he pulled it back on and half tucked it into his pants, heading out into the hallway.
As Jim opened his door, Graham was just stepping out into the hall from his own bedroom. "Hey, have you seen Tabitha?" Jim asked sleepily.
Graham shook his head. "I just woke up when I smelled food. She's probably in the kitchen."
Jim nodded as he yawned and headed down the hall with Graham, letting him swing the door open. Silver was there, cooking at the stove, but he was also engaged in a quiet conversation with Vanessa, who was cracking eggs into a bowl as she stood next to him. Sarah had also joined them, and was busy washing vegetables at the sink.
"It's alrigh', lass. Ya didn't know," Silver was saying as he chopped up slices of meat.
"We were planning to say something to her anyway," Sarah added kindly.
"I just feel bad! I just met the girl and now – " She stopped when she saw Jim and Graham enter the room. "Oh. Hey."
"Hey…" Jim looked at them confusedly, trying to figure out what exactly they were talking about and why they'd stopped so suddenly when he'd walked in. "Uh… Have… you guys seen Tabitha?" The way they all looked at each other made Jim certain something was up. "What? What is it? Is she okay?"
"Jim, she's alright," Sarah spoke up as she walked over to him. "She's talking to Abigail."
"About what? What happened?"
"We'll explain it to you in a minute. Just calm down – I promise she's okay."
Graham slowly approached Vanessa and mouthed, 'What happened?' Maybe he could know the details even if Jim couldn't.
Vanessa sighed and turned her back to him, keeping her voice to a whisper as Sarah tried to reassure Jim. "I said that Tabitha's sickness sounded like she was pregnant. I didn't know she'd been… struggling."
"Oh…" Graham looked back towards Jim - who was looking more panicked by the second – and stroked Vanessa's back reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. They'll be alright."
When Jim still hadn't gotten a straight answer from Sarah, he turned to Silver, his exhaustion and concern only heightening the situation. "Will one of you please just tell me what the hell is going on?!"
"Jim!" Sarah snapped. "There is no reason – "
The group all froze as the door swung open again and Tabitha entered with Abigail.
"Tabitha – " Jim didn't register the look on her face, the way she was struggling to hold back a smile. "Wh-What's going on? Are you alright? Is everything okay?"
She laughed and started to tear up again, taking his hand and trying to pull him towards the back door to get some privacy. "Jim, I-I need to talk to you for a second."
"No, just tell me what's going, Tabitha – you're scaring me," he admitted as he looked her over worriedly, tucking her hair behind her ear.
Tabitha stopped and looked at him, then spared a glance around the room. Everyone else pretty much already knew what was going on – was there any real reason to try to keep it a secret?
"Jim, I'm pregnant."
Jim's knees buckled and he stumbled a step forward in shock. She grabbed his arm to steady him and laughed a little and he held his eyes on her, waiting to see if she was a joke, or if maybe he was still dreaming… but no, she was telling the truth. This was real… This was finally real.
Graham grinned and had to cover his mouth to hold back an excited laugh as he watched his two best friends. Abigail and Sarah both put their hands over their mouths and teared up at almost exactly the same time. Even Vanessa, who still felt guilty about startling Tabitha, was smiling as she watched her share the good news. Silver was the only one who looked more caught off guard than anyone expected, turning off the stove and bracing his hands on the counter.
"Pregnant?" Jim finally whispered back, his eyes starting to water as he looked her over, shakily putting a hand on her stomach. "Pregnant – really? Y-You're really pregnant?"
"I-I mean, I think so," she laughed, laying her hands on top of his. "The signs, the symptoms – they're all there. W-We won't know for sure for maybe another month or two when we can hear the heartbeat, b-but I don't know what else it could be at – "
Jim didn't need to hear the rest – that was enough. Wrapping his injured arm around her back, he used his good hand to grab the back of her head and kiss her passionately as their friends finally let out excited peals of laughter and congratulations. Tabitha and Jim barely heard them – they were too wrapped up in each other, both of them openly crying, both of them holding onto each other securely. Just as they finally started to pull away, staring at each other and laughing happily, Graham came over and threw his arms around them both.
"Yeah! Alright, a baby Hawkins – I'm going to be an uncle!" he shouted excitedly, grabbing Jim and giving him a big hug. "Congratulations, man – and Tabitha – " He pulled her into a much gentler hug, lifting her off the ground. "Thanks in advance for making me the godfather."
"Okay, Graham, we'll see," she laughed and hugged him back, turning to face Vanessa as she approached from her side.
"I'm really happy for you," Vanessa smiled a little nervously. "I'm sorry I mentioned it like that though – I had no idea – "
"It's completely fine," Tabitha stopped her apology and threw her arms around her, apparently no longer concerned about how she'd injured her friends, at least not at the moment. Vanessa had been hugged more in the past day than she had in the past decade… but maybe she could get used to it she decided as she smiled and hugged her back.
"Jim – " Sarah cried happily, throwing her arms around him. "Oh, I'm so happy for you… I can't believe you're going to be a father."
"Yeah, me either," Jim laughed a little nervously, rubbing his chest as he started to think about it. "A father – wow…"
"And you're going to be an incredible one," Abigail added as she hugged him next. "This child's going to have some of the greatest parents in the Etherium."
Silver had been watching the scene in shock, still trying to process that the little girl he'd saved in the alley all those years ago was about to have a child of her own. As Jim and Tabitha finished their hugs from everyone else, he looked at them both side by side. "Look at t'e pair o' ya… parents all yer own," he smiled proudly, shaking his head in disbelief.
"And you're going to be a granddad," Tabitha grinned as she leaned into Jim and wrapped her arm around his back.
That thought had not occurred to Silver yet, and it took him a second to process, clearing his throat. "Yeah… guess yer right."
Jim could tell his father-in-law was barely keeping it together and chuckled. "Yeah, you old scalawag – you ever picture yourself as a grandpop? A little grandson or granddaughter to spoil..."
Silver laughed as he finally broke down and let a few tears fall, pulling the two of them into a long hug. "I never been so proud o' ya both…"
"I can't imagine a more perfect family than this, dad," Tabitha whispered back to him.
That comment about did him in. Silver cleared his throat and pulled back, quickly running his thumb over his eyes. "T'ink I'll just, ah… see if any of t'e guests have woken up yet," he smiled, ruffling Tabitha's hair a little as he headed towards the front room.
"Wow, you guys really made him go soft, huh?" Vanessa teased.
Abigail laughed a little. "I'll make sure he's alright… Congratulations again, dear," she smiled as she hugged Tabitha again and followed after Silver.
Sarah walked over and kissed Tabitha's forehead. "I've got to start making breakfast. Why don't you and Jim take the day off, go home and relax?"
"No, I can stay – " Tabitha began, at the same time that Jim started with. "Thanks, I'd – "
Tabitha turned and looked at Jim, looking him over and realizing how exhausted he still looked. "You need the rest," she smiled, giving him a quick kiss. "Go get some sleep, I can stay up here."
"Actually… Why don't I stay and help?" Vanessa chimed in, looking to Sarah. "If that's alright with you, Mrs. Hawkins… Silver had mentioned you'd probably need help around here, and I've got plenty of experience running an inn."
Sarah looked a little surprised, but she wasn't one to turn down help. "Well… alright, if Silver recommended you, I suppose we can try that. Would you mind going out and setting the tables?"
"Sure thing, but… do you mind if I bathed first?" Vanessa questioned. "I'll be lightning fast."
"Oh, of course, dear. Go ahead. Graham, would you mind showing her – "
"I'll show her where everything is, Mrs. Hawkins," he smiled and headed back towards the hallway, motioning for Vanessa to follow.
"Here, Tabitha and I can help until they get back," Jim volunteered, looking over at Tabitha. "You're okay with that, right?"
"Yeah, of course. I'll start on the bread…"
As they started preparing, Graham and Vanessa left the room and headed back down the hallway. "There should be soap and whatever else you need already in the washroom," he told her as he stopped by the linen closet and grabbed her a towel, handing it over to her before leading her back to his room. "Do you need any clothes or anything?"
"Well, I still haven't gone back to grab my bag - "
"I'll loan you something," he interrupted as he walked over to his closet and smirked at her. "I noticed you already helped yourself to my shirt."
She laughed a little and put the towel under my arm. "I couldn't find mine."
Graham looked around the room a little, sorting through their strewn about clothes from the day before, but his search yielded nothing either. "Huh... Well, it'll turn up, don't worry. You can keep that one in the meantime," he chuckled.
Vanessa laughed a little. "Yeah, thanks."
"Okay now for the real question – mind if I join you?"
Vanessa's blinked, completely caught off guard by the question. "What – bathing?"
Graham laughed. "No pressure. I just figured we could both wash and we'd finish up faster that way."
Vanessa scoffed. "Yeah, I don't think bathing together in the middle of the day is the best way to keep people out of our business."
"Okay, fair point. But come on, I think everyone's already got their suspicions – you slept in here last night."
"Yeah, well… that's different."
Vanessa shifted uncomfortably. She didn't know why it was different, she just knew she didn't want everyone in the inn to know what was happening with her and Graham. She didn't like that they knew this much already, but it was too late to change that.
Graham stared at her for a second and then shook his head and put his hands on his hips. "Nessa, I don't get it… What is this for you?"
"What?"
"What are we doing?" he queried with a small shrug. "If we're going to be together, and we're both going to be working here, the rest of them are going to figure it out."
Vanessa shook her head slowly. "Together? We're not… together, Graham."
Graham felt his heart sink in his chest as he stared at her. The conversation he'd had with Jim suddenly replayed in the back of his mind. "Okay, fine. Then what do you call this – what we're doing?"
"I don't have to call it anything. Look, I'm only here as a stopping place between Ciaran and… whatever I decide to do next," she explained. "I'm not trying to settle in with anyone, or get stuck on Montressor – no offense."
"Hey, neither am I – I'm still a spacer, Nessa. I've got voyages planned with Jim coming up in just a few weeks – "
"Yeah, exactly – with Jim." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "You're tied to him and Tabitha – you're his first mate, you live here and help out their family – hell, you're even trying to be their baby's godfather… I don't want to be tied to anyone."
"What about Silver?" he countered. "You've been tied to him for years."
Vanessa rolled her eyes and sighed. "You don't get it."
He watched her for a minute, his frustration with himself, with her, and with the whole situation bubbling up inside his chest. "Oh no, I think I get it perfectly."
"What then?" she snapped.
"You afraid to let anybody in because the last time you did, you got hurt."
Vanessa stood still, taking a second to figure out what to say to him. "What… What are you talking about – "
"I heard your conversation with Silver," he interrupted angrily. "The last night on Ciaran. You let Silver in, got close to him, and you paid the price with Hook because of it. So now what? You're never going to let anyone get close to you ever again? Is that what this is?"
Vanessa suddenly felt like she was going to vomit. She walked over and set the clothes and towel on the bed as she took a shaky breath. She hadn't even wanted to tell Silver what had happened, but she'd felt like he deserved to know. She never had plans to let another soul find out what had happened to her. If they knew about that, then they might start asking questions – they might find out everything else. Yet here was Graham, telling her he knew it all.
"So wait, you… you heard… everything?"
Graham shifted his stance and crossed his arms. "All of that, yeah. I got up to go to the washroom, and I heard you guys talking… I left when you and Silver started talking about leaving John."
Vanessa's jaw dropped as she started to put the pieces together. "Is that why you started being so nice to me?" she shouted as she turned around and looked at him. "Why you started doing all that chivalry shit? Because you felt sorry for me?!"
"What? No! No, it wasn't like that! Once I heard all that, I finally understood where you were coming from, why you were always so defensive and angry – it helped me figure you out."
"Figure me out?!"
"Okay, maybe that was a bad choice of words - " he admitted, moving over and trying to grab her hand. "Nessa – "
"Don't touch me." She jerked away from him and moved towards the door. "Asshole..."
"Hold on – "
Graham moved in front of her again, only for her to slap him as hard as she could across the face. She grabbed the door to his room and threw it open, attempting to slam it behind her, but Graham caught it before she could. She didn't turn around to face him – she kept walking, storming down the hallway and into the kitchen, making her way back to the front door.
"Nessa – hold on! Will you just let me talk to you for a minute?" he called after her.
Sarah, Jim, and Tabitha – now joined again by Silver and Abigail as well - all froze as the couple stormed into the kitchen and then immediately left again through the other door. Graham kept following Vanessa as she raced through the front room, grabbing her coat and storming outside. "Nessa!"
"I trusted you!" she finally turned around and screamed at him once she was outside and a little way away from the building. "You said that you were nice to me because you respected me and that's how you were taught, but all of that was a lie! You saw me as a victim - that is the only reason you treated me like that!" She shoved him back hard when he tried to move closer to her. "You lied! About everything!"
"No, I didn't," he shouted back. "I do respect you. Hell, I respected you even more after hearing what you went through – "
"That's not respect, that's sympathy, and I don't want it! I'm supposed to stand here and believe that all that nice shit you said to me was the truth? That stupid line about me being better than you? That bullshit story about the terrasylphs? Be honest with yourself – you said all that so you could sleep with me."
"No, I didn't!" Graham yelled, losing his temper completely. "I have never lied to you! I'm sorry I eavesdropped, okay? But hell, Nessa, does it even matter? Don't you think all of this was inevitable?!"
"No, I don't! I don't think that at all. That's the problem! You tricked me! I can't believe I ever – " She stopped short and turned around, pacing a few feet away before turning back. "I guess it doesn't matter now! We'll never know what might have been if you hadn't lied to me."
Graham shook his head. "Nessa, I didn't lie then, and I'm not lying now. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner – I didn't think it was that big of a deal. It was just something that happened to you."
"Just something that happened to me? You have no idea – " Vanessa had to stop talking. She felt like she couldn't breathe.
Graham didn't know what to do. He was confused, and hurt, and he felt terrible about the whole situation… and even more terrible when he realized how distraught she was. "Look, let's just go back inside. Let me explain – "
"No, I don't want to hear any more from you." Despite standing in the freezing Montressor air, she was sweating and felt like she might pass out. She ran her hands up through her hair, gripping it between her fingers. "I-I have to… I have to get away from you." Where was she going to go though? It was barely morning, and she had no familiarity with this place at all. "I-I'm going back on the ship for a little while. Don't follow me, and don't send Silver out either."
"Wait - can you please just listen – " Graham tried to call to her as he followed after her for a couple of steps before she raced off towards the ship. He stood there for a minute, staring at her, making sure she made it onto the ship okay, wondering what he should do… Maybe she just needed a little while to cool down. Maybe he needed a way to figure out a better apology, a better way to explain how he felt about her… or maybe he'd just made the biggest mistake of his life.
"Graham?"
Graham didn't turn around at first when he heard Jim's voice. "Yeah?"
"You want to… come inside? We can talk if you want…"
His chest was starting to hurt, and he tried to tell himself it was from breathing in the cold air, but he knew it wasn't just that. "No, I…" Graham turned back finally and barely glanced at Jim as he headed back into the inn. "I-I just need a minute…"
Graham once again walked through the kitchen, being certain not to make eye contact with anyone or pause long enough for them to ask anything. He felt embarrassed enough already that they'd seen any of that happen, and he hated himself for being the cause of it in the first place. He didn't know how to fix this, but he knew he had to. How did he explain it to Vanessa? How did he explain how horrible he felt, how sorry he was? How did he fix this? What had gone so wrong?
He was pacing like a caged animal in his room, and he didn't stop when someone knocked gently at the door. "I said I didn't want to talk right now, Hawkins."
When the door opened, he rolled his eyes in annoyance and turned to face it, only to find Tabitha standing there instead of Jim. "Well, my name is Hawkins, I guess, but I prefer to go by first name," she joked lightly.
Graham tried to force a smile, but he couldn't. "Jim sent you, huh?"
She shook her head. "I asked for a little more backstory about what was going on with you two, and he gave it to me, but then I came on my own… What happened?"
"Well, you get right to the point, don't you?" he mumbled as he took a seat on the bed and rested his head on his folded hands. "I… overheard a private conversation between her and someone else before we left Ciaran, and I finally admitted to her that I had… It didn't go well."
Tabitha nodded in understanding and took a seat next to him. She didn't say anything yet though. She felt like he had more to add. After a moment of him staring at the wall, he finally looked over at her and awkwardly tried to laugh it off. "H-Hey, it's going to be fine - I've been through this before."
"Which part? The fight, or the having a crush on a girl?" she shot back, making it clear she knew the real problem.
Graham hesitated, but decided to try again to defuse the tension. "I had a crush on you once," he smirked.
Tabitha smiled a little. "I know. Jim told me."
Graham's jaw dropped in shock, looking at her and then looking back out at the room. "That bastard…"
"Graham…"
Tabitha's voice was serious now as she watched him, the way his leg was anxiously bouncing, the way he kept wiping his sweaty palms over his knees. "Graham, you and I both know you've never done this before… You know this is different."
Graham stared at her, opened his mouth to contradict her and tell her it was just a hookup… but he knew there was no point. His feelings were too obvious, and he didn't know how to hide them anymore. "I... I don't know what to say… I have to figure out a way to fix this. I know that I messed this up, but it really felt like we were good together. I don't know how to…" He paused again and thought for another minute, feeling her gaze on him as she continued to survey him worriedly, her hand stroking his shoulder. "Tabitha?"
"Hmm?"
He swallowed thickly and kept his eyes straight ahead. "This... This is just a crush, isn't it?"
When Tabitha didn't answer him, he gave in and turned to look at her again. When he saw the sympathetic gaze she was casting him, he wished he hadn't. With a heavy sigh, he put his face in his hands and sat there, trying to calm down and get his head clear so he could figure out what to do. A moment later, she wrapped her arms around him and he reluctantly leaned over and rested his head against her shoulder.
After a few minutes, the door opened again and the two of them looked up to see Jim standing there, silently questioning the friends. Graham lifted his head and quickly took a deep breath as he stood up.
"I've got to go," he said suddenly as he brushed past Jim and walked away.
Tabitha watched him leave and sighed heavily, rubbing her forehead.
Jim went over and held out his hand to help her up. "What exactly did you find out from him?"
She took a deep breath and took his hand as she stood up. "Not much. They had a fight, and it sounds like it was his fault… but there's a bigger problem."
He looked to her expectantly. "What do you mean?"
She shook her head, keeping her eyes focused on the doorway Graham had walked out moments before. "I don't know. I mean... I know it's really too early for me to make assumptions like this, but... I'm pretty sure he's falling in love with her."
Jim took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Yeah… Yeah, that's what I'm worried about…"
The next few hours were tense to say the least. Jim and Tabitha decided to stick around the inn, mostly because they were worried about Graham and weren't sure where he'd left to or when he'd been back. Tabitha had also been able to check on the commodore and take care of his wound, but the herbs she'd given him to relieve the pain had made him pretty drowsy, so he'd decided to stay in bed – in fact, he'd barely even stayed awake long enough to congratulate her on her pregnancy before he drifted back to sleep. Silver had eventually gone out to check on Vanessa and pretty much forced her to come back into the inn, insisting he wouldn't let her freeze to death and promising that everyone would leave her alone; she finally agreed once she learned Graham had left, but she went straight to the bedroom without saying a word to anyone. In between serving the guests breakfast and lunch, Tabitha, Sarah, and Abigail finally managed to get a rundown from Silver and Jim on everything that had happened on the voyage to Ciaran.
"This is worse than I thought," Tabitha commented once she'd heard the full story of Vanessa and Graham amongst everything else that had transpired. "No wonder he's so upset."
"I'm sure they can work everything out," Abigail stated, though it sounded more like a question.
Silver sighed as he stirred the pots on the stove. "Let's hope so. I don't t'ink any of us wanna be workin' around 'em if t'ey can't work t'ings out."
Before anyone else could speak, someone else cleared their throat and they turned their attention to the door that led from the hallway where Vanessa now stood. She was freshly showered, her wet hair pulled back into a low ponytail, and she'd changed back into some of her own clothes.
"I talked to some of the guests, and they told me about the transport to Crescentia," she explained quickly. "I just wanted to thank you all for everything you did before I leave."
There was a silent moment of confusion amongst the group, followed by a general outcry of gasps and objections.
"Leave? Nessie, ya can't leave! Ya just got here," Silver argued.
Vanessa swallowed but didn't say anything to him. Instead, she turned her attention to Mrs. Hawkins. "I'm really sorry I can't stick around to help you. Thank you for the offer though, and I'm sorry about today. I appreciate all your hospitality." She looked over at Tabitha, who was just staring at her in shock. "Congrats again. I know you guys are gonna be great parents… I hope I didn't ruin your day."
With a sad smile and small nod towards everyone, she walked past all of them and out into the front room. Tabitha quickly turned to look at Jim with tears in her eyes, already emotional and now worried about what this would mean for Graham. "J-Jim, we have to stop her – "
"Let me talk some sense int' her," Silver said, turning off the stove and rushing out after her. The girl was fast – she'd already got her coat on and made it out the front door and down the steps. "Nessie, wait - "
"I don't have time to wait," she called over her shoulder. "The transport leaves in five minutes."
"Oh, yer gonna wait," he insisted, grabbing her arm and spinning her around. "Now, what's t'is all about? Jus' cause yer fightin' wit' t'e lad don't mean ya gotta run away from t'e rest of us."
She pulled out of his grasp and glared at him. "This has nothing to do with him. I told you - I was trapped on Ciaran my entire life. I'm ready to get out and see places, do things, have adventures of my own instead of hearing about others... You told me yourself I could go anywhere I wanted to once I left, Silver."
She'd rambled off every excuse she'd prepared without meaning too, but she didn't care. She just had to get out of here - now, as soon as possible, before he came back, before she had to face him again. She couldn't handle that. Not now.
Silver eyed her sadly. "Nessie…"
"Silver, don't – " she begged quietly, looking down at the ground as she tightened her grip on her bag. "Please, don't."
She couldn't hear him beg. She didn't want to leave so soon, but she couldn't think of another solution. She couldn't get stuck here too. Not like this. Not for… him.
It took everything in Silver not to argue more with her, but eventually he sighed and reached out, tilting her chin back up. He knew how she felt… and he knew he couldn't stop her anyway. "Ya got everything ya need?"
Vanessa swallowed hard. "I don't need much. I'll be fine."
There was a tense pause, then Silver had suddenly wrapped her in a tight embrace. "You be careful out t'ere, Nessie… We'll be here, whenever ya want t' come back."
She felt her eyes water and decided to stay silent, certain her voice would betray her if she tried to thank him. Instead, she latched onto him and hugged him as hard as she could, more tightly than she ever had before, and prayed he understood.
Jim and Tabitha had made their way out onto the porch again and were watching this from a short distance. Tabitha looked horrified when she watched Silver let go of Vanessa and let her walk away. Jim reached over and stroked her back as he looked out at Silver as he headed back towards him. "What did she say? Is there any way we can make her stay?"
Silver sighed and shook his head. "T'e lass is leavin', one way or anot'er. 'less ya wanna tie her t' a chair and force 'er t' stay."
Tabitha was still looking concerned and panicked, shaking her head worriedly. "But what are we going to do about – "
She halted at the sound of the brakes on the transportation vehicle as it pulled up to the dock in front of the Benbow. Vanessa reached it just as the doors were opening and a few people got off, including -
"Graham," Jim finished for her.
Graham gulped as the vehicle came to a stop back at the inn. He stood up and realized his knees were shaking slightly, for reasons he either didn't understand or was too afraid to admit. Bouquet of rose-bells - bright red flowers with small, oval-shaped petals and golden centers - in one sweaty palm, he used his other hand to adjust his clothes as he stepped off.
"Oh - "
The voice caught him off guard. He thought he had a few more minutes to prepare, to get the apology straight, to figure out... whatever it is he was going to say to her, but here she was, standing in front of him now.
"Oh, hey," he muttered, almost as a reflex.
"Hey... Graham," she sighed, staring at him and praying her resolve would stick with her. The strangest mix of emotions that she'd ever felt flowed through her – she was still so angry with him, and hurt, and betrayed… and yet, now that she saw him again, she didn't want to leave.
As he opened his mouth to question what she was doing down there, his eyes fell on the rucksack she had thrown over her shoulder. His heart sank to his feet in panic, but he tried to stay calm. Maybe it wasn't what he thought. Maybe Sarah had sent her out to get… more stock for the inn or something. Maybe she wasn't really -
"I'm leaving," she admitted finally.
Graham took a shuddering breath and shook his head. "No… Don't do this."
"Graham, I have to," she insisted. "I can't… get stuck somewhere else again. I've already told everyone goodbye. I need to just go. Somewhere, anywhere."
"You could do that with me." He moved forward and grabbed her hand, and found a small glimpse of hope when she didn't pull away. "You can join me and Jim when we go on voyages. He's already got stuff lined up – we'd be leaving – "
"No – " She shook her head and pulled back, swallowing hard and forcing herself to look him in the eye. "No, Graham. I can't… be tied down like that. I… I've been hoping for freedom for as long as I can remember. I need to be completely free – away from… everyone. My brother, Silver… " She didn't say 'you,' but he knew he was next on that list. "I have to leave."
"Please don't. Please – I know that you're mad at me, but let's talk about this – "
"Hey!" The transport driver called out to them, interrupting the apology Graham had started into. "Are ya gettin' on board or not?"
"Can you give us a minute?!" Graham shouted back at him. The driver glared at him, but shut the doors anyway to let them talk, so Graham began again. "I'm sorry that I heard something that you obviously meant to be private, and I'm sorry for not telling you sooner… but all it did was help me understand you better. It just made me realize you'd been hurt before. I-I meant it when I said you are better than me. I think you're incredible. And the story about the tillasylphs – "
"Graham, stop – " she gasped shakily, brushing her jacket sleeve quickly over her eyes. "N-None of that matters now. This… This isn't about you. I just have to leave - " She choked on the last word, but did her best to cover it with a shaky breath as she moved past him, closer to the transport as the doors swung open again for her.
Graham turned and ran back a few steps and blocked her path, gently grabbing her arms. "Vanessa, please…"
She stopped when she heard him use her real name. For what she hoped would be the last time, she looked deeply into his eyes… and ignored the stabbing pain in her chest.
"Please…" he begged, so soft she almost didn't hear it. "Please, I can fix this..."
Vanessa shook her head. "There's nothing here to fix."
His body shuddered like he'd been physically hit and he let her go. She quickly moved past him and boarded the vehicle. He tried to make himself turn around to look at her, but he couldn't make his body do anything – he was surprised he could even still breathe at that point. The sound of the doors closing and the vehicle pulling away felt distant, like he wasn't actually there to hear it anymore. He suddenly thought of a thousand things he wanted, maybe needed to say... but he knew if he had a second chance he still wouldn't. Most of them were things that scared the hell out of him, the others were things he didn't believe to be possible.
"Hey."
Graham looked up and found himself in front of the inn. He was glad to see he'd subconsciously made the decision to walk there rather than off the end of the dock like a part of him wanted to. Now Tabitha, Jim, and Silver were all staring at him, looking just as worried and confused as he felt.
"Uh... hey," he managed to say, not making eye contact with any of them, his eyes unfocused and staring at nothing.
"You okay?" Jim questioned worriedly, making his way over to him as Graham slowly trudged his way up the steps.
Graham didn't answer. He didn't have the energy to answer. He felt like he wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. After another moment he finally looked toward Jim. "Guess this is your chance to say I told you so."
Jim's brow furrowed in concern and sympathy, but he didn't know what he could say that would help the situation.
Tabitha frowned and slowly made her way over, getting in Graham's way when he tried to walk back inside, forcing him to look up at her. "Who are the flowers for, Graham?" she asked softly, praying that the answer would help him open up.
Graham looked down at his hand and realized he was still tightly grasping the flowers he'd purchased, their thick stems starting to crack and break under his grip. It was all he could do to gulp back the tears and pretend like it didn't hurt, pretend like he didn't feel like he might throw up at any moment, pretend like it didn't matter…
"They're for you," he said shakily. "Congrats on... getting knocked-up."
He thrust them into her chest and made a break through the front room and kitchen once again, back to his room, where he could be alone. As he slammed the door behind him and sank to the floor against it, a sob escaped him and he couldn't have held it back if he'd wanted to. His line of sight fell under the bed and landed on a rumpled piece of fabric. Her shirt. The one they hadn't been able to find. The only thing she'd left behind.
"Damn it," he choked out, resting his elbows on his knees as he completely broke down. "Damn it, damn it, damn it..."
Whew, boy. I can't exactly say it was worth the wait, but I hope you guys still enjoyed it. Overall, I think it's alright, and it was a good way to get back in the practice of writing, but it's by no means perfect.
Now there's a few things I could do from here. I don't want to make any promises, because I do still work and go to school full-time, so it's difficult to find both inspiration and free time, BUT I'm curious what you guys might want to see from here:
- I could theoretically keep going with this story. We could see more of Tabitha's pregnancy, or skip to her actually having the kids, maybe even work towards a full sequel with the kids grown up (but I honestly don't have a lot of interest in writing that at the moment).
- Over the years, I've written a few one-shots of Silver and Tabitha's time between when he saved her. I could do a whole new story of just that sort of each thing - each chapter a new glimpse into Silver and Tabitha's time together.
- I could do Silver and Abigail's backstory, way back when they first met, before any of this happened.
- Finally, I could start all over and rewrite Fearless/Sparks Fly - improve it, edit it, update it, etc.
Again, I can't make any promises, but I am trying to write more and get back into the habit, and since this is where it all began and what I'm most familiar with, I figure this is a good way to keep practicing. If I do keep this up, what do you guys want to see?
Once again, I love you all, and cannot tell you how much I appreciate all of the support you have given me, even when I wasn't updating. I genuinely can't put into words how happy your comments have made me, how much they've kept me going. Thank you a million times over.
-Emily
