Over the next couple months, Carl went swimming almost every day, improving his diet gradually. By the time next quarter came around, even Jim and Seb noticed he was losing weight.
"Tryouts are today," Carl told Jim, as the pair headed into the cafeteria.
"I know," Jim answered, flashing the other a smile.
"You gonna watch?" Carl was shaking slightly as he returned Jim's smile with a grin.
"'Course. Seb is coming, too," Jim informed.
Carl's grin widened, and he looked happier than a kid in a candy shop on Christmas morning. Or perhaps even more so than a teenage girl in a mall where everything was free. "Really? He is?" He half-yelled, and Jim couldn't help but grin at his excitement.
"Yeah. We're your best friends, Carl; we wouldn't dream of missing it."
Jim stood next to Sebastian later that evening, watching Carl glide almost effortlessly through the water. He was still a bit chubby, sure, but he was pretty fast regardless.
"You should've tried, too, Jim. If you'd practiced with him, you'd probably have a six-pack," Seb commented under his breath as he watched Carl. Jim shrugged in response, electing not to reply.
As soon as Carl's tryouts were over and the boy had pulled himself out of the pool, Seb raised hid hand to give him a high-five. Water was still dripping off of him as he reached a hand up to slap Sebs, before wrapping Jim in a hug. After standing awkwardly for a moment while his mind went to war with itself, Jim returned the hug, somehow making the situation even more uncomfortable.
"Good job, Carl," he said with a smile.
"Yeah; I'd be surprised if you didn't make the team," Seb put in. He was grinning at Carl, a look of uncontrollable excitement in his eyes, now spreading across his entire face, and Jim couldn't help but stare. He'd never seen an expression quite like that one on Seb the entire time the pair had known each other.
'God, I'd kill for him to grin at me like that,' Jim found himself thinking, before mentally slapping himself. He had known he was weird, but he wasn't a psychopath. Jim Moriarty was sane enough to know he'd never make Sebastian Moran that proud.
Besides, at some point, Seb had stopped grinning at Carl, instead turning his attentions towards a few girls in bikinis- fairly skimpy bikinis, mind you. And he'd been staring long enough that they were giggling and standing somewhat suggestively. And of course, Seb was winking and chuckling slightly- being flirtatious in any way possible without actually speaking- as he stared.
"Jim; Carl, either of you need a ride home?" He asked the pair after a moment, finally turning back to the both of them.
"Nah, my mom's picking me up," Carl replied, while Jim simply shook his head. He lived fairly close, and if he could catch a bus or a cab, he'd be home fast enough.
"Well, see you guys around, then," he replied, walking out. Jim followed soon after, pulling out a pencil and a spare sheet of notebook paper. He titled it, "Daring and Noteworthy Things I Can do to Get Seb's Attention." Jim couldn't think of a word to write. He sat there for a while, chewing on the end of his pencil as he thought, waiting for a bus to stop, or a free cab to drive by, or, well, something.
Jim hailed a cab not long afterwards, without a single addition to his paper. Maybe fifteen minutes later, he climbed out at his house after paying the cabbie, and still no ideas were listed. An hour in his bedroom passed, filled with intense thinking, and yet not a single new word was scrawled unto the page. With a frustrated sigh, Jim pinned the paper to the wall above his bed. He'd think of something, someday, and write it down. Eventually.
