"What is going on here?" Admiral De Châteaupers stood rigid as he stared down the three boys before him.
"Sy has a boyfriend." Zephyr tattled. Sy flinched.
The admiral turned to Sy, his expression unreasonable. "Is this true, D'nahsy?"
Sy swallowed, his expression morphing as he struggled to find the answer he wanted. "Yes." He quickly amended, "Yes sir."
The admiral nodded once. "All of you, into my office. Milly, please hold any calls or visitors. This may be a while."
"Yes sir."
Jim walked with the small group into the office hallways. For only the second time in his life, he proceeded to the second hall and turned left, heading to the Admiral's office. Some things were starting to make a lot of sense. And Jim did not particularly like how they were adding up.
The admiral opened his office door and stepped inside. Braxton sat in a chair in front of the desk, tapping away at his tablet. He glanced up as the door opened with a smile before laying eyes on the trio that followed the captain in. Confusion blossomed across his face.
"Thank you for waiting, Rudforest. I have no further requirements at this time. You are dismissed." The admiral crossed the room and took his seat at his desk.
Braxton stood up, still looking perplexed. "Jim, what's going-"
"I said you are dismissed, Rudforest." Admiral de Châteaupers' voice was sharp and pointed. Even Zephyr flinched a little.
"We'll be okay, Brax." Jim promised. "Go on. I'll see you outside."
Braxton nodded and left, though reluctantly. He glanced back at the three of them one more time before he pulled the door shut behind him.
The admiral did not offer for anyone to take a seat. None of the boys made a move to do so on their own. Sy took a deep breath and finally moved out of Jim's arms, his back straight. "Grandpa, I know you're upset, but this doesn't have to change anything."
"I trusted you, Da'nahsy." The admiral's voice was cold and hard. "When you asked me not to expel your friend right away, to give him a fair trial, to give you the weekend to prove he deserved to stay, despite his overwhelming record, I gave you that."
"How is this relevant?" Jim demanded. No one acknowledged him.
"But I wasn't wrong." Sy still stood tall, defending his actions both past and present. "His trial said he deserved a second chance. All those letters-"
"I am well aware of the letters." The admiral snapped. "One hundred and thirty seven letters. Letters you requested people write, recommendations you asked for. Hours, and hours of documents."
"But that was-"
"And that was after I agreed to your idea to expand our mailing system. All that coordination, organization, planning, preparing."
"Yes, but that-"
"All of this, it was just distractions. Trivial plots to keep our eyes off of you. Busy work so we would run around focusing on everything but your sins."
"Grandpa, I didn't-"
"And that was after you decided to cut back on the time you spent with us, wasn't it. All those evenings where your grandmother missed you and your seat sat empty at the table, because you wanted more time with him."
"No! S'il te plaît, pépère, je ne voulais rien faire de mal." Sy was openly crying now as he begged.
The admiral looked away, as if he could not bear the sight of his grandchild. "Lucky for us your scheming is what got you found out. If I had not assigned your cousin to monitor your friend, there is a good chance he never would have been close enough to figure it out. Thank you, Zephyr, for bringing this to my attention. On a perhaps tangibly related note, I have already informed Rudforest, but you are excused from any further probation duties. You are both dismissed. D'Nahsy, go to your room. I will be by to speak with you again after I have contacted your parents."
Zephyr nodded quietly. He glanced, uncertain, at his sobbing cousin. Turning away from their apparently mutual grandfather, Zephyr crossed the room to stand beside Sy. Gently he wrapped his arm over Sy's shoulder and guided him towards the exit. He spoke soothingly to him in French, as if he had not just betrayed him over a difference in ideology. For whatever reason, Sy leaned into Zephyr and allowed himself to be escorted from the room.
Jim was momentarily torn between chasing after them and giving the admiral a piece of his mind. The decision was, surprisingly, easy to make. For one thing, he knew he'd see Sy again soon, but he might not have the chance to talk to the admiral again. For another, the admiral decided to speak up and sealed his own fate.
"You are not in trouble, Hawkins, as you have done nothing illegal in the eyes of the law. However, you are henceforth forbidden from continuing this relationship, or from speaking with my grandson for the duration of the year. You are dismissed."
"I am dismissed?" Jim momentarily tried to check his temper. Momentarily. Tried. "Well you are not dismissed! Who are you to tell me who I can and can not date? I love Sy, clearly more than you ever have! Unlike you, I don't put conditions on my love for him. I'm not going to stop seeing him, and I most certainly am not letting you tell me if my relationship is over. That's between me and my boyfriend. And that's exactly what he'll stay. My boyfriend. I can not believe you could claim to care about him and then treat him like this. I would never make him cry like that. Never!"
"You and I do not have the same relationship to Da'nahsy. You are a temporary choice made in error. I am a blood relation. Da'nahsy will come around to see the errors in his ways. He is a good boy that has fallen to temptation. I do not blame you, but I will do what I must to protect him. Now, I will not tell you again. You are dismissed, leave my office."
"Shouldn't have said that, 'sir'. I'm ignoring your request. And as you've said you won't tell me it again, I guess you're just stuck in here with me."
The admiral ignored Jim and instead pressed a button on his desk, opening the intercom. "Milly, please send security to my office to remove an agitated youth. Thank you."