It was awful weather like this that made Silver thankful that he was the ship's cook. He enjoyed working on deck, but when it was this rainy and windy he much preferred his galley to being out in the elements. And from how Brigit sat on her stool peeling tubers without a single complaint he guessed she felt the same way.
The sound of water pelting the deck was almost methodical. It was soothing. He and Brigit worked without speaking. Occasionally she would hum and he would whistle in response, but otherwise the galley was filled with the sounds of raindrops thrumming overhead and the soft shf as Brigit peeled and Silver sliced.
He felt the rumbling of the engine shift and the ship's creaking changed.
Must be mooring somewhere until this storm is over.
It wouldn't be a bad call. Already he'd felt several rougher than he preferred jerks and heaves of the ship moving with the roiling Etherium. He knew how much Sidon wanted to get to their destination though, so he left any final decision up to him without complaint. Sidon was the captain, after all, and though Silver could boast a lifetime of experience on a ship, the Zora had more time under his belt than even he did and the man still looked like a pup.
There was a thundering of feet at the stairs and he looked over to watch the crew spilling into the mess hall. Everyone was sopping wet, clothing drenched and hair and fur and skin shining with water. Brigit moved her stool out of the way as everyone swarmed to sit at the tables.
"Yer early fer supper, but we c'n turn up the heat te get ye dried out faster," Silver was already reaching for the knob on the stove.
His eyes moved around the faces of the crew, who were chattering happily now that they were out of the storm.
Where's-
He didn't finish his thought before he saw Jim trot down the stairs with Sidon right behind him, and Silver immediately felt his shoulders relax. That kid was too damn thin - despite his best efforts to get him to eat more. Silver only half-joked with him that he would get blown away by the slightest breeze. He had to repeatedly fight the urge to tell Jim to put on a lifeline when the weather was less than optimal.
Jim shucked off his coat and held it out in front of himself to assess the level of damp it was.
"Hang it up o'er 'ere Jimbo. It'll dry faster closer te the stove," Silver motioned to a hook next to his own coat and the man smiled at him.
"Thanks."
Even though he'd had his coat while in the storm, Silver could see Jim's shirt was soaked through and he ushered him toward the hall his cabin was down, "Get changed outta those clothes a'fore ye get sick."
Jim started to protest, but he wouldn't hear it, and eventually the human relented and did as he'd been told. Silver caught Brigit's shirt by the back of the collar before she could dart after him, "Hold on now, missy. Give 'im some privacy fer half a minute!"
"John-"
He looked over at the captain, who'd settled at the end of a bench and was watching Jim walk away. The Zora didn't say anything and stared longingly after Jim until Silver spoke up, "Aye?"
Sidon looked back at him with a start, "I think everyone deserves a drink after the hard work getting the ship moored safely. Pass around some ale to warm everyone up?"
There was a collective shout of approval from the crew and Silver couldn't help but smile as he set Brigit to filling and passing out mugs. It was rare Sidon let the crew drink, and rarer still that he joined them for meals or even just to sit in the mess hall and catch up with them. And yet here he was, almost every day since the first time he'd come down to the galley to sit with them all. The Zora had been different lately; calmer, less aloof, more amicable and friendly, and he'd even joke occasionally.
"Looks like I have to clean my shirts," Jim's voice coming down the hall had Silver perking up again. The man came back in and started to pass by the tables toward the galley, clothed in only his pants, boots, and tricorn hat. He tickled the brim of the hat and it transformed into Morph with a giggle.
Silver heard Sidon suck in a sharp breath and noticed how his eyes followed Jim as he passed. The hint of a smile went over Jim's mouth and his eyes darted toward Sidon, but he didn't stop and continued until he joined Silver in the galley. He plopped himself on the corner of the counter.
"Thank you, ma'am," he accepted a cup of ale from Brigit with a grin and a wink. Her face lit up in a blush.
Silver continued to watch how Sidon eyed Jim and he thought back to Sidon admitting he'd fallen in love with him. He almost hoped for both of them that they would choose to have something more. Heavens knew they needed something good to happen to them after everything they'd both lived through. It was up to Jim now to let Sidon in, and from the looks that he'd watched the man shoot in the Zora's direction, he figured that it was only a matter of time now.
Brigit inched closer to Jim and Silver saw where she was looking. He almost didn't stop his groan when he saw Jim's tattoo. Part of him was worried about Brigit; she was infatuated with Jim, and now that she saw he had a tattoo - she wasn't being shy about staring at it - he was sure she'd ask for her own. Timetra would love that.
"Yer jest gonna parade 'round half naked, eh?" Silver nudged his side gently with a teasing grin. Jim smirked in response, "You saying I should go put my wet shirt back on and risk getting sick?"
"What's this?" Brigit very tentatively touched Jim's left side.
"That's a tattoo Brigit," a crew member called playfully and she stuck her tongue out at them.
Jim chuckled softly, "It's the Seven Sisters. The Pleiades constellation."
"Like your middle name?" She turned her bright eyes up toward his face in wonder and he nodded. "But…why do you have it tattooed on you?"
"Well-" Jim's eyes cut toward his jacket briefly "-my mom always wanted to see them in person and she…never got the chance. So I got this for her."
Brigit's eyebrows pulled together after a moment of silent thought, "Oh…why did you get it on your side? Papa has his tattoo for his mama over his heart."
Jim gave him a startled, yet amused, look, "Oh yeah? How come I've never seen this tattoo?"
"Tha's 'cause I don' go walkin' 'round with me shirt off," Silver jabbed Jim in his ribs. The man squirmed away with a soft chuckle at the tickling touch.
It took him a moment to collect himself before he looked back at Brigit, "See, a chest tattoo's fancy and all, but my mom used to tell me that I was attached to her left side when I was little, so now she's attached to mine."
A sad look went over his face and he sighed heavily. Brigit stared at him with giant, teary eyes to the point that Silver felt his own heart might break at how solemn his two kids had become. Jim scooted over and patted the counter and Brigit jumped up to sit next to him.
"Oh, now yer teachin' 'er bad habits! Tha' ain't fer sittin' on," Silver rolled his eyes in mock annoyance at them on his counter. They simultaneously stuck their tongues out at him and he chuckled.
"I was going to take her there one day…just like she always wanted…" Jim spoke unprompted. His eyes were on his coat again.
Silver hadn't realized that everyone was listening until Askeladd looked up from his cup, "You can still take her. Maybe we could all go after we've gotten your birthright, captain?"
All eyes turned to Sidon, who'd been gazing at Jim with a soft expression, and he jumped a little, "Oh! O-of course! It's the least I could do to repay you…especially after getting you wrapped up in all of this…"
Jim's gaze seemed to go off into another galaxy and he murmured, "Yeah…maybe after all of this…"
"What do you mean 'wrapped up in all of this'?" Timetra stood just inside the doorway from the hall of cabins. She leaned over to towel her long hair off and watched Sidon with an eyebrow raised. She glanced over into the kitchen and her other eyebrow shot up when she saw a shirtless Jim with his arm slung around Brigit's shoulders.
Jim flinched at her sharp look and quickly pulled his arm away from Brigit, eyes wide and face suddenly very pale. Silver almost said something, but he knew the warning look in his wife's eyes and he bit his tongue as she motioned for Brigit to come over to her. The Gerudo stroked her hand along their daughter's hair gently, "Captain?"
Sidon jumped, "Hm? Oh! Uh…"
A sheepish look went over his face and he glanced around at the waiting faces, "Well…I accidentally bonded the map to Jim…which is why he ended up coming with us…"
That…doesn't explain anything…
"Bonded it to him?"
"It's a 'Bonder Map'," Jim adjusted how he sat on the counter and everyone looked over at him now. He rubbed the palm of his left hand with his thumb, "It gets attached to the person who opened it. It's part of me until we get to where it leads."
"Where does it lead?" Brigit's eyes shone with wonder from where she sat next to Timetra.
"Dunno, we haven't gotten close enough for me to see it yet," Jim shrugged.
Everyone stared at him silently.
"It's…it's a map, ain't it, Jimbo? It don't tell ye where te go?" Silver finally found his voice enough to ask.
Jim's bright eyes turned in his direction, "It is…sort of. It's complicated. Bonder Maps are living in a sense. Or programmed to act as if they're living. Whoever opens them because their life source until they reach their end destination or…" he hesitated "...or they die…"
There was a tense silence before he grinned, "But as long as none of you are planning anything nefarious, I think we're fine."
That ain't something to joke about. Silver felt a pang of shame in his gut for his own past involvement in the mutiny against Captain Amelia, Dr. Doppler and…and Jim when he was just a boy. He felt eyes on him and looked up to meet Jim's gentle gaze as if he were reading Silver's mind.
"I don't…" one of the crew spoke slowly, "I don't get it…am I stupid? How does it work?"
Jim smiled kindly at them, "You're not stupid; it's a weird concept. Took me a while to wrap my head around it too when I first learned about these maps. This is only the second one I've ever worked with."
"Thought you said you were supposed to be an expert," Sidon spoke quietly and with a grin. Jim shot a teasing look back at him, "Oh, well excuse me your princeliness. When was the last time you opened one of these maps again?"
Sidon's grin turned into a smile and he raised his hands in defeat.
"You've seen another?" Brigit practically vibrated with excitement as she asked, "Did you open it? What did it lead to?"
Jim's grin faltered, "I did open it…most of the way."
"Most o' the way?"
"Tell us! Please? Please Jim?!" Brigit bounced in her seat. There was a chorus of other crew members requesting he elaborate and Jim hesitated a beat. He smiled after a moment, "Ok, ok, I'll…I'll tell you…"
Silver sensed Jim really didn't want to talk about this by the way he avoided looking at anyone, but he started to speak anyway, "I've had a…knack…of being able to open complicated maps since I was fifteen-" his eyes cut toward Silver and he gave a tiny smile.
"If ye'd gotten yer hands on tha' map sooner I'm sure ye still would'a got it open," he responded quickly. It was getting steamy in the galley from the water evaporating off everyone and he reached for the stove to turn it down.
Jim grinned a little wider now, "When I was in the Navy, I had a close friend, Professor Caolan O'Haare, who got his hands on a Bonder Map. Well...my skills happened to come in handy when he came to tell me the good news..."
He fell quiet for a moment, "He was the brains, I was just the idiot that opened the map. He knew all about the history of the maps and everything that had to be done to get whatever was at the end."
"You've been bonded before?" Sidon whispered.
"No. Caolan...he took the map before I could finish opening it and he was the one that got bonded with it. But I was...invested at that point...and I offered my ship as the one to take Caolan and the financier to the end destination-"
Someone interrupted and Silver wanted to slap them for the question they asked, "What was your ship called?"
Have you never listened when I talked about Jimbo for hours on end? I told you all about his ship and everything he did-
"The Brightstar," Jim's gaze was distant as if he were lost in memories. The faint outline of a smile went across his lips, "I loved that ship…"
"Why don't you have it anymore?" It seemed that Timetra's own curiosity had gotten the better of her as she posed her own question.
"Couldn't keep her, not after…" he trailed off for a moment before picking up again, "It wasn't just my ship. The Navy technically owned it, and when I left, I had to give it back."
Silver waited with bated breath for Jim to continue. He'd been trying to get Jim to open up to him about why he'd left the Navy and had only gotten tantalizing tidbits before Jim would clam up or get that sad distant look in his eyes and Silver felt that if he pushed it would only hurt Jim more. But now he was talking about it on his own and Silver swore that if anyone said a damn thing to make him close his mouth he'd personally throw them overboard-
"Bonder maps aren't just tricky to open. There's a catch. A price that has to be paid to finish the…ritual, I guess you could call it," Jim seemed to be speaking to no one at this point. The crew turned anxious looks in Sidon's direction.
The Zora's gaze moved downward to his hands, "I've paid my price already."
Jim's eyes had refocused and he was staring at Sidon with an unreadable expression. It took him a long time to speak again, and all that came out was a very soft, "Mm."
"So, why don't you know where we're going?"
The stillness that had settled through the room broke and Jim jerked a little, looking startled and a little dazed. Sidon made a noise in his throat and sat up straighter, "Jim said that it's like walking through fog…right?"
"Heh, you remembered that but you couldn't be bothered to remember my name the next morning?" Jim snorted. Sidon blushed.
"I didn't know whether you wanted to be called Jim or Starboy…"
"Wouldn't have mattered. You could have called me-" Jim cut himself off quickly, eyes wide and cheeks flushed, "Nevermind. It's not important. Yes, that is how it works. For me at least. I can only see so far ahead of us, and the map tugs me in the right direction."
"So that's why you had to come with us," Timetra spoke softly. She hugged around Brigit's shoulders just like Jim had earlier, and their girl looked like she might fall asleep at any moment, though she was clearly fighting to stay awake.
"Yeah. You kinda need the map at the end anyway."
"How so?" Silver offered Morph a cookie. He smiled softly, but it quickly went away when he saw the pale look on Jim's face. His boy looked as if he regretted every word that had ever come out of his mouth.
"Uh…it's kinda like the map to Treasure Planet…you need it to open the door…"
Jim was a shit liar.
If they'd been alone, Silver would have pressed until he'd weaseled it out of Jim, but he didn't think it would be wise to do that here. Not now, not with the entire crew around watching him.
"So…uh…What's on the menu?"
Oh shit! He'd forgotten all about dinner…Silver turned to call to Brigit so they could whip something together, but she was fast asleep against Timetra's side, so he grinned over at Jim instead, "Why don' ye help me get somethin' t'gether fer this lot, eh?"
Jim smiled back and hopped off the counter. Even with an audience behind them - albeit a distracted, chattering-amongst-themselves audience - it felt like old times. Silver caught around Jim's shoulders and tugged him into a hug, running his thumb over the slim shoulder, "So…'bout yer skinny ass."
"Not this again…"
"Yes 'this again', yer eatin' a double helpin' o' wha' we make an' I won' listen te no arguments."
"Don't waste it on me."
Silver nearly smacked him upside the head, "Don' ye ever suggest tha' ye eatin' yer fill o' a meal is a waste."
"Yes, sir ."
"I'm gonna throw ye out the longboat launch if ye call me tha' again."
Jim chuckled softly. He leaned into the embrace Silver still had around his shoulders. They stood like that for a moment before Silver started to pull away, stopping only when Jim whispered, "Thanks, dad."
His stupid heart. He still wasn't used to Jim saying that.
"Wha' fer, Jimbo?"
The man smiled very softly with a small shake of his head, "Nothing in particular…just…thanks. For everything."