Alright, here goes nothing.
"So, lemme get this straight," - I interrupt the Captain just as he rounds up his flashback, -"you wanted everyone to know I was special by sacrificin' me? What for? I already was your first mate then, so to speak..."
"You still don't get it?" - he stares at me. Works every time, I don't know why. - "Dead men tell no tales, remember?"
"Yeah, but why-"
"For nobody asking-" - he stops midway, a strange glow in his eyes. Simon kneads my hand again.
"It's ok, buddy," - I whisper, as we hug, when suddenly:
"Well, there's somebody I would like you to see," - our eyes meet, "to discourage any further questions..."
****
He points to a far left corner, right behind my back. I squint a bit - if only I had both my eyes here - and see something. No, someone. I come closer. Tall, lanky-ish, nicely dressed. And I'd recognize that red braid from anywhere:
"Jim! Jim, hi..." I rush over to the boy: "How? Where? Whenever did you get here!"
He turns around, his tiny, bespectacled eyes looking at me in sheer disbelief:
"Excuse me? I- I'm not sure if we-" - he also doesn't recognize me until I almost ram into him, "Whoa there! Please be care-" - and then silence. That awkward feeling, when you've met each other, but it was way back when... I circle around him, trying to see at least a drop of recognition, when:
"... Mr Bones?!" - Jim scoots away a bit, "B-but how... I thought you were-"
"Uh..." - I touch his hand, - "feel this?"
He stares at his palm absent-mindedly: "N-not really... W-wait a minute, are you a-?" - he jolts back up, having understood everything. This is even more awkward, I think, echoing his move. There must be an explanation.
"Is there any, um, r-reason for all this?" - Jim asks, playing with his braid as he says it.
"Well..." - I take a deep breath, about to disclose everything, when, "Aiyeeshoo!"
Eesh, now this sure is the wrong time for a fit to happen... but it still does. I just can't help having one when I feel it coming. And that's what helps Jim see the real me. I can hear him saying "bless you" after every sneeze (five in total, I always check the number), as he fumbles in his pockets, looking for at least a tissue, at most - a hanky. Finally, he manages to retrieve a tiny paper tissue, that he tosses over to me, my fit slowly dying out:
"Phew, now I get it!" - he sighs in relief for the worst being over, "Were you also summoned by Mr Cherkassky?"
"Wait-wait, wha???" - I stare at him for a bit, somewhat muzzled by that hanky. Having thought everything over, I explain the whole story: I'm here to tell David that I'm mad at how I had been treated this whole time, and would love an explanation to be found.
"What about you, Jim?" - I ask, once finished. - "You can't have been sitting here for long. He wasn't here when I came, so..."
"Oh, really?" - Jim looks around, trying to see if we're being watched. - "But where could he be?"
"No idea," - I look to my left. A memory comes into my mind as I say that, - "Hey... Jim?"
"Yes, Mr Bones?" - He reaches out to me, trying to comfort me in case of another conundrum. But everything is way darker than that: "Jim, you know," - I stare at the ground somewhat emptily, - "there's something I'd love to tell ya."
"Really? What is it?"
I sigh: "I... I don't know how to put this well, but I wish I had told you that earlier. I'm sorry. For having disturbed you. For having broken everything your Mom and you loved. For using your kindness to protect my own weak heart. I-", - I move my gaze to Jim's chest, my hands in front of me, like a priest, - "I'm not sure if I had potentially ruined your life or what. I just can't contain this anymore..." - I finally look up at him, waiting for my sentence. He must be mad to be reminded of things long gone, to see the perpetrator right in front of him, humiliated and empty.
But instead, something unexpected happens. He reaches out to take my hand and starts petting it, saying: "Mr Bones, you did absolutely nothing wrong."
I can't believe him saying that. There must be a catch.
"I know you were rather destructive back when that happened."
"Yes, I deserve to be dead for all that." - I stare solemnly at the ground.
"No, you don't," - he keeps petting it, like Simon would. That is quite unusual, but I open up to hear more: "I know you were having some sort of fight back there, when you had that fit. Somebody must have provoked you for nothing. They were simply after you and you were defending yourself. The means could have used some work, but the circumstances... they just left you to fend for yourself. And you did everything you could in that situation. I absolutely understand your guilt, but you don't need to worry about this anymore." "Wait... huh?" - I look up again, hands trembling, but he calms them by a simple stroke and then moves away: "You did have some money on hand when you were there, right?"
"Y-yeah?"
"Well, we used some of that money to repair the inn, and then, when we followed the map you had-"
I hide my head in my hands, slowly rolling onto the floor, knees towards me. Did he have to remind me of that? Just why? Why???
"A-are you okay?!" - Jim stares at me as I whimper. I can hear Simon shushing him, telling him about how wrong he was to mention that traumatic event in such a light, - "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry!" - there's some undefined rustling as the boy rocks to my side and out of it. In and out. In and out-
"-chu! A-achoo! Tchu!"
Wow, that sure is weird. I crawl back up, still trembling, to see Jim sneeze quietly into his arm. Wish I could do it like that, heh... I scoot in a bit closer, as he is finished: "Gesundheit, buddy." - I smile at him. There's nothing wrong in having a fit....
"Thank you..." - he blushes as he tries to wipe his nose on that same arm, but it only gives way to another- "-kshu! Excuse me..."
Can I say he is kinda... cute, sneezing like that? I never thought people could be this cute, especially in my situation - I'm one hell of a gonk, compared to him. Jealousy, y'know?
"It sure is dusty here, isn't it?" - Jim asks, feeling his fit finally calm down.
"You tell me, buddy!" - I flap my hands somewhat excitedly, - "Been holding it in the whole time!"
"Oh, uh..."
****
"Alright, enough with the sappy stuff!" - Flint appears out of completely nowhere, grabbing Jim's arm.
"Mr., please, let go!" - the boy screams as he struggles to get free, -"There must have been some kind of mistake!"
"You!"
I stare at the ghost, fists ready to plummet him into the ground:
"Get. Down. Flint," - I take a couple of deep breaths, but there's nothing to avoid my anger now, " Let. Go. Of. My. BOY!"
I fling my hand at him, which he, rather cheerfully, deflects:
"Oh, what are you gonna do to me, vandal? First you ruin this boy's life and then beg to save him?"
"HANDS OFF!"
"Mr- wait," - Jim stares at me, shocked at the reveal, - "so is that Flint?"
"Why, yes, my boy," - the Captain nods at him boastfully, - "I am that Captain, whose honor you were upholding. And this chicken here-"
I growl, hastily trying to find a way to pounce at him, but to no avail, for him having covered Jim in chains so close to himself, that I'd have to risk hurting my new ally by accident.
"You let go of him now!"
"-just tried to break into your place without even asking for permission. You do remember what he did to your home, right?"
"It was just self-defence!" - we say in unison, just before Flint carries Jim to another corner of the room.
"Jim! Wait!" - I try to run, but find myself almost glued into place by the Captain's magic, - "What the hell???"
There's nothing left for me but to yell "I'll free you from here, I promise!", thank God my voice allows me to do that.
The jerk eventually comes back.
"So, chicken," - he stares at me mockingly, - "got anything to say for yourself?"
"If you're gonna kill him, I-ghah!" - I can't help sneezing again. And again. Can't David ever tidy his own realm???
"Just as expected."