Treasure Planet Fanfic: a Home in the Stars

the Etherium

After several days of asking around at the Montressor Spaceport, they discovered a sailor on a merchant ship that had heard rumours of John Silver being sighted in the very area that the merchant ship was headed to. They met with him in an inn, one not quite as well-kept as the Benbow, Selina noticed, as the sailor told them what he'd heard.
"He was said ter be a real tough fella," the sailor said, setting his flask down on the table after taking a long swig, the tentacles on his face twitching as he spoke. "Wouldn't take no fer an answer until that ship would give him passage ter the nearest port. His little skiff was losin' gas, ya see. Real tough fella, he was." And on and on, until Jim had finally been able to get a word in edgewise and demanded passage on the boat.
"Well, ya see, young master," the sailor said uncomfortably, his gaze flicking back and forth between Jim and Selina. "Er, well, women folk ain't allowed on accounta it bein' bad luck an' all."
Selina snorted and rolled her eyes. "That's nothing but an outdated superstition."
"Er, well...it's not only bad luck fer us, but for 'er, too. Rough crews on these merchant ships, ya see. Wouldn't be safe for 'er."
Selina couldn't argue with that, but ignored Jim's request for her to go back to the inn, insisting that she could simply pretend to be a boy. A loose set of pants and a shirt and a cap for her to tuck her hair under was sufficient. She now looked like a fourteen-year-old boy instead of a girl of seventeen.
Getting passage on the ship had been easy enough, with Selina traveling under the pseudonym of William, which she reluctantly told Jim was her father's middle name.
Overall, life on the merchant ship, the Renown, wasn't as bad as it could have been. Disguised as a boy and working in the kitchen peeling vegetables, Selina was mostly undisturbed in between mealtimes. A constant exception to that rule was Jim, but that was nothing new. He kept stopping by the galley to get extra food, always giving her a surreptitious wink as he left. She would roll her eyes and wave a knife at him to get out, but she always found herself smiling after his visits. Once, she even caught herself humming the old sailor's lullaby that her mother used to sing to her on stormy nights. She had paused in her peeling, lost in thought, until the cook had snapped at her to get back to work.
She spent her nights in the kitchen, wary of the barracks. One night, she left her bed of cotton sacks and crept to the small round window set into the wall at knee level, probably in consideration of the height of the cook, who was the size and general shape of a primate.
Selina sat with her back resting against a barrel and gazed out the window. The beautiful nebulae that surrounded the ship was made of rippling currents of violet and indigo, a colorful backdrop against the planets and stars. Looking at the night sky back home had never failed to soothe her, and out in space, the effect was only amplified.
A sudden sound of footsteps on the stairs jolted her from near-sleep, and she quickly reached for the knife she kept hidden at her belt. When it was Jim who appeared in the doorway and not some thieving crew member, she heaved a sigh of relief, her hand dropping back to her side.
"Warn me next time!" She scolded quietly.
"Sorry," Jim said, easing himself to the floor across from her. Morph flew sleepily from Jim's pocket and settled himself on Selina's shoulder. "You couldn't sleep either?"
"No," she sighed, gently stroking Morph with one finger. "I'm starting to think that this is a waste of time. We haven't sighted another ship in weeks now, and we aren't any closer to finding Silver."
She hurriedly rubbed away the tears that had been threatening to spill from her eyes. She noticed Jim watching her and stared back at him defiantly. His blue eyes were solemn as they gazed into hers. She could understand what all the girls back at the Benbow saw in him. The long hair that framed his face, those eyes, his smile...she realized that her gaze had softened and lingered a bit too long, and she hastily looked away.
Jim laughed quietly to himself and scooted slightly closer to her. She glared at him, and he held up his hands in surrender. "I just wanted to share the barrel!" He said, grinning. "My back hurts from working at the mast all day."
She rolled her eyes and moved closer to the wall, making room for him to sit next to her. With both their backs to the barrel, she could feel, rather than see, his presence beside her. She focused on the solar system outside the window, trying to ignore him. She had been lost in thought for nearly an hour before she was abruptly reminded of Jim as his breathing pattern changed. She glanced over and saw that his head was tucked against his chest, eyes closed, his breathing deep and even. He shifted a little and started to slowly fall sideways towards her.
Instinctively, she reached under his shoulders to keep him from falling on the cold floor. Then, unsure why exactly she was doing it, she lowered his head to her lap. The warm weight against her legs was a similar kind of comfort to a cat being curled up there. It was almost as soothing as the space outside, and she couldn't bring herself to wake him.
She fingered a long strand of his hair, so smooth and silky, unlike her own, which was tangled and rough from constantly being under the cap. She studied the tiny braid on the back of his head and the buzz cut beneath his long mop. His face was almost beautiful as the multi-colored light from the window moved across it. He shifted in his sleep, his mouth open slightly as a thin trail of drool made its way down his chin. Selina chuckled to herself and rolled her eyes, planning how she was going to admonish him later for getting drool on her.
She drifted off into blissful sleep not long after that, and dreamed of being back at home with her parents, a reunited, happy family once more. Her dream self blushed at the sight of Jim there too, laughing with Silver as they exchanged stories. Lost in sleep, she never saw Jim's eyes open silently as he gazed up at her face before he too, truly fell asleep and began to dream.