Forever Neverland (Peter Pan x James Hook)

Chapter 11

It was past lunchtime when Hook finally ventured out of his cabin the next day. He felt terrible; not just physically but also emotionally. He'd barely managed to sleep at all so he was tired and cranky, and if he hadn't been starving, he would have remained in bed the whole day. And it was all Pan's fault. How he loathed that scurvy child.

As he stepped out onto the deck, he stopped dead in his tracks, staring around at all the random supplies piled up there. Fruits, vegetables – even bread; what the hell was all that doing here?

Of course he knew Pan had left it there, but why?

"Pan?" James called, looking up into the sky, but there was no sight of the flying boy.

Was this supposed to be some kind of apology for last night...?
The thought made James feel somewhat strange; it was a mixture of appreciation and disgust. He didn't want Pan to do things for him... But on the other hand, these were things he would otherwise not be able to get. Had Pan stolen them from the Indians? No, surely not... Pan didn't steal... He was gallant and much better than that, wasn't he?

Then James remembered last night; alright... not gallant but insolent and naughty. Who knew what the child was capable of...

Not that it really mattered – Hook also stole from the Indians so who cared, but still; the thought of Pan doing something 'criminal' for him made him feel bad. Was he corrupting the child?
No wait... Pan was corrupting himself because James hadn't done anything out of the ordinary whatsoever... This was all Pan's doing.

With a heavy sigh, James shook his head. Whatever, he wasn't going to let perfectly good food go to waste just because he didn't like the person who had brought it over.
As he began carrying the supplies to his rather bare kitchen, he tried not to think of the motivations behind Pan's actions; were they good or bad?

His initial instinct had been to be suspicious – maybe Pan had poisoned the food... But no. Why would he? If he wanted him dead, he could have easily done so last night, so harm was probably not what Pan intended with this gesture. But then what...?
It couldn't really be that this was the boy's way of... trying to be amiable?

Was Pan developing some sort of feelings for him...?
The thought nearly made James throw up. That couldn't really be, could it? Pan didn't have feelings – it was part of the riddle of his being, wasn't it? At least James had always thought that's how it was.

Yet, this was the second kind gesture from the boy – James still hadn't forgotten about his sword, for which he had never thanked the child. Should he...? No. Of course not. That would give him the wrong impression. It would give him the impression that he was grateful... Which he was, but he didn't want him to know that because he hated him and wanted him to stay away. Didn't he?

The last time he had been this conflicted, it had been about his older brother, Edward, whom he had both cared for and yet hated for his terrible personality that had corrupted him and turned him into the vile person he had become. It wasn't as if James didn't know what a scoundrel he was - he just didn't care anymore - but there had once been a time when he had cared about it and been unhappy about it. There had once been a time he had tried to be a respectable, decent human being.

~*~

The fact that Hook had accepted his presents meant something good, right?
Peter smiled delighted as he peeked over the side of the ship onto the deck where the pirate was stashing away everything Peter had left there.
Did that mean they were on good terms again?

'Again? When have we ever been on good terms?' Peter asked himself surprised; did he even want to be on good terms with Hook...?

With a sigh, Peter resigned to denial; alright, fine... So he wanted to befriend Hook, even if he couldn't explain why. Maybe because he felt lonely after everyone had left him? But if that were so, why didn't he feel compelled to return to Earth to find a few new friends...?