Treasure Planet II: Cursed Man's Riches

Wrong Turn

"Sophie, can you take this to the table in the corner?" Sarah asked as she handed over a platter with a small dish and purp juice. "Sure." Sophie smiled accepting the platter and walking to the table, reading over the order receipt. "Spicy lentil stew and a glass of purp juice?" She asked, the stranger grunted from beneath his hat, taking it as a yes she set them down on the table quietly, suddenly the stranger grabbed her by the wrist causing her to wince slightly through teeth, "Pennant." He spoke, something was eerily familiar about his voice. Sophie tugged lightly on his grip, hoping someone would notice but the place was packed with hesitation she turned to face the stranger again, all he wore was black in contrast to his pale skin. "You will be helping me very soon." Sophie frowned in confusion, there was no way she was going to help him! "Let go of me." She hissed in response to his smirking tone, he released her wrist without argument and began eating as if nothing had happened. Jim sauntered down the stairs at this point and frowned at Sophie's unusually quick pace as she headed into the kitchen where he could hear B.E.N's obnoxious singing. He stood on the foot of the stairs for a few moments to see if there was anything amiss, nobody was out of place, 'Strange.' He thought before following Sophie, maybe she had been clumsy again and was embarrassed.

He found her washing dishes with Morph and Wester, one of the kitchen porters his mother had hired. Wester had the looks of a brute, on the brink of being six feet tall and built like a house but in reality he was a gentle giant, Jim wasn't sure about him being around Sophie at first but they acted like brother and sister with a shared interest in embroidery. "Jimmy!" B.E.N announced loudly causing Sophie to drop the plate in her hands after a few seconds of frantically trying to keep ahold of it, "Oh.... Sorry." B.E.N winced awkwardly, watching as Wester and Sophie cleaned up the mess, "What brings you here, Jimmy?" Jim puffed out his cheeks at the nickname, he hated it more so than being called James. "Just seeing Sophie." He replied, the blonde slowed her movements to a stop at her name, she looked worried. "I've got it. Go." Wester smiled kindly, he was rather good about picking up feelings unlike B.E.N, "Oh no! You two are not splitting up?! I've already picked out your cake!" He fretted opening a cookbook to a picture of a wedding cake that he had circled in red pen. "B.E.N." Jim hissed in warning lunging, but missing, at the robot while Sophie's eyes widened. "What cake?" She slowly asked, now very much intrigued and rather excited about the idea. It wasn't her birthday anytime soon, nor was it their anniversary since they only celebrated it three months ago. "Er. Nothing." Jim quickly spoke, gently tugging her out of the room by the wrist with her questioning him all the way, B.E.N rubbed his metal knuckles on his chest in a casual motion as he leaned on the counter, "Well... good thing I didn't slip up." Wester rolled his eyes trying not to laugh at the robot's idiocy - it did make working at the Benbow fun.

"So B.E.N is just planning our 'wedding' on his own accord?" Sophie asked with suspicion laced in her voice, Jim nodded keeping his eyes on hers to display his honesty. "Hmm... okay." Sophie smiled, deciding to buy his story. It did seem like B.E.N to do something as eccentric as this, she adjusted herself on the bench as she waited for Jim to speak to her. "What happened earlier?" He asked playing with her fingers, one of the few ways he would openly show affection. Her manicured nails and soft hands fascinated him and he couldn't resist touching them with his own. "Just a rude customer, that's all." Sophie replied, surprising herself with her quick answer which Jim nodded to, kissing her knuckles. "Hm." Jim hummed, a silence fell between them, it was comfortable. Being rather quiet people Jim and Sophie fell into silence often, though either Morph or B.E.N found inventive ways to end it.

Sophie jumped suddenly when she felt two lips pressing against hers, certainly not Jim's but Morph. It didn't take long for Jim to jump with a scold, not that Morph cared as he raced around the small garden with Jim angrily chasing him, Sophie laughed as the pink blob darted between Jim's legs, over his head and whizzed around his body. With Jim's temper it made the scene hilarious as he was nearly falling over his own limbs trying to catch Morph, eventually he fell to the ground in a huff but to Morph it looked like he had been knocked out. He whined sadly as he got close to Jim's face, purring in hope that he would awaken, Sophie played along but kept her distance - it wouldn't be the first time they had clashed heads. "Jim? Are you ok?" She asked as his eyes shot open, "Ha! Busted!" He yelled as he caught a hold of Morph and ticked mercilessly for a few moments. "No kissing my girlfriend." Jim scolded lightly, letting go of Morph to take Sophie's waist with a small grin, "Only I can." Sophie blushed darkly and let him press his lips against hers, wrapping her arms around his neck to deepen it.