Treasure Planet: Jim x Kael (OC)

Eighteen

**Warning! There's light swearing!**

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          I must've fallen asleep at some point while sitting with Jim, because I was startled awake by Dr. Doppler stressfully asking our captain, "And what? What? We must stay together and what!?"

          I winced, the bump on my head throbbing, as I groggily sat up. It was darker, now that this planet's sun had dipped below the horizon line. My ears rang loudly from the racket of Doppler's frantic questioning.

          Her voice was almost too quiet for me to hear, over the slowly dimming noise. "Doctor, you have... wonderful eyes..."

          "She's lost her mind!" He exclaimed, not believing her in the slightest.

          I rubbed my eyes, surprised that Smollot was still awake. She probably needed to sleep more than I did.

          "Well, you gotta help her!" Jim said, his voice not as strained as the doctor's.

          Doppler wildly swung his arms around, tension wound into his entire being, as he hurriedly explained. "Dang it, Jim! I'm an astronomer, not a doctor. I mean, I am a doctor, but I'm not that kind of doctor. I have a doctorate. It's not the same thing. You can't help people with a doctorate! You just sit there, and you're useless!" His shoulders slumped, defeated.

          Jim patted him on the back, trying to soothe the stress he emanated. "It's okay Doc. It's... It's alright."

          I stood, brushing little leaves of moss off my clothes. My eyes slid to the opening in the wall, a soft glow of green spread across the sky. I made my way over, resting my elbows on the edge. I shouldn't have been surprised to see the light of a campfire coming from the tree line. Of course they wouldn't let us leave. Not without the map.

          I let out a yawn, shaking off the last grips of sleep as the sounds of metal footsteps walked behind me. "Yeah Doc! Jimmy knows exactly how to get out of this. It's just, it's just Jimmy has this knowledge of things!" BEN said, trying to cheer up distressed Doppler.

          I felt Jim's presence next to me. A wrinkle of worry made its way between his brows. Honestly, we all were probably feeling worried. The entire situation seemed hopeless. Pirates demanding something we didn't have, stranded on a planet inhabited by only a kooky old robot, our captain needing medical help. We were dealt a losing hand.

          "Jim, any thoughts at all?" BEN whispered.

          He sighed, looking out at our options. "Without the map, we're dead. If we try to leave, we're dead. If we stay here..."

          "We're dead!" Morph chimed in happily. "We're dead, we're dead, we're dead!"

          Jim sighed again, frustration heavy on his shoulders. I swallowed, simply placing my hand on his. "Hey..." He looked at me, his face full of questioning and surprise. "It's going to be alright." I said, trying to believe it myself. No, I had to believe it. Otherwise we'd die without a fight, and I'd be damned if I'd let Silver's crew have the pleasure of killing us without giving a few scars of our own.

          He smiled softly, turning his hand up to weave his fingers with mine. "Yeah..."

          Although my heart skipped a few beats, I didn't stop holding his hand. It was warm.

          BEN quietly "Awwed!" to himself, putting his hands together in a swoon.

          I yawned, ignoring him, and leaned my elbow on the edge of the opening and rested my chin in my free hand. My fingers brushed against where Jim had kissed earlier, reminding me that that had happened. Right.