He smiled and squeezed her shoulder. "It's all right, Mom. I don't care; you just enjoy your grand-opening." It was true that he didn't mind; though the party was for him just as much as it was for her, he was happy to get a little time away from the crowd. Being part of a group instead of running solo was still a little too weird to get used to.
He grabbed the flat dolly they'd gotten to bring supplies into the inn and wheeled it out into the streets. He walked with it sedately toward the pier-- until he was out of sight of the inn's windows. Then, the second he knew his mom couldn't look out and see him, he swung the dolly around and jumped onto it and kicked himself into motion, sending himself flying down the hill toward the docks. It wasn't as good as solar surfing, but he still thought it was still a hell of a great way to relax, even if he reached the painted boat way too soon.
"Hey, anybody here?" he called out as he hopped off the dolly. "I'm here to pick up whatever my mom ordered from you!"
"Wasn't expectin' you to get here so fast, Jimbo," a voice said from within the boat, and Jim's eyes widened at the familiarity of it. "Was expecting I'd have to sit out here at least an hour before anyone noticed this boat and realized that no one was coming up from it." The first thing Jim saw was the glow of a bionic eye down the dark stairwell leading into the storage area of the ship, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps mixed with the whirr of machinery, and then John Silver was standing before him. "Well, Jimbo? Aren't you gonna greet me?"
Jim flung himself at him. "Silver! What are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me you were coming? I was just..." 'Just imagining your face in the clouds' would probably sound weird, he realized, and caught himself just in time, instead finishing with, "...just thinking about you."
Silver was hugging him back, one of his great pressing embraces that made Jim feel like his entire body was being engulfed and yet were somehow never at all uncomfortable for all that Jim had never liked being touched. "Could I keep away on such an important day?" he asked. "I told you, Jimbo, when your day of glory came I wanted to be there to see it. Now let me get a look at you." He held Jim out at arm's length, taking in his pristine white uniform. "I'll admit, lad, that military getup suits you better than a pirate's rags."
Jim plucked at his cuffs self-consciously. "It's fancy, but not really comfortable," he said, then turned his attention to the boat they were standing on. "What about you? Don't tell me you've opened up a vineyard."
Silver laughed out loud. "Nay, Jimbo, though if I had gone straight taking a job where I spend my days surrounded in wine wouldn't be a half bad way to do it. The owner of this tub will wake tomorrow with a pounding headache and his boat safely where he left it, just lighter one shipment. Speakin' of which, shouldn't you be getting that back to your mother before she starts wondering what's taking you?"
"This soon?" Jim asked. "We just got to see each other again."
"Hey now, Jimbo," Silver said, resting one of his huge hands on top of Jim's head. "I'll be waiting here until you can get away tonight. There's not a hurry."
Jim kicked at the deck of the ship, then nodded reluctantly. He hated to leave already when they were finally getting the chance to see each other again, but he guessed it would be okay if he was coming back again. "Okay," he said. "Where's mom's wine?"
Silver's smile was edged with an amusement Jim didn't notice as he gestured to a stack of crates already on deck. "I've already prepare them all for her, lad, you just need to load them up."
Sarah was surprised by how quickly Jim got back with the wine. He was panting hard as he ran up to the backdoor of the inn, shoving the loaded dolly in front of him. "Don't tell me you ran all this way," she said as she opened the door for him. "We weren't in that much of a rush, Jimmy. There are a few bottles left."
"I know, Mom," he said, swiping the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. "But I had to ask you something! That boat, the one the wine came in? It's got some insanely cool modifications, and the captain said if I came back after dropping these off he'd let me take a ride in it. You don't mind, do you Mom?"
"The delivery-boy is a spacer?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. At his nod she drummed her fingers on top of one of the crates of wine thoughtfully, studying him. He seemed incredibly excited about whatever it was he'd seen on that boat, far more so than she could imagine being about a powerful engine or some fancy solar sails, but then she'd never shared the passion her men had for ships. "All right," she said, throwing up her hands. "I'll make an excuse to Delbert and Amelia for you, though you know they were hoping you'd have more time to play with your godchildren."
"I'm not shipping out again for at least another week, Mom," he said, already edging for the door. "I'll have plenty of time to see the babies after tonight. Bye!" And then he was out the door.
Sarah laughed to herself softly as she pried open the lid to the top carton and pulled out one of the bottles. Then the laughter died on her lips when she saw the label. It was far finer than any of the wine she'd ordered; having the inn built had cost too much even with the treasure Jim had brought home for her to buy very expensive supplies. She checked the label on the box, making sure that it was addressed to her, then sat the bottle aside and pulled out a few others, checking them as well, but they were all of the same high quality. "Jim!" she called out the door, "There's been some mistake!"
But her son was already out of sight.
Jim let himself flop down on the deck of the boat as soon as he got back to it, breathing even harder after running all the way back. Maybe he should have paced himself a little better, but every minute that he spent away from the boat was a minute that he wouldn't get to spend with Silver before the man had to leave again, and once he was gone Jim had no idea how long it might be before they'd get to see each other again.
"I thought you'd be staying through the rest of your party, lad," Silver said, approaching from the front of the boat. "What will they think, the man of the hour vanishing like this?"
Jim grinned up at him. "I only care what the Captain and Dr. Doppler think about me out of all of them," he said, "and neither of them would care. Anyway, the party's about the inn opening."
"Hard to believe that's all it's about, Jimbo, when that uniform's still sparkling new." Silver moved to raise the boat's sails. "Get to the helm, boy. It's time to set out."
Jim grinned as he dragged himself back to his feet, though as soon as he was on them he became glad the boat was set up so the captain could sit while sailing it. "Sure you want me there? I don't remember you being all that thrilled with my way of flying."
Silver laughed at the memory of their wild ride through the shooting star. "This time I know what to expect, Jimbo. Just don't go blasting off until I'm sitting down."
Jim kindly did as he'd asked, though it was always hard for him to resist taking off as fast as he could the moment he had a chance to take to the sky. "Where do you want to go?" he asked as Silver sat down heavily beside him.
"Into the clouds, Jimbo. Where there's no fear of the military spotting us while we're trying to speak, yourself excepted of course."
"Aye aye!" Jim replied smartly, then fired the rockets up to full blast. This time Silver didn't topple back at the suddenly speed, instead imitating Jim, leaning forward and bracing himself against the wind. They shot straight into the clouds but didn't stop there; he would spend the entire time they had together twitching to start up the thrusters again if he stopped after such a quick flight. Instead he flew across Montressor, so familiar with the layout of his home that even the haze of clouds obscuring his vision couldn't keep him from knowing where he was, moving in wide circles until he finally settled down over an area he knew was abandoned. "We should be safe here."
Silver smiled at him broadly, although he looked like he'd left his stomach behind them miles before. "Ah, Jimbo, I've never known one who could fly like you. Are you sure I can't convince you to go off with me?"
"Are you sure you can't just get out of the pirate business? Captain Amelia still needs a new first mate once the babies are old enough to be left alone with Doppler, or brought on the ship, or whatever she's planning on doing with them when she goes back to work. Or a cook. Or... pretty much any position you could want, since her whole crew turned out to be... you know. It might look bad in my records if I quit the navy right after joining to go back to being her cabin boy, but I know she'd be happy to have me back... and you too."
"Oh, Jimbo," Silver said, rubbing the back of his head. "You said that, but Captain Amelia is a fine, upstanding, citizen. Not the sort who'd let someone she knows to be a mutinous pirate roam free on her ship."
"She would," Jim insisted. "You were on our side in the end, she knows that! She didn't throw you in the brig with the others, did she? And she didn't even try catching you after you left; if she was okay with letting you go, why would care about your coming back?"
"You're letting your friendship blind you. Turning a blind eye when a man who's helped you escapes is a different thing than hiring him back again. You can ask her yourself when I'm gone, she'll say the same thing."
"But you can't go again, because..." Jim gathered up all his courage and shot to his feet, then leaned in to kiss Silver before the man could realize what he was planning, though it seemed he wasn't being as startling as he'd expected because it was only a moment before Silver began kissing him back.
It was a little more awkward that Jim thought it should be, Silver's mouth was so large that Jim's lips couldn't cover it properly, and it was lucky that his huge nose was much flatter than a humans or Jim would have to tilt his head so far to the side that his neck would ache just to avoid it. But it was right, right down to the heavy gut Jim was leaning against, the massive hand that covered most of his back, the way that he needed to lean up even though he was standing and Silver was sitting, and the feel of cold metal fingers against his cheek. "Don't go," he asked again, "because who knows if we'll ever get a chance to do that again if you do."
"Oh, Jimbo. You could do much better than an old pirate like me," Silver said, though he didn't move his hand from Jim's back.
"You're the only person who ever believed that I could be anything more than a screwed up kid who was probably going to grow up to be an even more screwed up felon," Jim replied, dropping his head to Silver's shoulder. "Who could be better?"
"Lad, I can't stay. And I can't go back to Captain Amelia's ship." Jim's entire body tensed and he clenched his teeth so hard that his jaw began to ache, then Silver raised his other hand to hug Jim to him. "But maybe there're other things a pirate too old to pillage could do if he decided to go straight, somewhere where he won't need to fear the law finding him. I recall us speaking of one earlier, if I could figure out how you're supposed to go about getting wine out of grapes. If that were too happen, could I expect you to come callin' when you find yourself flying near wherever I settle?"
"In a second," Jim said, excitement already overpowering the wariness he'd have always had in the past at someone apparently bending to his wishes. "Anywhere in the galaxy, just call and I'll come."
"I can't promise it now, Jimbo. I've been at this job for an awful long time to give it up now. But..." he brushed his fingers across Jim's cheek again, studying him closely. "There ain't much left in this universe I want now, aside from the chance to be there to watch you in your rise to glory." He slipped his fingers around to the back of Jim's neck and pulled him forward to kiss him again.
It was still awkward--Jim expected that it always would be unless there was some species-changing magic in the universe that he wouldn't really be interested in anyway--but it made sense that within his life imperfection would be the only thing that could possibly be perfect.