Safe

I'll Always Be Here

Silver did not doubt you about what he said about keeping his eye on you and Jim. He woke you early the next day, not giving you time to tell Jim the terrifying news you had dreamt and discovered the night before.

No matter the job, Silver always had both of you on your toes; scrubbing, mopping, washing, wiping, cutting, chopping, tying ropes, and etc. He had you both busy almost every minute that you had no time to speak to Jim alone without Silver watching guard--not even whilst working!(You were always so wary of anyone listening while working; discussions about your memory was a private thing between you and Jim). By the look of Silver's smug smile whenever he looked down at you both, it seemed as if he had been waiting to do this since he met you.

The worst job so far was scraping dead barnacles on the ship's hull. It was such a dangerous task, that if you were to scrape just one barnacle off--those things stuck fast like super glue--it could send you flying off to your death. It took hours, but between you and Jim--and a little help of Stygian's plasma charges, even though they are deadly, he used them with minimum charge--you managed to scrape off a majority of the barnacles by early afternoon.

Your arms were incredibly sore when you finished and your fingers hurt immensely from gripping a scraping tool hard. The only minor job you had was chopping and slicing vegetables for meals. Even then, you couldn't talk to Jim because Silver was watching you like a hawk.

There were times where Silver would give you easy jobs that you would complete it quicker than he. For instance, he had you and Jim on a nest on the stern to teach you how to tie nooses. In just half a second, you and Jim would complete your noose before ditching hurriedly to be alone. This was one attempt to ditch and you succeeded and walked away together to the forecastle to be alone.

You had a small chat, but even then, you couldn't tell Jim about the dream you had with your family. It has been almost several days and, though you haven't had more dreams since, except reliving that memory until it was accurate, you would burst into tears. It was minor thanks to Silver for keeping your mind half-focused on your task.

You were in the kitchen one evening, preparing a stew of yours. You and Jim were given the task to make dinner. It was a calm work day, but because your mind was burned with the memory of your tragedy, you needed to give yourself something to do or else you'll just jump off the ship in grief.

As you chopped some meat, you heard the heavy and uneven footsteps of Silver coming down the stairs.

You quickly rolled your sleeves down to hide your tattoos just as he and Morph appeared in the kitchen.

"It smells lovely in 'ere," he said as he hobbled over. "Where's Jimbo? Why ain't he helpin' the lass? That's not gentlemanly of him. Seeing as you two stick together like ye had tree sap between ya."

You tried not to look fazed by his comment and merely glanced at him before returning to work. Morph flew over to you a chirped. You raised your head and grinned briefly.

"Jim's not a very excellent cook. I sent him off because he needed the fresh air. Besides, I wish to be alone," you replied and threw in the vegetables into a sheet pan with chopped meat.

"Oh?" Silver asked curiously. "Why's that? Jimbo botherin' ya?"

"No, no. I just...I just have a lot on my mind."

There was a moment of silence as you chopped some vegetables furiously. In your peripheral, Silver inched closer and looked at you with a hint of worry on his face. "I don't mean to intrude, lass, but I 'ave noticed ye've been lookin' under the weather lately. Could it be something is amiss?"

"No." You laughed haphazardly and glanced at Silver with a smile. "Why would you think that? Jim and I--I mean I am fine." Tears began to well up in your eyes as you recalled the stressing thoughts of your dream and your feelings towards Jim.