Into Oblivion: Treasure Planet Jim x Reader (**under heavy revisions**)

A Journey Ahead

After the rest of the customers left and the cafe was officially closed, you joined Doppler at his table and enjoyed the last meal served for the day, one Sarah had made as payment for your help. You offered to help with the last of the dishes once you had finished, but Sarah held up a hand to stop you.

"I can't thank you enough for your help today, Y/n. I can take everything else from here, why don't you take some time to yourself and explore upstairs? No one's booked a room for the night so feel free to get some rest too if you want," Sarah suggested. You grinned at the woman and thanked her for her generosity, leaving the last of the cleaning in her hands while you began to roam the Inn.

The place really was pretty nice for its simplicity. It was spacious, yet cozy, and had an overall aura of homey comfort. You could feel the tension in your body slowly melt away as you made your way upstairs and began to roam one of the rooms, plopping onto the queen sized bed. Taking a deep breath, a long sigh escaped your lips as you sunk deeper into the blankets. While you were tired, you weren't quite tired enough to fall asleep- you didn't want dreams to be plaguing your mind at the moment- and opted to just meditate in a way. Just exist in the moment.

After a few minutes of this, you heard shuffling above, but you were on the second floor, so it couldn't have been someone walking in a room above. The sounds continued for a few more moments until you ultimately decided to go investigate. Leaving the bedroom, you made your way down the hall and to the right, where a ladder leading to the roof was down and available to climb. At the top was a hatch slightly open with light from the outside poking through, so naturally you decided to take the path presented to you.

Hands ready to pull yourself up and foot placed firmly on the bottom step, you prepared to start the climb when a conversation from downstairs floated up to you.

"I really don't know how you manage it Sarah. Running a business while raising a felon like- felon, fellow- fellow like Jim." Doppler said.

You froze.

"Managing? I'm at the end of my rope. Ever since his father left-" your eyes widened, and you knew this wasn't a conversation that was meant for your ears but it was too late now, "well, Jim's just never recovered. And you know how smart he is. He built his first solar surfer when he was 8!" Solar surfer? "And yet he's failing at school, he is constantly in trouble, and when I talk to him, he's like a stranger to me. I don't know, Delbert. I've tried everything."

Thinking back to earlier on your encounter with Jim, everything Sarah said... actually explains a lot. Knowing this now, maybe it wasn't really right to get mad at him like that earlier, even if he was nosing around. In fact, you're being hypocritical in this moment with your own eves-dropping in on family matters. He was just curious, and you were being honest- you didn't need to act like you held a bunch of secrets.

At least, any that you knew about.

Deciding you had heard more than you needed to, you turned your attention to the ladder and began to climb. Gently pushing open the propped hatch, you reached the roof and ended up coming face to face with Jim- and the look on his face told you he heard everything, too. You felt bad for him, truly. He never acknowledged your presence on the roof, and you thought maybe he hadn't noticed you.

"I know you heard everything," He stated. You flushed out of embarrassment at being caught, trying to wrack your brain for a response.

"I'm sorry." And that was for multiple things. "I shouldn't have yelled at you earlier. I don't even know why I got so frustrated in the first place." I sighed. "A mind is a terrible thing to lose. But I promise, I'm not crazy, I think. At least, I hope I'm not." Jim laughed silently, sprouting a lazy grin.