CADILLAC CARJACK — open / typhoon

[jacob w.c.]

Jacob trailed a bit behind the pirates that brought him here. He'd been terrified when he first got there, understandably. He'd been surrounded by flames and the smoke had threatened to suffocate him. No, not the smoke. Guru. She may not have said anything but he could still smell it, it's tendrils wrapping themselves around his body, forcing him to take breaths of smoke. He knew none of it was real but the memory of all that'd occurred stung, even if he'd been convinced the Typhoon wasn't so bad. Pincher, their captain, had saved him. He'd arrived just at the right time, before Guru could do anything physically to Jacob. Sort of like a guardian angel. No, not a guardian angel. He was just a captain of a bunch of pirates. But he was a nice captain of a bunch of pirates. At least, Jacob assumed he was nice. He'd given him free range of the island but Jacob had just asked for things to bake with. He'd made a ridiculous amount of cookies, then apologized for using so much and packaged them for Pincher to keep as a gift. Plus he knew he'd eat all of them if he didn't get them away. He'd still had more than a few but he had enough self control to put them away, which he thought was quite the accomplishment considering how anxious he was after the whole ordeal. They'd had some small, somewhat awkward conversations, one of which consisted of Jacob thanking him for not letting him die and giving him the ridiculous amount of cookies he'd baked.

All in all, the boy determined they weren't so bad. On the trip here, he'd told a lot of pasta jokes to try and break the silence as he traveled with his three companions. He usually saved them for when Jersey was drunk. Usually his big brother's reaction was just to yell at him or he laughed hysterically. His favorite one had been when he asked what someone would call a worm in a bowl of spaghetti noodles and then, as the punchline, said it'd be called an impasta. It was perfect. He'd at least gotten Pincher to smile a few times, which he considered a success and they'd had some other conversation that were equally forced and awkward.

Despite his seemingly pleasant mood, he was still clearly uneasy around Guru and did his best to stick with the other two, though his bad leg led him to slow down on occasion. While he was convinced the rest of the Typhoon hadn't condoned her actions and hadn't supported her at all, he still didn't seem to forgive her specifically, though it'd be hard to expect him to. The other Typhoon members had been nothing but kind to him but she'd intentionally taken him and told him that she only wanted to hurt him for her own enjoyment. That lead to what was going on now.

While he seemed to chat openly with any other Typhoon member, he couldn't even bring himself to look at her. Every time he did, he just remembered how disgusted she looked when she saw him without his bandages and his sweater. That was the other thing about their captain. He hadn't looked at Jacob like that when he saw him. Guru had forced him to take everything off, revealing the skin he'd hidden for months now but Pincher hadn't so much as let his eyes linger on the marred skin. They'd offered something clean to put over all of it but he'd insisted on just wrapping his bandages and putting his sweater back on. Thankfully, nothing was damaged and his scars were covered once again, even the one that stretched to his face.

He took a deep breath as they arrived in Snowbound, glad for the cold air that moved in and out of his lungs, reminding him that the fire threatening to burn around him wasn't real. He took notice of how the pirates, particularly Pincher, didn't seem to care much for the cold. "Um, I have more sweaters. When we get ta' Snowbound,  I could get ya' one, if ya' need it for the way back," he offered. While he knew he was still technically captive, he didn't see why this would end with anything but a positive relationship between their groups. Besides, even if he didn't like someone, he wouldn't let them just freeze in the cold. Not to mention it'd likely be even later in the day when they had to turn back and make the journey to the Typhoon, at which point it'd be even colder than it was currently.

★ though the scars remain and tears will never dry, i'll bless my homeland til i die ━