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"You talk in your sleep." Seb said as he stirred sugar in his coffee while they were sitting at the breakfast table. Jim had his focus on his phone and was taking sips of his dark roast black coffee.
"Oh?" Jim asked, still mostly focussed on his phone.
"Or more specifically, you do when you have nightmares."
Jim shrugged, "if you say so."
"You don't know what it's like." Seb had said when Jim had asked him to tell him about his nightmares.
"So tell me." Jim had countered.
"You wouldn't understand." Seb said with more anger than he'd wanted to show.
"Fine. then don't." Jim had replied and abandoned the dining table for his office.
Seb glared at Jim angrily. Jim looked up from his phone and put his coffee down. He raised his eyebrow.
"You're angry."
"You mentioned Sangin." Seb accused him. He was trying to keep his calm. "You lied to me."
"Did I?"
"Sangin, as you well know Jim, is one of the most dangerous territories of Afghanistan.
"Your point?" Jim asked with a somewhat bored expression on his face.
"You told me over and over that you haven't been in the army, so how come you've been deployed there?" Seb hissed.
Jim sighed softly and with a hint of sadness. He pocketed his phone and looked up at Seb.
"Fine. yes, I was there."
"Tell me." Seb said, almost quiet. He was no longer angry and slumped into his chair, trying to process everything.
"Years ago I was bored and enlisted into the army intelligence corps under a pseudonym. James Lewis was seen as a real asset for them and pretty much right after he finished training lance corporal Lewis was deployed." Jim spoke matter-of-fact and without emotion.
"You were green slime? Wait. James Lewis? That was you?" Seb asked with shocked surprise. "I heard rumours."
"Save the questions for the end." Jim said shortly before continuing. "He quickly gained a reputation and was mostly sent out on dangerous thinking-on-your-feet missions."
Jim stopped for a moment and took a sip of coffee, "It was a fun job, I could really use my skills. I mean the paperwork was a bit of a bore but you kinda take it for granted." Jim sighed and stirred his coffee needlessly. "But after a while some people became suspicious. It's not like I was selling secrets or anything, but I had to keep in contact with London to keep my job running and they started to see anomalies." Jim was quiet for a moment. He looked genuinely sad, if only just for a fraction of a second. "And then Lewis got captured. He was tortured for information for three days before he could escape." he traced a line on his right shoulder, over an ugly scar Seb had seen plenty of times. (Jim had loads of scars so it's not like it stood out exactly).
"Somewhere in there, or maybe together with the rest of what Lewis did, he apparently earned a promotion because by the time he got his medical discharge he'd been promoted to Corporal." Jim stood up, having finished his story, and put his plate in the dishwasher.
"Hold up. You can't drop a bombshell like that and then leave." Seb got up as well and blocked Jims route to his office.
"Can do." Jim said with his normal grin again.
"I outrank you." Seb said with a smirk. "Now, corporal, I have questions."
"Get on with it then, sir." Jim said, emphasizing the word sir and deepening his Irish drawl.
"Is it true you held off five instructors in hand to hand combat practice?"
Jim chuckled, "just four, not five."
"You conned a soldier from the other side into helping us. Twice."
"That one is true. And a bunch of fun it was." Jim smirked
"You stole the watch of a high ranking officer just because he said he couldn't possibly be caught out."
"That and his wallet."
Seb stared at Jim in slight awe, "you're mental."
Jim laughed, properly and with real joy, "you're only getting that now, basher?"
"Oi." Seb said with a smirk, "that's colonel to you."
"Don't push your luck." Jim snuck around Seb quickly, ducking under his arm, and heading to his office.
Seb turned and smirked "I so want to see you in uniform."
Jim turned his head, winked, and then disappeared into his office.