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“Not NOW, CANDY GRANDMA!” hollered Peppermint Harry, frantically emerging from the back “I’m telling you, I heard someone! Yes, I know, I KNOW there’s a consumption outbreak BUT-”
Then he rushed to the counter, and pulled the most convincing smile a young man who didn't quite enjoy this rather paltry inheritance could manage.
And found absolutely no one. And absolutely nothing as well, since all the candy was gone. Meaning he had indeed heard someone, but it hadn’t been a customer.
It had been Captain Flapjack, once again too fast to be caught. Or too lucky. It could vary.
Either way, both him and his little companion were already long gone.
“NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!” they cackled, as they sailed away from the consumption reeking old docks.
And K’nuckles just kept staring at everything, because of course he had boarded along. They had candy.
And staring at everything mostly meant staring at every corner of this surprisingly ostentatious ship. It was painted all over, and its colors were as vibrant as the ones on Flapjack’s clothes. It also had a lovely ‘Bubbie III’ written on a side. It was just lovely in general.
“Soooooo…” fumbled K’nuckles, his gaze finally stopping at the doll faced sailor child, who was now happily standing next to him “Who’s this?”
And that was certainly a good start to figure out what Flapjack had been doing throughout all those years, even though it was pretty evident by now.
“His name’s Brownie!” he answered, from the wheel “He’s my cabin boy.”
“I’m a boy!” chirped Brownie.
And he was, indeed, a boy. A boy and not a disguised runaway girl. Not at all.
But, even after the confirmation, K’nuckles didn't seem too impressed. Or at least didn’t want to.
“Right, right…” he said, still fumbling, scratching his filthy decrepit beard while going back and forth between looking at him and at Flapjack “You’re a captain now, with your own boat and your own... one-man crew…”
“Nyahahahahah, oh no!” chortled the younger captain, now turning to look back at the older one “There is more crew! They’re just really shy, you know?”
K’nuckles then squinted in a clearly doubting manner, at least until the sudden sound of a lot of scurrying and squeaking from underneath made his eyes widen in just a little bit of horror.
To which Flapjack responded with the brightest smile, leaving room for a somewhat unnerving, somewhat awkward minute of silence.
“Okay, my turn!” intervened Brownie, hopping up and pointing at K’nuckles’ nose “Who’s this?”
“Now that’s a story!” chuckled Flapjack, now leaving the wheel and approaching.
The child sat down and rested her chin on her hands accordingly, and it was then that K’nuckles realized how truly fateful this encounter was.
He had appeared just in time to hear a surely marvelous tale of how he and Flapjack had met and shared so much… while being told to Flapjack’s own Flapjack! It just couldn’t get any more touching. The grossly old man had to make a considerable effort to not start wailing again, and instead just observe intriguedly.
“…Remember the little boy who got his heart broken into pieces?” continued Flapjack, after sitting down himself “Well, he broke it.”
And then K’nuckles blinked in a not so touching anymore realization.
Wait, what?
“Wait, what?” blinked in turn Brownie, to then glance back at him.
“He was his captain, they… used to go adventuring together…” continued Flapjack, and for a second he seemed to get genuinely wistful about it.
But it seriously lasted just that, just a second, because then he abruptly switched back to the off-putting cheerfulness.
“But one day he told the little boy that he was tired of him, because he wasn’t cut out for adventure and would never be! That he didn’t want to see him ever again, and then he just walked out! Just like that!” he concluded, like it was the funniest anecdote, to then also glance at K’nuckles “Remember?”
And make him more or less retreat into the greasy wrinkles of his own skin.
Just…
Really?
“Really!? That’s just awful! How could he!?” exclaimed Brownie, tearing up at Flapjack first, and then at K’nuckles “How could you!?”
And K’nuckles had to think about it, but couldn’t concentrate, because he was too busy bristling at the overall situation.
Just… just…
Of all the things!
Of all the memories the boy could pick to introduce him, it had to be that one! That specific one! He just wouldn’t let it slide, would he? They just couldn’t pretend that never happened and K’nuckles was not crying over it but actually having a stroke earlier, could they?
Of course not!
Because it was so much better to put a poor old man through the humiliation of taking responsibility for his actions!
“It was for his own good!” he snapped, frowning at Brownie first, and then at Flapjack “It was for your own good!”
“Wait, whaaaaaaaaat? You mean Captain Flapjack- He was the little boy?” asked Brownie, gawking at K’nuckles first, and then at Flapjack “You were the little boy?”
“The littlest I’ve ever met!” replied K’nuckles, now proceeding to sit with them, as if joining the story circle “I knew he couldn’t take it, but Bubbie…”
And then he suddenly stopped, and squinted again but in a more wary manner.
“…Where even is Bubbie? Why isn’t she with you?” he asked, and Flapjack laughed.
Again.
“Nyahahahahah, oh K’nuckles!” he said, his cheerful tone becoming just a bit saucier “You didn’t really think I’d stay in the nest forever, did you?”
“Nest?” blinked K’nuckles, taking a moment to decipher the expression “You mean you just… moved out? Of the whale?”
“This is amazing…” commented Brownie, looking fascinated, and Flapjack nodded.
“And you wouldn’t tell her you saw me around if you ran into her, would you?” he added, suddenly holding his musket while still smiling.
But still not impressing K’nuckles at all, for he was still aware of his terrible aim.
“Just what kind of hot water have you been sailing into, boy…?” he inquired, squinting harder.
And then Flapjack’s smile became just a bit shadier, just a bit creepier.
“Now that’s a story…” he muttered, to then return to the cheerfulness as abruptly as before, and suddenly the musket was gone “Anyway! There’s nothing to worry your sweet little head about, Brownie dear. What K’nuckles did was awful, yes, but it taught me something… Something important!”
“Oh?” blinked the child, quite adorably, as K’nuckles raised an eyebrow.
“That if someone says you can’t, then you definitely should to prove them wrong!” stated Flapjack, triumphantly standing back up with his hands on his hips and his coat and scarf waving in the wind “Get that boat, get that crew, be the greatest adventurer! Just don’t ever let anyone hold you back!”
And Brownie naturally perked up at that.
“Sooo…” she beamed, lighting up as well “When you told me I couldn’t have a sea lion…”
“Anyway!” interrupted Flapjack “That’s enough life lessons for today…”
And then he finished his lollipop, left the stick on a nearby ashtray and took another one from the secret coat pocket.