#simons-ghxst

[jack-merridork]

"Jack..." The ghost started softly, biting at his lip. "I'm- I'm sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you could help me out... See, the other kid who died... he's stuck here like me except his body is still out in the jungle-" Oh, Simon was rambling. He shook his head and started again. "Can you... can you bury his body or do something with it? I don't want any of the littluns stumbling upon it..."

Jack dug the tip of his spear into the dirt, considering the question for a moment before giving a blunt answer consisting of one syllable. 

“No.” 

He paused, realizing that the answer might have been a bit too rude, then added, “We’re hunters, Simon, we hunt-- we’re not going to waste a day wandering through the jungle to find a corpse. Food’s the priority.”

Under his breath, he muttered, “Not like a dead body’s going to be edible.”

[jack-merridork]

Simon frowned deeply and looked over Jack sadly, considering his response. How far, truly, had his friend fallen, to not be able to consider such a notion as the importance of burying the dead? "I... You won't have to waste a day. I can take you to it... I just need one person, that's all I need. Please."

Jack was silent for a minute, and then he swore. Loudly. He yanked his spear out of the dirt, letting out a sigh of resignation. 

“Fine. But– if it were anyone but you asking, I wouldn’t do it.” 

He pushed a mess of fiery red curls out of his eyes, and stalked off to find the rest of the tribe. 

[jack-merridork]

"S-sorry-" Simon chewed at his lip, rubbing at the fresh tears that appeared. "I just-I have to know-" He tripped over his words, unsure if he really wanted to ask. "The n-night that I died... Did... Did you hear me? I yelled and I was trying to tell you something... Didn't you hear me? Didn't you know that was me...? We're friends, aren't we? We've been friends a long time. Didn't you know that was me?" Simon spilled out.

“Couldn’t this have waited until-” No.

Jack paused as the full meaning of Simon’s question fought through the fog of tiredness still clouding his brain.

There was a long stretch of quiet before he spoke again.

“We didn’t- I didn’t hear you. Couldn’t hear you. It was just so loud that night...” 

Excuses. Lies, really. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if Simon knew he’d heard him.

Jack stopped again. Collected his thoughts. Why did he have to answer this now?

“I don’t think any of us knew it was you until it was too late.” 

A half-lie this time. Better, but not ideal.

[jack-merridork]

"Bill heard me." Simon answered, a hint of petulance in his voice. He looked at Jack with wide, wet eyes and tried to grab at his hand, desperate for human contact. He huffed when he didn't make contact. "You- you wouldn't have hurt me intentionally... Right? We're still friends?" Simon watched him, gaze bright and intense. "Can... Can I lay here with you? I won't... Bother you anymore... Please..."

He can’t know the truth, he can’t he can’t he can’t-

Jack drew a long, shaky breath, finally answering Simon in a quiet, hollow voice that could almost pass for his own.

“…Of course.”Liar, liar, liar. 

The lie hadn’t been the right decision. Jack cursed himself for being too proud to admit he’d done something wrong- sinned, really.

Murderer. 

What would it do to Simon, he wondered, if he ever found out the horrible reality of that night? 

Because Jack had heard him. Toward the end, as life ebbed from his fellow choir boy, broken and bleeding on the sand, Simon’s cries had cut through the haze of madness and bloodthirsty screams.

You finished him off, drove your spear into his heart and ended what the others had begun, whispered the voice in his head. Sinner.

Murderer.

[jack-merridork]

Simon was quick to take Jack's hand in order to lead him into the jungle, forgetting to actually use his words in his excitement. "Look, look-" He tripped over his words, gesturing to a collection of lizard eggs he'd lovingly helped look after. "They're hatching." He released Jack's hand in order to kneel by his new-found babies, and watch. "This is the best Saint Valentine's Day ever." (survival!Au Simon)

Jack plucked a bit of leathery eggshell off one of the lizard’s heads, scooping the tiny creature up with one hand, careful not to injure it.

“We should probably keep Roger away from here…” he murmured, thinking out loud. “Or- no. They’re just- they’re just lizards, they don’t matter, not really…” 

Jack let the lizard wriggle off his palm and scurry back into the squirming tangle of its brothers and sisters, picking up his spear from where he’d set it on the ground. 

[jack-merridork]

Simon hesitated, knelt by Jack as he slept. His hands reached out to touch Jack's arm but it never made contact. Oh. Simon didn't want to wake him up too roughly, but he had to know, even if the answer hurt, he needed to know. "Jack." He called, softly at first, sniffling. "Jack, w-wake up."

“Too early…” Jack mumbled, opening bleary blue eyes to squint up at Simon. His messy ginger hair framed his face, sticking out at odd angles around his head. “Simon, it’s the middle of the night, what the hell do you want?”

[jack-merridork]

Simon sat slightly away from the group, having grown weary of the heat of the fire so close to his skin. His hands worked with the pile of flowers he'd picked earlier in the day, weaving and selecting, oblivious to the atmosphere around him. He was very much still recovering, and it was with great effort that he got to his feet, taking a moment to regain his balance before moving towards Jack's side. Carefully, he leaned over to place a flower crown upon the other's head. (survival au)

Jack tensed up for a moment, startled, before reaching up to feel the silky coolness of the flower petals. He was surprised to feel a bit of something strange, close to guilt - why was Simon being so kind to him, after all the tribe had done?

[jack-merridork]

Erm hey. Just wanted to say I’m literally living for this blog, so...-shy anon

Oh! Thank you! I’m quite happy to get this ask considering the rest are either Ralph yelling about the signal fire, or random anons shipping me with Piggy and awakening Jack.exe, or Simon’s ghost trying to talk to me (which happens more than you’d expect, actually).