The New World: Old Habits

Chapter 15

A few days had passed since that fight and things still weren't going well for them. Grim had returned with their powers back and Turg had his amulet, though there was an awkward tension between Jim and Grim. The two did not speak to each other and couldn't be in the same room for long before one of them would leave. Turg rarely left his room though, the stress had made him sick on top of needing time away from everything to recover. He had not said a word since before that fight, took too much energy. He still thought about what First Name told him about Jim eventually betraying him. Jim was a liar but surely he wouldn't betray Turg, if he wanted to he would have done so by then. What could Jim even gain from doing that? Turg didn't know, he just knew Jim was hiding something from him and he wondered if he did anything that made Jim not trust Turg with knowing. Or perhaps it was nothing worth looking into and he was just doing werewolf shenanigans. 
Jim entered the room for the first time that day, he had vanished when Turg was asleep. With him was his fox companion and some of the cats who also wanted to visit Turg, or to just be in the same room. 
"How are you feeling today?" Jim asked as he continued to stand by the door. Turg wasn't sure, he woke up a few hours ago so he hadn't had enough time to process it. He just shrugged in response. 
"Still can't speak?" Jim asked again as he got a bit closer to Turg. Turg shook his head, he could but he didn't want to at that moment. Jim then told him "That's fine, take your time."
Jim was then standing by Turg as he asked once more "And can I get you anything?"
Turg reached out for Jim and grabbed his arm, pulling him down onto the bed with him. Jim rolled over to the other side and said "Alright, you can have me." 
Turg started cuddling Jim, that's all he wanted to do at that moment. Jim allowed it, he softly said "I love you too."
Jim was always so warm, Turg liked that, though it made it hard to sleep in the summer. Jim asked Turg once more "Are you sure you don't want anything else though? You not hungry or anything?"
Turg shook his head, he was sure. Jim then said "If there's anything else I can do to help, let me know and I'll do my best." 
Turg did want to talk about something that was bothering him, it was the perfect time for it since it was just them in the room. Turg took a deep breath and asked "Will Jim betray Turg?"
Jim asked in response "This again? You really think I'd do that to you?"
Turg remained silent, he didn't know what to say. Jim sat up and looked down at Turg to ask him again "You're thinking about whatever First Name told you, aren't you?"
Turg nodded while avoiding eye contact with Jim. 
"And you believe him, don't try to deny it because you're right to think that about me." Jim told Turg as he looked away. He then continued with "Doesn't matter how much good I do now, it won't ever make up for what I did to him."
Turg knew Jim did something more than cause First Name's death but he never knew, nobody ever told him. Whatever it was, it made First Name into who he was then. 
Jim turned back to face Turg and told him again "But you can trust me, if I wanted to betray you I would've done so years ago."
"Jim was asked to kill Turg." Turg said as he sat up to be on Jim's level. Jim quickly defended himself with "I wasn't actually going to do it! If I didn't do what I did then the other guy would've killed you!"
"Who?" Turg asked again. Jim replied "The other Jim." 
Turg continued to stare at Jim, there was something more going on that he wasn't sharing. 
"Fine, yes, it was a stupid plan. Grim could've easily taken him out, but I don't know what happened with them. I didn't bring them back to life, that wasn't me." Jim confessed. 
Turg continued staring at Jim, that couldn't possibly be all. 
"What Jim doing?" Turg continued asking his husband. Jim put his fist to his face and quietly asked himself "How do I explain this?"
"Let's just say I've gone back to a life of crime so I can keep paying our bills." Jim confessed to Turg again while looking at him with a nervous smile. Turg was somewhat relieved, he thought it was going to be something worse. Or at least he was assuming Jim was just doing petty thievery and not more serious crimes. 
"Jim happy doing it?" Turg wanted to know. Jim hesitated for a short moment before answering with "Uh, yeah. I feel more like myself doing it." 
"Then Turg happy." Turg told Jim before adding "Turg wish Jim told Turg earlier."
"I know, I'm sorry." Jim responded as he then hugged Turg. He whispered to Turg "Thank you for understanding. I thought you'd be mad."
Turg hugged Jim back, he just wanted Jim to be happy. The two remained attached to each other for a few moments before Jim let Turg go. Turg noticed that Jim was trying not to cry so he gently placed his hand on Jim's. He pulled it away and told Turg "I'm fine, don't worry about me."
To change the subject, Jim suggested "Y'know, you could join me. We could be partners in crime again, like what we used to be before, y'know, our home exploded."
Turg was intrigued by the idea, though he wasn't up for it at the moment and also wasn't sure. Turg replied with "Turg need think about it." 
"I mean yeah, not right now. I also need to properly train you." Jim told him. Turg didn't know what that would entail but he would go with it. Jim then stood back up off the bed and said "Anyways, I have things I need to do. I'll be back later." 
After Jim left the room, Turg laid back down and continued to think about Jim's offer. It made him realize he did miss the old town. He remembered there being an explosion that caused the docks to fall into the sea and a big fire, not anything else. Turg also recalled Jim telling him that he did something to someone but couldn't remember what Jim said. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't too bad.