Young Writers Society

James grinned ever so slightly as Maahes grew flustered at the mention of Vala, but he knew what it felt like to be teased in that manner, and how uncomfortable it could be. He gave Maahes a pat on the back before pulling his hand away.

"It's alright, Maahes. There's no need to rush things. If the feelings are there for you, you can act on them when you're ready. But if friendship is all it is, then I'm glad you two are friends. Though I think I can safely say, for what I witnessed at the masquerade, it did seem like there was a mutual affection that might've gone beyond that."

Maahes blushed even harder at the last comment.

Despite his insistence that he and Vala were just friends, he did like her. He was mature enough to understand his own emotions - he had finally come to understand that the reason for the flustered feeling he got around her sometimes was because he really liked her and want her to love him back, even though he knew the chances of that were close to zero.

At least, that's what he had thought.

"...You...You really think she likes me back?" he hesitantly asked.

"Oh, definitely," Cameron said. "I wasn't there at the masquerade, but I've seen how you two interact on missions and at the SGC. You two are all over each other, and I seem to remember her being very eager to go explore Earth with you on your days off."

James returned a hand to Maahes's arm. "It sounds like she really likes you, and I hope you can find the courage to tell her how you feel. Love is a rare thing, and if you've found it in Vala, I truly do wish you two the best."

He took a deep, shaky breath.

"I think...I think I'll say something to her when we get back," he decided. He could see Cameron already opening his mouth, likely to tell him not to rush things if he didn't feel comfortable with it, but Maahes continued to speak instead. "I've known Vala for a couple of years. If she really-if she really feels the same way about me, then we've known each other long enough to make a responsible decision about being in a relationship. And if not, then Vala's not the type of person to make things awkward after rejecting someone, and I've already been friends with her despite having a crush."

He took another big gulp of air.

James gave Maahes a calm pat on the arm, glad Maahes had come to some sort of conclusion, and that the tension between him and Cam had finally been cleared for the most part.

"I hope it goes well," he wished quietly for Maahes. "But... now that we all blend in a little better... we can go back into town if you both want. I'm sure you, at least, Cam, will need some more food eventually. We could always stock up now."

Cameron hoisted his pack onto his back again. "That sounds like a plan to me."

Maahes nodded in agreement. They really did need more supplies, especially when he had to worry about two humans instead of just his own well being.

He let out a quiet sigh that he hoped neither of his friends heard. It was so much easier taking care of just himself; he didn't have to worry about food, sleep and shelter wasn't always a must. Now he had to remember what it was like to take that into account, since Cameron was just as unused to this as he had been to the teamwork involved in missions back when he joined the SGC.

James nodded and turned back towards the town, starting to make the trek back down through the brush. "Good," he said simply as he led the way.

The trek to the town took little town, and Cameron quickly found himself immersed in the hustle and bustle of a small town. He took it all in with the eyes of an experienced member of the SGC - he had been to countless towns like this in the past, though they weren't on on planets entirely alike Nye. He kept his eye for anything out of the ordinary, but this town appeared to be relatively normal-

He paused as they walked past a bulletin board. There were all sorts of notices and wanted posters up on it, the later of which being something he certainly wasn't used to. But it was the picture on one of them that caused him to stop in front of the board while James and Maahes continued on ahead. He swore the man shown looked familiar.

He glanced over at Maahes and James to make sure he wasn't falling behind, and immediately did a double-take when he glanced over at James. Though the name said Tiberius Hemming on the bottom of the poster, the resemblance was uncanny to someone who had been in close proximity to James for the past 24 hours. (It helped that he had military experience under his belt; that always made it easier to pick up on little details other people tended to miss.)

"Maahes?" he hesitantly asked.

His teammate stopped and turned.

"Could you come here just one minute?"

Glancing briefly over at James, Maahes did as requested and came to a stop in front of the collection of wanted posters. Cameron raised a hand up and pointed at the one that said Tiberius Hemming. "Please tell me James has a brother."

"Oh," Maahes quietly said, his gaze not leaving the wanted poster. "So that's why the bounty hunters called him Tiberius."

Cameron spun around and stared at him. "You know?" he hissed.

Maahes nodded. "Yeah. Well, kind of? I don't actually know too much about why he's, you know..." He gestured at the wanted poster with another nod of his head. "But I've known about it ever since I've met him, to some extent."

Cameron was trying his best to keep calm, but he had had a very stressful past twenty-four hours, and he really wasn't in the best of moods right now. He let out a mix between a sigh and a groan.

James slowed to a stop when Cam pulled Maahes aside. He hadn't failed to take note of the bulletin board cluttered with wanted posters. In fact, he was very well aware of its presence, but with Cam and Maahes gathering around it he started to get nervous.

He decided to give them a few seconds before he walked over, forcing himself to keep a relaxed gait and a neutral expression as he joined them in staring at the poster of himself. They were doing only drawing attention to it.

Plucking it off of the board as if to inspect it, he gave it a once-over before folding it up and putting it in his pocket.

It was all an act of course. He wasn't interested in keeping it or looking at it. He'd seen enough posters of himself in his day to last him a lifetime. Frankly, he was sick of their depiction of his face. But he had to make it look like - at least from afar - that he wasn't just tearing it off the board in an anxious flurry to hide the fact that it was him.

He turned to Cam and Maahes with a controlled smile and grabbed Maahes's hand firmly - his grip tighter than it needed to be.

"Didn't know you liked looking at the local artwork," James commented stiffly through his teeth. "It's probably a good idea to be on our way, don't you think?" he asked, pulling Maahes back into the flow of the crowd before he could hear an answer.

He immediately felt horrible when he noticed the tone that James was using. Vala had never been too flustered when she saw her name on wanted posters or something similar - she had always gotten a kick out of pointing out the differences between the real deal and drawn version - but James wasn't Vala. James couldn't run off into the depths of outer space and find a nice little planet to hide out the challenges that followed being recognized.

He just had Nye.

Behind them, Cameron gave one last glance at the board before hurrying on after James and Maahes. Cameron didn't necessarily look like he was wary of James; he just seemed frustrated more than anything else.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I-I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," he said quickly, sending a glance back at Maahes. He tried to give him a look that wasn't harsh. He wasn't trying to scold Maahes like a child or anything. He was only being practical and using common sense.

"How about..." James started to speak, his eyes searching the town for answers. After their little stunt by the bulletin board, he wanted to stay out of the streets. At least for a little bit. "The tavern. We can get something to eat there," he said with a nod to the wooden two-story establishment a few buildings down.

He didn't object to James's decision. Neither did Cameron. A tavern seemed like the perfect place to discuss what had been on the wanted poster. Everything would have been far too noisy for people to easily overhear their conversation, and he was sure a little bit of food would be good for both of the humans he was with.

When they arrived at the tavern, Maahes headed towards of the tables in the back. Cameron went to follow, too, but James went in the opposite direction - after a brief conversation between him and his friend, it became clear that James was going to get drinks. He slipped into an empty seat, and Cameron followed him a second later.

Meanwhile, up in the front of the room, two cloaked figures had just entered the tavern and were in the middle of chatting with the tavern's owner...

James rubbed one of the coins Maahes had given him in his hand as he stepped up to the counter. He waved a hand to get the attention of the owner behind the bar, but the owner was preoccupied with two people sitting down engaging him in conversation. Amongst the rest of the people in the tavern, they didn't exactly stand out, but they looked... a little suspicious, to say the least. With cloaks covering their clothes and heads, it was obvious they had to be hiding something. Though in this part of Nye, that wasn't uncommon.

He leaned on the counter and waited for a gap in the conversation, finding himself overhearing.

"Has someone named Adrion come through here?" One of the cloaked men asked. "He would be about this tall-" he said, drawing a line in the air that matched Adrion's height. "With green eyes and black hair."

James, who had previously been paying little real attention, suddenly zoned in on the cloaked man's question. He blinked. Adrion. Adrion. That had been Maahes's alias when he freed him from Isa.

"I don't think I've seen anyone by that description," the owner answered, rubbing her chin in thought.

The cloaked man nodded for a moment before he reached into his cloak and discreetly slid what looked like a gold coin across the counter. The owner raised an eyebrow. She looked up at him with something of a dead-eyed look before shrugging with her brows and pocketing the coin.

"Go ask Halloway. He's got some eyes around town. Someone's gotta've seen 'em. Hal's the fella in the corner," she said, pointing a finger to a large table full of people playing some kind of card game amidst plates and plates of food. "Small fry. Good luck with him," she said, patting the counter before sliding over to James.

"So! What'll it be?" she asked.

"Two bowls of beef stew and a cup of ale. Table seven," he said, passing her a few coins, and pitching in one extra.

The owner grinned as she pocketed more coins, looking over at the table in the back. "We'll have that right up for ya in a jiffy," she said with a nod, before retreating to go take care of his order.

With the owner gone, James's gaze landed on the cloaked strangers with suspicion, and for a moment, he wondered how long Maahes was wandering in the forest before he ran into him and Isa's camp. Had Maahes gotten into any trouble? Or... made friends?

He leaned in slightly, hoping to catch their eye as he spoke up.

"You lookin' for a friend?" he asked.

The two men turned to see who had spoken.

"It depends on who's asking," the one who had been doing the majority of the speaking said, looking over the man before him. His face looked familiar, though he couldn't figure out why. That was something that was important to take note of - it was always impossible to tell if that would be a good thing or not until a name was given. Then he would have some idea of just who this person was; for now, he could only assume the worst if he wanted to play things safe.

"Do you have any information on Adrion?" his companion asked, taking a step forward and looking down at the mysterious newcomer.

James looked up into the hood, taking in the details of the man's face. He kept himself from looking back at where Maahes and Cam were, but he was beginning to wonder if any of other people from Maahes's world had found their way to his - be they friends or foes. These two men had a different feel to them.

He decided to take a risk.

"The name rings a bell," he said. "I might've run into him a day ago, but I should probably get back to my table. I could tell you about him if you'd like to join me?"