|
UNSEASONED TIES Author: Mila Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything that remotely has anything to do with POTC. If I did I probably wouldn't be writing this, I would be basking in the glory. Summary: It is 2004, you are 18 and currently in your first year of college. You live with your best friend in an apartment that both of your parents help pay for. You feel stuck and can’t seem to figure out anything that you may want to do for your life. You tend to escape through books and movies, getting lost in worlds that you are not a part of. To protect yourself you tend to be brutally honest and say whatever slams into your head first, not thinking until later. One night you decide to watch a movie all by yourself, and you suddenly get the alternate world you have always dreamed of. * * * * * CHAPTER 1 You climb up the stairs to your apartment feeling tired and worn out from your day at school. You got into yet another argument with your English professor over what was really going on in A Clockwork Orange. ‘It’s not my fault he’s a complete and utter moron,’ you think to yourself as you dig for your keys at the bottom of your worn out shoulder bag. It gets on your nerves when people assume it’s only about senseless violence, if only someone would actually pay attention. You finally feel the sharp edge of the apartment key and right as you’re about to pull it out, the apartment door swings open. You look up to see Anya, your best friend for seven years and current roommate. “Jesus, why the hell are you standing out here? I thought that creepy guy from 12B was back to stare at my tits some more,” she says with a slight smile on her face. “I assumed you had locked the door, what with the creepy guy and all. Wouldn’t want him to accidently walk by and have a sudden urge to come in uninvited. Besides, there’s a reason why you put your tits out on display, for guys to look, and they do,” you say as you push by her and walk into the living room. Anya shuts the door and makes a show of locking it before she prances over to the kitchen to finish whatever horrible dish she was in the middle of devouring. “Well yeah, I just seem to have that impact on boys. The tight clothes only help. You seem grumpy, what’s the matter with you anyway?” Anya asks as she stares you down with a demanding ‘tell me now’ look on her face. “Nothing...I just had another run in with that horrid little man I am forced to call a professor. I don’t see what the problem was. I’m sure he’s used to being called daft by now,” you say as you make your way over to the refrigerator to pull a bottle of water out. “What book did he insult you with this time?” Anya asks you as she picks at her food. After studying it you come to the conclusion that it is health food and therefore not edible. “Clockwork Orange. He shouldn’t even be allowed to touch it, let alone talk about it. God I just love incompetent college professors. You would think that the college would make sure that the professors were capable of original thought.” You start feeling frustrated all over again just thinking about that stupid bastard. Anya gives you a strange look as she gets up to start washing the dishes she tainted with her food, “I don’t get you, it’s just a book, get over it. I didn’t even like the movie. I don’t understand what you see in that stuff anyway.” “Yeah well no one seems to ‘get’ me, so what’s one more?” You mutter to yourself as you start walking to your bedroom, “I’m going to bed, I’ll see you tomorrow Anya.” Her response is muffled by the shutting door but you are pretty sure she said ‘good night.’ Either that or she said ‘the food’s right.’ You walk over to your stereo system and play whatever was in the CD tray last. From the first cords it is obviously The Cure. Seems to fit. Peppy music combined with often sad lyrics. Your room is the one place you can go to and feel completely comfortable and relaxed. You can’t even remember what the walls looked like bare. They are covered with posters, pictures, cards, and random items that you have acquired throughout the years. Most of the posters are of your favorite movies and bands. ‘What do I do with myself now? I’m not tired but I couldn’t be in the same room with Anya anymore, or I would have said something cruel that I would have regretted,’ you thought to yourself as you stand in the middle of your room. You look around and notice your Benny and Joon poster and remember that Johnny Depp movies always seem to take your mind off things. You kneel down to your movie collection under your TV and finally decide on watching Pirates of the Caribbean. “There’s nothing Johnny Depp as a pirate can’t cure,” you say to yourself and then realize that you said it out loud and not in your head. You settle down in your comfy bed without changing your clothes figuring that you will do that when the movie is over. Reaching for the remote to the stereo, you shut it off, while starting the movie with the other controller in your right hand. Right around the part that Jack Sparrow gets slapped for the second time you start nodding off without realizing it. The last thought you have is that you couldn’t possibly fathom hitting that man if your life depended on it. Well at least not out of anger. * * * * * CHAPTER 2 The suns rays slice through your eyelids and slowly bring you back into consciousness. You fling your arm across your eyes as you think to yourself, ‘since when do I have a huge window in my bedroom?’ Realizing that for some reason your bed isn’t as comfortable as you remember it to be and there just may be a rock embedded in your butt, you groan as you open your eyes just to be blinded by the sun. “What...the fuck?” you mutter as you slowly sit up. ‘Last time I checked I didn’t fall asleep outside in some random location,’ you think as you look around. You come to the conclusion that you are in some sort of alleyway behind a rather unattractive looking building. Slowly standing, you brush the dirt off your worn out faded jeans and flick a leaf off of your shoulder. Reaching up to brush the hair out of your eyes you realize that there are also leaves strewn about your hair as well. ‘Oh well, I don’t know where I am, so it doesn’t really matter if I look horrid,’ leaving the concern of your hair to deal with later, you start to make your way out of the alley and into the street. ‘What the hell is going on and where the fuck am I?’ you ask yourself as you look around you. The street is littered with people, all seeming like they have nothing better to do then roam around the street at ungodly hours. You assume it’s fairly early in the morning, even though you have no facts to base your assumption on. The air smells oddly sweet and reminds you of the ocean when you used to go sailing with your grandparents years ago. Looking to your left you see some docks and scattered ships resting in the sea. ‘Well there’s the reason for the smell, I’m a genius,’ you tell yourself. You decide to walk towards the ocean because the other option does not look appealing. To your right everything seems too withdrawn and depressing. At least the ocean can’t seem depressing. Pondering over your predicament you watch your feet kick a small stone in front of you only to catch up to it in order to kick it again. Not really paying attention to what is going on in front of you, you come to a sudden halt and slam backwards onto the ground when a body harshly collides with yours. “Watch were ya goin’!” a gruff voice shouts at you. You look up to see a huge monster of a man towering over you and giving you the most contaminating look you have ever seen before. Without bothering to help you up, he moves around you and keeps walking. As you watch him walk away you realize that he’s not dressed right. In fact, now that you look, no one is dressed right. The whole scene looks like you just stepped into the 1800s somehow. “Well it’s official,” you mutter, “I’m either having a really real dream, or I am mentally ill.” You stand back up and brush yourself off once again. While rubbing the dirt off your right elbow you feel a sharp pain at the contact. Bending you arm so you can see the offending area, you see that the skin has been peeled back as a result from the fall and now you are slightly bleeding. “Oh great. That is just damn terrific.” You continue walking while trying not to notice the men leering at you as you pass by them. At least the women aren’t glaring at you, they seem more interesting in pleasing whatever man is closest. Glancing to your left you spot a beat looking bar and wonder if maybe they will have a phone you could use. You walk over to the door but before you can open it, the door swings open at you nearly smacking you in the face. A man with a long disgusting beard comes stumbling out. He has spittle covering his chin and bits of food stuck in his beard. At least you hope it’s food. He notices you and starts grinning at you like a half-wit. Fighting the urge to vomit or say something to provoke anger in the hideous little hobbit, you push by him in order to get through the door. Apparently you pushed him a tad too hard in his current unstable state because he just dropped to the ground. Poking him a little with the toe of your black Dr. Martens you decide that he is gone for the day. “Sucks for you,” you tell his sleeping form right before you walk into the bar. For how calm it was outside, you are slightly stunned at how loud and crowded it is on the inside. It makes you wonder for a second what this town is like once the sun sets. A sign on your right catches your attention for a moment. You get closer and squint your eyes to try to read the writing. Most of the words are so worn that you can’t read them. But one word stands out from the rest, Tortuga. ‘Tortuga?’ you think, ‘how the hell did I come to be in Tortuga? That sure makes sense. It’s 1800 and I’m in Tortuga. I’m not insane at all. Nope, sane as ever.’ You leave the sign when you manage to locate the bar, or what you hope is the bar. You start making your way over to it, pushing past women rubbing against drunk men, and trying to avoid the many fights breaking out. Somewhere behind you, you hear someone yell, “I’ll kill ye ya dirty dog!” ‘Get it over with already then,’ you think as you carefully step over the form of a passed out man. A woman in a red dress, that is barely managing to hang on her frame, knocks into you and spills her drink down your arm. You shriek as the burning liquid trickles down your elbow and into you wound. “What the freaking hell are you drinking?” you yell at her as you try to carefully wipe your bleeding elbow free of the painful substance. “Jus some rum darling. Why ya ask? Ya wanna share?” she softly asks you as she glides her body up to your side. “Well that sounds quite appealing and I would take you up on that offer of yours, I just intensely don’t want to. Sorry. Now get the hell off of me,” you reply in a saccharine sweet voice dripping with sarcasm. You push her away from you and force your way through the crowd until you finally stop in front of the bar. The man behind the bar looks nice enough, nice compared to the guys on the same side as you anyway. “Excuse me!” you shout over the chaos around you. He turns to look at you and you watch as he scans your body down and then back up to settle on your face. “Now that you’re done violating me, you think you can direct me to a phone I can use?” you impatiently ask, already changing your mind about him being a decent guy. “A wa?” he asks with a rather bewildered look on his unshaven face. After 20 minutes of trying to explain to the man what you are asking of him, you give up all hope. “Never mind,” you say, “can you at least give me a towel?” He reaches down below the bar and comes back up to hand you a scrap of cloth that obviously could not pass for even remotely clean. You wrinkle your nose as you take it with two fingers holding it away from you. Looking back to him and seeing the cruel smirk playing on his lips you scrap the idea of asking him for a different piece. Instead of fighting your way back out of the bar, you make your way over to an empty table in the corner to the left of the bar. You let your body fall into the chair as you relax. Holding the cloth up to your nose, you inhale the strong odor of alcohol. Figuring it probably wouldn’t make your elbow worse, you decide to use it anyway. Maybe the stinging will make it feel better even. You lay it on your lap and fold it into a perfect square. Using the table was quickly decided against. You wouldn’t be surprised if many sexual encounters were had on that table. You press the cloth on your elbow and cradle your arm to your chest. It stings a little but you don’t really mind. In a way it makes it feel better, and makes you feel better as well about being stuck in an unknown place. Sitting in the corner allows you to truly take in your environment. Everyone is drunk you decide and there is no way any of those women are here to chat. The whole scene seems very familiar to you, as if you have seen it all before, but you just can’t seem to place where from. ‘It’ll come to me eventually,’ you tell yourself as you start flicking pieces of food off the table while watching the people around you. ‘There is not even one semi-attractive looking man in this entire place,’ you amazingly think as you glare at anyone who dares look at you. You’re a bit surprised that one of the drunken fools hasn’t tried to join you yet, but when you take into account that you’re glaring at them all, it makes sense. ‘Now where am I?’ you wonder. You can’t be near home, you no longer live near the sea. ‘Maybe I blacked out and that’s why I don’t remember. Short term memory loss. Maybe I was kidnaped and brainwashed, then left here years later. It happened on Alias,’ while you’re going through possible explanations of your whereabouts, you fail to notice a certain man now standing at the bar with a rather determined look on his face. Picking invisible fuzz balls off of your favorite Sex Pistols t-shirt, you think about how out of place you must look for the first time. You are so lost in thought that you don’t notice that same man who was at the bar, is now walking over to your table. You don’t see the slightly feminine sway in his walk or his unique attire. You don’t notice his approach at all until he is right in front of your table clearing his throat to bring you out of your concentration. He slams a mug down on the surface in front of you and you watch as a golden brown liquid splashes out the sides. You assume it is rum and start to form a scathing insult for this man who so rudely invited himself to join you. Getting ready to send him off on his embarrassed way, you quickly look up past the slightly ill-proportioned grin on his face and into his endlessly deep brown eyes. “Oh...” you softly exhale as your eyes finally meet his. * * * * * CHAPTER 3 Your eyes widen at the sight standing in front of you. “Oh...my...god,” you say under your breath as you take in the fact that you didn’t suddenly pass out and this is just a cruel dream. “Actually luv, I wouldn’t blame me on God, he really didn know what he was gettin himself into,” the man tells you as he pulls the chair out and settles himself down. You look from side to side not really trusting that this isn’t all some cruel joke. But from the look of things this is very real. ‘Johnny Depp is sitting across from me, thee Johnny Depp, Mr. Depp himself, dressed as Jack Sparrow, this is weird, ’ you chant to yourself as you stare at him with wide eyes. Taking in his appearance you memorize every little thing about him. He’s wearing a red bandanna tied around his mass of long dark hair filled with beads, braids, dreads, a random whale bone, and miscellaneous odds-and-ends. You trail your eyes down to his dark eyes staring back at you and decide not to linger there for too long or you feel you’ll never be able to look away. His chin has two separate braids hanging from it and you can see a flash of gold teeth from the way he is grinning at you. Traveling further down, you can’t help but notice the amount of skin showing where his loose white shirt is unbuttoned. “Would you like me to stand up for ya luv? Get the full picture?” he asks as he snaps you out of your trance. You look back up and become slightly embarrassed that you got so out of it and that he caught you. It doesn’t help matters that he’s grinning at you like he knows what you were thinking. ‘Smug bastard,’ you think to yourself. “No, that’s okay. I’ve had enough for now, but thank you ever so much for your kind offer,” you quickly tell him. He smiles broadly as he winks an eye lined in black at you. Never has makeup looked this good on a man before. “Jack Sparrow...Captain,” he tells you. Not responding, you think, ‘what the hell is going on? I am officially lost.’ Jack frowns at your lack of response and pointedly tells you, “I suppose you don’ have a name then, that’s when you’re suppose ta supply one, but I can work aroun’ that. I’ll be callin’ ya luv.” “Something tells me that you call every single female ‘luv’ and I do have a name, I just choose not to supply you with it,” you shoot back. “Tha’s true I suppose,” he reply’s as he leans forward on his elbows closer to you. You watch as he scans your face with his eyes and then travels south. His eyes rest on your chest and you start glaring at him when you notice. “Now I know you’ve seen a pair of those before, so you think you can bring your eyes back up here?” you ask him as you lean forward on your elbows, careful not to lean too heavily on your injured one. “Now now lass, what do ya expect when you wear words on said chest? Specially when those words have a certain word amidst them?” Jack asks you, obviously rather pleased with himself as he leans back in his chair. He crosses his arms across his chest and picks his feet up off the floor in order to swing them up on to the table, and cross them at the ankles. You look down at your chest and scowl at the very familiar words written there. Deciding that while it’s fun sharing words with him, you need to know what’s going on. “Where am I? What are you doing? And why are you dressed like that?” you demand of him. He seems to ponder your questions as he spins the ring on his right index finger. Watching the spinning ring, you wonder where he got it from. “Well...Tortuga...in a bar exactly...wooing you...and this is how I dress,” he tells you all in one breath as he flings his arms to his sides nearly smacking someone in the stomach. He looks over at the man he almost hit, as if he was going to say something, but then dismissing the drunk he turns for his own tankard of rum. “...Tortuga,” you say quietly to yourself thinking over everything that has happened so far. Jack, obviously deciding to let you think in peace for a moment, tips his head back downing the last of his rum. You look up and watch him shake every last bit of rum from the tankard into his open mouth. The sight amuses you immensely and you almost can’t contain the laughter you feel bubbling up inside your chest. “So...you’re Jack Sparrow, and we’re in Tortuga, and is this or isn’t this year 2004?” you ask him. “2004? Are you feelin’ tipsy? And Captain, it’s Captain. Why do I have to keep remindin’ people of that?” Jack frustratingly huffs as he slams the now dry tankard on the table. You feel like laughing at his outburst but decide against it, no need to be wounding his feelings at this very moment. ‘This is weird. Now I know this must be a dream. Turning out to be a pleasant dream,’ you think as you glance at Jack, ‘and this is defiantly not Johnny Depp. I guess I should enjoy it while it lasts. Unless I somehow popped into some alternate reality, all dreams have to end.’ Jack starts snapping his fingers in front of your face, “snap out of it or you’re gonna cause me ta think ye knocked your head a few times, which would be a shame, what a pretty head it’tis.” You knock his hand out of your face, “do not snap your fingers at me Mr. Sparrow, or I may feel an urge to break one, which would forever limit your snapping abilities with that hand.” “You’d feel bad though, and then I would have to let ya nurse me back ta health out of the kindness of me heart,” Jack quickly replies while raising his eyebrows and creating a challenge. “I really don’t think you would want that to happen Jack,” you tell him while handing his empty tankard to the passing bar maid. “An why’s that exactly?” Jack absentmindedly asks as he watches the retreating woman carrying off his rum tankard. “Well first to go would be the rum, it’s bad for you ya know. Ruins your liver,” you matter-of-factly tell him as you watch the look of horror cross his face. “Ya would never do that, me liver likes the rum. Besides, you would never get away with it. I’m too cunning and swift for ya,” he confidently informs you while planting his feet back on the floor and leaning forward once again. You can’t help but enjoy bantering with Jack, there’s very few people that you have met that can hold a conversation with you. And from the amusement clearly written on his face, it’s obvious he’s enjoying this as well. “You may be clever Jack, but I never give up. I would go as far as to make posters. Plant a big fat picture of your face on the poster with bold black letters saying ‘Do Not Feed This Man Rum’ and post them up in every bar in the Caribbean. But since I did not actually cut your finger off, you won’t be needing my tender nursing, therefore I won’t be posting flyers telling everyone to keep rum away from your willing mouth, and you will be able to drink all the rum you want,” you tell him as you start to feel your elbow burning again. You lean back in your chair to hold your elbow in your hand and watch Jack think about what you just told him. His eyebrows knit together in deep thought as he tugs on the braids hanging from his chin. His eyebrows finally relax and he’s back to looking as calm and collected as he could look. “Aye, I see....,” he draws the words out and pauses for a moment, “but you’re still not taking into account who I am luv.” You wait for the words, knowing exactly what’s coming next and surprised that he’s waited this long to say it. Jack spreads his arms and arrogantly states, “I’m Captain Jack Sparrow.” You thought you would be able to contain yourself, but hearing him speak these words in person is just too much. At first you just start giggling, but after seeing his face turn confused, you erupt in a fit of laughter. “Oi! What’s this for?” Jack shouts at you, getting rather annoyed at your unannounced fit of laughter aimed at him. “Sorry Jack, It’s not you....,” you tried to say more, but couldn’t manage with the lack of oxygen. You couldn’t stop laughing and you didn’t even know why you were laughing anymore. Somewhere in the midst of your laughing, the barmaid brought back the tankard refilled with rum to the brim. By the time you managed to calm yourself and get enough oxygen to start breathing normally, Jack had already finished off half of the rum. “Ya done now?” Jack asks you as he stands up from his chair. You look up at him and realize you now have a full look at him. His white shirt looks about two sizes too large and it is unbuttoned down to the middle of his chest. The cuff on his left arm is undone and hanging from his wrist. The shirt is tucked in to his black pants and there’s a long piece of red and white material wrapped around his waist and tied at the side, the ends almost reaching his feet. His dirty dark brown boots are pulled up over the bottom of his pants and reach his knees. Careful not to study him for too long you stand up as well. “Where are you going?” you ask him, worried that he’s angry with you for laughing at him for so long. “Back to me ship, the crew's waitin,’” he says as he picks up what’s left of his rum, “it was lovely meetin’ ye miss, but it’s time for us ta part.” “You’re just gonna leave me here? What the hell is that? What exactly am I supposed to do here Jack?” you yell as you start getting angry with him. “Go home. I’m a pirate luv, the sea is me home. You think I’m goin’ ta take ya with me on the Pearl?” he tells you. Jack turns and starts making his way through the throng of people towards the exit. ‘There is no way in hell I’m letting that bastard leave me here,’ you tell yourself as you push through the crowd after him. Almost losing him when he walks through the door, you knock a drunk guy out of your way and run after him. Running out the door you spot him to the left walking towards the docks. ‘How in the world did he learn to walk like that?’ you wonder as you jog to catch up to him and grab his arm to slow him down. Jack whirls his whole body towards you, almost knocking you over in the process. “Well hello again luv, come to wave me off?” he asks you as he starts walking again. You sigh and jog a little to walk next to him. “You can’t leave me here Jack. I don’t exactly have a home to go to, well I have a home, I just don’t know how to go about getting there. I don’t really know how I got here in the first place. It’s a long story, well I guess not that long, but it’s just kinda confusing....,” you trail off. “No offense luv, but I don’ know you. How am I ta know that ye won’t try ta kill me in me sleep huh?” Jack asks you as he wildly waves his hands in the air to accentuate his point while you both near the docks. “Well...I promise not to kill you in your sleep. I would be stuck on a ship with your crew if I did, and personally I don’t think that would be all that fun for me,” you glance over at him hoping he’ll just say yes. You don’t know what you’ll do if he actually leaves you here in Tortuga by yourself. Jack suddenly comes to a halt and pivots toward you wearing a huge, all-out, smile on his handsome face. He would almost pass as innocent looking, if it wasn’t for that mischievous gleam in his eyes telling you that he has planned something. “Alright luv,” Jack tells you, “you can come with me.” And with that he continues walking. You stand in your spot worrying for a moment what made him change his mind. Looking back towards the town you let the thought of staying cross your mind. ‘No, whatever he’s decided in that twisted little head of his, I’m sure I can deal with it,’ you tell yourself. Turning back around you jog after Jack. You catch up to him so quickly only because he had stopped walking when he made it to the docks. ‘How does he walk so fast? He sways too much to be able to move that fast,’ you wonder as you stop next to him. You look up and gasp at the sheer size of the ship in front of you. You’ve never seen a ship of this size so close before, it seems like it goes on forever. It’s black tattered sails give it this unreal beauty that stuns you and makes you feel as if you shouldn’t even step foot on it. You feel Jack nudge you with his shoulder and push you towards the plank. Or at least you think it’s called a plank. You turn your head to look at Jack and see a look of pure pride covering his face. “Welcome to the Black Pearl luv, don’ trip.” * * * * * CHAPTER 4 “Welcome to the Black Pearl luv, don’ trip.” You smile lopsidedly and turn back to the looming ship in front of you. ‘It really is beautiful,’ you think as you look on in awe. You don’t know all that much about ships, but from what you do know, this one would be a kick ass one. The most time you ever spent on ships was when you would sail with your family on your grandparents boat. But after they sold it when you were very young, you haven’t really been on a ship or boat of any kind since. But you know enough where you know that you can’t call it a boat out load, and that all ship’s are females. “She’s gorgeous Jack, she really is,” you tell him as you continue admiring the Pearl. Noticing that Jack hasn’t said anything in response, you glance at him to see if he was still alive. You’re a bit confused as to the look on his face. ‘Apparently no ones called the Pearl gorgeous or something,’ you think as you raise your eyebrows in question. Jack’s looking at you as if he’s never seen you before. As if he can’t believe you just complemented his ship. “Jack, what? You’re freaking me out over here,” you lightly say. Jack seems to have snapped out of whatever state he was in when he slightly shakes his head and turns away from you towards the Pearl. He starts walking up the plank and calls over his shoulder, “Come on now then, ya wouldn’ wanna be left behind... what with how badly ye wanted to come along.” You stick your tongue out at his back and start following him. ‘I’m Captain Jack Sparrow. What? Nooooo, of course I can’t show real emotion. I’m a pirate you know, look at me beads in me hair,’ you giggle to yourself as you mock him behind his back. Stepping onto the Pearl was almost scary. It seems like only a select few should even dare to look at it, for some reason it intimidated you and you’re aren’t used to being intimidated. You had an urge to hide behind Jack, gripping his shoulders. ‘The gripping part would have nothing to do with the ship,’ you think as you look around. There are a couple pirates, members of Jack’s crew, on deck and you assume that the rest are below deck. You recognize Mr. Gibbs, but the rest look unfamiliar to you. You really don’t know when you stepped into this mad house, so the whole crew could have changed. Jack, what can only be described as swaying, walks over to Mr. Gibbs and begins discussing the plans for leaving Tortuga. You step up behind him but to his right and wait until they’re done with their little chat. “Jack? Why is there a woman on the Pearl?” Mr. Gibbs slowly asks Jack as he stares you down. You stare him back down the best you can. As if just remembering you were there, Jack says, “Oh right, this be......well honestly I don’ know really.” He leans forward and whispers in Gibbs ear, “I call ‘er luv, but she gets feisty with that name. I think she fell in luv with a eunuch, said eunuch couldn’....fulfill her, so she found ol’ Jack to help ‘er out.” “I can hear you Jack!” you shout, “I’m standing right here!” Giving him the dirtiest look possible you say, “Although you’re right. I do happen to harbor a certain love for eunuch’s, why do you think I sought you out?” “Luv!” Jack gasps, clasping his hands over his chest. “Tha’s just a terrible thing ta say!” Gibbs is watching this exchange with a disgusted look on his face and then stalks off muttering something about Jack being mad, which you entirely agree with. Jack spins around and stalks up the steps to the wheel. ‘If he keeps spinning around like that, one of those beads is going to slam into his eye and end up blinding him,’ you think. You follow him, not really knowing what else to do with yourself. “Jack, what am I supposed to do here? Follow you around until your ego explodes?” you ask while you watch him stare straight ahead at something you haven’t been let in on. Jack turns to you and looks at you for a moment. You start to wonder if he’s really looking at you at all or if he’s just staring past you. Then he places his hand on your shoulder and gives you a little shake. You can feel the warmth of his palm seeping through your shirt, you shiver from the mixture of his warm skin and the cool air hitting you all at once. It reminds you of the times at hotels when you would go swimming at night and then immediately jump into the hot tub. You look up and realize he’s speaking to you. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” you ask as you clear your head. “I said luv, tha’ you look like you’re ready ta take me up on me earlier offer. But unfortunately for you, I ‘ave a job to do. Someone has ta Captain this ship,” he tells you, sounding rather cocky and pleased with himself. “Honestly though luv, ye can’t really do anything ta help. An while it’s nice having ya follow me around, it could get distractin’.” Jack steps away from the wheel and tromps back down the steps and into the room below you. You can’t really do anything but follow him, realizing that you look like a lost dog. You make it down the steps and turn toward the room he disappeared into. Peering in, you can’t really see anything. Looking up towards the sun, you see that it has begun to set now and soon it will be gone completely. Turning your attention back to the dark room you notice movement and then a candle suddenly flares-up. You see that Jack is making his way around the rather spacious room lighting candles as he goes. ‘He looks different in the candle light,’ you think, ‘now I know why people say they always look better in this light.’ The light causes small shadows to dance across his face and slip away into the room. You step into the room and see that Jack has turned it into a living area. It’s surprisingly pretty clean. You don’t know why you expected it to be filthy, but you are still pleasantly surprised that it doesn’t make you feel like you’d catch something by just standing there. Jack gets on his hands and knees by the fairly good sized bed resting in the corner. He peers underneath it and then flattens his body to the ground and stuffs half his body underneath. You ignore his movements and continue scanning the room. To your right there are some cabinets and cupboards with a table standing beside. Empty bottles lay scattered on the floor in random areas throughout the whole room, you count there to be around seven empty and maybe four filled. Thankfully you notice a long mirror standing in the corner across from the bed, and make a mental note to check out how disheveled you look. The rest of the room is filled with random chests and miscellaneous objects. The room is fairly simple, but it doesn’t surprise you. Jack just doesn’t seem to be the flashy type with his belongings, contrary to how he acts. “Aye, I found ya, tryin’ to hide from me I see,” Jack triumphantly shouts as he pulls his body out from under the bed with a bottle of rum in each hand. You shake your head as he gets up to set them on the table. He notices your expression and says, “Fer later luv.” “I didn’t say anything,” you respond smiling, raising your hands up by your sides like a hostage. Jack slightly grunts and tells you, “This is where you’ll be stayin’, don’ hide me rum. I don’ trust you. I’ll be back after we set sail and everythin’s settled.” He gives his rum one last glance before he starts walking out the door. “Hey!” you yell. “What if I don’t want to stay in here. I assume this is your room, what if I don’t want to stay in the same room as you?” Jack turns to you with his hand resting on the door. He thinks for a moment while rubbing his chin with his other hand. “I suppose ye’re just sayin’ this ta get a rise outta me luv, somethin’ tells me ye would never think of stayin’ with me crew,” Jack tells you with a grin playing on his lips. You don’t say anything cause there’s nothing you can say. He somehow got to know you rather quickly. ‘Or maybe I’m just predictable,’ you think. You turn your back, walk over to the bed, and sit down. Jack’s still standing there rubbing his chin and you wonder if maybe that’s why he has that open wound on the left side of his jaw. “Are you gonna go, or are you just gonna stand there for another twenty minutes rubbing your face?” you ask as you glare at him. Jack smirks and steps back in order to shut the double doors. “One more thing luv,” he tells you, “It’s not very hard ta get a rise outta me.” With that he shuts the door. * * * * * CHAPTER 5 It’s been around twenty minutes since Jack left you by yourself in here, and you’re still sitting on the side of the bed. The most you’ve moved would be to rub your ear, the damn earring is driving you crazy for some reason. You can’t help but think about everything that has happened so far in this psychosis of yours, still unsure if this is all real. ‘Well at least I know where I am, that’s a step forward. And I know who I’m with, and that’s multiple steps forward...or maybe it’s a hop. Actually it could be a whole leap...I should really stop this train of thought or it may just derail and Jack will find me twitching on the floor,’ you think, laughing at the thought of Jack actually finding you twitching on the floor. You pull yourself up off the bed and glance over at the two bottles of rum Jack had saved from the terrors lurking underneath the bed. You let the idea of hiding them cross your mind, but then think better of it and decide to put that plan away for later. ‘I think he deserves at least one night free of my shenanigans,’ you decide, feeling rather giving this evening. Looking around you, it’s obvious that there isn’t much in the form of entertainment to be done in Jack’s bedroom. You figure all Jack uses it for is eating, drinking, and sleeping. He seems to enjoy being out on the ship far too much to be able to sit inside and let the crew do all the work. You’re not much of a drinker so you can’t think of anything that would hold your interest in here without Jack. You do notice a couple large trunks though. One at the end of the bed and the other just set against the wall. They look rather inviting but you’ve never been one who snoops around other people’s belongings. You grin at the memory of accompanying Anya to help her boyfriend move out of his parent’s house. He left to take his mattress over to his new apartment and Anya has this brilliant urge to read through all of his journals. It almost made you queasy watching her invade his privacy so blatantly. Then she actually got angry at some of the things he wrote about girls he met, before he had even met Anya. For obvious reasons, their relationship did not last long. After moving in with her, you constantly wondered if she went through your things while you weren’t home. ‘I wonder if I’ll ever see her again any time soon,’ you think. ‘Shit she would love this. She probably would have already mounted Jack and they’d be in their sixth round of sex by now.’ Deciding to leave your thoughts of your best friend behind, you make a mental note to ask Jack about the chests’ innards later. You notice double doors at the back of the room and wonder why you didn’t see them before. Walking over to them you cautiously swing them both open at the same time, not really knowing whats on the other side. ‘Woah,’ you think as you look out at the ocean. You’re standing on a balcony that’s in the back of the ship overlooking the water. Walking out to the railing you notice that the Pearl is moving and you can see Tortuga straight ahead, which means that you’re moving away from the town. You can see bright lights all over Tortuga and realize that they must be small fires. ‘It’s probably a good thing that Jack found me before it got dark,’ you thankfully think, ‘I probably would have already gotten into a bar fight and maybe even have kicked some guy in his good bits.’ The sun looks as if it’s falling into the sea, either that or the sea is swallowing the sun. Bright colors spread out through the water from the sun’s rays. ‘It looks like a painting that I could never create.’ Feeling a sudden cool breeze hit you from the left, you wrap your arms around yourself and turn around looking up at the ship. Rubbing your hands up and down your bare arms trying to create friction, you wonder if Jack is up there standing behind the giant wheel. You want to go up there and stand next to him, but you dismiss the idea. ‘If he wants me to join him up there, he’d ask me. Or just make it a standing fact that I could if I wanted to,’ you decide as you lightly chew on your bottom lip, it’s been a habit of yours for as long as you can remember. You decide to stay out on the balcony even though the air is turning really frigid rather quickly. ‘At least there’s something to look at out here, as opposed to staring at some blank walls singing to myself,’ you think as you swing the doors shut and turn around. You go to the far right corner of the balcony and sit down hugging your knees to your chest. Wrapping your arms around your knees you rest your head back on the wall behind you. You stare out into the water and sky for what seems like hours. ‘When did I become so exhausted?’ you ask yourself as your eyes start closing without permission. The sun is almost completely beneath the horizon now and you can barely see the town of Tortuga. All that’s left are the reddened twinkling of flames. Suddenly hearing shouting from within Jack’s room your eyes reluctantly open. The doors to the balcony swing open and you look to your left to see Jack stomp over to the railing and peer down into the water. Figuring he doesn’t see you, you just wait until he notices that you’re there. A frown mars his tanned face as he spins towards you. “Bloody ‘ell!” he shouts as he sees you, “What the ‘ell are ye doin’ out here? I thought ye jumped ship.” You unwrap your arms from around your legs and stand up from your spot on the ground. “It was too boring in that room Jack, there’s nothing to do. I just wanted to watch the ocean for awhile. Don’t fret my little pirate man, if I was planning on swimming with the fishies, I’d let you know... 10 minutes ahead of time. Or at least leave you a note,” you look up at him feeling a little guilty for the frown still displayed on his face. “I’m sorry for freaking you out, I really hadn’t planned on it,” you apologize as you move around him and walk into the room. “But now that I know how you react, I can’t promise I won’t use that to my advantage in the near future,” you add wearing a humorous smile. Looking around you notice all the glowing candles placed randomly around the room. Shadows now hide in the corners while the flickering flames make the bare room look almost alive. “Jus’ try it luv, you’ll see what happens,” you hear Jack say behind you as the double doors to the balcony slam shut. You turn back around facing him raising your eyebrows a little, “Would that be a threat Jack?” Jack stalks up to you and lowers his body a tad so he can look you straight in the eyes, “No luv, tha’s not a threat, tha’s just a fact.” You stare back at him not saying anything. His eyes seem to have darkened and they now have this inhuman glow. Jack straightens his body back up and asks you curiously, “If you were so bored luv, then why didn you just come out and find me? I would ‘ave no problem keepin’ ye occupied. Your pirate man can cure anythin’.” Sighing you look down realizing that he will now refer to himself forever as your pirate man. Knowing that joining him would have been the obvious choice, instead of sitting out in the cold alone, you mumble loud enough for him to hear, “I don’t know Jack, I didn’t know that I could. You did just leave me in here, you didn’t say I could go with you, so I stayed.” Hearing Jack softly chuckling you look up at him and see that he’s laughing at you. ‘That ass, I should kick him.... hard.... in the shin!’ you think as you frown angrily at him. “Why exactly are you laughing at me? I have a severe urge right now to kick you in the shin you know. I could do some damage Jack. You could get a bruise so large it could be detrimental to your health,” you ramble off. Jack quickly sobers up and smiles a little out of the right side of his mouth. ‘How does he do that so perfectly?’ you wonder. “No need ta be bruising your pirate man luv, not by those means anyway. I jus’ never got the impression that ye were the type that need permission ta do anything, don’ tell me I’m wrong about ye. It would just break me heart.” Your anger disappeared when he referred to himself as your pirate man again and by the time he was done talking you were wearing an amused smile. “Oh yeah, I’m sure it would just tear you up inside if I felt that I needed your approval to do everything.” “It would, I like ye feisty,” Jack replies as he flings his left arm suddenly around your waist and pulls you in firmly against his side. He squeezes you tightly and you start feeling like you can’t breathe. “Umm Jack, as much as I enjoy this, I enjoy breathing a little bit more. Can’t say that I love the lack of oxygen,” you tightly say. Immediately you feel his grip loosening so he’s just lightly holding on to you. “Sorry luv, got a little excited,” he replies as he leads you over to the table. There’s a couple of plates of food in the middle that he must have brought in the room with him earlier. One plate has pieces of meat still attached to the bones that you assume is pork. One plate is filled with bread and the other you’re not quite sure about. But it all smells delicious. You look up at him to see him staring down at you, like a father would look at his little girl. “Is this for me?” right after you ask you realize what a dumb question it was. ‘Why the hell did I ask him that? Now I seem like a ditzy cheerleader. Not that he knows what those are, but still. I seem like a real scholar with that one.’ Jack leads you to a chair and sits you down. “Na, the food's not for you luv cause I’m plannin on starvin ya. Gotta get rid of all those lovely curves ye have,” the sarcasm in his voice evident as he looks down at your chest. You don’t really know what to say to that. You’re not really used to guys noticing your body. You’ve never been the type to flaunt what you have. If you really wanted to you could, you have plenty of the breast tissue to do some serious flaunting with. You’ve just always preferred a nice comfy band t-shirt over a restricting boob top any day. But remembering that women don’t usually walk around wearing jeans and a t-shirt in this year, you assume that you probably look a little odd. Realizing that his stare is still directed at your chest, you pick a piece of bread up and throw it at him. You smile triumphantly as it hits him square in the face. Knowing that Jack approves of how you look still makes you feel like a giggly little school girl, but you choose to ignore that feeling. “Oi!” Jack warns, “Don’t be throwin’ things luv, you may start a war you won’t win.” Jack walks around to the other side of the table and throws his body down on the chair. ‘I really wish he wouldn’t walk like that,’ you think, ‘He makes it very hard not to stare when he walks like he’s having sex. It’s just wrong he can walk like that.’ It’s like he’s slightly tipsy but you know that it can’t be that. He probably has one hell of an alcohol tolerance built up by now, especially rum. Leaning forward he grabs his two bottles of rum and sets one down on each side of him as if to prove the point you’re making in your head. You two both start eating not really speaking. Both of you are too concentrated on the food in front of you. You declined when Jack offered you some rum and he looked surprised that someone could turn rum down. Throughout the whole meal, pieces of bread were thrown without words being shared. After you are both pretty much done eating, Jack picks all the plates up but the one with bread and sets them outside the door. You’re glad he left the one with the bread on the table. You get hungry at odd hours in the night and for some odd reason you love bread, so it works out perfectly. “Why did you put them outside?” you ask Jack as he shuts the doors once again. “Ta be washed in the mornin’,” Jack informs you like you should have know this very simple reason. “Now let me look at your arm luv,” Jack says as he moves to stand in front of you. “What do you mean?” you ask, not really wanting him to fuck around with your elbow and not sure how he knew you were hurt to begin with. Jack sighs. “You’re elbow is cut up luv, I saw it in the tavern. I wanna look at it, wrap it, and then be done. You can’t pretend it’s not there luv, I saw it,” he explains while undulating his hands slowly. He picks a bottle of rum up and gathers a reddish piece of cloth from the cupboard, then sets them down on the floor by the bed. Figuring you probably have no choice in the matter and that if you fought him on this he’d probably sit on you in order to do what he wants, you get up to move over to the side of the bed. Sitting down lightly on the edge, turning your body towards the middle, you wait for Jack to sit down himself. Jack sits down next to you and turns his body towards yours. “Give me your arm then luv,” he says as he picks up your right arm and pulls it slightly towards him. He turns it slightly inwards and leans his head down so he can get a closer look at it. You can feel his warm breath puffing against your flesh. You say nothing as you allow him to poke and prod the surrounding areas looking for other possible injuries. He looks up from your arm and looks you in the eyes intensely. You take a deep breath and just render to his stare. “Pretty bruised ye are luv, but ye’ll be alright,” he says in an almost whisper and sets your arm back down so your hand is resting on his calf. He leans down to gather the cloth and rum as his dreaded hair brushes against your open palm, you fight the urge to move your fingers. He sits back up and flings the cloth over his shoulder. He takes your arm back in his hand and pulls you forward so your elbow is directly above his lap. Holding the bottle of rum in his other hand he says, “This may sting a little, but I promise ta make it hurt as little as possible.” Looking at you, waiting for your consent, you suddenly realize what an unbelievably compassionate guy Jack really is. Smiling a little you tell him that it’s all right. You watch as Jack turns your arm a little inwards again and holds the bottle of rum over your elbow. Slowly he pours a small amount of rum onto your abraded flesh, letting the excess drip down into his lap. You hiss as you feel the alcohol burning your skin and wince a little at the prickling sensation now spreading through your arm. Softly, Jack sets the bottle of alcohol back on the floor by his foot. He takes the long piece of red cloth from his shoulder and gently proceeds to wrap your elbow, making sure not to wrap it too tightly. You watch his fingers diligently doing their job and then look up into Jack’s concentrated face. His eyebrows are slightly furrowed and his lips are pursed, and you can’t seem to gather even one coherent thought. Going back to watching his dirt smudged fingers at work, you don’t even realize that the pain is nonexistent. Finally Jack seems content with his work and ties the two ends of the cloth together. Looking up he asks, “How’s that feel then luv?” Noticing that you really don’t feel any pain, you smile at him and thank him. Feeling his thumb start to slowly trace small circles across the inside of your elbow, you look down at his hand still holding your arm in place. Briefly closing your eyes you feel the warmth of his hand and the slight pressure of his thumb causing a shiver to go down your spine. Jack makes a rumbling sound in the back of his throat which causes you to open your eyes and slowly pull your arm out of his grasp. ‘What the hell am I doing?’ you ask yourself, ‘I can’t start feeling things for Jack, I can’t go down that road, going down that road would be bad, very bad. Bad Jack for touching me. Bad for us both. Let’s see if I can use the word bad some more, or let’s not.’ Jack suddenly gets up from the bed and swaggers over to the chest at the foot of the bed. He gets on his knees as he opens the heavy lid and starts digging around inside. Remembering that you wanted to know what was inside you crawl over to the foot of the bed and look down at what he’s doing. The chest seems to be full of clothing. Not very exciting, but at least you now know what’s inside it, now only one chest to go. Finally finding what he was apparently looking for, Jack pulls out a large white long-sleeved shirt that looks very similar to the one he is wearing now. He shuts the chest and stands up handing the shirt out to you. You take it, not entirely sure what you’re supposed to do with it. “Tha’s for you luv, unless of course you’re wantin’ to be sleepin’ in the buff, in tha’ case I’ll have no objections,” he says as he winks at you. “As great as sleeping au naturel with you sounds Jack, I’m just going to have to pass. Plus frostbite doesn’t really sound like a good time to me. I rather enjoy the use of my opposable thumbs. Makes picking things up a lot easier,” you shoot back while standing up. “Tha’s a shame luv, body heat does wonders.” You look around wondering where exactly he expects you to change. You swing your head back around to Jack to see that he’s already untied the sash around his waist and is now pulling his boots off. “Umm...Jack? What are you doing?” you slowly ask. Jack looks up at you and laughs, “What does it look like I’m doin’? Honestly luv, did ye hit your head when you hit your arm back there? Or are you just tryin’ ta pretend like ya don’ wanna see me bareassed?” “Yes Jack, I live to see your bare ass. I want to see your bare ass so unbelievably bad. But I fear that the sheer titillation I will most defiantly feel at seeing your bare ass may be overwhelming for me. I may just pass out from the pure joy,” you sarcastically reply. “Well we wouldn’ want that luv,” Jack throws back in an equally sarcastic tone. “Seriously Jack, could you be any more full of yourself?” you wonder out loud. “Actually luv....” “No! Don’t answer that, I do not want to know,” you interrupt him quickly. He smirks and starts humming an unfamiliar tune to himself. He starts lifting his shirt over his head and your mouth literally drops as you let the shirt in your hand fall to the floor. ‘I...am...fucked,’ you think, ‘I’m supposed to sleep in the same bed next to that!? Shit I’m gonna have some wicked dreams.’ Your eyes scan his torso and you can’t help but like what you see. You’ve always preferred the upper bodies on guys, but Jack’s takes your preference beyond anything you could ever imagine. The two reddish round scars on the right side of his chest are prominent and you assume that they were made from bullets. Your fingertips itch at the impulse to trace circles around the scars. You get the sudden urge to seek out whoever shot him and beat the living shit out of him. You’re not much for physical fights, you’re more the verbal attack kind, but you’d make an exception for this moment. Jack raises both arms and you get a glimpse of his inner right arm. He has long mottled scars running down, that bare a resemblance to veins. ‘The scars only seem to enhance his beauty,’ you think as you see the familiar sparrow tattoo on his right arm and the ‘P’ scar underneath. Hearing Jack shout from within his shirt causes you to snap out of it and look up at him to see him struggling with his shirt. A thread seems to have gotten caught on the long bone tied in his hair and you watch as Jack keeps tugging on it just causing the problem to get worse. You start laughing as you go over to him, “Calm down Jack, you’re just making it worse. Hold still and I’ll save you from your man-eating shirt.” You wish that you had a camera with you so you could capture this moment forever. Captain Jack Sparrow wearing a hurt little boy expression while trapped in his shirt. “Are you pouting?” you incredulously ask him as you reach up and unhook the thread from around the bone. “No,” Jack stubbornly replies. You laugh as you pull the shirt the rest of the way off his head and place it in his hands. “All better,” you tell him as you pat him on his bare shoulder and try not to notice how hard it is. You walk back to the shirt you had carelessly dropped on the floor and bend over to retrieve it. ‘At least he didn’t notice me oogling,’ you think. “Are you plannin’ on tellin’ me your name luv?” Jack asks you, “I need somethin’ else ta call you between ‘luv’s’.” “I haven’t decided yet, I’ll get back to you on that,” you reply as you walk over to the bed and set the shirt down. “Now you need to leave or keep your back turned while I change, your choice. But if you stay, and I see you peeking, I will throw my shoe at you. And these are heavy shoes, they could do some damage,” you warn. Jack turns his body around so he’s facing the table, “Hurry up then.” You pause to rake your eyes over his back. The muscles underneath the tan smooth flesh are tense for some reason. Surprisingly, there are no scars at all marking his back. It’s untouched and perfect. You realize that he’s not a big man. He’s not overly built up and huge. The muscles are toned but not overdone. For a moment you’re glad that he’s not thinner than you, that would be sad. ‘He has the perfect body,’ you think to yourself, ‘Oh god I’m fucked, sooo screwed.’ You shake your head as you check to make sure he’s still look straight ahead. Seeing that he actually is, you quickly pull your shirt over your head and decide that there is no reason to take your bra off. You pick up the shirt he gave you and tug it over your head. It’s huge on you. Reaching down past your knees a little, the sleeves hang down off your arms. You button it up the rest of the way only to see that the top three buttons are missing, ‘Well that’s just great.’ Thinking about leaving your jeans on for a second you rapidly throw the idea out. It wouldn’t make sense, they aren’t all that comfortable to sleep in. You unbutton your jeans and try to slide them down your legs but then the fact that you are still wearing your shoes kinda hinders the process. You almost trip as you try to sit on the bed. “Ye all right luv, do ye need me help?” Jack asks you and you can tell he’s smiling. “No Jack, I’m fine, for the love of god do not turn around,” you frustratingly say while you try to pull your shoes off. Finally you get them unlaced to kick them off and you get your jeans completely off. Standing back up, you sigh and fold your jeans neatly and then your shirt. You smooth the shirt your wearing back down and set your folded clothes on the top on the chest at the foot of the bed. “Okay I’m done,” you proudly state feeling a little shy about standing half naked in the same room as a half naked Jack Sparrow. Jack turns around and smiles appreciatively at your attire. “Alright then luv, time for bed.” |