Fic: 'What's in a name?'
Oct. 9th, 2006 05:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dwgmDidn't get away for lunch today, but dashed this off and sent it to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hereswith and hendercats who very kindly edited.
What's In A Name?
Lizzie. He was calling her Lizzie, now.
No one ever called her Lizzie. It had only ever been Miss Swann, or a respectful Miss Elizabeth. Elizabeth had been reserved for the very few: her mother and father; her dimly remembered relatives back in England, when she was small; and, for the last year or so, James. She remembered how pleased her father had been when she had given James that permission. Little did he know how soon his plans in that direction would go awry. Or how many years it had been since she'd given Will that same permission, to no avail, until recent events had changed so much between them.
Jack, on the other hand, hadn't waited on such an absurdity as permission. Absurd to him, at least.
"Elizabeth... it is Elizabeth?"
"It's Miss Swann."
"Ah. Miss Swann. If you'd be so kind."
He'd always said Miss Swann with that slightly satirical lilt. As though convention and appearance and reputation were of small account in his grand scheme. As though he saw through her, right from the start. Saw beneath the silk and lace and brocade. Beneath that bloody corset. Saw her for what she was, rather than what she was raised to be. Supposed to be.
And now, instead of the more staid Elizabeth, it was Lizzie. A casual familiarity that fell all too comfortably from his smiling lips.
Comfortable, like the boy's clothing she had chosen to assume, which gave her both freedom and an odd awareness of herself.
She rather thought she liked it.
~.~
hereswith and hendercats who very kindly edited. What's In A Name?
Lizzie. He was calling her Lizzie, now.
No one ever called her Lizzie. It had only ever been Miss Swann, or a respectful Miss Elizabeth. Elizabeth had been reserved for the very few: her mother and father; her dimly remembered relatives back in England, when she was small; and, for the last year or so, James. She remembered how pleased her father had been when she had given James that permission. Little did he know how soon his plans in that direction would go awry. Or how many years it had been since she'd given Will that same permission, to no avail, until recent events had changed so much between them.
Jack, on the other hand, hadn't waited on such an absurdity as permission. Absurd to him, at least.
"Elizabeth... it is Elizabeth?"
"It's Miss Swann."
"Ah. Miss Swann. If you'd be so kind."
He'd always said Miss Swann with that slightly satirical lilt. As though convention and appearance and reputation were of small account in his grand scheme. As though he saw through her, right from the start. Saw beneath the silk and lace and brocade. Beneath that bloody corset. Saw her for what she was, rather than what she was raised to be. Supposed to be.
And now, instead of the more staid Elizabeth, it was Lizzie. A casual familiarity that fell all too comfortably from his smiling lips.
Comfortable, like the boy's clothing she had chosen to assume, which gave her both freedom and an odd awareness of herself.
She rather thought she liked it.
~.~
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 03:32 am (UTC)And of course, this re-inforces my theories that Barbossa treated her more like a lady than Jack did. Which I love.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 04:59 am (UTC)I think he's met so many people of all different stations that he has no illusions about any of them any more. But Elizabeth proved she was different from ordinary ladies, right from the start. No panic or fear after her near drowning, and she defended Jack immediately when her father and Norrington threatened him. She saw him as something more than just a pirate, and he's always seen her as more than just a well-to-do lady. Unusual in their respective worlds.
I think Barbossa's treatment of Elizabeth was far more condescending and threatening underneath the polite veneer. If things had turned out differently with the curse, she would have been in real trouble. "Waste not!"
Very happy you liked the story, though. Thank you for reading and commenting.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 05:10 am (UTC)Oh definately. But you can be the meanest bastard in the world and still treat someone like a lady. He made sure she was comfortable, gave her a dress and some food and whatnot. I realise that it was just as much for his benefit as hers, but still. Jack seems to be very involved in himself- not that I don't love him.