Fic: 'Grooming' (Barbossa, Jack, Boostrap, Captain John Tobias - 'G')

[dwgm]

Tagged for the raise_the_dead 'One More Day Challenge' by cassiopaya, who gave me a great prompt: "Glabrous". I love learning new words!

This just drabble-length, I'm afraid, set in tessabeth's pre-mutiny universe (which is now A/U if one considers the sequels -- which raise_the_dead does not), between In the First Year of Their Acquaintance and In the Second Year of their Acquaintance. If you haven't read those, you should – they are superb.

It's unbetaed, too, as I'm posting in a hurry before zooming off to a Mother's Day dinner, so if anyone sees something amiss I'd appreciate you letting me know.


~ Grooming ~


"What the devil's got into Tobias, treatin' him like his bloody lapdog," Barbossa growled. He finished off his tankard and slammed it down on the table. "Jen's First, I'm Second, and Sparrow's nothin' but a glabrous, puling babe!"

"Careful," Twigg told him, in warning, a motion of his head indicating trouble.

Barbossa turned to look, and there stood Sparrow, not ten feet away, with Bootstrap and a couple of others. Bootstrap was glaring, but Sparrow, curse him, only looked amused, though there could have been a flash deep in those lady's eyes of his.

Sparrow spoke mighty cool, though. "Believe I'd rather be glabrous than scraggly, Hector. But puling?" He chuckled, and that gold tooth Tobias had got him glinted in the lamplight.

Hector ground his teeth, and watched with narrowed eyes as Sparrow and his mates left the tavern.

But then, a few nights later, they're all having dinner in the Great Cabin and Tobias says to his protégé, "Beard's startin' to fill in real nice, Jack. Glad you changed your mind and took my advice."

"Oh, aye," Sparrow mutters, offhand. But Hector notes he keeps his eyes on his plate for a time, and there's a flush beneath the tan of his cheeks.

~.~

Comments

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Do read the "Years of Their Acquaintance" series if you haven't. hendercats and I begged her to write that Jack backstory, which is only hinted at in T.'s fabulous PotC/Stephenson's 'Quicksilver' crossover, Picaresque, and she finally did it, and it's of the brilliance. Only hints of slashiness in the first two Years, a bit more, though not real graphic in the third.

LOL! Perfect handling of your word!

Thank you! I thought of a couple different scenarios -- almost went with a rather smutty Harry & the Pirate one, lol! But I didn't know how many folks were familiar with that, and there are few things I enjoy more than pimping tessabeth's work.