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

[hereswith.livejournal.com]

Fic! And am I first, too? *looks around* It's great, you always manage to paint such a vivid picture with so few words. LOL at Barbossa's insult and Jack's response, and the ending. I also liked: there could have been a flash deep in those lady's eyes of his.

Happy Mother's Day!

[mary684.livejournal.com]

Glabrous! hah! I saw that challenge to you the other day and just 'bout died laughing. What a fine job you've done of it and drat! more new stories for me to read so I can appreciate this one more fully (don't ya hate when that happens? *g*)

Happy Mom's to you!

[compassrose7577.livejournal.com]

Ahh, yes! Those lady's eyes!! Where would we be without them?

I sense another whole story in the "gold tooth Tobias had got him..." Wouldn't you just love to know?

I was hysterical when I saw the challenge. How is it we associate 'grooming' and Jack? Or is it Barbossa's lack thereof, that puts Jack in such sharp relief? The tensions and competition between those two is always fun.

Either way, you've given us volumes of insights in a matter of blessed few words.

[soleilpirate.livejournal.com]

Ha! Jack's growing a beard, cause Hector called him glabrous. *smirk* And he's blushing over it! That's awesome. Love those two acting like fourth graders around each other.

[sharklady35.livejournal.com]

I always enjoy a good snarky Hector and Jack interaction. :)

[mamazano.livejournal.com]

Wonderful use of that AU! I love Tobias anyways, and having Jack and Barbossa squabbling is always fun.

Glabrous. I thought my prompt was a hard one!

[justawench.livejournal.com]

*googles for definition*

LOL! Perfect handling of your word! Protege? Is that what they're calling it these days? Hector sees too much, as usual.

Now I must know about that tooth.

[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.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Glabrous. I thought my prompt was a hard one!

I had to google it, but then I thought of several potential stories. Had to go with the one set in tessabeth's A/U, though. It's been way too long since I wrote any Captain Tobias.

Thank you for reading and commenting -- I really appreciate it.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

They are fun together. Glad you enjoyed!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

And he's blushing over it!

He's just 18 here, and fairly new to the crew, but is something of a prodigy, which immediately aroused Hector's jealousy and competitive nature.

Hector and Jack are always fun together! Glad you enjoyed this.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you for commenting so quickly -- saw it before I zoomed off to Santa Barbara. Jack and Barbossa are always fun together.

*hugs*

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Had to google that word, but once I did I found several plot bunnies hanging around. Almost went with Harry & the Pirate smut, which I haven't written in a long time, but Captain Tobias and Young!Jack were too alluring. Yes, do read those stories. tessabeth is one of the top writers in the fandom, and though she hasn't written anything new in a while, there is a large body of work on her journal, and at impofperversity. Mostly slash, but so well written it would be a shame to let that stop anyone. The two stories above, however, are PG and only hint at slash.

Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed these -- and Happy Mother's Day!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I sense another whole story in the "gold tooth Tobias had got him..." Wouldn't you just love to know?

That story is strongly hinted at in "First Year". Such wonderful stories, those are.

And yes, Barbossa and Jack are always fun to write together. I'm so glad you enjoyed this! And Happy Mother's Day!

[p0wdermonkey.livejournal.com]

The title! The prompt! Jack and Barbassa! Years of Their Aquaintance!
*dissolves into squee*

I love all of this. Barbossa thinks he's so clever. And he is, but he's only digging himself into a hole with it. And Jack can deal with it almost too easily--until the end there. Such a short piece, but it really catches the interaction between these two.

Sparrow, curse him, only looked amused, though there could have been a flash deep in those lady's eyes of his.

"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.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

*bounces happily*

I'm so glad this made you squeeful. I was hoping it would, knowing that you're familiar with those stories. I've grown fond of the canon/fanon backstory that we're given, but I still think this one of tessabeth's was great, and Tobias one of the best OC's ever!

And Jack can deal with it almost too easily--until the end there.

At eighteen he's still establishing himself in so many ways, and Barbossa is in his prime, and jealous and ambitious to boot. I think there are probably lots of little moments between the two that could be written.

Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed it!

[p0wdermonkey.livejournal.com]

I think there are probably lots of little moments between the two that could be written.

*Expectant, hopeful look*

[lilfluffykitten.livejournal.com]

Oh lovely, making pretty Jack flush!

I have to admit I was stumped with the prompt (although I not sure if I'm more amused or horrified that this challenge has so far taught me 2 new words. Really, who needs college?), but when I saw your title and characters I really thought you meant the monkey - it threw me for a moment.

:)

And thanks for the recs, they're going on my never-ending list of things to read (which is expanding almost daily!)

[komandant-krech.livejournal.com]

Ya know, I thought I was just a daft English second-language-ist when I had to go to dictionary.com to check out "glabrous", but, based on the comments above I was not the only one *g* (well, to be fair, "puling" was a new word to me too. Amazing how you learn foreign languages in the fandom :p)

Beard's startin' to fill in real nice, Jack.

ROFL. This fic was absolutely hilarious and characterizations to the point.

(Now I just remembered that CotBP extra (?) where Johnny whines how he just can't grow a beard. Lol.)

And, "lady's eyes". I think my love for that dude is rekindling and fast right now ;)

[pearly-dreams.livejournal.com]

Eheeh. Eheehee. ^^ How entertaining. Just... yes. Entertaining. Jack giving in... Jack embarrassed!!! That doesn't happen everyday.

xDDD *runs off to read those ficcies*

[fandomfan.livejournal.com]

Brava!

This is where the niches of the internet prove lovely and wonderful. Because Years of Their Acquaintance was a fantastic little AU, and forms a gorgeous bubble of Sparrow backstory that everyone should read. For real.

So the fact that you've set your current drabble in that delicate emotionally balanced universe--and made it work so prettily, too--makes me giddy and giggly. Love it. Love it lots.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

when I saw your title and characters I really thought you meant the monkey - it threw me for a moment.

LOL!! A logical assumption, I think.

not sure if I'm more amused or horrified that this challenge has so far taught me 2 new words. Really, who needs college?

Too true! I'd never heard that word before, but after googling it I was assaulted by a number of plot bunnies. It's a great prompt.

So happy you enjoyed the drabble!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm so happy to have rekindled some of your enthusiasm. There is still lots to write about these characters, I think.

And yeah, 'glabrous' was a word I'd never heard of. Good prompt, though.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Hope you enjoy the 'Years of Their Acquaintance' stories as much as I do.

Jack embarrassed!!! That doesn't happen everyday.

He's awfully young here, and has yet to perfect his piratey personna. But he's working on it. I think even in AWE, Barbossa gets to him at times.

So happy you liked it!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I adore the Years of Their Acquaintance universe, and I'm always happy to find others who appreciate it. I'm so happy you enjoyed the drabble!

[this-weirdness.livejournal.com]

Great use of the prompt! :)

Loved this line: "Believe I'd rather be glabrous than scraggly, Hector.

LOL! It brought to mind the scene in AWE where Jack comments on Barbossa's scraggly beard. One of my favourite comedy moments.

I could just see them entering into some sort of beard growing contest and bickering about it like ten year olds...

I enjoyed this very much. :)

[pearly-dreams.livejournal.com]

Yeah. *grimace* I try to forget about AWE as much as possible, but I do agree. Barbossa and Jack... definitely some sort of antagonism there. xP Don't think anyone'll deny that. And Jack probably (if one takes AWE seriously...) has very real fear that Barbossa could prove to actually be a better captain then him.

Now lookit. Making me analyze characters... *mock shake!fist* xPP

[carloos80.livejournal.com]

That's very cool.

[meowbooks.livejournal.com]

:D Someone once compared Barbossa and Jack to gods among pirates because of their notoriety and legend as well as cleverness.

Now, I sometimes think of them as like bickering ol' ladies who have known and despised each other for years, but if it suits their ends they'll come together and teach a silly flower crusher a lesson...

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I guess they can be both gods and bickering old ladies. *g* So happy you enjoyed this! Thank you for letting me know.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I could just see them entering into some sort of beard growing contest and bickering about it like ten year olds...

Oh, yes. And Hector might have him beat for quantity, but not for style. *g*

So happy you liked this one! It was a great prompt, I must say.