![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dwgm650 words, with many thanks to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hereswith for beta reading and suggestions.
Previous bits...
And here's today's...
55. Sea Shanties
~ An Execrable Business, continued...
Her eyes are like two stars so bright,
Mark well what I do say!
Her eyes are like two stars so bright,
Her face is fair, her step is light.
I'll go no more a-roving with you, fair maid!
A-roving, a-roving, Since roving's been my ru-i-in,
I'll go no more a-roving with you, fair maid!
Jack went about the ship humming and whistling these days, possessed of a nearly unprecedented degree of contentment, though he was careful not to let on as to the exact cause. Nell's behavior, too, was as circumspect as he could wish outside the cabin, though the wanton color was apt to rise in her sun-kissed cheeks if he came upon her unannounced, so he studied never to do so. Yet he felt that all was well, and that their nocturnal adventures were unsuspected by the crew, until Bill cornered him in the cabin one afternoon, two weeks into the voyage.
"Captain, a word with you?" quoth Bill, with narrowed eyes, looking around, though there was nothing to see, Nell having freshened the cabin an hour since.
"Certainly, Mr. Turner," Jack said, and closed the door again.
Bill lowered his voice, but somehow that only made his words more scathing. "What the devil are you doing to that chit, Jack? And don't try to deny it – I've seen how she looks at you when she thinks no one's watching."
"I've no idea what you're talking about," Jack snapped, surprise giving an edge to his tone that he rarely used with his old friend.
"You bloody do! You're bedding her!"
"Am not, and you forget yourself. I told you she's under my protection, and I meant it, with everything that implies. Don't I swing a hammock every bloody night, while she takes her virginal repose?"
Bill stared, frowning. But then he said, "Virginal repose? You wouldn't lie about that?"
"I would not!" Jack averred, mentally wiping his brow.
"Hmmph." Bill was still eyeing him with considerable suspicion, but he said, "All right. But that ain't what Barbossa's been telling the lads."
Jack scowled dismissively. "Bloody Hector's a fool."
"That may be, but he's also got a following: Koehler, Twigg, Scratch, Pintel—the usual suspects. And he's talking."
"If I hear him insult Nell I'll have a grating rigged so fast—"
"That's just it, you won't hear it. You know how he works. So if there is anything going on – and I know you said there ain't – but if there is, you'd do well to err on the side of caution."
That night, Jack tried to warn Nell, telling her of the conversation and something of the situation between himself and Barbossa, but he could sense her interest lay elsewhere.
"The book says you must lie upon your back and take your ease while I do this. It's a series of steps that if performed just so will produce in the receptive consort a Divine Ecstasy, or perhaps it is Ecstasy of the Gods, I'm not sure of the translation."
Jack dutifully complied, but, as she ran maddening light fingers down his body, he panted, "Nell, did you hear anything I said to you?"
"Yes, of course, I did. We need to be much more careful. But where is that vial of oil we used last night? I believe we may need it, if I am interpreting this picture correctly."
The vial of oil was found, Divine Ecstasy eventually achieved, the two took to barely speaking during day, and Nell became doubly wary around Jack's first mate. Bill, his suspicions not quite laid to rest, reported that the strategy seemed to be working as far as Barbossa was concerned, and all seemed well – more than well – for the next month, until at last the Black Pearl came within sight of the Canary Islands, in the fading light of a glorious sunset one evening in May.
TBC...
hereswith for beta reading and suggestions.Previous bits...
| 1. Tortuga 2. Happiness 3. Festive 4. Last Minute 5. Calm 6. Truth 7. Bargain 8. Spook 9. Down 10. Wounds 11. Moon 12. Monsters 13. Beauty 14. Name 15. History | 16. Service 17. Advice 18. Captain 19. Awe 20. Cross 21. Mistake 22. Heroism 23. Gold 24. Echo 25. Greed 26. Advance 27. Challenge 28. Adventure 29. Sentence 30. Treasure | 31. North 32. Coat 33. Good and Evil 34. Sickness & Health 35. Lost 36. Court 37. What if? 38. Island 39. That can't be 40. Prophesy 41. Ten Years Later 42. French 43. Deed 44. Tea 45. Scarlett & Giselle | 46. Link 47. Comedy 48. Mothers 49. Fathers 50. Rib 51. Music 52. Magic 53. Pirate King 54. Freedom |
And here's today's...
55. Sea Shanties
~ An Execrable Business, continued...
Mark well what I do say!
Her eyes are like two stars so bright,
Her face is fair, her step is light.
I'll go no more a-roving with you, fair maid!
A-roving, a-roving, Since roving's been my ru-i-in,
I'll go no more a-roving with you, fair maid!
Jack went about the ship humming and whistling these days, possessed of a nearly unprecedented degree of contentment, though he was careful not to let on as to the exact cause. Nell's behavior, too, was as circumspect as he could wish outside the cabin, though the wanton color was apt to rise in her sun-kissed cheeks if he came upon her unannounced, so he studied never to do so. Yet he felt that all was well, and that their nocturnal adventures were unsuspected by the crew, until Bill cornered him in the cabin one afternoon, two weeks into the voyage.
"Captain, a word with you?" quoth Bill, with narrowed eyes, looking around, though there was nothing to see, Nell having freshened the cabin an hour since.
"Certainly, Mr. Turner," Jack said, and closed the door again.
Bill lowered his voice, but somehow that only made his words more scathing. "What the devil are you doing to that chit, Jack? And don't try to deny it – I've seen how she looks at you when she thinks no one's watching."
"I've no idea what you're talking about," Jack snapped, surprise giving an edge to his tone that he rarely used with his old friend.
"You bloody do! You're bedding her!"
"Am not, and you forget yourself. I told you she's under my protection, and I meant it, with everything that implies. Don't I swing a hammock every bloody night, while she takes her virginal repose?"
Bill stared, frowning. But then he said, "Virginal repose? You wouldn't lie about that?"
"I would not!" Jack averred, mentally wiping his brow.
"Hmmph." Bill was still eyeing him with considerable suspicion, but he said, "All right. But that ain't what Barbossa's been telling the lads."
Jack scowled dismissively. "Bloody Hector's a fool."
"That may be, but he's also got a following: Koehler, Twigg, Scratch, Pintel—the usual suspects. And he's talking."
"If I hear him insult Nell I'll have a grating rigged so fast—"
"That's just it, you won't hear it. You know how he works. So if there is anything going on – and I know you said there ain't – but if there is, you'd do well to err on the side of caution."
That night, Jack tried to warn Nell, telling her of the conversation and something of the situation between himself and Barbossa, but he could sense her interest lay elsewhere.
"The book says you must lie upon your back and take your ease while I do this. It's a series of steps that if performed just so will produce in the receptive consort a Divine Ecstasy, or perhaps it is Ecstasy of the Gods, I'm not sure of the translation."
Jack dutifully complied, but, as she ran maddening light fingers down his body, he panted, "Nell, did you hear anything I said to you?"
"Yes, of course, I did. We need to be much more careful. But where is that vial of oil we used last night? I believe we may need it, if I am interpreting this picture correctly."
The vial of oil was found, Divine Ecstasy eventually achieved, the two took to barely speaking during day, and Nell became doubly wary around Jack's first mate. Bill, his suspicions not quite laid to rest, reported that the strategy seemed to be working as far as Barbossa was concerned, and all seemed well – more than well – for the next month, until at last the Black Pearl came within sight of the Canary Islands, in the fading light of a glorious sunset one evening in May.
TBC...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-03-05 03:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-05 03:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-05 04:49 pm (UTC)while she takes her virginal repose Oh, indeed. Haha! Just barely virginal! More seductive than anything though, lol.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-05 07:59 pm (UTC)We will discover just how difficult they are tomorrow. ;)
Thank you for commenting! I'm glad you're still enjoying it.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-05 11:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-06 05:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-06 01:52 am (UTC)Aw :[ But now the Canary Islands ruined everything that has been... ruined so far lol
Wonderful installment!! :)
no subject
Date: 2009-03-06 05:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-06 04:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-07 04:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-08 07:48 pm (UTC)Can so see Jack doing that :)
no subject
Date: 2009-03-08 10:13 pm (UTC)