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blackpearlsails drabble challenge, prompt: Shipwreck. It's more like 500+ words, but what can I say? I'm out of practice? Unbetaed, too, which is worse, but hopefully not too full of errors.
~ Ménage à Trois ~
“A penny for ‘em.”
Elizabeth frowned drowsily. “A Penny Forum?”
They were lying together in a favorite spot, a niche high up on the inner wall of the caldera, soft with grass, sheltered by ferns and delicate palms, utterly secluded, yet providing a truly spectacular view of Shipwreck Cove, spread out below them in all it’s strange glory.
Jack gave an exasperated huff, but also kissed the top of her head, easily done as it lay against his bare shoulder. “A penny for your thoughts, love. Where’re your wits?”
“Quite astray. But it’s your own fault.”
There was a pout in her voice, but the way she snuggled, one hand stroking lightly down to settle just so, gave her the lie. Not quite recovered himself, he caught up the hand and drew it to his smiling lips. “I’ll go easier next time, shall I?” he murmured, with spurious sympathy.
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” she asserted, trying for raillery but unable to prevent herself coloring.
“I’ve raised a kingly blush!” he preened, kissing the pink cheek, and then her lips. “Score one for me.”
Elizabeth sighed. “I shall have my revenge, you just wait, Jack Sparrow. But… not just now.”
Jack chuckled, extremely pleased. They settled again, and he prompted, “That penny’s still waiting.”
“Oh. Well… the Cove, of course. The third party in our ménage à trois.”
“Hmm. I daresay. Not sure how I feel about that,” Jack admitted, though he felt she was in the right of it: the view overwhelmed here, like some brooding presence, watching always.
“I was thinking of my first time here. My grief for James, my fear for Will… and you. Even the passage through the Throat, dangerous as it was that late at night, didn’t help. But when we sailed into the Cove itself… the high, black walls -- you know how it looks so black in the dark? The moon shimmering on the water. And Shipwreck City, like some nightmare castle, monstrous, rising up and up, with a thousand lanterns glowing like diamonds.”
“Huh,” Jack said, not very intelligently.
He couldn’t remember the first time he’d seen the Cove, the occasion having taken place well before he was breeched. And that night… the night he’d made Elizabeth king… too many uncomfortable memories. Teague’s disapproval. And the pirate lords. I owe them all money, was all he could think to mutter to Barbossa.
And he still did owe some of them.
But he shook off these maunderings. “So, love, what did you think of the place?”
“It gave me hope.”
“Hope?”
“I’d thought we were all doomed. The last of the pirates. But when I saw this place… and its people… I knew we’d be all right.”
Jack craned his head to look at her, and she looked back, calm and certain. He had to say it. “I chose well, didn’t I?”
She gave a little chuckle – and she was right, he’d had his own reasons for doing what he’d done that night. But she settled comfortably against him again, more friend and lover, now, than king, and together they looked out over the bizarre and beautiful landscape that, oddly enough, was so much more to both of them than home.
~.~
blackpearlsails drabble challenge, prompt: Shipwreck. It's more like 500+ words, but what can I say? I'm out of practice? Unbetaed, too, which is worse, but hopefully not too full of errors.~ Ménage à Trois ~
“A penny for ‘em.”
Elizabeth frowned drowsily. “A Penny Forum?”
They were lying together in a favorite spot, a niche high up on the inner wall of the caldera, soft with grass, sheltered by ferns and delicate palms, utterly secluded, yet providing a truly spectacular view of Shipwreck Cove, spread out below them in all it’s strange glory.
Jack gave an exasperated huff, but also kissed the top of her head, easily done as it lay against his bare shoulder. “A penny for your thoughts, love. Where’re your wits?”
“Quite astray. But it’s your own fault.”
There was a pout in her voice, but the way she snuggled, one hand stroking lightly down to settle just so, gave her the lie. Not quite recovered himself, he caught up the hand and drew it to his smiling lips. “I’ll go easier next time, shall I?” he murmured, with spurious sympathy.
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” she asserted, trying for raillery but unable to prevent herself coloring.
“I’ve raised a kingly blush!” he preened, kissing the pink cheek, and then her lips. “Score one for me.”
Elizabeth sighed. “I shall have my revenge, you just wait, Jack Sparrow. But… not just now.”
Jack chuckled, extremely pleased. They settled again, and he prompted, “That penny’s still waiting.”
“Oh. Well… the Cove, of course. The third party in our ménage à trois.”
“Hmm. I daresay. Not sure how I feel about that,” Jack admitted, though he felt she was in the right of it: the view overwhelmed here, like some brooding presence, watching always.
“I was thinking of my first time here. My grief for James, my fear for Will… and you. Even the passage through the Throat, dangerous as it was that late at night, didn’t help. But when we sailed into the Cove itself… the high, black walls -- you know how it looks so black in the dark? The moon shimmering on the water. And Shipwreck City, like some nightmare castle, monstrous, rising up and up, with a thousand lanterns glowing like diamonds.”
“Huh,” Jack said, not very intelligently.
He couldn’t remember the first time he’d seen the Cove, the occasion having taken place well before he was breeched. And that night… the night he’d made Elizabeth king… too many uncomfortable memories. Teague’s disapproval. And the pirate lords. I owe them all money, was all he could think to mutter to Barbossa.
And he still did owe some of them.
But he shook off these maunderings. “So, love, what did you think of the place?”
“It gave me hope.”
“Hope?”
“I’d thought we were all doomed. The last of the pirates. But when I saw this place… and its people… I knew we’d be all right.”
Jack craned his head to look at her, and she looked back, calm and certain. He had to say it. “I chose well, didn’t I?”
She gave a little chuckle – and she was right, he’d had his own reasons for doing what he’d done that night. But she settled comfortably against him again, more friend and lover, now, than king, and together they looked out over the bizarre and beautiful landscape that, oddly enough, was so much more to both of them than home.
~.~