Still More 'Dark of the Moon'

[dwgm]

In my effort to forget my frustration with my new printer/scanner, I sat down and wrote still more Dark of the Moon. Thanks, again, to hereswith for the edit.



[17]

“How’s Mrs. Granger?”

Jack, who’d been cheerily haranguing the morning watch, turned to Bill. “She’s good,” he said, fighting down a reminiscent smirk. “Quite good, actually.”

Apparently he hadn’t fought hard enough. Bootstrap’s brows twitched together. “Jack! You didn’t!”

Jack rolled his eyes a bit. “Don’t get yer tail in a twist. I kissed ‘er, is all. Nothin’ wrong with that.” He saw that Bill wasn’t having this and added, defensively, “You kiss Mary—“

“She’s my wife!”

“—among others!”

Bill flushed. “That’s just a bit of fun, and you know it! Mrs. Granger ain’t some lightskirt.”

Jack chuckled. “No,” he agreed.

“Then why’d you do it?”

Jack scowled, suddenly. “Bloody hell, Bill, what’s it to you? You know I won’t hurt her. Or don’t you trust me?”

“Not sure I do in this pass. Might be too much of a temptation, havin’ her so close. Sounds like it already is. And she was willing?”

There was patent disbelief in Bill’s tone, but Jack couldn’t really argue with it. “Well… ‘twasn’t her idea. But she didn’t raise a fuss. Not at first. I left off when she did.”

“Well, thank God for that!”

“Enough!” snapped Jack, annoyed. “You know what sort of man I am. And she’s under my protection!”

“Just see that you remember it,” Bill returned, annoyed himself. “Aye, I do know what sort of man you are: a bloody great flirt, an’ don’t tell me different. The poor lass doesn’t stand a chance. You need to be wise for the both of you and keep your distance, as much as you can.”

Jack cocked his head, considering. He’d never been much for wisdom that curtailed his desires. But he said, peaceably, “I’ll think on it. You’ll just have to trust me, Bill, all right?”

Bill shook his head. “Don’t break her heart, Jack. She don’t need that on top of everything else.”

“It was a kiss, Bill. Nothing serious about it, and I won’t try to persuade her otherwise, you may lay on that.”

“No, but you won’t have to, will you?” Bill said. “Like I said, I know what you are, Jack. Have a care.”

*

TBC

Comments

[erinya.livejournal.com]

Aww, Bill and Jack. I love them and their brotherly relationship--even (especially?) when Bill is giving Jack a much-needed dressing down. Bloody great flirt, indeed! I think Bill is the voice of Jack's conscience. Makes me wonder if that's the voice Jack hears goading him to be a good man even after Bill is lost to Davy Jones.

BTW, how's your beta queue looking lately? I may have something that needs looking at in the next day or so...

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I love writing Bill and Jack. They compliment each other so well, as many other writers have found, to our delight. Glad you liked this little bit. I picture Bill, a husband and father, as being a little more understanding of a woman's position; and he and Jack are old friends, so he knows Jack all too well. Glad you enjoyed this little bit of the story. :)

And send it along -- I'd probably be able to look at it tomorrow night.

[erinya.livejournal.com]

Excellent...expect it shortly. Thank you thank you!

[cacopheny.livejournal.com]

Another M15M fan.... XD

Sorry, just had to comment ^^ Feels like such a small world, the internet, sometimes.

[erinya.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! I just grabbed a crapload of Cleolinda's icons, since I now have twice as many spots to fill (yay LJ!) I worship that woman. I still need to get her book though.

[cacopheny.livejournal.com]

I have it. It's not as good as her online stuff, really, but it's still pretty darn funny XD

[drk-prncss.livejournal.com]

Squeee for Jack and bootstrap! I love it. btw, I am back in town. I would love to see ya soon. If nothing else, I'm sure I'll se you this weekend! ^_^

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Jack and Bootstrap are much fun to write. Glad you enjoyed the conversation. ;)

gingersnapps told me you were here -- I'll look forward to seeing you soon!

[drk-prncss.livejournal.com]

Yes... I need to call her.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you! A pirate, and a good man is Bill. But different from Jack in certain ways. They are fun to write together. Glad you enjoyed this.

[hereswith.livejournal.com]

Jack, who’d been cheerily haranguing the morning watch... I love that, and how Bill tries to talk some sense into Jack. You write their relationship so well!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Jack is a very proficient First Mate (besides being an incorrigible flirt). More of that, anon. *G*

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Ta daah! *makes a grand entrance* I have arrived to comment! Strike up the band! Three cheers for Bill and Jack! Three more for you for writing them so well!

cheerily haranguing the morning watch
Seeing Jack do ship stuff always makes me warm and fuzzy. And "cheerily" is such a good word for his effervescence.

fighting down a reminiscent smirk. “Quite good, actually
Oh yes, Jack is so good when he's bad. Bad pirate!

Mrs. Granger ain’t some lightskirt
I love that term, and this little exchange about kissing is wonderful. Bill is human too, I see. Poor Mary, left at home away from all the fun.

“Enough!” snapped Jack, annoyed. “You know what sort of man I am. And she’s under my protection!”

“Just see that you remember it,” Bill returned, annoyed himself. “Aye, I do know what sort of man you are: a bloody great flirt, an’ don’t tell me different. The poor lass doesn’t stand a chance. You need to be wise for the both of you and keep your distance, as much as you can.”

Excellent dynamics between the two of them. Jack has that youthful, "How dare you impune my honour!" that marches hand in hand with "How can I get away with precisely what you are accusing me of!" But he doesn't mean any harm. But Bill knows Jack, and more, he knows that with the best intentions in the world harm might still happen. After all, he's right. As your previous chapter showed, Letty doesn't stand a chance. Who would?

Don’t break her heart, Jack. She don’t need that on top of everything else.”

Awww! I love Bootstrap being fatherly and advising Jack and caring for Letty's feelings. Jack is a heartbreaker. He thinks Letty will know it is a fling, but will it be just a fling for her? I eagerly await the next installments. Such a great story.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I think this comment is as long as the post! But you see clearly, oh Prescient One. Or I expressed it in such a way that you understood it completely.

Seeing Jack do ship stuff always makes me warm and fuzzy.

Me too. I wish I was better at writing it. You are getting to be quite the expert. I must do more research, I guess. I am reading (per viva_gloria's rec) The Way of a Ship, which has loads of wonderfully pertinent detail in it. Have you read that one?

Jack is so good when he's bad.

Yes, he is, so he'll be continuing in that vein.

So happy you enjoyed this! Thank you so much for commenting at such length! You made my day!

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, The Way of a Ship is one of my major references for shipboard action and lingo. You'll probably recognize a few incidents I've borrowed without permission, though hopefully made my own. Those Cape Horn storms and the things that can go wrong on a ship. Lots of food for the imagination. Lundy is a very poetic writer. I'd also recommend Dana's Two Years Before the Mast--less poetry, but very day to day detail. Carry on Mr. Bowditch is a great resource for navigation. And all of them are stories. Actually, Melville's Moby Dick is good too. And Joseph Conrad's work such as The Secret Sharer. Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series is another good one, and Rudyard Kipling's Captains Courageous. Then there's Farley Mowatt's The Black Joke. Have I mentioned that I read a lot of nautical fiction? I've also read several true accounts of great sailing adventures.

But my favourite part of stories is still the characters, which you do so well. The action and the nautical stuff is just a stage on which the people shine.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the list of references!

The action and the nautical stuff is just a stage on which the people shine.

I'm very happy you think I draw the characters well. It's true that without good character interaction a story fails -- I always think of Star Trek in that respect: it was the interaction between Kirk, Spock, McCoy, etc. that made that show, not the special effects. And yet there was a reason that one had to adhere to the "Star Trek Bible" to write for them.

I think, certainly, the nautical references add to the atmosphere in PotC stories, even though we don't have to go to Master & Commander levels of authentic detail.

Again, thanks for the references. I don't have most of those, but I do have Swallows and Amazons, so maybe I'll read that next.

It would probably be a good idea to compile a list of these useful references and post the list on BP Tales. I'll have to do that.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

There are even people out there who nitpick Master and Commander to pieces! I was just rummaging those titles out of memory. If you really want a good list of historical references, perhaps a call for recommendations at BPS would garner some good ones. And I'd take a look at my shelves of books for complete names and authors. You could divide it up between fiction and non-fiction narrative, and historical and modern reference books.

Right now I'm plowing through Schools and Masters of Fence: From the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century in order to write the sword fight in "Worthy." It's a great book. I'm still waiting for two more books to show up. The stories don't work for me without that detail, so I do the research. *groan*

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I think I will put in a post at Black Pearl Sails so I can draw up a really useful list of references for writing PotC. I know there are some that have been done before, but, for example, I don't think I've heard mention of many of those to which you refer in your reply. And you're right: besides sailing, we need references for fencing, the details of every day life, etc. etc.

You can learn a lot, writing pirate stories. ;)

[hendercats.livejournal.com]

Jack cocked his head, considering. He'd never been much for wisdom that curtailed his desires.
Oh, you are so VERY good!

Curious: where'd "lightskirt" come from? Context gives definition, but it doesn't show up in the dictionaries I normally search. Watch it closely, 'tis a word worth stealin'.

I do know what sort of man you are: a bloody great flirt, an’ don’t tell me different. The poor lass doesn’t stand a chance.
*adores Bill (yet again)* Poor, poor Mary, to have to do without him so much of the time.

Can't remember, did either viva_gloria or tessabeth ever address how Bill first came to be on Tobias' Pearl?

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

'Lightskirt' would be familiar to you if you wasted your time reading more romance novels. *G*

Yes, I too love Bill. I love him so much, in fact, that I wrote quite a bit of action for him in future chapters. I'll be posting more from him tonight, actually, and then there's some (hopefully) funny stuff coming up in the chapters I'll be working on next.

No, don't think they ever said, and I'd dearly love to hear about it.

Thank you so much for the lovely comments! More soon.

[hendercats.livejournal.com]

'Lightskirt' would be familiar to you if you wasted your time reading more romance novels.
Hmmmm... obviously I'm not picking up the same romance novels you are.

No, don't think they ever said, and I'd dearly love to hear about it.
Wonder if either of them would be interested? Or perhaps I should work at trying to convince you to write it. Now, what could I bribe you with? Rum? Chocolate? Cookies? *evil grin*

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I think we should ask Lizzie first -- it's her universe. Maybe she has some ideas about a possible plot. She's hard to get ahold of though, having moved to the wilds of the NZ back country.

I think the plot would be of utmost importance -- something really special. Don't you think?

I think "Lightskirt" is used in Georgette Heyer's Regency stories. She had a huge specialized vocabulary for those, and though I've heard she might have made some of the terms up herself (a theory about which I have my doubts) they sound authentically period to my (admittedly modern) ear and seem to suit PotC fanfic too.