Sparrington Not graphic but read at your own risk

Contemplation

James paused a moment as he stepped through the door of the small slant-ceilinged rented room, a bit surprised to find he was the first to arrive. Jack had always been there before him in their previous meetings, and had always been well on his way into his second or third bottle of rum by the time James made his appearance. As he stepped fully into the room and shut the door behind him he looked around in the dull light the smudged and smeared panes of the one small window in the room allowed to filter through. A threadbare rug covered part of the floor; a ragged quilt covered the concave mattress on the small uncomfortable looking bed. The only other furnishings in the room sat side by side over near the window, a chair badly in need of re-stuffing and a rickety table that looked as if at any moment it might be tempted to give up the fight against gravity and become a pile of kindling. Not so different than half a dozen other rooms they'd used since they'd begun meeting the past several months.

James pulled a bottle of brandy from his pocket and after a moment's hesitation set it gingerly on the table. He took his coat off, folded it neatly, and placed it at the foot of the bed, then sat down in the chair. He exhaled a soft huff as he gave the window a moue, then stood up and took the two or three steps over to it and with his shirt sleeve wiped some of the grime off. Reseating himself he opened the bottle, took a moderate swallow from it, looked out the window and sighed as his thoughts took over.

He had been in a contemplative mood the past several days, something that had not gone unnoticed by his lieutenants Groves and Gillette, who had then taken it upon themselves to find out just why their commanding officer, and friend, was in such a pensive mood. His excuses had done little to deter them, and he had briefly thought in order to have a couple of sounding boards to bounce his thoughts off of telling them the truth of what was responsible for his demeanor, but then thought better of it. Regardless of how long they had known each other, or how good of friends they may be, James was not one to bandy about his personal life, which until these clandestine meetings began James had to admit had never been of such interest that anyone would want it bandied about in their presence.

Anyway he wasn't at all sure he could explain how he had gone from Pirate Hunter to Pirate Buggered and Buggering in a way that wouldn't have Teddy and Andrew thinking their mostly stiff, stoic, in control, duty first friend had not gone totally daft and should immediately be thrown in irons and shoved in the deepest darkest cell in Fort Charles until he came to his senses and all urges to act in such a manner had been eradicated from his system. He wasn't at all sure he understood it himself, wasn't at all sure the irons and the cell wasn't exactly what he did need.

He shook his head, raised the bottle and took another drink. Even though he would be unable to explain it to anyone else he knew within his heart, after all the soul searching and giving the matter more than its fair share of thought the conclusion he had finally come to was he was exactly where he wanted to be, doing exactly what he wanted to do. And regardless of what anyone else would think should they discover the truth, it felt right…it felt good. Regardless there were still some vague lingering doubts, enough that he still second guessed himself.

He snorted as he heard the noisy approach of his companion, too loud a tone of voice, too much stumbling on the stairs and in the hall for most of it not to be an act for the benefit of any observers. James had cautioned the Pirate numerous times in the past about drawing attention to them and their meetings by such nonsense but had simply gotten that smirky, glittering smile the Pirate used so well, two be-ringed hands fluttering about in his direction poking him in the chest a few times, and a 'No worries James me luv, people rarely stop to ponder what's right in front of their eyes. Sides I have me reputation to uphold and all now don't I, would draw more attention by not bumblin about drunkenly when that's what people are expectin now wouldn't I' in return. James, even though he had spent a good amount of time with the man, still failed to comprehend Jack's logic….or lack there of….probably never would be able to grasp it in any comprehensible way.

The door opened and he suddenly had a pirate straddling his lap, "Miss me luv?"

"Probably not as much as you had hoped." James, with a smirk replied dryly.

Jack gave him a moue, "Well old Jack 'ill have ta right them circumstances forthwith then won't he." As he wiggled against James and began to undo the fastenings of James' shirt the chair gave several loud creaking moans definitely threatening them with the idea they might, in the next few seconds even, wind up sitting on a pile of chair pieces and sundry rather than a fully functioning chair.

James grabbed Jack around the waist, holding the Pirate against him as he quickly stood up, the both of them looking down at the chair that was now displaying a pronounced lean to starboard. Jack wrapped his legs around James' waist and resumed the attack on the front of the man's shirt as James maneuvered them toward the bed, sincerely hoping they would have better luck with the sturdiness of that piece of furniture.

They stood at the edge of the bed removing each other's clothing with just a bit of urgency. The one time Jack had forgone the niceties of that process and literally ripped James' clothes from him in his haste to be on with the doings was enough to deter him from ever doing such a thing in any future encounters. Jack had dealt with more than a few highly irate lovers in his past, but they didn't hold a candle to the glaring green eyed creature James became as he picked up and examined each piece of his attire and discovered it to be in such a state as to be absolutely useless. Jack could still recite, if he so chose, which mostly he didn't, the exact price, to the penny, James had paid for each item. Of course it might not have helped ease the Commodore-ly raking over the coals he was receiving by helpfully mentioning James could save a lot of money on his wardrobe if he would take advantage of all the free items of clothing to be obtained on the ships James and the Dauntless regularly took into custody, for some reason that just seemed to incense James' ire even more, funny old world init?

All clothing removed now, James' neatly folded and placed in a pile, Jack's unneatly thrown on the floor beside them, the two stretched out on the bed together. Jack leaned in and began kissing James as his hands began running over the man's body. A few moments later he pulled back and peered down at James, "Something the matter James? You 'pear not ta be exactly respondin to me advancements in the manner I was exactly expectin of yer response. In fact if I was ta continue in and along a descriptive vein here, which I have every intention of doing by the by, I would say you've shown not nearly as much responsiveness as the time I visited that opium den in Singapore, ingestin a little….er alright mayhaps a lot more than I was used to and found myself rogerin that cute little ….. "

James threw up his hands and quickly interrupted, "Oh please! I'm sure I have no need nor want to hear about any farm animals, non-responsive or otherwise you have 'rogered' under the influence of opium or rum or any other vile substance."

Jack cocked his head to the side in thought as he fluttered his fingers about in front of him, "Upon ponderment I'm not atoll sure the poor little bugger," Jack paused a moment realizing his witticism and grinned down at James. Upon seeing the Commodore was not impressed with his wit he quickly wiped the smile from his face and continued, "could actually be classified as your every day run of the mill ordinarily considered farm animal as it were…."

James huffed as he gave Jack an 'I am not amused' look, "Please be so kind as to drop the subject immediately."

Jack nodded affably and poked James lightly in the chest with an index finger, "Right then, let's be gettin back ta yer problem which is in fact my problem for the very fact that it is your problem, aye?"

"My problem." James repeated quietly as his eyes briefly flickered to the wall over Jack's shoulder. Taking a deep breath he went on, "My problem is…" He paused, took another deep breath, and returned his gaze to meet Jack's. "My problem is I'm not sure why I am doing this, how I have allowed myself get in this position." He emphasized his words with a gesture encompassing himself and Jack.

Jack nodded his head knowingly, "Tis a hard spot ta be in no doubts ta that mate, 'specially for one such as yerself that's always been intent on duty and propriety and the like. But despite yer thoughts 'n words to the contrary James I'm thinkin you've already squared with it or ya wouldn't be here now, wouldn't have been there ta meet me all them other times as well, savvy?" Jack leaned down and spoke softly into James' ear, "Tis always hard ta let yerself go when yer not sure how the other person in a relationship may be regardin said relationship isn't it luv."

James closed his eyes and nodded.

Jack leaned in closer still and whispered, "Just so ya know I'm thinkin we're of similarly and like-ish minds as ta what this is between us. If that helps put yer doubts and fears a bit ta rest, solved yer problem so to speak, and in the doin of same solved my problem which was originally yours then that's all the much more better fer us."

As Jack straightened up a bit he smiled at the expression on James' face. As aggravatingly dunderheaded as the man could be at times that expression clearly said he'd gotten the gist of Jack's meaning. With a wide glittering grin and a flutter of his hand he moved back down toward James, "Ah good! Now on with the swivvin is what I'd be sayin."

James was rising to meet him before he was half way there.

The End

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