Will yawned and ran his hand over the torso that calmly undulated beneath him, letting it rest over his own drowsy eyes. The steady rise and fall of Jack's chest was undeniably akin to the gentle rocking of a ship, and in the exhausted haze of the late hour, Will could almost hear a current sluicing beneath the floor, and the trade winds ruffling the tackle and filling the sails—black sails pulling them to a distant horizon. It was the beautiful instant before he left the world of dreams when awareness shyly dawned and he knew nothing but the sensation of being, just like this.
Suddenly he jerked up, aghast at the brightness penetrating the windows. He shook the glaze of sleep from his eyes, all the while frantically trying to gauge the magnitude of his error by the lateness of the morning the light evinced.
"Just moonlight, luv. Still too early to fly." Jack's voice rumbled.
Will turned to acknowledge his lover, but the man showed no sign of wakefulness. Sighing in the silent heat of the Caribbean night, he worked to still his now racing heart, his breathing a harsh staccato like the clang of a blacksmith's strokes. He looked over Jack, whose eyes remained lidded and whose even breathing never skipped.
The scene was rather lovely actually. Sure enough, it was not the gaudy rays of the sun which robed Jack, but rather a gentle lunar gleam. It was wrong to say that Will doubted the lovely gold of sunbeams would also suit his lover, but the day was not for them. Will had long ago claimed the Jack of night, but like clockwork, the first morning rays would banish him from this sanctuary, and by the time they reached Jack, the pirate would be out of Will's reach. None yet claimed Jack in the waking hours.
Will continued to gaze appreciatively, smiling at the countless marks and scars, tattoos and flecks that decorated the pirate. Navy men had their medals and Jack had these. Often enough they had lain like this and Will had asked about one or more of them. Jack had a story for each one and though most of them were probably exaggerated, stolen, or made up on the spot, Will happily accepted each colorful scrap as it was added to his patchwork pirate. He was constantly rediscovering the body with the delight of an astronomer in a new cosmos.
At the moment, the unchanged vision of the slumbering figure made Will wonder whether he hadn't imagined the voice. Lying back against Jack, he felt a strong arm pull him close and rest possessively on his bare hip. So at least the madness wasn't contagious.
A moment of utter stillness passed over the room and its inhabitants. Will was now keenly aware that instead of a shipboard cabin, they were sharing a seedy room in a seedy inn. The air was thick and stagnant. The only things beneath their bed were rickety floorboards and below these a raucous tide of drunks and whores coming and going from the barroom. The horizon was fixed and distant.
Will yawned and allowed his fingers to lazily glide over the trail of black hair that led South from Jack's navel. The pirate shivered in response, and despite the heat drew his boy impossibly closer.
-
Will rose with the sun, gently disentangling himself from Jack's embrace, which was confounded by the fact that their sweaty bodies had seemingly fused at some point in the night and his skin clung stubbornly to Jack's. He touched the floor with unsteady feet and found his trousers and stockings among the rubble of their discarded clothes.
Reaching for his shoes next, Will paused as he spied Jack's intriguing boots. With reverent slowness he pulled these on over the wrinkled but still white stockings. The leather was soft and yielding, worked to the point of suppleness by facilitating Jack's often-frantic dance through life.
As Will pulled on the shirt a salty musk assaulted his nose, warning him that this too was Jack's. He gave himself a once-over, realizing with a smile that he was half dressed in Jack's clothes. It was not an unpleasant notion.
Chuckling softly at the thought, Will removed the shirt and kicked off the boots, carefully folding the former along with the rest of Jack's haphazardly scattered garb and lining up the latter beside. He crowned the stack with Jack's hat. Then he finished dressing himself and stepped into his trim little shoes.
Aside from the bed and in the opposite corner, the room had but one furnishing, and this a stained, haggard old bureau. Atop it lay a ribbon and a ring. Binding his hair with the ribbon, Will recrossed the room to place a gentle kiss on Jack's cheek. The pirate still did not stir.
Standing with the door ajar, Will turned back. His eyes ravenously consumed the vision, as if aware of the hunger strike that was to follow. Only after he turned to go out and shut the door firmly behind him did Will place the wedding ring on his finger.
-
The barroom was nearly empty when Will came down the stairs. All of the drunks had found places to sleep, still blissfully unconscious of the blistering headache the morning would bring. One or two snored away at hand but most had moved on in the night. The whores, their business thus removed, were off nursing their bruises and counting their coins.
"Thanks fer folding up my effects so nicely. What a fine wife you'd make William…" Will's surprise was momentary as he felt Jack's body pull up close behind him, pirate arms encircling him and ring-clad hands taking hold of his. The pirate had been awake after all.
"Just one problem Jack of mine," Will replied, holding up his hand to reveal one lone ring. Elizabeth had one just like it.
Jack growled in annoyance and with his pickpocket hands divested Will's finger of the offending object. "Let's leave this off a bit longer, savvy?"
Will turned sharply to face Jack, frowning, but the pirate ignored him. Heedlessly taking up a strand of his hair, he began to braid it, working in the gold ring and letting his new trinket fall among all the others.
"Jack, you know I can't stay." Will's voice sounded weak, even to himself. Jack heard the weakness too, and smirked wolfishly.
"How 'bout a dance luv?" He closed the distance that had developed between them and took the blacksmith into his arms again.
"But there's no music..." Will tried a different angle. His impervious stance however, melted into laughter as Jack began to sway to an unheard rhythm.
"There's always music, William," Jack pointed to his head and grinned like a madman, "but if you insist on something a little more streamline I could always accommodate you." Jack leaned close to Will's ear and began to hum the tune to that blasted pirate ditty Elizabeth had taught him. Will's smile broadened and he began to hum with him, and the two of them sashayed together across the floor.
-
Lifting his chin from where it had come to rest on Will's shoulder, Jack began to place soft kisses along his neck, nuzzling it happily, never stopping the dance. Will closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, sighing contentedly.
Suddenly he grunted and pulled away, reaching up to feel a livid bruise on his shoulder. Jack's look was tragic.
"Jack, you know there can't be any marks…" Will said with a touch of regret, coming close to Jack again and holding him there. The pirate ran a tongue over the area and sighed, resting his chin on the shoulder again.
"Lizzie's a sharp lass. Surely she must realize. She must see your longing," Jack whispered into Will's ear.
"She thinks I long for the sea alone," replied Will. They were speaking so softly that their words barely touched air, and the sound seemed to transfer straight from vocal chords to eardrum, like their bodies were one unending system. Impulsively, they twirled to an unheard musical flourish.
"Do you know what she gave me on our first anniversary?" Will pressed on. "It was a bed, brought over from Persia. The mattress is made of goatskin and filled with water. It's like sleeping on the ocean."
"Maybe I'll come home with you an' take part in said sleeping." Jack sounded delighted.
"Elizabeth would almost certainly notice you. And anyway, I'd rather sleep on you." Will mumbled, which seemed to delight Jack even more and caused him to promptly dip his dancing partner and kiss him deeply. Will leaned into the kiss, letting Jack's strong arms support him, and feeling the thick black hair fall against his neck and chest. When the air ran out and the kiss finally broke, Jack opened his eyes, still leaning against Will.
"We could have this, every morning. Every night we could rock together on the Pearl." Jack's voice was thin now, wistful. Will pulled closer, hiding his face in Jack's shirt, and gave his pirate a fierce hug. A tear rolled down his cheek into the soft white linen covering Jack's chest, but he said nothing.
Finally, they straightened and drew apart. Jack and Will held hands and slowly walked together towards the door.
"Hold your applause gents, just glad you enjoyed the show." Jack called, bowing to the undisturbed drunks as he and Will stepped off the dance floor.
-
As they exited a wave of heat hit full-force. The angry sun glared down at them reproachfully and it promised to get hotter as the morning wore on. It was a typical summer's day in the Caribbean when the men would go shirtless and the women would go mad. 'Maybe that will make them more appealing to me.' Will thought wryly, eyeing the erratic steps of the entirely sober man beside him. They headed to the stables.
"Its days like these that the whole crew of the Pearl says bullocks to propriety and spends the day sailing naked as jaybirds." Jack smiled at the blush that colored Will's cheeks and put an arm around his shoulder affectionately, nodding at the stable boy, who promptly returned to sleep.
"Don't you worry William, I don't much fancy the thought of the crew ogling what's mine. You could always wear my clothes on those days. They do look smashing on you, especially the boots." Will turned to Jack with a start and the pirate laughed as a new blush deepened Will's coloring.
"Do you ever truly sleep, Jack Sparrow?" Will asked, shaking his head and reminding himself never to trust a pirate. He moved the bridle into place and watched as Jack saddled the horse and examined its hooves. Jack truly was a renaissance man. Among his many mysterious facets of knowledge was a good amount of familiarity with equestrian matters. It was just another thing that puzzled Will and he made a mental note to ask Jack about it one day.
When the horse was all ready, they led it out to the road and Will climbed onto its back. He and Jack shared a momentary stare down, neither willing to admit he was searching for weakness in his partner's resolve.
"Until we meet again, luv."
"Take care of yourself Jack. For God's sake just be careful!"
Jack donned that capricious smile that was so winning on him and stood on his toes. Will leaned down as the two shared a kiss that tasted far too much of bitter finality.
Will abruptly broke away and spurred the horse, taking off down the road. He pushed on with a burst of speed to fight the pull that threatened to send him careening back from whence he'd come, but his traitorous heart escaped and flew back to the pirate and freedom.
"That's it, luv." Jack Sparrow spoke to the wind. "You go back to your lady love. And I to mine." He pulled a flask of rum from the pocket of the cloak slung over his arm and drank to William Turner.
-
Will sighed heavily as he dismounted and drew his horse around to the stables in the back of the Port Royal governor's mansion. Darkness had descended long ago, and he knew he was later than he'd promised. An attendant quickly stepped up to take the horse and Will turned to head back out to the mansion and to his wife.
As he grasped the latch on the stable door, he happened to notice his hand and practically jumped. He searched the vicinity frantically for a moment before it dawned on him. Fortunately, Elizabeth must have been asleep, for she was not waiting for him in the drawing room. That would give him a few precious hours to come up with a good reason why his wedding ring was hundreds of miles away, braided into the hair of a pirate.
End of part 1
A/N: My first shot at the Pirates fandom and not much I know. It was actually inspired by the song 'Collide' by Howie Day but only just.If anyone's interested I could go on, review and tell me what you think!