Alright, moving on! You guys are epic and amazeballs and any other number of superlatives I can think of, seriously.
To my lovely guests - who should really sign in so I can talk with you personally ;)
SyriusDark-Stoked you're loving this, dude; here's some more!
Oolee-Thank you, thank you!
Emma-Pirates and Rizzles, two of my favorite things combined into one, plus history! Here you go!
Jazz001-Got it in one, dude. You get a cookie! *hands over cookie* Enjoy!
Guest-Glad you're enjoying, here's another.
Read on!
Maura crouched before her, caging the brunette in with arms on either side of her legs. "I will'nae hurt ye, never fear that, but I cannae simply let ye cruise 'cross the ocean fer free. Dae ye understand? I need some sort o' recompense fer me troubles, dear. I have'nae been teachin' ye how tae handle a weapon only fer me piece o' mind."
Jane smiled wryly and somewhat bitterly down at Maura, reaching down to idly toy with the loose ends of her tunic ties. "That's quite the business proposition, Captain. Can't give something for nothing, I get it. Basics of any trade."
"Jane, that is'na-"
"It's fine, I get it." Jane stood, forcing Maura to scramble back to avoid falling over, and made her way to the doors. "I'll be a good little crewman and help you. A Rizzoli always pays their debts, one way or another." Maura watched in dismay as Jane slipped out the door, leaving her standing in the middle of the cabin wondering where she had gone wrong.
Jane wandered the lower deck of the ship late that night, having yet to return to the cabin she shared with Maura. "Stupid mouth, why'd I have to go and open it…" She scuffed her boots along the deck and leaned on the sturdy railing, studying the reflection of the waning moon in the choppy water. The quiet creaking of the rigging and the groan of the wood as the sailcloth strained with the wind accompanied her morose thoughts, disturbed by the odd word from one of the few crewmen working the deck that night. "But she said…ugh." Jane hung her head and sighed deeply, rolling her shoulders as the breeze ruffled her shirt. She stared over the endless expanse of water, black as could be under the night sky and foreboding as the choppy waves lapped hungrily at the sides of the ship, until she heard heavy steps behind her.
"Finally left Captain's side, eh? Can't say I blame ye, she's ain't so stimulating as I am, after all." The man behind her rolled his hips and eyed her with blatant interest as he smiled greasily.
Jane sneered as she straightened and tried to push past him. "Sorry, not interested."
"Ye sure? I can guarantee I'm better than our dear Captain; lovely as she is, nothin' can compare to a nice, hard fucking by a real man."
He dragged his hand up Jane's arm and lingered on her shoulder, leaning in a little to try and pin her against the rail. She snarled, shoved him hard and stormed away, listening to his hacking laughter with the bitter taste of rage on her tongue and threatening to unleash itself on the sailor in a spew of cursing.
Jane stopped before the doors to the Captain's quarters and lingered there indecisively with her hand on the knob. She sighed again and opened it slowly, sliding in as soon as the crack was wide enough to get through, and carefully eased the door shut behind her. A candle guttered lowly on the desk, clothes scattered across the floor between the chair and bed, and Maura lay atop the covers, half propped up against the wall like she had been waiting for Jane. Her chin lay against her chest, hands curled in her lap and a frown that creased her brow on her lips even in sleep. Jane barely restrained the next sigh that gathered in her chest as she toed off her boots and left them by the door, unlacing her pants as she walked into the room toward the desk to snuff out the flickering flame. She carefully shuffled over to the bed in the near darkness, pausing when her knees bumped against the mattress. She held her breath until she was certain Maura wouldn't wake up, then gently eased herself onto the bed and laid stiffly on her side. Jane felt the gentle rolling of the ship under her and listened to Maura's quiet breathing, closing her eyes and eventually falling into a restless sleep.
She woke with the first light of dawn and gingerly sat up, watching Maura sleep beside her. The captain had slid down sometime in the night and was facing Jane, hand extended toward Jane across the empty expanse of mattress. Jane frowned as she tiptoed across the cabin and slid her pants on, toeing on her boots before slipping out the door. She sought out Korsak belowdecks in the large cabin that contained any tools he could need to repair the ship or work on the men that injured themselves.
"Hey, Korsak."
"Miss Rizzoli, good morning." He eyed her appraisingly and Jane winced, ducking her head to avoid his gaze. "What are you doing down here? No offense, but you don't seem the type to do woodworking or use a needle and thread." He chuckled to himself as he pulled various tools out of cubbies that lined the wall and Jane stuffed her hands into her pockets.
"I'm not, not really. I just….needed some space."
"You won't find much of that on a ship, I'm afraid, Miss Rizzoli."
"Jane."
"I beg your pardon?"
"My name's Jane. Please, I'd rather you call me that than Miss Rizzoli," she mimicked in a gruff voice.
Korsak laughed as he nodded and held out his hand for her to shake. "Alright then, Jane. For the record, my name is Vince, but everyone calls me Korsak anyway, so it doesn't matter."
"Good to know." She pulled back and watched him turn a block of wood over and over in his hands, rubbing his thumb over the edges speculatively.
"Why?" Jane cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Why do you need space?"
"Oh, just – too…crowded."
Korsak eyed her balefully for a long moment. "Uh huh," he said suspiciously, "too crowded. Tell me another tale."
"I'm serious!"
"I'm sure you are, but that's not what's really bugging you." Korsak idly wielded the small but sharp looking knife, deftly making small notches in the wood without really looking at it. "Did one of the crewmen say something to you?"
"No. Well, not really. I can take care of them." Jane scowled in irritation at the reminder of the sailor's crude pass at her the night before. She sneered at the thought and waved her hand through the air. "Don't worry about me."
"Are you sure?"
Jane smiled weakly at the older man and waved off his concern. "Sure, sure. I suppose I should get back above deck." With a wave, Jane left the cabin and walked onto the main deck. She stepped out of the path of several sailors who were hauling some heavy line across the deck and approached Frost who stood near the railing, overseeing the work going on. "Morning, Frost."
"Jane, you're up early. Where's the captain?"
"I couldn't sleep," Jane said tersely. "The captain was still asleep when I left."
Frost's brow furrowed but he didn't comment otherwise, merely humming as his eyes scanned the deck and rigging above them. Jane leaned against the railing as Frost yelled at the sailors to keep their course and followed him to the upper deck, where he took the wheel and adjusted the rudder after consulting a compass briefly.
Maura emerged from the cabin as the sun completely appeared over the horizon, pants neatly tucked into her boots and dark shirt unlaced so it fluttered on the warm breeze and hair tied out of her face with a bandana. Her eyes searched the deck, settling on the back of Jane's head where the brunette stood in companionable silence with Frost. "Mornin', Mister Frost. How dae the weather fair today?"
"We've got a good tailwind this morning, although I wouldn't put money on it lasting past midday, and there are some clouds in distance that worry me a little." He gestured at the grey clouds gathering on the horizon before them and Maura hummed thoughtfully as she surreptitiously watched Jane from the corner of her eye. The brunette was stiff and silent as a muscle worked methodically in her jaw, hands shoved deep in her pockets as she steadfastly refused to look in Maura's direction.
"Miss Rizzoli," she said formally, "I trust ye slept well last night?"
Jane nodded silently and addressed Frost over Maura's head. "I'm going down below, I…I have some things to do."
She walked away without another word and Maura sighed, shaking her head as she stepped up to the wheel. "I kin take over from here, Mister Frost. Ye may return tae yer duties."
"As you say, Captain." Frost took a couple steps away and stopped with one foot on the stairs. "Maura?"
"Aye?"
"Whatever happened between you and Miss Rizzoli yesterday…forgive me if I speak out of turn, but don't let it ruin the friendship between you two. I haven't you get this close to anyone this quickly in quite a long time. She strikes me as a stubborn woman; show her you're willing to work through any troubles and don't let her walk away. Good day, Captain." With a tip of his head, Frost descended to the main deck and left Maura to contemplate his words as she stared over the wide ocean toward the east.
Frost descended belowdecks and found Jane pacing and muttering to herself in a long row between crates of cloth and dried foods. "Miss Rizzoli."
"Frost." She barely glanced at the Quartermaster as she paced down the length of the stacked crates, arms crossed over her chest as she began muttering again.
"Nice day," he said conversationally. Jane only grunted and Frost raised an eyebrow. "Okay, no, we're not doing this. Come with me."
He grabbed her shoulder and dragged her back onto the main deck, Jane dragging her feet the entire time and whining lowly. She nearly ran into him when he suddenly stopped and growled, "What are we doing up here? I thought-"
"That you were going to sulk belowdecks all day? I can think of better things to do, Miss Rizzoli." Frost spoke over Jane as she opened her mouth to object, eyeing her sternly. He told her to stay put as he disappeared into a storeroom behind the stairs and reappeared with two practice blades in hand. Tossing one to her, he got into a loose stance and smirked. "Come at me, Rizzoli."
Jane eyed the dull practice blade for a moment, weighing it in her hand before experimentally swiping through the air. "Come on, are you going to play at being a sailor, or are you one?"
Jane looked past Frost, toward the upper deck where Maura was standing at the wheel and steadfastly staring out across the deck toward the ocean. Her expression hardened, dark eyes staring through Frost as she took a stance and leveled her blade at him. "I'll show you what I am."
"All I'm getting right now is a lot of bluster, Rizzoli. Show me what you're made of." Jane lunged toward him and Frost deftly sidestepped her clumsy swipe. "You can do better than that."
Jane sneered as she righted herself and charged him again; Frost neatly parried her next attack and smacked her on the arm with the flat of his blade. She yelped, then snarled and thrust her weapon toward him; snarling in rage when he simply failed to be where she was aiming again. "God damn you, stop prancing around like a damn ghost and fight me!"
"You're fighting angry," he said conversationally as he smacked her again on her leg when she overextended, dancing backward before she could recover and standing easily with his blade at his side. "You make mistakes when you get angry; don't let it control you. Come at me again, Rizzoli."
"I'll show you anger," she muttered, eyes flinty with her wrath.
Jane was panting and disheveled while Frost was barely breathing hard, only a fine layer of sweat coating his brow as the warm ocean breeze blew over the deck. Jane pushed some wayward strands of hair out of her face in irritation and scowled at Frost's arrogant smirk. Her dark eyes studied him for a long moment, then Jane unexpectedly smiled and relaxed her stance. Frost frowned in confusion as she stalked toward him, suddenly looking dangerous and untouchable.
Frost startled when her arm came up and he blocked her attack, staggering back when her unoccupied hand came up and shoved his shoulder hard. Jane threw her weapon at him and, while he fumbled both blades, she cocked her fist back and punched him hard in the side. Frost reeled and Jane pressed her advantage, keeping her elbows tucked in against her sides and jabbing with her left fist again. She glanced off his arm and followed with a jab toward his stomach, smirking as he doubled over and gasped for air. Jane back off and allowed Frost an opportunity to regain his breath with a gracious wave of her hand.
"You've got quite an arm on you," he said, wincing a bit as he straightened.
Jane smirked more widely and shook out her hands a bit. "I have two younger brothers, both who know how to get in trouble; if I didn't learn how to take care of myself, they would have never made it past adolescence. We all know how to…"
"Piss people off," Frost offered with a grin.
Jane gasped dramatically and covered her mouth with her hand. "Mister Frost, how dare you say such crude words in front of me! I am a lady!" She fanned her face overzealously and pantomimed fainting under his amused eyes.
Frost chuckled and picked up the dropped swords, offering one to Jane with a grin. "Care to try your luck again, this time without any scary faces?"
"I dunno," she said thoughtfully, tapping her chin with her lips pursed, "I kind of like my scary faces, and if they keep you on your toes, that's just an added bonus. Buuuut, I suppose I can be magnanimous this one time." She held her weapon loosely in her grip and waved her hand. "You may proceed."
"Why thank you, kind lady. So, now that we're limbered – and tenderized," he rubbed his arm with an exaggerated pout under Jane's amused eyes, "let's get to the basics of swordplay."
