Flufftober 2022 - Day 14 - Truth or dare/Twenty questions

It seemed like it wouldn't be so upon first thought, but on the nights when Ada's tavern was busier, the atmosphere actually leant itself to cosying up together much more than it did on quieter nights. Sure, there was a bigger audience on such nights, but an audience necessitated people who cared enough to watch, and the novelty over their existence and their relationship both had long since waned. Given the overall chaos of Tortuga, a former soldier shacking up with a witch wasn't too ridiculously high on the list of strange shit. Plus, when that chaos infiltrated the bar, that meant there was just so much more to immerse oneself in without facing so much as a fleeting temptation to give a crap about what the couple in the corner was chatting about.

On quieter nights, it was fairly easy for whatever they discussed to be overheard or listened in on. There was less to look at, so the eye might wander to them. Sure, they were rarely discussing anything super top secret, but neither of them were the sort to want their business on display, so it was very much a hurdle - one usually solved by slinking off to the beach or their shared room.

Tonight, though, they faced no such hurdles. The place was packed, the atmosphere was brimming with cheer, and the only people who gave a damn about what was going on between Theodora Byrne and James Norrington were the couple themselves. And that was just how Theo liked it.

Sitting huddled together at one corner of the table, the proximity forced them to press their legs together but Theo wasn't going to complain about that, and James didn't seem to mind much either. The atmosphere between them was electric tonight - all prolonged eye contact, fleeting casual touches and an abject inability to stop bloody smiling. Sure, she could also blame the claret she'd sweet-talked out of Ada that they'd been steadily sipping at all evening, but she knew she'd be just the same stone cold sober.

Although the claret was to blame for her next suggestion.

"We should play truth or dare," she suggested with a grin.

"A game of daring? I'm not sure I've the stomach. Does it involve cards? I've no deck, either."

"No stomach and no cards? I'm rethinking this courtship, I must say," she teased.

"The cards I can find, the stomach may require surgery," he said drily.

"If James Norrington considers himself stomachless, there's no hope for us mere mortals."

"You mock me," he accused with little bite.

"Never," she replied sincerely "I laugh with you, never at you."

"Tell me of this daring game, then."

"It's simple enough. We take it in turns, with the choice between a truth or a dare. If you choose truth, you have to answer a question honestly."

"I always endeavour to be truthful when you ask me a question."

"Yeah, but you can't choose not to answer. And if you choose dare, you have to do what the other person tells you."

"I know of this game," he said "It's a parlor game - questions and orders."

"Trust your lot to make it sound like some sort of sinister interrogation."

"Is it not?"

"Depends on who you play it with, I suppose. I'm a kitten compared to some of the lads back home."

"There's a story in that, I sense," he smirked.

"Mm. When I was a teenager my dad and his pals had one of their frequent get togethers. All of us young folk snuck a few bottles of whatever we could get out hands on and went up to the attic and played it. One of the lads there was fairly new, and a right pain in the backside. His dad was a bit of a legend, and he thought that meant he was too - had a right strut about him, annoyed the hell out of all of us who were just trying to have a good time. So he goes on and on about how he'll take any dare we dole out to him, whatever it was, he didn't care, on and on. Then it got to his turn."

"Am I about to learn the full extent of Irish fury?"

"Oh, I wish I could take credit for it. I figured somebody'd make him chug more drink than he could handle to put him out of commission, give us peace for the rest of the night. But instead, Gav stops us all, raises a hand, and waits until he has silence. We could already see on his face it was going to be good."

"Gav?" He echoed, bemused "I care not how long in the future these events are, people are not naming their sons Gav."

"Gavin," she amended, and then smiled slightly when she saw the open intrigue on his face as he waited for her to continue "He was a good lad, but the sort where if you annoyed him he was just ruthless. Anyway, he waits just long enough to build up some real anticipation, this new lad standing there all puffed up and smug, certain he's about to make himself the hero of the night by taking on whatever he gets asked to do."

"And what dare did the legendary Gav dole out in the end?"

"He makes a show of considering it, then looks him in the eye and goes 'I dare you to go home'."

James snorted "And did he?"

"Mm. Considered it for a bit, but what option did he have? Refuse and deal with an awkward atmosphere for the rest of the night? Must've right pissed him off, though, because he never came back. Can't blame him - it was a bit mean of us."

"I've known fresh recruits like that," James said ruefully "Sons of war heroes who believe the achievement to be hereditary. They never learn without a bit of healthy embarrassment. You did him a favour in the long run."

"I appreciate your endeavouring to see the best in me," she teased.

"It's not difficult."

The sincerity and the warmth which with he said that had her cheeks blazing, and Theo ducked her head as she took a sip from her cup. When she looked up again, he had a soft smile on his face.

"Your father was a celebrated soldier - did it never go to your head?" She asked.

"Only in that I wanted to live up to his name," he said, and then his lips thinned before he added "Not that I succeeded much."

"You surpassed it."

"Now you truly are mocking me," he said sourly.

"I'm not," Theo's tone broached no room for argument, her hand seeking out his atop the table "You're a phenomenal soldier, James, and an even better man. I can't believe you don't see it."

"I appreciate your efforts to see the very best in me," he parroted her earlier words back to her, settling his other hand down atop hers.

His grip dwarfed her own - his hands bigger and rougher - and she loved it.

"It's not difficult," she returned.

In response, she was rewarded with a painfully handsome, downright rakish half-smile.

"Come, I've given you a truth. What shall I receive in return?"

"All right," she conceded "I choose dare."

He chuckled as if to say of course you do, nodding slowly. His hand remained atop hers as he glanced about the tavern, and then he turned his gaze back to her, green eyes glimmering with what could only be described as mischief.

"Very well, I dare you to kiss me."

Theo laughed, shaking her head "You do get that the point of a dare is to ask somebody to do something they don't usually want to do?"

"I would never presume to know your mind," he teased.

"On this particular matter, it's safe to say you can assume."

Although maybe she was giving him too much power by admitting that so openly.

"And yet I remain waiting - am I to take that as a forfeit?"

"Impatient, are we?"

"Not in general, but on this particular matter you can safely assume so."

"James Norrington!" She gasped her entirely false outrage, too delighted by the admission to keep it from her face "How ungentlemanly of you."

"You might safely assume that, too," she could have sworn that his voice lowered a good octave or more as he responded.

It was then that Theo knew that the moment James discovered just how mutual their attraction was, combined with their newfound relative freedom to act on that, had combined to become the absolute death of her. And she loved it - which was why, before he had a chance to second-guess his boldness, she rewarded him with that kiss. It was the easiest dare she'd ever seen through.