//I do not own "Pirates of the Caribbean," but I do pledge my allegiance to Mr. Depp. ^_~
Because A.H. requested it, and because I live only to serve: there be slash in these waters! *grins* Beware a considerable amount of light-hearted drunkenness, very extremely unbelievably non-graphic sexual situations that last maybe three sentences, and (possibly) pathetic attempts at humor.
You know you want to catch the Discworld reference.//
Something Like Understanding
He stood there, staring out at the horizon, jaw dropped and mind unable to get past one little fact: "You sailed the boat out to sea while I was sleeping!"
"She's a ship, actually," Jack corrected, swaying back and forth a little as he stared out into the same sky. "And only because you told me to, mate."
"But- I-" Will forced his thoughts into something resembling coherency. "I have to go back! Now!"
"No, you don't." Jack tilted his head back and to the side, maintaining a perfectly innocent expression. "You see, our dear Commodore's ship was sighted heading to the harbor, and for some reason he still wants to see me hanging from a rope."
"So I'm stuck here," Will said, thinking of going for his sword but, not only would that be useless, the stupid thing seemed to be missing. Had he left it at the tavern? Had Jack anticipated this and helped him leave it at the tavern?
"Stuck? O'course not!" Jack looked appalled. "Swim back home whenever you like."
"Oh, yes, I'll do that," Will said, turning away and trying not to clench his teeth quite that hard. He didn't want to break them. He'd much rather break a few of Jack's.
"Now, don't be quite so upset, lad," Gibbs said sympathetically, standing just a few feet away. "After all, you'll get back in no more'n a day or three, Elizabeth'll be worried enough about you to forgive all, and you can always blame the Captain."
"Rest assured that I will," Will muttered, darting one more dark glare in the direction of Captain Jack Sparrow, who was mumbling about bad eggs and staring out into the empty miles of water once again, before he stalked down to the lower deck.
Gibbs looked up at Jack, who was grinning broadly. "You really think this is a good idea, then, Captain?"
"A few days at sea will do our dear friend some good," Jack declared, waving an arm grandly. "He'll be missing the lass in no time at all, think again about letting her get away, and be cured of a foul drink that turns men into beasts, or somethin' like that. Don't really remember what she said; I was still mourning the loss of all that rum…"
"Aye, Captain."
* * * * *
"You can sleep there," Jack said, sounding rather irritated, as he pointed at his own bed. "That's where you slept last night, after all."
"And where did you sleep?" Will demanded, looking suspiciously at the mess of pillows and blankets. It looked like a person could drown in there.
"In the chair." He gestured to a huge wooden monstrosity in front of a large, much-scarred table. "Good enough for someone drunk as Lord- here, what are you doing?"
"I appreciate your hospitality, but I'll take the chair," Will said, grabbing one of the large and ratty blankets and a single overstuffed pillow. "I was wondering why you looked even more like hell than usual-"
"An honest gentleman shouldn't use such words, Mister William Turner," Jack interrupted, moving to stand in front of Will with his strange sidle. "And you will accept my hospitality, because if I have to drink you under the table, I will."
"No thank you, the other night quite quenched my thirst," Will replied, trying to push past Jack, but the crazed pirate was just as quick on his feet as ever and wouldn't let him get two steps without being treated to an extreme close-up of grinning golden teeth.
"Elizabeth will be very pleased to hear that, I'm certain. Now be a good boy and go to bed; we'll be dropping anchor in a fairly busy merchant port tomorrow and you'll want to be well rested, what with you running around, looking for the next ship back home."
"Is that so," Will said slowly.
"You thought you would be staying a while longer? I am sorry, William, but you're not that great a pirate that I'd be wanting to keep you around. You're making the Pearl look bad, mate." And Jack grinned even wider, waiting very obviously for Will's response to this challenge.
"Is that how it is, Captain Sparrow?" Will couldn't quite hide his own grin, so he had to settle for making it look as dangerous as possible.
"Aye." Jack backed off a few steps and crossed his arms, smiling mischievously.
"Then it seems I should take advantage of your hospitality." With a calm gaze, Will backed up and dropped the blanket and pillow back on the bed. "And I suppose all you have is rum?"
"Wait, wait up here," Jack said in alarm. "You're supposed to be-"
"I thought you could drink me under the table," Will said, grinning. He mimicked Jack's earlier pose and crossed his arms over his chest, even affecting the classic Jack Sparrow sway.
"Elizabeth'll never forgive me for this," Jack muttered, turning around to go searching for the rum.
"I don't think I should be sober when speaking of Elizabeth," Will said softly, moving to sit on the table as he watched Jack's search. "Have you found that rum yet?"
Jack's reply wasn't exactly audible; he was half-buried in a trunk from which he pulled two very full bottles of alcohol. He beamed when Will looked at them dubiously and said triumphantly, "Just let someone try and burn up this stash!"
* * * * *
"'m I… un'er the table yet?" Will asked, blinking at the ceiling of Jack's quarters. He felt sick, but very good about it. It was different, drinking with somebody.
"Migh' as well be," Jack slurred. He waved his bottle around vaguely. "I win. I always win. Alwaysss…"
He slumped sideways and rolled off the bench he had insisted he take, leaving Will with chair, swearing softly. Will focused on the area that Jack had been occupying and came to a conclusion. "You fell."
"Bloody genius, the boy is," wafted up from under the table.
"Who's un'er the table? Huh? Who won?" Will demanded, reaching out to take a celebratory drink of rum and knocking his bottle over. "Damn!"
It rolled, in the nature of bottles that are round and on an uneven surface, and Will went after it.
"Now we are both under the table," Jack said, enunciating carefully and holding Will's bottle up. "Here now, lightweight- you drink like a woman!"
"Don' like sherry…"
"No, you- this- it's half full!" It was said with such horror that Will became alarmed and turned over, looking at Jack with rather befuddled worry.
"'s half empty," he said, peering at the bottle in question.
"Can't even 'old his liquor…" Jack muttered, letting his arm sink back to the floor and releasing the bottle. Will watched it roll away, perturbed.
"Can so," he said. Jack inched around on the floor until he was facing Will again, lying half a foot away.
"Can not."
"It wasn' my firs' bottle… And who was un'er the table first?" Will demanded again, trying to sit up and lean on his elbows, but unable to get his arms to respond correctly.
"'m just... unbalanced. You, now… you…" Jack stopped, looked around in some confusion, and finally said, "I won. 's all."
It was logic that Will wasn't up to fighting. "Wha'd you win, then?"
"Uh…" Jack grimaced and stared at the underside of the table thoughtfully. "I forget."
"I think-" Will glared at the table, as if it were the one responsible for his trouble focusing. "I think… you get t' sleep on the bed. That was it, wasn't it?"
"Think so… But I can't stand up. Can't make it to th' bed. I want a diff'rent prize."
"Treasure?"
Jack shook his head. "Tell me what happened with you and Lizabeth."
"Elizabeth," Will corrected, stressing the "e." "I… She…"
"Put 'em together and you got eyeshee," Jack said.
"Wha's that mean?"
"Dunno."
"I jus' don't love her anymore," Will said wretchedly. He waved his hands around as if it would help him say what he meant more clearly. "I mean, I did; I loved her like, like anything-"
"Woulda died for her," Jack interrupted helpfully.
"Yeah, an', she loved me, right? But then, it was like, she was just someone, and what happened to Elizabeth?" It didn't sound right even to Will, and he knew what he was trying to talk about. "Can we talk abou' something happier?"
"This is my prize," Jack said, rolling over to lie half over Will and glare at him. "You lost, now pay up."
"Your breath stinks," Will said with drunken honesty. Jack rolled his eyes and, at the same, rolled back onto the floor.
"You are an annoying drunk, William."
"I'd be offended, if I weren' so drunk."
* * * * *
Half an hour later, sharing the half-empty (and now a lot closer to empty) rum bottle with Jack, Will fought his rising frustration as he tried to explain.
"'s just… She was perfect, right? Perfect. An' she was an angel-"
"Rather annoying angel," Jack said, grabbing the bottle and taking a swig. "Always gettin' herself caught an' all."
"But she wasn' an angel; she was jus' a woman, jus' the daughter of the gov'ner-"
"Jus' all that?"
Will scowled and stole the bottle back even as Jack was lifting it to his lips. "'s a comedown from being an angel."
"You're angry wi' her," Jack said wisely, watching the rum bottle closely. "She was s'posed to be perfect an' all an' she wasn', and you're so angry you could spit."
"I can always spit," Will protested, getting confused. Jack took advantage of that to steal the bottle again.
"So whatcha gonna do? Stay all angry, all standoffish an' the like, let her go back to ol' Norr- Norr- the bastard with all the boats? She tol' him she wanted you, mate. She loves you, an' you care about her, an' you can learn to love her for her this time, an' all over again." Jack was very pleased with this argument, but lost all his joy when he noticed that the rum was gone.
"I don' know," Will said softly, drawing his knees up and resting his arms on them.
"I worked ver' hard to get you two t'gether," Jack continued, holding the bottle upside down and getting even more depressed when not even a drop fell out. "Shouldn' throw all that work away, right, Will?"
But Will was suddenly very angry. "Work? Your work? Wha' do I care?"
"Now, wait a tick-" Jack said, alarmed, but Will was incensed.
"Work! I fall outta love wi' the girl an' you're concerned that your work is gonna be thrown all t' hell!"
"Hey, now! You two're perfect for each other; I wanna see you happy, damn it!" So saying, Jack tried to climb out from under the table, but Will surged forward and knocked him down, leaning over him and ignoring the cold shock of steel against his throat as Jack reflexively whipped out a dagger.
"Nothing is perfect," Will said harshly, trying not to let angry, drunken tears leave his eyes. "Not even Elizabeth."
Jack's eyes softened from alarm to sympathy and he tossed the dagger away. "Tha' much is true, mate."
He reached up and pulled Will into a physically uncomfortable but emotionally wonderful hug and said softly, "So let the sea do what she does best, Will, and forget about it all for a while."
"An' it'll be better in the morning?"
Jack blinked, considering. "Well, p'raps. After the hangover's gone."
Will thought about that, letting his head drop to Jack's shoulder, and just breathed. Jack didn't smell all that good but that was all right, because Elizabeth always did, and he was supposed to be forgetting.
For a while.
"What are you doing, Will?" Jack asked suddenly, his voice quiet and suspicious. Will blinked, realized he had pressed his mouth to Jack's neck, and drew away just a little.
"Dunno," he said. It was the only answer he had.
Silence reigned for a little while longer, and then Will brushed his lips against Jack's neck again. This time, Jack sighed and started to push him away.
"Stop it, William. You're drunk-"
"As are you," Will protested, placing his hands on either side of Jack's body and holding himself above him.
Jack rolled his eyes. "I'm a pirate. 'm always drunk. And you will hate yourself later-"
"That's what the sea's for," Will said flatly, leaning down and kissing the tip of Jack's nose. He'd done that to Elizabeth once and she'd laughed, bright as sunlight. Jack crossed his eyes, looking at his nose, and then stared at Will like he was mad.
"What about Elizabeth, Will?" he asked, almost sadly.
Will didn't give an inch. "This'll give me all the more reason to run home to her tomorrow, won't it, Jack?"
It must have made sense to Jack, because he didn't resist the next time Will kissed him. He let Will have his way for a moment and then pulled him into what was more like a fight than an embrace. It was rough, almost angry, and definitely like nothing Will had ever experienced with Elizabeth.
And that was good. That was very good.
Jack kissed hard, bit his throat, and attacked his clothes with a surprising fervor, considering his objections from earlier. But he didn't touch any place on Will's body that Will didn't touch on Jack.
It wasn't sweet, and it wasn't exactly happy, but it was far more beautiful than Will could have guessed. Jack was holding back, but that was probably best- though Will did wonder what it would be like to be treated just as roughly as he was treating Jack. He wondered what it would be like if Jack wasn't doing this out of some kind of sympathy, some kind of pity, some kind of understanding.
So he tried to forget that he might possibly be frightened of this, might possibly regret it in the morning when the hangover was gone and he was faced with the reality of getting home to the smithy and to the woman who loved him, even if he did not love her, and put all his anger and frustration and passion into it. Let it all go, as it were, to someone who would keep it safe and hidden from sight.
He reached down, between their struggling bodies, and Jack's hand followed. It wasn't long after that until they were both done and dirty and tired, falling asleep on the floor. If he was going to regret it, it could definitely wait until tomorrow.
* * * * *
//Review if you like, flame if you have to, blink in confusion if you just don't get it.//