Author's Note - O_o
Chapter Twenty-Five
The place that they ventured into could not exactly be called a pub, because a name like that does not really scream 'family-friendly.' But just because it couldn't have the name of a pub in no way meant that it couldn't ~act~ like a pub, and so when Will, Jack, Melanie and Dana entered, you guessed it: smoke in the air and beer on the floor and people under the tables and all that. There was, however, an interesting difference to this not-exactly-a-pub. At the front of the main room, there was a stage.
The four settled themselves around a table. Jack wasted no time and ordered four drinks, then asked the others if they would like anything. Melanie and Will politely declined - Will was secretly afraid he would get something else in his hair - and Dana wordlessly pulled her own flask from inside her coat. Then, before anyone could question just what they were doing running around in the Carnival instead of looking for signs of Will's father, the lights of the not-exactly-a-pub dimmed and the stage was brightened.
Into the light stepped a rather striking figure. Amidst catcalls and hoots, the collective eyes of the audience travelled up the divine creature's shapely legs, over the quaint hips, up the tummy and generous chest and rested on the heavily made-up but far from unattractive face. Full red lips eased into a sultry smile, one great blue eye winked from a face framed with blonde curls, and a dulcet voice said:
"How about a song?"
There were cheers from the crowd. Melanie looked from the completely engrossed William to the smirking Jack, then back towards the stage as the lovely singer inhaled dramatically and chest-flattering-ly. And before you ask, yes, I'm allowed to make up words like that.
The singer took such a breath, then started to sing:
"Some things in life are bad,
They can really make you mad ...
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you're chewing on life's gristle,
Don't grumble, give a whistle,
And this'll - " she winked, "- help things turn out for the best,
And .... "
"Always look on the bright side of life!" the audience responded with enthusiasm and raised their mugs in the air. The more inebriated just sort of stuck theirs out in a direction.
Jack was among these. He bopped his mug into the side of the head of a man at an adjacent table, but for the sake of time constraints, we'll assume that the man was skinny, nervous and easily dominated. For instance: "What's the score here?" Jack murmured when the man spun around to find his assailant. The pirate narrowed his oh-so-dark eyes. "What happens now?" The man squeaked and fled. Ah, for all life to be so easy.
The voluptuous performer had now stepped down from the stage and was continuing the song throughout the room. "Always look on the bright side of life," the patrons continued, everyone jeering, cheering and beer-ing, respectively. Now I would never be so anachronistic as to suggest that the best analogy for this scene would be to imagine Ms. C. Diaz's performance at the C.C. Club in the movie "The Mask." That would be completely not allowed because everyone knows that they had no microphones back in the days of our friends Jack and Will. However, I'll leave the rest to your very capable imaginations. The singer slunk around the floor as the song was continued, and in the course of that slinking wound up in front of Will's chair.
Hey now! None of that sort of thinking. This story is rated PG, remember? Sheesh.
Keeping that in mind, the singer merely wiggled and shook and made Will salivate, while the angry screeches of Carine surely echoed in the distance. Melanie did her best to hide her chuckles behind her hand, but Jack Sparrow was not the sort of man who needed to make such pleasantries.
He clapped Will on the back and nearly startled the open-mouthed young man out of his reverie. "I'll introduce you two after the show," Jack said loudly amidst the continuing catcalls of the audience. The singer turned from Will and angled, still singing, back towards the stage. Will, completely captivated, nodded.
The show was over far too quickly for Melanie's taste, especially considering that Will had been her primary source of entertainment. When the singer disappeared behind a costume curtain and the lights in the not-exactly-a-pub were relit, Jack and Will were both smiling hugely.
"That was amazing!" Will kept saying. "What huge ... talent she had! I mean really wonderfully big ... ambitions! That was fantastic!"
Melanie laughed as Jack smiled at Will. "There's a lad. Saw yer first show an' enjoyed it mightily. That's the way." He glanced over towards Dana, whose booted feet were up on the table. "Have a good time of it, love?"
Dana thought about it a moment and swirled around the remainder of her drink in her flask before swallowing it. "I think that I would have a better time of it if we all got up so that Will could meet this young ... woman." A look was exchanged between Jack and Dana then, and in Melanie's mind, Jack's face went from good-natured and knowing surprise to suspicion in a matter of moments. But his confusion was quickly forgotten when he drained his last mug.
Well, Will thought, that was a smashing, simply corking idea (LOVE that expression, Karlyn - many thanks) and so they all stood or wobbled up and went over to the curtain behind the stage. Jack lifted a hand to knock, looked from his curled fist to the plush velvet curtain, then thought better of it and simply stuck his head inside.
There came a muffled shriek, and Dana, Melanie and Will were all very correct in thinking that they heard Jack's beads jangling from his face being slapped. Besides, that hadn't happened yet in this story. Jack spoke a few indignant words before pulling back his head to speak to the others.
"This lovely creature would be happy to meet with us, William," he said with an odd smile. "We should seat ourselves and wait for ... her, to be finished changing." Will happily agreed, so back again they went to the table, up again went Flint's boots, and down again went another drink for Jack. Then Melanie did something that would prove to be one of the biggest mistakes in Jack's life.
In retrospect, it was completely understandable: she had been working long hours, had traversed the entirety of Carnival Island whilst keeping one eye on Flint and the other on Will (to prevent him from getting other confectionaries in his hair) ~and~ the evening was drawing to a close. But when the captain and pirate mistress of the Yellow Dart yawned ...
... it all went to hell after that.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The place that they ventured into could not exactly be called a pub, because a name like that does not really scream 'family-friendly.' But just because it couldn't have the name of a pub in no way meant that it couldn't ~act~ like a pub, and so when Will, Jack, Melanie and Dana entered, you guessed it: smoke in the air and beer on the floor and people under the tables and all that. There was, however, an interesting difference to this not-exactly-a-pub. At the front of the main room, there was a stage.
The four settled themselves around a table. Jack wasted no time and ordered four drinks, then asked the others if they would like anything. Melanie and Will politely declined - Will was secretly afraid he would get something else in his hair - and Dana wordlessly pulled her own flask from inside her coat. Then, before anyone could question just what they were doing running around in the Carnival instead of looking for signs of Will's father, the lights of the not-exactly-a-pub dimmed and the stage was brightened.
Into the light stepped a rather striking figure. Amidst catcalls and hoots, the collective eyes of the audience travelled up the divine creature's shapely legs, over the quaint hips, up the tummy and generous chest and rested on the heavily made-up but far from unattractive face. Full red lips eased into a sultry smile, one great blue eye winked from a face framed with blonde curls, and a dulcet voice said:
"How about a song?"
There were cheers from the crowd. Melanie looked from the completely engrossed William to the smirking Jack, then back towards the stage as the lovely singer inhaled dramatically and chest-flattering-ly. And before you ask, yes, I'm allowed to make up words like that.
The singer took such a breath, then started to sing:
"Some things in life are bad,
They can really make you mad ...
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you're chewing on life's gristle,
Don't grumble, give a whistle,
And this'll - " she winked, "- help things turn out for the best,
And .... "
"Always look on the bright side of life!" the audience responded with enthusiasm and raised their mugs in the air. The more inebriated just sort of stuck theirs out in a direction.
Jack was among these. He bopped his mug into the side of the head of a man at an adjacent table, but for the sake of time constraints, we'll assume that the man was skinny, nervous and easily dominated. For instance: "What's the score here?" Jack murmured when the man spun around to find his assailant. The pirate narrowed his oh-so-dark eyes. "What happens now?" The man squeaked and fled. Ah, for all life to be so easy.
The voluptuous performer had now stepped down from the stage and was continuing the song throughout the room. "Always look on the bright side of life," the patrons continued, everyone jeering, cheering and beer-ing, respectively. Now I would never be so anachronistic as to suggest that the best analogy for this scene would be to imagine Ms. C. Diaz's performance at the C.C. Club in the movie "The Mask." That would be completely not allowed because everyone knows that they had no microphones back in the days of our friends Jack and Will. However, I'll leave the rest to your very capable imaginations. The singer slunk around the floor as the song was continued, and in the course of that slinking wound up in front of Will's chair.
Hey now! None of that sort of thinking. This story is rated PG, remember? Sheesh.
Keeping that in mind, the singer merely wiggled and shook and made Will salivate, while the angry screeches of Carine surely echoed in the distance. Melanie did her best to hide her chuckles behind her hand, but Jack Sparrow was not the sort of man who needed to make such pleasantries.
He clapped Will on the back and nearly startled the open-mouthed young man out of his reverie. "I'll introduce you two after the show," Jack said loudly amidst the continuing catcalls of the audience. The singer turned from Will and angled, still singing, back towards the stage. Will, completely captivated, nodded.
The show was over far too quickly for Melanie's taste, especially considering that Will had been her primary source of entertainment. When the singer disappeared behind a costume curtain and the lights in the not-exactly-a-pub were relit, Jack and Will were both smiling hugely.
"That was amazing!" Will kept saying. "What huge ... talent she had! I mean really wonderfully big ... ambitions! That was fantastic!"
Melanie laughed as Jack smiled at Will. "There's a lad. Saw yer first show an' enjoyed it mightily. That's the way." He glanced over towards Dana, whose booted feet were up on the table. "Have a good time of it, love?"
Dana thought about it a moment and swirled around the remainder of her drink in her flask before swallowing it. "I think that I would have a better time of it if we all got up so that Will could meet this young ... woman." A look was exchanged between Jack and Dana then, and in Melanie's mind, Jack's face went from good-natured and knowing surprise to suspicion in a matter of moments. But his confusion was quickly forgotten when he drained his last mug.
Well, Will thought, that was a smashing, simply corking idea (LOVE that expression, Karlyn - many thanks) and so they all stood or wobbled up and went over to the curtain behind the stage. Jack lifted a hand to knock, looked from his curled fist to the plush velvet curtain, then thought better of it and simply stuck his head inside.
There came a muffled shriek, and Dana, Melanie and Will were all very correct in thinking that they heard Jack's beads jangling from his face being slapped. Besides, that hadn't happened yet in this story. Jack spoke a few indignant words before pulling back his head to speak to the others.
"This lovely creature would be happy to meet with us, William," he said with an odd smile. "We should seat ourselves and wait for ... her, to be finished changing." Will happily agreed, so back again they went to the table, up again went Flint's boots, and down again went another drink for Jack. Then Melanie did something that would prove to be one of the biggest mistakes in Jack's life.
In retrospect, it was completely understandable: she had been working long hours, had traversed the entirety of Carnival Island whilst keeping one eye on Flint and the other on Will (to prevent him from getting other confectionaries in his hair) ~and~ the evening was drawing to a close. But when the captain and pirate mistress of the Yellow Dart yawned ...
... it all went to hell after that.