bittersweet46: Thank you. I'm very pleased you agree with the level of detail I use for (in particular) secondary characters. I do hope you're not disappointed when you see Anamaria and Gibbs don't really have all that much involvement in the story from here on out. I had to cut a scene from the end of the fic where Jack spoke with Gibbs and sort of regret doing that now. Mmmmmmm ... cookies!!! (I wasn't going to post the next part until tomorrow but what can I say? Just for you ;)
"This can't continue," Jack said seriously, nodding to himself.
It had been two weeks since they'd departed from Tortuga. Will had again tried his hand at sailing and met with success for the most part, but Jack insisted the ex-blacksmith concentrate on repairs to the Pearl. There was a great deal of minor repair work constantly needed by a ship the size of the Black Pearl, and having a skilled crewmember aboard allowed many such repairs to be completed without being stuck in port. Not that Will had been entirely willing...
"I'm not saying I can't do it, Jack. It's just, well, I'm not really that good working with wood. It's not my thing really," Will had explained, squinting up at Jack in the bright sunlight.
"It can be your new thing then, hmm? A change of pace and all that, eh?"
"I don't think I could possibly change anything more," Will had said resignedly. "I think I'm just not very good with it."
"Nonsense!" Jack barked. He pointed to a recently repaired section of railing. It looked as good as new, and if it showed up at all as different it was only because the newer wood hadn't been thoroughly storm beaten yet. "You do lovely work on me Pearl," he said sincerely.
Will looked where Jack was pointing. He saw a horribly mismatched and lopsided area of railing. Surely it hadn't looked THAT bad when he'd finished. Will thought he should have noticed how awful it looked before. "It looks like a child repaired it," Will said with a sigh.
Jack peered over again at the railing, wrinkled his nose in concentration, then looked back at Will, trying to judge if perhaps sitting out too long in the sun had fried the young man's brain.
"Maybe I should try helping Gibbs again," Will offered.
"No, no, I want yer hands on the wood! That is, I want you doin' these repairs, Will," Jack quickly clarified, kicking himself mentally for the umpteenth time for letting his baser thoughts about Will slip out. "Look, I know yer not used to workin' with wood but yer doin' a smashin' job so far. You jus' need t' do more of it, then you'll get more comfer'ble with it, savvy?"
Will gave a forced, tight lipped grin. "Alright Jack, I'll do it. With luck I won't cause her to become totally lopsided and sink." He walked off, feet almost dragging.
Jack ran a hand over his face and deeply sighed. Where to begin? Most of the work that Will did really was above average. It wasn't like Jack would trust his Pearl in the hands of just anybody after all. Having said that, there was something very flawed about Will's work, or rather more often, the way he worked.
Jack had watched Will often lately and was always fascinated by the look of concentration and determination on Will's face when he worked. There was something fascinating about watching the young man focus totally on something and create beauty and necessity all at once. Jack found himself often wondering what it would be like to be the object of Will's focus, to have the young man totally fixed on HIM to the exclusion of everything else. Jack wasn't surprised to find himself feeling jealous of a railing pole as he watched Will's strong hands running up and down its length, sanding it to perfection.
But the problem, the real root of the issue, was what happened when Will's focus wavered. It wasn't that he was distractible so much as he became totally absorbed and lost in his own thoughts. Jack had witnessed this many times over the past couple weeks. Will would just seem to shut off, getting a blank look on his face. Whatever he'd been working on would either be forgotten or hastily and roughly finished with no apparent care as to quality, in stark contrast to Will's normally perfect work. The young man would then wander off, seemingly in a daze, though Jack had seen tears in Will's eyes on several occasions. He'd tried to talk to Will the first couple times he'd seen this happen, but the upset man simply shut and locked the door to Jack's cabin.
And that was another thing - Jack had at first insisted Will stay in his cabin so he could keep an eye on the other man as his injuries healed. He'd fully expected Will would want to find other accommodations shortly after, yet the younger man had simply continued to share his cabin and bed without any comment. They fell asleep separately, but Jack had woken every morning to find himself with a warm body wrapped around him, seemingly clinging to him as if to keep nightmares a bay. Since he always woke first, Jack disentangled himself before Will stirred. He wasn't even sure if Will was aware he kept doing that every night.
Much in the same way Jack was hesitant to say anything to Will about his sleeping positions, he was disinclined to mention the strange blanking out moments the young man suffered. It was those moments that made Jack decided there was absolutely no way Will was fit to assist in the sailing of the ship. If he were to shut down and drift off in his head while up in the rigging or, without warning, stop paying attention at the wrong time, the results could be disastrous for both Will and the crew members around him. Jack would much rather have the odd unfinished or rough-looking stair than find out Will had accidentally fallen overboard or worse. He did however made a mental note to hang onto the railings near any staircases Will had been working on. Just in case.
But after two weeks, Jack had finally had his fill. "I'm tellin' ya, Gibbs. It's got to stop one way or t' other. I know he's torn up o'er what 'appened but he can't keep shuttin' off like that."
"'e's not doin' any damage though, Captain," Gibbs said.
Stressing the first word, Jack explained, "I can't take watchin' it. 's like watchin' a shipwreck o'er and o'er again. An there's not a damn thing I can do 'bout it."
"Give 'im time, Jack. 'e'll be alright."
"No," Jack said. Pausing for a moment, letting the pieces of a plan fall into place. Suddenly, and commandingly, he ordered Gibbs, "Set sail for Port Royal."
"What?" Gibbs asked, sure his captain couldn't have said what he thought he'd heard.
"You 'eard me. We're heading for Port Royal. Will is going to make a decision, one way or another."
Jack turned and left a confused Gibbs standing on deck and, after a moment's hesitation, barking out orders to change course and head straight for the very pirate unfriendly waters.