Chapter Eight
Just Jack
As the night progressed, Nova loosened up a bit. Will relaxed, unlike Jack, without getting plastered first - it was the laughter and the jokes, and the thought that work was put off until another day. Jack, however, was quick to drink, and was as gone as he ever was shortly after Will and Nova's arrival.
Who knows now, maybe it was the idea he was breaking all the rules of society. Maybe it was that he slurred his words even more when he was drunk - if you could believe that. Maybe it was that her mother had warned her to steer clear of men when they drank; that they were monsters - although Nova personally couldn't see Jack hurting a fly in his condition. Or maybe... just maybe it was the fact that he was simply Captain Jack Sparrow... but Nova found herself utterly intruiged by his every movement, his every word. She watched him, leaning back against the bench, laughing when he said something funny, blushing when he said something dirty, all the while feeding her newest and only addiction with stolen glances at his eyes, his lips, anything that belonged to him.
"Here... try this..."
Jack's voice shattered her thoughts as he slid his mug across the table. "What?" she asked, giggling. "I can't... I couldn't possible..." She blushed a bit, the thought of her lips touching where his lips had more intoxicating than the liquor in the mug, and Jack smiled, doing his best to charm her out oof all good sense. "Oh come now, 'sjust a bit of rum!" he told her, picking it up and holding it under her nose.
She glanced at the mug, then at Jack, then Will, who was staring at her with the oddest of looks. She shrugged it off, smiling nervously as cautious hands wrapped themselves around Jack's mug. "Righ', tha's it, girl, go on..." She swallowed hard, tipping the glass upwards slowly, and stopped as soon as the amber-colored liquid splashed softly against her lips, only taking in the tiniest of swallows.
The only thing she could think about was how it tasted like Jack smelled. Letting her eyes close for a brief moment as she set the mug down, Will excused himself, and Jack leaned over to her, all smiles, speaking quietly in her ear. "Like it?" She smiled softly, blushing. "Not as much as I like you..."
Jack froze momentarily as Nova continued to smile absentmindedly, until even the screaming laughter of Tortugan whores was lost upon her. The false silence pounded in her ears until she couldn't stand it anymore.
"I said that out loud, didn't I...?"
Jack nodded ever so slowly, watching the color drain from her face. He was searching his now quite-sobered mind for something to say when Will sauntered back to the table. "You'll never in a hundred years guess who I found outside..." he told Jack smugly. The good captain composed himself quickly, turning his head up to face Will. "Who wos it?" From the look on Will's face, Jack gathered he wasn't all that happy about it, but shrugged that off - Will was never happy about much of anything anymore.
"Heav... from Port Royal..."
"Aah, so that explains the dour look." Will smirked, and Nova wondered about the reasons why - Mistress Heav seemed nice enough back home. "Why woul' I care about Heav? Tha' woman's mouth would be the death of me..." With his hands, he mimicked the incessant talking of the pub mistress, and Will snorted, trying to hold back his laughter. He stopped short, however, when the petite, curvy blonde sashayed over to the table.
"'Ey, look Minnie! Tha's the girl I wos tellin' ye about! Right quiet thin', she is!" Heav's voice broke the quiet, and Nova looked down, glancing at Jack from the corner of her eye. He sat with his face turned from her now, smiling up at a tall, slender woman - the one Heav had called Minnie. Much to Nova's disappointment, he looked genuinely happy to see her.
"'Ello, luv..." he whispered against the back of her hand, kissing it gently. She smiled mischieviously down at him. "Well, well, if it isn't Cap'n Sparrow, come back t' Tortuga..." Her light brown locks framed her face as they fell over her shoulders, and Jack smiled a bit wider, rising up to greet her properly. "Who's yer little friend, Cap'n? No' another escapade, I hope..." came Mignonette's low voice, and Jack shook his head. "Hardly... more like a business partner... wouldn't ye say tha', Nova?" He turned, looking down at her, and she wanted to scream at him, to ball her fists up and pummel him bloody, but she only nodded, forcing a smile. "Yes... business partners..." she whispered, looking back down at her hands in her lap.
"Good... then yer all mine tonight then, aren't ye?" Minnie smiled, her eyes twinkling as she took Jack's dredlocked beard into her hand, tugging gently as she pulled him away. Will chuckled, and Nova could hardly bear to watch the scene. As dense as he was, being drunk and having an attractive woman draping herself across him, Will did notice something was the matter with her, and asked Heav to give him a moment with Nova. She looked down at the girl, then to Will and nodded slowly. "Need a drink anyway..." she said, and headed off towards the bar.
It was quite obvious to him that Heav wasn't coming back from the way she was laughing with the small cluster of men that had formed around her, and Will sighed. "Did he say something to you while I was gone...?" he inquired, and Nova shook her head. "No... more like he said absolutely nothing..." She was hurt he hadn't even at least let her down gently, and wasn't really in the mood to talk about it, but Will prodded further. "Then what's got you so down...?" She suspected that his friendliness and curiousity stemmed from the rum in his system, but wasn't about to turn away any sort of friendship - not with the uncomfortable, cold way Jack would most surely treat her from then on. "I... sort of said something too him, and he wasn't particularly happy to hear it, I suppose..." Her cheeks went a bit pink, and she blinked back tears of embarrassment and frustration. 'Come on, Nova - the last thing you need is for him to see you crying...'
He nodded slowly. "Let me guess... you've managed to find you believe you've got feelings for our good friend, Jack Sparrow, am I right...?" Will had really been onto that idea all along - she had been a bit obvious about her affections. She looked up at him, eyes wide, partially with hurt, partially with anger. "How did you know that...?" she whispered, and Will shrugged. "You haven't been the most secretive of secret admirers, Miss Nova... it's been almost blatant..." She looked away, embarrassed to all ends. "I didn't mean for it to happen..." she whispered, and Will didn't hear her - he was too busy starting off an a speech of the "I told you so" variety - even though he'd told her no such thing.
"Miss, he's hardly the type of man you'd be interested in... he'll never change... or settle down... wed, or father children... he's just Jack. That's all he'll ever be. People like Jack and myself are not made for the likes of you, or your dear, sweet cousin..." he spat out bitterly. Nova's head snapped upwards and she glared at him. "I never said I wanted any of those things from Jack!" she cried out angrily, and he smirked. "You didn't have to... your eyes and your actions gave you away..." She shrank back a bit in her seat. "Anyway, I'd thank you not to bring my cousin into this conversation, you don't even know her."
Will stared at her blankly, a smug, arrogant sneer toying with his lips. "You really are a clueless dolt, aren't you? Falling in love with Jack Sparrow and presuming to tell me I don't know Elizabeth Swann?" Her eyes went wide with fury, and her fists clenched subconsciously at her sides. "I am nothing of the sort, and you don't know her, so please, Mister Turner, do us all a favor and stop with your holier-than-thou act... you are the furthest thing from God I've ever known, you'd do well to remember that when interacting with people!" With that, she snatched his half-empty mug from the table and lifted it up, dousing him in it as she stood up and headed for the exit.
In the blink of an eye, he was beside her, wrenching her arm around the other way to pull her back to him. "You little..." he muttered, angry enough to hit her. But surprisingly, she glared up at him with every ounce of fervor and determination as he had in his eyes, and he dropped her arm, seeing that it wasn't worth the fight that would most certainly cause a scene. "Do pass word along to the Captain..." she said, spitting the word 'captain' out as though it were diseased, "... that I am retiring for the night... if he wishes to find me, I shall be back aboard the Pearl..." She stormed off outside, leaving William alone and confused - and dripping with rum, one might add.
She was too angry and too stubborn to admit that she had gotten in over her head this time. Everywhere she looked, all she saw was people, people, and more people - not a single sign of the docks. Heading off in what she thought was the right direction, Nova tried to keep her head down, and avoid meeting anyone's eyes.
"Oh, luv, where ye headin' off ter so quick, eh?" came a voice from behind her - it almost sounded familiar, but she refused to turn to look to see who it was. The man chuckled. "Aww, don' be shy, girl... I don' want ter hurt ye!" But his actions said otherwise as he grabbed her shoulder tightly, spinning her around.
It was him - the man who had stolen her book! Gasping, she tried to back away from him, only hitting a wall. Scared out of her wits, she made an attempt to run down the alleyway, not really caring where she ended up, but the man grabbed a thick handful of her hair, yanking her towards into him. With a shriek, she flew backwards, her hands flying up to his to try and free herself from his grip, but it really was no use - he was quite strong for his small size.
"Where is it...?!" he shouted, grabbing Nova by her arms. "I want th' map, girl, where in bloody hell did ye get off to with it?!" She shook her head, trying not to cry as his fingers dug into her arms tightly. "Oww... let me... go!!! I don't have it!!" For a brief moment, she thought about kicking him, but she figured that she'd likely break her toe through the soft, once snow white fabric of her slippers she had been wearing since they left Port Royal. He threw her back against the wall, and she yelped in pain, feeling a bit dizzy as her head smacked the solid wood plank. "Don' lie t' me, girl, if ye know wot's good fer ye..." Still shaking her head violently, Nova pleaded with him. "Please, I don't have it!! Just let me go!" He chuckled quietly. "I'm no' lettin ye go until I have tha' map... an' tha's final."
The man turned around, facing Jack's scabbard as he roughly tugged Nova in his direction by her hair. He stopped quickly as the blade was brought up against his jugular. "Let her go, mate.... s'really no' worth the trouble..." The man glared at Jack, but let her go, and she immediately ran to Jack, standing behind him as she continued to cry. "Now... get out of my sight, before you make me do somethin' I might regret, though I doubt I would... regret it, tha' is..." Jack clarified, smiling smugly. The man nodded slowly, and backed down the alleyway, Jack watching him do so.
Kneeling down to where Nova sat in the middle of the muddy road, he looked at her. "Ye alrigh'...? Did he hurt ye much....?" She shook her head, and continued to sob, and Jack didn't know what to do. She leaned against him, continuing to cry, and he awkwardly hugged her, causing her to jump. "Shhh.... don' be scared... s'just Jack, eh? Shhh...."
Oooohhhh my god, two updates this soon?! MEEPS! WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TOO! runs away screaming lol. Okies, peoples, leave reviews... you know you wanna!!!
Always,
Heaven Marquin, The Bonnie Pirate Lass