Chapter Two: Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Anamaria excused herself not long after they arrived in the tavern, saying that she needed to check on her crew and make sure they were ëbehaving.' Will couldn't decide whether he should be grateful or not, having been left alone to catch up with Jack. The pirate himself seemed in an odd mood, regaling Will with tales of his travels since leaving Port Royal one minute, the next staring over Will's shoulder at a spot on the tavern wall, and - much to Will's amazement - barely touching his rum. After Jack's offer to introduce him to a pretty lady, Will had carefully steered the conversation away from the subject of Elizabeth, and what he would do now that he was without her. He wondered if that was the reason for Jack's strange mood, but decided against it - he was quite sure that the pirate would have no problems with him turning down his offer, no matter what his mood.
Unable to help himself, Will yawned - in the middle of one of Jack's tales - and blushed furiously, embarrassed at interrupting Jack. "Sorry." he mumbled, hoping that Jack wouldn't take offense and think that he wasn't interested. He was, but he hadn't slept properly since he'd left Port Royal, and as a result was extremely tired.
Jack shrugged - a lazy, carefree, seductive shrug - and Will started, wondering why he had suddenly started seeing Jack's shrugs as carefree.
"'S alright, whelp, it's getting late now, anyway, I don't mind." he stated, nodding decisvely as if to emphasize his words, and stood, stretching his arms up above his head. Will did *not* find that seductive. Not at all. "Think I might head off to sleep myself, now."
"Oh." Will said hesitantly, realising suddenly that he had no idea of where he was going to sleep. Perhaps Anamaria would let him spend the night on her ship. "I suppose I'll see you later then?"
Jack must have noticed Will's hesitation, because he took hold of Will's wrist, and pulled him up. "You got somewhere to stay?" He asked. When Will shook his head, he grinned widely, showing teeth that weren't in what one would call perfect condition. "Well you can stay with me." He said, the statement more and order than anything else. "I've got a room here, and I'm not about to let you out on the streets of Tortuga until you're a bit more...experienced...in the ways of the pirate life."
Will nodded, not sure whether to be inuslted, and deciding just to go along with it. "Thanks"
~*~
"Jack." Will said tiredly, ignoring the mutter of ëthat's Captain Jack', and rubbing at his eyes in frustration. "There's only one bed."
"So?" Jack asked, turning kohl-ringed eyes on Will in an expression of confusion. "It's a big bed. We'll fit. Or would you prefer to try your luck on the streets?"
"No." Will replied, too tired to argue with Jack's logic, and with a slowness that bored on paranoia, he removed all of his clothing except for his pants, which he couldn't bring himself to remove with another person in the room. "One bed is fine."
"That's good then." Jack replied, following Will's example, but far more quickly, and sliding into the bed. He made himself comfortable, then looked at Will, who was standing at the edge of the bed nervously, and swore lightly in exasperation. "Get in, Will," he said, sounding tired himself. "I'm not going to bite you."
Will blushed again, this time at the thought of Jack biting him. He was beginning to get a fair idea of what Elizabeth had meant when she'd told him that what she was doing was the right thing. Not that he particularly agreed with her, but he understood that things between the two of them would not have worked out, if the feelings that Jack was bringing up in him all of a sudden were any indication.
As he slipped into the bed beside Jack, making sure to keep strictly to his side to avoid any accidental touches, he wondered if the feelings really were all that sudden, or if they had simply being growing since he had met Jack, and it had taken the time he'd spent apart, with Elizabeth, for him to realise them. Absence makes the heart grow fonder after all.
It didn't take Will long to realise that, no matter how tired he thought he had been, now that he was lying next to Jack, he was wide awake and extremely uncomfortable. Uncomfortable in a ëWhat'll happen if I accidently end up touching Jack while I'm asleep' way. He was, after all, used to either sleeping alone, where it didn't matter what he did, or with Elizabeth, who had no objections to waking up and finding him resting against her. Having Jack beside him simply led for a firm resolution *not* to fall asleep, and in an attempt to stay awake, he began to count the cracks in the wooden ceiling above him. In hindsight, counting the cracks in the ceiling was probably not his brightest idea, because it only ushered him into sleep faster, and by the time he woke the next morning he was firmly convinced that the roof had fallen in over night and that the cracks were now all over his body, brought about by many tiny wooden splinters. He was so convinced, that he simply lay staring at the ceiling for several minutes after waking, making sure that it wasn't so. As a result he didn't notice his close proximity to Jack, until said pirate opened his own eyes and slowly ran his fingers down Will's chest. That brought him crashing back to reality with a start.
"Jack!" Will managed to gasp out, in between the shock of waking up curled up beside the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow, and the pleasant tingling sensation caused by that very same Captain Jack Sparrow running his fingers lazily over his chest.
"William." Jack replied, staring at Will through half-lidded eyes, obviously not bothered by Will's position, in fact, if the half-smile on his face was any indication, he was enjoying it. "'Morning."
"Uh." Will replied incoherently, cursing his inability to form a full sentence after just waking up. Jack certainly wasn't making it any easier, either, his touch causing a trail of hot fire to race over Will's skin. He wanted him to stop, but at the same time didn't, and as he couldn't quite seem to make up his mind about option he preferred, he simply uttered a quiet ëNo.'
"No?" Jack asked, fingers pausing in their movement on Will's chest, and resting lightly there. "No what? No morning? Because I assure you, dear William, that it is most certainly morning. Just take a look at that wretched sun streaming through the window."
"Don't." Will said this time, and sat up, moving away from Jack and swinging his feet over the edge of the bed so that he didn't have to face the pirate.
"Oh," Jack said from behind him, his tone relating something that Will couldn't quite make out. Was it annoyance? Dissapointment? "That ëno.' I see."
Will bent his head forward, letting his hair fall in front of his eyes so that he couldn't see anything else, because, if he couldn't see anything else, he could tell himself that there was nothing there. That Jack wasn't there. That he wasn't betraying Elizabeth through what he was feeling, because even if Elizabeth had already made it quite clear that he had her blessings to go to Jack, he still loved her and didn't want to betray her, or to hurt her.
"Well I suppose, given that it is morning, we should be getting up." Jack said. "Busy day and all."
Will felt movement on the bed behind him, and quickly stood, again avoiding unnecessary contact with the pirate. He thought he heard a frustrated sigh from behind him, but dismissed it as nothing but his imagination. Far more quickly than he had undressed the previous night, Will pulled on his clothes, and turned around. Just in time to catch Jack in the middle of putting on his own shirt. His mouth feeling suddenly dry, Will hastily turned his head to the side, feeling yet another blush heating his cheeks. He found it almost funny that Jack could make him blush so furiously, when, despite Elizabeth's many efforts (and yes, there had been a fair few, some innocent, some not) the most she had managed was a slight rose tint to his cheeks.
"Busy?" Will asked, continuing to stare at the wall.
"Ah, yes," Jack said slowly. "I forgot to tell you. The ëPearl's fixed up, main reason why I was out last night was that it was the last one I'd be spending with more pleasant company than my crew for a fair while. Won'tget much chance for that out on the sea."
Will felt strangely moved at that - Jack had chosen to forsake his last night in Tortuga in favour of his company. At the same time, though, he was disappointed. Jack was leaving again, and if the last time he had left was any indication, he was leaving without Will. After what Will had been through to get to him again (thanks in a large part to Elizabeth, but that didn't need to be mention) he was certain that he would not be happy to have Jack gone again. Especially as it meant that he would be left alone in Tortuga.
He turned back to face Jack, no longer caring what the pirate's state of dress was. "You're leaving today?" he asked. From how Anamaria had been talking the previous day, he had expected that Jack would be in Tortuga for a fair while longer, and had not bothered to entertain thoughts of what he would do if he wasn't there.
"Aye." Jack said, sidling past Will so that he could reach his hat and "affects" that were sitting in a corner of the room. "Can't stay in one place too long. Don't wanna get complacent, you see. ëS a bad trait in pirate."
"I see." Will said slowly, still trying to work out what he would do in Tortuga once Jack was gone. Perhaps he could find himself a position as a blacksmith?
"Well that's good then." Jack said, making the finishing touches on his appearnace and heading for the door. He paused at it, spinning around with a flourish to face Will, as if a sudden thought had just occurred to him. "Seeing as your bonnie lass has gone and pushed you away, so to speak, your welcome to join us if you so wish. But only," he warned, face almost comically serious. "if you promise not to do anything stupid this time, savvy?"
Then, before Will had a chance to reply, he was out the door, leaving Will with no choice other than to hurry after him, not about to give up his chance to sail under Captain Jack Sparrow once again.
~
Author's not type thing: And there we have chapter two, folks, and it's only been two days since the first one. O.o. Unfortunately (at least as far as quick updates are concerned) I'm headed off to Japan on Wednesday for two weeks, and won't be able to update this until I get back. I will try and get chapter three up before then, but given that I've got less than three days left and I've still got to finish packing and go to school, I'm not promising to get it up. I do, however, promise to write lots while I'm over there, so I should be able to get several chapters up within quick succesion when I get back.
Thanks to everyone who reviewd the last chapter - getting home and finding lots of emails from "bot@fanfiction.com" had me bouncing around very happily (something I thought impossible after having to get up at five in the morning - yuck).
Review again and I shall be even happier!
Hmm...long note...sorry...
Anamaria excused herself not long after they arrived in the tavern, saying that she needed to check on her crew and make sure they were ëbehaving.' Will couldn't decide whether he should be grateful or not, having been left alone to catch up with Jack. The pirate himself seemed in an odd mood, regaling Will with tales of his travels since leaving Port Royal one minute, the next staring over Will's shoulder at a spot on the tavern wall, and - much to Will's amazement - barely touching his rum. After Jack's offer to introduce him to a pretty lady, Will had carefully steered the conversation away from the subject of Elizabeth, and what he would do now that he was without her. He wondered if that was the reason for Jack's strange mood, but decided against it - he was quite sure that the pirate would have no problems with him turning down his offer, no matter what his mood.
Unable to help himself, Will yawned - in the middle of one of Jack's tales - and blushed furiously, embarrassed at interrupting Jack. "Sorry." he mumbled, hoping that Jack wouldn't take offense and think that he wasn't interested. He was, but he hadn't slept properly since he'd left Port Royal, and as a result was extremely tired.
Jack shrugged - a lazy, carefree, seductive shrug - and Will started, wondering why he had suddenly started seeing Jack's shrugs as carefree.
"'S alright, whelp, it's getting late now, anyway, I don't mind." he stated, nodding decisvely as if to emphasize his words, and stood, stretching his arms up above his head. Will did *not* find that seductive. Not at all. "Think I might head off to sleep myself, now."
"Oh." Will said hesitantly, realising suddenly that he had no idea of where he was going to sleep. Perhaps Anamaria would let him spend the night on her ship. "I suppose I'll see you later then?"
Jack must have noticed Will's hesitation, because he took hold of Will's wrist, and pulled him up. "You got somewhere to stay?" He asked. When Will shook his head, he grinned widely, showing teeth that weren't in what one would call perfect condition. "Well you can stay with me." He said, the statement more and order than anything else. "I've got a room here, and I'm not about to let you out on the streets of Tortuga until you're a bit more...experienced...in the ways of the pirate life."
Will nodded, not sure whether to be inuslted, and deciding just to go along with it. "Thanks"
~*~
"Jack." Will said tiredly, ignoring the mutter of ëthat's Captain Jack', and rubbing at his eyes in frustration. "There's only one bed."
"So?" Jack asked, turning kohl-ringed eyes on Will in an expression of confusion. "It's a big bed. We'll fit. Or would you prefer to try your luck on the streets?"
"No." Will replied, too tired to argue with Jack's logic, and with a slowness that bored on paranoia, he removed all of his clothing except for his pants, which he couldn't bring himself to remove with another person in the room. "One bed is fine."
"That's good then." Jack replied, following Will's example, but far more quickly, and sliding into the bed. He made himself comfortable, then looked at Will, who was standing at the edge of the bed nervously, and swore lightly in exasperation. "Get in, Will," he said, sounding tired himself. "I'm not going to bite you."
Will blushed again, this time at the thought of Jack biting him. He was beginning to get a fair idea of what Elizabeth had meant when she'd told him that what she was doing was the right thing. Not that he particularly agreed with her, but he understood that things between the two of them would not have worked out, if the feelings that Jack was bringing up in him all of a sudden were any indication.
As he slipped into the bed beside Jack, making sure to keep strictly to his side to avoid any accidental touches, he wondered if the feelings really were all that sudden, or if they had simply being growing since he had met Jack, and it had taken the time he'd spent apart, with Elizabeth, for him to realise them. Absence makes the heart grow fonder after all.
It didn't take Will long to realise that, no matter how tired he thought he had been, now that he was lying next to Jack, he was wide awake and extremely uncomfortable. Uncomfortable in a ëWhat'll happen if I accidently end up touching Jack while I'm asleep' way. He was, after all, used to either sleeping alone, where it didn't matter what he did, or with Elizabeth, who had no objections to waking up and finding him resting against her. Having Jack beside him simply led for a firm resolution *not* to fall asleep, and in an attempt to stay awake, he began to count the cracks in the wooden ceiling above him. In hindsight, counting the cracks in the ceiling was probably not his brightest idea, because it only ushered him into sleep faster, and by the time he woke the next morning he was firmly convinced that the roof had fallen in over night and that the cracks were now all over his body, brought about by many tiny wooden splinters. He was so convinced, that he simply lay staring at the ceiling for several minutes after waking, making sure that it wasn't so. As a result he didn't notice his close proximity to Jack, until said pirate opened his own eyes and slowly ran his fingers down Will's chest. That brought him crashing back to reality with a start.
"Jack!" Will managed to gasp out, in between the shock of waking up curled up beside the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow, and the pleasant tingling sensation caused by that very same Captain Jack Sparrow running his fingers lazily over his chest.
"William." Jack replied, staring at Will through half-lidded eyes, obviously not bothered by Will's position, in fact, if the half-smile on his face was any indication, he was enjoying it. "'Morning."
"Uh." Will replied incoherently, cursing his inability to form a full sentence after just waking up. Jack certainly wasn't making it any easier, either, his touch causing a trail of hot fire to race over Will's skin. He wanted him to stop, but at the same time didn't, and as he couldn't quite seem to make up his mind about option he preferred, he simply uttered a quiet ëNo.'
"No?" Jack asked, fingers pausing in their movement on Will's chest, and resting lightly there. "No what? No morning? Because I assure you, dear William, that it is most certainly morning. Just take a look at that wretched sun streaming through the window."
"Don't." Will said this time, and sat up, moving away from Jack and swinging his feet over the edge of the bed so that he didn't have to face the pirate.
"Oh," Jack said from behind him, his tone relating something that Will couldn't quite make out. Was it annoyance? Dissapointment? "That ëno.' I see."
Will bent his head forward, letting his hair fall in front of his eyes so that he couldn't see anything else, because, if he couldn't see anything else, he could tell himself that there was nothing there. That Jack wasn't there. That he wasn't betraying Elizabeth through what he was feeling, because even if Elizabeth had already made it quite clear that he had her blessings to go to Jack, he still loved her and didn't want to betray her, or to hurt her.
"Well I suppose, given that it is morning, we should be getting up." Jack said. "Busy day and all."
Will felt movement on the bed behind him, and quickly stood, again avoiding unnecessary contact with the pirate. He thought he heard a frustrated sigh from behind him, but dismissed it as nothing but his imagination. Far more quickly than he had undressed the previous night, Will pulled on his clothes, and turned around. Just in time to catch Jack in the middle of putting on his own shirt. His mouth feeling suddenly dry, Will hastily turned his head to the side, feeling yet another blush heating his cheeks. He found it almost funny that Jack could make him blush so furiously, when, despite Elizabeth's many efforts (and yes, there had been a fair few, some innocent, some not) the most she had managed was a slight rose tint to his cheeks.
"Busy?" Will asked, continuing to stare at the wall.
"Ah, yes," Jack said slowly. "I forgot to tell you. The ëPearl's fixed up, main reason why I was out last night was that it was the last one I'd be spending with more pleasant company than my crew for a fair while. Won'tget much chance for that out on the sea."
Will felt strangely moved at that - Jack had chosen to forsake his last night in Tortuga in favour of his company. At the same time, though, he was disappointed. Jack was leaving again, and if the last time he had left was any indication, he was leaving without Will. After what Will had been through to get to him again (thanks in a large part to Elizabeth, but that didn't need to be mention) he was certain that he would not be happy to have Jack gone again. Especially as it meant that he would be left alone in Tortuga.
He turned back to face Jack, no longer caring what the pirate's state of dress was. "You're leaving today?" he asked. From how Anamaria had been talking the previous day, he had expected that Jack would be in Tortuga for a fair while longer, and had not bothered to entertain thoughts of what he would do if he wasn't there.
"Aye." Jack said, sidling past Will so that he could reach his hat and "affects" that were sitting in a corner of the room. "Can't stay in one place too long. Don't wanna get complacent, you see. ëS a bad trait in pirate."
"I see." Will said slowly, still trying to work out what he would do in Tortuga once Jack was gone. Perhaps he could find himself a position as a blacksmith?
"Well that's good then." Jack said, making the finishing touches on his appearnace and heading for the door. He paused at it, spinning around with a flourish to face Will, as if a sudden thought had just occurred to him. "Seeing as your bonnie lass has gone and pushed you away, so to speak, your welcome to join us if you so wish. But only," he warned, face almost comically serious. "if you promise not to do anything stupid this time, savvy?"
Then, before Will had a chance to reply, he was out the door, leaving Will with no choice other than to hurry after him, not about to give up his chance to sail under Captain Jack Sparrow once again.
~
Author's not type thing: And there we have chapter two, folks, and it's only been two days since the first one. O.o. Unfortunately (at least as far as quick updates are concerned) I'm headed off to Japan on Wednesday for two weeks, and won't be able to update this until I get back. I will try and get chapter three up before then, but given that I've got less than three days left and I've still got to finish packing and go to school, I'm not promising to get it up. I do, however, promise to write lots while I'm over there, so I should be able to get several chapters up within quick succesion when I get back.
Thanks to everyone who reviewd the last chapter - getting home and finding lots of emails from "bot@fanfiction.com" had me bouncing around very happily (something I thought impossible after having to get up at five in the morning - yuck).
Review again and I shall be even happier!
Hmm...long note...sorry...