"Jack, I'm serious."
"And I'm well aware of that, Christina. Ye've got yer serious face on an' everything. Very dramatic. In fact..." Jack took the shoulders of the woman following him incessantly around the cabin and regarded her with narrowed eyes, "I would even go so far as to say that you are deadly serious."
"I am!" Christina cried as the pirate spun on his heel and continued preparing to leave the Black Pearl, "Don't mock me." She watched as he plonked his hat on his head and searched for his coat before pouting, "And I haven't got a serious face."
"There's no need fer ye to worry. We're just going into town fer a while," Jack reasoned.
"Tortuga, Jack, you're going to take him into Tortuga. He's an alter boy for Christ's sake!"
"An' I'm sure he would appreciate ye using the Lord's name in vain," Jack smirked, attracting a glare from the irate woman.
The Pearl had arrived in Tortuga a quarter of an hour ago. The crew had not missed a beat and left as soon as the gangplank was down. Will and Elizabeth had left shortly after in search of decent food. This was a fool's errand considering that the population of the town had taken the verse 'Man shall not lived by bread alone', done away with 'not' and replaced the 'bread' with 'rum and pleasurable company' and then accepted it as their slogan.
Jack was now preparing to follow suit and leave which Christina would've been fine with had he not unwisely mentioned that he would be taking Ross with him. Now she blocked his exit, her hands on her hips and her lips pursed, refusing to be crossed.
"Luv, have I given ye any reason to believe tha' I should not be trusted with young innocent men?" he asked pleasantly, "Will turned out fine, right?"
"Will was not a teenager, much less an alter boy when you met him, Jack," Christina replied dryly.
Jack feigned hurt, "So I can be trusted with a blacksmith but not an alter boy?"
"Precisely. I'm glad you're catching on," Christina nodded.
She was startled by someone clearing their throat and turned to find Ross standing timidly in the doorway.
"Ah, must be off," Jack said quickly, leaving Christina with a hasty peck on the cheek as he ducked past her effortlessly and met Ross in the hall. He frowned, looking the boy up and down, "... Not good."
Ross looked down at himself and then back up at Jack, "I'm sorry, sir?"
"We need t'find ye some clothes," Jack grimaced at Ross' robes, leading him down the hall to the crew's quarters.
XxXxX
Christina was pacing the hall worriedly when Jack and Ross emerged a good half hour later. Her eyes widened, disbelievingly at the sight before her. Ross Williams was virtually unrecognizable. In place of his robes was a radical new attire that stunned Christina to speechlessness. From the toes up, he was fitted with worn heavy boots, dark brown trousers that seemed to be a couple of sizes to large for him, a thick black, gold buckled belt to hold the ill fitting trousers up, a once white button up shirt that hung loosely about his pale shoulders, a vest casually thrown over the top of the shirt and partially hidden by a long coat and, most shockingly of all, a navy bandanna tied around his head. Christina stared at the new creature, agape.
"Happy, lass? He'll fit right in," Jack stated proudly. Ross looked worriedly down at himself, fidgeting with the front of the shirt and tugging on the bandanna. Christina sighed in defeat, knowing there was no way that she would be able to convince the pirate not to take the boy.
"Fine. Just be careful, please. Don't go taking him into any... less than tasteful business buildings. Promise me?"
"I promise," Jack shrugged noncommittally as he and his fellow 'pirate' headed for the deck to leave, Christina shaking her head in their wake, an amused smile tugging at her lips.
XxXxX
Jack reasoned silently as he swayed into the brothel, closely followed by the naive and completely in awe Ross. True, he had promised Christina that he would not take the boy into 'any less than tasteful business buildings' but, and this was where his current action got in through the loophole, the brothel he was taking the boy to was in fact one of the most tasteful in Tortuga and hence, unable to be considered anything less.
It had been years since he had stepped foot in 'The Siren's Haven' and he felt the memories flood back in, some pleasant, some not so. Jack smirked, noting that Ross kept silent, probably praying fervently that God would forgive him for laying eyes on the women around them who looked up from their current clients, scrutinizing and weighing the newcomers up.
Jack noted a few familiar faces coming his way and internally prepared himself for the startling, ear piercing, unpleasant, overly friendly-
"Jack!"
Jack bared his teeth in a forced but welcoming smile as the first of many attractive women pulled him into a tight embrace.
"Scarlett."
Ross watched on with shameful wonder at the display of affections the women bestowed upon Jack, their hands reaching lustfully for him and their lips whispering suggestive nothings in his ear. He tried to figure out how a pirate who seemed in a constant state of insensible drunkenness, his words how ever quick and intelligent constantly slurred and his manner of speech often offensively chauvinistic had earned such passionate greetings from so many women.
Truth be told, Jack was a big spender and money, no matter what those with morals said, could by you love in any form you ever fancied. Ross tensed when the women's attention turned from the pirate to himself, a disturbing curiosity in their eyes.
"Who's this, Jack?" a blonde purred, her heavily made up eyes showing her instant infatuation with the young man the pirate had brought with him. Ross blushed under her intrusive gaze, quickly turning to look at Jack, awaiting his answer and hoping it would ward the women off. Surely they wanted nothing to do with an alter boy?
"This is Ross Williams," Jack announced with an unsettling wink at Ross, "He 'asn't been in a brothel before."
The words had a magical effect. Ross' blue eyes widened in fear as the women chattered excitedly, grinning deviously at him and edging closer, as though lioness', preying on a weak, young and feeble target.
"Hi, Ross," one of them smiled, linking her arm with his, "You've never been in a brothel before? You poor boy."
A couple of them giggled as Ross shook his head.
"How would you like a discount?"
This resulted in more laughter from the women and more squirming from Ross as he found several ill placed hands on his body that he preferred were not there.
Jack watched on with amusement before the lad's discomfort became clearly apparent and he decided to put a stop to it.
"Easy now," he chuckled, prying Ross from the women's grasps and leading him towards the bar by the shoulders, "How 'bout a drink, son?"
Ross looked over his shoulder at the now pouting group of women, "Are they..."
"Are they what?" Jack prompted when he didn't finish.
"Well, are they...," Ross lowered his voice to a whisper, "... prostitutes?"
The only answer he got from Jack was roaring laughter.
XxXxX
"... an' that is the one an' only time tha' ye can validate not payin' a whore, savvy?"
Ross looked at the intoxicated pirate with a contradicting mix of fascination and disgust as he slurred what he claimed were the 'true' lessons of life. Jack turned, with very little remaining balance due to his current state of drunkenness, to his rum and carefully picked it up, taking a long swig. Putting it back down with an unstable clunk, he gestured to Ross, "Ye still ain't goin' t'have anythin', lad?"
"No thank you, sir," Ross replied slowly, not finding the effects that the drink was having on the pirate all too appealing.
"Sir? What is with this 'sir' ye insist on usin' when referring t'me? It's Cap'n. Or Cap'n Sparra'. Or, if ye really must an' God forbid it, Jack. None of this 'sir business," Jack flicked the title away with his hands as though it was a tangible mess in the air.
"Yes, si- Captain Sparrow," Ross nodded obediently.
Jack checked his pocket watch, having to move it closer and further away from his face before his dazed eyes could focus on the ticking hands. He grimaced, "We should be gettin' back. Christina will have an' aneurysm if we're gone any longer." Ross breathed a sigh of relief at finally being able to exit the brothel.
"Bye, Jack. Bye, Ross," a couple of the women called, fluttering their fingers, however disappointedly at not getting any business out of the two.
Stepping out into the night, Ross noticed that large amounts of alcohol seemed to have little to no effect on Jack's swaying swagger. He gathered that the pirate had had enough rum in his life to numb the side effects and simply be in a constant state of tipsiness whether under the influence or not.
How had he found himself in the presence of such people? He was an alter boy, mingling with pirates and prostitutes. How much more out of place could you get? He was interrupted from his musing when a short boy a rush collided with Jack, almost knocking the pirate off his feet but not bothering to stop. Ross quickly steadied Jack who frowned at those around him, trying to figure out which of them had run into him. A thought crossed his mind and he patted down his coat, paying close attention to his pockets. Seeming to not find what he was looking for, he shoved his hands into the pockets and rummaged urgently around. He stopped, his eyes wide and incredulous.
"He stole my money!"
Ross stared at him, unsure of what to do when suddenly Jack started jogging in the general direction where the boy who had bumped into him had ran off in. Ross started after him, uncertain of why but his mind not really offering any other sensible options that would suffice. The pirate was surprisingly hard to keep up with, ducking past those walking by, skidding around corners and only pausing momentarily to decide in which direction the boy had run. There came a point in the mad chase that Ross lost track of both of them. He stopped in the middle of the street, turning this way and that, trying to find any sign of Jack or the boy he had been pursuing. He almost gave up when he heard a struggling down one of the alleyways nearby. He made a beeline for it, stopping in his tracks at what he saw.
"Put me down, you bloody scoundrel! Or I'll... or I'll-"
"Or ye'll what, tell yer mother?" Jack inquired of the boy that he held up above the ground by the shoulders of his jacket. The boy kicked his feet and threw angry punches at him, none of them landing on anything but air.
"Put me down!" the boy shrieked again, lifting up a hand momentarily to stop his cap from falling off his head. His dark eyes burned with anger and beads of sweat appeared underneath tufts of blond curly hair.
"I'm afraid tha' I must refrain from carrying out tha' particular request until ye hand me money back," Jack informed him, not trying from holding the slight boy up over the ground.
"Never! You put me down or I'll blow a hole through your brain and make you wish you had never lived!" the boy threatened as he twirled in Jack's grasp.
"If ye had in fact blown a hole through me brain as ye so tactfully put it, it would make it rather difficult t'wish I had never lived, wouldn't ye say?" Jack pointed out, "An' with what weapon were ye goin' to use t'carry out this plan of attack?"
The boy stopped punching and kicking for a moment, realizing his threat had been a very empty one before starting again with all the more fury, "None of your business!"
"Right, sorry fer prying," Jack smirked, "Now, we could stand here all night, letting ye wear yerself out with tha' fancy self defense technique ye got yerself there, but I'd rather it if ye just handed back the money, I'll let ye go and we can get on our happy ways as though this little exchange never occurred."
The punches and kicks slowly became less angry and passionate until the boy hung limp. Glaring at his captor, he searched inside his coat pockets, resulting in several purses and pouches falling to the ground along with some expensive looking jewelery. Jack looked on with lifted brows, impressed while Ross stayed silent from the other end of the alley. Finally, when there was a notable pile of valuables on the ground beneath him, the boy retrieved Jack's pouch and reluctantly held it out. Jack gave a thankful smile, grabbed the pouch and abruptly let the boy go. The boy landed with a thud, quickly recovered and started madly gathering up the purses, pouches and jewelery left on the ground and put them back in his pockets.
Satisfied at having his money safe and sound inside his own coat pocket, Jack started out of the alleyway and towards Ross.
"An' tha', lad, is how ye get yer money back from a pick pocket. Let's go back to the Pearl, aye?" he asked happily, flinging his arm around Ross' shoulder. Ross nodded while looking back, shocked to see that the boy was already out of the alley and running into some other poor soul.
There's chapter three, hope ye liked it an' all. Please keep up the reviews an' keep readin', aye?
crystalvoicedcamelotlady: Aye, Tortuga. Jus' had t'get the lad there. Ha.
Capt'n Raven Most feared pirate of the sea: Aw, thankye lass. I appreciate the compliment. Ye have a lovely day too!
MizuiroHiei: Ah, writer's block is the devil, I swear it. Collaboratin' sounds interestin' though. Aye, I sing meself, not randomly like ye mentioned (although I'm sure tha' would be fun too). Send me the picture an' the collage. I'll wait. An' great, I'll see ye there, luv. Ha. Aye, 'twas about time the crew got some teachin' and preachin'. Glad ye liked it. An' the crew shall definitely be prayin' soon, I like tha' idea. Thankye kindly fer the review.
Holly Rox: Thankye, I'm ecstatic tha' Jack is in character as sometimes ('cause he's so complex) he's hard t'write. Other times it comes easily. Everyone's goin' on holidays it seems. I had a holiday at the beginnin' of the year. We went t' Europe, America an' Canada. It was bloody fantastic. Hope ye have fun where ever yer goin'. An' thankye kindly fer the picture! I love it. Perfect.
VioletAshkevron: Ha, cheers, lass. Glad ye liked the idea. Aye, I agree, JD's face in the scene would be classic. Maybe they'll steal my idea an' then we can see the face... Hmmmm, I don't think Disney steals ideas though... Damn.
