Reviewer prompt, Killian watches Pirates of the Caribbean. Sorry this took so long to get out. The mind has been more preoccupied than the muse can handle of late, but all is well and under control again. If you've never seen Pirates of the Caribbean, any of them, be warned that there are major spoilers ahead for those movies, particularly the first, but also general bits about the later movies.
Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT or Pirates of the Caribbean.
As always, read/review/leave a prompt!
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Without the presence of an immediate crisis or villain, Emma and Killian had fallen into an evening weekend routine of alcohol and Netflix. Some nights it was a beer and an action flick, others a drinking game and a comedy, and on some rare occasions she could get him to sit through a romance with a glass of wine (She thought he was willing to put up with The Notebook and Pride & Prejudice because they gave him ideas to use on her.).
Henry had mentioned earlier in the week that Killian's guyliner and several of his mannerisms reminded him of Jack Sparrow, and Killian had been eager to learn what Henry meant by that. So tonight's combination of choice was rum and a pirate movie, specifically Pirates of the Caribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl.
The rum had been Emma's idea. Even though it was beyond cliché she insisted on keeping with the theme. Killian had given her an odd look when she suggested it. "Theme?" He asked. "Is rum as common among the dashing rapscallions of this world as mine?" She simply shrugged and took the whole bottle with her to the couch, saying they could pass it between them instead of having to deal with glasses.
He settled into the couch next to her, throwing his hooked arm over her shoulders and letting her lean against him while he searched for the movie. Killian had gotten fairly adept at using the remote to navigate the Netflix screen and search for films and TV shows, even though Emma usually had to help spell out odd-lettered titles ("Pursuit of Happiness with a 'y' Swan? What is this world's education like that such a gross misspelling is so known?"). It always brought a smile to her face to see him so seamlessly interacting with aspects of her world.
When the movie's info screen popped up, her pirate took one look at the movie poster of Johnny Depp in full Jack Sparrow costume, and burst out laughing. "That is perhaps the most elaborate facial hair I've ever laid eyes on in 300 years! A braided and beaded beard, bloody hell, that's ridiculous!"
"Oh come on, you must've seen it all in 300 years. Didn't you ever have a beaded dreadlock phase?"
Killian scoffed at that. "Several of my crew did. It's those beard beads that are mind-boggling. My hair was well-kept during my Naval days, and even after I cut the ponytail off-"
"Back up. You had a ponytail?"
Confusion filled his features, and he took a swig of rum from the bottle. "I take it by your tone ponytails on men are bad, or at least a rarity in this realm."
"Depends on the guy. They're a big step above perms and waxed mustaches though. Now play the movie, pirate."
He was quiet at first, but once the young versions of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan were face to face on the ship deck, Killian piped in, "They're meant to end up together at the end of this, aren't they?"
Emma stiffened next to him and she knew he noticed. "Why um, do you say that?" She didn't want to spoil it for him, obvious or not, but the movie had only just started. How could he have a theory about the ending already?
"I've seen enough of your world's movie stories to recognize the pattern, Swan. Wait a moment, if that Elizabeth lass is the Governor's daughter…" Killian went quiet for a moment, and then glanced excitedly between Emma and the screen. "Swan… E. Swan!"
"What?"
"You're E. Swan! And so is she! She's E. Swan too! There's a proverbial princess named E. Swan in a story about pirates!"
"Huh, well that's something." Killian looked at her incredulously, silently saying 'It's only your bloody name and you just noticed?' But he did little more than shake his head at her, muttering "unbelievable" under his breath.
When it came time for Captain Jack Sparrow's entrance, Emma thought Killian would be glued to the screen in elation and laugh with her at Sparrow's antics and quirks. Instead he shrugged and smirked a little. "He seems an entertaining fellow. Quite the character."
Emma turned to him. "That's it? Captain Jack Sparrow makes a dramatic entrance and he's just entertaining? I kinda thought you'd be a bigger Sparrow fan. You're both dead clever and can talk your way out of anything."
"Is that a bad thing he's not my favorite? I've certainly no reason to dislike him as yet. We do seem to share a great many traits."
"No, no, it's just surprising is all. Do you have a different favorite so far?"
He didn't hesitate in his answer. "So far, aye, that Turner lad. He seems a good and honorable man."
Of course, Emma realized. It made more sense for Killian to like Will Turner as a character than Jack Sparrow. He probably saw a lot of his pirate self in Captain Sparrow, between the rum, hunt for revenge, and clever schemes, and apparently Henry saw it too, but it was Will Turner that reminded Killian of how he used to be back in his more reputable Naval days. Turner was what Killian felt he'd lost when he became a pirate and sought his own vengeance.
Jack Sparrow was how the world saw Killian. Will Turner was who he aspired to be again.
Emma was more fixated on the meaning behind Killian's choice in favorite character than he was though. She was pulled from her musings by Killian commenting excitedly on the movie again. "Lass, look at that! With the rafters and that footwork. It's a bit fantastical but that's a swordfight!" He took another drink of rum and let out a laugh when the blacksmith knocked Sparrow unconscious with a bottle in an anticlimactic finish to such a flurried melee.
Killian's shiver at the sight of the Black Pearl's zombified crew had Emma trembling and suddenly remembering just how creepy looking they really were. "That may be some of the most grisly curse magic I've ever seen, Swan. Remind me again how it isn't real?"
She smiled, curled into him further, and drank from the rum bottle before passing it back to him. "Animation, buddy. Just lots and lots of really sophisticated animation."
"Sophisticated meaning you don't quite understand it fully yourself?"
Emma tried to look offended but failed. "I get the gist of it! There's computers and these artists do things with the computers…"
His eyes were bright with amusement. "Swan, is it wrong of me that I'm relieved you have trouble understanding some aspects of your world too? Because I must say, love, it's actually quite inspiring."
"Parley? How the bloody hell does she know parley if she isn't a pirate? Is the Pirate's Code common knowledge in this world? And I'm still not sure about this Barbossa and his monkey."
"Wait, is there actually a Pirate's Code?"
He tensed and his blue eyes stared suspiciously unblinking at the screen. "I'm afraid I couldn't say love."
"Is this one of those, 'the first rule of fight club is not to talk about fight club' things?"
"Fight club?"
Scarlet and Giselle had just slapped the sass out of Jack Sparrow on Tortuga and if Emma hadn't been curled around Killian as tightly as she was she would never have caught his muttered comment. "My sympathies, but you brought that on yourself mate."
"Now I know they're taking us for fools. Sea turtles and human hair?" Killian scoffed at Gibb's telling of Sparrow's daring escape from being marooned on the island.
"It's a fantasy movie, Killian. You're not supposed to take it too seriously."
"Human hair from his back though? I'm a tried and true survivor Swan, but that's bloody disgusting. Clearly my favorite Mr. Turner shares my skepticism though, so I can rest easy knowing he is no gullible loon."
"Gullible loon? Seriously?"
When it was eventually revealed that Sparrow had indeed made up the fantastical account of his harrowing escape Killian whooped excitedly. "Ha! Didn't I say Swan? Turner and I are indeed of a shared mind. Sea turtles and human hair, what complete nonsense."
"Says the man who infused Pan's shadow into his ship's sails so we could all fly away from Neverland."
"Does Turner become a pirate in the end?" Killian asked. Despite his questioning tone he gave her a knowing, if somewhat glazed, look. A good portion of the rum was buzzing pleasantly through Emma and Killian's veins, and while it did nothing to dampen Killian's talkativeness, Emma was finding it hard to keep a straight face when he made predictions about the end of the movie. Also, she had a hard time deciding if it was the rum or Killian's closeness that made her want to curl so impossibly close to him.
"Let's just 'hic' watch him find Elizabeth in the cave first." If she could just keep her eyes on the screen instead of the warm body she was wrapped around maybe she could save Killian from any more spoilers.
"So he does turn? I rather hope I'm wrong about that. And this knocking Sparrow unconscious when he's only trying to help, it seems eerily familiar darling. But between being hit in the head with an oar or that giant's compass I think I'd have preferred the oar. Fewer sharp edges."
"We were fighting by a dried up lake and it's what I had available! And you were being all, you, with your innuendos and how I'd feel it when you jabbed me with your sword."
His eyes caught hers in a predatory stare. "And haven't you, love?"
The deep flush spreading on her cheeks was all the answer he needed and Emma was sorely tempted to take another drink from the rum bottle in her hand just to distract herself. He took a moment to stare at her further, watching the blush creep down her neck, before turning abruptly back to the movie.
"Barbossa does a have a point about Turner's lack of specificity. He never did say when or where Elizabeth was supposed to be released," Killian noted. "Nor did Elizabeth make any such specifications when she first went aboard the Black Pearl."
"Is looking for loopholes an essential skill for all pirates or is Barbossa just being manipulative?"
"Loopholes can turn the tide of an unfavorable agreement. Any pirate who's survived long enough will tell you the same thing."
She stared at him in awe for a moment. "You'd be a good lawyer," She decided.
"Haha, clearly Sparrow has his 'priorities' in order. I might've been just as concerned about the rum being gone as he. But Elizabeth, now there's a lass with her head on straight. She didn't accept defeat. No, she built a signal flare. Not one to take anything lying down, I see."
Emma handed him the rum bottle and wrapped her arms around his waist. "She gets more awesome later," She said, forgetting her intentions of staying spoiler-free.
"Ghastly as those undead sailors are, that curse of theirs seems rather handy."
"Well they don't have to worry about scurvy, I guess."
He laughed at that. "I meant the walking underwater bit, very helpful for a sneak attack on those naval ships. I'd have half a mind to do the same were I in Barbossa's position."
"So you would listen to Jack Sparrow and not break the curse you've been trying to break for however many years because you want to stay immortal just a little bit longer to take out a bunch of navy ships. Does this mean you're more sure about Barbossa than before?"
"Captain Jack Sparrow. And while I'll admit he's a far more shrewd man than many of the pirates I've dealt with, I'm still a tad perplexed about the undead monkey."
"Fanciful as this film is, Swan, I'm enjoying all these fights. It's rather like watching a very detailed and gruesome sparring session." She could see the excitement in his eyes as they flitted across the screen trying to keep up with the action, but there was also tightness to his jaw that Emma recognized.
It was always interesting to watch Killian's face during the many fight scenes or more action-filled sequences. His whole body would tense and relax in time with the safety of the characters and she felt his arm tighten more noticeably around her. She let herself move impossibly closer to him every time he did.
He sometimes muttered comments about the fighters' techniques under his breath. "Good form," He would say, or "poor choice mate," and "I'll have to try that." Emma suspected his involvement was because he was still growing used to the idea that the movies were just images, not real. While it was probably easier for him to grasp the concept of moving images when the characters were just talking or doing something bland and normal, an action scene was entirely different. Those scenes meant to get normal audiences excited, but they were probably more heart pumping for Killian because he had lived through so many moments like those. He might have had to remind himself that the scenes playing out before him weren't real and he wasn't in any actual danger, no matter how much they reminded him of fights and battles long past.
"Glad you're liking it so far. And Elizabeth is totally right. Corsets are instruments of torture," Emma said, shivering at the memory of the corset she had worn during her and Killian's stint to the Enchanted Forest of the past, and the painful impression the garment had made on her spleen.
"I'll say it again love. That discomfort is a cross I'm willing to bear." She caught his heated gaze on her chest and raised an eyebrow at him. He met her eyes and returned the quirked brow, flashing her a lecherous grin that made her breath quicken, which only caused her chest to rise and fall more rapidly, to his obvious delight.
It took Emma several moments to tear herself from his heated stare so she could finish watching Jack, Elizabeth, and Will fight Barbossa and his men. But she still felt the heat rolling off of him and the way his arm tightened a fraction around her, pulling her closer.
"I'll never understand your realm's fascination with putting pirates in impractically large, feathered hats. First there was that cartoon version of myself that you showed me, then Barbossa and his feathered cap, and now Turner's gone and worn one."
Emma chuckled. "I've seen a couple of Regina's old Evil Queen outfits. There were some pretty big hats there too."
"Clothing for the nobility was hardly about practicality, love. I can assure you, there are no such frivolities among the rapscallions of the Enchanted Forest."
She nodded, and was quiet for a moment, before admitting, "Turner looks pretty good in that hat though."
Killian groaned, embarrassed, in agreement. "Bloody hell, I want that hat. Practicality be damned."
The credits started to roll but Killian and Emma hadn't moved from where they were currently wrapped around each other. The two were still pleasantly buzzed and Emma found her hands had at some point started to run along Killian's side without her realizing. Rum sometimes made her just a little handsy, but only when she was around Killian (She had several guesses as to why that was). He didn't seem to mind though. His own hand had long since placed the mostly empty rum bottle to stand on the floor in favor of drumming his fingers along her arm.
"Lifestyle inaccuracies and realm differences aside, I did enjoy that greatly, love."
"Really?"
"Truly." His blue eyes suddenly took on a sparkling gleam. "And might I remind you once again that I was indeed right about Turner and his E. Swan? Did I not correctly predict they were meant to be in the first minutes of the movie?"
"You did, you did. You got it Sherlock. Good deduction skills."
"Sherlock, that detective from last weekend's viewing? I'm clever Swan, but I'm no great puzzle solver. Or murder investigator."
"No, but you are a pirate. In fact, you're my pirate." Emma knew it was the rum that was making her more brazen, but being wrapped around Killian for the better part of two hours was definitely a big factor in what she did next.
She leaned up and kissed him, slow and sweet, bringing a hand up to his neck to play with the sensitive hairs at the base. For all the boldness the rum in her veins was making her feel, the kiss started off simply, lips moving other lips, the movie credits droning in the background. When Killian moved his hand to angle her head back the kiss deepened. He nipped at her mouth and she moaned at the contact, opening her mouth to his questing tongue.
Emma pulled him backward on the couch until he was lying on top of her, moving both her arms around his neck as he wrapped his hooked arm more fully around her waist. Their lips continued to taste each other, unhurried, as Emma shifted her legs open to cradle him. She felt the ridge of him through her jeans, growing hard and thick and rubbing deliciously against her. Her legs lifted on their own to lock around his waist, changing the angle and bringing him closer.
He groaned low in his throat at the contact, the rumble of his chest vibrating through her and sending heat straight to her core. Killian pressed his hips forward against her center and held still, keeping up the pressure for as long as he chose before pulling his hips away briefly then bringing them back together in a slow rutting motion.
Her lips left his mouth and found the skin of his throat, ghosting up and down before settling on a particularly sensitive spot by his ear that had him trembling delightfully against her. Killian's hand continued to knead the muscles of her neck and tug at her hair as he whispered praises in her ear, some serious and some more humorously related to the movie, which made her shake with laughter against him. He described to her in no shortage of detail how beautiful she was, how caring, and brave, but he also called her his pirate princess, and told her his treasure wasn't cursed and she could plunder him anytime if she wanted to find out for herself. He punctuated the praise with a kiss or another rut of their hips together, leaving her happily breathless and content.
Emma had no clue how long they stayed like that, just reveling in the feel of each other. Their hands were entwined in each other's hair, lips moving lazily over skin, and slowly rocking their hips against each other, building up that delicious pressure without succumbing to the fall. It was as her own hands were venturing down the back of his shirt, eager to feel the whipcord muscle of his back she'd come to know so well, that she noticed the music coming from the TV and that it was decidedly different than the movie credit music.
Killian must have noticed her brief pause, because he pulled his head back from her and lifted himself onto one elbow to glance at the screen.
"Swan, is the movie playing again?"
"No, that looks like the start of the sequel actually."
Killian's face lit up like Christmas. "There are more?" His voice was so full of blissful wonder she couldn't help but laugh a little at his delight.
"Yeah, there are three more movies."
Blue eyes moved between her and the movie, clearly torn between continuing to neck her on the couch and watching what was obviously one of his new favorite movie franchises so far. She laughed again. "Let's keep watching for a bit, ok? We don't have to finish them all tonight but we can see how far we get."
Killian smiled at her, then grabbed a pillow that had fallen to the floor and started arranging it under Emma's head.
"Um, Killian?"
"Just making sure you stay comfortable darling," He grinned cheekily before wrapping both of his arms around her waist, settling his head on her chest, and turning to watch the movie. "I'm quite content to stay where I am, thank you very much."
After the third movie was finished, it was some time past 2am and Killian nudged Emma awake. She'd fallen asleep sometime after Tia Dalma gave Sparrow a jar of dirt to ward off Davy Jones in the second movie. "Swan, I've changed my mind," He said.
"Hmm? 'Bout what?" Her voice was already groggy with sleep and she nuzzled her nose into Killian's hair, intent on sinking into the heat of his body and drifting back into her dreams.
"My favorite character. I've changed my mind. Sparrow's a delight, Turner's a good man, and Barbossa's shrewd, but Elizabeth is my favorite."
"Why's-at?" She mumbled, only half coherent.
He ran a finger down her cheek, brushing aside the stray hairs that had fallen there. "Because she reminds me of you. Graceful, a little pirate in her, and willing to do whatever it takes to make sure her loved ones are safe. Not to mention you both cut quite the figure in red dresses."
"Mmm, good answer."