Jesse's eyes grew downcast as he stood above the mass of netting that sat balled up near his feet, his arms crossed while his thumb ran along one of his muscular grooves, staring with uncertainty as today's catch yielded much the same as the previous few. Captain Morrison had shown up on deck as well, hoping for a large haul, though, as today's catch only yielded a few enough flapping fish that one could count them upon their fingers, he frowned for a moment before eyeing his second-mate, catching the distant eyes upon him.
"I know what you're thinking, Jesse," Morrison asserted cooly.
His mate's shoulders fell, Jesse raising a single eyebrow as he retorted, "If you knew, you'd have never invited me aboard so long as I have this weight around my neck."
"Jesse, just cut it out, okay?" Morrison asked with a heated voice, "These…superstitions, that's all they are. You're not cursed, you're not- you're not dooming this ship. A string of bad luck is not preordained, it's life. We play with the cards were dealt, that's all; and if it means a mere few fish, so be it, no big deal."
Lucio took the opportune time to speak up, albeit gingerly, "A-Actually, sir, it's quite a big deal. Our stores, we were planning to supplement it with fish- we've nearly exhausted our proteins as it is."
Morrison frowned, turning toward his chef with a fiercely low whisper, "That's not the point I was wanting to make, Lucio…"
His chef jumped at his obliviousness, but it was all the same to Jesse as he crouched down to begin pulling the small take of fish that they'd gotten and tossing them into a nearby barrel, "Its all good, you two. I've made up my mind."
Jack and Lucio shared a glance at one another, with the chef scratching at his shoulder, nervous at his own presence alongside these two, "Uh, yeah; I'll go filet these or something."
"Thank you," Jack offered, waiting for Lucio to patter away before turning toward Jesse, who was dragging the net back over toward the starboard side of the ship for another bout of fishing, "You've made up your mind about what?"
"I'm cursed, Jack," Jesse answered with a shrug, "That god damned albatross has me. I'm nothing more than an impairment to you, and your crew. Because of me, you ain't got stores. People tend ta mutiny in the throes of hunger, you know. I'm better off not in your service."
He threw the massive ball of netting overboard, leaning over to watch it collapse into the ocean, "I'll get off at Hawaii and find passage back home. I refuse to be a hindrance to you all."
Thinking he'd said his peace, Jesse began to wander off down the ship, though Jack was quick to reach out, grabbing the man's arm and whipping him back around, "You're doing no such thing, McCree."
"I thought you'd been givin' me say over when I walk away," Jesse pithily replies.
Jack retorted, "I want you to have the chance to walk away because of a captaincy or because you're tired of all this, not because of some fanatic superstition."
The second mate chuckled, shaking his head as he sat against the railing of the ship, crossing his arms while his fingers scratched lazily at his skin, "The rumble in your gut knows better than you do, Captain. This is only the start, too. Who knows what might start happening if I stick around. 'least if I go home, off the seas, I won't be a bother to anybody but my lady."
Sighing, Jack ran a hand over his head, mulling over his most valuable sailor's essential resignation. His eyes peered alongside his wrist as it tarried along before his eyes, finally dropping to his side as he worked his way to Jesse's side, leaning against the ship's edge himself while stuffing his hands in his pockets, the two men simply allowing their eyes to wander along the deck, both eventually falling to Angela, who was dashing barefoot along the ship, following along behind Lena as she threw down rope for Angela to tie down as it wove between the mast. Her speed amidst her skillful knotting was astounding, even if the two men were becoming well accustomed to the sight.
"She's a fine sailor," Jack muttered lowly."
Jesse replied, "Seems so. She's got it somewhere in her, I'd fancy 'cause of her parentage. Her mother took to it as well like a labrador takes to its meals."
"And neither of 'em would've been half of what they are without you," Jack recalled, earning a sidelong glance from his second mate, Jesse's brow furrowing as he recognized his captain's doing.
"My wife wouldn't've been as good as she was if you hadn't brought her up as you had," Jack surmised nostalgically, his voice carrying a certain weightlessness to it, "She probably wouldn't've amounted to much Had you not-"
"I know what you're doing Jack," Jesse muttered, hiding a contemptful tone, "You won't convince me of anything by doing this. I've made up my mind."
Jack shrugged, "All I'm trying to convince you of is that I'd take you being the unluckiest mother fucker on the high seas than nearly anybody else. If a few light meals are what it's worth havin' you, hell, I'd sign before the ink dried in the deed, and I guarantee you everybody aboard this ship would agree to much the same, take a vote on that."
"You're more than a crewman, Jesse; you're family to most everybody on this ship. Hell, you're as much of a father to Lena 'n Lucio than they'll ever know," Jack went on easily, "And you've been as much of a brother to me than you'll ever know. You gave me a wife, and by extension, a daughter, and yet you still feel compelled to remain in my service. This albatross junk, it can't be all that's ailing you."
Jesse had taken to staring off into the sky as Jack spoke, eyes squinting beneath the sun. As much of him as Jack could see, he could tell by now that Jesse's blankness was simply him in thought, mulling over his Captain's words carefully.
"It's because you're all family that I can't bear to hinder you," Jesse explained further, "If you ask me to jump, and I can't… If I hesitate a second, —… You know I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. I spent too much of my life treading upon inaction."
Jack's tongue meandered along the back ends of his teeth, running from end to end like waves as he came to a devastating conclusion. He eyed Lena as she began sliding her way down the mast's edge, giving Angela a high five as the two of them completed their task, Jack's eyes narrowing at the sight.
"Then act," he muttered toward Jesse as he pushed himself up to his feet, walking a few paces as Jesse looked on, confused by his captain's words.
Morrison waved Lena over, causing Angela to follow suit attentively, the captain reaching up to fix his collar as he instructed, "Bring me the Boutet box."
Lena's eyes flew wide as she held back a gasp, "W-W-What?!"
Jesse jumped to his feet, stomping over toward the three as Jack ordered further, "You heard me. Get it."
In surprise, Angela felt a chill down her spine, recoiling as Jesse's hand shot past her, grappling her father's arm and yanking him around, shouting with a vitriolic snare, "What's your game, Jack?!"
Captain Morrison shrugged, "You look toward an occurrence for proof of your being cursed. Therefore, I'll offer you a counter, the inverse, to prove that nothing but chance rules this world, Jesse."
"You're mad," Jesse snarled angrily, "You presume to believe I would dare aim a firearm at my superio-"
"What?!" Angela cried out now.
Undeterred, Jack shrugged, "We're simply going to see just how unlucky you are. Six chambers, one click of the hammer aimed at my chest."
"Father!" Angela cried out, though Jesse remained her more argumentative ally in their challenging of the captain.
"Captain Morrison," Jesse muttered lowly, hardly ever addressing his captain in such a fashion, "I'd rather jump off this ship than ever fuck with a game of roulette with-"
A rapid clicking interrupted him as Jack pulled his arm out from beneath his coat, revealing a tiny flintlock pistol, aiming it from his hip toward Jesse as he tilted his head, "If you don't play, I haven't a choice. I can't have somebody aboard who'll hesitate should I ask them to do anything.
He lowered his brow, "If you're truly as worthless as you believe yourself to be with whatever crap you think has a hold on you, I don't see how you're worth having aboard now, much less until we get to our destination."
Jesse's face narrowed in fierce defiance as he watch his captain push his daughter away, taking a step toward the port side to clear the bullet from firing into the stern end, the both of them turning their heads as Lena gingerly exited the ship with a small case in her hands, her lips spun in uncertainty. She opened it with a single hand as her palm rested beneath the wide box, reaching it toward her captain first, though he waved her off.
"That's for him, not me," he clarified, a shocked expression reaching across his third-mate's face.
Lena eyed her superior with a concerned glance before doing as she was instructed, mumbling under her breath, "This is so not safe…"
She reached her arms out again, leaving Jesse unmoved as he stared at his captain as though hoping to call his bluff. However, a click sounded out as Morrison readied his pistol once again, reaching out his arm in Jesse's direction, goading him on. At this, Jesse grasped the gun in the case, using his thumb to eject the barrel and picking out a single bullet out from the small pile of them within the case. Lena's head peeked over the lid curiously, having never actually seen inside the thing, her eyes narrowing suspenseful as she stared at the small, messy collection of bullets that sat in a sort of recess within the bottom of the case.
Her head jumped back up as Jesse shoved the barrel back in place, taking his hand up to his shoulder and quickly jerking his arm down, sending the barrel spinning as it ran down his forearm, clattering noisily until it came to a stop. He aimed it toward his captain, a distant look on his face as he attempted to disassociate himself from the situation, almost unable to stare his captain in the eye.
"Let's see how unlucky you are," Jack shrugged, lowering his hand, "If it's as you say, I suppose you'll kill me. I suppose if you're lucky enough to send me away from this situation without a scratch, that says nothing of what you believe."
Jack grasped his shirt with his free hand, yanking it free from his topmost buttons as he exposed a portion of his chest, tilting his head slightly as he finished, "Now fire. That's an order from your captain."
Angela suddenly made a rush toward the two, but Lena was quick to stop her, yanking her backwards as their voices drowned out while Jesse's mind blanked, a shiver growing up his spine. His captain's eyes appeared so cold, his palm, surrounding the ornate revolver, was catching his sweat as his hand shook nervously. His mind reeled in its blankness, his eyes jumping from the gun opposite him and the man wielding it, Jack's face a calming expression that seemed to taunt him with how nervous Jesse, himself, felt.
His breaths shallowed, his arm shaking visibly as his finger slid up and down the trigger, fear welling up within him as his sweat nearly froze him against the ocean breeze, his mind- BANG
Jesse threw the gun to the ground, sending it bouncing disjointedly as he reached his arms up over his head, covering his face as he spun away, stomping off along the ship. Jack remained, releasing his shirt to cover up his skin, still blemished only with scars of previous days, as he pulled his arm back to return his flintlock pistol to his coat, jolting suddenly as Angela jumped into him angrily, throwing her hand against him in a furious assault.
"You idiot!" she cried intensely, "How could you?! How could you do something so stupid?!"
He frowned as he attempted to quell her arms, finally managing to grapple one of her wrists and hold her away as he raised it into the air, "Angela!"
At his raised voice, Angela suddenly stopped, though she still wore a frown, responding only vocally, "How can you dare to tell me not to pull dangerous shit like that-"
"Language," Jack reminded, his face turning as he frowned severely.
She corrected, "How dare you presume to order me to remain straight and narrow while you go and do something so freakin' idiotic?!"
Jack watched her with his own intense eyes, remaining silent as Lena collected the gun with persnickety fingers, not wanting any of the gunpower's dust to catch her skin, returning it to the box before approaching her captain, who released his daughter to appraise the firearm. He took a bullet out, running it along two fingers as he gave his daughter a sidelong stare.
"I did it because curses don't exist," Jack explained, reaching his hand out for Angela to examine, "Liars and charlatans do."
Angela's brow shrunk in curiosity as she leaned in closer to examine the bullet while Lena muttered, "Blanks. I noticed when I gave him the gun."
"Every last one of 'em," Jack confirmed, "I don't give two shits whether or not-"
"Language," Angela corrected, peering up toward her father with a fierce glance.
Captain Morrison bit his tongue, more due to himself being checked by his daughter, though given the current topic toward hypocrisy, he figured it better to continue, "I don't care what Jesse believes. There's no such thing as curses. If he believes he isn't cursed, I prefer that to him believing he is, regardless of what he knows."
He grabbed the case, shutting and locking it as he gave his daughter a critical look, "And nobody is to hear about this. Understand?"
Before Angela could reply, he had turned to Lena as well, his third-mate reaching for Angela's shoulder and pulling the two together with a haughty air, "On our lives, Captain. Nobody will know."
"Good," Jack nodded, turning back to return to the ship with the thin box tucked between his arm and torso.
Angela watched him listlessly, her heart sinking, resembling the actions her father had taken before. For all the whimsy, she knew the sea was no land governed by laws, it was the absence of land, of laws; things out here were far more cutthroat than she'd ever cared to realize. Even with Lena patting her shoulder and offering her words of comfort, Angela couldn't shake the feelings swelling up in her heart, praying that she would not regret this venture.