Chapter 7
Hook
Slowly his eyes blinked open and greeted the sun which entered through the open windows, rolling over Hook slowly stretched and released the tension in his muscles. He moved his arm down and brushed it upon another body which was much smaller and thinner than his own : Peter. Hook sat up and stretched once more releasing a yawn ; he stood by the bed and looked down at the boy, his mouth was slightly open with blonde waves dripping onto the pillow and on his forehead. James placed a hand on Peter's shoulder to shake him awake before remembering last night, he slowly withdrew his hand and turned away from the boy intent on getting dressed and shaving.
The boy still slept on while Hook readied himself, pulling off his nightwear he slipped on a plain white shirt with the initials JH standing prominent in black thread on his left breast next he slipped on a dark red waistcoat with brown polished buttons. He moved the nightshirt into a drawer and folded it neatly with the rest and proceeded to dress by opening the one underneath, he chose a pair of dark brown trousers and quickly fastened the button while picking his favourite black belt which sat on the top of the chest of drawers with a small silver and red box and a silver crusted iron mirror. He fastened the belt around his waist and took off to his bathroom.
Unlike most ships he had an adjoining bathroom, his quarters were much bigger although the bathroom was small and modest - It was quite narrow with a porcelain bathtub at the end and a small oak counter with a small bowl resting on - a large mirror also hung on the wall behind the counter. Just behind the door there was a small wall with a shelf of clean towels and more ceramic bowls decorated by small navy flowers connected by swirls. A large chest also sat in the small area of behind the door holding dirty clothing. The only decoration was a small blue rug which went the length of the bath to the small toilet which sat next to the counter. It reminded him dearly of his mother, the china kept I the bathroom was always on display in her house : small china teacups and ornate porcelain bowls beautifully decorated with flowers and colourful butterflies.
James entered the bathroom and picked a china jug from the shelf, it already contained water although it was cold. He set it by the side of the porcelain bowl and retrieved his shaving equipment and quickly applied the shaving gel before brushing his razor to clear away the gel. As he shaved he thought of his mother, her kind brown eyes and beautiful smile. She would have loved Peter, she always smiled as babies in prams passed in the streets 'the picture of innocence' she would say 'naïve and ignorant' back then James did not understand although now he understood perfectly. She enjoyed the youthful ignorance which blocked out the harshness and truth which came with maturity and for as long as she could she kept James blind and in the dark to it. Only after meeting Peter Pan did he now understand those words she would tell him when babies pass by, Peter had been the definition of innocence and youth until it was mercilessly stripped from him - 'Tainted, infected, stained' - now fit the boy.
Blood trickled down his chin as the razor cut a little too deep, he dabbed it softly with one of the cloths piled on the shelf and looked at his reflection, his eyes held dark circles and his once sharp eyes now seemed tired and weary. Being a pirate was far from easy so having dark circles and weary eyes were not uncommon for may pirates although if a pirates eyes held weakness they often met their end. Hook was always careful with how he acted around his crew for many held too much venom and malice for their own good, they hungered for blood and at the first sign of weakness they would happily kill their captain. Hook was always careful for this reason, only a few of his crew could be truly trusted and even then it was very few.
As if on cue a small but hasty knock echoed throughout the cabin from the large wooden door, Hook hastily pulled on his right boot before striding idly over to the door and unlocked it with the iron key which rested in the lock.
Smee entered the cabin and waited for his captain to lock the door and allow him to speak before he opened his mouth, for he knew his captain liked his privacy and the tranquillity which was rare on a pirate ship. Hook waved his hand dismissively and lazily strode past the old man to sit at his desk.
"G-good mornin' s-sir" Smee stuttered, an annoying habit he had picked up on another ship which had unfortunately never faded.
Hook didn't reply although waved his hand once again as a signal for the man to place the tray which he held on the desk. It held a small cup filled with black coffee resting on a saucer and a small plate of steaming porridge as well as shining silverware at the side of the bowl. James took a gulp of the black coffee which instantly restored his sense of awareness, the steaming bitterness was a good remedy for getting rid of tiredness.
Smee didn't wait for a dismissal before he slowly turned and walked up to the bed to observe Peter, the sheet was now rested at the boys ankles and revealed healing scars on the back of his legs and redness on his ankles, Smee began to inspect the boy as the boy slept and James ate. Hooks eyes never strayed from the old man, although he trusted the man with his life and Peter's he was still always cautious, if the boy were to awaken his reaction could be unwanted.
"He's healin' sir, got a lot a scars mind but nothing a bit a sun an' stitches cant fix. Ay the boy will live cap'n." Smee told with fondness. The man had a habit of being too soft, especially to children. He himself reminded the Pirate of a doting grandfather, only kind words and funny tales of the child's parents. Smee was took kind to be a bloodthirsty and malicious pirate.
Smee once again turned towards the captain and stood at the end of the desk as Hook finished his breakfast.
"What do we do 'bout ta' lost boys Peter's goin' to ask and keepin' c-children down there is 'ardly good for them" Smee spluttered.
Hook had allowed the young boys down in the brig to clear from his mind, keeping them down there was pointless and unproductive. As a pirate he would be expected to kill them and his crew would certainly agree with this logic even if he didn't.
"Forget them for now" Hook replied, "Leave them down there, give them water if you have to or some of the stale bread but you are right, Peter will ask so if he asks just tell him the truth." Hook guzzled down the rest of the coffee and placed it on the tray. " Tell him that they will be released." Before Smee could answer of reply Hook raised out of his chair and strode to the door and unlocked it.
"Watch him, Smee." James ordered before he opened the door and closed it behind himself leaving Smee in the silent cabin.
Peter
The first think he saw when he opened his eyes was Smee ; The man was sitting on a chair by his bedside. He sat in one of Hook's leather chairs with a smile on his face and was humming away to himself, he held what looked like a white shirt and seemed to be sewing on the sleeves. Peter slowly sat up and stretched, the bed creaked with the shift of weight and Smee jumped in shock, dropping the needle.
"My! Ya scared me Peter. Tell me if ya wake up lad im not as young as a used to be." Smee told, putting a hand on his heart to emphasize.
"Are ya hungry lad? Cos I can fetch ya somethin' if yer are."
"No thank you, Mr Smee." Peter replied, "Although could you tell me the time?"
Smee chuckled at his manners, never before had he even thought a boy of Peter's age would have manners never mind the mischievous troublemaker he had grow to know but still he smiled and told him
"It's quarter to one, an' ya don't need to call me Mr laddie, just call me Smee."
Peter stretched his arms upwards once again to release the tension, he pulled back the layers of sheets and relished in the feel of the soft cotton white sheets be pulled along his warm bare legs. Slowly he hung his legs over the side of the bed and lowered his feet onto the cold wooden floors, Smee still stood tying a knot in the thread to end his work on the shirt while his own nightshirt hung down to his ankles and dripped off of one shoulder. Smee chuckled at the boy as he almost tripped over the carpet to get the rest of the nightshirt from the blankets.
"Laddie, the capn's asked me to fix yer up some clothes, a was wonderin' if ya think this wud fit yer?" He asked while holding up the plain white shirt questioningly.
"I- have some shorts too for ya too laddie, sorry but ya old clothin' was too torn for me ta fix so I did a bit a sewin' to some of Billy's old clothes so a hope they fit."
Peter was shocked. He was utterly astounded, to think the man would take the time to make him some clothes... he was completely dumbfounded. Didn't the ma remember it was his fault they couldn't go back to the human realm? That it was he who taunted and teased them every day about being stuck here? Did he not even realize he was the one who cut off his beloved captains hand? He was so confused. Why be so kind to him?
What Peter didn't realize was he was speaking out loud, the man heard every word but did not frown or look upon him in anger at the reminder but with a smile of fondness and kindness in the brown eyes.
"Lad, ya hafta understand I don't hate ya, yea ya hurt my capn' and teased us but afta seein' you in th condition ya were when ya came and ya are now a-a don't think a could hate ya my boy." Smee looked upon him with pity, " Ya just a lad, Peter. I don't hold grudges am too old for tha' now never mind hate a boy who likely as no idea what es doin'. So don't ya worry lad, just get dressed while ol Smee get ya some grub" He finished.
Smee slowly walked over to the chair he had been resting on and pulled off a pair of dark brown shorts with a pair of matching suspenders attached while he also held the white shirt to complete the outfit.
"Now laddie, while you dress ol Smee is gonna go get ya some food, ya must be famished by now." The man told him before handing him the set of clothes, he watched the old man walk to the door and produce a small key before unlocking the door and leaving. He heard the bolt lock him in again before he began to undress.
He slowly undid the three buttons at the top of the nightdress which left half of his chest open and on display, the cool air from the window left shivers on his bare skin s he carefully unshed the clothing and dropped it to the floor. He saw a large full body mirror that sat in the corner next to a dresser and looked into it, his body reflected back. He was littered with pulsing red scars all over his body, dark bruises also decorated him. While inspecting he acknowledged that a lot of the smaller scars were fading slightly with the time that had passed, although the ugliest one still throbbed painfully in contrast to his pale skin. It was a long deep knife line that lead from his collar bone all the way down to the hem of his underwear which he stood in, it was deep and had slightly shallower scars marking his ribs, they were attached. Every rib had been outlined and displayed the his thin frame, Peter felt ashamed, he was once completely bare. Not even a bruise marked him but now... he looked horrid but he did not dare turn to see his back, that probably looked worse.
Pushing away his shame she slowly pulled on the dress shirt and carefully buttoned it until all of the scars were covered, the shirt was slightly too big but otherwise fit perfectly and covered his scarred body well. Next he pulled on the shorts which too fit well and buttoned them while he pulled the suspenders over his shoulders, they applied a slight pressure but luckily he had no scars on his shoulders and it didn't dig in enough to press onto the bruise. He tucked in the shirt just as he heard the door unlock, he expected to see Smee enter but instead he was greeted with the sight of his boys...
"Peter-"
To be continued...
Hi,
Thank you to everyone who is still following and im sorry for the delay, as I told you in the last chapter I went on holiday with my family and I couldn't upload... But! I hope this chapter is better and its longer than before, I just got advised to add more detail... probably went a bit overboard ( pun not intended )but I hope this revealed some ideas of Hook and his family and how he and his ship function. Anyway sorry for the delay I know im terrible and my excuses probably sound fake but I promise they aren't, I really did go on holiday and I wanted to spend some time with my family since my sister came and usually she is at uni so... I hope you understand. I have found that sad events help me write this so hopefully my sadness makes this better so I can relate to the characters more... sorry im babbling. That was dark... SORRY!
ANYWAY!
...
NOTE FOR SANS WIFE:
Now I know you said you didn't want more detail but I asked some other people on my Archive of our own account and they said they would like it so I went with the majority. Thank you for answering though.
Please review and favourite and follow im not sure I can keep a schedule so now there is none and if you have any advice or ideas for the story then please put them forward and it could end up being slipped in, don't be shy!
Bye
Lucy
xxx
