lucetilogs | A Pirate and Three Navy Men

Who:

lists_to_port,

noprevaricating,

seventeensir,

straightatem
What: Cheering Archie up after

tothelibrary was sent home. CHEERING HIM UP AT ALL COSTS.
When: Late Afternoon, 9/8--Early Morning, 9/10
Where: Ocean--aboard the Joanna Joyce
Summary: Archie Kennedy was in the depths of despair after the girl he loved was sent home by the Malnosso. Jack Sparrow hated seeing him so sad and offered a sail to perk him up a bit. And then he offered to let Hornblower come along, which was a supreme sacrifice. And at some point they will dredge the newly-landed Jack Aubrey from the depths. There might be something going on with octopi in this thing, too, eventually.
Rating: This will be rated PG-13 for all the instances in which Sparrow will be annoyed by Horatio Hornblower.

There: the last bottle of rum had been stored aboard the Joanna Joyce. The tally, by the end, was half a dozen bottles of rum, a six pack of something called "Pabst Blue Ribbon", a box of wine, three bottles of champagne, a bottle of scotch, and a bottle of whiskey. It might almost be enough to get Jack Sparrow through the hours of being with Hornblower in close quarters that were soon to follow. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the two Navy men to show up at the shore. For the occasion, Jack had brought the Joanna in to the southernmost dock. The King's Men would not have to swim today.

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"Not even to my enemies." Archie's hands were a bit cold, but extremely gentle as he exposed the burns to the air. "Is there anything he meant these to be treated with?"

Well that statement was a bit close to the bone, and Jack growled and then winced as the last dirty bandage was removed. "Salve, he gave me--there's a pot of it over there." A nod toward the table, which had on it a selection of charts and navigational instruments as well.

Kennedy found the salve and brought it back, wiping a little on a bandage before placing it over the wound.

"Told her---" God but that hurt--"told her that possibly bein' around you and McCoy might make me better. More better for her. Aaaand my book." He nodded toward where "A Better Man in Seven Days"--now dog-eared and stained--was resting upside-down on his sea chest.

He cracked a smile. "How would being around me make you a better man, Captain Jack?"

"....Right. Shut it. I'll have none of that. It's only that if a bit of goodhearted whelp rubbed off on myself, I might become less of a desperate criminal-type and or at least return to the colder sorts of revenge rather than the hot ones."

Now Archie gave the captain a bit of a wide-eyed look, but said nothing about the "goodhearted" thing. After a moment of working, he said, "Well, you're trying. It's more than most men do."

"Doesn't matter. It's not enough. Won't ever be enough for her. Just like the Pearl, eh? I told her--" he broke off into a short, barking laugh. "I told her the Pearl would take to her if they ever met, and she'd run away with my Annie and the both of them leave me."

"I believe it is enough for her. You made a mistake, Jack, that's all, and she'll come to see that. She's a reasonable girl."

"Just let me be, Kennedy. Leave me. I can't...

She's my peace, here. And now it's lost."

"Go to sleep, Jack." Kennedy made no move to leave--he was still applying bandages.

"And dream of her? And risk dreaming of her?" God, he needed rum. There was a bottle on the table--half full. As soon as Kennedy left him...

Jack was so full of rum already Archie wasn't about to leave. "Yes, dream of her. She'll keep you company there till she comes back to you in a week. She thought she'd lost you for good, once. Trust me when I tell you she'll come back."

"Every time I close my eyes, sir, I see her turning away from me. An' Joyce might come, but this time......this time Joyce almost makes things more worse."

"Who's Joyce?"

"She's mine. An' Buffy's. Our. She's only small and little, but she's got green eyes and dark hair. Oooooor sometimes she has dark eyes and golden hair. Sometimes."

That made Archie stop suddenly while placing the last bandage on Jack's leg. Their child. He's dreaming about their child. He swallows, then begins wrapping the bandages in gauze. "Perhaps you'll meet her one day."

"Nah. What sort of place would this be for a child, eh? And Buffy won't have me." He tried not to look like he was stealing glances at the bottle of rum. "What with her bad taste in men and all."

"Now you're only feeling sorry for yourself."

"Why shouldn't I?!"

"Because you're telling yourself things are worse than they are, Jack. She's given you a week, and I know she'll come back to you at the end of it."

"They never come back, Archie." God, man, finish the bandages so he can get to that rum!

"If they do, it is not with good intent."

A sigh. "I'm not going to keep trying to convince you, Jack. You'll have to wait and see for yourself."

"And there we have it. I've always been at her mercy, lieutenant. Now is no different, with the exception that I begged and pleaded for it and she didn't bestow it upon me. I expect nothing from her for myself."

He finished the bandages and sat there quietly, letting him talk himself to sleep.

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all7seas - 2011-09-11 21:12 (UTC) - Expand

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