When Kaj opened his eyes, the stars were shining brightly and the moon was still in its same place, as if life had not continued while Kaj had slidden into an emotional impasse. Yet Kaj felt as if the night lasted an eternity.
Slowly he climbed to his feet, and straightened his jacket, for a moment looking in vain for his bottle of rum. But then he walked back to town, withtout any clear idea of his destination.
Kaj tried hard to ignore the stares or scared glares of the ones he passed by. By being back in Tortuga after such a long time, past memories, which he'd tried hard to forget, flew back to him and made him and realise that he had a notorious name here.
Suddenly a young woman bumped him, as she took a step back. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "Can't you watch where you're walkin'?"
He turned to look at the girl, his features clouded and threatening. When he looked at her face, he was caught, for a moment, by a flare of recognition. Why did this girl look so familiar? Quickly he discarded that
thought. He'd been with so many women; harlots or some who he'd just forced. This girl just looked like so many others..

----------

Salma's eyes brimmed with unwanted tears when for the third time that day she was thrown to the ground. The unfairness of all what was done to her and the violence by which the Captain had treated her overwhelmed her. Only one thought was on Salma's mind: She had to leave. Now.
Quickly she walked away from all the other pirates, who all seemed to despise her, to the other side of the deck, which was abandoned. She walked closer to the rail of the ship, tears now freely running down her cheeks, and set both her feet on the rail, as she held on to one of the ropes. Without thinking of any consequences she closed her eyes and jumped in the cold water.

_________________


O children, lift up your voice, lift up your voice,
Children, rejoice, rejoice..



It doesn't matter you don't believe in God, He believes in you.

Everything that had been going through Hector’s mind was lost as Andrea’s lips were suddenly pressed against his own. His body went rigid, unmoving as she took what she could and gave nothing back, ravishing his mouth with hers. But just as fast as it had begun, it was over and Andrea was running away from the cabin without so much as a single word. <i>What in God’s name just happened?</i> While both anger and confusion welled up inside of his body, Barbossa also felt a tinge of admiration for the girl; gathering her courage and daring a kiss had certainly been a bold move… “What are ye sayin’, Hector?!” He growled aloud to the empty cabin. Shaking his head, he pressed two fingers to his temple and rubbed in a circular motion to try and make the confusion and his pounding headache disappear.

-----------

Vari was beaming, hardly noticing as Andrea left because of her blatant joy. “Oh Aurora, thank you so much,” she breathed, hugging her friend close. “I would gladly have ye as my maid of honor! And Eve and Robyn, both of you are welcome to be bridesmaids! And everyone else is invited; Marianne, Guin, Andrea, Cap’n Barbossa, Soren and Dante; where’ve they gotten off to anyway?” As if responding to her own inquiry, Vari shrugged her shoulders and clasped Ed’s hand tighter. “Well, no matter - there’s so much to be done in such a small amount of time…”

Soren smiled at Dante as their fingers intertwined, saying nothing. However his mind was buzzing with his lover’s words; love… marriage… weddings… No matter how much it was looked down upon, he knew that one day himself and Dante would be joined in holy matrimony, and that he would take up the name of Galloway, and they would be united forever and nothing would ever change that…

Vincent was having the same doubts as Lance. Even though the man didn't say anything out loud he could tell from the way the other was staring at the faint image of the Pearl in the distance.

It was a long shot that they would catch up with the legendary ship with black sails, but he was going to try like hell. Plus they had the wind on their side and that was always a good sign.

Isabella and Natalie moved away from Vincent to let him do what Captains do and made their way over to Lance. Natalie took the place that Zoe had once been in while Isabella took her place on the other side.

"Is Zoe still in denial?" Nat was the first to speak, watching as the blond made her way to the lower decks, to Shiloh.

"It's adorable really, don't you think." Isabella added, leaning against the rails and tipping her head up to the sky, enjoying the sea breeze.

----

Shiloh heard the soft voice of Zoe from the other side of the door and attempted to call her in but his stomach churned and he groaned in answer instead.

Though he did move from beneath the pillow as the door was opened and looked over at Zoe. He hated feeling weak, especially in front of her but he couldn't help it. It was pretty pathetic of him and Shiloh couldn't help but feel his cheeks burn when her hand rested against his arm.

"I've felt better..." He mumbled, pushing himself up as best as he could and ran a hand over his damp brow. "I wish it would just stop..." Though he had to admit he was feeling slightly better. Whatever Zoe was doing was working, though now a different sensation was flitting through him. An unexplainable and yet familiar feeling.

----

Aurora beamed and even as Vari continued to talk and ramble herself in her joy A-Rose couldn't help but grab her friend and kiss her cheek. "You want me to be your MOH! I'll be the best MOH you've ever had. Don't you worry about a thing." The girl in Aurora that rarely showed itself was now in full force and images of flowers and ribbons passed through her mind alongside those scenes of rum and vulgurness.

Though she was able to grin at the mention of Dante and Soren, if Vari only knew... and speaking of the devils the boys had just arrived from the lower decks and made their way to the mostly happy congregation.

----

The atmosphere was greatly changed at the mention of marriage and everyone seemed to be feeling the effects, both the good and the bad. Dante was feeling the former, very much.

As they made their way towards Vari and A-Rose Dante looked over to Soren and the look in the man's blue eyes took his breath away. Forever... that was what that look was and he knew he was more than willing to take that step, whenever it came.

Feeling his love confirmed even more he took his turn in congratulating Varianna with a hug and his own kiss to her cheek, never letting go of Soren's hand.

_________________

The waves that C R A S H E D upon
The R O C K S that you were trying to step along

And in my head I heard them play a S O N G

_________________


~~Siggy by Lembas~~

[ Introducing: Liam! ]

Liam strolled over the deck towards the group of pirates. With his long black hair, dark tanned skin and ordinairy clothing he looked more like a carpenter's boy, which he had been in the distant past, than a pirate. But then, Liam was not the typical kind of pirate. His disgust for large hats with feathers and his preference of ale above rum, were only a few things which made him at least somewhat strange.
"Did someone say the word wedding?" he said, casually taking place next to Guin. "I'm in! Weddings usually mean an abundance of girls and ale, which makes me happy." A boyish smile played on his lips as he winked to Vari. "My congratulations to you, Pierce..It was about time that Blackhaven would claim his girl."

[I'm not sure what to do with Salma.. Perhaps someone of the pursuing ships could spot her..? ]

_________________


O children, lift up your voice, lift up your voice,
Children, rejoice, rejoice..



It doesn't matter you don't believe in God, He believes in you.

Lance looked to either side of him and smiled charmingly.

“Indeed, quite adorable.” He replied in his Welsh-Caribbean accent that was capable of melting butter. His eyes grazed across each girl’s figure admiringly before he spoke again.

“I hope the pair of you are ready for what awaits us aboard the Pearl. I hear her captain is cruel yet charming. Wouldn’t want you to be whisked away by him now would we?” His eyes twinkled in mirth and a hint of something else.

-

Zoe looked down upon Shiloh with caring eyes. Gently she moved her hand to his forehead and felt his temperature. He was hot and clammy to her cool hand. She sighed and moved her hand before nudging him over and lying down next to him.

“You’ll get use to it.” She said soothingly. She reached inside her bodice for her tarot cards and began shuffling them. It was something she did when she wanted to relax or calm herself. “But I do wish I could take it all away for you.”

-

Andrea mentally slapped herself. What was she doing? Sitting in her cabin in a theoretical puddle of her own tears, mourning the sorrows of her own life whilst her closest friend was celebrating her engagement? She suddenly felt very guilty and selfish. After cleaning herself up a bit she gingerly got up and took a moment to compose herself, donning her usual façade before she stepped out of her cabin and made her way to the top deck. Walking over to Vari she found herself starting to smile, as if it were contagious. She pushed the days events to the back of her mind and leaned in to her friend, kissing her softly on the cheek before whispering in her ear.

“You deserve this darling, every singly bit of it. I am happy for you.”

-

Jack was about to say something but snapped his mouth closed. Gibbs was right, they needed a ship. Ideally they needed his ship, but the rotting codpiece that was Barbossa had once again stolen it from him. He pouted and looked around him before he laid his eyes upon Chrissie. He put on his most charming voice and approached her again, choosing this time to lay his hands around her shoulders.

“What we need” he started. “Is someone skilled in the fine art of persuasion, to find a captain of a suitable and preferably large ship and then persuade said captain to let us borrow said ship. And then if that happens not to work, to get him, or her, so unbelievably drunk that he, or she, does not notice when said ship is commandeered.”

_________________


Illuminate the way to my heart,
It's twisting on a thread
+ COME RAISE THE DEAD +

(Woot! I love playing with Jonah. He's deliciously not nice.)

Jonathon had slipped his arm off Christine and his face had gone suspiciously blank as the Captain approached her. He was sizing the man up, reading how tight this would be crew was. There was obvious ties of friendship between Jack and Gibbs. The same ties could be seen with Gibbs and Christine.

His blank facade disappeared into a malicious grin that was hard to make look normal, so he covered it with his hand making it look like he was yawning. He found his weak spot.

Jack had wrapped his hands around Christine's shoulders and Jonah could see that the woman had all sorts of anger, frustration, and a bit of fear building up when he spoke to her. The captain's sugared words were enough to tell him that it was all smoke and mirrors, she was a means to an end - at least he was fairly sure that was it.

He almost laughed, almost. But his mind began to work towards more profitable ways of breaking the ship to shreds so that he might collect his reward.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Gibbs looked expectantly at Christine, waiting for an answer. He saw her unhappy look, but its notice was swiftly glossed over as was any discomfort caused by his dearest friend. To him Jack was just asking for what was best for the crew and the woman was over reacting. She would get over herself in a few moments.

It all amounted, in his mind to Christine's dislike of her own profession and near self-hatred at times. The life in Tortuga was difficult for the prostitutes and many were ill-used, especially those that lacked the original spirit necessary for a difficult life that his friend did not have.

------------------------------------------------------------

Christine struggled over the urge to maneuver out of Jack's grip like she had done before. For a moment she fought to govern her facial expressions, which were already limited consider the bruise over her eye. Jack's implications were obvious and she wished that he had not placed their leaving on her, though he wouldn't ever force her to help it was expected - part of her way of paying for joining their expedition.

Part of the reason the woman was feeling so anxious today was the reason for the bruise and the ache all over her body not to mention the distinct lack of coins. When Christine decided on something it was hard to break her forward motion, and something clicked in her. He eyes went a bit colder, but the plus side was that they were no longer dull.

"I know just the man," she said coolly, stepping stiffly back from Jack's grip.

As she stepped back, her entire manner different. Jack and Gibbs rarely saw her while she worked, and therefore the change was more marked. Her smile became positively lascivious, her eyebrow quirked upward and her hip cocked to the side giving her more curves than she could actually boast. It was a well practiced and hated act that charmed many, and now she would put it to good use and get herself off this forsaken place.

"Come on lads. There's a man in the bar that'll love to assist our cause," she said while parading down the boardwalk with a casual air of confidence that belied her inward seething towards the unlucky man she had in mind for a target.

_________________
Heavens no. Hell Yeah.


Set 1: Nurr | Set 2: Me

_________________


~~Siggy by Lembas~~

[ Yay! Here we go! ]

Liam's grin widened as he heard Guinevere's remark. He loved her ad-rem, witty responses; her playfulness; her way of teasing. It was as if like they were playing a game with changing rules..
"You are going to prevent that, madam?" Liam spoke with twinkling eyes. As he turned to Guin, his hand brushed swiftly past her arm. "Tell me how exactly.."
But before Guinevere could answer, a tall man, with a furrowed brow, appeared at her side. He never deviated from his usual dark clothing, his face was pale and there dark rings underneath his eyes, as if he hadn't slept well.
"If it ain't Cairbre Eagle who finally left his dark cabin." Liam exclaimed cheerfully, patting Cairbre on the shoulder. "But are you well?" he spoke in a worried tone. "You look like you haven't slept a wink.." Then he turned to Guinevere again, with a grin: "Guin, say something. The poor guy doesn't take care of himself.."

[To be added later: Kaj ]

_________________


O children, lift up your voice, lift up your voice,
Children, rejoice, rejoice..



It doesn't matter you don't believe in God, He believes in you.

[[ Bumpeth? ]]

_________________


Illuminate the way to my heart,
It's twisting on a thread
+ COME RAISE THE DEAD +

[[So um, I kinda forgot where exactly we’re going with this, if we were jumping ahead or not, so just let me know if this isn’t okay…? ]]

In his cabin, Hector had still not moved. He was still in the same exact spot as if frozen. An hour, perhaps, had gone by, and yet that kiss had never left his mind, the confusion of it all only increasing the pounding of his headache. Maybe he should just lie down for the night and leave everything for the morning… But being the logical person that he was, Hector decided that remaining alone with his thoughts was not the best thing right now - he needed to confront Andrea and get some answers from her.

Pulling the door to his cabin open, he stepped out into the cool night air and briefly glanced towards the middle of the ship where Vari was standing. Andrea was next to her, speaking into her friend’s ear with a slight smile. Hector felt his stomach briefly tighten before he strode over to the rest of the crew, his eyes remaining on the blonde woman at all times.

“Lass,” he spoke gruffly, before clearing his throat and talking in a gentler tone, “Andrea, ye an’ I need t’ have a word.” His grey eyes flashed in the moonlight, showing the smallest sign of uncertainty before melting back into his stoic expression.

Vari and Edward fell silent as the Captain approached and asked to speak to Andrea; it was no secret that the two of them had something going on, but were reluctant to show it - at least on Barbossa’s behalf. And so, knowing that this could be ‘Drea’s opportunity, Vari motioned to her friend to take leave. “’Tis fine, ‘Drea, I’ll fill you in later as to the details.”

“We’d all best be getting some rest as it were,” Edward added, noticing the moon was at its peak - it had to be sometime near midnight or even past that. “We’ve a lot to do in such short time… the wedding shall be in one week.” He turned to Varianna, taking her hand and placing a gentle kiss upon it. “For I can wait no longer to join you in holy matrimony.” His green eyes shined brightly beneath dark lashes, before he and Vari bid the others a good night and headed below deck.

------

Robyn took one look at Eve and knew that the poor girl’s heart had broken in two - not only were Ed and Vari getting married in less than seven days, but they had asked herself as well as Eve to be bridesmaids, and it would only be polite to accept the offer. Stepping away from the other pirates, she made her way to the other blonde and hugged her. “I’m so sorry dear,” she whispered, knowing the effect this entire situation must be having on her. Lowering her voice even more, she added, “I will help you put a stop to this marriage, if you so wish it. As much as I adore Varianna, I cannot bear to watch her take Edward from you.”

------

Soren remained beside Dante on the deck, placing two arms around his lover’s neck and staring him in the eyes. That beautiful visage would never get tiring, and the more Soren thought, the wider his smile became, until he was chuckling against Dante’s jaw. “Well… Vari and Ed are tying the knot. But what of us? I think you an’ I should marry too. I’ve been toying with the thought of being called Soren Galloway, you know…” It brought a second smile and laugh to the blond’s face as he rocked their bodies gently forth and back.

Now that Vincent had a goal set for himself he was completely immersed in what he had to achieve. It was just how he worked and his sisters knew better than to get involved right now. It would be best to just leave the man alone while he took the helm and set the sails so that they would ride along with the wind towards the Pearl. Some would say it was impossible to catch up but it was those doubts that spurred him on.

You tell Vincent he can't do something and he will try like hell to prove you wrong.

Leaving their brother to work, Isabella and Nadia found pleasant company with Lance who was quite the charmer. Nadia noted that she may have met her match with the attractive man beside her and that only made her smile. Neither woman taking any offense to Lance's gaze, Nadia was used to it and Isabella just didn't mind.

"Ah, you think we could not handle ourselves if such a situation presented itself to us?" Is quirked with the raise of the brow and slight turn of her lips.

Nadia grinned, raising a hand to brush over Lance's shoulder idly, a tender smile on her own lips that matched Isabella's. "Though I do appreciate your concern..."

-----

Eyes widened slightly when a gentle hand pressed to his forehead but they slowly closed once more when Zoe lay beside him on the bed. If he could have he would have moved over to give her some more room, but he feared any quick movements would result in him becoming ill once more and that was not what he wanted Zoe to witness.

She already probably assumed he was weak, no need for her to find more proof of said weakness.

"I do hope so, I'd hate to be a useless member of the crew." He muttered, allowing his eyes to open once more and to turn towards the woman who was now shuffling her tarot cards. "You'd be surprised what your mere presence does for me Zoe...Whatever greater powers you have inside of you are quite soothing." He rambled, feeling calm beside Zoe. Shiloh's dark eyes grew heavy once more and he felt himself falling asleep, head resting on the curve of Zoe's shoulder, lips slightly parted as hot breaths fell onto her soft skin.

-----

Aurora-Rose watched the exchange between Andrea and Captain Barbossa with amused eyes. The two were playing cat and mouse with each other constantly and one of these days A-Rose hoped they would figure their attraction out and hold to it instead of skirting around the issue. Maybe they were finally going to break the tension, it would definitely benefit the crew if Barbossa was loosened up a bit.

Waving farewell to Drea who went with the Captain she turned to Edward who was announcing that the wedding was going to be in a week's time. "Holy kraken! A week... I'd better start getting things ready. With your help of course Vari...Forget sleeping we have things to discuss..." Pulling the future Mrs. Blackhaven away from the crowd she geared the woman towards her chambers so they could discuss wedding plans. A-Rose may not be completely sane, but there were always benefits to her madness.

-----

Dante watched the exchange between Drea and Barbossa, Edward and Varianna, and couldn't help but feel completely elated. It was nigh impossible not to get that fuzzy feeling inside when love was felt so strongly amongst the crew. That added with the fact that his lover was in his arms made Dante feel almost high at the moment, as if he could do anything and be anyone and right now more than ever he wanted to be Mr. Davereux. It seemed his sentiments were returned, it was strange how in tuned they were with one another. Soren seemingly picked his brain at that moment and said out loud what he was only just thinking.

Even though he was thinking about marrying Soren, to hear the man say it was a completely different story. Brown eyes locked with blue and he stared at the man for long moments, unsure if what he had just heard was true.

"Are ye asking me to marry you?" Dante questioned, wrapping arms around his lover's waist and pulling him close while still keeping that rocking rhythm as if they were dancing to a silent tune.

_________________

The waves that C R A S H E D upon
The R O C K S that you were trying to step along

And in my head I heard them play a S O N G

_________________


~~Siggy by Lembas~~

Andrea pulled away from Varianna with a small mischievous smile gracing her lips. It would be an understatement to say the two were close. In fact, save for A-Rose, Vari was the only person Drea had really opened up to about her self. She knew pretty much everything, from her suspicions about her parents’ death and her father’s treatment of her as a child, to the sacrifice she made in order to bring Hector back to the land of the living. The three of them were as close as sisters, entwined together so well that they could almost tell what was on each other’s minds. This was apparent most whenever they teamed up to put a plan into action or if they were in a fight together.

”Lass.” She was pulled out of her revive by the captain’s gruff voice. She felt her stomach drop and was filled by a feeling of dread. This was it, the consequences she’d been waiting for. She swallowed hard and turned round, afraid to meet his eyes yet unable to look away. He cleared his throat before continuing, his voice softer than before. ”Andrea, ye an’ I need t’ have a word.” There was uncertainty in his eyes as he spoke, along with confusion, which caused her heart to briefly flutter and inflate slightly with hope.

”’Tis fine, ‘Drea, I’ll fill you in later as to the details.” Vari said, motioning for her to take her leave.

“You better Pierce.” Drea warned jokingly, trying to sound more confident than she felt, before turning and following the captain back to his cabin. She was once again alone with him, and where as before she would have treasured the moment, she was now engulfed in anxiety.

She softly walked over to the grand table and sat down pulling one of her knees up to rest her chin on. She sat like that for a minute, the silence tense and awkward, before she could gather up the courage to say something.

“Hector I,” Her voice cracked, reflecting her feelings and for once she didn’t try to hide them, she owed him honesty at the least. “I’m sorry, for leaving like I did. It wasn’t right of me. I don’t really know what else to say, I can’t explain my other actions, neither will I apologise for them. But if you want me to leave, to be off your ship and as far away from you as possible then I’d understand.” She trailed off and let her gaze fall to the floor, not wanting him to see that her eyes were filling with tears again. Andrea had never held herself in high esteem, thanks to her father and uncle and she definitely hated herself right now for being so weak.

-

Lance chuckled to himself and smirked as Nadia brushed her hand across his shoulder, he was up for a game or two.

“I’m sure you could, in fact I do believe the both of you could do far more damage than people think.” He said smoothly with a voice like silk, before lowering it to an almost whisper. “In fact that’s the whole fun of it, wouldn’t you say? Lore them in then pounce. ‘Tis an art in itself. But some men, like the good captain, are experienced and use to such methods of attack, so I be saying not to take the man for a fool.”

-

“You’ll never be useless, not to me.” Zoë whispered softly into Shiloh’s hair, letting her eyes meet his. Her heart soared at his next words and she nestled her face into his hair and kissed the top of his head. She felt his warm breath on her neck and it sent shivers down her spine. She felt herself start to droop and made sure to put her tarot cards on the side in a neat pile before snuggling down too. She made sure Shy was asleep and whispered something almost silently to herself before also falling asleep.

“I guess that’s what love does to you Zo.”

-

Jack raised an eyebrow at Gibbs as Christine walked away, calling for them to follow her. He took a minute to appreciate the new persona the girl had taken on, curves and all, before scurrying after her.

[[Apologies for the crapness but it’s 1am gone,I’ve been to work and my bed is calling me. Badly.]]

_________________


Illuminate the way to my heart,
It's twisting on a thread
+ COME RAISE THE DEAD +

“Leave? Nay lass, quite the opposite,” Hector replied as he sat across from her. His stomach was twisted in knots - it’d been so many years beyond reckoning that he had felt this way about anyone, but the woman was causing something inside of him to well up, threatening to make his rough-edged heart burst. It wasn’t quite what he was meaning to say, but Hector found that his mouth had taken over, speaking his true feelings without giving his mind a chance to think them over. “Somethin’s hap’enin’ ’tween us, I ain’t sure what ’t is but I think ‘t needs t’ be made known, wouldn’t you agree?” He stared directly at her, taking in her appearance: blonde whisps of hair curling about her sunburned cheeks, jeweled eyes brimming with tears and those slightly-parted plump lips which had been pressed against his only moments before. She was, perhaps, the single-handed most beautiful woman Hector had ever encountered, and that was what scared him. It’d been so long since he last loved - would he be able to do it again or would his emotions shatter into thousands of little pieces beyond hope of ever repairing? Swallowing the growing lump in his throat, he felt his heart beating faster than it had in his entire life as he said, “Andrea, ye don’t want to love me. I ain’t but a monster of a man.”

-------------------

Varianna suddenly felt someone grasp her arm, and before she knew what was happening she found herself in Aurora-Rose’s cabin, the woman in utter happiness and excitement. Smiling brightly, Vari hugged her soul sister close with a sort of love that went beyond words. “A-Rose, I am so elated to hear ye share my joy,” she breathed, pulling back to look her friend in the eye. “But I must profess a concern of mine. Eve has been behaving rather strangely around Ed an’ I. Don’t know if ye’ve noticed it, but she’s been avoiding me as of late and seems, well… less than excited for this engagement. I ain’t spoke to Edward ’bout it, but I’m afraid she might do somethin’ to spoil this wedding.” Pausing a moment, she reflected on her own words, then shook her head. “Perhaps I’m simply being paranoid about this entire thing.”

-------------------

Robyn, feeling rather torn, took Eve gently by the hand. “I think you’re thinking too much about this entire thing. And you know what I think? I think we need to talk to Edward.” Without another word, the short-haired woman was leading Eve directly to her cousin’s cabin, not giving her any more time to mull over the situation.

Edward had just pulled his dirtied shirt over his head and thrown it onto the chair in the corner of the room when he felt as though he was being watched. He turned just in time to find Robyn and her friend standing in the wooden doorframe. Oh yes, he was very much aware of the fact that he was naked from the stomach up, breeches riding awfully low about his waist, yet he still made his way across the room to meet the two women. “Is something wrong?”

Robyn nodded slightly in answer to his question. “Yes, I’m sad to say, but there is an issue taking place here. Eve would like to say something to you.” She nudged the timid girl closer to his naked torso.

[[Yes, I am trying to make Eve die of embarrassment just kidding - have fun with this, Goldy. ]]

-------------------

Soren shrugged slightly, his eyes never leaving Dante’s. He could stare in them forever, and hoped that he had the chance to do just that. “Well, I think it’s awfully obvious that I love you and you return the sentiment, all that’s left is to make it official…” Soren pulled away from Dante, bowing below him on the deck and taking both of his hands. “I haven’t a ring to give you,” he began, “but I offer my heart instead. It is rightfully yours, whether you choose to accept it or not. And if we do this, I want it done properly. Dante Galloway, will you marry me?”

(Hey Will! Do you want to have Kaj with Bartleby’s ship as a crew member or something? That way he’d have no trouble joining the others. I also modded Jack a little Lothy so that we could expedite getting to the tavern. Hope you don't mind.

Random: I love playing villainy characters)

Gibbs didn't know whether to be amused or mildly disturbed by the sudden change in his fiery haired friend.

However, he certainly knew what to make of her dark haired lad that had forced himself upon Jack and his own good-will. They weren't a charter boat. They were pirates, for God's sake!

Jonah had already hurried on ahead like a stricken puppy.

He had also settled on amused. His eye caught Jack's and he followed the man after Christine, hurrying his own pace until he was in step with the Captain.

"This has all the makings of a bad idea, Jack," he grumbled. "Lettin' a woman decide what to do. I don' like it," he finished, but his words were cut off as Jack walked into a tavern after Christine and Jonah. He felt suddenly like her charms as a wench worked far better than he originally suspected.

Gibbs entered the bar and sat down on a stool to watch the proceedings

In the darkened light of the tavern that collected miscreants at every time of day a man sat comfortably at a round table situated near the side of the large bar room. By all accounts he was very good looking, but by the emptiness of the table it was obvious that he was not one liked by many. The fact that he was still alive despite holding such a low position in many's mind was a testament to his danger as well - ill liked people's life span were dramatically shorter than those who were liked in Tortuga.

Bartleby Jones dressed himself well. Tonight he wore a clean and crisp white shirt and dark brown pants. His red coat was obviously stolen - probably from a captain whose life ended by his own hand. The clothing was impressive. Bartleby liked being noticed - pride was his favorite deadly sin, followed closely by lust. He indulged in both frequently.

An unfortunate woman came walking by him and he wrapped his hand tightly around her wrist while wrenching her down towards him. His hand clasped her face into his bruising grip.

"I've been waiting for my drink, longer than usual Annette," he said pulling the girl back down to a sitting position on his lap releasing her face to let his hand wander. Annette let out a squeal of disgust and tried to make up some excuse. Bartleby smiled in a lupine manner as his free hand now tightened around the young woman's neck.

"You have a minute, wench," he snarled before throwing her to a standing position. Annette quickly ran away. He chuckled and stretched out.

------------------------------------------------------------

Christine paraded into the tavern to a series of whistles. The other prostitutes in the building looked at her as if she were mad. Which, considering the blind anger hiding behind the suggestive smile, she could very well be.

It was well known that Bartleby's favorite pastime was robbing whores and leaving them quite injured. Christine's eye and a few unseen bruises around her rib cage, and her very empty pockets proved that she had been the first on his list. He had a strange conviction that he was doing the Lord's bidding by showing these women what trouble their profession could bring - or so he said if anyone asked why.

She tossed aside the cap that had previously hidden the bruised eye letting her bright red locks fall and set her sights on the man who caused her a heap of trouble for far too long.

Her insides felt like jelly because she was so terrified, but if she played her cards right the man would be dead by the end of this and she would be on her way off Tortuga. This thought and the adrenaline coursing through her veins was all that kept her legs moving. Her bright blue eyes flashed and her grin became a little too wide and she pictured the man floating in the water with fish eating his exposed intestine. Lovely.

It was all too soon that she arrived at his table and found her first words stuttering out. "B-bartleby," she adjusted and made them sound more appealing. "Bartleby, darling," too much. She saw the man smile, obviously he didn't notice.

"Chrissy," the man stood up and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to his lap much like he did Annette. "My, my. Didn't think you'd want another round," he said in a voice that reminded Christine of an oil slick.

"What can I say?" She replied. "Maybe I'm a little more fond of being tossed about, hm?" She teased back and forcibly restrained herself from hitting him by grabbing a fistful of his hair. The scene was decidedly intimate in looks only.

"Well...so long as you don't cry again," he sneered. "I think we may have an arrangement. Although, you shouldn't expect much."

"Oh no," she replied scandalized. "I was just wondering if I might have a look at that pretty ship your always riding in on?" Her eye lashes batted and the man was never one not to accept flattery dragged her upward by the scruff of her neck, careful to draw blood with his fingernails.

"I think I could oblige you that."

"Wonderful," the girl said intent on ignoring the literal pain in her neck. "I'd heard so much about it around town I wanted to see if all the rumors of the great Captain were true." Bartleby began to steer her out and onto the street and Christine was only able to spare a furtive glance at the boys to indicate that they were to follow them to the docks. She only hoped that they would understand the importance of remaining hidden. She would not be pleased if this backfired on her.

"Every one."

"How exciting," she intoned.

"Quite," Bartleby remarked, and he was obviously so pleased with the compliments that his grip on the back of her neck loosened to be only bruising.

_________________
Heavens no. Hell Yeah.


Set 1: Nurr | Set 2: Me