A Spot of Blackmail
folder
Pirates of the Caribbean (All) › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
12
Views:
1,832
Reviews:
5
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Pirates of the Caribbean (All) › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
12
Views:
1,832
Reviews:
5
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter 9
Anna woke up the next morning in a Hercules knot consisting of Jack and the sheet. Apparently he had extended his talent for taking up most of the available covers to taking up most of the available covers and most of the available space at the same time. Anna had been sleeping soundly enough not to notice, but now that she was awake she couldn’t figure out how she’d gotten wound into the mess, never mind how to get unwound from it. One arm was caught under Jack’s shoulder, and the other was wound up in the sheet in such a way that she couldn’t get it free without unwinding the whole process. Which, she thought wryly, was a pretty good description of what happened when you got involved with pirates in general. That made her laugh, and the laughing woke Jack.
“Mmf? What?”
“Oh, never mind. Can I have my arm back before you fall asleep again?”
“That’s your arm? Sorry.” Jack shifted around until Anna could pull her arm out from under him. She proceeded to unwind the sheet from her other arm, and by the time she had them both free, Jack had gone back to sleep and had taken the unwound bits of sheet with him. Feeling somewhat left out, Anna got up and decided that as long as she was on her own for the morning, she was going to wash her hair. Maybe if Jack stayed asleep long enough, she could get it done without help. Not that his idea of help wasn’t fun sometimes, but if the point was to get her hair clean without taking all morning, it would go better without him.
She managed to get most of the soap out of her hair the second time before Jack wandered in and saw what she was up to. She had water in her ears and didn’t hear him come up behind her, and so when water seemed to pour itself over her head, she jumped and flung her head up. The soaking wet length of her hair flew back and hit Jack squarely in the face.
“Ow!”
“Damn it, don’t sneak up on me like that! You’re lucky I didn’t throw the bucket at you.”
“Well, good morning to you too.” Jack looked pleased with himself, which worried Anna a little since he hadn’t done anything yet except scare her half to death.
“It was better before I got water all over the room.” She felt her breathing start to settle again and sighed. “Never mind. As long as I know you’re there, you might as well help me with the last of this. And then you can tell me why you look like you’ve got a Spanish galleon in sight, while you help me get the water off the floor.”
Over the course of getting her hair rinsed and wrung out, Anna decided that Jack was definitely up to something. He was humming That Song, which tended to lead to somebody getting a headache. Jack could carry a tune, but he needed a basket with handles to do it, and that put Anna's teeth on edge if she had to listen to it for a while. On top of which, That Song was his “I’ve got a brilliant idea” song, and more often than not, Jack’s brilliant ideas would give the object of the idea a headache at the very least.
“All right, so what’s the brilliant idea this time?”
“What’s that?”
“You’re humming That Song. That usually means you’ve got a brilliant idea. And if I’m going to be on the receiving end of it, I want to know about it beforehand.”
“Oh. Well, don’t worry about it, it’s not you I was going to unleash it on.”
“Thank goodness for small mercies,” Anna muttered.
“What’s that?”
“Never mind. So are you going to tell me, or are you going to gloat for the rest of the day?”
“Well, it’s a secret, but you’ll find out.”
“Oh, so it’s a public secret.”
“Well, it will be.”
“Are you going to blow something up, or kill somebody, or sink a ship in the harbor, or is it not that big?”
“That’s four questions at once. Which one do you want answered?”
“The last one. And when you’ve answered that, answer me this: why am I bothering trying to get a straight answer out of a pirate?”
“No, it’s not that big. And you’re asking me because you can’t stand not knowing what I’m up to.” Jack grinned. “You don’t like secrets unless you’re keeping them.”
“It’s not that so much. It’s that I’ve known enough pirates to know that a pirate with a secret is a dangerous thing to have in bed with me.”
Jack looked wounded. “I hope you don’t mean you’ve had any other pirates in bed with you.”
“Do I look insane? Relax, you’re the only one.”
“Well, all right then. Listen, luv, do you have to go rushing off to the tavern right off, or can I steal you for a while?”
“Providing you’re not going to get me involved in whatever this brilliant idea of yours is, you can steal me for a couple of hours.” Anna had visions of herself stood on a pedestal somewhere creating a diversion for whatever it was Jack had in mind, and decided she wasn’t interested, thank you very much. And that was why, half an hour later, she found herself sitting in Jack’s cabin on the Pearl, wondering whether her tavern was even going to be there when she got back, never mind whether or not it was going to open that night or not.
“Mmf? What?”
“Oh, never mind. Can I have my arm back before you fall asleep again?”
“That’s your arm? Sorry.” Jack shifted around until Anna could pull her arm out from under him. She proceeded to unwind the sheet from her other arm, and by the time she had them both free, Jack had gone back to sleep and had taken the unwound bits of sheet with him. Feeling somewhat left out, Anna got up and decided that as long as she was on her own for the morning, she was going to wash her hair. Maybe if Jack stayed asleep long enough, she could get it done without help. Not that his idea of help wasn’t fun sometimes, but if the point was to get her hair clean without taking all morning, it would go better without him.
She managed to get most of the soap out of her hair the second time before Jack wandered in and saw what she was up to. She had water in her ears and didn’t hear him come up behind her, and so when water seemed to pour itself over her head, she jumped and flung her head up. The soaking wet length of her hair flew back and hit Jack squarely in the face.
“Ow!”
“Damn it, don’t sneak up on me like that! You’re lucky I didn’t throw the bucket at you.”
“Well, good morning to you too.” Jack looked pleased with himself, which worried Anna a little since he hadn’t done anything yet except scare her half to death.
“It was better before I got water all over the room.” She felt her breathing start to settle again and sighed. “Never mind. As long as I know you’re there, you might as well help me with the last of this. And then you can tell me why you look like you’ve got a Spanish galleon in sight, while you help me get the water off the floor.”
Over the course of getting her hair rinsed and wrung out, Anna decided that Jack was definitely up to something. He was humming That Song, which tended to lead to somebody getting a headache. Jack could carry a tune, but he needed a basket with handles to do it, and that put Anna's teeth on edge if she had to listen to it for a while. On top of which, That Song was his “I’ve got a brilliant idea” song, and more often than not, Jack’s brilliant ideas would give the object of the idea a headache at the very least.
“All right, so what’s the brilliant idea this time?”
“What’s that?”
“You’re humming That Song. That usually means you’ve got a brilliant idea. And if I’m going to be on the receiving end of it, I want to know about it beforehand.”
“Oh. Well, don’t worry about it, it’s not you I was going to unleash it on.”
“Thank goodness for small mercies,” Anna muttered.
“What’s that?”
“Never mind. So are you going to tell me, or are you going to gloat for the rest of the day?”
“Well, it’s a secret, but you’ll find out.”
“Oh, so it’s a public secret.”
“Well, it will be.”
“Are you going to blow something up, or kill somebody, or sink a ship in the harbor, or is it not that big?”
“That’s four questions at once. Which one do you want answered?”
“The last one. And when you’ve answered that, answer me this: why am I bothering trying to get a straight answer out of a pirate?”
“No, it’s not that big. And you’re asking me because you can’t stand not knowing what I’m up to.” Jack grinned. “You don’t like secrets unless you’re keeping them.”
“It’s not that so much. It’s that I’ve known enough pirates to know that a pirate with a secret is a dangerous thing to have in bed with me.”
Jack looked wounded. “I hope you don’t mean you’ve had any other pirates in bed with you.”
“Do I look insane? Relax, you’re the only one.”
“Well, all right then. Listen, luv, do you have to go rushing off to the tavern right off, or can I steal you for a while?”
“Providing you’re not going to get me involved in whatever this brilliant idea of yours is, you can steal me for a couple of hours.” Anna had visions of herself stood on a pedestal somewhere creating a diversion for whatever it was Jack had in mind, and decided she wasn’t interested, thank you very much. And that was why, half an hour later, she found herself sitting in Jack’s cabin on the Pearl, wondering whether her tavern was even going to be there when she got back, never mind whether or not it was going to open that night or not.