Unseasoned Ties

Your eyes widen at the sight standing in front of you.

“Oh...my...god,” you say under your breath as you take in the fact that you didn’t suddenly pass out and this isn’t just a cruel dream.

“Actually luv, I wouldn’t blame me on God…he really didn’ know what he was gettin’ himself into,” the man tells you as he pulls a chair out and settles himself down.
You look from side to side not really trusting that this isn’t all some sort of cruel joke. But from the look of things this is very real.

‘Johnny Depp is sitting across from me, thee Johnny Depp, Mr. Depp himself, dressed as Jack Sparrow, this is weird, ’ you chant to yourself as you stare at him with wide eyes.

Taking in his appearance, you memorize every little thing about him. The red clothe tied around his mass of long dark hair filled with beads, braids, dreads, a random whale bone, and miscellaneous odds-and-ends. You trail your eyes down to his dark eyes staring back at you and decide not to linger there for too long or you feel you’ll never be able to look away. His chin has two separate braids hanging from it and you can see a flash of gold teeth from the way he’s grinning at you. Traveling further down, you can’t help but notice the amount of skin showing where his loose white shirt is unbuttoned.

“Would you like me to stand up for ya luv? Get the full picture?” he asks, snapping you out of your trance.

You look back up and become slightly embarrassed that you got so out of it and that he caught you. It doesn’t help matters that he’s grinning at you like he knows what you were thinking. ‘Smug bastard,’ you think to yourself.

“No, that’s okay. I’ve had enough for now, but thank you ever so much for your kind offer,” you quickly tell him.

He smiles broadly as he winks an eye, lined in black at you. Never has makeup looked this good on a man before.

“Jack Sparrow...Captain,” he tells you. Not responding, you think, ‘what the hell is going on? I am officially lost.’

Jack frowns at your lack of response and pointedly tells you, “I suppose you don’ have a name then, that’s when you’re suppose ta supply one, but I can work aroun’ that. I’ll be callin’ ya luv.”

“Something tells me that you call every single female ‘luv’ and I do have a name, I just choose not to supply you with it,” you shoot back quickly.

“Tha’s true I suppose,” he replies, as he leans forward on his elbows, inching closer to you.

You watch as he scans your face with his eyes and then travels south. His eyes rest on your chest and you start glaring at him, waiting for him to finish ogling you.

“Now I know you’ve seen a pair of those before, so you think you can bring your eyes back up here?” you ask him as you lean forward on your elbows, effectively cutting off the view from his gaze, while being careful not to lean too heavily on your injured elbow.

“Now now lass, what do ya expect when you wear words, such as those, on said chest? Specially when those words have a certain word amidst them?” Jack asks you, obviously rather pleased with himself as he leans back in his chair. He folds his hands behind his head and picks his feet up off the floor in order to swing them up on to the table, crossing them at the ankles.

You look down at your chest and scowl at the very familiar words written there. Deciding that while it’s fun sharing words with him, you need to know what’s going on.

“Where am I? What are you doing? And why are you dressed like that?” you demand of him, wanting answers and fully expecting to get semi-reasonable ones.

He seems to ponder your questions as he spins the ring on his right index finger. Watching the spinning ring, you briefly wonder where he got it from.

“Well...Tortuga...in a bar exactly...wooing you...and this is how I dress,” he tells you all in one breath as he flings his arms to his sides nearly smacking someone in the stomach. He looks over at the man he almost hit, as if he is going to say something, but then dismissing the drunk, he turns for his own tankard of rum.

“...Tortuga,” you say quietly to yourself thinking over everything that has happened so far. Jack, obviously deciding to let you think in peace for a moment, tips his head back downing the last of his rum. You look up and watch him shake every last bit of rum from the tankard into his open mouth, his tongue outstretched in hopes of gaining that one last elusive drop. The sight amuses you immensely and you almost can’t contain the laughter you feel bubbling up inside your chest.

“So...you’re Jack Sparrow, and we’re in Tortuga, and is this or isn’t this year 2005?” you ask him.

“2005? Are ye feelin’ tipsy? And Captain…it’s Captain. Why do I have to keep remindin’ people of that?” Jack frustratingly huffs as he slams the now dry tankard on the table, “I have the fasted ship ever to plague the seas, she’s a legend in her own right. Bastards.” You feel like laughing at his outburst but decide against it, no need to be wounding his feelings at this very moment.

‘This is weird. Now I know this must be a dream. Turning out to be a pleasant dream,’ you think as you glance at Jack, ‘and this is defiantly not Johnny Depp. I guess I should enjoy it while it lasts. Unless I somehow popped into some alternate reality, all dreams have to end…..right?’

Jack starts snapping his fingers in front of your face, “snap out of it or you’re gonna cause me ta think ye knocked your head a few times, which would be a shame, for what a pretty head it’tis.”

You knock his hand out of your face, “Do not snap your fingers at me Mr. Sparrow, or I may feel an urge to break one, which would forever limit your snapping abilities with that hand.”

“You’d feel bad though, and then I would have to let ya nurse me back ta health out of the kindness of me heart,” Jack quickly replies while raising his eyebrows and creating a challenge.

“I really don’t think you would want that to happen Jack,” you tell him while handing his empty tankard to the passing bar maid.

“An’ why’s that exactly?” Jack absentmindedly asks as he watches the retreating woman carrying off his rum tankard, looking worried that it may not come back.

“Well first to go would be the rum, it’s bad for you ya know. Ruins your liver,” you matter-of-factly tell him as you watch the look of horror cross his face.

“Don’ spread such sadistic rumors. Ya would never do that, me liver likes the rum. Besides, you would never get away with it. I’m too cunning and swift for ya,” he assertively informs you while planting his feet back on the floor and leaning forward once again. You can’t help but enjoy bantering with Jack, there’s very few people that you have met that can hold a conversation with you. And from the amusement clearly written on his face, it’s obvious he’s enjoying this as well.

“You may be clever Jack, but I never give up. I would go as far as to make posters. Plant a big fat picture of your face on the poster with bold black letters saying ‘Do Not Feed This Man Rum’ and post them up in every bar in the Caribbean. But since I did not actually cut your finger off, you won’t be needing my tender nursing, therefore I won’t be posting flyers telling everyone to keep rum away from your willing mouth, and you will be able to drink all the rum you want,” you tell him as your elbow begins burning again. You lean back in your chair to hold your elbow in your hand and watch Jack think about what you just told him. His eyebrows knit together in deep thought as he absently tugs on the braids hanging from his chin. His eyebrows finally relax and he’s back to looking as calm and collected as he could look.

“Aye, I see....,” he draws the words out and pauses for a moment, “but you’re still not taking into account who I am luv.” You wait for the words with a grin, knowing exactly what’s coming next and surprised that he’s waited this long to say it.

Jack spreads his arms and arrogantly states, “I’m Captain Jack Sparrow.”

You thought you would be able to contain yourself, but hearing him speak these words so arrogantly in person is just too much. At first you just start giggling, but after seeing his face turn confused, you erupt in a fit of laughter.

“Oi! What’s this for?” Jack shouts at you, getting rather annoyed at your unannounced fit of laughter aimed at him.

“Sorry Jack, It’s not you....,” you tried to say more, but couldn’t manage with the lack of oxygen. You can’t stop laughing and soon you aren’t even laugh at Jack directly, the entire situation is becoming hilarious. Somewhere in the midst of your laughing, the barmaid brought back the tankard refilled with rum to the brim. By the time you managed to calm yourself and get enough oxygen to start breathing normally, Jack had already finished off half of the rum.

“Ya done now?” Jack asks you as he stands up from his chair. You look up at him and realize you now have a full look at him. His white shirt looks about two sizes too large and it is unbuttoned down to the middle of his chest. The cuff on his left arm is undone and hanging from his wrist. The shirt is tucked in to his black pants and there’s a long piece of red and white material wrapped around his waist and tied at the side, the ends almost reaching his feet. His dirty dark brown boots are pulled up over the bottom of his pants and reach his knees. Careful not to study him for too long lest he notice and mock you for it, you stand up as well.

“Where are you going?” you ask him, worried that he’s angry with you for laughing at him for so long.

“Back to me ship, the crews waitin’,” he says as he picks up what’s left of his rum, “It was lovely meetin’ ye miss, but it’s time for us ta part.”

“You’re just gonna leave me here? What the hell is that? What exactly am I supposed to do here Jack?” you yell as you start getting angry with him.

“Go home. I’m a pirate luv, the sea is me home. You think I’m goin’ ta take ya with me on the Pearl?” he tells you. Jack turns and starts making his way through the throng of people towards the exit.

‘There is no way in hell I’m letting that bastard leave me here,’ you tell yourself as you push through the crowd after him. Almost losing him when he walks through the door, you knock a drunk guy out of your way and run after him. Jogging out the door you spot him to the left walking towards the docks. ‘How in the world did he learn to walk like that?’ you wonder as you jog to catch up to him and grab his arm to slow him down.
Jack whirls his whole body towards you, almost knocking you over in the process.

“Well hello again luv, come to wave me off?” he asks with a smile as he starts walking again. You sigh and jog a little to meet his long stride.

“You can’t leave me here Jack. I don’t exactly have a home to go to, well I have a home, I just don’t know how to go about getting there. I don’t really know how I got here in the first place. It’s a long story, well I guess not that long, but it’s just kinda confusing....,” you trail off.

“No offense luv, but I don’ know you. How am I ta know that ye won’t try ta kill me in me sleep huh?” Jack asks you as he wildly waves his hands in the air to accentuate his point while you both near the docks.

“Well...I promise not to kill you in your sleep. I would be stuck on a ship with your crew if I did, and personally I don’t think that would be all that fun for me,” you glance over at him hoping he’ll just say yes. You don’t know what you’ll do if he actually leaves you here in Tortuga by yourself.

“Jack, please,” you start feeling desperate as panic begins to well up in your stomach.

Jack suddenly comes to a halt and pivots toward you wearing a huge, all-out, smile on his handsome face. He would almost pass as innocent looking, if it wasn’t for that mischievous gleam in his eyes telling you that he has planned something.

“Alright luv,” Jack tells you, “you can come with me.” And with that he continues walking. You stand in your spot worrying for a moment what made him change his mind.

Looking back towards the town, you let the thought of staying cross your mind. ‘No, whatever he’s decided in that twisted little head of his, I’m sure I can deal with it,’ you tell yourself. Turning back around, you jog after Jack.

You catch up to him quickly only because he had stopped walking when he made it to the docks. ‘How does he walk so fast? He sways too much to be able to move that fast,’ you wonder as you stop next to him.

You look up and gasp at the sheer size of the ship in front of you. You’ve never seen a ship of this size so close before, it seems like it just goes on forever. Its black tattered sails give it this unreal beauty that stuns you and makes you feel as if you shouldn’t even step foot on it. You feel Jack nudge you with his shoulder and push you towards the plank. Or at least you think it’s called a plank. You turn your head to look up at Jack and see a look of pure pride covering his face. His eyes are lit with love for this ship and you suddenly long for him to turn those eyes towards you.

“Welcome to the Black Pearl luv, don’ trip.”

You smile crookedly and turn back to the looming ship in front of you. ‘It really is beautiful,’ you think as you look on in awe. You don’t know all that much about ships, but from what you do know, this one would be a kick-ass one. The most time you ever spent on ships was when you would sail with your family on your grandparents’ boat. But after they sold it when you were very young, you haven’t really been on a ship or boat of any kind since. But you know enough where you know that you can’t call it a boat out loud, and that all ships are females.

“She’s gorgeous Jack, she really is,” you tell him as you continue admiring the Pearl. Noticing that Jack hasn’t said anything in response, you glance at him to see if he was still alive. You’re a bit confused as to the look on his face. ‘Apparently no one’s called the Pearl gorgeous or something,’ you think as you raise your eyebrows in question. Jack’s looking at you as if he’s never seen you before. As if he can’t believe you just complemented his ship.

“Jack, what? You’re freaking me out over here,” you lightly say.

Jack seems to have snapped out of whatever state he was in when he slightly shakes his head and turns away from you towards the Pearl. He starts walking up the plank and calls over his shoulder, “Come on now then, ya wouldn’ wanna be left behind...what with how badly ye wanted to come along.”

‘Crap…he’s never going to let me live that down.’ You stick your tongue out at his back and start following him. ‘I’m Captain Jack Sparrow. What? Nooooo, of course I can’t show real emotion. I’m a pirate you know, look at me beads in me hair,’ you giggle to yourself as you mock him behind his back.

Stepping onto the Pearl is almost scary. It seems like only a select few should even dare to look at it. For some reason it intimidates you and you’re aren’t used to being intimidated. You have an urge to hide behind Jack, gripping his shoulders.

‘The gripping part would have nothing to do with the ship,’ you think as you look around. There are a couple pirates, members of Jack’s crew, on deck and you assume that the rest are below deck. You recognize Mr. Gibbs, but the rest look unfamiliar to you. You really don’t know when you stepped into this mad house, so the whole crew could have changed.

Jack, what can only be described as swaying, walks over to Mr. Gibbs and begins discussing the plans for leaving Tortuga. You step up behind him but to his right and wait until they’re done with their little chat.

“Jack? Why is there a woman on deck?” Mr. Gibbs slowly asks Jack as he stares you down. You stare him back down the best you can.

As if just remembering you were there, Jack says, “Oh right, this be......well honestly I don’ know really.” He leans forward and whispers in Gibbs ear, “I call ‘er luv, but she gets feisty with that name. I think she fell in luv with a eunuch, said eunuch couldn’....fulfill her, so she found ol’ Jack to help ‘er out.”

“I can hear you Jack!” you shout, “I’m standing right here!” Giving him the dirtiest look possible you say, “Although you’re right. I do happen to harbor a certain love for eunuch’s, why do you think I sought you out?”

“Luv!” Jack gasps, clasping his hands over his chest. “Tha’s just a terrible thing ta say!” Gibbs is watching this exchange with a disgusted look on his face and then stalks off muttering something about Jack being mad, which you entirely agree with.

Jack spins around and stalks up the steps to the wheel. ‘If he keeps spinning around like that, one of those beads is going to slam into his eye and end up blinding him,’ you think. You follow him, not really knowing what else to do with yourself.

“Jack, what am I supposed to do here? Follow you around until your ego explodes?” you ask while you watch him stare straight ahead at something you haven’t been let in on.

Jack turns to you and looks at you for a moment. You start to wonder if he’s really looking at you at all or if he’s just staring past you. Then he places his hand on your shoulder and gives you a little shake. You can feel the warmth of his palm seeping through your shirt, you shiver from the mixture of his warm skin and the cool air hitting you all at once. It reminds you of the times at hotels when you would go swimming at night and then immediately jump into the hot tub. You look up and realize he’s speaking to you.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” you ask as you clear your head.

“I said luv, tha’ you look like you’re ready ta take me up on me earlier offer. But unfortunately for you, I ‘ave a job to do. Someone has ta Captain this ship,” he tells you, sounding rather cocky and pleased with himself.

“Honestly though luv, ye can’t really do anything ta help. An while it’s nice having ya follow me around, it could get distractin’,” he winks.

Jack steps away from the wheel and tromps back down the steps and into the room below you. You can’t really do anything but follow him, again, realizing that you look like a lost dog. You make it down the steps and turn toward the room he disappeared into. Peering in, you can’t really see anything. Looking up towards the sun, you see that it has begun to set now and soon it will be gone completely. Turning your attention back to the dark room you notice movement and then a candle suddenly flare up. You see that Jack is making his way around the rather spacious room lighting candles as he goes. ‘He looks different in the candle light,’ you think, ‘now I know why people say they always look better in this light.’ The light causes small shadows to dance across his face and slip away into the room.

You step into the room and see that Jack has turned it into a living area. It’s surprisingly pretty clean. You don’t know why you expected it to be filthy, but you are still pleasantly surprised that it doesn’t make you feel like you’d catch something by just standing there. Jack gets on his hands and knees by the fairly good sized bed resting in the corner. He peers underneath it and then flattens his body to the ground and stuffs half his body underneath. You ignore his movements and continue scanning the room. To your right there are some cabinets and cupboards with a table standing beside. Empty bottles lay scattered on the floor in random areas throughout the whole room, you count there to be around seven empty and maybe four filled. Thankfully you notice a long mirror with a shirt draped over it, standing in the corner across from the bed, and make a mental note to check out how disheveled you look. The rest of the room is filled with random chests and miscellaneous objects. The room is fairly simple, but it doesn’t surprise you. Jack just doesn’t seem to be the flashy type with his belongings, contrary to how he acts.

“Aye, I found ya, tryin’ to hide from me I see,” Jack triumphantly shouts as he pulls his body out from under the bed with a bottle of rum in each hand. You shake your head as he gets up to set them on the table. He notices your expression and says, “Fer later luv.”

“I didn’t say anything,” you respond smiling, raising your hands up by your sides like a hostage.

Jack slightly grunts and tells you, “This is where you’ll be stayin’, don’ hide me rum. I don’ trust you after what ye said. I’ll be back after we set sail and everythin’s settled.” He gives his rum one last glance before he starts walking out the door.

“Hey!” you yell. “What if I don’t want to stay in here. I assume this is your room, what if I don’t want to stay in the same room as you?” Jack turns to you with his hand resting on the door. He thinks for a moment while rubbing his chin with his other hand.

“I suppose ye’re just sayin’ this ta get a rise outta me luv, somethin’ tells me ye would never think of stayin’ with me crew,” Jack tells you with a grin playing on his lips.
You don’t say anything cause there’s nothing you can say. He somehow got to know you rather quickly. ‘Or maybe I’m just predictable,’ you think. You turn your back, walk over to the bed, and sit down. Jack’s still standing there rubbing his chin and you wonder if maybe that’s why he has that open wound on the left side of his jaw, too much rubbing.

“Are you gonna go, or are you just gonna stand there for another twenty minutes rubbing your face?” you ask as you glare at him.

Jack smirks and steps back in order to shut the double doors. “One more thing luv,” he tells you, “It’s not very hard ta get a rise outta me.” With that he shuts the door.

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Author's Note: This was fixed in a hurry so if anyone finds anthing that doesn't go, let me know. This was two chapters but I just posted it as one long one. Are long chapters or shorter ones preferred? Other than that. Enjoy. I hope I got Jack's personality right.