The Turning of the Tides

TITLE: The Turning of the Tides 7/?
AUTHOR: Seraphina (lealea55@hotmail.com)
PAIRING: eventual Jack/Will slash
RATING: eventual NC-17
SUMMARY: Escape from the Shady Man (TM); more whores, Jack in drag and pretty little rent boy.
DISCLAIMER: not mine, never were and unforunately never will be
AUTHOR´S NOTE: Thankyou emily for your comment. I hope to get the rating up soon although am working hard on my plot at the moment. I can pretty much guarantee an epic.


CHAPTER 7

Will stood by the window of the small room he had acquired at the ratty little boarding house, unsure if whether the fact that Jack Sparrow had been rendered incapable of constructing a complete sentence for the past five minutes was a good thing or not.

The pirate captain had made several attempts but having failed miserably at all them he simply turned to the young blacksmith, clasped his hands tightly beneath his chin and gave a cry. “Oh *thankyou* Will!”

Will blushed and mumbled something akin to ‘that’s quite alright’, and, perching himself on the window ledge, he watched Jack rifle through the trunk that Elizabeth had had loaded onto the merchant ship which had dropped him at Tortuga. A trunk that was filled with the swag Jack had managed to pilfer from the caves of la Isla de Muerta but had later been alleviated of it by one of Norrington’s underdogs upon their return to The Dauntless. After all, no one believed Jack would have a use for it ever again. They had all indeed forgotten that he was Captain Jack Sparrow, not through any fault of his own mind you for he’d made anyone that would listen and even some who wouldn’t very aware of this fact at every chance he got.

He was not, however doing it now. Jack’s focus was on his treasure. The treasure that he thought he’d lost but that had by some miracle, been returned to him by another thing he’d thought he’d lost but he was only just beginning to realise that now.

He turned back to Will Turner and said solemnly and with a flourish, “I was right when I said that not all treasure is silver an’ gold, Will. You are a most incredible find and a credit to the memory your dear departed father; God rest ‘is soul. Tis a grand gesture, this is, Will. One I shan’t be forgetting any time soon.”

Jack grinned as Will’s blush deepened. Seeing this, Will became somewhat embarrassed, looking for something else in the room to focus on. He settled for a quick glance out the first story window he was sitting in, checking the alleyway it looked onto for any unwanted visitors. There came a few shouts from somewhere far off but no sign of the Shady Man…not yet anyway.

Jack in the meantime had placed the crown on his head and several gold and pearl chains around his neck and was prancing around the room, poking around at the other things Will had brought with him. “What’s in ‘ere then?” he asked, leaning over another trunk marked ‘TURNER’. The pirate screwed up his nose slightly and prodded the wooden chest as if expecting something undesirable to jump out.

Will’s face brightened at the prospect of a subject change (praise wasn’t something he was used to and he felt rather uncomfortable bathing in the kudos Jack was handing out to him) and strode over to the where Jack stood. “A gift from Elizabeth.” The lid was flung open on what must have been well-oiled hinges for the made no sound at all.

“Remind me to send her a note of thanks,” Jack said, gazing at the box full of velvet and silk dresses. He was not impressed. “At least she ’s enough nous to know that gold is my colour,” he said, dragging the first dress out and holding it up against himself. “What do you think?” he asked Will. “Would the hat be too much?” He motioned to a matching bonnet that was also in the trunk.

Will impatiently snatched the dress from Jack and the hat from the coffer before the pirate could get his hands on it. “They are not a gift for you,” Will said indignantly. “Elizabeth gave them to me to sell. They are of the finest quality and will fetch quite I price, I’ll warrant.”

“Well just as long as this is all she’s given you,” Jack said, ignoring Will’s protests as he began to rifle through the trunk some more, the clinking of the necklaces adding to that of the trinkets in his hair. “I’ll not have the pox on my ship.” He held up the frock coat that Will had been forced to wear for the engagement party just as the young man stepped forward and slammed the lid of the chest shut, his eyes flashing angrily.

“I will not have you speak of Elizabeth that way.”

Jack’s eyes widened as he feigned shock. “My, my. A little touchy aren’t we? And ye’ll not have me do anything my lad…*I’m* the captain ‘ere and you’d do best to remember it. As for these dresses,” he motioned to the gown in Will’s arms and to the chest where others lay, “They won’t fetch a tuppence in a place like Tortuga; the lasses don’t keep them on long enough to justify paying any more!” He was rewarded with a small smile from Will then moved to closely examine the garment in his hands. “Wherever did you get this? It’s not lady’s attire, that’s to be certain…it wasn’t *yours* was it?” Jack looked him up and down, brow creased and gold teeth flashing in a grimace.

And suddenly Will was blushing again.

He was saved an explanation by the sound of raised voices coming from the front of the boarding house. While the Tasse D’or was quite narrow by any standard, it stretched far back from the street front, almost covering the entire length of the alley it was situated next to. Will’s room was one of the farthest from the entrance and the only exit from it was through a door that accessed a hallway running down the opposite side of the house to the alley. The slamming of doors followed the shouts and it became evident that their pursuers had discovered their whereabouts.

His mock shock turning to its real counterpart, Jack dropped the coat and made a dash for the door, opening it as quietly as possible, sticking his head out into the corridor and pulling it back in quickly, bolting the door shut as he went.

Will looked at him questioningly. Was there to be no peaceful end to this night?

“No way out through there, Will,” Jack said, running to the treasure chest and dumping all the gold from it onto the small bed. The crown and necklaces followed and finally, the pirate’s battered old hat was thrown atop the pile for safekeeping. The corners of the blanket were then gathered and tied, creating a bundle that was much easier to carry than the trunk would ever have been. “They’re checking every room, one after t’ other. They’ll be ‘ere any moment.”

Jack had not stopped moving since the first sound of disturbance. They had to get out of here and fast. But once they had escaped there would still be the small matter of making it to the Pearl unnoticed. Looking up at Will who still stood holding the dress and hat, Jack suddenly had an idea. “Put the dress on.”

Will looked at him as if he’d just been requested to fight their aggressor off with a teaspoon, one arm behind his back all whilst singing a sea shanty. “I most certainly will not put the dress on.” He blamed everything that had gone wrong this night on Jack…which was entirely reasonable seeing as it was all Jack’s fault. Will had just had the incredible misfortune of encountering the phenomenon for the occasion of which the phrase ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder’ had been coined. Surely the pirate had not been this infuriating on their last jaunt together.

Jack rolled his eyes and snatched the dress off Will. “Fine. You put *that* on and *I’ll* wear the dress.”

Will blanched as he looked to where Jack was pointing; the floor next to the bed where the pirate had dropped the dress coat. He was almost inclined to wrench the dress back off Jack but the older man had already thrown the gold fabric over his head and was pulling it roughly over the elaborate hair-do to rest haphazardly over his pirate captain attire. So Will picked up the coat, filled with dread, and put his arms through the sleeves, shrugging the loathed gold and teal jacket over his shoulders.

He looked up just in time to catch something that Jack had thrown at him. He glanced down at the object that he now held in his hands and then back up at Jack who was grinning broadly as he fastened the matching bonnet under his chin with a gold ribbon. The slamming of doors and thudding footsteps were getting closer by the second as Will glared resolutely at Jack.

“I will *not* wear the wig.”

He ignored the tight pain that shot through his head as he teeth ground together and took a stance. His mind was made up. He was his own man and would not be swayed. He’d rather face off with the Shady Man than wear that itching burden again.

Ten seconds later, Will sat moodily on the window ledge, arms crossed and wig jammed tightly on his head as Jack made a last minute scout of the room, ensuring he had collected all of his treasure. Satisfied, the pirate stood from looking under the bed and gave that notorious grin. The adrenalin was pumping as the door of the next room was kicked open and sounds of protest were made, and Jack loved it. This is what the Captain lived for…well not the bit with dress but then again, sometimes disguise was part of the game.

With a bit of effort, he lifted the swag-filled blanket off the bed and tossed it at Will.

As his arms had been folded across his chest, Will wasn’t quite prepared to catch the bundle and lifted his hands just in time. Unfortunately, the force of the weight pushed him out of the window and he landed with a thud in a pile of mucky straw. Will swore loudly and profusely, cursing Jack, Jack’s mother, Jack’s father (who was apparently the devil), the day Jack was born, the day he’d met Jack and every word, thought and idea that had ever born itself of Jack. Then he cursed some more and Jack landed on him, crushing the precious metal and jewels against Will and his ribs.

Will cursed Jack again.

Jack smiled and pushed himself up, leaning more weight on Will in the process, then pulled the lad into a standing position.

“Now William,” Jack pretended to chastise the seething youth. “I will not have you tarnishing your gentlemanly image with such language. Hold your tongue lad or I’ll hold it for you.” Jack wiggled his eyebrows comically and Will wasn’t altogether sure he knew what the pirate was getting at but decided that he didn’t *want* to know for it was almost guaranteed to be entirely improper.

“If *I* were a gentleman, I wouldn’t have been forced to come looking for you.”

Jack looked confused, his puzzled expression poking out from under that ridiculous hat. “So the reason you were looking for me is because you’re not a gentleman? Well I’m sorry to break it to you Will but I can’t really help you with that…not my line of work as it were, being a pirate and all.” He smiled cheekily and to add emphasis, curtsied. The thing was that it didn’t look completely *wrong* coming from Jack Sparrow and it perturbed Will Turner somewhat.

“It is only part of the reason Jack.”

They were still standing in the alleyway outside of Will’s former quarters. The young blacksmith adjusted the load of swag he bore and opened his mouth to encounter the entire tale of his parting from Elizabeth and Port Royal, for a moment forgetting about the current situation they were in and why he had just been pushed out of a window wearing an embroidered coat and wig accompanied by and infamous pirate captain in a lady’s dress. He was quickly reminded of it as the door of the room from which they’d just made their ungraceful exit was kicked down and the Shady Man was heard to yell “Look out the window!”

He was grabbed once again by Jack who whispered “Hold that thought.” and dragged down the alley and around the corner into an even darker and disreputable side street before anyone would have had time to cover the small distance from door to window and gaze out into the now empty-except for a stray cat or two-alley.

The two of them hurtled recklessly- at least Jack hurtled recklessly whilst Will was dragged along for the ride under somewhat more strenuous conditions carrying at least a quarter of his own weight again in gold- down twisting side streets, slipping in muck and disturbing the odd drunk passed out in a gutter until they reached one of the principle streets of the port. Here Jack slowed them to an inconspicuous stroll, his arm linked in Will’s, “A gentleman and his whore” as Jack so eloquently put it. Will frowned at this but said nothing, interested only in getting to the Pearl and starting his new life at sea.

Thinking that they’d finally given the Shady Man and his cronies the slip, he began to relax a little. His ribs hurt, a lot and he wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d cracked one at some stage but the thoughts a of a new future dulled the pain and made it bearable at least for the time being. Possessing the strong shoulders of a blacksmith, the bundle in his arms wasn’t having too much of an adverse effect on him. Anyone else would have been feeling the burn by now but Will was suffering only a faint ache that would be gone within the hour after he’d managed to rid himself of the damn thing of course.

Jack, not surprisingly, had been talking the entire time although most of it was inconsequential drabble but the last half of which had detailed the reasons why he himself was in Tortuga and not sailing around the Spanish Main, wreaking his very own brand of havoc and mayhem on poor, unsuspecting merchants.

“You’re very lucky you caught me ‘ere when you did Will. Was only ‘ere for the day. A matter of rum, o’ course. We were nearly out of the stuff you see but never fear, after this stop, the Pearl ‘as been loaded with enough to last a’ least six months.”

“Where’s the rest of the crew then?” Will hoisted the bundle into one arm and attempted to scratch at the wig only to have his hand slapped away by ring covered fingers.

“Stop playing with it! Now the crew are back aboard the Pearl. We dropped anchor early this morn in a cove about an hour’s row. Didn’t think there was any need to announce me presence as unwanted attention is, well, unwanted. So we picked up the rum- for a good price too- and I had Gibbs see to the loading of it onto the ship.”

“Well why are you still here?” Will resisted the urge to scratch at his head again. He hated to think what the two of them looked like, walking down that street. They were keeping to the shadows but still, Jack was swaying around in a most unlady like manor but then again, so did most whores so that didn’t really matter. The boots were a worry although the dress was long enough to cover them.

Then there was the dress itself. Anyone would think it had been put on in the dark which was possible of course, taking their current location into consideration but if that were the case then the garment didn’t fit in at all. It was the dress of a lady and as Jack had pointed out earlier, no whore would pay what it was worth.

“I am still here because I’m looking for a bosun. I told you that. In any case, you found me- or perhaps twas t’other way ‘round- and now I have my bosun.” A gold-toothed grin flashed and Will couldn’t help but return the smile. He had to admit it. Through all that had happened that night, Jack had remained positively and fiendishly happy and it was catchy.

“What happened to your last bosun?”

“Dead.” Jack crossed himself…with his left hand.

“What?!”

“It’s true. Poor ol’ Jamie. Had scurvy you see-“

“He died from scurvy?!”

“Of course he didn’t die from scurvy. Bad case of cabin fever too…went mad from it.”

“And that killed him?”

“In a way…couldn’t even give the poor bloke a proper sea burial.”

“Why not?

“There was no body.”

“No body?!!”

“Threw his-self overboard in the middle of the night…at least we *think* that’s the way of it. Can’t be sure though ‘cause, well, dead men tell no tales now do they? Especially dead men ye can’t find.”

Will looked decidedly horrified. “That isn’t much incentive for me to agree to be your new bosun.”

Jack shrugged but continued to smile. “Oh I don’t know ‘bout tha’. You *could* ‘ave lived your entire life in Port Royal, husband to the governor’s daughter but that’s all you’d ever be.”

“But I can come with you and be Jack Sparrow’s bosun instead?” Will asked.

Jack ignored the sarcasm that laced Will’s words. “Yes, that’s a much better prospect don’t ye think?”

But Will didn’t have much time to think of anything as two men they recognised as being part of the Shady Man gang, rounded the corner up ahead of them. They hadn’t looked up and spotted Jack and Will yet but it was only a matter of seconds before they would glance their way and spot a very ugly whore with rather a lot of facial hair and a strange looking gentleman, buckling slightly under the weight of the large bundle in his arms.

Jack looked around frantically for an escape but finding none, decided on the only course of action that could possibly work. Their pursuers were only metres away now, busy scanning the other side of the street as Jack grabbed the bundle off a frozen Will, dumped it on the filthy ground and pushed the lad firmly up against the wall of the building they were passing. Jack then proceeded to kiss his new bosun although whether or not Will would agree after this little episode, who knew but their lives depended on it and there was really nothing for it.

Will, meanwhile, felt as if his brain was several beats behind his body because he hadn’t actually realised what Jack was doing until well into the kiss. He was too stunned to be disgusted, too shocked to do anything but be assaulted by Jack’s lips and too worried that the charade might not be working and that when Jack finally pulled away, the Shady Man would be standing their behind the cross-dressed pirate, pistol cocked and ready to finish something he’d started a good hour ago that night. Besides all this, his wig itched, and so did Jack’s beard. And then all of a sudden, as Jack pulled away, his brain caught up with the situation completely.

Will had just been kissed by a man.

This confused him. He confessed to not being a man of the world but he’d still assumed that he knew everything there was to know about *those* sort of things- even if he was yet to experience most of them- and he was fairly certain that it only ever worked with the opposite sex. But then Jack *was* parading as someone of the opposite sex, albeit a hairy one. This made sense to Will and so he clung to it having already had enough surprises for one night.

Pushing it to the back of his mind, he focused on the now and the cocky and ‘very pleased with myself’ look that Jack wore as the two men passed them without incident. *He* didn’t seem worried about what had just happened, even if he had been the one to initiate it. The pirate bent and picked up his bundle happily, this time opting to carry it himself; only fair as it was his and Will still seemed to be in a bit of a daze.

Jack tugged on the boy’s arm and they continued on down the street and again a one sided conversation was struck up as Jack talked about things of little importance. So proud of himself with his quick thinking in their last jam and so distracted was Will that they fairly bumped right into Shady Man and his three other followers as they rounded the corner.

The Shady Man gave a gleeful yet sinister grin and made to pull out his pistol when Will felt himself being pushed- by Jack he assumed- through the doorway they were standing next to. Jack who had followed him slammed the door behind him slid the bolt home.

“What is this place?” Will demanded, taking in his gaudy surroundings and the smell of stale sweat and cheap perfume.

Jack chuckled, dumping the swag into Will’s arms and pulling off the dress as he led the boy through the room they were in to a hallway filled with what Will could only describe, after the nights events, as nightmares in corsets and too much rouge.

“I believe ye would call it a house of ill repute, dearest William. But I would call it very good luck. Now give me th’ gold an’ take off that coat…you look utterly ridiculous.”

Jack took the bundle again and made his way through giggling girls who squealed with delight when they saw who it was and pawed at the pirate captain’s young friend who was indeed pretty even in his present state of flushed anger.

Will ripped off the offending wig and jacket as he was forced to follow the bobbing brown dreadlocks that were beginning to disappear amongst the throng of prostitutes, batting away at unwanted hands in the process. Catching up to Jack, he grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around, the pirate dropping the bundle to the floor between them with the force of Will’s manipulations.

“How is this”, Will motioned erratically at their surroundings, “good luck?! I have yet to see any good luck this night and I well imagine that the day I encounter it again, it will not be because of you!” He spat his words out as if they were venom and is if it pained him to have them in his mouth any longer.

Voice rising, he continued. “Look at you! You cavort around with these, these *people* and let them fawn over you as if you were some sort of perverted idol.

“You’re like a frightful hurricane, whipping violently and unwanted into other people’s lives, shattering the world they know and not giving a damn about it because you’re Captain Jack Sparrow, the infallible wonder of the Spanish Main. To be feared and to be weary of. You blasphemous, thieving, false, self indulgent, UNPLEASANT, impudent, whoring, unholy , incorrigible-“ Will stopped abruptly. Perhaps it was because of a need to draw breath but more likely it was because of the undeniable twinkle in Jack’s eyes and the grin plastered on his face that brought with them a massive revelation to Will.

It had suddenly hit him like an epiphany with incredibly bad timing.

Jack had been trying to get this sort of rise, this complete and utter over-reaction from Will the entire night.

This part of him, this ill-mannered and contemptuously outspoken character that Will had become tonight was as new to him as this life he’d chosen to start. If prior conversations in Will’s life could at all be written down, only the reader and Will himself would ever be privy to the things he had really wanted to say during them. All those times when Brown had gotten the credit for *his* craftsmanship, all those times he’d been told to remember his place, if only they could have seen the thoughts just bubbling away in his head…but no, he had always kept his mouth shut. But then again, it wasn’t *really* new to him, was it? Less than two months ago, when he’d first come across Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth had been taken by Barbossa- he’d spoken his mind to the Commodore then, hadn’t he?

But not before Jack.

Jack was the key element here, he realised. The variable that caused this outcome in the equation of Will’s personality. He bounced of Jack and visa versa. They could throw all the insults and curses they whished at each other ad infinitum and it wouldn’t matter one bit. Will would be infuriated at times, certainly, but he would be able to put up with it because it simply Did. Not. Matter.

“That’s right lad,” Jack said, knowing exactly what had just gone through Will’s head in that moment and for that instant, his movements were entirely un-Jack like, and instead held a sense of complete sobriety and sincerity. “God ‘ad the grace to give you a mind an’ a tongue in ye head t’ speak it.” He put his free arm -he was still holding the dress in the other- around Will’s shoulder and pressed the hand to the side of Will’s face then planted a firm kiss on the boy’s temple not unlike a father would a son. “Can’t keep y’ in the dark for long, can we whelp? Now let us be gone afore those rogues manage t’ find another way in ‘ere, hmmm?”

The pirate took the hateful jacket and wig from Will who was looking a little stunned at his own outburst, the dawning realisation that he’d done it in front of these women whom he loathed and despised resting on his youthful features. That they now knew this most intimate part of him when he was only just getting to know it himself…

A heated blush crept over his face and neck and the girls giggled with delight, grabbing at him, enamoured by his innocence and pretty face. Jack batted them away jovially and when one of them, clad in little more than a corset and a slip, pouted and whined in disappointment, he gave her his best charming scallywag grin and handed her the dress in his arms.

Will was knocked back to the here and now by the action and grabbed Jack’s forearm. “What are you doing? You can’t give that to *her*. It belonged to Elizabeth.” Will would much rather have Jack flaunt around in the dress than have any whore wear it.

“An’ Elizabeth gave ‘em to you to sell. An’ right now, my boy,” Jack paused and handed the frock coat to another whore who put it on happily despite it being a man’s garment. “We are selling it for our safe passage.” The wig was put on the girl’s head and raucous laughter followed as she and her colleague now wearing Elizabeth’s dress and hat, danced down the corridor with the other ladies clapping and shouting behind.

“That ought to put those bastards off our trail for a while,” Jack said, indicating to a door they should walk through and hauling the treasure up over his shoulder like a sack.

Will followed, still put out by the thought of a common prostitute wearing a dress once belonging to his lady love but all the same, quite impressed by Captain Sparrow’s ingenuity. The Shady Man would be looking for him and Jack, dressed as he had seen them last but unfortunately for him all he would find was a couple of two bit Tortuga whores.

The two passed through several rooms together, coming finally to a kitchen that had a door leading to yet more Tortuga backstreets. They both listened silently at the door for a minute or two and when they were sure that the coast was clear, they snuck out into the kitchen garden, crushing herbs underfoot and sending a wonderfully calming aroma into the air around them. It bade a nice change from the stinking, putrid odours of the streets they’d been running around in all night but it didn’t last long as they stepped through the garden gate and into another one of those stinking streets. They slipped silently up the deserted way although nothing could stop the soft clinking of metal against metal in the makeshift sack OR in Jack’s hair.

When they came to an intersection of deserted streets, Jack motioned for them to crouch down; not an easy feat when the cobbles beneath them were slimy with filth. The plan was for Jack to cross the street they’d come to and duck into the continuation of the alley they were on to make sure that it was clear. He would then whistle for Will to follow and from there they would make it down to the beach where the crew of the Pearl had come ashore earlier that day. There would be a boat waiting for them to row back to the ship from the same spot.

Jack handed Will the bundle and gave a wink before sprinting across the darkened street, and disappearing into the shadows on the other side.

Will waited.

His haunches where beginning to ache in that position, the strain of trying to keep sliding on the wet ground plus the added weight of the gold- why oh why had he bothered to bring it?- was almost unbearable. With a quick glance around to make sure there was no one about he stood slowly and waited for Jack’s signal.

Thoughts began tumbling through Will’s head. What if Jack got in trouble and *couldn’t* signal. What if the pirate got himself killed and Will was stuck here in this hateful world of whores and thieves? What if Jack, at this very moment, was making his way to the boat and to the Pearl without Will? No that was impossible. After all, Will had Jack’s treasure- *that’s* why he’d bothered to bring it. But surely, even without the gold, Jack wouldn’t leave him here…or would he? Paranoia filled the boy’s head and he began to fidget, longing for the whistle that was taking its time to come longing for-wait! A hand on his shoulder! Drop the bundle, spin around, hand on the sword he had at his belt.

A boy, no older that fifteen stood before him. All big eyes, beautiful mocha skin and a dazzling, wanton smile on his perfect, effeminate face.

“Ev’nin’ Gov. Nice nigh’ for it. Five shillin’s for a blow, ten for a go, wha’ d’ya say eh?”

Will was speechless. Whatever did the boy mean? “I’m not entirely sure what you’re insinuating, young man,” he said when he’d finally found the words. And he didn’t either. All this was just adding to his former confusions about Jack kissing him. Men simply did not behave in this manner. It was unheard of. Well at least it was unheard of by Will but that didn’t mean a lot in the scheme of things.

The boy laughed. “I’m insinuatin’ tha’ we are both men o’ means an’ tha’ we could both benefit from a lit’le exchange…call it commerce if it makes you feel any bet’er but nothin’ can make you feel as good as I can.” This was followed by a wink and a cheeky grin that he’d seen not so very long ago on the face of a pirate. Oh the confusion! And whoa! Hand on his shoulder, spin around, trip slightly over the bundle, hand on sword again and- Jack!

“Will! I’ve been whistling so bloody much I can no longer feel me lips!”

“I-I’m sorry,” Will stammered. “I didn’t hear, I was-“

“Otherwise occupied,” piped up a voice and the boy stepped out from behind Will.

Jack looked from Will to the boy and back again. “Will! Didn’t think ye had it in you! Oh but you pick yer times don’t ye lad! This isn’t exactly wha’ I’d call the opportune moment as it were.”

Will looked absolutely horrified. He wasn’t completely certain of what he was being accused of doing here but he was sure it wasn’t proper. If he couldn’t fathom it then if definitely was not proper! But the boy stepped in and saved him.

“Not to worry Gov’ner. No transactions ‘av been made as of yet. Five shillin’s for a suck, ten for a fuck, wha’ d’ya say eh?” Grin and a wink. But this time it was mirrored by Jack who was looking the boy up and down and smiling.

“Well aren’t you a pretty lit’le thing?” The boy blushed but took the compliments without turning away. “But I’ll have to decline this time my darling for the price is too high.”

Will had never seen Jack so completely, utterly and charmingly flattering before and to a boy of all people. He was beyond confusion at this point and in need, he thought, of professional help.

Meanwhile the boy’s face had fallen. “But that’s a third o’ th’ price o’ any whore in Tortuga!”

“I’m not talking of money, my boy, but of my heart because I fear ye’d break it with beauty such as yours and I should fall in love with you and ye’d leave me wanting, always wanting more!”

Will rolled his eyes. Now the pirate was just being plain old melodramatic, he thought, even if he had no understanding of the situation at hand.

Jack bowed and with a flourish, took the giggling boy’s hand and peppered the back of it with kisses. He then stood and took three gold sovereigns from a pouch that hung from his belt. Turning the hand over to face palm up, he placed the coins there and folded the youth’s fingers around them. “Now off with ye lad! Go find a nice meal and a warm place to sleep and try not to go breaking too many hearts, eh?”

And with that, Will was left to watch the retreating backs of these two very strange people as they set off in their different directions, the boy walking away, singing softly and sweetly about whores and sailors and the swaying figure of Jack whom he followed into the darkened alley across the way.

After that, it didn’t take long to get down to the boat without incident and in no time, they were rowing- correction- Will was rowing and Jack was listening to the tale of the demise of Will’s engagement to Elizabeth. Will had pushed all thoughts of recent and confusing events firmly to the back of his mind and was up to the bit about the engagement party itself.

“And you were colour coordinated?”

Will sighed. He knew this was coming. “Yes.”

Jack howled with laughter. “Oh I should very much like to 'ave seen tha'!”

“Yes, I thought as much. “ Will scowled.

“I mean,” the pirate dabbed at his eyes, trying to get a bit of control back. “I mean, I saw you in th' coat and the wig and all but I don’t think I could ever imagine-“

“Well don’t!” Will butted in and continued.

Some moments later, when Will got to the bit about the cutlery and about being at a loss when it came to the dinner party, Jack interrupted again. “Oh, that’s easy boy! Start from the outside an' work yer way in.”

“Dare I ask how a pirate, such as yourself, would know such a thing?” Will asked, heaving on the ors. He guessed he’d been rowing for about half an hour, keeping close to the shoreline as Jack directed them in the direction of the cove.

“Just because I’m a pirate does not mean I’m uncivilised dear Will. So how did you an' Miss Swann actually break off this engagement? Were their tears an' harsh words and did she beg of you not to leave? Please, don’t leave me hangin'!”

“Well that’s the thing really. It was painless. Easy, even, once we both realised that the other felt the same way.” And he recounted his last walk with Elizabeth along the parapets of the fort.

“And you were finishing each other’s sentences like that?” the pirate asked when Will had finished. And when Will nodded, “Well thank God it didn’t work out then!”

Will frowned. “Why is that?”

“Because if you two had ‘ave married and carried on like that the whole time, the entire town of Port Royal would’ve been ill from it. How positively sickenin'!”

Jack laughed as Will scowled at him. “And you, you pirate, are positively-“

“I believe tha' the word yer lookin' for is the same or similar by definition as tha' of ‘marvellous’. “ Jack cut in with a gold-toothed grin.

“-Infuriating.”

“Hmmm. It would seem that at the next major port we come to, I’ll have to pick you up a book of synonyms.” The pirate looked thoughtful, finger poised on his chin. “That is if ye can read o' course.”

“I can read.” Will was full of indignation. Even knowing that Jack was purposely antagonising him, it didn’t stop the overall effect.

“Oh really…and what wonderful works have ye read then William? Shakespeare? Chaucer perhaps?”

Will opened his mouth to reply.

“An’ the bible doesn’t count.”

Will shut his mouth again.

Jack smirked. “What about writing? Can ye do that?”

“I can write my name.” Will felt uncomfortable having his abilities questioned by Jack.

Jack locked aghast. “What? No love letters for Elizabeth? No sonnets or poems to express your undying- well undying while it lasted- love for her?” Jack stood and the boat rocked crazily. It was all Will could do to keep them from capsizing.

Jack ignored all protests and cleared his throat, arms out and crowed to the moon;

“Dearest Elizabeth,

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Well looky ‘ere, a pile of hay

Shall we roll in it as we fornic-”

“JACK!”

“What? Ye didn’t like fornicate? How about copulate? Tha' fits just as nicely.”

“Just sit down!”

When the pirate refused to do so, Will rocked the boat until Jack was forced to sit or fall into the water.

Jack sniffed. “You wouldn’t know good poetry if it came up an’ presented itself to you as the Queen of Sheba.” He took in the dark look that covered Will’s face. “Now now Will. No need to get touchy. Yer good with your hands. You make beautiful things with those hands. I don’t need you t' read an' write, I need you to be as caring as you are with those swords you craft an' look after me Pearl. You’ll be the best bosun on th' Seven Seas.”

Will blushed. And there went the pirate with the compliments again. The compliments that Will didn’t know how to take and so he changed the subject, happy to have a little control over where the conversation was going. “So when will the crew be expecting you?”

“Oh about two hours ago I’d say.”

“What?!”

“Don’t worry Will, it makes not much of a difference.”

“But what about keeping to the code?”

Jack frowned. “What about it?”

“ ‘Anyone who falls behind gets left behind’,” Will prompted.

Jack’s eyes widened. “Oh that…” then he smiled. “I amended that one.”

“Right, of course,” Will said as if he were agreeing that it was the obvious thing to do. “So what is it now?”

“ ‘Anyone who falls behind gets left behind unless said anyone is Captain Jack Sparrow’…’and anyone in his company’…I just added that bit then,” he said, waving his hand around.

Will shook his head. He wasn’t quite sure how that worked but he didn’t much care as they rounded a small rocky outcrop and the Black Pearl came into view, the moon shining on her and bathing her in dappling, blue light. He heard Jack sigh and knew that he’d made the right choice, that this was undoubtedly where he was meant to be; with the sea, with the Pearl and above all, with Jack.