@povvertaken / ❛ they say lots of things about me, hawthorne; & they’ll tell you, in your dealings with me, ample caution is in order. let me show you why. ❜
in the years before their encounter, when he & his brother were young, & his father still drew breath, the pair were often gathered together into captain hawthorne’s study, that he might regale them with tales of his time at sea, & impart to them the wisdom which came with such a life. he had, in truth, paid very little attention during such occasions, knowing ( in the way all jealous children know ) that he was present only so that his charles was not seen to make a difference between his sons, but one lesson, repeated often, stuck with him well into his adult years. in ballrooms, in ships cabins, in the too - large estate he found himself attempting to manage from the depths of his grief, in the middle of meetings & at the most inopportune times, charles hawthorne’s words would return to him, solemn & scolding - there is no greater evil in this world than the one which lives in a pirate. even the devil is shamed by them & their numbers, & the greed which lives within them.
he was sure & certain, then, that his father was spinning endlessly within his grave at the fact that there, in one of their great & grand guest bedrooms, a pirate of terrible renown lay recovering from the presumed - shipwreck which had almost claimed his life. well, he was supposed to be recovering, & elliot had assumed, upon entering, that the infamous captain crane would be where he had left him the night before, hidden away between soft sheets, wearing a nightshirt monogrammed with his father’s initials. spinning in his grave seemed too small a thing, then. surely, charles hawthorne would, at any moment, burst, howling, from his coffin, in an unmatched rage, that his only remaining son had allowed such a wretch into their home.
the captain, however, was crafty ( or, perhaps, elliot was simply stupid, a not unreasonable assumption, he would admit ) & had, it seemed, been laying in wait for him. he had, at the very least, the good grace to slam him against an undecorated section of the wall, the wind escaping from elliot with a choked gasp, teeth clicking together as his head bounced on the wallpaper, & it was only by the will of god, it seemed, that they did not sever his tongue. crane’s voice, low & threatening, sent a shiver racing up his spine, & his chest heaved beneath the weight of the pirate’s arm, & as elliot’s eyes came to meet crane’s, he was sure he would become lost in them, deep & dark whirlpools which threatened to pull him under & trap him within their depths. had they met upon a ship, he was sure that his end would come at captain crane’s hand.
a pity, then, for the captain, that they stood upon dry land.
❛ i must say, you are the worst guest this house has ever seen, ❜ elliot managed, amazed at how steady, if strained, his voice was, & though he was certain that he was nowhere near as quick as the captain, he knew that, in that moment, he was in much better health. if worst came to worst ( & he had removed all sharp objects he could find from the room, to ensure it never did ), he was even confident that there was a chance he might be the one to prevail. still, his hand trembled, just slightly, as he raised it, fingers curling around crane’s wrist, that he might shove him off, & allow his lungs some relief. strength, the captain had in abundance, but without stamina, it would be useless. he hoped. he prayed.
❛ i didn’t think you would be well enough to stand so soon. please, captain crane. your reputation precedes you. there’s no need for threats, ❜ & then, softer, ❛ i know exactly what you’re capable of. what you’ve done to others. what you could do to me, if you were able. a smarter man might have turned you in the moment you washed up on the shore, ❜ a smile, then, crooked, & almost genuine. ❛ you should be thankful, then, that i’m such a reckless fool. now, please, sit down. you’ll never recover your strength like this ! ❜
hades / no longer accepting.
