#starsmapped

[horizontouched]

Though survivable, it wasn’t the most pleasant sensation.  It still stung like hell, because apparently even the dead still had functioning nerves, but it was still far from the worst thing in the world.  He’d burned himself in the forge worse than this.  Getting his chest broken open with a dull knife and hatchet while being doused in searing seawater had been substantially more painful.  The most annoying part was that would be at least the second time he’d been stabbed with his own weapon.   Carina looked worse than he felt.  If he hadn’t just caught a knife to the ribs, he’d be more worried about her fainting.  “Yes, if you’d please excuse me for a moment about that.”  Will didn’t immediately turn, waiting a moment in case she did keel over.  Only then was the handle was removed with a sigh and promptly flung back at it’s initial thrower.  Having dismissed near the entire crew that worked under Jones, he’d been hard pressed to find replacements.  The Dutchman could be sailed on only twelve, but that was hardly efficient or pleasant for anyone.  Unfortunate given that most of the dead were worse pirates than he was when he started.  Some had heard rumors of just how captaincy was obtained on the ship-fewer still liked to act on said tales as if it would save them from having to move on eventually. 

In his near two decade long run, it had only happened a few times.  Desperate people who died violent deaths, terrified of the unknown and unnerved with that even he couldn’t answer what came next, were prone to idiocy.  It was not the kindest send off, scoring a man in the chest with a blade and knocking him overboard into an awaiting dinghy to be dealt with later.  He would never be as cruel as his predecessor, but he’d come to understand that sometimes the only way to earn respect was by such actions.  It benefitted no one if his own crew mutinied and then he either had to find a new one or spend the next ten years ignoring each other awkwardly.  Ruder still was daring to attack one’s captain off his own ship.   Will peered over the rail with a deep frown, belatedly realizing he’d need to retrieve his dagger.  Not worth leaving the Pearl for at the moment.  “I should very much like that back when you get the chance.  You’re not going anywhere soon.”  He dragged a hand over his face as he pivoted back to face Carina.  “Are you well?  It’s fine, see?  Gone already.”  Shirt and coat were moved to prove his point, flesh none the worse for wear.  The hole in fabric would need to be mended, but he’d gotten rather good at patching.  

@starsmapped  from here

[anklesalltheway]

Mrs Bennet Mama Swann has spoken.

@itismissswann​  @starsmapped​  @compassofsouls​  @girlofcinders​  @familyxdutyxhonor​  

[emcads]

@starsmapped: CARINA SMYTH BARBOSSA.

oh. oh. she really has made a mess. Esmeralda wipes up the lifeblood dripping down her chin with a middle finger and licks it clean, then sets to the twin wounds at her throat. she cannot help the stifled moan that escapes the back of her throat, the lady's pulse jumping at her tongue, begging her to drink a little more. she mustn't. she mustn't. Miss Smith is so small and precious ... it is a wonder such a body has accommodated such a great thirst.

❝  Carina, mi querida, mi estrella ...  ❞

once her neck is unmarred by the stain of blood, and the bite reduced to only two faint pricks in the skin, does the creature withdraw her tongue ... but not her lips, not her nose, which takes in the scent of her as greedily as if she'd not had a DROP. she tastes like starlight. like the vast expanse of a freshwater lake teeming with life. like the petal of a flower sighing its first scent of spring. like love.

❝  say you are alright. say you forgive me.  ❞

[emcads]

𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒.       /     accepting always.

@starsmapped​​   said :   ❝  i can think of nothing less appealing than an evening of watching other people dance.  ❞ ​

𝐄𝐒𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐃𝐀 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐄𝐃,  𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋,   as she danced ‘round the room,  a stolen invitation brandished in her hand.   so DELIGHTED was she in the prospect of a night at a glittering ball,   at the opportunity to DRESS  in her finest silks  and drink the rarest wine and see the prettiest and most charming  of all the nobility had to offer that she was hardly affected in the LEAST  by Carina’s sour mood and dour reluctance.    she hadn’t found it quite the rare and wonderful treasure that Esmeralda had,   having laid her hands on this signed and sealed piece of paper  ––    like a TREASURE MAP,   where only brighter jewels were to follow beneath the revealing  “ X ”  of the address   ––     but she was certain she could bring her ‘round.  ( balls, after all,  were only enjoyable so long as you had the right attendees ––    and the right PARTNER.  )  she wondered if perhaps Carina had only known the company of dull and insipid boys  before ;   hence her lack of enthusiasm.  it didn’t once occur to her that they very well couldn’t dance together,   not in the eye of society. 

         ❝      then you will have to dance yourself,   mi estrella.    ❞    she grabbed Carina’s hand before she could properly protest,   and pulled her into a twirl,   her other hand  ––   with its precious cargo –– settled at her waist. 

[marisetcaelum]

@starsmapped asked: "do you want to come up?"

thyme blinks. does the girl not know where she is? blissfully ignorant, or willingly unaware, in denial? it is a fair enough thing, she supposes, that those who have not seen do not believe in creatures appearing as women, while acting as beasts.

❝ i'm quite alright where i am, miss, thank you. do you not want to come in? a bit of saltwater won't hurt you, and it's nice, really.. ❞

[emcads]

@starsmapped said: “Why would I even consider taking on a pirate as a partner like this?” -- @starsmapped from here if you're up to write again :)

IT HURTS, though Esmeralda does not dare to show it. she isn't wrong, Miss Carina: pirates are a ROTTEN KIND OF CREATURE unbeloved by any nation, not trustworthy by any account, and certainly not a worthy partner. would she wish a certain betrayal on one for whom she cares so deeply ? would she saddle an innocent girl with the threat of the hanging rope merely for looking at her kindly, a girl who has done no wrong nor served to BENEFIT from the violence that buzzes as damn menacing as a swamp's mosquitos about her ears ? why consider a pirate as a partner, indeed. Esmeralda chooses, for now, to consider only the folly in the PROFESSIONAL SENSE, to remember her kind as lying blackguards ( and to ignore, for a while, that they are heartless as well ). it helps her see the reason in it. and Carina Smith is a creature of REASON.

perhaps that too shaves a point from her favor. rare is it that passion does not hold Esmeralda by the throat.

❛❛ of course you wouldn't. you're no fool. ❜❜

she doesn't mean for her words to sound so very bitter –– but she cannot help it. damn her for ever letting that FOOLISH HEART OF HERS out of its well-earned cage.

❛❛ pardon me for supposing an allegiance where there is none. ❜❜

[emcads]

𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐈 𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔 ?      /     accepting always.

@starsmapped​​   said:       "Can I kiss you?"

𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐑.  𝐎𝐇 !        the smile  at  her cheeks grows far too quickly for her to hope to restrain it,    and she has quite given herself away  if she wished to  FEIGN  nonchalance.   (  but did she ?  were those rules not terribly limiting,  STIFLING  the flames of affection  into cold civility ?  )    but still  she forces herself to remain quiet,   so quiet,   as the  COOL NIGHT AIR  blows through the open window,  forcing the two girls beneath a blanket  to share  their warmth.   all is still,  and calm  in their small self-made observatory,   with a  PEACE  she has no wish to shatter.   a sacred PAUSING  of the world just out of doors.

the pretense  of stargazing  has  passed,   with the pair having long since   lain  down on the chilled  wooden boards,  neither  of them rising  to close the window,   neither of them particularly  WANTING TO.     for to do so would ruin this most EXCELLENT  excuse,   and the pleasure of holding one another  so close  is far  too sweet to abandon to something like REASON.   far better to remain  under the flannel,  giggling,  sharing stories  about the stars and  WONDERING   to themselves  if the other girl beneath the blanket  wants to KISS  as much as they do,   or if to do so would  ruin  this innocent moment somehow.

Esmeralda  turns to face her companion  to answer her,   but finds that in the  nearness  their  FACES BRUSH,   noses touching,  and her  heart  has  LEAPT  to her throat.  she can only smile,  and nod,   and want  so fervently.

[emcads]

“i’ve been waiting all day…” --  @starsmapped    from some old meme !

        ❝      𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓,  𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐄 ?     ❞ 

Esmeralda  grins   as  she crawls  most eagerly  into bed,    hands  taking  Carina’s  and  PINNING  THEM  as her  legs  do the  same  to either  side  of her sweet form,   mouth  as  full of  LAUGHTER  as it  is  kisses  that  fall like  rain  onto every  inch   of available  skin.     she is so lucky,   so,  so  LUCKY  to  call this beautiful  girl  her own,    WAITING   the entire day  for her  touch,    for  her  kiss.   her  flush,    so sweet and PINK  across her cheeks  blooms like a  Caribbean  sunset ,   skin  so  soft  and  warm,    finer  than the most sumptuous  of royal velvets,  more  precious  than  silk.   a treasure  ––   the only  thing that matters to her,  now.   Esmeralda slows,   and  lowers  her  kiss  to  her jaw,  her  ear,    LOSING HERSELF   in  the scent  of her   that stirs nothing but sheer  want  in the pit of her stomach.   Madness.   this is madness,   what she  does to me.    but she simply  cannot bring herself to mind,  and  interlaces  eager  fingers  as she murmurs  apologies  in her  ear.

       ❝      I’m sorry to have kept you waiting,   mi querida.   there was this  DREADFUL BUSINESS  in the square,   all these soldiers  who were quite certain  it was  MY HEAD  with a bounty  on it,   and they were  very  determined  to have it.     ❞ 

Esmeralda’s  bright smile  shifts  into  a rather  more  wicked  smirk.   though her  hands  hold  her  TIGHTLY,    her  legs  shift  on the bed,   with  a  knee  moved  to rest   JUST THERE   between her legs  ––  not forceful,  but insistent   as  she  bends  to get  as  close  to her  as she possibly  can,  lips  drifting  to lavish their  attentions  on her  THROAT.   a moan   rises on her tongue,   but  she manages to swallow  it down  into a good-humored  hum  of  laughter,   and teasing,  and WANT.

      ❝     I would have much rather  been  here   giving it to YOU  ...    ❞