masterofgoodform: (from here)
Eyes squeezed shut, jaw tensing at her nagging in his ear. Damn it. Did
she not understand? He finally regarded her, knuckles white on the arm
that she was holding to stop his movements. He changed her name
because the thought of her as the ship his brother once Captained was
painful. And he drank because he didn’t want to feel anymore. He was
tired of hurting, and the rum numbed it, gave him at least a little reprieve
from the torment and grief he felt inside.
“Tried to be honorable the right way, and as you can see,
love, it just didn’t take. So now I’m doing it my own way.
And you can bloody well sod off if you don’t like it. Plenty
of ships in the harbor that would do fine for the pirate’s life.”
Aye, his own way; which included buckets of blood spilt upon her deck day after day. It had become bad enough to where her middle was stained red. She knew he was still mourning, as was she, but was this really the way to go? Taking everything he had been taught and turning it about to fit a life of piracy. He would make a fantastic pirate captain, of that she had no doubt, but she had been the pride of the King’s Navy for Gods sake! Despite it all he was her captain now, and she had always been fond of Killian, gave a low appreciative brush of warm air each time he had taken the helm. But she never thought he’d tell her to sod off.
She released her hold on him, visibly flinching at his tone and mention of replacing her with a common ship. A bloody common ship! Jolly found herself nodding, slowly backing away, breath a steady in and out in order to keep herself calm and collected. She’d not lose herself, not after so soon being granted this gift, this life.
“You want me to leave?” another nod, inhaling shakily.
“Right, I’ll just be on my way then, head back to town
(or something). You—take care of yourself, aye? Despite
it all, Killian, I do care.” And then under her breath, “…more
than you could know.”
