Vignette: 'Diversions at Sea' (J/E - PG)
I wrote this a long time ago, a bit of my post-CotBP A/U that begins with Lost and Found (and Jealous, which is NC-17). hereswith even edited this, but there was a question as to whether or not Elizabeth would actually know how to sew, so I never posted it. However, after reading the Aubrey-Maturin series, in which any self-respecting sailor knows how to "make and mend", and considering that she would at least have sewn samplers as a girl, I feel Elizabeth would certainly have the skill, and wouldn't be above practicing it, particularly as she's only beginning her transition from Will's lady wife, now widowed, to Jack's mate on the Pearl.
~ Diversions at Sea ~
Along with her enjoyment of Jack’s small library, Elizabeth took up sewing to pass the time. Not two days into the voyage, Jack walked into his cabin to find her sitting cross-legged on the sole in a billow of skirts, mending a rent in his coat.
“I must do something to earn my keep here,” she said, looking primly smug.
“Wouldn’t’ve thought you’d even know how - or have the patience!”
She raised her brows. “There are all manner of things you don’t know about me, Captain Sparrow.”
“So it seems, Mrs. Turner,” he replied silkily. “I’m quite willing to be enlightened, however.”
She blushed faintly, but only said, “Your sewing kit is woefully lacking. If I’m to fill the post of captain’s seamstress on this voyage I shall need more supplies.”
“We’ll be dropping anchor at Nassau before we head into the Atlantic. I’ll take you shopping.”
*
They dined at the governor’s home the night they arrived - a new governor, not the one Jack had bamboozled so finely all those years ago. This one was most obsequious to the now-revered privateer captain, and welcomed him and his lovely guest with food and drink of the finest.
“Bit of a fribble,” Jack said privately to Elizabeth, “but he means well.”
“He seems very kind, and looks a most fashionable gentleman,” Elizabeth remarked. “All that lace and embroidery!”
“Aye,” Jack said, dryly, and rolled his eyes.
*
Jack accompanied Elizabeth on her shopping expedition the following day, allowing her free rein in the choosing of materiel for her proposed avocation, though he eyed a few of her purchases with some misgivings.
“What’re all those bright colored skeins of threads for?”
“Not everyone dresses in such subdued tones as yourself.” She looked him up and down, and gave a gurgle of laugher, for though he might favor browns and blacks, and snowy white (aside from accessories), he was still the most piratically flamboyant privateer of her acquaintance.
“Hmmph.” He frowned at her levity, and his own foreboding.
*
His fears were fully realized in the coming weeks as they ventured out into the Atlantic. She quickly accomplished needed repairs, and then began a series of projects designed to enliven her surroundings.
“What the devil’re you doing with my shirt!” he exclaimed one afternoon.
She was again seated there on the sole, in a patch of sun, stitching away industriously. “It’s only blackwork! Like the governor’s shirt. Did you not notice his cuffs when we had dinner with him that night? I thought them excessively elegant.”
“Excessive. Aye, that’s the word, certainly.” Jack ground his teeth a bit, but had to admit (if only to himself) that the pattern she was using was rather pretty. “Just don’t get carried away, all right?”
“What? No colorful birds, or leafy vines, or flowers?”
“Good God, no!” His eyes narrowed. “P’rhaps, Mrs. Turner, I should discover some other engrossing diversion that will occupy your time, seein’ as you’re tempted to make mischief with my clothes.”
She looked up at him, all feigned innocence. “Perhaps you should, indeed, Captain Sparrow. I do enjoy a variety of activities, and somehow I feel sure you will think of something… interesting.”
~.~
~ Diversions at Sea ~
Along with her enjoyment of Jack’s small library, Elizabeth took up sewing to pass the time. Not two days into the voyage, Jack walked into his cabin to find her sitting cross-legged on the sole in a billow of skirts, mending a rent in his coat.
“I must do something to earn my keep here,” she said, looking primly smug.
“Wouldn’t’ve thought you’d even know how - or have the patience!”
She raised her brows. “There are all manner of things you don’t know about me, Captain Sparrow.”
“So it seems, Mrs. Turner,” he replied silkily. “I’m quite willing to be enlightened, however.”
She blushed faintly, but only said, “Your sewing kit is woefully lacking. If I’m to fill the post of captain’s seamstress on this voyage I shall need more supplies.”
“We’ll be dropping anchor at Nassau before we head into the Atlantic. I’ll take you shopping.”
*
They dined at the governor’s home the night they arrived - a new governor, not the one Jack had bamboozled so finely all those years ago. This one was most obsequious to the now-revered privateer captain, and welcomed him and his lovely guest with food and drink of the finest.
“Bit of a fribble,” Jack said privately to Elizabeth, “but he means well.”
“He seems very kind, and looks a most fashionable gentleman,” Elizabeth remarked. “All that lace and embroidery!”
“Aye,” Jack said, dryly, and rolled his eyes.
*
Jack accompanied Elizabeth on her shopping expedition the following day, allowing her free rein in the choosing of materiel for her proposed avocation, though he eyed a few of her purchases with some misgivings.
“What’re all those bright colored skeins of threads for?”
“Not everyone dresses in such subdued tones as yourself.” She looked him up and down, and gave a gurgle of laugher, for though he might favor browns and blacks, and snowy white (aside from accessories), he was still the most piratically flamboyant privateer of her acquaintance.
“Hmmph.” He frowned at her levity, and his own foreboding.
*
His fears were fully realized in the coming weeks as they ventured out into the Atlantic. She quickly accomplished needed repairs, and then began a series of projects designed to enliven her surroundings.
“What the devil’re you doing with my shirt!” he exclaimed one afternoon.
She was again seated there on the sole, in a patch of sun, stitching away industriously. “It’s only blackwork! Like the governor’s shirt. Did you not notice his cuffs when we had dinner with him that night? I thought them excessively elegant.”
“Excessive. Aye, that’s the word, certainly.” Jack ground his teeth a bit, but had to admit (if only to himself) that the pattern she was using was rather pretty. “Just don’t get carried away, all right?”
“What? No colorful birds, or leafy vines, or flowers?”
“Good God, no!” His eyes narrowed. “P’rhaps, Mrs. Turner, I should discover some other engrossing diversion that will occupy your time, seein’ as you’re tempted to make mischief with my clothes.”
She looked up at him, all feigned innocence. “Perhaps you should, indeed, Captain Sparrow. I do enjoy a variety of activities, and somehow I feel sure you will think of something… interesting.”
~.~