Fic: Hooks & Ayes (J/E - PG13)
Wow. Can't believe how long it's been since I posted anything. But the 'hook' drabble challenge prompt at blackpearlsails last week got the Muse thinking. 600+ words of post-AWE Jack and Elizabeth, with a side of Teague, Tai Huang, and Mistress Ching, with thanks to hereswith for beta reading.
~ Hooks & Ayes ~
“Liz’beth, what the devil’s keeping you?” Jack called as he walked into the elegant parlor, formerly the main cabin of H.M.S. Destiny out of Portsmouth, now of Shipwreck Cove and assigned to the Pirate King for her personal use.
“Oh, thank goodness!” came Elizabeth's gasping reply from the smaller sleeping cabin on the larboard side. “Help me, will you?”
Jack walked in to find her more or less gowned. The less bit was in the back, where the dress gaped open.
“I’ve tried, but I can’t fasten all these hooks,” she said over her shoulder.
“Where’s that girl of yours?” Jack groused. “Your hair’s still down, too. We’ll catch it hot if we’re late to that reception - Teague wants everything just so. You’d think he had designs on Mistress Ching’s virtue, the way he’s carrying on.”
Elizabeth chuckled, but only said, “Phoebe was called away, her mother’s taken ill.” She lifted the burnished gold mass of her hair aside to give him better access.
“You need a lady’s maid, one of the high-flown sort out of London, not a saucy Cove-bred pirate chit,” Jack muttered, beginning the rather enjoyable work of drawing the heavy green velvet closed over Elizabeth’s pale skin and slowly fastening the many small hooks.
“Jack, you know that’s not fair,” Elizabeth said mildly. “Phoebe tries to please, and she does very well for me most of the time. And I so rarely have occasion to wear a gown these days. Jack? Jack!”
“Hmmm?”
“What are you doing?”
Jack had paused in his task. He now ran a finger over the satiny skin so close at hand, and Elizabeth shivered and turned to him, frowning. He said, “You don’t seem to be wearing much under that gown,” and when she blushed, he smiled, slow and wicked.
She countered, unsteadily, “Only you will know. I don’t really need a corset, do I?”
“Certainly not on my account,” he agreed, and leaned in to kiss her lips.
When they parted again - just barely - she breathed, “What about catching it hot?”
He grinned.
She managed not to laugh. “The reception?”
“Oh. Aye,” he said, suppressing the grin. “We’d better hurry then, hadn't we?”
*
Mistress Ching seemed to be in a far more amiable mood than was her wont and was not only pleased to approve the arrangements for her entertainment, but was willing to overlook the tardiness of the Pirate King and Teague’s blasted wastrel of a son.
An hour into the proceedings, Tai Huang looked toward the door and said, “Ah! They have deigned to join us.”
Teague turned to see the pair making their entrance. “Might have known,” he growled under his breath. From Jack's proprietorial yet slightly dazed air, and from the color in Elizabeth’s cheeks, it was obvious what had been transpiring in the upper reaches of the Cove this last hour.
But Ching, blindness making her hearing all the sharper, chuckled. “They were no doubt detained on important matters, Captain Teague. Do not be concerned on my behalf.”
“You’re very indulgent,” Teague said.
“Tai Huang has told me something of their association. I feel it should be encouraged, for all our sakes. Our Pirate King is well-connected, which could be an advantage in capable hands. Who knows what the future will hold?”
“Who knows, indeed?” Teague agreed, but he still narrowed his eyes as Jack and Elizabeth approached. “Good of you to join us,” he said, mostly to Jack.
Jack ignored him. “Mistress Ching, profuse apologies," he said gracefully. "We were unavoidably detained. A delicate matter concerning a multiplicity of hooks."
"And Ayes? " Teague suggested.
Jack gave a slight cough, but his voice still squeaked a bit as he replied, "Precisely."
~.~
~ Hooks & Ayes ~
“Liz’beth, what the devil’s keeping you?” Jack called as he walked into the elegant parlor, formerly the main cabin of H.M.S. Destiny out of Portsmouth, now of Shipwreck Cove and assigned to the Pirate King for her personal use.
“Oh, thank goodness!” came Elizabeth's gasping reply from the smaller sleeping cabin on the larboard side. “Help me, will you?”
Jack walked in to find her more or less gowned. The less bit was in the back, where the dress gaped open.
“I’ve tried, but I can’t fasten all these hooks,” she said over her shoulder.
“Where’s that girl of yours?” Jack groused. “Your hair’s still down, too. We’ll catch it hot if we’re late to that reception - Teague wants everything just so. You’d think he had designs on Mistress Ching’s virtue, the way he’s carrying on.”
Elizabeth chuckled, but only said, “Phoebe was called away, her mother’s taken ill.” She lifted the burnished gold mass of her hair aside to give him better access.
“You need a lady’s maid, one of the high-flown sort out of London, not a saucy Cove-bred pirate chit,” Jack muttered, beginning the rather enjoyable work of drawing the heavy green velvet closed over Elizabeth’s pale skin and slowly fastening the many small hooks.
“Jack, you know that’s not fair,” Elizabeth said mildly. “Phoebe tries to please, and she does very well for me most of the time. And I so rarely have occasion to wear a gown these days. Jack? Jack!”
“Hmmm?”
“What are you doing?”
Jack had paused in his task. He now ran a finger over the satiny skin so close at hand, and Elizabeth shivered and turned to him, frowning. He said, “You don’t seem to be wearing much under that gown,” and when she blushed, he smiled, slow and wicked.
She countered, unsteadily, “Only you will know. I don’t really need a corset, do I?”
“Certainly not on my account,” he agreed, and leaned in to kiss her lips.
When they parted again - just barely - she breathed, “What about catching it hot?”
He grinned.
She managed not to laugh. “The reception?”
“Oh. Aye,” he said, suppressing the grin. “We’d better hurry then, hadn't we?”
*
Mistress Ching seemed to be in a far more amiable mood than was her wont and was not only pleased to approve the arrangements for her entertainment, but was willing to overlook the tardiness of the Pirate King and Teague’s blasted wastrel of a son.
An hour into the proceedings, Tai Huang looked toward the door and said, “Ah! They have deigned to join us.”
Teague turned to see the pair making their entrance. “Might have known,” he growled under his breath. From Jack's proprietorial yet slightly dazed air, and from the color in Elizabeth’s cheeks, it was obvious what had been transpiring in the upper reaches of the Cove this last hour.
But Ching, blindness making her hearing all the sharper, chuckled. “They were no doubt detained on important matters, Captain Teague. Do not be concerned on my behalf.”
“You’re very indulgent,” Teague said.
“Tai Huang has told me something of their association. I feel it should be encouraged, for all our sakes. Our Pirate King is well-connected, which could be an advantage in capable hands. Who knows what the future will hold?”
“Who knows, indeed?” Teague agreed, but he still narrowed his eyes as Jack and Elizabeth approached. “Good of you to join us,” he said, mostly to Jack.
Jack ignored him. “Mistress Ching, profuse apologies," he said gracefully. "We were unavoidably detained. A delicate matter concerning a multiplicity of hooks."
"And Ayes? " Teague suggested.
Jack gave a slight cough, but his voice still squeaked a bit as he replied, "Precisely."
~.~