Better Than Gold [Ch01/xx | part a/c]
anonymous
May 24 2010, 02:07:22 UTC
Okay then. Authornon sucks with multiparters. Big time. But she will try her best with this.
Oh and I hope OP won't mind if this comes across as a bit Francis/everyone. I swear it's ultimately going to be FrUK. I swear! It's just that everytime I write France, he ends up flirting with pretty much everyone. Seems like it'll start a bit slow too, which worries me a bit, but I'm going to just jump ahead if it feels like I get too stuck on the development.
There is also going to be OCs, namely England's siblings and colonies. Tell me right away if you don't want them around and I'll cut their parts to as little as I can, or replace them with random canon charas because otherwise I am going to use them. Canon characters will be there too though, don't worry. I just feel like some... six people(?) make a pretty damn small crew for a ship. Especially since most canon!Kirkland family members are so young. I can use like, the other Europeans too though, if you want but I'd prefer to have them show up as their own separate groups if they do (I have this idea for the Germans that I might like to use...). But yeah, I can still change it if you tell me right away.
Arthur leaped through the darkness of the night and landed on the deck of the caught ship, softly as cat. He grinned as the sailors yelped and backed off, some fumbling for their weapons, some lifting up their hands in surrender. Oh no, don't surrender yet. What's the fun without a little fight?
To his and his crew's joy, some of the sailors did attack, desperate and trembling with fear. Arthur easily cut through the lot, leaving the rest to his men and looked for the ship's captain instead. There he was, on the quarter deck. Arthur made it up the stairs in a few shift jumps to the captain and the other sailor who was probably the first-mate and pointed his cutlass at the pair. "Good evening, gentlemen," he said.
"S-sale pirates," the captain spat.
Arthur lifted an eyebrow. "French, eh? Quelle surprise excellente. I love robbing the French... Dear captain," he purred, "your men seem to be confused about whether to surrender or not, and I should tell you that you are showing significant weakness as a leader if you don't advice them." He stepped closer to the sweating Frenchman and tapped his chin gently with the tip of the blade. "Don't you agree?"
"Rendez-vous, les gars !" the captain cried. "On ne nous paye pas assez pour que nous nous fassions tuer..."
Arthur smiled. "Exactly."
The pirates ransacked the whole ship with enthusiasm and Arthur waited patiently for them to come back up with the loot. He played with his pistol and sang some of his favourite French-mocking songs while keeping an eye on the captured crew.
His men returned with the spoils.
One, a bag of French livres, approximately one to two hundred.
Two, a box of tastelessly flashy jewellery that would have made a puritan run away in horror.
Three, a nice collection of fashionable men's clothes.
All very satisfactory indeed. They could also take the crew's weapons to improve their current selection of arms.
The rest of the loot then again...
Four, about a dozen paintings and sculptures, all packed and secured for transportation.
Five, several elaborately decorative pieces of furniture.
Six, a grouchy French nobleman in a silk nightdress and his whimpering servant.
Arthur grimaced. "Furniture? Paintings?" He snorted. "We don't have time for junk like this. Heave them overboard, lads!"
Better Than Gold [Ch01/xx | part b/c]
anonymous
May 24 2010, 02:08:24 UTC
"NO!" cried the nobleman who Arthur already knew he hated. "Those are masterpieces! They are invaluable! I will not let a group of scum who have no understanding of value other than that of rum and whores destroy them!"
Arthur turned around slowly and just gave the man a long look. "What? You suggest that we sell them in Paris or something? What are you going to do about it, stubble-face?"
The man drew a furious breath through his up-turned nose and marched right in front of Arthur who refused to back up despite the annoying proximity. Ew, did the man use sixteen different perfumes every day or what? "I happen to be Francis Bonnefoy, his most Christian Majesty King Louis the XVI's personal art consultant!" he fumed with poorly contained indignation.
Arthur guffawed. "Oh, aren't we fancy, eh? Too bad that I don't care. In fact I rather want to see your face after we destroy them now. Boys!" he shouted over his shoulder.
There was a click and cold metal was pressed against his neck. Damn, I underestimated that sneaky bastard.
"You shall not touch those pieces," the man hissed.
"It's a dangerous game you are playing, Frenchy," Arthur said warningly.
"I am ready to risk it. Are you, pirate?"
He grinned. "I'm always ready."
A shot and a curse in French as the pistol flew right out of the the man's hand. Arthur caught his arms and locked them behind his back before he had time to recover from the surprise.
"Good shot, Jones," Arthur smirked.
Jones blew at his pistol and stuffed it back under his belt. He grinned and saluted. "Thanks, cap'n! Are we throwing this stuff overboard then, huh?" he asked, pointing at the furniture and artworks.
The Frenchman shuddered in Arthur's grip. He didn't answer right away. "Actually, let me think about it... Oy, captain!"
The captain gave a start. "Yes?"
Arthur pointed at the assumed Monsieur Bonnefoy and peered at the captain's eyes as Williams helpfully illuminated them with a lantern. "Is this man here what he says he is?"
"Y-yes?" the captain answered, hesitant and confused about where it was all going. Arthur studied him tightly for a moment but deemed that he was telling the truth.
"Right. I don't suppose old Louis might pay a handsome sum for this fellow and the booty, then?"
The nobleman looked at him over his shoulder, seemingly taken aback by this turn of events.
"Come quietly, you swanky dog, or we will destroy your precious knick-knacks," Arthur told him softly. "Let's get these to Virginia then, lads! Try not to destroy them, you clumsy apes."
Bonnefoy didn't put up a fight, apparently still not sure what to think about his situation. His servant let out a whimpering cry of "Monsieur !" as Arthur hurried him to Virginia at gun point while the men loaded up the goods. The servant bolted, though, the second Arthur turned to look at him. Arthur considered sending someone after him to take him with his master just for being such an annoying coward, but then again, he needed someone to tell the French king what had happened and he didn't trust the sailors to do that.
The ship was too small to have any extra space where to lock a prisoner up so he pushed the man against the nearest mast and told Peter to throw him some rope. He wouldd decide what to do with him in the morning but this would have to do for now.
Besides, Arthur rather liked tying people up. It was strangely satisfying. Perhaps because somewhere deep down he had the firm belief that other people should always be exactly where he wanted them.
Better Than Gold [Ch01/xx | part c/c]
anonymous
May 24 2010, 02:09:52 UTC
---
Francis knew for sure that being tied to the mast by the pirate captain should not have been making him as hot as it was. And damn all, it was. There was something about that crooked grin and the occational gruff laugh and those confident hands. And the pirate was good at it. He worked the rope like an artisan, making the ties tight enough to make it impossible to wriggle out, but loose enough to let the blood flow freely.
Then the bastard pressed right against him to wind the rope around the mast, muttering a mocking "excuse-me". Francis bit his tongue and held his breath, afraid it might betray him. Not that he particularly minded that kind of games (oh, those delightfully depraved sessions with Abbé d'Herblay back when Francis was hardly old enough to be called a man. For all their commitment, Jesuits could make some rather interesting bed partners... and he really should not be thinking about that right now) but this was definitely not the time nor the place.
The pirate tied his legs and feet as well and then tugged on the rope a few times to check that it was secure. Then he straightened up in front of Francis and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look him in the eye. The pirate smiled. "Comfortable?" He patted Francis on the cheek like child, making Francis glare at him murderously.
The pirate flashed him a grin and turned around to go check on his crew. "How are we doing, Dylan?"
A man whose eyebrows were far too similar to the captain's for him not to be related to him, waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Mostly done, cap'n. Ready to leave whenever."
"Splendid. We shall do so right away then." The captain faced Francis' ship and the robbed crew now. "Gentlemen, I trust you to relay my best regards to the King and inform him of my interest in dealing with him. If he should want to contact me to make further plans, tell him to address a letter to Captain Arthur Kirkland and send it to my contact in The Silver Unicorn in London. Thank you very much." He lifted his hand in a careless goodbye as the pirate crew separated the two ships and pushed them apart.
Francis saw his servant hesitantly leaning over the railing to give him a miserable look. Francis could only give one in return. Pierre Colombe was a good servant but not a very brave one. All Francis could hope was that he would at least tell the King about his plight so that help could be sent.
As the ship disappeared into the darkness, Francis finally realized that he was going to be very, very cold, if the pirates where going to leave him out in his nightdress for the night.
10 points for everyone who got the tiny reference to the musketeer books. Seriously, if this fandom doesn't have any Aramis/France (or France/Aramis, I don't care), it should.
Yes, Francis' servant is a human version of his pigeon. XD; Uhm, I was out of ideas? And in my headcanon Arthur does speak some basic French at least. At least in this era he does.
Btw, I don't really know much about all this sailing stuff so I'm just improvising here. I hope this doesn't suck too much, on that account or others either.
Oh and the sun started rising soon enough after this, so Francis didn't die of exposure, don't worry.
Oh my god, I didn't expect my request to be remembered any more by this point - I am so glad I came to the meme today and I'm so grateful to you for filling it! This is so intriguing already, and I can't wait to see what happens next! Ah, Francis, defender of fine art, pervert to the core~
As for OCs and Francis/everyone - please go ahead and do as you plan; I have no problem with OC, and after all Francis wouldn't be Francis without a little Francis/everyone. ;D
Authoranon (reply to all comments)
anonymous
June 5 2010, 21:49:06 UTC
I'm replying everyone in the same comment to save comment space.
Wow, thank you all so much for the comments! That's so encouraging, I've never gotten so many in any anon meme before. O_O I promise I'll try my best to keep up with this fill. I'm a slow writer (I tend to rewrite each chapter at least once before I post it -- and that's when I'm being fast. I'm just a perfectionist like that) but I hope you have patience with me... Oh and I found a great book to use as reference material too, I'll be reading it like whoah. 8) Actually, I got a bit carried away while reading it. orz I'll try to keep in mind I have to get into the writing business at some point too. But as I said, I didn't know much about sailing or anything but I'm learning so much right now and I hope it'll come to good use. xD
I'm glad you're okay with the OCs! I hope I'll do a good job with them. I know it's easy to get too excited about your own charas and I try to avoid that and keep the attention on the FrUK. XD; But they do give me more room to work with, and I just love the whole Anglo-Irish-British family. Also, I'll probably sort of steal some of these characters from certain people whose interpretations of them I really like...
About Dylan... okay I'll just say it, he's supposed to be Wales. Australia will probably be around too, though. Humm... would you like to hear who else I've been planning to put on board or should I just introduce them as they appear?
I'll try to update soon! I'm sorry for being so slow. orz
Re: Authoranon (reply to all comments)
anonymous
July 8 2010, 09:10:14 UTC
Words cannot fully express how much I love this! Love pirates, love AUs, love FrUk, love all the dialogue and humour. Your Arthur is just perfect (such a cocky yet oddly charming bastard :D) and I personally really like all the colony OCs too. I'm really enjoying France suffering (in more ways than one...*ahem*). He's a crafty wine bastard so I have a feeling he won't be in those ropes for long...
Anyway, good luck with your writing and please take your time. Don't feel pressured or anything. I'm a slow writer myself so I understand how you feel. ^^
Oh and I hope OP won't mind if this comes across as a bit Francis/everyone. I swear it's ultimately going to be FrUK. I swear! It's just that everytime I write France, he ends up flirting with pretty much everyone. Seems like it'll start a bit slow too, which worries me a bit, but I'm going to just jump ahead if it feels like I get too stuck on the development.
There is also going to be OCs, namely England's siblings and colonies. Tell me right away if you don't want them around and I'll cut their parts to as little as I can, or replace them with random canon charas because otherwise I am going to use them. Canon characters will be there too though, don't worry. I just feel like some... six people(?) make a pretty damn small crew for a ship. Especially since most canon!Kirkland family members are so young. I can use like, the other Europeans too though, if you want but I'd prefer to have them show up as their own separate groups if they do (I have this idea for the Germans that I might like to use...). But yeah, I can still change it if you tell me right away.
Arthur leaped through the darkness of the night and landed on the deck of the caught ship, softly as cat. He grinned as the sailors yelped and backed off, some fumbling for their weapons, some lifting up their hands in surrender. Oh no, don't surrender yet. What's the fun without a little fight?
To his and his crew's joy, some of the sailors did attack, desperate and trembling with fear. Arthur easily cut through the lot, leaving the rest to his men and looked for the ship's captain instead. There he was, on the quarter deck. Arthur made it up the stairs in a few shift jumps to the captain and the other sailor who was probably the first-mate and pointed his cutlass at the pair. "Good evening, gentlemen," he said.
"S-sale pirates," the captain spat.
Arthur lifted an eyebrow. "French, eh? Quelle surprise excellente. I love robbing the French... Dear captain," he purred, "your men seem to be confused about whether to surrender or not, and I should tell you that you are showing significant weakness as a leader if you don't advice them." He stepped closer to the sweating Frenchman and tapped his chin gently with the tip of the blade. "Don't you agree?"
"Rendez-vous, les gars !" the captain cried. "On ne nous paye pas assez pour que nous nous fassions tuer..."
Arthur smiled. "Exactly."
The pirates ransacked the whole ship with enthusiasm and Arthur waited patiently for them to come back up with the loot. He played with his pistol and sang some of his favourite French-mocking songs while keeping an eye on the captured crew.
His men returned with the spoils.
One, a bag of French livres, approximately one to two hundred.
Two, a box of tastelessly flashy jewellery that would have made a puritan run away in horror.
Three, a nice collection of fashionable men's clothes.
All very satisfactory indeed. They could also take the crew's weapons to improve their current selection of arms.
The rest of the loot then again...
Four, about a dozen paintings and sculptures, all packed and secured for transportation.
Five, several elaborately decorative pieces of furniture.
Six, a grouchy French nobleman in a silk nightdress and his whimpering servant.
Arthur grimaced. "Furniture? Paintings?" He snorted. "We don't have time for junk like this. Heave them overboard, lads!"
Reply
Arthur turned around slowly and just gave the man a long look. "What? You suggest that we sell them in Paris or something? What are you going to do about it, stubble-face?"
The man drew a furious breath through his up-turned nose and marched right in front of Arthur who refused to back up despite the annoying proximity. Ew, did the man use sixteen different perfumes every day or what? "I happen to be Francis Bonnefoy, his most Christian Majesty King Louis the XVI's personal art consultant!" he fumed with poorly contained indignation.
Arthur guffawed. "Oh, aren't we fancy, eh? Too bad that I don't care. In fact I rather want to see your face after we destroy them now. Boys!" he shouted over his shoulder.
There was a click and cold metal was pressed against his neck. Damn, I underestimated that sneaky bastard.
"You shall not touch those pieces," the man hissed.
"It's a dangerous game you are playing, Frenchy," Arthur said warningly.
"I am ready to risk it. Are you, pirate?"
He grinned. "I'm always ready."
A shot and a curse in French as the pistol flew right out of the the man's hand. Arthur caught his arms and locked them behind his back before he had time to recover from the surprise.
"Good shot, Jones," Arthur smirked.
Jones blew at his pistol and stuffed it back under his belt. He grinned and saluted. "Thanks, cap'n! Are we throwing this stuff overboard then, huh?" he asked, pointing at the furniture and artworks.
The Frenchman shuddered in Arthur's grip. He didn't answer right away. "Actually, let me think about it... Oy, captain!"
The captain gave a start. "Yes?"
Arthur pointed at the assumed Monsieur Bonnefoy and peered at the captain's eyes as Williams helpfully illuminated them with a lantern. "Is this man here what he says he is?"
"Y-yes?" the captain answered, hesitant and confused about where it was all going. Arthur studied him tightly for a moment but deemed that he was telling the truth.
"Right. I don't suppose old Louis might pay a handsome sum for this fellow and the booty, then?"
The nobleman looked at him over his shoulder, seemingly taken aback by this turn of events.
"Come quietly, you swanky dog, or we will destroy your precious knick-knacks," Arthur told him softly. "Let's get these to Virginia then, lads! Try not to destroy them, you clumsy apes."
Bonnefoy didn't put up a fight, apparently still not sure what to think about his situation. His servant let out a whimpering cry of "Monsieur !" as Arthur hurried him to Virginia at gun point while the men loaded up the goods. The servant bolted, though, the second Arthur turned to look at him. Arthur considered sending someone after him to take him with his master just for being such an annoying coward, but then again, he needed someone to tell the French king what had happened and he didn't trust the sailors to do that.
The ship was too small to have any extra space where to lock a prisoner up so he pushed the man against the nearest mast and told Peter to throw him some rope. He wouldd decide what to do with him in the morning but this would have to do for now.
Besides, Arthur rather liked tying people up. It was strangely satisfying. Perhaps because somewhere deep down he had the firm belief that other people should always be exactly where he wanted them.
Reply
Francis knew for sure that being tied to the mast by the pirate captain should not have been making him as hot as it was. And damn all, it was. There was something about that crooked grin and the occational gruff laugh and those confident hands. And the pirate was good at it. He worked the rope like an artisan, making the ties tight enough to make it impossible to wriggle out, but loose enough to let the blood flow freely.
Then the bastard pressed right against him to wind the rope around the mast, muttering a mocking "excuse-me". Francis bit his tongue and held his breath, afraid it might betray him. Not that he particularly minded that kind of games (oh, those delightfully depraved sessions with Abbé d'Herblay back when Francis was hardly old enough to be called a man. For all their commitment, Jesuits could make some rather interesting bed partners... and he really should not be thinking about that right now) but this was definitely not the time nor the place.
The pirate tied his legs and feet as well and then tugged on the rope a few times to check that it was secure. Then he straightened up in front of Francis and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look him in the eye. The pirate smiled. "Comfortable?" He patted Francis on the cheek like child, making Francis glare at him murderously.
The pirate flashed him a grin and turned around to go check on his crew. "How are we doing, Dylan?"
A man whose eyebrows were far too similar to the captain's for him not to be related to him, waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Mostly done, cap'n. Ready to leave whenever."
"Splendid. We shall do so right away then." The captain faced Francis' ship and the robbed crew now. "Gentlemen, I trust you to relay my best regards to the King and inform him of my interest in dealing with him. If he should want to contact me to make further plans, tell him to address a letter to Captain Arthur Kirkland and send it to my contact in The Silver Unicorn in London. Thank you very much." He lifted his hand in a careless goodbye as the pirate crew separated the two ships and pushed them apart.
Francis saw his servant hesitantly leaning over the railing to give him a miserable look. Francis could only give one in return. Pierre Colombe was a good servant but not a very brave one. All Francis could hope was that he would at least tell the King about his plight so that help could be sent.
As the ship disappeared into the darkness, Francis finally realized that he was going to be very, very cold, if the pirates where going to leave him out in his nightdress for the night.
10 points for everyone who got the tiny reference to the musketeer books. Seriously, if this fandom doesn't have any Aramis/France (or France/Aramis, I don't care), it should.
Yes, Francis' servant is a human version of his pigeon. XD; Uhm, I was out of ideas? And in my headcanon Arthur does speak some basic French at least. At least in this era he does.
Btw, I don't really know much about all this sailing stuff so I'm just improvising here. I hope this doesn't suck too much, on that account or others either.
Oh and the sun started rising soon enough after this, so Francis didn't die of exposure, don't worry.
ReCaptcha: "hardens depending" ...... excuse me?
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Looks like the beginning of a fun and interesting tale
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This looks promising anon! You've already got me excited! I'm so glad Arthur's a bit of a bastard, just the way he ought to be lol
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This anon is now sitting on the very edge of her seat. This is good, writer!anon. Very, very good.
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This anon is wondering about Dyland too... Sadly I only read the first Musketeer (and shipped FrUk since then).
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As for OCs and Francis/everyone - please go ahead and do as you plan; I have no problem with OC, and after all Francis wouldn't be Francis without a little Francis/everyone. ;D
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Please update soon!
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Wow, thank you all so much for the comments! That's so encouraging, I've never gotten so many in any anon meme before. O_O I promise I'll try my best to keep up with this fill. I'm a slow writer (I tend to rewrite each chapter at least once before I post it -- and that's when I'm being fast. I'm just a perfectionist like that) but I hope you have patience with me... Oh and I found a great book to use as reference material too, I'll be reading it like whoah. 8) Actually, I got a bit carried away while reading it. orz I'll try to keep in mind I have to get into the writing business at some point too. But as I said, I didn't know much about sailing or anything but I'm learning so much right now and I hope it'll come to good use. xD
I'm glad you're okay with the OCs! I hope I'll do a good job with them. I know it's easy to get too excited about your own charas and I try to avoid that and keep the attention on the FrUK. XD; But they do give me more room to work with, and I just love the whole Anglo-Irish-British family. Also, I'll probably sort of steal some of these characters from certain people whose interpretations of them I really like...
About Dylan... okay I'll just say it, he's supposed to be Wales. Australia will probably be around too, though. Humm... would you like to hear who else I've been planning to put on board or should I just introduce them as they appear?
I'll try to update soon! I'm sorry for being so slow. orz
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Anyway, good luck with your writing and please take your time. Don't feel pressured or anything. I'm a slow writer myself so I understand how you feel. ^^
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