things always go one way or the other

[commodore_jln]

It's more an effort to escape Sparrow than anything else that prompts James to push back his chair and shuffle his papers in order, quite ready to leave.  He won't take Beckett's coin, but it wouldn't do to do him the discourtesy of refusing his summons entirely; James may dislike the man, but he is a Commodore; he represents not only His Majesty's

Comments

[captjacksparrow]

Norrington doesn't seem to experience the same tribulation with the halls and corridors as Jack does. They stay in place for him, rather than shifting and re-aligning like they do when Jack tries to navigate from one end of Fort Charles to another -- generally that being the exit.

Jack usually views the concept of being lost as a matter of the wrong perspective -- an idea that Cutler has long since tried to work out of his head, time being money and money taking time and precious the both of them -- but getting turned-about in a Naval fort isn't the best place to form the right sort of perspective exactly. Jack hates being kept inside. On land inside. Surrounded by trained men baring uniforms and fire arms on land inside. It's hell on earth compared to life at sea, and despite the fact that Port Royal is a nicer place to waste a few weeks than London, Jack still finds himself longing to hide up in the holds of the Wench with the rum and the rats

[commodore_jln]

Despite the fact that Sparrow's followed him to Beckett's office, James doesn't really expect him to continue following him into it. Presumably, after all, there was a reason Beckett hadn't told him what it was he wanted Sparrow to fetch him for. But follow he does, and James regards him with a hint of sceptecism as he sprawls languidly in a chair in the corner, ready to watch their conversation as if it was theatre. Beckett appears utterly unsurprised, but behind his eyes and on the edge of his voice as he greets James, there's an edge of steel that's clearly directed at Sparrow

[captjacksparrow]

There's something hollow inside Jack that got carved a long time ago. Some empty place behind his ribs that's easy enough for him to retreat into, suspended, able to wait and watch and discover bits of information without without earning some smart rebuff twisted his way. He falls into that hole immediately as soon as Cutler gives him that slight warning to stay out of this

[commodore_jln]

Beckett is barely even making a concession to civility, but James is more than equal to that; he knows how to fight with words just as well as he does with a blade. His tone, then, stays utterly neutral, showing no hint of the further wound to his pride at Beckett's words