"Talk Like a Wasp" (Sherlock Holmes, "A Study in Crimson" Pirate AU), Rated PG-13

[gardnerhill]

Title: Talk Like a Wasp
Author: gardnerhill
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (“Study in Crimson” AU)
Word Count: 2561
Rating: PG-13 (gore, violence)
Warning: Piratey violence, blood, nasty crap.
Summary: There is more than one way to talk like a pirate.
Author's Notes: For September 19, aka International Talk Like a Pirate Day - the prompt that started it

Comments

[capt_facepalm]

Wow! Another great chapter

[gardnerhill]

Good to finally get more Baker shenanigans out of dock! Thank God for TLAPD - gave me a deadline (and I wrote this in just over 24 hours, which might account for a few discrepancies here and there which I might fix). In this case the "talk" the pirates indulge in is sign language and dancing-men code which translated as "Shear-Lock and Gold-Hand are gunning for you, Captain, you are so fucked."

I'm very fond of Jun also - and you'll be happy to learn that he remains a mean little bastard even as he becomes a Baker. A pissy cabin-boy with a big knife is also good for keeping the crew alert.

Of course I had to let the two who suffered most because of Milverton - Jun and Jack - strike the first and last blows. I also enjoyed contrasting Jack's refusal to give up Shear-Lock under torture with Milverton turning on Moriarty immediately. (A pirate story is also a great way to show the steely side of Dr. John "never forget I was a soldier" Watson - "Watch closely, kid, this is the RIGHT way to cut a throat.")

[only_po]

I'm disappointed in Gregson for . . . well, not "jumping" ship but leaving the Baker. Granted, like Shear-Lock said, it's safer and more lively but still.

Funny that Milverton still expected mercy from Jack after everything that happened. Or maybe that was just really strong, self-delusional wishful thinking? Of course, in the end Jack did grant him the mercy of a quick death. (And it was a nice touch, to show how quickly Milverton folded under the promise of torture when Jack slowly lost his fingers bit by bit without telling Moriarty anything.) Now to see if Milverton told the truth or not.

[gardnerhill]

Gregson wasn't happy about all the running and hiding. And the world of a pirate ship was the exact opposite of a Navy ship's - the crew were freebooters who could vote the captain out of his position, or go aboard another ship to follow another captain. He and the gunners might be better off with a more conventional privateer ship.

Milverton in the original stories was one of the most realistic portrayals of a sociopath in English literature - Holmes describes him as "a smiling face and a heart of marble." Other people exist only to be used, and compassion is an incomprehensible thing, to such disordered people. So naturally even as he dies he only regrets not killing Jun earlier, and expects a man he handed to torturers to treat him well.

And yes - I was very gleeful about having that horrid little coward turn on Moriarty immediately when Jack stood up for Shear-Lock at the loss of his hand.