[fanfiction] this water is too salty
Fandom/Pairings: Bandom; Pete/Gerard
Rating: PG-13
Pre-Notes: For random_bandom! So you should probably listen to Gay Pirates by Cosmo Jarvis before you read this. This story has a happier ending than the song, though. I promise.
Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure Gerard and Pete are not romanticized pirates, but I could be wrong.
Summary: Let's go far away, somewhere where the Captain won't be mad.
this water is too salty (let's go far away)
Gerard thinks that he must have done something really shitty in a past life to deserve the misery he's in on the King's Angel. Pete tells him that he's being superstitious again and squeezes his shoulder before skittering away. They can't afford to be seen together for much longer than would be regular between crewmates, not with the Captain overlooking them. The Captain’s already suspicious enough, and Gerard would rather not walk the plank.
He's seen what happens when you walk the plank more times than he wants to think about, because the Captain runs his ship with an iron fist. The slightest offense from a crewmate can get them sentenced to the plank, and Gerard thinks he's lucky that he hasn't been given the same fate. He mostly keeps to himself, though, and maybe that's why the Captain's wrath has passed him over.
Looking out onto the sea, Gerard reties his bandana and then stands. Cook will probably be angry that he's slipped out again, but Gerard needed to fill his lungs with salty-fresh air instead of the stale stuff in the lower decks. He heads below-deck and makes his way to the kitchen.
Cook, predictably, yells at him and tells him to go peel the fucking potatoes already. Gerard goes, wondering what kind of slop Cook is making. Then he remembers that he doesn't have to because Cook makes the same thing every night, and Gerard's been eating it for three months already because it's what the Captain likes and the Captain calls the shots. It’s something Cook calls "stew" that's basically some slush and a whole lot of potatoes cooked into a little water and served with hardtack. This is actually the worst meal Gerard has ever had to stomach, and Gerard has eaten at some of Tortuga's seediest taverns, so that’s saying something. Granted, he tries not to go that often because that kind of tavern tends to be filled with loose women that will throw themselves at anything they think might give them a good time.
They like Gerard, they say, because Gerard has a soft face and you don't get many a pirate that looks so pretty. Gerard never tells them that he really prefers the company of men, because that's the sort of response that only makes the ladies redouble their efforts at trying to bed him because they think he's being coy, which is just awkward for everyone involved in the end.
He hasn't seen land in three months, though.
It’s not like Gerard particularly likes land or anything-he doubts he would be standing on a ship at all if he had any particular love of land-but the real difference between being on land and being at sea is that when the King's Angel is at sea, Gerard has Pete and he doesn’t need anything else. Pete who's all smiles and craziness, who knows all the ways to make Gerard do the same. Pete who never sleeps, it seems, which makes him perfect to put up in the crow's nest because he never dozes on the job and he's got eyes sharper than anyone else on the ship. Pete who, Gerard thinks, is a little bit like an anchor.
Until they get off the King's Angel, Gerard's really only got Pete. There's nothing else out on the seas, and everyone on the crew doesn't want to talk to Gerard because it's not precisely a well-hidden fact that Gerard's not in the habit of taking women to bed. He's not much in the habit of taking anyone at all to bed, but when you don't bed women at all it just means you'd rather bed men. No one wants to be forced to walk the plank, and sometimes Gerard feels like it's only a matter of time before he's being condemned for wanting to love Pete, wanting to sail with him forever.
Gerard is careful to keep those kinds of thoughts to himself, inside his own head, because he's sort of afraid what the Captain might do if he found out. The Captain is notoriously against men bedding men (this is why people who would otherwise be friendly keep away) and Gerard really doesn't want to walk the plank. He's not that great at swimming and he thinks that one of the crew said something about there being sharks in these waters. Of all the ways to die, Gerard thinks, he'd least like to get eaten by a shark. It's not really that Gerard is afraid to die; it's more that sharks seem like an unpleasant way to go.
But perhaps the sharks would be better than the snail's crawl of days on the sea, water stretched forever in every direction as far as the eye can see. Sometimes Pete sits next to him and bumps their shoulders together and tries to get Gerard to smile.
"Let's go far away," Pete says, "We could get our own ship, run it the way we want. A ship full of misfits! What do you say, Gerard?"
Gerard tilts his head, "What would we call it?"
Pete smiles, "Don't know. You tell me."
Someone always calls Pete away, though, and then Gerard is just left with the surety that they weren't going to see land for another three months at least. He assumed, because this was generally the case on ships, that those three months would be uneventful except for a storm or a raid on another ship if he was lucky. On a day-by-day basis, interesting things rarely happen on ships.
That is to say, the mutiny took him by surprise.
It seemed that no one liked the Captain very much at all even though they mostly pretended to. At some point an invisible thread of patience snapped, making most of the crew banded together, then force him walk the plank. They were led by Pete, and Gerard thought that was maybe the only unsurprising thing about the whole ordeal because if anyone would lead rebellion, it would be Pete. Maybe Gerard was just oblivious, though, and he hadn't seen it coming. Maybe he'd been too wrapped up in his own thoughts to notice. Maybe-
Maybe Gerard should stop worrying about it because Pete's tugging him down and their lips crash together like the waves against the starboard bow. Gerard tries to pull away, but Pete won't let him and then, just like that, everyone's cheering. It's not for them and somewhere in his head Gerard knows that, but he pretends it is anyway. Pete smiles into the kiss so large that Gerard can feel it, and Gerard finds himself smiling back.
He says: "Are we going far away now?"
"Anywhere you want," Pete says, "Anywhere at all."
This entry originally posted here. Original entry currently has
comments. :D
Rating: PG-13
Pre-Notes: For random_bandom! So you should probably listen to Gay Pirates by Cosmo Jarvis before you read this. This story has a happier ending than the song, though. I promise.
Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure Gerard and Pete are not romanticized pirates, but I could be wrong.
Summary: Let's go far away, somewhere where the Captain won't be mad.
this water is too salty (let's go far away)
Gerard thinks that he must have done something really shitty in a past life to deserve the misery he's in on the King's Angel. Pete tells him that he's being superstitious again and squeezes his shoulder before skittering away. They can't afford to be seen together for much longer than would be regular between crewmates, not with the Captain overlooking them. The Captain’s already suspicious enough, and Gerard would rather not walk the plank.
He's seen what happens when you walk the plank more times than he wants to think about, because the Captain runs his ship with an iron fist. The slightest offense from a crewmate can get them sentenced to the plank, and Gerard thinks he's lucky that he hasn't been given the same fate. He mostly keeps to himself, though, and maybe that's why the Captain's wrath has passed him over.
Looking out onto the sea, Gerard reties his bandana and then stands. Cook will probably be angry that he's slipped out again, but Gerard needed to fill his lungs with salty-fresh air instead of the stale stuff in the lower decks. He heads below-deck and makes his way to the kitchen.
Cook, predictably, yells at him and tells him to go peel the fucking potatoes already. Gerard goes, wondering what kind of slop Cook is making. Then he remembers that he doesn't have to because Cook makes the same thing every night, and Gerard's been eating it for three months already because it's what the Captain likes and the Captain calls the shots. It’s something Cook calls "stew" that's basically some slush and a whole lot of potatoes cooked into a little water and served with hardtack. This is actually the worst meal Gerard has ever had to stomach, and Gerard has eaten at some of Tortuga's seediest taverns, so that’s saying something. Granted, he tries not to go that often because that kind of tavern tends to be filled with loose women that will throw themselves at anything they think might give them a good time.
They like Gerard, they say, because Gerard has a soft face and you don't get many a pirate that looks so pretty. Gerard never tells them that he really prefers the company of men, because that's the sort of response that only makes the ladies redouble their efforts at trying to bed him because they think he's being coy, which is just awkward for everyone involved in the end.
He hasn't seen land in three months, though.
It’s not like Gerard particularly likes land or anything-he doubts he would be standing on a ship at all if he had any particular love of land-but the real difference between being on land and being at sea is that when the King's Angel is at sea, Gerard has Pete and he doesn’t need anything else. Pete who's all smiles and craziness, who knows all the ways to make Gerard do the same. Pete who never sleeps, it seems, which makes him perfect to put up in the crow's nest because he never dozes on the job and he's got eyes sharper than anyone else on the ship. Pete who, Gerard thinks, is a little bit like an anchor.
Until they get off the King's Angel, Gerard's really only got Pete. There's nothing else out on the seas, and everyone on the crew doesn't want to talk to Gerard because it's not precisely a well-hidden fact that Gerard's not in the habit of taking women to bed. He's not much in the habit of taking anyone at all to bed, but when you don't bed women at all it just means you'd rather bed men. No one wants to be forced to walk the plank, and sometimes Gerard feels like it's only a matter of time before he's being condemned for wanting to love Pete, wanting to sail with him forever.
Gerard is careful to keep those kinds of thoughts to himself, inside his own head, because he's sort of afraid what the Captain might do if he found out. The Captain is notoriously against men bedding men (this is why people who would otherwise be friendly keep away) and Gerard really doesn't want to walk the plank. He's not that great at swimming and he thinks that one of the crew said something about there being sharks in these waters. Of all the ways to die, Gerard thinks, he'd least like to get eaten by a shark. It's not really that Gerard is afraid to die; it's more that sharks seem like an unpleasant way to go.
But perhaps the sharks would be better than the snail's crawl of days on the sea, water stretched forever in every direction as far as the eye can see. Sometimes Pete sits next to him and bumps their shoulders together and tries to get Gerard to smile.
"Let's go far away," Pete says, "We could get our own ship, run it the way we want. A ship full of misfits! What do you say, Gerard?"
Gerard tilts his head, "What would we call it?"
Pete smiles, "Don't know. You tell me."
Someone always calls Pete away, though, and then Gerard is just left with the surety that they weren't going to see land for another three months at least. He assumed, because this was generally the case on ships, that those three months would be uneventful except for a storm or a raid on another ship if he was lucky. On a day-by-day basis, interesting things rarely happen on ships.
That is to say, the mutiny took him by surprise.
It seemed that no one liked the Captain very much at all even though they mostly pretended to. At some point an invisible thread of patience snapped, making most of the crew banded together, then force him walk the plank. They were led by Pete, and Gerard thought that was maybe the only unsurprising thing about the whole ordeal because if anyone would lead rebellion, it would be Pete. Maybe Gerard was just oblivious, though, and he hadn't seen it coming. Maybe he'd been too wrapped up in his own thoughts to notice. Maybe-
Maybe Gerard should stop worrying about it because Pete's tugging him down and their lips crash together like the waves against the starboard bow. Gerard tries to pull away, but Pete won't let him and then, just like that, everyone's cheering. It's not for them and somewhere in his head Gerard knows that, but he pretends it is anyway. Pete smiles into the kiss so large that Gerard can feel it, and Gerard finds himself smiling back.
He says: "Are we going far away now?"
"Anywhere you want," Pete says, "Anywhere at all."
This entry originally posted here. Original entry currently has
comments. :D