Norribeth Ficlet
Norribeth Ficlet
Disclaimer: The characters belong not to me, but to the Mouse, who does not love them like I do.
Summary: As requested by sampaguita_blue, Captain Norrington and the young Elizabeth (of perhaps 16 years) meet for the first time in some months, and a confused attraction arises (no, not like that!).
Rating: G.
No Warnings. None at all. Not a sausage.
*-*-*
Captain James Norrington had been invited to take tea with the Governor of Jamaica on the day following his return to Port Royal, after almost a year at sea; triumphant at having sunk several small pirates, and taken three great prize ships. While he awaited the Governor (who was delayed slightly with a matter of no consequence in reality, except to the two landowners in question) in the Lesser Parlour he began to think back on events of the past two days.
Several of his peers, the older Captains especially, derided Norrington for "toadying" to Governor Swann, or called it "nearly nepotism" for the fatherly manner with which Swann treated Norrington. When he questioned the possibility, in the presence of his best friends, they both staunchly stood by him, and said the others had dined on nothing but sour grapes the whole time he had been away. James was pleased to have two such loyal friends; he wondered (privately, this time) if perhaps he should seek a wife who would do the same.
Norrington's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of bare feet slapping on marble floors, and, in very short order - before he had time to process events- Elizabeth Swann, the Governor's headstrong daughter barged into the room, and collided with the pacing naval officer.
"Oof! Oh, Captain Norrington," she gasped, "I didn't realise you were here!"
"Yes, Miss Swann, that much is quite evident," said the slightly winded Norrington, from under arched eyebrows.
As the pair regained their respective breaths, Norrington stood back and looked at Miss Swann, seemingly for the first time in his life. She had changed in the ten or so months he had been away. The freckles that had covered her fair skin had largely faded, although there was still some evidence of a few, stubbornly clinging to her cheeks, hiding under white powder. Her hair was loose and wild looking, and entirely unlike the ringlets and coiffures that made so many young women bear striking similarities to Cavalier King Charles Spaniel dogs.
It also seemed that she had begun to don the female war paint that constituted powder to pale the face and red to flame the lips, as well as some colour about the eyes. It was inexpertly applied, and made her look quite startlingly similar to the sort of women that Norrington had done his utmost to remove from Port Royal's streets.
Below her throat, the scoop neck of her light chemise suggested that she had become woman in a less false manner also, and James pointedly returned his gaze upwards, all of a sudden feeling very awkward and gangly, tongue-tied and old.
"Captain?" Elizabeth asked, seeming to notice both his study of her and that the silence had long since bypassed their initial lack of air.
"Err…" Norrington hemmed and hawed, without actually speaking, internally damning himself for forgetting, in a brief moment of stupidity, the English language in its entirety. "You … ah … look, eh … different, today, Miss Swann."
"My governess is teaching me to be a woman, today, Captain."
"Ah." Privately James didn't think such lessons necessary, but he could not say such a thing to her without causing offence. "And ... how fare the lessons?"
"Abysmally. That's why I was running, you see. She was teaching me how to make my face up, and that was alright, I suppose, but I tired of the repetition. She was showing me how to make my hair do ringlets, but she pulled it so that it hurt! I would not stand for it, but she chased after me. Why do men wish us to distort ourselves in this painful manner, Captain? Do you know?"
Elizabeth asked plaintively, with a look in her eyes reminiscent of a kicked puppy.
"I do not know, Miss Swann; but let me assure you that I myself have no desire to see you in discomfort on my behalf, for you look lovely without such … er … ah…"
James suddenly found it very difficult to breathe, especially as he felt the red flush creeping up his neck, and he had begun to hesitate on his plosives and dentals. He had been so sure his stammer had been completely eradicated in his Midshipman years; why was it returning now, of all times?
"Thank you, Captain Norrington!"
Elizabeth smiled at him and the room seemed suddenly much brighter than before. He tried to return the gesture, but a sudden fear that she might notice his too-tightly grown teeth precluded precise reciprocity. He made some small strangled sound in the back of his throat that tried (and failed) to express his fondness for her. Elizabeth's smile slowly faded, and to James the room seemed even darker than before.
Governor Swann chose that moment to enter the Lesser Parlour, having finished with the property dispute for the day.
"Elizabeth! Where are your manners? Have you not invited Captain Norrington to sit? And where is the rest of your outfit? Why is your hair not properly dressed? Shoo! Off to your rooms, and finish readying yourself for company!"
The Governor spoke almost comically quickly, and James was reminded of the times that he had seen the Governor in fine form, filibustering for all he was worth.
"Yes, Father. Thank you, Captain Norrington for a pleasant … interlude," said a very downbeat Elizabeth.
"The pleasure was mine, Miss Swann. I hope I shall see you again, soon," said Norrington. "Good afternoon, Governor Swann."
Norrington's eyes followed the Governor's daughter as he deferentially waited for his host to be seated.
"It has been quite some time since you and my daughter have seen one another, am I right?"
Norrington started, guilty at being caught staring openly at the daughter of a man he saw as his father.
"It has been almost a year, sir. I find her … newly perplexing," he said at last, hoping against hope that the Governor would not find fault with such careful distribution of the truth.
"She grows more like her mother every day," said Swann, with a melancholy smile. "She perplexed me in the same way. But Elizabeth's nature is quite different to that of her mother. She is as changeable as the sea, is dear Elizabeth."
"I have long found the sea to be a perplexity, sir, but one that is constant, and with mutual respect, I have forged a strong relationship with her," said Norrington, rising to the defence of his first love.
It took him a moment to realise that what he had just said could be taken very differently by the father of the young woman he had only moments before confessed to find perplexing.
"I … er … I mean, sir … I did not mean…"
"Captain Norrington, I have had a number of offers from different men for the hand of my daughter, but I have not yet found a man to whom I might entrust her happiness and wellbeing. I believe that she will need time to experience the characters of men less suited to care for her, before allowing her to discover the finest of men. I also think it fair to give any man who might seriously intend to pay court to my daughter a chance to know her as well as I do."
"Indeed, sir, that is wise counsel," said Norrington in a strangled sort of voice.
"It might also help matters, if the man she were to marry be able to converse with her in a coherent manner," said Governor Swann, not unkindly.
"You might advise potential suitors to practise before a mirror, in that case," said Norrington, relieved that his approach had not been rebuffed, and curious to know if he really was what the Governor sought in a son-in-law.
*-*-*
Disclaimer: The characters belong not to me, but to the Mouse, who does not love them like I do.
Summary: As requested by sampaguita_blue, Captain Norrington and the young Elizabeth (of perhaps 16 years) meet for the first time in some months, and a confused attraction arises (no, not like that!).
Rating: G.
No Warnings. None at all. Not a sausage.
*-*-*
Captain James Norrington had been invited to take tea with the Governor of Jamaica on the day following his return to Port Royal, after almost a year at sea; triumphant at having sunk several small pirates, and taken three great prize ships. While he awaited the Governor (who was delayed slightly with a matter of no consequence in reality, except to the two landowners in question) in the Lesser Parlour he began to think back on events of the past two days.
Several of his peers, the older Captains especially, derided Norrington for "toadying" to Governor Swann, or called it "nearly nepotism" for the fatherly manner with which Swann treated Norrington. When he questioned the possibility, in the presence of his best friends, they both staunchly stood by him, and said the others had dined on nothing but sour grapes the whole time he had been away. James was pleased to have two such loyal friends; he wondered (privately, this time) if perhaps he should seek a wife who would do the same.
Norrington's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of bare feet slapping on marble floors, and, in very short order - before he had time to process events- Elizabeth Swann, the Governor's headstrong daughter barged into the room, and collided with the pacing naval officer.
"Oof! Oh, Captain Norrington," she gasped, "I didn't realise you were here!"
"Yes, Miss Swann, that much is quite evident," said the slightly winded Norrington, from under arched eyebrows.
As the pair regained their respective breaths, Norrington stood back and looked at Miss Swann, seemingly for the first time in his life. She had changed in the ten or so months he had been away. The freckles that had covered her fair skin had largely faded, although there was still some evidence of a few, stubbornly clinging to her cheeks, hiding under white powder. Her hair was loose and wild looking, and entirely unlike the ringlets and coiffures that made so many young women bear striking similarities to Cavalier King Charles Spaniel dogs.
It also seemed that she had begun to don the female war paint that constituted powder to pale the face and red to flame the lips, as well as some colour about the eyes. It was inexpertly applied, and made her look quite startlingly similar to the sort of women that Norrington had done his utmost to remove from Port Royal's streets.
Below her throat, the scoop neck of her light chemise suggested that she had become woman in a less false manner also, and James pointedly returned his gaze upwards, all of a sudden feeling very awkward and gangly, tongue-tied and old.
"Captain?" Elizabeth asked, seeming to notice both his study of her and that the silence had long since bypassed their initial lack of air.
"Err…" Norrington hemmed and hawed, without actually speaking, internally damning himself for forgetting, in a brief moment of stupidity, the English language in its entirety. "You … ah … look, eh … different, today, Miss Swann."
"My governess is teaching me to be a woman, today, Captain."
"Ah." Privately James didn't think such lessons necessary, but he could not say such a thing to her without causing offence. "And ... how fare the lessons?"
"Abysmally. That's why I was running, you see. She was teaching me how to make my face up, and that was alright, I suppose, but I tired of the repetition. She was showing me how to make my hair do ringlets, but she pulled it so that it hurt! I would not stand for it, but she chased after me. Why do men wish us to distort ourselves in this painful manner, Captain? Do you know?"
Elizabeth asked plaintively, with a look in her eyes reminiscent of a kicked puppy.
"I do not know, Miss Swann; but let me assure you that I myself have no desire to see you in discomfort on my behalf, for you look lovely without such … er … ah…"
James suddenly found it very difficult to breathe, especially as he felt the red flush creeping up his neck, and he had begun to hesitate on his plosives and dentals. He had been so sure his stammer had been completely eradicated in his Midshipman years; why was it returning now, of all times?
"Thank you, Captain Norrington!"
Elizabeth smiled at him and the room seemed suddenly much brighter than before. He tried to return the gesture, but a sudden fear that she might notice his too-tightly grown teeth precluded precise reciprocity. He made some small strangled sound in the back of his throat that tried (and failed) to express his fondness for her. Elizabeth's smile slowly faded, and to James the room seemed even darker than before.
Governor Swann chose that moment to enter the Lesser Parlour, having finished with the property dispute for the day.
"Elizabeth! Where are your manners? Have you not invited Captain Norrington to sit? And where is the rest of your outfit? Why is your hair not properly dressed? Shoo! Off to your rooms, and finish readying yourself for company!"
The Governor spoke almost comically quickly, and James was reminded of the times that he had seen the Governor in fine form, filibustering for all he was worth.
"Yes, Father. Thank you, Captain Norrington for a pleasant … interlude," said a very downbeat Elizabeth.
"The pleasure was mine, Miss Swann. I hope I shall see you again, soon," said Norrington. "Good afternoon, Governor Swann."
Norrington's eyes followed the Governor's daughter as he deferentially waited for his host to be seated.
"It has been quite some time since you and my daughter have seen one another, am I right?"
Norrington started, guilty at being caught staring openly at the daughter of a man he saw as his father.
"It has been almost a year, sir. I find her … newly perplexing," he said at last, hoping against hope that the Governor would not find fault with such careful distribution of the truth.
"She grows more like her mother every day," said Swann, with a melancholy smile. "She perplexed me in the same way. But Elizabeth's nature is quite different to that of her mother. She is as changeable as the sea, is dear Elizabeth."
"I have long found the sea to be a perplexity, sir, but one that is constant, and with mutual respect, I have forged a strong relationship with her," said Norrington, rising to the defence of his first love.
It took him a moment to realise that what he had just said could be taken very differently by the father of the young woman he had only moments before confessed to find perplexing.
"I … er … I mean, sir … I did not mean…"
"Captain Norrington, I have had a number of offers from different men for the hand of my daughter, but I have not yet found a man to whom I might entrust her happiness and wellbeing. I believe that she will need time to experience the characters of men less suited to care for her, before allowing her to discover the finest of men. I also think it fair to give any man who might seriously intend to pay court to my daughter a chance to know her as well as I do."
"Indeed, sir, that is wise counsel," said Norrington in a strangled sort of voice.
"It might also help matters, if the man she were to marry be able to converse with her in a coherent manner," said Governor Swann, not unkindly.
"You might advise potential suitors to practise before a mirror, in that case," said Norrington, relieved that his approach had not been rebuffed, and curious to know if he really was what the Governor sought in a son-in-law.
*-*-*