Fic: Up Against the Wall
Title: Up Against The Wall
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 1,345
Setting: The magical AU period in which Norrington is a deckhand aboard the Pearl but neither Elizabeth nor the Kraken are to be seen. They're probably bonding at a spa somewhere, seeing as the Kraken is really Anamaria. James has been on the Pearl for a while.
Summary: Quite unfairly, Jack locks James in the brig. Then he offers a mutually satisfactory solution....
Up Against The Wall
Jack Sparrow may be able to loll about a brig for days without fidgeting, accustomed as he was to incarceration and deeply assured of his eventual escape, but Norrington was not. He yanked again at his bonds. The chains at his ankles clattered on the decking, clustering around the iron posts at the other end of the cell. His wrists were weighted down by thinner chains which swooped from the manacles to a ring above his head, then dangled down again on either side. The ends were soldered to open manacles, waiting for more unlucky prisoners to press their backs to the mildewed bulkhead.
Norrington supposed he should be thankful he was the only prisoner here; he didn't fancy constantly fighting over a too-short length of chain with his neighbor just to prevent the blood rushing out of his hands. In a moment of weakness, James had thought that would be worth it just to have someone to talk to, but then he sharply reminded himself that there wasn't a single man aboard the Pearl worth conversing with, except maybe Gibbs. And James wasn't feeling amiably inclined towards Gibbs at the moment.
The reason for that was clomping into the brig, leaning an insouciant hip against the bars as he rifled through his keys.
"This is outrageous," said James. "I've done nothing wrong."
"Insubordination," Jack muttered boredly. He unlocked the cell and stepped in, letting the door swing freely open behind him. James glanced almost hungrily at it. "Questioning my orders in front of the crew," Jack added with a smirk.
"I did not question your orders, I requested a clarification of them," Norrington pointed out. "Furthermore, Gibbs said the same things I did and I notice he isn't in the brig."
"Gibbs didn't used to be Commodore of Jamaica, did he?" said Jack, crouching next to James. "And he hasn't got the same capacity for silent commentary. That eyebrow could incite mutiny and you know it," said Jack, poking the guilty body part.
Norrington jerked his head away. "That is still no cause to treat me so abominably."
Jack leaned over and pulled the leg irons taut, wrapping the chains around the posts to hold them fast. "I've been the victim of a mutiny before, James. I'm not keen to experience it again."
James would not tug at the chains, not while Sparrow was watching the frustrated flex of his knees. "The captaincy of a ship is sovereign," he said harshly. "I would not incite mutiny nor condone it unless the captain were indisputably undeserving of the post."
"And you're saying I'm not?" asked Jack.
Norrington glared at him, praying for the smugly twisted corner of Sparrow's lips to burst into flame. "You are mad, but you do not sail your ship foolishly into danger," he reasoned sternly. "You are dishonest, but you divide the earnings equally among the crew. Though you and the rest of your scurrilous crew have otherwise shockingly degenerate and immoral habits, discipline aboard the Black Pearl is appropriately and reasonably meted out, this being a most heinous exception."
Jack was smirking. "You think I'm being cruel, don't you? I'll allow that this is a far cry from the cozy quarters aboard your pretty Naval boats, but a small step down in accomodations is hardly reason to cry torture. I haven't set the cat on you, have I?"
"I've been chained to a wall for three days!" snapped James. "For nothing more then an eyebrow!"
"It's a very good look on you," said Jack.
"I never considered my eyebrows to be particularly attractive," James mentioned sourly.
"Oh, they are," said Jack. "But that's not what I meant." He stepped forward, his boots planted on either side of James' legs. He grinned down for a moment, then folded himself up like a silken shirt, draping his thighs over James' and twisting his fingers around the rusting manacles. "I meant the chains." He wrapped his hands in them and pulled; James' wrists, despite his straining muscles, were pulled upwards tight against the ring.
He stared suspiciously at Jack, containing a wince as the blood trickled out of his hands and forearms. "What inanity are you planning now, Sparrow?"
Jack clucked and shook his head. "It appears, dear James, that three days in the brig has made no progress towards reforming your rebellious nature." He knelt up to secure the chains, leaning to one side and then the other, incidentally pressing his hips to James' chest. "It seems that I shall have to devise some... other... manner of modifying your behavior," he murmured, pulling a knife from his belt as he settled back down again. "We shall start with you calling me 'Captain.'"
Norrington glanced from the knife to Jack's black stare. "You do not have a reputation for being sadistic, Captain."
Jack laughed. "My reputation is appropriate and deserved, former Commodore," he said, and slit open James' shirt. He pressed James' shoulder against the bulkhead, eyes sparking at James' involuntary start. "I'm not sadistic at all. You could say I like to see a man get what he deserves, but that's a philosophy you happen to agree with, isn't it?"
James gritted his teeth, holding his chest tight against the sting. Jack pulled the sheared edges of his shirt apart and clucked.
"That wouldn't have happened if you'd kept still," he admonished.
"It would be a stupid man indeed who kept still as an enemy brandished a blade at his heart," spat Norrington.
Jack licked his thumb and pressed it to the cut as it threatened to seep blood. "Seeing as I'm not really your enemy, it would've been a untrusting man who didn't keep still. Or one who had grievously misread the situation."
"I believe my reading of the situation is wholly logical," said James. "And pray keep your filthy hands from my wound; who know what diseases such intimate contact may inflict upon me."
Jack set the knife on the deck and leaned back on James' thighs, his mouth slowly stretching in an awful smile. "I didn't imprison you on account of your eyebrow," he said.
James narrowed his eyes. "Really," he said. "Is there some legitimate reason, then, or is your method of command as ill-planned as your manner of walk would suggest?"
"You are not a naïve girl, former Commodore. I assume that when you speak of handling swords, you know what you mean." Jack grinned, liking the silent flush of James' cheeks, the slit of his eyes at the brush of Sparrow's fingers across his trouser buttons. "And having been such an upstanding Naval officer in the past, I expect you to uphold your end of a bargain, even if said bargain wasn't entered into explicitly." He leaned in, breath gusting hotly on James' cheek. "For you did offer me a bargain, dear James, though clarity of language had little to do with it."
James fixed Jack with a steady glare. "The letters of marque," he said.
Jack nodded and pulled them from his sash. "These with your share of the last raid should be enough to start you on a new life, aye?"
James nodded, drawing up a bitter smirk. "How fitting that the man who ruined my life should be a tool for rebuilding it." He glanced up at the ceiling, body unaturally still as Jack insinuated his fingers inside the waist of his trousers. The chains rattled. "I can hardly uphold my end of the bargain while restrained in this manner," he said, voice slightly choked.
"Not completely, no," said Jack. "But this is good enough to be starting out with. If you want me to release you now...." He curved his body closer and murmured into James' mouth. "Persuade me."
James held his head stiffly, neither pulling back nor leaning in, his nostrils staunch against the wet breath-blossom of rum and biscuit, meat and spit-soaked gold. He felt his blood pulsing through his hipbone, rhythmic licks against Jack's fingers. He remembered the snapping flag above the fort. He pressed his lips to Jack's.
________________
Feed me, please!
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 1,345
Setting: The magical AU period in which Norrington is a deckhand aboard the Pearl but neither Elizabeth nor the Kraken are to be seen. They're probably bonding at a spa somewhere, seeing as the Kraken is really Anamaria. James has been on the Pearl for a while.
Summary: Quite unfairly, Jack locks James in the brig. Then he offers a mutually satisfactory solution....
Up Against The Wall
Jack Sparrow may be able to loll about a brig for days without fidgeting, accustomed as he was to incarceration and deeply assured of his eventual escape, but Norrington was not. He yanked again at his bonds. The chains at his ankles clattered on the decking, clustering around the iron posts at the other end of the cell. His wrists were weighted down by thinner chains which swooped from the manacles to a ring above his head, then dangled down again on either side. The ends were soldered to open manacles, waiting for more unlucky prisoners to press their backs to the mildewed bulkhead.
Norrington supposed he should be thankful he was the only prisoner here; he didn't fancy constantly fighting over a too-short length of chain with his neighbor just to prevent the blood rushing out of his hands. In a moment of weakness, James had thought that would be worth it just to have someone to talk to, but then he sharply reminded himself that there wasn't a single man aboard the Pearl worth conversing with, except maybe Gibbs. And James wasn't feeling amiably inclined towards Gibbs at the moment.
The reason for that was clomping into the brig, leaning an insouciant hip against the bars as he rifled through his keys.
"This is outrageous," said James. "I've done nothing wrong."
"Insubordination," Jack muttered boredly. He unlocked the cell and stepped in, letting the door swing freely open behind him. James glanced almost hungrily at it. "Questioning my orders in front of the crew," Jack added with a smirk.
"I did not question your orders, I requested a clarification of them," Norrington pointed out. "Furthermore, Gibbs said the same things I did and I notice he isn't in the brig."
"Gibbs didn't used to be Commodore of Jamaica, did he?" said Jack, crouching next to James. "And he hasn't got the same capacity for silent commentary. That eyebrow could incite mutiny and you know it," said Jack, poking the guilty body part.
Norrington jerked his head away. "That is still no cause to treat me so abominably."
Jack leaned over and pulled the leg irons taut, wrapping the chains around the posts to hold them fast. "I've been the victim of a mutiny before, James. I'm not keen to experience it again."
James would not tug at the chains, not while Sparrow was watching the frustrated flex of his knees. "The captaincy of a ship is sovereign," he said harshly. "I would not incite mutiny nor condone it unless the captain were indisputably undeserving of the post."
"And you're saying I'm not?" asked Jack.
Norrington glared at him, praying for the smugly twisted corner of Sparrow's lips to burst into flame. "You are mad, but you do not sail your ship foolishly into danger," he reasoned sternly. "You are dishonest, but you divide the earnings equally among the crew. Though you and the rest of your scurrilous crew have otherwise shockingly degenerate and immoral habits, discipline aboard the Black Pearl is appropriately and reasonably meted out, this being a most heinous exception."
Jack was smirking. "You think I'm being cruel, don't you? I'll allow that this is a far cry from the cozy quarters aboard your pretty Naval boats, but a small step down in accomodations is hardly reason to cry torture. I haven't set the cat on you, have I?"
"I've been chained to a wall for three days!" snapped James. "For nothing more then an eyebrow!"
"It's a very good look on you," said Jack.
"I never considered my eyebrows to be particularly attractive," James mentioned sourly.
"Oh, they are," said Jack. "But that's not what I meant." He stepped forward, his boots planted on either side of James' legs. He grinned down for a moment, then folded himself up like a silken shirt, draping his thighs over James' and twisting his fingers around the rusting manacles. "I meant the chains." He wrapped his hands in them and pulled; James' wrists, despite his straining muscles, were pulled upwards tight against the ring.
He stared suspiciously at Jack, containing a wince as the blood trickled out of his hands and forearms. "What inanity are you planning now, Sparrow?"
Jack clucked and shook his head. "It appears, dear James, that three days in the brig has made no progress towards reforming your rebellious nature." He knelt up to secure the chains, leaning to one side and then the other, incidentally pressing his hips to James' chest. "It seems that I shall have to devise some... other... manner of modifying your behavior," he murmured, pulling a knife from his belt as he settled back down again. "We shall start with you calling me 'Captain.'"
Norrington glanced from the knife to Jack's black stare. "You do not have a reputation for being sadistic, Captain."
Jack laughed. "My reputation is appropriate and deserved, former Commodore," he said, and slit open James' shirt. He pressed James' shoulder against the bulkhead, eyes sparking at James' involuntary start. "I'm not sadistic at all. You could say I like to see a man get what he deserves, but that's a philosophy you happen to agree with, isn't it?"
James gritted his teeth, holding his chest tight against the sting. Jack pulled the sheared edges of his shirt apart and clucked.
"That wouldn't have happened if you'd kept still," he admonished.
"It would be a stupid man indeed who kept still as an enemy brandished a blade at his heart," spat Norrington.
Jack licked his thumb and pressed it to the cut as it threatened to seep blood. "Seeing as I'm not really your enemy, it would've been a untrusting man who didn't keep still. Or one who had grievously misread the situation."
"I believe my reading of the situation is wholly logical," said James. "And pray keep your filthy hands from my wound; who know what diseases such intimate contact may inflict upon me."
Jack set the knife on the deck and leaned back on James' thighs, his mouth slowly stretching in an awful smile. "I didn't imprison you on account of your eyebrow," he said.
James narrowed his eyes. "Really," he said. "Is there some legitimate reason, then, or is your method of command as ill-planned as your manner of walk would suggest?"
"You are not a naïve girl, former Commodore. I assume that when you speak of handling swords, you know what you mean." Jack grinned, liking the silent flush of James' cheeks, the slit of his eyes at the brush of Sparrow's fingers across his trouser buttons. "And having been such an upstanding Naval officer in the past, I expect you to uphold your end of a bargain, even if said bargain wasn't entered into explicitly." He leaned in, breath gusting hotly on James' cheek. "For you did offer me a bargain, dear James, though clarity of language had little to do with it."
James fixed Jack with a steady glare. "The letters of marque," he said.
Jack nodded and pulled them from his sash. "These with your share of the last raid should be enough to start you on a new life, aye?"
James nodded, drawing up a bitter smirk. "How fitting that the man who ruined my life should be a tool for rebuilding it." He glanced up at the ceiling, body unaturally still as Jack insinuated his fingers inside the waist of his trousers. The chains rattled. "I can hardly uphold my end of the bargain while restrained in this manner," he said, voice slightly choked.
"Not completely, no," said Jack. "But this is good enough to be starting out with. If you want me to release you now...." He curved his body closer and murmured into James' mouth. "Persuade me."
James held his head stiffly, neither pulling back nor leaning in, his nostrils staunch against the wet breath-blossom of rum and biscuit, meat and spit-soaked gold. He felt his blood pulsing through his hipbone, rhythmic licks against Jack's fingers. He remembered the snapping flag above the fort. He pressed his lips to Jack's.
________________
Feed me, please!