As He Well Should ! - Tumblr Posts
🪐 — JACK SPARROW for stede !
“ Oh. ” It came out as a genuine exclamation of surprise; that this other man was a fellow pirate hadn’t even been a thought to cross his mind. He isn’t a pirate. Not yet, anyway. Perhaps new to life on the account, or just some mild-mannered fop who’d taken to the seas with fantastical, romantic notions of what such a lifestyle would consist of whose illusion hadn’t yet been burst, there was no way that this bloke had been at this sort of life for long. Not dressed like that, and most certainly not with courteous manners like those. Still, it took gall — if the stupid kind — to walk into a room of hardened cutthroats with an ensemble as loud and audacious as that, and Jack could concede that this fellow pirate had already won some fragile respect as a result. He watched the man move to gesture at the chair, asking for permission to sit, and cut a glance across the room. Predictably, every single eye in the tavern was on them. Some less friendly than others. And some, unnervingly perhaps, appeared to be waiting on his response to this entire spectacle. Jack knew full well that his name didn’t carry any clout in a place like this, but for that reason he also knew the dangers of a baying mob when he saw one.
Something peculiar rose in him — something that felt like but could certainly not be misconstrued as protective, not over a perfect stranger — and he finally turned back to his companion. With a sweeping gesture at the table, Jack offered an easy smile. “ I would be thrilled to correct the record, mate. ” He waved over a nearby barmaid, and made a point of closing the HMS Interceptor’s logbook on his table. Around him, the familiar low din of voices and cups and plates returned to the tavern. To afford tailoring like that, funds must not be an issue. Looks like i’m first up to exploit the gullible fool. “ But only if you first afford me an introduction. That, ” Jack made a gesture at the man’s spotless white brocade, “ is quite the look for a port as squalid as Tortuga. ”
AT HIS GESTURE OF WELCOME, stede feels a fragile bubble of tension burst. he almost hadn’t noticed its presence before, the silence that had fallen over the room. his own excitement over meeting a real pirate legend like jack sparrow had been the only thing on his mind as he pushed his way through the tavern. but now that he sweeps into the seat in a flutter of lace, careful as always not to snag the fabric on any splinter in the edge of the rough-hewn wooden bar table, he notices as the conversations slowly begin to pick back up. & he finds himself suddenly glad to no longer have every eye on the room on him. the attentions of a crowd can be a gift, but it could also be a weapon — this he knows from experience. & stede would far rather speak to this particular man one-on-one. ❝ you’re too kind. ❞ jack’s smile is earnestly returned on stede’s face, the trill of excitement that moves through him at the prospect of a conversation with jack sparrow hard to ignore. the recounting of some of the more mythical legends he has heard from someone who was actually present for them — at the center of them — was almost as exciting as he imagined having a real adventure of his own would be. but before he can introduce himself properly, a hurried barmaid makes her way to their table. stede asks for red wine for himself, before allowing his new companion to make his own request. it’s only after she moves away to fetch their drinks that he extends a hand from his spotless white lace & reaches across the table to offer of a handshake. ❝ the name’s stede bonnet; captain of the revenge. it’s my pleasure to make your acquaintance. ❞ perhaps one day he might even be able to say that he & jack sparrow had been friends, & wouldn’t that be something !