[Video]

[flickerflash]

[She'd been waiting for hours to see if they'd turn up.

Just a little after dawn on the 25th a piece of smudged notepaper gets carefully tucked into Katie's journal, and then she tosses the whole thing into the hollow log she's sitting on out in the forest.

The video clearly picks up the message. It's not very long.]



   Gone fishing.
Everyones invited
   except Raine.
  No drowning.



[There won't be any replies. She's gone.]

Comments

[flickerflash]

Really? To hear him go on, magic has no place in the world. [She resumes scrubbing. Giles becomes a smear of colour, a squiggly monster bleeding into the outline of a city.]

[all7seas]

Well...that could very well be the man's attitude. But to deny its existence? Even he could not be that self-deluded.

[flickerflash]

Why is that, do you think? [Scrub scrub. The noise is enough that her words seem flat and inflectionless, any emotion buried beneath her brush.] You'd think magic killed his parents in another life or something. Perhaps he could become anti-magic-man, out to lecture magic people everywhere.

[all7seas]

Doesn't like pirates much, either. Ooooor didn't.

[Jack decides to sit for a bit; maybe talking is good, right now. He can get her snacks later.

He rests his back against the door.]

Til he became one, briefly.

[flickerflash]

[Oh. That sounds like a story. Which rightly she doesn't have time for, but...

... the scrubbing slows. Curiosity killed the cat, but there's something about satisfaction in that rhyme, too.]

What happened?

[all7seas]

Lost his commission, became a drunk, and signed on to my crew. Came up in the world after that, really.


James is an exceptional sailor. Too bad about all those proper principles of his.

[flickerflash]

If he had all those proper principles, why did he become a drunk? That doesn't sound very smart.

[She is intrigued.]

[all7seas]

Perhaps you'll understand when you're older...er. Men do mad things when they see their lives falling apart. Sometimes? They do wise things.

[flickerflash]

Sometimes mad and wise can go together. [She considers that for a moment, then resumes scrubbing.] Do you think he'll ever like magic?

[all7seas]

Nah. I don't. Or.


Men like James Norrington like a playing field they understand. Magic? Buggers it all up for that type.

[flickerflash]

He should learn to live a little.

[Scrub. Scrub scrub.

Pause.]

I have to go fishing for a while.

[all7seas]

Could you explain to me what you mean by that? "Fishing?"

[flickerflash]

You take a boat and make sure there are no holes in it, and then you go out onto the sea with some bait and cast it out wide, and hope you don't accidentally hook any monsters you can't deal with. It's all about timing.

[Well, he did ask. But close enough, anyway.]

[all7seas]

When you go, darling.

[he paused and drew a deep breath. Jack Sparrow was certainly not going to even try to stop this magical girl from doing what she would. He trusted her to a fault, possibly. But he also had come to care quite intense about her wellbeing. It wasn't quite like feeling responsible for her. No. He lived with her at times; he made food for her and left it where she could find it. He helped keep Cullen House warm by chopping and bringing in wood in the winter. Made repairs. Kept a general eye out.

You couldn't simply fall into the responsibility role when the girl concerned had once patched together your torn and bleeding body with her magic. His views on this had been sealed on the ocean draft, when he'd dove into the sea to save her.

She hadn't needed saving at all at all.]

When you go, be sure to take along a runcible spoon. And. If you want it? Compass.

[he removes it from his pocket and sets it down on the floor just outside the door.]

I'll leave a snack for you in the kitchen, aye?

[flickerflash]

[Her scrubbing stills again, breath caught and held as he sets the compass down. Katie knows how important it is to Jack. And while a very small part of her wishes the grown ups in her life could fix everything for her, the way they're meant to for a child, the rest of her is eminently grateful that he understands her this much. And she would really, really feel better if he doesn't get involved.

So her answer is soft, but it comes with a small smile.]

Aye.