if i tell you this is drowning

JACK

"Well," Jack says, and if his back wasn't to her while he pulled his shirt back over his head, Flora might see a very familiar sheen to his blue eyes as he considers his next words, "I've told you now, haven't I?" Ergo, perhaps there might be some letting him win in the near future, if that's what she wants to call it. (Because that's what it is, Jack, whether you like it or not).

"People say a lot of shit, most of it bein' just that," he points out, voice a little muffled until his head pops through the collar of his shirt, the captain ruffling a hand through his hair and turning to face Flora again. He can feel the thorns of her self-loathing start to take root, such that he crosses the small space between them in just a step or two, drawing her against him.

"You comin' back from the dead is not small or cute," he says, his tone not unlike when he's explaining something to a new deckhand or reiterating a point to more seasoned crew. "So why the fuck should any mark on you to show you survived be that way?" Still, his gaze softens a touch as he glances over her. "It doesn't bother me," he says, "but I know it'll bother you, no matter what I have to say about it. So if coverin' them up would help, you know how to spell my name."

Tipping her a wink and stealing a kiss for good measure, he releases her to flit around the room and grab her clothes so she can dress before they leave.

sometimes we put our hearts in the wrong places
(what the fuck is it doing between your teeth?)

Code stolen from Queen Sky

flora

"You have indeed." The queen agrees., As for how many brownie points his thoughtfulness has earned him, he'll just have to argue and see.

Still fully undressed as Jack pulls her against him, Flora can't help but wrinkle her nose against the feeling of so much fabric pressed against her bare skin. His words on the other hand are so completely Jack that the Doubletake finds herself almost wilting with affection as she rises onto her toes to better wrap her arms around his neck. The expected answer would have been no babe, your scars are beautiful or I think every inch of you is perfect and while Jack's answer almost implied the opposite, it was far more genuine than any platitude might have been. "Its got a silent O, right?"

Holding him close in order to draw out what was likely supposed to just be a quick brush of his lips against hers, Flora flashes him a grin before shrugging quickly into her clothes. Checking to make sure her parchment and compass were still where he'd tucked them into her back pocket, Flora glanced around the room one last time before giving Jack a nod.

"Come on, let's sink this sucker."

How can a person know everything at 18 but nothing at 22?
Will you still want me when I'm nothing new?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JACK

"And a Q," Jack rumbles his agreement, a hand slipping around her waist as she anchors herself against him further, and as he realises she's not letting him go with a simple, chaste kiss, he of course obliges her and lingers for as long as her lips and lungs can stand it. Once he frees her to dress, the captain surveys the room one last time, finding nothing of value or interest in it. Nothing but Flora, of course, and he gestures for her to head onto the deck first as they leave.

"Whatever floats your boat, love." Smirking - he knows exactly the pun he's spoken quietly into being - Jack follows after her and helps hold the ladder steady as she clambers back up to The Ark. With much of the crew either pointedly hard at work or openly smiling to themselves (she had screamed Jack's name, after all), it's with Bassian concentrating wholeheartedly on winching the ladder back up that the captain leads Flora belowdecks to the cannons.

And once The Ark has drifted far out of range of any backlash, he lets her fire as many as she likes until the houseboat is little more than splinters on the waves.

~FIN

sometimes we put our hearts in the wrong places
(what the fuck is it doing between your teeth?)

Code stolen from Queen Sky