Title: Clarity
Mar. 13th, 2011 05:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cosmic_tuesdaysTitle: Clarity
Author: Hannah R. Orlove
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Pairing: Jack Sparrow/James Norrington
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Written forfabu for a challenge.
Jack stood before him. He was all that was clear; the world around them might be a cave or the bottom of the ocean or just ground swathed in fog. James could not tell.
He walked towards Jack, who did not move away, instead walking forwards so James would not have to move as far. He had no smile from his mouth but there was joy in his eyes. He was dressed head to toe in his dirty ratty clothing, his hat askance.
James was in his full uniform, he realized after a moment. He could smell the powder for his wig, feel the sword resting on his hip. They were both dressed in their uniforms, James thought. They were both wearing what their stations told them they should wear. They had masked themselves to the world.
They embraced, saying nothing, simply feeling each other’s body.
I am in a dream.
James felt he was moving in water when he gently lifted Jack’s tricorne from his head. He held it against his chest, and Jack did not move to take it back. James put it at his feet.
Jack’s coat was also easily removed, presenting the unwashed shirt the color of clouds. Jack slid it off himself, stepping back, which also provided James a view of his chest.
Boots, stockings, breeches. The wraps of leather around his hands. All was gone.
James stepped forward once again, unknotting the fabric around Jack’s forehead, letting it fall.
He ran his fingers over his hair, past his neck, to pinch his shoulders, lifting off a layer of skin and grime that reminded him of a snake’s skin. A sea snake. It was right for Jack, in a way. The grime fell to their feet to disappear.
The tattoos and scars and beads and bones stayed. They were part of Jack, James knew, the way he knew things such as that when he was in a dream. He had chosen them for himself and they belonged to how he saw himself.
James now stood still as Jack took of his own tricorne and wig, which he pressed to his face to smell deeply.
His own uniform was more elaborate and it was harder for Jack to remove it from him, but there was little concept of time now. They were, that was all. They were with each other.
He stood, naked as Jack, and as clean, his own skin smooth and unblemished as glass.
He leaned forward and down to kiss Jack’s chest, then placed his hands on his sides and pulled apart, opening it up.
He did not know the names of some of the organs, but could name the one he wanted to see. Jack’s heart was beating steadily, quietly.
James placed his ear against it.
He could hear the cries of gulls, could feel the wind pass through his hair, could taste the spray of ocean water. There was a sense of pure joy, of nothing holding you down, not even gravity, and the feeling that if you took a step you would fly off to the stars.
There was the feel of the lash, the cries for water and food, the heat of sickness. There was a pure, bone-deep hatred. There was pure will, and drive, and determination.
It was Jack’s heart. It was Jack. He loved it. He loved him.
James kissed it.
He looked up at Jack, who smiled.
James stepped back, watching Jack’s chest close up, leaning back for Jack to open his chest as well, feeling himself be opened up, letting Jack listen to his heart.
Without masks, with nothing separating them from each other, in this tiny piece of a dream, they could hide nothing.
James wished he did not have to wake up…
…But the gulls were crying outside his window, and he had slept late enough already, even for a Sunday.
Author: Hannah R. Orlove
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Pairing: Jack Sparrow/James Norrington
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Written for
fabu for a challenge.Jack stood before him. He was all that was clear; the world around them might be a cave or the bottom of the ocean or just ground swathed in fog. James could not tell.
He walked towards Jack, who did not move away, instead walking forwards so James would not have to move as far. He had no smile from his mouth but there was joy in his eyes. He was dressed head to toe in his dirty ratty clothing, his hat askance.
James was in his full uniform, he realized after a moment. He could smell the powder for his wig, feel the sword resting on his hip. They were both dressed in their uniforms, James thought. They were both wearing what their stations told them they should wear. They had masked themselves to the world.
They embraced, saying nothing, simply feeling each other’s body.
I am in a dream.
James felt he was moving in water when he gently lifted Jack’s tricorne from his head. He held it against his chest, and Jack did not move to take it back. James put it at his feet.
Jack’s coat was also easily removed, presenting the unwashed shirt the color of clouds. Jack slid it off himself, stepping back, which also provided James a view of his chest.
Boots, stockings, breeches. The wraps of leather around his hands. All was gone.
James stepped forward once again, unknotting the fabric around Jack’s forehead, letting it fall.
He ran his fingers over his hair, past his neck, to pinch his shoulders, lifting off a layer of skin and grime that reminded him of a snake’s skin. A sea snake. It was right for Jack, in a way. The grime fell to their feet to disappear.
The tattoos and scars and beads and bones stayed. They were part of Jack, James knew, the way he knew things such as that when he was in a dream. He had chosen them for himself and they belonged to how he saw himself.
James now stood still as Jack took of his own tricorne and wig, which he pressed to his face to smell deeply.
His own uniform was more elaborate and it was harder for Jack to remove it from him, but there was little concept of time now. They were, that was all. They were with each other.
He stood, naked as Jack, and as clean, his own skin smooth and unblemished as glass.
He leaned forward and down to kiss Jack’s chest, then placed his hands on his sides and pulled apart, opening it up.
He did not know the names of some of the organs, but could name the one he wanted to see. Jack’s heart was beating steadily, quietly.
James placed his ear against it.
He could hear the cries of gulls, could feel the wind pass through his hair, could taste the spray of ocean water. There was a sense of pure joy, of nothing holding you down, not even gravity, and the feeling that if you took a step you would fly off to the stars.
There was the feel of the lash, the cries for water and food, the heat of sickness. There was a pure, bone-deep hatred. There was pure will, and drive, and determination.
It was Jack’s heart. It was Jack. He loved it. He loved him.
James kissed it.
He looked up at Jack, who smiled.
James stepped back, watching Jack’s chest close up, leaning back for Jack to open his chest as well, feeling himself be opened up, letting Jack listen to his heart.
Without masks, with nothing separating them from each other, in this tiny piece of a dream, they could hide nothing.
James wished he did not have to wake up…
…But the gulls were crying outside his window, and he had slept late enough already, even for a Sunday.
