{ Black Sails Starters }

An unwelcome shudder worked its way down his spine, chilling him to the core almost instantly. It was a twitch, really – nothing more than a bit of old reflex as he cast a glance behind him before looking down, ascertaining both that nobody was behind him receiving this address – and that there was nothing sneaking up from below while he was distracted by it. 

Over before it could be noticed, Jack smiled, broad and bright enough that a glint of sun could be caught on his brass tooth – a sign, clear as the skies, that he was putting on airs. He was so open with James that he almost didn’t notice how quickly the old ways could rise – but there were some things ( little things! ) – that were just too dangerous to be trusted. 

“Now Jem,”  He breathed, moving closer as he employed the name he’d granted to his deadliest game to date, “If I’ve done something to offend you – you could just say so,” It did not occur to Jack that the words were genuine. He believed many things – when it came to the value they found in one another, wild and mad though it was – Jack believed sweet whispers and angry snarls alike. 

He never forgot where his Jem came from – never forgot the line they walked together was tenuous, or that every time his heart had tried to beat in time with someone else it had found itself dashed upon the rocks again and again.He truly hated the moments when Jem managed to tear him open, when the damned man would increase the height of his own importance by leaving yet another trace of himself behind when he closed the wounds he opened with the same rough hands that had torn them open to begin with. Yet in the end, he loved those moments – loved the aftermath, as they found themselves woven closer still by the thread of their fates.

This did not feel like one of those moments.

Habit shrouded him, protected him from the fear that welled up inside him that this was it – that this was the moment when their ships would part ways, and Jem would extract every piece of light he’d implanted with one devastating goodbye. People were only proud of Jack Sparrow when they found the means to betray him, and in the hands of the one man who could perhaps truly destroy him, they were easily the most terrifying his love could conjure.

 “Let’s talk this through, aye?” From teasing charm to pleading in a beat, Jack brought his hands placatingly to his lover’s hips, drawing him in as if to seduce the trouble away, “What have I done that’s so terrible it can’t be righted?”