[ He sits down on the edge of the bed near the pillows, to be close to her, but if she thinks he's getting any closer just yet then she's angling for disappointment. He knows exactly how impatient she's feeling because he'd be feeling exactly the same way.
When she asks him that, he shakes his head. ]
A man who faces me at sea is fighting on neutral ground. We're all at the mercy of nature out there.
[ Noticing her glances, he tugs the bowl a little closer and dips his hand in to draw out a little sphere of lead, holding it for her to see. ]
But to come here, threaten our home and your life? They lost the right to decide how this story goes. I'll tell my own.
[She doesn't stop tugging but she does stop fussing a bit, her eyes big when she looks up at him. He looks like the sea right after a storm; fathomless and dark and like he swallowed a ship. Dangerous, but calm.]
They weren't supposed to threaten my life.
[She says it with a sigh, but okay. She holds his hand like it's an anchor and she's going to set sail otherwise.]
Who are you sending to give them the heads back, then? Better make it one of your men. We all know how the more European they are, the more likely they are to think mine are savages who don't know anything.
[She's getting bossy because she was scared; she was afraid she would die, but she can't say that so easily, not yet.]
[ Listen to her. Full of bullet holes and still trying to get feisty. ]
I will - if I send the heads back.
[ He's still undecided, which is what he was brooding over while her aunt Priya pried the bullets out of her body. Rage and vengeance tells him to carry the heads all the way back to Portugal and fire them from the cannons into the city, with her name carved into their sunken cheeks. But such a brazen act would demand action taken against it, and who knows what Portugal would send for the purpose? There's only so much he can do to protect her from his place at sea.
He toys with her fingers, watching her very carefully. ]
We could post them up, at the edge of the jungle. As a warning. Even rational men will think twice about ignoring a curse like that.
[She has an urge to fight with him, but she actually likes the idea. It would be smart - especially if it just showed up. Heads on pikes. She doesn’t say anything for a moment, but her silence is almost as good as an agreement.
Finally she nods a little bit.]
It would work.
[She says it especially carefully.]
You’re not going to go do it yourself, are you?
[She clears her throat. No, that isn’t what she wanted to say. That isn’t how she wanted it to sound, a little fussy.]
You could. I could order you to.
[She doesn’t particularly want to do that. She doesn’t particularly want to let him out of her sight.]
[ He narrows his eyes, albeit playfully, at the weak threat. At another time in his life, he'd have wanted to leave his name on all of it - and hers - to make sure it was crystal goddamn clear. But these days he prefers to be strategic. Having something to protect can do that. ]
I'll let you decide who to send, tigress.
[ He lifts her hand again, tangling their fingers. ]
But I want to keep the elephant.
[ By all rights, she gets to do whatever she wants with it. Less to him because she's the queen, so much as because she's the one who killed it, so she has the claim to it. But offering to trade for something he doesn't think she much wants anyway seems perfectly fair. ]
[She wrinkles her nose a little. A dead elephant - head and all - isn't exactly a momento. She felt bad for killing it. It was the only innocent member of that party, completely without blame for the crime of trying to kill her, or invading her jungle. But still, she leans forward a bit.]
What are you going to do with a dead elephant?
[Presumably clean the bones and bleach them, and then display them somehow, or take them aboard his ship, or turn the ivory of the tusks into jewelry.
She's not going to say no. She's going to bargain with it.]
I'm going to decorate my ship with it. Fix the skull to the prow and let my prey watch it as it charges them, turn the bones into weapons.
[ There's plenty to be done with a dead elephant, and for as much as he'd like to do, there might even be some left over. No sense wasting what's already dead. ]
Maybe send them to a bone carver, turn them into something worth whispering about.
[He gives her so much jewelry, and she loves every piece, but she's always a little hungry for more. Rings, and gold, and glitter. She, like pirates, likes the glitter for the sake of glitter, and for the sake of security. When he was about to be killed, she sold every piece of jewelry she had hoarded from when she was kidnapped, her earrings and rings and necklace, the bangles of precious gold, all to outfit a sleek fast ship, pay the crew, get him out of Nassau.
This is him paying her back, in a way.]
Good.
[As to the second.]
You can just lie next to me, and hold me, can't you? Surely you can keep yourself in check.
[ But there's amusement in his eyes, and compliance, as kicks his boots off, and then slides himself up the mattress on the more spacious side of her, pausing just to lean in and kiss her softly, his hand sliding up to touch her face.
Then he grips her chin firmly, his lips brushing hers. ]
Just know that if you ever put your life in danger like that again, I might just finish the job myself.
[ He would fucking never, and she should know that quite well. But sometimes a threat needs to be made just to underscore how seriously he feels about it. ]
[She watches him, eyes bright, mouth just a little open.]
I think you were at sea for months and we were only together a few times. I can't blame you for wanting to touch me.
[She's just as hungry as he is. She kisses him, and her heart beats a fast thud, desperate as anything. She growls a little at the grip, at the words.]
Did I scare you?
[She whispers it, her voice dropping the fury. There are some things that they can only say in whispers. Her nose presses against his.]
[ Despite the trace of an edge in his tone, the way he touches her is gentle, as if she really is fragile right now.
He shifts back to the pillows, giving her something warm and solid to lean against but not wanting to encourage her to move too much. Her body will heal itself quickly enough, but until that happens, he'll do his best to keep both of them in check. ]
How did you feel, seeing me at the gallows? You froze the blood in my veins, woman. Don't do it twice.
When he woke up, after that first day at sea, she slapped him for being so careless with his life. She slapped him and then burst into tears, because Daphne feels everything more intensely, even the potent mix of fear and relief.
She doesn’t like being afraid.
She knows he feels everything, too. He’s a fury because he’s all passion, which means fear is a potent thing.
She leans against him, her hand reaching for his.]
I don’t intend to.
[She sighs softly.]
I thought my heart stopped, when I saw you on the gallows. As though I swallowed poison.
[ He'd maintained then, as he would now, that he made his choices deliberately and would make the same ones again; Jack Rackham lived to fight another day because of it, and he was satisfied with the bargain. If Daphne had done the same, maybe he'd feel differently. Instead, it was simply a careless turn of events that might have cost her life if one of those bullets had found a better mark.
Then again, he probably wouldn't feel differently at all.
Charles has never been one to overstate his feelings, but he wouldn't disguise them from her. They know each other; he wanted that so badly, to be known deeper than his legend by someone he could trust with it, and of the very few people who have managed it, Daphne is the only one who never betrayed him afterward. So why hide anything from her now? ]
I don't fear my death. But I fear yours. And I'll never stop trying to protect you from it - even if you slaughter an army of elephants.
[ What satisfies him enough is that she's here, alive, and will be whole in short order; well enough to argue means she's well enough to be moved a little bit, so he angles himself along the pillows and pulls them behind his back, so that he can draw her in to recline against his chest.
His hand finds hers, and threads their fingers slowly. ]
I intend for it to be well understood, that anyone who wants to get to you will have to go through me.
[She lays on his chest, and the steady thump of his heart is absolute comfort, quiet and heady. She just lets her eyes close, just a little bit.
He doesn’t talk about his emotions but he shows them as obviously as anything. The way he holds her now, the way he moves her to make sure she doesn’t hurt. The curve of his fingers.
The fierceness of his love isn’t nearly as surprising as the tenderness of it.]
Charles.
[She brings his hand to her mouth and presses tender kisses to his fingers, and then to his wrist.]
[ A blessing and a curse. The message he intends to send will get out, but so will others, built by gossip and rumor, and there's no telling what stories like that will provoke in response.
Or perhaps it's just that neither one of them wants to think of what would happen, should the full weight of a royal navy be brought to bear against them. ]
[She will bear her teeth and declare war, if a navy comes. They're independent, even the Mughals know it, and they will not bend for anyone, no matter who.
But that's not a worry for now. Those were hunters, not a delegation. They were in full rights to do what they did.
She takes a breath, and assesses her body.]
Most of the bullet holes have closed. I think my arm will take a bit more, maybe a few days.
[If she were a normal tiger, it would have been a death sentence, a good luck hit by a hunter who was stabbing wildly.]
I fear you will have to tolerate only one of my hands, when I'm able to climb you again.
[ What a fucking relief. The bullets had frightened him more; the arm might take longer to heal, but she's too strong to go down from that alone. And she's not as solitary as tigers usually are. ]
We'll manage just fine in the meantime.
[ He uses their laced fingers to tip her head back a little more, against his shoulder, and turn her face toward him so he can kiss her slowly. It deepens, but he doesn't press as hard as he usually does, as if this might be the thing that hurts her. But he doesn't let the kiss break too soon. ]
Maybe you'll have to tolerate letting me carry you for a while.
[When she kisses him back, it's with that same slow intensity, knowing that for a little while this is the most they're going to get out of each other. She raises her good hand to his hair, and closes her eyes, and keeps kissing him, her body pressing against his.]
I don't mind it when you carry me.
[She admits it with a flush, a dip of her head.]
As long as it's not where any of my people can see, when I'm not injured.
[ That makes him laugh, a low chuckle with his nose against her cheek between one kiss and the next. ]
In that case, I'll certainly do it more often.
[ Maybe he'll carry her to the bath and clean every inch of her beautiful body himself. See where else he can make her flush like that, and how many times. When she's just a little more healed, he'll do it.
For now he just kisses her slowly again, running his thumb along the line of her jaw, until the moment he draws away and their foreheads touch. ]
[Her heart hammers a little, like it does every time he tells her that. It's a rare thing, rare words whispered between them, and every one is more precious than a jewel. She doesn't reply with words, because there's no need.
Instead she looks him in the eye, her mouth just parted, a true and absolute vulnerability on her face, and she kisses him again, opening his mouth for her tongue.
When she's satisfied she pulls back.]
If I sleep, will you stay?
[He might not. He often doesn't, if he has other things to deal with.]
[ He brushes a lock of hair back from her face and kisses her forehead. For as relaxed as they both are now, there's still a part of Charles that half-expects another hunting party to show up in her courtyard, ready to pick up where the first one failed. ]
I'm not going anywhere.
[ It's comfortable in her chambers, with the breeze rolling up the mountain from the bay rippling in through the curtains. If she sleeps, he probably will too; even if he doesn't, he'll just enjoy the peace and quiet and the warmth of her body against his. But he's not leaving. Everything else can wait. ]
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chuffle) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
cribellate2022-02-27 11:31 am
no subject
When she asks him that, he shakes his head. ]
A man who faces me at sea is fighting on neutral ground. We're all at the mercy of nature out there.
[ Noticing her glances, he tugs the bowl a little closer and dips his hand in to draw out a little sphere of lead, holding it for her to see. ]
But to come here, threaten our home and your life? They lost the right to decide how this story goes. I'll tell my own.
no subject
They weren't supposed to threaten my life.
[She says it with a sigh, but okay. She holds his hand like it's an anchor and she's going to set sail otherwise.]
Who are you sending to give them the heads back, then? Better make it one of your men. We all know how the more European they are, the more likely they are to think mine are savages who don't know anything.
[She's getting bossy because she was scared; she was afraid she would die, but she can't say that so easily, not yet.]
no subject
I will - if I send the heads back.
[ He's still undecided, which is what he was brooding over while her aunt Priya pried the bullets out of her body. Rage and vengeance tells him to carry the heads all the way back to Portugal and fire them from the cannons into the city, with her name carved into their sunken cheeks. But such a brazen act would demand action taken against it, and who knows what Portugal would send for the purpose? There's only so much he can do to protect her from his place at sea.
He toys with her fingers, watching her very carefully. ]
We could post them up, at the edge of the jungle. As a warning. Even rational men will think twice about ignoring a curse like that.
no subject
Finally she nods a little bit.]
It would work.
[She says it especially carefully.]
You’re not going to go do it yourself, are you?
[She clears her throat. No, that isn’t what she wanted to say. That isn’t how she wanted it to sound, a little fussy.]
You could. I could order you to.
[She doesn’t particularly want to do that. She doesn’t particularly want to let him out of her sight.]
no subject
I'll let you decide who to send, tigress.
[ He lifts her hand again, tangling their fingers. ]
But I want to keep the elephant.
[ By all rights, she gets to do whatever she wants with it. Less to him because she's the queen, so much as because she's the one who killed it, so she has the claim to it. But offering to trade for something he doesn't think she much wants anyway seems perfectly fair. ]
no subject
What are you going to do with a dead elephant?
[Presumably clean the bones and bleach them, and then display them somehow, or take them aboard his ship, or turn the ivory of the tusks into jewelry.
She's not going to say no. She's going to bargain with it.]
no subject
[ There's plenty to be done with a dead elephant, and for as much as he'd like to do, there might even be some left over. No sense wasting what's already dead. ]
Maybe send them to a bone carver, turn them into something worth whispering about.
no subject
I have two conditions.
[She raises her eyebrows and looks up at him.]
The first is that you cut a slice from the tusk and make me a ring. I want you to carve it.
[Her lips quirk a bit.]
And I want you to get into bed with me and keep me warm right now.
no subject
To the first, I'll do my best.
[ He kisses the back of her hand, with a little bit of a bite. ]
As to the second, are you sure you aren't in too delicate a condition to receive the company?
no subject
This is him paying her back, in a way.]
Good.
[As to the second.]
You can just lie next to me, and hold me, can't you? Surely you can keep yourself in check.
no subject
[ But there's amusement in his eyes, and compliance, as kicks his boots off, and then slides himself up the mattress on the more spacious side of her, pausing just to lean in and kiss her softly, his hand sliding up to touch her face.
Then he grips her chin firmly, his lips brushing hers. ]
Just know that if you ever put your life in danger like that again, I might just finish the job myself.
[ He would fucking never, and she should know that quite well. But sometimes a threat needs to be made just to underscore how seriously he feels about it. ]
no subject
I think you were at sea for months and we were only together a few times. I can't blame you for wanting to touch me.
[She's just as hungry as he is. She kisses him, and her heart beats a fast thud, desperate as anything. She growls a little at the grip, at the words.]
Did I scare you?
[She whispers it, her voice dropping the fury. There are some things that they can only say in whispers. Her nose presses against his.]
no subject
[ Despite the trace of an edge in his tone, the way he touches her is gentle, as if she really is fragile right now.
He shifts back to the pillows, giving her something warm and solid to lean against but not wanting to encourage her to move too much. Her body will heal itself quickly enough, but until that happens, he'll do his best to keep both of them in check. ]
How did you feel, seeing me at the gallows? You froze the blood in my veins, woman. Don't do it twice.
no subject
When he woke up, after that first day at sea, she slapped him for being so careless with his life. She slapped him and then burst into tears, because Daphne feels everything more intensely, even the potent mix of fear and relief.
She doesn’t like being afraid.
She knows he feels everything, too. He’s a fury because he’s all passion, which means fear is a potent thing.
She leans against him, her hand reaching for his.]
I don’t intend to.
[She sighs softly.]
I thought my heart stopped, when I saw you on the gallows. As though I swallowed poison.
no subject
Then again, he probably wouldn't feel differently at all.
Charles has never been one to overstate his feelings, but he wouldn't disguise them from her. They know each other; he wanted that so badly, to be known deeper than his legend by someone he could trust with it, and of the very few people who have managed it, Daphne is the only one who never betrayed him afterward. So why hide anything from her now? ]
I don't fear my death. But I fear yours. And I'll never stop trying to protect you from it - even if you slaughter an army of elephants.
no subject
[She was afraid. So afraid that she’d die and he would hurt, afraid she would die and everything she built would be for nothing.
Afraid he would be alone again.]
I promise to never make you watch me die, lion. I promise you can kill as many men and as many elephants as it takes.
Does that satisfy you?
no subject
[ What satisfies him enough is that she's here, alive, and will be whole in short order; well enough to argue means she's well enough to be moved a little bit, so he angles himself along the pillows and pulls them behind his back, so that he can draw her in to recline against his chest.
His hand finds hers, and threads their fingers slowly. ]
I intend for it to be well understood, that anyone who wants to get to you will have to go through me.
no subject
He doesn’t talk about his emotions but he shows them as obviously as anything. The way he holds her now, the way he moves her to make sure she doesn’t hurt. The curve of his fingers.
The fierceness of his love isn’t nearly as surprising as the tenderness of it.]
Charles.
[She brings his hand to her mouth and presses tender kisses to his fingers, and then to his wrist.]
Certainly everyone here knows it.
no subject
[ The backs of his fingers stroke her cheek. ]
Word will spread. It always does.
[ A blessing and a curse. The message he intends to send will get out, but so will others, built by gossip and rumor, and there's no telling what stories like that will provoke in response.
Or perhaps it's just that neither one of them wants to think of what would happen, should the full weight of a royal navy be brought to bear against them. ]
How do you feel now?
no subject
But that's not a worry for now. Those were hunters, not a delegation. They were in full rights to do what they did.
She takes a breath, and assesses her body.]
Most of the bullet holes have closed. I think my arm will take a bit more, maybe a few days.
[If she were a normal tiger, it would have been a death sentence, a good luck hit by a hunter who was stabbing wildly.]
I fear you will have to tolerate only one of my hands, when I'm able to climb you again.
no subject
We'll manage just fine in the meantime.
[ He uses their laced fingers to tip her head back a little more, against his shoulder, and turn her face toward him so he can kiss her slowly. It deepens, but he doesn't press as hard as he usually does, as if this might be the thing that hurts her. But he doesn't let the kiss break too soon. ]
Maybe you'll have to tolerate letting me carry you for a while.
no subject
I don't mind it when you carry me.
[She admits it with a flush, a dip of her head.]
As long as it's not where any of my people can see, when I'm not injured.
[And another flush, another kiss.]
I actually kind of like it.
no subject
In that case, I'll certainly do it more often.
[ Maybe he'll carry her to the bath and clean every inch of her beautiful body himself. See where else he can make her flush like that, and how many times. When she's just a little more healed, he'll do it.
For now he just kisses her slowly again, running his thumb along the line of her jaw, until the moment he draws away and their foreheads touch. ]
I love you.
no subject
Instead she looks him in the eye, her mouth just parted, a true and absolute vulnerability on her face, and she kisses him again, opening his mouth for her tongue.
When she's satisfied she pulls back.]
If I sleep, will you stay?
[He might not. He often doesn't, if he has other things to deal with.]
no subject
I'm not going anywhere.
[ It's comfortable in her chambers, with the breeze rolling up the mountain from the bay rippling in through the curtains. If she sleeps, he probably will too; even if he doesn't, he'll just enjoy the peace and quiet and the warmth of her body against his. But he's not leaving. Everything else can wait. ]