POTC Ficlet: "Up and Down As Tide"

[veronica_rich]

Title: "Up and Down As Tide"
Rating: PG
Jack and Will or J/W - your choice
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or turn a profit off their portrayal
Summary: How does an upright citizen like Captain Turner solve a problem like Captain Sparrow? Written for the "changing tides" prompt at jackwill.
A/N: Unbetaed. Written on a feverish brain. Feedback welcomed.


Christ, how he’d hated this man! First, he’d lulled Will into a false trust, forcing him through his own conscience to offer up his own life to protect Jack’s against the commodore and the Crown; then he’d hurled that life against the sharp edges of Davy Jones’s self-hatred and immolation.

Finally, he’d turned against Will in the basest way he could: Trying to seduce away the one person who would willingly become the orphan's new family.

This wasn’t even dwelling overmuch on the dramatic pause that had given Jones the chance to kill him. And against his better judgment Will had tried to forget the glimpse he’d gotten of Jack’s face, the absolute horror, shock, and pain in his expression as the life dribbled out of Will into wet, algae-slicked planks the day he was born into captaincy for the Ship of Death.

But dying upon those same planks now was a drowned, battered shell of the pirate Will had been forced to recognize as a good man despite Jack’s constant streak of self-service. The kneeling captain slid large hands into the half-corpse’s matted black hair, cupping the sides of his head, and closed his eyes. Energy flowed from skin to skin as he tightened and flexed his fingers, willed from beneath the mingled admiration/repulsiveness he’d always harbored for Jack, until he felt the head lifting, moving on its own.

He opened his eyes and stood, offering his fellow captain a hand up. Jack eyed it, then took it, his dark eyes never leaving Will’s as he followed. There was no disappointment, no mocking this time – rather, Jack’s own brand of admiration and respect.

And perhaps something else … a thing that matched the shift in Will’s own perception of the maddening personality that had perplexed him since the night Jack had waved off his crew’s betrayal with a “They done what’s right by them.” Something that had kept him from taking off Jack’s head on a couple of occasions since, when he would’ve been quite justified in doing so.

Something that made him pull back Death’s hounds this very night and not force a decision between service and demise upon the strange, sparkling fellow. Something in the blood that now flowed and pooled under the guidance of tides and moon and sun rather than of a heart.

“Some rum, pirate?” he finally asked, letting the smile touch his overwise eyes.

After a few beats, Jack nodded almost imperceptibly. “Aye,” he assented, still gripping Will’s hand in a prolonged clasp. “That’ll work, blacksmith.”

Comments

[yakkorat.livejournal.com]

My darling, I asked for something new, and you delievered with your usual, spectacular flair. I love you.

Love,
Jules

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I try sometimes. I never please everybody, but then again, I only set out to make myself happy - if somebody else is as well, it tickles me. Thanks!

[kseenaa.livejournal.com]

Now that was very different. But very very beautiful. :-)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

It's one way things could go after AWE. I sort of like this way, myself (and see it getting slashier *G*). Thanks!

[immortal-jedi.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love how you show Will's mixed feeling about Jack.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I love both Will and Jack, but I don't always agree with everything Jack does. (Will gets more slack - there's little he does that I don't see as primarily serving somebody besides himself.) It would hold that Will doesn't, either. Thanks!

[giselleslash.livejournal.com]

What a fantastic interpretation of the prompt. So very fitting for Will to be angry and annoyed with Jack but in the end shifting back to his forgiving self and offering him respite.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it. I hadn't felt like writing anything for a while, but the prompt sort of called to me, and I thought I'd take a stab at it. :-)

[mamazano.livejournal.com]

See, I don’t see things in the same light as others do. For starters, I don’t see Will going over to the Dutchman as a betrayal at all. Or, if you want to call it that, it is about as benign a betrayal as you're likely to find.

Will Turner does not die. Jack merely sends him on a dangerous mission. And everyone seems to forget the fact that Jack knows Bootstrap Bill is on that ship. Jack is reuniting Father and Son, exactly as it happens. Who is to know what Jack was planning? Will is a resourceful guy, going off onto a ship to pair up with his father, and find the key. And to top it off, WILL ACCEPTED THAT ASSIGNMENT.

Grant it, there is a strategy to not telling Will -- if Will knew what was going on all along, would Jones have taken him on the ship? The betrayal had to feel real to Jones in order to get Will on the ship at all.

Again, Will did not die. Jack plays all angles. If Will hadn't been able to escape and return, one could even imagine Jack making his way onto the Dutchman, and teaming up with Will to get the key.

Also, I don’t believe Jack was trying to seduce Elizabeth, more like playing a game of one-upmanship with her. Her betrayal of Jack was far worse, and yet she get the excuse of having done it because she did it for Will? No fair, says I.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Compared to things other characters have done in these movies, I'm willing to concede Will's lashing and Jones sending the kraken after him in the Edinburgh pales in comparison.

Will did accept the trade to go onto the Dutchman for Jack - to get Jack's compass to free Elizabeth. Jack saw an opportunity to gain something for himself out of someone else's desperation, and he took it. He's a pirate; it's what he does. He did it in CotBP as well, sparing Will's life from Barbossa's desperation to gain both mortality and his own commodoreship. Will should have remembered that and asked more questions before he agreed to do anything for Jack. But he's not necessarily going to remember that years later in the middle of the night, trying to make a quick decision of whether to save Jack's life or let him perish - stream-of-consciousness and all that.

Will died when Jones stabbed him - or rather, he would have certainly died if Jack hadn't helped him stab the heart and Bill hadn't carved out his heart (though I take some issue with the second one - I'm not sure it was necessary and can only guess it falls under the category of Bill not knowing any better or being in his right mind). It's what makes it hard for him to stay angry at or annoyed with Jack here. Mixed feelings.

Whatever Jack was trying to do to Elizabeth, I have no illusions that if she'd stripped to her skin and offered herself up to him, Jack would've slept with her. That doesn't mean it was his primary objective, or that she is who he most wants to have sex with - again, he's a pirate. He's an opportunist, and non-rape sex with a pretty girl is a fairly nonviolent opportunity.

This is why I read your stories; I count on you to come up with a different POV that I can enjoy and also see some logic in. :-)

[mamazano.livejournal.com]

I do believe that Jack meant for Jones to return Will, and tried his hardest to get him back. Now the lashing is not Jack's fault, though the Kraken pursuit is a direct result of Will stealing the key.

There was a line or two left out in editing, that had Jack making the deal with Will - he would trade the compass if Will would do something for him in return, a typical response from Jack.

But I still do not believe there was a "betrayal" by any means. Will went on this quest willingly, as he had gone in CotBP. Jack asked him then, "One question about your business, boy, or there's no use going. This girl? How far are you willing to go to save her?" I don't think this is totally about Jack being selfish and wanting something for himself. He knows Will well enough to realize that he will do rash things when it comes to Elizabeth and tries to at least see that the outcome is not as dire as it could be.

[danglingdingle.livejournal.com]

All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.
All which thy child's mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home :
Rise, clasp My hand, and come !"
Halts by me that footfall :
Is my gloom, after all,
Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?
"Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,
I am He Whom thou seekest!
Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest me."

-The Hound of Heaven

Something in the blood that now flowed and pooled under the guidance of tides and moon and sun rather than of a heart.

I'm a great fan of that sentence :)

(but why is Jack calling Will a blacksmith? o_O)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

but why is Jack calling Will a blacksmith?

They are each more than they were when they first met, but since Will chose to refer to Jack as his first label, Jack is doing the same somewhat playfully. (I suppose he could call him a piratesmith, which Nat and I came up with years ago, but there aren't many readers who know what that means. *G*)

Glad you liked that sentence. It's my favorite as well.

[danglingdingle.livejournal.com]

since Will chose to refer to Jack as his first label, Jack is doing the same somewhat playfully.

Ah, of course. My bad. I just saw Will stating facts, so I thought Jack was doing the same.

[mamazano.livejournal.com]

I love that sentence as well, and have ideas running through my head now that encompass it.

[a-silver-rose.livejournal.com]

I likes!

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I happee! *G*

[bearleft77.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to say I loved this. I think it perfectly sums up Will's feelings toward Jack.

And against his better judgment Will had tried to forget the glimpse he’d gotten of Jack’s face, the absolute horror, shock, and pain in his expression...

I'm so glad you mentioned Will seeing Jack's expression. I love that movie, despite its faults, and that image of Jack's face is one of the things that stays with me. It's completely unguarded and real, and I'm glad Will saw it (even if he tried to forget it).

And on an off-note, I have to say that your last line keeps reminding me of "That'll do, pig" from "Babe." :)

But really nice job.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I actually had that in mind myself when I wrote that last line, so I'm sort of tickled someone got it. *G*

Thanks for the rest of the FB too. Jack's expression was one of my favorite bits as well - it's one of the true bits of emotion you see on Jack in the entire series, along with his anger after Will goes down with the Dutchman and taking command to retaliate. (Best part: It was all for Will!)

[bearleft77.livejournal.com]

And so is the equally wonderful overjoyed expression a few minutes later.

At first the last line pulled me out a bit because I heard it in James Cromwell's voice, then I enjoyed it. I'm amused that that's what you intended. :)

Cheers!

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I tried to put in a little humor. Far too many fics are missing that these days in favor of total angst, and hell, the movies were mostly fun. Shouldn't the stories mostly be? At least IMO. :-)

[ladymouse2.livejournal.com]

Ah, one last typee before crawling off to bed.

So very fine!

You know, Jack actually betrays Will a total of twice in all three movies, both times in DM: when he sends him to the Dutchman then during the three-way duel Jack points out it's Will that Norrington should blame more Jack.

Jack MANIPULATES Will many more times for his own agendas but none of those instances work directly against Will's own interests or well-being.

In the game going on between Jack and Elizabeth, if she'd offered herself, he'd certainly have taken her up on it but the choice WAS hers and she didn't make it. Meanwhile, she was easily doing as much teasing as he was seducing, hardly the betrayal Will sees it, but he's quite humanly jealous when he witnesses the kiss--and it's initiated by Elizabeth for her OWN agenda.

But in Will's POV, he'd reasonably not take kindly to being maneuvered. That touches a man's pride in a very fundamental way. Will blames Jack even for his OWN decision to save Jack from the gallows, which is a stretch.

I also like that you confront Will's very feasible resentment of Jack's pausing to gloat, which gave Jones the time to stab Will. That too is damning him for lacking hindsight, but Will is stuck on the Dutchman and not inclined to make fine distinctions among his grievances.

What makes this story SO good, is not only that Will moves past that, he's not simply being "nobly forgiving".

There is such layering of emotion and understanding. No one-dimensional noble-Will here! After his years on the Dutchman, he's seen the complexity of the soul, the mixed shades of gray in every motive.

Beyond his grudges he can recognize the good in Jack alongside his self-serving schemes, his inherent trickster nature.

People tend to forget or shrug off the event that sets the whole adventure in motion; Jack saves a drowning woman he not only doesn't know but the rescue will draw unwanted attention and he is in fact captured and condemned out of hand!

>And against his better judgment Will had tried to forget the glimpse he’d gotten of Jack’s face< So Will's better judgment would be precisely to remember that he'd seen Jack at his most honest, all masks dropped.

There is in Jack a core of humanity that at the very last will do "the right thing" because it IS the right thing. There is in Will the greatness of soul to step past his grievances to respond to that generously.

That indefinable something in Jack that calls to him is a shared fundamental decency. They may not be "peas in a pod" but there is commonality at bottom. Will salutes it when he treats Jack as fellow captain and Jack sees and accepts Will's gesture for the fine thing it is.

*grin* Also like everyone else, I love the line:
> “Aye,” he assented, still gripping Will’s hand in a prolonged clasp. “That’ll work, blacksmith.”<

I, too flashed to Babe, then I also thought of Gibbs in the pig pen, dazedly figuring his way through Jack's convoluted words to a free drink, "Aye, that'll about do it."

But I have to mention one other line that gave me shivers it was so good:
>Something in the blood that now flowed and pooled under the guidance of tides and moon and sun rather than of a heart.<

I think you are the only one I've read so far that pauses to recognize that Will's whole being now moves to other rhythms, attuned to nature with a directness beyond human. What a strange, eerie beauty in the notion that, lacking a heart, it's the lunar tides that pull his blood in his veins. For an instant it makes him a magical creature, as strange and glittering in his own way.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Wow! Such detailed FB, and I feel inadequate to properly respond to all of it. I think your comment was longer than my story! :-)

I'll just say I appreciate you taking so much time to think about it, and hope to similarly entertain in the future. And that you make a lot of good points food for thought ....

[ladymouse2.livejournal.com]

Er, you're welcome. I suppose I was at even longer than usual pains to be detailed (that's saying something considering what a motormouth I've turned into) because the theme is potentially rather loaded in the touchiness among partisans of Will and Jack. I wanted to qualify and explain why I thought the story was so good and merited wide appeal.

Believe me, I'm relieved my comments, long as they were, didn't seem too much or overstated. Frankly RL has been driving me to the wall and just the last couple of days has upped the ante tremendously. I'll just say I'm a full time caregiver to an elderly relative and a life of my own will have to be in snatches in foreseeable future. So just a general apology: If I'm not writing these marathon reviw posts in future, it doesn't mean I didn't like the story or I've lost interest in the fandom--it's a lifeline these days! There's often only enough time to READ much less post.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Well, see, there you go - I'm not a partisan of Will or Jack. I'm quite partial to both, preferably together. ;-)

Caring for sick or elderly relatives - or anyone else - takes its toll. I've been through that myself and know how much patience is required. Much is more important than fanfic, but don't give up reading it, even if you can't comment. (And aim for humor in your reading. That usually seems to help me.)

[sunsetdawn20.livejournal.com]

Beautiful. I really loved it. .)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[sharklady35.livejournal.com]

A very fine Will fic! Certainly there's more to the man, than that surface nobility (admirable though it is.)

No cause to blame Jack for your ending up captaining the Dutchman, Will. It was Destiny.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Oh, I believe he has quite a bit of bone-deep nobility too, but I think there's even so much Will can put up with before he starts weighing his betrayals against somebody else's and wondering who has the most so far. *G*

Destiny's a real bitch, she is. As more than just Will found out, I suspect. Thanks for reading!

[sharklady35.livejournal.com]

> Oh, I believe he has quite a bit of bone-deep nobility too... <

As do I. By 'surface' I meant 'easily seen'.

> As more than just Will found out, I suspect. <

Definitely.

I wonder what Jack's shall turn out to be?

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

:D

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

It's my compromise between my own brain's "he screwed Will over" and the screenwriters' "he didn't intend for Will to end up stuck on that ship for long." I still struggle. :-)

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

Do you really see it that way? I don't. I see it as one of those compromises that defines Jack's existence. The decent man who turns pirate. Someone who is constantly walking that tightrope. Which is why I thought DMC was made of collosal fail. He clearly had fallen OFF the tightrope in that movie, and part of the deliciousness of Jack Sparrow is how close he comes to falling off and yet doesn't. They fucked with that concept, which is why (in addition to many other issues but that was the primary one) I hated that movie. It jossed the one, seminal concept of CotBP: a pirate can be a good man. He had a choice to let Will actually die, or give Will a half existence and then SCHEME like bloody hell in the meantime to free him. I think they could make an entire movie out of him consorting with various shamans (and a starring role for Tia Dalma) to free Will. It could actually be sort of a twoson with Jack and Tia Dalma in a constant search to free Will. With appropriate cameos with Elizabeth (femme slash! threesomes!). I think it could be a fascinating film. Get Barbossa in there, bring back the entire crew. Do you think I should write the screenplay?

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Hey, since you have the idea, you're now OBLIGATED to write it. (Unless that scares off your muse. In which case I'll say no! no! don't write THAT!)

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

It seems an obvious jumping off point for the next movie. Although I get the sense they want to pair up Johnny and Geoff because of the obvious chemistry between them. I imagine that whole hunt for the "Fountain of Youth" might be part of that saving of Will plot point. Christ, I can see it now. Jack is torn between giving a draught to Will and resurrecting him or drinking it himself. That's exactly the sort of dilemma that SHOULD exist in this franchise. In fact, Jack returning in the row boat to the Pearl to save them from the Kraken was the first time in DMC that Jack was actually reprising the sort of character traits that defined him in the first movie. Selfish action first, selfless action second upon further reflection. Best of both worlds when selfish action and selfless action actually meet! Which is how he got the Pearl back.

Hell, given how ridiculous Disney et al. are, I imagine that they'll resurrect James Norrington as well. It seems, well, a natural. However, I've assumed many things were naturals, say, beginning a movie with a wedding and assuming that the two people getting married are IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER--apparent I was wrong--Oh, gee, it appears I was right!

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I've assumed many things were naturals, say, beginning a movie with a wedding and assuming that the two people getting married are IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER--apparent I was wrong

Well, of course you were wrong. That's Jack and Will, naturally. :-D

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

If slashers ruled the world, honey!

You know this brings up a very interesting point, and given that your sister is an SPN fan, I'd be curious about her take on the recent wank that the series took that seemingly to my untrained eye was a direct slap in the face to the wincest crowd. And it seems a lot of people in the fandom who write wincest see it that way too, but maybe I'm just reading the vocal minority.

But it says something profound about the proprietary nature of fandom. How we adopt these characters to fit our fantasy and spin tales about them so that the fanon seems more realistic at a certain point than the canon. If someone said to me, there is aboslutely no basis in fact for your stories with Will and Jack having any sort of sexual relationship, I'd have to agree with them! (and this goes back to my recent essay on what the fuck is canon anyway!). Just like I felt about the sparrabethers insistence that J/E existed and that pesky wedding was nothing more than Elizabeth being trapped into marriage by convention (yeah, to a blacksmith, THAT was conventional in the 18th century!). But they certain felt that their interpretation was correct and the fact it turned out to be woefully wrong is not only a comment on how freaking bizarre was their interpretation of the events of that movie, but in some touching way of how much they WANTED it to be that way.

Case in point: I've come into two fandoms ass backwards, reading the best of the fanfiction first and THEN watching the shows. due South was one and Stargate Atlantis is the second. And the thing about SGA is that the show is pretty cheesy and, well, lame, but the actors give it their best shot. Joe Flanigan has a ridiculous amount of charm and David Hewlett can actually act, so between the two of them, they make it work like gangbusters, or at least enough so that the stupid shit that the creators pull you can effectively ignore. Most of the time. And watching this show, with the background of some really EXCELLENT writers who taken over the storyline, it's like they've created an alternative universe where a simple act, John Sheppard throwing a nickel to decide if he's going to Atlantis or not becomes, an entire frigging jumping off point for the psychology of John Sheppard. It becomes fanon which then becomes canon! In the show it has something like a two second appearance and fandom has made this into something much, much more. And this is only one instance of where a simple act by a screenwriter becomes a psychological or physical manifestation of a character's psyche!

And I think we all do this to one extent of another. We adopt these characters and make them our own. And when the creators/writers/producers/directors have the nerve to either tell fandom STFU, we are outraged. It's as if we own them. Witness how much angst that stupid DMC elicited?

Fascinating stuff, fandom!

[(Anonymous)]

“the series took that seemingly to my untrained eye was a direct slap in the face to the wincest crowd.” Been there, done that. Hellooo, DMC. There are times when the inconsistency of the behavior of characters causes one to manipulate the hell out of canon.

After CotBP, it is clear that DMC Jack must be so mean because Will had spurned his advances. Works for me at any rate.

And DMC Elizabeth falling for Jack after CotBP Elizabeth thought him so gross and crude before? Umm, yeah, still working on that.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

This may be why much of the J/E fic cleans up Jack and turns him into Johnny, The Family Man - because canon Elizabeth wouldn't put up with canon Jack for very long?

[(Anonymous)]

Ah, the Jack with nappies stories. *snerk* like that would ever happen.

I don't write fanfiction, so my critiques are pretty much based on did I like it and did I think the characters behaved in a canon fashion. It gets a little tricky for Elizabeth and Jack because in DMC, their characters behave in an aberrant fashion. AWE and CotBP are much better in sync that way.

So, even though J/E is not my cup of tea, if a writer sticks to post-DMC and ignores AWE, at least it's canon of some sort. However, even given that tolerant assessment, anyone who thinks that Jack would be pussy-whipped is nuts (which is how many write him). Anyone who thinks Jack would put a small child at the center of his universe is nuts. Anyone who thinks Elizabeth and Jack wouldn't try to kill each other is nuts. Cuttlefish, m'dear.

Strictly speaking, J/W, J/N and N/E aren't canon either, but it's much easier to write those relationships in which the characters behave in a canon fashion. W/N is trickier for me, because well, who would make the first move? Slash with Jack and his slippery moves, though, is easy to see in a canon fashion.

[(Anonymous)]

"Something in the blood that now flowed and pooled under the guidance of tides and moon and sun rather than of a heart."

Like others have mentioned, this sentence is very good. Will is the Sea.

"And perhaps something else … a thing that matched the shift in Will’s own perception of the maddening personality"

Yeah, that's sort of the same journey I've been on when it comes to Jack. Jack does some pretty shady things. On the other hand, he's got his reasons for playing things close to the vest and ignoring the promptings of his better nature. In the Locker, Captain Jack mercilessly kills Honest Jack, saying, "it was that sort of thinking that got us into this mess."

In the end, the Pearl and the Dutchman did fight together, so maybe Captain Jack was listening to Honest Jack again.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I think it's a constant struggle between Captain Jack and Honest Jack to win out. I think Honest Jack is who Jack *really* is, and he's had to adopt the Captain to cushion himself against the realities of the harsh world. Which may be why he's similarly annoyed with and attracted to (whether you think it's sexual or merely friendship) Will - who manages to remain largely honest in spite of the hard, cruel world.

Thanks for the FB!

[justawench.livejournal.com]

who manages to remain largely honest in spite of the hard, cruel world.

I'm picturing Jack observing Will like a specimen, a curiosity to be analyzed and perhaps someone he could learn from (though he'd never admit it).

Jack wants so much to be a good bad successful pirate, but his goodness is hard to overcome. *Is* it possible to be a successful pirate and a good man?

[ainsoph15.livejournal.com]

Ah, how lovely, that now they can truly view each other as equals. It would indeed take time and Will's own aptitude for forgiveness (and I do see it as something he strives to do, rather than it simply being an inherent character trait. It's just another thing that makes him interesting) for them to reach this stage.

Also, I have to admit that the image of Will's large hands sliding into Jack's hair (dying or not), gave me a tweak of a thrill ;)

*sigh* Something about finding new fic from you is almost like everything in the world is set right again. God, I love reading your stuff. There's so much complexity contained within such economical writing, and the imagery you've used is, as everyone has pointed out, simply gorgeous.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I love the idea of them as equals. Don't get me wrong - there's a charm, still, in Will being the less experienced and needing patience and guidance from Jack on occasion. But lovers need to be able to get along on equal footing.

If you like Will's hands and what they do here, you should read my next story I just posted. ;-)

Thanks for FBing and making me feel good about what I post. Most of it I feel is just so-so most days, but a few people make me feel like it's good stuff! (And it's been so long since I posted regularly anyway ...)

[justawench.livejournal.com]

mingled admiration/repulsiveness

Hee, Jack does tend to inspire conflicting emotions!

the shift in Will’s own perception ... “They done what’s right by them.”

That was a glimpse beneath Jack's mask, wasn't it? I wonder how much that moment of vulnerability influenced Will's actions at the hanging? I thought the resignation in Jack's voice there indicated a more-than-passing experience with that type of disappointment in others, but it could also have been disappointment in himself. "Fool me once," and all. Hmm.

Your stuff inspires lots of thinky thoughts! :D

I personally liked this line: Something that made him pull back Death’s hounds this very night and not force a decision between service and demise upon the strange, sparkling fellow.

Another wonderful fic!

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

If I make other people think, I don't have to do as much of it myself, you know. :-P

Thanks for letting me know you liked this. Seriously, I like people to think on what I write, even if they don't always agree. Means they'll keep coming around!