Chancing Fate - Jack Sparrow x OC

Part 2 - Chapter 6

The Pearl surged through the water beneath full sail while humid wind cracked through the rigging overhead, sending loose lines snapping against the mast as Lena crossed the quarterdeck with a folded ledger tucked beneath one arm. Below, the crew worked through repairs and shouted arguments without slowing, every order sharper than usual beneath the constant rush of water against the hull.

Someone near the stern swore loudly after dropping a crate, another man burst out laughing, and Gibbs immediately started yelling about broken bottles and useless deckhands while two crewmen struggled to force a warped barrel into place near the cannons, both already halfway into another argument over whose fault it was.

Lena stopped beside the railing overlooking the main deck, her fingers tightening briefly against the ledger while her attention wandered past the ship toward the open horizon.

She felt someone settle beside her before she looked up and found Jack leaning one hip against the rail near her shoulder, the compass dangling loosely from two fingers. The wind shifted through the beads in his hair and tugged at his open coat while he watched one of the crewmen below nearly lose his grip on the barrel.

"Did I ever tell you," he asked conversationally, "that one of those painted lunatics attempted to trade me for a goat?"

Lena turned fully toward him, suspicion already pulling her brows together. "What?"

"Mm." Jack nodded once, his attention drifting lazily back toward the deck. "Mean little thing. Bit one of the guards."

A short laugh escaped one of the nearby crewmen who'd clearly been listening, but Lena only narrowed her eyes. "You are absolutely lying."

"Would I do that to you?" Jack finally looked at her properly, wounded offense settling theatrically across his expression.

"Yes."

"Fair," he admitted easily, the grin already threatening at the corner of his mouth ruining any attempt at sincerity. Before Lena could stop him, he smoothly stole the ledger from beneath her arm, his knuckles brushing lightly against her wrist as he flipped it open one-handed and leaned farther back against the railing.

Sunlight flashed against the rings on his fingers while the pages shifted wildly in the wind, and Lena stared at him another second before incredulous laughter nearly escaped her. "Jack."

"Mm?" He didn't even look up, his eyes continuing to track across the upside-down page with absurd concentration.

"You're holding it upside down." Lena reached for the ledger, only for Jack to rotate it with unnecessary care before narrowing one eye critically at the page.

"Ah. Still unreadable."

"My handwriting is perfectly legible."

Jack lifted the ledger just out of reach as the grin at the corner of his mouth widened another fraction. "Love, I regret to inform you this appears to be an attack of ink across the page."

"It is immaculate," Lena shot back, offense flashing briefly across her face while Jack hummed thoughtfully and held the ledger farther away as though distance might somehow improve matters.

"Mm. Aggressively so."

Lena finally caught the edge and tugged it halfway back toward herself, but Jack tightened his grip just enough to keep it. "If you genuinely struggle this much with my supply records, I have no idea how you've survived this long without running out of supplies in the middle of the ocean."

Jack considered that gravely for a moment while the wind snapped through the sails overhead. "Theft," he decided at last. "And truly exceptional luck."

Lena laughed softly, and his eyes flicked toward her immediately before the corner of his mouth curved again.