The Sparrows |{Jack Sparrow x OC}|

Chapter 3

Barbossa shifted his weight to stand and I followed suit, holding his gaze. "Have you arranged accommodations, Captain?" I stroked his ego by repeating the title, as Nina taught me. 

"Aye, darlin," he crooned, crossing the table to stand next to me. "Ye needn't worry about nothin'." He placed a hand on the small of my back and guided me out of the main club down a narrow hallway toward the guest rooms. The hallway was dark save for the occasional candles on either side of the corridor. I heard muffled laughter of men and women behind closed doors as we descended further into the darkness. 

Barbossa stopped at a corner room, and he fumbled to look for his key in his trousers. "Where are those bloomin'..." he becomes frustrated when he can't seem to find them. 

"Allow me, captain," I whispered softly. I slowly raised a hand and inched inside his shirt pocket. Barbossa gasped as he leans closer into me, his eyes lulled shut. Without having found the key, I removed my hand and trailed my fingers down his body until I reached his belt. I gently tugged it until he's not an inch from my own body. I continued to search his trouser pockets until, at last, my fingers curled around a hard piece of metal. I also brushed against a piece of paper in the same pocket, so I reached around him with my other hand and hold the small of his back while I removed both the key and the sheet. I grasped the page in one hand and pulled back the key with the other, dangling it in front of Barbossa's face playfully. 

"Ah..." he laughed, "so it was there all along." 

 I let him unlock the door while I tucked the folded paper inside my coin skirt. 

He let the wooden door creak open and motioned for me to enter. Even though I had been inside each of the guest rooms many times, I act as though this were his domain, and I under his power. The modest room reveals only worn wooden planks, a small dresser, and bed with a high, intricately decorated backboard and sheets of dark purple velvet. "Make yerself comfortable," charmed the pirate as I made my way over to the window, eyeing beyond the glass for a peak at the ship unlike those of the British fleet; the Black Pearl. 

The coins on my hip scarf clinked softly as I moved closer towards the window; Barbossa's eyes stared into the back of my head, curiously. I heard his heavy boots slowly creak louder as he crosses the room. He stopped directly behind me and I could smell the ale that coated his bead as he placed a hand in the crook of my back. "What be ye lookin for, lass?"

"Oh, just a glance at the wondrous Pearl, Captain." I turned my head to meet his eyes. "Something so magnificent and free, one can't help but wonder what it must be like to see the world as carefree as you must." I turned to face him and leaned my back against the chilled glass. Barbossa cupped a handful of my hair and brings it up to his face, inhaling my vanilla and jasmine perfume with a groan and letting his eyes lull shut. 

"Ah," he said at last, breathing a low chuckle. "An' ye needn't wonder any longer, darlin." He trailed a finger down my cheek, his jagged nail making my skin crawl. "It would be me utmost pleasure if ye were to join me when the crew makes ready to return to open waters." 

I laughed out loud, what was he saying? Leave behind a roof over my head, steady wages, and the web of blackmail I've worked years to create over fabrication under the guise of flirtation?

Of course I said none of this to Barbossa. Instead I placed my hand playfully on his arm and answered; "Oh Captain, I've had land legs for so long, I wouldn't know where to begin in a world of piracy."

"Ha ha," Barbossa guffawed, clutching me tighter. "The way ye dance and sway on dry land, me siren, ye wouldn't have no trouble at all gettin' yer sea legs." He suddenly bended down and gripped the back of my thighs and lifted me up to let me perch on the window sill. 

I gasped and laughed, lacing my hands together behind his neck. "On what pretense do you have whisking me off Port Royal, captain? Whose errand do you run?"

"Well that would be mine, love," said a silhouette of a man standing in the doorway of the room. 

Barbossa suddenly whipped his head around and glared at the intruder, his grip still tightened around my waist. "Jack, I told ye I had it handled," Barbossa snapped. 

Alarm bells sounded in my head and I quickly retrieved a thin sword I had hidden behind the velvet curtain, slashing Barbossa's forearm to loosen his grip. As he unhanded me, I quickly sidestepped between the two men. "And what exactly do you have handled, Barbossa?" I pointed my sword at him as he cursed in pain at the lashing I just gave him. 

"Ouch," the second man winced at the red stripe on his cohort's arm. 

I whipped my sword around toward him. "I'm waiting for an answer; what is being handled? Who are you?" I edged toward the bed, to keep them both in sight. 

"I beg your pardon for the..." he cleared his throat and glanced at Barbossa amusingly, "intrusion, miss Baudin. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. Of the Black Pearl." He gently stepped forward extending his hand. 

I raised an eyebrow. Not only did this man know my name, he too was apparently the captain of a ship that probably doesn't exist. I couldn't help but let out a laugh. "How is it that there are more people in this room than not claiming to be captains of the the Black Pearl?"

Jack's smile disappeared as he eyed Barbossa who was warily watching the conversation unfold. "You told her you're captain?" 

Barbossa was quick to retort. "It were the only way to gain her trust."

"And a fine job you did of that, mate." Jack snipped, wide-eyed motioning to my sword. "She's got a blade to both our necks."

"Listen," I interjected and both heads snapped in my direction. "I hate to disrupt your quarreling, but I'm on in ten minutes for the last show of the night. Whoever the supposed captain is, what can I do for you?"

"Oh yes, love, that would be me." Jack's smile returned and he sauntered over towards me with arms extended openly. "Floria Baudin, can I call you Floria? It's go such a lovely sound to it." He eyed me up and down. "I see the name matches its owner well."

I couldn't help but genuinely blush. This man had a touch of mischievousness about him that intrigued me. With long, dark hair and warm brown eyes, I caught myself gazing in them longer than necessary. No, this man knows who I am, probably my pirate origins as well. I shook my head and put on my sternest look. "You can call me whatever you please, but I need an explanation as to how you know me and why you've come to Port Royal."

"And you'll get it." He assured me and turned around slightly motioning for Barbossa to come forward. "Let's see it." 

Barbossa started searching in his pockets, his face becoming paler by the second as each pocket turned up empty. 

"Oh," I smiled embarrassed. I reached down the back of my coin skirt and pulled the folded sheet out from its hiding place. Both men watched my hand with slightly open mouths as it traveled from my waist up to eyeline. "Is this what you're after?" I said with a playful shake of the wrist.