Catt

A Pirate's Life For Me (Catt/Monkey)

Marabelle remained silent as the waves of emotion flowed over Josephine's face as she debated with herself as to what she should do. There were still soft murmurs coming from the room that Amy and Jack were holed up in and she strained to pick out anything important as they passed. Much to her disappointment, the heavy wood door distorted their words just enough to make them inaudible.

Taking in the full extent of the damage now that the room was empty, Marabelle couldn't believe that the two men caused all of this and were still able to walk away from it. "Tornado, pirates, same thing if you think about it." She said with a soft chuckle before carefully stepping over the broken glass to the kitchen in order to fetch rags. "Start picking out what can be salvaged, which I guarantee you won't be much."

A Pirate's Life For Me (Catt/Monkey)

Marabelle stood awkwardly at the foot of the bed as Sebastian turned on his heel and left the room. Elijah was hunched over on himself, his face shadowed, angry at not only himself, but at Sebastian for forcing him to do what he just did. Regardless of however long he had held out, the Captain always got his way. It was only a matter of time before he gave in. Feeling Josephine's weight shift on the bed next to him and then her soft touch, his anger prickled even further. "Don't." He said, his voice dangerously soft. "No pity, please.." He couldn't even bring himself to look up at her, his emotions verging on breaking free of his carefully constructed control.

Standing without another sound, Elijah pushed from the room, needing to be away from everything. His body was too broken to do anything for himself at the moment, but space would help. Frowning, Marabelle watched him leave as well before turning to Josephine. "It would be best to let him go right now. Shall we help tidy up the dining room?" She knew the look that was on the other woman's face as it had often been on her own when she she was still learning what it meant to be involved with a pirate.

A Pirate's Life For Me (Catt/Monkey)

"I'm not a bloody snitch!" Even though he continued to hold Sebastian's gaze, the dominance of the other man eventually cowed him into submission. Finally dropping his eyes, Elijah wished his body would stop shaking thinking how weak it must make him look. Gritting his teeth, he looked towards Josephine, truly hoping she wouldn't think any different of him.

"Fine!" He blurted, "It was Geoffrey. Are you happy now?" The anger radiating off of him was nearly tangible as Marabelle stepped quietly back into the room. Resting a hand on Sebastian's arm, she studied her son. He had just broken a law that had been in place in his life for nearly ten years and he hated himself for it.

Unable to open a PM?

Ah-ha, I didn't even think to do that. Much appreciated!

Unable to open a PM?

When I click on the message it comes up as an "Unauthorized" error. Uh, whut?

A Pirate's Life For Me (Catt/Monkey)

As Elijah debated whether or not to tell his Captain who the ring leaders were, he felt Josephine's hand on his back. She had seen everything first hand and knew how brutal it all got for him. Turning back to face Sebastian, he just stared at him an incredulous smirk on his lips. "Why the hell would it matter now? It seems every single one of them have had their go." The fear of having this conversation somehow leak back to the crew caused his heart to pound and his hands to shake. Studying his father's face, his whole body started to quake. "You have bigger things to worry about than who bullied me." He forced out, finally noticing his mother standing in the doorway. His eyes locked with hers for just a brief moment before his attention went back to the man in front of him. "I'll just take myself out of the equation." Elijah finished, slumping back to a seat, his muscles exhausted.

A Pirate's Life For Me (Catt/Monkey)

With Sebastian's cold response towards Josephine, Elijah pushed himself to his feet. "You would think, but you don't." Titles and rank went out the window suddenly as Elijah faced down the man he regarded as his father. "I have had to withstand beatings and torture like you wouldn't believe could happen right under your nose, just so I could prove myself to your men that I could be trusted." Clenching his swollen hands, he continued, "That I wasn't just there because I was your son. I had to earn respect in the language that your pirates understood." It was as if all of his wounds suddenly disappeared as he stood there, finally confiding something in Sebastian that he hadn't been able to for nearly ten years. "I couldn't tell any of this to you or else I'd lose all standing and end up getting beaten worse than I ever had." Gritting his teeth against the emotion that came along with his words, he turned away and ran a hand through his hair, all of his muscles screaming at the motion.

---

Nodding at the obvious dismissal by the other woman, Marabelle turned and left the room. Even she could take a hint that there had been a shift in their relationship, she just hoped it wouldn't end up destroying anything that they had built for the last twenty years. Cutting across the hall, she heard Elijah speaking to someone, but she could tell by what he was saying that he wasn't talking to Josephine. Stopping in the now opened doorway, she quietly watched the exchange as her son finally revealed himself to Sebastian. This was something that was a long time coming, but she understood why he couldn't say anything until now.

A Pirate's Life For Me (Catt/Monkey)

Elijah was about to respond to Josephine announcing that without him she wasn't returning either, but was interrupted when Sebastian entered the room. "It isn't." Pulling his hand from Josephine's, he sat straighter, not wanting to appear injured to his Captain. It was a silly gesture, but it was automatic. "It's something I've put a lot of thought into and now," He paused to look at the woman in front of him. "with this attack from Jack, I wouldn't feel comfortable putting myself into a hostile situation where the only means of escape is into the ocean." Frowning, his eyes returned to his father. Elijah had worked his way up in rank on board and was finally earning a little respect. Word would spread like wildfire that he lost a fight to the Navigator and all hell would break loose.

---

"He's sorry about breaking your things." Marabelle responded with a chuckle as she repeated the first words out of her son's mouth after the fight. "And he feels he deserved what he got, but he'll live." After a moment of studying Jack's body language, it dawned on her what was going on. That was a guilt fight and he had only been looking for an outlet to his anger and frustration. That avenue just happened to be her son. She wanted to say something encouraging to Jack, but she was, for once, at a loss for words.

A Pirate's Life For Me (Catt/Monkey)

The soft caress on his hand drew Elijah's attention away from his own reflection and caused him to look down, noticing the scrapes and bruising that was forming on his knuckles as well. It was beginning to seem as if nothing on his body was spared in the onslaught. "He just looks worse." Replaying the scene in his mind, he couldn't even figure out how he contorted his body in order to kick Jack off of him in the first place. "I was outmatched from the beginning. I tried to avoid the fight, but..." Making a face, his attention returned to hers. "It just pissed him off more." With another quiet chuckle, he looked away, suddenly uncomfortable with everything going on. "I can't go back."

---

Fortunately, Alice was still asleep when Marabelle entered the room to get some supplies. The whole situation would have been much worse had she been awake and aware of what just happened. Frowning, she left the room to check in on Amy and Jack. "Do you need anything?" She asked quietly, offering some of the ointments and solutions she had taken from her daughter's bedside. Blood was starting to dry along Jack's shirt and all over his skin from his encounter with the window. He appeared beaten, hunched over and looking at the floor. Now that she knew that her son was okay, Marabelle was able to shove away some of the maternal instinct that had bubbled up earlier.

A Pirate's Life For Me (Catt/Monkey)

Lowering Elijah to the edge of the bed, Marabelle kept him sitting upright while she unbuttoned his shirt to check for any unusual injuries. While she worked, he concentrated on slowing his breathing and getting his eyes open. Looking up at Josephine, he gave a huff of laughter despite the pain it caused. Startled, Marabelle looked up from a bruise that was forming on his abdomen to make sure this outburst wasn't due to an injury. "Tell Amy I'm sorry about the table..." He said sheepishly, his eyes clear as he took note of her surprised expression. "...And the window." The second chuckle made him grimace, a hand going to his ribs. Jack was ridiculously strong as it was, add that to being beyond angry, Elijah was glad to have escaped with a broken rib.

Rocking back to standing, Marabelle placed her hands on her hips and studied her son. "You're an odd duck, my son." Leaning down she placed a kiss on his forehead, "I'll be right back, I'm going to go get something to clean these scrapes." With a glance and a subtle nod towards Josephine, she left the room, using the excuse to give the two some privacy.

Once his mother was out of the room, Elijah turned his attention back to Josephine, his typical half-smirk tugging up one side of his lips. "I guess I deserved that." Glancing at his reflection in the mirror across the room, the sight wiped all traces of his humor away. No wonder everyone was so shaken up about what happened, it appeared that he had gotten in a fight with an angry bull and lost. Splotches of red were appearing all over his body, giving an idea of what he was going to look like in a few hours.