#I just had a thought about Penelope spitting water in Odysseus’ face | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

flurgburgler · 7 years

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things they said at sea

“I love him,” she says, “but I am not in love with him. I think somebody should be.”

James has such a capacity for love, Miranda explains. She's worried it’s going to waste, left out in the sun to blanch and blister.

Silver doesn’t know why she’s telling him this.

The sea stretches away from them to a far, wide horizon under a towering clear sky; the Walrus is nestled in the crook of the bay, seeming pleasantly still from a distance. A breeze rolling in from the water tugs at the loose strands of Miranda’s hair, rustles the palm leaves, and stirs the sand under their feet. Behind them they can hear voices and foot traffic from the little market; the wind carries the sounds over like smoke from a bonfire. It’s a small port on barely a spit of land, but it will make do to restock their fresh water supply before they reach Charleston. That’s what Flint said when they landed, and then he took off into town, jaw set and eyes forward.

The young Ashe girl is down by the shoreline, her shoes and stockings discarded and her skirts bunched up in her hands, as she dips her toes in the water. Ever inscrutable, Miranda bows her head and walks away down the beach to Abigail’s side, leaving deep, certain footprints in the sand.

“James,” Silver repeats, because he has never said it out loud before.

It’s already dark when Flint finds him, sitting in the same spot Miranda left him. He’s dug his feet into the sand; it helps him feel grounded under the vast canvas of night turning gently overhead. Even this little corner of the world seems larger than it should tonight––larger still when Flint comes to stand beside him, and although there are scarcely inches between them, Silver thinks Flint may as well be the horizon.

Silver remembers the stories he heard from the old women in Whitechapel who had grown up in the days when England still had wild country. They talked about the eldritch folk, and how to know something’s true name was to have power over it. They lowered their eyes and hushed their mouths when they caught John looking: it wasn’t for children to know. Now he looks up at Flint, whose face is spectral pale in the moonlight, and thinks: I spoke your name and summoned you.

“Everything all right?” he says at last, because he doesn’t like the silence.

Flint’s fingers twitch. He wants to fiddle with his rings, Silver knows, he’s watched him at it time enough. Poor, tired Flint. Can’t keep still, even when he stops. That mind of his always racing away to conquer some new boundary.

Conquer me something inside him calls like a wolf at midnight, and he wonders where that came from. I’m moon-struck over you.

“Get some sleep, Mr Silver,” the captain says, like he knows what he’s thinking.

Silver shrugs. “I don’t sleep well at sea. Never have.”

Most of the men say they like it well enough, the swell of the tide swaying them in their hammocks. Muldoon says it’s like being rocked in his mother’s arms. Well, Silver never had a mother to rock him, so what’s he to say to that?

“And you, Captain,” he ventures, “what keeps you awake at this hour?”

Flint sighs, and it’s a deep sound like hull timbers creaking on a dry day. For the longest while Silver doesn’t think he’s going to answer; he just watches him, Flint, this wight, staring out at the black sea with the moon in his eyes. Then at last, as though his tongue were made of stone and it’s all he can do to carve the words out, Flint says:

“I won’t be coming back this way.” He sighs again, and looks down at Silver in the sand. “And if I do I won’t be the same man that set out.”

“Like Odysseus?”

Flint cocks his head and peers at him through the gloom, and Silver thinks he catches a brief flash of teeth in the wicked light.

I did that, he thinks. I made him smile.

“Like Odysseus,” Flint echoes. “Perhaps.”

“But then who’s to be your Penelope?”

Silver gets up on his knees, and he knows he’s wearing a grin the captain would likely smack off his face if he were any other man, but he’s not any other man, he never has been.

“The comely Mrs Barlow, I should think?”

“Is that so?” and Flint’s voice is low and dark as the water. “But she wasn’t the one waiting for me here at the shore.”

The corner of his mouth quirks as though it’s considering a smile, and whatever Silver was going to say gets lodged in his throat.

“Get some sleep, Mr Silver,” Flint says again, and suddenly Silver wonders if that’s the first time he’s hearing it, and if the words that just past between them were ever real at all.

“You could have left.”

Silver sinks lower into the cushions on the window seat, wincing as what’s left of his leg throbs in protest at the sudden movement. “Could I now,” he mutters.

Flint settles into his carved-back chair, one elbow propped up on the arm-rest, cradling his chin in his hand. “I told you I wasn’t certain I’d be coming back. True, I couldn’t have predicted that particular course of events, but there was still the possibility that Miranda and I might…” He’s looking past Silver, out of the salt-fogged window at the empty horizon. It’s a pale, timeless day, and the cabin is flooded with watery light.

“You’re never one to pass up an opportunity,” he pressed. “I was absent, and we were docked at a mainland port, one the Walrus was never likely to visit again. You could have taken your leave, disappeared into the night; started again, as far from the sea as you pleased. I half expected you to.”

Silver fiddles with the fraying hem of his blanket. Nearly a week he’s been stuck in here, and so far the only thing he’s found to occupy his time is slowly unravelling this coverlet, one fibre at a time.

“Well I can’t now,” he says, and the words taste bitter on his tongue. “Even if I wanted to.”

“You misunderstand me.” Flint leans forward in his chair. “You are a lot of things, Silver, but you are not a coward. When it comes to a fight you’ll bitch and whine, but I’ve never seen you run––”

Silver laughs, a vicious spike of a laugh. “And now you never will.”

“Dammit, John, I wanted you to leave!” Flint slams his hand down on the arm-rest and Silver quiets at once. “We had a plan, Miranda and I––I was finished, I was out of this, and I thought…” He pinches the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. “You could have gone inland until you could no longer hear the seabirds calling, or taste the salt in the air, and been rid of this life you told me once that you so loathed.”

Silver pauses, his fingers halting their undoing of the delicate blanket. “John,” he repeats, because he’s never heard him say it out loud before.

He sighs and draws up his good leg, tilts his head and rest his cheek on his knee, watching his own weariness reflected back at him in Flint’s face. “Penelope had 108 suitors,” he says.

“What?”

“Penelope. While Odysseus was away, there were 108 men vying for her hand, and she had to put them all off for twenty years. Now, granted, you were barely gone two days, and nobody was trying to marry me, but…” He can feel the beginnings of a smile tearing at the edges of his composure, and Lord isn’t it simple just to fall back into this easy charm with him.

I’m coming back to myself, he thinks. He spoke my name, and here I am.

“So, you see, I had to stay.”

Flint makes a low sound in the back of his throat that could be a laugh, if Silver squints. He leaves his chair and comes to sit on the window seat in the space where Silver’s leg should be. Gently, he reaches out and takes the hem of the blanket from him, and if their fingers touch neither of them say a word about it.

“And is this Laertes’ burial shroud you’re weaving, Penelope?” he asks.

Silver scoffs. “Did you just make a joke, Captain?”

Flint says nothing, getting to his feet once again, and drawing the blanket up over Silver’s shoulders. As he leans down to tuck in the edges he presses a heavy kiss to the top of Silver’s head. Then, resting his forehead against Silver’s temple, he recites:

“And as when the land appears welcome to men who are swimming, after Poseidon has smashed their strong-built ship on the open water, pounding it with the weight of wind and the heavy seas, and only a few escape the grey water landward by swimming, with a thick scurf of salt coated upon them, and gladly they set foot on the shore, escaping the evil; so welcome was her husband to her as she looked upon him.”

Silver feels the curve of Flint’s mouth against his cheekbone, smells the sharp tang of the ocean embedded in his beard and his clothes. He settles into the warmth of his breath and his being, and feels his eyes closing as Flint says softly,

“Get some sleep.”

#silverflint #john silver #james flint #black sails #a slightly less vague drabble than the last one but drabble nonetheless #things they said at sea #i think that's just my general bs writing tag now #wow re-reading this i really go off about the odyssey i apologise

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sharigone · 7 years

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Summary: “ Her endless pools reflected the moon in the most wonderful way. In some weird way, I felt connected to Hinata and almost protective over her. I wanted things to go her way and I’d do my hardest to help.” College AU. Rated T, might be changed to M later.

Pairing: NaruHina

Bleachers Chapter Three: Let it Begin

Hinata is the most prompt person I know. Which kinda made me feel guilty when the guys and I showed up fifteen minutes late, but she had Sakura and Ino with her so she wasn’t all alone. I don’t know what it is about girls and dressing all up whenever they went to a bar, it was awfully distracting. Hinata didn’t show off though and is modest when it comes to the things she wears. She dressed for comfort and to accommodate the cool autumn weather while most of the women showed mostly their skin.

“You guys managed to get Hinata out of her dorm room for once?” Kiba asked.

“Shocker right? Hinata, here says she was invited out and we weren’t just gonna let this sweet thing out all by herself!” Ino wrapped her arm around Hinata protectively, “Besides, I wanna know who’s the perp that distracted her from her usual routine.”

“I’m the perp.” I said sheepishly.

“Hinata, you didn’t tell us it was Naruto that invited you to the bar.” Sakura smirked at Hinata, causing her to start fidgeting.

“Relax, Hinata needs a break anyways.” I stuffed my hands in my pockets, “Besides, we’re gonna be pretty busy juggling schoolwork and the play.”

“A play too? I didn’t know you were into drama, Hinata.” Ino looked at Hinata questioningly.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Kiba stood in the middle, “You guys are joining the play. A play!”

Oh, God. I screwed myself this time.

“Yes, they have auditions tomorrow. They’re going for the starring roles.” Sai kindly informed him.

“Uh huh, interesting.” Kiba smirked mischievously, “And may I ask what type of play our dear friends are trying out for?”

“It’s the modern take of a Greek play on Odysseus and Penelope. It’s quite romantic actually.” Sai said light heartedly.

Here it goes. Looks like I’ll need a double shot to start this night.

“O, ROMEO! WHERE ART THOU!”

“For the love of all things good!” I stomped my feet in protest, “Hey! Bartender give me a double shot of the best whiskey you’ve got, it’s gonna be a long night.”

The bartender got shots ready for everyone and we all raised our small glasses up to do a toast. The drinks rolled in and I did a good job of not getting wasted but I couldn’t say the same for Kiba and surprisingly Sasuke. It was actually super funny seeing a belligerent Sasuke letting Sakura dance all over him in the middle of the small dancefloor. It’s extremely not like him, he likes keeping their romance all hush hush, but nobody could deny how much they are into each other.

I noticed Hinata distancing herself a little bit, sipping on what I assumed was a fruity drink so I decided to sit down next to her to give her company.

“Hey.” she brought the bright colored drink to her lips.

“Not into the huge crowd thing, are you.” I folded my arms on the bar.

“I’m getting used to it.” she shrugged a little, throwing me a glance, “You know what I’m gonna do from here on out?”

“What?” I asked curiously.

“I’m gonna ask myself, ‘What would Penelope do?’ and do it.” she downed the rest of her drink, clearly the alcohol was having some sort of affect on her, “A lot of great actors do this to get in sync with the characters they're portraying.”

“And what would Penelope do?”

“She’d take Odysseus out on that dancefloor and dance the night away.” She sat the empty glass on the bar and hopped off the barstool, “Are you coming or not?”

Some part of me liked this more assertive version of Hinata. I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t remember any of this but my memory wouldn’t let this fade for a very long time. I followed her into the middle of the dance floor, and we definitely earned a few gazes from our friends. A new song played now and I couldn’t tell what it was but the beat was thumping and bodies were swaying. Logic was out the window at this point, Hinata and I just let the music flow through us. We inched nearer and nearer to each other in our slow movements, paying attention to each other but paying attention to nothing at all. It was nothing like I’ve ever felt before and the alcohol in both our bodies definitely played a part.

“Y’know what else Penelope would do?” she looked up at me with hooded eyes.

“Hm, what would she do.”

“This.” her hands held the sides of my face, pulling it to near her own.

I swallowed hard and neared her wanting lips with my own but the only thing I could pay attention to was the smell of alcohol emitting from the both of us. I quickly snapped out of it and pulled away before our lips met. I held her hands in my own and shook my self. Oh how bad I wanted to kiss her at that moment but I couldn’t. Not like this, both of us drunk in the middle of a sweaty dance floor. I couldn’t let her first kiss be like that, without any meaning.

“What’s wrong?” she swallowed hard.

“I’m sorry, Hinata. We can’t do this. Not like this.”

“I-I just thought.” she looked all around her anxiously, clearing her throat, “Nevermind, forget it.”

She dropped my hands and pushed her way out the bar. I couldn’t let her go like this so I followed her outside. When she noticed that I was following her she started running, breaking her high heeled shoe in the process but she tried her damned hardest before she got tired and hunched over the side of an alley to spill her guts. Just how much did she drink tonight? I held her hair as she finished and she wiped her mouth with her sleeve and started tearing up.

“Stupid, stupid stupid!” she cursed herself, smudging mascara all over her face and kicking off her broken heels.

Well that’s one way to sober me up.

“Hey, that’s enough.” I scolded her, “I don’t wanna hear that from you.”

Her bottom lip quivered as she started crying again. Something I just recently learned about myself is that I hate seeing Hinata cry under any circumstances.

“Let’s get you cleaned up.” I lifted her up and carried her all the way back in her dorm room.

I made sure to not jostle her so much since I didn’t plan on getting vomit all over me. She looked at me ever so often but remained quiet and in her thoughts. I hope she was feeling rejected but I didn’t see a point in talking about what that was when she clearly wasn’t in her right mind. I mean why would she want to kiss me of all people. I’m just the guy who pestered her into auditioning for some play she had no interest in to begin with and forced her out of her comfortable box. She didn’t ask for any of this, and she definitely didn’t ask for the unfaltering Naruto Uzumaki. Someone like Hinata didn’t need someone like me bothering her and it sorta hurt to know that someone like me needed someone like Hinata.

I pushed my insecurities aside just to make sure that she would be okay tonight. I dug her key out from her pocket when I set her down beside me and unlocked her door room. Once I set the key on her desk, I walked her into her shared bathroom and turned the shower on cold before I put her inside of it with her clothes on.

She shrieked and groaned at the cold needles pricking her skin. I felt a little bad but this is how I cure myself of a hangover before morning hits. While I let the water do its work, I searched for her pajamas and aspirin. Luckily, Hinata is more organized than the guys and I found everything I needed quickly. I set the aspirin and the bottled water on her night stand and placed her pajamas on the bathroom counter before I sat down on her swivel chair and waited for her. After ten minutes, I heard her turn the water off and she was out within another ten minutes, gargling her mouthwash.

When she noticed I was still there she got startled and quickly ran back into the bathroom to spit out her mouthwash. I just sat there waiting for her to get comfortable. She sighed and sat down on her bed, fidgeting with the sleeves of her night dress, seemingly not knowing what to say. That definitely sobered her up.

I broke the ice and handed her the bottled water and aspirin, “This will help you not get a headache tomorrow.”

“Thanks.” she took the medicine and downed the entire bottle of water, “... I’m sorry, Naruto.”

“There is nothing to be sorry for.” I sat down beside her, “I just couldn’t do that to you.”

“I’ve never had that much alcohol in my system at once.” she admitted, “I just thought… It would help me be more brave.”

“Don’t worry about it. Water under the bridge.” I smiled hopefully.

She looked over me and returned my smile with a small one, “I dunno, it’s just part of me felt like..”

“Like what?”

“Like maybe I could actually be Penelope. Not be stuck with this shyness and quietness, be wanted.”

She didn’t have the slightest idea about how wanted she is.

“Well Penelope is cool and all but I like people like you, Hinata.” I poked her with my elbow gently.

Her familiar pink tint spread across her cheeks as she reached her hand across mine and intertwined her pinky with mine. No words were spoken and I felt at ease about that.

“Although we’re miles and miles and worlds away, there is one single thing, not visible to the naked eye, that keeps my heart strong and my mind grounded. Not even Zeus himself could sever it.” she recited one of the lines of Penelope.

“Anchored by the thought of coming home to see you again, no witch and no warlock could give me a better gift than the one I already have… Uh I don’t remember the rest of the line.” I said sheepishly.

Hinata’s pinky squeezed mine reassuringly before she let go, “Don’t worry, I don’t have it all memorized either.”

I stood up and stretched out my muscles, “I better head out, I don’t wanna disturb your sleep since you’ve got class all early. See you tomorrow?”

“Of course.” she stood up to lead me out of her room, “Goodnight, Naruto.”

“Don’t let the bedbugs bite.” that earned me her smile before she closed the door behind her.

It’s probably weird for me to say this but, it’s like little pieces of myself are left with Hinata and eventually it would all belong just to her. Trying to fight against wanting her was torture. I couldn’t possibly amount to anything worthy of her but at the same time that stubbornness inside of me wanted to give it all I’ve got.

I’m an idiot but even I know what this strange attachment I have for Hinata is, but I’m not ready to admit it to myself.

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#naruhina #naruhina fanfiction #naruto #anime #sharigone

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