pauraque_bk: (potc)
pauraque_bk ([personal profile] pauraque_bk) wrote2004-02-11 06:20 pm

ficlet

I've been plugging away at XF and HP fic on deadlines this week, so this was something of a palate-cleanser. From [livejournal.com profile] 15minuteficlets.

PotC. Jack/Will. G. 435 words.

The word was "submission".

+--

'Well, Mr...' The publisher adjusted his monocle at the sheaf of inkstained papers on his desk. '...Mr Turner. I have read your manuscript twice over, and I must say, we are very interested indeed. There is a great call for fantastical romances of this type.'

Will fidgeted, smoothing out his trousers with both palms. Even in his middle age, he had never quite regained the ease of proper behavior he'd cultivated so carefully in his early years. 'Thank you sir, that's most flattering. But I must remind you that my manuscript is not a romance, but a factual account.'

The publisher shifted uncomfortably. He tapped his quill against the desk blotter. 'Ah... yes. I'm certain you'll forgive a certain-- ah-- scepticism on my part, regarding that. Is it not generally understood that this... Captain Sparrow is a personage of romantic fictions, and not historical reality? At best, an amalgamation of various legends and archetypes--'

'He seemed not so when I knew him,' Will said shortly.

The publisher frowned. 'I see. But these stories...' He licked his fingertip and paged through the manuscript. '...for example, incurring the curse of the Aztec savages. And later on, the business of the escape from the Spanish Armada, one can't quite imagine-- Ah, and the boiling of the cannibal chief alive in his own pot, now, I hardly see how--'

'That was self-defence,' Will broke in. 'We didn't know in advance that completing the sacrifice would have such an... explosive effect.'

'Ah... ha.' Looking nonplussed, the publisher cleared his throat. 'Yes, well. Regardless of the veracity of your manuscript, we would like to make you an offer for it. There is only one small editorial matter... that of the ending.' He nudged again at his monocle. 'You have here that Sparrow disappears after the theft of the alchemical stone, which is quite all right, but I do wonder at this business where he's secured-- the narrator-- to a tree, and then... ah, here it is. "I asked him why he had betrayed me, in the full expectation that he should repeat his habitual explanation that piracy levels all usual moral senses. However, in this instance, he had no answer for me but a pass of his lips over mine which lasted a minute or more." Now, Mr Turner, I am not entirely certain this is congruent-- That is to say, it seems a bit *strange*--'

'None the less, that is the way it happened,' Will said. The sun glared off the sea through the publisher's dusty windows, making him squint. He smiled a little. 'Captain Sparrow was nothing if not... a bit strange.'
ext_3319: Goth girl outfit (Default)

Tasty little nibble.

[identity profile] rikibeth.livejournal.com 2004-02-11 07:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Alchemical stone, eh? So Jack could still be around?

Could you convince him to pay a visit to me? :)

I liked it.
pauraque: bird flying (potc)

Re: Tasty little nibble.

[personal profile] pauraque 2004-02-11 08:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks. And yeah, you've got to keep a hint of the fantastical about Jack. :)

Yum. Carribean Sorbet

[identity profile] dphearson.livejournal.com 2004-02-11 11:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Very funny, and well done.
'Thank you sir, that's most flattering. But I must remind you that my manuscript is not a romance, but a factual account.'

For the stranger life gets, the fantastic it is!


Thank you!
pauraque: bird flying (potc)

Re: Yum. Carribean Sorbet

[personal profile] pauraque 2004-02-12 03:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks, glad you liked. :)

[identity profile] -sophieg.livejournal.com 2004-02-12 10:56 am (UTC)(link)
Cool fic, not a ship I've really thought much about before, but I've read a previous PotC drabble of yours and liked, so I had a look.

But like a said, nice ficlet. Your PotC writing could, in a way, fit into the canon really well. I like the way you talk about Jack in this one, even if the reader can't see him, he's still an interesting character.
pauraque: bird flying (potc)

Re:

[personal profile] pauraque 2004-02-12 03:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it even though it's not your particular ship. :)

[identity profile] chresimos.livejournal.com 2004-04-04 09:51 am (UTC)(link)
Hee. Very interesting. I like the concept of Will as old, and turned novelist/autobiographer, with Jack gone off somewhere. And the last few lines are great. (I don't read any PotC fic at all, but I enjoy the little fics that you post.)
pauraque: bird flying (Default)

[personal profile] pauraque 2004-07-17 12:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Good gravy, unanswered feedback! From hecka long ago! So sorry. Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. :)

[identity profile] galdeone.livejournal.com 2004-09-14 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
That was quite funny, and pretty good, considering it was written in a mere fifteen minutes. You should write more slash. Whee. ^^
pauraque: bird flying (Default)

[personal profile] pauraque 2004-09-15 11:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks! I write as much slash as I can, believe me. :)