RP log: Jack and Lan (nightflowering)

[downwithmyship]

((continued from here))

Jack: Jack follows Lan as she swims out to the deeper reaches of the flooding Nexus. He keeps to the bottom for a while, but soon lets himself actually use the cursed webbing of his hands and feet to swim through the water, rather than walk it's floor. When they finally stop, they've reached a small island that's cropped up in the ever expanding blue. The pirate pulls himself to surface and sits on the edge of the sand. It may hurt to breathe the air in above water, but he would like to enjoy his company. (Not to say that there was no enjoyment in watching her swim. For there was.)

Lan: She follows him, but has to stay in the shallows -- it's been a while since she could stand on land. "There. Much nicer out here. Quieter. None of those idiots followed us."

She's propped herself up on her elbows, leaning back and basking in the sun.

Jack: Never one to leave 'uncomfortable' distance, Jack moves down to lie next to her in the lapping water of the shallows and match her pose -if a slightly more slanted variation. "Where do they all come from? .. I'm aware that fools and imbeciles abound wherever there is air to breathe, but it seems they come to gather in this place .. to what purpose? And what, sweet, brings you to have to suffer their presence, eh."

He smiles and returns to playing softly with the arms and tentacles of the cuttlefish. She seemed to like it, which is a clear sign to continue. "More importantly and imperative to the moment... What's your name, lovely?"

Lan: She trills and leans into the touch. "I don't know, I really don't. I've been dealing with a particularly unpleasant one. He said I was ugly and a monster."

"I came here because I wanted to explore. I never stay put, keep going, keep moving. My name is Lan Abhaya."

Jack: "Oh, I think we may have a great deal in common, Lan. I've never been one to settle in a place, either, you understand. Far too much world beyond the horizon to keep a person still for long." He grins wider as he broadens the area of his petting. "And a curse upon whatever miserable sod would call you a monster."

Lan is strange, indeed, but Jack's seen a fair amount of strange and dealt almost exclusively in strange women. There's an attraction there, and he's never been sure if they're drawn to him or he to them. "As for your present and , I should hope, enjoyable company... Captain Jack Sparrow..." A pause of his hand against her 'cheek' and a devilish grin. "...at your service."

Lan: Aww, she's blushing! "It's the horizon, the pull of it? You understand that? What are you looking for? What do you want?"

She's drawn to a certain type of person -- usually dreamers, artists, people with vision is what she wants. A little nuzzle against his palm and she whispers, "An honour to meet you, Captain."

Jack: Oh, he likes her. Sparrow slips his arm over her shoulders, continuing to dole out soft affection with slick, wet knuckles and the back of his hand. "The pull to go just beyond where your eyes will show you and keep on for as far as you can. What I'm looking for, that's of no consequence. The goal changes from one day to the next. What I truly want, luv, well... That's the finest question you can put to any man. I want to see all that there is, and when there is something sweet and glorious and worth the taking... I want it t'be mine." Jack looks to Lan in the pause and pulls her subtly closer. "What I want, is to live every second I can never denying myself of anything and never regretting what I've missed..."

Jack's eyes are far off as he stares over the stretching expanse of ocean. He can get wrapped up in his own dreams at times. When he comes out of it again, he smiles softly at Lan. "And what is it that keeps you moving, darling? What is it you're after?"

Lan: Lan absently starts to play with his 'hair' and the beads in it. Such a strange man, she's never met anything like him before.

"I look for beautiful things, wherever I can find them. I've been traveling for a very long time and I don't want to stop, even in the small hours of the morning, I don't regret anything I've done." She chrrs and hums something soft, tuneless and pleasant. It's easy to get lost in dreams, her song, the sea -- they're all the same thing, really.

Jack: The pirate lowers in closer to her as he listens to her soft humming and whispered words. Whatever he has become, in his mind he remains a man and is soothed by her voice.

"Aye... beautiful things. Truly, that is all I'm ever after. Things beautiful, rare, and mysterious... For what sort of man would risk his life for the ordinary?" He watches her play with the small trinkets and beads in his hair and leans to allow greater access. "Never regret anything, Lan, luv. It's never done a bit of good for anyone."

Lan: "What are you?" She's still playing with the coins and kelp, occasionally letting her fingers wander over his skin.

"Do you keep all the beautiful things? Where do you store them? Wouldn't they weigh you down? Or do you just want them for a moment?"

Jack: "I am but a man and, as it suits me, a pirate." His eyes slip closed as her touch moves over him. This curse has denied him drink, but at least there is this. "At present, however, I am -as far as I can figure it- a drowned man remade of the sea.. There's a word for it... Seem to have lost it, though." His brows knit as he ponders it a second, then lets it go. "And you, luv? Dare I ask what carries such a sweet voice?"

Jack's fingers move lazily down her shoulder. "I keep those things worth keeping or which will not hold me back. I'll not be bound, even by beauty. Some fine things are meant to be fleeting. The treasure lies in remembering that moment when it was yours."

Lan: "Oh. Oh, you are a dangerous one, aren't you? Smart and hungry." She laughs and where you would expect something wet and grinding, there is only a light, sweet trill. "Swear to me that you can't drown further, tell me that? If you tell me that, I'll sing for you and you'll know what I am."

Her skin reacts to his touch, colours shifting and rippling to match her mood and the sea. "If I sing, we'll both go down into the sea."

Jack: Jack's eyes and smile grow wide with fascination and a starving curiosity. Is there any sailor that doesn't know what sort of beauty sings sweet songs to carry you beneath the waves? And now he has the unique chance to hear that song and live to speak of it. It's the sort of moment he's built his life on. "I drown only above the water, luv. You're no threat to me. Do sing for me, Lan. Would be an honor to follow you to the depths."

Lan: Her colours rapidly flicker brighter and she twists away from him, slowly swimming back out to sea. The song starts out quiet, like small waves lapping at the shore, the kind that tickle your toes. As the song builds, it turns into something so much larger -- wide and deep as the sea. Come with me? Come down with me? We'll both go down together. Come home, Jack.

Jack: The soft song sooths the anger from him and as it builds, Jack becomes drunk upon the tune. The draug's lungs ache for the sea the longer the song goes on, he doesn't even notice the heaviness of his breathing. In Lan's words, Jack sees a ship left burnt and plunged to the bottom of the sea...raised only to be drawn under again, begging it's Captain to follow. The Pearl is in the sea and so, too is this lovely creature that sings so sweetly. Surely Jack should be as well. He rises to his feet, walking slow and sure into the water and sinking ever deeper into the lapping waves.

Lan: She misses you, Jack. Still singing, Lan keeps swimming out further, starting to sink down fully under the waves. This feels so right; it's what she is made to do.

Come down and stay with me, with us. It's home and you've always known it. Come and see all the treasure and beauty that no living man can have, it's all yours, just come with me?

Jack: Waves wash over him as he follows that song and all it's bountiful promises. There are fine things to be had and experiences untold, all he needs do it follow. The sea is nurturing, giving, changing, cruel and cold. It is everything and nothing and it is all Jack has truly relied upon for most of his life. If it wants him, he will go...

The water rushes in as he drops below the surface. There's an instant of shock as all of the air pours from his longs and escapes towards the surface. But now he is fully drowned and there is no pain of drowning. Jack smiles, for he can still hear her song below the waves.

Lan: She darts forward and presses her fingertips against his lips. Come, come there's a ship this way. I'll show you? Beautiful and hidden from everyone but us.

Still singing that strange almost wordless song, Lan leads him deeper, past the bright reefs with their tiny fish, down where it's cool and still. There is a large, dark shape in the distance -- a sunken galleon.

Jack: The draug's cool lips press back against those fingers in a sort of kiss, but it's something almost reverent. He follows after on foot across the sea floor until the reefs make it difficult to pass. Jack swims quick to catch up, shaking small and colourful fish from his hair as he goes. The looming shape in the darkness gives him pause. 'Oh, we are here to see wondrous things.' He moves closer, trying harder now to keep up with Lan and splitting his attention between her and the drowned ship.

Lan: The ship has a great rent in the side and it's easy to slip through the lost planks. The inside of the ship is a strange mixture of sunken ruin and high class luxury -- everything seems 'almost' normal, until you look closer. The bed spread isn't fine cottons, but kelp. The fruit bowl is filled with polished coral. Little glowing jellyfish are perched on the candlesticks.

In this much dimmer light, Lan's colours are highlighted by little glowing phosphors. How can they still talk when underwater? Who knows, who cares? "Hello, Jack. Captain Jack."

Jack: In the dark of the deep waters and within the cover of the sunken ship, Jack's yellow eyes glow with that same dim, phosphorescent light. He takes a moment to turn and look over all of the wonders in the space she's made for herself, the seaweed moving around his face like something falling in slow-motion.

And then Jack's eyes land upon Lan, and she is a more wondrous thing here than even before. "Hello, Lan... Dear little siren. I must thank you for the song. I doubt many get the chance."

Lan: "A few get the chance to hear it, but most don't get to tell anyone. One escaped from me, one I won't sing for, and then there's you..."

She's proud of this place. It felt important -- necessary, even -- to make a spot of her own. The sharks won't attack her, nothing down here will.

Jack: "And then there's me..." Jack smiles and lowers himself to sit on the end of the bed, arms out to present himself for a moment before leaning back on his hands. "And where do I fit in? Shall I be escaping as well? Or am I done for? I do like a bit of warning."

Jack has not felt 'at home' since coming to the nexus and the curse only made it far worse. Here, he's almost comfortable.

Lan: "And then there's you. What to do with you? I bring anything interesting I find here." She swims a little closer and floats there, just watching him.

"To be honest? I hadn't thought this far ahead." A couple tiny, silvery fish pass through the room.

Jack: "Not all us interesting things are happy to be simply kept about and looked at." Jack tilts his head, letting all the weighty beads and baubles shift and click together in the tangle of kelp. He gives a glance around at the rest of her collection as well. "I'd argue a drink is in order as we work out the rest of your plan, but it doesn't work so well down here. Shame, really."

Lan: "I couldn't keep you. I wouldn't want to." A little closer? Back to inspecting his hair? The collar of his shirt? "No, it doesn't work down here. If...if this curse is lifted, I'll pour you one then, how's that? What would you have?"

Jack: Closer is good and closer is welcomed. Jack tilts his head slow to allow any inspections she likes. "When this curse is lifted, luv. Not if. And I've a fondness for -and a lasting relationship with- rum. In the company of such a delicate and lovely girl, however, I do think brandy would be more suited." It has been some while since Jack has bothered with more expensive and fancier drink, but if they are only talking and not buying, why not? He raises a hand slowly seeking to run fingers along her side; testing if he's allowed.

Lan: "When. When it's lifted, yes. I like rum. Sweet and I like how it burns. Warms you right through." She's not about to complain about wandering hands -- that's part of the curse of being a siren, they're always lonely and they drown all their company.

"It's cold down here. Even if I go lay in the shallows, in the sun, still cold."

Jack: A girl with no complaints on rum. Lan becomes more interesting by the minute. And when no offense is taken to his advances, Jack moves his hand more firmly over her skin.

"Would that I could warm you. I've been dreadfully cold as well, luv. It seems we could both do with the company." He sits up to bring his other hand around her waist and bring them closer to each other.

Lan: "I don't think either of us can be warm. Too much of the sea in us." A little bit of a squirm -- not necessarily a bad sort of movement. "What are you doing, Jack?"

She's still toying with his shirt and hair; so many buttons, so many distracting and lovely things.

Jack: There is too much of the sea in him for warmth, and that is why Jack seeks other comforts. The lingering sorrow of death seemed heavy before the curse, but now it is part of his being and he wants to forget it.

He smiles inwardly at her wriggling and tries to look shocked at her words. Jack lifts his hands to skate his fingers more lightly over her; moving up over back and shoulders. "Why? Should I not?" Wide, blinking puppy-dog eyes made a little less effective by their loss of color.

Lan: "You didn't answer my question, Jack. I want...I want...I want to know what you're doing, not if you shouldn't." Another little wriggle. "Pay attention, hmm?"

She tilts her head back a little, if he wants to touch her neck and throat, he's more than welcome.

Jack: "I'm doing only what comes natural for me." He moves fingertips like dolphin skin up over the curve of her shoulder and along the length of her neck. "I've found something beautiful and interesting, and so I'm going after it.” He kisses her neck. "Now... Should I not?"

Lan: "I've never been one to throw back what I've caught. You're not mine, you never will be and I like that." Her colours shift again -- away from bright, nervous ripples to slow, contented patterns. She's not about to complain...in fact she may have been very stealthy at getting her hands to slide up underneath his shirt.

Jack: The fact Lan already understands that Jack can't be possessed will save him so much pain in the future. Why can't more women be that understanding? "But for now, in the moment, you have me...and I have you. Only seems right to make the best of it." Lan's changing colours are lovely and near on being haunting in the dim light. Jack's hands are pleased to have no shirt to contend with, while hands under his may earn a contented sigh or two. He leaves kisses in a trail down Lan's neck and across her collar before moving down her chest.

Lan: Good. This lack of ownership is a mutual thing -- why can't more humans be that understanding?

"We can have each..." If they were above water, she'd gasp. "...each, oh, each other, then." Can she take off his shirt? It's not fair, he's over dressed for this party. "Can't kiss you, but, ...I...you're not spelled still, are you? I...that's lovely, do that again, I don't want to take advantage."

Jack: He kisses her stomach, slick fingers playing free and lazy over her back. With a smile, Jack leans back a moment to address the strange girl he's found himself with. "I confess. You've charmed me.. I don't believe it's anything to do with the singing, however. Still, to be safe, you've my full and unyielding permission to take any advantage you like." To make good on this offer, Jack works to undo the remaining buttons of his shirt and slides the garment off to let it drift off and sink slowly.

Lan: "Good." She arches against his touch and spreads her hands out over his chest, the webbing pulling tight on her fingers and against his skin. "Take what you can and give everything away for free."

A little shift and twist and they're able to lie back on the bed. "I don't know what to make of you, Jack. But I know I like it."

Jack: Though his senses are dulled and both of their bodies are cold, there is something fine and calming for Jack in being touched. It eases that loneliness, rage and misery that befalls the vengeful dead. There is that urge to see her drown, but he can drag her down no further. He can only pull her closer in his embrace as they lie on her bed in this secret place.

"Then I imagine that sets us square, as I'll wager you're a bit of a mystery even outside of this curse. Something I've always had a fondness for.." He brushes his cheek to her tentacles as hands slide slowly down her back and dip under the fabric of her sarong.

Lan: "A mystery is a good thing, Jack. A-and, ah, I, umm, I think I should, should be quiet for a little." It does help the loneliness and the pain -- many sirens were the wives of sailors lost at sea, always calling their men home.

She nuzzles against the side of his neck and hums something pleasant and old. Her hands are busy exploring and tracing over his skin -- old scars, new ones, all the planes and shapes of his body.

Jack: The dead and the mourning find solace in each other's arms. There's something poetic and sad in it. For now, though, Jack is simply pleased not to be alone and to have found a like spirit and one who understands his present suffering.

Fingers and soft webbing spread over and cup Lan's buttocks as Jack uses his hold to slider her up along his body and allow his mouth better access to soft areas like the hollow of her throat and the curve of her delicate ribcage. He hums low appreciative sounds in the depths of his throat and chest as her hands fall across skin marked by sword and pistol. Jack's lips tighten in a private smile against Lan's chest as he becomes sure all parts of his body are functioning as normal. There had been some doubt.

Lan: In contrast to his skin, she is perfectly smooth -- not even her usual scales to break up the texture. The base of her throat has always been sensitive and it's kept that in this form. When he kisses her there, she mewls and arches up against him. (Oh good, it is working...not that she had any worries about draug 'blood pressure'.)

Jack: That which gets positive response is worth repeating. Close attention and many firm, sucking kisses are left along that sensitive area between throat and chest. As Jack urges more flexing and soft sounds from Lan, he lowers her down upon the bed and moves his hands to the task of sliding off his belt and unfastening the buttons of his breeches.

When he moves to speak, he keeps his lips close enough to brush against her skin as he talks; his mustache tickling her. "I've no spells to cast... I trust I won't be...taking advantage?" His sly grin brushes her neck and shows in his eyes.

Lan: "No, I don't think, don't think you...you'll be taking advantage, no." Another breathy (how does she make those sounds underwater?) little laugh and Lan bucks against him. She lets her hands wander down -- partly helping with the breeches, partly to tease.

"If, it's, that's, oh that is nice, it's been a while, Jack, but if I'm not happy, I'll let you know."

Jack: "Oh, I'm sure you ..." There's a stuttered gasping (if our suspension of disbelief is working) as he struggles to hold that clever grin as it threatens to become something much less smooth and practiced with the teasing of her fingers. "...sure that you...will. Keep to that, please..."

Jack pushes the breeches away once he can manage his balance with her fabulous little fingers 'assisting' him. He then moves to position himself between Lan's legs and pull her sarong free of her slim waist. He smiles down at her, hands slipping over her sides and following over the curve of her hip and pelvic bones to lead inward across sensitive skin and slowly down.

Lan: Aye, aye, Captain. Suspension of disbelief on full. "I think I do...do...ah, yes, I ..." Good. He really didn't need those breeches. Silly things.

Such wondeful planes and angles to his hips and thighs; she wishes for her mouth back so she can nibble and lick all along his hipbone. "There, that...right there, you, your hands, oh, your hands."

Jack: His hands run slick over her and, lord, every inch of her is smooth. One palm moves up long soft belly skin and the arch of her ribs and back again as the other is slower as it explores further between her thighs. Jack's fingers flex teasingly against the folds of her sex. The pirate's pleased smirk at his play for power trembles with his own lack of patience.

Lan: Lan isn't used to letting someone touch her belly and it makes her squirm and hiss. She's trying to be careful and gentle with him (sirens are stronger then men), but she might accidentally scratch his back a little. Forgive her?

Keeping in time with her movements and little, soft cries, her skin keeps changing patterns and rippling with colour. "Jack. Jack, please. I need this."

Jack: Aggression has never been a thing to stop Jack (he does have a fondness for strong and strange women), but the draug does not take well to it. The scratches close quick like sand shifting to seal and smooth away a rift or footprint left in the shallows. As his skin heals over, it hardens and his weight increases dramatically, lowering the mattress as his body begins to turn to living stone. It's but a fleeting instant and he regains himself, hoping to simply ignore the slip.

"So do I, Lan... Lord, so do I..." Now, more than ever, he needs the escape from his thoughts and from what he's becoming. Jack moves a hand under her back and lowers down to kiss at her neck as he guides himself in. He moves his hips slow to meet hers and moans low against her throat.

Lan: She'll ignore it and watch her nails more carefully. Running her hands up and down his back, tracing along the edges of old scars. A twist and she's able to whisper for him, "You're beautiful." It's heartfelt and only has a little bit of that otherworldly power behind it.

Right now it's important, --vitally important--, to forget everything else, all the trouble and just get lost in this moment. Another little, soft sound and she goes still. "...oh."

Jack: It's not the first time Jack's been called beautiful. He has been both pleased and miserable from hearing it in the past, depending on the voice which said it. Never, though, has it meant as much or struck him as deeply as it does when Lan whispers those words... and it has only a very little to do with the power of her voice. He's been made a monster, but, if she can find him beautiful...perhaps it is not as bad as all that.

Jack watches Lan's colours shift and ripple with awe. "You are beautiful, as well... A rare and wondrous thing... " A treasure worth having. And Jack cannot stand to make either of them wait any longer. He begins to thrust with a steady rhythm, all but matching what his heartbeat should be, were it there. He leaves on her skin long trails of kisses and hitching moans.

Lan: She doesn't see him as a monster, not in the slightest. He's gentle (enough) and fascinating to watch -- how could that be something awful? Never. No more a monster than she or a tiger would be.

Her heartbeat will have to serve for them both then. Finally, finally what she needs. Lan might be speaking, but if so, it's not in any language that Jack is likely to know. A little in that strange tongue and a little in whatever the sea speaks.

Jack: Whatever her foreign sounds and syllables mean, they're beautiful. Jack hears only the sea and freedom; distance and journey. It speaks of things unseen and unattainable, and yet it is here under his hands, under his weight; pressed close and sighing. How he wishes there were sweet lips to speak those strange words, that he could kiss away the taste of them.

Instead, he brushes over her skin wherever he can reach with soft lips and the coarse hair of his jaw. Jack rests his weight on one hand as he other explores every inch of Lan with greedy fingers. For the intensity of the moment, surely the waves above crash furious and heaven have mercy on any ship sailing near.

Lan: Lan has never been one to keep things hidden or keep them for herself; anything and everything she owns has always been free for the taking. Right now, for this short time, while they're hidden away, she's all his. Every soft sound, movement, needy little gasp and writhe -- it's all for him.

Jack: Softly glowing eyes shut tight and Jack lowers himself close to Lan to feel as much of her as possible. Kisses are left along her neck in halting bursts along with low moans and words of praise. As the thrill and electricity of climax flows through him, he feels truly alive for the first moment in weeks. Jack holds tight to Lan, for in this second, she is all there is. She is all that tethers him to his mortality and humanity.

Lan: She's never been human, but that's not what's important. The colours of her skin are flickering erratically, no more patterns or gentle shading -- bright, bright colours and shivery lines. A sudden, small gasp and she's brought over; shuddering and nuzzling against his neck.

Jack: For a while, he simply rests against her, before slowly shifting and rolling to his back, keeping hold of Lan to move her on top of him. "Thank you, darling... I dearly needed that." In the lingering electric tingle of nerves and the gently, tired feelings settling in, Jack can tell he needed it more than he even knew. He kisses Lan's 'forehead' and holds her close to let this moment last.

Lan: She murmurs something inaudible and curls against him. Grounded, that's how she feels -- able to hold onto what it means to be herself. "Rest now. We can rest for a little while." If there's no hurry (and even if there is), Lan drifts in and out of sleep. She doesn't snore, not really, just a teeny, quiet little schnorrbibble -- it's the tentacles.

Jack: Jack strokes Lan's back softly and lets himself relax completely. "Just...just for a while..." Sleeping in Sands' bathtub has not been what one could call restful and Jack is very tired. More comfortable than he's been since before he came here -since before he set off to find Jones' chest, really- he finds sleep quickly. While Jack normally snores when on his back, the draug sleeps as quiet and serene as the dead. His grey skin gives him the look of a statue, but none has ever looked so peaceful.