Eighteen Bells: [ACTION/WRITTEN]

[simplestgift]

[Kennedy comes to himself lying on his side in the grass, his wings splayed haphazardly, a slight breeze causing the feathers to flutter. He lies still for a moment, watching without thought the grass as it ripples softly before his eyes. Then he remembers that he was taken.

That explains this.

It begins to come back to him. He'd glimpsed the cages and panicked. They'd jabbed a needle into him then, and everything had gone soft, then black. He remembers nothing between then and now, and nothing is what he'll search his memories for. The blackout is a blessing, even if it is unsettling. It would be worse to remember.

He's in his own clothes--shirtsleeves, waistcoat, and trousers--and his journal is lying nearby, because clearly the Malnosso are paragons of courtesy. He rolls onto his stomach to reach for it when he hears a clear tinkling sound.  He reaches for his throat. There is...something, very much like a collar. No, it is a collar of steel links with no clasp, and hanging from it is a bell.

A bell he cannot touch. It rings when he moves, but his fingers pass through it. No matter what he does, he cannot keep it from sounding.

Apparently someone at the Malnosso facility is a wise guy who eavesdrops on certain conversations and thinks he's pretty damn funny.

Okay. So no audio. He grabs the journal and writes instead.]

I'm here. How long have I been gone?

-A. Kennedy

P.S. Horatio, do tell me one of you fed the cat.

Comments

[simplestgift]

[all7seas]

[simplestgift]

I'd like a drink now, I believe.

[all7seas]

Like a lover! [Jack repeated insistently as he leaned over the bar to procure a bottle of Scotch and two shot glasses.] It worked with Tia's chains, once. Thought it might work with yours. I'll try it, if you like.

[simplestgift]

No! Are you off your head?

[all7seas]

Kennedy, of the TWO of us, who has more experience breaking free of chains and or breaking other beings free of chains? I'm wagering it's MYSELF, actually. A little FAITH, man!

[simplestgift]

[The whiskey arrives and Archie takes a good long drink of it.] If you want to speak to my neck like a lover...

[No, we are washing that one away with another long drink.]

[all7seas]

Now. This will work best if you just close your eyes and.......don't.....take any of it personal-like. Savvy?

[The potential horror of all this is now dawning on Jack but he will SOLDIER ON.]

[simplestgift]

I said no, Jack!

[all7seas]

FINE. Wear that tinkly collar until TRUMPETS SOUND. Strength certainly didn't take it off, did it? Ha.

[and he pours himself a shot of the Scotch and partakes with a capital TAKES.]

[simplestgift]

I'll take my chances at the smithy. [He runs a finger underneath the chain.]

[all7seas]

Well Miss ROCKBELL will hardly speak to it like a lover!

[Because honestly! It was WINRY.] Oooor you might get Angry Turtle. Certainly he'll coax it right off your neck, and your head besides!

[simplestgift]

Why, Jack, you sound as if you were looking forward to this.

[all7seas]

It's a matter of PRINCIPLE, Kennedy. Force doesn't always make things better. If you think I'll enjoy speaking lovingly into your neck, you've got all sorts of rethinking to do.

[simplestgift]

...Will you leave it be if I let you try?

[all7seas]

Aye! Of course! I don't want to keep whispering sweet trifles against your throat for no good reason, now do I?

[simplestgift]

[You get the most supremely unappreciative look in the universe, Jack.] You don't have to be that close.

[all7seas]

"Like a lover, Kennedy," Jack reminds him. "These things can be sticklers, you know." He moved into position, his lips barely brushing the ghostly collar.

"Ahem....collar; you are always and ever my only, you know. Your glistening links are shining like the stars in the sky, darling..."

[simplestgift]

Jack will get a reflexive elbow to the face if he's not quick enough.

[all7seas]

"OUCH! Kennedy!" That one is going to leave a mark. "Just----let me woo this collar. I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING."

[simplestgift]

"I'm sorry!" And he's serious. He wasn't even thinking. "Good God, you have to be that close?"

[all7seas]

"Like. A. Lover." Come on, Archie. Cowboy up.

Jack leans in again---not QUITE as close, this time, but still all up in Kennedy's neck-business. He clears his throat.

"Collar, love---whilst you rest on the neck of this ill-favored lout, I am driven to distraction. Come with myself instead, eh? For you have not known neck until you've encircled that of Captain Jack Sparrow. All the nooses will be deadly jealous, darling."

[simplestgift]

Archie is leaning back and has his hands against Jack's shoulders, mostly to feel like he can control the distance, but is extremely uncomfortable. Not only with the proximity, but with the most unwelcome thought that this tripe might have won over Buffy, the vampire slayer.

"Is that really how you talk to a lover?"

Glancing about now to see if anyone is staring.

[all7seas]

"Right. Just. No. Argh. This is...awkward." Archie being there is just getting in the way of Jack's love-talking-skills. He will give it one last pirate try.

"Collar?" He ducked as close as he could, speaking in a soft, almost-pleading voice. "Collar, I love you. I've always loved you. Stay with me, please."

1/2

[simplestgift]

Archie starts to shove Jack away and snap that he's had his try...