Broad Seas || One X One || Caebeeb and Pirate

Jackson's smile faded into a confused frown when Alice came to kneel beside him. At her words, he glanced at his shoulders and then back at her, blinking at the authority in her voice. "I...I don't know if we'll be able to find a doctor at this time of night," he stuttered, staring at her, "If I can just stop the bleeding, I'll be fine." He climbed to his feet, yanking off his tunic as he did. Heading toward the bath, he grabbed a cloth and dipped it into the extra bucket of water that they had been supplied with, dabbing at the wound and wiping away the blood. "Can you take an old shirt of mine and rip it into strips?" He turned to face the heiress, "Then help me wrap it."

Jackson watched in amusement as Alice attempted to rip up his shirt, "I'm bleeding out over here, heiress!" he joked. When she was successful in the task, he perched on the edge of the basin to allow her easier access to his shoulder. He flinched slightly, glancing down to see her progress in dressing the wound. Once she was done, he cleaned up the area, turning to face her. "Thank you," he said sincerely, lifting his gaze to hers. He rolled his eyes when she insisted that he see a doctor, moving past her toward his makeshift bed. "Might I remind you that I am the pirate who kidnapped you," he chuckled, lowering himself onto the hard floor. "You really shouldn't care about my health, Alice," he murmured, adjusting himself until he was the most comfortable. "You should be plotting on how to escape a dangerous man such as myself. And I'll reiterate, you're free to go, but please avoid the laws. I wouldn't want my rare acts of kindness to be for naught again." He smiled, chuckling to himself as he leaned back onto his pillow.

Jackson's smile dimmed at her words, deciding not to comment. He wasn't a good man and he hadn't been a decent person for many years. She was sorely mistaken, likely blinded by his several acts of kindness directed toward her in an attempt to redeem himself. Shrugging slightly at her next comment, he rolled onto his side, his wounded shoulder pointed toward the ceiling, "I just don't want you getting hurt," he murmured, starting to drift off. At her final request, he glanced back at her, more alert but assuming she was being facetious. However, when she made room for him, he slowly sat up, casting her a hesitant glance. "Uh, yeah, sure," he said quietly, pulling himself to his feet. Still shirtless, he was uncomfortable with making her uncomfortable, but didn't want to soil another tunic if the wrappings didn't hold. He gathered his pillow and blanket from the floor, setting them on the bed. "Thank you," he murmured as he lowered himself onto the mattress. "By the way, when you wake up, can you pretend that I'm not a monster and scramble away?" he requested with a half-smile, rather serious. With a chuckle to lighten the mood, he murmured, "Goodnight, Alice." With that, he settled in and fell asleep.

Jackson awoke slowly early the next morning, his body protesting the break in its resting period. Groggy, his mind was slow to catch up to him and he wasn't sure where he was at first. The next thing to process was that he had a warm body very near him, his arms loosely draped around the figure. Instinctively, he pulled the warmth closer to him, his eyes falling to the woman beside him. He had never really had a chance to appreciate the soft prettyness of her face, or how her pale skin contrasted against her darker hair. The cut on her cheek proved to accentuate the flawlessness of the rest of her flesh. He, on the other hand, was marred and weathered so that it was rare to find a smooth, perfect patch of skin. Slowly, he reached up to stroke her hair, pushing loose strands from her face. The heiress also saw something in him that even he was blind to. She saw the sliver of good in him that most others didn't. Carefully, as though she would break, his hand came to lightly rest along her jaw, cupping her cheek. Her innocence was refreshing, especially since he spent his time with rough and tumble pirates on the high seas. Caught up in the moment and momentarily forgetting that she was engaged to a man far better than he, Jackson leaned down to gently press his lips to hers, kissing her softly, in the exact way his brother hadn't.

Jackson tilted his head slightly as Alice returned the kiss, the hand on her cheek brushing along the length of her arm to twine with the fingers on his chest. When she pulled away, his eyes opened to reveal confused green irises. He drew back when she spoke, a sinking feeling in his chest causing him to pull his hand from hers. "You're not property and I'd never treat you as such," he murmured under his breath hardly loud enough for her to hear, his features falling as he unwound himself from her. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me, heiress. It was wrong of me to take advantage of you and I promise that it will not happen again," he said hastily as he sat up and climbed out of bed, feeling stupid. What had he been thinking? She was pledged to another man, a better man, one who had an honorable rank in society and could give her anything that she so desired. Why would she even remotely contemplate falling for a scoundrel like him when she already had her Prince Charming? Why was he fooling himself? And what if this changed their agreement? What if she grew angry over his advances and requested that the entire crew be locked up for an eternity over the kidnapping? Jackson felt a sharp pain in his shoulder as he reached for his tunic, blood peaking through the makeshift bandaging. He ignored it, in too much of a hurry to escape the embarrassment he felt and the shame she surely felt for ever allowing a pirate to touch her. "I have to go supervise repairs on the ship. We should be able to leave in a week's time, and then we can get you home. Feel free to explore. I'd avoid the taverns, though. The men there aren't so...kind," he said as he tugged on his boots. With a nod her way, he headed out of the room and made his way to the docks.

Jackson was in the midst of helping James retrieve fresh, solid boards to patch the ship when he felt someone touch his back. He twisted to face the sweet voice, his eyes flickering to the man with her. Heaving a sigh, he turned back toward James and helped him set down the board before he faced the doctor again. "It's just a small bullet wound," he explained, shamelessly pulling off his tunic to allow the man to examine it. When he was instructed to sit down, he sat on a large beam of wood, his face a stony mask as the man began to root around in the wound for the bullet. Once he found it, he poured something over the bloody hole before beginning to coarsely stitch it closed. Following that, he rebandaged Jackson's shoulder and then demanded pay. The captain frowned at the doctor before dumping a few coins into his hand. He watched the man waltz off before he cast a hesitant glance toward Alice, murmuring, "Thanks." James came up behind Jackson then, requesting that they get back to work, to which he nodded and turned back to the beams.

Jackson had just hoisted a board onto his shoulder when Alice spoke, glancing at her. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, James said, "There's nothing you can do, Lady Langley. We wouldn't want you to damage your prescious paws, anyway. So skitter on back to the room that you were so kindly provided with while the rest of us slept on our destroyed vessel." Jackson shot a glare toward his friend, "That's enough. I can finish up here, you go help on deck," he snapped. The man sneered at the heiress before bowing slightly and backing away from the pair. Jackson sighed softly, turning toward Alice, "Excuse him. He's still upset about Pete. Thank you for the offered, but there really isn't much you can do around here." He pulled the coin purse from his belt and handed it to her, "Go explore the marketplace," he murmured, offering her a smile before he went back to work. The men worked from sun up to sunset, and as the ball of light floated on the edge of the horizon, the crew members agreed to call it quits for the day. Jackson headed back to the lodge and requested that fresh, hot water be brought up before he moved upstairs to the room he shared with the heiress. Upon entering, he headed for the bed and sat down, his shoulders slumped forward. He was exhausted.

Jackson hardly glanced up as the door opened, giving Alice a partial smile when she entered the room. When she handed him the bag, he reattached it to his belt before his elbows fell to rest on his knees and he slumped forward again. Upon hearing the door open a second time, he didn't need to look up, knowing that it was the water being brought in. At the heiress' words, he nodded, not arguing with her. Once the basin was filled, he pushed himself to his feet and into the smaller room, peeling off his clothes. He sunk slowly into the scalding water, relishing the affect it had on his sore muscles. He sat there for a long time before he began to wash himself off, being mindful of his wound, and finally getting out some twenty minutes later. He wrapped a towel around his waist and headed into the main room to hunt for his spare set of clothes, leaving the bath open for Alice. He pulled on only his trousers before dropping onto the bed, prepared for sleep. However, as tired as he was, he couldn't seem to drift off into an unconscious bliss.

Jackson glanced toward Alice as she spoke, shrugging slightly. "Sometimes I can't sleep," he murmured, rolling so that his back was toward her. The last thing he wanted was a repeat of that morning and if that meant being slightly uncomfortable, so be it. When she spoke again, he sighed, "Alice, there really isn't much you can do. Half the men don't even want you there. So, for your safety, you should probably just avoid the docks until we're done." After living an easy life of luxury, he highly doubted that she'd be able to do any sort of physically demanding labor. Not to mention, she weighed less and was shorter than half of the supplies that they had to move around.