(no subject)

[smallestopener]

Ingress, as most small children do, has intense phases in which she finds out all she can about a certain subject. She's gone on pirate binges in which she read nothing but pirate stories, drew nothing but pirate pictures, and played nothing but pirate games. She's done this with horses, dinosaurs, princesses (of course), and squids.

Sometimes she runs across a picture or a story, and her memory is jogged. So it is that she and Tom walk out to the lake, to see if Ingress can catch sight of Sunshine Dust, the glitter squid.

And who knows, maybe one day Mr. Julia Fruitnugget will return.

"I hope she's there still," she says, running ahead of Tom into the cool fall-like day. "I haven't looked in a long time."

Comments

[pirate_jack]

Jack grins wickedly at her, then looks up at Tom with devilish mischief glittering in the black eyes as he says,

"Need more sparkle in that pretty hair of yours to be a pirate like me, lass."

[smallestopener]

"I have beads! I could put them in my hair. Would that be sparkly enough, or do I need to put glitter in, too?"

[young_tmriddle]

"Ah, you and your glitter."

His smile is a wee bit forced. No matter how one cleans up glitter - either by magic or by old-fashioned hard work - it always ends up in the most unwanted places.

[pirate_jack]

Jack winks at Tom and says to Ingress,

"Lass, do you see any glitter in me braids?"

[smallestopener]

She peers closely. Then she walks around him, looking hard.

"No," she says, and she's sounds very sad about this fact.

[young_tmriddle]

"Beads and strings. See, that's all you need for you to be a proper pirate."

No glitter! Huzzah!

[pirate_jack]

"Not quite all, mate," Jack drawls lazily.

[smallestopener]

"Yeah! You need a cutlass and boots and a hat and a parrot!"

[young_tmriddle]

"Obviously I am not wise in the ways of piracy," Tom says, with a smile of regret.

[pirate_jack]

He raises a finger, cautioning her.

"Maybe not a parrot. You talk just fine on your own, lass."

Jack stands, and nods to Tom. "Ways to see about taking care of what some reprehensible rapscallions might call a regrettable lack of information on the part of a respectable man what's gone and gotten himself into dealings with pirates, savvy?"

[smallestopener]

"Some pirates are bad guys, but you're not one of them, are you Jack?" She beams up at him.

[young_tmriddle]

She wouldn't be talking to him, if he were. Tom knows true evil. Jack shows no sign of it, be he a pirate or no.

He might be a scoundrel, but there's nothing wrong with scoundrels.

"Of course he's not."

[pirate_jack]

He grins wickedly down at her.

"I'm a rotten pirate and a scallywag," Jack informs her, and then picks her up and swings her around in a wild sort of dance, singing,

"'We're devils and black sheep and really bad eggs, drink up me hearties, yo ho!'"

[smallestopener]

Ingress laughs and laughs, and she joins in on the "Yo ho!"

"I want to be a scallywag, too!"

It sounds like fun, and she hears Megwyns bubbling love and laughter filling her mind as she's twirled round.

[young_tmriddle]

Tom laughs, as well. A rotten pirate and a scallywag Jack may be, but Tom's known many people who claimed to be better and acted much, much worse.

"I think you already are, little one. You and Jack will make quite the team."

[pirate_jack]

He finishes the dance and sets her on her feet, swaying as he does so.

Jack grins wickedly at Tom.

"All we've got to do now, mate, is get you used to the idea."

[smallestopener]

"How do I get used to the idea? Can Megwyn be a scallywag, too?"

She tilts her head, as if listening. "She says she won't wear an eyepatch, though, but maybe some beads in her mane would be nice."

[young_tmriddle]

"Ah, Megwyn as a pirate. That might be fun to see."

He nods and explains, just in case Jack has never met fair Megwyn. "She's Ingress's Companion. Horse-shaped entity from Valdemar, mind bond, it's really rather complicated, but we look at her as part of the family."

[pirate_jack]

This gets Tom a very surprised look.

"Quite a family you have, mate."

[smallestopener]

"We have a nice family," Ingress says, and she twirls around, singing "Yo ho, yo ho, I'm a bad egg!"

[young_tmriddle]

"Tell me about it," Tom says with a sly grin. "Jack, are you and your ship here for a while, do you think?"

[pirate_jack]

An odd look flickers over his face as he glances around the deck, his gaze lingering on a damaged section of the rail.

"Looks that way."

[smallestopener]

Ingress dances up to the prow to look over the railing and watch for sparkling squid. She's out of earshot, for the time being.

[young_tmriddle]

"I say, is everything quite alright? Are you going to have to winter here?"

[pirate_jack]

He glances sideways, checking on Ingress's location, and then looks back at Tom.

"Don't know quite how long I'll be staying, mate."

A beat.

"Not sure how it works when you're dead, savvy?"