Work Text:
The 12 Days of Christmas Day 2 : What He Stole
pirates of the caribbean; humor; norrington/sparrow
Commodore Norrington was annoyed, an emotion which he was quickly making known to all those aboard his vessel. They'd been at sea for a week now, and the Pearl had been in their sights for four of those six days, but try as he might, the Commodore had been incapable of overtaking the ship and its wily captain.
"It's just another trick of Sparrow's," Gillette said tiredly, hearing his commanding officer give the order to set all the sails. The Black Pearl was turning again, likely towards a set of reefs that would be hellish to navigate. "You haven't reported anything missing, sir, nor have any of the men onboard. I find it likely that Sparrow is simply pulling our collective leg."
Norrington couldn't really deny any of this. It was true that no one had reported anything missing. But that didn't mean that nothingwas.
Sparrow seemed to have miscalculated his manoever, for the distance between the two vessels was quickly diminishing. Norrington crowed triumphantly; Gillette just shook his head and wondered vaguely where Groves had disappeared to. Norrington quashed a sudden feeling of excitement as they pulled alongside the enemy. He was felling pretty good about the whole pursuit and capture, so good that he was only slightly deflated by the expression on Jack Sparrow's face, one of calm amusement. Norrington realized abruptly that the only reason he had managed to catch up was because Sparrow had let him.
"What did you steal, Sparrow?" he yelled across the distance. The pirate quirked a lip at him.
"You haven't figured it out yet, my good Commodore? I'm quite surprised to hear that." Sparrow draped himself across the wheel of his ship and sent Norrington a glance that made him shiver pleasantly, much to the Commodore's chagrin. He shook it off though, angrier than ever.
"Stop playing games, Sparrow! If you don't return whatever it is you stole, I shall be forced to board your vessel and mount an attack against you!"
Sparrow sighed. "Are you sure you want to know?"
"SPARROW!"
"Alright then." The pirate captain's face split in a wide grin. "It's your heart I've stolen, my dear Commodore. Surely you've noticed."
Norrington (and his crew) simply stared at the pirate, mouths agape, until the Commodore stopped struggling for words and found one: "Oh."
"So I'm sure you'll understand if I'd rather not return it just yet." With which, Sparrow cut the wheel hard to the right, suddenly speeding away from his pursuers. Norrington, meanwhile, stood there thinking quietly, until he decided with some surprise that Sparrow was right.