try_corsets | (no subject)

(no subject)

It's an honest assumption that most people might find life at the end of the universe to be full of adventure and intrigue, or, at the very least, satisfying conversation on a daily basis. Not so for Elizabeth Swann. Indeed, she finds most days dreadfully dull, especially those that see Will having some sort of love affair with his forge. On such days, she does a great deal of sighing and wondering if her fiancé would really just rather marry his sword.

Today is such a day, but Elizabeth is bored with sighing, bored with her room and bored with staring at the bar's fireplace. And although she's not bored with thinking about Jack and their predicament, it's far too chilly outside for a good brooding session in front of the Pearl.

Her thoughts turn to a certain invitation issued on the only day Elizabeth will admit to enjoying herself at Milliways. Thus, at the customary time for tea in the governor's household, Elizabeth enters the staff corridor and goes about finding the flat belonging to the barman and his friendly wife, Nynphadora.

It's not difficult to locate, and she's soon knocking on the door: two firm knocks, precisely.

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"Uh-huh," replies 'Dora cheerfully, scooping up Anthony and pressing a kiss to his cheek before settling him on her lap as she sits beside Elizabeth. "He taught me how to cook. I reckon it's a lot like making the bombs; it's all chemistry, really, though he raises both to an art form."

Elizabeth takes a dainty bite. The next is far less dainty.

"Please, give him my compliments." She nods and smiles, as if lending weight to her words. "I don't know how to cook. There are a few things I can manage, I suppose, but it was rarely considered proper for me to be in the kitchen."

There's an eyeroll, but a small one.

"I will," she grins. "And cooking's not for everyone, regardless of propriety. Took me ages to get to the point where I wasn't actually setting anything on fire."

Nymphadora takes a sip of her tea and then a bite of a macaroon, which Anthony makes a grab for. She pinches off a tiny bit and hands it to him, which results in a large quantity of crumbs down both their fronts.

"That must have been eventful," Elizabeth remarks.

Imagining her father's reaction to Elizabeth starting a fire in the kitchen brings a new smile to her face.

She watches Anthony makes short work of his piece and blurts out, "It's a shame I can't show him Mr. Cotton's parrot. I think he'd like him."

"Mr. Cotton's parrot?" 'Dora raises an eyebrow inquiringly. "Who's Mr. Cotton? Another of your pirates?"

Anthony looks up at Elizabeth with rapt attention, eyes wide.

"Another of Jack's pirates," she answers softly, "yes. He's mute, and near as we can tell, the parrot speaks for him. Sometimes it even makes sense."

She nods seriously at Anthony.

"He's as colorful as your sock."

"Suh!" he agrees, and Nymphadora laughs. "I think you're right about Anthony liking him -- he's quite his own little parrot, these days."

Anthony crawls over to the cushion between his mother and their guest and commences playing with his toes. This is the kind of distraction that could, if left uninterrupted, amuse him for hours.

'Dora looks up at Elizabeth again, her smile fading a bit. "Are you finding it any less... confining, around here?"

It would be foolish to lie, Elizabeth feels. And, she realizes, she has no desire to do so.

"A bit," she answers, finally. "The chill isn't as terrible."

Another pause.

"Have you ever been certain of a task before you, but been unable to carry it out due to... circumstances?"

'Dora laughs softly, and there's a touch of weariness in it. "Sure," she replies, smoothing a hand over Anthony's dark head. "Did I mention the war, last time we met?"

"No," Elizabeth says with a shake of her head. "You did not."

As if he is a pleasant buffer between them and potentially distressing conversation, Elizabeth lightly pokes Anthony's foot and retrieves his sock.

"I'm... sort of a soldier," explains Nymphadora, looking down at her son and watching as he tries to catch Elizabeth's fingers. "And for several years, an evil dark wizard and his followers were persecuting anyone who wasn't a pureblood wizard."

Magical law enforcement. That's all she had said, Elizabeth remembers. Soldier is easier for her to process, truth be told, and she finds herself studying Tonks with a mixture of sympathy and chagrin.

Distracted, she lets Anthony capture her fingers.

"How horrid," she says at last. It doesn't feel adequate. "Was he caught?

"Caught?" She laughs again, though it's more genuine this time. "More like... destroyed. You can't catch a wizard like Voldemort. It's all or nothing, with him. Anyway." Her smile fades. "The war didn't end until well after Anthony was born. There were plenty of times when I was afraid, when I couldn't do what I knew I should have been doing, 'cause what if something had happened to him? 'S one thing to risk yourself. Something else to risk your unborn child."

"I'm... glad he was destroyed."

And she finds she is, sitting here with Tonks, watching Anthony grab at her hand. Thinking of the choice she had essentially made between Will and Jack, Elizabeth swallows and lifts her chin.

"I understand." She pauses. "There's something I have to do. Something Will has to do. If we don't, things won't be set right, but we can't do it here. We had only just realized what task we face when we arrived and became trapped. That's why the feeling of confinement lingers."

Nodding, 'Dora looks at Elizabeth intently. "If you don't mind me asking... what is it you've got to do?"

Elizabeth returns the look, nothing showing on her face.

A long minute later, she exhales slowly and replies.

"We watched Jack go down with his ship," and although she thinks she's mentioned it before, it bears repeating. "After, we went to see a woman. Witch or priestess, I'm not sure which. Not like you," she adds hastily.

Not at all like Tonks.

"She asked us how far we would be willing to go to bring Jack back. To the waters at World's End, she said."

She nods, remembering what the young woman had said about Jack and the kraken. "But the waters at World's End are a bit difficult to get to when you're stuck at the end of the universe."

A jerky nod is Elizabeth's answer. Her mouth tightens.

"As soon as I saw Jack, I thought this was the place," she says. "But it's not. I don't know what's going to happen when we return. Or if we can take Jack and his precious ship."

The baby seems a bit cowed by the sudden somberness, and looks between his mother and Elizabeth with worried eyes.

"I wish there was something I could tell you t'make you worry less," murmurs Nymphadora, reaching over to grasp Elizabeth's hand for a moment. "But all I can say is-- yeah. I know how you feel. The helplessness."

"Thank you," Elizabeth murmurs. "And you have helped me worry less. Honestly."

Despite the knowledge that she would make the same choices again, Elizabeth feels guilty. Guilty over Jack, and guilty for the sympathy she's receiving. For just a moment, she considers telling Tonks the truth of the matter. What's driving her to bring Jack back. But, in the end, she's not sure she wants Tonks to look at her any differently.

After some consideration: "How does Bar work?"

Tonks still isn't satisfied that Elizabeth actually feels better; but then, this isn't the sort of thing one brushes off after a handful of comforting words.

"Magic," she replies with a small smile, and steadies Anthony as he pulls himself up into a standing position. "The spell that binds Bernard and Mike to her make her... a person in her own right, sort of."

"He'll have his sea legs soon too, I imagine," she says with a small, fond smile. "That must have taken a powerful magician. Bar."

It's still a little hard to believe.

"I haven't met Mike."

Tonks flushes a bit; Sirius cast the first spell, but it's Tonks' that's keeping both Barmen tied to the Bar.

"He's pretty brilliant. Bloody good joker, and he makes the best damn cookies you'll ever taste, though if you tell Bernard I said that I'll hex you."

"Your secret is safe."

Smiling, Elizabeth leans forward and whispers, "Sometimes I wish Will didn't have such a fondness for silly hats. I can't hex you if you tell, but its leverage."

She nods once, as if sealing a deal.

'Dora nods back solemnly, and then her face splits into a grin. "But we love 'em anyway, huh."