Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own any of these wonderful characters, or even the setting and world of Firefly. They all belong to Fox/Universal and Joss Whedon.
James Norrington and related belongs to Disney, Gore, Jerry and Ted and Terry.
Setting: Takes place after Station.
Pairings: Mal/Inara, Kaylee/Simon
Chapter 2: Adapting
-
Through out his adult life, James Norrington has handled things with precise care, respect and grace. He would hold the wheel spokes of a Navy ship firmly, but would not form a crushing death grip unless he was in the throes of a storm. He never mashed his fingers on the keys of his spinet in frustration when he was having difficulty with a certain piece and would practice the song over and over again, before he played it before an audience. He displayed the same care and manners whenever he was eating and when he handled a sword, even during his darkest hours he tried to maintain some form of dignity whenever held the handle of a mop, or carried a shovel, and when he ate along with Sparrow’s crew. If he was able to handle that then why was he having difficulty with eating utensils?
The blasted wooden sticks have been giving him trouble the past few weeks when they were set out at the dinner table. He had watched as his captain and the other members of the crew used them to pick up food and bring it to their mouths as easily as he used a fork and spoon. Even Jayne Cobb was able to make it appear graceful and yet every time he tried to mimic their movements he ended up dropping his food at the edge of the table, by his plate or on his lap, whenever the sticks themselves did not slip out from his hands. He had thought he nearly had it under control during dinner when a piece of food slipped and landed in his soup, spilling out broth over the sides. The action brought a few sniggers of laughter from Cobb until the rest of the crew glared at him and Inara gave Cobb a smack on the shoulder.
It was the reason why he decided to stay behind to guard Serenity, in his own words, while the rest of the crew went exploring around town. It would give him time to practice using the chopsticks until he was secure with the task. He had found a few pieces of paper and tore them into smaller pieces, folded each piece and placed them in a bowl. Once he had managed to move all of the pieces of paper from one bowl to the other he would be ready to use them to eat.
“Is someone in here,” Inara stuck her head into the galley.
“Only me, Miss Serra,” James said before the piece of paper fell from the chopsticks and onto the small pile in between the bowls.
“What are you doing?” She was still wearing that odd strip of cloth that had the thickness of a scarf draped around her arms.
“Trying to keep myself from appearing like fool at dinner,” James answered before he parted the two sticks and managed to grab another piece of paper. “As with everything, one must practice before he can get it right.”
“Don’t let Jayne get to you.” She pulled out the chair next to him and sat down.
“I try to ignore Mr. Cobb’s words and actions.” He bit down on his lip until he had managed to drop the paper into the second bowl. “This is for myself.”
“You are holding them wrong,” she said.
“I am?” He stared at the chopsticks before he handed them to her.
“You hold them like this,” she laid one down against her index finger and held the second secure between thumb and index finger. “Let your thumb do all the work.” She picked up one of the bits of paper and placed it into the other bowl before she handed the chopsticks back.
“Like this?” He held them in the same manner as she had them.
“Yes,” Inara placed her hand over his and guided his hand to the bowl he was removing the paper from. “Now we work it like this.” Together they dipped the chopsticks into the bowl and placed the paper into another bowl. “Now, lets see you try.”
He stared at his hand and the bowls and he tried to repeat Inara’s actions. The first time he dropped the paper back into the first bowl, seconds after lifting it, but the second time he managed to take it across and place it into the second bowl.
“You see? you are getting it.”
“Not as soon as I like,” he frowned when he dropped another bit of paper.
“This will take time. You know it won’t happen in an instant. How long did it take you to master a sword?”
“It took me a year to actually learn how to use one, and nearly three years before I can say that I had truly mastered it.”
“It won’t take a year to master these.” She pointed at the chopsticks.
“It’s not just the chopsticks, it’s nearly everything, chores, the language, the charts of the different systems.” He had tried to mop the cargo bay floor earlier that day and it took him every bit of muscle in his body to move the thing a few inches, until Kaylee Frye turned the on switch. He had also tried to help out with dinner by trying to create something form a protein pack. It turned into a disgusting blob of-well he wouldn’t think the word Cobb had used to describe it.
“This isn’t the world you were born and raised it,” Inara rose out from her seat. “It will take time to adapt, and you are doing far better than I had imagined.”
“Thank you, Miss Serra.”
“I will be in my shuttle. You know how to call me if you need anything?”
“That is one of the few things I have learned.” He dropped the last piece into the bowl.
“I may come back, in case I get thirsty,” Inara said before she left the room.
“Thank you,” he called again this time using the Chinese words instead. He had the basics memorized. He knew how to greet and say good-bye, greet in the morning and before he went to bed, yes and no, and how to ask and thank them. That was practically it. There were more phrases for him to learn, such as ask for the time. There was a lot for him to learn, and he was going to try to figure out how to read those words written in their original style.
There was also the shooting. Cobb had introduced him to such a variety of weapons. James started off with guns the size of pistols and earned a brief bit of respect from Cobb when the shot had met the target. All the respect dwindled away when James tried to reload it before he remembered that particular pistol could hold six shots and the bullets themselves were made to already have the powder. He spent the remaining five, four struck the metal cans, Cobb had set up, the fifth struck a tree, and as luck would of have it, straight into the nest of hornets. The two of them left the area immediately.
“Perhaps there would be more shooting tomorrow,” James mumbled as he finished another round of chopstick practice, this time had only dropped three pieces of paper in between the bowls. “Miss Serra is correct. I just need to keep at it.” He would try a few more times before he retired to his bunk for the night.
-
The music playing through the speaker system of the tavern wasn’t too loud. It provided a nice background sound for James. He could hear the guitar twangs and not really understand the words, perhaps someday, but not now and he did not want to. The game was on his mind.
“Yeah,” Cobb grunted from one of the pool tables and raised his cue stick up. “That’s fifty you owe me now.” He stood back; eyes were on his opponent.
“Wanna go for another round?” The burly looking man asked. “We can make it interesting this time. Double or nothing?”
“Not a good idea, Mr. Cobb,” James muttered under breath before he took another sip from his bottle of beer.
“Jayne?” Captain Malcolm Reynolds strode forth, carrying his own bottle of beer. “Remember what we talked about?”
Jayne blinked before he frowned in disappointment. “Oh yeah.” He turned to his opponent. “No can do man. I can put another ten in if you are willing too.”
“Might as well,” the burly man grunted before he pressed on the start button. It had taken Captain Reynolds nearly an hour to explain how the holographic balls worked.
James turned around to his own game and own opponent as the other man threw his last dart at the board. James preferred this particular game of skill. There were no illusions caused by light sources or whatever the captain had said, and also there was no money involved, just a friendly game with a young man named Peter.
“Your turn,” the gangly man said before he took a step back.
“Thank you,” James set his bottle down and selected his darts. He squinted at the red center of the bull’s eye before he threw the first dart. The sharp prick landed with a light thud, just a hair-spread away from the center.
“Good one,” his opponent nodded. There was no bitterness in his tone. The man was clearly a good sport.
“Thank you,” James smiled again before he took another sip from his beer.
“Where did you get that coat?”
“This?” James ran his finger down a golden braid of his naval coat. “It is a long story.” He held up his second dart and threw it. This one landed near the other.
“You don’t want to tell it?” One of the bar maids approached them.
“Likes I said it is a long story, and none of you would believe me.”
“He told it to us and we still don’t believe him,” Captain Reynolds walked up from behind. “We think he paid someone to make a replica of an ancient military coat for him.” He placed a hand on James’s shoulder. “What kind was it again?”
“The Royal Navy from the eighteenth century,” James answered, partly grateful for his captain’s interruption.
“Looks really fancy,” Peter said.
“Yeah,” Mal swallowed some more of his beer. “Supposed to be a high ranking officer.” He furrowed his brows, trying to make himself appear as if he were deep in thought. “What was that rank again?”
“Commodore,” James picked up his third dart. “Technically this is also the coat of a Captain. Commodores wore two kinds of coats. The coat of a captain when he is in action and an admiral coat for ceremonies.”
“Good shot and educated.” The bar maid gave a James a look over that temporarily made him uncomfortable. “Not to mention tall, beautiful green eyes and that accent, well that accent and that voice.”
“Thank you, Miss,” James gulped as he felt his face flush. Damn it. He should be used to bar maids looking at him like that. He had caught the eyes of many women in Port Royal, yet his eyes were only for Elizabeth and while he was floundering around Tortuga he had caught a few eyes of some of the bar maids there, as well as a few of the jezebels.
“Save it, Teyla,” the young man said. “Guy like him is most likely married or going out with someone.”
Teyla shrugged. “They always are.”
Malcolm leaned over and whispered into James’s ear. “Already attracting women of this century.”
“I wasn’t trying,” James focused on the target.
“I know you are not,” Mal continued to whisper. “Just be careful if you do find one you like. They eventually find out who you are they will think you are crazy, or just take advantage of you.”
“Thank you, father.” James breathed deeply before he threw the dart. Time seemed to have stopped as it shot through the air and struck the board, landing a bit off center of the bull’s eye, but it was within the red.
“All right,” Peter said as he and Teyla clapped. “Looks like you won this one.”
“I believe so,” James smiled before he finished his beer.
“How did you get so good?” Teyla asked.
“Not different from shooting at cans,” James explained. Cobb had taken him out again and gave him the same pistol as last time. James was able to shoot and strike all the cans before Cobb gave him a slightly bigger and more powerful weapon. There was a bit of recoil at first. They would have gone through several guns if Captain Reynolds had intervened and complained about the price of ammo.
“I bet you can sing and cook.”
“I am not sure about the singing,” Captain Reynolds said. “But trust me, you don’t want to eat his cooking.”
“I’m still learning,” James smiled at the memory of that morning when he had made a protein pack into something that was actually edible. Miss Frye had clapped after she had tasted the banana pudding and nearly everyone else had nodded and thanked him for it.
“And since I have breakfast duty tomorrow I’m going to give him another lesson.” Mal gave James another pat on the shoulder.
The breaking of glass brought their attention back to the pool tables where one man wielded a broken bottle at another man who threatened him with a cue stick. Another man tried to slam something down on the man with the broken bottle, but a fourth tackled him to the ground.
“All right,” Jayne grinned at the sight and dropped his cue. “This night is getting even better.” He cracked the knuckles in each of his hand.
“Jayne,” Captain Reynolds called to him. “Get over here.”
Cobb stared at the two of them, and then stared at the action, and glanced back at his captain before his face fell. “Awww.”
“We have started our own fights before.” Reynolds made a gesture to the door. “There will be others.”
“I do not blame you, Captain,” James said as he and Reynolds slowly backed away to the entrance. “In my darker days I have started my fair share of tavern brawls.”
“You?” Reynolds just stared at him. “I’m still finding that hard to believe.”
“You still don’t believe I was once a dirty unkempt member of Sparrow’s crew?” Even he had a hard time of believing it himself.
“Nope,” Reynolds shook his head. “Let’s go Jayne. Kaylee is buying us some popcorn so we can all watch a movie on the cortex.”
“Popcorn?” Cobb blinked. “I’m coming.”
-
The popcorn was coated in a cheesy topping that turned James’s and nearly everyone else’s fingers a bit yellow. James didn’t mind that. What he did mind was the bits of popcorn that stuck to his teeth. Well he did have his own toothbrush in his bunk.
“What did you think of the movie?” Kaylee asked as she and James walked to the passenger bay.
James stopped trying to remove the pieces with his tongue. “Charming. I enjoyed it very much. It was a good story and I loved the bond between the child and the creature.”
“My favorite part was when they were trying to escape the cops,” Kaylee smiled. “They get to the dead end and he made all their bicycles fly.”
“Who wouldn’t want to experience that?” James asked. “It’s a pity, Mr. Cobb did not get to see the end.”
“Oh,” she shrugged. “He’s seen it about ten times before. He usually ducks around the sad part because he doesn’t want anyone see his eyes get all misty.”
“He cries during that part?”
Kaylee nodded. “Sometimes.” She paused in her footsteps.
James raised his eyebrows at her before he stared ahead at his bunk. The door was slid open half way. “Who is in there?”
“Just me,” Cobb backed out.
“What were you doing in my bunk, Mr. Cobb?”
“How many times do I have to tell you to stop with that mister stuff?” Cobb asked.
“Jayne that is his sanctuary,” Kaylee frowned. “You just can’t break into someone’s sanctuary like that. How would you like it if we go into your room?”
“I would love it,” Cobb leered at her. “Drop by anytime.”
James felt like his teeth wasn’t the only part of him that needed cleaning. “She is affianced Mr-“ He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was not going to get far with an argument with him. “Fine. I will come into your bunk while you are asleep and I will be naked.”
Kaylee’s eyes widened and Cobb stepped back in revulsion. “Hell no you aint,” Cobb said.
“That is the point we are trying to make,” Kaylee said.
“Well I aint naked, and he damn well better not be if he knows what’s good for him,” Cobb brushed past him. “Don’t know what he leans towards. Wouldn’t be surprised if he swung both ways with that fancy talk and all.”
“Bi Zui, Cobb.” James took a step into his bunk.
“What?” the taller man turned around. “What did you say?”
“You heard me,” James said.
“Don’t need to be starting any trouble,” Kaylee stepped in between them.
“He told me to shut up,” Jayne balled his hands into his fists.
“Yes he did,” Kaylee smiled when the realization struck her. “He said it in Chinese. He’s learning.”
“That I did,” James smiled at the fact.
“He did didn’t he,” Jayne relaxed. “I’m going to be in my own bunk.” He turned around.
James shook his head before he tried to see what kind of mess, Cobb had made in his bunk. To his surprise there was nothing out of order. Everything was still packed away and everything that was on the walls was still there, everything plus one. A wooden mount was nailed onto one wall and on top of the mount was the sword William Turner had made.
“He did this?” James stared at it in disbelief.
“He did what?” Kaylee stuck her head into the room. “He made you a place for your sword.”
“Why? I appreciate the gesture, and owe him a bit of an apology and gratitude, but why did he do it?”
“Maybe because he has a place for all his weapons that he loved,” Kaylee shrugged. “And you love that sword and he wanted to make a proper place for it.”
“I can understand that bit of reasoning.”
“You see? He does have a soft side.” Kaylee stepped back. “Are you going to bed?”
“I might,” James shrugged. “I am a bit tired.”
“I guess this means good night, James.”
“Good night, Miss Frye.” He turned to his sink and grabbed his toothbrush.
After he went through the ritual of brushing his teeth, changing into his sleeping clothes and washing his face he felt like he wasn’t tired enough to actually sleep. He did lie down and cradled his arm while he examined his room. One wall held his naval ensemble, including his hat and wig. Another wall proudly displayed the English flag, another wall contained a shelf where he placed his model of The Dauntless and over it was his sword.
“Good day,” James declared proudly before he turned off the light.
-
Jas-TheMaddTexan. Thank you.
Ogreatrandom Thanks. I had to do something with dinosaurs and Hobby
Originalbubble. Thank you
Aoi Dragon. Thank you. I shall look up Richard Sharpe.