[Action]

[abidinglaw]

[After having shown his face little over the past few days – probably a joint consequence of not wanting to catch whatever Jack had and wanting even less to be press ganged into holding his bloody soup spoons – Norrington begins this morning absent from his bright and bedless bedroom. He wakes with the rising sun for a rousing stroll on the beach. On the way back, with Cullen house lit by the crisp light of morning, he recalls the recent ice storms and all at once he has a goal for the day. Assess the house for damages. If any housemates are home they might just hear some curious scrapings on the exterior of Cullen house, the occasional bangings, but most ominous of all will likely be the prolonged intermittent silences. Never you mind. It's probably just a woodpecker.

Later in the day he'll be in the village proper for the first time in days and days and days. The item shop is a high priority, and he spends a long time there scrutinizing things with narrowed eyes and a chin cradled in the crook made by his thumb and index finger. Later still, he'll be stopping in at Good Spirits for the sake of overhearing village-gossip. He'll even politely clear his throat behind one or two people in aid of this noble goal. It's amazing what a brief absence will do for a man's social skills.]

Comments

[ action ]

[herotypical]

[ one blonde bartender -- the lady one, with the cool powers? -- stands behind the counter at good spirits.

when she notices the admiral, she waves. ]

James! What can I get you...?

[ action ]

[abidinglaw]

I am not here to drink.

[He said, only afterward realizing that saying so probably worked directly against his attempt to dissuade further questions. In fact it probably seemed as though he was inviting them. Who comes to a bar not to drink? So he has socially obligated himself into a corner in very little time at all. That corner is remarkably counter-shaped. He grumps in that direction and takes a seat upon a stool.]

[herotypical]

Who comes to a bar not to drink? Besides, y'know, me. I come here to work.

[abidinglaw]

Did I...--

[--ask you about what you were doing here, Miss Summers? But perhaps that would have been a little too rude for so early in the conversation. Hmm. A distraction then. He has a rucksack slung over his shoulder - a new acquisition. He sets it down now on the stool beside him. It is zipped up tight, so whatever he is carrying within is kept deliciously concealed.]

Did I say 'not here to drink'? I meant not here to drink anything too strong. Perhaps an exotic fruit juice.

[A smile. He seems pleased with himself -- and why not? Disaster averted.]

[herotypical]

...You live in the Caribbean, right? Don't you already have the cornerstone in exotic fruits? Unless you're looking for some kind of exotically not tropical fruit. But then -- what's the point?

[all7seas]

These are the kind of bangings that are just intermittent and arhythmic enough to plunge a man into madness. They occur at the least opportune moments: just when Jack Sparrow is bringing a mouthful of Buffy-made soup to his lips,

Bugger!

or closing his eyes for a nap,

OH FOR THE

or trying to balance a mug of hot coffee on his knees.

OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH BOGGIT BOLLOCKS OUCH BOLLOCKS!

Loud, shouty, thumpy bangs.

And then...then...then the silence.

...

No more bangs?

.......

BANG

...............................................

What was that cracking sound?

.....................

AND ANOTHER BANG. And more silence.

....

Some


odd






tappity tap tapping? Tappity




Tappit--









tip tip tip tap scritch scritch tap








BANG.




Right. Now? Now there will be Retribution Moste Foul.

Jack throws down his borrowed copy of Cosmo, vacates his sickbed/couch, pulls on his boots, and locates a broom. It's time to deal out a little disturbing-the-peace justice.

He will be very carefully sneaking around the house, hoping to catch the admiral unawares and teach him a lesson about brooms and how they can be used to beat a man who will insist on banging at odd intervals.

[abidinglaw]

Maybe the banging just sounded louder and more jarring from inside the house where bangings and scrapings had no right to be. On the other hand, maybe he coincidentally happened to have calmed down a little just as Jack came brooming his way around the corner. The admiral was testing the structural integrity of a series of panels of exterior siding. After gently taptaptaptapping he tucked the handle of the hammer under his waistband and set to running his fingers over the edges, feeling for cracks and fissures. Jack, so far, went entirely un-noticed.

[all7seas]

Jack ducked back behind the corner and wound that broom up like Mighty Casey up at bat. At the very least he would give James Norrington a bristling that the other man wouldn't soon forget.

Slowly he began creeping closer to the admiral, weapon raised and at the ready.

[abidinglaw]

Ah yes. There was evidence of damage here. No doubt a rivulet of rain had found its way into a small crack in the wall here and frozen, thawed, and frozen again, widening the gap by slow degrees. It would need patching. Could he caulk the side of a building? Probably. The admiral had a stylus pinched between his lips and a short roll of paper at his hip. He removed the one now and made a scribble on it with the other.

[flickerflash]

[It's very hard to concentrate on graffiti-ing all over her attic walls when there is such curious noise coming from outside. Perhaps it's a burglar who doesn't know how to use a door and is intent on breaking through the wall with a spoon.

Look, you never know.

Either way, she's quite sure Jack is still inside, and so after a few minutes of listening, Katie lets herself out onto the roof and peer over the edge to find the source of the noise.]

[abidinglaw]

[James Norrington certainly doesn't know. He doesn't have a spoon, though, at least not in his hands. What he does have are his hands on his hips while he scrutinizes this side of the house -- and very intently indeed. On the floor beside him are a number of tools which would usually be put applied to the hull of a ship. His eyes are working their way up the wall. No doubt they'll reach the roof soon.]

[flickerflash]

[Those tools are somewhat familiar after having lived here for some time, but why he'd use them on the house... well, all sorts of possibilities spring to mind. Some of them are quite fun.

Katie is content to be spotted, though she makes no sound until he actually does see her. Then she shall just be direct.]

What are you doing?

[abidinglaw]

[Norrington has been at this for some time, so to his eyes it seems that she may as well have teleported there. BAMF. Like that. Children. Still, he meets the sight not with a startled shrieking, but with a slight widening of the eyes and a severe raising of the eyebrows. He has seen this young lady about the house, but he has never gone out of his way to speak to her. What would he have to say to a child? No more than he would have to say to a cat.]

I am seeing about refitting this house with sails. Evidently.

[The answer is delivered so straight, he might well be telling the truth.]

[fleurdesel]

[It has become something of a custom, her futile search through the clothing, weapon, and items stores for a familiar scrap of leather, an engraved handle, the sheen of oiled metal. Today, as every other day she's tried, Adele has little luck. But she searches all the same, hoping for some kind of closure or sign that her revolver has appeared in Luceti. She's trying to reach a strap of leather that looks like it might be her shoulder holster from the angle below, but at her height, and the height of the shelf, she cannot quite manage it. Even on her toes. She rocks back down on her heels, huffs, and crosses her arms, looking to one side for a step stool and sees...Admiral Norrington. Asking for his assistance would not be too far out of the question, would it?]

Good afternoon, Admiral.

[abidinglaw]

Miss LeBlanc.

[He might have offered his assistance, yes, but from their earlier conversation she seemed a capable woman. He would not wish to patronize her. Nor would he let it be known that he observed her distress. Her dignity was at stake.]

[fleurdesel]

You have been well since the invasion of your beach, I take it?

[A furtive glance to the left, then right. No step stool, chair, ladder, or other climbing implement was present. She was not so foolish as to risk climbing the shelves proper, but. She frowns back up at the strap, hanging so close, and at the same time, so far.]

[abidinglaw]

Indeed. The foul miasma that has plagued our dear domestic pirate notwithstanding.

[He has not been afflicted himself, of course, but even so the threat of infection has been a source of some notable inconvenience. Hmm. There, behind an empty wooden box with a sliding top sat a small jade figurine - worn, but quite pretty in its way.]

[deathsdoctor]

[It is an accepted fact that pirates tend to gravitate towards bars. And that's exactly where Trafalgar Law is, doing paperwork while sipping sake. He has a large steaming tokkuri just to the side of the stack of sheets. He's not paying the flask any mind; he's more engrossed in what he's reading.

And then he pauses. And puts the paper down.

It's just that you are near his table. Looking around and generally giving Law the faint impression of a lost Island Whale pup looking for its pod. Probably the wrong mental image to get, but you do seem to be seeking something. And you've been by his table long enough for him to take a more active notice of the man who commanded him during the draft.

Raising his head now. Politely inquiring look coming your way.]

[abidinglaw]

May I -- fetch you a drink?

[The admiral has noticed this attention, yes, and his offer is fraught with consequence. If he goes, then when he returns it will be to sit beside his seafaring fellow. Turn him down now if you would prefer not to be in his company, Mr. Law.]

[deathsdoctor]

[Law blinks, surprised.]

Certainly.

[Of all the responses, he didn't expect that. Instead, he gets up and pulls out a chair once Norrington goes to the bar. He's not going to turn down the company if Norrington wants it.]

[abidinglaw]

[When he returns and - gratefully - takes possession of the offered seat it is to sit down with an exhalation, a breath that carries a whisper of an 'ah' sound. Awkward. He wishes to appear friendly, but he does not feel friendly. He has set two pints of beer on the table, though. That should help. One of these he slides to Law's half of the table.]

Soon be spring.

[He says. He is a firm believer in the power of discussing the weather.]

[generalflirt]

[Masaomi was actually outside the item shop eating an instant burrito when he caught a glimpse of this guy from within it. He only has a vague memory of meeting him once, but he recalls him being insanely cool. So, motioning for his new partner to get up on his shoulder, he's going to head on into the item shop and-]

Admiral?

[abidinglaw]

[When he hears his title and turns to look over his shoulder, it is the pichu that the admiral sees first. Hovering there at the window, a strange creature asking after him -- it is obvious that someone has been shifted into a yellowy rabbit-mouse. Oh fantastic. It is on this basis that he stands fully and proceeds to the window, and of course the shift in perspective brings the shoulder into view, and Masaomi himself. What was this boy's name? He had not had sufficient cause to dedicate it to memory at the time, but -- blast. He should know it. Propriety demanded that much of him. Of course, it didn't help that the boy appeared different somehow. It was probably the mouse. He didn't have a mouse before, did he?

There was nothing else for it but to skirt around the issue.]

Yes, can I help you?

[generalflirt]

[He probably also looks silly what with his hair being static-clung towards the rat on his shoulder. But... he just laughs at this, waving a free hand dismissively] I just though I'd chat you up!

[abidinglaw]

[Chat me... up...?]

Well, I am happy for the company.

[A pause.]

I trust you are aware that there is a mouse..? On your shoulder?

[In this place, it's always best to be certain of these things.]