pirate_jack | (no subject)

"... Yet I do manage to keep surviving to be able to say that, so there must be something to it." Wryly. Then he takes a deep breath, closing his eyes.

"Just an accident or something- people do remember, eventually."

Mary stares at him.

"No," she points out, flatly. "You do not. You are dead."

Mary feels that this would be the sort of thing that it's hard to forget.

"You get into trouble and you do not ever stop and you keep on getting hurt and you do not do anything about it - and you cannot even remember now! So you do not know what happened - it could have been anything; how can you learn if you do not know? You should see a good doctor at least to know!"

He blinks, looking at her.

Wellard has come to know Mary quite well, in the year since they have met at Milliways. And in turn, she has come to know him well- better than most, in fact. She is one of the few that not only knows how he died, but the detailed circumstances how. And in the telling of that, Wellard has quite found that the more worried and scared Mary is-

The more she yells and gets angry.

So, there is nothing to really say to her argument- particularly since those are things he is starting to worry about as well-

Nothing to say, but just reach over and pull her into a hug.

Mary is shocked into stiffness, at first.

(Yelling, in Mary's experience, does not usually lead to hugs. It is simply not a logical consequence.)

"You are only not trying to get out of saying that I am right," she mutters, into his shoulder.

She doesn't pull away, though - after all, there's still the highly worrying possibility that he can't in fact stand, without the support of the hug.

"I'm not saying you're wrong." A touch of exasperation, and he sighs quietly.

"I certainly don't go looking for trouble. I do my best to careful. Alright? That's the best anyone can do. And I will certainly be seeing about what happened. I don't remember-" He bites his lip.

"But Jack was there, so he'll know something."

"That," Mary says, her voice full of dark overtones, "is what I think too."

Wellard lets Mary go, so he can eye her.

"... why?"

"He was the one carrying you," Mary says, patiently.

"I told you. And he brought you here to hide and he knew Norryton needed a doctor and he would not explain any of it, only said I was not to worry."

The scorn in Mary's voice at this last comment expresses clearly just how little Captain Jack knows Mary, if he expects this to put her off.

"Norry- ... Norrington." Wellard blinks.

"He was hurt also- is he alright, now?" A deep breath, and he finally nods.

"Alright, he shouldn't have said that maybe, but he wasn't just trying to not upset you."

Meaningfully: "The Healer took care of him.

"And if he was trying not to upset me," Mary adds, sharply, "he ought not to have gotten you hurt."

"If I fell, and it was an accident like he said- than how would it be Jack's fault if I got hurt?" Wellard eyes her.

"How does he know you fell, if he was not there?" Mary points out, her voice rising.

"And if he was there why did he not stop you falling?"

His jaw clenches into a frown.

("Last one off the yard arm gets a flogging!")

"Because sometimes you cannot stop someone from falling. Even if it isn't too bad. And I would quite well imagine it would be easy to tell if someone has or not, if they were hurt."

This explanation Mary does not find satisfactory. And it shows.

"I do not think even if you fell into Norrington," she mutters, "it would make him have a hole in his stomach."

Wellard blinks, and stares at Mary.

"... What?"

"He had a hole in his stomach," Mary repeats, patiently.

"The Healer fixed it. I told you."

"A hole in his stomach... how? And from what? Was he shot?" Wellard bites his lip, frowning.

"Is that why he wasn't here, this morning?"

A small, indifferent shrug. If Mary knew all this, she certainly wouldn't be waiting on Jack to tell her.

"He was hurt in his stomach," she repeats. Again. "I do not know how - only that he was bleeding. Jack told me to get a healer and you said to listen to him so I did."

"Jack is the captain- you are supposed to listen to him, specially in situations like that." Wellard bites his lip, frowning thoughtfully, before standing.

Carefully.

"Where is Jack?"

Wellard will not have to go very far to find out, because the sound of footsteps on wood are already becoming clearer.

The door to the cabin opens, and two figures -- one taller than the other -- can be seen silhouetted against the brightness of the daylight outside.

Jack's the first to stroll in, and he stops in his tracks as he notices Wellard.

"Son, thought you were meant to be resting." He shoots a glance at Mary, adding under his breath, "Fine lot of help you are, little missy."

It's about at this point that he notices the chest standing open on his table, and clear alarm flashes in the black eyes. With studied casualness, Jack strolls across the room and then turns around to face them all once he reaches the table, spreading his hands wide for balance as he does so and grinning disarmingly.

It's probably a coincidence that one of his hands happens to knock the chest lid closed, and the chest itself is now hidden behind his back.

Really.

"You said to wake him up!" Mary retorts.

She's not good enough at reading people to note the alarm - but she does see him noticing the open chest, and as a result plants her feet a little more firmly on the floor.

"And I'm at least feeling somewhat better." Wellard mutters- though headache+bright light from outdoors= ow, and he hurridly shuts his eyes for a moment.

But, seeing Jack and Merriman is a bit of a relief, given all that (may have possibly) has happened.

"Jack- Mary said that Norrington was hurt- did someone shoot him?"

Merriman closes the cabin door, careful not to shut it too loudly. His attention is on Wellard, so he does not entirely notice Jack's quick move to close the chest save to note the change in position.

'Not shooting, Mister Wellard,' he says, keeping his voice low as he moves further into the cabin. 'He was attacked with a knife, and left unconscious on the floor. You were found outside the room, also unconscious. And Captain Sparrow sent Miss Lennox to find a doctor for Mister Norrington, and proceeded to bring you out here.'

It isn't accusatory, not in the least. It is a simple statement of the facts as he knows them.

Wellard looks over to Merriman, and nods slowly, thinking that over. Then he bites his lip.

"I don't remember what happened, sir. Any of it. I left the Pearl to go and find him- Mr Norrington hadn't arrived, and the Captain had said as much. But after that, I- I cannot recall."