THE DECK

@☭ Kwon Jiyong "Well, he'd be proper useless if ya didn't put 'im to work, now wouldn't he? A crew always be in need of a good energizer, but not a useless one," Jack replied, although he was pretty sure the old quartermaster was overreacting as always. If the boy was useless, they'd have hauled his off of the ship already; Pirates did not do favours, unless they were in some way beneficial to them as well. Even between themselves; Simply not the soft-hearted sort. "Aye, old man, I know what the share is-" He rose up an extended pointer, "but you know me not to be fond of limits, do ya not?" He took a couple of steps back, about ready to cease the conversation when it would be most convenient for him, but just then another mate decided to announce a fight going on. As he watched the quartermaster dash off inside the ship, he just stood there, pondering on whether he felt like participating in the familiar show. No. Not really. He figured there'd be plenty of time for that in the years to come, and he could go bellow deck when everything would be settled. For the time being, he could just hang around the deck -- or address whoever had decided to strike up a conversation with him at that moment.

He was not surprised when he turned around to the sight of the fellow green-haired pirate, although it wasn't with disappointment that he did. He listened to him intently, able to maintain his focus on him because, well, he was interesting. That was about the only thing that could capture and withhold his attention. That, and matters of importance. "Old butthead there once pulled my arse right out of a blacktip shark's mouth, down at the Mediterranean. He's solid rock, but that be 'bout the only thing that can save ye from a in' storm, ey? As for the rattle... I'll get sick of it in no time; Could use stallin' it a bit longer." It was lightheartedly that he spoke, and even though he took notice of the flirtatious undertone in Jiyong's behaviour, he paid no mind to it. It was clear that the man was curious over the colour of his hair which was fair enough, but it got Jack thinking as to the very reason it was of such interest to him. It was unexpected and unlikely, certainly, but what did the faeries have to do with it? "I hate to disappoint you, sir, but me hair be that colour for an entirely different reason - no faeries involved in its makin'." He paused shortly, feigning hesitation before he moved closer and lowered his voice as he spoke. "'Tis moss. See, I contracted some sort o' bug during an expedition couple o' years ago. You ever been to those tropical forests down at the equator? It rains all the time, and when it doesn't there just be bugs eatin' away at whatever part o' you they can get their rotted beaks in. Can't say I mind it though; Better than grey." He shrugged his shoulders casually and quickly glanced around himself before deciding to lean against a the sturdy pole holding up one of the supportive sails, thus aleviating some of the stuffiness the close proximity had inevitably created. Forearms were crossed across his chest. "I'm not the biggest fan of dreamy boys," he stated. "Faeries and the lot. Never heard of them turnin' yer hair green though." His lips were slightly pulled upwards right then. "Such a tale sounds much more interesting than my old, bug story. Besides," And then a full-blown smirk, one matching Jiyong's, "how long ya been 'ere, boy?" How can you still not know who I am, was what Jack really wanted to ask, but he had to give him the benefit of the doubt. Besides, it didn't quite bother him; It was sort of intriguing that he had a clean slate with this certain person, at least for the time being.

@☭ Kim Wonshik Yoongi opened his mouth to shoot something back at the smirk, unsure of if it was towards the blush or something else, but closed it again with a huff, "How was I supposed to know where you came from?" he rolled his eyes as the other stomped, "Plus it's cold out, I'll do whatever I can to get warm," he nodded to himself. Yoongi pursed his lips as he heard the taller pirate talk to himself, though didn't state his unpopular opinion on alcohol. His eyes met the others as he glanced up, but he squinted in suspicion and went back to looking at the ground. Just stay away from this guy, he told himself, stick to yourself for the night and you'll be fine.

@☭ Kim Wonshik Yoongi's expression darkened at the troubles. The nerve this guy had, laughing at him! The elder's words snapped him back to reality, cheeks flushing a dark red that he hoped wasn't visible in the darkness. "I didn't get... spooked. It's natural for anyone to be surprised when some.. giant.. man sneaks behind them and... yeah.." he huffed and crossed his arms, walking quickly to catch up and walk next to the other. Of course, in most situations, he'd gladly lag behind but this was completely different. This was nighttime. Muttering something about how he didn't want the other to trip or something, he shoved his hands in the pockets of the sweater that was hardly keeping him warm and kept his eyes down lest there was something in the dark a few feet away.

@☭ Kwon Jiyong [ 2/2.]

"Got yerself a new plaything then?" Surprised, he turned to face the man and he witnessed a knowing grin on his face. In the presence of another young mate he was not yet familiar with, Jack did not want to admit any sort of fresh interest just yet. His eyes narrowed warningly even though his lips were pulled back in a matching grin. "'Tis the hair," he replied, "demandin' attention. I'm not 'ere to ." The man nodded. "Yet," he commented, and Jack's grin quickly turned into a tight, "shut the up, or else" sort of smile as he rose a palm to slap against the back of the pirate teasing him. "Let's start this off on the right foot, ey boy?" It was a clear warning, to which the other complied, but not without without underlying amusement. "Aye. I'm sure you've other business to attend to so won't be keepin' ya any longer. Nice to 'ave ye back on board, Jack." The latter only replied with a nod, slightly irritated that he'd been put on the spot over nothing just like that, so he took his leave immediately. In fact, he did have other things to take care of anyway.

Eventually the meeting and greeting shenanigans were over and Jack could finally do what he had wanted to do from the very beginning. Grab a hold of the new Boatswain and discuss the ship's condition. It took quite a while, be that minutes or hours, Jack didn't take notice of the time flying by as he inspected the ship inside and out. It was mostly in good shape, he had to give that to the lad, but there were still a few things needing adjustment. Poor work had been done upon a few so-called repairs down in the hold, the wood was mostly neglected -occasionally mates tended to think that just because the ship took flight often the sea had no effect on it, which was stupid. There were a lot of minor mistakes needing tending to, but the inspection itself took long enough to disallow actually getting to a few of those mistakes by the time mostly everything was checked. The sun had begun to set, and Jack was only looking forward to getting some food in his stomach and celebrating his return to the ship with any sort of alcohol he could get his hands on.

As he exited to the deck for the umpteenth time, quite content with his in-depth inspection, he approached the seemingly intimidating quartermaster and slapped a palm on his palm -his usual greeting. "Ship's mostly in good condition, mate. Needs some patchin' up and whatnot, but ye got yerself a good Jack replacement while I been gone." He grinned. "Now, on to more pressing matters: Where's the booze?"

@☭ Kwon Jiyong [ 1/2.]

It was slightly discouraging that he had to spend the first few hours on the ship after such a long time just greeting people he used to sail with. Because, sure, some of them he actually liked and/or could tolerate, some of them he absolutely despised, and some he was absolutely adored by, yet he did not appreciate himself. Still, for the sake of having to travel with them for an indefinite amount of time, he figured remaining relatively reserved with expressing his dislike was the best course of action. Jack would not make a good captain because his diplomacy skills mostly lacked when it came to dealing with people. He was biased, and if someone made a wrong impression on him, Hook himself couldn't change his mind. There were also quite a few new faces within the crew. Their suspicious, narrowed eyes was nothing new; Pirates. They were met by a momentarily raised brow and effortless, nonchalant behavior -because Jack had that much of a good mood, and when such was the case he could not give a rat's about attitude coming from people notorious for just that.

Some of the new lads -new to Jack at least- were pointed out to him for being notable in one thing or another, but the Irishman was not very interested in words and bold claims unless he got to witness them coming to life with his own eyes. Just as he was being enthused to over a relatively young mate's feets, his eyes caught motion in the background, and a colour he was all too familiar with, yet not used to actually seeing. He managed to keep track of what the pirate addressing him was saying, but at the same time strained his ears, attempting to get a listen in what the quartermaster was telling the fellow green-haired pirate. It was hard though since they were both whispery-whispery, and for obvious reasons too; His old acquaintance had quite the threatening stance towards his new acquaintance, and Jack couldn't help but wonder what it was about. His innate curiosity demanded it be satisfied at once, but he neither wanted to appear too interested in the other pirate right of the bat -even though it was obvious to himself that he was- nor was it his place to interject in whatever scolding was being received. Plus, he figured he could wait a while longer before shoving his nose in someone else's business. He figured later he may have a chance to ask either one of them- Scratch that. Repeat. He figured later he may have a chance to ask this Gee... Jiyong (right?) himself about this. He had this lovely ability to rattle people up just for his personal amusement, but hey, not every day on the ship included battles and raids; A man had to have fun somehow, right?

Once the quartermaster had departed, Jack let his eyes linger on the now visibly discouraged green-haired Korean, hoping for eye contact. That was until he'd realized he'd phased out enough for the pirate addressing him to notice and follow his line of sight to Jiyong.

@☭ Kim Wonshik At the tap on his shoulder, Yoongi jumped a little. He turned and, at the sight of Wonshik, scowled and nodded in recognition, "Yes. Let's just get this over with," he muttered, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He prayed internally that he would last the whole night without anything spooking him. He looked over Wonshik. The other was much, much taller than he was and had a tough appearance in contrast to Yoongi's which was... well, he had a strong personality. After a second, he added quietly, just loud enough for the taller to hear, "Don't sneak up on people like that. You... surprised me," he then nodded to himself as if he was reassuring that that was a good reply so the other pirate didn't end up bugging him about it. Still, this would definitely be torture.

@☭ Kim Wonshik Just his luck.

Not only was Yoongi, second in command on the whole freaking ship, actually assigned to something like this, but at night too! At least he was used to masking his expression, or the already heavily teased boy would have to deal with extra for the rest of his life. At first, the thought of having someone to accompany him sounded good. Maybe being with someone else would clear up his irrational fear of supernatural beings or whatever lurking in the night. Then it hit him, as long as it was another pirate, he would be done for. Whoever he was with was bound to find out. He just had to compose himself enough to stay calm the whole night. Remind himself they were in the middle of the sea. There's no one lurking. Even in all those dark corners... around all the turns... under the loose boards. Screw it, he hoped what's-his-name would get his there quick or he'd go insane.

((sorry it's shorttt <3))

@☭ Kwon Jiyong [ 2/2.]


Next thing he knew the other was undressing and slapping the wet clothes over his shoulder. Jack was caught off guard by the sheer amount of patterns covering almost every inch of Jiyong's body, but he watched shamelessly. The Korean was of a lean built, muscle somewhat more prominent on his arms, but otherwise quite flat. The tattoos were something else. It was not surprising for a pirate to have them, but most of them had silly, lazy drawings dropped here and there on their skin. Jiyong's tattoos seemed to have been designed in a manner that would mostly fit the shape of his body, which Jack was both surprised and impressed by. He was not given enough time to observe though, because a barrel entered his eyesight and Jiyong's arms out of nowhere, and the rest of the story followed.

Honestly, Jack couldn't hold back the laughter. A deep, lowkey chuckle vibrated through him, seeming to open up his heavy lungs. God, he was in a good mood. He already had been knowing that he would be returning to the ship, but the young Korean had made it even better still. "Come on, Gee boy, lighten up!" He shouted suddenly, excitement inevitably released in the form of loudness. He ran past Jiyong and stopped halfway up the ramp, a bright grin on his face as he spread his arms out widely. "You're on the Jolly Rodger! Look at these peasants!" He ed his left arm towards the general direction of the harbour. "They'll never have the chance! And you can carry barrels, and scrub the floors, and piss off the side of the ship, and you'll still be more lucky than them, cause you're a in' pirate on this beauty of a nutshell! And you get to travel the skies with your green hair!" He erupted in a short-lived, but heartfelt laughter. He was barely able to keep still on his toes as the prospect of setting sail caused the excitement to coarse through his body.

But he was interrupted once more by the sound of a very familiar voice. "I thought I heard your barking." Turning around, he came to face one of the best mates he'd made over the years, one he hadn't talked to ever since he left the ship to deal with his own, personal endeavours. "Wouldn't mistake it if I were partially deaf." Without a second of hesitation, Jack engulfed the bigger pirate in a tight grip. "Ya old fart!" Honestly, despite generally not being a fan of people, there was a handful of them from the ship he was truly thrilled about getting to meet again.

@☭ Kwon Jiyong [ 1/2.]

"French!?" At the mention of the ethnicity, and it being appointed to his person, the light smirk on Jack's face transformed into a proper snarl, eyes narrowing, and he looked properly disgusted. "Watch yer mouth now, I didn't say anythin' 'bout yer mother." He shook his head a couple of times. "French... Imma let this pass for the time being, but watch what you say if yer looking to keep those pretty little teeth in yer mouth." Had he been drunk he might just have meant that threat, but at that moment he was only kidding. Keeping a straight face on of course. He'd lost count of how many brawls he'd had over the years because his face did not let on when he would be playfully messing with someone, but he was more so proud of that ability than he minded. Because he was an uncultured savage. Internal eye-roll.

The Irish, despite being an uncultured savage, was, in fact, quite the observant person. And he could clearly tell that he was being blatantly fancied in that particular case. Perhaps in the way the Asian -Korean, judging from his name- would smile, seeming almost... shy. It wasn't surprising to Jack, taking into account the fact that he was mostly surrounded by Asians. It was quite interesting for him to witness different reactions to his sight in different parts of the world. Personality aside, the only reason he did not go unnoticed in most European countries was his green hair. Other than that he was not a dashingly good-looking lad. There was simply the element of appearing unique due to his features in Eastern countries. Mostly his eyes, really; They tended to spawn interest in other people out of nowhere, hence, the silly rumours he'd left behind upon parting with the Jolly Rodger for a few years; He wondered if any of them were still alive or not, but he figured he'd have plenty of time to discover that from this day forward. Looking back to just a few minutes ago, Jack figured Jiyong had been going for an upbeat first meeting, but it had not quite worked out. Although in Jack's mind, it had worked out even better, because he'd instantly taken notice of Jiyong due to the whole ordeal. Still, he was -sadly- a naturally empathetic person, and he could simply feel how uncomfortable Jiyong's metaphorical shoes were at that moment, given that he'd wanted to impress Jack and not make an absolute fool of himself in front of him. Jack did not know why, but he was highly enjoying Jiyong's misfortune. Perhaps it was his reactions to it, he didn't know. Naturally empathetic, yes. Very much so. The thought process within his brain was quirky and all over the place, but externally it only lasted for a few seconds, as is the fashion of rapid neuron synapses. He was about to reply when they were both interrupted by one of the older mates' -Jack made a mental note to greet the lad- complains, directed to Jiyong.

@☭ Kwon Jiyong "Aye, I missed her."
And how many years had it been? He couldn't quite remember, but she hadn't changed a bit. Not surprising, given that it was she was the Jolly Rodger after all, not just any old pile of wood and straps of metal. Little changes had been made here and then, Jack would tell; Having spent a good portion of his life on that deck, it was inevitable that he knew the ship like the back of his hand -the latter he was ironically not too familiar with- and being rather observant of little details in general. Whatever the case, he was standing before her once more. Too long it had been. He had been preoccupied with other happenings in his life and had to be deprived of flight for some years, knowing that he would eventually return. Longing for it. And now here he was, ready to feel those old, rotten ropes within his palm once more, get to hear her otherworldly whispers and travel the skies.
"Welcome back, Jack."
A palm firmly landed on his back, in a sense sealing an unwritten deal. He remained in place for quite a while longer, merely taking in the sight of the familiar wood before he took a deep breath himself and made the first few steps across the likewise wooden platform leading up to the deck. He was about halfway through and able to peak at the deck when a voice, clear and quite prominent yanked his attention. Simply demanding his attention; And it managed to grasp it. For when he turned to his right he was greeted by the sight of a young Asian -although as far as he was concerned, the "young" man might just be 70 years old- addressing him in a manner he'd only experience before with... well, tavern gals. He would have brushed the audacity off had he not noticed the illuminating patch of hair on top of the pirate's head. Green?! "Oi!" he shouted back, and he was just about to comment on the man's hair when the latter appeared to have started... choking? His first instinct was not to help him out; Jack was not the mother hen or something, but he had certainly not been prepared for what happened next.

In what seemed like flash, the pirate was awkwardly sliding down the wooden railing and falling overboard, forcefully entering the water with a loud splash. In the harbour, in still waters, and caused by mere clumsiness, it was a pretty funny sight. Jack huffed out a laugh, but the pirate came back to the surface quickly enough. "Who's that?" the Irish asked his old friend, keeping his eyes pinned on the curious sight. "Jiyong," the man replied. "I don't believe you need an introduction." Albeit his eyes remained serious, brow slightly furrowed over them out of habit, the right corner of his lips was slightly pulled up to form a light smirk. "I don't believe I do," he agreed, and the simple happening was enough to postpone his reunion with the ship. He took the few steps down the rotten ramp, so he could approach the other pirate, yet keep a respectable distance.

"Oi!' Again, he called out to him. "Pulling stunts like that, people're gonna think your brain's all damp," he commented, accent heavy and voice thick. "Nice hair." And he grinned, stupidly, but genuinely excited over locating another person with almost his exact hair colour for the first time in his life. Sure enough, his own was not natural and he hadn't always had it, but still. Well, to be fair, he did know a witch doctor in Tunisia that had long, really dark green braids, but this was way too similar. It was difficult to size the other up when he was drenched from head to toe and seemingly quite upset over it. He obviously wasn't drunk enough.

V.