drabble: the unwilling pupil. pullings/maturin

[the unwilling pupil] - pullings/maturin for andrealyn

Tom was amazed that the Doctor could spend so much time at sea and still know nothing of the workings of a ship. It should have been but another language for him, and it could not be for lack of trying. Nearly everyone from the Captain on down had attempted to teach him, and yet his attempts at naval jargon remained laughable.

One calm day, Tom takes him aloft, careful through the lubber's hole. He begins again, describing sails and winds, but between Stephen's piercing gaze and his long fingers steadying on Tom's wrist, Tom realizes Stephen's will is elsewhere.

drabble: broken binding. bonden/mowett

[broken binding] - bonden/mowett for insidian
playing fast and loose with canon here, but hopefully that's forgivable. last non-birthday request, i think. yay! i'm going to back away from the computer now.

They've served together for so many years that they can deal with anything, from the routine tasks to the rush of battle to retrieving intoxicated Surprises from shore depravity.

Jack cannot imagine running the ship without them, holding the world fast, a tracery of wordless bonds. Everything else is caught up in language, tutoring and poetry; there is something special in their silent synchronicity.

Levels of alliance shift with the winds, others are torn unwillingly asunder. Mowett sees how Bonden changes when the Doctor's around, and the twist in his belly he'll never be able to untie with mere words.