Chapter 4: Heading Ashore
It is surprisingly difficult to get dressed on a ship. After a couple collisions with the dresser and the table, Emma manages to get her mostly dry clothes back on. The next challenge? Walking through the door, out onto the ship. Odds are the rest of the crew has heard about her and Hook, not that there is such a thing, but still, pirates talk. If the stories she heard growing up are true, then pirates essentially have locker room talk all the time.
Emma glares at the door. "You can do this. You've tackled all sorts of low life scum before. Of course that was in the real world, but hey, pirates are a kind of lowlife, right? And now I am talking to myself, great." With that, Emma walks out the door.
She doesn't get far. Not to fall into the stereotype of women don't know where they are going, but, Emma is sort of lost in the sense that she does not know, well, which direction to go. Hey, it's her first time on a pirate ship, so it really shouldn't be that much of a shock. It's not like the US offers Pirate Ship Layout 101 in school.
"Oi! I mean it! If you aren't back on the ship in time, I'm leaving ya!"
When in doubt, follow the sound of an angry pirate. It takes her a minute, but she finally spots Hook.
"About bloody time woman!"
"Well you didn't exactly leave a map now did you?" Emma retorts. Unfortunately for her, she still isn't quite used to life on a ship yet, and she stumbles a bit as she walks over to him. Hook reaches out and grabs her arm, steadying her. His fingers begin dancing along her pulse point on her wrist.
"Ah, no sea legs I see. Don't worry, Swan, I've got you." He winks as he pulls her in closer to him, giving her hand a reassuring kiss.
Emma's eyes linger on his. "So, um, you said something about heading ashore."
Hook smirks, realizing that Emma hasn't tried to pull away from him. He lowers her hand from his face, holding it to his chest, his fingers still tracing patterns on her wrist. "I've got an important meeting in a tavern in town."
Emma scoffs. "A tavern? You know you could just say bar."
"Pirate, love."
"Am I going to get my hand back anytime soon?" Her voice comes out softer than intended. She can't decide the safest place to look. Either Emma looks at his eyes and risks him reading her, or she stares at him holding her hand. Right now, she just alternates between the two.
Hook laughs and gives her hand a squeeze. "And risk you injuring yourself as we walk off the ship? I may be a pirate, lass, but I'm not cruel."
This warrants another eye roll. "Lead on then."
"Right this way, milady." Hook kisses Emma's hand once more before dropping it in order to place his hand at the small of her back, guiding her to the ramp off the boat.
"Since when did you become such a gentleman?" Emma decides against trying to get away from Hook's touch. Odds are that it will not do any good. Plus, his hand feels nice there, radiating warmth that trickles up and down her spine.
"Oh, Swan, I'm always a gentlemen." His breath is hot on her ear, but what's worse is as quickly as it is there, it's gone in a flash. Hook chuckles at Emma's reaction. He steps in front of her, offering his hand to help her walk down the ramp.
For the rest of the walk, Emma tries to focus on anything other than his shoulder brushing up against hers. The scenery becomes a good distraction. Wherever they are, it doesn't look cursed. Due to the way Regina talked about it, Emma pictured a dark abyss or just nothing but scorched earth. However, currently she is walking through a town. It's a small town that reminds her of an earlier time, mostly due of the use gas lights and torches that are lighting up the dark sky. Nevertheless, it still looks like a town full with various buildings. If this town was cursed, they certainly recovered nicely.
"This place doesn't look cursed."
Hook cocks his head to the side to get a better look at Emma. They have been walking for a couple minutes in silence. Normally he prefers to chat, but Emma Swan is a challenge, and it would be much more enjoyable, for him, if she initiated the conversation. While explaining to her where they are isn't his first choice of a conversation topic, he'll take it. Plus there is the fact that she hasn't attempted to distance herself from him, which is a good sign.
"There are many lands, love. This one isn't the one that the Evil Queen cursed."
"Regina only cursed one? Wow that doesn't seem like her." Emma scoffs as she continues to look around. "How many are there? Lands, I mean. If there is more than one Regina, I really don't want to know. I can barely tolerate her."
Hook chuckles. "I don't have time to get into a history lesson right now, Swan. I am curious as to why you tolerate the Evil Queen at all. Surely you could do something about her."
Emma spins around, stopping Hook in his path. He grins and leans in closer, his face hovering above hers. "As tempting as the prospect of stopping in the darkness with you is," his lips brush against hers to demonstrate what he means, "we really don't have the time."
Suddenly, Emma forgets why she stopped walking to stand in front of him. If she had to guess it would be that she had a snarky remark to make or maybe to set the record straight. Whatever her grand plan had been, it's gone now. The feeling of his lips against hers is the only thing running through her brain. That slight sensation is consuming her body and depriving it at the same time. She needs to say something because Hook is giving her that damn smirk. The one he uses when he knows he's bested her.
"And why not?" Granted, that's not the best thing she could have said, especially since it comes out in a soft, borderline desperate schoolgirl voice, but for some reason that is what her brilliant brain comes up with. She doesn't mean it like that, clearly. There are more pressing matters than making out with Captain fucking Hook.
Hook's face is still inches away from hers, and so when he laughs, Emma can feel it. He pulls back, standing a respectful distance away from her. "Because we are here, pet. Now, I've got a business meeting to attend to, so you are going to sit at the bar and not get into any sort of trouble. Do I make myself clear?"
Emma pretends not to notice the gush of cold air that hits her when Hook steps back. "What am I, five? I am perfectly capable of handling myself, thank you." Emma gives him a glare, which he definitely earned. She hits his shoulder with hers as she marches past him, muttering "fucking pirate" as she walks into the bar.
Hook stands outside for a minute or two in shock. He can't help grinning. "Fucking Swan." He strolls inside, and scans the room. After giving a nod at his soon to be business partner sitting at a table in the back of the bar, Hook continues to look for Emma. He finds her looking rather comfortable at the bar. She is resting her head in her hand, her elbow propped up on the bar and there's no doubt that she is giving the bartender her best smile. Hook scoffs, a twinge of something that can't be jealousy building up inside of him probably due to the fact Emma hasn't used that smile on him. Hook shifts focus over to the bartender whose eye line does not seem to be focused on Emma' gorgeous blue eyes - been there mate.
Hook sighs as he walks over to Pete. Hopefully this business deal will prove to be a distraction from one gorgeous blonde.
It doesn't.
To be fair, it isn't for lack of trying. It's hard for even a pirate to ignore a damsel in distress or a drunken bastard who doesn't understand the word no or when to stop drinking. Hook's eyes flicker between Pete and the scene unfolding with Emma. Some drunk made the mistake of going up to her, attempting to persuade her to join him at an inn. He's so drunk that volume isn't something he can really control, allowing Hook, and the rest of the bar, to hear the entire exchange. This, Charlie has got some nerve. At the sight of Charlie sliding his hands up Emma's thighs, Hook subconsciously begins digging his hook into the wooden table - fucking bastard.
"Err, Killian?" Hook's eyes flash back over to Pete, the anger most likely radiating from his gaze. "Hook, sir, sorry, Captain Hook. Are you interested?"
"Stay here." Hook snaps as he heads over to Emma. He is about to dig his hook into Charlie's neck when Emma slams the bastard's head into the bar, resulting in him passing out and falling down right in front of Hook.
"Anyone else want a go?" Emma yells at the onlookers.
"It appears I can't take you anywhere, Swan." There's a little bit of pride building up in Hook.
"I told you I can take care of myself." She sits back down on her barstool and takes another swig of her drink.
"Oh no you don't." He uses his hook to gently pull Emma off her barstool.
"Hey!" Emma grabs her drink off the bar and grudgingly let's Hook drag her over to him.
"Now listen to me closely, Emma." She freezes at the use of her first name, and she has to lean in close to hear him as he is now speaking in a whisper. Emma nods to show that she is listening.
"Good girl." She rolls her eyes but lets him continue.
"You see that man over there." He nods his head back to Pete, who like the rest of the bar is paying very close attention to how close the blonde has gotten to the dangerously charming Captain Hook. There's a mixture of concern and fascination in their looks. "He's the guy I've got a very important meeting with, and you are going to join in. All you are going to do is sit and look pretty but mostly uninterested in what is going on. This guy isn't trustworthy or safe, so just do as I say."
"Aye, aye, Captain." Emma gives her a mock salute that's accompanied by a million watt smile. She motions for him to lead the way to the table.
"No sass either." Hook says with a grin.
"I make no promises. Oh and for the record, it's pretty rich to have you warning me about an unsavory character. Is this like a takes one to know one sort of deal?"
Hook would have replied except for the fact that they are back at Pete's table. "Alright, where were we Pete?"
He snags a chair behind him, dragging it forward with his hook. It's probably the closest Hook has ever come to pulling out a chair for a lady, but after that showdown at the bar, perhaps Emma isn't quite the lady after all. She's pirate material, that's for sure.
Emma sits down, and ignores the glare that Pete is all of a sudden giving her. Sitting at a bar with criminals is not something too out of the ordinary for her, but it hasn't happened since her trip to Storybrooke. She may be a little rusty, but she knows how to appear completely nonthreatening. Playing the blonde card is second nature to her.
Her focus shifts between observing Pete and watching Hook. While Pete looks nervous and jittery, Hook is calm, looking almost bored. He's a crafty pirate alright. His boredom is all for show, driving down the potential price. Every now and then Hook will glance over at Emma for a second before returning his focus to Pete.
Speaking of Pete, there is something off about him, besides the whole shady deal in the back of the bar thing. There is the normal shady feeling like Hook radiates, and then there is Pete. Emma takes another drink, and turns her focus onto the conversation going on at the table, her curiosity getting the best of her.
"So let me get this straight, you want me to allow you passage on my ship?" Hook scoffs at the idea, as if he doesn't let random people onboard.
"Look, I just want to get back to my family." Pete pleads.
"Bullshit."