NOOB

Moving his hand to give her access to the wound again he looks down at the blood. Well, he had become quite used to it throughout the years, but the pain was sickening. The scent of it was getting quite overwhelming as well; almost able to taste the iron.

Balling his hands into fists to hide their shakiness he manages a faint, almost teasing smile. He wouldn’t even try to pronounce her name, knowing he would make a fool out of himself due to his heavy accent.

‘Merrylegs it is then. Until I promote you, that is.’ He decides, though not meaning it in its original way. She had been shaking when they met, though, so he thought it kind of fitted her.

A small wave of nausea hits him, however, forcing him to slouch over slightly and clench his teeth. His stomach didn’t seem to be turning, though, and James thanked his lucky stars for it. Closing his eyes for a second he needs a moment to let the sickness pass.

'Not most days.’ He replies to her question when he thinks he’s fine, though not moving too much yet.

'The look of you was priceless, though.’ He adds, teasingly. He knew he could trust her now. He even might consider her a friend.

It took everything she had to not just jerk away even after she’d finished up, stupid of her really, she wasn’t the one who had been shot, she wasn’t the one who was suffering, she just had to clean a wound to prevent it from getting infected. No big deal. 

Helen felt sorry for her almost assailant, not a nice situation to end up in, and although she had about a million and one questions for Kidd, she probably wasn’t going to ask any for a while. Whether it was out of convenience or some sort of odd respect was a different matter altogether. 

“Sure you don’t want to stick with Helen? I don’t mind, never had a nickname so...Tolkienesque before.” It reminds her of that one Hobbit from that one trilogy, alternatively she’s sure it’s the name of some horse in a book but she can’t be certain.

She almost leans forward to give him a reassuring touch on the shoulder, to make sure he doesn’t do anything that’ll make all her hard (and probably terrible) first aid work go to waste but she opts not to. It’s all a bit too personal. And while they’re getting on positively swimmingly now, it still doesn’t quite seem right.

“Ah curiosity, it can be as dangerous as a butterfly over the wick of a flame and it can be the key to a better understand of life and all it’s wonder.” Jack quoted with a small chuckle as she sat herself down on the deck so she was completely level with the other woman. 

“And yes it was necessary, for me at least and now I am glad I did as I cannot risk my secret getting out. Not when it’s clear how much trouble Edward went through to keep me hidden.”

During her short connection with the future, Jack had learned a few things and they did not sit well with her at all. This women, this Aurélie, worked for a company that worked with peoples memories and anyone that was able to look through her Captains memories so easily did not sit in favour with her. 

“To be fair, that was actually the first time I have ever done that….I am, funny enough, still learning how extensive my powers are and it is quite exhausting so if I pass out you know why. Yet I will try not to as I am going to have to explain your presence to my crew at some point.”

“Curiosity killed the cat and it’s definitely...got me into a big mess,” Aurélieresponded, diplomatic enough, she supposed, really she should’ve been angry, livid even, she had been dragged into a time she’d only really known through reading, near a place she only knew of through family visits. 

Necessary for Jack, a death sentence for her, she wasn’t being particularly over dramatic either, bad time to be a girl really. “Well, I’m glad someone’s benefited from this,” she sighed, running a hand through her hair. She had to try and stay calm, try not to dwell on who would miss her, how long she could possibly be gone and who was feeding Conchita in her absence. 

“That was your first time? I would’ve figured this was something you did on a regular basis with the way you just...did it and all.” She tried to make light of the situation, easier said than done given just how fast her heart was thumping but she was under the impression that she managed well enough.

“Jacob.” He corrected her with a smile.

“And don’t worry, love. I don’t get sick.” he smirked as he sat down next to her, pulling a clean handkerchief out of his pocket to dry his face and hair.

Between running the Rooks, running across London eliminating Templars, and taking the occasional unintended dip in the Thames, he was more than used to getting a little wet in less than dire circumstances.

“But I wouldn’t mind catching your name.”

“Jacob, the man who doesn’t get sick, got it,” Helen responded, offering him a quick smile in return. Honestly, she was jealous, if only because she wasn’t exactly the most robust person around, despite the warmth of this stranger’s jacket she was probably going to end up with some sort of cold from all of this.

Bit of a shame really, it wasn’t like she was going to be getting out of working any time soon. Trying to push such thoughts from her mind she opted to tell the man her name, putting her hand out for him to shake.

Only polite, right?

Groaning, Desmond accepted the bag and bent forward in his seat as much as the cramped space would allow. The movement of the place itself wasn’t enough to make him ill but coupled with the anxiety that if things went awry, there’d be no saving any of them–that’s what really turned his stomach.

“Okay,” he croaked, swallowing down hard. “Let’s make a deal. If I keep breakfast down, you own me a Mickey ice cream bar.” The plane shuddered again and he tasted regret. “–if I lose it all over our shoes, I owe you at least four of them.” He’d managed to climb that entire sky scraper and keep it together. Why couldn’t life be as kind here?

Helen shifted so she was as far away from the potential vomit fountain as possible, easier said than done when you were supposed to be strapped in with your seat belt on but she had managed to successfully wriggle away ever so slightly. Which was better than nothing, at the very least. She might’ve gone as far as to try and move seats but doing that once had probably done very little to endear her to the cabin crew.