Bill Jukes

Luckily, Jukes was able to catch himself in enough time before he simply reached out and touched Braddock without warning. Still, he was happy when she obliged him, pulling aside her hair so he could see her tattoo. Smiling, he nodded, impressed with the beauty and design of it. He gave a cluck of his tongue in sympathy and smirked - I bet. With a sigh, he then stretched out his legs along the deck, shifting to collect Phantasm from around his neck. Looking back over at Braddock, he curled his free hand around an invisible fountain pen and pretended the snake was parchment, miming calligraphy and a checklist. With a look of contemplation on his face, he finally gestured to her, knowing that his charades were rather vague this time, but hoping she understood him all the same - You mentioned you had chores? A list of things to check off?

One Republic - Counting Stars

But taking a risk like this was always fun for Starling. Talking to someone unfamiliar and interesting always made her day. Starling shot a glance at the snake, which he was petting so gently. The girl shivered slightly – she had never liked reptiles. And even though his answer to her question was just a simple shrug, Starling knew that the boy was aware of who she was. How he knew that, she wasn’t sure of. But still he asked her name. “My name is Starling. And yours?” She wasn’t sure how he could answer that but she asked anyway. She wanted them to be on the same level.

So, rearranging Phantasm so she clung the bulk of his biceps, he smirked as the girl approached. Despite his lack of words, she seemed to become more intrigued instead of less. Starling, he acknowledged with a nod. Though he knew who she was, it was always nice to put a name with a face. At her question, he would've laughed out loud if he were capable. Instead, he clucked his tongue in amusement and stomped his foot lightly in the dirt. With that, he picked up a nearby fallen branch and though his handwriting was atrocious, he managed to spell his own name in the sand - BILL. Once he did, he looked back up at her, tipping an eyebrow upward - Do you know who I am? His expression implied. If it was reciprocity she wanted, he was willing to comply.

Flitting through the trees, trying to see what he could figure out about the happenings of Neverland. He heard a noise above, the fairy who was rarely in his human form, for the simple fact people would be able to see him then and it was easier being small, almost ran into a tree. The noise had startled him, his ears pricked up, and he looked around, when he saw the source, he flew behind a tree, his light shining through showing there was something there. He watched as the person came nearer, and slowly peaked an eye above the leaf, so only his black head of hair was shower. He hovered in place and asked, “Where are you headed?”

Truth be told, being able to escape the chaos of the Jolly Roger for a bit to watch the animals in forest was as relaxing to him as it was part of his job. All too soon though, his peace was broken as a flash of motion and a subtle glow caught his attention from one of the leaves hanging near his face. A fairy. How charming. ...Except not. Sighing inaudibly, Jukes reached up, pulling the leaf aside to reveal the tiny creature. With an impatient raise of an eyebrow, he glowered softly, annoyed with the fairy's disruption of his tranquility - I'm not going anywhere. But you're blocking my view.

He’s been dragging around the carcass for a couple of hours already, his body painted with dried blood and his hands damn near melting in with the hide of the animal. Once he reached Cannibal Cove, Marmaduke finally allowed himself to rest, tossing the lifeless thing next to him before he sat down on the soft sand with a tired sigh. The Devil reached into his small bag for a pipe and a pinch of tobacco, a wonderful treat he previously stole from the Jolly Rodger months prior- that, and a box of matches, to which he used to light up his smoke. As he rested, his lazy gaze wandered towards a figure in his peripheral vision, and though Duke did not speak, he watched quietly, smoking in silence.

Just a mile down the shore and he noticed the boy the same time that he noticed him. The boy sat on the sand, seemingly peaceful despite the indiscernible corpse that lay beside him. Repressing the urge to roll his eyes, Jukes sighed silently as he continued down his path, facing the inevitability of his meeting with this Devil as he strode closer.

By the time he began answering her questions about his inked skin, she had fully settled again, brandy-colored eyes twinkling with satisfaction. Her hands, which had been wrung together in a bit of absentmindedness, halted as Jukes began to demonstrate the extent of his tattoos to her, twisting almost languidly so she could get the best view. Their eyes met, and she held her breath as if she could actually hear him speak if she was attentive enough. There was a urge born from curiosity and novelty that almost made her reach out and brush the knots of his spine, but unfamiliarity stopped her, stayed her hand from the unknown. The doctor smiled almost whimsically as he smiled at her over his shoulder, the picture of gratification, brows knit together as if still waiting for her to answer him. She sighed, placated, and moved to undo the already loose ties of her linen shirt, trusting her bodice to do it’s job as she shimmied the cloth down her right shoulder to expose a medium-sized approximation of a flower, faded with time and sun. “This one wasn’t too bad-” she says nonchalantly, but when she exposes her other shoulder, she snorts again, “-but this one was a right bitch,” indicating the fine detail of the plant life lovingly rendered against her skin. She turns away from him, adjusting her shirt to a proper height again, and lifts her hair, exposing her most intricate endeavor running from her hair to far below where her shirt stops. “This one took days…but it was well worth it,” she whistles with an almost whimsical tone, rubbing her fingers over the nape of her neck where she knows the braiding, looping design disappears into her hairline. She looks over her shoulder at him in much the same fashion he had at her, and smiles, bright and all teeth. “My hands were the least painful, which was weird, but this rose-” and she presses her fingers to a spot behind her ear, “-probably hurt the worst by far. I don’t regret them, either.”

Either way, he enjoyed her laughter and the endearing snort that prefaced it to their full extent. Even happier to keep her attention captivated, he slowly traced a story for her of his most painful tattoos. Those that were on his upper body at least. There was one on his right inner thigh that had made him grateful for his inability to make any sort of noise; the sounds he would've made would have been embarrassing, he was sure.

Without missing a beat, Jukes held his gray, hazel-flecked eyes with Braddock's warm, brown ones, an expectant smile on his lips. He was all too pleased when she decided to play along with him, his eyes roaming her inked skin as she displayed it for him with both genuine intrigue and respectful admiration. The designs were gorgeous and he found that all he could do was smile softly, nodding in awe of each one she presented for him. Beautiful, beautiful. It was almost with disappointment that he came to realize her tattoos were coming to an end once she pointed to the rose behind her ear. Eyebrows furrowing gently, he found it hard to appreciate the whole of it hidden behind her hair as it was.

Before he could think any longer on it, he found himself leaning in, his fingers poised to lightly push aside her hair so he could see better. He stopped himself short though, realizing his mistake before it happened. Instead, he smiled lightly, tapping his fingers to his own scalp and pushing away imaginary hair behind his ear. Can I see it better?

The red haired girl could read expressions quite well. Of course the fact that the man was standing so far away with his face covered in these slightly creepy tattoos made it harder. But still, when he smiled cheekily, she noticed that he recognized her. That didn’t happen too often. Starling had been popular when Peter had still accepted her and her brother, but as soon as she got banished, she lost her friends. And now, this person seemed to know her in some way. It made Starling feel warm. As he shot that look at her, that look that challenged her to get moving, she smiled a bit. The girl quickly stood up, walking closer to him. “I’m sorry if this sounds stupid but… Do you know who I am?”

But children were children, were they not? Especially perpetual ones. As the red-haired girl approached, Jukes remained where he sat, stroking the curved jaw of Phantasm gently. With a click of his tongue to replace his absence of a chuckle, he smirked in amusement. Jukes believed there were such things as stupid questions, but hers was not one of them. He shrugged simply but there was no doubt that he knew exactly who she was by the curve of his lips and the glint in his eyes. Still, he wanted to give her the chance to introduce herself as he nodded toward her and gave a shrug again, this one a question this time. Maybe I do know you. Maybe I don't. What's your name?

One of his eyebrows arched on his forehead, mirroring hers, and he nodded his agreement. A proper nap. Wouldn't everyone love one of those? He hesitated a moment, sensing a lull in the conversation, before he anchored himself from his crouch. Phantasm stayed relaxed wound around his neck, soaking the heat from his skin as he sat down across from her properly. It was as his mamba curled closer to him with the rush of wind that he noted Braddock's hair pulled by the current of air and he clucked his tongue in amusement. As a joke, he once more mirrored the doctor's actions; lifting his fingers, he combed through tangles of imaginary knots in his nonexistent hair as she trailed her own fingers through her twisted locks. With a smirk, he then glossed his palm over the top of his shiny, bald head before looking back out at sea.

It was only once she blurted out a question beside him that he looked at her again, glad that it wasn't the end of the conversation. Eyebrows threaded together, he gave her a quizzical look and pointed toward her own visible tattoos that lined her fingers - Did yours hurt? But with a thought, he paused and shrugged, giving her question validation. Slowly, he smoothed his fingers over the top of his skull, down the tanned skin of his throat, the curves of his ribs, and twisted so that she could see him trail the knots of his spine. These? He seemed to ask as he locked eyes with her again. These ones hurt. A tiny smile and a proud nod though told her that he didn't regret a thing.

With a jostled rise and fall of a shoulder, his smirk broadened - Oh, I've no doubt what I see is what I get with you. You don't know what you give away about yourself. A sigh passed his lips but didn't make a sound against his cursed larynx as he heard the sound of the other Lost Children playing not too far in the distance. Looking at her again, his smile held as he lifted a finger to his lips, a silent plea for secrecy. He was only supposed to be in and out of the woods quickly and if he could avoid the others of her gang, he'd prefer it.

"Ah, yes. A right beautiful day. Went off earlier to take a walk ‘round the island and get me chores put away before it could wander off but…got distracted by the view and a cup of tea." She smiles earnestly, blocking her eyes to look up into the blue sky above. The doctor looked back at him, nodding her chin his way. “And you? Has it been a good day?”

As her fingers grazed his upon the exchange of the pipe, he tried his hardest to quell his flinch of surprise. A recluse through and through, whether by choice or through circumstances, Jukes was unused to the sensation of touch unless it was the feel of scales beneath his palm, an occasional punch in the arm of camaraderie from a fellow shipmate, or the commanding hands of Adelaide requesting more information. Taking his hand back with what he hoped was casual nonchalance, he was content to watch Braddock enjoy the last of her pipe, a small smile of uncertainty on his face as he attempted conversation. Her laugh proved to be a pleasant sound, evidence that she knew what he was trying to communicate. It broadened his smile as she answered.

At her mention of tea, he mimed a saucer in one hand and a tea cup in the other, pinching the imaginary handle of the cup between middle finger and thumb and faking a sip. With a smirk and a wink, he nodded his approval - Good choice. And a great excuse to get out of chores. Still pretending to have the tea cup in hand, he cupped his other hand around an imaginary neck of rum and "poured" it generously into the cup of tea. Grimacing, he mimed the sloshing and spilling of alcohol as he tipped the fake cup to his lips before smiling a deeply contented grin and closing his eyes to symbolize a nap - A lazy afternoon. I had tea too but with an addition of rum. Lots of rum. And then a nap. I'd say that's a good day. Wouldn't you agree? He asked the last with a little shrug, hoping she was able to understand all that he mimed.