Marred Elegance

By Florencia7
Written for the 'Adventure' drabble prompt, this is post-AWE fic featuring Jack and Elizabeth, and their son, Blaxton, with artwork by Ladymouse.

“He's five years old, Lizzie. He can get dressed all by himself.” Jack took Elizabeth's hand in his, pulling her away from the door.

“I'm just not sure if what you said to him was enough,” countered Elizabeth, smoothing out her dress, and scrutinizing Jack's suit critically.

“Are you ready, sailor?” Jack knocked on Blaxton's door.

There was a moment of silence, followed by a slightly strained 'aye'.

“I told him that we're going on a grand, secret adventure and that he has to be as elegant as possible,” said Jack with a reassuring smile, pushing the door open. “I think it was a rather suff-”

Elizabeth darted her eyes to him, and then quickly stepped forward to look into the cabin, her eyes widening at the sight of Blaxton smiling at them proudly.

Jack cleared his throat, stifling a chuckle.

A small fork clattered to the floor from where it was tied into Blaxton's hair, snapping Elizabeth back to the reality. With a small pout, Blaxton bent down to pick up the fork, causing a silver bracelet, a couple of old rings, and shark's teeth found in a drawer (all woven into his hair with pieces of colorful threads) to jingle.

Elizabeth bit her lip to keep from laughing. “You have five minutes to straighten out your son's notions of elegance,” she whispered through clenched teeth, shooting Jack a pointed look and storming out of the cabin.

Jack regarded Blaxton's freshly tattered shirt, a sash made out of handkerchiefs tied together, and an ink blotch on his forearm with narrowed eyes.

Blaxton looked up at him sadly. “Mum didn't like it,” he said worriedly.

“'Course she did!” bellowed Jack causing the boy's eyes to widen. “Today it's simply not the most opportune moment for this particular attire,” he added smilingly in a softer tone. “Here,” he pulled a new shirt out of one of the drawers, and handed it to Blaxton.

Blaxton took the shirt, looking at it dejectedly.

Jack squatted down, and looked at him intently for a moment. “Good knots,” he said matter-of-factly, inspecting the way in which Blaxton had tied all the small objects into his hair. “Do you need help untying them?” he asked cautiously, glancing up at the boy while wiping the ink off his forearm with a piece of cloth.

Blaxton slowly shook his head.

“Alright,” Jack stood up and headed for the door. “On the deck in four minutes, then” he said, opening the door. Blaxton sighed.

Jack went out of the cabin, but then turned around and peered inside once again. “I liked the fork,” he whispered with a wink, and closed the door, leaving Blaxton with a happy grin on his face.

~.~

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