Worse Than Idiotic Underlings

[James Norrington]

The day was filled with the instruction of new recruits which was largely not his field of expertise..or rather it hadn't been for a long time and he found that, even after so long an absence, he still couldn't stand for the stupidity that was displayed during such sessions.

'Surely there is someone with half a brain in there,' he thought as he slipped outside for a break, making his way to the residential area simply because his men were not likely to search for him there until his break was over. "I can't deal with this madness right now," he murmured aloud as he perched upon the edge of the fountain within the main square, his hands immediately seeking out his temples in attempts to rub away the migraine he could feel fast coming on.

What a day it had been, but if there was one thing that got to him more than idiotic underlings, it was children...much like the little girl who had now stopped to stare openly at him, a bouquet of daisies sitting in a basket carried on her arm.

"Missir," she spoke with an quiet, lofty accent that made him wince. "Would you like to buy a flower...it's for for my mama..she's very sick and papa is gone away." Inwardly he swore as she approached him, her eyes wide and teary...hopeful.

[Elizabeth Swann]

It was a clear day and Elizabeth had volunteered to go to the market to get some fresh meat for dinner. The maid didn't feel well and Elizabeth feared what her father would do if he didn't have his fresh venison with dinner. He was rather peculiar about his meals. She meandered down the cobbled streets away from the Governor's Manor. She whistled under her breath, mindful that it wasn't exactly polite for ladies to whistle. A wicker basket swung gaily from her arm.

She walked briskly, in too happy a mood to refuse the small children who who always seemed to be selling flowers. She knew if she didn't walk fast she would take pity on them and buy a dying flower. She stared straight ahead and mentally went over the shopping list. One pound of fresh venison, a half dozen eggs, a pound of sugar for the cake Cook had promised to make. There was one other other thing she just couldn't remember. A second later she stopped dead in her tracks and her audden stop forced her cap off her head. A tall man dressed in the uniform of the Royal Navy stood a few steps ahead, confronting, of all things, a small girl selling flowers. Elizabeth swore inwardly and reached down for her cap, hoping the Commodre had not noticed her.

[James Norrington]

"Please Mister for my ma...just one flower, I don't ask much," the girl continued in her breathy pleading tone, as though it took all the power in that little body of hers just to get those few words out to him.

James' hands tightened into fists a moment and he took a deep breath calming himself before smiling ever so slightly in a way few would have expected from him. It was a smile that was, in its own way dazzling and the girl was immediately smiling back at him, her eyes alight with awe as he slipped off the fountain's edge to kneel before her, thus putting him at her level.

"How about we both go to the market and get some food for your mama," he suggested and patted her on the head gently, ruffling her hair. This of course seemed to cause her already bright eyes to further brighten before she launched herself at him, giving him a hug, her little basket of pitiful, dying flowers tumbling to the ground.

At this James seemed a little disconcerted and mildly awkward, but he returned the hug with one arm before pulled her off and gently resting a hand on her small shoulder to keep from there being a repeat performance of that last bit.

"Really mister?" she asked as he stood, a pitiable hope laced in every word.

He nodded and held out his arm as he might to accompany a gentry lady. "Yes, of course....shall we?" He gave her another of those smiles as she nodded emphatically and took his arm after collecting her basket for the other. And James didn't seem to notice Elizabeth for, if he had, he'd likely have found another way to deal with the situation at hand.