trinityday (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trinityday) wrote2005-06-26 06:26 pm
trinityday) wrote2005-06-26 06:26 pm
Entry tags:
Ficlet: Dumb
Title: Dumb
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Character: Cotton
Word Count: 437
Author's Notes: Originally written for15minuteficlets's deaf challenge but I did some fiddling with it.
Cotton affected a slightly dazed grin as the others continued their bold, brash boastings. At one point, one of the younger marines, the one who wasn’t so far into his drink as they others, gave a worried glance at Cotton.
“Shouldn’t we be keepin’ our voices down?” he asked.
Just to be on the safe side, Cotton yawned widely to show off his tongueless mouth, to remind them of his affliction. Unfortunately, Parrot tried to help by squawking “Pieces o’ eight,” summoning a barmaid over with a tankard of rum, potentially reminding the men that it was still possible to communicate even if you couldn’t speak.
Luckily, the biggest and drunkest braggart in the group dismissed the old salt as harmless. “’e can’t do nothing,” he proclaimed loudly. “’he’s not right in the head.” Using two fingers, he tapped his own forehead to prove his point.
It was the position of many, mistaking dumbness of the tongue with dumbness of the mind, but a position Cotton didn’t overly object to. After all, it allowed others to underestimate him.
Besides, he got the last laugh the next day when —- after first sobering Gibbs up enough to translate properly for the Captain —- Cotton was able to relay the Navy’s plans. The crew of the Black Pearl were not only able to avoid the trap set for them, but took advantage of the distraction to plunder the under-guarded fort. In addition to the wages -- a substantial sum of gold -- Captain Sparrow went a step further and raided the Navy Captain’s personal effects, taking a spyglass to replace the one Anamaria had tossed over the side when Jack had threatened to use it on her (after first threatening to use it on him in a completely dissimilar and significantly more painful way) and a ring that glittered so brightly Captain Sparrow couldn’t resist adding it to his collection of baubles. There was also the matter of some official correspondence, lifted not because the crew had any particular interest in the workings of the English court, but because it would prove quite the embarrassment to the Captain who had staked so much on capturing and hanging the elusive Jack Sparrow, the pirate those Port Royal bastards were having so much trouble with.
All in all, it was a good turn, Cotton thought to himself. Parrot stayed silent on this matter; no one was close enough to require his translation services.
It was amazing, really, the things you pick up when surrounded by those dumb enough to think that just because you couldn’t speak didn’t mean you were deaf.
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Character: Cotton
Word Count: 437
Author's Notes: Originally written for
15minuteficlets's deaf challenge but I did some fiddling with it. Cotton affected a slightly dazed grin as the others continued their bold, brash boastings. At one point, one of the younger marines, the one who wasn’t so far into his drink as they others, gave a worried glance at Cotton.
“Shouldn’t we be keepin’ our voices down?” he asked.
Just to be on the safe side, Cotton yawned widely to show off his tongueless mouth, to remind them of his affliction. Unfortunately, Parrot tried to help by squawking “Pieces o’ eight,” summoning a barmaid over with a tankard of rum, potentially reminding the men that it was still possible to communicate even if you couldn’t speak.
Luckily, the biggest and drunkest braggart in the group dismissed the old salt as harmless. “’e can’t do nothing,” he proclaimed loudly. “’he’s not right in the head.” Using two fingers, he tapped his own forehead to prove his point.
It was the position of many, mistaking dumbness of the tongue with dumbness of the mind, but a position Cotton didn’t overly object to. After all, it allowed others to underestimate him.
Besides, he got the last laugh the next day when —- after first sobering Gibbs up enough to translate properly for the Captain —- Cotton was able to relay the Navy’s plans. The crew of the Black Pearl were not only able to avoid the trap set for them, but took advantage of the distraction to plunder the under-guarded fort. In addition to the wages -- a substantial sum of gold -- Captain Sparrow went a step further and raided the Navy Captain’s personal effects, taking a spyglass to replace the one Anamaria had tossed over the side when Jack had threatened to use it on her (after first threatening to use it on him in a completely dissimilar and significantly more painful way) and a ring that glittered so brightly Captain Sparrow couldn’t resist adding it to his collection of baubles. There was also the matter of some official correspondence, lifted not because the crew had any particular interest in the workings of the English court, but because it would prove quite the embarrassment to the Captain who had staked so much on capturing and hanging the elusive Jack Sparrow, the pirate those Port Royal bastards were having so much trouble with.
All in all, it was a good turn, Cotton thought to himself. Parrot stayed silent on this matter; no one was close enough to require his translation services.
It was amazing, really, the things you pick up when surrounded by those dumb enough to think that just because you couldn’t speak didn’t mean you were deaf.