Reminiscing

The first time Jack met Shane she was renting one of the manor’s rooms and refused to give her name, so his brother had named her Shane. Which somehow came from Ocean, but that’s a different story that understanding could cause insanity. 

At the time, he was barely 18, and was on strict bed rest with a broken arm, and Shane decided to make sure he never left his room for a week.

The arm healed, Shane’s bossy nature never did. 

Neither did her inexplicable love for the half breed she decided was her little brother, but that was a blessing or curse depending on the day. 

Now Jack was twenty-two roughly, he had decided to never let anyone know his birthday after Shane, and Shane was still her own creature just as fickle and friendly as the sea. But with three younger brothers and lots of cousins and nieces and nephews.

All adopted. 

Since, as Jack would put it, she was older than some of the seas and had the unfortunate tendency to eat her lovers, Shane ‘acquired’ her chosen family in different ways. And no known boundaries for levels of race, sex, or level of humanness.

No really. There was a giant crocodile in central Africa Shane called ‘Little Cousin’. 

“Red~” 

Dark olive toned arms circled around his neck, while lips even Jack would admit were good looking, pressed close to his ear.

“I can hear you thinking. Are you playing ‘what-if’ again?” 

Jack tilted his head back, just enough to give the stunning woman a malevolent glare. 

“You mean ‘what-if’ I had a normal life?” Jack muttered. 

“If you had a normal life you would have died from boredom at birth.” Shane observed calmly. “You can’t blame this on me, Red.”

And the worst part was he really couldn’t.

Not even the ship, still burning merrily away and steaming the water as it sank, or the tight handcuffs still chaining his hands and feet together. 

“Thank you for rescuing me.” Jack drawled, grinning internally when Shane’s smug lips twisted into annoyance. Thanking her always resulted in irritation to Jack’s hidden joy.

“Well I wasn’t about to let you drown.” Shane’s voice held a disgust towards such a foolish demise, she never bothered to remember others didn’t have gills handy for breathing under water. 

A desperate scream filled the air.

Jack tried to squash the feeling of guilt, pity, and need to go help the screams’ owner. Regret for even those who deserved their fates.

“They killed many, now they can’t.” Shane’s voice held only satisfaction and finality. “That’s life.” 

“If this was a comic,” Jack said sadly, “Everyone would live, even the bad guys.” 

“That would be poor justice for the dead.” Shane observed again, “There’s always larger fish waiting their turn.”

The water swirled around them, rough and real scales brushing Jack’s leg as Shane used her tail to propel them away from the sinking ship. And sometimes when it felt like there was more then just Shane’s tail pushing them, well she was trying to distract him. 

“And it seems like it’s always the male rescuing the female.” Shane snorted, and Jack had to smile a little at that absurdness. “And! I didn’t eat any of them! What more do you want?”