A Pirate's Life for Me

Chapter 30: Why Fight When You Can Negotiate?

Chapter 30: Why Fight When You Can Negotiate?

Nora had thought over and over and over what the right thing to do was. She thought about how she wasn't ready, but at the same time her heart might get so stubborn that, without a bit of pushing, it might not get out of its rut to begin with. And the best push was to see him to get the ball rolling.

She'd prayed for openness, for what to do, and it seemed like God wanted her to give a second chance, but to be wary since matters of the heart were as dizzying as the tea cups at the Mad Tea Party. 

And it'd led her here, in line to visit Captain Jack Sparrow. She hadn't texted him. She hadn't called. He wasn't prepared to see her at all, just so she could see the look on his face when he realized he was in very deep waters, infested with sharks.

Not exactly the Jesus kind of thoughts she wanted to start thinking, but she hoped she was still making progress. 

Fortunately, a large party was blocking her from sight until it was their turn. As much as she wanted Levi to squirm, she also wanted to make sure these guests had the best interactions with Jack Sparrow that they could, which would probably only happen if Jack Sparrow wasn't super distracted by the girl he'd been lying to.

Maybe he was like Jack Sparrow after all.

She saw his demeanor change slightly after he noticed her, the way his eyes kept shifting to her before he forced himself to stop and high five the little boy he was interacting with, using his already awkward feelings to make the interaction even more awkward as he tried to instead shake the boy's hand, who wasn't having it. 

After a few pictures, they left. Cross armed, Nora approached with the most angelic smile.

Also not Jesus-like, but hey, she was warming up.

"Aye, come to see old Jackie after all this time?" he said with that wonderful accent of his that she'd swooned for and dreamed about.

If he weren't in costume she guessed he'd probably ask if she was going to slap him. Instead, he smiled as if she was a regular guest and he wasn't shaking in his boots.

"I've come to invoke parlay," she stated.

His eyes flashed with caution. "I'm listening."

She lowered her voice. "Hollywood Studios. Tonight. At the corner of Hollywood and Sunset."

He murmured, "I'll tell my crew we'll make land. They're sure to enjoy the evening, I hope."

Nora smiled. It was an unnerving smile that she could tell chilled him to the bone.

Good. He needed to remember what happens to pirates that mess with a woman's heart.



Nora drove straight over to Hollywood Studios. It was pretty late in the day and that had been Levi's last meet and greet, which meant he would probably be over in an hour. Which gave her an hour of figuring out what to do with herself. 

Since it was so late in the day, the streetmosphere performers were wrapping up, so she stayed to watch some of them interact with guests. It made it feel more like what Hollywood had been, or what everyone dreamed of, at least. A bunch of young hopefuls waiting to make it big in the business, lighting up the hall of fame. She'd always wanted to want that, as silly as it was. An easy dream. Well, easy as in to the point. Not just everyone got an amazing acting gig. It was still crazy to her that Levi had not only wanted to act for Disney, but gotten in. 

Even after knowing the truth, it had been so weird to see him in his element, interacting with guests, saying the perfect Jack Sparrow things and making the Jack Sparrow faces and strutting around like he'd just walked off the Black Pearl. The Levi she had known was more like a turtle, so quick to withdraw into his shell, not at all one to use hand gestures or even change his facial expression very much. It was hard to consolidate them together into something that made sense.

She walked back to Galaxy's Edge after dawdling, brushing her hand across the gorgeous rock work, careful not to step on any of the new droids children had just made that were rolling around. She even flashed her ID to the Storm Troopers as they passed and gave Kylo Ren a toothy smile, which he pointed at as if to say, "Watch yourself." 

She really did need to watch herself. She got herself into too much trouble with characters. Just watch her fall for Kylo Ren next.

Nora peeked back over her shoulder at Kylo, watching his black form break through the crowd. Heck, if he didn't have the mask she probably would have.

She really needed to stop with the face character drama.

She had texted Maddie her plan, which Maddie had kind of disapproved of, but didn't really fight her about so long as, if everything did work out, Levi started coming to group things. She remembered Levi saying at one point he'd grown up Christian, but had gotten out of the habit of going to church since usually he had Sunday shifts. Like her, he seemed pretty lukewarm, and she hoped this would help them both. Levi needed friends other than her and she needed people other than him. If he was up for it, it would be great for him. But first, she needed to enact the first part of her plan.

After a bit of roaming, a talk with Rey about the importance of stealth, and a hug from Chewbacca, Nora planted herself at their meeting spot, tapping her foot in nervousness.  

It wasn't long before she spotted Levi walking at the pace of a funeral march near her, a backpack slung on his shoulder, his expression grim because he hadn't spotted her yet.

Gosh, he really was cute. Warm brown hair and eyes, a decent Florida tan, and a sincere open face.

Open her butt. He's been lying for weeks, she thought dubiously. And since when did I care if he was cute?

He spotted her and came to a stop a few feet away, shifting his weight. "Hi." 

Her walls came up, mostly because she'd been stupid enough to think of his cuteness. "Hi."

Levi shrugged his shoulders, more of a cringe than anything. "Parlay?"

"We'll see." She held up her phone, which had the My Disney Experience app pulled up. "I got us Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania. Beat me and I'll consider it."

His fingers drummed the strap of his bag. "So we're not at parlay yet?"

"I'll consider it," she called out, already walking towards Toy Story Land. 

He followed her, keeping a step behind. "Nora?"

She didn't turn. "Yep?"

"Never mind."

Nora slowed a bit, letting him walk next to her. He still didn't say anything. If she was being honest with herself, she wasn't sure what to say either. She had a plan, but that didn't mean she'd follow through, and, really, tonight was about trying to get over things. About trying to do what needed to be done to start fresh.

To see if he deserved it.

They passed Mr. Potato Head, who was busy taking off his ear, careening through the maze of the line. Her tension eased a little bit, grateful for the air conditioning and the distraction of the game.

"Are we going to try to help each other or is this just a slaughter?" he asked.

When it came to Toy Story Mania, the carnival games you played would give you more points if you worked with your teammate to destroy certain plates or balloons, unlocking higher scoring levels. If she didn't work with him, neither of them would get a very good score. But if she did work with him, she felt that on the nonexistent board he would have earned some sort of point or favor with her. So she said, "Slaughter."

"You won't beat your personal best."

"Nope. But neither will you." She took her pair of 3D glasses and tipped an invisible hat to him before continuing down the queue.

Typically, they were neck and neck with Toy Story Mania. Usually Levi would get a higher score, but that was only because Nora liked to focus on accuracy. His was maybe thirty percent while hers was about sixty. However, when called for, Nora could beat his pirate butt. 

So after the first round when they switched to the next set of screens and Nora was over a thousand points ahead of him, she heard him swear under his breath, which was something she hadn't ever heard him do, especially in a Disney park.

After the next two rounds, she started slowing down, openly complaining about the pain in her arm from pulling the string to fire hundreds of times, which did have that normal, steady burn, but nothing that really would have caused her to actually stop trying. He was able to pull off a victory by a few thousand points, much to his obvious relief as he plummeted back in his chair, not even bothering to remove his glasses as he massaged his forearm.

They walked out after throwing their glasses in the bin, Levi letting out an exhale. "What now?"

"The parlay has begun. You buy me dinner."

"How long does the parlay last?" 

"As long as the one who was lied to by a no good, swashbuckling pirate says."

They came out of the exit. He pulled her to the side. His eyes met hers, cautious. Apologetic. Her heart twisted. 

Her demand came out soft. "I'd like Woody's Lunchbox, please."

His gaze intensified. "Anything."

It was weird, to feel as if someone had air in their heart, but that was what it was like. It squished down, deflated, trying to beat again before sucking in a breath, pounding hard to catch up—just from the simple word. Not anything on the menu. He meant it. Anything. Anything at all. Any demand. Any desire. He'd do whatever he needed to make it right.

She almost gave up on her plan. Almost. But it felt even more dire now to prove that he really meant it. Otherwise, what if he was just lying? He'd been lying, after all. She knew he could say sweet, beautiful things and not mean them. She needed to make sure he wasn't acting.

So Nora turned left, telling him she'd snag a table in the shade (which was quite a feat, since there weren't many) while he stood in line, knowing he already knew what she wanted.
She was really fooling herself, she thought, feeling his eyes on her back. Maybe she'd been the one acting all along.