#and the fact that jim is the one to pull Lucius from the trunk?

[khruschevshoe]

Jim Jimenez and Lucius Spriggs

It's the fear, and not the ghost

That leaves me haunted, haunted

See what a life you lead:

You're an anchor for all the heaviest

Regrets inside of you

Escape; we collect mistakes

I will carry them home

-The Crane Wives, Not the Ghost

Lucius carries his own wreckage around from Blackbeard’s time as god, but it’s a different sort of shipwreck, a different sort of chain. There is a grief, but not a guilt. At least, not anymore. While he was trapped, he felt guilty for surviving when he wasn’t sure if Pete was still alive, but once Blackbeard was gone, he didn't have to carry a giant length of crimes around his neck because Blackbeard had told him that either he committed these atrocities, or he'd die, and he had to get back to Olu and protect everyone else at all costs.

Jim isn’t going to downplay the way that that trunk haunts Lucius. Its ghost still physically haunts him, in the form of his dizzy spells, but he doesn’t have wanted posters. He doesn’t have crimes. He doesn’t have the shame of murder and the blood of others clinging to his hands. He doesn’t have to look over his shoulder in case someone is hunting him-

Or, rather, scratch that last one. Because Lucius doesn’t have to look over his shoulders due to people hunting him for a bounty, but someone did murder him in cold blood. Jim had to live with threats for months, up until the moment Blackbeard actually shot Izzy; Lucius had to live with first-hand knowledge of hands that were willing to shove him overboard.

Jim doesn’t know what ghosts Lucius clings to. They only know what ghosts cling to them, what ghosts dig their claws in and refuse to let go, no matter how many times Jim tries to bury them for good.

-aletterinthenameofsanity, you will never slip away (you’ll find me waiting here for you)

Founding members of the "Fuck Blackbeard" club (and "Fuck the People Who Raised Me" club as well). Two of my three favorite characters in the series. They are there for each other at the critical moments and understand each other so well (and have a great dynamic when Mel is added in Season 3). Also, the fact that their friendship begins with Lucius stealing a dagger for Jim AFTER Jim literally nearly kills Lucius gets me every time.

Special thanks to @possumsmushroom, who I was talking to about Lucius & Jim and who is an amazing artist!

@polikate @angxlwiings @yuenity @bricksbloggyplace

[khruschevshoe]

Lucius Spriggs and Pete Hands-Spriggs

And time goes quicker

Between the two of us

But oh my love, don't forsake me

Take what the water gave me

Lay me down

Let the only sound

Be the overflow

-Florence + the Machine, What the Water Gave Me

Lucius is tired. He often is, but this was his first raid in months, since before he was spat out by the ocean, since the Spanish captured the Revenge all that time ago. He wasn't even supposed to participate, but he'd seen Jim struggling from his spot on the deck of the Revenge and he'd lurched up into trying to help. He'd fired, and thankfully hit his general target, but then he 'd dropped the crossbow, the weight pulling his fingers down, and staggered over to sit on the steps leading up to the wheel. Once there, his eyelids had dragged themselves down, heavy as anchors. If a sailor had crossed onto the Revenge, Lucius would have been a waiting duck, completely done for.

"Hey, Lucius, love," comes a familiar, much-loved voice accompanied by a gentle shake to Lucius' shoulder. He opens his eyes to find Pete crouched by his side, a gentle hand on his shoulder, coaxing him awake.

Lucius is so fucking tired of being tired, and sick, and scared. (Well, not so much scared anymore- since Jim pulled him out of that trunk, since he reunited with Pete, since Pete gave Izzy his new leg, since Lucius got to push Ed Teach overboard, Lucius hasn't been as frightened.)

Lucius was useful for a moment, but just a moment. He can't finish a sketch in the normal amount of time anymore. He can't hold his pencil in place for long enough to be a scribe.

Today, summoning the energy to help out Jim? That took a split second of insane energy, brought on by a burst of terror and protectiveness and the stubborn notion that Lucius was not going to lose a friend after surviving all of the shit they'd been put through.

And that one motion left him more useless than ever before- an accomplishment, considering how Lucius has always been the weakest member of this crew to begin with.

"Fuck this," Lucius mutters.

Pete's brow furrows with concern. "What's the problem, babe?"

"I'm so fucking tired with being tired," Lucius says, "With falling asleep so easily, with my eyes sliding shut whenever I sit down, with it taking so fucking long to recover-"

Pete's fingers clench over Lucius'. "You lived, babe," Pete says, "And that's what matters. I don't care how long it takes you to recover, to figure out how to fit into your new life, because you're still here. You're still with me." He flashes a smile over Lucius's shoulders, and Lucius turns to see Izzy standing there, using his sword as a cane. "You survived. You and Izzy both did. And I survived to come back to you both."

-aletterinthenameofsanity, if you stumble and fall (i will be where i always was, standing at your side)

I *adore* Lucius and Pete's dynamic, both in the show and in fic. There are so many thematic layers to the fact that Pete, who was obsessed with proving himself as a dread pirate, fell for the seemingly weakest member of the crew and whittled him a finger, showing a level of care that really informs him as a character. Though I loved Pete and Lucius' engagement and wedding, I was not the biggest fan of how the show handled Pete's response to Lucius' trauma in Season 2- I was so glad to see both his reaction to Lucius' trauma and his new disability handed much more delicately and supportively here.

@polikate @possumsmushroom @yuenity @bricksbloggyplace @angxlwiings