"This is ridiculous." James Norrington, commodore off duty, eyed the pirate and the chair in front of him suspiciously.

"Where's it ridiculous, pray tell?" Captain Jack Sparrow protested. "We have you an' me, an' we have a chair."

Norrington sighed. "I am more than averagely aware of that, yes," he said crisply. "However, I refuse to allow you any more entertainment at the expense of my dignity."

Jack couldn't hide a little grin, but he quickly assumed his previous facial expression, a pout and begging eyes, which was clearly no improvement. "Please?"

"No." And from the way Norrington said it, he expected Jack to somehow get the idea that it was very much a No that could in no way be turned into a Yes, no matter what.

"Why don't we try it once and then you tell me if you like it or not?"

Norrington should not have expected anything when he knew better. With an exasperated sigh, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave Jack an annoyed look. "Why do I get the feeling that you are unaware of the actual meaning of the word 'no'?"

Jack flashed him a grin. "'Cos you're a very wise man, James. Now come on, let's play."

"Perhaps you fail to see the point, but we do not actually have any music."

"Oh, tha's no problem." Jack hurried to one of the big chests in the cabin and returned an instant later with a little wooden dolphin on an oval board. A musical clock. "We wind that up an' wait till the music stops."

"But..." Norrington waved his hands, desperately trying to find a good argument to silence the pirate, even though in a small corner of his mind, he already knew that there was none.

Finally, he surrendered. "Very well," he said grimly. "Once."

Jack clapped his hands in delight and positioned himself next to the chair. Norrington followed with reluctance.

For quite some time, they walked around the chair to a quite horrid version of "O Tannenbaum" that could only have appealed to a tone-deaf man and only when it was Christmas, and every minute that passed saw Norrington even more annoyed with the situation.

Suddenly, the music stopped, and driven by his ambition which he apparently couldn't even stop when it came to ridiculous games for children, Norrington threw himself on the chair and a complacent smirk at Jack. He knew that Jack was a bad loser and he would probably insist on a revanche.

Jack, however, smirked even more complacently back at him before he stepped towards the chair and hopped into Norrington's lap, his arms around the other man's neck as he snuggled close.

Somehow, Norrington sensed that this was only the beginning of the game they were actually playing.