Hey Y'all!  It has been a while!

Anyways...this story is actually the beginning to a series of Jack/Stephen friendship stories!  sorry, no angst...;) lol!

I thank all of my reviewers from my last few stories and I hope that the reviews will keep on comin'! ;)

ENJOY!!!

The Dangers of Whale Watching

The HMS Surprise rocked gently with the waves. This day was rather calm compared to the thundering storm they had encountered just yesterday. There were no traces of any storm clouds anywhere in the sky, which was taken to Stephen's advantage.

Stephen sat on the railing of the side of the boat, bracing himself with a rope, with his feet dangling from the side. This was something that Jack would usually advise against, but as had been busy with checking on the repairs that were taking place, Stephen did it anyways. He smiled as a breeze brushed through his coarse hair that seemed more like grass than hair. The ocean was a beautiful aqua color and was almost completely see through, something that rarely happened upon the high seas.

He closed his eyes and took in a deep, long breath of the salty air. It had been a long time since he had done so. He had been stuck under in his cabin for the last day because the storm was so dangerous.

"It seems so strange that something so peaceful looking could turn into a raging monster in the change of the winds," Stephen mused.

Suddenly, Stephen felt a large hand on his shoulder that took him completely of guard. He jumped from his ledge and miraculously landed back on it.

"Whoa!" he heard the booming voice of his friend yell out.

Stephen, who was still shocked, turned with wide eyes and a paler complexion to look Jack straight in the eyes. "Mary, Jesus, and Joseph, Jack! Don't do that!"

Jack, who was obviously amused, smiled, trying to hold back his laughter. "I am sorry my dear. I didn't know that I would scare you so."

"You think that this is funny?!" Stephen demanded, seeing Jack's amusement.

"Calm down, love." Jacked cooed, "I am sorry, that is the truth you know. Besides, you must admit that that was funny. You must have jumped three feet into the air!"

Stephen's face reddened still with anger and was about to snap at Jack again and opened his mouth, but was interrupted bay loud crash that came from the ocean. He faced the other way quickly to get a glance and see what had caused the noise.

His eyes widened and mouth dropped further with excitement when he saw a gleam of grey, smooth skin began submerging into the water. "Megaptera novaeangliae! Dear Lord, Jack. Did you see that? There is a whole lot of them!"

Jack, who was relieved by this sudden reprieve, smiled at the doctor's change of mood. Truthfully, he knew that if these whales hadn't shown up that he would have been chewed up and spitted out by the cellist. He nodded with false excitement when Stephen looked back at him with childish excitement so as not to make him remember what he was going to do before hand.

"Purely amazing, I'm sure," Jack smiled.

"What do you mean 'Purely amazing, I'm sure'?" Stephen said mockingly, "Of course it is amazing! You know how wonderful this is? I have been dreaming of seeing such whales since I was a child!" Stephen received a glance from Jack that told him he still really didn't care. "Here, let me put it in your perspective. These megaptera novaeangliae are like what the HMS Surprise is to you."

Jack gave a small, cheeky smile and answered, "Ah, but this is a man of war ship, and no man in the Royal Navy would want anything less than that. Besides, I get a thrill from this boat and being in the Navy. The possibility of being attacked at and war is what keeps me going. Those whales out there aren't, to my standards and please do not get mad my dear, at all dangerous so there for not thrilling."

Stephen sighed. "I should have suspected such words coming from a war starved captain." He looked out into the water and saw the biggest whale making its way to the surface with great force, knowing exactly what was about to happen, and then turned back to his friend. "You know, whale watching can be rather dangerous."

Jack snorted. "How so?"

"Take this for example...." Stephen pointed towards the direction of the whale and Jack's gaze followed. His eyes widened when he saw the whale's massive body break through the water and sail through the air. Jack, guessing what was about to happen, tried to run, but it was too late.

With a loud crash, a spout of water shot towards the boat and rained down upon the remaining crew, doctor, and captain.

Stephen purposefully wiped his glasses on his handkerchief and smirked. Jack stood in shock and looked much like a cat out of water.

Stephen got up and walked towards his bewildered friend and paused. Stephen offered Jack his handkerchief only for it to be snatched by Jack.

"That, my dear Jack," Stephen mused, "is that danger of whale watching."