Work Text:
Izzy Hands was a patient man. He could ride out storms, he could ride out becalmings, he could even ride out the moods and whims of his Captain. Izzy prided himself on his steadfastness and loyalty. The problem he often had was when it came to emotions. When Izzy had to consider how he felt about something, or when a feeling crept up on him, it was not an easy thing to just ignore or wait out. But, over the years and with his same patience, he had gotten pretty good at ignoring his feelings, specifically those around Ed.
Izzy and Ed had met when they were both young, when they both had something to prove. Izzy admired everything about Edward, and at the time, Ed seemed to see something in him that kept them bound together. The transition to Captain and First Mate was as obvious as anything. But that had also been when these feelings had started becoming a problem. Now he and Ed were around each other constantly. Izzy couldn't stop the way he felt any more than he could stop the tides or Ed's whims as he grew in power and, frankly, in mania. Suddenly, looking at Edward, which had been thrilling before, caused a tug in his gut and a lightheadedness he blamed on the sea. People started to notice his fluster, how he tripped on nothing. Seasickness, he claimed. The boys made fun of him, made up nicknames, but as long as they didn’t watch him too closely, he didn’t care. No one watching meant no one saw him watching Ed. Everything about Edward was magnetic to Izzy. He was so young, but he looked like he could rule the seas if he wanted to, and he wanted to. Ed had all these grand plans and big ideas and Izzy, with his need for routine and order, was swept up in all of it, happy to simply be there.
But Izzy had it under control. Sure, he'd fallen into bed with a few too many dark haired, dark eyed men with mischievous smiles that always left him feeling hollow afterwards. And yes, some of the boys made stupid comments that had his ears turning pink. But nothing he couldn't handle, and nothing that ever got back to Ed.
Now, however, was something entirely different. And yet, irritatingly similar.
Now, Stede was back. The crew was back. Edward was back; not Blackbeard, not the Kraken, but Edward Teach; the man Izzy had known so long ago. He was older, and more cunning, but he was also sometimes quiet and liked soft things and enjoyed leisure days. It worked for him. And, after everything, how could Izzy deny him? He learned, through his loyalty to his captain, to be okay with it. What he wasn't okay with was the way his stomach started jolting when Stede walked in a room. He wasn't okay with how he lost his footing when he was watching Stede practice his newly formed sword skills. And he certainly wasn't okay with the way he wasn't able to hide in this damn ship because someone was always somewhere. There was no damned peace.
–
Right now, for example, is a time where Izzy desperately missed his ability to hide his emotions from the crew. This damned crew and their damn feelings and talking about things that needed not to be talked about. No, right now, Izzy was facing down one of Ed's patented "pleading faces". Fang called them puppy eyes and Izzy had to agree.
"Edward, you can't honestly expect me to babysit him."
"It’s not babysitting! He's more than capable now. I just think you two should… escort each other." Izzy gave his best "fuck off" look without saying it. He had been trying to be better about things like that. "It could be fun!"
"Fuck off." He was trying. "I need to get us enough inventory to last a trip up north through the spring storms. I understand he's -" Izzy paused to find a nice word here. "Getting better at his game of playing pirates." Again, he was trying. "However, this isn't the time to practice. Let him do that with you, on deck, and your sword lessons"
"Oh come off it, mate. He's gotten much better. He holds his own in fights, he understands the tasks that go into maintaining the ship. The next obvious step is for him to see what it looks like getting supplies and threatening folks to get your money's worth." Edward was looking at him with such wide eyes. He was so excited that Stede was here, and that Izzy was here, that everything was working out, and Izzy hated bursting that bubble.
Izzy pressed his lips together. He didn't mention that he barely had to threaten people now, he had a name and reputation, and Blackbeard's name behind that. He didn't mention that his routine was streamlined so that he usually had a little pocket of time just for himself to get a drink and to enjoy the solitude that only land could afford him. He didn't even say anything about how having Bonnet with him, disguise or no, would probably slow down the whole operation that he had perfected, and might even make some of his usual vendors jumpy enough to not talk to him. He said none of that. Instead he took a deep breath, sighed, and then nodded.
"Alright, Captain. If that's what you want." Ed grinned, and damn it all if that didn’t make it worth it for Izzy. Ed’s smile was very convincing.
"It is. And who knows, he might surprise you." Izzy made a small disbelieving noise.
The last thing that Izzy definitely didn't mention, was that Bonnet had been surprising him. A lot. And that might also make things go slower. Because whereas before Izzy could ignore Bonnet, swat at him like a fly if need be, now Izzy found himself inexplicably drawn to watching him. Izzy was working on that, but an entire afternoon together was probably a test he wouldn't pass just yet. But Izzy could deny Ed nothing, not now. So he just waited to be dismissed, while Ed continued to smile at him with that same damn smile, and went to get what he needed while Ed bounded off to tell Stede.
"Thanks, Iz!" He turned to leave and then turned back. Very quickly he ducked down to kiss Izzy's cheek before he left. Izzy stood there. He pinched his arm once. Twice. No, he was awake. Just, clearly hallucinating. Well that was going to be another problem for the day, he supposed. After taking a couple seconds, he touched his cheek, almost expecting something to be there, some sort of proof of what he could almost swear had just happened. But it was just his cheek, warmer than usual, but just as he knew it to be. Izzy shook his head and went to go to his room to get his things.
–
He met Stede on the dock. Since he'd come back with none of his finery, Stede had started dressing at least something more like a pirate in Izzy's mind. A loose linen white shirt and dark pants, a bit too fitted, but more respectable than frills and buttons that took two people to do up. He was rocking on his heels as Izzy approached. He might have looked nervous to some, but Izzy recognized barely concealed excitement easily. Edward had a very similar series of movements when he was waiting to tell Izzy something. Despite himself, Izzy bit back a small smile. He was working with children. Infuriatingly adorable and impossible children.
"Izzy! You’re here," Stede tugged at his own collar a little. "So, ah, I'm under strict instructions to observe and follow your lead." Izzy quirked an eyebrow up. Stede wasn't very good at the silent following but maybe- "I'll obviously be asking questions to understand your exact tactics, but you won't even notice me!" There it was.
"Bonnet. I could less not notice you than I could a peacock in the marketplace." For some reason this made Stede preen. Izzy watched how he puffed up his chest, kind of like a peacock, actually.
"Well. Thank you." Izzy rolled his eyes, walking towards his first destination.
"That wasn't a compliment."
"Then you shouldn't have called me one of the more majestic birds in the animal kingdom. Did you know it's actually the male peacocks that have the beautifully coloured plumage?" Izzy rubbed the bridge of his nose. This was going to be a long day.
–
The day was, in fact, long, but not for reasons Izzy would have thought. Stede did as he had said he would, he followed Izzy, he asked a million questions, but he didn't really get in the way. He even understood when to be quiet, like at some of the shops where Izzy had to remind the owner who they were talking to. It was surprising but not unwelcome. So no, Stede wasn't the problem as far as interfering. He was, however, a distraction. A big one. The way he watched Izzy like a hawk, switching from yelling at one of the vendors to cajoling and almost joking with another. Stede was wide-eyed and practically vibrating with excitement. It was very reminiscent of Ed.
He also stayed a little too close to Izzy. Their hands kept brushing as they walked. Izzy felt his breath on the back of his neck as he checked the quality of some of the citrus he was buying. Instead of snapping at him, Izzy blushed and accidentally crushed a lemon a little too hard. At one point, Stede was pointing out something to Izzy but Izzy couldn’t see it, so he took Izzy’s face in his hands, and before he could react, he turned Izzy’s head to show him what he had been describing. The ringing in Izzy’s ears blocked out any words Stede said after that.
Finally the day was drawing to a close.
After Izzy finished signing to one of his contacts, making sure they understood that swiftness would be rewarded, he turned to find Stede staring.
"What?"
"I didn't know you could sign. It's… fascinating to watch. A whole language with no words. No spoken words, at least." Stede smiled, "you're very adept." Izzy made a bemused sound. He was about to tell Stede there was a lot he didn't know about Izzy, but… he didn't want to say that. Instead he nodded.
"My grandmother couldn't hear very well when I was growing up. Our whole family learned." Stede made an interested noise.
"Could you teach me something?" Izzy looked around, realized that they did in fact have a few minutes to kill, and shrugged.
"Sure. What do you want to know?"
"Can you show me how to sign my name?" Izzy had expected this, but it dad make sense as something he could show Stede easily.
"Most people who use sign language often will make up a sign for their own name, but in this case I can teach you to finger spell it. That is to say, one letter at a time." Stede nodded. Izzy put down the bag he was holding and looked back. "You're going to need two hands." Stede glanced down at the bundle of fabrics he had in his arms. Some were needed for the sails and as bandages. However, the much heavier and much shinier ones were Stede's choice for some unknown project. He had promised to carry them without complaint, but obviously now he didn't want to put them down in the dirt. He looked at Izzy with wide eyes. Damn it.
"Maybe we can just-" Stede started, but Izzy sighed.
"Just hold up one hand, I'll show you what the other one should be doing. It's not a big deal" Stede brightened, shifting the fabrics to one arm, slinging some of the yardage over his shoulder. Izzy ignored the swoop of his stomach when he saw Stede's arm muscles shift as he did this. Fuck, his own training was actually working and now Izzy had to live with the results. Which was fine, because the swoop in his stomach didn't mean anything, actually.
"Okay so S is like this." He reached up to gesture at Stede. "Hold your hand up, palm out, yeah, and then you hook your pinky finger like this." Izzy reached for Stede's hand with his pointer finger, hooking it around Stede's pinky. His hands were warm and soft, as Izzy had imagined they might be. Well no, he hadn't imagined this, but he could have guessed, certainly. Bonnet had all these creams and he wore gloves to sleep, and while he’d gotten better around the ship certainly, he wasn’t hauling rope for hours, Izzy suddenly felt self conscious about his own calloused, scarred, sea-worn hands. But Stede was watching their hands intently so Izzy didn't pull away.
“So it’s like this," he held the pose for a second until Stede nodded. "Then T is similar with your hand but you’re touching your palm here with the other one.” Once again Izzy demonstrated. Stede nodded, and Izzy was sure he must have imagined the shiver that ran over Stede's skin when Izzy had moved his finger over his hand.
“Now point with your finger." Stede did so. "Mhhm, so an E is like this.” Izzy touched the tip of Stede’s finger with his own. This was starting to feel like a silly exercise, but there was something so charged about the moment that Izzy would only be able to analyze later, but for now he wouldn’t stop.
“And then D is -” A throat cleared behind him. Izzy turned to find one of his messengers from earlier, back with a small parcel in his hands.
“Here you are, sir.” Izzy dropped his hands immediately, face suddenly flushing for no reason. He hadn't realized how close he and Stede had gotten. He nodded, took the goods from the boy and flicked him a coin. The boy ran off and Izzy stood there in silence for a moment.
“We should head back to the ship,” Izzy said gruffly as he grabbed the few bags he had put down, but Stede pouted.
“What about the D?” Izzy tripped but righted himself before everything fell out of his hands.
“I can show you back on the ship. And this time you can use your own damn hands.” Stede grinned, following a little too closely behind Izzy.
“I rather enjoyed it when you used your damn hands, actually.” Izzy tripped again. Fucking Bonnet.
–
A few weeks later found Izzy cursing himself and his feelings once again.
Izzy was on his way to give an inventory report to his captain. Before he even had a chance to knock on the door he heard frustrated yells from inside the room that could only belong to Edward. Stede had been on deck when Izzy last saw him, so Ed was alone, which made Izzy nervous. He opened the door without knocking, only to find Edward, on the floor, surrounded by ribbon and what looked like a broken brush.
“Edward?” Ed turned around, one hand stuck in his own hair, another holding a broken comb. He looked frustrated, but not volatile, so Izzy walked closer. “What’s wrong, Ed?” As he got closer, Izzy could see Ed’s eyes were shining a bit. He sometimes got like this, where a problem would frustrate him so terribly that he would become more like a toddler than a pirate; sitting on the floor, getting upset with tears, Izzy was surprised he'd never seen Ed pounding his fists in a tantrum.
“Iz. I need help.” Izzy nodded, still walking closer. “I thought I could do it myself, have a little fancy time, but I haven’t combed it in so long and now I broke Stede’s fancy man comb and he’s going to be upset with me, and I only wanted to look nice!" Izzy wrapped his hand around the comb that Ed was holding.
“What were you trying to do, exactly?” He put the two pieces of the comb down on the desk and turned to help Edward untangle his hand from his own hair.
“I wanted to make a braid, the way you used to make for me when we were younger, you remember?” Izzy smiled, a soft small smile, because of course he remembered.
Ed started growing his hair out very young. It got knotted and tangled, and he always seemed to have a stick or a leaf stuck in it even when they had been at sea for weeks. Izzy had grown up in a family of all girls, so he knew his way around hair and styling it just right. He used to have Ed sit on the floor and he would make it up for him. He had started with basics, just to keep it up and out of his face. But Ed had always liked fancy things and always wanted bigger and better. Sometimes they would see a fancy lady or a courtesan walking in whatever city they found themselves in, and that night Izzy would spend as long as he had to to perfect their hairstyle on Edward. But Ed's favourite, for both the look of it and the name of it, had been the fishtail braid.
“You were convinced that if you wore it while you slept you would wake up as a mermaid.” Ed laughed.
“Just because it hasn’t happened yet, doesn’t mean it won’t ever.”
“Sure, Boss.” Izzy used his fingers to brush out the last bit of tangles from Ed’s mishap. “There.” He turned to walk a respectable distance away, but Ed grabbed his wrist.
“Do it for me, won’t you Iz?” And who was Izzy to ever deny Ed anything?
He had Edward sit on a small stool as Izzy stood over him. It had been years since he had done this, but the pattern was as familiar to him as if the last time had been yesterday. He gently pulled Ed’s hair back over his shoulders, combing through it with his fingers, starting from his scalp and pulling back all the way to the ends. Ed’s eyes started to close as he did, just like when he was a boy.
“Don’t fall asleep on me, I might just have to braid you to the table leg.” It was an old threat, as futile now as it had been then. Ed sighed out softly, eyes still closed.
“You wouldn’t do that.”
“Might just, if you don’t sit up straight so I can do this properly.” Ed shifted a bit, straightening his shoulders. Izzy separated his hair into sections, looking down at Edward as he did. His eyes were still closed, and Izzy took the chance to look him over. If he closed his own eyes, he could almost pretend they were boys again. Ed’s hair had been darker then, thicker too, but it was still strong and still beautiful. Izzy had cherished those times. He loved being near Ed, proving his usefulness as best he could. It hadn’t been just them for so long, but no matter what, they had these small moments.
Now, as they aged, some things had changed, but Izzy thought Edward still looked beautiful. He would never say this out loud, but in the sun Ed’s hair turned silver like a halo around him. Sometimes, when the light hit him just right, Izzy’s breath would catch in his throat, because he would see the boy he was and the man he became all in one imposing, ethereal pirate captain.
Izzy tied off the braid with a small blue ribbon he had on his wrist, but he took his time pulling away. Ed’s breath had gone soft and steady, and Izzy was loath to disturb him.
Of course, that was when the door opened and Stede walked in.
“Edward, there’s a ship off the port and- oh! Izzy!” Izzy dropped his hands, feeling his face flush, and somehow feeling guilty even though he had been doing nothing wrong. Stede walked forward as Ed opened his eyes and cracked his neck from stiffness. “Did you do this?" Stede walked up to examine Ed's braid. He was much too close to Izzy now, but he was frozen in place. "Izzy, that's incredible! I was always garbage at doing my daughter’s hair. But this is really lovely!” Izzy felt himself just getting redder, and then Ed ran his hands over his own hair, smiling up at Stede.
“Isn’t he so good? He used to do my hair like this all the time. I’d forgotten how nice it feels when he has his hands in your hair. Izzy you should show Stede-”
“I should go see Buttons about that ship!” Izzy blurted out, and bolted out of the room without another word. Stupid Bonnet. Stupid Edward. Stupid fuckers the lot of them.
–
Izzy knew it was only a matter of time before it came to a head. That was something else you learned with patience, eventually things either righted themselves or came to a head. He really could have done without the stab wound though.
–
It had been a standard raid, the kind that Izzy should have been able to dispatch himself almost entirely, in his sleep, with an arm tied around his back. Except, lately Izzy had been losing his own focus. He’d been watching Ed, and now Stede, and he was watching them more when they were both at risk. Or when they were both being clever. Or when they were standing on deck, in the sunshine. The point was, Izzy was distracted.
Ed was, as always, in his element. They had snuck up on the merchant ship with no flag, and without the beard, his reputation didn’t follow him on deck, which meant he was able to get a good amount of fights in before an inevitable surrender. Izzy watched him fight off two men, mouth curled into a vicious snarl that made him look feral and gorgeous. His eyes shined in excitement with the challenge before him, especially when a third man tried to sneak up behind him. Izzy didn’t even have time to shout a warning before Ed was twirling around to block the attack. Izzy’s heart stuttered at the sight of him. His own attacker was on the floor, bleeding out and begging to his god or something like that.
Izzy stepped over the body and moved over to see Stede going up against a bigger man fighting with a very large broadsword. It would have looked comical if he didn’t clearly know how to wield it. Stede was holding his own, but he was being driven back. Izzy looked to see if he could find a quick path to help him. There was a lot going on between him and Stede, but then he spotted Jim halfway down the deck and whistled to get their attention. They looked up at him and he gestured to where Stede was. Jim nodded once and made their way over there. Izzy looked back to Stede to find him against the railing. He was pushing back against the man’s sword, using his weight against him, and then, at the last second, before Jim even made it very far, Stede side-stepped and the man with his large stature and even larger sword fell over the railing and into the water below. Izzy couldn’t hold back a triumphant noise which made Stede look up. He smiled at Izzy, wide and bright, proud of his skill but also of Izzy’s approval. His smile fell immediately though, and Izzy felt the sword in his ribs before he even heard the shout of the small man attacking him. Stede shouted, and Izzy heard that, but then all he heard was blood rushing in his ears. And then it was all black.
The first thing Izzy registered when he woke up is that he is incredibly warm. He never slept in many layers, so that in and of itself was strange. The second thing he noticed was that the warmth was because he was pressed up against a body. The immediate third thing that registered after that was that he was in a lot of pain. Like, a lot of pain.
“Fuck.” He groaned, opening his eyes. He was met with two very concerned faces looking back at him. “Ah, fuck.” He closed his eyes again. He was obviously dreaming still. It was a nice dream, for sure, but he had to wake up.
“Izzy, mate, don’t fall back asleep again.”
“I’m not, I’m still sleeping.” He felt the body behind him shift, which shifted him, which caused his pain to spike again. “Fuck!” This time when he opened his eyes, he was very aware that he was not sleeping or dreaming. Which also meant he was in fact, being held in Edward’s arms, and Stede was in fact sitting at the foot of the bed he was in. Which also wasn’t his own bed.
Almost as if he could sense Izzy being two seconds away from trying to sit up and run, Ed tightened his arms around his waist where they had been loosely resting.
“Ah, ah. Iz, the doctor says you’re not going anywhere. That bullet was way too close to your heart.”
“Bullet?” Izzy coughed, he could have sworn he had been stabbed.
“Yes, well, you were stabbed, and then when one of the other men realized they’d gotten you down they tried to finish the job. Shot you through the under arm. Right between your shoulder and your heart. You’re lucky they were as bad of a shot as I am.” Izzy blinked over at Stede. He looked a right state. There was blood on his sleeves, a bit on his face too. Izzy thought he looked beautiful. He watched Stede’s eyes widen, and he shared a look with Ed over Izzy’s head.
Wait. Had he said that out loud?
“Iz. You’re on some drugs, but we can’t give you too much until the wound heals so you’re a bit out of it, mate, but we need to keep you upright and awake. It’s okay, though, you're okay.” Izzy looked up, Edward was looking down at him, his eyes big and wide, but there was a soft smile playing at his lips. Izzy wished he could just…
“Hey woah! No moving your arm, Izzy!” Stede stretched over to hold his hand and bring it down from where he had been about to reach up and touch Edward’s face.
“Whatever you need, we can bring it to you. You’re officially on bedrest. Captains’ orders. Both of us.” Ed spoke softly but there was a small tremor underneath it. How long had he been out? Had Edward worried? Had Stede?
“Of course I worried about you, Izzy. I thought you’d know that, by now, my feelings for you are not what they once were.” Now Izzy was back to where he knew he must be dreaming. He closed his eyes again.
“I’m dreaming. I’m jus’ dreaming. You’re not saying that, you’re not real, and neither is Ed.” He felt the body behind him huff softly.
“What makes you so sure about that?”
“Because I’ve had this dream before. Both of you, looking at me like you look at each other. Both of you worried about me. Both of you bringing me to your bed. I’ve had this dream and I always wake up.” It was quiet above him, Izzy would have thought they’d have gone if it weren’t for the solid weight of dream-Ed holding him up.
“You’ve dreamt about this?” Edward had no right to sound so soft when he was just going to be gone when Izzy opened his eyes again.
“Still am, aren’t I?”
“With both of us?” Stede sounded incredulous, as if he didn’t know. As if he hadn’t confessed this in his dreams a million times.
“Yes Bonnet, with both of you. I tried to do whatever I could to stop feeling the way I do, but somehow that only makes it worse. Now would you both go away so I can wake up and do my duties and pretend I don’t know what it looks like when you look at me like you care?” Izzy’s voice was tight but he was tired and in pain and he refused to cry.
He felt a hand on his chin, tilting his head up. He thought he heard a soft “Edward, wait-” come from Stede, but then there were lips on his, and this wasn’t new, but the taste was. Because in his dreams, Edward tasted like smoke, like he had just been smoking, and somehow like he wasn’t real, because he wasn’t. But now Edward tasted like blood and something else that he could have never come up with in his own dreams that was distinctly Edward.
He opened his eyes. Edward was leaning over him, kissing him softly, upside down, tilting Izzy’s chin up but doing most of the stretching himself. His hand was calloused, and yet soft, and his hair was ticking Izzy’s cheek. Too soon, Ed pulled back.
“Have you dreamt about that too?” Izzy was too stunned to speak. He just stared up at Edward with his beautiful eyes, and smile, and hair. This couldn’t really be happening, could it? Izzy didn’t get nice things. But then another hand touched his cheek and Stede was leaning over, careful to not jostle him, but his lips touched Izzy’s and they were firm and soft, and Izzy was lost.
“I thought I told you two NOT to disturb the patient!” Roach’s voice from the doorway made Stede pull back, and if Izzy’s arms weren’t being held down, he would have covered his face. Okay so he definitely wasn't dreaming, because this mortification was much too real.
“We didn’t move him, he’s still right where he was. We moved around him.” Edward was grinning, clearly unrepentant. Roach rolled his eyes and came up to Izzy with a wet cloth and some fresh water.
“Drink this, little man.” Izzy complied, mind still blank and trying to catch up to his impossible reality. “You can dab at some of the blood but don’t move the bandages. It’s going to be sticky and uncomfortable for a bit, but they need to close and heal before I can work around them. There’s salve on them and if you mess with that I’m going to heal you the way my grandmother used to heal me with stinging nettles. You won’t like it, I guarantee that.” He patted Izzy’s cheek, grinned and said, “so no more kissing until you’re healed.” Then he walked out, and Izzy knew the entire crew would know about this in less than a minute.
Stede coughed, gently touching Izzy’s ankle. “You need to rest, but Edward and I are here, and we will still be here when you wake up again.” Ed nodded, which Izzy could feel more than see.
“You can’t lie down all the way, Roach said something about fluid or whatever, but I’ll hold you up just like this. And like Stede said, we’ll be here when you wake up.” Izzy couldn’t find any words that could be said in that moment, so instead he followed his captains’ orders and slept.
–
It was a cold morning. The sun had barely risen but Izzy was up on the deck doing stretches. His coffee was balanced on a small table that also held two swords and a small hunk of bread. He had been waiting for a few minutes now, and kept glancing at the door down to the hold. Finally, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs and he turned to face the doorway. Ed walked up first, hair down and falling in soft waves over his shoulder. He was wearing his robe, and he had a cup of what was hopefully coffee in his hands. His eyes shined as he smiled and the lines by his eyes crinkled. He waved a small salute and went to stand by the railing. Izzy’s gaze followed him, as it always had. But this time, he looked back to the doorway as Stede came up.
Stede was dressed in a soft shirt with loose pants, and a belt around his waist. He had a few of his rings on his fingers, but otherwise, he looked like he did most mornings. His hair was somehow perfectly placed though, and there was a half scowl on his face. Stede was not a morning person, even after all this time on the ship, he couldn’t understand how Izzy and Ed just rose as they did when the sun wasn’t even up yet. Still, when he saw Izzy standing there, his scowl faded and he smiled, which made him look younger and softer. Izzy’s heart flipped in his chest, but he ignored it, like he always did, because he had a job to do.
“Captain, you’re late.” Stede walked towards him, smiling wider now.
“I’m so sorry, First Mate Hands, someone was very distracting this morning.” He and Izzy both glanced back at Edward who looked entirely unashamed.
“I’m sure he was.” Stede leaned in to kiss Izzy’s cheek. Even after these past few impossible months, he still blushed when either of his captains, his lovers, kissed him.
“I’ll make it up to you both when you finish your swordplay,” said Edward as Stede pulled back. Izzy rolled his eyes. He grabbed one of the swords, tossing the other to Stede who caught it by the hilt. Izzy's eyes were alight with the prospect of drills, training Stede, and maybe something a little more fun afterwards.
As the sun rose and lit up the deck, Izzy advanced on Stede in all his ferocity and skill.
Ed and Stede thought he looked nothing short of beautiful.
