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Stede Bonnet had, to his knowledge, never been to hell. If he had to imagine what hell might be like, however, he thought that it must be like this.
One minute he was lying flat on his ass, about to face his final humiliation at the hands of the Pirate Queen. The next, the sounds of explosions shook the earth against his back.
He thought about running, but where to? His crew had scattered to God knows where. Ed was gone. His ship was probably on fire, or about to be. Even if she missed the initial explosions, without anyone immediately on board to steer her away from the other floating infernos, she'd likely catch from a floating ember. Hell, at this rate, the entire goddamn Republic was likely to burn; the entire island was so saturated in rum that one ember would likely set the whole thing alight.
It hit him, right there in the dirt, that he had just lost everything.
This attack was clearly planned by a sizable force, and clearly aimed at all pirates. Everyone, everyone was affected. People who had just fought one another in Jackiez's, people who held life-long grudges, people who threatened to kill one another on sight were helping one another. Some were commandeering dinghies, some climbing onto one another's ships, some were hauling buckets of seawater. Everyone was trying to put the fires out.
All Stede could do was watch. He could feel a shift in the air, and he was sure others felt it too. This was the beginning of a unique war, a unique effort of eradication. Piracy as they all had known it had ended tonight.
It dawned on him that he didn't want to see the morning.
The crew that he had gone through hell with, who had helped him claw his way back to Ed, who had evidently found family amongst themselves only, planned to leave him. He thought, perhaps arrogantly, that he had proven himself enough to earn their loyalty. He thought that they were all a family .
He should've expected it, really. His parents didn't want him, his ex-wife didn't want him, hell his children didn't want him. Why would this family be any different?
Maybe he wasn't meant to have one. Maybe he wasn't meant to be anything at all.
As he stood up, feeling the intense heat from the sea prickle his face, he thought about what his life really meant . He gained the reputation he had craved, and lost everything that truly mattered. He lost Ed, he lost his crew, and he lost what little respect he had created, all because of his own arrogance.
He ruined everything. Again.
He walked. He didn't think about where he walked, nor did he think about what he was about to do. It wasn't a question, it was the answer.
The Stede Bonnet reign of terror ends tonight.
He found himself at an unfamiliar shore, still within eyesight of the burning pirate fleet, his legs halfway in the water. As he looked up into the moonless sky, he whispered a silent prayer to the sea. He always knew that she was his calling, as well as his end.
Let him have a good life. Let him find peace. Let him have the happiness I couldn't provide. Let them all find peace.
I'm sorry I'm such a failure. I'm sorry I hurt him. I'm sorry for it all.
Please don't let me come back.
He closed his eyes, exhaled, and walked into the briny water, feeling for the first time in his life that he had truly done something right.
As Ed rowed down the river within the island, he smelled burning.
After their argument he had retreated to a small lake that he used to frequent. It was a small place, lush with nature, and one of his favorite places on the island. Perfect for fishing. He thought about their argument, he thought about what he wanted, he thought about the next step. He fished, and thought, but mostly fished. He slept in his dinghy, content even with no fish to show for his efforts, and let the gentle current rock him to sleep.
He awoke to the sound of armageddon.
He had never heard this much noise in his life . Explosions shook him, even from a distance and on the water. His stomach dropped, and only one thought crossed his mind:
Where is Stede?
He rowed frantically in the direction of the Republic, losing faith as he came closer that it would be left standing when he arrived. The stars had disappeared, making navigation more difficult, but the intense glow of the fire was enough to help him find his way back.
Time was abstract. If someone told him that he had rowed for hours, he would believe them. All that mattered, all he could think about was where is Stede, where is the Revenge, where is the crew . As he finally came into eyesight of the carnage, he had to stop rowing.
Every ship was on fire. This was deliberate. This was a war on all pirates, on piracy itself. Cannons boomed, but from which direction he couldn't tell. He heard windows exploding at the center of the Republic, people screaming, and fire catching on thatched roofs. He couldn't dock.
Arms burning, he rowed around as best as he could, trying to find a way to find the Revenge without heading straight into the chaos. It wasn't until daybreak when the cannons quieted that he was able to find her.
She had escaped relatively unharmed, miraculously. He could already imagine the kind of night Stede and the crew had-
"Ed! Did you find Stede?" Izzy asked as he approached the vessel.
"What? No- is he not with you?" Ed replied.
"We lost him last night, we thought he went to find you."
A chill ran down Ed's spine, and he practically leapt out of the dinghy to climb onto the ship.
"What happened?" He panted, eyeing the silent crew.
"Some fucker put bombs on Zheng Yi Sao's fleet, then fired on everyone else. Whole fuckin' Republic was under attack," Izzy supplied.
"What happened to Stede ?"
The ensuing silence only increased Ed's panic. Once again, Izzy put him out of his misery.
"We were at Jackiez's, and he picked a fight with the Pirate Queen. Apparently, half of this fuckin' crew got recruited by her," Izzy said pointedly, glaring at Oluwande in particular. "Got his ass handed to him in front of everyone. She was about to finish the job when shit got fucked."
"She killed him?" Ed asked, failing to hide the wobble in his voice.
"We don't know." Izzy said quietly.
"What the- what do you mean you don't know ? Did you all- did any of you fucking check if he was with you?"
"Oh that's rich , coming from you ," Lucius chimed, halfway through his cigarette. "You weren't there . Everything was chaos. Everyone scattered. We only know where everyone is right now because eventually everyone found the ship."
"Were you going to fucking look for him-?"
"Edward," Izzy scolded. "In case you couldn't fuckin' tell, everything was on fire . It was all we could do to try to get this ship out of danger. None of us have slept-"
"Well, let's go now, they've stopped firing-"
"Alright, where?" Izzy argued. "He has no ship, even he could find us here eventually-"
"Uhm, guys-" Roach's voice cut in. He was pointing at something off the other side of the ship, looking towards the shore. "Do any of you see that?"
As Ed approached the railing, he could see a seagull circling something in the water. Without asking, Izzy handed him a spyglass.
It was a body. Face down, yellow hair, dark blue shirt. Ed dropped the spyglass.
" No ," he breathed. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, no. "
"What is it?" Frenchie asked from somewhere behind him.
"Oh, fuck me," Izzy said, now looking through the spyglass. "That's him."
Terror and sorrow clawed through his throat, clouding his mind and leaking through his eyes.
"N-no, that can't be him. Why would he be in the water? How- Wh-why- you all said that you were at Jackiez's- why would he be in the water ?"
"Oh my God," Fang sniffed.
"You don't think-?" Pete began.
"No, I think he would ," Lucius said, looking at the ground.
"That doesn't- that doesn't make sense-" Frenchie muttered.
"Doesn't it, though? Dude kind of lost everything last night-" Archie added, before clocking the devastation on Ed's face.
"We need to go get him, we can't- maybe he's alive-" Ed said frantically, his breathing uneven.
"Ed, he's gone-" Izzy attempted at comfort.
"I need to see. We- we need to get closer."
No one moved.
"What the fuck! That's your captain ! That's Stede! We need to go get him!" Ed spun around, furious tears streaming down his face.
"He's dead, Bla- Ed." Jim said, their face unreadable.
" So ? Didn't I fuckin' die too?!"
Jim's face softened at the memory, but the rest of the crew stayed silent.
"Please," he said pitifully. "I at least- I need to say goodbye." He choked on the last word, unable to handle the finality of it all.
Izzy sighed. "Bring her closer," he ordered.
"But-" Oluwande began.
"Unless you are no longer a part of this crew, you will obey your captain's orders," Izzy barked, "or you can get the fuck off this ship."
Reluctantly, everyone got to work. Everyone except Ed, that is. He sat on the stairs next to the captain's quarters, his eyes unfocused as the crew bustled around him.
Last night was a mistake.
You're a coward.
His mind raced. However he managed to come back, he had to do it again for Stede. He had no idea how he got into Purgatory, but he prayed to anything that listened that Stede was there right now, just waiting for him.
Those cannot be the last words they said to each other.
As they pulled up beside the body, Ed swallowed the bile in his throat. There was no room for doubt- that was Stede. Despite having spent the majority of the day rowing, he dove in, hauled Stede up the rickety ladder himself, trying not to think about how cold Stede was. After he reached the railing and had the crew help him up, he gathered Stede in his arms and immediately moved to their bed.
He's going to be so pissed that the sheets got wet , he thought despite everything.
Everyone stayed behind on deck except Izzy, which Ed had expected. For better or for worse, Izzy was always there for moments like these.
"I need blankets, Iz, as many as you can find. He's probably freezing." Ed said, fluttering around Stede's body in search of a pulse.
"Edward."
"Put some tea on too, some of that herbal shit or something-"
" Edward ."
Ed turned around, his eyes pleading. "Please, Izzy, just- please ."
Izzy's eyes widened, which in itself was another wound in Ed's heart. How long had it been since Ed had asked rather than commanded him? How long since he had spoken to Izzy like a person?
He couldn't think about that right now.
Izzy nodded, muttering something unintelligible, and hobbled off, closing the door behind him. When the click-latch of the door reached Ed's ears, he let himself break apart.
"You lunatic, you better be in the gravy basket," Ed choked, his voice cracking under the weight of it all. He tried again to find a pulse- on his wrists, his neck, on his chest-
nothing.
"You're not dead. You-you can't be dead. I never got to say it back."
The ship moved. The world turned. Stede stayed still.
His, fuck , his lips were blue. His skin was far, far too pale, highlighting the bruises he got in his fight with Zheng Yi Sao. Just last morning, he laid against that very torso, basking in its warmth and listening to the steady heartbeat beneath it. The cold comparison made the breath leave his body, as if it were his lungs that were full of seawater.
"Stede, Stede please . You can't do this. You can't . I came back to you, now you gotta do the same for me. It's not fucking fair ."
Nothing. Nothing .
"I'm sorry," he said desperately, his hands clasping tightly around Stede's limp palm. "I was scared. You got your dream, and-and I didn't want to be a pirate anymore. I couldn't make you choose between me and your dream, and so I ran. I should've told you. I should've told you everything."
Nothing.
Ed sobbed, his breath rushing in and out far too quickly. He was dizzy with grief and hyperventilation, and unable to remain upright anymore, he crawled into the bed he had once shared with the corpse beside him. He plastered himself face-down across the left side of Stede's body, his nose turned into the crook of Stede's stiff neck.
"I was so scared to lose you again. So scared to ask you to join me, to stay away from the things that will get you killed. I was so scared of my own feelings that I didn't even think about yours. But-but we can figure it out, okay? You just find your way back to me, and we'll actually fucking talk it through , and we will be alright. Okay? You just gotta swim, mate, just swim back to me."
Ed looked up from where he lay, but no one looked back. The corpse at his side remained motionless, its inhabitant apparently long gone.
"I'll keep you warm. I'll wait for you. Don't you leave me at the fucking dock again."
He barely registered the sounds of commotion about him, a crash-thud and the sounds of struggle. He heard Roach loudly scream "what the fuck!" among other noises, but he couldn't bring himself to care about what was going on. He just laid there, clutching tightly to the love of his life, babbling about all the things he had ever felt with Stede. He wasn't even aware of the things he said, or if Stede was hearing them, but he couldn't stand the silence. So, he talked.
He laid there for what felt like hours, the sounds above quieting, when he whispered the three words that had once struck fear in his heart:
"I love you."
Silence.
A twitch.
( A twitch?)
A heartbeat.
Stede awoke in bed.
In Mary's bed.
"It's your turn with the children today," she said unenthusiastically, clipping her earrings into place from across the room.
"Wh- Mary? Am I in hell?" he sputtered.
"Hi, Stede. Still as charming as ever, I see." She scowled.
"Sorry, sorry, I- shit ," he said, rubbing his face in frustration. "Was it all a dream? The piracy?"
"In a way, yes," she said, slowly walking over towards the bed. "But no, it wasn't all a dream. Your experiences were real."
"How did I get back here? I can't- I can't remember what happened-"
"You're not really here, nor am I," she said, sitting atop of the foot of the bed.
"That doesn't make sense, I-" he stopped, memory trickling back in. " Shit," he groaned, rubbing his face. "I'm in the gravy basket."
"That's a silly name for it, but yes," she said, "I can't decide if I'm flattered or offended that your idea of purgatory is your family , but then again, I'm not really Mary."
"But Ed said- I thought-"
"Everyone drowns differently, Stede. You just find new ways to make it irritating ." She rolled her eyes.
" Goddammit," he said, burying his face in his hands. He never cried in front of Mary before, and he wasn't about to now, even if she wasn't the real Mary. "I didn't want to come back."
"Well, lucky for you, you get a choice," she said sarcastically, "You know, most people pray to have your life, and here you are, getting another chance after you threw it away."
God's perfect little rich boy.
"I know," he said, swallowing the guilt like hardtack. "I know I should choose life..."
" Should you, though? It's not like you've really earned it." She said stoically.
Uneasy silence hovered between them.
"I don't know what to do," he said after a while.
"Yes you do."
Stede blinked, suddenly finding himself in a familiar forest, in the dead of night. He looked around for Mary, who stood directly behind him. She was holding a rope.
"So that's it, then," Stede said, brushing his fingers over the rough sinews.
"It's better this way," she said, depositing the rope in his hands. He stared at it, the weight of his decision heavy in his hands.
"Hurry up, Baby Bonnet," another familiar voice said, "you're wasting everyone's time."
When Stede looked up, Mary was no longer there. Instead, Chauncey Badminton stood in front of him, sneering through the gunshot wound in his face.
When Stede looked down again, he was standing on a wooden box, his hands bound, a noose closing around his neck.
"Pathetic," Chauncey said into his ear, his rancid breath setting across his cheek.
"I know."
"Will I come back again?" Stede asked.
"Why, did you think you did a great job the first time?" Chancey sniggered.
"I just thought that-"
Chauncey kicked him on his lower back, knocking him off the box and cinching the noose around his neck. He gasped for air that didn't exist, kicking his feet and flailing for the box.
"Oh, did you think it wouldn't hurt, Baby Bonnet?" Chauncey chortled, "did you really think you deserved a painless death?"
He tried to respond, but found that a gag had formed across his head.
"Jesus, Bonnet, even while dying you can't shut the fuck up ," Chauncey scowled, turning away from him. "Enjoy hell," he said, walking further into the dark woods.
I deserve this, he thought, his head becoming foggy. He slowed his movements, sinking into the heaviness of his body. Despite it all, he tried to find some comfort in his situation. He listened for signs of life- a bird call, a breeze through the trees, an animal scurrying away- but found nothing. The woods were silent, unnaturally silent, and Stede Bonnet was alone, hanging from a tree. He closed his eyes, waiting for death or some other entity to take him, to finish the job, when he heard movement from within the forest.
"Stede! Stede!" a faraway voice shouted.
"Ed?" Stede gurgled through the noose.
"Stede! Come back to me!" Ed said, closer now.
He can't see me like this, he can't find me, he thought, struggling against his bonds. I can't hurt him again.
Stede could hear signs of life again; the wind picked up, faraway bird calls resumed, and the sounds of twigs snapping drew closer. Stede sobbed through the gag, caught between desperately wanting to see Ed again and dreading Ed finding him. Stede closed his eyes, bracing for either option.
"Stede, Stede please . You can't do this. You can't ," Ed cried, his voice mere feet away. "I came back to you, now you gotta do the same for me. It's not fucking fair ."
Memory struck like lightning, alighting his nerves and burning his lungs.
Ed on a table, a kiss in the moonlight, a party, breakfast in bed-
He opened his eyes, half-expecting to see the murky water he had walked into that night, but instead he found big, frightened brown eyes.
The rope snapped off the tree, careening him into the dirt. Groaning, Stede rolled onto his back, looking at the sunrise blooming above him. Ed kneeled beside him, silvery tendrils of hair brushing his face as he looked down at him.
The gag and bonds disappeared, but he couldn't seem to move. His body felt impossibly heavy, and his lungs were on fire. Tears pricked his eyes, both from sorrow and frustration that he couldn't fucking communicate .
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please stay, please don't leave me here, he thought, hoping that Ed could understand somehow.
He did.
"Come back to me. I'll wait for you. Don't you leave me at the fucking dock again." Ed said, his body close but his voice still far away.
Stede sobbed, nodding as best as he could, fighting his own body to get up , to just fucking move -
"I love you," Ed said, the sudden clarity of his voice piercing through his senses, echoing like cannon-fire.
Love. He loves me. Ed loves me. Ed loves me, he thought, the mere idea so strong, so tangible that he could feel it in his chest.
Gold light broke through the trees, warming him- when did he get so cold-?
He loves me-
His lungs burned , his chest throbbed , he still couldn't breathe-
He loves me-
One thump, then two-
He loves me-
It hurt, it felt like nails were being driven into his chest, but slowly, slowly his heart began beating, pounding, marching, to the rhythm of Ed- Ed- Ed- ED-
He gasped.
Air filled his lungs.
Hazel eyes flew open, panicked and disoriented, but alive.
Ed's hand clutched Stede's, the warmth soaking into his skin like rum. " Oh thank fuck, oh my God," Ed sobbed, tears streaming down his face. "You're back, you're back-"
Stede gasped, the sound waterlogged and painful. Stede tapped Ed's palm frantically, and Ed had only about two seconds of warning before Stede retched over the side of the bed. Ed rubbed his back as he choked up all the seawater from his body, his thumbs making soothing circles as Stede sobbed through it all.
"Shh, shh, it's okay. You're okay. Just get it out," Ed said, his voice wavering, but gentle.
" Ed ," Stede wept, pulling himself back onto his back.
"I'm here, you scared the shit out of me, Stede, fuck-" Ed said, half-hovering over him. He brought Stede's hand up to his lips, clutching his fingers as if Stede would slip right through his grasp.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Stede whispered frantically, his eyes screwing shut in shame. "I never meant- I just- I'm sorry -"
"No, Stede, I'm sorry, I should've been there-" Ed began before Stede's shaking head stopped him.
"I ruined everything. You were right to leave- you wanted to go slow, and I was selfish -"
"Stede. That wasn't all on you. I wanted it that night. I wasn't any better at taking it slow than you were."
Stede shook his head, tears streaming into his ears. "I should've listened to you, I shouldn't've let it all go to my head-"
Ed wiped away his own tears, propping himself up above Stede's chest. "Please look at me," he said softly, his right hand settling on Stede's cheek. "Please," he whispered, his thumb tracing Stede's cheekbone. Stede inhaled, as if to brace himself, and obliged.
And then he promptly fell apart.
His sobs were deep, chesty, still ratting and waterlogged from the sea. Ed had never seen a person look so deeply devastated before, so deeply, deeply hurt that all they could do was sob. It made Ed a little frantic. "It's okay, you're okay," he said, trying his best to comfort the man falling apart in their bed, "coming back from the gravy basket can be a real mind-fuck, especially after the last two days-"
"I didn't want to come back," Stede blurted, balling his fists into his eyes.
Ed's brain ground to a halt. "What?"
"I didn't want to come back," Stede hiccupped, "I don't know if I can do it again ."
Ed felt like he was about to choke up his entire heart. His left arm began to tremble, forcing him to sit back on his knees so as not to fall face-first into Stede. "What do you mean, Stede?" Ed asked, slowly, carefully.
"I- I-" Stede began, cutting himself off with a sob. "I'm at my limit. I'm...I'm used to being a failure, and that's okay. I just can't bear being left behind."
"You're not a failure, Stede-"
" Don't ," Stede said, opening his bloodshot eyes. "Don't, Ed, please. It's fine. I've accepted it. I should've done it a long time ago, really-"
" Stop ," Ed spat. "You've been through a lot, you're overwhelmed-"
"This isn't a whim , Edward!" Furious tears streamed down Stede's face. "This is my whole life ! I've never been what I should be, what others needed me to be, and I can't do it anymore! I- I thought I had finally made something of myself, like I f-finally belonged somewhere-!"
"You do- " Ed said frantically, feeling as if he were sailing into a storm.
"Then why is everyone fucking leaving me !" Stede wailed.
Silence fell onto them like a wet blanket.
"I- they're not-" Ed stuttered.
"You don't know, you weren't there , you didn't see the looks on their faces-!" Stede scowled, gripping the bed sheets. "They were practically giddy at the idea of leaving, of finally being captained by a real pirate, and good for them!! At least now nobody will have to put up with me, I don't even want to put up with me!"
"Well I do!" Ed shouted, simultaneously furious with and for Stede, as well as himself. Why the fuck didn't they have this conversation sooner? Why did they assume that they were the problems in each other's lives, and not the goddamn tragic circumstances that brought them into this world? How was it that two people that had clicked instantly, that immediately found understanding in one another, didn't stop to wonder why that was?
Ed finally got it.
Stede doesn't believe that he's loveable.
"You lunatic, I lo-"
"No, Ed!" Stede snapped. "You don't get to say that to me." He looked like a frightened animal, shaking and bleeding in a trap. "You're just trying to get me to stay alive."
"Of course I want you to stay, Stede! Shit, man, after all we've been through, you're just going to throw it all away? Didn't it mean anything to you?!"
"Oh, fuck you, Edward. It meant everything to me! You are the one that left me for a fucking fish!"
"It was more than that, and you know it!"
"No I don't , Edward! You made up your mind before I even walked up to you! I thought- I thought we had finally found some ground, finally got back in sync, and then you turned around and said that it was all a mistake!"
"And you left me without a fucking note!"
They stared at one another, chests heaving with fury, neither man knowing what to say to one another. Stede couldn't hold his anger for long, however, and after a minute he sighed as if he were being deflated.
"Did you look for me, Ed?" He asked quietly, already knowing the answer.
"What?" Ed asked, completely taken out of himself.
"You didn't, didn't you," Stede sighed, hunching into himself and running his fingers through his wet hair.
Ed didn't know what to say.
"I planned to meet you, you know, even with my anxieties. But your guard didn't wake me that night, Chauncey Badminton did."
" What? " Ed recoiled, blinking at this new information.
"He marched me into the woods at gunpoint," Stede swallowed thickly, "he told me things that I had already known. That I ruin people's lives. That I defile beautiful things . That I brought down history's greatest pirate."
"Stede, I was already done with it all-"
"I know, I know ," Stede sighed, "But at the time it just felt true. You had changed so much, so quickly, and for me of all people. You changed your identity entirely."
" That was why my chin bothered you," Ed said, the pieces finally clicking. "Why didn't you tell me, though? I thought you left-"
"I did. Right after he shot himself trying to kill me, and I just- I don't even remember. I just ran. I found myself at my old home, and I figured I'd try to make things right. And then I bollocked that up too. Everyone was better off when they thought I was dead. Mary even tried to kill me."
Ed's face fell in horror. "Oh my God, you could've died that night and I never would've known, I would've just thought- why didn't you tell me, Stede?"
Stede shook his head. "It wouldn't have changed things. I still left, I still fucked it all up."
Ed couldn't find the words. He never thought, never even considered the idea that Stede didn't just decide that he wasn't worth it, that they weren't worth it. He never even wondered why Stede had abandoned his ship, his pride and joy-
"I know you care about me, Ed, and I appreciate that. But don't say that you love me just to get me to linger around. You knew what I was then, and what I am now. A mediocre man who thought he was exceptional. A coward."
You were always going to see who I am.
"You don't think you're loveable," Ed said quietly, in revelation.
Tears sprang again into Stede's eyes, which were now fixated on the wet sheets around him. "Ed-"
"Shh, nope." Ed said, plastering his hand across Stede's face. "No more poison. It's my turn to talk."
Stede stared at him, tears pooling around Ed's fingertips. "I thought you left me because of me . Because I wasn't worthy of you."
" Mmph-" Stede tried.
"Nuh-uh," Ed continued. "I learned in the gravy basket that I hated myself. That I became Blackbeard because I hated who Ed was. And I think that's why I assumed that you left. Because I am unlovable."
Stede's eyes softened, his head tilting as if to say oh, Ed.
"But I was wrong. You showed me that I was wrong. You made me want to get to know who Ed was. And I realized that Ed wasn't a pirate anymore, and that scared me. You were becoming more of a pirate, and I wasn't. I was scared that Ed wouldn't be enough if you had to choose between him or piracy, and so I left before I could get hurt. And, fuck-" Ed said, blinking away tears, his arm lowering, "I'm sorry that I made you feel unloveable, because you're so fucking loveable, Stede. I've loved you from the moment I saw you bleeding on that deck. I still do"
"I did too, for you," Stede said, his voice raw, "I just didn't know what I was feeling at the time. I've never been in love before. I've never been loved before. I didn't think it was possible. But I love you too, Ed, so much. It makes me ache ."
"God, Stede," Ed cried, "can I kiss you?"
"You want to?" Stede asked incredulously. "I just- I thought, after that night- I just don't want it to be another mistake-"
"God, I'm sorry," Ed said, reaching out and clutching Stede's hand, still cold. "I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted our first time to be different. Slower. And I knew you were hurting from killing Ned, but... I wanted it too. The mistake was the timing, not you ."
"And it wasn't...bad?" Stede asked sheepishly.
Ed laughed, the sound filling the cabin like candlelight. "No, you lunatic, it wasn't bad. I wouldn't've blown you the next morning if I thought it was bad ."
Stede smiled, blush creeping across his pallid face as he huffed a laugh. "Fair point. And, yes."
"Yes?"
" Yes , please kiss me," Stede said, pulling Ed close.
Ed smiled and met him halfway, his fingers resting at the nape of Stede's neck. The kiss was slow, sweet despite the salt from their tears and Stede's stint in the ocean. Ed licked into Stede's mouth languidly, their tongues rolling like the tide.
They lost themselves in it, the muffled groans fueling their fervor, completely distracted from the sound of the cabin door opening.
"Captain's alive!" Roach yelled into the hallway, plummeting them both back to Earth. They turned to see Roach holding a tray of linens and tea, with Izzy and Jim behind him.
"Well that took you long enough," Ed grumbled lightly.
"Well, the last time you got upset you went a bit-" Izzy began.
"Apeshit," Jim supplied.
"Plus, things were crazy above deck," Roach said as he sauntered inside, depositing the tray on the desk. "After you went down a seagull just launched itself at another seagull, it was fucking wild-"
"Yeah, and once the first seagull killed the other seagull it started eating its guts," Jim said, miming the scene with their hands.
" No ," Stede said, his eyes wide in fascination.
"'S true," Izzy said, "It was the weirdest shit I've seen in all my years of piracy."
"Well I hope you didn't leave all the guts on deck," Stede said, wrinkling his nose and shivering, "yuck."
Ed chuckled, and Izzy rolled his eyes, although there wasn't any heat behind it. "It's good to see you back, Bonnet,"
Stede shivered again. "Roach, could you draw me a bath? I think my bones are frozen."
"Aye aye, Cap'n." He replied, handing Stede a teacup.
"I hate to ask," Izzy said as the others left, "but we need a plan to deal with whoever the fuck blew up Zheng's fleet."
"After the bath," Ed said, standing up from the bed, "and after we get some new clothes and sheets. Can't plan with frozen bones." He grinned, looking at Stede.
Izzy gave them a knowing look, then turned towards the door. "Don't get water all over the floor, I'm not mopping," he said, hobbling out the door.
"He's jealous," Ed whispered, grabbing Stede's hand and kissing it. Stede smiled back sweetly, sneaking in between Ed and his hand to kiss his lips again. "Care to join me, my love?" He asked when they parted.
"Absolutely, my love." He answered.