Chapter Text
Ed didn’t believe in luck, good or bad, and he definitely didn’t believe Cupid’s Cove was capable of influencing the love lives of its inhabitants. People fall in love every day, occasionally in quaint seaside towns. It’s not that deep.
The tourists believed, which was good for business, and the town council believed, judging by the staggering amount of resolutions and statutes and citations it produced. But Ed didn’t see what any of it had to do with him.
The town’s hostile stance on romance had actually been a point in its favor when he took over running the inn, since Ed’s own stance was also fairly hostile. His taste in men was abysmal, he’d realized, and he should be happy to never suffer another first date. So why not move back to a town that discouraged happily-ever-afters? He had Grindr if he had an itch to scratch; he knew every gay bar in a 40-mile radius. What more did he need?
The fines were getting annoying, though. After two years he’d collected quite a pile, mostly for wearing “excessively cropped tops,” which absolutely did not make Ed preen, no matter what Izzy said.
Ed was wearing an excessively cropped top on the day Stede Bonnet swirled into his life though, so he conceded the council might have had a point.
Ed was on a ladder, stretching towards a high floating shelf that he never remembered to dust while hoping that the cobweb he’d just brushed was abandoned, when the door was flung open with a loud bang.
“Sorry!” said the new arrival. “The wind just kicked up!” But Ed barely heard this; he’d been so startled he lost his footing and was about to greet the floor nose first.
“Oh!” said the voice, and then strong arms were wrapping around Ed’s waist and cushioning his fall.
“Whoa, thanks mate,” Ed said. The arms withdrew when Ed rolled over, and he noted that the man kneeling over him was about Ed’s age, blond, and stupidly cute.
“Are you all right?” the stranger asked breathlessly.
“Yeah, cheers, you’re quick.” Ed leaned up on his elbows. “What can I do for you? Assuming you didn’t stop in to cause and then prevent a fall?”
The stranger laughed. “No, sorry, I just popped in to see if you had any rooms?”
“Sure, we’re all empty at the moment.”
“I could fill you,” the man said. Then his cheeks went very pink and his eyes widened with embarrassment. “Or, sorry, I meant a room, obviously, I could fill a… let’s just start over. I’m Stede, and I'd like a room please.”
“I’m Ed,” he said, and they shook awkwardly from where they still sprawled on the floor. Stede’s shy smile was about the most adorable thing Ed had ever seen, and he felt a strange fluttering in his chest like his heart shrugging off the effects of a long nap.
Well, damn. The red tape on this was going to be an absolute nightmare.